A proposal: ANY Repub who switches parties gets ALL of Lieberman's stuff.

[Richard Steele]

C'mon, we all know that few Repubs can resist a nice BRIBE.

This would WORK. Head of DHS? You bet they'd go for that.
They'd switch their party affiliation to "Muslim Communist" for that!

And if we get a JUNIOR Repub, one who isn't part of the
NeoCon-Abrahmoff "in-crowd", we can surely trust them to
be LOYAL to us a lot more than we can ever trust Lieberman
again.
I'd rather have a toady who knows he NEEDS us, than a traitor
who thinks he can make us BEG for his cooperation.
Wouldn't you?

As long as we make KEEPING the perks and etc. subject to a regular,
FREQUENT review, we'll have a much more SECURE Dem majority
than we could ever hope for with backstabbin' Holy Joe.

Your thoughts?

[T Wolf]

1. I LOVE this idea.

And it could be touted as a "bipartisan" action by the Dems.

Win-win from my perspective.

[Richard Steele]

3. Sometimes the good ideass were RIGHT in front of me the whole time, y'know?

Hell, they're only REPUBS in the first place because
there's MONEY in it! It's not like they actually have
any sort of principles that this would clash with....

I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner!

[jaysunb]

2. Norm Coleman is that person.

He used to be a Dem so it wouldn't be a stretch for him to "follow the wind....again"

[Richard Steele]

14. That "follow the wind again" could pay off BIG for ol' Norm.

And I'm sure he could EASILY justify the switch to his constituents,
given the current political climate.

[oasis]

16. Coleman is a non-toe sucking version of Dick Morris. May as well stick with Joe.

:puke:

[Richard Steele]

20. It's not about the QUALITY of the person, it's about who has CONTROL.

Ideologically, he may be no better; there's little doubt of that.

But if he made the switch, the (D) leadership would
have him on a short leash. IMHO, that would be greatly
preferable to the situation we face now.

[MoonRiver]

32. Plus Lieberman wouldn't even threaten to switch.

With a guaranteed Dem majority with or without him, he'd know that childish tactic would get him exactly nowhere. We'd have him by the short hairs for sure! :D

[Bake]

35. Yeah, but ... NORM???

Can't we get Olympia Snowe or somebody at least palatable?

Bake

[Odin2005]

33. Yuck, no! Carpetbagger Normie should go back to NY and stop infecting my state.

[dalloway]

4. you got my vote. Kick it up.

[Zodiak]

5. Mr. Steele, that is a great idea!

I think there are a few pukes that would consider it.

And....it is serious hardball that would scare the crap out of the other side of the aisle.

But it needs to be done quietly.

If you do not mind, Mr. Steele, I would love to post this idea on my blog.

K&R

[Richard Steele]

10. No, feel free to post it all you want.

[Canuckistanian]

6. Think Olympia Snowe would go for it?

C'mon, Olympia, you know you waaaaant it....

[ecstatic]

7. Are there Repubs to the left of Lieberman??

If so, sign them up but somehow I doubt it.

[cascadiance]

8. How about Susan Davis?

She's rated about as liberal as Olympia Snowe (http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/04/conservative_he.html) and she's also up for re-election in 2008. She might want to jump on board with the Dems now to cash in on the rising tide then and not get "Chafeed" out...

[w4rma]

9. If there is anyone I'd like to switch it is Olympia Snowe.

Not because she is all that great a Senator. She isn't very good at all, imho. But, she seems undefeatable and she just now won her election.

As for Sen. Susan Davis. If she is up for re-election in 2008, I think I'd rather her not switch. I'd rather just take her out with a real Democrat who will be better rooted in reality.

[Richard Steele]

12. Well, if she "seems undefeatable", she may have little incentive to switch.

We need someone DEFEATABLE, someone who has every reason
to suck up to the Party in power. Someone who KNOWS they'll
probably be out of office without our support.

[Richard Steele]

11. If she's facing an election in 2 years, she might be a fine candidate.

This would be a perfect time for her to
start "reevaluating her priorities", don't
you think? :evilgrin:

[arcos]

13. There is no Senator Susan Davis...

I think you mean Susan Collins from Maine.

[Richard Steele]

15. ACK! Thanks for catching that- I sure didn't! nm

[cascadiance]

23. Ackkk my bad. I was having the Dem's congressional rep here in my brain...

You're right. Definite brain fart on my part. But definitely Susan Collins is one that I think we should be looking at. I guess I'm getting old too fast over these last five-six years!

[IronLionZion]

24. Are you talking about Senator Susan Collins from Maine?

Because I would gladly welcome her and her colleague Olympia Snowe in a heartbeat. She's a wonderful voice of reason in the Republican party.

Susan Davis is a Democratic Congresswoman from California.

[cascadiance]

25. Yup, brain fart on my part...

I also have to struggle at times to make sure I identify Larry Franklin and Larry Johnson properly who are on opposite sides of the fence in FBI stories these days too...

[Richard Steele]

26. BrainFart here as well. I knew who you MEANT, and totally missed the NAME you used.

I'm kinda retarded. Please don't tell nobody. :rofl:

[LynneSin]

17. That's a great idea BUT until then....

...we're stuck with Lieberman. I'm not giving up my Judiciary Committee to satisfy any smug anti-lieberman folks who think we're better off without him. Right now - we, as a country, are not. The balance of the senate and our judicial courts are in that man's hands

[Richard Steele]

19. I agree, of course. We shouldn't burn our bridges until we come to them. nm

[Nightjock]

18. YES!

A gigantic K and R for your idea Mr. Steele!

[Richard Steele]

21. Thanks, Nightjock! Ah pre-she-ate your support!

Since you seem to have a firm grasp of my username,
please let me ask about yours: Are you a 3rd-shift
radio DJ, or is it representative of some more esoteric fancy?

[Nightjock]

30. Morning show

small, NY station. First voice. Too many trolls to give more details, but if you want I could PM you.

[Richard Steele]

22. I think We need to raise the bar for the "Greatest" page. I do appreciate the 9 recs, but...

...nine recs is only enough to make it WAAAAY down
to the bottom of a VERY long list.

And when the "Greatest" list is become tedious to look through,
how "great" is it anyway?

DU has THOUSANDS of active members. 5 recs is way too few to consider
a post "great" on a board as huge as this.

I myself consider this thread "Kinda Okay". It MIGHT have provoked
some GREAT, impassioned discussion, but it didn't.

If DU had a "Kinda OK Page", 9 recs would be a cool way to get there.
But there just ain't no way this thread was one of DU's "Greatest".

(Edditted fer spellin. Not the "is become tedious" thang,
I did that wun on perpuss. "Poetic License", donchaknow!)

[Occulus]

27. Good idea, with one caveat: we only offer it AFTER Lieberman switches,

IF in fact he does switch to Pub.

[Richard Steele]

34. IMO, that's too late. He ain't ever gonna "pick a side" until both are milked dry.

That's the whole point: we get one more (D), and
the "Holy Joe Favor-Auction" screeches to a halt.

Suddenly, he's not pulling any strings anymore,
he's just another Senator. A Senator equally despised
on both sides of the aisle.

[WI_DEM]

28. I don't see any Republican switching--Chafee is the only one who

had the potential and now he's gone.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

29. I think this is a bad idea.

I don't think there are any Republican Senators who aren't considerably less liberal than Lieberman is, and hence given a choice between him and any of them I'd pick him; given an option of "both" I'd take that unhesitatingly over either, because it gives us more safety margin.

This suggestion strikes me as foolish, childish, petty and extremely counterproductive.

You may not like Lieberman, but cutting of your nose to spite your face like this is still a bad idea.

[Richard Steele]

31. Please consider your concerns "duly noted". nm