Discussion for article #246430
This is going to be fun…
I realize it’s stressful, but it’ll be fun watching Obama troll the whole lot of them.
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“…because if we don’t vote on the nominee until 2017, I probably won’t be here then.”
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It seems like the Republicans raised the stakes on themselves here. Once again, they painted themselves into a corner with no escape route. If & when they buckle, it’ll leave a mark.
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Is this the part where the TPM style guide starts referring to all of them as “moderates”?
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“Senator Ayotte… joined the Republican chorus on Wednesday and vowed not to meet with an Obama nominee.”
Interesting the sense of entitlement these GOPers have… like they and they alone are entitled to a Supreme Court majority. Well you got your SC majority not through hard work, but through Supreme Court installation of Bush in 2000 notwithstanding Gore’s popular vote majority. On the other hand, Dems worked hard to elect Obama twice with both electoral and popular vote majorities, but these Republicans still think they are entitled to deny the Dems the fruit of their hard fought and won Obama terms.
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Entitled?
There’s nothing to stop them, so why not do it? Remember all the time Reid spent keeping his powder dry so that he could hand the gavel over to Mitch?
“wow, there is Duckworth effect. Who knew?”
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“Of course I’ll meet with him or her and explain why I’ll vote no, all while getting electoral brownie points for meaningless aisle-crossing that I’ll no longer be willing to do come December!”
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Now THAT’s what a lame duck really looks like.
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"I would welcome the chance to discuss my philosophy, what would be my state's philosophy on the Supreme Court, to be an advocate for expanding personal freedom," Kirk told The Hill.
I live in (severely-disfunctional) Illinois – currently being strangled by a GOP governor holding a budget hostage to demands for GOP dream legislation while schools, non-profits, and businesses starve to death – and Kirk’s philosophy has little in common with his state’s philosophy.
Kirk [...] is one of this election cycle’s most vulnerable lawmakers up for re-election.
Surprise, surprise. I’m looking forward to seeing Sen. Duckworth sworn in.
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In that meeting where they decided not to even hold a confirmation hearing, I’m sure Kirk received permission to take this stance because he is in danger. So, this is meaningless.
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Exactly this. Which makes me wonder why everyone else is still taking the hard line. Because there are a bunch more vulnerable senators. Which means, weirdly enough, that the GOP leadership is more scared of their own voters – getting whupped in a primary – than they are of democratic voters.
Which could of course be true. Who knows, maybe the electoral calculation isn’t “do we lose the senate but keep our own seats” versus " “do we keep the senate but maybe with different characters”. Maybe it’s “do we lose the senate by a few seats and regroup next time, or do the Teahadis primary us, run a slate of complete nutbars in a presidential election year and lose the senate by a landslide.”
Pass the popcorn and the tums.
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Because it takes a real near-death experience to make a Republican even minimally civil.
Hmm. This guy’s phone has suddenly been disconnected and several of his close associates say they haven’t seen him for hours…
You are giving him too much credit (If his near-death experience had any positive effect on his politics, he would be working for universal health care.) This is just self preservation as he prepares to face Tammy Duckworth in blue-state Illinois.
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Changeling?
Maybe a sense of duty and honor could should stop them, you would hope!!!
Meet the Republican up for reelection in a blue state in 2016.
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TPM:
Kirk’s latest remarks comes after the senator penned an op-ed on Monday calling for the Senate to consider an Obama nominee. Kirk, a moderate Republican, is one of this election cycle’s most vulnerable lawmakers up for re-election.
McConnell must have given Kirk the go-ahead to do whatever he thinks necessary to retain his seat.
After all, it’s got to be electoral suicide to obstruct the President’s nominee when you’re from his freaking home state, not to mention Kirk’s already precarious hold on the seat as a Republican from a blue Illinois.
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