Reading The Tea Leaves – Carper
Lately there’s been some speculation that Tom Carper won’t run for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Yesterday the News Journal published an article about a Carper fundraiser:
The Delaware Democrat will hold his annual birthday fundraiser today, one of three events this month for his 2012 re-election campaign. Lobbyists will host a luncheon for him the same day.
“We don’t know who’s going to run against me,” Carper said. “We don’t know if it will be somebody who’s run before, who’s well-known, able to raise a lot of money, or somebody who’s not. But I do know this: We’ll be ready for whoever decides to run.”
Sounds like he’s hinting that he may be running against Christine O’Donnell. Chances are that he’s right, but perhaps Christine is having too much fun making money off of Christine, Inc. to run.
Tags: DE-Sen, Tom Carper
So who at the “New DelawareLiberal” will be the first to endorse Carper? Many of the contributors have certainly come around to Carper-style politics since 2008.
Perhaps “Obama 2008” is unaware of the reality that elections in the US are binary: You choose the Democrat or the Republican. Since the chances of replacing Carper with a more liberal Democrat are virtually nil, who will you be voting for, O8, Carper or the Republican? What if the Republican is indeed O’Donnell?
Voting is binary. If it’s close I’d vote for Carper myself. But if Carper has the usual 70% “moron margin” I am definitely casting a protest vote against him.
But I wasn’t talking about voting – I was talking about the choice to endorse or not endorse, also a binary choice.
It would be awfully hypocritical not to endorse if Carper has voted for all the things you have been calling “victories.” Carper’s style of watering down Democratic bills to suit the GOP was a major factor in passing many of the landmark “victories.”
So I guess it is time to give up old animosities that no longer have a basis in the new style of thinking. Carper is now “in” among mainstream liberals.
Fair points all. I tend to agree with you more when you spell out your thinking.
It says a lot about the DEGOP if Carper is planning on running against o’Donnell. On the other hand maybe Carper is playing Vulcan Chess and knows that talking about ODonnell makes him look like a goddam paragon of democratic virtues by comparison. I would not put that past him.
I figure that Carper is probably using her name to raise money.
O8–your points support why a Democrat should endorse Carper for 2012. They do not support a liberal Democrat endorsing Carper in 2012.
Carper has been effective in watering down liberal legislation, so that it is palatable enough to pass the Congress. The watered-down legislation is a feather in the cap of the Democratic Party. So yes, the Democratic Party should support/endorse Carper.
None of this provides justification for a liberal to endorse Carper.
Btw. If I was a betting man I’d put my money on “no endorsement” from DL on this race. Nothing to ack that up, just a gut feeling.
Carper is now in with Liberals? Really, name the liberals please. What hypocrisy? Pure lunacy. If democrats had a brain they would be looking for another candidate and get that bluedog out of our politics. What short memories some have.
anon,
Find me a candidate that’s progressive and has the time & money to take on Carper in a primary. I’d be happy to support them.
Anon sounds like a republican concern troll.
Find me a candidate that’s progressive and has the time & money to take on Carper in a primary. I’d be happy to support them.
Funny, that is my position on an Obama primary.
I guess to bolster your claim, you could use your corner of the blogosphere to outline where you disagree with Carper. What votes do you wish he had cast differently? Including committee votes.
We have outlined — fairly regularly — where we disagree with his voting. Especially on the large stuff.
So apparently you are a republic concern troll.
These fucking guys crack me up. Like the laws changed in 2006 and nobody is allowed to start a new blog anymore.
Carper watered down every bill! He is the lunatic that brought up these “exchanges” for health care. Supporter of wars, supports corporate america, gets his bucks from the corporate elite. And essentially, he is stupid.
I see I touched a nerve. I guess some of you are on edge because of the impending retirement of your great centrist Democrat (and Carper’s voting double), Joe Lieberman. Sorry for your loss.
Just remember every time you attack a Republican for some stupid spending cut, $700 billion of those spending cuts were made necessary by Obama/Carper/Lieberman/Coons support for extending the upper income tax cuts.
Obama’s signing of the upper income tax cuts has empowered Paul Ryan beyond his wildest dreams.
And after the HCR “victory” there are now 50 million uninsured with no public option to turn to.
anon@3:54
I like your spirit but get your facts straight. Exchanges have been around for a while since the Clinton plan at least. Carper was the “triggers” guy. I think he even got around to floating a “triggered opt-out” public option.
Exchanges might actually help a little bit, once they get up and running.
And here you do the David Anderson deflection — instead of dealing with the fact that you were quite wrong in assuming that no one here was criticizing Carper, you on to compound your idiocy. I think that I posted news that Lieberman was leaving with prayers that it was true. And after the HCR victory, millions of people will at least have some kind of coverage that they don’t have now. We’ll take the fact that you need to work pretty hard here to establish your superior leftiness that you won’t have any energy left to try to make the HCR better.
Actually I am aware of the Carper criticism here. I am just pointing out the cognitive dissonance of criticizing Carper, while simultaneously lining up behind his votes and his style of politics.
If the shoe fits, why not just come clean and say you are a “Carper Democrat?”
Obama2008, meet Delaware Liberal. Delaware Liberal, meet Obama2008.
Apparently, the two have not been previously introduced.
Cognitive dissonance. You can’t criticize Carper for the same things you praise Obama for. Unless you are really good at compartmentalization.
When DL folks praise Obama for premature capitulation to the right as some act of leadership and statesmanship that somehow produces a Democratic victory, it is important to remember that Obama stands on the shoulders of giants like Carper.
Someone is infringing on my cognitive dissonance copyright. You’ll be hearing from my barrister.
Barrister? I don’t care what kind of fancy boy you have pouring your coffee, I don’t want to hear from him.
Actually I am aware of the Carper criticism here
Actually, you aren’t. Otherwise you wouldn’t have been asking for that critique. And you wouldn’t be talking about “lining up behind his votes” either.
You haven’t ever bothered to get into the groove of the conversation here apparently and yet here you are pretending to have a critique of it. Your laziness here doesn’t bode well for you finding the Good Progressive that we can all get behind to run against Carper, I’m thinking.
Since I know you don’t like it, you’ll also be hearing from my mountebank.
You haven’t ever bothered to get into the groove of the conversation here apparently
Lady, I was calling out Carper on this site before you were even a blip in the database.
Progressive to run against Carper: put in the “good” compartment.
Progressive to run against Obama: put in the “bad” compartment.
Got it.
I will repel your mountebank with my antimacassar.
Lady, I was calling out Carper on this site before you were even a blip in the database.
Way to make my point.
Forsooth, what kind of blackguards do we have posting here?
Presidential races are completely different animals from Senate races. Look at the number of serious primary challenges against Senate candidates running for re-election in recent years. Then compare to presidential primary challenges. There are a lot more Senate scenarios where the challenger upset the incumbent and then won the general or where the challenger did not upset the incumbent but made a competitive run for it and the incumbent went on to win re-election…than there are presidential primary challenges where the party’s nominee got re-elected. (1992 R, 1980 D, 1976 R, 1968 D, etc. were all noteworthy primary challenge years and all were lost by the party whose incumbent was getting primaried.)
And that’s why that’s not “compartmentalization” just realism. Primary challenges against an incumbent president are a fool’s errand.
I would also add the job of a Senator is much, much different than the job of a President. A Senator can generally be more partisan and ideological, especially in a blue state like Delaware.
I turn 30 in 2012. I’d like to primary Carper just for my own entertainment.
I would pay to see a Matthews/O’Donnell debate.
Do it Mike. But constantly tweet where you are so that when Carper’s men snatch you we can head them off before they stuff you in a Newark dumpster.
I think I would pay money to see a debate between myself and COD.
“Carper is now in with Liberals? Really, name the liberals please. What hypocrisy? Pure lunacy. If democrats had a brain they would be looking for another candidate and get that bluedog out of our politics. What short memories some have.”
Our blue dog Democrat Congressman (Kratovil) was recently replaced by a Tea Party asshat. Frank received little support from the “real” liberals in 2010.
Now they wish they had him back.
Joe H.
Stevensville, MD
I’d pay money to watch that debate, Mike!