The Washington Monthly

November 20, 2009

PLAYING A GAME WITH ELLIPSES.... Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.), who is considered a vulnerable House incumbent next year, voted against health care reform two weeks ago. She'd been under fire from the National Republican Congressional Committee, and when push came to shove, Kosmas sided with the GOP on the bill.

Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell wrote a column recently about how Kosmas' vote didn't stop the Republican attacks.

Democrat Suzanne Kosmas may have irritated her liberal base when she voted against Nancy Pelosi's health-care bill. But she also backed the National Republican Congressional Committee into a corner ... at least she would have if the party hacks had any shame or integrity.
For months, the NRCC had been sending out releases, asking whether Kosmas had the courage to do the right thing (in its mind anyway) and stand up to "Pelosi's health-care takeover."

Well, she did. She voted against it.

This apparently confused the simpletons at the NRCC, who don't know how to do anything but gripe. So now, they are continuing to bash her on the topic, saying: OK, she may have done what they wanted -- but not for the reasons they wanted. So they still hate her.

Why anyone pays attention to these petulant partisans who couldn't care less about Central Florida issues is beyond me. In fact, I'm hearing from more and more Republicans -- including respected ones contemplating congressional campaigns -- that the NRCC's incessant whining makes the whole party look like amateur hour.

Jason Linkins, however, noted what the National Republican Campaign Committee did with the column, when the NRCC embraced it as their own. The Republicans' press release read:

Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell notes that Rep. Suzanne Kosmas --far from covering her political bases with a 'NO' vote on Pelosi's healthcare bill -- continues to get hit from both sides:
"Democrat Suzanne Kosmas may have irritated her liberal base when she voted against Nancy Pelosi's health-care bill...[and Republicans] are continuing to bash her on the topic, saying: OK, she may have done what they wanted -- but not for the reasons they wanted."

Got that? Maxwell blasted Republicans for being "party hacks" and "simpletons," with no "shame or integrity," who engage in such "petulant" partisanship "incessant whining" that the "the whole party look like amateur hour." And the National Republican Congressional Committee nevertheless thought this column was good for them, and eliminated the pesky criticism with some creatively placed ellipses.

The moral of the story: don't trust NRCC press releases.

—Steve Benen 4:55 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (7)

Comments

The real moral is if you are a Democrat why on earth would you do what the GOP wants? Wasn't there a song a few years back about nursing the snake back to health only have the snake bite the person who nursed it back to health because that was its "nature"? When will these folks learn that you can not be friends with snakes? If your constituents are more conservative than your national party I can understand not necessarily getting in lock step with the national party, but you can not try and make friends with the snakes.

Posted by: Terry on November 20, 2009 at 5:17 PM | PERMALINK

Alas, it's Democrat's Disease. For reasons I cannot fathom, Democrats persist in thinking that voting the way the GOP tells them to somehow buys them some grace from GOP attacks. It never has and never will. The pattern is set in stone.

Yet, Democrats continue to vote the GOP line, hoping the GOP won't attack. I'd hope Kosmas learned a lesson here, but I doubt it. She's probably shocked and hurt by the attacks. And wondering how much farther right she has to go before they'll leave her alone. She may well be too stupid to know that the answer is they will never ever leave her alone, even after she leaves office.

Posted by: Domage on November 20, 2009 at 5:35 PM | PERMALINK

While it's true Kosmas has faced the ire of her constituency, I hope we don't get another Tom Feeney in her place.

If only Scott Maxwell would move over here and run!

Posted by: Howey on November 20, 2009 at 5:35 PM | PERMALINK

Sometimes, Steve, I think you miss the forest for the trees.

Terry's spot-on here. The Republicans got a Democrat to vote against a Dem bill. That's called a Republican victory.

Of course they're still going to attack her, for two reasons: 1, she's a Democrat and 2, she's shown that she will bow to their gimmicks.

Who cares what they think of a newspaper column?

Posted by: springfielder on November 20, 2009 at 5:52 PM | PERMALINK

These Blue Morons are too stupid to be dogs. Dogs can find home if you drop them 500 miles away. Not the Blue Morons. The Blue Morons seem to be very bad at math.

Here's the math, morons: You start with 3 groups who consider voting for you. These are Democrats, Independents and Republicans. You immediately remove the Republicans. THEY WILL NOT VOTE FOR YOU WHATEVER YOU DO. IF YOU VOTE THE WAY THEY WANT, THEY WILL STILL VOTE AGAINST YOU. You are left with Democrats. Now, if you vote with the Republicans, you will piss off the Democrats. Some will still back you, but some will get so mad that they will stay home. So, by voting with the Republicans, you are going to lose maybe 25% of the Democrats. You are left with the Independents.

And so the question is: Can the vote for the Republican version get enough Independents to replace the Democrats that you will piss off?

So, kid, do you think I have one bullet in the gun or none? Kid, do you feel lucky?

Posted by: POed Lib on November 20, 2009 at 5:59 PM | PERMALINK

What springfielder and POed Lib said.

Republicans do not give a shit about consistency, or media coverage, or governing, or policy.

Republicans give a shit about winning. Republicans give a shit about beating Democrats. Republicans give a shit about making Democrats fear them. Republicans give a shit about making Democrats shape policy in ways that Republicans want, to the detriment of (1) Democrats, and (2) constituents; this is because if Republicans can prove that Democrats are so naive, impotent, and stupid that they cannot and will not defend themselves, they've got no business representing anyone else.

For some reason, though, there are always some Democrats willing to do any or all of those four things. I just wish they'd announce their plans *before* getting into office.

Posted by: Chris on November 21, 2009 at 1:27 AM | PERMALINK

What all of the posts so far seem to miss is that the health care bill is hugely unpopular is the Florida 24th congressional district. Rep. Kosmas was not really elected here -- Tom Feeney was un-elected.

Rep. Kosmas has only one shot at re-election. That is to represent the members of her district. With the exception of the health care vote, she has missed this mark by a wide margin. She voted for this ridiculous stimulus bill, Cap and Tax and a variety of other deficit gouging measures that the Democrats are passing.

Karen Diebel or Sandy Admas will almost certainly retire her after a single term unless she represents her district and not Nancy Pelosi.

Posted by: snake on November 21, 2009 at 10:40 AM | PERMALINK