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Zell riles Democrats: Bush endorsement infuriates party faithful
Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 11/02/03 | Tom Baxter

Posted on 11/01/2003 7:40:23 PM PST by Pokey78

Democrats in Washington and Georgia reacted with studied indifference and disappointment to Sen. Zell Miller's rejection of his own party's presidential candidates last week.

Privately, many Democrats are furious over Miller's endorsement of President Bush, but publicly their response has been to give the endorsement and Miller's new book saying the Democratic Party has abandoned the South as little notice as possible.

"That's an old story. I just don't have any comment," said James Carville, whom Miller recommended to Bill Clinton after the Democratic consultant managed his 1990 race for governor.

Democrats in Congress -- especially Miller's Senate colleagues -- avoided comment, as did Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor and Secretary of State Cathy Cox, the state's top elected Democrats.

Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, his young daughter in his arms, was approached as he left the Senate floor. Asked for his thoughts, he simply said "no" and rushed onto an elevator.

But in spite of the public coyness, the endorsement was definitely the buzz in Washington, says Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). Lewis reported he was at a dinner Thursday night with a number of Democratic House members, many of whom asked each other between bites how Miller could do it.

Miller's sometime adversary, former House Speaker Tom Murphy, was an exception, offering a pointed comment when asked.

"Every honor I've had has been through the Democrats, and I'm not going to knife them in the back," he said.

While Miller is not the first politician to endorse a presidential candidate of another party, his announcement was unusual, coming as it did before his own party had selected a candidate.

Miller's endorsement came four days before the official publication of "A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat," which goes down the list of Democratic contenders and finds them lacking.

Miller's criticisms are a special problem for Southern Democrats because he has played such a key role in defining the modern party across the region, from his early support of Bill Clinton to his widely imitated lottery for education.

Scott chastises party

Rep. David Scott of Atlanta, who has joined the moderate Democratic Blue Dog Coalition in his first term in Congress, acknowledged Miller had raised some eyebrows with his strong criticisms of the party. But Scott, who has cultivated an image as a moderate in both the state Legislature and Congress, said he had received similar reactions from fellow Democrats.

"We are not going to be a majority party if we cannot speak with the majority voice in this country, and the majority voice sings in three chords," the 13th District congressman said. "Not tenor, alto and bass -- They sing liberal, moderate and conservative. And the Democratic Party has to have a melody that's made of those three."

In reality, the region has become "incredibly competitive," with power frequently shifting back and forth between the parties, said John Anzalone, a Democratic pollster based in Montgomery. Alabama, he noted, has swapped the governorship between the parties three times in recent elections.

"Are there kernels of wisdom in there? I suppose, absolutely," Anzalone, who has worked in several Southern states, said of Miller's charges. "Is it true that Democrats can't win in the South? No. I just don't think that's true at all."

Rep. Johnny Isakson, a Cobb County Republican, said Democrats should look at their national leadership before criticizing Miller.

"He is a fine example of a party leaving its elected officials, not of an elected official leaving his party," Isakson said.

Rep. Jim Marshall, a Democrat who supports Bush's position on Iraq, is recuperating from cancer surgery and could not be reached directly. But he sent an e-mail statement on the current state of his party.

"The Democratic Party has long represented a broad spectrum of working families, and it continues fighting to get them a better deal," Marshall said. "Where we could do a better job nationally is in letting people know that we also fight for their values, like Georgia Democrats do."

Georgia House Speaker Terry Coleman said he agreed national Democrats had in some respects "gone too far."

"It just seems like the left wing of the Democratic Party seems to garner all the attention, and they've not left a lot of room for national moderates and national conservatives," Coleman said.

But Coleman, who in his first term as speaker was often at odds with Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue, said he thought the party still was in the right place at the state level.

"Georgia Democrats have been the tax cutters and the people who have held the line on the budget and all of Georgia government. We have a sensible policy on abortion. Georgia law is seen as a model. We have always been strong supporters of individual rights as it pertains to guns, religion, you name it. All those things are the middle-of-the-road way we feel."

"I'm an unreconstructed, unrepentant, proud Southern Democrat. And my views have not changed. They've evolved like everyone else's," said former Rep. Buddy Darden, a member of the state Democratic Executive Committee. "What this constitutes is a change in some of Miller's thinking rather than a change in the party itself."

Ticking off his party's core beliefs, Darden mentioned one program, the HOPE scholarship, initiated by Miller.

"As far as I'm concerned, the Democratic Party still represents the values and views of a majority of Southerners and Georgians. We believe in individual freedoms. We believe in government being proactive on behalf of the people who need help. We believe in Medicare and Medicaid. We believe in the HOPE scholarship. . . . We believe in providing services for our people, and we have done a wonderful job with that since Reconstruction," Darden said.

Republicans, in turn, found Miller's stance heartening at the grass-roots level.

"It's being received extremely well because what it says is, one, Georgia has become a Republican state, and also it shows the level of support for President Bush and for his policies in Iraq and with the economy," said Republican Karen Handel, campaigning Saturday to be Fulton County Commission chair.

An independent fellow

Miller has made it clear that he intends to remain a Democrat, which means reaction to the book, especially in his home state, isn't being cast as a parting shot.

"Zell is an independent kind of fellow. He always has been," said Coleman.

Miller's reception among Democrats at home, even if frosty, will be better than he's likely to receive in his remaining days in Washington.

"He's probably already frozen out" by the Democrats. "The book explains an enormous amount," said Emory political science professor Merle Black.

Miller "went to Washington and found himself a part of a group that he increasingly didn't identify with," said Black, citing the partisan battle over homeland security and the Democrats' pro-union stance, a position that helped lose Max Cleland his seat.

"He describes himself as a conservative Democrat, and across the South there are just very few conservative Democrats left," said Black. "The more he defines himself as a conservative Democrat, the closer he comes to the Republican Party."

On the other hand, the response to Miller in Republican circles gets warmer all the time. Vice President Dick Cheney, speaking Friday at a fund-raiser for Rep. Phil Gingrey, read Miller's statement endorsing Bush and called the Democrat, who was not present, "a distinguished American." Miller's words got a big hand from the Republican audience.

Staff writers Rhonda Cook, Melanie Eversley, Ben Smith and Jim Tharpe contributed to this article.


TOPICS: Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Georgia
KEYWORDS: booktour; natlpartynomore; zellmiller
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To: Torie
desquamate

I love your posts. Not just for your opinion, but you send me to the dictionary quite often. This is the perfect word to describe the current state of the Democrat Party.

41 posted on 11/02/2003 1:06:21 AM PST by dixiechick2000 (What can you say about Liberals that hasn't already been said about hemorrhoids?)
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To: Pokey78
Zell riles Democrats: Bush endorsement infuriates party faithful

Why?! Because Zell exposes with such clarity thier utter nakedness!

42 posted on 11/02/2003 2:09:30 AM PST by AmericaUnited
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To: Pokey78; All
Givin' 'em Zell: "A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat"
43 posted on 11/02/2003 2:49:07 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: dixiechick2000
"but you send me to the dictionary quite often"

Here's a suggestion: Go to www.dictionary.com and install the dictionary toolbar. Then, whenever you come across a word you wish to look up, you just highlight it with the mouse, right click on it, and select "Search Dictionary". The definition will pop right up in a new window (if you select that option). It's very handy.

44 posted on 11/02/2003 3:37:41 AM PST by Henk
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To: Pokey78
Zell has something the other Democrats do not.......a sense of what is right and the will to do it even if it goes against party dogma.
45 posted on 11/02/2003 6:33:03 AM PST by Gringo1 (Alabama...we speak gooder english than Georgia!)
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To: Pokey78
Zell Miller is the most loyal American democrat in their party
46 posted on 11/02/2003 6:34:11 AM PST by The Wizard (Saddamocrats are enemies of America, treasonous everytime they speak)
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To: dixiechick2000
Me too ... I had to look that one up but it sure does apply to the dems.
It's good when we have to go to the dictionary. Keeps us on our toes and I can't let a word go by like that WITHOUT looking up its meaning.
Isn't it nice though that all we have to do is click on dictionary instead of having to haul a big book from point A to point B?
I tell ya, this internet is so great I don't know what I would do without it. Sure gotta thank the AL-pha male guy for inventing it!
47 posted on 11/02/2003 6:55:59 AM PST by cubreporter (I trust Rush...he will prevail in spite of the naysayers)
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To: SandRat
wait til Sen Zell Miller comes on stage to campaign for Bush/Cheney


Will he ACTUALLY DO that????
48 posted on 11/02/2003 6:58:10 AM PST by cubreporter (I trust Rush...he will prevail in spite of the naysayers)
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To: cubreporter
He had said that in an interview. That "I'll even Campaign for President Bush if he asks."

I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning, for Zell Miller to openly on stage campaign for GW and then see the veins on James Carval's baldhead pop.
49 posted on 11/02/2003 7:04:59 AM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: ZULU
Democrat Senator Christopher Dodd ever mention his new
(ex staffer) wifes position with the Import Export Bank? She was First VP and traveled Asian with Enron singing their praises. Funny how that all got hushed up. I believe she is not with an offshore insurance company in Bermuda.
50 posted on 11/02/2003 7:22:21 AM PST by oldironsides
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To: cubreporter
Saw him with Tim Russert this morning... I don't think he will do that... He is simply trying to give McAuliffe, Clinton, and Pelosi a wake-up call... Most interesting was his contention that were Democrats are at a significant disadvantage is that national party leaders can not effectively campaign in the south because they are too liberal... Bush's ability to go into a Southern State and campaign for candidates in tight races is a significant advantage...

Most interesting is his point that the National Leadership of the Democratic Party has changed it's view on the South... It used to look at the South as one third of the country and say these are hard working honest people and we should do what we can to empower them and now the Democrats say "That is one third of the country and they can go to hell" If someone at the national party level listens to this man and starts changing course, Bush is going to be in trouble...

I wonder sometimes if Shelby or Campbell tried to go to them and say "hey, you are going too far too the left" before he left the party...
51 posted on 11/02/2003 8:19:43 AM PST by dwd1 (M. h. D. (Master of Hate and Discontent))
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To: I still care
Annual Rating of Congress
52 posted on 11/02/2003 10:14:26 AM PST by XBob
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To: ZULU
Chris Dodd's father was a Democrat senator from CT before Chris took the seat. I don't think Dodd would have ever been Republican. He would probably consider that the supreme insult. It could be that it was Sen. John D. Rockefeller, IV, D-WV, who was once a "Rockefeller Republican."
53 posted on 11/02/2003 11:10:23 AM PST by Theodore R.
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To: Henk
I did as you suggested and installed the dictionary toolbar.
What an awesome tool!
Thank you so much for pointing me in that direction.
54 posted on 11/02/2003 11:58:19 AM PST by dixiechick2000 (What can you say about Liberals that hasn't already been said about hemorrhoids?)
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To: cubreporter
"Isn't it nice though that all we have to do is click on dictionary instead of having to haul a big book from point A to point B?"

You bet, its nice. Lazy people have no excuse now.

"I tell ya, this internet is so great I don't know what I would do without it. Sure gotta thank the AL-pha male guy for inventing it!"

LOL! What would we have done without him...
bless his heart.

(That's a Southern "bless his heart". ;o)

55 posted on 11/02/2003 12:05:24 PM PST by dixiechick2000 (What can you say about Liberals that hasn't already been said about hemorrhoids?)
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To: Pokey78
"That's an old story. I just don't have any comment," said James Carville, whom Miller recommended to Bill Clinton after the Democratic consultant managed his 1990 race for governor, moments before his head exploded.
56 posted on 11/02/2003 12:05:34 PM PST by jwalsh07
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Comment #57 Removed by Moderator

Comment #58 Removed by Moderator

Comment #59 Removed by Moderator

To: doug from upland
Post #10: I forgot the leftist college professors

No you didn't.

Post # 9: the incompetent and failing teachers

60 posted on 11/02/2003 12:37:19 PM PST by wheelgunguru
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