Roll Call: Dem Leaders Warn of Bipartisan Traps

[Rose Siding]

First ’06 Victim: Bipartisanship
Democrats Warn of Traps By John Stanton
Roll Call Staff
May 24, 2006
Senate Democratic leaders are pushing their rank-and-file Members to refrain from reaching across the aisle to work on legislation and other policy efforts with vulnerable Republican incumbents until after Election Day, warning that the GOP has often used such displays of bipartisanship to protect incumbents in tough races only to abandon those measures after November, Democratic sources said Tuesday.

sub. only
http://rollcall.com/issues/51_128/news/13522-1.html

a larger snip from Tapped>

Specifically, aides said party leaders were concerned that shows of election-year bipartisanship could help a number of Republicans facing difficult challenges, including Sens. Rick Santorum (Pa.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Lincoln Chafee (R.I.), Conrad Burns (Mont.), Jim Talent (Mo.), Mike DeWine (Ohio) and George Allen (Va.)…

During Caucus luncheons and staff-level meetings over the last several weeks, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and their top aides have repeatedly “reminded” Senators and staff that in order to win a majority in the Senate, “We have to beat incumbents” and not help them by co-sponsoring legislation, jointly signing letters to other colleagues or the administration on key policy issues or agreeing to conduct joint events with vulnerable Republican incumbents, a Democratic leadership aide said.

According to the aide, Reid, Schumer and other leaders and strategists have argued that, “Every five-and-a-half years these guys pretend they’re moderate, and we fall for it every time. We’re not going to help them this time.”

http://www.prospect.org/weblog/2006/05/post_453.html#002499

Well, hallelujah. Why in the world didn't they apply that stragegy to Hayden and Kavanaugh?

[Mass]

1. Happy to hear that. Why did Reid and Schumer vote for Hayden

in this case?

In addition, Reid is rumored not to want a strong Democrat against Ensign.

[Rose Siding]

3. I can't say for sure

but a guess would be that the vote was bargained away for something else they considered important -and which probably was important. There's no shortage of critical issues to chose from these days and a number of them involve liberties, but it's just dumb, imo, to bargain with the new repub party.

[Xipe Totec]

2. It's embarrassing,

that they even have to point it out.

[depakid]

4. We’re not going to help them this time? LOL

You've GOT to be kidding me....

Until the Dems understand the fact that they have a SERIOUS problem within their own ranks- i.e. Republican enablers- AND actually decide to do something about it they will remain (and deservedly so) the minority party.

The Republicans would never tolerate this sort of behavior withing their ranks- and oddly enough, they control all 3 branches of government- and thanks in no small part to Clinton and the right wing of the party- they control the media too.

Hmmm.

[JerseygirlCT]

5. Why is that so blatantly obvious to us while it doesn't seem to be

to many of them?

Obstructionism during this administration is to be admired.

[Gloria]

6. Which "this time" are they talking about? Too little, too late

as far as I can see....they've been screwing around for too many years....Congress goes into summer vacation and then a couple of week they're back in the fall. This is typical bullcrap....

[meow2u3]

7. YOU JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT REPUKE ELECTION YEAR MODERATES?!

Senate Democratic leaders are pushing their rank-and-file Members to refrain from reaching across the aisle to work on legislation and other policy efforts with vulnerable Republican incumbents until after Election Day, warning that the GOP has often used such displays of bipartisanship to protect incumbents in tough races only to abandon those measures after November, Democratic sources said Tuesday.


We've been trying to tell you this all along. Repukes' idea of bipartisanship is "the Dems compromise; the pukes get their way."

[DeepModem Mom]

8. K&R