Netanyahu to US "Don't ever second guess me on Hamas again"

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112. Well, first of all, welcome to DU to YOU, TOO, ablamj!

Glad you're here. That's a GREAT question. I'd have to look at that seriously. However, it's hard to imagine any candidate who WOULD be pro-choice and bush-like on everything else. It just doesn't follow, at least in my experience. I've certainly not seen it. If a candidate is pro-choice, it is FAR more likely that they would NOT be bush-like in other things. There's a general mind-set working here. They would be far more likely NOT to stand with climate change deniers, they'd be far more likely NOT to support war-first/ask-questions-later. They'd be far more likely to support a social safety net. They'd be far more likely to support marriage equality, and income equality, and voters rights. I'd have to look. I'd have to look more closely.

Mainly - is there a D or an R after their name? If there's a D, it's more likely than not - that the mere fact of a D means that the Democratic caucus is increased by one. Unless they go stealth and change parties after they're elected. But adding yet another D means that might give our overall Democratic caucus that much more clout. Might make the difference between the Rs grabbing the majority or being kept out of power. When the Ds are in control, THEY set the agenda. THEY decide what gets voted on and what stays stuck in committee-hell. THEY determine what legislation advances and what doesn't. So I'd have to look at that.

I'd also have to look at - who's funding them? Who's endorsing them? Who appears with them at campaign events? Who's advising them? WHICH MEANS: who's coming into office WITH them if they win? Who will have their ear, or be their advisors, either on staff or behind the scenes. Who will influence them on policy issues once they gain power? Who will the winning candidate turn to for advice on the issues? WHO will get his/her attention, and get their calls returned or their requests acted upon?

Once I've done that, with any given candidate, I would decide. But if you say you're pro-choice, you certainly get my attention. And then I look deeper. But I've noticed a mind-set in operation here. Those who tend to think liberally on a woman's right to choose also tend to think liberally on other issues I care about when I go to vote. Granted, not always. For example, I supported Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota because I wanted another D in there. And I was happy to do so. And she won and she's a Senator now. But then she came out with that damn statement after the Newtown massacre about how the holy goddam second amendment meant nobody had the right to take away somebody's "right" to own massacre machines, and I had a FIT! I called her office in Washington and complained. And I had NO trouble telling them I was from California and I realize she's from North Dakota, so I'm not her immediate constituent - HOWEVER, she was VERY happy to take my California money when her campaign sent emails around begging for campaign donations. So I felt, AS AN UNDERWRITER OF HER CAMPAIGN (the kind of donations without which she might NOT be in that Senate seat today), that she STILL had to pay attention to what I want, and I DO INDEED have a say in how she votes in the Senate.

You just have to study and be aware of what is beneath the surface, and what's (and WHO'S) behind the curtain. And sometimes you win and sometimes you don't. You make the best and most informed decision you can. In her case, well, it's better to have a D in there than an R, and it helped us keep the Senate in the blue column. But I'm not happy about her love of wanton access to any damn guns you want, and I'm gonna have to think long and hard about that when she's up for reelection. And depending on what the dynamics are at the time (like, could we afford to lose a Senate seat because we're otherwise in solid shape - so I then don't feel compelled to contribute to her campaign?) I'd have to make a decision then. That said, Heidi Heitkamp is pro-choice. So, for me, that remains a big point in her favor.