Time to Aggressively Woo Collins and Snowe
Based on her comments today, Olympia Snowe is not at all pleased with the direction her party is going:
The Democrats have nothing to lose by making such an overture; neither of those Senate seats will be up for election any time soon and both Collins and Snowe won reelection by a landslide in 2006 and 2008, years in which the Democrats otherwise clobbered the Republicans. Unless Snowe or Collins retires or gets embroiled in an unexpected scandal, there is no way the Democrats are going to unseat them.
But Specter's defection today leaves Snowe and Collins as essentially the only two moderate Republicans in the Senate (Specter, Collins, and Snowe were the only three Republicans to vote for the stimulus bill). They have to be feeling incredibly isolated at the moment. So why not make them feel wanted? They wouldn't even need to do a full party switch; they could follow Jim Jeffords example and become Independents (while agreeing to caucus with the Democrats). In exchange, they would get better committee assignments and wouldn't have to defend a party led by Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber. That alone would be a huge burden off their shoulders.
While it's true that simply changing their party affiliation wouldn't change their substantive views--they would likely still vote more conservatively than most Senate Democrats--I think getting them to renounce their membership in the Republican Party would help in one crucial respect. I think it would make them far less likely to join in any proposed GOP filibuster. And that's all the Democrats really need. They have plenty of votes in the Senate as long as the GOP can't credibly threaten to block cloture. If Collins and Snowe could just be counted on to step out of the way on major legislation, it would make a HUGE difference.
So what's to lose? Let the wooing begin.
“You haven't certainly heard warm encouraging words about how [the GOP] views moderates,” said Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, one of the few remaining moderate Republicans in the Senate. Snowe said the party's message has been, “Either you're with us or you’re against us.”I don't imagine Snowe's fellow Maine Senator Susan Collins is very pleased either. And the scorn being heaped upon Specter by his former Republican colleagues today will only add to their feelings of disenchantment. The Obama administration and Senate Democrats should seize this opportunity to make an aggressive pitch to Collins and Snowe. They should be strongly encouraged to follow Specter's lead.
The Democrats have nothing to lose by making such an overture; neither of those Senate seats will be up for election any time soon and both Collins and Snowe won reelection by a landslide in 2006 and 2008, years in which the Democrats otherwise clobbered the Republicans. Unless Snowe or Collins retires or gets embroiled in an unexpected scandal, there is no way the Democrats are going to unseat them.
But Specter's defection today leaves Snowe and Collins as essentially the only two moderate Republicans in the Senate (Specter, Collins, and Snowe were the only three Republicans to vote for the stimulus bill). They have to be feeling incredibly isolated at the moment. So why not make them feel wanted? They wouldn't even need to do a full party switch; they could follow Jim Jeffords example and become Independents (while agreeing to caucus with the Democrats). In exchange, they would get better committee assignments and wouldn't have to defend a party led by Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber. That alone would be a huge burden off their shoulders.
While it's true that simply changing their party affiliation wouldn't change their substantive views--they would likely still vote more conservatively than most Senate Democrats--I think getting them to renounce their membership in the Republican Party would help in one crucial respect. I think it would make them far less likely to join in any proposed GOP filibuster. And that's all the Democrats really need. They have plenty of votes in the Senate as long as the GOP can't credibly threaten to block cloture. If Collins and Snowe could just be counted on to step out of the way on major legislation, it would make a HUGE difference.
So what's to lose? Let the wooing begin.
posted by A.L. at 3:02 PM
21 Comments:
Over the last few months this has become one of my favorite blogs. I don't expect you to change everything for one guy, but I suspect I might not be alone on this: I'm not digging the "updates", where you simply add onto an existing post. This is because I often read your articles when they are posted, so unless I regularly sift through your old posts to see if they have been modified, I'm going to miss out. My RSS doesn't pick up the updates, unfortunately.
ANYWAY. Aside from that I love this blog.
Someone should mention to Snowe that being Republican isn't an ethnicity.
"She added that being a Republican is simply part of who she is. "It’s my ethnic heritage, Spartan side, that continues to fight," she said."
Interestingly, Lindsay Graham is also trying to position himself as a moderate. I wonder why that is?
Right (err .. left) let the wooing begin. I'll send flowers and a cold bottle of Asti.
But not Lindsay Graham. I wouldn't have that unprincipled {censored} on my team.
Let the democrats and the HALF black president have all of them. When they turn this country into a shit-hole like the rest of the world then the American people people will see who they really are and what they are really about. Not a democrat, not a republican, Just have enough damned common sense to know what works and what doesn't. "Poor people have voted for democrats for fifty years and they're still poor, WAKE UP PEOPLE!
Wow, Anonymous at 10:24, you probably haven't noticed that by any and all metrics* the social democracies of Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Canada are doing objectively better than the US. Think education, poverty, healthcare, etc. The US is way behind the pack when it comes to prosperity and development.
*Of course, the one place the US beats the rest of the world is in the ability to bomb cities into the dust. Fantastic. It could tear down Toronto, but never build it.
"Interestingly, Lindsay Graham is also trying to position himself as a moderate. I wonder why that is?"
Lindsay Graham is a 'soft' social conservative and moderate fiscal conservative who could fit in very well with the Blue Dog Democrats. He's primarily a defense and deficit hawk, like John McCain, and he backed McCain's amnesty bill against the Bush amnesty bill. He likely feels he is extremely moderate compared to the rest of the Republican Party and he's mostly right.
He might be a little to the left of Ben Nelson, but that is hardly high praise.
I want fewer Blue Dogs, not more.
"I want fewer Blue Dogs, not more."
Me too, if the alternative is a better Democrat. But if the alternative is a Republican, I'll take the Blue Dog, especially in the Senate. The bottom line is that the Maine Senate seats are completely out of reach to the Democrats *unless* Snowe or Collins can be convinced to switch parties.
I'd suggest that wooing from the left is likely to be a lot less effective than putting up a scarecrow on the right.
The only way this would work from the left is either
a) threaten a credible Democratic challenge, which Snowe or Collins could avoid by switching, or
b) offer some kind of Senate inducement, such as committee chairs, or the like.
Option a) would only work if the challenge were credible, in which case it would be better to just run the candidate. Option b) would merely make the Senate more susceptible to being swayed by the blue dogs.
Where are the Club for Growth luminaries in Maine? Let's encourage them to run.
But if the alternative is a Republican, I'll take the Blue Dog, especially in the Senate.I'm honestly unsure at this point which is the bigger threat, in the short and long run, to a progressive agenda and the complete undoing of the last 8 years.
What's to lose? Any legitimate political differentiation between Democrat and Republican, for starters. As Senator Snowe points out this morning in her NYT op-ed, on any number of important issues, she is not a Democrat.
What you're rooting for here is essentially redefining 'Democrat' to mean 'reasonable, competent politician' and Republican to mean 'right-wing buffoon.' Well, if the r.w.buffoons are hell-bent on driving the competent politicians from their party, that's their business. But it doesn't mean we have to redefine our standards to facilitate the process.
Besides, a Republican party entirely owned and operated by the sons of George Wallace is *not* healthy for our Democracy. I'm hoping the Snowes and Collinses hang in there. As Christine Whitman wrote: it's their party, too.
I'm honestly unsure at this point which is the bigger threat, in the short and long run, to a progressive agenda and the complete undoing of the last 8 years.Honestly, KM, I don't think there's anything to be concerned about here. If Collins and Snowe were to become Democrats, it could only help. In the Senate there are more than enough substantive votes to pass just about any progressive legislation. The issue is overcoming filibusters. Almost as a rule, you don't filibuster your own party. So if Snowe and Collins were to become Democrats, you could pretty much count on them not to obstruct a vote, even if they didn't ultimately vote for the bill. That would be huge. A Republican Party with 38 members really couldn't block anything.
One other point, using the term Blue Dog to apply to Collins/Snowe is somewhat inapt. They are Rockefeller Republicans (the last of the Mohicans). A very different breed. Not socially conservative. Most of these people are already Democrats.
AL is very apt in describing Senators Collins and Snowe. They are to the left of most Blue Dogs in the House and conservative Democrat Ben Nelson in the Senate on a host of issues. Arlen Specter was more of a bread and butter Republican than they are, and he was driven out of the party.
I don't see Snowe and Collins switching, however. Rockefeller Republicans or not, they are Republicans. There isn't an electable Republican alternative to either in Maine, nor is there a well of disgruntled reactionary bigots in the Maine GOP the way there is in the Pennsylvania GOP.
My concern right now, if someone else is to switch parties, is that Ben Nelson will declare himself an Independent and go caucus with the Republicans. That would not be a great loss, but it would prevent a filibuster-proof majority.
I think this is a great idea. We all know that progressive ideas and reform were always just window dressing, and the important thing is to WIN! We have more senators than they do (who cares what they actually believe) so we WIN!
Booo-Yahhhh. Go ReDemoPubliCrats!
This idea that Democrat is simply defined by !Republican explains why Democrats suck so hard.
Phaedrus,
You're enormously missing the point. We have a narrow window of time right now to pass important progressive policies like health care reform. If you want to see these progressive initiatives pass, the math matters. Votes matter. Increasing the size of the Democratic caucus in the Senate (and thereby decreasing the size of the Republican caucus) will remove the last major obstacle to the passage of such legislation. In other words, the goal isn't to have more Democrats, regardless of their beliefs. The goal is to increase the likelihood of being able to pass key progressive legislation.
Plus, as I pointed out, there's no chance in hell that anyone more liberal than Snowe and Collins will become a Senator in Maine anytime soon. Those two have a lock on their jobs. So it's much better for progressive interests to have them caucusing with the Democrats instead of joining GOP filibusters.
Trust me, I understand your Math, A.L., and I see your point.
I just think that there is a direct connection between the absolute trash that is our congress, and your way of thinking.
Admittedly, I'm an idealist, but I'm not a purist or a nihilist. I don't like to lose either, but win at what cost? You say there is a narrow window... how do you know what is to come? One of the reasons this window is open at all is because the absolute travesty that was the last administration drove people into the Dem's arms - it certainly wasn't any principled, heroic stance the Dems took in defense of our freedoms.
I believe in compromise, but at what point do you dilute your message? Are there any solid principles that the Democrats believe in? Name one, and see if I can't easily find an exception sitting in Congress with a D by his/her name. Torture? nope. Privacy? nope. Freedom? nope.
We don't need to hold the perfect hostage to the good - but do we need to give up all principles just so we can pass semi-mediocre?
The last time this nation faced an economic crisis of this size, Herbert Hoover's leadership took us to the Great Depression. The Republicans lost 5 straight Presidential elections and finally won by taking a middle-of-the-road approach with Dwight David Eisenhower in 1952. Everyone liked Ike! Republicans will not win a Presidential election ever again unless they abandon their right wing message.
tomtoak
My gods. When people like Collins and Snowe are described as "moderates" and "left of the Blue Dogs" you know our politics has gone way too far to the right to be healthy.
For the record, I don't agree with stacking the Democrats with conservatives for purely procedural reasons. If the Republicans want to filibuster, let them. I encourage it whole-heartedly. I think their filibusters should be broadcast on every channel, along with appropriate comments from the Democrats on why they're filibustering and what they're trying to obstruct.
Give them all the rope they want to hang themselves. Let the Republicans break up and encourage third parties with more sanity to take their place. For that matter, get rid of this goddamned two-party system so we can have real representation in our politics.
My guess is that both these Senators have been wooed for years, just as Specter was. I doubt they will come over because they are not in the re-election box that Specter is in. It's nice to have Snowe pointing out that their Party is narrow-minded and does not make moderates welcome. That helps us enormously with Independents as well as moderate Republicans.
I do agree with you that the only thing we need from any of these folks is help getting cloture on key legislation.
Snowe and Collins were re-elected in a toxic climate (for Republicans) but their margins of victory were down, and Mainers for the most part are pretty fed up with what passes for Republicanism these days.
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