do you see Ben Nelson pulling a Jim Jeffords?

[KeepCongressBlue]

I could see him doing that. He is to the democrats what Jeffords was to the GOP. Someone who was kind of shunned from the party circles because he wasn't in-line with their beliefs. Jeffords represented a liberal state and thought it would help him get elected and Nelson represents a conservative state and I could see him becoming an Indy, which would help steal votes from Heineman if he chooses to run against him.

[DJ13]

1. Door, Ass, CYA!

[DefenseLawyer]

2. Unless there is a 50/50 split in the senate, it matters not.

He's not a reliable vote on anything.

[KeepCongressBlue]

7. he does have some room to breathe though in 2012

in 2006 he won 80 of the 93 counties in Nebraska. Even if his margin of victory goes down 10 points, he would still win.

[spanone]

3. not really, but i wish the party would show his ass the door.

[BzaDem]

4. Nope. He voted for Healthcare.

If he wanted to become a Republican, he would have killed HCR single handedly and made the switch very public. The truth was, the HCR vote was the biggest vote in a long time, and he was the deciding vote. His vote will almost certainly cause his defeat in 2012, and a vote the other way would almost certainly ensured his re-election (as he was popular before that vote and now is extremely unpopular).

This fits a pattern with him. He often votes no when he isn't the deciding vote (or sometimes when he is on smaller bills) for political reasons. In this case, he voted against Kagan, but said he would oppose a filibuster if it came to that (where he would have been closer to being the deciding vote).

This is not to say he is blame free at all; this sort of political posturing hands ammunition to the other side, and makes the opposition look bipartisan.

[BzaDem]

5. .

[BzaDem]

6. .

[Arkana]

8. Nelson isn't being shunned because he's not in-line with the Democrats.

He's being shunned because he's a two-faced shitheel who blows with the political wind.

[PFunk]

9. Yes. But it all depends how 2010 goes.

If Blue Dogs/DINO's like him take a beating next year. Or if it looks like a Blue Dog/DINO purge is comming (especially if the dems lose one or both houses in 2010/2012). Or if the progressives put up a strong challenger (i.e. Lincoln) then count on him going repug. He (and Lieberman) are starting to wear out their welcome among the senate dems and (if the rumors are true) the repugs are already sending out 'feelers' for him to do so.

Either way it'll be a big plus for the dems if he does.