How the Bolton nominatin is playing out across the nation

[housewolf]

<snip>

There are lots of Republicans irritated by the carelessness of this nomination by President Bush. But what has played in much of the press -- around the entire nation -- is that the U.S. Senate is about to confirm a person who demonstrates tendencies that seem "monstrous" to some. In a nation where people value fairness, civility, balance, and decency -- supporting Bolton raises other potential costs for Senators.

Workplace issues matter to much of the country, and strangely enough, the public is paying attention to the degree that Bolton's bombastic and vindictive style run counter to America's highly-valued workplace ethic.
Thus, on the Republican side, there are many Senators -- including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, George Voinovich of Ohio, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, maybe more -- whose commitment to Bolton has become "less robust."

<snip>

Politically speaking, Lincoln Chafee figured that most of his constituents would not care about who the administration's Ambassador to the U.N. was. He has reportedly said that he doesn't think many of his constituents even know who Bolton is. It has been a long time since I have heard a national politician publicly 'count on' the ignorance of his constituents on a public policy matter.

<snip>

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/000470.html

[unhappycamper]

1. There was an earlier thread on this complete with sample letter and

a link to Chafee's web site.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1727709

If you haven't emailed the good Senator, perhaps now is the time to let him know you know who Bolton is.

[rodeodance]

2. I have not totally written off Chafey--but coming close to it

.......And despite opening up one of the key areas of concern about Bolton on his opposition to the Bush administration's foreign policy on North Korea and attempts to derail it -- as reported here (with permission) in the Economist magazine and here in Sidney Blumenthal's brilliant article this week in Salon -- Chafee seems to be running as fast as he can from empirical evidence on Bolton that is screaming as loudly as Bolton apparently does through the nation's media.

Chafee may be in an even deeper whole than he might guess if Hagel or any one of these other Senators jumps ship before he does. He will then most certainly vote against Bolton if another Republican Senator does, but then he only reinforces an impression of weakness. If he stays with Bush if one of the other Republicans moves to oppose Bolton, then Chafee looks foolish and overly beholden to Dick Cheney.

[unhappycamper]

3. It's a bitch to get caught between what you know is correct and ideology.

Chafee is in a difficult position, but he put himself in it. Doing the right thing has never been part of the repugs way of doing business.

[ray of light]

4. Organize Grassroots to make sure they know...

Politically speaking, Lincoln Chafee figured that most of his constituents would not care about who the administration's Ambassador to the U.N. was. He has reportedly said that he doesn't think many of his constituents even know who Bolton is. It has been a long time since I have heard a national politician publicly 'count on' the ignorance of his constituents on a public policy matter.


(I don't know how to put in a quote box what you wrote...)

Anyways, he has a good point. That's exactly why grassroots organizing from us to our local area is every bit as important as signing up for the big grassroots organizations. We can be effective advocates and we can be the media. But we must learn, talk, and act and then the politicians will know they have to deal with a knowledgeable electorate. That's why it's important to join the democracy cell project too. http://www.democracycellproject.net

[housewolf]

6. Thanks for the link to the Democracy Cell Project

It's a activist site I hadn't seen before, I appreciate the information

[ray of light]

7. You're welcome

Yes, and the 5 minutes to democracy each day is something we can all do to keep them on their toes.

Thanks for checking it.

[karynnj]

9. As he's counting on the ignorance, maybe Kerry's emails and ads

plus the news articles for or against them may make some of the difference. (They wouldn't work if Bolton were less obviously obnoxious, but at least they helped raise the visibility a little.) Hopefully RI people will keep emailing and calling him to a point where he's concerned that this is a losing issue.

[hector459]

5. This is an example of Bush and Condi saying "Kiss our asses."

"We don't give f**k what you think about us. The adults are in charge and we are going to do whatever the neocons and PNACers tell us to do."

[AlCzervik]

8. yes, once again flipping our country the bird, same old, same old