Doug Jones votes with blue dogs and Trump on budget

[Joey1996]

Doug Jones campaigned on being bipartisan and working together, so obviously he is going to vote in a mostly centrist way.

Generally politicians try to behave/vote like they campaign.

I don't remember Scott Brown doing such a thing.

Because Republicans understand power and knew to treat Brown’s Senate win like the fluke it was. I don’t remember Brown vowing to unions or speaking centrist on budgets and taxes.

Doug Jones will almost certainly not win re-election. If he is a true progressive, he should ditch the moderation and try to help the horribly oppressed people in his state like he promised to. Anything less is a waste of the capabilities of his seat and the good fortunes of his win.

[Joey1996]

1. He campaigned on bipartisanship

2. His vote didn't count for anything when they weren't close to 60.

Bipartisanship is working together on a clean DACA bill

[Rookie Yinzer]

So I take it you’ll go back to Birmingham with him and explain why he voted against CHIP for the rural black communities who use it in favor of people who are not citizens?

Doug Jones does not represent California. His voters did not send him there to vote against their interests in favor of non-citizens.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

For the typical Alabama swing voter, getting CHIP funded is far, far more important than fixing the DACA fiasco Trump created.

Also, Jones has no reasonable hope of retaining the Senate seat, but he might be able to parley his time in the Senate into a successful future campaign for Governor.  I don't blame him for looking ahead on a symbolic vote.

[Pericles]

Plus the CR had CHIP funding in it and he ran on funding CHIP so he would have hurt himself by voting against the CR.

[Pericles]

http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2018/01/doug_jones_politically_prudent.html

[ProudModerate2]

He defeated a pedophile, and we don't have that ultra-religious, fascist monster in the Senate.
That's all that needs to be said.

[Brittain33]

This is a meaningless vote where he can signal he's "working across the aisle to fix Washington." We can complain when he actually breaks a filibuster.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

What else did you expect?

[fluffypanther19]

This is completely meaningless in the long run, why are we arguing about this?

[Landslide Lyndon]

This is completely meaningless in the long run, why are we arguing about this?

Because some left wingers think that anybody who's to the right of Saul Alinsky is a Nazi.

[IndustrialJustice]

Doug Jones campaigned on being bipartisan and working together, so obviously he is going to vote in a mostly centrist way.

Generally politicians try to behave/vote like they campaign.

I don't remember Scott Brown doing such a thing.

Because Republicans understand power and knew to treat Brown’s Senate win like the fluke it was. I don’t remember Brown vowing to unions or speaking centrist on budgets and taxes.

Doug Jones will almost certainly not win re-election. If he is a true progressive, he should ditch the moderation and try to help the horribly oppressed people in his state like he promised to. Anything less is a waste of the capabilities of his seat and the good fortunes of his win.

So since Jones will "almost certainly" not win, he should indulge in meaningless gestures that will guarantee that he doesn't win? Okay.

You seriously think voting the opposite way on this would have “guaranteed” his loss in 2020 (assuming, as you seem to be doing, that Jones has even a fraction of a chance of victory)? Okay.

In a vacuum, it’s a meaningless vote. But to reasonable people, it should signal a worrying start.

[Doimper]

Doug Jones campaigned on being bipartisan and working together, so obviously he is going to vote in a mostly centrist way.

Generally politicians try to behave/vote like they campaign.

I don't remember Scott Brown doing such a thing.

Because Republicans understand power and knew to treat Brown’s Senate win like the fluke it was. I don’t remember Brown vowing to unions or speaking centrist on budgets and taxes.

Doug Jones will almost certainly not win re-election. If he is a true progressive, he should ditch the moderation and try to help the horribly oppressed people in his state like he promised to. Anything less is a waste of the capabilities of his seat and the good fortunes of his win.

So since Jones will "almost certainly" not win, he should indulge in meaningless gestures that will guarantee that he doesn't win? Okay.

You seriously think voting the opposite way on this would have “guaranteed” his loss in 2020 (assuming, as you seem to be doing, that Jones has even a fraction of a chance of victory)? Okay.

In a vacuum, it’s a meaningless vote. But to reasonable people, it should signal a worrying start.

Consistently making meaningless votes that alienate his voters will guarantee that he loses, yeah.

[Joey1996]

So I take it you’ll go back to Birmingham with him and explain why he voted against CHIP for the rural black communities who use it in favor of people who are not citizens?

Doug Jones does not represent California. His voters did not send him there to vote against their interests in favor of non-citizens.

So was it a symbolic vote or did he somehow believe it would pass and continue funding for CHIP?

[IndustrialJustice]

Doug Jones campaigned on being bipartisan and working together, so obviously he is going to vote in a mostly centrist way.

Generally politicians try to behave/vote like they campaign.

I don't remember Scott Brown doing such a thing.

Because Republicans understand power and knew to treat Brown’s Senate win like the fluke it was. I don’t remember Brown vowing to unions or speaking centrist on budgets and taxes.

Doug Jones will almost certainly not win re-election. If he is a true progressive, he should ditch the moderation and try to help the horribly oppressed people in his state like he promised to. Anything less is a waste of the capabilities of his seat and the good fortunes of his win.

So since Jones will "almost certainly" not win, he should indulge in meaningless gestures that will guarantee that he doesn't win? Okay.

You seriously think voting the opposite way on this would have “guaranteed” his loss in 2020 (assuming, as you seem to be doing, that Jones has even a fraction of a chance of victory)? Okay.

In a vacuum, it’s a meaningless vote. But to reasonable people, it should signal a worrying start.

Consistently making meaningless votes that alienate his voters will guarantee that he loses, yeah.

... he’s going to lose. He will not retain the seat. Stop talking about alienating voters when it won’t matter.

It was ultimately meaningless to vote on the side of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, too. I’m curious how that is a “win” for him almost three years away from re-election day.

[Cold War Liberal]

This is completely meaningless in the long run, why are we arguing about this?

Because some left wingers think that anybody who's to the right of Saul Alinsky is a Nazi.

This entire discussion is why I am annoyed by Sandernistas, despite actually supporting many of the same policies as them. It seems that when given the choice of having:

Ideologically pure candidates lose to Republicans
OR
People who vote against our wishes once and a while but who are otherwise reliable Democratic votes beat Republicans, who will almost never vote for anything we want

many maroon avatars and some Democrats would choose the former over the latter, which is, to me, absurd.

Let Jones, Tester, Heitkamp, McCaskill, Manchin, and Donnelly be. They need to keep their seats. If they go off the deep end, then we can talk, but if they're only casting symbolic votes because of CHIP funding (and Tester didn't even do that) that actually has no real effect, leave them alone.

[Doimper]

Doug Jones campaigned on being bipartisan and working together, so obviously he is going to vote in a mostly centrist way.

Generally politicians try to behave/vote like they campaign.

I don't remember Scott Brown doing such a thing.

Because Republicans understand power and knew to treat Brown’s Senate win like the fluke it was. I don’t remember Brown vowing to unions or speaking centrist on budgets and taxes.

Doug Jones will almost certainly not win re-election. If he is a true progressive, he should ditch the moderation and try to help the horribly oppressed people in his state like he promised to. Anything less is a waste of the capabilities of his seat and the good fortunes of his win.

So since Jones will "almost certainly" not win, he should indulge in meaningless gestures that will guarantee that he doesn't win? Okay.

You seriously think voting the opposite way on this would have “guaranteed” his loss in 2020 (assuming, as you seem to be doing, that Jones has even a fraction of a chance of victory)? Okay.

In a vacuum, it’s a meaningless vote. But to reasonable people, it should signal a worrying start.

Consistently making meaningless votes that alienate his voters will guarantee that he loses, yeah.

... he’s going to lose. He will not retain the seat. Stop talking about alienating voters when it won’t matter.

It was ultimately meaningless to vote on the side of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, too. I’m curious how that is a “win” for him almost three years away from re-election day.

Only morons confidently predict the fall of an incumbent three years before the election happens. His vote isn't a "win" and I never said it was - but his opponent cutting ads about how he voted against CHIP two months after promising to do all he could to fight for it isn't meaningless.

[Horus]

This is Doug Jones we're talking about, not Bernie Sanders. Would you rather have Roy Moore?

[Rookie Yinzer]

So I take it you’ll go back to Birmingham with him and explain why he voted against CHIP for the rural black communities who use it in favor of people who are not citizens?

Doug Jones does not represent California. His voters did not send him there to vote against their interests in favor of non-citizens.

So was it a symbolic vote or did he somehow believe it would pass and continue funding for CHIP?

It was a vote in the best interest of the black Americans who had to combat Jim Crow inspired voter suppression tactics to vote for him.

[IndustrialJustice]

Doug Jones campaigned on being bipartisan and working together, so obviously he is going to vote in a mostly centrist way.

Generally politicians try to behave/vote like they campaign.

I don't remember Scott Brown doing such a thing.

Because Republicans understand power and knew to treat Brown’s Senate win like the fluke it was. I don’t remember Brown vowing to unions or speaking centrist on budgets and taxes.

Doug Jones will almost certainly not win re-election. If he is a true progressive, he should ditch the moderation and try to help the horribly oppressed people in his state like he promised to. Anything less is a waste of the capabilities of his seat and the good fortunes of his win.

So since Jones will "almost certainly" not win, he should indulge in meaningless gestures that will guarantee that he doesn't win? Okay.

You seriously think voting the opposite way on this would have “guaranteed” his loss in 2020 (assuming, as you seem to be doing, that Jones has even a fraction of a chance of victory)? Okay.

In a vacuum, it’s a meaningless vote. But to reasonable people, it should signal a worrying start.

Consistently making meaningless votes that alienate his voters will guarantee that he loses, yeah.

... he’s going to lose. He will not retain the seat. Stop talking about alienating voters when it won’t matter.

It was ultimately meaningless to vote on the side of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, too. I’m curious how that is a “win” for him almost three years away from re-election day.

Only morons confidently predict the fall of an incumbent three years before the election happens. His vote isn't a "win" and I never said it was - but his opponent cutting ads about how he voted against CHIP two months after promising to do all he could to fight for it isn't meaningless.

You seem to believe that Jones can credibly create a centrist profile without voting for Trump on some major pieces of legislation or procedure down the line. These small little meaningless votes in favor of Trump are absolutely pointless because they will long be forgotten by anyone who does not follow these things obsessively.

My concern is that Jones and his strategists will trick themselves into voting in favor of several (if not a majority) of Trump’s judicial nominees under the belief that this will result in legitimate centrist bonafides. In reality, his opponents will smear him as Nancy Pelosi’s best friend unless he personally introduces the bill to affirmatively abolish the ACA, and even then that won’t stop them. Republicans do not deal in good faith. Nothing is good enough.

[Joey1996]

So I take it you’ll go back to Birmingham with him and explain why he voted against CHIP for the rural black communities who use it in favor of people who are not citizens?

Doug Jones does not represent California. His voters did not send him there to vote against their interests in favor of non-citizens.

So was it a symbolic vote or did he somehow believe it would pass and continue funding for CHIP?

It was a vote in the best interest of the black Americans who had to combat Jim Crow inspired voter suppression tactics to vote for him.

Nice twist, I'm not buying it

[Cactus Jack]

This is still going on? Can we just ban every maroon avatar on the site (bar Centrist, Scarlet, and Joyce) and be done with it?

[GlobeSoc]

This is still going on? Can we just ban every maroon avatar on the site (bar Centrist, Scarlet, and Joyce) and be done with it?

I'm all for this.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

So I take it you’ll go back to Birmingham with him and explain why he voted against CHIP for the rural black communities who use it in favor of people who are not citizens?

Doug Jones does not represent California. His voters did not send him there to vote against their interests in favor of non-citizens.

So was it a symbolic vote or did he somehow believe it would pass and continue funding for CHIP?

It was a vote in the best interest of the black Americans who had to combat Jim Crow inspired voter suppression tactics to vote for him.

Nice twist, I'm not buying it

That's great, and I am sure everyone especially Senator Jones gives a sh!t especially since you are a constituent.

[Cactus Jack]

This is still going on? Can we just ban every maroon avatar on the site (bar Centrist, Scarlet, and Joyce) and be done with it?

I'm all for this.

And you.