* If your constituents STRONGLY favor the course of action, then your responsibility is to accurately reflect -- to REPRESENT -- the will of your constituents and vote in favor.
* Cao did not hold out for just some ridiculous pork project favored by big-money lobbyists; he instead asked for help with local issues caused by THE GREATEST NATURAL CATASTROPHE THAT EVER HIT THIS NATION. These are not roads to nowhere; they are health issues for a still-recovering population. Agree or disagree with his request, it is not outlandish.
Personal Note : Knowing the difficult situation Cao faced, the GOP waited till the 218th vote was cast in favor of the bill before letting him cast his lone vote. His yea vote would not have changed the result one bit.
Then just let him run as a democrap.
Nice try. But you can put a pig in a dress and it’s still a pig.
Um....because he wasn't a "real" Republican?
This appears to be an obligation for Republicans who represent Liberal districts. Off hand, I cannot think of a recent Democrat who acquiesced to the Conservative leanings of the district which they represent. I guess they have different obligations.
I'm not saying I don't understand Cao's situation. I'm just saying that this is a one-way street in which Republicans are expected to give in and Democrats are not.
we have to stop killing our own...
Cao's vote made no difference....
the rat cabal....that is who we need to go after....
I agree...having this seat is HUGE chance to show a black district that they can actually be represented, not only by a white, but also a Republican. It’s a once in a generation chance, and while Health Care is a huge issue, we really need to give this guy a LOT of wiggle room.
The article is wrong. Offer two stark choices and let the people decide. If they decide on the Republican, don’t expect him to govern like a Democrat. If they don’t like what they voted for, vote him out. Why even have two parties if the elected official is expected to vote one particular way?
A knife in the back is a knife in the back no matter how people try to frame it. I only wish I was in his state so I could look forward to one day voting against him.
I was thinking along those lines, too. It’s doubtful if he would have won if the voters hadn’t gotten sick of the crooked incumbent. And I think it’s true that his NOLA voters are very liberal except that they tend to be anti-abortion.
Finally, his vote did not make a crucial difference. It was regretable, but unlike the Olympia Snowe vote, it didn’t break a stalemate or tip the balance.
So there you have it: what the GOP really needs is more RINOs.
The Stupak amendment gave cover to those dems that are pro-life to vote for this horror. It was a waste of time and it backfired.
Then let rinos and moderates fund his campaign. Don’t expect conservatives to give one penny.
After a 117 years it was luck for a Republican to take that seat although it will probably be for only one term (but who knows?) This guy won one of the biggest upsets in the nation by knocking off William Jefferson (yes, that William Jefferson that we all hate).
“On December 6, 2008, Cao defeated nine-term Democratic U.S. Representative William Jefferson with 49.6 percent of the vote to Jefferson’s 46.8 percent.”
“Cao is the first Republican to represent the district since 1890”
“Cao’s win rendered the 2nd District by far the most Democratic district in the nation to be represented by a Republican; the district has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+28.”
I’m not buying it. Cao may well have had the interests of his constituents on his mind, but he sure didn’t give a damn about who’s paying the bill.
It provided the democrats the fig-leaf they needed to claim that the bill had bipartisan support.
Knowing the difficult situation Cao faced, the GOP waited till the 218th vote was cast in favor of the bill before letting him cast his lone vote.
And if the democrats only got 217 votes? Would the GOP have "let" him vote his "conscience"????
“His yea vote would not have changed the result one bit.”
I agree with the facts of the vote. But, do you not realize the power given the Dims by now being able to call this vote “bipartisan?” Did you play the tinman in the Wizard of Oz? You seem to be lacking a very useful organ.
There is a rumor that he has been trying to gain membership in the Congressional Black Caucus since his election and that he has been turned down.
No. No more. I will have no more of this.
He represents a pool of parasites who want more jack, as they always want more and more and more jack, as the greed of the idle and covetous is insatiable. To ingratiate himself with this mob of parasites and jack artists, he voted for an UNCONSTITUTIONAL bill that will kill people and rob us all of the the fundamental rights to life and to liberty.
My revulsion at your excuse is beyond my ability to convey.
If dead soul apparatchiks in the GOP authorized and approved this, then it is time to put the old elephant down.
I lived in New Orleans. I drove through Katrina. I lost people to it. I drove through Rita, to get my kid to a medical appointment with a specialist. Don’t give me the sob story. No wonder so many people now detest New Orleanians.
This defense makes me spew.
I don’t want to hear any bs excuses for why he broke party lines and was the ONLY RINO to vote for this current travesty called healthcare reform. There IS no valid excuse. Period. He’s another Dede Scuzzabag. He just doesn’t wear a dress in public.
He should be ashamed, if nothing else. His father was imprisoned by communists. And now, here HE is, voting for a communist bill to serve his constituents? BS. He’s trying to get re-elected. Another self-serving RINO ahole.
Don’t ya just love it when a supposedly Conservative publication tries to justify a rogue Republican vote? Well, sorry folks (hey you guys in the Spectator crowd), you are just simply wrong again.
Either you vote for Constitutional laws are get the heck out of this Congress! Yes, that includes you sissy Republicans that can’t stand to be in the minority - even when they are right.
I am ashamed of the Spectator and if I had a subscription, I would drop it.