- MENU
- HOME
- SEARCH
- WORLD
- MAIN
- AFRICA
- ASIA
- BALKANS
- EUROPE
- LATIN AMERICA
- MIDDLE EAST
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Benelux
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Poland
- Russia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Taiwan
- Turkey
- USA
- BUSINESS
- WEALTH
- STOCKS
- TECH
- HEALTH
- LIFESTYLE
- ENTERTAINMENT
- SPORTS
- RSS
- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Robert Schlesinger
Punishing apostasy is fun -- right up until the other side takes over
Who gets to be in the club? That's a question Republicans and Democrats alike have grappled with in recent weeks. Their answers are sure to shape congressional elections in 2010 and beyond.
The
And something remarkable happened: Scozzafava's poll numbers cratered. She fell into third place behind Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative Doug Hoffman. When Scozzafava pulled out of the race the weekend before the election, her tormentors were gleeful. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" commentator Michelle Malkin crowed.
Right-wing activists started choosing their next targets. The Scozzafava takedown, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey told Politico, was the "tip of the spear." That spear would be aimed at insufficiently orthodox Republicans in House and
But a funny thing happened on the way to the victory tea party in New York's 23rd. Democrat Owens won, taking 49 percent to Hoffman's 45 percent. Six percent voted for Scozzafava, who remained on the ballot. Owens will be the first Democrat to represent the district since the Civil War.
In other words, given the opportunity to vote for a nationally approved conservative, 55 percent of the voters in this historically Republican district pulled a different lever. Of course, right-wing movementarians could only draw one conclusion. "This is a huge win for conservatives," wrote RedState.com's Erick Erickson, arguing that sending a shot across (or through) the national
Republicans do need conservatives to win. But conservatives need Republicans too, even moderate or liberal ones, if they want to govern. Part of the right's problem is that it still believes the hoary old crumb of conventional wisdom that says the United States is a conservative country. From that assumption flows the logic that the
But the United States is too large and diverse for such one-size-fits-all generalizations. Take Scozzafava. A moderate or even liberal
Which brings us to the Democrats. National Democrats have had their moments with an agitated base, most notably 2006 when erratic Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman lost his primary race in Connecticut, only to win re-election as an independent. He has since campaigned for
Holy Joe remains the Democrat progressives most love to hate. But party leaders have put up with his behavior and let him retain the chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee in order to maintain their theoretically filibuster-proof 60-vote
Liberals brandish polls showing broad approval of a public option and wonder what the point of a majority is if it can't pass such popular legislation. But the path to 60 votes was lined with centrist and conservative red-state Democrats. And what has huge popularity in New England can be political poison in Nebraska.
Indeed, a
Punishing apostasy is gratifying -- right up until the other side takes power.
AMERICAN POLITICS
WORLD | AFRICA | ASIA | EUROPE | LATIN AMERICA | MIDDLE EAST | UNITED STATES | ECONOMICS | EDUCATION | ENVIRONMENT | FOREIGN POLICY | POLITICS
© Tribune Media Services, Inc