Posted on 11/29/2010 5:04:25 AM PST by Impy
A Democratic congressman who backed Speaker Nancy Pelosi for minority leader said Monday it is "quite possible" he might vote for Republican John Boehner for Speaker in the next Congress.
Rep. Bill Owens (N.Y.) said he voted for Pelosi (D-Calif.) for minority leader in a House Democratic caucus meeting last week, even though he thinks she is too liberal. But Owens said he is open to supporting Boehner, whom House Republicans designated as the next Speaker, when the full House votes next year.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Is he asking the GOP "what do I get if I switch"? Or just playing around to show how "moderate" he is?
The last rat to vote GOP for Speaker was Jim Traficant in 2001, they kicked him out of the rat caucus for it, stripped his committee assignments.
>> Is he asking the GOP “what do I get if I switch”? Or just playing around to show how “moderate” he is?
Or is Boner liberal enough to suit him?
Ping
I don’t know what to make of this.
He’s no Blue Dog. He was comfortable voting to re-elect Pelosi as the leader of his party. Screw him. We don’t need or want his support.
Well, whoopdedo....this Rat is just now thinking about jumping from Pelosi’s shipwreck. After the Republicans amassed their 63 seat majority, this dimbulb thinks his vote means anything to Boehner, the new Speaker. His district needs to dump him in ‘12 for being neither fish nor fowl.
Or is Boner liberal enough to suit him?
Do you think his kids call him poppa?
When in doubt, I always follow the Limbaugh rule: “Never trust anyone with a ‘D’ after his name.”
I’ve lived in New York since 1971 and I can’t recall a single Democrat politician I would trust. The same could be said of a good many New York “Republicans”, too.
This 1940's born Central New Yorker will Ditto that!
This is the guy who beat Doug Hoffman by 3000 votes in 2009 and then won again by a plurality in 2010 by fewer votes than Hoffman siphoned off of the GOP challenger by running as an independent.
So he’s in one of the most conservative districts to still have a Democrat rep. (Thank you, Doug Hoffman!) He’s voted for Obamacare and all, but it makes sense for the Dems to let him talk moderate smack here and there and on votes for which his wouldn’t be decisive.
Simple. Look at the make up of his constituency and you will get the answer. The 23rd is upstate NY - read conservative, and Bill Owens, whatever colored dog he is, cares more about his own reelection than the wellbeing of some dead witch.
Isn’t he in the infamous NY-23 district. He is playing around since he knows he is politcally way out of line with his constiuents.
Just another socialist.
For a second there, I thought they were talking about Congressman Major Owens (who retired in 2006 or so). Now *that* would have been a shocker!
This is shameless posturing on the part of Bill Owens. As Impy mentioned, voting for a GOP Speaker is the one thing that will get a RAT kicked off the RAT caucus; on the other hand, voting for some other Democrat in an non-competitive Speaker election has been deemed to be an acceptable protest. So if Owens votes for Boehner it would be tantamount to him announcing a party switch. However, how can he possibly appear credible switching to the GOP if not only has he compiled a liberal voting record, but actually voted for Pelosi for Minority Leader over Heath Shuler? I think that this is Owens’s way of announcing that he’s a “thoughtful moderate” who will consider what is best for his district . . . before voting for Pelosi for Speaker.
He’ll vote for Pelosi. He’s a good boy and will do told as he is told.
Mr. Owens has 80,597 votes overall and leads Mr. Doheny by 1,795 votes in the 11-county district.
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20101120/NEWS03/311209964
Hoffman was on the ballot and only dropped out a few weeks before the election—let’s get and keep our facts straight. And the idea that a poll could micro-detect that Hoffman’s 6000 voters weren’t otherwise GOP voters is laughable.
Interesting development, thanks Impy.
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