CNN's Inside politics report that Rove offered Nelson (D. Ne) Sec of Agriculture..Rove is BRILLIANT

INside politics..CNN

[ken5050]

Judy (hmmm?) Woodruff just had a report that Karl Rove had offered Nebraska Sen Ben Nelson the post of Secretary of Agriculture. Nelson is up in 2006...and facing a hard race from popular GOP Gov Mike Johanns. Nelson is among the most conservative of Senate Dems..Does this make sense, because Nelson votes with the GOP on most of the key issues..?

[zbigreddogz]

Umm, Zell's retiring, and we already won his seat.

[Sonny M]

McCain is, by no means, a moderate. He just doesn't fall into everything the party leadership believes.

Regardless of party leadership, on the issues, he's more moderate on the right then most senators.

He's pro-life but doesn't want roe vs wade overturned, he's a "moderate supporter of gun control" (this is debatable, I think he's pretty strong in support of gun control).

He claims he generally leans on the side of deregulation, but he's often in the news in favor of some kind of regulation.

On Ideology, he's short of being a true blue conservative, but he's not a centerist. He's a moderate, on the right of center mold. He's further right then Chafee and Snowe.

Side note: Chafee is now in the news as talking about Reid trying to get him to cross and him declining.

[Sonny M]

I know all about them and you to mock what makes my state wat it is ashames me to be a conservitive

Cute, is this some lame way to make fun of conservatives?

[Holden Magroin]

LOL...

[Holden Magroin]

It'll never happen. Nelson is a partisan Democrat masquerading as an "independent conservative." Besides, heading the Department of Agriculture isn't a glamorous cabinet post.

[Gunder]

No doubt the libs came out in full force this year here in Minnesota. But '06 will be an off-year and they won't be nearly as fired up. (Of course, the GOP might not be either, so who knows?)

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

Hmmm, the Huskers could sure use something better than what they've got - is that just your comment or is there serious rumor behind it?

[counterpunch]

If part of the deal is that Nelson switch parties right before leaving for Sec of Ag, then the Dems would have no place to whine. He would be leaving as a Republican, so he would be replaced with a Republican.

[counterpunch]

Now, do we have a job for Joe Lieberman and BILL Nelson?

Bill Nelson = Secretary of Space, or maybe Ambassador to the Moon. Joe Lieberman = Secretary of Whining in the Complaints Department.

[counterpunch]

Moderates should go. They just make things difficult anyways.

And where, pray tell, should they go? You mean over to the Democrats..? Why yes, I see, that would make things much less difficult for the GOP, wouldn't it?

[graf008]

No - to either an independent status - or a Jesse Ventura style "third way".

[counterpunch]

Right, because its always good strategy to drive people out of the party...
That's how you get things done, by shrinking your members in Congress!

I nomiate you to replace Karl Rove.
With a brilliant mind like yours, Bush's agenda will sail through a Republican Minority Congress.

[graf008]

Ummm...no is the tim to trim the fat before the Dems trim it for us.


Besides, if there was an established middle, the Dems vote would often be split. If anything, the majority would increase - and the moderate caucus would find itself voting with the GOP on many issues. Win - Win.

[alessandrofiaschi]

We must pay attention. We could gain a seat, but we could lose (in 2008) some States, e.g. Iowa, who thanks BUSH & Republican first term agenda!

[MissAmericanPie]

Stroke of genius.

[counterpunch]

Ummm...no is the tim to trim the fat before the Dems trim it for us.

No, I'd say the time to "trim the fat" is during the primary season. We just came out of an historic election win (again) and so now is the time for unity and maximzing our new found power. If we were to purge everyone who doesn't fit some arbitrary mold of "conservativism" after each election, then what is the point in building on our party majority in the first place?

Conservatives had a chance to "trim the fat" with Specter earlier this year, and they failed. If they had not, then we would have at least had a chance to replace him with a more conservative Republican. But at this point, the only thing that would be accomplished is to replace Arlen Specter the Republican with Arlen Specter the Democrat.
That is not a good trade in my mind.

And I am also left wondering, who, exactly, gets to decide which Republicans are worthy of remaining? Someone always has a complaint about any politician not being "conservative" enough on some issue. Who decides? Pat Buchanan? Jerry Falwell? What is the definition of "conservative" that we measure with? Is protecting freedom of religion for all "conservative" enough, or do they have to be a fire and brimstone fundamentalist like Judge Roy Moore? What you propose is a dangerous and slippery slope where only fools rush in.

There are people who believe John McCain isn't "conservative" enough. There are people who believe George W. Bush is not "conservative" enough. In the end we might end up with no one fitting the bill except for sure losers like Alan Keyes bringing in 20% of the vote.

Plenty of people attack my governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, for not being "conservative" enough. But they don't seem to take into account that he is the absolute best that California politics can deliver at the moment. No politician is elected in a political vacuum. They have regional politics to contend with, and they have an opponent that they must defeat in their home state. Senators and governors are not elected nationally. Every state gets to elect their own two senators. I for one would much rather keep a moderate Republican from a liberal state than replace them with a liberal Democrat. Some states, like Maine or Iowa are just not going to elect a conservative. So you take what you can get, and be happy with what you've got.

[newzhawk]

voter fraud = banking fraud later

[af_vet_1981]

Is a Cabinet post Rove's to offer?

No, that prerogative belongs to Free Republic.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

And who cares about Ag!

Oh...... just all the people who live in the RED states in the middle of the country, plus the center of Florida which is cattle- and citrus-producing country and the center of California which grows food for the entire country. Just a few people like that.

[RinaseaofDs]

More likely, Lieberman would be Homeland Security. Jodi Rell is a Republican, which would also resort in a flip.

If Lieberman took Homeland Security, you'd have 57 seats.