Whatever happened to Democratic politicians with a spine?

[NightTrain]

Oh, that's right: the DLC ousted them all. :grr::nuke:

[geomon666]

1. Could be

I think most of them died with Kennedy. It's really been downhill ever since.

[ramapo]

3. Yep....

I'm feeling pretty disgusted...Where's Kerry? Where was Gore?

How come there was no fix for the voting problems?

How come the guy who won the debates lost the election?

[rodeodance]

2. hearts are heavy and their minds are thinking at the moment

......Shrum made his remarks in an appearance at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with James Carville, chief strategist of Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign, and Stan Greenberg, a Democratic pollster. The session started out as a clinical dissection of what went right for Bush and wrong for Kerry.
But it quickly became a blunt, emotional discussion of the future of the Democratic Party - a high-decibel preview of countless conversations that will occur as Democrats try to figure out how to retake the White House after winning only twice in the past seven elections.

"I'm not in denial. Reality hit me," Carville said. "Let's take the greatest morality story of all - we're born again," he added, in a play on words connoting both his view that the party needs a fundamental change, as well as the importance of evangelical Christians to Bush.

"We have to treat the disease, not the symptom," Carville said. "The purpose of a political party is to win elections, and we're not doing that."

Carville said that the party's concern about interest groups had resulted in "litanies, not a narrative."

"The party needs a narrative," he said. adding later that one possibility would to become "an aggressively reform, anti-Washington, anti-business-as-usual party." .......

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/111004D.shtml

'Fired Up' Kerry Returning to Senate
By Mike Allen
The Washington Post

Tuesday 09 November 2004

Aides say he wants to act as counter to Bush, and possibly run in 2008.

[Liberal Veteran]

4. Here is a pictoral representation of what happened to them...

[quiet.american]

Hilarious

n/t

[RyomaSakamoto]

5. $$$

the 'new dems' changed course to cozy up to big biz like the reTHUGs do and don't even think of criticizing it to the true believers or they'll call you ignorant of the complex workings of politics :crazy:

[Zinfandel]

6. Or were killed...these greedy ruthless lying republican fascist will

stop at nothing. Surely someone standing in their way is just part of the process..not even a thought or a look back...these are very sick power & money is EVERYTHING, don't dare get in our way insects.

[journalist3072]

7. Democrats With a Spine

It saddens me to say this, but it seems like the only Democrats with a spine these days are the African-American representatives in the House.

They have showed us over the years that they know how to speak truth to power.

To this day, I am still angry that when the members of the Congressional Black Caucus protested the Florida outcome, when Congress met to certify the results of the 2000 race, they could not get even ONE Senator to sign on to their protest. Democrats complained about the Florida outcome, but when the rubber met the rode, they would not stand up and protest in Congress.

[NightTrain]

8. I love the Congressional Black Caucus. They rock!

So I'll modify my original statement. There are, in fact, Democratic politicians with a spine, but there aren't nearly enough of them!

[journalist3072]

10. CBC

You're right. There aren't nearly enough of them. The CBC has just been amazing. They went to the White House and demanded that George Bush meet with them about the situation in Haiti, when the Bushies were engineering the ouster of Aristide. They told the White House they would not leave until Bush met with them.

To me, they have been the true voice of the Democratic Party.

Look at Barbara Lee. When everyone else was so caught up in the flag that they couldn't see the dangers of the Patriot Act, she was one of the lonely members of the House to stand up and say wait a minute. Let's look at this.

[quiet.american]

20. Then, typically --

-- Bush used that against Kerry during the debates when he said he had "met" with the CBC.

[Maat]

12. Maxine Waters and The CBC rock!

But, other than the Democrats there, there are no Democrats with a spine.

This is going to be unpopular, but here goes:

1. Maybe we should stick by our values and principles and articulate them loudly and clearly.

2. Maybe then we would not look like 'flip-floppers,' and we might even look sincere.

3. I, for one, do not trust a word James Carville says. Until he parts ways with the Enemy, I don't want him anywhere near my party.

[Liberal Christian]

9. Hey, hey, hey!!!!

What about Russ Feingold?????

The only senator to vote against the Patriot Act, against the IWR.

The man has a spine.

[NightTrain]

11. See post #8.

[Maat]

13. Yes, he is one with spine.

Thanks. I forgot.

You don't hear him abandoning his principles left and right.

[Liberal Christian]

21. In fact, Russ's campaign t-shirt has a spine printed on the back!

http://www.russfeingold.org/feingear.php

Jeanny

[Liberal Christian]

19. I can't remember where I heard this

. . . but I think it was on Randi Rhodes' show on AAR a few months ago.

Apparently, the reason that no Senator signed on to the Congressional Black Caucus protest shown in F911 was part of a horse trade to have an even division of committee chairmanships in the (then) 50-50 Senate. This was before Jeffords became an independent, rendering the previous agreement unnecessary.

Gore helped broker this and, apparently, did not want the challenge to proceed.

At least that's what I remember hearing on the radio one day while driving through Wisconsin.

Jeanny

[Mojambo]

14. They "scream."

And we just can't have that!

I'm perilously close to giving the Democratic party a big FU goodbye.

[Wind Dancer]

22. I am a lifelong Democrat but have been

thinking of what it stands for now. We need to embrace our core beliefs and proudly use the word liberal, reframe the Orwellian/Rove language and fight back.

[Blue_Roses]

15. Help me understand the DLC

I had never heard of it until 2 years ago and I still don't quite know what their function is. What is their purpose?

[Mojambo]

16. Their purpose

is to beat the Republicans in the scramble to the top of Corporate Whoredom Mountain.

[Redleg]

17. How about John Conyers?

Duh.

[Robeson]

18. Or their airplanes...

...happened to fall out of the sky. Remember Wellstone?

[Lindacooks]

27. Exactly. Senator Wellstone was the voice of sanity

and such a wonderful person. I will go to my grave believing he was assassinated by the reich wing assholes now in power.

[Robeson]

29. No doubt. Sad.

[quiet.american]

23. Crickets

There are Democrats who continually stand up to and point out the emperor has no clothes, yet when they do, their colleagues don't get their back, and they're all too often left standing alone, speaking to an empty House chamber, with crickets practically chirping in the background.

Remember Senator Byrd's great "Today I weep for my country" speech? There was complete silence from the Democratic leadership; Gephardt, Pelosi and Daschle were too busy "supporting the president" in the Rose Garden.

[Maat]

26. Boy, I liked that speech!

Too bad our officials didn't listen, and too bad it did not stop us from doing more stupid things!

[mzmolly]

24. If the media doesn't take them out, they die in small planes.

:(

[AndyTiedye]

25. Small Airplane Crashes and Diebolded Elections Happened to them

[TahitiNut]

28. Don't Forget Anthrax by Hallmark