A citizenry armed with facts and weblogs discourages political crime.
Walt's Health Care Vote
Submitted by Sisyphus on Mon, 03/22/2010 - 12:06am.
Health Care Reform legislation passed Congress on a vote of 219-212. Walt Minnick (D-ID) voted with the losers, consistently with his rhetoric from the past year, and despite a sizable plurality of his district who are uninsured and stand to benefit by access to health care without risking their life savings. America got the value of seeing to its citizens' health for less than the cost of a couple years of war in the Middle East. In the end it will reduce the deficit through the reforms adopted. Its an epic piece of legislation not seen since I was a child, when a similar partisan fight saw passage of health care legislation both parties now consider sacred.
Walt's vote seemed tactical given the large number of self identified Republicans who populate a district in which Minnick was able to defeat a hapless Republican flamethrower whose aim was as poor as his judgment. Walt figures to capitalize on a similar Republican defection, hoping this time they'll be motivated to vote FOR him because of votes like this on high profile legislation. But to do so, these Republican defectors still gotta vote for a guy whose party passed health care reform which Republicans have labeled by every possible term they can conjure to form an implication of treason. Its a risky gambit since Minnick takes the side of the party whose all or nothing strategy at the inception was to avoid cooperation with Democrats and to impose any obstruction possible to passing health care reform, even though its more conservative than the reform sponsored by Richard Nixon.
According to today's count by the Washington Post, Minnick voted consistently with Democrats 70% of the time. That's a tremendous record for a Congressman from Idaho. But its a double edged sword in this divisive partisan environment and certainly that stat will be hammered hard by the winner of the Republican primary. Walt's strategy has been to ride the wave of negative publicity on health care reform to tout his conservative credentials with an eye to the "conventional wisdom" that predicts a Democratic disaster this year. But with the long battle for this legislation concluded, Democrats in DC are free to devote from now till November on legislation designed to fix the economy. The health care debate may be but a faded memory in that political lifetime and the political landscape will be drastically changed from that currently prognosticated.
Nobody argues that Walt needs every Democratic vote, and with his voting record so far, he should earn reelection among Democrats in his district. But Minnick's strategy seems to take Democratic votes in his district for granted. His strategy on the high profile health care reform debate put him squarely against those Democrats and on the side of people who utilized petty partisan procedural maneuvers over sound public policy they themselves had supported, and even sponsored, in the past. The media storm surrounding the debate accomplished Walt's goal of reaching those conservatives he needs to put him over the top, but it also soured Democrats whose first federally elected official in a decade, chose not to carry the party standard on an intense year long battle, opting instead to embrace the tactics, and the irrational message, of the opponents. Democrats are smart and most will recognize they're better with Walt than the alternative. But if Democratic voters do hold it against Walt, its not because of what he did, its the way he did it.
»
- Sisyphus's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Walt -the burr in our blanket
Idaho is one of the states that will profit most from the Health Care Reform law. I fully expect that when Idahoans understand the benefits of the law, after the noise dies down, they'll support it to varying extents.
One of Obama's selling points to the Dems who intended to vote against it was this:
'You are going to be tagged by the Repubs as a supporter whether you vote for or against it. You can either spend all your time and money defending yourself, or you can vote for it and claim it in your election run.' (all my words, not Obama's)
The logic was obvious. The Republicans are going to try to tar every Democrat for being a Democrat. It won't matter to them how many times a Democrat voted their way. After 18 months, the evidence is abundant and all too clear.
Ft. Boise summed it up very well:
"If HCR fails, the Democrats will be (deservedly) toast, and a spotted weasel with an R after his name on the ballot will be shooed in. If HCR passes in some form, somehow, and he stays on the wrong side of it, partisans on both sides can repudiate him personally, or categorically, take your pick."
I supported Walt early on, but it gets harder to stand by him with every vote I don't like. I'm not in his District, so it isn't up to my vote anyway, but even so, if I could vote for him, I would, reluctant as I might be.
Our Senators aren't worth doodley-squat- Crapo is feathering his nest, and Risch is an egomaniac. I like our Representatives a little more, because I think both have them have kept Idaho's best interests over their own more.
I think Simpson is safe in his seat, but Minnick probably won't make it again unless Immigration Reform is well underway by the election. Walt had better be on the right side of that issue, or he's toast for sure.
Immigration
What position would Walt have to take on immigration? Just curious. Hadn't given immigration reform a lot of thought. Granted, I think immigration is a non-starter in the current political environment. The newest poll showing how many Republicans still think Obama isn't a U.S. citizen makes me think any discussion about immigration would get dangerous and quickly.
Walt's stealth issue
IMO Walt used this issue to its fullest effect and its what eventually won the race for him. Sali adopted the fringe position enabling Walt to secure some big business/ag (IACI)Republican support by adopting a more tolerant, less punitive approach, making sure that business isn't going to be responsible for policing illegals. I believe that formula is still in play, and Walt's move now is to pin down the two main Republican candidates as fringies like Sali. Not sure where Ward comes out on it. Even though Labrador has the blessing of the fringies, his stance on immigration is not necessarily on their side being an immigration lawyer. He's the one walking the tightrope. That's the race to watch from now till May. And it looks to be ugly.
Far from being a non-starter, immigration divides Republicans. I expect to see much more of it as we near November. I agree that its fraught with peril however.
Well said
Nice post, and I agree with what you said.
I decided last night that I've given up on Walt. I won't support or vote for his Republican opponent, but neither will I support or vote for Walt.
Is any Dem (a 70 percenter) better than any Republican? Maybe. I just feel so betrayed by Walt both for his vote and because of the aid and comfort he's given to Republicans.
Alan
Idablue.blogspot.com
Thanks
I would most certainly vote for Walt over the alternatives. But as Tara and MG explain, I'm mightily disappointed that he seems to be embarrassed by being a Democrat in public, particularly as follows:
There are progressive policies that are popular but would require a champion in district one. Instead Walt is opting for Republican lite. In his defense, it shows just how big our tent is, and he just might get a few conservatives to break out of their knee jerk reaction to reach for the R when voting. Or will he? I'm dubious on the strategy. Andrus was a moderate but never forgot his base on key issues.
I'm with you Alan
Completely. I'm not in his district so I have the luxury of not having to decide whether to vote or abstain (if indeed it's a "luxury" to be in Mike Simpson's district). In any event, I wrote Walt a check last election. It wasn't much in the scheme of things, but it's that much less he won't be getting this year cuz I'm done with him.
We'll see
If Minnick comes out in full tilt support of other Democrats running in the upcoming election, that may be the proof of where his heart lies. He has the money to help them out, too, and that may be telling as well.
For sure, he has some 'splaining to do, not only to Democrats in his district, but to all of us Idaho Democrats. After reading his biography, I think Minnick is really much more an old-line Republican conservative than any kind of liberal.
For the Repubs, he flies too far away from the bat cave to gain any kind of meaningful support. I think the Idaho Republicans are still enjoying cutting each other up in the Who's The Craziest knife fight that's been going on for the past 3 years to swing to Walt.
What I'd really like to see is a tough Democrat with some real cred challenge him in the primary.
Word of mouth in the north of Idaho
is that he has lost the Democratic vote. It seems that because so many "Republicans" (I include here the wingnuts and other Tea Party citizens) call him, he swings with the Republican vote. How unfortunate that Democrats in Idaho still have no Democratic representation just because we are out-numbered by Republican phonecallers. Jeez, the overall idiocy of that remark (that I've heard more than once from the Minnick campaign) just beggers the imagination.
Long way to November
The entire complexion of the campaign will change next September after they have a single Republican candidate and Democrats get to see the right wing alternative. I expect this disaffection with him to dissipate considerably as a result. But the enthusiasm quotient with his base won't. His pile of money will help considerably with that issue. And contrary to the CW in Idaho, he's not pissed off leadership, given the district seat he occupies. I've even heard that DCCC is lining up to throw money his way. But I find that hard to believe.
But I still think Walt's gambit on HCR won't matter one whit cause the Republicans will still hammer him on it. They're already attacking him for the vote, cause he voted for Pelosi as speaker, who, they maintain, made sure HCR passed the House.
Marc Johnson
has an excellent analysis of the politics of the situation.