The myth that only socially conservative Democrats did well this election

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Senator Burns: "He wants to weaken the Patriot Act"
Jon Tester: "I don't want to weaken the Patriot Act, I want to repeal it. What it does, it takes away your freedom ... and when you take away our freedoms, the terrorists have won"

Enough said.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060924/NEWS01/609240305/1002

[Gabu]

I simply can't understand this idea floating around the forum that Jon Tester is not liberal.

[Joe Republic]

I simply can't understand this idea floating around the forum that Jon Tester is not liberal.

Not that I'm one of them, but I think it's just a general disbelief that anybody as liberal as Tester is could have won in Montana.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Another example is in Kentucky:

John Yarmuth portrayed himself as a liberal Democrat and won.

Ken Lucas portrayed himself as a conservative Democrat and lost.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Another example is in Kentucky:

John Yarmuth portrayed himself as a liberal Democrat and won.

Ken Lucas portrayed himself as a conservative Democrat and lost.

John Yarmuth ran in a much, much more Dem friendly area and probably ran a better campagin

[Rob]

This meme pisses me off too, jfern. Fact is, the Democratic Party just took a big lurch to the left on economics. Social issues are being downplayed for now, and I think that's the best decision.

[Gustaf]

Another example is in Kentucky:

John Yarmuth portrayed himself as a liberal Democrat and won.

Ken Lucas portrayed himself as a conservative Democrat and lost.

John Yarmuth ran in a much, much more Dem friendly area and probably ran a better campagin

Yeah, switch them around and I bet Lucas would have won and Yarmuth lost.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

No, Lucas would be too conservitive for Yurmuth's district and Yarmuth would be too liberal for Geoff Davis's district.

[jokerman]

No, Lucas would be too conservitive for Yurmuth's district and Yarmuth would be too liberal for Geoff Davis's district.

Gustaf's sarcasm should be obvious....

[Nym90]

Stuart Rothenberg addressed this in his latest column, as well (available on this site in the News section)--

It quickly has become conventional wisdom that last week?s Democratic House victory swept in a crop of moderate and conservative Democrats who?ll both keep party liberals in check and help remake the image of the party of former Vice President Al Gore, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and soon-to-be Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).



Well, I met dozens of Democrats running in 2006 - no, not everyone, but most of them - and I can?t find much more than a couple who merit the label "conservative." That?s not meant to be either criticism or praise. It?s merely a statement of fact.



North Carolina Rep.-elect Heath Shuler surely qualifies as a culturally conservative Democrat, but the pro-life, pro-gun Democrat who is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is the exception, not the rule. Virtually all of the Democrats I interviewed were pro-choice, favored rolling back President Bush?s tax cuts and sounded traditional Democratic themes on education, the environment and foreign policy.



In Connecticut, Reps.-elect Chris Murphy and Joe Courtney are pretty typical Northern liberals. In New York, Rep.-elect John Hall, who I didn?t meet, appears to be quite left of center. Two upstate Democrats, Reps.-elect Kirsten Gillibrand and Michael Arcuri, have more moderate personas, but I wouldn?t go so far as to call them conservatives, or even moderates.



Arcuri often referred to himself as a "Boehlert Democrat," a label that won?t make conservatives who cringed at the voting record of retiring Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R) the least bit comfortable. Gillibrand, who is impossible not to like, didn?t sound like a liberal firebrand, but I?d be surprised if her record was much different from that of most Northeast Democrats.



In Pennsylvania, there is no reason to believe that Reps.-elect Patrick Murphy and Joe Sestak will be anything but typical suburban Philadelphia Democrats: If you are a liberal, you?ll like them, and if you aren?t, you probably won?t.



In Florida, Rep.-elect Ron Klein?s state legislative voting record seems consistent with a liberal Democrat, and while some observers have pointed out that Rep.-elect Tim Mahoney talked a moderate line during his campaign and is a former Republican, my notes from my interview with him show that he has not supported a Republican presidential nominee for more than 20 years and seems likely to vote along traditional Democratic lines.



Texas Rep.-elect Nick Lampson may have to vote like a moderate or conservative if he has any hope of winning re-election in Texas? 22nd district in two years, but his record when he was in Congress was not what one normally would identify as conservative, or even moderate.



My interview with California Rep.-elect Jerry McNerney suggests he?s quite liberal. The same goes for Rep.-elect Steve Kagen in Wisconsin. I didn?t interview Iowa?s newly elected Member, Dave Loebsack, but his profile ? he?s a political science professor at Cornell College and ran against middle-of-the-road GOP Rep. Jim Leach from the left ? suggests he?s no moderate.



In Ohio, Rep.-elect Charlie Wilson is conservative on cultural issues, so that makes him a relatively moderate Democrat. But fellow Buckeye State Rep.-elect Betty Sutton certainly isn?t a moderate, and although I didn?t meet Rep.-elect Zack Space, I am told by people who did that his views seem fairly liberal.



I wrote after the previous cycle that I liked Indiana Democrat Joe Donnelly and hoped he?d run again, but I?d never call him a conservative Democrat. On the other hand, Rep.-elect Brad Ellsworth told me that he is pro-life, supports a constitutional amendment defining marriage and supports capital punishment, so he does appear to be a moderate Democrat.



Then there is Rep.-elect Baron Hill, who, if you ask him, probably will call himself a moderate Democrat. The only problem is that voters in Indiana?s 9th district fired him two years ago because they thought he was a cultural liberal who tried to have issues both ways.



I?ve never met Rep.-elect John Yarmuth, who knocked off Rep. Anne Northup (R-Ky.) and has a reputation for being both very personable and very liberal. Kansas Rep.-elect Nancy Boyda is pro-choice, and as far as I can tell, there is no reason to see her as a moderate.



Kentucky Democrat Ken Lucas would have been a conservative Democrat, but he lost. Florida?s Christine Jennings, a bank president, might have been moderate on business issues, but she apparently lost narrowly.



Colorado Rep.-elect Ed Perlmutter? Liberal. Iowa Rep.-elect Bruce Braley? Very liberal. Arizona Rep.-elect Gabrielle Giffords? Liberal, I think.



Now let me be very clear about my point. I?m not saying that it?s good or bad that most of these Democrats are likely to be pretty typical members of their party. I?m only saying that?s where they fit. A bunch of conservative Democrats didn?t win election last week.



So how and why did the buzz get going that the Democrats elected last Tuesday foreshadow a different Democratic Party? I?m not sure.



Part of it may have been all the hype about Democrats "broadening the playing field" and possibly taking very Republican seats in Idaho, Nebraska, Colorado, Washington, Wyoming and Indiana. That didn?t happen, though in some cases the Democrats running for those seats performed well above what would be expected for their party.



Though there were obvious exceptions, most of the House takeovers occurred in swing and Democratic-leaning districts, and those districts elected pretty conventional Democrats.



The election of Bob Casey Jr. (Pa.) to the Senate may have added to the impression that Democrats were sending moderates and conservatives to Washington, D.C. But again, Casey - who opposes legal abortion - is the exception, not the rule.



House Democrats way well attempt to steer a more moderate path between now and 2008, especially since their opportunities are limited with Bush in the White House. But if that happens, it would be the result of a pragmatic decision by party leaders, not the result of an infusion of moderates and conservatives into their party last week.

[nclib]

North Carolina Rep.-elect Heath Shuler surely qualifies as a culturally conservative Democrat, but the pro-life, pro-gun Democrat who is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is the exception, not the rule. Virtually all of the Democrats I interviewed were pro-choice, favored rolling back President Bush?s tax cuts and sounded traditional Democratic themes on education, the environment and foreign policy.

Even Shuler isn't as conservative as everyone thinks he is. According to the Washington Post:

"Shuler touts his antiabortion stand on the 'faith and family values' page of his Web site, where he announces, 'I am a pro-life Democrat.' But he puts a Democratic spin on his stance: 'I also believe that a commitment to life extends beyond the womb and means ensuring that all people have adequate health care, receive a strong education, and be given proper care in their later years.'"

[TeePee4Prez]

Same post moved to "Bob Casey" in Congressional elections:


I think Pennsylvania Democrats and liberal Independents and Republicans sacrificed an awful lot of their views out of fear by electing Bob Casey.  In order to win, I hate to admit we played right into the Religious Right's hands.  Anyone in PA who is pro-choice, pro-stem cell, and anti-Iraq War just got shafted this election.  Bob Casey was the better choice to Rick Santorum by far, but we could have nominated Joe Hoeffel and still won by 8-10 points.  I would be very willing to sacrifice Dauphin and Westmoreland counties to see Joe Hoeffel in the Senate right now.  I mean if Missouri can elect Claire McCaskill and Ohio elected the very liberal Sherrod Brown, surely Pennsylvania would have elected Joe Hoeffel.  There was nothing special about Rick Santorum compared to Jim Talent and Mike DeWine, who by the way are much more moderate Senators than Rick Santorum in more conservative states than Pennsylvania. 

I know people like Frodo and Al are having orgasms over Bob Casey getting elected by saying "See... See. you needed Casey to win this seat", but I truly feel we didn't and we will pay the price for this.  Not only on Bob Casey's social views, but quite honestly we elected a dud with a namesake.  How sad!

[memphis]

I simply can't understand this idea floating around the forum that Jon Tester is not liberal.

It's the haircut. Tester was brilliant to make it part of his campaign. Probably provided the margin of victory.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Despite the Democratic victory, the Republican spin machine is still more powerful and louder than the Democratic one. Therefore they can create the fiction  that the election was only about Iraq and Foley. In fact it was about a lot more than that: Americans repudiated the divisive politics, arrogance and hypocrisy of the religious right which had hijacked the Republican party.

It's a mistake to think that Americans have suddenly fallen in love with liberal democrats: they haven't. But they have fallen out of love with ultra-right conservative republicans.

[JSojourner]

Montana is a truely conservitive (NOT libertarien-leaning) state and if you listen to many conservitives, they opposed the patriot act (I THINK Joe Scarbrough and opposed it, I am positive he opposed the NSA wiretapes).

If I am not mistaken, one of Idaho's ultra-right Senators (maybe both) were opposed to the misnamed "Patriot Act" as well.

[nclib]

Montana is a truely conservitive (NOT libertarien-leaning) state and if you listen to many conservitives, they opposed the patriot act (I THINK Joe Scarbrough and opposed it, I am positive he opposed the NSA wiretapes).

If I am not mistaken, one of Idaho's ultra-right Senators (maybe both) were opposed to the misnamed "Patriot Act" as well.

I've heard this before, but I can't find a roll call vote that shows them opposed.