If Senator-elect Charlie Crist asked to Caucus with the Dems Would you approve?

[Perky]

I have seen comments on here that Crist will most definitely caucues with the GOP, but I think that discounts two important considerations.


First of all, Crist has been vilified by many republican senators as either a traitor or a coward or both. Kinda hard to embrace members who speak like that of you and only a little less difficult for those senators to embrace him given how they will no doubt be slamming him all the way to November. Crist clearly understands that the GOP is being over run by the crazies. There is very little political upside in joining them.

Secondly, Kendrick Meek is apparently flailing and is being pushed by this millionaire king of the foreclosure mess. I read last week where there are Florida Dems privately saying that should the millionaire win, they would prefer and might even endorse Crist. An embrace of Crist who is clearly playing to the middle of the electorate could potentially move him join the Dems albeit as an independent. Particularly if as we all hope the Dems hold the Senate and is offered the Committee sssignments of his choice.


At any rate, the supposition that he would join the GOP given his national ambitions seems more far fetched to me than joining the Dems as an indy.

[The Wielding Truth]

1. Yes. He has shown himself to be a reasonable man.

[roguevalley]

24. as long as he's the left of max baucus and lanche blinkin, okay.

until he screws up.

[phleshdef]

2. Couldn't be any worse than Lieberman, Nelson or Lincoln.

[joeybee12]

3. He'd be better, I think...n/t

[Lochloosa]

4. I agree.

[Arkana]

12. True.

In fact, I'd argue that he'd be a good deal more liberal than Ben Nelson.

[Jennicut]

17. I would take him as my Senator over Lieberman, so yeah, I would be fine with

Crist caucusing with the Dems.

[HughMoran]

36. that's my thinking

assuming he would do this, which I doubt.

[eridani]

37. +1 n/t

[skipos]

5. Crist liked Bush as president, wanted McCain to be President

If he doesn't NEED to caucus with Dems, I don't think he will. I wouldn't vote for the guy unless he pledged to caucus with Dems. We don't need more "moderate" Republicans doing whatever the GOP wants.

[phleshdef]

7. He also extended early voting in 2008 generals though...

...which some Republicans are never going to forgive him for.

[CTyankee]

29. Yeah, I think we must "trust but verify" with any pub. How do we know what he'd do?

But he looks like he's a winner anyway so might as well work with him and see what he can produce. If he reverts to his "true" status as a repub, then repubidate him, but otherwise let hin play with us...

[Perky]

35. You expected him to back Obama? Kerry?

I think that is a totally unreasonable expectation?

[skipos]

58. Many high profile Republicans backed Obama and/or Kerry

so, no, it isn't an unreasonable expectation.

Unless Crist says he will caucus with Dems, it is reasonable to expect he will caucus with Republicans. I wouldn't vote for anyone who is going to caucus with Republicans when there is a solid Dem still in the race.

[Perky]

61. Name them

[skipos]

62. Yes sir.

http://www.republicansforobama.org/?q=node/3341

Anything else you would like me to do? Sandwich? Back rub?

[jenmito]

6. Of course-why not? n/t

[Clio the Leo]

8. If he DOESN'T, then I, and a WHOLE bunch of Dems inside the beltway, will be p*ssed...

.... Anita Dunn is just one of the many top Democratic strategists working for him now.

He WILL caucus with us. Have no doubt about that.

[Phx_Dem]

9. Why would anyone not approve? n/t

[dflprincess]

10. No

The Democratic caucus does not need any more Republicans joining it.

[Arkana]

11. He's shown he's a reasonable fellow, at the very least.

And I don't think the GOP's going to want him, so perhaps it'll give him the incentive to move to the center-left rather than the center-right he's at right now.

[WI_DEM]

13. Sure. He'd probably be more liberal than Nelson, Lieberman and a few others.

[DrDan]

14. yes - 2 key vetoes

[donco6]

15. He supported DOMA, so he'll probably fit right in.

Why not?

[jonnyblitz]

23. yep. he's an anti-gay gay, MY KINDA PEOPLE!

:sarcasm: :D

[vaberella]

33. I'm not surprised. Geez. n/t

[karynnj]

16. Of course - it is always better to have more Senators caucusing with us

I would assume on the bills that he will have a strong position on - his vote would be the same regardless of party - but there are other things where he would likely go with his caucus.

[JCMach1]

18. Heck these days he might be to the LEFT of Obama...

gallows humor intended...

[OHdem10]

19. Of course. He certainly appears to take all aspects into acct when

dealing with issues. He seems to listen to his consituents and
not just be a knee jerk conservative.

[WeDidIt]

20. Damned straight I'd approve!

The two houses of Congress are a numbers game and the higher the Dem numbers, the better.

[Sebastian Doyle]

32. Such numbers are useless

...if they don't actually VOTE as Democrats.

[WeDidIt]

42. You have demonstrated incredible political naivete with that statement

Before the agenda can be set, a majority leader must be chosen via an open vote of the entire Senate.

Every vote in favor of the Democratic leader is a vote towards the democrats setting the agenda for that specific Congress.

As I said, it's all a numbers game. Without the numbers, the Republicans set the agenda and we all know where that path lies.

[Sebastian Doyle]

45. And with a "super majority" of 60 alleged "Democrats" what did we get?

A spineless majority leader, a dozen or so Senators who ALWAYS vote the right wing side of any issue, and as a result, that "health care reform" we all voted for in 2008 turned into nothing more than another bailout of a criminal industry which we all would be better off without.

Numbers are meaningless unless you can count on Democrats to vote as DEMOCRATS.

Maybe a majority leader with a sack might have been able to pressure some of these cowards into voting correctly. Maybe not. While Reid is likely to be re elected as a Senator, he damn well better be out of "leadership" next year. And replaced by someone who is not like him or the other coward Daschle. Russ Feingold would be my choice. Barbara Boxer is another possibility.

[WeDidIt]

54. We got progress

Trying to deny we got progress is foolishness in the extreme.

[Perky]

55. Wrong Such numbers are incredibly important

Majority status, give you control of committees. and thus control of what gets to the floor. The size of the caucus also determines committee seats. These two considerations are actually far more important then how any individual vote on anything that actually reaches the floor.

[Sebastian Doyle]

60. OK. let's say you have to walk across the Sahara desert

As you are preparing for your trip, you have two tables in front of you. Table 1 has two large sealed bottles of water, clearly labeled. Table 2 has 10 opaque bottles labeled "water". You're not allowed to open them and inspect the contents.

According to your theory, you should trust "the numbers", choose the 10 bottles, and when you're in the middle of the Sahara desert, hope to Hell there's actually water in there, and not some toxic chemical that will kill you.

I know which water bottles I'm taking. They actually have water in them.

[onenote]

21. of course

I'm curious what those who say no think the downside would be...

[Politics_Guy25]

22. If the senate was 50-49 GOP after the next election....

And we're down in CO, IL, IN, NV, PA, ND, AK and DE at least now so that's possible, do you think the GOP leadership would forgive and forget and beg Crist to join them or do you think the dems would be able to grab him, make it 50-50 and then have a majority using VP Biden's vote?

I think a 50-49 GOP senate is most likely after the next election frankly with Crist deciding who gets the majority. Who do you think he'd want to see in the majority?

What if he caucuses with no party? Do the GOP then use their plurality to get the majority when it comes time to vote on the organizing resolution in 2011?

[tritsofme]

46. An organizing resolution could pass 50-49.

However if Crist did not pick a side, he would receive no committee assignments, unless he negotiated his own organizing resolution, which would seem pretty unlikely.

If we end up in 50-50 Senate, I think it would be much more likely for Crist to break toward the Democrats, and for Lieberman to defect to the GOP, in his pivot for an ultimately failed 2012 reelection campaign.

[geek tragedy]

25. He drives the Teabaggers NUTZ with anger and rage.

I support that no matter what.

[bigwillq]

26. No (nt)

[LiberalFighter]

27. Would you rather have Lieberman or Crist in the Caucus?

[CTyankee]

30. Crist by a mile. I wouldn't trust Lieberaman with an;yting...nt

[Dappleganger]

39. Definitely Crist.

[old mark]

28. If Crist stays with the GOP, he is crazy - and he is certainly not crazy.

He is a very astute politician and a very popular governor who is deeply at odds with his party. He would be a real asset to the Democrats in the Senate and he has a much better chance of winning as an indie than either the GOP or the democratic candidates...

The GOP HATES him - the Dems would be smart to show him some love - I hope the Dems get smart pretty soon.

mark

[Dappleganger]

40. The GOP in FL is toxic waste right now...

it seems that he has finally figured out that they are going nowhere but down the drain and trying desperately to drag the state down with them. I think the democratic party would be wise to make a concerted effort to win him over rather than snubbing him.

[old mark]

47. Well, the Dems have not been noted for wisdom lately-mabye

Crist might provide a turning point?

Let us hope - he would make a fine Democrat, or at least an ally...


mark

[cleveramerican]

31. absolutely would approve

Florida polls have swung 50% away from drill baby drill in the last 60 days.
Crist is smart enough to ride that wave.

it is good policy and good politics(for him).

[amandabeech]

34. I'd welcome him into the Dem caucus.

As an earlier poster pointed out, our control of the Senate is in jeopardy.

If Crist can help us maintain control of the committees and the agenda (more or less) then great.

I would not count on his vote for much of anything, however.

[Dappleganger]

38. Hell yeah.

And it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him vote to the left of Nelson.

[SoxFan]

41. "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell"

Ponder that notion before answering the question.

[depakid]

52. Wouldn't be able to blame that on Crist

instead- you'd have to look at Republicrats and so called "blue dogs" who've squandered the chance to relegate Republicans to the fringe for a generation through their pandering, corruption and complicity.

[MadMaddie]

43. If Crist were to win he would have more freedom to vote

his conscience versus being beholden to the Rethuglican party.

[one_voice]

44. Yes...

I think he's more to the left than he lets on. If he wins I think you'll see him "fall more in line" with the Dems. Personally I think he'd be more comfortable as a Dem..but hell, what do I know.

Edited to fix spelling and add something.

[HooptieWagon]

48. He's more liberal than Bill Nelson, so I don't see why not. n/t

[Dr.Phool]

50. I always considered Crist a RINO. He was what he had to be.

I liked him better than his opponent for Governor, Jim Davis, whom I despise, but was obligated to vote for anyway.

I've met a few RINO's in Congress. Know where I met them? At the Democratic National Club, which is a bar and restaurant downstairs, and owned by the Democratic National Committee.

[Hekate]

49. Big tent. Better to have as a friend than not.Plus, you're right about how the Pubs have treated him

[Sherman A1]

51. It's not up to me

That is a decision for the Democratic Caucus.

[Robert DAH Bruce]

53. NO!!!

The last thing we need is another Lieberman!!!!!

[jefferson_dem]

56. Of course - no brainer.

The more votes we have on our side, the better. Besides, it would serve to expose (even more) how narrow the tiny repug tent really is.

[AtomicKitten]

57. Of course. nt

[demwing]

59. What's the Alternative? Tell him "Go away" ???

the question is all too easy to answer.

I'd rather have a tru-blu Dem, but I'll take an Indie who'll vote with us more often than not. As long as we don't sell our souls to get those votes, why turn down an opportunity?

[Orsino]

63. Democratic nostrils are long-since desensitized.

We have to take our help where we think we can get it.

Whether I approve or not is so far beside the point that it's not worth mentioning.