I remember he was recently threatening to leave the Democrat party, and then I see shit like this, and I’m forced to sincerely ask what fucking difference that would make. He is actively voting with Rs against Ds all the time, and he’s constantly caught rubbing elbows with R handlers. What do the Ds have to lose by him changing parties? What do he and/or the Rs stand to gain from that? He is truly the epitome of what a DINO is. Why is he threatening to leave the party instead of the party expelling him, cutting any association with his bullshit and cutting all funding? Am I missing something? Am I dumb?
Why is he threatening to leave the party instead of the party expelling him
Because he’s a close friend of Schumer’s, they agree on a great deal of his voting record, and he gives other Democrats cover to hide behind when a GOP bill passes with Dem votes.
Dude’s a lightning rod. You’ll never hear about Sen. Jeanne Shaheen or John Hickenlooper or Elissa Slotkin, periodically breaking to support Trump policy so long as that lumbering ogre is center stage.
But if he consistently votes with Rs, then there’s no meaningful majority to speak of. VP is president of the Senate and breaks ties, so including him as a D, Ds would need at least 52-48 in the Senate to do anything at all since the votes could only ever be as high as 51-49; if just one more defects on a vote, it’s 50-50 and Vance breaks the tie.
Unless committees or something like that are influenced by party control by name and not through real votes. That would be dumb as hell, so that’s probably how it works.
I remember he was recently threatening to leave the Democrat party, and then I see shit like this, and I’m forced to sincerely ask what fucking difference that would make. He is actively voting with Rs against Ds all the time, and he’s constantly caught rubbing elbows with R handlers. What do the Ds have to lose by him changing parties? What do he and/or the Rs stand to gain from that? He is truly the epitome of what a DINO is. Why is he threatening to leave the party instead of the party expelling him, cutting any association with his bullshit and cutting all funding? Am I missing something? Am I dumb?
Because he’s a close friend of Schumer’s, they agree on a great deal of his voting record, and he gives other Democrats cover to hide behind when a GOP bill passes with Dem votes.
Dude’s a lightning rod. You’ll never hear about Sen. Jeanne Shaheen or John Hickenlooper or Elissa Slotkin, periodically breaking to support Trump policy so long as that lumbering ogre is center stage.
Potential Senate majority. Him switching parties would be huge if it’s the difference between who controls the Senate.
“Controls”. You don’t control anything if someone wearing your team colors is scoring own goals on purpose.
But if he consistently votes with Rs, then there’s no meaningful majority to speak of. VP is president of the Senate and breaks ties, so including him as a D, Ds would need at least 52-48 in the Senate to do anything at all since the votes could only ever be as high as 51-49; if just one more defects on a vote, it’s 50-50 and Vance breaks the tie.
Unless committees or something like that are influenced by party control by name and not through real votes. That would be dumb as hell, so that’s probably how it works.