[Speed Gibson,
Thursday August 10, 2006 at 9:50am]
The Party Leaves Joe
Ronald Reagan, raised a Democrat, was fond of saying "I didn't leave the party, the party left me." Rebuffed in the primary, Senator Joseph Lieberman is not going to switch parties, but his party has left him anyway, essentially over a single issue. The issue? The war on terror? National defense? No, it's really his refusal to take up his pitchfork against President Bush. So now Lieberman has filed as an independent, with excellent chances to win the general election.
I compare this to what happened to Republican Senator Bob Packwood of Oregon. Ann Coulter's Slander recounts his history and trouble, describing how the Left turned on him once they no longer needed his "moderate" votes on their issues. His personal shortcomings and scandals were well-known for years, but largely ignored while the Left pandered to him.
The Republicans have had their moments, too, like the very conservative Michelle Bachman's outster of the rather liberal Gary Laidig, a 28 year incumbent. But this was a fair fight, and the voters decided it. It wasn't at the level shown in the recent St. Paul Mayoral race, or by the Ned Lamont campaign for that matter.
This is spilling over into our local politics; again I cite the single issue victory of Coleman over Kelly in St. Paul, that issue being hatred of George W. Bush. In the DFL primary, endorsed candidate Keith Ellison owns the Bush-hatred issue. He is also very liberal on most other issues. But moderation is no longer valued in the DFL, so I think his challengers are trying to be even more hard-left on specific issues like the environment (Erlandson) and health care (Reichgott-Junge).
I don't have an answer or a cure. I just wish we could get back to rational debates on real issues, not mere races to the left or right.
I compare this to what happened to Republican Senator Bob Packwood of Oregon. Ann Coulter's Slander recounts his history and trouble, describing how the Left turned on him once they no longer needed his "moderate" votes on their issues. His personal shortcomings and scandals were well-known for years, but largely ignored while the Left pandered to him.
The Republicans have had their moments, too, like the very conservative Michelle Bachman's outster of the rather liberal Gary Laidig, a 28 year incumbent. But this was a fair fight, and the voters decided it. It wasn't at the level shown in the recent St. Paul Mayoral race, or by the Ned Lamont campaign for that matter.
This is spilling over into our local politics; again I cite the single issue victory of Coleman over Kelly in St. Paul, that issue being hatred of George W. Bush. In the DFL primary, endorsed candidate Keith Ellison owns the Bush-hatred issue. He is also very liberal on most other issues. But moderation is no longer valued in the DFL, so I think his challengers are trying to be even more hard-left on specific issues like the environment (Erlandson) and health care (Reichgott-Junge).
I don't have an answer or a cure. I just wish we could get back to rational debates on real issues, not mere races to the left or right.
That's something that will never happen as long as the Kos Kidz are running the show!