Zell Miller Endorses Bush

The Weekly Standard ^ | 10/29/2003 | Fred Barnes

[HarleyD]

SENATOR ZELL MILLER OF GEORGIA, the nation's most prominent conservative Democrat, said today he will endorse President Bush for re-election in 2004 and campaign for him if Bush wishes him to. Miller said Bush is "the right man at the right time" to govern the country.

The next five years "will determine the kind of world my children and grandchildren will live in," Miller said in an interview. And he wouldn't "trust" any of the nine Democratic presidential candidates with governing during "that crucial period," he said. "This Democrat will vote for President Bush in 2004."

Miller, who is retiring from the Senate next year, has often expressed his admiration for Bush. He was a co-sponsor of the president's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. The two got to know each other in the 1990s when both were governors.

The senator's endorsement is important for several reasons. With Miller on board, Bush will have a head start on forming a Democrats for Bush group in 2004. Such a group would woo crossover votes from conservative or otherwise disgruntled Democrats next year. In 2000, an effort by the Bush campaign to form a Democrats for Bush organization fizzled.

Since he came to the Senate in 2000, Miller has become increasingly critical of Senate Democrats and the national Democratic party. He recently published a new book, "A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat," in which he criticizes the party for being too liberal, too elitist, and subservient to liberal interest groups. In the book, Miller singles out Democratic presidential frontrunner Howard Dean, whom he knew as governor of Vermont, for being shallow.

[HarleyD]

Not much of a surprise but I'm glad he finally cross over.

[Xthe17th]

'd be even better if he'd campaign for Herman Cain.

[Maceman]

Gee. I'm sure Miller's endorsement will carry a lot of weight with the DUmmies.

[Semper Paratus]

Why didn't he do this 2 years ago and spared the Senate being Dassholedized.

[RabidBartender]

Regardless, this is a big harpoon in the bloated whale of the DNC.

Will the last logical, patriotic, and honorable Democrat please shut off the light when they leave the party? Whoops, he just did.

[Paleo Conservative]

Gee. I'm sure Miller's endorsement will carry a lot of weight with the DUmmies.

But it should carry some weight with some of the vestigial conservative DemocRATS, especially in southern states.

[marron]

I am impressed.

[Southack]

The Democratic Party has been ignoring their conservative, rural constituents for decades. The voices of Ralph Hall, Sam Rayburn, Charles Stenholm, and Zell Miller are all discarded by the urban cocktail-circuit elites of the Democratic Party fiefdomship.

Even liberal Democrats such as former Mayor Ed Koch, Mario Cuomo, and Leftists such as Tony Blair are ignored if they don't tout the official Democratic Party "fight Bush", "everything is Bush's fault," and "smear Bush" strategies.

The closest that Democrats come to working for rural Americans is to throw wads of money at farmers and to avoid being radically anti-gun whenever they are outside of their urban enclaves (for whatever brief moments in time that might be).

But being less "pro-American" than the Iraqis whom we've liberated is hardly a recipe for success, in rural or urban America.

And if the Democratic Party elite keeps ignoring their Zell Miller's, Jerry Brown's, and Mayor Koch's, rest assured that they will continue to lose Presidential, House, Senate, and governorship elections...in addition to losing their ability to raise campaign funds.

[Paleo Conservative]

Even liberal Democrats such as former Mayor Ed Koch, Mario Cuomo, and Leftists such as Tony Blair are ignored

Tony Blair is a member of the British Labour Party not the Liberal Democrats.

[Guillermo]

Imagine if a GOP sitting Senator had of endorsed Clinton back in 1995...

[dead]

He didn't call Tony Blair a liberal Democrat, he called him a leftist, which he undoubtedly is.

A pro-war on Iraq leftist, but still a leftist.

[PigRigger]

He is truly a man among rats.

Still remember his speech on the Senate Floor when his Dem-Wit comrades were attacking Bush on Iraq. His eloquence and common sense were refreshing when compared to the stench that surrounded him.

He is unique in many respects; he loves his country more than his party.

[deport]

A Zell Miller bump

[CFC__VRWC]

...and Leftists such as Tony Blair are ignored ...

It would have been better for Blair if they had simply ignored him. Instead, Bill Clinton went out and created a brand-new scandal for him by implying that Blair has been in poor health for the last few years and has kept it a secret. This is what happens to leftists who step off the plantation and support George Bush.

[nothingnew]

(AIDS, abortion, euthanasia - don't liberals just kill ya?)

Tagline of the day!

FMCDH

[winner3000]

Zell Miller did not leave the Democrat party. The party left him...the same way it happened with Reagan and so many others.

[princess leah]

Best endorsement yet! I also saw an interviewer ask Ed Koch this question and he said he would vote for Bush!

[Dog Gone]

The Democratic Party has been ignoring their conservative, rural constituents for decades. The voices of Ralph Hall, Sam Rayburn, Charles Stenholm, and Zell Miller are all discarded by the urban cocktail-circuit elites of the Democratic Party fiefdomship.

The Republicans are helping the Democrats do this. The redistricting in Texas was designed to eliminate all the white Democrat Congressmen, including a couple who are reasonably conservative who represented rural areas.

Eventually, the Democrats will represent only the inner cities and border towns.

[Reagan79]

Yeah Miller and Jim Traficant are two Democrats I am cool with. To bad one of them is in jail.

[Nebr FAL owner]

The reasons that Sen. Miller quoted are also telling , The next five years will determine what kind of world my children & grandchildren will live in . He looks at the Democrats & sees slavery & death for his loved ones at the hands of blood thirsty barbarians ,He looks at the actions of POTUS Bush & sees those blood thirsty barbarians destroyed. Simple choice & he has sided with the notion that it is better to destroy those who would slit your childrens throats than try to grovel at their feet hoping to be spared.