(Cont. from Part 1) But one thing about Dunham's piece that caught my eye is the suggestion that it's the Democrats' increasing partisanship that is leading Southern Democratic Senators like Louisiana's John Breaux to give up the fight for re-election. He quotes Breaux as saying that "cooperation and legitimate compromise between our political parties [is now] seen as political failure."
It's hard to deny the increasing partisanship. But the Democrats are lagging in the game. Breaux's homestate Senate colleague Mary Landrieu faced that reality in 2002. She supported Bush and the Republicans on the Patriot Act and the Iraq war resolution. But they went after her all-out in her re-election campaign in 2002.
There was a time, not so long ago, when acts of bipartisanship were reciprocated by the national party by at least showing some restraint in campaiging against their bipartisan allies. No more. The Republicans just don't play by those rules any longer. The Democrats can't afford not to take full account of the fact that the rules have changed.
3 comments:
Yes, it seems to me to be more cultural than racial. There are a lot of anti-gun control, anti-abortion, anti-gay rights attitudes. I think that most of these conservatives are missing the big picture and voting against their economic interests.
One of the big problems is that these Southern Dems.: Landrieu, Breaux, Zell Miller, etc. are too conservative, going along with the GOP on too much and offering no progressive alternatives.
And it's hard to see what Democrats like Breaux and Miller have been getting in return for their compromising attitude. Miller's endorsement of Bush is just ridiculous. Although Miller's overall voting record, I'm told, has been more liberal than John McCain's, it's hard to see how the Democrats can function successfully in the current partisan environment if they try to accomodate "Democratic" members of Congress that endorse the Presidential candidate of the Republicans. - Bruce
Zell Miller is one of my senators. The other is a Republican, Saxby Chambliss. I get a VoteNote every week that shows how they voted on major issues. Their voting records are virtually identical, except occasionally Zell votes for a part of the Bush agenda that Saxby can't stomach.
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