Landrieu and Byrd voted to confirm Owen. ???

[AlinPA]

[kentuck]

1. They can change their vote at the end...

if they wanted ... :)

[Dinger]

13. Really???

[Stand and Fight]

2. Hiss.... More research is necessary...

Say it isn't so about Byrd!

No surprise about Landrieu, but Senator Robert Byrd?

Perhaps it was a part of the compromise that he and the other six drew up with the seven Republicans? Maybe all of the "Great Compromisers" voted to confirm... Post a link and we shall see.

[QC]

4. Byrd is a conservative. Always has been. n/t

[Stand and Fight]

6. Back that up!

He was one of the FEW who urged caution in the lead up to the Iraq War. If he is such a "conservative" as you say, explain to me why he spoke so eloquontly then...

[QC]

7. Pat Buchanan opposed the Iraq war.

I suppose you think that makes him a liberal?

[atreides1]

10. Pat Buchanan

Also continues to say that the US declared war on Germany without cause.

So he's not a liberal, he's a historical revisionist.

[wyldwolf]

24. he voted for John Ashcroft

[Hippo_Tron]

29. So did Russ Feingold

Are you going to call him a conservative?

[wyldwolf]

37. no, just stating a fact

If a politician's "liberalness" is judged by the last vote he/she cast (as is often the case on DU), just look who our heroes and villians are this week.

[Mass]

8. Voted DOMA, for cloture on FMA., for bankruptcy bill, ...

Once again, being against the Iraq War does not mean you are not a conservative. Many conservatives on the Republican side (not neocons) were against it and said so.

[amandabeech]

26. And he's considering whether or not to run again in 2006.

He may have some serious Republican opposition. Anyone from West Virgnia know who possible Dem candidates might be if Byrd decides to retire?

[Dinger]

14. Why Would My Hero Vote For That Old Hag ? (nt)

[cestpaspossible]

3. I was done with Landrieu after she torpedoed the Cantwell amendment

because of her, I'm unwilling to contribute to the DSCC.

[googly]

11. Don't ever forget Landrieu has to survive in LOISIANA, not exactly

a liberal bastion!

[cestpaspossible]

15. I hope she doesn't survive.

:thumbsdown:

[Blue Dog]

17. "I hope she doesn't survive."

Is there someone else down here you'd rather see as our senior Senator? Maybe Woody Jenkins?

[cestpaspossible]

20. I'm sure she's not the only qualified Democrat in Louisiana

I don't know much about Louisiana politics, but I'm sure there is no shortage of qualified Democrats.

What I do know, is how to hold a grudge, and in this case, I'm gonna do just that. I'm gonna do my very best to be a good Democrat without doing anything that would support Akaka, Inouye, or Landrieu. There's a certain point where you must hold elected officials accountable and this is that point for me.

Chances are my withholding of support won't matter, but, I'm still going to follow my conscience.

[QC]

21. "I don't know much about Louisiana politics"

Obviously.

[cestpaspossible]

22. It's insulting to Louisiana Dems to suggest she's the only one qualified.

Obviously she isn't -- you don't have to be an expert in Louisiana politics to know that.

[QC]

23. But you're probably not going to get Barney Frank or Cynthia McKinney

elected to the Senate from Louisiana. It is a conservative state dominated by the oil industry. Would you rather have a centrist Democrat who votes for our leadership and is with us most of the time, or a knuckledragging, reactionary Republican? That's the reality for those of us in conservative parts of the country.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

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

[funkybutt]

34. Don't think we haven't been looking into alternatives

still nothing...not ONE person that people agree can get elected to this position.

[cestpaspossible]

39. Good for you.

I respectfully reserve my right to not support her.

[Clark2008]

28. Agreed... I may not be in love with Harold Ford Jr.

but he's a damn site better than Frist - or most of the other knuckle-draggers Tennessee Republicans will send forth to take Frist's place in 2006.
I'd rather have someone I can agree with 85 percent of the time as none.

[AnnInLa]

35. QC has it right....she is the lesser of 2 evils for us down here

and she'll have to fight like hell to hold her seat, our repuke Sen Vitter is out to bring her down hard...now, do we here in LA support her or let her go? There are plenty of qualified Dems in LA, but she and her supporters are too entrenched to be replaced...just the reality of LA politics.

[cestpaspossible]

40. As long as she has the support of the DSCC they don't have mine.

That's all it comes down to. You do what you gotta do, I'll do what I gotta do.

[ElectroPrincess]

43. Nope, she's the best Democrat that we can strive for in LA ...

IMO a seriously ultra-conservative state, i.e., despite the debauchery that goes on during Mardi Gras. :P

[markus]

44. How about Senator David Duke? That has a ring to it

Hell, anybody else here remember how well he did in the district around Baton Rouge a number of years ago?

She probably hopes to assume the Breaux mantle as one of the leaders of the "practical centrists" in the Senate, the deal makers who kept the wheels turning and the money flowing.

I'm not crazy about here, but I watched the race to suceed Breaux about as closely as I could via internet and cable and, frankly, I don't see the other choices.

[Hippo_Tron]

30. It could be if the Dems would fucking get their act together

We elected the socialist Huey Long as Governor and US Senator in the 1930's, who frequently said that the New Deal was a sellout to corporations. We voted for Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton both times. Clinton even won an absolute majority here the second time and it is very hard to argue that Perot would've tipped the balance in this state the first time.

Landrieu was actually a good bit more liberal when she was elected in 1996 but now she has to fight the image of the national dem party being the party of the "Taxachusetts elite". And Landrieu is not one with the ability to do this. She's a lightweight who cares about her own political future more than anything. At the same time, she did campaign for Kerry down here and that certainly didn't help her.

[funkybutt]

33. She campaigned for Kerry?

I never noticed that! I was busy working with Kerry volunteers and we were constantly wishing an elected official would stand up for Kerry. I must have missed this but if that was the case, she couldnt have been campaigning very hard.

[Hippo_Tron]

41. She didn't campaign very hard, but...

She did speak at a fundraiser for him in New Orleans. I think she did a couple of other events as well. The truth is that Kerry wrote off the state, so there was really not that much for her to do. She was at least better than some others who were affraid to have Kerry and their name in the same sentence.

[funkybutt]

31. Louisiana

true

[jzodda]

5. Yes that was part of

The Deal...Both of them were part of the "official" compromise

[Mass]

9. Others were part of the deal and voted NO

Lieberman for example.

[AndreaCG]

12. Who would have thought Lieberman would be a better Dem

Than Byrd? I am SO disappointed in him.

[LuPeRcALiO]

16. Red states live on the public tit.

Or teat, if you want to get technical. I heard Landrieu say as much yesterday on NPR. :shrug:

[Cynot]

18. I was disappointed in those two, but...

I expected that we would lose more than two, so I guess that I am mildly pleasantly surprised that the likes of Nelson and Lieberman stayed with us.

[demokatgurrl]

19. I am not surprised at these two DLC "democrats".

The Democratic wing of our party is really in trouble. We need Howard Dean in the Senate.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

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

[wyldwolf]

42. Byrd isn't DLC

Haven't you heard?

Must be nice to have a boogeyman to blame everything on.

The right has commies, arabs, and homosexuals.

The far left has the DLC.

[Rainscents]

32. They have to go... I hope people vote them out!

[paineinthearse]

36. see .......

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1808755&mesg_id=1808755

[xchrom]

38. byrd bothers me less.

landrieu bothers me.

she's young enough to see the trap the repukes are springing on the people -- her people too.

the tax burden created by the deficits cause real damage to poorer states like hers.