-
Dick Morris’ Bad Entitlements Advice
April 1, 2013 | 41 comments
-
Will Welker Walk?
March 11, 2013 | 273 comments
-
Not Yet Elite, But Pretty Neat
February 5, 2013 | 8 comments
-
The Harbaugh Bowl
January 22, 2013 | 33 comments
-
Tom Terrific
January 14, 2013 | 55 comments
The Congressional Spectator
The Democrats’ Left Turn
The survivors of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid wreck are more liberal than ever before.
(Page 2 of 2)
From the Club for Growth to the Tea Party, conservatives have enjoyed increasing success mounting primary challenges within the GOP. Last year, conservatives were even willing to risk losing the general election to defeat moderate to liberal primary candidates anointed by the party establishment. Angry progressives have not been as successful. Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) all survived liberal primary challenges. The biggest scalp on the netroots’ wall belongs to Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who bounced back from his 2006 primary loss to defeat Ned Lamont that November.
Democrats like Lincoln ended up losing to more conservative Republicans rather than insurgent progressives. Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS), easily the most conservative Democrat in Congress, lost his House seat based simply on his vote for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker. That’s why Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC), one of the Blue Dogs who held on last year, made a show of running against Pelosi for minority leader. So swing-state Democrats may decide to buck the liberal tide. No less a liberal than Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) flip-flopped and ultimately voted for an extension of the tax cuts.
THE LIBERAL TEMPER TANTRUM could end up helping one Democrat: President Obama. In his presentation of the tax deal with Republicans, Obama demonstrated his visceral distaste for triangulation. The Obama who once mocked Bill Clinton’s school uniforms proposal had to trot out Clinton to make public case for the deal, since he was personally unable to do so without rebuking the Republicans. But House Democrats tried to push so far to the left on the issue that Obama couldn’t help but be to their right.
Then again, liberal dyspepsia could also complicate triangulation by denying Obama any meaningful Democratic support for future deal-cutting with Republicans. Obama-backed policies that become law only through the votes of Republicans and Blue Dogs will deflate his liberal base ahead of the 2012 presidential campaign. The reason Clinton could afford to triangulate was that liberals felt they couldn’t do any better after three straight election losses to Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Today’s liberals are in a much different mood.
If liberals keep pushing Democrats to the left of Obama, people will no longer ask if the party has learned anything from electoral defeat. Instead they will have to ask another question: Do the Democrats have a death wish?
About the Author
W. James Antle, III, author of the new book Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?, is editor of the Daily Caller News Foundation and a senior editor of The American Spectator. You can follow him on Twitter @jimantle.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (47) | Leave a comment
More Articles by W. James Antle, III
More Articles From The Congressional Spectator
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/02/24/the-democrats-left-turn
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- The Demise of Money and Credit
- Public Nuisances
- Inside the Gates of Eden
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Mike D.| 2.24.11 @ 7:46AM
Explain to me how any of these Demunnists are father left than the marxist ideologue now occupying the White House. Blue Dogs? When the hammer comes down they vote with the leftists come hell or high water. A Blue dog is a Demunnist who poses as a centrist(a wet finger wind direction tester) to get elected in a conservative district, nothing more. Saying Pelosi is farther left than the Comrade chairman is like saying Trotsky was farther left than Lenin when they both were within 3 feet of the left field fence.
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 2.24.11 @ 8:37AM
Exactly Mike!! That's why they still get confused about the Nazis to this very day. The Nazis were to the right of the Commies, which is why some people think that Nazis were right-wingers, they weren't, they just weren't as far to the Left as the Commies by a few friggin' inches, big freakin' deal. Blue Dog Democrats or Liberal/Progressives, it doesn't matter, they still share about 90% of the same beliefs, which isn't too far away by degree to the Nazis or the Commies, left is left, and it's wrong.
Stan Redmond| 2.24.11 @ 11:02AM
They just use different language to hide they are indeed left of Marx.
WRTolkas| 2.24.11 @ 8:05AM
I agree with Mike D. What is a Blue Dog? A Blue Dog was a cheap date who forgot who brought them to the party. They abandoned their constituency and danced with the wicked witch of the west. Good riddance says I.
Mike D.| 2.24.11 @ 10:01AM
While I agree with this article, trying to differentiate between leftists is like trying to nitpick the differences between marbles. While they may have different colors, spots, stripes, etc. they are roll in the same direction, to the left!
John II| 2.24.11 @ 2:27PM
Blue dog schmoo-dog. This all puts me in mind of Malcolm Muggeridge, who, in his last years, referred frequently to the "liberal death wish."
And speaking of dogs, it also puts me in mind of Proverbs 26:11: "Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool that repeats his folly."
saleboter| 2.24.11 @ 8:12AM
What used to be the democrat party is now truely the socialist party.
JP| 2.24.11 @ 8:18AM
The Left have several electoral firewalls. From Marin Coutny to Westchester to Cook County to Los Angles County. However, if the 2010 mid-terms are any indication, they will continue to lose signifiicant seats in state legislatures and governor mansions. For it was there where the 2010 shellacking occured. In Red and Purple states like Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin the Dems will lose between 2-6 seats. Next year, 23 Democratic Senate seats are up for grabs. The GOP only has defend half that number, and only 5-6 will be in play. The Dems could lose between 12-18 seats in the Senate.
And to make matter worse for the Democrats are surging oil prices. For it was historically high oil prices which more than anything popped the real estate bubble in 2008. Our amenic recovering could come to a screeching halt this summer of energy prices continue to march towards $200/barrel. Much of that cost is the Bernecke Premium.
Louis Jenkins| 2.24.11 @ 9:01AM
Correct Mr. JP. If oil prices surge, which they will, the Obama administration is toast. Doesn't matter if Obama approves, for our economy, what's left of it, will tank. Yes, we will suffer.
Deborah D | 2.24.11 @ 10:04AM
The latest threat to Americans actually getting the representatives they want is the fight by the Obama Administration to get in the middle of the redistricting plans in the South and several other states. The Justice Department wants to draw the redistricting lines. This is how far the Democrats have come, and they will just keep it up until there is no such thing as laws or rules...anarchy. You can read Hans Von Spakovsky on this here:
http://www.nationalreview.com/.....sky?page=1
Al Adab| 2.24.11 @ 10:44AM
D D: can we call you DeeDee? LOL :)
Thanks for the link, very interesting. We must remember that the people now running this administration and the Dem party at large have been mentored by the radicals of what we causually call "The sixties". It was not a good time as a re-read of The Kumquat Statement will demonstrate. Bill Ayers, Bernadette Dohrn et al are not the example we would wish to follow. The Dem party of today, with the redistributionist goal, makes McGovern look moderate. As they attempt to pose as the center we must remember who in fact they are and what their agenda for our citizens really is. Today is not 1969 but all too many seem to wish it were.
teaghan| 2.24.11 @ 8:36AM
Let the jobs situation worsen, let the oil prices surge upward. If that's what it takes to get rid of this current White House occupant, I will gladly suffer some more.
davelnaf| 2.24.11 @ 8:47AM
With Obama’s election the Democratic Party has caught more than a political cold. But it continues in its old ways and believes that the machine works as well as it ever did. The Democratic Party will keep playing its games until it comes down with full blown political pneumonia, in which case voters will euthanize it without the benefit of a death panel.
Derek Leaberry| 2.24.11 @ 9:18AM
Ironically, Steny Hoyer is a 95 % down-the-line liberal who has been forced to feint to the center to placate the conservative portions of his district. Because a radical interpretation of the Voting Rights Amendment forced Maryland in 1991 to create a black-majority district centered on Prince George's County, Steny was sent south to carve his own district. Allowed to keep some very Democratic parts of Prince George's County to sustain himself electorally, Hoyer's new district has been centered on conservative south Anne Arundel County, Calvert County and St. Mary's County where he puts on a show as a moderate Democrat. A Southern accent has helped. But it is all a lie. The political differences between Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi are about as much as there was between Tip O'Neill and Jim Wright a generation before- not much.
JP| 2.24.11 @ 9:40AM
Much the same thing happend in Indiana when Evan Bayh and Pat Bauer ran things in the 1990s. They carved out carefully drawn districts that contained either large colleg towns or decaying union cities. Rep Joe Donnelly's 3rd District ran from South Bend (Notre Dame and a big union nieghborhoods) to Kokomo (heavily UAW). The small rural towns in between couldn't compensate. Fortunatly, this district will be gone by the end of the year, and Joe Donnelly has given signals that he wishes to spend more time with his family.
Derek Leaberry| 2.24.11 @ 10:56AM
Redistricting is a lovely thing, especially when the good guys draw the lines. Donnelly looks to be gone as does Dennis Kucinich in Ohio. In North Carolina, there is a distinct possibility that 3 Blue Dogs- McIntyre, Shuler and Kissell- may become 1 as McIntyre and Kissell are matched and Shuler has Asheville drawn from his SW district and given to Watts' heavily gerrymandered, black majority district, making Shuler's district much more Republican. However, here in Maryland, it is supposed that newly elected conservative Andy Harris will be on the receiving end of redistricting mischief.
Tenn Slim| 2.24.11 @ 10:08AM
Global events in the Med will take precedence over most of the article.
While the Left rants and raves about who did what to whom, the world moves on.
OBAMA and his Czars are doing enough damage to satisfy any Liberal, any Leftist.
We have another opportunity to effect change. It is the NET. E Mails to these recalcitrant, politicos, ensconsced in DC, do make a difference.
Again, educate your mind, write, post, read, get off the couch.
end
Semper FI
Purple Lips| 2.24.11 @ 10:18AM
The GOP political fortunes aren't so bad that $5/gallon gas won't cure. But, then again the GOP is known for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
And I wager that as I write this, Rep Waxman is preparing a statement that calls for an investigation into BIG OIL and its immoral profiteering.
John II| 2.24.11 @ 2:35PM
Okay with me, so long as Rep Issa conducts a very lengthy investigation into the particularly corrupt political manifestations of the American Left in its cultural amorality and preferential option for violence and fascism.
Meanwhile, have a nice day, Purp.
rjh| 2.24.11 @ 10:18AM
It's not so much that they haven't learned (the learning concept does not apply to them). They are in sheer panic mode. Some of them realize what they have done to their party with the election of obama followed by their arrogant, childish overreach. They are heading for extinction.
russel| 2.24.11 @ 10:34AM
Frightening that voters keep re-electing downright socialist's hell bent on destroying our country . A demented , dangerous Pelosi coasts through unwrinkled . What , on this God's Earth , will it take to get their head right , because it's turned around backward in the voting booth .
Al Adab| 2.24.11 @ 10:46AM
The Congressional "Progressive" caucus boasts some 75 members. You are right. Why do voters keep returning avowed Socialists to office? We vote for our own destruction.
Purple Lips| 2.24.11 @ 1:33PM
Ever hear of Gerrymandering. Of course Obama's DOJ is about to declare Republican gerrymandered districts unconstitutional based on the simple fact that there are not enough disabled tatooed lesbians of Intuit descent living there.
glenny| 2.24.11 @ 1:49PM
"A demented , dangerous Pelosi coasts through unwrinkled ."
Russel, Pelosi is from San Francisco. Need I say more? glenny
MikeD| 2.24.11 @ 10:36AM
Keep your powder dry and prepare for the worst. These criminals and thugs will continue to push and push decent Americans until everything explodes around us. I wonder what barry the muslim and his fellow thugs will do when they declare martial law and order the military and police to fire on their friends and families and the guns get pointed at THEM.
I've been told more than once by military officers and police that they took an oath to: "Protect and defend the people and the Constitution of the United States of America." They SPECIFICALLY state that does NOT mean that they will protect corrupt politicians and criminals that pervert the laws and traditions of our nation. We live in very dangerous times.
gazinya| 2.24.11 @ 10:50AM
I can't or won't ask my God to give me the wisdom that moves the progressive through their thought process. There is a soul death amongst these people and what I see keeps them, mostly, in the bubble of unreality is that they have protected themselves from reality. I would like to see ALL members of Congress to pay, from their paychecks, all of their needs with no subsidies. They could write off 'unreimbursed' expenses that would be necessary but it would mean that they would have to list every deduction as 'unreimbursed'. No more retirement, pay into Social Security, get the same medical that they impose, no free automobiles, food, housing, schools, no nothing that they personally couldn't pay for. Would this eliminate all but the rich? Maybe but why do rich people spend millions to get a job that pays less than 200 grand/yr? If Congress was occupied by 'citizen reps' then I wouldn't have to wonder why someone who is as undereducated as myself, could make economic mince meat out of these career Lucifarians.
Jeff R| 2.24.11 @ 11:06AM
"If liberals keep pushing Democrats to the left of Obama, people will no longer ask if the party has learned anything from electoral defeat. Instead they will have to ask another question: Do the Democrats have a death wish?"
We can only hope...
Purple Lips| 2.24.11 @ 1:36PM
Obama can always declare martial law and appont Janet Napolitano as Field Marshall for Life. She would actually look quite hansome in uniform. I suggest she wear an old Prussian Field Marshall's uniform with matching baton. If one cannot be had, Omar Ghadaffi won't be needing his any time soon. And his come with shiny medals!
Dean| 2.24.11 @ 6:51PM
Speaking of field marshals, I'd bet that Janet Napolitano could grow a mustache to rival that of World War I German field marshal Paul von Hindenburg. Check out a photo of him on Google Images!
Oldefarte| 2.24.11 @ 1:39PM
As previously indicated here, the Democratic Party is slowly dying a political death due to its liberalism. Bill Clinton demonstrated by his masqueraded liberalism that moderation [New Democrats] was the only possible avenue of success for their party. Previously to his success, the Kennedy-Johnson-Carter-Dukakis-Humphrey-Mondale model had simply failed against Republicans. Clinton and Kennedy battled for supremecy control of the party, and Kennedy ultimately succeeded [due to Bush's getting the country booged down in Middle Eastern wars after 9/11/01 and the voting public's eventual tiring of same]. Kennedy used his family's monetary and political influences to trojun-horse Obama [by disguising him as a moderate] into the White House. As the old FOOL-ME-ONCE-BUT NEVER-AGAIN saying goes, hopefully the taxpayer-voters have now learned who/what is now running [and in charge of] this country. We will either go one of two ways in November of 2012----either reversing course and going in a more conservative fashion with a Republican president, or into total economic and political destruction. The choice is ours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
old white guy| 2.24.11 @ 3:47PM
unfortunately you are wrong. the terminally stupid in the u.s. will continue down the path of communisim until the u.s. is destroyed and all the words will not stop it. those who fail to act will regret all the words and no action. you are in for a deadly and painful experience. why? because you have voted to put money in your pockets. read your founders.
Oldefarte| 2.24.11 @ 4:25PM
Huh.......make sense [and capitalize, etc]!!!!!!!
martin j smith| 2.24.11 @ 3:06PM
I do not get the notion that Obama could triangulate at all. With whom will he triangulate ? Anyway you look at it, Obama's actions from his budget to his stated support of Government Unions ( in spite of his later denial ) and his inept response to the Middle East Crisis. Obama again and again distinguishes himself as the worst President in my lifetime. And you talk about triangulation ? Even Clinton did better than that and that is not saying much at all.
old white guy| 2.24.11 @ 3:43PM
commies are one trick ponies.
PattyMor| 2.24.11 @ 4:01PM
When you dangle "free stuff" in front of the lazy and welfare queens, they will take it every time. They don't care where the money comes from and what distruction it wrecks. We are near the tipping point on several fronts: the budget is a disaster and we can't afford the welfare any longer, we can't afford the entitlements, and we are surrounded by communists and Islamists all working for our distruction.
But its much too kind to call the Democrats leftists; they are hard core communists/marxists.
Oldefarte| 2.24.11 @ 4:29PM
WHATEVER you wish to call/name them, they are not worthy of election to ANY POLITICAL OFFICE and should never be allowed to represent the American people!!!!!!!!!!!!
David| 2.24.11 @ 6:34PM
I fear the voters will once again return Bam Bam to office. They will be happy to have decent majorities in the House and Senate, and a divided government by continuing with our first black president. Since November 2010, his poll numbers are already up about 10%. Just wait until he does one or two things that even most of us like and he is certain to be re-elected.
It is said, but with more than 45% who pay zero fed income taxes, and with more than 50% of voters who are morons, I don't see any way of turning out the first black prez in American history after one term. I just don't think it's gonna happen.
missbosslady| 2.25.11 @ 10:53AM
David,
You assume that the same enthusiasm will be there in 2012, but that fails to take into account the kind of folks that were moved to the polls in 2008.
This is the style over substance crowd and I'm afraid that the re-election campaign will not be found to be as sexy as the first go around. I believe that a significant number of Obama/2008 voters will not turn out in 2012.
In addition, he's losing the independents at a rapid clip and conservatives are on an ascension.
I think that the Fleebaggers are emblematic of what is happening across the country, the right is on the march and left is in retreat.
We need to keep a constant and steady pressure on Republicans not to fold as it seems that they need to be continually reminded of what is expected. Like an insecure lover Republican politicians need to be repeatedly reassured.
Tom in Michigan| 2.25.11 @ 9:22AM
I've heard repeated calls for a third party to fix whatever is supposedly wrong with the Republicans (too much spending under Bush, too many RINOs, etc.) , a role many presume is being filled by the Tea Party. I think, more than a new conservative party; we need a new Jeffersonian Democratic Party that will return to its roots as the party of the worker and the "yeoman farmer" envisioned by the Sage of Monticello. What's left of the modern Democrats is a crypto-Marxist abomination of Thomas Jefferson's vision. If there are any classical liberals - the ones who gave us Civil Rights, for example - left out there, I hope they'll take heed and boot the Alinskyites, save their party and perhaps even the nation.
missbosslady| 2.25.11 @ 10:39AM
Blue Dogs are the beards of the Democratic party, or simply the useful idiots. They are Blue Dogs to the extent that it will get them elected in conservative leaning districts, but that is the extent of it. Once ensconed they vote with the party almost down the line.
If today's Blue Dogs are as conservative as they would have the public believe, then they could not possibly remain in the Democrat party, as the party has moved so far to the left.
I would venture a guess that at least a few of the Wisconsin chain gang refer to themselves as Blue Dogs, which at this stage of the game seems disingenuous, to say the least.
I too was most encouraged by the 2010 gains at the state levels. I think this is where the real victories need to continue. I can think of no better way to fight an encroaching federal government than with solid red states. Many of the 2010 state winners are making bold moves that provide some reason for hope.
Local fights are where it's at now, truly a bottom up strategy that has merit.
In my south Florida county we are set to vote in March on two recalls; the mayor and one commissioner. Very encouraging, indeed.
MacDaddy| 2.25.11 @ 11:42AM
There's not a dime's bit of difference between any of 'em. To use a colorful phrase once attributed to the late, not-so-great Senator Huey Long, trying to pick a blue dog from a liberal is like trying to "pick gnat sh!t outta pepper."
Richard Baker| 2.25.11 @ 6:38PM
Let the Dimwits keep mouthing off. Next year approaches. I agree with Rush that we should always keep a few of them around as a reminder. Aging hippies and Baby Boomers who can't get their way are fun to watch.
Robert Lynn| 2.26.11 @ 4:15PM
Obama has not moved to the centre and never will. He will say anything do anything to be re-elected and failing that zerO will have to move to the UN sooner than planned.
Rick| 2.26.11 @ 10:27PM
Your a rasist!
Richard Baker| 2.28.11 @ 8:22AM
Rick:
Is English a new language with you?
Reebok | 8.11.11 @ 2:51AM
is good
العاب | 4.11.12 @ 5:23PM
Ever hear of Gerrymandering. Of course Obama's DOJ is about to declare Republican gerrymandered districts unconstitutional based on the simple fact that there are not enough disabled tatooed lesbians of Intuit descent living there.