Democrats plan to win, with or without Obama

[Hestia]

Democrats plan to win, with or without Obama
Some candidates are diplomatically distancing themselves from him

By Tom Curry
National affairs writer
MSNBC
updated 3:39 p.m. CT, Thurs., Sept. 18, 2008

WASHINGTON - For Democratic members of Congress, life will go on after Jan. 20, 2009 — with or without a President Barack Obama.

Some House Democrats say Obama's ticket will help them win their districts, while others are running their own campaigns with plans to survive if he loses.

Asked if Obama is a factor in his House race in western Pennsylvania’s 4th Congressional District, Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., said, “I don’t think the top of the ticket is going to matter.”

It appears to be Altmire's way of diplomatically distancing himself from the Democratic presidential nominee.

On Election Day, Altmire will be facing the Republican he defeated in 2006, former Rep. Melissa Hart. “We’re both pretty well known in the district. I think the race is going to be won or lost by us, not by who’s on top of the ticket,” Altmire said.

President Bush carried Altmire’s district with 54 percent of the vote in 2004.

read on: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26770853/
===

What absolute shits. Obama starts really showing great in the polls, at rallys, in the public, and this is how he is treated? We need to make a list and keep checking to see just how Dem they really in his administration.

Dang - does the RNC & DLC NEVER stop?

[anonymous171]

1. Oh so they grabbed a democrat from a conservative district and put him on the spot

just to show how democrats are "distancing themselves" from Obama.

[CoffeeCat]

2. I don't begrudge Altmire, as much as I do...

...the reporter, who is implying that Democrats up for re-election are distancing themselves from Obama, as if
Obama is a candidate from which many Democrats are running.

That's simply not the case.

[FrenchieCat]

3. Tom Curry is a hack......

and has always been that.

[RollWithIt]

4. Not a really fair criticism.... many of these guys are in ultra conservative ultra white districts..

You might not like that they don't jump up and down for the national ticket, but the bottom line is that we need their seats in Congress. Would you prefer he lose the seat? All politics is local.

[Omnibus]

11. Do we REALLY need their seats?

If we were publicans, I'd say yes, because pubs in Congress march in lockstep when they need to.

But Democrats are like herding cats. Blue dogs are especially bad; they'll buck the party line and vote for any old pro-corporate or socially regressive bill if it gets them votes back home. They're dubious allies at best.

If we get the 40-50 seat majority the polls suggest, maybe we should start to be a little bit more selective. We don't have to apply a litmus test, just support Democrats for office who have enough leadership skills to recognize when they should vote with the party for the good of the nation.

The bottom line is, if they don't support the Democratic party when we try to fix the country, why should the Democratic party support them?

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. "It appears to be Altmire's way of diplomatically distancing himself..."

It appears to be, eh?

Well thanks for that completely subjective assessment, Tom Curry.

Let's see, could Altmire's comment be read in any other way? Hmmm....

[blondeatlast]

14. Yeah, how objective of the asshole, Pure conjecture--and some DUers fall for it hook, line,

and stinker.

Every.
God.
Damned.
Time.

[Omnibus]

6. One malcontent vs 100?

No comparison.

It's just another attempt by the media to treat unequal situations as equivalent. They show 100 republicans running from their party, contrast it with one blue dog Democrat in R+ district, and pretend the two phenomena are equal.

Funny how they mostly do that when it benefits the publicans...

The next time some moron tries to tell me MSNBC is a liberal network, I'll show them this. Truth is, MSNBC is the least biased of the commercial TV news networks, if only by default.

What we need is an AirAmerica/Pacifica TV news network that's seen nationally.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

7. It tells me one thing: that these guys are racist fucks! "Conservative" is codeword

for RACIST BIGOT!!! So, they're distancing themselves because they represent racially homogenous (read: lilly white) districts that won't vote for the black guy? This is truly disgusting! :puke::puke:

The primaries showed me that the Democratic party is only slightly less racist than the Rethugs!!

[Danger Mouse]

8. This article is a big steaming pantload.

[blondeatlast]

15. "Appears to be..." Now how can one argue with that objectivity?

:mad:

[Hippo_Tron]

9. For every one Democrat that wants distance from Obama...

There are 5 that are counting on the momentum and increased African American turnout that Obama brings.

They should do an article on how many Republicans are distancing themselves from McSame and the national party.

[Ichingcarpenter]

10. Making the most of his final three years Tom Curry

http://207.46.245.32/id/11042790/

LOOK AT THAT FACE? IS THAT REPUBLICAN?

DO A GOOGLE SEARCH ON HIM

[drm604]

12. The article is a bunch of bull

and this guy Curry is obviously biased in favor of Republicans. You can tell that just by reading his article.

But WTF does his face have to do with it? If you conclude from his face that he's Republican then you'd take one look at me and assume that I'm Bush's right hand man. :eyes:

[blondeatlast]

17. Do I really need to? That article says more than I want to know about him.

"Apparently..." is all I needed to know.

Does it get worse (like I need to ask?)

[Cha]

13. Stupid is as Stupid does,

tom curry..ya dumb fuck.

[Undercurrent]

16. Some day I hope we can

tie up the blue dogs with a choke chain!

Blue dogs/Dixiecrats have been a part of our party for decades, and are not going away anytime soon. :sigh: So I just try to ignore them as much as possible as long as they vote for our Democratic candidates.