[GOPsterinMA]

The GOP need to make the deal with Nelson NOW - a handshake deal to flip and become a Republican when they win the Senate back next year. Let him keep his seniority and committee chairmanships. I'd do the same with Lieberman as well.

You can't fight WW3 with Revolutionary War tactics people.

Are you listening GOP - MAKE THIS DEAL NOW!!!!!!

[Col Frank Slade]

Nelson is no fool. He saw Lieberman play hardball with Dingy and Reid caved.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"The GOP need to make the deal with Nelson NOW - a handshake deal to flip and become a Republican when they win the Senate back next year."

That would be the best scenario. However, if he rejects that, another scenario they could come at him with is that if he does not vote for the bill, they promise to give no party money to any republican challenger.

I don't think Joe Leiberman would switch to being a Republican and really is liberal in many ways. I think that's a non starter. However, I would make a deal with Leiberman to allow him to keep his homeland security chairmanship if the Republicans take back the Senate next year and he would have to caucus with the Republicans as an independent. All in exchange for not voting for this monstrosity.

[Husker]

Sen. Nelson will never switch to the Republican Party.

[ncalburt]

AGREED .

[chuck_the_tv_out]

Liebermann would be the ultimate rino. Not as leftist as spectre tho’

[chargers fan]

That will upset Freeper purists / sarc

[Vigilanteman]

The GOP would need to flip 11 senate seats to win back the U.S. Seante next year. It is close to impossible.

[fortheDeclaration]

The GOP need to make the deal with Nelson NOW - a handshake deal to flip and become a Republican when they win the Senate back next year. Let him keep his seniority and committee chairmanships. I'd do the same with Lieberman as well. You can't fight WW3 with Revolutionary War tactics people. Are you listening GOP - MAKE THIS DEAL NOW!!!!!!

What are you talking about?

Nelson is not going to become a Republican.

And we are not going to retake the Senate in 2010.

[chilltherats]

There’s some smarts in what you say. NE is a red state. It won’t hurt Nelson to flip and it takes the heat off him.

Nelson might, just maybe, maybe might do it. Joe? Never happen. And it wouldn’t be good for the pubs if he did. Joe would just be a RINO and pull the party left, which is the LAST influence they need. The pubs don’t need a “big tent”. We see what the “big tent” concept has done for the rats - they are at each other’s throats because really the only commonlaity among their various little balkanized self-interest groups is the drive to get someone else’s money. After all, the desire to kill capitalism is not the same desire as to kill babies in the womb or two dudes in pink leather jock straps wielding black whips wanting marrying each other and live happily ever after in a cottage with a white picket fence. In other words, the widely disparate objectives of their various constituencies are clashing in front of us and it isn’t helpful to their party. Joe’s general moderate-left belief system just doesn’t dovetail well with the conservative platform we are struggling to solidify. Yeah, I know he’s not a radical and that he’s pro-Israel and national security, and I know he’s not a really, really big Big Government guy and he’s basically a decent human being with some heart and guts, but he’s just too far left when it comes to too many issues (such as taxes) so important to a party trying to find its conservative feet.