Rahm Emanuel wants to pick fight but other chicks**t Dems won't let him...

[carpe diem]

'U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel was picked recently by fellow House Democrats to try to lead them back to power. But last week, the hard-charging Chicago congressman's big political idea for his own state was promptly slapped down by other Illinois Democrats.

The scene was a Capitol Hill office where most members of the state's Democratic House delegation had huddled to warn Emanuel off a plan to try to grab more House seats for the party by redrawing district boundaries in Illinois years ahead of schedule.

Such a proposal, several worried, would needlessly inflame Republicans, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), and make Illinois Democrats appear duplicitous by breaking a remap agreement negotiated just a few years ago.'
.....................

'Because he has proved such a prolific fundraiser and sharp strategist, Emanuel, in just his second term, was recently promoted to run the Democratic committee charged with trying to regain control of the House. He was the architect of many of former President Bill Clinton's key legislative victories and is now increasingly leaned on to craft a recovery agenda for a party that some complain has lost not only its mission but its courage to fight.

Yet, as the remap controversy illustrates, Emanuel can be so fierce in battling Republicans that he risks branding his party with the same stereotypes that Democrats have hurled at Republicans in recent years: politicians who are insincere, manipulative, obstructionist and cash obsessed.'

>>>>>>>>>

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0503130169mar13,1,1541747.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed




The thing is it doesn't matter what we accuse them of they still do whatever the hell they want. But we back down and turn and run every time they look hard in our direction. As long as our first concern is not making the Republicans mad, we will rightly deserve our 'weak' label.

[KoKo]

1. Wringing hands and sighing "Woe is me" we Dems must engage Repugs

has cost us two National elections and numerous mid-term elections.

If we don't stand together now to defeat the Repugs in an ALL OUT WAR of IDEOLOGY...we will end up like Mr. Chief Handwringer, Tom Daschle and be Out of It for decades.

Forget the DLC/DNC Naysayers. We are on our own...they had their chance, but I understand what Emmanuel is up against. We have much "dead wood" in our state party systems. It will take a long time to overcome it. Innovative ideas to the Dem Party "old establishment" are like "heresy." To them..."we always to it this way...we don't want to rock the boat...and things take time to accomplish" are their Mantra.
:-(

[Zuni]

4. we need to hit them with their own medicine

that means taking the gloves off and getting dirty

[paineinthearse]

9. Exactly

Look what DeLay and the Texas legislature did to Charlie Stenholm. I say let Emanuel loose and redistrict!

Sweep the DINO's out of the way and JUST DO IT!

I hope those holding him back are monitoring us. Be afraid, be very afraid, we are on to those who wish to derail the progressive spirit.

[SharonAnn]

2. Needlessly inflame Republicans? Needlessly? I'd say it's needful!

And about hight time, too. They'll never agree to stop doing this until they burned by us doing it.

Hell yes, do it! When someone has no painful consequences from their actions, they have no incentive to change their behavior.

[Zuni]

3. agreed

it is time we take off our leashes and don't worry what they say about us. We have lost elections recently because we won't take the gloves off and hit them with their own tactics. It makes us look indecisive and cowardly.
We need to frame the debate in our terms and we shouldn't worry about tact---the RW media will jump on us if we mince words or not.

[frankly_fedup2]

5. So how do you think Katherine Harris got elected into the House?

Redistricting, redistricting, redistricting. The Republicans do it all the time; however, I feel the Democratic Leadership not lower themselves to the depths of pond scum like DeLay and his fellow Republicans tried to do in Texas . . . and then used Homeland Security to try to find the Democrats who went into hiding in another state to, basically, save their seats and so they could put off any redistricting votes.

What I am really tired of is hearing from the right that the Democratic party is imploding. The Democratic party has no ideas, no strengths, no values. (Values = a coded word Republicans used that really means "bigotry" to them).

I'm tired of Dems sitting and agreeing to a certain extent with these idiots.

[charlie]

6. Needlessly inflame, *snort*

The guys who gang-pressed offyear gerrymanderings in Texas and Colorado?

The ones who engineered a recall and installed a political neophyte as California's governor?

The crew that's threatening to "go nuclear" and re-jigger Senate rules to make filibusters impossible?

No, we shouldn't inflame them, they're bad enough. They might hurt us :eyes:

[whathappened]

7. wtf

have we got to lose , they are all huddled in a corner , looking to see if they are going to be the next one in the cross hairs of the gop , i say stand up like men and women and fight this right wing war machine with fire , i have no mercy for the weak , if they would just stand together and fight the good fight , i would have more power to fight for them

[PsN2Wind]

8. The Dems need to quit campaigning

as if they are afraid they'll hurt their opponents feelings. If they keep going to these gunfights with a knife they'll never win again. Are they really afraid than some Repub is going to say "they've become just like us, they're old meanies"

[madrchsod]

10. much to do about nothing

neither party wants to rock the boat in illinois,we are an equally corrupt state..if the dems aren`t getting indicted it`s the republicans. my congressman is "fat denny" which totally sucks but my state rep, who is a republican, is one of the finest representatives of either party in the state . any power shift would leave the moderate republicans out of power in the state which is not good at all....

[madfloridian]

11. Stockholm Syndrome

They really are in awe of and afraid of the Republicans.

[paineinthearse]

12. I want names

Who's the fly in the ointment?

http://democrats.house.gov/state_by_state/state_detail.cfm?region_id=14

Illinois Representatives


Rep. Melissa Bean
Illinois, 8th
More about Melissa Bean


Rep. Jerry Costello
Illinois, 12th
More about Jerry Costello


Rep. Danny Davis
Illinois, 7th
More about Danny Davis


Rep. Rahm Emanuel
Illinois, 5th
More about Rahm Emanuel


Rep. Lane Evans
Illinois, 17th
More about Lane Evans


Rep. Luis Gutierrez
Illinois, 4th
More about Luis Gutierrez


Rep. Jesse Jackson
Illinois, 2nd
More about Jesse Jackson


Rep. Dan Lipinski
Illinois, 3rd
More about Dan Lipinski


Rep. Bobby Rush
Illinois, 1st
More about Bobby Rush


Rep. Jan Schakowsky
Illinois, 9th
More about Jan Schakowsky


For more information about these representatives, please visit www.house.gov

[kevsand]

14. Based on other accounts of the meeting,

only nine of the ten were actually there. I'm not sure who was missing, but when they came out, it was pretty apparent that they were going to present a unanimous front.

Here's one account:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/sweet/cst-edt-sweet101.html

There's also this from Roll Call (via dailykos.com):

"The conclusion that was reached night is we have more of a concern for the institution than we do our partisan concerns," Costello said Wednesday. "There's not a consensus. There are a few people in the General Assembly and a few people in the delegation that would like to proceed, but there's not a majority consensus on this so for the moment the issue is dead."

(snip)

Emanuel, who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, echoed the sentiment that Democrats wanted to send a message by taking the high road."

[cry baby]

13. Did these same dems get enraged at DeLay when he did just that

kind of re-districting years earlier than he should have? I didn't hear their screams - I did hear the Texas House Dems screaming and even leaving the state in order to block the attempt by DeLay and to call attention to the situation.

[fob]

15. The repuke redistricting ahead of schedule is disgusting and unethical,

but that doesn't mean Dems should sit around and take it. At the very least they should approve a redistricting that takes out Hastert, that would leave the repukes to comb their ranks for another Speaker, and won't that be a motley crew!!