Never forget who you're dealing with.
Posted on 05/09/2005 3:59:03 PM PDT by Libloather
Reid Offers Olive Branch on Bush Nominee
By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 25 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Monday offered the Democrats' support for one of President Bush's judicial nominees, former Senate lawyer Thomas Griffith, as a goodwill gesture in the confrontation over banning judicial filibusters.
"Let's take a step away from the precipice," Reid said. "Let's try cooperation, rather than confrontation, which seems to be the hallmark of what we've been doing here lately."
The offer came as President Bush and Senate Republicans renewed their pressure on Democrats to stop blocking some of his judicial nominees, four years to the day that the White House unveiled its first judicial picks.
"Each deserved a simple up-or-down vote by the entire Senate," Bush said in a statement, pointing out that two of his first nominees from 2001 — Texas judge Priscilla Owen and North Carolina judge Terrence Boyle — have yet to be approved by the Senate.
Griffith replaced a third, Hispanic lawyer Miguel Estrada, who withdrew his nomination for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia after Democrats filibustered his nomination for two years.
Griffith was the Senate's general counsel during President Clinton's impeachment and became Brigham Young University's general counsel in 2003.
Democrats are hoping Reid's offer will help persuade the dozen or so undecided Republicans that they should not support Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's call to ban judicial filibusters.
"We know the difference between opposing nominees and blocking nominees. We will oppose bad nominees, but we will only block unacceptable nominees," Reid said.
Frist says all of Bush's nominees should get confirmation votes, not just one.
"This is a first step but there are seven other highly qualified nominees who have been filibustered in the 108th Congress who deserve an up-or-down vote as well," he said. "I remain committed to this fundamental principle and the return to 214 years of Senate tradition."
U.S. Appeals Judge William Pryor — who got a recess appointment from Bush after Democrats blocked his confirmation — and Boyle are expected to get committee votes later this week. But Republicans spent most of the day talking up Owen's nomination.
Owen is one of seven Bush nominees being filibustered by Democrats, while Boyle was blocked in committee by objections from former Democratic Sen. John Edwards in retaliation for similar actions by former GOP Sen. Jesse Helms.
Frist, R-Tenn., is considering an effort to ban judicial filibusters to stop Democrats from blocking those judges and a Supreme Court nomination if a vacancy comes open during the Bush presidency.
"All judicial nominees deserve an up-or-down vote. It's a matter of fairness," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said at a news conference at the Justice Department. Gonzales was involved with judicial nominations in his job as White House counsel during Bush's first term.
Democrats have blocked 10 of Bush's appellate court choices through filibuster threats, which means those nominees would have to get 60 votes in the 100-member Senate instead of a simple majority. Democrats have threatened to block again the seven whom Bush renominated this year, as well as future ones they consider outside the mainstream of legal thinking.
Republicans in turn have threatened to use their majority to change senatorial rules later this month to require a simple majority vote for confirmation.
Frist and Reid have rejected previous compromise offers, with Frist insisting on confirmation votes on all judicial nominees and Reid insisting on Democrats keeping their ability to block Bush nominees.
"I sent two "gimme" requests back today. I wrote on them: "Not one dime until the Republican Senators Nuke the judicial filibuster. Not one dime.""
Did the same thing.
Well - the only thing wrong in pic # 1 is there's not a fire trailing meteor coming in on it ;o)
Never forget who you're dealing with.
Of course they do. But the question is whether they are raising the bulk of that money from big business, or from their constituents.
Most of Their constituents do not have as much to offer financially but they do commit very valuable resources such as time and votes. When these folks stop donating it may not impact the overall purse, it won't as a fact because businesses will continue to contribute to a Majority Party as standard practice. What loss of 10 dollars here, and 50 dollars there represents is the loss of a valuable vote and possible grassroots activist so crucial election day.
This isn't about the money. Businesses will donate, special interest groups will donate...they do so for a seat of power. I'd be surprised if the money trailed off. It's sending a signal that what they need most, VOTES, will dry up if they don't follow through.
Laying down the law to the RINOs only makes DINOs out of RINOs. And Anyone who thinks a full blooded conservative can be elected in Maryland or Vermont is crazy. They can't be elected in Ohio or PA. Santorum in PA is not stupid. He is moving to the center as fast as he can. Can't you imagine the phone call? Mr Soros .. the Republicans are going to run a conservative against me in the primary... If I switched to the Democratic party, would no one run against me in the primary and would you see to it I have twice as much money as the Conservative. What do you think Soros would say? I know what he would say... can I send you a signed blank Check?
Anyone who thinks that McCain can be threatened into obedience thinks Frist can torture better than the North Vietnamese.
In states like Ohio you think 32 percent of the voters who are conservatives can cast 51 percent of the votes. Ohio is trending liberal..
We worked our butts off to elect George Bush in Ohio. He got 51 percent of the vote. If we had done no more than we did in 2000, Kerry would be president. RINO Voinovich did not even campaign and refused to appear at campaign appearances with Bush and got 63 percent of the votes. Does that tell you anything? I didn't think so.
That fact is there are, at any one time, about 35 Conservative Senators and 35 Liberal Senators. That leaves about 30 Senators who are some combination of RINOs and DINOs. They come mostly from the Battle Ground states. Battle Ground states are states that sometimes vote for the Democrat and sometimes vote for the Republican. Those states rarely if ever elect a full blown liberal or conservative. If the Democrats run a liberal and the Republicans run a RINO the RINO always wins. I the Republicans run a conservative and the Democrats run a DINO the DINO always wins. If the Democrats run a liberal and the Republicans run a Conservative sometimes the conservative can win. But Democrats are not dumb enough to run liberals in IN NAME ONLY States. Such states nearly always elect a RINO or a DINO. Ohio is such a state. Fools always think they can elect a conservative in Ohio when a true conservative can't even get nominated. Ken Blackwell is a true Conservative in Ohio.. He doesn't have a snowball's chance to win the Governors nomination in Ohio.
Georgia elects Conservative senators. Ohio elects RINOs and DINOs. Right now we have two DINOs. That is as good as it gets for Republicans in Ohio.
You make the same argument that Barry Goldwater made in 1964. Barry actually believed that if a genuine Conservative Republican got the nomination and stuck to his guns he would win. He suffered the biggest loss possible. Goldwater was not a pimple on a real candidates butt. He knew nothing about how to get elected and proved it to the entire world.
And if you think Reagan was a conservative, you need to study his career. The only reason Reagan spoke for Goldwater in 1964 was to lose the RINO tag. A Hollywood Actor and life long Democrat who was elected twice to be President of the Screen Actors Guild is not a Conservative. Name one conservative president of a Labor Union. There has never been one. The media wanted Democrat Brown reelected governor and Jimmy Carter re-elected President. They labeled Reagan a Conservative in hopes of defeating him. Much of Reagan's 1966 campaign for Governor and his 1980 campaign for President were spent trying to convince voters he was not a conservative. I covered Reagan's 1980 campaign. I used to do a comedy version of his stump speech to amuse the campaign reporters. It was not even close to being a conservative speech.
In fact Reagan time after time spoke for RINOs. He welcomed them into the Republican Party. He said an member of congress that votes with you most of the time is not your enemy. The Democrats who always vote against you are the enemy. Reagan said over and over "Speak no ill of a fellow republican." He was talking about RINOs !!!
I once interviewed LBJ. I asked him how he got the great Society passed when FDR, Truman, and Kennedy had failed to get medical care for the old and poor passed. LBJ did not hesitate a second. He said that with out Barry Goldwater, the great society would never have passed.
By driving the RINOs out of the party in his massive 1964 loss, Goldwater handed LBJ a Senate with 35 liberal Democrats and 27 DINOs. Even when the Republicans picked off a few DINOS they could not pick off enough to keep LBJ from winning. And the 5 or 7 RINOs still in office, were so ticked at Goldwater and the Republican party that they voted with LBJ a lot of times as well.
You remind me of the fools that thought that a Candidate in the senate primary who could not get 50 percent of the Republicans votes could get 50 percent of the republican and Democratic votes. Only PA far right Conservatives could actually believe that is true.
You even think that money and support of a parties leaders wins elections.
Try living in the real world. Taking on the RINOS with threats of retaliation only makes DINOs out of RINOs. And would make Reid the Majority leader of the Senate. In case you don't understand ask Jim Jeffords how that works.
There has never been at time in our history when Conservatives have been a majority. NEVER. Democrats are successful because you rarely ever hear of them trying to throw DINOs out of the party. Ask Zell Miller how that works.
You're one of the few who doesn't think fundraising is a major measurement of how one's campaign is progressing.
Yes it does, doesn't it?
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