The Republican Revenge Caucus

David Weigel | October 31, 2008

In 2006, the Democrats became the first party in several generations to gain seats in the House in Senate without losing any of their own. They held their open seats, they defended their incumbents.

Lou Barletta - The mayor of Hazelton, Pennsylvania, whose emergency anti-illegal immigration laws made him into a national celebrity, the toast of green rooms from Lou Dobbs to Glenn Beck to Bill O'Reilly. As Marin Cogan writes in the New Republic, Barletta is, ironically, running as an optimistic, vim-and-vigor agent of change... just like that other guy who's ahead in the polls in Pennsylvania!

Democrat Kanjorski, on the other hand, is basically mummified.

Tom Rooney - The wealthy nephew of Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney and a former member of the Army JAG Cops, Rooney was eventually going to win a seat in his district around Palm Beach, Florida. But he was running behind accidental Rep. Tim Mahoney, the conservative Democrat who lucked out when Mark Foley's career imploded... until Mahoney laid some dynamite under his own career with multiple extramarital affairs. Rooney will win in landslide and then, as is district tradition, be caught pantsless inside a bordello two weeks before the 2010 election.

Pete Olson - Democrat Nick Lampson also won in a total fluke last year: Tom DeLay resigned his Houston-area, Sugarland-centered district too late for a new candidate to take his place on the ballot, so Republicans were stuck with write-in candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, whose name was literally too long to write in. As a non-crazy, non-hyphenated Republican who actually made the ballot, Olson's been able to run a fairly bog standard GOP campaign and surge to a huge lead.

Bill Russell - Until he called his southwest Pennsylvania district a "racist area," Rep. John Murtha was safely winning re-election over Russell, a carpetbagging military vet who moved to the district because he hated Murtha so much. The damage wasn't so bad until Murtha clarified that his area used to be "really redneck," but wasn't anymore. He still would have been fine if Russell was an underfunded fringe candidate, but the man spent a year raising more than $2 million from a national network of Murtha-haters.

As a 9-11 Pentagon survivor and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran, Bill understands the sacred obligation civilian leaders owe to military personnel and their families. He’ll always honor their service and sacrifice. Beyond a strong defense, Bill believes our national security policies must include an aggressive plan for energy independence, and the confrontation of radical, violent jihad.

None of these guys are moderates; none are particularly libertarian. You get another sense of the shape that a post-McCainageddon GOP conference will take.

Comments

|10.31.08 @ 3:28PM|#

None of these guys are moderates; none are particularly libertarian. You get another sense of the shape that a post-McCainageddon GOP conference will take.

I don't live in Ron Paul's or Jeff Flake's district. That pretty much sums up the libertarian leaning GOP congressional delegation. Two outcasts of a minority party that has thrown in with the Swaggert/Falwell crowd. Where's Dondero to explain how these jerks are "more libertarian" than the party of cradle to grave welfare statists?

Elemenope|10.31.08 @ 3:38PM|#

J sub --

I fully expect the GOP to go full retard over the next eight years. No moderates (most of whom they've already driven out), no libertarians.

|10.31.08 @ 3:47PM|#

El, exactly - because sadly all they learned is that the evangelical vote was mobilized under Bush, and not under McCain. The GOP has ushered in a permanent minority.

|10.31.08 @ 4:02PM|#

The civil war will be quick, but bloody.

|10.31.08 @ 4:07PM|#

Joe,

As long as talk radio dies as a result of collateral damage, all I can say is "Bring it on"

|10.31.08 @ 4:07PM|#

Here's hoping that corrupt blowhard Murtha goes down. He's the military genius who recommended that we redeploy from Iraq to Okinawa, from where we could respond to any Middle East crisis "almost instantly."

|10.31.08 @ 4:09PM|#

Wow, that's quite the caucus.

|10.31.08 @ 4:09PM|#

For the good of the country Murtha needs to go down. His list of sins is too long to name here. That said, he is such an embarassment to the Democrats I am kind of sorry to see him go. I think Joe is the last person not on his personal payroll who still defends him.

|10.31.08 @ 4:15PM|#

Holycrap. I served in the Army with Tom Rooney. He is a good guy. Kind of non-entity. I wouldn't call him charismatic. But, he is a stand up guy and not a crook. I will have to give him a call when he gets in office.

Kolohe|10.31.08 @ 4:25PM|#

Joe,

As long as talk radio dies as a result of collateral damage, all I can say is "Bring it on"

The problem is that it'll be just the opposite. Talk radio will serve as their redoubt, their Helm's Deep. Heck, some of them, like Mark Levin, use bunker terminology for their bump segments. Many of them honestly believe they are Irish monks keeping the flame of Western Civilization alive during the soon to be imminent dark ages.

|10.31.08 @ 4:27PM|#

Still sore, John?

That why you're making up statements for me again?

Warty|10.31.08 @ 4:33PM|#

The wealthy nephew of Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney

He is evil. Kill him.

|10.31.08 @ 4:35PM|#

Joe you have defended Murtha on here numorous times. If you have changed your mind, feel free to go after the guy and kick him when he is down now that he is no longer useful. I would be fun to hear you say something bad about a Democrat. I don't think I have ever witnessed that.

Can you really bring yourself to do it? Here is your chance. You can finally show the world that there is a Democrat you don't like and won't defend. I always accuse you of never being able to do that. Go ahead and prove me wrong. I bet you don't have the stomach to do it. The best you can do is say "I didn't say that". Come on Joe give us a good rant on how bad Murtha is. I would love to hear it.

|10.31.08 @ 4:48PM|#

Then you could no doubt find an example, John.

Cue jeopardy theme.

|10.31.08 @ 4:57PM|#

Or are you using the word "defending" to mean "agreement on any particular issue?"

That seems like the sort of thing you'd do.

|10.31.08 @ 5:12PM|#

Then just say why Murtha is such a bad guy Joe. Just say it. Type the words. You can't do it. You can't bring yourself to actually type the words "Democrat John Murtha is a national embarassment and deserves to lose his bid for Re-election". It is actually really funny. It is like you have been through some kind of psychological conditioning that prevents you from doing it. Did you go through some kind of Democratic Clockwork Orange treatment or something?

T|10.31.08 @ 6:00PM|#

Did you go through some kind of Democratic Clockwork Orange treatment or something?

How would that work? Every time he reached for a ballot marked R they'd juice him? Would he still get the Beethoven playing in the background, so he has a pathological aversion to both Beethoven and Republicans? Wouldn't it leave him unable to defend himself against the GOP?

joe|10.31.08 @ 7:21PM|#

If I have a point to make about John Murtha at some point, John, I'll make it. Right now, I have no reason to.

You're not an organ grinder, and I'm not a monkey.

|10.31.08 @ 8:06PM|#

I've been to Hazelton, and economically speaking, it's a shithole. I would think Barletta would have better things to do than run around bashing immigrants. I guess not...

yingge|11.1.08 @ 3:58AM|#

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