Alexander to GOP leaders: Thanks, but no thanks

[neoconn]

Source: Yahoo News

Alone in a cabin in Northern Ontario last month, Sen. Lamar Alexander considered the debt limit deal Congress and President Barack Obama had recently, noisily struck. He thought about the debates still to come in the 2012 election year, the issues he cared about, and his own future in the Senate.

Then the Tennessee Republican, 71, typed out a speech on his laptop and set it aside, to "let it cool."

Alexander served it up Tuesday, announcing from the Senate floor that he is giving up his No. 3 position in the GOP leadership for the freedom to write laws with Democrats, if need be.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/alexander-gop-leaders-thanks-no-thanks-223425967.html

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I am having a hard time processing this. Maybe someone can shed some light on this?

[Firebrand Gary]

1. If this is true its simple. He's attempting to put Country before Corporations.

[neoconn]

8. I hope thats the reason....

Hope it was not for "politics"...So many of them are so slithery you never know..

[Bucky]

33. He's not less partisan, but he's always been pro solutions & pragmatic.

There's always been something old fashioned about Lamar Alexander. When he ran for president, I found him less scary than most Republicans. That said, I'm sure he knows this will help him get reelected. But that doesn't mean he's not genuinely concerned about avoiding fiscal trainwrecks.

[gateley]

2. Good for him! I hope he inspires others to show some

independence, too!

[Pirate Smile]

3. That's great. He needs some other Repubs to join him.

[DeSwiss]

4. This doesn't surprise me that Lamar Alexander could think this way.....

...but it does surprise me that he's admitted it in this toxic political atmosphere we now have. In his terms as govenor he had to work with a Democratically-controlled State Legislature, so he's not allergic to compromise. Still, with this action he as much told the Tea Party types to go screw themselves. Which ain't saying much since the Tea Party ain't all that hot in Tennessee anyway. {Then again, neither is the state Democratic Party.}

According to the 2009 annual vote studies by Congressional Quarterly, Alexander is one of the most bipartisan Republican members of the Senate. According to National Journal’s 2009 Vote Ratings, he was ranked as the 32nd most conservative member in the Senate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamar_Alexander#Cross_the_Aisle">link

- As I see it, this can only mean that he intends to retire when his term is up. Whatever comes after is bound to be worse. I'll raise my plaid flag for ya tomorrow Lamar......

K&R

[tblue37]

10. Apparently he plans to run again. nt

[Pab Sungenis]

5. Jump ship, Lamar.

You'll be welcome here.

[ingac70]

6. Screw Lamar Alexander....

I don't want that mother fucker penning any legislation.

[Firebrand Gary]

11. I can appreciate his occasional bi partisanship, however if he is cozy with the Corporation crowd

NO THANK YOU.

[Rincewind]

7. He's too "moderate"

for the Tea party, so he jumped before they kicked him out. He's been moving to the right for years, but can't keep up with the crazies.

[Daphne08]

9. I heard some Tea Party member call him a liberal on TV today.

Don't remember the network (probably MSNBC) or the person, but I just shook my head and laughed!

[LuvNewcastle]

13. Jeez, I can't believe there's a party that

considers Lamar Alexander to be too liberal. Look out, Orrin Hatch!

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[fasttense]

14. He's my Senator and he is very, very conservative.

He is saying he doesn't like being pushed around by the party but will always put conservatism first. Note his priorities include, the horror of all long time horrors, the federal deficit his party got this country into.

He's still a shill for the corporations but he thinks Obama will be compromising most liberal issues and he wants to compromise on some of that conservatism Obama is handing out. You know like destroying Social Security and Medicare.

Not much of a change. I think he's just trying to get his name in the papers.

[sofa king]

15. My guess is it's a "crisis of comity."

One of the things that makes the Republicans disgusting is their total mockery of every institution they pollute. When a new Senator arrives in Washington, they go through days of introductory training that emphasizes the 200 year old tradition of "comity," creating a harmonious environment and working together for the common good. That tradition of compromise and respect for the minority party is part of how things get done in Washington and particularly the Senate.

But the Republicans are scum and as soon as the training is over, most of them ditch the traditions and go on to political backstabbing and proselytizing....

...Except for the ones who wish to come back for multiple terms.

See, comity is enforced in the Senate. Those who play by the rules are rewarded by close consideration of the legislation they offer regardless of party, extra appropriations for their states, and so on. Those who don't play along, like Jesse Helms, get jack shit. Helms never got a bill of his own passed in 30 years. That didn't keep him from being reelected, but it did prevent his warped and antique views from being codified in our modern laws.

Most Republicans who don't give a shit about Americans, which is most of them, don't play along. Many of them instead seek reward from the forces of evil that installed them. But Alexander apparently has a shred of conscience left and does not wish to further destroy the country. He can help, but only if he leaves the leadership position because the Republican leadership has apparently committed to destroying the middle class and lowering the quality of life for a vast majority of Americans.

There is of course a second angle, which is that at this point, every Republican who toes the party line over the next year is likely to get clobbered in the next election. Alexander may be one of the few GOPers who recognizes that writing on the wall now, about nine months too late to do anything about it for his party, but in plenty of time to do something for his own image.

[CRK7376]

22. Hey, hey wait a minute

Jesse Helms was my state Senator....UNFORTUNATELY!!! Thank goodness he's dead and gone. Such an embarrassment, but then we have other Crazies in the state to take his place, like my current Rep, Virginia Foxx...Oh well...

[klook]

27. I'd like to think you are right when you say

"every Republican who toes the party line over the next year is likely to get clobbered in the next election."

I don't see that happening to Extremely Red State senators, but maybe to some in competitive states, and to some R House members in competitive districts.

BTW, your first sentence of this post is one of the best I have ever read on DU:

One of the things that makes the Republicans disgusting is their total mockery of every institution they pollute.

That is something we all need to remind ourselves of whenever we see a Republican legislator pretending to give a flying fuck about Americans or American institutions.

[customerserviceguy]

16. Sounds like the political equivalent of the mid-life crisis to me

Of course, when the subject is politics, and you have to be in real mid-life to have attained much of anything anyways, it's really an old-life crisis. Seems like he's looking at the fact that next year is another Presidential election year, and having been denied even a shot at the brass ring by his party, is looking to take his ball and go home.

Just my own armchair psychiatry, what you get when you put your nickel in the can. If someone from our side said the same thing, we'd be calling him a traitor or a sellout.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

17. I have such difficulty believing anything Republicans say. It's like the boy who cried wolf

I don't trust any of them.

[mwb970]

18. I don't believe anything republicans say any more.

If they're speaking, they're lying. It really is that simple nowadays.

[LynneSin]

26. I have to agree but I'd like to give this one a chance and see what happens

I don't think the guy could do any worse then what the rest of the republicans are doing.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

37. You said it perfectly about Republicans: "If they're speaking, they're lying." nt

[Mugweed]

20. Republicans lost all credibility years ago.

He'll still be the same old corporatist conservative, now with a (D). Big deal.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

38. Yup. nt

[asjr]

19. Alexander goes way back. Back to

a time when both parties actually could work together. He never switched parties. I think this time around he has finally seen what has happened to Republicans over the years. He is not a bad person. But I feel he can see what the lousy party has done to the country and to him. It has put him in a bad light and he doesn't relish the outcome.

[Le Taz Hot]

21. I'm going to take him at his word

and hope others to do the same and break from the Party Line, begin to think independently again to put country first.

I think this is a gutsy move.

[jwirr]

23. Alexander is an old time republican know for his love and loyalty to

the USA. He does not agree with much of what we think but he has been there for our country when it was important. The rethugs would do well to listen to him.

[TomCADem]

24. Tacit Acknowledgement That GOP Is Responsible For Making 112th Congress The Worst Ever

Both Mitch McConnell have committed Republicans to a two year quest to preventing any helpful legislation from emerging from Congress. Indeed, they have voted against bills that they themselves sponsored in order to prevent President Obama from getting any credit for attempting to work with them. Historians have begun to recognize that the 112th Congress is the worst one in history with the most egregious example being the Republican lead effort to bring the Nation on the brink of its first ever default.

[LynneSin]

25. Fellow DUers let me introduce you to what the Republican Party use to be...

Lamar Alexander exemplifies what we call 'Eisenhower Republicans'. Fiscally conservative in spending and a strong belief that our government should mind their own business when it comes to social issues - just treat everyone fairly.

I thought they died out when Arlen Specter switched parties and Mike Castle was defeated by Christine O'Donnell. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe sometimes shows hints of it but then cower back when push comes to shove.

But I guess they all aren't extinct.

[iamthebandfanman]

28. wow, a republican who puts country first...

thats a nice change.

[nenagh]

29. I live in Ontario... We have a Conservative Federal Govt, unfortunately..

But no one is worried about having to mortgage a home to pay for Health Care, because there is an excellent provincial system..

Also... there is no Fox News constantly distorting the MSM...day after day..

Maybe he realized there is another way... vs the TeaBagger mentality..

I'd like to think so, anyway...

:)

[DirkGently]

30. Maddow's take was that (arch conservative) Alexander is "too moderate" for current Rep. leaders.

Edit: She called her piece "Fringe & Purge."

:D

[lsewpershad]

31. Change of heart sir?

Or you've seen the writing on the wall?

[4_TN_TITANS]

32. Here's a TN perspective...

This guy is the ultimate opportunistic asshole. He could have been doing this all along but see's the writing on the wall. This rat is a pro-ship-jumper...

"for the freedom to write laws with Democrats, if need be"

bullshit

[Bucky]

34. That's interesting. So, he doesn't want to be in the Caucus leadership if things go bad for them.

Cagey, but still quite pragmatic.

[AlinPA]

35. He is a bullshitter. No way he will work with Democrats on anything worthwhile. He is a

right-wing conservative republican.

[Auntie Bush]

36. Lets hope he'll make some good crossover votes...but will he get re-elected if he does?

[SharonAnn]

39. Perhaps he doesn't care if he gets re-elected. He may just want to live his values.