[Homestead] was Reading the bailout bill, now Maine politics
SJC
indexer at localnet.com
Thu Oct 2 20:57:10 EDT 2008
Akka Homestead wrote:
> My state has 13 Reps, 7 Republicans and 6 Democrats.
> 11 voted NO, 2 voted YES. Those two were Democrats.
>
> I agree that those who voted for the bill are going to be chastized come re-election time. IMO, it means either one of two things, either they are in the pocket of Wall Street with a lot of their own money on the line, OR, they are simply followers of Pelosi/Bush. Either reason is damning, I think. We need leadership. We need someone who is not afraid to go against the flow, to be unpopular for the sake of the country.
>
> I wonder...
> could it be that the lines of the parties is so convoluted now that a Southern Republican might approach, in his thinking, a Northern Democrat, and visa versa? I know Maine is full of self sufficient, hard working mountain types who stick to themselves. Sorry for the stereotype.
No need to be sorry on our account; it's largely true and there are few
among us who count ourselves "politically correct".
> North Georgia is the same. North Georgia is Republican. Is Northern Maine Democratic?
Traditionally diehard Republican, and that where the idiot Collins is
from. She took a beating in the local papers today; they mostly come
out on Thursdays here---too bad, sister. I don't know as many folks
from 'the county' (that would be Aroostook County and the northern parts
of Piscataquis and Penobscot Counties; if you check a map you'll see
where they stick up; they comprise about half of physical Maine) and
those I do know are of a religious persuasion that's completely
apolitical, but am aware just from the news, etc, that they are
completely disgusted with the Republican party up that way, as is the
lower part of Maine. Maine is almost like 2 states, and in fact folks
from the county are apt to say about someone from, say Augusta (roughly
central) is "from Maine" and to tell a newcomer that they themselves
live in "the other Maine".....so quite a schism there, but in politics
not so much. I read in Bangor paper a couple of years ago that 10% of
Democrats in the state and 50% of Republicans had change their party
affiliation to Independent or Green, so that's a lot of discontent. The
Republican Party has been in hot water here since the Reagan era and the
whole Bush thing has pushed it over the edge.
I think the general truth is that many folks here are disgusted with the
whole lot of politicians, period. There are precious few who are
willing to stand up and do the right thing, regardless of whence they come.
> Could they economically be the same and only differ in social conservatism vs. social liberalism?
>
In our particular state, there's a wide--very wide--economic gap between
those considering themselves conservative vs liberal, not much of a
noticeable gap socially, but that's just Maine, which as we've already
noted, is its own beastie.
Now I'm gonna get my knitting and watch The Chick and The Drone.
Susan Jane, soaked
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