Some Dems Mute on Obama

[autigeremt 6,717]

News

Ryan Grim

Thu Jun 12, 5:06 AM ET

The presidential race may be topic A, B and C in Washington these days, but some people are just too busy to think about it — particularly, it seems, centrist Democrats from conservative districts, who aren’t exactly eager to align themselves with Sen. Barack Obama.

Rep. Travis Childers, elected just weeks ago in a Mississippi special election, hasn’t endorsed anyone in the presidential race yet. “We have had our head down at work, trying to get our feet on the ground up here,” said Childers’ chief of staff, Brad Morris. “The presidential politics just has not been on our mind.”

Rep. Heath Shuler, a freshman Democrat from right-leaning North Carolina, has also been too busy to endorse. After Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton carried his district in the North Carolina primary, Shuler said he would cast his superdelegate vote for her at the Democratic convention.

Now that Clinton is out of the race? “We’ve gone back to his work up there in the House,” said Shuler spokesman Andrew Whalen. “We’re not really too focused on the presidential [race].”

Centrist Democrats aren’t the only ones cautious about embracing their party’s presumptive nominee. Neither Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) nor Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has endorsed Sen. John McCain, and a lot of GOP members will spend the fall trying to put distance between themselves and President Bush.

But with the media focused for a moment on Democratic defections — Rep. Dan Boren, a Democrat from a conservative Oklahoma district, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he won’t be endorsing Obama — the GOP is enjoying the show.

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ken Spain said that Democrats who don’t endorse Obama “wrongly believe that by disassociating themselves from Obama that they can escape any criticism or comparison in terms of their liberal positions on issues like their shared support for government-run health care and massive tax hikes.”

The NRCC identified five such Democrats in a statement distributed Tuesday.

One of them, Kansas Rep. Nancy Boyda, has since decided to endorse Obama. Another, Ohio Rep. Charlie Wilson, had done so a few days before the statement went out — which is to say, only after Clinton announced that she was suspending her campaign.

Responding to the news of Boren’s non-endorsement, Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor noted in an e-mail that “Obama has a long history of working across the aisle to get things done and ... he’s worked with some of the most conservative members — including Congressman Boren’s Republican colleague from Oklahoma, [sen.] Tom Coburn.”

“Obviously this primary process was long and highly competitive, but we’re confident that the party will come together to beat John McCain,” he added.

But Boren isn’t the only congressional Democrat who won’t be endorsing Obama.

A spokesman for Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.) told Politico on Thursday that Mahoney will remain neutral. So will Rep. Jim Marshall, a Democrat in a conservative Georgia district. Marshall didn’t endorse Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004, and he won’t endorse anyone this year, either. “Jim, as a rule, doesn’t get involved in other people’s campaigns,” said spokesman Doug Moore.

Louisiana Democratic Rep. Charlie Melancon has yet to endorse Obama. Until Thursday, neither had newly elected Louisiana Rep. Don Cazayoux. “Since coming to office, it has been Rep. Cazayoux’s position to let the presidential primary process play out, which it has,” said Cazayoux spokesman Lewis Lowe. “Now that Sen. Obama is the presumptive nominee, Rep. Cazayoux looks forward to working with him to improve the economy and increase access to quality health care for all Americans.”

Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), a longtime Obama backer, said that he harbors no ill will for Democrats who stay on the sidelines.

“People’s responsibility, first and foremost, is to get reelected,” Davis said.

“I defer to any member’s judgment on what they need to do,” he added. “They’re all loyal Democrats who vote with Democrats on a range of issues.”

[CCTAU 3,350]

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“People’s responsibility, first and foremost, is to get reelected,” Davis said.

This pretty much sums it up. I thought their responsibility first and foremost was to represent their constituents. Herein lies the biggest problem in congress today.

EXIST TO EXIST.

[autigeremt 6,717]

AMEN!!!!!

[WinCrimson 61]

This always happens and does so in both parties.

Here's what MS Senator Thad Cochran has to say on McCain...

Cochran said his choice was prompted partly by his fear of how McCain might behave in the Oval Office.

"The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine," Cochran said about McCain by phone. "He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."

At least 14 Republican members of Congress have refused to endorse or publicly support Sen. John McCain for president, and more than a dozen others declined to answer whether they back the Arizona senator.

Many of the recalcitrant GOP members declined to detail their reasons for withholding support, but Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) expressed major concerns about McCain’s energy policies and Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) cited the Iraq war.

A handful of other Republicans on Capitol Hill made the distinction between “endorsing” and “supporting,” adding that while they have not endorsed, they do support McCain.

In recent weeks, much of the discussion and debate about party unity has been on the Democrats’ side, amid their protracted presidential primary. Yet achieving harmony is a concern on both sides of the aisle this year.

It is not unusual for certain factions of the Democratic and Republican parties not to embrace their respective candidates for president. McCain’s campaign seized on some Democrats’ reticence about Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), issuing a release on Tuesday that highlighted that Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.) is not endorsing the presumptive nominee. While some conservative Democrats have yet to endorse Obama and didn’t back Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004, there are both centrist and conservative Republicans representing various parts of the country who are not embracing McCain.

Republican members who have not endorsed or publicly backed McCain include Sens. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and Reps. Jones, Peterson, John Doolittle (Calif.), Randy Forbes (Va.), Wayne Gilchrest (Md.), Virgil Goode (Va.), Tim Murphy (Pa.), Ron Paul (Texas), Ted Poe (Texas), Todd Tiahrt (Kan.), Dave Weldon (Fla.) and Frank Wolf (Va.). [Wolf contacted The Hill following publication of the article to correct his staff’s error. His staff had said he has “yet to endorse McCain” and did not return follow-up phone calls this week].

Throughout his career in the House and Senate, McCain has been at odds with his party on a range of issues, including campaign finance reform, earmarks, immigration, healthcare, taxes and energy.

Some Senate Republicans were especially irked with McCain’s role in the “Gang of 14” deal on judicial nominations.

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who has been sharply critical of McCain on immigration, told The Hill in February, “I don’t like McCain. I don’t like him at all.”

Tancredo spokesman Mac Zimmerman said Tancredo won’t endorse McCain because he fears the senator would repudiate it like he did with the formal backing of controversial pastor John Hagee.

However, Tancredo told ABC News this week he will reluctantly vote for McCain.

Gilchrest and Hagel, who disagree with McCain’s views on Iraq, have been mum on their endorsements. Kathy Hicks, spokeswoman for Gilchrest, said, “Since he was not reelected to public office, he’s keeping his thoughts private.” Gilchrest lost in a Republican primary earlier this year.

Jones, who has voted repeatedly with Democrats on Iraq, said he can’t back McCain until he gets “a better explanation of the plans for Iraq and more discussion on the economy.” Jones added that no one from McCain’s campaign has reached out to him.

Peterson wants answers on energy from McCain’s campaign. In a recent interview, Peterson noted McCain’s stance on climate change, saying, “If global warming is our top energy priority, this country has no economic future.” Peterson, who didn’t endorse any candidate in the GOP primary, said, “None of them made energy their top issue.”

McCain senior campaign aide Douglas Holtz-Eakin is scheduled to meet with Peterson on June 24.

Peterson spokesman Patrick Creighton made it clear that his boss will not be pulling the lever for Obama: “I can guarantee that John Peterson is not going to publicly support or vote for Obama.”

Paul, meanwhile, is still campaigning in the presidential race, and his campaign boasts on its website that he received more than 45,000 votes on June 3 in the final three Republican primaries.

After clinching the nomination in early March, McCain attracted less-than-expected support in the later primary states — drawing less than 80 percent of the vote in Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

In some ways, the lukewarm backing of some lawmakers could be a blessing, because congressional approval ratings are at an all-time low. And McCain himself has touted his independence, proudly pointing out that he has at times upset some of his Republican colleagues in Washington.

McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said, “John McCain has strong support among Republicans and even some others in the Congress for taking principled stands. While his support is rock solid, it also shouldn't be a surprise that Sen. McCain's bold record of independence on the issues isn't appreciated by every single Republican on Capitol Hill.”

Though the vast majority of congressional Republicans said they endorse McCain’s presidential bid, many supporters were hesitant to answer the question. Some of the members’ spokesmen either confirmed or denied their boss’s support but declined to speak for attribution about the rationale behind that member’s decision.

A few Republicans would not go so far as to say they support McCain, only confirming that they will back the Republican nominee in the general election.

“He will support the Republican nominee, who is likely to be John McCain,” said Wayne Hoffman, spokesman for Rep. Bill Sali (R-Idaho).

Doolittle’s and Tiahrt’s offices did not specify their disagreements with McCain, but both lawmakers were ardent opponents of McCain’s push for campaign finance reform six years ago.

McCain has consistently mocked the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere,” the infamous earmark championed by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska). Young’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Other members offered support for McCain, but indicated their opposition to a few of his positions.

Rep. James Walsh (R-N.Y.), for example, publicly backs McCain, but strongly disagrees with the presumptive nominee on immigration.

Raj Bharwani, spokesman for Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), said, “Since he is a Republican, he would support the Republican nominee.” But, to get Sensenbrenner’s endorsement, the congressman would like “to have a meeting to discuss their differences.”

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[autigeremt 6,717]

Yes it does, tideswipper.....but it's been BLASTED on here about the former like it's ONLY a McCain issue.

Not anymore, Obama. Welcome to the REAL WORLD.

[WinCrimson 61]

It's because back when he had a pair he took the party's darling child to task, much like Obama has done to the Clinton machine over the past few months.

That, and all the liberal talking points he used to carry in his back pocket before he made his leap to the right of Attila the Hun.

And what is a "tideswipper", anyway?