There is a lot of talk about DINOs (Democrats In Name Only). There is, in fact, more talk than there are DINOs. There is only ONE DINO in the senate (and it’s not Jolting Joe) and perhaps 5 or 8 in the House. And ALL those DINOs are from red red red areas.
More on the flip
cross posted from daily Kos
Ben Nelson is the only Senate DINO
In the house, there are perhaps 5 DINOs: Boren (OK 2), Taylor (MS 4), Marshall (GA 3), Patterson (MN 7); borderline DINOs are Cramer (AL 5), Barrow (GA 12) and Melancon (LA 3).
Over at Political Arithmetik Charles Franklin made this point (look for the entry on National Journal numbers)
Here’s the key chart
Now, let’s look at those districts.
Nebraska, Nelson’s state, gave 66% of its votes to Bush over Kerry. The other senator is Hagel, who, his statements on the war aside, got a 20 rating from the ADA and an 87 from the ACU in 2004. In the NJ ratings for 2006, Hagel got a liberalism score of 27, Nelson a 45.
Nelson’s not my favorite Senator. But he’s better than Hagel.
OK-2 went for Bush 59-41 in 2004, and for Boren by 66-34. Bush or Boren? You decide. Boren makes a safe D seat out of a solid R district. Go Boren.
MS-4 went 68-31 for Bush in ’04, and yet gave Taylor a 64-33 victory. Another solid D seat in a solid R district.
GA-3 is a little closer. 55-44 for Bush. 63-37 for Marshall, against the same person who he beat by only 51-49 in 2002.
MN-7 is another district that went for Bush: 55-43. Yet it gave Peterson a 66-34 victory in ’04
AL-5 went 60-39 for Bush, 73-27 for Cramer
GA-12 is the closest district in the DINO list: 54-46 for Bush, 52-48 for Barrow
finally LA-3 went 58-41 for Bush, and in 2004 Melancon won a nailbiter over Billy Tauzin. In 2002, Tauzin got a 0 from ADA and a 96 from ACU.
There are the DINOs. There aren’t many. And, if they weren’t there, Republicans would be.
Let’s stop bashing Democrats and concentrating on bashing Repubs