Like rats off a sinking ship

[commonsense]

"Democrats are beginning to see the writing on the wall, and instead of choosing to fight in a difficult political environment, they are taking a pass and opting for retirement," said Ken Spain, a spokesman for the House GOP's campaign arm.

Four House Democrats from swing districts have recently chosen not to seek re-election, bringing to 11 the number of retirements that could leave Democratic-held seats vulnerable to Republicans. More Democratic retirements are expected

Over the holiday break, another Democrat, freshman Rep. Parker Griffith of Alabama, defected to the GOP. "I can no longer align myself with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy, and drives us further and further into debt," said Griffith

In the Senate, at least four Democrats — including Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and five-term Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd — are in serious trouble. The party could also lose its grip on seats Obama held in Illinois and Vice President Joe Biden long occupied in Delaware.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_democrats2010[/url]

 

[hypocritexposer]

the Dems are going to find out that obama is the worst thing that's happened to them in years/decades.

3 years left.

maybe obama does know something about Health Care.

Looks like he has put the paddles to the Repub party and brought them back from the brink of death. Or were they dead, I can't remember.

the liberal messiah, "bringing the Republican dead, back to life"

 

[commonsense]

While it tickles me that people are finally waking up to this plague that Obama has amplified on this country, I can't get a warm/fuzzy feeling the repubs might reap the spoils. Time for a reset and reformat with the constitution as our guide. Too many viruses in our political system on both sides of the aisle.

 

[commonsense]

What I am saying is I am tired of choosing the lesser of two evils

 

[Tam]

I wonder how long will it be before flip flopping Alren Specter flips back to the GOP in hopes of saving his back side. BTW how many times can a politican switch sides before the voters catch on to him? :? :roll:

 

[MsSage]

While it tickles me that people are finally waking up to this plague that Obama has amplified on this country, I can't get a warm/fuzzy feeling the repubs might reap the spoils. Time for a reset and reformat with the constitution as our guide. Too many viruses in our political system on both sides of the aisle.

I agree and I know there are many who are coming to this mindset as well

 

[TSR]

And if people would just vote their convictions, third party candidates just might stand a chance.

 

[Tam]

Another one gone, it was announced today Dorgan is jumping out of the boat and not running again.

 

[Texan]

Another one gone, it was announced today Dorgan is jumping out of the boat and not running again.

And he's got a good chance to go out like a statesman - by siding with his people, instead of with his party, the next time he gets to vote on healthcare.

 

[Tam]

Another one gone, it was announced today Dorgan is jumping out of the boat and not running again.

And he's got a good chance to go out like a statesman - by siding with his people, instead of with his party, the next time he gets to vote on healthcare.

I hope you are right but I fear he might saddle the voters with something they don't want and then bail so he doesn't have to answer for his vote. Nothing like going out with a bang. :wink:

 

[Faster horses]

And now Dodd...

WASHINGTON – Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, a five-term Democrat whose political stock began falling after the financial meltdown and his failed 2008 presidential bid, has decided not to seek re-election in November, Democratic officials told The Associated Press early Wednesday.

Dodd was expected to make an announcement Wednesday. The officials who disclosed his plans would speak only on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement. The Washington Post first reported Dodd's decision.

Word of his retirement comes hours after North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan announced he will not seek re-election.

Dodd, 66, is chairman of Senate Banking Committee, which was at the center of efforts to deal with the economic meltdown. And he has played a prominent role in the debate over overhauling health care, taking over for his friend Ted Kennedy during his illness and then after his death.

Given Dodd's bad poll standing, other Democrats have gone out of their way to give him the spotlight in hopes he could recover before November.

With the embattled Dodd stepping aside, Democrats can now try to recruit a more popular candidate to run in Democratic-leaning state, bolstering the prospects of thwarting a Republican victory.

Dodd, who has taken heat for a discounted VIP mortgage loan he got from a subprime lender, has been consistently behind potential GOP challenger Rob Simmons in Connecticut polls. Simmons, a former House member, has his own challenger in World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Linda McMahon, who is also seeking the Republican nomination for Dodd's seat.

Among the early favorites to replace Dodd is longtime Connecticut state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who is seen as one of the state's most popular politicians.

Dodd ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, moving his family to Iowa for weeks before the caucuses and angering Connecticut constituents. He dropped out after a poor showing in Iowa.

As chairman of the Senate banking panel, Dodd has come under fire for his reliance on Wall Street contributions. He drew criticism for his role in writing a bill that protected bonuses for executives at bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc. and for allegations he got favorable treatment on two mortgages with Countrywide Financial Corp.

The Senate ethics panel cleared Dodd of breaking rules by getting the Countrywide mortgages but scolded him for not doing more to avoid the appearance of sweetheart deals. The Countrywide controversy, however, dogged Dodd for several months.

Dodd in August underwent surgery for prostate cancer. He also lost his closest friend in the Senate, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who died last summer after a battle with brain cancer.

Connecticut is a Democratic state that President Barack Obama won handily in 2008.

___

 

[cutterone]

Through out history it's well documented that the public has had a fear and reluctance to national government, and rightfully so as many times the national governing body of a country has turned out to be tyrant when it got too large and powerful (at least in the minds of those governing) and no longer governed by the wishes of it's constituents. The last year has proven those facts.
The founding fathers knew that for a successful implementation of a constitution and law of the land that most of the powers vested must stay in the states where the citizens can have a more powerful hand over the representatives to government. The national congress and lawmakers were and would be too far for the common man to mandate and any descent would fall on deaf ears whereas state representatives could be controlled.
It appears to me that as citizens we must take a stronger look at who represents us in state government, take control of our state governments and see that this type of actions will no longer be tolerated.
There has been a lot of talk about term limits for it has been proven out that our national representatives have been corrupted by greed, ego, and money . I'm not sure that there is any law prohibiting a state from setting it's own laws that no congressman may serve longer than term limits set by the state laws. Congress has shown that they intend not to comply with the wishes of it's citizens and will not reform itself so maybe it's time we do it with our own states.

 

[RobertMac]

Dodd is running from an investigation if Rep. take back control of the Senate.

 

[RobertMac]

Through out history it's well documented that the public has had a fear and reluctance to national government, and rightfully so as many times the national governing body of a country has turned out to be tyrant when it got too large and powerful (at least in the minds of those governing) and no longer governed by the wishes of it's constituents. The last year has proven those facts.
The founding fathers knew that for a successful implementation of a constitution and law of the land that most of the powers vested must stay in the states where the citizens can have a more powerful hand over the representatives to government. The national congress and lawmakers were and would be too far for the common man to mandate and any descent would fall on deaf ears whereas state representatives could be controlled.
It appears to me that as citizens we must take a stronger look at who represents us in state government, take control of our state governments and see that this type of actions will no longer be tolerated.
There has been a lot of talk about term limits for it has been proven out that our national representatives have been corrupted by greed, ego, and money . I'm not sure that there is any law prohibiting a state from setting it's own laws that no congressman may serve longer than term limits set by the state laws. Congress has shown that they intend not to comply with the wishes of it's citizens and will not reform itself so maybe it's time we do it with our own states.

This was the unwritten consequence of the War Between the States (actually, the war between the Federal Gov. and State Gov.) The founding fathers meant for the government to be local with limited responsibilities for the national government.

 

[Liveoak]

What I am saying is I am tired of choosing the lesser of two evils

I agree! About time we jumped out of that Dem/Repub box and just found the right person to do the job.

 

[Tam]

Dodd is running from an investigation if Rep. take back control of the Senate.

I think everyone knows Dodd doesn't have a chance if he reran due to the mess the government is but you can bet he will use his health problems as the reason for retiring. If he had a chance of winning he would pull a Kennedy and run and stay until they carry him out in a box but since he doesn't it will be because his health.

 

[Steve]

Beginning about the 1830s, Jacksonian democracy introduced a less idealistic twist to the practice of limiting terms. Rotation in office came to mean taking turns in the distribution of political prizes.[14] Rotation of nominations to the U.S. House of Representatives – the prizes – became a key element of payoffs to the party faithful. The leading lights in the local party machinery came to regard a nomination for the House as "salary" for political services rendered. A new code of political ethics evolved, based on the proposition that "turnabout is fair play."[15] In short, rotation of nominations was intertwined with the spoils system.

In district nominating conventions local leaders could negotiate and enforce agreements to pass the nominations around among themselves. Abraham Lincoln was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1846 under such a bargain,

After World War II, however, an officeholder class had developed to the point that congressional tenure rivaled that of the U.S. Supreme Court, where tenure is for life. "Homesteading" in Congress, made possible by reelection rates that approached 100% by the end of the 20th century, brought about a popular insurgency known as the "term-limits movement"

Reformers during the early 1990s used the initiative and referendum to put congressional term limits on the ballot in 23 states. Voters in every one of these states approved the congressional term limits by an average electoral margin of two to one

In May 1995, the United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995) that states cannot impose term limits upon their federal Representatives or Senators.

Congressional term limits had been featured prominently in the Republican Party's Contract with America in the 1994 election campaign, and may well have contributed to the Republican Revolution, as the Republicans wrested control of the House of Representatives from the Democratic Party for the first time since the 1952 elections. The Republican leadership brought to the floor of the House a constitutional amendment that would limit House members to six two-year terms and members of the U.S. Senate to two six-year terms.

With the Republicans holding 230 seats in the House, three versions of the amendment got well under 200 votes, while the 12 year term-limits which overrode all the more stringent state measures managed a bare majority in the House of 227-204,[17] well short of the requisite two-thirds majority (290 votes) required to pass a constitutional amendment. Defeated in Congress and overridden by the Supreme Court,

we should as citizens push for a written pledge from candidates to support a term limit amendment and an nationwide ballot referendum.

while they can ignore the written pledge it can be used against them in re-election.. and a nationwide ballot referendum will show the true level of support the issue has..

 

[Texan]

Just want to get this back close to the top. We'll probably be needing it over the next few months. :lol: