Posted on 05/09/2005 6:48:17 PM PDT by MisterRepublican
The two top Democrats in Vermont — former Gov. Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee and U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy — are not ready to endorse U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders in his bid for the U.S. Senate in 2006.
Sanders, who has launched his 2006 campaign in cyberspace and is talking up his bid outside of Vermont, has remained relatively quiet at home about the pending race.
Conventional political wisdom holds that Sanders will get the backing of Democrats, support he has seen in almost all of his seven congressional races. Only once did a Democrat formally oppose Sanders, but that candidate did not have the full support of the state party.
Sanders hopes to become the first independent ever elected to the upper chamber, replacing Sen. Jim Jeffords. Although Jeffords will retire as an independent, he was elected to the post as a Republican. He left the party in 2001 over differences with the Bush administration. Jeffords announced his retirement from Vermont politics on April 20.
To date, Sanders has received favorable comments from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, who is heading up the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. However, there has been no official support offered.
Leahy, who has held Vermont’s other Senate seat since 1974 and ranks as the titular head of the state party, isn’t ready to throw his support to Sanders.
"Senator Leahy and Congressman Sanders have had a long, close and successful working relationship together on behalf of Vermont's agenda. [Leahy] has discussed the upcoming Senate vacancy with Congressman Sanders and with party leaders and others in Vermont, and I'm sure there will be many more such discussions,” said spokesman David Carle.
(Excerpt) Read more at vermontguardian.com ...
I read somewhere that this seat has been in GOP hands since the Civil War...anyone know if that's true?
Since the current occupant is not a Republican, I guess not.
First they have Jumpin' Jim Jeffords and now they'll get Bolshevik Bernie Sanders. Not to mention Screamin' Dean. What a state.
Well, when he was elected, he was.
That is true. In fact, Leahy is the only Democrat Senator in Vermont history.
So are there any credible Republicans running?
There have been a series of RINOs in that seat going back to at least the 1950s -- George Aiken, Bob Stafford, and Jumping Jim. Vermont was one of only two states to vote against FDR in 1936, and was of course home to Calvin Coolidge, so it does have some glory in its distant past. But not much lately.
It is true that the seat was in GOP hands since before the Civil War until Jumpin' Jim Jeffords stabbed his party, his colleagues, and his supporters in the back in 2001. Sanders will probably win the seat. Dems are just posturing, and will not run a candidate against Sanders. GOP Lt. Governor Brian Dubie may run if he does not blink and opt for the US Representative seat being vacated by Sanders. Dubie is popular and about as conservative a candidate as you will find in overwhelmingly liberal Vermont. He is pro-life(unusual in Vermont). He is good looking but not a remarkably effective campaigner. Sanders is a hard worker who tempers his internationalist extreme left beliefs with plenty of populist rhetoric.
The fact that Sanders first move is to crank up the leftist funding machine outside of Vermont should be seized upon as an issue by whoever becomes the GOP nominee. Vermonters are notoriously independent and sensitive to outside influence.
It says a lot about the Democrat Party that they will end up endorsing and voting in an avowed Socialist. The regular Dems are too coy to be so open about their beliefs. can the GOP make some points nationally, in other races, by pointing out this as an example of what the Democrat Party has become?
A RINO from a lefty state is OK.
Now, a RINO from a state that elects conservatives, like Arizona, Nebraska and Penn...they are not tolerable.
I can't believe the Republicans wouldn't be able to win the seat, even in Vermont. When your opponent is an open and avowed Socialist, you could really hang this noose - even nationally - around the Dems' necks.
"See....we told you they supported Socialism!"
I have to believe this is a winnable seat....
Well, if History is any guide...
And, the Governor is a GOP'er.
And when I was born I was a virgin.
Yep, it's a matter of settling for the best you can get. Jesse Helms would not get elected in MA, so the best we can hope for is a Mitt Romney. AZ and NE can do better, though, and we expect them to.
"It says a lot about the Democrat Party that they will end up endorsing and voting in an avowed Socialist. The regular Dems are too coy to be so open about their beliefs. can the GOP make some points nationally, in other races, by pointing out this as an example of what the Democrat Party has become?"
During the Age of Enlightenment (1700 - 1800) there were utopian-socialist writers. None influenced nor inspired America's founding patriarchy.
Ref:Early Socialism Lecture Notes http://www.faculty.goucher.edu/history231/early_socialism_notes/htm
I believe it was Mark Twain who said, in effect, there are no new thoughts nor original ideas in philosophy under the sun.
Hey - at least Bernie is honest - he's a freakin' socialist and proud of it. All the other liberals have to lie and call themselves 'progressives.'
"It says a lot about the Democrat Party that they will end up endorsing and voting in an avowed Socialist. The regular Dems are too coy to be so open about their beliefs. can the GOP make some points nationally, in other races, by pointing out this as an example of what the Democrat Party has become?"
During the Age of Enlightenment (1700 - 1800) there were utopian-socialist writers. None influenced nor inspired America's founding patriarchy.
Ref:Early Socialism Lecture Notes http://www.faculty.goucher.edu/history231/early_socialism_notes/htm
I believe it was Mark Twain who said, in effect, there are no new thoughts nor original ideas in philosophy under the sun.
Good mention of Coolidge, who is one of the best Presidents of this century. He was one of the last true federalists; he would not involve the federal government in matters that were not outlined to it in the Constitution. Once, there was a major natural castrophe somewhere in the Southwest and the state requested funds from the government; Coolidge said no way; the government had no power to take $$ from one state and send it to another.
Can you imagine any politician saying that today?
The party with which Sanders is affiliated (the Socialists) is called the "Progressive Coalition" party. It solely exists in VT and has several legislators and the Mayorship of the largest city of Burlington. So even in this case, they don't have the cajones to officially call themselves the "Socialist" party.
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