I seriously doubt Cao has a "big lead" in a district this overwhelmingly RAT, but unlike many here I don't assume he's DOA because of the district's demographics either. Nobody thought he could win 2008 either, and 2010 is shaping up to be a FAR better year for the GOP. It's quite possible he could catch lighting in a bottle twice. The odds are he'll lose (that would be what you'd assume if you're a betting man), but he's only GURANTEED to lose if we make it a self-fulfilling prophesy. I'm personally tired of the defeatist attitude from Republicans "writing off" RAT districts. The Dems go all out to win 60% GOP districts and then cling to them for years and have to be dragged kicking and screaming from those seats. We should fight like hell to keep every seat we have.
>> this poll sounds far too good to be true. But if there’s even a kernel of truth to it, November will be even better than we all have been hoping for. <<
Bingo. If this election is anything like 1994, we could see quite a few upsets in districts that have been RAT forever. This "poll", if it even slightly resembles the actual numbers, should give us pause. It would mean a RAT slaughter is on the way.
p> >> >>> He votes like your average Black Congressional Caucus member. Why change. I’m sorry, but I cannot distinguish this RINO’s voting record from that of any other CommieCrate. Why should I care what happens to him? He is dead to me, as far as being Republican in any meaningful sense of the concept. <<
I'm sorry you can't distinguish his record from your average moonbat Black Congressional Caucus member, but I certainly can. He's nowhere near as conservative as me but he'll way to the right of the "typical" Maxine Waters type RAT representing those types of districts. Here's some of his positions over the past year:
Final Passage of Obamacare - NO
Prohibit Federally Funded for Abortion Services -YES
Prohibit the return of the Fairness Doctrine - YES
Substitute Health Care and Insurance Law Amendments - YES
Require Timetable for Withdrawal from Afghanistan - NO
Remove Funding for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's - NO
Prohibit Federal Assistance to ACORN - YES
Pass Energy and Environmental Law ("Cap and Trade") - NO
Allocate additional $825 billion for Obama's "economic recovery package" - NO
Do you honestly feel that Bill Jefferson would have voted the same way if he was still representing that district? Cao has a lifetime ACU rating of 55%. I would rather have someone who votes with me the majority of the time representing a district with 90% RAT politicians than have someone who votes with me 5% of the time.
>> Other than has nearly unforgivable vote on ObamaCare, I can give Cao an occasional pass for trying to survive in a district of Obamabots, much like with Scott Brown. I hope he wins re-election. <<
I agree. Normally I'd be all for purging a Republican who votes with the RATs half the time, but given the EXTREME lopsided RAT history of that district, Cao is a vast improvement. I believe the last time it had a Republican Congressman was the 1880s? And Cao did switch to the GOP on Obamacare after the "pro-life" Bart Stupak sold us out. Cao was on the right side when we needed Republicans united on the final roll call vote.
>> You're wasting your time trying to convince the witch-burning faction of the GOP that a moderate Republican in a liberal district is worth fighting for. All I can say is that the members of this all-or-nothing faction are set in their ways. <<
I understand the anti-Cao sentiment here, because many of the same arguments used to defend Cao are being used by the GOP establishment to defend socialist RINOs who DON'T deserve it. Kirk apologists make the same claim ("he's a moderate Republican representing a very liberal district, that makes him better than any Democrat"), but in Kirk's case it's not true and the voting record of Kirk and his constituents reflects that.
In Kirk's case, you have a LIBERAL Republican representing a MODERATE district (rather than the other way around). Kirk's district is roughly 50% Republican, but Kirk agrees with the RATs on the majority of issues and switches to their side when his vote needed, because they're the one in power now and he wanted to suck up to the ruling RAT overlords in Washington to gain power and clout. That's not acceptable and Kirk is certainly not "better" than any Illinois Democrat. Indeed, many Democrats politicians in districts with comparable demographics and percentage of Obama voters are not as liberal as him (a prime example being my district). There's no excuse when a "Republican" like Mark Kirk votes in favor of partial birth abortion or cap n' trade.
The same is true of people like Arlen Specter, Mike Castle, etc., etc. Their constituency is middle of the road, not a voter base filled Barney Frank and Cynthia McKinney clones. They jumped ship to the left to gain clout in Washington, not because their constituents were demanding they vote hard-left on key legislation. Those kinds of treasonous RINOs should have been purged long ago.
Cao, on the other hand, does have the misfortune of representing the kind of district falsely attributed to guys like Kirk. Cao is an normally "safe" one-party socialist Democrat district that Obama won by an absolutely HUGE 9-to-1 margin. I wish Cao were more conservative than he is, but every time he votes with us, he is voting to the right of his constiuecy. Hopefully if Cao is re-elected and can establish long enough roots to be an institution in that district, he could risk voting with the GOP more often. As of now, any time he goes against Obama he gives the opposition ammo to bring out the legions of brain-dead Obamabots against him. I can see why Cao just lays low and says he's Obama's pal at public events.
There's an important distinction between a liberal Republican representing a centrist district VS. a centrist Republican representing a liberal district. Unfortunately, that seems to be lost on many people.
Yeah, yeah. When the marbles are down, RINOs will stab you in the back. Scott Brown and Olympia Snowe demonstrated that once again today.
Excellent post.
NICE post! Thank you!
I lived there for a while. After Katrina, the demos drastically changed.
Frankly...every contested ‘Rat seat, and every open seat of any party, is up for grabs right now...with the nod going to the GOP. For me...I’m TEA Party all the way...NO RINOS...but we take what we can get, numbers wise...and hope and pray that they will be shamed into voting right.
You know what else? Obama’s push for amnesty will NOT help his party. ;o)
The Dems go all out to win 60% GOP districts and then cling to them for years and have to be dragged kicking and screaming from those seats. We should fight like hell to keep every seat we have.
There's an important distinction between a liberal Republican representing a centrist district VS. a centrist Republican representing a liberal district.
Money quotes.
I was ready to chuck him when he voted for Obamacare. Good thing he changed his mind.
I'd be glad to have him as my Rep. rather than the execrable Stalinist Luis Gutierrez. Hell I'd even take Connie Morella. ;O
If the poll is close to being accurate it could be a local fluke like his initial election. His own explanation that NOLA just likes incumbents may be true. If it's indicative of the size of the anti-rat wave then even our most optimistic predictions would be well exceeded. If would mean rats like Janice Schakowsky could be going down. (to defeat not just on Turkish spies).
Re Post #34. That is a great post.
A congressional seat is a terrible thing to waste. Cao is not wasting his. In fact, by voting to the right of his constituency on some key issues, he is really taking risks. Liberal Republicans like Kirk and Specter totally wasted theirs. I rejoiced the day Specter switched parties. No longer would I have to hold my nose shut with vice grips and vote for him as I had done for several elections (never primaries-only general).
Great post. Thank you.