Remember: We support Democrats

[itsrobert]

Spector is now a Democrat. I suspect the admin folks will be spelling it out clearly on where DU stands on attacks on Spector with name calling such as DINO, etc.

[Clio the Leo]

1. agreed....

... any Democrat is a friend of mine. Let them ALL leave the GOP!

[OKNancy]

3. I agree and I don't care what his motives are

it's a win/win for us. He may vote against the Dems on some issues, but on others, I think it frees him to vote with the majority.. ESPECIALLY on procedural votes. I doubt he will be an obstructionist.

[avaistheone1]

4. When Democrats do not work for and represent Democratic ideals and principles they are not for me.

Spector would be a good example of that.

Spector will only handicap the Democratic momentum and agenda.
He will be even worse than Joe Liberman. You will see.

No thanks!!!

[Cronus Protagonist]

14. Yeah, we need another spy at our caucuses

Because Lieberman isn't enough.

[Two Americas]

28. yeah

If all of those right wingers start calling themselves Democrats, then we are with them 100%!

Brand Democrat! So long as it has the right brand name on it, who cares what is inside the package?


...

[Hellataz]

52. Agreed,

and For whatever his faults, i think he deserves some kudos for recognizing that the Republican party was not the place to be, that it was going backwards and he could not associate with them any longer.

[Romulox]

2. LOL. A pre-emptory STFU from GD: Centrists! nt

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Romulox]

9. Now a poster who's been a member for month is telling people to STFU.

Oi vey, you centrists are a hoot!

[Marrah_G]

12. Personal attacks are not allowed

That includes making assumptions about party affiliations or support of candidates.

Not sure if anyone has told you that yet, since you are new.

[msanthrope]

6. He's our bastard now. n/t

[cali]

7. he's not a dem yet

and I loath the little weasel. that's not going to change.

[LynneSin]

11. I think the OP is a bit misleading

we have other democrats we loathe too - like the Nelsons, Bayh, Reid or anyone else who happens to not vote the way we want them to vote on 1-2 key issues dear to that specific DUer. People are welcome to be critical of Specter and support primary opponents against him.

The thing is this - when the primaries are done in 2010 and Specter is either the democrat nominee OR the independant nominee endorsed by the DSCC (like the way Sanders and Jeffords were), then that is the the DU rules fall into place.

[Marrah_G]

13. Nicely said Ms. Lynne

[mvd]

16. So when is it official, then?

[cali]

21. i suppose we'll find that out this afternoon at snarlin's news conference

coming up at 2:15.

[mvd]

22. Looks like he's caucusing with us now, but has to wait until May..

to change his voter registration.

[Two Americas]

29. exactly right

The guy has not changed at all.

What are our options?

Support political positions that we loathed yesterday?

Or pretend that we do?

Or remain silent if we don't?



...

[MadBadger]

8. I believe this is the exception to the rule.

[LynneSin]

10. You are welcome to endorse any candidate that runs against Specter in the primaries

although I highly suspect the PA Dems probably added to the deal that there would be no primary opponent, this doesn't stop outsiders from running their own candidate.

Specter knows the numbers and knows that whatever race he runs - he can get the votes needed from the Philadelphia Counties to be successful in any race, as any party's candidate except in the republican primaries (Philly is very blue).

[Marrah_G]

15. I think you have things mixed up a little

When he is THE Democratic candidate people are not allowed to support his opponent.

However, this does not mean that criticism or even labeling him a DINO is not allowed on DU.

No one is required to support all Dems.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

17. we can call democrats dino.

its constructive criticism of their policy

[Orsino]

18. We support the Democratic Party.

I haven't seen a lot of support for William Jefferson here lately.

[LittleBlue]

19. He can be criticized, but I definitely support him as long as Pennsylvanians do.

I will support him within the party as long as Pennsylvania does. It's their choice, not mine.

[question everything]

20. He certainly a Democrat as Harold Ford, Jr., who

has voted to outlaw gay marriage and to repeal the estate tax, and wants to amend the Constitution to ban flag burning. He supports getting rid of the handgun ban in the nation's capital and says the Ten Commandments should be posted in courtrooms around his state. He favors school prayer, argues that more troops should have been sent to Iraq and wants to seal the border with Mexico.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1223381-1,00.html

[Two Americas]

35. well good enough then

So long as they have a D after their name, we must support them 100%!!

It is not as though we stand for anything, so what difference does it make.

I live to see Sean Hannity rant and rave, and anything that causes that trumps things like principles and ideals and all of the "fringe" and "purist" stuff.

If Sean Hannity's head is exploding, then what else is there to wish for? I can die happy. If that takes changing the Democratic party so it is indistinguishable from the Republican party, that is a price well worth paying.


...

[question everything]

54. Right. Not that I watch or listen to any rant coming from the RW

but it would be wonderful to watch them squirm

[Two Americas]

55. why?

Who cares?

That helps them, it doesn't hurt them.

And what is the pay off for Democrats?


...

[iamthebandfanman]

23. Remember: We arent robots!

and if you want to chase people outa the party while republicans come in to fill the void... be my guest...

i think its against all of DUs best interests tho.


goodluck with ur submission tactics!

[krawhitham]

24. Has he changed his registration in PA?

Then FUCK HIM


We are giving up far to much for this, we could have ran a true DEM in PA next year and won

He gets a free pass in the primary
He gets chairman in some committees

and we get?

"I will not be an automatic vote for cloture"

[mvd]

25. He has to wait until May

But he said he is changing it.

[SteelPenguin]

56. Yeah I don't know why people are happy here

he's not all of a sudden turning into John Kerry... he won't be an automatic cloture vote, anymore than before. He'll vote the same way before as now....except he secures his relection as a democrat, rather than his loss in a primary as a republican.

Also it rubs me the wrong way that people not from PA are all happy about this...we don't want Specter as our Democratic Senator. We want a real democrat as our senator.

We will gain nothing from this. He will gain another term. It's a bad deal.

[Political Heretic]

26. Um as long as he opposes EFCA and continues to be a general douchebag he can fuck himself.

And I don't believe I'll be running into any admin trouble for saying so.

[Two Americas]

27. ROFL

That didn't take long.

Help me out here, so I fully understand what you are saying. Must I now agree with Specter politically, or should I just pretend that I do? Or if I disagree with him, would silence about that satisfy you?


...

[Two Americas]

30. listen up people!

The fox decided to move into the henhouse, so all of you chickens better stop criticizing the fox, or else! Repeat after me: he is a hen now.


...

[Zodiak]

46. LOL Exactly

As far as I am concerned, Spector starts out as a DINO and has to prove himself immune from our criticism....not the other way around. It's not as if his political career started today.

[Two Americas]

47. it is significant, I think

Not so much that he switched, not so much that he is being welcomed by so many, not so much that there are even demands that we support him, but rather the arguments that are being used to promote those ideas.

This strengthens the hand of the conservatives within the party.


...

[Zodiak]

49. Yes it does.

Remember the elements of corporatism must ensure that they win no matter who is in charge. This is a good strategy for them.

A bad strategy if you are liberal, progressive, or the average blue collar worker....but "moderates" don't give a piss about those groups, anyways...at least once elections are over.

[Two Americas]

51. good for the wealthiest 1%

Marginally better for the upper 10% - as represented by the most dominating faction here.

Not so good for the other 90% of us - those who are divided into "groups" associated with "causes" so that we can all be isolated and marginalized and kept from power.


...

[AtomicKitten]

31. When Specter supports EFCA and Dawn Johnson, then I'll be convinced of his transformation. n/t

[Two Americas]

36. picky, picky

There you go being a purist and a fringe element.

[AtomicKitten]

38. Just holding Specter to his word:

Today Specter said: "I'm a loyal Democrat. I support your agenda."

[Two Americas]

39. there we go

All we need to do now is change the agenda to match what he supports, and we win.

[AtomicKitten]

40. Of course not, but I suspect you already know that. n/t

[Two Americas]

42. really?

Why not?

(Not trying to hassle you, by the way, just venting.)

[AtomicKitten]

45. Nobody is fooled by Specter's opportunistic move today.

IMO any backroom deals between Specter and the Dems should have been predicated on the notion that his votes = support in 2010.

No harm in reveling in the GOP's pain today.

[Two Americas]

50. looks to me as though many are fooled

The Dems never play hardball with conservatives in the party. It is only leftists that are pressured. I don't see why we would think any deals are going on that would be good for anything. Specter is in the power position on this. It can only help conservatives, and may even help the Republican party. The options for the big money people who control our politics are expanding, while the options for the every day people are shrinking.

I think many who have been promoting these various compromises claiming "practicality" and "being realistic" actually want the party to move to the right, and it is true that the same people making those arguments often argue the more conservative positions on the issues - especially those involving power and economics. I will be happy if we can just get some clarity about that.



...

[Hippo_Tron]

32. *facepalm*

You really need to read the DU rules. There's nothing that forbids constructive criticism of Democrats and there's nothing that forbids people from advocating a primary challenge. The only thing the rules forbid is advocating the defeat of a Democratic candidate for office. If Specter becomes the Democratic nominee it will be against the rules to advocate his defeat. Until then, not so much.

BTW, I'm very glad Specter switched parties and trust that the President knew what he was doing when he promised him no primary challenges.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

33. One word "Lieberman" (before the primary ass whooping). nt

[ebbie15644]

34. Still a primary

and I hope another dem runs and wins!!!!!

[Dappleganger]

37. Starting today...

I'll give him a do-over and judge him based on that.
Watch him like a hawk, however. He's got to prove his allegiance to liberal principles, IMO.

[Starry Messenger]

41. LOL. Nice satire.

Not if the DU two-minute hates on Nancy Pelosi are anything to go by.

[Sebastian Doyle]

43. I support Democrats who ACT like Democrats

If Arlen does that, I'll support him. Though I'm not holding my breath. And I'll never forgive him for the Magic BullshitBullet.

[crimsonblue]

44. Uncritical support of democrats is repugnant..

I will never support bad policies, no matter the politician's party affiliation. What matters is BETTER democrats, not more democrats.

[Forkboy]

48. heh..let us know how that works out for ya.

;)

[asdjrocky]

53. To me?

This screams we need more than two parties. Let's face it, at best the pugs are a southern party, except for a few northern nut jobs in the house, and the dems have way too many moderates. How about a LIBERAL PARTY???

Just think, Dems can be as moderate as they like, we'll give them the middle, the pugs can be southern nut jobs, and we get to be true, and vote true to who we are.

[salguine]

57. Specter is a tool. He was a tool when he was a Republican , and switching

parties doesn't suddenly make him not a tool. Now he's a Tool (D) instead of a Tool (R).