Is Arlen Specter a Moderate Hero?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

He fits pretty well now that I think about it.

[Keystone Phil]

Does DailyKos typically get excited over moderates?

No, he's not a Moderate Hero. The man is one of the worst egomaniac, opportunists in this business.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Let's just rename this board the "Arlen Specter-fest" and get it over with.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Does DailyKos typically get excited over moderates?

No, he's not a Moderate Hero. The man is one of the worst egomaniac, opportunists in this business.

Being a moderate hero isn't really a compliment

[Keystone Phil]

Does DailyKos typically get excited over moderates?

No, he's not a Moderate Hero. The man is one of the worst egomaniac, opportunists in this business.

Being a moderate hero isn't really a compliment

I know it's not. I'm just saying that he's not the type that strives to be a moderate. Moderate Heroes will throw their label of "moderate" in your face at every turn. Specter, on the other hand, only argues that he is a "centrist" whenever he's in a bind. The guy had no problem making people think during the 2004 primary that he was conservative or conservative leaning and now, if he makes the switch, he'll be a liberal or liberal leaning to win over skeptical, hardcore Dems.

[Brittain33]

Does DailyKos typically get excited over moderates?

Kos isn't excited about Specter except insofar as he becomes another vote for us, possibly.

[Brittain33]

Does DailyKos typically get excited over moderates?

Actually, to answer the question: yes. A lot. Moderates who win in difficult states, are partisan when they need to be, and don't go on Fox News to bash Democrats are celebrated on Daily Kos. Jim Webb, Jon Tester, Travis Childers (who is more of a conservative), Claire McCaskill, many others... it's when people behave like a "Moderate Hero" that they get in trouble.

[Keystone Phil]

Does DailyKos typically get excited over moderates?

Actually, to answer the question: yes. A lot. Moderates who win in difficult states, are partisan when they need to be, and don't go on Fox News to bash Democrats are celebrated on Daily Kos. Jim Webb, Jon Tester, Travis Childers (who is more of a conservative), Claire McCaskill, many others... it's when people behave like a "Moderate Hero" that they get in trouble.

I don't think of Tester as much of a moderate and Childers is an obvious exception but whatever.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Tester is against gun control, the auto bailout, and illegal immigrant amnesty for starters.

[Lief 🗽]

Yes, duh. He's one of the most obvious examples of a moderate hero, along with people like Nelson and the Maine Senators.

[Keystone Phil]

Tester is against gun control, the auto bailout, and illegal immigrant amnesty for starters.

That's three issues. Do a little better. Hell, Bernie Sanders is against gun control. Is he almost a moderate?

[Sam Spade]

This is not the board for this type of garbage, BRTD...  Moved.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Phil is right. Gun control, bailouts, and immigration are not big issues. Perhaps you should discuss tort reform or Affirmative Action. Those are the big issues.

[Keystone Phil]

Phil is right. Gun control, bailouts, and immigration are not big issues. Perhaps you should discuss tort reform or Affirmative Action. Those are the big issues.

I'm glad the issues have to pass the "Marokai Relevancy Test" before we can deem them important/whether or not one's ideology on the issue matters.

[Joe Republic]

Does DailyKos typically get excited over moderates?

No, he's not a Moderate Hero. The man is one of the worst egomaniac, opportunists in this business.

Being a moderate hero isn't really a compliment

Who says?

[Lunar]

Does DailyKos typically get excited over moderates?

Yes.  They oppose primarying Boyd, for example.  The only time they call for primaries taking out candidates is when they act significantly more conservative than their constituencies, like Lieberman.

[Keystone Phil]

Does DailyKos typically get excited over moderates?

Yes.  They oppose primarying Boyd, for example. 

Wow. Interesting.

[Eraserhead]

Tester is against gun control, the auto bailout, and illegal immigrant amnesty for starters.

Tester just has an odd mix of views that come from living in a state like Montana.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Does DailyKos typically get excited over moderates?

Yes.  They oppose primarying Boyd, for example. 

Wow. Interesting.

DailyKos types tend to be the more pragmatic types even when far left.

[Brittain33]

Wow. Interesting.

Markos is hyper-partisan. This means that some policy positions are sacrosanct because they are considered essential to holding the Democratic Party together--examples are opposing Social Security privatization and behaving morally on torture. It also means opposing Moderate Hero-dom and grandstanding attacks on the party for one's own career like Lieberman does.

Beyond that, his mantra is "more and better Democrats," with "more Democrats" being those who are willing to stand by their party label and not undercut the leadership any more than they have to in order to represent their districts. You will never see Kos criticize Walt Minnick or Gene Taylor, for example, unless they vote some way which is truly bizarre from both a partisan and a self-preservation angle. And Kos raised a ton of money for Don Cazayoux and Travis Childers despite the fact we knew they'd be conservative Dems.

[Lunar]

The only other time I've seen him call for the primarying of someone else was a snarky less-than-serious comment/threat about Jim Cooper when he was unnecessarily trashing Pelosi.  He pretty much just pointed out that his district is +6D (Oregon and Pennsylvania, for comparison, are +3D).

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

The only other time I've seen him call for the primarying of someone else was a snarky less-than-serious comment/threat about Jim Cooper when he was unnecessarily trashing Pelosi.  He pretty much just pointed out that his district is +6D (Oregon and Pennsylvania, for comparison, are +3D).

Someone with the last name of "Cooper" in Nashville is not going to be afraid of or cow-tow to some bloggers sitting in their pajamas in their parent's basement.

[Brittain33]

Someone with the last name of "Cooper" in Nashville is not going to be afraid of or cow-tow to some bloggers sitting in their pajamas in their parent's basement.

Surely you know the difference in reach and power between Daily Kos and, say, Red State in terms of ability to shift large amounts of money to races where the incumbent would rather coast to victory.