Here's a stumper for you - Can you name one Republican in Congress that has given President Obama

[jillan]

a compliment?


And if you can come up with one, please let me know what they said - cause I can't come up with one.

[RKP5637]

1. I can't come up with one, not one example. n/t

[WhoIsNumberNone]

2. McCain said he wasn't a terrorist in 2008- Does that count?

You know if they ever said anything nice about him in front of the cameras ALEC and American Crossroads would crucify them at the next election...

[teddy51]

3. I will go you one better. Can you name any Republican that has given any Democrat

a compliment? Sorry, but I certainly can't remember this happening.

[jillan]

4. Now you are making my brain hurt!

[Samantha]

7. Okay, how is this? Orrin Hatch made many complimentary remarks about Teddy Kennedy

but that was only after that wonderful Democrat had checked out from this earth. I think there must be some unwritten Republican rule that one Republican can say kind words about a Democrat only if it is done at a time when those words can't help the Democrat win another election....

Does this count?

Sam

[dmr]

8. I was going to post the same thing!

GMTA! lol

But, Ted & Orrin were friends, & they both talked well of each other - silly jokes, and all. But they were old school.

I wish Ted was here to give them all the what-for. This was something he could do well.

[Samantha]

9. I couldn't believe the wonderfully kind things Orrin Hatch said about Teddy upon Teddy's passing

On a personal level, they were really close. Who would have thunk it? It again renews the question about exactly how much posturing goes on in our political process.

Nothing surprises me any more, dmr. I would hardly blink if tomorrow I checked DU and found the story that Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan are tired of living a lie and plan to start their new lives as a couple in Maryland. HA!

Sam

[RZM]

5. There probably have been a few, but I sure can't think of any

The closest thing I can remember was Lindsay Graham's comment that 'elections matter' when it came to SCOTUS nominees. That's not a compliment, but it was at least an acknowledgment that Obama deserves some latitude.

Probably the main reason we don't hear many compliments is that it isn't advantageous for Republicans to do so. It's a pretty polarized climate out there and they are trying to defeat the guy. A compliment carries with it potential costs with the base, but offers almost no benefits at all. Democrats will still dislike that congressperson just as much as before and many would argue that any such compliment is little more than fake lip service (which would probably be true most of the time).

Think about what type of Democratic congresspeople DU likes. Is it a moderate Democrat who says nice things about Republicans, or somebody like Alan Grayson who slams them every chance he gets? You have a similar dynamic with the base on the other side. A Republican who appears to be supportive of the president will be perceived as a RINO and is in danger of getting primaried (that's already happened more than a few times since Obama has been in office). As much as people on both sides don't like to hear it, the bases really do have a lot in common in the ways they engage the system and the members of their own party.

Just ask Dick Lugar

[Chipper Chat]

6. I remember Lisa Murkowski saying something in that line about a year ago but it just rolled off.

???? Anyway, she probably got a quick terse phone call from Rush Limbaugh.

[FSogol]

10. The one the GOP voted out, Sen Richard Lugar

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/05/prokop-lugar.html