Bi-partisanship; UR doin’ it right
The other day I wrote that VoteVets called themselves a nonpartisan organization which supports veterans regardless of their political stripe, even though in the several years that they’ve been around the Republican they ever supported was Chuck Hagel several years ago. They’re always yelling about all of the other organizations’ supposed partisanship, while endorsing only Democrats.
Mostly they whine about the American Legion (which doesn’t endorse candidates), the VFW (whose PAC got shut down this year for endorsing anti-veteran Democrats) and Vets For Freedom.
Well, Vets For Freedom’s PAC just released their list of endorsements and they’re endorsing Jim Marshall, an incumbent Democrat from Georgia’s 8th district. I don’t know much about him, but TSO has a big ol’ man-crush on him for the ferocity with which he supports veterans and active duty soldiers.
According to his bio, Marshall took time off from his college career to enlist and serve as an infantryman in Vietnam. Marshall earned two Bronze Star Medals and a Purple Heart and a spot in the Ranger Hall of Fame. Well, ya know it’s not as tough as that 40-mile walk that Harry Reid had to take to college (while he got countless deferments for his college career) which got Reid Vote Vet’s support as an honorary veteran.
Someone tell Jon Soltz that’s how non-partisanship is done.
Category: Vets For Freedom
There’s a lot at the VFF link about Marshall’s military background and how he supports the military. I see nothing about his politics. Where does he stand on Obamacare, Cap-and-Tax, big government control, Amnesty, supporting Nancy Pelosi and her communist cohorts?
His military bonafides are nice and all, but more important is what are his politics.
This brings me back to what I asked a while back on whether people would support a guy who supported the military 100%, but also was in favor of the Pelosi-Reid-Obama agenda on all legislative items. Harry Reid could have the military background of this Marshall guy and I’d still consider him a POS.
The more I see of these military PAC’s endorsing candidates, the more I believe it is a bad idea. A PAC should stick to lobbying on behalf of its military members for specific legislation and stay away from supporting/endorsing any particular Party or any particular politician.
Michael- No on Obamacare, no on Cap and trade, no on amnesty.
I think he did vote for the first TARP (but so did some GOP) and I think he had one other vote I disliked. Everything else he has been good on. Very good on guns etc.
Jim Marshall is a pocket monkey of Nancy Pelosi!
He isn’t no “blue dog” democrat! The only good thing I can
say about this man is he did vote against the Healthcare Bill
only after being swamped with phone calls from his constituents
and other folks like myself who are sick and tired of all the “YES” people. I AM from Georgia .. just sayin! But I do Thank him for his service (Military that is) to this country and all he does for the troops.
Futhermore, Austin Scott will be a MUCH better Representative to the folks in that District! Austin and Vivien Scott are REAL Americans! And he WILL win this district…again…just sayin!
When the entire Dem caucus was saying we had lost in Iraq, Jim Marshall, and Jim Marshall alone of the Democrats fought against that tooth and nail. Say what you will about him, but I think the world of him.
Michael- No on Obamacare, no on Cap and trade, no on amnesty.
Good deal. But he also better be no on Pelosi. Otherwise, he’ll have his arm twisted to vote yes on all that if necessary.
I still am leaning towards military PACs not endorsing any candidates though, and simply sticking to working with all politicians on specific legislation directly affecting military members and veterans.
Look what happened with Jim Webb. I remember in 2008, I believe, that military blogs were in great support of him, touting his military bonafides. Well, he has not worked out so well. But I trusted the judgement of military blogs endorsing him at the time and I bet many other people who respected the opinion of the military community did the same. All to our detriment.
I think the best military PACs should do regarding elections is to simply research each candidate and their policy positions and present that to their members and let them decide for themselves.
I don’t know who was backing Webb, but I have thought he was a POS since WELL before the election. Enough so that I voted in the Dem primary that year in hopes that he wouldn’t even get the nod.
When the entire Dem caucus was saying we had lost in Iraq, Jim Marshall, and Jim Marshall alone of the Democrats fought against that tooth and nail. Say what you will about him, but I think the world of him.
That’s great TSO, but will he also fight against Obamacare, Cap-and-Tax and Amnesty tooth and nail, if he has to stand alone and has the Pelosi leadership twisting his arm? Or is he playing the Washington game of going along to get along?
I understand that during radical votes, Democrat leadership works to make sure their “Blue Dogs” can vote against the radical legislation, while still getting the legislation passed with enough votes. The reason Obamacare took so long to pass is because they couldn’t get enough Democrat votes initially and had to arm-twist so-called “Blue Dogs” to vote with them. There were back-room deals and such made.
What I want to know from Jim Marshall and any other representative is whether or not they are for sale or if they are principled. It sounds like Marshall is principled on military matters, but I don’t trust any Democrat on economic, healthcare, energy, etc matters.
I don’t know who was backing Webb, but I have thought he was a POS since WELL before the election. Enough so that I voted in the Dem primary that year in hopes that he wouldn’t even get the nod.
I may have been inadvertently broad-brushing a bit by saying military blogS. I was mainly reading Blackfive and Mudville Gazette back then and, I believe, many at those two blogs were touting him. I could be wrong though. What with you all having multiple blog authors on your sites, it may have just been one or two of the authors on the sites and not everyone.
Either way, my main point — lobbying for legislation, but not endorsing candidates — stands.
This blog didn’t start until Sept. 2006, so it wasn’t us that supported Webb. I think COB6 called him “Orbitron” because of his gargantuan forehead.
and thanks for that info TSO!
you may can convince me since this has made me check his record a little bit more closely…but I will still stand beside my friend, Austin Scott any day.
Well, before we all get too wound up here let’s take a breath.
Aside from the Ranger Hall of Fame and TSO’s man-crush; this clown is toast!
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2010/house/ga/georgia_8th_district_scott_vs_marshall-1305.html
Less than a week and he’s down by 15 points!
BTW on the Jim Webb thing; I still have animated gif’s of shit flying around his enormous head caught in the gravitational pull of his dumb-assery.
Jim Marshall is very conservative, think Zell Miller. He is so foreign to what a northern Democrat or West Coast Dem is that they hardly recognize. For the record he voted against Obamacare and the stimulus and is on record saying he would not support Nancy Pelosi for a leadership role.
I am not sure what the polls are on this race, I see somebody has him down by 15 but that doesn’t sound too credible.
But he is still a Dem, so that means there is some flaw in his critical thinking skills.
While I agree with Michael in his call that VSO’s stay out of politician endorsements, no VSO has any moral authority to state an opinion on Obamacare, TARP, or the UAW Bailout.
Those simply aren’t Military/Veteran issues.
Jim Marshall has been very strong on Military and Veteran issues.
Joe Lieberman may be the ultimate liberal on all other issues, but he gave up the D behind his name because of his strong support of the Military.
And while I don’t know Jim Webb’s positions, he did receive a lot of support because of the new GI Bill
In our list of endorsements and noteworthy’s, we do not give weight to non-Defense issues, nor their party. And not many politicians state those positions well enough to get an endorsement, even when running against the worst offenders.
Some notables:
Sean Bielat is too vague to get an endorsement, though Barney Frank needs to be put out to pasture. Bielat gets an honorable mention but no endorsement.
Brett Carter (TN-6)is too vague for the same reason, though he is an Iraq War Veteran, whom is considered by those who know him as a man of integrity.
Illario Pantano calls it straight and demonstrates the clarity needed for an endorsement.
Gunny Popaditch maintains the integrity of an NCO and tells us enough for an endorsement.
(And Blumenthal earned a spot on the Wall of Shame)
But as our focus is solely on National Defense, regardless of my positions TARP, the UAW Bailout, or Obamacare, we cannot consider those issues: http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/home/politicians/
Yes, I believe Jim will lose, as will the other Dems I like (personally, less so politically) Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and Chet Edwards.
Now, before everyone goes “Good, all the dirty dems need to go…blah blah blah” just remember how much it pisses you off when Collins and Snowe screw us on votes. Well, the Dems no longer have that problem, because there won’t be a single conservative Dem left.
It will incidentally ruin my night for about an hour or so when Jim officially loses. But, he was never in it to be a “politician” anyway, and will make significantly more in his legal practice. I just thought he was a good man, despite some votes I disapprove of.
Well TSO…trust me when I say I will not gloat when he loses..
Well, the Dems no longer have that problem, because there won’t be a single conservative Dem left.
For the past 10 or so years, there has been no such thing as a “conservative Democrat”, TSO. They campaign as “Blue Dogs” and then vote with their radical leadership when in office. That’s why they are being thrown out on their asses… #1 for lying to get elected and #2 for voting against the wishes of the American people and their constituents. Good riddance, I say, to the whole lot of them.
If those MF-ers had actually been “conservative Democrats”, then we’d never have been f—ed over with Obamacare. NONE of them stood up to their radical leadership to stop it. They all followed orders of Pelosi, Reid and Obama.
Its tough to nonpartisan when you have a traitor POTUS who is hell bent to destroy what the founding fathers created. If you are a follower of our Marxist POTUS then you too can consider yourself a traitor to the Republic.
“If those MF-ers had actually been “conservative Democrats”, then we’d never have been f—ed over with Obamacare. NONE of them stood up to their radical leadership to stop it”. You mean, like Bart Stupid Stupak, Michael? He got his 15 minutes of fame and LSM fawning, then voted for Obamacare. When the internal polling showed him that he was toast in November, he tucked tail and ran.