GOP Death Watch

12:03 pm EST March 27th, 2009 | Politics | 7 Comments

The NY-20 seat was supposed to be an easy, socially conservative pickup for the GOP. Now the President has endorsed Democrat Patrick Scott Murphy and put his campaign muscle behind him and Murphy’s now up in the polls.

Related Posts

  • No Related Post
«
»

7 Responses to “GOP Death Watch”

  1. C.S.Strowbridge says:
    March 27, 2009 at 12:24 pm

    If the Dems win here, it shows the Republican big plan is just not working.

  2. Dexter says:
    March 27, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    Scott Murphy, not Patrick. Patrick is in PA-8.

  3. Sean D. Martin says:
    March 27, 2009 at 2:00 pm

    Not really on topic, but something I was wondering about when reading the recent Michelle Bachman thread. Meandinernig thru an idle line of thought made me wonder if there is anything other than a Congressperson’s own preferences that keep them from switching parties once elected.

    That is, could someone run as a member of one party and then, after election, just decide to switch? I know people have, but is there any legal impediment to it? Can the receiving party refuse to have them as a member?

    If not, couldn’t someone run as a member of one party and then switch in some attempt to undermine the opposition from within. Mind you I’m not sure how this would offset adding to the opposition’s numbers, so I’m not sure there would be any advantage to Repubs by having one of theirs become members of the Dem majority, or to Dems if they had some join the Repub minority. I haven’t figured out any particularly subtle or clever strategy that would lead someone to WANT to do it. But COULD they? (And is there any advantage that it would provide, even if not big enough to offset the downsides?)

  4. Duros62 says:
    March 27, 2009 at 5:35 pm

    If the Dems win here, it shows the Republican big plan is just not working.

    There’s a plan?

    Making a pretty big assumption, there, aren’t you?

  5. Oliver Willis says:
    March 27, 2009 at 6:06 pm

    That is, could someone run as a member of one party and then, after election, just decide to switch?
    Yes.

    I know people have, but is there any legal impediment to it?
    No.

    Can the receiving party refuse to have them as a member?
    No, though they don’t have to include them in their caucus, meetings, etc. But its pretty impossible to actually kick someone out of a party (see Lieberman, Joe).

  6. Duros62 says:
    March 27, 2009 at 6:15 pm

    Yeah, but at least now, Joe has to sit by himself in the lunchroom.

  7. C.S.Strowbridge says:
    March 27, 2009 at 11:27 pm

    Me: “If the Dems win here, it shows the Republican big plan is just not working.”

    Duros62: “There’s a plan?
    Making a pretty big assumption, there, aren’t you?”

    Good point. Well made.