Dear Betsy,

Markey fell into a GOP trap. (4.00 / 1)

No doubt Dickwad and his merry band of tricksters are celebrating Markey's "no" vote more for political than for policy reasons. (1) As Creigh Deeds's experience in Virginia illustrates, bucking your party and president suppresses base turnout. Markey's "no" vote sent an unmistakable message to the folks most likely to support her in Fort Collins, Greeley, and Longmont: stay home. (2) Unaffiliated voters are a diverse group without a single, identifiable ideology. However, if the claim "I vote for the person, not the party" has any validity, Markey hasn't done herself any favors. Markey has now defined herself as the candidate who got rattled by teabaggers and voted against her president and party. When the pressure was on, Markey choked. Someone who "votes for the person,not the party" can now ask an extremely damning question: If Betsy Markey is incapable of loyalty to her friends, why should I assume she's got my back?

There is no elite, so take your place in the driver's seat.

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by: Stagarite @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 11:51:22 AM CST

I can name 64 Democrats who damaged the Democratic brand (4.00 / 1)

Altmire
Baca
Barrow
Berry
Bishop (GA)
Boccieri
Boren
Bright
Cardoza
Carney
Chandler
Childers
Cooper
Costa
Costello
Cuellar
Dahlkemper
Davis (AL)
Davis (TN)
Donnelly (IN)
Doyle
Driehaus
Ellsworth
Etheridge
Gordon (TN)
Griffith
Hill
Holden
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kildee
Langevin
Lipinski
Lynch
Marshall
Matheson
McIntyre
Melancon
Michaud
Mollohan
Murtha
Neal (MA)
Oberstar
Obey
Ortiz
Perriello
Peterson
Pomeroy
Rahall
Reyes
Rodriguez
Ross
Ryan (OH)
Salazar
Shuler
Skelton
Snyder
Space
Spratt
Stupak
Tanner
Taylor
Teague
Wilson (OH)

The Stupak 64 were all too willing to sell out half the American population. What happened to the Democratic Party platform adopted in Denver that said:

When women still earn 76 cents for every dollar that a man earns, it doesn't just hurt women; it hurts families and children....We recognize that women are the majority of adults who make the minimum wage, and are particularly hard-hit by recession and poverty; we will protect Social Security, increase the minimum wage, and expand programs to combat poverty and improve education so that parents and children can lift themselves out of poverty. We will work to combat violence against women. We believe that standing up for our country means standing up against sexism and all intolerance. Demeaning portrayals of women cheapen our debates, dampen the dreams of our daughters, and deny us the contributions of too many. Responsibility lies with us all.

Stupak-Pitts prevents women who would receive federal subsidies for health insurance in the new system from purchasing a health insurance plan that covers abortion. Let me reiterate that: Even if they use their own private dollars to pay a portion of their health insurance premiums for an insurance plan sold by a private insurance company, women still could not purchase a health insurance plan that covers abortion . Under the House health bill, insurance companies will compete to grab the 36 - 47 million currently uninsured Americans, many of whom cannot afford health insurance and so will rely on a public subsidy. So those private insurers will offer plans that are eligible to be purchased with subsidies -- plans that DON'T cover abortion. Result: Insurance plans offered in the private market will exclude abortion.

The long-standing Hyde Amendment already bans federal dollars from paying for abortion care except in extremely rare circumstances. For more than 30 years, low-income women have been discriminated against in terms of access to safe, legal abortion care. Now that gender- and economic-based discrimination just casts a wider net to include all low- and middle-class women who aren't fortunate enough to be able to pay full price for their health insurance premiums. The calculus is simple:

Hyde + Stupak-Pitts = NO INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR A LEGAL MEDICAL PROCEDURE

How is that consistent with eliminating the economic disparities women face in America?

The Democratic Party has taken pains to portray itself as the "big tent party" that welcomes Americans of all race, creed, color, gender, and sexual orientation. With their vote on Stupak-Pitts, the Stupak 64 made it clear that outreach is pure political spin, as hollow as the Republican Party's "small government" (*unless it comes to deciding who you sleep with; when, whether, and with whom you have children; and when and how you die) mantra. The Stupak 64 made it clear the Democratic Party considers its much-lauded principles worth less than the Constitution under George W. Bush. You think the Stupak vote won't resonate through the party? Ask the Democratic women in your community how proud they are to be a Democrat today and how long they're willing to vote the party line.

thoughts on decisions made by people who don't empathize with my reality

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by: irkedbyzealots @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 12:21:23 PM CST

I hardly need to throw out the Party plank on abortion, but here's a reminder (4.00 / 1)

For the Stupak 64:

The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right. [emphasis mine]

So explain to me if you will, how the Stupak 64 damaged the Democratic brand less than Markey & others who voted "no" on the Stupak-amended version of the bill?

thoughts on decisions made by people who don't empathize with my reality

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by: irkedbyzealots @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 12:56:02 PM CST

I'm not sold (0.00 / 0)

I think Dems will only be discouraged and stay home if health care doesn't pass.  If it does, I think Markey won't be harmed with Dems by this vote, and may get some independent cred.  She is, after all, in tune with her district.  

Salazar isn't in a comparable position.  His re-election is much more assured than Markey's.

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by: Emma Anne @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 13:40:32 PM CST

Wish I could disagree with you (3.00 / 1)

about Salazar, but unfortunately I can't.  It's a shame too - Salazar has done more to hurt Democrats and Democratic interests than Markey has, yet will have an easier path toward reelection.

A Responsible Plan for Iraq: endorsed by Jared Polis

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by: WeatherDem @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 15:07:16 PM CST

[ Parent ]

An Open Letter to Betsy Markey (4.00 / 1)

Dear Congresscritter Markey,

Enjoy the salutation, because that's as civil as this letter is likely to get.

Nice work there on the health care reform vote.  You must be proud to be the only member of the Colorado Democrats in Congress who voted no.

Let me tell you what you've won with that vote:

1)  A demoralized base wondering if you're worth voting for, let alone walking the pavement for like many did in the last election.  I was one of them--three Saturdays in a row before the election, walking door to door, despite my decrepit knees.  Yes, I was mainly doing it for Obama, but I was doing it for all the Democratic candidates.  People like me won you that election.  And we can lose it for you, too.

2)  The votes of probably ten independent voters who might have been swung by this vote.  The others probably would have voted for you over the Republican or the Republican over you no matter what.

3)  A Democratic leadership who will remember this vote the next time you have something you need for Colorado.  Thanks a lot, Betsy.  You gave us two fuckings for the price of one.

4)  If I have anything to say about it, you've won a primary challenge that will make your ears bleed.  It's just not enough for you to be better than Marilyn Musgrave.  (Hell, that's like being better than getting shot with a nail gun, or better than living on Venus, or better than...oh, hell, fill in your own blank: ____________________________________________________________________________)

5)  A lifetime supply of Rice-A-Roni, though you'll have to talk to Nancy Pelosi to get it.

Remember this:  you cannot win this district without the enthusiastic support of the Democrats living here.  When Karl Rove is telling Democrats they need to run to the middle, you know that's political suicide.  You blew this one, Betsy.  All you can do now is hope that you get a shot at redemption so you don't end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear:  Americans want health care reform.  They want a public option.  They want this, and if you give it to them, they'll reward you.  If you stand in the way, they will punish you.  It's that fucking simple.

A concerned constituent, a.k.a. BuggyQ

crossposted from first-draft.com

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by: BuggyQ @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 15:02:34 PM CST

It's not just voters, Betsy (4.00 / 1)

Yes, at the end it's voters in your district you'll be counting on. But there will be many fewer of them going for you this time around. And ...

It's also the us supporters outside your district you've lost. You don't realize how much support ($) you got from outside your district just because, even though you were a relatively unknown, your were Not-Musgrave?

Stupid move, Markey. Both for not consulting with knowledgeable Dems back home, and for dropping your chicken s*** vote against our president just when he and the Dem party needed all of us.

As for J. Salazar: Dems from that part of the state have a bad habit of changing parties anyway. He's been something of a lost cause all along.

Looking forward to a primary up north, even though it's not my district.

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by: GalapagoLarry @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 11:57:11 AM CST