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.

[Wphile]

This will all but seal up the south for Bush.

My thoughts exactly. Democrats for Bush sounds a lot like Reagan Democrats. I'm having visions of 1984 in my head. Sure hope it comes true!

[Qwinn]

Hahahaha... oh, that was fun. Thanks for the link to DU. I love it... "Now THAT'S going over the line!" "Infiltrator!" "Benedict!" But Jeffords is a brave man of conscience... HAHAHAHAHAHAA.

Qwinn

[Southack]

c#57

[wardaddy]

You should write talking points for the RNC Hack.

I am not quite as optimistic(80%) as you but I agree completely that the Dems are going hard left again and eating their own which is nice.

Dean will be fun to watch alienate over half the country and appear very very mean and snotty to Bush which did not work too well for incumbent vp Al last go around.

I liked the "since Molotov and Manstein" line....lol

[wardaddy]

Why will he not switch parties?

[Southack]

c#57

[AmishDude]

The timing of this is astounding. We are at the beginning of the primary season. That means that Zell Miller cannot support any of the nine remaining candidates. None of them. Not even Joe Lieberman. Usually, somebody in Zell's position would at least endorse a loser like Joe, just to be able to say they support a candidate in their own party.

[ImpBill]

Certainly good news for the Bush campaign and for those of us who definitely don't want to see any of the current crop of DemocRATs in the W.H..

[cold_dead_fingers]

No surprise, but still good news. Also, concerning the DUers, who cares? This will carry a lot of weight with moderates and swing voters. I'm happy.

[wayoverontheright]

Dean will be fun to watch alienate over half the country and appear very very mean and snotty to Bush which did not work too well for incumbent vp Al last go around.

Also, when we get to the general election, it will be hilarious watching him explain how tax INCREASES are going to increase economic activity, a question no one is even posing at this time.

[My2Cents]

The voices of Ralph Hall, Sam Rayburn, Charles Stenholm, and Zell Miller are all discarded by the urban cocktail-circuit baby-killing elites of the Democratic Party fiefdomship.

[My2Cents]

Essentially, the liberal Democrats are saying: "Slow the march to conservatism even if it kills our Party."

I second that motion.

[txrangerette]

Family tradition & stubborness.
Zell is like Ralph Hall of Texas-
not as conservative as Ralph, but
when it comes to being traditional
Democrat - a twin!

[goldstategop]

Great! Zell Miller's endorsement speaks volumes about what he thinks about the Democratic Party and its Dwarfs. They may be running but they ain't "presidential timber." Then again, Miller has always been to the right of much of his own party.

[Socratic]

Photo brought to you by UNESCO. Your charity funds at work.

[My2Cents]

Also, when we get to the general election, it will be hilarious watching him explain how tax INCREASES are going to increase economic activity

Especially with the economy looking like it will be absolutely roaring next year, thanks to Bush's tax cuts.

[My2Cents]

LOL!! Good one...

[Republic]

It would seem the democrats are losing those among them who put their country above party. The clinton type will never understand this...because...that takes all the fun out of being partisan.

And even as the dem party sinks lower and lower, as that anchor called bill-hill& mcawful weaves it vitriol against our national drive to beat back terrorists and against the trust our nation has placed in our President, into the hellhole they have dug for themselves-
because of their lack of character, they will never truly understand why they are losing power or losing the best people their party had to offer.

But we understand this...and so do thousands of once dedicated democrats who cannot for the life of them understand what happened to their party, perhaps not understanding how special interest groups and their money corrupted a once great American institution via weak and unethical dem leaders.

In the end, it is not the economy, stupid, it's ALL ABOUT CHARACTER! (shove that up your arse, carville)

[NarniaSC]

Why will he not switch parties?

On Hannity, he basically said because of loyalty to tradition: his family has always been Democrat. He gave the vivid metaphor of living in an old house, falling apart around him, with unwelcome guests living in the basement. Remembering how I felt about Jeffords, I think it's the honorable thing to do for the Georgians who voted for Zell as a Democrat. We still get the benefit of his conservative floor votes.

[billva]

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

Who cares? He did it now and that's important. Why don't any of us do anything earlier than we dd?

Millier is a man of principal as far as I am concerned. He is an Democrat of earlier times and his support of the George Bush is important as far as this Southerner is concerned.