Only highly Conservative Democrats can get elected in Conservative Districts and States

[TheBigotBasher]

WRONG:


A happy new year to all and a time to ask Bush dog Democratic Congress members why did they betray the people who voted for them on health?

[stray cat]

1. Are you calling the entire state of Minnesota conservative - if so you are seriously mistaken

[TheBigotBasher]

2. No

I am saying that Mn refuted the argument that you need an ultra Conservative to beat a Conservative Republican.

States swing. Candidates win and lose by what they promise and deliver. Republican voting Democratic Senators break electoral promises, get thrown out by their voters and then try and move the Party in an ever right ward direction. That way leads to extremism and more despondency.

[cali]

4. Some states swing, but you will not see someone like Franken or

Pat Leahy elected in NE or OK and you won't see Ben Nelson or Coburn elected in VT

[TheBigotBasher]

18. So the Party moves ever further to the right,

to appease the likes of Nelson, because none of the voters who came out in Nebraska wanted the Democratic Platform he was elected on, they in fact wanted a Republican with a D on his ticket?

[quiller4]

11. MN is Virginia or North Carolina. A Franken-like candidate wouldn't stand a chance

south of the Mason Dixon line.

[tabbycat31]

17. ok this is House but last time I checked

Alan Grayson is south of the Mason Dixon line

[tritsofme]

28. Grayson is a one term congressman

who is in severe danger of being shown the door in November.

He doesn't prove much about politics.

[TheWraith]

16. Uh, yeah, Minnesota has a long tradition of liberalism.

It is a solidly blue state with two strongly blue Senators and a 5/3 D/R split in their congressional delegation. Or did the OP forget it's the first state to elect a Muslim congressman?

[cali]

3. lol. you don't know much about MN, it appears.

MN is a blue state with a pretty progressive history. Yeah, it has pockets of red but by not stretch of the imagination is a red state.

From Wiki:

The state is known for its moderate to progressive politics and social policies, civic involvement, and high voter turnout. Minnesota ranks among the healthiest states, and has a highly literate population.\

Now let's talk about red states, the real ones: NE, OK, MS

[LiberalAndProud]

5. So you live in MN?

First, let me congratulate you! You are so very lucky to have Franken representing you.
Second, let me invite you to my red state so you know what Red State means. Nebraska make Kansas look good by comparison.

[Odin2005]

6. Conservative? You obviously know NOTHING about my state.

Even the rural parts of the state are pretty damn liberal, especially the rural Red River Valley, where I am from.

[cali]

7. pretty nutty, isn't it?

[TheBigotBasher]

8. To use the logic of the blue dogs

to beat Coleman, a full on Neo-Con, we would have needed a Neo-Con to stand against him. Franken by defeating Coleman shot a hole in that argument.

[cali]

13. Sorry, Coleman was not particularly a right winger

not compared to ANY senate repub from a truly red state. And take a look at your title. You unequivocally stated that MN is a red state.

[MiniMe]

9. Many on DU thought that Franken was a DLC democrat

And they are now very happy with Franken. It was an extremely close race, and Normie had some ethics problems thrown in too, and Franken won by less than 500 votes. The only reason that Normie won election the first time was because Paul Wellstone died shortly before the election.

However, Minnesota is not Nebraska, or Utah, or even Virginia. The only reason that George Allen lost the election was because of his macaca moment. And even then, the race was extremely close, and Webb used to be a republican, he was Secretary of the Navy under Reagan.

[Sebastian Doyle]

24. I was one of them

And it's because of his radio show, which was frankly a DLC snorefest every morning, filled with "centrist" talking points and regular guests from the Center for Fake American Progressives and even the neocon American Enterprise Institute. The show was far too right wing most of the time to be considered "liberal radio".

But I will admit that Senator Franken is acting much more like a Democrat than radio host Franken did. And I hope he continues to do so. :)

[dems_rightnow]

10. Al Franken's election was a tie game...

... for all intents and purposes, in a state that is currently a tie game state.

[TheBigotBasher]

19. Which has proven that in order to win it

a NeoCon Blue Dog is not needed.

[Blasphemer]

12. As has been noted, MN is not a good example... nt

[sabbat hunter]

14. MN is a fairly liberal state

by total population.

[WeDidIt]

15. What a phony assertion

HINT: Minnesota was the ONLY state to go for Mondale in '84

[etherealtruth]

20. Walter Mondale, Eugene McCarthy, Al Franken

Hubert Humphrey, Keith Ellison, Paul Wellstone ... what was your point?????

[TheBigotBasher]

21. The Democratic Party does not have to move further and further to the right to win in

States that have a large Democratic and Republican mix. It does not need to cow-tow to a lie that to beat a NeoCon you need a NeoCon.

[etherealtruth]

23. The politicians I mentioned are not considered conservative (or even centrist by any standards)

the example you used .... that of a liberal candidate winning in a state with a long liberal (and VERY Maverick tradition) proves liberals can and should win in those states .... Al Franken won in Minnesota I don't see how one can make the leap that he could win in Alabama.

[TheBigotBasher]

25. Do we have a chance of winning in Alabama?

There is a possibility that Halter could Primary Lincoln. Which could result in a Democratic Democrat getting elected from Alaska.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/19/lincoln-could-face-primar_n_364125.html

He is hardly a Bush Dog Democrat and has got elected in a Conservative State.

The Bush Dog Democrats lose their States because time after time they fail to deliver and get punished for it. They then see that as an excuse for moving further to the right.

[etherealtruth]

27. "We" have a chance of winning anywhere ....

With the "right" candidate. a candidate that appeals to the likely electorate. I don't think we need to nominate conservative Dem's ....but, we do need to have candidates run that appeal to those likely to vote in an area.

I don't think we need to run conservatives .... my disagreement was with the premise that Al Franken won in an area that was "conservative" .... Minnesota is hardly that.

Could Al Franken (or an Al Franken type candidate) win in Alabama (or any of the other largely conservative states).... probably not .... but perhaps an other candidate with a different appeal could.

I have not "given up" on any area of my country .... I do, however, think it is a mistake not to acknowledge that there are regions of this country that are significantly more conservative than others.

[Kansas Wyatt]

22. Could you imagine the response in conservative districts and states...

If a Democratic candidate stood up and said, enough with the Government for Corporate America. We need our Government back for the American People?

Saying you cannot run Progressives in conservative areas is a bullshit excuse to keep the status quo. You may not win the first or second time, but you will change the way people view things and win, if you actually offer them more than one choice.

[TheBigotBasher]

26. Exactly.

And you then hold those seats by delivering on what you campaigned on.

The idiot Nelson is losing his seat, because of his blackmail, health care reform now doesn't go far enough. It is not because it goes too far.

Bush Dog Democrats turned a bill with 70%+ support into one that carries little popular backing. They did this to themselves.

[Tom Rinaldo]

29. Byron Dugan is a much better example

He serves in the U.S. Senate besides Kent Conrad. Brian Schweitzer is the current Democratic Governor of Montana. Eric Massa now represents NY's 29th CD, after beating an incumbant Republican in 2008 a in a district McCain won by 3 points.

Fred Harris used to be a U.S. Senator from Oklahoma from 1964 to 1973, and yeah that was a long time ago but Oklahoma wasn't exactly Liberal then either and Fred was a pretty left wing populist.

It takes a good candidate to run as a liberal in a conservative district but it can be done if that candidate strongly stands with the people of that district on economic issues in particular.