Conservative Democrat Watch
Last month’s federal court decision negating Nebraska’s voter-approved constitutional amendment protecting traditional marriage may have caused one Democratic senator to change his stripes on the issue of a federal marriage amendment. Focus on the Family’s James Dobson says he has been assured by Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson that the lawmaker has changed his position on the need to protect marriage at the federal level. “The senator now joins millions of Americans who recognize the threat posed by arrogant and activist judges who would deprive the people of their right to govern themselves,” Dobson says in a press release. “We look forward to working with Senator Nelson to pass the [Marriage Protection Amendment to the U.S. Constitution] in the months ahead.” Dobson also commends Nelson for making another commitment: supporting up-or-down votes on all but one of President’s judicial nominees who have been targeted by Democratic-led filibusters. “Senator Nelson is doing what an elected official should do — listening to what his constituents want and working to make sure they get it,” Dobson says. Nelson was one of the seven Democrats who was party to the bipartisan “compromise” derived to allow up-or-down votes on a limited number of the president’s nominees while still giving Democrats the option to resurrect the filibuster against nominees of their choosing.
Ben Nelson is largely useless, and if he were to switch to “Republican”, it would probably be difficult to notice… he’d turn a few degrees to the right, simply by being “whipped” and by working within the Republican Caucus. I find it surprising if Ben Nelson “changed his stripes”, and would think he would have supported this “ban” beforehand. And it’s difficult not to be disgruntled at any politician who careens with Nebraska — is Nebraska politics that desperate that that’s necessary? I know not from Nebraska… my sister married a Nebrakan — now transplanted to the state of Microsoft. They have a family photograph taken with Newt Gingrich in it. The father-in-law is a classic Union Guy type… but, judging from the electoral map, it seems like he belongs to a state just East — Iowa.
Mary Landrieu, somewhere in the top five in terms of Democratic Party Conservatism, was the prime sponsor of a “We apologize for Lynching Black People” resolution. The blogosphere, including the right-wing half is a’buzz on the Senators that did not support this measure.
I’m half-plussed here. On one hand, it’s merely a gesture. But gestures are important sometimes, hence it’s good for everyone of every political stripe to announce that their historical understanding of the United States includes the reality that the government sanctified Domestic Terrorism against Black Americans for a long, long time. (Getting everyone onto the same page, so to speak.) But… is Mary Landrieu doing anything a bit more substantial for the black community? Understand… she owes her most recent election in particular to the black vote. On the December Election day in 2002 (Louisiana has it so that if you don’t earn over 50% of the vote in November, you go to a run-off), the Democratic brass were crunching numbers, seeing Landrieu coming up short. They fired off a last-second call-out from Bill Clinton (“the first black president”tm) to mass-dial black communities to get out the vote… and hence Landrieu’s job was saved.
I just updated the sidebar mid-term election section, adding Ohio (“Coin-Gate” may be be poised to tear down the Ohio Republican Party), and the surprising Indiana. Curiouser and Curiouser.