New Democrat reps trying to maintain a bit of distance
December 27th, 2007
Freshmen Padding Their Independence
Six first-time Democratic Congressional Representatives have been siding with Republicans…on meaningless votes on the House Journal.
There are 42 new Congressmen, many of them billed as “conservative-leaning” in districts that run pretty conservative. They’re trying to maintain their “conservativeness” with their constituents while not alienating themselves from Democratic (and majority) leadership. For its part, the Democratic leadership is making efforts to keep it’s freshmen, therefore its majority, in office.
“While these Democrats might claim to be independent voices for their districts, the differences between them and Nancy Pelosi are purely aesthetic,” said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. This year, the GOP committee launched a Web site to track the percentage of votes that 28 of the freshmen cast with Pelosi, whom Republicans say will be a polarizing figure in conservative districts next fall.
That is why procedural votes are important to freshmen, according to Democratic aides.
Voting on meaningless things like the House Journal won’t convince anyone, but it will sure help the numbers look a little better to conservative voters back home.
When the new Democrats, many of whom claimed to be “pro-gun” were elected, it didn’t change the Liberal leadership atop the Democratic Congressional organization. The same old folks are calling the shots, and that’s pretty much what we’ve seen so far.
