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Norfolk City Democratic Committee Vice Chair Slams Nye on Health Care "No" Vote

by: lowkell

Thu Mar 18, 2010 at 10:19:26 AM EDT


To put it mildly, Alexander Palmer -- Vice Chair of the Norfolk City Democratic Committee and Vice President of the Norfolk Area Young Democrats -- is not pleased with Glenn Nye these days. From Palmer's Facebook page (with his permission):
Glenn Nye's campaign rep came to the NCDC last night to basically tell us Nye was voting against health care bill........you should have heard the grumbles from the committee, he's alienating his base, hope these moderates he's mysteriously courting come out and canvass for him, because the activist base is staying home.

...maybe Nye could stop worrying more about his re-election and worry more about the people who elected him to serve them. I'm uninsured, health care is currently out of my reach. In my opinion, he's part of the problem we have in Washington, he took $125,000 from the health insurance industry, the Chamber of Commerce makes commercials on his behalf, honestly when it counts the most, he votes the same way Riegel or Drake would vote, its disappointing.

Then his campaign rep is going to turn around and ask people to collect petitions for Nye, practically everybody said that if Nye voted their way on health care they would collect some for him, if not, they could forget it. This is only the start of what his campaign can expects from us good Democrats come election time.


Palmer then receives a message from Jonas Courey of the Nye campaign, asking, "Should I thank you in advance for helping elect Scott (Cuccinelli) Rigell? :):)" Palmer replies:
hey, I'm just being honest with you Jonas, I'm in politics for the issues, not the people, if Nye is more interested in re-election than he is principle, than I'd rather have somebody else. I'm tired of career politicians putting their re-election ahead of personal conviction, its the problem with Washington. At least with Rigell we know what we're getting, its unfortunate about Nye, I thought finally we'd get an ally from the 2nd....that wasn't that case.
Yeah, it's getting rough down in the 2nd CD for freshman Rep. Nye. But the thing is, all Glenn Nye has to do in order to turn that situation around is to vote YES on health care reform legislation. If he does, as I've said previously, I will do what I can for his reelection. If he doesn't, well then, let's just say I've got a lot better things to do with my time (dust the house, wash the car, take a nap, etc.).

UPDATE: Palmer adds, "I hope Nye has the courage to do what is right and vote in favor of this legislation, it would mean a lot to me, and thousands of uninsured in the 2nd. Do what's right Glenn, vote for us!" I agree 100%.

UPDATE #2: This sparked a great deal of discussion both on Facebook and here.  Later in the discussion, Randy Klear wrote:

He said no such thing, Alex. He said that he couldn't say how Nye was voting at this moment. In November Nye said he voted against the House bill because of insufficient cost controls. Personally I suspect the CBO report today, plus the fact that he'd be committing political suicide with another no vote, will be enough to push him into the yes column.

[...]

He's a newly hired field director, and he's not likely to be in the loop when Nye's own chief of staff and campaign manager probably haven't been told yet. You are willfully misinterpreting his remarks.


And Diane Kaufman wrote:
I agree with Randy. I invited Jonas to introduce himself to the committee and speak for about 1 minute and then next he was vilified. I understand that everyone is passionate on this issue, and I am glad that they are vocal, but he is NOT in the loop of how the Congressman may or may not be voting. And, Jonas did NOT come to the committee to tell us how Nye would be voting in the health care bill. What I want to know is what's new? We are all waiting for the vote on the health care bill. That will be news. Letting our congressman know how we feel is not news. We have been doing that for months. On the other hand, Cooch and his decisions are harmful AND news.

And the discussion proceeded from there. Check it all out here, as obviously there are several sides to this story. However, in the end, what I care about - the ONLY thing I care about - is that Glenn Nye votes the right way on health care, and also on other issues important to me like clean energy/climate change and many others. With regard to health care, I guess we'll find out in less than 72 hours, and then we'll go from there.
lowkell :: Norfolk City Democratic Committee Vice Chair Slams Nye on Health Care "No" Vote
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tragic, 2nd district needs reform (0.00 / 0)
It's tragic that Congressman Nye is ignoring the 136,000 families and 13,900 small businesses that would get tax credits and assistance to help them afford health care coverage http://bit.ly/cSs8mX

Nye (Corporatist-Virginia) (0.00 / 0)
Good bye Glen, Hello primary challenge or Hello Greens.  

I'm way past caring what happens to Glenn Nye (0.00 / 0)
He's so middle-of-the-road, he'll be run over come November. Democrats are sick of him, Republicans won't vote for him regardless how much he panders to them, and moderates won't turn out high enough in a midterm to save his butt.

What are we? Trained Seals? (0.00 / 0)
First let me say, "thanks Lowell" for the changes to Blue Virginia. But to the point of the post, I guess that we are just supposed to vote for whoever has the little "d" behind their name on the ballot. Well, I don't know about you, but I'm tired of the little "d" folks and will be only showing up for those with the big "D" and the bona fides to prove it along the way. Call it what you want; a litmus test, purity, whatever... but I will not be treated as a trained circus animal any longer while every democrat who gets elected thinks the only way to win again is to be a republican light. (Ask Sen. Deeds how that's working out.) Well let's see how many commercials the chamber of commerce runs for the one term congressman in November... As for me, my time and money can be put to better uses. Congressman Periello comes to mind.

"A liberal is someone who believes in life before death." Henry Howell, July 1969

Agreed, we should prioritize our time (0.00 / 0)
...and energies, focusing on those "Democrats" who act most like "Democrats." We also have to be strategic, no doubt, in the sense that we should consider the characteristics of a district and other factors (e.g., how heinous the Republican opponent is), but the bottom line is that we are NOT "trained seals," we are human beings with brains and we think for ourselves.

Follow me on Twitter.

[ Parent ]
Some politicians don't understand how or when triangulation works...... (4.00 / 1)
There are circumstances when candidates and elected officials can posture or vote against their own party or its most loyal constituent groups, but these people have to be careful to discern how and when to do it.

The big thing is they have to realize when posturing against the Democratic base won't help them with non-base voters.  This is one of those instances.  The cake is baked against Nye and all Democrats with anti-HCR voters who treat HCR as a voting issue.  But for pro-HCR voters, whether to show up at all for the Nyes of the country depends on seeing a "yes" vote.

Nye already has voted against his own party on enough high-profile bills to make a case that he's no liberal.  He needs to realize Democratic voters are not sure he's worth showing up for, especially in Virginia's unique circumstance of having nothing else on the ballot this fall driving turnout.  This bill's outcome DECIDES whether the Democratic Party can govern, and the fate of the ENTIRE Democratic agenda at least for several years, perhaps for a generation.  Nye needs to realize that, and more importantly realize that most rank-and-file Democrats realize that and will act accordingly in response to his vote.


Exactly (4.00 / 1)
Republicans are screaming "if Dems do this they'll be slaughtered in November".  I asked a question to Brian S. over at TC that, if the 20 or so Dems who haven't said yes all vote "no", will the Republican party not run against them in November - or at least not call them socialist/marxist/communist/whatever.  The answer, of course, was no on both counts.  I mean, after the 2002 elections, after Dems gave into Bush in the name of "Homeland Security", the Bushies repaid guys like Max Cleland by running slanderous, destructive races.  Democrats trusted Republicans to at least be civil after Democratic backing for all of the post-9/11 stuff, and all Democrats got was a knife in the back and an extra shiv in the stomach.

Right now, the only way guys like Nye might win reelection is to vote "yes" and then work hard for six months to get Dems to come out and vote.  For any one of them that votes "no", they won't pick up any Republican or independent votes, and they sure as shit won't get a lot of Democrats out this year.  

Even with the Republican propaganda machine of the past year calling Dems every name short of anti-christ, the polls show pretty much a 50/50 split.  Get this thing passed, get it implemented, and I will bet everything I have that the polls will go back up, donations will start flowing, and Dems everywhere will get very motivated.  Well, at least motivated for Dems who stayed true and voted yes.


[ Parent ]
NYE = A Republican in the Democratic Caucus (0.00 / 0)
Congressman Nye has the most anti-Democratic voting record of any member in the Democratic Caucus. By consistently voting against the President and progressives he is, in fact, carrying the water for Eric Cantor. I don't live in the 2nd CD, I live in the First, but if I did live in areas "represented" by Glen Nye, then I, as a progressive Democrat, would withhold my vote in November as long as his name appeared on the ballot.

We live in a nation predicated upon the profound notion of "government by the consent of the governed." It is my belief that good, strong, progressive Democrats cast their ballot for Congressman Nye, they are, in fact "consenting" to have Nye screw them over.

I would hope that after this weekend one of those strong progressives would emerge and challenge Mr. Nye for the Democratic Party's nomination. Should such an endeavor fail, then Mr. Nye will have only himself and his shameful record of Republican accommodation to blame for his forthcoming defeat.  


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