| "Not Clinton's Democratic Party"; seconded Obama 2008: leaves Dems 2012 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 30 2012, 08:18 AM (285 Views) | |
| Joan Foster | May 30 2012, 08:18 AM Post #1 |
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My Dad always said there are some things you don't say unless you are definitely "walking out the door." In this essay, Artur Davis is "walking out" for sure. http://www.officialarturdavis.com/2012/05/a-response-to-political-rumors/ And the question of party label in what remains a two team enterprise? That, too, is no light decision on my part: cutting ties with an Alabama Democratic Party that has weakened and lost faith with more and more Alabamians every year is one thing; leaving a national party that has been the home for my political values for two decades is quite another. My personal library is still full of books on John and Robert Kennedy, and I have rarely talked about politics without trying to capture the noble things they stood for. I have also not forgotten that in my early thirties, the Democratic Party managed to engineer the last run of robust growth and expanded social mobility that we have enjoyed; and when the party was doing that work, it felt inclusive, vibrant, and open-minded. But parties change. As I told a reporter last week, this is not Bill Clinton’s Democratic Party (and he knows that even if he can’t say it). If you have read this blog, and taken the time to look for a theme in the thousands of words (or free opposition research) contained in it, you see the imperfect musings of a voter who describes growth as a deeper problem than exaggerated inequality; who wants to radically reform the way we educate our children; who despises identity politics and the practice of speaking for groups and not one national interest; who knows that our current course on entitlements will eventually break our solvency and cause us to break promises to our most vulnerable—that is, if we don’t start the hard work of fixing it. On the specifics, I have regularly criticized an agenda that would punish businesses and job creators with more taxes just as they are trying to thrive again. I have taken issue with an administration that has lapsed into a bloc by bloc appeal to group grievances when the country is already too fractured: frankly, the symbolism of Barack Obama winning has not given us the substance of a united country. You have also seen me write that faith institutions should not be compelled to violate their teachings because faith is a freedom, too. You’ve read that in my view, the law can’t continue to favor one race over another in offering hard-earned slots in colleges: America has changed, and we are now diverse enough that we don’t need to accommodate a racial spoils system. And you know from these pages that I still think the way we have gone about mending the flaws in our healthcare system is the wrong way—it goes further than we need and costs more than we can bear. Taken together, these are hardly the enthusiasms of a Democrat circa 2012, and they wouldn’t be defensible in a Democratic primary. But they are the thoughts and values of ten years of learning, and seeing things I once thought were true fall into disarray. So, if I were to leave the sidelines, it would be as a member of the Republican Party that is fighting the drift in this country in a way that comes closest to my way of thinking: wearing a Democratic label no longer matches what I know about my country and its possibilities. |
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| kbp | May 30 2012, 09:39 AM Post #2 |
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WOW! …WOW!! …WOW!!! …where to start …with WHY he does NOT condemn Republicans or WHY he is a Democrat? Why he is a Democrat is easiest. With him being born in late 1967, his “early thirties” would have started late 1997. The Republicans controlled Congress pretty much from ’95 thru all of’06, so he’d have been 39 YO when the Democrats took control (over the last 2 years of W). I’m not sure how he comes up with attributing to that party of having “engineer[ed] the last run of robust growth and expanded social mobility.” I say he has been fooled by the party, has just not quite looked back over the past well, or grabbed for whatever he could to start off with a positive note for his old friends. I’ve read where the individuals switching from one party to another is at a much higher rate for Dem’s to Rep’s as they age …growing wiser! Anyway, the BIGGEST praise I’ll give here is for how Davis condemns AND points out the Socialists/Marxist trend Barry is working on through efforts to DIVIDE the country and create as many battles as possible ….evidently hoping that the disarray and desperation will have little civil wars pushing people to him for security, because they are uncertain if they can survive without Uncle Sam making their house payment or putting food on their tables. I LOVE the timing, how this came about before Barry could even get that Booker problem cleaned up and off the table. He’s telling all that biting the hand that feeds you – private businesses – is not working, quite the opposite actually. |
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| Joan Foster | May 30 2012, 09:51 AM Post #3 |
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"Davis's move is not surprising, given the trajectory of his activities and public comments over the last year, but it is still remarkable for a politician who gave a seconding speech to nominate Barack Obama at the 2008 Democratic convention." http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/05/artur-davis-is-now-a-virginia-republican-124788.html Edited by Joan Foster, May 30 2012, 09:53 AM.
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| Joan Foster | May 30 2012, 10:00 AM Post #4 |
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Harvard undergrad..Harvard Law, the only AA member of Congress to vote AGAINST Obamacare...Davis was once called the "Obama of Alabama." http://www.wbir.com/national/article/221392/193/Obama-ally-Artur-Davis-leaves-Democratic-Party- |
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| kbp | May 30 2012, 10:08 AM Post #5 |
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He has at least learned he can't run on Barry's record! |
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| Baldo | May 30 2012, 12:00 PM Post #6 |
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I want a two-party system. One of the worse things to happen to the Democratic Party has been the rise of the Progressive Left to take control of it. I don't praise Clinton. He could have stopped it, but didn't. His true colors have been revealed, just another Politician who is out for himself first & foremost. Edited by Baldo, May 30 2012, 12:01 PM.
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| Duke parent 2004 | May 30 2012, 02:56 PM Post #7 |
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Hmm . . . a highly credentialed man in his forties who finally approaches an understanding of the world that working men and women his age came to twenty or more years ago.. The sound you hear from my corner is that of one hand clapping. Nonetheless, his Damascus moment is better than nothing. |
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| kbp | May 30 2012, 06:03 PM Post #8 |
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I'm learning some Catholic Democrats are just more Catholic than others. I sense it has something to do with how high up you make it in the political world, as if you must shed a little faith with each step up that ladder. |
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