The real significance of Spector's change, The Republican Party is now a regional party.

[grantcart]

Many of DU are, IMHO, missing the real significance of today's decision.


Along with the loss of NY 20, the Republican Party is now, officially, a regional Party.


In the following states

Maine, VT, NH, MA, CT, DE, MD, RI, there are 58 Congresspeople. Only 4 are Republicans.


What Spector's change shows every Republican from PA north is that they have no future in the Republican Party.


The battle lines for the impending civil war in the Republican Party has just become more entrenched.


The decision by Spector has now made it imperative that the last remaining remnants of the Republican Party in the North, and what few moderate elements exist elsewhere, will have to engage in a do or die battle for their survival if they are going to survive.

[Uzybone]

1. Well said, they are being entrenched as a shrinking Southern party

How long before the mid atlantic states begin to go the way of the North East? The West coast states are almost there already.

[Withywindle]

32. Mid-Atlantic is well on its way.

VA has a Dem governor and two Dem Senators now, and went blue in '08. NC has a Dem governor, and one-of-each Senators. Also blue in '08. Either you don't consider those states truly "southern" or else the GOP is losing significant ground in the south as well. Maybe even faster than in the West.

:woohoo:

[FSogol]

2. Haven't they also chased the last moderate from their party? n/t

[Uzybone]

they still have Snowe and Collins the pandemic funds stripper.

how long before they go Indy or switch outright.

[eleny]

3. I just turned on the tv and heard the news, gasped and then laughed my ass off

Sure, he's still Arlen. But this is another kick at the teeth of the Republican Party. Karma has been putting in some serious overtime lately.

Your point is spot on and icing on the cake. :thumbsup: :kick:

[roguevalley]

31. this is especially good when you consider that Karl "I have THe

Math who will Build a Permanent Republican Nation" Rove was such an asshat predictor. :-D

[Romulox]

4. Right. But NE blue-bloods didn't go extinct. They just changed parties.

They will expect their new party to represent their values now.

[grantcart]

7. but the whole discussion moves to the left

We set the agenda and they have to discuss our issues not theirs.


It is true that it does add to the moderate wing of the Democratic Party. But the internal discussion of the Democratic Party is now a great deal more signicant than the discussion between the Democrats and the Republicans.

In the long term Republicans who live in the northeast will not see a professional future for them and younger potential candidates will not bother running for local and state seats, it will dry up their talent pool that will have an impact for decades.


The internal civil war in the Republican Party will get even more vicous.

[Romulox]

9. On the contrary. The current Democratic Party is FAR to the right of where it was 20 years ago.

More ex-Republicans means wrenching the party farther to the right.

[grantcart]

13. The whole country is far far to the right of the country where it was 40 years ago

The engine that pulled it that way, the party of hate and division, the Republican Party is now in its death throes as a national party. The liberal wing of the Republican Party is growing faster than the moderate wing and getting better organized.


The Republican Party will be getting more reactionary and smaller.


The Democratic Party will be getting larger and both the liberal and moderate wings will be increasing in size. The Democratic Party is more liberal today than it was 8 years ago and has more political power. In 8 years it will be more liberal and bigger. The Republican Party may be in competition with the Libertarian Party for 2nd place.

[Romulox]

15. I've seen ZERO evidence of this whatever.

"The engine that pulled it that way, the party of hate and division, the Republican Party is now in its death throes as a national party."

So...the Republican Party is dead...because it SUCCEEDED? Completely illogical.

"The Democratic Party is more liberal today than it was 8 years ago"

Again, I see no evidence of this whatsoever.

[grantcart]

23. The whole country is now moving left. A simple but telling examples

is that gay marriage is now legal in Iowa and it barely caused ripples. 8 years ago it would have been earth shattering. 8 years ago it was a huge money making vote getting issue for the Republicans. Now everyone, even the gay bashers, see that the numbers are all trending one way and that it is just a matter of time before it is a majority opinion.

Public opinion for other issues like legalization of Marijuana, ending the war in Iraq, curbing global warming all show significant changes over the last 6 years.

The Republican Party succeeded in driving the discussion right. The pendulum has now started moving left. The fact that in 8 Northern States the Republican Party only has 4 Congressman proves 1) that the country is moving left 2) that the Republican Party is no longer a truely national party.

The liberal wing of the party, with such active organizations like MoveOn.Org is much better organized and larger than it was in 2000. Pick any policy position and the party position today is more liberal than it was in 2000. Take, for example, the very broad support for same sex marriages, that did not exist in 2000 like it does today.

[Romulox]

27. Great example: Americans, by and large, approve of same-sex marriage. But BOTH parties are opposed

"The Republican Party succeeded in driving the discussion right. The pendulum has now started moving left. The fact that in 8 Northern States the Republican Party only has 4 Congressman proves 1) that the country is moving left 2) that the Republican Party is no longer a truely national party."

Again, please look beyond the "go team!" portion of this. An ascendant Democratic Party that has become MUCH more conservative in the process is not necessarily a victory for progressives.

"Pick any policy position and the party position today is more liberal than it was in 2000. "

Trade? Not more "liberal"
UHC? Not more "liberal"
War on Drugs?
War in Afghanistan?
Wall Street bailout?
For profit prisons?

The Party position is demonstrably NOT more liberal today than in 2000 in many key areas.

[tblue37]

24. The *country* is further left. The *politicians* and the *media* are

further right. The public expresses its wishes, and the honchos routinely ignore us.

[Romulox]

25. Agreed. nt

[depakid]

26. A good 1/3 of today's Dems are Rockefeller Republicans at best

in some cases, well to the right and more corrupt and craven than that.

As to the corproate media- I think it goes without saying. Their behavior speaks for itself.

[jenmito]

5. Not to mention this is MORE proof that the Repub. party has become too extreme to

tolerate someone as moderate as he is. I'm sure Limbaugh will be talking all day about how Specter was never a "real" Repub. anyway. They are now the party of Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney.

[dubeskin]

6. Those words...Civil War...they scare me

Because as we see the party lines become even more and more regional, I'm actually getting a little more afraid we might see some states try to secede...again...and form something along the lines of the Republican States of Christ, which would be the former Confederate States.

[mwb970]

28. They'll be sorry if they do.

Those are the very states that are net takers in terms of federal taxes. If you think they're backward and poor now....

[jillan]

8. I can't wait to hear Rachel's gop in exile segment tonite!

:P

[Captain Hilts]

10. Someone send a handsome masseuse carrying chocolate to Olympia Snowe's house. nt

[grantcart]

11. lol, and a new calculator to make sure she can add

[tridim]

14. What possible reason do Collins and Snowe have to stay in the GOP?

I bet they both switch sooner rather than later.

[Laelth]

18. Now, that would make me very happy. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[Cha]

19. Collins..so she can Strip Pandemic Funds and

have bragging rights. I don't know about Snowe's political activities.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5544773

[AspenRose]

20. ROFL

:rofl:

[YDogg]

12. good point

[Perky]

16. except for the ladies from maine

[Cha]

17. And, Susan Collins just showed her

ugly hand by Stripping Pandemic Funds..

Truth2Tell (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-27-09 02:39 PM
Original message
Susan Collins' Web Site Still Brags About Stripping Pandemic Funds
Edited on Mon Apr-27-09 02:40 PM by Truth2Tell
Senator Susan Collins: Serving the People of Maine

February 5, 2009

WASHINGTON-Republicans are exercising increasing influence over President Barack Obama's economic-stimulus plan in the Senate, with Maine Sen. Susan Collins emerging as a leader of efforts to trim the initiative and sharpen its focus on job creation.
Sen. Collins, a centrist with allies in both parties, was called to the White House Wednesday to meet with Mr. Obama. She envisions holding the cost of the stimulus package to $700 billion or less, well below the $819 billion package of tax cuts and spending the House approved last week.

The target grew out of discussions among a group of moderate Republicans, led by Sen. Collins, aimed at reining in costs and better targeting federal funds toward job creation. The effort amounts to "rebuilding" the Obama package, according to an individual familiar with the talks. The package would include tax cuts and investments intended to create jobs, such as infrastructure projects, but it would step back from spending projects that don't immediately lift the sagging U.S. economy.

After meeting with Mr. Obama, Sen. Collins expressed concern about a number of spending provisions, including $780 million for pandemic-flu preparedness. "I have no doubt that the president is willing to negotiate in good faith, that he wants to have a bipartisan bill," Sen. Collins said.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5544773

[sofa king]

21. The trend is sweeping down the Atlantic Coast, too.

It hasn't changed at the local level yet, but for statewide offices, Virginia is all D (Kaine, Webb, Warner) while Republican representatives now outnumber Democrats by only 6-5.

North Carolina also shows the trend, perhaps even stronger, with two of the three statewide offices being Democratic, and freshman Republican (and senior Senator for NC) Richard Burr polling below fifty percent, up for reelection and certain to be targeted in 2010. Democratic representatives outweigh Republicans 8-5 there.

Regrettably, all rational thought stops at South of the Border.

In Virginia, Republicanism is literally retreating up the hillsides. Geography certainly isn't the primary underlying reason, but my impression is that being on or near a mountain appears to go along with whether or not you're a Republican. Those who actually have to interact with more than a few people a day, like people in cities and colleges do, lean Democratic.



Note that in my silly graphic above, the Shenandoah Valley cuts through the northwest counties, and the Valley is slightly trending Democratic. Due to the unusual nature of city autonomy in Virginia, it's easy to point out the college towns in Virginia as well. Education, urbanization, and a good supply of oxygen seem to be related to our politics.

[grantcart]

22. good graphics

[sofa king]

29. Thanks.

My observation is mostly tongue in cheek, though. When I make the same map comparisons in NC and PA, the results are not the same at all:

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

30. I can't speak for the other states, but the Repukes in Maryland are running scared

They tend to characterize themselves as "moderates," but that doesn't help their cause. They all won their races by very small margins. Maryland has always been a Democratic state, by and large. Let's see what happens.