The Really BIG Lesson for Congressional Democrats

[Yavin4]

Jean Carnahan
Max Cleland
John Kerry
Tom Daschle

All of these Dems voted in support of one of Bush's big policy initiatives, whether it was Bush's first tax cut or the Iraq War resolution. All of these Dems were targeted and campaigned hard against by Bush, and all of these Democrats lost their elections. The really, really, really BIG lesson for all congressional Democrats is that supporting Bush on anything will not help you get elected nor will it prevent Bush from campaigning hard against you. In the past, when the opposition party supported the president, the president wouldn't campaign against them. That rule is no more.

So, congressional Dems, oppose Bush and the Republicans have their way on every vote. Whatever Bush proposes, oppose it. No matter what. Even if you agree with Bush, he'll screw things up so badly, that you cannot criticize it later. This was Kerry's problem. He did support the over-throw of Saddam, but Bush screwed it up so badly, that Kerry couldn't attack him on it.

Now is the time to be a true opposition party through and through.

[Obviousman]

1. exactly

you hit it on the head. kerry was never able to make iraq enough of an issue because he voted in favor of the resolution. i was able to see his nuances, but most of america was not

[orwell]

3. Courage

I don't think Kerry supported the IWR, even though he voted for it. I think he felt boxed in by the mood of the country and felt he couldn't run for President unless he supported it.

In the end, he did a political calculus instead of sticking to the courage of his convictions. That is why he sounded so confused on his Iraq policy. It was because he was walking the political line instead of the firing line. This fit right in with what Rove's characterization and gave it weight.

Senator Robert Byrd however made one of the great courageous stands in recent American politics and should be congratulated for it. Everything he said was dead on target.

That was a profile in courage.

[mazzarro]

6. I will not give him credit for any nuance becuase Senator Byrd was

not convinced by the same intelligence. Kerry and other democrats that voted for it were more concerned about their political goals rather than the fact of what was presented to them. Unfortunately that insincere political calculation has been the bane of us all.

[orwell]

2. Serve

I agree with you except for one thing. If Bush proposes something that you beleive is in the best interests of your constituents, you must support it.

You must serve your clients, who are your constituents.

[Yavin4]

4. Wrong

You cannot ever trust Bush to do the right thing on anything. If Bush proposes something, it will get passed any way because he controls Congress, so your constituents will be served. Also, even if you vote for it, Bush will still come into your state and campaign hard against you.

[orwell]

7. Politcal Suicide

The Con machine will campaign against you no matter what. They want totalitarian control. That is a given and therefore becomes a useless argument.

Being a brain dead obstructionist will only alienate you from your contituency. That is politcal suicide.

[Yavin4]

8. So, If You Vote for a Bush Initiative And It Fails

then what do you say to your constituents? Yes, the Dems should always have an alternative at the ready, something concrete that they can tell their constituents how they would have done it differently. But, supporting Bush? Forget it.

[Justitia]

5. This is the history lesson from Texas

What happened in the US Congress is exactly a repeat of what happened in the statehouse of Texas.

Way back when, when Texas was still blue, the Dems worked very hard at bipartisan efforts and there was legitimate cooperation.

Very sneakily, people like Tom DeLay, Karl Rove and our then governor - Geo W Bush, took advantage of that and forced these Dems to roll over, roll over, roll over and roll over some more.

Before they knew it, the Texas Dems were bamboozled and had the rug ripped out from under them. Looking back, it is so obvious.

Working with these criminals is ALWAYS against the best interest of Democrats everywhere. Just read the history of the state government in Texas where all these reptiles sprung from.

We must be an opposition party, so citizens will always have a CLEAR CHOICE.