This is just rich:
Putting their friendship above party, Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) will headline a fundraiser today for one of the Democrats’ top targets this cycle, Republican Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska).
Inouye, who chairs the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, on which Stevens is the ranking member, is the “special guest” at the noon event at 101 Constitution Ave. NW. According to the invitation, the lunch is organized by a several high-profile lobbyists, including Stevens’ former top aide, Lisa Sutherland. The fundraiser seeks $1,000 in contributions from individuals and $5,000 from political action committees to aid Stevens’ bid for an eighth term this fall.
Stevens, of course, is facing the toughest re-election battle of his career against Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, so this kind of betrayal is all the more harmful.
But this isn’t the first time that such behavior has landed Inouye in hot water. Remember his endorsement of Joe Lieberman’s independent candidacy in 2006?
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye has backed away from his support of Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman in his controversial run for re-election as an independent.
Inouye drew criticism in the local Democratic Party when he said he would continue backing Lieberman even after he lost the Aug. 15 Democratic primary in Connecticut to Ned Lamont.
Party rules require loyalty to the Democratic nominee, and several Hawai’i Democrats have faced disciplinary action in the past for backing third-party candidates over the party’s choice.
Is it time to make Sen. Inouye re-take his Democratic loyalty oath?
(Update: On reflection, I softened the title of this post a bit. Like Trapper John, I have a lot of respect for Inouye’s service to his country, but I’m enormously disappointed and frustrated with his decision to interfere with one of the Democratic Party’s hottest Senate pick-up opportunities this cycle.)
(H/T: TPM)
I think it’s time that the 84 year old Sen. Inouye plan his retirement. Since I doubt that were he to run for reelection, there’s no way the netroots would let him off without a primary challenge after this fiasco.
I personally like the sound of “Senator Abercrombie.”
To value your friendship over of the future of this country.
Isn’t Inouye one of the biggest pork meisters?
He represents a really Democratic state, is there any reason why Inouye can’t, oh I don’t know, act like a Democrat?
the last true “bipartisan” partnership. They think they are just members of a club.
Inouye has also said he will retire if Stevens does or if Stevens loses the election. All the more reason to beat Stevens.
Who do you think would be a good replacement? I’m thinking with President Obama that maybe his fathers classmate (Abercrombie) or maybe his sister would be good replacements. Or maybe Abercrombie for Senate and then Obama’s sister as his replacement in the House.
That’s not how the party works, and its not how the party should work. This is what George Washington meant when he warned about the dangers of parties in his last inauguration speech. We don’t make people do anything. I”m going to leave it at this, because I don’t want to repeat what I’ve already stated.
that he has endorsed a republican is the problem, it’s the fact that he has endorsed a corrupt republican who is Vulnerable this cycle, who’s up against, from what i’ve seen, a good D candidate.
If he were to endorse someone like Mike Enzi who’s not corrupt nor facing a real dem challange then this would be understandable and i, personaly wouldn’t bat an eyelid.
The chance of wining the Alaslka seat isn’t just a pipe dream or a fantasy of the netroots, its a real chance at a seat. Even The national journal pegs it as number 9 on their most competetive list, Chris Cillizza at WaPo puts it at number 5.
This would be just like Sen Jim DeMint endorsing Sen Mary Landrieu for re-election over republican challanger Kennedy.
he’s 66 himself. Maye Patsy Mink, but this another ridiculous incident of intolerance by the netroots. It’s ridiculous, just like Debbie Wasserman, Inouye is about as liberal as Democrats come, yet to endorse a Republican in a tough spot is a godforsaken sin? Stevens has endorsed Inouye in all of his campaigns, they work very closely on important legislation, and most of the stuff the Steven’s sponsors Inouye helps write and cosponsors, and Stevens does the same.
Besides, are you all mad? Ultra-popular Governor Linda Lingle is going to try her luck at the Senate Race. We need Inouye to seek reelection, he’s a living legend, with approval ratings in the upper seventies. He has the kinda of popularity that transcends politics. We can’t afford to have him retire.
But, he has said he intends to run for reelection many times and the only person in the HA-DP who would run against him is DLCer Ed Case, a terrible, pro-tax cut, business Republican pretending to be a Democrat.
Even if they are good friends with a particular Dem (see Orin Hatch-Ted Kennedy) they always toe the party-line. When will Dems learn that doing the right thing is a waste of time when dealing with people who would sell their grandmother out if it meant getting ahead. They exploit this weakness time and time again. They play hardball while our guys mean well but play a completely different game while thinking it is a level field. They deserve to get walked all over sometimes.
Do any of you remember when then-Sen. Frist traveled to South Dakota in the summer of ’04 to actively campaign for John Thune, and essentially against Daschle? The unspoken tradition was that no Senate party leader was to campaign against the opposite party’s counterpart. I don’t know the reasoning behind that but I’m guessing that Frist and Daschle didn’t exactly have the best working relationship or friendship in the Senate.
Frist broke with tradition. And that was inexcusable. We all know what happened to Daschle. I can’t forgive Frist for that.
Try to partner up with California, instead of Alaska.
The plane flights are probably shorter and the perks are probably better.
So now we’re getting angry at our Democrats for being compassionate and caring, for being above the partisanship of Congress, and we’re hoping they start acting like Republicans? lol I saw a bumper sticker once that said, ‘Better a bleeding heart, than no heart at all.’ As much as it sucks to lose, I’d rather lose and still have my morals and values in place than sell out like many Republicans have done.
For starters, Patsy Mink died a few years ago. And even if Inoyue were “as liberal as they come” endorsing people like Joe Lieberman and Ted Stevens completely negates that.
His lifetime Progressivepunch score is 83.90, which while not terrible, is a far cry from being “as liberal as they come”. He’s a moderate Democrat through and through; Akaka on the other hand is about ‘as liberal as they come’.
It’s true that Inouye and Stevens are best friends in the Senate, I believe the only reason that Inouye actually ran for re-election in 2004 was because Stevens was still serving, and I believe he said he will retire in 2010 if Stevens is not around anymore.
Still, It’s hard to justify his action of hosting a fundraiser for one of the most vulnerable senators this cycle, regardless of their friendship. The entire Debbie controversy was involved with her saying nice things about her bff Ileana Ros-Lehiten(sp.?), not actually hosting a fundraiser for her. He’s kind of invulnerable though, so I hope and I suppose the only action against Inouye would be a scolding by Reid, Durbin and the rest of the Democratic caucus.
If Ed Case were to replace Inouye, it wouldn’t be completely terrible, they may as well be ideological soulmates.
he only votes with the party 99% of the time, and you know acts like a Democrat, except for always endorsing his friend of forty years Stevens, who also always endorses him. You assume here, and don’t really know the circumstances, or that Stevens and Inouye work very closely together on their pet projects, (ANWR), and Inouye’s bill for the recognition of native Hawaiians.
“yet to endorse a Republican in a tough spot is a godforsaken sin?”
YES! I’m a fairly moderate, left-center Democrat. I think it’s great for Senators to be civil with one another and be friends. I think working for pragmatic, bipartisan solutions is exemplary. But, bipartisanship ends at election time. There’s rarely an excuse for a Democrat to support a Republican. But, in this case, there’s absolutely no excusing Inouye. Stevens is vulnerable. He’s corrupt. He’s ideologically opposed to almost all (all?) Democratic party positions. Friendship and civility are not excuses for selling out yours and your constituents’ values. And just because your otherwise generally a fine Democrat, doesn’t mean your immune from justifiable criticism.
Republican does do this with this particular democrat. Stevens always endorses Inouye.
You’re assuming that YOUR view of what makes a better representative is the one that 100% of American agrees with. While I don’t agree with what the Senator from Hawaii has done… We forget that these are real people… They are not just progressive lifetime scores, and roll call votes. If Senator Stevens is one of his closest friends, I have to admit that I UNDERSTAND why he’s done it… I don’t have to like it. But to sit there and act all high and mighty, like you wouldn’t do the same for one of your closest friends, its ridiculous!
Senator Daniel Inouye is one of the most the best senators that the Democratic Party has. I do support him in his support for Sen. Stevens. Even though I personally support his opponent, Stevens must mean a lot to Inouye. Inouye is a person who’s values trump politics. His support for Stevens has to do with a bond that these two Senators have established over their tenure. Inouye places people over politics and knows that he has a friend in Stevens. Stevens was there when Inouye’s wife died last year. Inouye found comfort in Stevens’ presence. And no, Inouye did not sell out his party, and the oath that you speak of complements the partisan political B.S. Senators like Byrd, Inouye, Specter, Kennedy, and Warner were elected in a time where politics was more respected than it was today. Inouye is a low profile senator who rarely strays from the party. Leave him alone, and show him the respect that he has earned and deserves.
I’ve seen a lot of arguments saying that those of us who are outraged by Inoyue’s actions are petty. I think it’s the only way around. I think it’s Inoyue that’s being petty by putting friendship over the greater good.
Stevens will not be in bad shape even if he loses; I’m sure he could find several nice jobs in lobbying or in the business world. But I would think the country, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Democratic Party would be much better off without a corrupt Senator like Stevens in office.
It’s not like we’re demanding that Inoyue not be friends with Stevens. And it’s not like I’m not asking Inoyue to abandon Stevens to a literal execution squad. Hell, I wouldn’t mind so much if Inoyue even publicly sat out, especially if he instead donated and supported other Democratic candidates like Mark Warner or the Udall cousins.
We need better representatives. And we need representatives who will work to get additional better representatives. This is unacceptable. And Inoyue has a pattern of doing things like this.