WP: Unexpectedly, Capitol Hill Democrats Stand Firm

Unexpectedly, Capitol Hill Democrats Stand Firm

By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 25, 2005; Page

Democrats were supposed to enter the 109th Congress meek and cowed, demoralized by November's election losses and ready to cut deals with Republicans who threatened further campaigns against "obstructionists." But House and Senate Democrats have turned that conventional wisdom on its head.

They have stymied President Bush's Social Security plan and held fast against judicial nominees they consider unqualified. To protest a GOP rule change, they have kept the House ethics committee from meeting. And they have slowed -- and possibly derailed -- Bush's nomination of John R. Bolton to become ambassador to the United Nations.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee's decision last week to postpone a vote on Bolton for at least three weeks -- after the chairman said there were enough votes to endorse him -- was the most dramatic example yet of Democrats' persistence and resilience. Democratic senators' relentless and lawyerly attack on Bolton's record prompted Republican Sen. George V. Voinovich of Ohio to change his mind and demand more time to review new allegations against the nominee.

The Bolton battle is not over, but the meeting seemed to epitomize an outnumbered but stubborn party that has frustrated Republicans with its ability to deter or outflank the majority on key issues.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2004/07/25/AR2005033113481.html

:applause:

You know, it's probably just my imagination, but I think that having Howard Dean lighting a fire under the collective asses of the Democratic Party may have something to do with this sudden, newfound backbone.

Here's hoping Doctor Dean has a LOT more matches in his pocket!

I hope our Democratic politicians keep it up.

"Rutgers University political scientist Ross Baker said Bolton's setback is the latest sign that Democrats have decided to stand firm, cut no separate deals with the majority and pick off Republican moderates whenever possible.

"I think after an extended period of reconsideration and soul-searching , the Democrats have decided they're going to fight back," Baker said. "The sense that they were cowed was very widespread" in January, he said, "but I think they just realized what they suffered was a defeat, not a humiliation."

The 109th Congress is still young, and Republicans have plenty of time to recover from their early setbacks. But for now, even some Republicans give the Democrats grudging credit for sticking together and staying on message.

"They've sounded to me what is a very surprisingly defiant tone, considering the outcome of the <2004> elections," said freshman Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.)."

I like how someone once called Kerry a "rebellious idealist". So true!

I think the repukes might have screwed up by backing the demos in a corner. Harry Reid has shown me in a short time that he is going to be a strong and decisive leader. Its about time we had one.

could become a press narrative. It's a great narrative for our side. Talk about framing!

More of this! More more more!

"The Bolton battle is not over, but the meeting seemed to epitomize an outnumbered but stubborn party that has frustrated Republicans with its ability to deter or outflank the majority on key issues."

.... and very true!

Thank all of the Dems with spine. This is great but we need MORE!

:woohoo:

Beer for Babington :beer:

Beer for stubborn Democrats :beer:

here on DU. People are fighting for us as we are fighting for ourselves and our country. I'm heartened! Thanks for a rare article that's much needed! :)

yourselves! You gave our Democratic representatives the spine they never had. You are the heros and not them!

to stand up for us. And we have to keep reminding those DINOs out there (i.e. Lieberman) that unless they get on board, we can assure their defeat in the primaries.



http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.21272015

Keep hitting them. Harder.

from me

and they're getting all this praise

amazing

The last line bothered me though, when Schumer said we didn't think public opinion was with us.....WTF? Am I missing something here, or shouldn't he have shut up?

shows we have principles and don't always shift in the political winds. Its the democratic equivalent of Bush's "I don't read polls"

They probably really didn't care if the public didn't like it. They don't want to live in a world of all conservative judges any more than we do, political winds be damned!

I think it gives their argument a little extra oomph.

know that we will stand behind them and that is where we here on DU come in. It takes all of us to let the American people know the truth and to let the majority party know that they are out of touch with the majority of the people most of the time.

americans root for the underdog.

i'm also very proud of reid and dean as well...they and the actions of dems in the past few weeks (notable exceptions, bankruptcy bill..) have really given me hope for 06.

keep it up.

and Dean is probably having some effect too.

A united Democratic party!? Sure they have said it allalong, but I wouldn't have believed it could happen in practice a year ago, or even a few months ago. Let's hope its just the beginning.

if I'm wrong.

So, it can't be "wrong" - right, it's just an opinion. ;)

And, I think your right in a round about way? We've supported Democrats in many new venues (such as AAR) as of late. The Republicans have had that kind of support network for sometime. AAR is but part of the larger well oiled machine that needs to continue to build over the next few decades in order to contend with the facists.

:hi:

:hi:

"When we undertook this, we didn't think public opinion would be on our side," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). "But it is."
=======================================================================

No schit, Schumer, we've been telling you guys for years!

We tried to work with them and all they've done is push an extreme radical agenda.

:-)

Many Dems are finally becoming what they should have been for the last 4 years: The Opposition to Tyrany!

all about the horse race instead of the issues themselves.

that single article space could have been used to enlighten readership about the substantivity of the basis for a political position held by the busheviks or democrats, pro or con, but the wash post chose to run an article that talked about the score and not the game of governing itself

this is the insidious feature of the media as it shapes and manufactures the public consent.

Not only a sign of Dems growing a backbone, but of Republicans waking up to what they've enabled.

However I will never understand how they allowed Rice to assume the position of Secretary of State. She is the worst failure ever among National Security Advisors.

A few Democrats made their voice heard, I have a hard time forgiving those Democrats who did not oppose her.

:toast: to the DEMS!!

There will never again be a time when we can allow corrupt Republicans to kick our asses.

Good job to all of the Democrats who have been fighting for us!

THIS is what can happen when you don't concede the game right out of the starting gate. Learn it. Live it. Love it.

Just as John Kerry took on Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, I bet that, despite our disappointment at how the 2004 election came out, he will help take down Bush in the end.

If anyone can do it, this former prosecutor and senatorial investigator surely can!

I have a feeling that he's going to play a big role in the takedown!

Someday, we will know a LOT more about what is going on behind the scenes. He hasn't stopped and he hasn't given up. That's my gut instinct talking.

:eyes:

Been on it as long as he's been in the Senate! That poster must not have seen him grill Condi over her nomination.

I consider everything he says and does from now on as nothing more than smoke blowing out his ass.

He'll never get my confidence OR my vote again. EVER.

I suppose you think Kerry should have blown his credibility with protesting the election with what would have appeard like tin foil hat theories of having the election stolen. He's far more effective quietly going after the evidence and fighting for meaningful change in election laws.

fortitude and passion. He's getting it done, chipping away at the ills and addressing them. Pay attention.

:eyes:

Cause I certainly didn't see it. He fought the good fight and he fought hard. If it weren't for 9/11, Kerry would have stomped Bush at the polls and not just the debates.

But I guess this isn't the place to argue this now. This is a thread about unity.

There is no smoking gun proof that the election was stolen. There is irrefutable proof that there were problems with the election system and process. Kerry has repeatedly addressed that, most recently in April in Boston.

You suspect fraud. Now prove it. Prove to me that there was a nationwide conspiracy to alter the vote count. I would like names and adresses and telephone numbers, if you don't mind, so that I can check this out. It does, after all, have to stand up in a court of law. I have seen video of the long lines in Ohio and we say video of what went on in Florida. That is pretty concrete stuff, but doesn't prove fraud to the extent consipracy theoriest seem to think it would. Please supply the proof.

Absent that, I'm moving on. I'm going to listen to Rep. Conyers and listen to what he thinks we should do to fix the system for the next election. That is progress, not getting stuck in a mud hole of recriminations and mudslinging that won't help in fixing the problem.

Have fun.

...or read the transcript. Kerry was terrifyingly righteous there, and they couldn't have done it without him. Or any of the others. Very inspiring teamwork. My condolences to everyone who missed it. (But you can still read the transcript at www.senate.gov, as always)

Despite all his accomplishments to date, his higher public profile after running might help increase Kerry's influence and allow him to do even more in the past. Previously he was somewhat limited being just a junior Senator from his state. As a former Presidential nominee he can take a more meaningful leadership position in the Senate than a typical junior Senator could.

And, of course, I have hopes that his future will, in fact, see him in another part of government, but since I agreed to bag the 2008 talk for a bit...I just wish him the best of luck, that's all.

While he could do more as President, even if he never winds up in the White House there is also plenty he can do in the Senate.

At least know what you're talking about before you start talking out of your ass.

I think he owed us an explaination after his quick concession. We never got one, so what else can we assume, but the worst? Everyone knew the election was stolen. By noon on election day, everyone knew something foul was going on. Why couldn't he say something about it? It was the perfect time to cry foul. All the Kerry apologists here talk about him "wasting his credibility" by not speaking out. I think that makes no sense. A credible candidate would stand up for himself, his voters, and his country by raising hell. It was the perfect time to call attention to the fraud, as the media would have paid attention.

Don't get me wrong, Kerry has done a lot of wonderful things in his career, and I think he won the election. I think his intentions are pure, and I think he would have been a great president. I just think this quick capitulation with no credible explaination was a serious tactical error, and it made him look very bad to democrats.

What I assume is that while some people (certainly not everyone), knew the election was stolen, or at the very least, had some very serious problems, Kerry had no PROOF. There is STILL no proof. Had he "cried foul", the RW owned and operated corporate media would have had a field day with it. He would have been labeled many things, none of them nice. Remember Al Gore in 2000, who actually HAD the numbers to fight, and what they made him look like? Kerry had NOTHING. What the media did to Gore, they would have done to Kerry, only far, far worse.

He would have been painted by the media as a sore loser, who was going off half cocked, with NO evidence, and his credibility would have been shot. It would also have affected the dem party, since they would have had to choose whether to side with this "sore loser", or against him, to save their own credibility. His "raising hell" would have been a gift to the rethugs, and their media, and John Kerry would have been the biggest laughing stock on the face of the earth. I don't understand why people don't GET that. How many good people do the rethugs have to destroy before you understand what would have happened to John Kerry? The media would have paid attention, all right - to KKKarl Rove, and all his pals, as they always do. They would have had a field day destroying Kerry.

John Kerry did the only thing he could have done to keep his integrity intact. Had he ruined his credibility by doing what you would have wanted him to do, he would not be in the position he is in now, where he can fight these idiots effectively.

It is rumored that he is still working on election theft, and he has been talking about it lately, as well. I guarantee you, if the proof is there, we will hear from him about it.

People on DU know something was very wrong with the election. The average American doesn't have a clue. When you say "everyone knew" the election was stolen, you are mistaken. While I wish that was true, you'll find only a small percentage of people actually know what took place this past election.

Kerry did the only thing he could have done under the circumstances. What he KNEW and what he could PROVE were two different things. I for one, am glad that he is there, integrity intact, fighting against the criminals that are running this country into the ground.

You're enjoying your day,
Everything's going your way,
Then along comes Debbie Downer.
Always there to tell you 'bout a new disease.
A car accident, or killer bees.
You'll beg her to spare you,
Debbie please!
But you can't stop Debbie Downer!

It is energizing to see our party sticking together. I am especially happy to see how active John Kerry has been. It certainly give me some hope that we can win some important battles.

Has its moments.




:eyes:

I hope they keep it up, I love them all ......

Kerry could have kept on going in the wrong direction but he stopped and got back into the fight to take back our country. I put credit to the American People who let him know that we believed in him and called him our President as I do. I believe that he heard it loud enough and long enough, like a slap in the face, that he got strength from it and us. He is there because he knows we need him there ................... he is fighting them for us simply because so many of us believe in him.

:kick:

for years the south was considered the bedrock of the Democratic Party, leading our party to avoid promoting any kind of message that might offend conservatives.

Now these southern nuts will have nothing to do with us, and we can finally appeal to independents nationwide turned off by the corruption and aristocracy in power. In 2004 Bush had a much lower margin than Clinton in 1992, yet Republicans effectively used Clinton's margins in 92 and 96 to claim he didn't have mandate. Democrats don't even need to run on a radical agenda..we can win back Congress by shredding details our incumbents'. And if Democrats win back Congress in 2006, prosecuting the crimes of this administration will effectively split the Republican base.

Democrats have finally learned from the elections of 1994 and 2002, it doesn't take success to expose failure. :woohoo:

This is about guerilla warfare. it isn't about being worried about being called names, but (figuratively speeking) assasinations, ambushes (figuratively of course) and hit and run attacks. They are bigger but slower. We are smaller but more mobile. Classic guerilla tactics. Pelosi and Reid are brilliant.

may it come to be completely expected.

The democrats in congress have sure perfected the art of congressional guerilla insurgency warfare.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7622854/

GO DEMS!

Reid and Pelosi are infinately better leaders than Gephardt and Daschle, who were both horrible. I think Daschle lossing his senate race was a blessing for the democrats in disguise, it was the only way to expell an ineffective leader.

Reid is a much savvier fighter than Daschle.

Go Dems!



http://www.cafepress.com/kickindemocrats

When he speaks, he makes his position sound as good as it really is. He keeps it simple, clear, and with a strong message.

He looks like a soft old man, but he's a dynamo as minority leader. He's got none of the charismatic attributes, but all the charisma.

a difference between cooperation and collaboration.. Thankfully someone has figured it out:)

The best defense is a good offense!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/25/politics/25justice.html?hp&ex=1114488000&en=c76a1d2367c8d89c&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Frist Seeks Christian Support to Stop Filibusters
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: April 25, 2005, New York Times

LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 24 - In a Sunday telecast organized by Christian conservative groups to denounce the Democrats as "against people of faith" for blocking judicial nominees, Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee stepped up his threats to change Senate rules to circumvent those blockades while simultaneously calling for "more civility in political life."

In a short videotaped statement included in the telecast, which was called Justice Sunday and emanated from a packed Baptist mega-church here, Dr. Frist, the Senate majority leader, neither referred to religious faith nor addressed criticism that the event was inappropriately dragging religion into a partisan battle.

Instead, he focused on accusations by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, that Dr. Frist was a "radical Republican" for participating in the telecast, which aimed to build conservative Christian support for his threat to eliminate the filibuster of presidential nominees - a parliamentary tactic that allows at least 41 senators to reject a nominee by indefinitely forestalling a vote.

(Here's the good news:)
Democrats, who hold 44 Senate seats, have vowed to virtually shut down Senate business if Dr. Frist follows through.

The business supporters of the GOP are very nervous. They see this as risking the loss of all the pro-business legislation they were expecting this term. Hopefully they will increasingly see the religious right as a liability.

but I seem to remember a different ending. :applause:

Good News! Let's have more!!!

to Barbara Boxer

Has the world ever heard of such a thing?

Kick some Republican ass! :spank:

If we do we will never be well and we will bever be Democrats. We will simply be a sickly annex of the Republican Party. I don't know about the Republicans. But I feel good! I'm not ashamed of what we have acomplished. I'm bothered by what we have opposed. Not our opposition to it. My stomache is not tied in knots. I don't choke on my own bile. I sleep well at night. I have concerns. But no worries. I feel we are healthy. Even if we need to continue to tone our political body. Yes, I feel good!

This is excellent news!! :applause: What a wonderful piece of news for a Monday.

We might let 7 of the 9 go to save our constitutional right? What a friggen MORON!!! Doesnt he have a vote on a. Gonzalez or J. Bolton to go approve or something?

and you can write a note. you'll go through the 'opinion' page on the home URL.

that the Republicans are overreaching, but if they actually have to make some effort and FIGHT to convince the people of their views when the people are on the fence ... well, just don't count on them fighting in that case.

ecited for clarity.

:patriot:

the Energy Bill. Hip, hip... mumm, wait a minute.

...after all but two of the horses have been stolen.

They've stymied the Social Security privatization, for now, but this has only slowed the juggernaut a bit. Big Money is still calling the shots, and the Dems have been effectively neutralized. What was the last piece of legislation they created and passed?

All the good will that I believe exists on the left side of the aisle counts for nothing next to the power of money.

"...after all but two of the horses have been stolen."

Best summery of the week.

...but unarmed. Big Money wants those last two horse too badly to let them remain for much longer.

Keep demanding that they fight even harder- looks like they are FINALLY listening to us.