GOP Congressman, who pressured his patient & mistress to abortion, is...

[Blue3]

... renominated for his job, winning his primary electon by 38 votes.

http://news.yahoo.com/mistresses-abortions-werent-enough-topple-pro-family-rep-155301758.html


Seriously?

Congressman DesJarlais slept with his patients, and encouraged both his wife and a mistress to get abortions.

He calls himself a family values Republican.

I hope he loses in the general. What scum.

[JerryArkansas]

He will win reelection.  It's sad, but true.  Hopefully we can primary him in 2016, and I will make sure personally he is.

[memphis]

As much as I would love a new (D) Congressman from my homestate, it would make no sense for a Republican to dump him in the general just for being a bad person. Smart people vote on policy. Especially in the House where there are so many members, personality makes no difference.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

So much for being one of the Class of 2010... and I'm disappointed Jim Tracy didn't primary him

[Indy Texas]

As much as I would love a new (D) Congressman from my homestate, it would make no sense for a Republican to dump him in the general just for being a bad person. Smart people vote on policy. Especially in the House where there are so many members, personality makes no difference.

You don't think a very basic standard of ethics is a prerequisite to holding a public position?

Or at the very least, holding yourself to the same standards you want to use the letter of the law to impose on others?

[ElectionsGuy]

So much for being one of the Class of 2010... and I'm disappointed Jim Tracy didn't primary him

You mean you're disappointed that Jim Tracy lost to him by 35 votes?

[Хahar 🤔]

Despite 2009, the thing about Jim Tracy is that he's never been a particularly good manager.

[memphis]

As much as I would love a new (D) Congressman from my homestate, it would make no sense for a Republican to dump him in the general just for being a bad person. Smart people vote on policy. Especially in the House where there are so many members, personality makes no difference.

You don't think a very basic standard of ethics is a prerequisite to holding a public position?

Or at the very least, holding yourself to the same standards you want to use the letter of the law to impose on others?

We choose members of Congress to vote for us in Washington. If a member is a nice person, that's great, and it's a factor in a primary election, where there's often not a lot a real difference between candidates,  but at the end of the day, it's not all that important to the job. I certainly wouldn't support a candidate whose views are different than mine just to make some statement. This is not about who gets to be Prom King. It's about whose vision for America is best.

[Indy Texas]

As much as I would love a new (D) Congressman from my homestate, it would make no sense for a Republican to dump him in the general just for being a bad person. Smart people vote on policy. Especially in the House where there are so many members, personality makes no difference.

You don't think a very basic standard of ethics is a prerequisite to holding a public position?

Or at the very least, holding yourself to the same standards you want to use the letter of the law to impose on others?

We choose members of Congress to vote for us in Washington. If a member is a nice person, that's great, and it's a factor in a primary election, where there's often not a lot a real difference between candidates,  but at the end of the day, it's not all that important to the job. I certainly wouldn't support a candidate whose views are different than mine just to make some statement. This is not about who gets to be Prom King. It's about whose vision for America is best.

It would be more understandable if a Prom King got some random chick pregnant and tried to talk her into getting an abortion so it wouldn't mess with his life.

Given what DesJarlais has done, is someone of his character really above trading his votes for bribes and influence or using his office in otherwise illegal ways?

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

As much as I would love a new (D) Congressman from my homestate, it would make no sense for a Republican to dump him in the general just for being a bad person. Smart people vote on policy. Especially in the House where there are so many members, personality makes no difference.

You don't think a very basic standard of ethics is a prerequisite to holding a public position?

Or at the very least, holding yourself to the same standards you want to use the letter of the law to impose on others?

We choose members of Congress to vote for us in Washington. If a member is a nice person, that's great, and it's a factor in a primary election, where there's often not a lot a real difference between candidates,  but at the end of the day, it's not all that important to the job. I certainly wouldn't support a candidate whose views are different than mine just to make some statement. This is not about who gets to be Prom King. It's about whose vision for America is best.

I certainly wouldn't support an abominable hypocrite just to make some statement.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Who is running against him?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Who is running against him?

The district is R+18, so no chance he loses the general.

[GaussLaw]

DeJarlais is an awful person, but most people view Congressional elections as if both candidates were talking cyborgs whose biggest power is to vote with either the GOP or the Dems.  Thus, he's safe.

[7,052,770]

Is DesJarlais pro-choice politically? If not, why didn't the state party force him to resign when this scandal broke, and/or refuse to put him on the primary ballot? Seems like a pretty obvious move for a Southern Republican party...

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Who is running against him?

The district is R+18, so no chance he loses the general.

It had a Blue Dog in the seat until 2010, though they may have changed the boundaries since then.

[Kushahontas]

Is DesJarlais pro-choice politically? If not, why didn't the state party force him to resign when this scandal broke, and/or refuse to put him on the primary ballot? Seems like a pretty obvious move for a Southern Republican party...

No you see, he is a Republican so abortions are okay so long as you still vote to take everyone else's rights away.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I feel genuinely upset about this.

[memphis]

Who is running against him?

The district is R+18, so no chance he loses the general.

It had a Blue Dog in the seat until 2010, though they may have changed the boundaries since then.

The old TN-4 was mostly rural and drawn by the old TN legislature to be as Democratic as possible. Since then, rural people have become substantially less willing to consider a Blue Dog and the Republican legislature redrew the boundaries to be much more of a suburban district, whose voters (wisely) vote more on policy than an entrenched good old boy network. Tom Delay's district elected a Democratic reprrsentative after a scandal, so I don't want to say it's impossible, but it's extremely unlikely.

[TJ in Oregon]

Unfortunately you can't expect primary voters to actually bother figuring out who their candidates are. For some reason Tennessee seems to have a worse problem than the nation as a whole with this. But it's bad everywhere. Other than the Atlas types no one has a clue who their primary/lower level office candidates are.

[memphis]

Unfortunately you can't expect primary voters to actually bother figuring out who their candidates are. For some reason Tennessee seems to have a worse problem than the nation as a whole with this. But it's bad everywhere. Other than the Atlas types no one has a clue who their primary/lower level office candidates are.

This is not an Alvin Greene situation. He's the incumbent.

[IceSpear]

Unfortunately you can't expect primary voters to actually bother figuring out who their candidates are. For some reason Tennessee seems to have a worse problem than the nation as a whole with this. But it's bad everywhere. Other than the Atlas types no one has a clue who their primary/lower level office candidates are.

Tennessee definitely has the dumbest primary electorate of any state in the country. Must be something in the water there.

[TJ in Oregon]

Unfortunately you can't expect primary voters to actually bother figuring out who their candidates are. For some reason Tennessee seems to have a worse problem than the nation as a whole with this. But it's bad everywhere. Other than the Atlas types no one has a clue who their primary/lower level office candidates are.

This is not an Alvin Greene situation. He's the incumbent.

I am aware. I just don't think most of the people of his district actually realized all the stuff he's done when they voted for him.

[Simfan34]

I feel genuinely upset about this.

I have responded to this but my response keeps on getting deleted.

[Simfan34]

I feel genuinely upset about this.

I have responded to this but my response keeps on getting deleted.

Let me try again.  You are "pro-choice" (ick, I don't want to use that term), yes? What do you find upsetting here, then?

[Antonio the Sixth]

I feel genuinely upset about this.

I have responded to this but my response keeps on getting deleted.

Let me try again.  You are "pro-choice" (ick, I don't want to use that term), yes? What do you find upsetting here, then?

Uh, maybe because forcing a woman to have an abortion is the very opposite of "choice"?