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As Predicted Democrats Abandoning Obama
Townhall.com ^ | May 26, 2012 | John Ransom

Posted on 05/26/2012 4:05:17 AM PDT by Kaslin

Love is always being able to tell liberals I told you so.

Ok, I don’t know if it’s love exactly, but man it sure does feel good.

A few weeks ago, after West Virginia’s Democrat governor and US Senator both refused to endorse Obama for reelection in 2012, I wrote:

Scores of Democrats running for reelection will defect from Obama before the campaign is done. And scores of Democrat voters will reject him too.

Why? The same reason voters will likely vote to kick Obama out of the White House: self-interest, if not outright self-defense.     

Democrat Governor Earl Ray Tomblin of West Virginia has announced that he isn’t sure that he will be supporting Barack Obama for reelection.

“Tomblin said in statement released by his campaign that he was a ‘loyal member of the Democratic Party’ but was concerned by fellow Democrat Obama's ‘misguided policies,” reports the Charleston Daily Mail.

I also observed that West Virginia’s newest Democrat Senator, Joe Manchin has been a little more direct about his distaste for Obama.

“If that means I have to break with my party to do what's best for the country,” wrote Manchin in an op-ed in the Gazette-Mail, “I will. If it means I take on a sitting president to protect West Virginia interests, I have and I will.”

Manchin’s bow-shot on SS Obama was returned by advisor David Axlerod on CNN’s State of the Union: "I think he was very candid there,” reported the National Journal. “His concern is about his own political well being. He's running for the Senate in that state. We didn't win the state the last time. It's going to be a tough state for us again, and he's making a political judgment about himself."

Well according to the official tally released today by the RNC, the number of Democrats slapping down Obama isn’t quite yet a score.

It’s only 14.

That will do for now. It’s early.

In an email titled “14 and Counting,” the RNC details 14 Democrats who have disavowed Obama’s “attacks on free enterprise in his campaign.”

The list includes some we already know about, but it also includes some names that should worry Obama- like for example Senator Dianne Feinstein (LIB, CA) who has told Obama to get on with more fertile campaign territory.

From the RNC:

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA): "It's Done. … Go On To Other Things Now." "Despite pushback from more than a half-dozen Democrats, the Obama campaign on Tuesday defended how it has scrutinized Romney's business background. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a widely respected member of Congress, stopped short of criticizing the president, but made it clear that the campaign should pivot. 'It's done,' she said. 'Go on to other things now.'" (Cameron Joseph, "Democrats Balk At Obama Campaign's Sustained Attack On Bain Capital," The Hill, 5/22/12)

And also included in the list is former DNC chair Ed Rendell:

EARLIER IN THE DAY: Former Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) Said Obama's Attacks On Free Enterprise Are "Very Disappointing." "And Rendell joined the chorus of criticism of Obama's attacks on finance, whose leaders have written checks to many members of both parties. 'I think they're very disappointing,' Rendell said of the ads attacking Bain." (Zeke Miller, "Is This Obama's Party?," BuzzFeed, 5/22/12)

I’ve reprinted the entire email below.

It’s good stuff, and well-deserved.

Congrats Obama! Keep it up:

Up To 14 Different Democrat Obama Supporters Voice Their Disagreement With Obama's Attacks On Free Enterprise

_____________________________________________________________________

OBAMA SUPPORTER (?) #1: SENATOR JOE MANCHIN (D-WV) DEFENDED FREE ENTERPRISE, SAID MARKETS CHOOSE BETTER THAN GOVERNMENT

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) Defended Free Enterprise, Saying That The "Markets Have Always Done A Much Better Job Than What We've Done In Government." SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): "I believe in the free enterprise system. I believe business and labor have to work together. I think if you have a good business, you'll have good workers and if you have good workers then that's a good place to work. … I think with the balance that we have, the markets have always done a much better job than what we've done in government." (Kerry Picket, "Manchin - Private Sector Better At Picking Winners And Losers Than Gov't," The Washington Times ' The Water Cooler , 5/24/12)

OBAMA SUPPORTERS #2 AND #3: NEW YORK SENATORS CHUCK SCHUMER AND KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND DECLINED TO COMMENT ABOUT OBAMA'S ATTACKS

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) And Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Declined To Comment About Obama's Attacks. "It is one of the most delicate topics within the party these days. Two Democrats with close ties to Wall Street, Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand of New York, declined to comment on Wednesday." (Nicholas Confessore, "Strategy On Rival's Career Holds Pitfalls For President," The New York Times, 5/23/12)

OBAMA SUPPORTER #4: FORMER CLINTON LAWYER LANNY DAVIS DEFENDED FREE ENTERPRISE

Former Clinton Special Counsel Lanny Davis Defended Private Equity. "Private equity firms often invest in distressed companies by putting in cash and cutting expenses in order to save a company that is already close to bankruptcy. Sometimes the investment works and the company and jobs are saved. And sometimes, to save the company, jobs need to be cut or wages and benefits reduced." (Lanny Davis, Op-Ed, "Cory Booker Got It Right," The Hill, 5/23/12)

OBAMA SUPPORTER #5: SENATOR CHRIS COONS (D-DE) SHOOK HIS HEAD "VIGOROUSLY" AS HE REFUSED TO COMMENT ON OBAMA'S ATTACKS

Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) Refused To Comment On Whether Obama's Attacks On Free Enterprise Were Within The Parameters Of What Coons Hoped The Election Would Be About. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told The Hill, 'I think the average American … hopes that this campaign will focus on competing visions for how to strengthen our economy, help create jobs and move the country forward. ' Pressed on whether he thought Obama's campaign had operated within those guidelines, Coons paused. 'I'm not going to comment on President Obama's ad,' he said, shaking his head vigorously." (Cameron Joseph, "Democrats Balk At Obama Campaign's Sustained Attack On Bain Capital," The Hill, 5/22/12)

OBAMA SUPPORTER #6: SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA): "IT'S DONE. … GO ON TO OTHER THINGS NOW."

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA): "It's Done. … Go On To Other Things Now." "Despite pushback from more than a half-dozen Democrats, the Obama campaign on Tuesday defended how it has scrutinized Romney's business background. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a widely respected member of Congress, stopped short of criticizing the president, but made it clear that the campaign should pivot. 'It's done,' she said. 'Go on to other things now.'" (Cameron Joseph, "Democrats Balk At Obama Campaign's Sustained Attack On Bain Capital," The Hill, 5/22/12)

OBAMA SUPPORTER #7: GOVERNOR DEVAL PATRICK (D-MA) SAID BAIN CAPITAL IS "NOT A BAD COMPANY"

RNC Youtube

Click To Watch

Governor Deval Patrick Said Bain Capital Is "Not A Bad Company." CNN'S JOHN KING: "You're in a very interesting position this year. I want to start with… You're the governor of a state that Bain Capital calls its global home. It's right up the street in Lowell headquarters." GOV. DEVAL PATRICK (D-MA): "Indeed." KING: "Are they a bad company?" (CNN's "John King USA," 5/22/12)

OBAMA SUPPORTER #8: FORMER CONGRESSMAN ARTUR DAVIS (D-AL) SAID OBAMA IS DOUBLING DOWN ON "EUROPEAN LEFTIST" IDEAS ON FREE ENTERPRISE

Former Representative Artur Davis (D-AL) Said The Obama Campaign's Attacks Follow "The European Leftist Notion That Business Is Fair Only When It Operates In A Sanitized, Risk Free Manner." DAVIS: "It's hard to imagine a more instructive couple of days for those who want to know where the Democratic Party's head is at: its only high-profile African American moderate just got a brushback pitch for leaning in too close to the Independent thought zone; the Obama camp looks ominously like a cult of personality that tolerates no dissent; and the reelection campaign just doubled down on the European leftist notion that business is fair only when it operates in a sanitized, risk free manner." (Artur Davis, "Should Democrats Stop Bain Capital Attacks?" Politico's The Arena , 5/22/12)

OBAMA SUPPORTER #9: SENATOR MARK WARNER (D-VA) CALLED BAIN CAPITAL A "VERY SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS"

RNC Youtube

Click To Watch

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA): "I think Bain Capital was a very successful business." (MSNBC's "Daily Rundown," 5/22/12)

OBAMA SUPPORTER #10: FORMER DNC CHAIR AND FORMER GOV. ED RENDELL CALLED OBAMA'S ATTACKS "VERY DISAPPOINTNG" …UPDATE: RENDELL SAYS HE'S EITHER/OR ON AGREEING WITH HOW OBAMA RUNS HIS CAMPAIGN

RNC Youtube

Click To Watch

Former DNC Chair/Former Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) Said He Was "Either/Or" On Whether Or He Was With Obama Campaign On Its Attack Tactics. MSNBC's CHRIS MATTHEWS: "Governor Rendell, big question. Are you with the Obama campaign as it's being run right now, or are you against it?" FORMER DNC CHAIRMAN ED RENDELL: "Well … either/or." (MSNBC's "Hardball," 5/22/12)

OBAMA SUPPORTER #11: FORMER CONGRESSMAN HAROLD FORD JR. (D-TN) DISAGREES WITH OBAMA'S ATTACKS

RNC Youtube

Click To Watch

Former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. Said He Would Not Have Backed Off Mayor Booker's Comments About Private Equity And Called Private Equity A "Good Thing In Many, Many Instances." FORMER REP. HAROLD FORD JR. (D-TN): "I would not have backed off the comments if I were Mayor Booker. I understand him wanting to make the point that legitimate questions can be raised about whether or not at Bain they made bad decisions about certain -overall, I agree with the substance - the substance of his comments on Meet The Press, I agree with, the core of it, I would not have backed them out. Having said that, I understand as a surrogate for the campaign, you have to have one of your key and most eloquent and most effective surrogates at least clarify or bring some context to his statements. But I agree with him, private equity is not a bad thing. Matter of fact, private equity is a good thing in many, many instances." (MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 5/21/12)

OBAMA SUPPORTER #12: OBAMA SURROGATE MAYOR CORY BOOKER SAYS HE'S "VERY UNCOMFORTABLE" WITH OBAMA'S LINE OF ATTACK

RNC Youtube

Click To Watch

Mayor Cory Booker (D-Newark, NJ): "I have to say from a very personal level I'm not about to sit here and indict private equity. To me, it's just, we're getting to a ridiculous point in America. Especially, I know, I live in a state where pension funds, unions and other people are investing in companies like Bain Capital. If you look at the totality of Bain Capital's record, they've done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses, and this to me, I'm very uncomfortable with." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 5/20/12)

OBAMA SUPPORTER #13: FORMER OBAMA ECON ADVISER STEVEN RATTNER CALLED OBAMA'S AD "UNFAIR"

RNC Youtube

Click To Watch

Former Obama Economic Adviser Steven Rattner: "I Think The Ad Is Unfair… I Don't Think There's Anything Bain Capital Did That They Need To Be Embarrassed About.""Former Obama administration auto czar Steven Rattner said Monday that the Obama campaign's renewed attack on Mitt Romney's time in private equity was 'unfair.' 'I think the ad is unfair.' Rattner said. 'Mitt Romney made a mistake ever talking about the fact that he created 100,000 jobs.'…'Bain Capital's responsibility was not to create 100,000 jobs or some other number. It was to create profits for its investors,' Rattner said. 'It did it superbly well, acting within the rules, acting very responsibly,' Rattner said. 'This is part of capitalism, this is part of life. I don't think there's anything Bain Capital did that they need to be embarrassed about.'" (Byron Tau, "Ex-Obama Adviser: Latest Anti-Romney Ad Is 'Unfair'," Politico, 5/14/12)

OBAMA SUPPORTER #14: MAJOR OBAMA FUNDRAISER EXPRESSES A DIFFERENT SENTIMENT FROM OBAMA'S ATTACK ADS

Obama Bundler Don Peebles Questioned Obama's Attack On Bain: "I Think It's Difficult To Attack Or Demonize An Industry And Then Take Money From It." "A top fundraiser for President Barack Obama's presidential campaign expressed disappointment that he is taking money from the private equity industry while simultaneously attacking them to tarnish Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital. Don Peebles, a Miami real estate executive who has raised more than $100,000 for the president's campaign this cycle, told BuzzFeed 'I think it's difficult to attack or demonize an industry and then take money from it.'" (Zeke Miller, "Obama Bundler Decries 'Vilification' Of Private Equity," BuzzFeed, 5/15/12)



TOPICS: Breaking News
KEYWORDS: 112th; bho2012; bho44; buyersremorse; circularfiringsquad; democrats; elections; implosion; obama
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To: raybbr; ReformationFan
Virgil is running for President. He is not trying to become the Republican nominee.

That right there puts him head and shoulders over the 13 RINOs who ran in the Republican primaries (there were also 3 other lifelong Conservative Republicans running ~ but the RINOs split the vote so their bud Romney could steal the election).

161 posted on 05/26/2012 2:45:18 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: raybbr; ReformationFan
Virgil is running for President. He is not trying to become the Republican nominee.

That right there puts him head and shoulders over the 13 RINOs who ran in the Republican primaries (there were also 3 other lifelong Conservative Republicans running ~ but the RINOs split the vote so their bud Romney could steal the election).

162 posted on 05/26/2012 2:45:18 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: lonestar
May be corny but I didn't originate it.

Kinda' catchy though.

163 posted on 05/26/2012 2:46:50 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: okie01

I agree with what you say here 100%.


164 posted on 05/26/2012 2:55:00 PM PDT by rogue yam
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To: muawiyah

The one and only way that you will see me stop telling you that you are a liar is for you to stop lying.

Romney won all of the delegates in VA. Ron Paul won none.

This is not neck-and-neck. Thus, you are a liar.

Romney will win most of the delegates in Texas on Tuesday. Even if this is not quite enough to put the nomination clearly in his hands, next Tuesday when he wins almost all of California’s delegates will surely do the job.

The nominating process is over. It is time for you to move on and find some new dishonest way to try to assure Obama’s re-election.


165 posted on 05/26/2012 3:03:55 PM PDT by rogue yam
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To: Windflier
Supporting the GOP candidate, regardless of that candidate's proven record of liberalism, is an abject failure to stand by ones conservative principles.

perhaps Mittens has ‘evolved’ yeah that's the ticket.

the term flip flop has gone the way of the dodo.

either way, zer0 is much worse than anything we have ever had as a POTUS... he is Karl Marx incarnate...he makes Josef Stalin look like Ronald Reagan....he needs to go NOW. we'll work on straightening out Mittens when we get the Senate and keep the house....

166 posted on 05/26/2012 3:18:26 PM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: Kaslin
I think the impending sovereign debt default fiasco going on in Europe is why people are scared about continuing to support the President, especially since Obama's policies are the exact ones that got Europe into trouble in the first place!

What Europe needs is a massive dose of good old free-market economics: a lot less obsolete and unnecessary government regulations and definitely a lot more business-friendly taxation systems.

167 posted on 05/26/2012 4:02:31 PM PDT by RayChuang88 (FairTax: America's economic cure)
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To: Kaslin
And if Zero bows out on cue for Hillary! in the ol' Slave Party Switcheroo, do you really think Romney is going to beat her? From first black to first woman is one swell foop, here we come.

Yes, the RATS are truly that craven, because as individuals, they are useless in every other respect. While it is true that they are losing cards, they'll play every one they've got, even if it means taking down a black President. They may think the 'women's vote' is big enough to be worth the risk.

168 posted on 05/26/2012 4:42:59 PM PDT by Carry_Okie (The RINOcrat Party is still in charge. There has never been a conservative American government.)
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Comment #169 Removed by Moderator

To: muawiyah

“Your own leader ~ the very founder ~ said everybody else belonged to a false church.”

Interesting that you would address this post partially to me, when not even two weeks ago you spoke highly of my synopsis of the merits of the Gelugpa tradition within Tibetan Buddhism.

Oh well, it’s probably hard to ramble incoherently and still recall later who you rambled to. :)


170 posted on 05/26/2012 5:01:29 PM PDT by dagogo redux (A whiff of primitive spirits in the air, harbingers of an impending descent into the feral.)
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To: muawiyah

“Your own leader ~ the very founder ~ said everybody else belonged to a false church.”

Interesting that you would address this post partially to me, when not even two weeks ago you spoke highly of my synopsis of the merits of the Gelugpa tradition within Tibetan Buddhism.

Oh well, it’s probably hard to ramble incoherently and still recall later who you rambled to. :)


171 posted on 05/26/2012 5:12:06 PM PDT by dagogo redux (A whiff of primitive spirits in the air, harbingers of an impending descent into the feral.)
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To: dagogo redux
Interesting that you failed to notice that I referenced you because that post was between you and somebody else. That was a courtesy reference. You said you'd been away for a good while so maybe you are not up on that custom ~

Obviously I recognized you by the stains on your robes from all those years of wandering the Himalayas.

172 posted on 05/26/2012 5:25:37 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Vaquero
we'll work on straightening out Mittens when we get the Senate and keep the house....

Good luck with straightening out a sitting president. That's a combination of wishful thinking and whistling past the graveyard.

173 posted on 05/26/2012 6:24:33 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: Vaquero
we'll work on straightening out Mittens when we get the Senate and keep the house....

Good luck with straightening out a sitting president. That's a combination of wishful thinking and whistling past the graveyard.

174 posted on 05/26/2012 6:24:58 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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Comment #175 Removed by Moderator

To: muawiyah
I see an historic low in voter turnout this November.

Not really---some Dems frustrated with Bama may not vote at all but conservatives will be chomping at the bit in droves to throw his ash outta there. Indies too.

176 posted on 05/26/2012 10:26:26 PM PDT by tflabo (Truth or tyranny)
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To: Windflier

Windy, I have come to understand a couple things.

All these people claiming they will vote MR to save the country seem to miss one huge point. In fact, the only point. How do you save the country and all the conservative things you believe in and believe make America what it “IS” (or was) by voting for a man with a proven record of going/being against those very things? By abandoning your conservatism to vote MR, you show with your vote that you do not believe in what you say you do. Period. If you did, you’d vote for your beliefs rather than against them.

Simple logic 101 stuff that all these people refuse to admit in their fear of Obama. One cannot split the baby.

Secondly, it’s obvious that lying to one’s self about how such a person will govern any differently than the current occupant has become the talisman of the Right.

There is no point fighting this Windy. People just need to suffer more of the consequences of their actions. Let them.


177 posted on 05/26/2012 10:46:32 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: Windflier
Good luck with straightening out a sitting president. That's a combination of wishful thinking and whistling past the graveyard.

YES

And straightening out zer0 with his whole marxist, anti American thing would be
Worse than impossible

178 posted on 05/27/2012 7:11:55 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: All

ONLY RomneyCARE could lose this election.

I agree with the statement above. However, two interesting things about it:

1. the Supremes could make this issue highly irrelevant in the next few days. Lets speculate that they shoot down Obamacare, then it largely takes the issue off the table, as Romney wont want to talk about RomneyCare so he wont bring it up, and Obama an the minions in the MSM wont want to bring up any discussion that would obviously lead to an in depth discussion of what would be Obama’s biggest failure.

2. Even if they dont shoot it down in total, Obama appears from all accounts to be losing reams of white middle class voters. Yes, the Black vote will turn out for him if he appears on American Idol next week and sings “Mammy”, but you still dont win elections in America without white voters (not speaking of “white hispanics” with apologies to Mr. Zimmerman”). I know theoretically you maybe able to calculate a way where he can win with blacks/hispanics without whites, but practically you dont. The only people that I see that are insisting that they wont vote because of Romneycare are conservatives(note that word insisting, not that it might not annoy others, but speaking now of those who are listing that as their first issue).

So the real question to me becomes are the conservatives saying they will not vote for MR under any circumstances going to outweigh the largely white, working class, heterosexuals that Obama is scaring off in droves. I dont know the answer to that question, but I dont think that Romney is a sure loser as some do....but I think he’d greatly benefit from Obamacare being struck down.


179 posted on 05/27/2012 8:16:24 AM PDT by SoCalTransplant (Honey badger's level of concern is negligible.)
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To: muawiyah
It was like he had no idea what America was about, and how it's governed. He has not improved with time.

The only people of the boomer generation who behave that way, are those who've been lost to the sickness of liberalism. The rest of us have not forgotten the America we were born into, and which we were raised to respect and revere.

Something's dreadfully wrong with Mitt.

180 posted on 05/27/2012 10:11:37 AM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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