The feverish symptoms of bipartisanship are alive and well among red state Democratic Senators even after the shellacking handed to them by voters (and non-voters) on November 4th. Take the words of Sen. Manchin (WV) for example.
When asked about the prospects that his party would block the GOP agenda for the next two years, Manchin didn’t mince words: “That’s bullsh—. … I’m not going to put up with that.”You are not going to put up with what, Sen. Manchin? Preventing what is left of the social safety net from being dismantled? Protecting voter rights? Allowing lower-income Americans access to health-care? Keeping what little worker protections we have? What exactly are you not going to put up with, Sen. Manchin?
Of course, Sen. Manchin is not the only blue dog that has totally misinterpreted the election results. My fine Senator from Missouri, Claire McCaskill (whom I voted for twice) had these words of wisdom to say.
“Our caucus needs to take a hard look at the way we do things and make sure we are putting the policy issues first before politics,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who spoke with McConnell and Reid after last week’s elections. “The habit we got into in doing nothing, no one was happy with that. I hope that we never go back to that.No one was happy with that? They were so unhappy that they showed their unhappiness by giving control of Congress to the party primarily responsible for the past four years of gridlock and obstruction. Never mind that this general election had the lowest voter participation since the 1940's due to most voters not being motivated by either party to show up to the polls. The ones that were motivated to vote were the usual conservatives in the higher age groups.
I should say that I am not at all surprised with what these sage luminaries of the Democratic Party have come to believe was the primary problem with the election results. A lot of money rides on them continuing to espouse the propaganda of the corporatist elite. Including this fallacy uttered by another Blue Dog.
“When we work from the middle out, rather than having policies driven from the hard right or left, it works out better for everyone and leads to stronger legislation,” Heitkamp said Monday..That whole statement is mere nonsense. "Hard left" policies are rooted in extensive scientific research by esteem experts in their fields; whilst the "hard right" agenda are usually wishful and magical creative thinking.
I fear the direction the Democratic Party is heading. Like a large ship needing to take a drastic turn, it may not be able to make it. We must continue to fight for Progressive values and it starts at the local level. Change will come from the bottom and rise to the top. Hopefully, it won't be too late to right the ship.
If you have a strong stomach then I encourage everyone to read the full Politico article. Afterwards, don't forget to pick your jaw up from the floor.