[Oldeconomybuyer]

Sen. Moynihan and Nunn could be the last of the honorable democrats in the US Senate who had a real voice in their party. Today, Sen. Breaux and Miller are ignored by their once-relevant political party.

Best wishes to Sen. Moynihan and his family.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Add to that list David Boron, former senator from Oklahoma.

[Paleo Conservative]

Sen. Moynihan and Nunn could be the last of the honorable democrats in the US Senate who had a real voice in their party.

Correction:

Sen. Moynihan and Nunn could be the last of the honorable democrats honorable Democrat in the US Senate who had a real voice in their his party.

Nunn showed his true colors when he use falsified charges against former senator Tower to prevent him from becoming secretary of defense. He also voted against the use of force against Iraq in 1991 mostly for personal political purposes. He was also beginning to change his position of abortion; personally, I think the abortion issue should be decided by state legislatures.

The vote and change of position on abortion were I think intended as a way to ingraciate himself with the left wing of the DemocRAT party in anticipation of a run for the Presidency in 1992. As a moderate to conservative Democrat from a southernstat who had made some concessions to the left wing of his party, he would have been in a strong position to run against President Bush (41) in 1992. The overwhelming success of the military aspects of Desert Storm crushed any chance of Nunn or any of the other senators who voted agains the authorization of force agains Iraq getting the DemocRAT nomination for president in 1992 or ever. It was the self-destruction of most senate DemocRATS on the Iraq issue in 1991 that allowed Bill Clinton to run in a DemocRAT field made up of mostly lightweights in 1992.

The rejection of former Senator Tower also came back to bite the DemocRATS in the butt. While there are quite a number of Republicans who might have had problems with Tower, the campaign by key senators to reject him as Secretary of Defense was repugnant and reprehensible. It is well documented that Senator Tower had had a drinking problem and had been a philanderer; however, I have never seen those qualities disquailify a DemocRAT. In particular, an allegation was made that Senator Tower had made phsyical advances towards a female enlisted person while visiting a military base while he chaired the Senate Armed Forces Committee. It was later shown that the person who made the allegation about seeing Senator Tower had been treated in a mental institution, and that Senator Tower had not even been in the state where that military base was located on the date when the episode was supposed to have occurred. Regardless of the proved falsity of the charges against Senator Tower, Senator Heflin said that the "appearance of impropriety" made Senator Tower unfit to serve as Secretary of Defense. Of course nine years later, the DemocRATS were defending the depraved actions of President Clinton which were proved to be true.

As far as biting the DemocRATS in the butt is concerned. Nunn's "Borking" of Senator Tower created opportunities for other Republicans to rise. President Bush (41) nominated the House minority whip, Dick Cheney as Secretary of Defense. Cheney's prominence as Secretary of Defense during Desert storm lead to his nomination and election as Vice President of the United States. The vacancy in the House minority whip position led to the election of Newt Gingrich to that position. I have to admit Gingrich has his own personal short comings, but his leadership, vision, and strategy lead to the Republican takeover of both the House and Senate in 1994.