If we end up with 50/50 in the Senate, are their any Republicans

[Quixote1818]

who will vote with our side from time to time? If so, on what issues?

[in_cog_ni_to]

1. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins vote with the Dems all the time.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT BERNIE SANDERS! He's an Independent (Socialist) and will caucus with the Democrats. If it's 50/50....we still win.:)

[depakid]

2. ummm...

Care to list where that's happened?

From my recollection, both those so called "moderates" consistently toe the Republican party line.

[in_cog_ni_to]

10. Snowe scored a 100% pro-choice voting record as scored by NARAL

Susan Collins is Rated 83% by NARAL, indicating a pro-choice voting record. (Dec 2003) Which indicates a Pro-Choice voting record.


Here's some info on them. They are BOTH "moderate" Repubs.


Snowe scored a 100% pro-choice voting record as scored by NARAL and consistently votes with Democrats on social issues.



Snowe is a self-described political moderate, whose independence in the Senate often marks her for complaints from more conservative groups, especially over her support for legalized abortion and gay rights. On other social issues like drug policy, travel to Cuba, and censorship issues like government regulation of the media and prohibiting flag-burning, Snowe is quite conservative. In fiscal matters and on defense, Snowe is also generally conservative. She has been long-regarded as a hawk on foreign affairs, supporting both President Clinton's involvement in Kosovo and President George W. Bush's interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, however she recently has criticized the administration's involvement in Iraq. On fiscal matters, she worked with Democrats to reduce the scale of the Bush tax cuts but supported the broad principle of cutting taxes as economic stimulus. She joined fellow Republicans, Sen. Lincoln Chafee and Sen. John McCain in voting against the tax cut bill of 2003. She voted against NAFTA, CAFTA, and most free trade measures. She is a strong supporter of environmental protections. Both Snowe and fellow Maine Senator Susan Collins were reluctant converts to limited gun control following the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. Although she is pro-choice, she has expressed opposition to partial-birth abortion; however, she voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act because she felt it did not include the necessary exemptions.

Snowe lists her top legislative priorities as assisting the growth of small business, prescription drug coverage, and student loan and child care funding.

In the 109th Congress, Snowe worked to ensure passage of a genetic non-discrimination act, which she had previously worked to pass for nearly eight years; opposed cutting loans through the Small Business Administration; offered legislation aimed at reducing the price of prescription drugs and insurance costs for small businesses; and became a leading voice among Congressional Republicans expressing concerns over President Bush's plans for the privatization of Social Security.






Snowe was an important voice during the Senate's 1999 impeachment trial of then-President Bill Clinton. She and fellow Maine Senator Susan Collins sponsored a motion that would have allowed the Senate to vote separately on the charges and the remedy - a "finding of fact" resolution. When the motion failed, Snowe and Collins voted to acquit, arguing that Clinton's perjury did not warrant his removal from office.
Her moderate views have drawn attacks from conservative Republicans; the Club for Growth and Concerned Women for America label her a "Republican in Name Only" ("RINO").


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympia_Snowe

<snip>
Collins, who became a senator in 1996 after a failed campaign for governor in 1994, made an immediate splash upon her arrival in Washington because of her passion for campaign-finance reform -- a passion Snowe shares, though somewhat more quietly. Within months, Collins was the subject of a glowing profile in the New York Times Magazine titled, inevitably, "A Moderate's Moment."<snip>

<snip>
Snowe and Collins, after all, are emphatically pro-choice; they favor campaign-finance reform; Collins opposes the death penalty; and they are not hostile to lesbians and gay men. If they're not exactly liberals, they're certainly a welcome alternative to the standard-issue Republican right-wingers so prevalent in Washington. Their moderate views also put them in an enviably strong position politically. Because even conservative Republicans like winners, it's unlikely that either of them -- Snowe in 2000, Collins in 2002 -- will face a strong primary challenge.<snip>

http://home.earthlink.net/~dkennedy56/phoenix_990917maine.html

edited to add Susan Collins NARAL rating. Pro-CHOICE

[juajen]

7. Indies have been counted on our side already. If it's 50-50

it's Cheney who breaks the tie.

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. They have been?

Then I guess it's up to Snowe and Collins.:( On the abortion issue, that's a GOOD thing though. Snowe is PRO-CHOICE.

That just means we need 51!!!

[SharonAnn]

16. No, he's counted as caucusing with the Dems already! He's in the 50.

[valerief]

3. Depends on who sends them anthraxy letters. nt

[trekbiker]

4. Lieberman... n/t

[seabeyond]

5. we have dems that vote repug reg. we have to remember. a lot of

people are posting once we get power, 51/49 we can fly to the moon, but that isnt a reality and looking at dem votes of past,not going to happen. we need more like 60/40 to have the true power, really 51/49 is in name only

now, i personally can handle this. i see it as a first step. next, in 2008go after the dems in primary that arent voting dem,... but i am hoping people have some sense of reality here

[Greyhound]

9. you are right, and it will lead to nothing being done for the next two

years which will set us up for taking blame on all their clusterfucks. If the script continues to play out as usual we will put up a re:puke:-lite candidate, giving the last SCOTUS nomination to the re:puke:s, thus ensuring the march toward global corporatism continues unabated, which is after all, the real goal.

[seabeyond]

12. with all the progress dean has done and kerry speaking out consistantly

with a handful of other dems that dont tow dnc line, .... i am more optimistic that we will findthe areas we need to go after with a good dem, more confident we can decide our dem in primary (lieberman experience, can do) and be more effective. andthe dems are the big ingredient if we just dem bash and become none effective and take the blame. dems gotta stick together telling truth and attacking, not go for the repug line like we so often do,as so many did with the kerry botched joke

no i am more optimistic. i see we can do it. tkae the time to build a strong dem foundation, not a wobbly half assed put together party that will fall apart as easily as you say. we have smart people

[Greyhound]

14. I hope you are right.

I've just seen this too many times before to get all excited.

Once the sheeple have served their purpose and the elections are over, all the talk of how things should/could be is silenced and it's back to business as usual.

[seabeyond]

15. we could say we were back to business as usual in 2004 but we weren't

we had key dems doing a kick ass job thru out the last couple years,though many seem to easily forget this. again kerry being forefront and boxer, waxler, feingold, murtha and others.... and we had dean putting together the 50 state campaign. all that was being done in the last two years,all that we are here, in this moment was created over last couple years. it may not be as loud, aggressive, obvious or in face as we would like. we may have to go beyond, to subtle and thinking on seeing what we are doing. but it is there if we want to see. it is there if we want to recognize, reinforce and reward.

[salin]

6. probably a few more than would have before the election

the fate of the election losses of some of their GOP 'brothers' at the hands of angry voters will not be lost on some Senators. Look for more periodic efforts at "bipartisanship", to the chagrin of folks like Mitch McConnell, to emerge if the Senate splits and the House goes Dem - so there are more real compromise bills working their way through the legislative gauntlet.

[Dob Bole]

8. Not unless Chafee wins...but it really depends on the issue

There are a few GOP moderates who vote with Democrats on environmental issues, minimum wage, etc. Any right-wing bills that pass the Senate would be stopped in the House, but any that pass the Senate would go to the President and he would have to deal with them in front of everybody. If we have even 50-50, we rule Congress.

[lastknowngood]

13. oUR PROBLEM IS WE HAVE 8 OR 10 REPUGS THAT ARE HOLDING DEM SEATS

Like Looserman and the Nelson twins they may well flip or vote for a repug leader. That is how fucked we are