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  •  He walks the line well for his district (1+ / 0-)

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    don mikulecky

    He is definitely conservative on some issues, but has been good about being on the right side of the big issue, de-funding the war in Iraq, committing to a decent streak of "no" votes over the last couple of years.   He also seems to be receptive to learning both sides of issues, and in this case, much credit goes to MaineImpeach who took the time to organize signatures and undergo a successful dialogue with him over the last year.  

    He's not perfect, but will also give him much credit - he's taking an popular position with his constituents, while going against the pressure of the Beltway thinkers in his party.

    by crodri on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 09:17:02 AM PDT

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    •  He does seem to try and walk.... (2+ / 0-)

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      crodri, don mikulecky

      a fine line.  I'm don't know if that is because he bought into the beltway 'wisdom' that anything that looks like criticism of Bush would hurt him in his conservative district, or because he really believed in some of the things he was voting for.

      But lately he seems to be figuring out that the beltway crowd don't know their ass from a hole in the ground, and has been much more critical of the Bush administration.

      "The meek shall inherit nothing" - F. Zappa

      by cometman on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 09:31:41 AM PDT

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      •  He is a work in progress... (0+ / 0-)

        Despite his shortcomings, it is encouraging that he is willing to change his mind on issues.  If this is a sign that he responds well to logically-presented arguments done in a polite respectful manner, then there's no end to his potential.  Now we should figure out what Tom Allen's objections are and address those...

        by crodri on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 10:04:05 AM PDT

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      •  I think (0+ / 0-)

        he's pretty lockstep in his beliefs. For what it's worth, he ran against a pro-choice Republican and won in 2002 and underperformed largely because of skepticism on his pro-life views.

        I vacation in the Maine 2nd and have friends there. It's a very moderate district, very skeptical of the far left and far right. Before Michaud and Baldacci, the district was represented by Senator Snowe. Snowe pretty much fits in this district. It usually votes the way the independents do, and recently that's been Democratic.

        The irony is there are some issues where this district is WAY off to the left and right on. It's about as right-wing on immigration as parts of Orange County, California and as left-wing on the Iraq war (and war in general) as maybe Seattle.

        by nrafter530 on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 11:54:19 PM PDT

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