Posted on 01/21/2006 10:20:42 AM PST by PolishProud
Salazar Cheered Like a Republican
It must be hell in the Senator Salazar (D-CO) camp -- sort of like the final scene in the classic film "The Quiet Man" when Ward Bond as Father Lonagan clutches his scarf about his neck to hide his collar and asks his flock to "cheer like Protestants" when the Rev Playfair drives by with his bishop.
Senator Salazar had to cheer like a Republican when he recently voted for the confirmation of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court - but is he fooling his flock? Maybe so.
On a recent Saturday morning talk show, the host commented (I paraphrase) said he liked Salazar because he, Salazar, took both sides referring to his yes confirmation vote. Here is a would-be-politically-astute talk show host falling for one of the oldest political gambits since the Roman Senate convened.
The confirmation of Roberts was a done deal and since Salazar represents a red state -- one that voted for Bush - and promised to give Bush's judicial nominees an up or down vote on the senate floor, the Democrat leaders gave him a pass.
But now comes the Alito vote and the Democrat leaders need Salazar's vote -- let there be no doubt - He will cheer like a Democrat, or else.
This old saying fits: senator we know what you are -- we just need to know your price.
Hopefully in 2010 there will be a solid conservative Republican who will challenge Salazar. Bill Owens has lost influence with some cosnervatives, but he would make a good Senator for Colorado. A lot better then Ken Salazar is turning out to be.
Hopefully the Co Repub party can get it together and stop the infighting, so we can elect a republican goverrnor then go on to replace Salazar when he is up. Coming from a red state, we should not be in danger of loosing the governor's house, and we should not have a dem senator
Salazar ran as a moderate dem, but he did not fool the republicans. Unfortunately, we had a solid conservative candidate, but he was defeatd in the primaries because Pete Coors had the name recognition. You see how far that got us.
I hope we learned our lesson for the upcoming primaries and general elections. If the upset conservatives would have held their nose and voted for Pete Coors at least we would not be in our present state, but they stayed home instead.
Let this be a lesson to those who think staying home in the general election is better than voting for a less conservative repub (No I don't like it either, but the cost of staying home is too high)
A big
Those days are long gone, and the average voter today is much more informed. The Republican party shot itself in the foot when it put Pete Coors on the ticket. The other candidate had better grasp of the issues and would have made a great senator.
In a way it may be good that Salazar won, as long as the Republicans learn from their mistake and give us a real candidate next time around. If they don't then we could lose again.
There is no substitute for a man with ideals and the courage of his convictions. Name recognition we can do without.
From some of the threads/posts I've read on FR, this could be a very close vote. A few folks have said a 50/50 split vote isn't out of the question, leaving Cheney the deciding factor. So far, only Democrat Ben Nelson has come out in favor of Alito. Whether things will escalate to a fevered pitch whereby the Dems might consider a fillibuster is an open possibility. Nothing is for certain in politics.
Making a prediction is sorta like gambling. I figured Roberts would get about 65 votes. The same amount Rehnquist received for CJ. Roberts got 78 votes. Alito is giving the Dems some serious heartburn. I say he'll get more votes then the 52 Clarence Thomas garnered, but not as many as the 98 votes Scalia managed. ;^)
Bill Owens has jumped the shark in the very worst way. He managed to accomplish a feat not done by a Colorado GOP Governor in decades... he completely lost one of the most reliably GOP legislatures. Owens may be one of the greatest disappointments to Conservatives nationwide, because most considered him to be Presidential timber. It turns out he's not fit to be dogcatcher.
At least he and wife are back together again.
Well, 2010 is a long way off, so there's no point in speculating.
Incidentally, I read that some liberals are putting a measure on the ballot to gaurantee marriage benefits for unmarried couples, ALL KINDS of unmarried couples. Is this true?
I'm sorry he was ever elected.
I don't know about that.
James Dobson is pushing for an anti-gay marriage referendum. The Extreme Left may be preparing a referendum to counter Dobson.
"I'm sorry he was ever elected."
So am I. What no one remembers is that Salazar was elected because the Republicans were unable to find a first-tier candidate. The Lieutenant Governor, state Treasurer, and a couple of Congressmen turned down entreaties to run. Salazar virtually had the Senate seat handed to him.
Actually, we had an excellent first-tier Conservative in the race. Articulate and honorable (he honored his term-limits pledge), Bob Schaffer would've been a fine Senator and would've been able to go toe-to-toe with Salazar. But, nope, we nominated a dear-caught-in-the-headlights, bumbling and inarticulate empty suit named after a beer. Yup, we definitely became the supreme stupid party in Colorado.
Bob Schaffer is a first-tier person, but he wasn't a first-tier candidate. He had little name I.D. and wasn't an impressive fundraiser. So the GOP took its chances and backed a candidate with some celebrity and star quality.
Such candidates can be unpredictable. In retrospect, the strategy of recruiting one was a mistake in this case.
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