Not so long ago I got off the phone with a member of John Barrow’s campaign team. He told me that John would be voting NO. The reasons given were quite a few, but they all boiled down to fear.
John Barrow is afraid that the Republicans will use a YES vote to beat him in November. He has made the calculation that he can vote NO in a District that Barack Obama won by 54.09% because he thinks the Democrats in the 12th will have no options other than giving him their support in November–no matter how much he betrays them.
Almost one out of every four people in his District do not have any health insurance, but John seems to feel that it is OK to tell them to fuck off because he is afraid that Glenn Beck might say something mean about him.
He is a spineless coward, but that means he could change his vote between now and Sunday if he is given reasons to fear the backlash of his NO vote more than he already fears Fox News and Republican talking points.
So call him. His numbers are below the fold. And if you have connections to an organization (Unions, the NAACP, AARP, etc.) that could send the weasel a message–encourage them to give Barrow a call as well.
It might also be a good time to send Regina Thomas–his Primary opponent–some money.
If you are in the 12th District of Georgia, give Barrow a call:
Washington, DC / p: (202) 225-2823 / f: (202) 225-3377
Augusta, GA / p: (706)722-4494 / f: (706) 722-4496
Milledgeville, GA / p:(478) 452-4611 / f: (478) 451-0717
Sandersville, GA / p: (478) 553-1923 / f: (478) 553-9215
Savannah, GA / p: (912) 354-7282 / f: (912) 354-7782
Vidalia, GA / p: (912) 537-9301 / f: (912) 537-9266
If you are in Georgia outside of the 12th District, give John a call as well and let him know that his dreams of running for the Senate in 2014 are dead if he votes NO on HCR.
And if you are in the rest of the Nation, call and ask him to put the needs of our Nation above his ambition.
If John Barrow does vote NO, I think he should be a target for defeat in the Primary. His entire rational for voting NO is because he does not think 2010 will be a base election. His aide indicated that John did not think he could rely on African Americans to turn out and vote unless Barack Obama was on the ballot. If this is Barrows thinking he is more than a coward, he is also an idiot.
Well, it is time to get back to the phones.
Cheers
dengre
MikeJ
Is he concerned about winning in the 12th, or is he eying a statewide run? GA as a whole didn’t go for Obama. Sounds to me like he’s pulling a Harold Ford, i.e. screwing his constituents as a platform to win the redneck vote.
Bob L
This clown even as two brain cells to rub together; He really thinks the conservatives will vote for him one way or the other? The only question is how motivated they will be to come out and vote against him and they will be a lot less motivated if it looks like the Democrats have moment.
This is the real pisser on those blue dogs monkey dicking with HRC; if they had some kind of national insurance this red necks would wake up the next day and realize they can go see a doctor since it the rural folks most screwed in the current system. They might just decide the Democrats are a good thing.
MattMinus
WTF are these guys thinking? DO they really believe that if they vote “no” the rednecks will vote for them instead of a Republican?
Primary every “no”. If they can’t do this, we don’t need them anyhow.
JMY
Arthur Davis is doing the same thing in Alabama.
SiubhanDuinne
Thanks, Dengre. I just posted this news a thread or so down and had given up the idea of calling — but your post inspires me to do so tomorrow. I will certainly use the leverage of sending money to his primary opponent and working for her — not to mention his supposed run for the Senate in 2012 (or was it 2014?)
Jim Tanner of GA has also said he will vote against the bill, I am assuming for many of the same reasons. But Sanford Bishop is on board, and I believe he was wavering for a while.
Dreggas
wow. All this time we hypothesized about the type of person a dem would be to vote no on this. That is, scared of republicans, needs to burnish some kind of conservative cred, all the old tropes and here was have them all wrapped up into one package of shit sandwich with extra nuts.
liberty60
@Bob L:
My thoughts exactly- I keep thinking of every single epic war movie ever made, and there is always one quavering coward who blubbers- “But they said they would let us go if we were nice to them! They sound reasonable!”
Seriously- does anyone with a (D) after their name not know they are already on the hit list, no matter how many times they fall to their knees and ostentatiously venerate St. Ronaldus Magnus?
(edited to add) Here, let me quote from RedState itself, addressing wavering Blue Dogs-
“Now as my friend Moe Lane would say, this doesn’t bother me. Without question, I’ll prefer the Republican who replaces you in the House, and I’ll prefer Speaker Boehner, too. But because I really oppose this health care bill, I just thought I’d point this out. You’re the one digging the grave. You might want to toss away the shovel, while you still have a chance.”
Keith G
I have been quite bewildered by the lack of activity by the minority voting groups that traditionally have been fellow Democrats.
Darn it all. We need those voices and I have not heard them. Where are they?
WereBear
@liberty60: The quotes write themselves:
Violet
When this health care bill is finally voted on, can we have a list of “Democrats who voted No” so we can see if they are primary-able (either they have a primary challenger or the filing date hasn’t already passed)? I’d love to see a sort of “Never Forget” type of campaign so that their vote comes back to haunt them. This is a landmark vote and they shouldn’t get off lightly if they don’t have the courage to step up when needed.
Mark S.
Every time I see this guy’s name I think of the guy who wrote songs for the Grateful Dead.
Rebecca
@Mark S.:
I think of John Barrowman, unfortunately.
numbskull
Well, there is precedent in Georgia for pretty much this behavior and outcome. Sucks, but Barrow has a point. I think he’s letting it drive his decision too much, but that part of the analysis is correct. What is not correct is that voting No will in any way help him. The analysis SHOULD have been: “I can’t count on a huge A-A vote w/o BO on the ballot, so I need to do whatever it takes to get every single vote from anyone who might vote for a Democrat. I know, I’ll TRUMPET support for HCR.” Instead, he somehow thinks that there are rednecks out there who will vote for a Democrat based on a single, quiet “No” vote. Nah gah happen. He’ll be viewed as weak for betraying his own party and won’t get votes from the base or from a single Republican.
Is a low IQ a requisite for Blue Dogs?
Admiral_Komack
“His aide indicated that John did not think he could rely on African Americans to turn out and vote unless Barack Obama was on the ballot.”
-What has he done for African-Americans in his district?
If he cannot articulate what he has done for African-Americans and others in his district to those living in his district, well, maybe he needs to lose.
jayackroyd
mailbox is full.
kth
@Violet: If it passes (as seems fairly likely), I won’t be interested in reprisals against the Dem noes. If this guy’s preferred outcome is for the legislation to pass, but without him having to vote for it, he wouldn’t be the only one trying to play it that way.
Obviously if it does go down to defeat, then reprisals are exactly the order of the day, starting with the ‘no’ in the safest seat. Sounds like this guy would be close to the top of the list.
Admiral_Komack
I have a question:
Why were the first six words of my last post (not the quote) struck through?
kth
Admiral, you can format your text to
strike throughdraw a line through parts of the text. Lots of posters use that html feature for ironic effect. There’s a button along the top row of the text box(marked “del“) that automates the coding. Possibly you pressed it inadvertently.Honus
As Harry Truman said, given a choice between a real republican and a fake republican, republicans will vote for the real republican every time.
Admiral_Komack
@kth:
-OK
Thank you.
clonecone
He doesn’t even have a functioning website for his campaign. The only thing candidates want from people outside of their districts is money, so I like to call the campaign offices instead of the congressional offices. I talk to the people taking donations over the phone and explain that I am prepared to donate to candidates in tough districts who have the courage to vote for HCR.
Regina Thomas just earned a few dollars.
Violet
@kth:
I’ll still be interested in revenge. If the Dems can’t be counted on to vote in the best interests of the American people when needed, what good are they?
I’d like to lose twenty pounds, but I don’t want to have to change my diet and increase my exercise. But it doesn’t work that way. If he wants to reap the benefits of it, he should be willing to do the hard work – ie, make the difficult vote.
Not to mention it’s in his own best interests. Dems aren’t going to be motivated to vote for someone in a mid-term election year who can’t be bothered to vote for key Dem legislation.
clonecone
Self fulfilling prophecy. He’ll vote like Bachmann and Steve King and then blame it on black people when he loses.
bay of arizona
Obama cut a radio ad for him in his last primary – I hope he calls in that favor.
NobodySpecial
@Keith G:
Given unemployment rates among minorities in America at this moment, I’d suspect looking for a job instead of worrying about covering the backside of a
fair-weather friend of Obamapragmatist like him.Redshift
If you talk to the staffer again, tell them to take a close look at the gubernatorial race in Virginia. Creigh Deeds strategy was to play to his rural and conservative base, and assume that more moderate and liberal suburban and urban Democrats would vote for him because they had nowhere else to go. As the pool of “likely voters” became more conservative (because less conservative voters did have somewhere else to go — home), he pandered to them more and more, including saying that if health care reform included an opt-out, he might have the state opt out.
Then have them look at the results.
The Democratic base may not have anyone better to vote for, but that doesn’t mean they’ll vote for you.
tesslibrarian
When I told my husband about Barrow wanting to run for Senate in 2014, and that’s why he was going to vote against health care reform, his first reaction, pre-caffeine, pre-breakfast, still in why-do-you-have-insomnia mode was, “As a DEMOCRAT?????”
Sadly, John is right. We have little choice. It will be a sucky vote for a bad Dem or insane right-wing whacko. This is why my husband wants to leave the southeast.
Terry
No, he probably knows that but just wants to dampen down the enthusiasm of Republican voters to kick him out of office.
Dennis G.
@numbskull:
What Barrow fails to note is that there is a competitive race for Governor and it looks like Michael Thurmond the Commissioner of the GA Dept of Labor–a pretty popular African-American politician in Georgia–might run for Lt. Governor.
Off year elections are always base elections. Barrow thinks he can win by pissing on his base and bowing to the wingnuts. That is just plain stupid. In 2006 he won by 800 some odd votes. It was the base that saved his ass. This year the dipshit is on his own.
It will be best to defeat him in the primary.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
This is what is wrong with our congress, people who want to make a career out of it. They are not going to do the right thing when the time calls for it, instead they are going to do whatever is necessary to win the next election. This is why our government screws up so often, these people are in it to win and if that means that we as a country have to lose for them to do it then we lose. Pols like this guy are leeches on the system, they attach themselves to it and do whatever is necessary to stay attached to it.
That’s why we’re in the fucking mess we are.
HRA
What a schmuck!
I don’t remember his name but I think he is a Representative from Ohio who said earlier today on MSNBC that he will vote yes even though it would cost him his seat. He also mentioned it will make his mother happy. Anyone know him? I will donate to him.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
@HRA:
An exception to the rule?! You might have just found a species that I thought was extinct; a politician who would rather do the right thing even if it costs them their job.
Find out who he is and I will be glad to send a few bucks his way.
Fair Economist
Barrow is a fool. Most of the Dems in his district are African-American and his solution to the risk that they might have low turnout is to spit in the face of the first African-American president. And after Obama endorsed him in a contentious primary last round, to boot!
Well, Regina Thomas would be a better Representative and more likely to get elected after Barrow’s latest goof, so maybe it will all work out. I just donated to her myself.
HRA
@DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal):
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/03/19/2233027.aspx
It’s Congressman Boccieri from Ohio.
Alien-Radio
I knew the name Regina Thomas rang a bell, Howie from DWT is a big supporter, and she sounds like a fantastic candidate, In a Mid term election, Where Obama doesn’t need to get votes from white southern reps for the dem primary, and If Barrow haemorrhages support from the democratic base, She has a pretty good chance.
http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2009/11/can-regina-thomas-beat-blue-dog-john.html
liz killorin
I canvassed for the Obama campaign in Savannah and John Barrow’s campaign materials were part of the package that we handed out as we went door to door. Barrow would not have won The district without Obama’s coat tails. This is how he repays us!!
SD
Senator Regina Thomas is not the right person for this job. #1 She’s Pro-life, this district is Pro-Choice end of discussion. I want Barrow out, but we have to find the right canidate to beat him. BUt this is the best time to be thinking of it. Let’s all get together and choose someone who can and will defeat him in Nov.