They’ve asked me to run for the Senate as a Republican. I don’t know if I’m going to do that. [Philadelphia Business Today, via Political Wire]
That was Rep. Mike Castle, R-DE (for now). He’s been considering a run for Joe Biden’s Senate seat. Is he considering whether we wants to run at all, or is he trying to decide whether to run as a Republican or Democrat?
In the House, according to data from the Washington Post, Castle has the 27th-lowest percentage of voting with his own party. He voted with the Republicans 86.9 percent of the time, which seems pretty high, but keep in mind that the vast majority of Representatives voted with their own party over 90 percent of the time.
I don’t know if I’d particularly welcome the switch. Delaware did send Joe Biden to the Senate, so I’m sure we could get a more progressive Senator than Castle. Still, it’s always enjoyable to watch the massive exodus from the GOP.
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…so I’m sure we could get a more progressive Senator…
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In many ways, The Former Senator From The Grand Duchy Of du Pont was hardly “progressive.” “Banking” ring a bell?
The Grand Duchy Of du Pont will get the Senator it wants, and don’t be surprised if “progressive” isn’t in the list of requirements…
Delaware’s a weird state. Very pro-business. I wonder what kind of Senator they’ll get. Does Biden have a son?
Biden’s eldest son, Beau, is in the military, presently stationed in Iraq as a jurist. His younger son, Hunter, is a lawyer. He has one daughter, Askley, who is a social worker. Tiny Delaware is beyond being pro-business and well on its’ way to being a single source for politicians completely dedicated to corporate interests. The joke has always been Senator Joe Biden (D-BOA).
Ooops that would be Ashley.
The healthcare debate and the climate bill are great examples of what happens when we get moderates shifting from the GOP to the Democrats. Sure, the party is larger. But legislation has to be watered down from its original form to get the moderate members of the party to sign on. Collin Peterson is a very powerful man in DC these days. Anyone in that middle 1/3 is.
It is a great thing. Moderates speak for the middle class of America. I don’t give a crap which party is raising funds on their behalf (that is all it comes down to). At the end of the day, if they are a moderate voice of reason in DC, it is a huge victory for the rest of us.
Mike Castle — I don’t care if you run as a ‘D’ or an ‘R’. Just keep voting like an ‘I’.
I don’t get this whole idea that “center is always best”. If we compromise everything to the exact middle, we might get it right sometimes, and other times we’ll end up with really crappy policy that doesn’t do what needs to be done just for the sake of compromise.
If one side wants to kill kittens, and the other side doesn’t want to kill kittens, does that mean that killing half the kittens is the best plan? No.
This notion that moderation is what it is needed is utter crap. What is needed is solutions. This watered-down climate bill is not a solution to a major problem, it is a little band-aid that will fall short of actually fixing the problem. That is the real problem with Washington: the tendency to do something but not enough.
Archer Dem -
I respect your opinion, and would guess that those on the far right share the view that moderate legislation doesn’t go far enough.
There are two reasons I think centricity is king. First, it ensure that our legislation moves incrementally in the direction of the electorate. Our government’s job is to serve us. If our electorate is moving to the left, as many here claim, then you all have nothing to worry about. That is where policy will move based on newfound support of the center for left-leaning policy.
Second, having policy driven by the middle ensures we don’t have schizophrenic swings in legislation. Imagine if Bush had gotten his way with everything in 2001-2002 when he had plenty of R’s in Congress. Those righty policies would have been undone in 2009 once Obama and his regime got into office. While it is a little more boring than wonks would like, I’d rather have policy evolve gradually but permanently than have wild swings that will be undone when the electorate changes their mood a few years down the road.
“centricity” is banal mediocrity & same old-same old.
Average out everything else in your life - makes for gray mush & people who are covering their own asses.
Time to look long & hard at defectors in name only.
The Republican brand is tired & failed. So the rats are jumping ship.