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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Boo-Hoo. Icky Conservatives Might Upset The Senate.

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  September 1st, 2010 at 09:38 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Funny, several friends and I were joking earlier today that pretty soon the elites and their media friends would take a new angle on Ken Buck, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Sharron Angle, etc.

Instead of calling them fringe, which is getting harder and harder to do given their successes, the media would instead contrast them to Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint, alleging that these people are far to the right of Coburn and DeMint. In effect, DeMint and Coburn would be centrists relatively speaking.

It didn’t take 24 hours. The elites are so predictable.

With a Senate designed for comity, it isn’t clear whether such outsider tactics would simply change business-as-usual or destroy the institution, said Ross Baker, a congressional scholar at Rutgers University who specializes in Senate rules. Since the beginning of the republic, the Senate has required unanimous consent to end discussions on one bill and move to another. Unanimous consent is also needed to allow staff members on the floor to initiate a vote or limit the time spent on a bill.

Such traditions are already strained by conservatives such as Mr. DeMint and Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.), who have increasingly objected to consent agreements in an effort to shine a light on spending bills that once passed without debate. But, Mr. Baker asserted, “compared to people like [Colorado candidate] Ken Buck…Tom Coburn is Daniel Webster.“

Good grief.

Of course, don’t worry. After November, Coburn and DeMint will again be portrayed as extremist.

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COMMENTS

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  • throwback59

    moderates.
    I like that.

  • dfwpike

    Bring it on.

  • ericc

    Good grief is right. It is so much fun to see these guys in full meltdown mode. And “comity” is what helped get us into the current predicament in the first place. Nov 2 just cannot get here fast enough.

  • cwilson

    I’ve said it before, and I stand by it: there is no room for nicely-nicely when quite frankly, the survival of the Union is being put into jeopardy by the Marxist revolutionaries who inhabit the other side of the aisle.

    All newly elected Senators should tattoo the following on the inside of their eyelids: “The Democrats are not my friends. They do not like me. they will never ever like me no matter how nice and conciliatory I am to them. They will never rest until they have destroyed my reputation with trumped-up prosecutions like Ted Stevens, or targeted my children as they did with Sarah Palin’s, and hounded me from office. The Press is not my friend. They too will help the Democrats destroy me, my family, my friends, and my career—and will never turn the same calculating eye on the left. THEY ARE NOT MY FRIENDS.”

    Okay, so they will need really really big eyelids, or really small print. But we’d all be a lot better off if the Republican senators would all memorize that statement, and recite it five times a day, every day, for as long as they are in office…

  • rdelbov

    are we going to tell the difference between 2010 and 2011 in the senate?

    1. Reid has not passed a budget outline for 2010-2011
    2. No spending bills have approved for 2010-2011
    3. 372 bills have been passed by the house but they have not been passed or taken up by the senate
    4. In the 2009-2010 period judicial confirmations are proceeding at a record slow pace.
    5. No tax laws for 2011?

    Reid and Pelosi have tried to operate on a take no prisoner/its my way or the highway approach. The bills passed have been the result of Titantic effort on their part. We are in total gridlock now wait til next year,.

  • http://www.dirkworld.com dirkbelig

    …mutual prostate massages for their “good friends across the aisle.”

  • smagar

    Take that, Ross Baker.

  • http://hillbillypolitics.com Steph C

    fault. That’s just as predictable as how they go about whatever it is they think they’re selling.

    Also, just as apparently, they don’t understand what the word comity means. I don’t think it means what they think it means.

    For instance, it doesn’t mean STFU because you’re the minority party.

  • Lloyd Davis

    Many will forget they are being elected to fix the damage being done by Obama Inc. They will look to get along with the Democrats. The result will be compromise and an opening for the Democrats to beat them in the next election.

    We need to remember how the Democrats view compromise: you abandon your principles to agree with them.

    The new members need to be reminded that the very survival of our nation is at stake. Principles matter. The ones who worry about the Senate being upset by conservatives are the same ones who support the leftist agenda. Their opinions show how scared they are of seeing their chance to change this nation into a socialist utopia defeated.

    We not only need to elect every conservative we can to the House and Senate, we also need to have a plan to follow. Strong conservative leadership ruled by unflinching conservative principles must rule the day. Every new program instituted by Obama must be examined and in most cases eliminated. Spending must be curtailed. Government agencies need to be cleaned up, with no more personal playgrounds for bureaucrats to build their own power base.

    Above all, we need hold Congress accountable. They will be elected for a purpose. We need to keep the pressure on to do what needs to be done. They must be reminded of why we sent them and that if they don’t represent us, they too can be replaced.

    The opinion of the press doesn’t matter since the majority are leftists at heart. They will never like conservatives and trying to get them to like you is about like playing with rattlesnakes… you will get bitten.

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    ?Never say sorry – it?s a sign of weakness?
    John Wayne

  • Tbone

    I bet 50% of the electorate would be OK with that. Consequently, no one cares if the Senators get along or not. This issue is only an issue with air head elites.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    McCain sure as heck did something for Ted Kennedy, after all he was Teddy’s willing whipping boy for a long time.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    McCain sure as heck did something for Ted Kennedy, after all he was Teddy’s willing whipping boy for a long time.

  • E Pluribus Unum

    And what you said. F### comity.

  • popdaddy

    So the socialists cannot perceive the GOP electing actual Senators who want to represent core American values?

    The silent majority is fed up with Washington DC and the Federal bureaucrats. The silent majority is using the GOP to elect actual members of the Senate to counter the Reid, Kerry, Dodd, Boxer ect bunch of socialists who march in lock step to destroy American values and the future of our children.
    We are not going to take it any longer!

  • janis

    Given how few of them actually HAVE anything of value in those hair-racks, you’d better aim for their wallets. That would surely kill them deader than 4 o’clock.

  • http://xmmlbchat.blogspot.com katesmith

    Per Michael Calderone, I notice Jonathan Weisman, the author of the article, attended the most recent secret lunch with Obama on August 12. His newspaper was one of those who joined a lawsuit for White House visitor transparency during the Bush admin. Wiseman’s name may or may not show up on logs in November as it’s part of his regular job to be at the White House. Jonathan Wiseman of the WSJ is I guess different. He’s not really a reporter, he’s just there to have ‘comity’ with his secret pals safeguarding our democracy.

  • IJB

    …And he’s only gotten “hack-y-er” over the years.

  • takemccain2

    The tea party victors – Miller, Buck, Lee, Angle, Rubio, Rand – are the prodigies of a decade’s long conservative furor over seeing cherished legislative goals and nominees scuttled in the name of political expediency in the upper chamber of the U.S. Congress.

    GANG OF 14 – need I say more???

    The tea party victors are also winners because of their willingness to stand up for themselves and not cower because some media people think that they should “get along” and not strike back when Democrats and liberals abuse the rules and tell outright lies.
    The fact is that you can tune in to any Sunday news show and watch a Democrat senator say outrageous things about their counterpart and then watch as the gutless wuss of a Republican senator (Graham, McCain, McConnell, Luger… fill in the blank) , just smiles and waves it off, not even challenging the outrageous things said about him.

    THESE PEOPLE ARE YOUR IDEOLOGICAL ENEMIES AND THEY ARE HERE TO PLAY TO WIN, SO WHY AREN’T YOU HERE TO PLAY TO WIN? SAY WHAT YOU WILL, BUT POLITICS IS *NOT* ABOUT COMPROMISE. POLITICS IS ABOUT WINNING AND THE SPINELESS REPUBLICAN SENATE LEADERSHIP (AND HOUSE AS WELL) HAS NOT FOUGHT FOR THE CONSERVATIVE AGENDA NOR HAVE THEY DEFENDED THEIR CONSTITUENTS. THE TEA PARTY VICTORS REALIZE THIS AND IT IS WHY THEY ARE VICTORS. THEY ARE THE VOICE OF ANGRY BASE VOTERS EVERYWHERE WHO WANT MORE THAN LIP SERVICE, THEY WANT ACTION.

    I get a little riled when my thoughts go to all the great moments lost because of political ‘deals’ and the Senate GOP leadership’s ‘tip-toeing’ around like scared little girls because they didn’t want the bad awl Democrats or the D.C. press to say something bad about them.

    In short, we’ve elected people who will fight and won’t sell their souls to the beltway club for 30 pieces of silver at the favorites table of the GOP whores and their Democrat Pimps who allow them to have a little of what they want and expect the GOP whores to hug them and praise them for being so generous. We elected people who aren’t going to whore themselves out like so many who have lost and deserved to lose.

    These tea party victors know what I’m saying because THEY FEEL THE SAME WAY. Don’t just take my word though. Read what they’ve said themselves.

    There is a new day ahead and it won’t be the same old, same old.

    Watch and see.

  • NeoKong

    I hope they remember how they were treated by Harry Reid and Chuckie Schumer and the rest.
    Then I hope they pay it all back in spades.

  • fpete13527

    Upset the Senate? DeMint does not meet our Rutgers NJ Socialism code?
    We won’t stand for any Senators that adhere to the Constitution like DeMint?

    Don’t these new conservatives know that the Dem Socialist Party Senate has ruled that we simply do what we want and that there are now mostl;y RINOs who willl say nothing and keep our Socialism progress moving? How dare a Senator with integrity and courage stand up and deny the new Dem Socialist Senate? Duh?
    _______

    Sounds like Baker was hoping the Dems would have more time for “appropriate” (illegal) behavior like they had used to subvert the Constitution and pass ObamaCare without even reading the bill and against the will of 70% of the U.S. wants repealed. Now that’s what he thinks real Senate traditional teamwork is.

  • audax

    and it is a beautiful sight! The return to Constitutional government isn’t that far from now and if that scares the libs, well it should!

  • audax

    ….I think he even wrote a song about Teddy K.

  • Lloyd Davis

    We just need to support them and keep an eye on some of the leadership who just might be too willing to compromise (McConnell, Cornyn, etc.) They are the ones who need to be challenged as part of the problem

    The new breed needs our support as they stand for their conservative principles. We need to hold the veteran Republicans responsible to the promises that were made to roll back Obama’s agenda.

    What we need is total destruction of the other side. No mercy. Take no prisoners.

    The Tea Party has proven that we do have a voice and will not be intimidated into silence.

    A new day is coming in November. I look forward to seeing it.

    ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

    ?Never say sorry – it?s a sign of weakness?
    John Wayne

  • audax
  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    change the leadership, and let us hope they do.

  • audax
  • audax

    Just listening to Joe Miller interview on Hugh Hewit….”I’M A CONSTITUTIONALIST”….that says it all….that is what they are scared of because the libs know they are not acting under the Constitution….comidity be damned….

  • mbecker908

    If Ted Kennedy was your friend or if any US Senator with a “D” after his/her name is “your friend”, you need new friends. And your constituents need a new Senator.

  • indylawyer

    Keep in mind that even a complete sweep of the seats in play would only put GOP senate seats in the low to mid 50′s. We’d have to completely sweep the 19 Democratic seats to be filibuster-proof. So to get anything through we’ll need to get support from a bunch of Democrats. Even when we only need 50, our majority will almost certainly be within the margin of Snowe, Collins, Castle & Kirk. So the strategy of ramming through conservative legislation with just Republicans and maybe a moderate Dem or two just isn’t going to be available.

    51 is much better than 41 and will make it much easier to block legislation and steer the committee process, but compromise is going to be necessary if we’re going to get anything passed. And of course we also need to get Obama’s signature or enough Democrats to override a veto.

    Hopefully 2012 will present a very different Senate that can pass solidly conservative legislation, but don’t be too optimistic of much positive success before that.

  • audax
  • aesthete

    would be downright enthusiastic about the prospect.

  • aesthete
  • desertwanderer

    a victory. If the GOP has enough votes to block leftist programs, stall another radically left Supreme Court nominee (should one arise), and curtail federal spending, that will already be great progress over the status quo. Yes, we may have to wait until 2012 to have a working conservative majority, but let’s not start raining on our victory parade just yet. Contribute, mobilize, work, and vote like it really matters and we’ll turn around this wayward ship in time.

  • bs61

    We need to call and email them as much as we did when Healthcare was up! We need to hold their feet to the fire and make sure that they do what they say they will. They need to stick to it on repeal – not replace the health care bill and the financial bill – really everything that has been passed so far – I do believe Beck on this, anything passed has hooks and hidden items that we don’t even know about!

  • qixlqatl
  • calgacus

    He should stop going on these type of TV shows. They are going to try to do him like they did Rand Paul. Besides, how many people in Alaska watch that crap anyway.

  • JSobieski

    in hostile territory. Maybe the NRC should retain Gulliani to help train these people as to how it is done. Our party should not (and in fact cannot) be the party of duck and run.

    We don’t have the MSM on our side, so we need to have folks competent and agile enough to do the job.

  • http://jakespeaks.wordpress.com/ Jake W

    We need some guys like Buck, DeMint, Paul, Angle, Coburn, etc. to shake things up. It’s about time someone started speaking for the people up there.

    I can’t help but think of Oliver Cromwell’s famous quote: “You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately … Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!”

    That’s true of many of the members in the Senate today, as voters in Utah, Alaska, and PA have demonstrated (and AR came extremely close to being added to this list as well). However, I think it could be applied at-large to political scene in general today.

  • calgacus

    He should not be taking risks when he is only up 50-44 according to Rasmussen. We need to get him into the Senate first off.

  • calgacus

    For example, my Rep. Frank Wolf has been in congress since 1981 is at time, quite the squish. In fact, I do not think he really is compromising, I think that he just really is a moderate.

  • Mary Beth
  • Mary Beth

    This was not an incitement to violence.

    http://my.execpc.com/~dschaaf/praise.html

  • audax

    …to not send bills placing the government BOOT on American necks to the President for signature like the current Congress. I’m not saying there wont be gridlock between the next Congress and the White House or possibly the Senate. But it will be the kind of gridlock that keeps bad legislation from happening. If (when?) we have the kind of election anticipated by most of us Red Staters this November then WOE be unto any “Moderate (yes you know the R acronym I want to use) Republican” who stands in the way of Constitutional government come the next election cycle. I think maybe” they” are starting to get the message with this primary cycle and will certainly start listening a lot closer if we have the type of election in November that we are anticpating

  • mikerazar

    In another diary you warn us that conservatives have won nothing yet In this one we are encouraged to gloat.

    The US Senate is the most successful deliberative legislature in history. Do you really think seven new conservative Senators are going to even want to trash 220 years of tradition? Do you really want them to?

    What does the phrase “to the right of Jim DeMint even mean?

  • davesinsanantonio

    de-fund! We probably cannot pass, and almost certainly cannot override a veto on a bill to repeal. So, the majority must insist on de-funding all of the insane legislation, and all of the bureaucratic excesses, of the past several decades. We also need to de-fund all of the czars and other excessive staff of the White House. We must first use the power of the purse. As we strive to cut spending to reasonable levels, the places to start are those that will weaken or destroy our nation. Then when we have a president who support instead of despises the Constitution, or the numbers to override, we can repeal all the damaging laws that have been passed. And we must clearly explain the American people that we are not doing it to get revenge, but to save the country. We must also insist on securing our borders for the same reason. We are not against people who are seeking jobs, but we are against drug smugglers, slavers, and terrorists coming across our borders.

  • davesinsanantonio

    to return to the 220 years of tradition. The Dems have twisted, and even reversed, that tradition over the last several Congresses. The Dems are the ones who have scoffed at, and trampled on, tradition. It is time to return to true comity and genuine deliberation. Much of that will come when we have control of the committee chairs, but not having a majority leader who is not as venal as Dingy Harry, will complete the job.

  • atillathehun

    It is impossible to be a liberal and be in any way respectful of the founding documents. It would be wise for the conservative political element to make the clear case that liberalisim is an anti Constitional point of view.
    It is an easy arguement to win and separates the Marxist from 80% of the American people.

  • qurys

    And making hay with it all over Huffy Post and salon.com all the way to our true conservative friend Cynthia Tucker at the Atlantal Journal Constitution. While many may find the Gingrich comment interesting, I attended a town hall a couple of weeks ago with Dr. Coburn. His insightful explanation of his “holding of bills” was received enthusiastically by the audience. He is doing, wherever you want to place him on the political spectrum, exactly what those of us advocating limited constitutional government want.
    I am guessing that the writer of Erick’s linked article just wants to turn the Senate expressway into the autobahn and not have anyone question if the Constitution will get run over in the process.

  • itrytobenice

    For instance, it doesn?t mean STFU because you?re the minority party.

    And from the amen corner: AMEN!!!!

  • mikerazar

    Republicans are amateurs at obstruction compared to the dems. Of course, committee chairmanships are a great first step and even Olympia Snowe would be a better majority leader than filthy Harry.
    I still think it is premature to start mentally rearranging the committees or even expecting to.

    Obviously, Mitch McConnell is not much liked at RedState, though I don’t know what Jim deMint would have done differently as minority leader.

    As much as we need better Senators, we also need a compelling plan of action. Stalling the socialist agenda may be our top priority but it has to be accompanied with a strategy to bury that agenda once and for all.

  • mikerazar

    The Democrats claim to be the true guardians of the Constitution and of our freedom too. Convincing voters that we are right is a necessary but difficult task

  • http://cwclarkassocs.com Lectric_Chuck

    Our new batch of Senators and Representatives need to be trained in how to take the battle to the enemy. I’d like to see the themes in this thread PREACHED from the highest media outlet every Sunday. For once I’d like to hear: “This is what we stand for . . . This is why we are doing this . . . This is what we are made of . . . and This is what it means to be American.

  • http://hillbillypolitics.com Steph C

    making them pay back all the billions they’ve stolen for self-aggrandizement would kill them faster than the bullet to the head.

  • JSobieski

    and CNN is hardly as ball-busting as MSNBC.

    Playing not to lose is exactly how one loses. I am suggesting that candidates not avoid shows, but instead come prepared. We are too far out of November to start playing a prevent victory defense.

  • eburke
  • JSobieski

    In Arabic its clearly not an incitement. But in English?

  • dambama

    He has earned it by backing true Constitutional Conservatives who are kicking RINOass, and who will be Senators after November’s election.

  • dambama

    They need constant support because they are under constant attack!

    A constant review of the Constitution should be mandatory.

    I like the way Joe Miller and Ilario Pantano have handled the media. They stick to message and do not fall for the typical MSM traps.

    http://joemiller.us/

    http://www.pantanoforcongress.net/

  • calgacus

    a certain word that is the name of an animal, usually in Africa, that does not get a long well with elephants?

    I will believe it when I see it.

  • dmccracken

    Isn’t Treason a capital offense?????

  • dmccracken

    Just add an “Allahu Akbar” after it and all will be forgiven.

  • dmccracken

    That is in quotes because it is their term. Obviously not a truism.

  • dmccracken

    Think of hor much we could reduce the deficit by defunding Czars, Healthcare, what’s left of TARP and Porkulus, extraneous federal departments like Education and Homeland Security, and that is just off the top of my head.

    It would be a good starter list anyway.

  • ihateliberals

    that 2010 is just the beginning for taking our government back. The real fight is for 2012 to increase the margin in the congress and then to take the White House back so we don’t have to override Vetoes. The fight is far from over and there are still too many RINO’s in the senate. McCain will be back and he is useless.

  • Tbone