Civil liberties advocates losing in midterms

[Miles]

First Feingold, now quite possibly Udall:

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[Bandit3 the Worker]

The Tea Party Republicans are moving back to their "HAWR HAWR HAWR everyone's a druggie" bullcrap. This is certainly true in Kentucky, where they're trying to repeal the correction reforms of 2011.

[Mr. Illini]

A Republican wave is always bad for our civil liberties, of course.

[Senate Minority Leader Lord Voldemort]

A Republican wave is always bad for our civil liberties, of course.

[nolesfan2011]

Amash is safe though

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Udall not making his stand against security state overreach central to his campaign is one of the worst political decisions of this cycle.

[Matty]

A Republican wave is always bad for our civil liberties, of course.

Both parties are equally bad. Please take off your red tinted glasses. How can you even remotely make the assertion that democrats have a better track record with this stuff?

[Maxwell]

Udall not making his stand against security state overreach central to his campaign is one of the worst political decisions of this cycle.

He truly has run one of the most abysmal campaigns I've seen from an incumbent Senator.

[Lief 🗽]

Udall not making his stand against security state overreach central to his campaign is one of the worst political decisions of this cycle.

I doubt it. No one cares about that stuff.

Though it would have been a very effective counter to the "votes with Obama 99% of the time" thing.

[King]

Udall not making his stand against security state overreach central to his campaign is one of the worst political decisions of this cycle.

I doubt it. No one cares about that stuff.

Though it would have been a very effective counter to the "votes with Obama 99% of the time" thing.

"Obama doesn't vote on anything" is also a good counter to that claim.

[Mr. Illini]

A Republican wave is always bad for our civil liberties, of course.

Both parties are equally bad. Please take off your red tinted glasses. How can you even remotely make the assertion that democrats have a better track record with this stuff?

The Dems have been underwhelming, but "equally-bad" is a nah. It's Republicans who have authored and pushed the security agenda since 9/11, with a split Democratic congress on it largely.

[ElectionsGuy]

A Republican wave is always bad for our civil liberties, of course.

Because we all know democrats are so much better on civil liberties

[bedstuy]

A Republican wave is always bad for our civil liberties, of course.

Because we all know democrats are so much better on civil liberties

Yes, of course that's true.  How could anyone argue otherwise? 

Maybe some people think both parties are absolutely horrible to the point that they don't care about their relative merits.  But, the Democratic party is the civil liberties party, no question.

[Maxwell]

That's one area where I'll feel bad about Udall leaving the Senate. But on basically every other issue - good riddance.

[Maxwell]

Democrats have pushed the 'Republican War on Women' line so hard this year that it's become disingenuous, to my ear - particularly as candidates have focused so heavily on optics and other cultural cues rather than relevant issues and policies. (Maybe this is just a reflection of the election cycle, easily our most vacuous one since 2002.)

But is messaging really to blame for Udall's probable demise? It's the sort of explanation that inspires plenty of commentary but very little evidence. I'm skeptical.

I agree with that. What goes ignored here is the fact that Gardner has run a near flawless campaign.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Udall not making his stand against security state overreach central to his campaign is one of the worst political decisions of this cycle.

You cannot run against Buck in 2010 when it is 2014 and your opponent is named Gardner.


The main crux is privacy I think, and particurally in Colorado that is a big deal. I told Jbrase last year that if Ken Buck were to have an opening this time, it would be by riding this issue hard.

[GaussLaw]

A Republican wave is always bad for our civil liberties, of course.

Because we all know democrats are so much better on civil liberties

Yes, of course that's true.  How could anyone argue otherwise? 

Maybe some people think both parties are absolutely horrible to the point that they don't care about their relative merits.  But, the Democratic party is the civil liberties party, no question.

Certainly compared to the Bush years, yes.  But some of the divide is also less about right vs. left and more about establishment vs. nonestablishment.  It's hard to argue that Rand Paul is worse on civil liberties than Feinstein.

[bedstuy]

A Republican wave is always bad for our civil liberties, of course.

Because we all know democrats are so much better on civil liberties

Yes, of course that's true.  How could anyone argue otherwise? 

Maybe some people think both parties are absolutely horrible to the point that they don't care about their relative merits.  But, the Democratic party is the civil liberties party, no question.

Certainly compared to the Bush years, yes.  But some of the divide is also less about right vs. left and more about establishment vs. nonestablishment.  It's hard to argue that Rand Paul is worse on civil liberties than Feinstein.

I don't think so.  Most of Rand Paul's "civil liberties" positions are symbolic nonsense.  Exhibit A: His drone filibuster.  That was just playing to the tinfoil hat brigade and other idiots who took him seriously.  The real civil liberties issue for Senators is confirming civil libertarian judges.  Rand Paul has participated in the unprecedented stonewalling of Obama's judicial nominees, who 10 times out of 10 agree with the ACLU more than George W. Bush appointed judges. 

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I don't think so.  Most of Rand Paul's "civil liberties" positions are symbolic nonsense.  Exhibit A: His drone filibuster.  That was just playing to the tinfoil hat brigade and other idiots who took him seriously.  The real civil liberties issue for Senators is confirming civil libertarian judges.  Rand Paul has participated in the unprecedented stonewalling of Obama's judicial nominees, who 10 times out of 10 agree with the ACLU more than George W. Bush appointed judges. 

Also, Rand Paul supports federal "right-to-work" laws - which infringe on civil liberties.