DCCC Chair Steve Israel: Caving On Medicare Benefits Would Devastate Candidate Recruitment - DlyKos

[WillyT]

DCCC Chair Steve Israel: Caving on Medicare benefits would devastate candidate recruitment
by Jed Lewison for Daily Kos
SAT JUL 09, 2011 AT 09:00 AM PDT


<snip>

File this under things that are so obvious that it's amazing that they need to be said:

WASHINGTON -- Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Steve Israel warned lawmakers on Friday that he would have trouble recruiting candidates for office if the party caved on Medicare during the debt ceiling negotiations.

The comments came during a closed-door caucus meeting. Multiple sources confirmed the remarks, describing them as "impassioned."

"He said recruits would not consider running if Democrats did not stand up for Medicare," one attendee told The Huffington Post. "He added that national polling showed a seismic shift against House Republicans after the Ryan budget because of Medicare."

<snip>

More: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/09/992661/-DCCC-Chair-Steve-Israel:-Caving-on-Medicare-benefits-would-devastate-candidate-recruitment

:kick:

[villager]

1. well, if the Dems will themselves to go the way of the Whigs, then another party might fill the void

n/t

[jaxx]

2. Ha ha

[villager]

7. Well, nice reasoned discussion point there...

:shrug:

[kenny blankenship]

6. Hopefully they can be convinced not to jump off this bridge if we make it plain

what kind of consequences will follow on a Medicare + Social Security sell-out.

Clearly there is a fifth column (called the Third Way) which is following a long range plan of privatizing and ending these party-defining programs. They have to be resisted with the only weapon available to the rank and file of the Party, which is our vote.

[Rex]

3. Simple choice, do the obvious thing or become a pariah among the people.

We will see how much power The People have after 2012.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. YA THINK?

[MisterP]

5. that might be the plan, so that they can howl "in '10 and '12 them libs

sat on their hands, and now look!"
which, even if it were true, completely sidesteps the fact that the ConservaDems' performance was so poor that nobody in good conscience could vote for them (though they will say that's the GOP does such a bad job that nobody in good conscience can vote for them)
of course, as long as the Loyalty Brigades can keep the mask from slipping off entirely for just enough people, they can resist political turnover