Running against Pelosi

[klsdad]

To what extent have Democrat candidates for the House been asked the following questions by their Republican opponents?

1. If you are elected, would you vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker?

2. (Applicable only to an incumbent) Would you participate in a lame duck session run by Ms Pelosi if the Republicans take over the house. ( I realize the easy answer is "Yes because we must continue to do the people's business.", but the question could be put forth in a way that focuses on the possibility of a lame duck session being used to force legislation that is particularly controversial.

I haven't seen either of these questions focused on as much as I might have expected.

[jayjay]

In other words,

1. "Are you going to be an actual Democrat if you're elected?"
2. "Are you going to try to take natural advantage of your current, if limited, majority to pass legislation that you consider to be crucial to running the country and don't believe the incoming Congress will take up?"

[What the .... ?!?!]

Patrick Miles (MI - 3rd) said that he wouldn't vote for Pelosi. Don't know whether he was asked or not.

[Cliffy]

OP, please use the word "Democratic." "Democrat" as an adjective is something created by assholes and is the "I'm not touching you" of politics.

Congress has not yet passed the appropriations bills for the current fiscal year. This has to be passed by the end of December, or at least another stop-gap continuing resolution must be enacted, for the government to continue operating. So a lame duck session is absolutely necessary. And of course, those appropriations bills would have already been passed if it weren't for GOP filibusters, so the necessity of such a session is entirely in the lap of the Republicans.

Won't stop 'em from whining about it though.

--Cliffy

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by klsdad

To what extent have Democrat candidates for the House been asked the following questions by their Republican opponents?

1. If you are elected, would you vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker?

2. (Applicable only to an incumbent) Would you participate in a lame duck session run by Ms Pelosi if the Republicans take over the house. ( I realize the easy answer is "Yes because we must continue to do the people's business.", but the question could be put forth in a way that focuses on the possibility of a lame duck session being used to force legislation that is particularly controversial.

I haven't seen either of these questions focused on as much as I might have expected.

Why on Earth would you expect that? Both are incredibly stupid questions even by Republican standards.

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by klsdad

To what extent have Democrat candidates for the House been asked the following questions by their Republican opponents?

1. If you are elected, would you vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker?

2. (Applicable only to an incumbent) Would you participate in a lame duck session run by Ms Pelosi if the Republicans take over the house. ( I realize the easy answer is "Yes because we must continue to do the people's business.", but the question could be put forth in a way that focuses on the possibility of a lame duck session being used to force legislation that is particularly controversial.

I haven't seen either of these questions focused on as much as I might have expected.

Sigh. Now that the original "Femi-Nazi" Hillary is effectively sidelined in the minds of the dittoheads - since she became Speaker of the House, they have been redirecting their childish misogynism onto Ms. Pelosi. Tiresome, really.

Just because you've had the demonization mythology pounded into your head doesn't mean that this belief is shared by the more rational.

[elucidator]

I'm always surprised at how much hatred the Forces of Darkness can muster for somebody I don't find even very intersting. Me being a radical, she being the American commissar, shouldn't I like her lots more?

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by elucidator

I'm always surprised at how much hatred the Forces of Darkness can muster for somebody I don't find even very intersting. Me being a radical, she being the American commissar, shouldn't I like her lots more?

Precisely! Ask any run-of-the-mill Democrat about her and you would get a shrug. Yeah, we know she's Speaker of the House, but other than that she's a non-entity. If she we're worth the vitriol you would think there would be something there we would notice.

[asterion]

Well, I pitted her back in 2006 over her appearance on Meet the Press. I wasn't too happy with the way the House seemed to let the White House slide on everything in 2007 and 2008, but I haven't really had anything to complain about in this Congress and I don't get the vitriol either.

[What the .... ?!?!]

Originally Posted by elucidator

I'm always surprised at how much hatred the Forces of Darkness can muster for somebody I don't find even very intersting. Me being a radical, she being the American commissar, shouldn't I like her lots more?

A classic comeback.......... almost as good as "STUPID!!!!!"

The question wasn't "Do you hate her?"..... it was more along the lines of "Do you support her agenda/tactics?" Now if you think that Dems in competitive districts are proud to run with her then fine.

[What the .... ?!?!]

Here's another Dem who decided to answer that stupid question.......

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/44241.html

[LateComer]

Originally Posted by klsdad

I haven't seen either of these questions focused on as much as I might have expected.

Really?

Maybe it's just where I live; I get ads for all the Pittsburgh area races as well as my district (PA 8th) (I live in that little piece snaking into Indiana county) and I'm surrounded by Murtha's old district (PA's 12th) which is held by Mark Critz.

Every Republican house ad I see has a line like this:

[fill in Democrat name] has voted with Nancy Pelosi 95% of the time. He represents Nancy Pelosi, not you.

and I've seen at least one Democrat ad (forget which candidate) where he explicitly says that he wouldn't vote for Pelosi for Speaker.

[Chronos]

No, no, no, see, [fill in Democrat name] is actually one of the movers and shakers in the House! He sets the agenda, and he's so influential, that he's managed to get the Speaker of the House to vote with him 95% of the time! Re-elect him, and he'll continue to bring that power to bear for the benefit of the good people of [fill in state].

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by What the .... ?!?!

A classic comeback.......... almost as good as "STUPID!!!!!"

The question wasn't "Do you hate her?"..... it was more along the lines of "Do you support her agenda/tactics?" Now if you think that Dems in competitive districts are proud to run with her then fine.

No, it's that we reject the premise. By even addressing the question there would be an acceptance that the premise is valid - the premise being Pelosi is the embodyment of a barometer of some horrifying something or other (agenda/tactics?). The premise is rejected - therefore the question is invalid.

[Saint Cad]

Originally Posted by LateComer

Really?

Maybe it's just where I live; I get ads for all the Pittsburgh area races as well as my district (PA 8th) (I live in that little piece snaking into Indiana county) and I'm surrounded by Murtha's old district (PA's 12th) which is held by Mark Critz.

Every Republican house ad I see has a line like this:

and I've seen at least one Democrat ad (forget which candidate) where he explicitly says that he wouldn't vote for Pelosi for Speaker.

But Obama won pointing out that McCain voted with Bush (only) 92% of the time and therefore McCain = 4 more years of Bush. Same strategy or is it a case of Obama did it therefore he's brilliant but when a Republican does it it's stupid?

[Chronos]

Then again, McCain's campaign was pretty heavily based on the claim that he was a maverick and completely different from Bush. That makes a statistic like that pretty relevant for his opponent to point out.

[What the .... ?!?!]

Originally Posted by Icarus

No, it's that we reject the premise. By even addressing the question there would be an acceptance that the premise is valid - the premise being Pelosi is the embodyment of a barometer of some horrifying something or other (agenda/tactics?). The premise is rejected - therefore the question is invalid.

"Embody"......"personify"......."represent"......."lead"........ go ahead and reject whatever you want.

The fact is that 92% of swing voters don't like her.

The DNC is trying to run against Sarah Palin........ you probably disagree with that too?