with his views is not a 'rising star' in the party. If I lived in his city, I would vote for him because he is the Democrat, but given a primary with others with more progressive views, I would not vote for him. And the idea that Democrats should emphasize economic interests while backpedaling equality for everyone is an anathema to me.

see how everyone voted using Nebraska voting records. click on the links

Mello is a sponsor of the final version of a 20-week abortion ban approved by the governor in 2010

Mello cast anti-choice votes in favor of requiring physicians to be physically present for an abortion in order to impede access to Abortion

Mello voted for a law banning insurance plans in the state from covering abortions.

Mello was endorsed in 2010 by anti-choice group Nebraska Right to Life.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/omaha-mayoral-candidate-under-fire-says-he-would-never-do-anything-to-restrict-access-to-reproductive-health-care_us_58f8e868e4b018a9ce590a84

http://www.legislature.ne.gov/FloorDocs/101/PDF/Slip/LB1103.pdf

http://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=10024

https://openstates.org/ne/votes/NEV00000608/

http://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/102/PDF/Journal/r1journal.pdf#page=1594

Correcting wrong info on Mello I absolutely understand and agree with. But bringing Kaine into this, especially since he has evolved over time to not forcing his pro life views on others through law, seems arbitrary and a bit unfair. Every one of us has evolved on one issue or other over our lives.

?????????

I think I understand the answer.

why come back here? I thought that was their new home?

Curious.

In fact with regard to the concept of evolving, Mello has made the same statement that all of the catholic democrats make which is that their personal belief against abortion would not affect their support of choice for women. Personally I do not believe any of these politicians who are influenced by religion in this manner including Kaine and Biden and if I knew anything about him probably Mello. All the last few days has been about is the same people who have bashed Sanders for the last year exaggerating a single campaign stop in the Unity Tour to attack Sanders yet again by trying to equate a Nebraska politicians mixed history as applying to Bernie who has life long support for reproductive rights and has been fully supported by most democratic women, feminists and women's groups before he ran for president.

With respect to Kaine, his positions had not totally changed in 2016 when selected to be vice president by Hillary. He got in trouble for reiterating his support for the Hyde Amendment and then walked it back to say he would support Hillary's policies on Hyde. I would assume that most of the people attacking Bernie the last few days think that the Hyde Amendment is something that is anti reproductive freedom and rights. Yet if Hillary had been elected and something had happened to her, she selected as her vice president a politician who had a long term mixed bag of policies on reproductive freedom who had maybe evolved but still held to one repressive policy. Link below on the issue of the Hyde Amendment, Kaine, the initial statement and the back track all from 2016

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/politics/tim-kaine-hyde-amendment-abortion/index.html

from NARAL and Planned Parenthood. He is distorting VA poltics to smearing Kaine.

Even as governor Kaine still had a fair amount of "evolving" to do. That is typical of prolife Democrats going from local regional and state politics in non progressive states to the policy positions they seem to graduate to in order to stay in good standing with the Senate Democratic Caucus once they are in the Senate. I'm not saying Kaine isn't sincere, just that the pattern is well established. Mello seems to be starting toward that transition now. He is staking out the pro choice position relative to his hard line pro life opponent in Omaha.

and Mello isn't. Kaine has a 100% rating from all the abortion rights organizations. None of OS quotes are from the past decade, and none involve legislation to take away women's rights to choose.

http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/50772/tim-kaine/2#.WP1nHGnyvIV

Meanwhile, Mello:

As for Sanders, he didn't pick out one candidate and lavish all his attention on him, he's supporting a whole range of candidates around the country but the press and the anti-Sanders crowd decided to make this one the big story because they could make a controversy out of it.

that no one would have heard of if not for Sanders, over others like Ossoff. Not only that, he anointed him with the designation of "progressive," despite his reactionary voting record.

That said, excusing the litany of posts (and efforts by others outside of DU) to normalize the abrogation of women's rights as about defending Bernie is a cop out. People wouldn't be taking such positions unless they shared the goal. They justify anti-choice Mello because they want to see the denial of women's rights normalized. People promote what they want, not what they don't.

Or did he support a Dem candidate when asked, who he probably only even knew about as it was a stop on the Unity tour? Oh the irony in that name..

I can't help but wonder what the response here would have been if he'd refused to endorse him. Oh yes I already know.. "Sanders betrays party! Yet AGAIN refuses to support the party candidate!!!". It's all so damn transparent.

LB 1103 Prohibiting Abortions After 20 Weeks of Pregnancy Bill Passed - Senate (44 - 5) Yea

LB 594 Abortion Screening Requirements Bill Passed - Senate (40 - 9) Yea

LB 22 Prohibits Insurance Coverage of Abortion Bill Passed - Senate (37 - 7) Yea

LB 521 Requires Physician Presence During Abortions Bill Passed - Senate (38 - 9) Yea

LB 675 Establishes Procedures for Ultrasounds Performed Prior to Abortions Bill Passed - Senate (40 - 5) Yea

Why are DUers bashing Mello, but not Kaine? Or Bob Casey? Or other pro-life Dems?

Did you "let it go on all those anti-Bernie OPs?

and economic justice for women and children. It is justifying legislating against a woman's right to choose.

Women can already see an ultrasound if they want. Besides, that was one of several anti-choice bills that Mello supported or voted for. Equating that with a personal objection to abortion while still being pro-choice is a lie. Note that he doesn't cite Kaine's rating from PP or NARAL or his voting record.

It has been interesting to see how many justify moving the party sharply to the write. I think it's rather sad to find out people don't stand for anything they pretended to. Though now we know that the rhetoric about economic justice was never about justice at all but rather promoting greater wealth for men at the expense of second-class citizenship and increased poverty for women and children.

When people work to turn the clock back a half century, claims of progressivism become completely unbelievable.

Apparently it's OK for some Democrats to undermine women's rights if they have the endorsement of the right people in the party.

I too think it's sad to find out people don't stand for what they pretended to. Schumer endorsed Bob Casey Jr. And then there is Joe Donnelly, Daniel Lipinski, Colin Peterson, et. al.; are all pro-life Dems. Where is the outcry about these Democrats? Or is our disdain only reserved for people endorsed by Sanders?

I've worked in the Omaha area for a couple decades. I would love it if Omaha had a pro-choice Democrat running for Mayor but the chances of that aren't great. If Mello does get elected as Omaha's mayor, his effect on pro-choice/pro-life policy would be next to nothing - that's the NE unicameral and Governor's gig. So let's be honest, This has very little to do with Mello. It has more to do with a lot of people getting their hackles up anytime a certain Senator from Vermont is mentioned.

Last edited Mon Apr 24, 2017, 01:04 AM - Edit history (1)

as is the case with everyone else trying to justify support for anti-choice positions.

I get that you don't have good choices in red state America. The point is that Bernie has enormous influence on his supporters, and he is choosing to use that influence to back an anti-choice candidate over hundreds of other, more leftist Democrats. Why? He bestows the title of progressive onto a man who has worked to undermine equal rights for women. He also insists a position in favor of women's rights shouldn't disqualify someone from favored progressive status in his new vision of the party. OS cherry picks statements about Kaine, who now has 100% rating from every abortion rights group--from a decade or more ago. Bernie is doing this now. As we are witnessing, he is influencing his supporters to justify Mello's positions. It is that influence that makes Bernie different, precisely because too many are willingly to resort to anything to defend him OVER the rights of citizens. Few, if any other, politicians have that kind of influence. That is what makes this all so concerning.

Who have you ever seen adopt a position because they did?

But it's all good. Y'all have done us a favor by revealing who you really are.

Huh? Where did I say that? And who are you talking about?

on their supporters. Clearly that is not the case. People wouldn't be running around justifying anti-choice because of something they did or said.

Rather than openly influence supporters, they used that influence to foist a pro-lifer into the senate.

his full-throated enthusiasm for Mello. It was a startling contrast.

yet somehow Mello qualifies. Odd.

the primary.

as someone else posted, mello was part of the caucus which sanders won and announced his win. (although hillary won when they held the primary later on).

ossoff is john lewis' guy and from an area that went heavily for hillary clinton.

I've really been disliking the accusations here that we who are criticizing Bernie Sanders for his recent actions are doing so in some kind of knee-jerk way, and not for valid reasons.

He's been an interesting character to watch. I certainly was sympathetic to his message during the campaign, but when he dragged his feet for a month, before conceding, letting his followers believe he might contest the nomination at the convention—I didn't like that at all. It read as petulance to me, and I got the feeling his newfound celebrity had gone to his head. He wasn't the most gracious politician in defeat; it was written all over his face at the convention, whenever the camera caught him in the audience. I think it's very possible that he's not always acting out of high-minded ideological motives. I still need to be persuaded that he will be a net plus in pulling voters to the Democratic party. I'm hoping his actions here on out will do that.

There are people here though that will do a complete mental 180 and go for his throat over things that they had even defended other politicians for doing previously. That doesn't mean criticism isn't completely justifiable on occasion, but because of those people it's sometimes hard to tell which is the genuine constructive criticism and discussion and which is just part of the hate train.

It's definitely an impedance to listening to and understanding what people might be saying.

Because they are always better than the Rs. While this is true, it's fucking hypocritical now and just another way to bash Bernie Sanders for this. I honesty don't give a rat's ass who is mayor in this case, but I will now NEVER vote for the D, just because they are "better" if I object to something they stand for and no one here will ever be able to object to that.

Nothing horrible like weaning the country off fossil fuels or publicly funded college for families earning under $125k and tuition free community college. Thank goodness you don't have to lower yourself to vote for campaign finance reform or regulating Wall Street. But undermining equal rights for women and relegating they and their children to increased poverty, now that's something to be enthusiastic about.

Kaine is pro-choice. He has a 100% rating from every single abortion rights organization.
http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/50772/tim-kaine/2#.WP1nHGnyvIV

OS sites statements by Kaine, not supporting or sponsoring anti-choice legislation, but working to expand family planning services so that pregnant women have options. NARAL didn't make an endorsement 12 years ago. They now give him a 100% rating. Someone issued a blatantly false claim that Mello had the same rating currently, which PP Nebraska refuted.

You think this is all about Bernie. How could women possibly care about their equal rights when Bernie is what is really important. What could equality and economic justice compare to one man? So what if Bernie chose Mello out of thousands of politicians he could support for designation as PROGRESSIVE when he is in fact CONSERVATIVE. Bernie wants to promote RWers, that's his affair, but don't pretend to be moving the party to the left while promoting the opposite, while issuing public statements that opposing women's rights doesn't disqualify someone from being progressive in his view, superior to the other Democrats he maligns.

But Mello is just like any other conservative Democrat, so that makes it all good. Y'all want the conservative wing of the Democratic Party, you're welcome to it. Because this position is not leftist, progressive, or just.

You appear to have done rather a radical direction change, since saying the following back in March..

Kaine has a 100% LIFETIME rating from NARAL and Planned Parenthood.

Kaine also signed a law that required parental notification for minors wanting an abortion!

He even signed that bill to use state dollars to create “Choose Life” license plates, which funded state “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” — facilities whose sole purpose is to dissuade pregnant women from getting an abortion and called it FREE SPEECH.

Mello never signed a bill LIFETIME!

How many times did Kaine get the state NARAL or Planned Parenthood endorsement???

That lifetime rating is only from 2013-2017: https://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/50772/tim-kaine

OS

is the same as taking away women's rights. You FALSELY used the present tense because ALL abortion rights organizations now give Kaine a 100% rating.http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/50772/tim-kaine/2#.WP1nHGnyvIV

None of your cherry picking is equivalent to Mello, who has been endorsed by anti-choice groups.

away from equal rights. Sure, we have conservative Democrats in the party. You want Bernie considered just like other conservative Dems, that's fine with me.

I won't be joining your efforts to move the party to the right. You, Mello and the rest justifying treating women as second-class citizens, deprived of equal rights and relegated to even greater poverty can do that without those of us who actually care about equality and economic justice.

Perez has drawn the line. RW, anti-equal rights positions are no longer tolerated. Sorry. We won't be remaking the party in the image of the GOP.

Oh, and we'll be letting Liz Warren know that you've decided she's no good because she was a Republican back when NARAL had concerns about Kaine, because he now has 100 percent ratings from the abortion rights groups.
http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/50772/tim-kaine/2#.WP1nHGnyvIV


But you keep on cherry picking google to construct false equivalencies in order to justify far-right wing positions. You and a few others here have exposed yourselves, and that can't be unseen.

That is precisely what these posts are about: justifying undermining the equal rights of women.
He cherry picks information that does not in fact point to any actual restrictions on women's rights and ignores the fact that Kaine has a 100% rating from every single abortion rights organization. Meanwhile, someone lied to the press by claiming Mello had that same rating, when PP had actively opposed his litany of Mello's anti-choice legislation. PP issued a public statement refuting the claims.

What do you suppose the point of these threads are? They are saying it's okay to legislate against women's rights because another politician decades ago expressed personal concerns about abortion and worked to promote family planning services for the poor. So much for economic justice.

He voted for several bills undermining reproductive rights.

LB 1103 Prohibiting Abortions After 20 Weeks of Pregnancy Bill Passed - Senate (44 - 5) Yea

LB 594 Abortion Screening Requirements Bill Passed - Senate (40 - 9) Yea

LB 22 Prohibits Insurance Coverage of Abortion Bill Passed - Senate (37 - 7) Yea

LB 521 Requires Physician Presence During Abortions Bill Passed - Senate (38 - 9) Yea

LB 675 Establishes Procedures for Ultrasounds Performed Prior to Abortions Bill Passed - Senate (40 - 5) Yea

Personally, if I were in a position of leadership to do it, I wouldn't endorse either someone like Heath Mello or Sen. Kaine.

Why the DNC felt it necessary to respond to the call for support from that State Democratic Party of Nebraska, to get our Unity Tour to actually stump for a moderate who has long been opposed to abortion is a question we should all be wondering about.

Big tent or not, when they signal to the progressive wing of our Party that they're more than willing to compromise solid principals that we had to fight like hell to win half a century ago, just to win some votes, be it a mayoral race or a major election, it causes a loss of faith in the Party as a whole and simply promotes more apathy that our votes even matter at all.

I understand that having Mello become mayor of Omaha is a win for the Democratic Party and strengthens those struggling against the Rethugs in Nebraska, but what exactly sort of win is it for the women of that state.


Abortion is a Woman's Right. That's what we fought for and I'll be damned if any wishy-washy, double-talking politician be allowed to take that right away. The futures of our young are at stake and the more our Reproductive Rights are restricted and watered-down by ignorant power-hungry leaders and legislators, the further back into the dark shadows of history we go. As progressives, we cannot let that happen!

While Sanders reaffirmed his.

Women's rights activists forced Perez to get right on the issue.

Progressivism, meanwhile, is becoming redefined as treating equal rights as optional, something that doesn't interfere with the benediction of "progressive." We are witnessing a concerted effort to turn the clock back, and it's not coming from the DNC.

I've known many many progressives for years. When the DNC caters to members of our party who are, in fact, opposed to abortion, and caves to their compromising moderate positions on OUR hard-won rights by actually adding it the Party Platform, none of my friends and allies have ever let that kerap slide without loudly making their voices heard!

I've seen you write here that you consider yourself a fierce supporter of Women's Rights. I wrote more than a dozen actual letters and was on the phone for hours, beginning last July 22, demanding that my Party and every representative of my Party, take a serious look at just who they might alienate with their choice of that day. Why did I do that...because I care deeply about Women's Rights. What did you do?

What sort of power does a Mayor have in regards to abortion rights? I'm not defending whatever anti-choice legislation he sponsored as a legislator but merely questioning the significance of his stance on abortion as a potential Mayor of a city/town in Nebraska? What kind of power(s) could he potentially exert as Mayor against choice? I can understand people not wanting the DNC to endorse him for having a bad history of political stances on the issue but it seems like getting worked up over this guy's past anti-choice record seems a bit extreme, especially since he probably won't be able to do much to affect the issue one way or another as Mayor. If he were running for Governor, State Legislator, Judge, or Congress, I could understand the furor, but I'm not seeing why we are fighting over this.........