Rep. Altmire In A Political No-Man’s-Land
A few years ago, then Democratic Party candidate Jason Altmire won election to the U.S. House of Representatives by running a campaign just conservative enough to beat out the Republican incumbent in his district, Rep. Melissa Hart. He didn’t try too hard to hide that he really did not have that much of a problem with big government and unconstitutional spending. But he pandered just enough to both the reasonable American public and the hard core left of his own party to win.
Now the Pittsburgh area representative may be finding himself in a virtual political no-man’s-land here. Late last year groups of progressives, basically communists who think that name is just too toxic to actually go by it, got together and vented about how Altmire was not liberal enough. Of course he is plenty liberal though. He has voted for many items of spending on things so far outside of the federal government’s constitutional mandates that to claim otherwise is just down right false. But the problem these folks have is that he voted against the last health care/insurance scam that the House passed, then floundered in the Senate, limped out of that house after enough bribes had been floated and accepted and then died a horrid and appropriate death with the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts. In other words Altmire is not socialist enough! It just isn’t the Marxist radical they want him to be.
Yes, life would be so much better the left muses if he was more like Che, Mao or Stalin. They would say Hitler but he had that little Jew problem that they have not been able to keep as secret as the atrocities of those I previously mentioned. As such the left bound and determined to not claim him as one of their fellow travelers even though he most certainly was. Yes, it would all be so grand if Altmire would just force everything, not matter how hideous to liberty and our federal Constitution, upon the people. The fact that he will not makes him the scorn of their conversations.
Meanwhile on the other, more rational side of the isle, conservatives don’t see much to like in Altmire because of the aforementioned liberal tendencies he has exhibited so many times since taking office. Sure, he has voted against some of the most egregious liberal plans but that is like saying that because Mussolini wasn’t as hideous as Hitler that Mussolini was an ok guy.
When it comes down to it, Rep. Altmire has alienated himself from the Democratic Party base who want full bore socialism. And he never had the support of the other side of the spectrum leaving him with just the strong support of the socialist-lite types who cannot seem to get enough of palling around with those on the left and giving them much of what they want. You know them perhaps better by their preferred moniker; moderates.
Don’t get me wrong. If the “progressive” regressives, who are regressive because they want to return to failed economic and political models based on central control, don’t get a better candidate they are very likely to fall in line behind Mr. Altmire on Election Day in November.
At least he better hope they do. Because if they don’t and he remains in limbo because the left wing is not pleased that he has not moved America far enough to the left fast enough then all bets are off. But the fact that he stood pat against the socialized medicine plan the House passed, even though you can bet he only voted against it because Nancy Pelosi gave her bless since his vote was unneeded, will probably be enough to win him re-election.
But anything is possible.
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