BREAKING: Angus King will announce at 3:30 which party he plans to caucus with

[Lief 🗽]

https://twitter.com/PPHEricRussell/status/530059707055374336

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[King]

He's going GOP.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I honestly don't get this guy's appeal at all.  Can someone from Maine or New England please explain why he is so popular?

[dmmidmi]

I have ex-girlfriends who were less attention-seeking than Angus King.

[tmthforu94]

If he is announcing this early, I imagine he sticks with Democrats. I doubt Republicans have promised him anything this early.

[Emperor Charles V]

I have ex-girlfriends who were less attention-seeking than Angus King.

Can I make that my signature? Please?

[Gass3268]

If he is announcing this early, I imagine he sticks with Democrats. I doubt Republicans have promised him anything this early.

Have to agree with this.

[Umengus]

if it's with the gop, what an opportunist cow...

[dmmidmi]

I have ex-girlfriends who were less attention-seeking than Angus King.

Can I make that my signature? Please?

Go for it, bud.

[Incipimus iterum]

Hes a Opportunist SOB if he plans to caucus with the GOP

[Antonio the Sixth]

What an attention whore.

[Lief 🗽]

If he planned on sticking with the Dems, why hold a press conference? I imagine a press release would work better in that case.

Yes, that's what I thought.

But on the other hand, Angus King does love to hear himself talk.

[RI]

If you're truly an independent, why is it wrong for you to change who you caucus with? He's not a Democrat.

[Beezer]

"I've decided to take my talents over to the Republican Party."

[Holmes]

People are calling him an opportunist and an attention whore if he plans to caucus with the Republicans. The actual truth is that he's all those things no matter who he caucuses with.

[dmmidmi]

People are calling him an opportunist and an attention whore if he plans to caucus with the Republicans. The actual truth is that he's all those things no matter who he caucuses with.

To be fair, my comment was at 1:30pm EST, hinting that he's an attention whore without knowing who he plans to caucus with. This still stands, even if he continues to caucus with the Democrats.

[SteveRogers]

If you're truly an independent, why is it wrong for you to change who you caucus with? He's not a Democrat.

There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but here he'd clearly be doing it for opportunistic rather than ideological reasons. Plus, if he goes over to the Republicans now, the Dems should not take him back if he tries to come running back in 2016 if they retake the senate.

[Wisconsin+17]

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:lol:

He's not like us 'true' independents.

[dmmidmi]

If you're truly an independent, why is it wrong for you to change who you caucus with? He's not a Democrat.

There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but here he'd clearly be doing it for opportunistic rather than ideological reasons. Plus, if he goes over to the Republicans now, the Dems should not take him back if he tries to come running back in 2016 if they retake the senate.

I disagree here--padding a majority is padding a majority, and I want to see Democrats increase the number of Senators in their caucus. But his committee assignments should involve basketweaving or dogcatching, at best.

[BaconBacon96]

I won't criticise him if he does caucus with the GOP. He's an elected independent who's beholden to neither of the parties. That being said, if I were him I'd stick with the Democrats to avoid becoming associated with the extremist GOP.

[njwes]

If you're truly an independent, why is it wrong for you to change who you caucus with? He's not a Democrat.

There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but here he'd clearly be doing it for opportunistic rather than ideological reasons. Plus, if he goes over to the Republicans now, the Dems should not take him back if he tries to come running back in 2016 if they retake the senate.

But I do think that there's something to be said for opportunism--after all, as part of the majority he will have a somewhat better platform to voice Maine's interests. I guess the fact that Collins is already in the Senate negates that argument a bit, but still.

[njwes]

I won't criticise him if he does caucus with the GOP. He's an elected independent who's beholden to neither of the parties. That being said, if I were him I'd stick with the Democrats to avoid becoming associated with the extremist GOP.

I actually imagine that Mitch McConnell would really like him on the GOP side, precisely because of the radicalism of some of the Pub Senators. Sasse, Cruz, et al have the potential to cause enormous problems for McConnell and having a centrist in the Collins mold would be very helpful for some of the close votes that will inevitably come up.

[JRP1994]

King announces he's staying Democrat.

[Person Man]

King announces he's staying Democrat.

Thank Jesus. We may actually be able to retake the Senate in 2016.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

No surprise here.