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Is it any wonder that Republicans in congress behave as they do?
Is everyone there being blindly partisan? Really?
The Independent says that she favors gun legislation and doesn't care whether Republicans or Democrats do it.
The Democrat supports legislation and points out that Republicans support them too but says, reasonably, that they opposed the legislation for political purposes.
The two Republicans support background checks but support the GOP anyway out of tribal loyalty or because President Obama gave a speech after the vote with the Newtown families present.
Therefore, they all agree that the gun legislation should have passed. But it's only the Republicans
who are supporting their political leaders even though they didn't do what they wanted them to do. This simply does not demonstrate than "everyone" has retreated into their partisan corners at all. It demonstrates that Republicans have retreated into their partisan corner. Period.
If you read through the rest of the poll on immigration and deficit reduction, the pattern is just as clear. Is it any wonder that Republicans in congress behave as they do? It's a very simple political calculation for them: all that matters to their voters is that they oppose the Democrats. And although you can't extrapolate this from that poll alone, my life observing Republicans tells me that there's a simple reason for it: they are motivated by their loathing of liberals, not their belief in conservatism. I don't think there's much more to it than that.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/blind-partisanship.html
The Independent says that she favors gun legislation and doesn't care whether Republicans or Democrats do it.
The Democrat supports legislation and points out that Republicans support them too but says, reasonably, that they opposed the legislation for political purposes.
The two Republicans support background checks but support the GOP anyway out of tribal loyalty or because President Obama gave a speech after the vote with the Newtown families present.
Therefore, they all agree that the gun legislation should have passed. But it's only the Republicans
who are supporting their political leaders even though they didn't do what they wanted them to do. This simply does not demonstrate than "everyone" has retreated into their partisan corners at all. It demonstrates that Republicans have retreated into their partisan corner. Period.
If you read through the rest of the poll on immigration and deficit reduction, the pattern is just as clear. Is it any wonder that Republicans in congress behave as they do? It's a very simple political calculation for them: all that matters to their voters is that they oppose the Democrats. And although you can't extrapolate this from that poll alone, my life observing Republicans tells me that there's a simple reason for it: they are motivated by their loathing of liberals, not their belief in conservatism. I don't think there's much more to it than that.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/blind-partisanship.html
