Fight Club (Republicans On A RINO Hunt....CFG takes on Specter)

[Khephra]

"I always say politicians are cowards, and they really are,'' Stephen Moore told me recently. ''We say we're going to run someone against them, and they start wetting their pants.''

Moore, the president of a group of zealous economic conservatives known as the Club for Growth, was talking about Arlen Specter, a giant of the United States Senate and the only Republican moderate in the Senate leadership. Specter is running for a fifth term next year in Pennsylvania, but he now finds himself facing an unexpected, potentially serious primary challenge from the party's right flank. That challenge, from a brash conservative congressman from industrial Allentown named Patrick Toomey, is being engineered by the Club for Growth, whose 10,000 members, most of them gray-suited bankers and businessmen, seem to be on a mission to banish taxes from the earth. Moore has vowed revenge on Republican incumbents who don't worship at his antitax altar -- he calls them ''Republicans in Name Only,'' or ''Rinos'' -- and unseating Specter, he says, is his top priority.

Although Specter is a powerful committee chairman and can count on the strong support of the White House, he is clearly anxious; he is already spending much of his time shaking hands back in Pennsylvania, and he has called some members of the club himself to plead his case. A few months ago, Specter even invited Moore over to his Capitol office for a chat. A masterly politician, Specter gave it all the charm he could muster, graciously showing Moore his trove of family photos before launching into a defense of his voting record, which, he rightly pointed out, is broadly more conservative than Toomey's, according to National Journal's ratings. Specter is, after all, the man who got Clarence Thomas confirmed, and he has long supported the balanced-budget amendment and, for that matter, the flat tax.

To Specter's astonishment, however, Moore, a nerdy 43-year-old economist with an affable, self-mocking laugh, didn't seem to care much about Specter's record. It was simple, Moore said: even though Specter eventually voted for President Bush's $1.3 trillion tax cut, Moore could not forgive him for first voting to trim the president's original, bigger tax-cut proposal by $250 billion so that the money could be spent on education.

MORE..............................

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/10/magazine/10CLUB.html

[Cha]

1. It will be nice when the pendulum swings and these bozos are

even acknowledged for shooting off their mouth.


What's he think is going to happen in our Country when all the Corporations don't pay taxes and go off shore and all the companies move to foreign Countries and the poor can't afford to eat?

And our Schools can't afford to educate? And the Libraries can't stay open?

I say the People will rebel against the likes of this steve moore.

The Democrats are the only ones who have ever done anything good for this Country!

I never thought I would feel sorry for arlen spector.

I hope the Dem Wins!:kick:

[jamesinca]

12. It is called a cheap labor conservative

That is also synonmous with Satan. George Bush is a cheap labor conservative. If you don't work for 2-3 years you will gladly take anything that comes along after awhile, like minimum wage. This saves big business lots of money because the payroll has shunk. The top execs. don't take a fiscall hit, it is just the workers. They believe in cheap as long as it does not include them.

[meow2u3]

15. "Cheap labor conservative" is a mouthful

Personally, I agree with another DUer, who calls them "sweatshop conservatives", or even "pro-slavery conservatives"!


Traditional "plantation" chattel slavery isn't the only kind that's immoral, although the 13th Amendment implied the abolition of this form of slavery; the modern form of slavery, economic or "wage" slavery, where people are paid too little to live independently, is even more immoral, but right-wing fascist judges conveniently seem to condone--or even encourage--wage slavery. Both chattel and wage slavery should be declared unconstitutional!!!!!

[davidinalameda]

2. I love these bloody Republican primaries

the Democrat almost always wins!

I would love nothing more than for Specter to be taken out. His voters would flock to the Democrat nominee.

[sujan]

3. yeah

After he voted the Prior nomination to be brought on the floor, I pretty much lost any shred of respect for this guy.

Let them eat their own.

[Prodemsouth]

5. What about the 2002 Senate Race in N.H.?

Incumbent Republican Senator Bob Smith was defeated in a primary by RepublicanRep. Sununu(sp). He then went on to defeat the Democratic Governor, Jean Sheanan(sp, again) for the Senate race.

[The Zanti Regent]

4. I have no love for the "Magic Bullet Man"

I first lost respect for Specter when he whored for Uncle Tom Thomas and legally raped Anita Hill.

During Clinton's impeachment, this ass thought he could get away with voting Not Proved according to Scotch law. I guess someone had to remind the old fool that if he was a member of the Scotch Parliament he would be sitting in Edinboro.

On second thought, No Scotsman would vote for such a liar as Specter.

I lost all respect for this fool when he claimed that CLinton could still be impeached AFTER he left office, WHAT A CROCK!

Specter's whole career has been based on lies after lies. Whether it's lying about the murder of JFK or lying about Uncle Tom Thomas or kissing Rick Santorum's ass, he is a pathetic prick.

I hope that Pennsylvanians finally wake up and kick his sorry ass out of office and send Joe Hoeffel to replace him!

[Ramsey]

I hope Toomey wins

Considering that the state just elected a pretty liberal Democrat for governor, and that we already have one right wing whack job in the Senate, I don't think Toomey would have a prayer in the general. He has the most annoying billboards all over town, just saying Toomey for Senate in front a big eagle and American flag. What crap.

[rocketdem]

16. the primary only

My mother is from Allentown. She's met this idiot. He makes Santorum look like communist pansy when it comes to his ideas in politics and society. Yes, I too hope that Toomey wins the primary if it means that a Dem can take the seat. But the prospect of this guy in the senate is just plain scary to consider.

[kskiska]

6. Meanwhile, in California,

they're busy trying to enthrone the biggest RINO of all. Go figure. I remember how the online wingnuts rejoiced the night Bloomberg was elected in NYC.

[timbo]

7. When bored, I often ponder the question, who do I

hate more, Bush or Specter.

If we assume that Bush is far too stupid to understand that he is truly a horrible man, then Specter wins. Specter is smart enough to know that he has been bad for the country and his state from the single-bullet, to the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas fiasco, to his willingness to subvert our Constitution during the Clinton coup.

[goobergunch]

8. I smell a "Schundler effect"

I originally didn't think Toomey had a chance. But Specter seems really worried about this challenge, and I now have Specter at only about a 57% chance of victory. Hopefully both Repukes will burn their money in the primary, allowing Hoeffel to swoop in and become the next Senator from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. :evilgrin:

[SyracuseDemocrat]

9. I hope for that too!

This is one of those days that I'm glad from NY, where we have two excellent Democratic U.S. Senators! If only we could unseat Pataki. :D

[Robbien]

10. This explains much

This paragraph:

At the same time, however, the club serves a useful purpose for the Bush administration by driving vulnerable moderates into the warm embrace of the White House. This makes it much easier for the administration to make deals on the Hill. Think about it: if you're a moderate congressman, you might be inclined to vote against the latest Bush tax cut. But then here's Steve Moore, announcing that he won't rest until you're retired and teaching civics at a community college. You have a choice: you can either vote against the tax cut and take on a club-backed opponent all by yourself, or you can cut a deal with Rove, who will send in the president to campaign for you, as long as you give him your vote on the tax cut. In this Machiavellian way, the club is the perfect foil for the White House, creating leverage where it might otherwise not exist.

[UnapologeticLiberal]

17. But I read that the White House views the club as a mixed blessing

Because sometimes they go too far and interfere with White House progress in negotiating with the moderates. Remember the ads they ran in Maine and Ohio a few months ago? They did the same thing two years ago when the first tax cut was being passed, and they were probably a big help in getting it through. But after it was over Stephen Moore admitted that he probably should not have run the ads in Vermont, and I think they are being more careful now...I noticed they did not run ads this time in Rhode Island and Arizona, against the 2 GOP senators who opposed any tax cuts at all.

[Robbien]

19. The WH has to say the Club for Growth goes too far

It can then appear to be compassionate while the Club wields the brass knuckles. Stephen Moore only admitted he went too far for PR purposes. Please read this article on the People for the American Way site. The Club gloats over how they brow beat politicians.

article here

[Democat]

21. Maybe we need to learn to do the same to our politicians.

Like I said in my other post on this thread, imagine the power Ralph Nader would have if he became the far left brow beater of the Democratic Party instead of just an election spoiler.

There is plenty of room in the Democratic Party for some people who want to put pressure on Democrats to stand up and fight for us.

[goforit]

11. Pugs against Pugs!!!............A crack in the GOP foundation!!!

Let us sit back and watch this cannibalism.

[goobergunch]

13. I thought I'd post the latest Quinnipiac poll on this race

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=108&topic_id=17555

Barely anyone knows who Hoeffel or Toomey are yet, but Specter's generic re-elect is only 46%...definitely a warning sign.

[snippy]

14. Moore is a Tax Cut Monkey.

Tax Cut Monkeys throw their own feces at everything and gleefully assist in the rape of their children provided they are told that they are getting a tax cut. Grover Norquist is the alpha Tax Cut Monkey but Stephen Moore is a close second. A significant part of the republican base are Tax Cut Monkeys.

[Democat]

18. Ralph Nader, pay attention to what's going on here!

These right wing activists are working within the Republican Party to try to make changes that they feel are important. They are not trying to destroy the Republican Party, they are trying to change it into something that they want it to be.

If Nader was serious about making a difference, he would try to change the Democratic Party, rather than trying to destroy it.

The far right has become a huge influence on the Republicans, but so far the far left has very little influence on Democrats.

Nader could possibly have been the Newt Gingrich of the Democratic Party, instead he's just a spoiler.

[Chilly_Willy]

20. Solution to taxes

Have the rich republicans go into the streets and actually help people that are not rich, give most of their income to their communities so each one can be built up to standard, ... etc...That way there's no messy paper work and no taxes and the greedy republicans won't have to go around complaining about taxes.

But it's all not really about taxes is it folks? It's about morality like helping your fellow man and contributing and such, they just don't get it?

Almost forgot, cut some of the salaries on the hill and use that money towards paying off the debt the US has.