2009. Would Sen. Norm Coleman switch parties?

[Brittain33]

Snowe, Collins, and Specter are often mentioned by wishful Democrats as people who would jump ship to the Democratic Party. The reasons why this won't happen have been discussed many times, so I won't rehash them here.

Norm Coleman is a different story. He jumped parties once already--to the party which had a spot for a new leader and which was ascendent in the state at the time. It gave him a platform to rise to the U.S. Senate, where he enjoyed power in the majority. In the Senate, he has shown himself more of a political than an ideological figure, making deals and aligning himself with those in power.

2006 marked the end of Republican power in Congress for the bulk of Coleman's next term, should he win reelection. It wasn't clearly true in the Senate at the time and immediately afterward, but it is now. That said, by the time it became clear, it was far too late for him to consider switching parties before this election. He needs to fight it out on his own merits, distancing himself from McCain and Bush but holding on to the Republicans and Independents.

Suppose he defeats Al Franken this fall, but returns to a Senate with 55 Democrats and Obama's Vice President in the presiding chair, and his state voting solidly for Democrats up and down the ticket. He's aligned with a caucus more conservative than he is, representing states that mostly didn't vote for Obama. They're asking him to stand with them to block Obama from carrying out his agenda, to vote against his judges, to filibuster his proposals. He's facing tough choices that only make his future reelection more difficult.

Isn't switching parties an appealing outcome for him, becoming a conservative Democrat and a "common sense voice for Minnesota"? To do what Lieberman claims to have done, only for real? How hard is it to imagine? Not hard at all, for me.

What do you think?

[© tweed]

no chance in the world.  he's a complete moralistic turncoat.  wouldn't want him anyway

[minionofmidas]

No.

[Sam Spade]

No.

[Brittain33]

No.

Discuss with maps.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

No.

Discuss with maps.

Ok.

[Spaghetti Cat]

I don't think he would.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

No.

[Aizen]

Yes

[Kaine for Senate '18]

No.

[Smash255]

Coleman is much more conservative than Snowe, Collins and Specter

[HardRCafé]

Yes.  Yes he would.  This is why Democrats should vote for him in droves in November.

[Brittain33]

Yes.  Yes he would.  This is why Democrats should vote for him in droves in November.

LOL.

Seriously, though, who would have predicted Ben Campbell switching? It's kind of like that. Not like Richard Shelby or Jim Jeffords, whose switches were predictable.

[Eraserhead]

no chance in the world.  he's a complete moralistic turncoat.  wouldn't want him anyway

That part is key for me.