Gephardt Absence Gives GOP Slim Victory

[Khephra]

Gephardt Absence Gives GOP Slim Victory

By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP)--Democratic presidential hopeful Dick Gephardt missed a House vote Friday on a Republican-backed bill that would overhaul the landmark Head Start education program, a measure that survived in the House by a hairbreadth margin.

The 217-216 Republican victory came after midnight Thursday and was so tenuous that Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla., recovering from a car accident, was brought in by wheelchair. But Gephardt, the former House Minority leader, had left Thursday evening for a two-day campaign swing through South Carolina, and the Head Start vote became one of hundreds he has missed this year.

The only other lawmaker who failed to make the vote was Democratic Rep. Ed Pastor, who was on a late flight returning from Arizona after attending to his ill father.

The GOP legislation allows up to eight states to apply for control over their Head Start programs, the nation's early education plan for low-income children.

more..............

http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/Washington/AP.V6097.AP-Head-Start-Geph.html

[4dsc]

1. Gephardt missing too many votes

and this is hurting the Dem in th house. Not to mention its getting bad press bad hear in Iowa..

DEAN in 2004!!

[JohnKleeb]

2. this is why I urge union people to support Kucinich

and he has a far better record.

[neuvocat]

3. Stupid son-of-a-bitch.

Way to go with blowing the vote on crucial legistlation.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

4. What a true leader

First, he goes to the Rose Garden to show his support for Bush's dirty war to increase his "viability" as a presidential candidate, then he misses the most important vote to date this year because he is out "campaigning".

Dick Gephardt should be forced to resign in disgrace.

This man is one of the biggest reasons the Democratic Party is where it is today.

Shame. Shame. Shame.

[short bus president]

5. Really.

Like he's got the proverbial snowball's chance in South Carolina, anyway? Time for angry emails. Dick could learn a lot from Kucinich.

[ChillEB]

66. The Short Bus President...

You know, there's an obnoxiously well-honed PC part of me that feels obliged to be offended by your sig-line, TPFKA WhatABilderberger ... but THAT is just way too fucking funny, man ... I love it!

Welcome (back) ShortBus! May your new incarnation bear as much fruit as the last, amigo!

[DoveTurnedHawk]

69. Hear Hear!

This opportunistic, disloyal bastard should be shown the door, pronto.

I never forgave Gephardt for his undercutting of Daschle during the Iraq thing, and I will never forgive him for this. It's time for him to leave.

DTH

[jfxgillis]

6. Absatively ridiculous

This is a total AP slime job.

Tom DeLay had AT LEAST five votes in his pockets if he needed them and you could tell that by watching the vote in real time.

At least four Republicans switched their votes back to "Nay" once it was clear that that vote wasn't needed.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

8. Oh yeah - It's all the media's fault

The media made Dickie go the Rose Garden too...

[jfxgillis]

15. That's not what I said

The AP story claims the Republicans won the vote because Gephardt was absent.

Gephardt's absence had ZERO effect on the outcome. The premise of the article, embedded in the headline "Gephardt Absence Gives GOP Slim Victory," isFALSE.

The Rose Garden is a different issue that stands or falls on its own merits.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

19. Gephardt has fallen on his own merits

That man is everything what we don't need in a Democratic presidential candidate:

Weak
Cowardly
Absorbed in his own fantasies about his candidacy
Without eyebrows
Willing to enable the killing of innocents to further his political ambitions
Unable to lead
Unable to inspire
Ineffectual
A loser
Bereft of moral values
Bereft of vision

[jfxgillis]

22. Fine.

That wasn't my point.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

36. Is this the Media or the Republicans fault?

Gephardt skips 85% of House votes
By Sam Dealey and Sarita Chourey

Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) has missed 162 votes in the House this year — 85 percent of the total — prompting Republicans to charge that he has abandoned his congressional duties in his pursuit of the presidency.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has seized on the absenteeism to point out that several of Gephardt’s missed votes have been on legislative and policy matters that are centerpieces to his campaign.

In his closing statement at the South Carolina debate earlier this month, for example, Gephardt listed the creation of “an Apollo II program to make us independent of foreign oil in 10 years” as one of his top legislative priorities.

Gephardt has missed every vote on energy-related issues this session. House records show Gephardt also missed votes on other issues that are frequent themes in his presidential candidacy, including welfare reform, human cloning, healthcare, homeland security, education and tax cuts.

more.......................

http://www.hillnews.com/news/052003/gephardt.aspx

[jfxgillis]

45. Both?

What difference does it make?

The AP slimes Gephardt with a false premise, then the GOP needles Gephardt on votes the GOP itself KNOWS Gephardt couldn't have altered the outcome on anyway.

The media spread a false charge, the Republicans are playing dirty and you choose to vent your outrage on ..... a Democrat?

[ThorsteinVeblen]

49. What false charge are they spreading?

The Republicans had to wheelchair in a guy to win the vote.

Gephardt has missed 85% of votes in the House this year.

That is not spin. That is negligence. That is putting your presidential ambitions above your duties as an elected representative.

Gephardt has become a traitor since that dark day in the Rose Garden. The people providing excuses for him are just destroying the Democratic Party by enabling the current leadership. If you seriously want Bush out of office, you will support the removal of the current Democratic leadership. There is no other hope.

2004 will be a repeat of 2002 if changes aren't made. This means the denouncing and removal of people like Dick Gepahardt who are destroying the Democratic Party.

[NewJerseyDem]

50. Democrats will use it too

Do you actually think that Kucinich won't use this against Gephardt? Even Graham, Edwards, Kerry, and Lieberman who all miss a lot of votes will say that they are always there when it matters.

However, I must blame Pelosi a little. Apparently the basic deal is that Pelosi will tell Gephardt to come if his vote matters. The same happens in the senate with Daschle and the presidential candidates. Pelosi didn't think the vote was needed either because she thought it wouldn't pass or that she thought more republicans would vote for it. So, Pelosi never told Gephardt to show up.

[jfxgillis]

55. Maybe

But I tend to doubt it.

If Gephardt were running for re-election it would surely be an issue in his district.

In the meantime, the Dems in the House are giving him a pass, probably based on collegiality and long and faithful service to the Dem caucus.

[Cocoa]

11. the headline is misleading

I don't think the AP is responsible for the headline. The article itself says what you're saying.

I've found that reporter to be very good, or possibly I just like her name.

[jfxgillis]

18. Yer damn right it's misleading ...

.... but the AP does indeed slug their copy, although the headline is frequently changed by subscribers. Here's the AP's own link with the same headline. An AP editor may have added the headline, but AP ist still responsible:

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HEAD_START_GEPHARDT?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[ThorsteinVeblen]

25. Gephardt is misleading

when he calls himself human.

[Cocoa]

7. well, here's the explanation at least

I've been keeping my eye out for an explanation of the other missed vote, the overtime one, but haven't seen it. This explanation probably covers that too.

snip:

``I try to make as many of the votes as I can, but the Republicans tend to produce as many votes as they need to win these things, unfortunately,'' he said during a campaign stop in South Carolina. ``They are in control. They have enough votes to do that.''

The two leading House Democrats echoed Gephardt's assessment, saying even if he had voted against the bill, the Republican leadership would have persuaded another moderate to support it. A tied vote would have meant defeat for the measure.

``The Republicans, they win by one, but they had some in the bank,'' said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. ``That wasn't a one-vote thing.''

[ThorsteinVeblen]

10. Pelosi kissing Dick's ass

When are we going to have real leaders in the Democratic Party?

Excuse after excuse after excuse after excuse. When are our leaders going to stand up for what they (supposedly) believe in? Every candidate with the exception of Howard Dean is already capitulating the 2004 election. THE 2002 STRATEGY DIDN'T WORK!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe they are going to try it again.

[Cocoa]

14. your anger is off the mark

I think Pelosi gave that opinion not to kiss Gep's ass, but to communicate the true meaning of his absence, i.e. that there was no meaning to his absence.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

17. Sounds like an excuse to me

Democrats are constantly having to "reinterpret" events to make them look more favorable to their base.

Case in point: John Kerry "reinterpreting" his vote on the Iraq resolution as "boxing-in" Bush - in fact taking responsibility for the position Bush currently finds himself in. The truth is that if Kerry had voted against the resolution in the first place because there was no jusfication to go to war in Iraq then Bush would've have been in an even tighter spot now. And Kerry would've been venerated as a man with a foreign policy vision.

Pelosi having to provide an excuse for Gephardt's inattention to his job is just that - an excuse. She would'nt need to be out there spinning if Gephardt was worried more about his job then his presidential viability.

The Democratic Party needs leaders, not prevaricating cowards who constantly have to defend their behavior.

[Cocoa]

20. but your interpretation doesn't make sense

to me, at least.

To say Gep's absence was "cowardice" would mean that he avoided the vote because it was somehow controversial. Well, in the case of the overtime vote, it was almost perfectly party-line. I assume the same thing is true of this more recent vote.

If there's no controversy, then it doesn't make sense to talk about cowardice. You'd have a better case if you argued on the basis of laziness or negligence.

The war vote is a different story, since it was so controverial within the party. That vote was more meaningful.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

24. Dick's failure to vote

is a result of his own delusional presidential fantasies. It is also proof that he is willing to sacrifice anything to further what he sees as his "viability" as a presidential candidate.

He will sacrifice American Soldiers, Iraq innocents and now he has shown that he will sacrifice hundreds of thousands of underprivledged American children to further his empty, delusional political ambitions.

Maybe you are right - I should't call Gephardt a coward. I should reserve that moniker for John Kerry. Gephardt might be best described as a moral vaccum, a victim of ambition, a criminal willing to sacrifice the innocent to further his pipe dream of becoming the President of the United States.

[Cocoa]

28. that's all just empty rhetoric

if Gep's failure to vote didn't affect whether that bill was passed, all of that emotional language is misplaced.

My opinion of the war vote is similar, though I'm less sure about it. I always thought the war was going to happen regardless of Congress's action. I can't conceive of Bush abandoning that war for anything. They were planning it right from the start of his term, and his 2004 campaign depended on it. They'd even started military operations ahead of time.

So that vote was not about whether the war would happen, it was about the political situation after the war inevitably happened.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

35. Gephardt skips 85% of House votes this year.

Gephardt skips 85% of House votes
By Sam Dealey and Sarita Chourey

Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) has missed 162 votes in the House this year — 85 percent of the total — prompting Republicans to charge that he has abandoned his congressional duties in his pursuit of the presidency.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has seized on the absenteeism to point out that several of Gephardt’s missed votes have been on legislative and policy matters that are centerpieces to his campaign.

In his closing statement at the South Carolina debate earlier this month, for example, Gephardt listed the creation of “an Apollo II program to make us independent of foreign oil in 10 years” as one of his top legislative priorities.

Gephardt has missed every vote on energy-related issues this session. House records show Gephardt also missed votes on other issues that are frequent themes in his presidential candidacy, including welfare reform, human cloning, healthcare, homeland security, education and tax cuts.

more.......................

http://www.hillnews.com/news/052003/gephardt.aspx

[CTLawGuy]

74. no wait Thorstein

by missing the vote, Gephardt is being good! by missing the vote he's forcing the house republicans to go through the UN before they can pass the bill. Those Dems voting AGAINST the bill are the ones that really want it to pass ;-)

[Aaron]

26. Isn't there an advantage to getting these Repub 'yes' votes on record?

If these people were going to vote no but we can force them to vote yes and have it on the record could that help elect Dem's later? If so I'd say show up for all the votes, if not... then I guess I can see Gep's reason for not showing up. I don't know that I would do the same, but it makes a little more sense.

[retread]

71. Exactly!! Make the weasels show themselves.

*

[Bandit]

9. Gephardt has done numerous good deeds but lately

:shrug: Time to get out and spend time with the family I would venture.

[NNN0LHI]

12. I am no Gephardt fan...

...myself, but I wonder about these close votes lately. We pretty much know the Repugs are dirty, filthy, lying, cheating scoudrals by now. At least I hope we do? But they would never fix these votes so this happens on purpose. Or would they? You know. Say Gephardt has an important fund raising event scheduled somewhere so the Repugs make a vote like this close. If he cancels such an event and lets his supporters down by no showing them and he comes back to vote just one more Repug would vote the other way and still give the Repugs the victory? Just one more adgantage to being the majority party and being able to control the House. I don't think Tom Delay would pull anything like that though. Do you? That is why I don't even post this kind of story when I see it. Know what I mean?

Don

[jfxgillis]

21. Dude

That's EXACTLY what they did.

For chrissakes, I told you I watched it in real time. The vote was like 217-211 or 212 about ten seconds before the gavel came down and the last three or four GOPs NV voted "Aye" followed by an instant switch by another GOP to "Nay" resulting in the final vote.

"Moderate" NorthEast Republicans are fictional pretty little pink unicorns that Delays/Gingriches/Bushes keep around to prevent the GOP from getting wiped out in the NorthEast suburbs.

I Think they're gonna pay the price in '04, though. We picked off three of those scum in '02 despite it being an otherwise disappointing year for the Dems.

[DrBB]

27. I believe that was sarcasm you were reading there

"Irony, ah ha ha ha ha ha. No, we don't get that here."
—Roxanne

Always hard to pick up on forums and email, but I think Don figured he was being broad enough not to put in a </sarcasm> tag.

[jfxgillis]

31. True

I read it too fast and I'm too pissed off to pick up SUBTLE sarcasm (that was also sarcastic) :^{)

Our targets need to be those slimebucket "moderate" Republicans who trade tough vote WITH EACH OTHER to innoculate themselves in the next election.

I'll tell what a you nice DU project would be: Coallating all these close votes and charting out who are the "moderates" in DeLay's pockets. There's been at least five such votes this session. Then the HDCC needs to target EXACTLY those 18 or 20 GOPers with a special campaign.

"Jack Quinn will tell you that he and other supposedly moderate Republicans are a restraint on the conservative extremists in the House GOP leadership, but here's the record:

DeLay wins--Quinn opposes

DeLay wins--Quinn opposes

DeLay wins--Quinn supports

DeLay wins--quinn supports

DeLay wins--Quinn opposes.

Obviously, only a DEMOCRATIC HOUSE can restrain Tom DeLay."

[NNN0LHI]

29. I wasn't home at the time, but it does not take a rocket scientist to...

...figure out what is going on here. What does surprises me is the number of posters to this thread who called Gephardt everything but a motherscratcher, many of whom I consider intelligent, and fall for this kind of crap. Its remarkable. Thanks for the House report too jfxgillis.

Don

[Khephra]

32. I understand your feelings Don, but this % is inexcusable

This is from May 20th, so it's a bit out-of-date, but still relevant.

Gephardt skips 85% of House votes
By Sam Dealey and Sarita Chourey

Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) has missed 162 votes in the House this year — 85 percent of the total — prompting Republicans to charge that he has abandoned his congressional duties in his pursuit of the presidency.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has seized on the absenteeism to point out that several of Gephardt’s missed votes have been on legislative and policy matters that are centerpieces to his campaign.

In his closing statement at the South Carolina debate earlier this month, for example, Gephardt listed the creation of “an Apollo II program to make us independent of foreign oil in 10 years” as one of his top legislative priorities.

Gephardt has missed every vote on energy-related issues this session. House records show Gephardt also missed votes on other issues that are frequent themes in his presidential candidacy, including welfare reform, human cloning, healthcare, homeland security, education and tax cuts.

more.......................

http://www.hillnews.com/news/052003/gephardt.aspx

[ThorsteinVeblen]

34. It's all Delay's fault

He has Gephardt tied up in his Texan basement, force-feeding him Bug Killer. That is the reason why Gephardt has missed 85%(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) of the votes in the house.

<sarcasm off>

[NNN0LHI]

43. You don't understand Kef

When a party controls the house they control when there is a vote and their House whip gets all of their votes into line. Regardless of whether or not Gephardt makes the vote or not the Repubs will win. The Repugs will always have a low man on the totem pole who is the designated bullet taker who will change their vote if Gephardt shows and the guy will need to switch his vote. I want Gephardt raising money and out shaking hands right now. That is what the guy he is running agaist (Bush) is doing right now. Making money hands over fist. Get it? I don't want the Republicans to be narrowing the field of Democratic candidates. That should be up the to Democrats. You may prefer one Dem candidate over another and that is fine. But I want the Dem candidate who has the best chance of beating Bush to win the nomination. I don't care who that is. Winning is all that counts. Gephardt may or may not be the best candidate, but I don't want Tom Delay deciding who is for us. How many people who get themselves all worked up over one candidate will be so upset to the point of being blinded of the truth and will vote for a third party candidate again who has zero chance of beating Bush, and will only hurt the real candidates chance of beating Bush? Think about that for a minute? Sure. I like like a couple of the 9 candidates better then the others, but I want Bush gone so bad I would vote for Satan himself if I thought he could beat Bush. Gephardt's vote in the House is meaningless right now. Please understand that.

Don

[NewJerseyDem]

46. Why doesn't he resign?

There could be a special election and he could go focus on his campaign 100% of the time. It is WRONG for someone to just not vote on 85% of the votes. Also, it is against the rules of the House. He should be expelled. Of course the Republicans have a few votes they can get. But, look at the prescription drugs bill. They didn't have the votes there. They had to allow a drug reimportation vote because of the deal with Emerson. If Gephardt had skipped that vote then the reimportation bill may have never come up and it would never have passed. So, sometimes his vote does matter.

Even if they have the votes I would like to see them use it. All those moderate republicans can go to their home districts and say they defended Head Start and than they will win reelection because they are moderates, independent of party control. But, if he votes than one more of them has to back their district and defend their vote and maybe they will be viewed as more right wing and then they may lose reelection.

[NNN0LHI]

51. Because we need all the seats we can get if the Dems win the House...

...next year by a vote or two. Too many Blue Dog dems who can't ever be trusted. We can work on fixing that problem after we win the House back. First things first.

Don

[NewJerseyDem]

53. He is retiring anyway

The seat will be open in 2004 and republicans might pick it up then. It really doesn't matter that much if they pick it up now or later because he doesn't vote. The democrats can perhaps hold his seat anyway. He should resign. I would even like those senators to leave but they mostly have republican governors so they can't. And at least 2 of them intend to stay past 2004 if the presidential campaign doesn't work out. Also, in the senate every vote really does count a lot. That isn't the case in the house and Gephardt should just focus on his campaign or try to vote as much as possible.

[Khephra]

58. Wait until he misses a vote on a bill that you care about

I understand totally where you are coming from, but if Kucinich can make just about every vote then so can Gephardt. There's no excuse.

[NNN0LHI]

70. Good morning Kef

If Gephardt misses another vote that means a lot to me as this one did, and his vote could not have possibly made a difference in the outcome, I will feel the same way as I did this time. I also will not post any obvious Repug or third party hit piece's like this one that are sure to be disseminated to our "liberal media" about any Dem candidates whether it is Kucinich, Dean, Kerry, or any of them that I am sure will start coming fast and furious as the primaries get nearer. Even though I am sure I will find many of them. I promise I won't. Take care.

Don

[NewJerseyDem]

37. Republican moderates are cowards

You could tell because a lot them didn't vote for a long time. They wanted to vote no but they wanted to see how the vote would turn out. That way they could vote no if their vote wasn't needed. However, when they realized their vote was needed they would vote yes. They don't want to vote no and then change their vote to yes because then it might get reported in the media that they switched and that would be embarrasing.

The republicans brought in Rep. Sullivan of Oklahoma in a wheelchair to vote which just shows how much they knew they were short on votes. But, Gephardt just skips it. Also, he was in Washington earlier that day to vote no on the free trade agreements so that he could kiss up to the labor unions. And that vote overwhelmingly passed and his vote didn't change anything. I guess labor union endorsements matter more to Gephardt than poor children.

If he had voted, one more cowardly moderate republican would have to vote yes. They would have done it but it would reveal how they do whatever the leadership wants. It is unacceptable for someone who is paid by the american people to just not do his job and vote. He should resign and allow for a special election in his district. It isn't like he is running for reelection anyway.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

38. Gephardt should resign now

And let someone else do his job if he cannot do it himself.

[jfxgillis]

40. That's a fair point

except I'm a adraid the Dems have greater chance of losing the seat in Special election than if it's a regular election.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

41. Even if a Republican won the seat, only 15% of the votes would be effected

By not voting in 85% of the votes in the house, Gephardt is effectively voting Republican 85% of the time.

What's the difference?

[NewJerseyDem]

42. Maybe it would be a moderate

We might be able to get some votes out of the new congressman and the Democrats might be picking up votes on some bills.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

44. A socially moderate Republican who voted every time would probably be

better than Gephardt.

[jfxgillis]

47. You're being willfully obtuse

Or perhaps you disagree with the core argument.

The "moderate" Republicans TRADE VOTES so as to ensure that DeLay wins all the close votes while they themselves compile a "record" of "opposition." All a "moderate" Republican in that seat would do is give the pretty pink unicorns another playing partner. Delay would STILL win the close votes.

Do you dispute that assessment?

[NewJerseyDem]

52. I was sort of joking

I was just saying that it really doesn't matter that who is there because Gephardt never shows up. Every once in a while the moderates do vote how they want though. Even though this vote trading goes on I still think occasionally they do vote with the Democrats because they want to and Delay couldn't get them to change their vote even if he wanted to.

[jfxgillis]

54. Yeah

I thought I was replying to Thorsten, who doesn't appear to be sort of joking.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

57. One thing that is not a joke

is Gephardt's Rose Garden appearance and his absence 85% of the time during House votes.

I don't know about you, but I don't find it funny at all.

Not at all.

[jfxgillis]

48. Well, for one thing

About 95% of House votes are all over but the shouting long before the floor votes.

[Avalon Sparks]

13. VOTING

Isn't that their main, or really even ONLY job to do in Congress?

Gephardt SHOULD have been there for this, whether the Repukes had votes in there pocket, or not. I'm disappointed.

How do some Representatives expect us to vote if they don't?

I realize our guys need to raise money, especially going up against the Bush Billionaire Boys Club, but first and foremost, they need to do their JOB.

[Khephra]

16. Even though I'm a Dean supporter

That's EXACTLY why Kucinich is my second choice. He has managed to be there for almost every vote (I think he's only missed a few...very few), and yet I actually see more actual campaigning out of him.

[Avalon Sparks]

23. Me too Khephra~

Dean and Kucinich are my number one and number two choices.

I wasn't aware of Kucinich's voting record, thanks for the info.

[NewJerseyDem]

39. Kucinich knows he won't win

It is very unlikely, but possible, that Kucinich will win. Gephardt think that he has a chance at the nomination so he campaigns much more. Gephardt isn't just campaigning out in public like Kucinich. He is probably also working to line of fundraisers and endorsements. Still, I am impressed by Kucinich's voting record and very dissappointed in Gephardt.

[AnAmerican]

30. You got that right

An elected Representative is sent to DC to VOTE, regardless of whether or not he/she has a Presidential campaign running.

[twilight]

33. do your job Dick Gephardt!

You are being well-paid to be a Congressman but you are far too busy running around campaigning and raising money!!! $$$$$ is all you really care about, not the American people.

We lost this one THANKS TO YOU! Why don't you do the Democratic party a favor and thrown in the towel now before it gets too wet!

:grr:

:kick:

[LynneSin]

56. I tolerated Dick until now

That Head Start program helped alot of disadvantaged children get a headstart and the repukes are trying to destroy it as much as possible.

Thanks for nothing Dick!

[scottxyz]

59. Someday...

Someday this thing called Congress will be replaced by a bunch of concerned citizens logged into a bulletin board on the web - kind of like what we're doing now.

[ILeft]

65. It's happened. Unfortunately we matter about as much as the ...

...old "thing called Congress." We are officially out of the equation. Sound and fury signifying nothing. It's over. The America anyone over the age of two grew up with is dead. We've all been replaced. We're fucked.

I'm not kidding.

[Name removed]

60. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Pallas180]

61. BWAAAAA. hahahaha. Bush WONT win-unless he fixes machines again

and this time we'll get out in the streets and sit down.
NO work. No businesses open. No nothing.

WE'll all pretend we're in Italy.

[ChillEB]

64. You know, I love Esquivel...

You, however, pretty much suck.

Enjoy your stay, buck-o. I'm betting it's going to be quite short. In fact, it's gonna be so short that I miss you already.

Or Not...

[annagull]

67. Liars and the lying lies they tell, eh esquivel?

Your boy is in the toilet, and Captain rove is all out of ammo for him. It's all downhill from here, Ese.

[Kurovski]

62. With all due respect

Gephardt should go back to where he can make a difference. He's not going to be president.

[JackSwift]

63. He's a loser

This isn't the first time either.

[jamesinca]

68. He did not think his vote would have mattered.

It would have pulled it into a tie, idiot. He said the republicans have a way of getting the votes they need so his would not matter, is this somebody that should be in charge of this country. Is this the reason that you are no longer the house minority leader. Richard "the jelly fish" Gephardt.

[Best_man23]

72. Mr. Gephardt....

Please, drop out of the Presidential race and go back to the House so you can vote against the thugs who are ruining our country.

[MaineDem]

73. He could come out of this looking ok

Granted, that Head Start vote is history but if Gephardt were to back out of the Prez race and stress how important his vote is in Congress
he could look better for it. I know I'd respect him more.

Won't happen though. :-(