Bachmann Quits

[Rion]

Truth. But's let not forget to consider sources here. Bob Dole retires on principle -- that's believable. You know, he's an old-school conservative. Bachmann retires on principle -- that's not so believable. She's part of a moving ideological party; quitting this would be against her (not immoral) ambition.

We don't know, but we do have reasonable estimations.

What? Bob Dole retired so he could run for President. Also, old-school conservative? Are we talking about the same Bob Dole here...? The guy was a moderate, always has been. He isn't liberal, but he's a very soft conservative, at best.

 

[Received]

If by conservative you mean fitting the Burkean conservative ideal of reluctant but willing change to fit the present, as opposed to non-reluctant, fast change with the present (liberal), or an antithetical attitude to change entirely (actually going backwards), staying with the principles of 200 years ago without considering adaptations to the environment now (popular conservatism now), then yes, Dole is an old-school conservative. The new school conservatism is hyper-conservative, which doesn't negate the old-school conservatism that came before it.

And Dole was used as an example based on his character, not what he actually did.

 

[Rion]

If by conservative you mean fitting the Burkean ideal of reluctant but willing change to fit the present, as opposed to non-reluctant, fast change with the present (liberal), or an antithetical attitude to change entirely (actually going backwards), staying with the principles of 200 years ago without considering adaptations to the environment now (popular conservatism now), then yes, Dole is an old-school conservative. The new school conservatism is hyper-conservative, which doesn't negate the old-school conservatism that came before it.

And Dole was used as an example based on his character, not what he actually did.

No, I mean he's a moderate populist.

 

[Vylo]

odds of republicans getting elected just went up considerably .

 

[Creech]

Good to hear. I wasn't a big fan of her due to her warmongering, partisan, and anti-conservative positions.

 

[blueapplepaste]

Good riddance and don't let the door hit ya...

Sadly I have a feeling I'm not done hearing about Bachmann. Like our lady of the arctic I'm guessing Bachmann is looking forward to the post-congress grifting. Will she end up at Fox? That's my guess but there's a lot of wingnut welfare for people like her.

I think she'll become like Palin. Basically irrelevant. She will prob get a gig at Fox or something like that, but will quickly fade into oblivion.

 

[MachZer0]

I think she'll become like Palin. Basically irrelevant. She will prob get a gig at Fox or something like that, but will quickly fade into oblivion.

I hope she does get a gig at Fox

 

[DaisyDay]

I hope she does get a gig at Fox

Fox has denied making her an offer. It got burnt with Palin.

 

[MachZer0]

Fox has denied making her an offer. It got burnt with Palin.

Burnt?

 

[wing2000]

odds of republicans getting elected just went up considerably .

Starting in her own district, which she barely won.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Burnt?

Apparently she wasn't the draw they expected her to be.

 

[Jeffwhosoever]

Apparently she wasn't the draw they expected her to be.

Yeah, I'm sure Fox had to get that correction out with urgency.

 

[USincognito]

My understanding is that the Honorable U.S. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann will not run for re-election in 2014 as the representative for Minnesota's sixth congressional district.
-----

Her decision does not equate "Backmann Quits" as the title of this thread suggests.

She only won by 4,200 votes or about 1 1/2 percent in a heavily Republican district. She was already running campaign ads for 2014. She spent the first 1/3 of her video Tuesday saying it wasn't about the financing investigation - which means it was about the financing investigation.

So your understanding is a bit off. She's quitting.

 

[USincognito]

This is the hardest hit to political comedy since Georg Bush Jr. left office.

Presidents (and VPs) are their own gift that keeps on giving to political comedy whoever is in the White House. As far as Congress goes though, we've still got Alan Grayson and Louie Gohmert.

 

[USincognito]

Actually, Coburn is retiring when his term is up. So, it's not unheard of for proponents of term limits to actually limit themselves.

Sen. Coburn won 71% of the vote in 2010 and is not under investigation for campaign finance impropriety so the situations aren't analagous. Excellent point otherwise. The past couple of cycles have seen both freshmen and old war horses deciding Washington wasn't where they wanted to be or that they'd done what they'd set out to do.

 

[USincognito]

Word on the street is that Politifact is preparing for massive layoffs.

Subtle.

 

[USincognito]

What? Bob Dole retired so he could run for President. Also, old-school conservative? Are we talking about the same Bob Dole here...? The guy was a moderate, always has been. He isn't liberal, but he's a very soft conservative, at best.

Did Sen. Dole take the test himself? I ask becuase I'm wondering what is the ultimate source of that plot graph.

 

[USincognito]

Could be that Bachmann is going the Palin route and has found herself a more lucrative future in the private sector -- the place where most career politicians go out to pasture.

Maybe one where she can make $200 million a day.

 

[cow451]

 

[Received]

No, I mean he's a moderate populist.

And if he is, and he represents the spirit of early-to-mid-century conservatism, and in turn represents the spirit of conservatism before that, then appealing to your scale (which is a great one) means you're appealing to something that lacks validity: it doesn't really measure old-school conservatism defined according to the Burkean temperament of reluctance but willingness to change as opposed to unreluctant rigidity to change because of a willingness to return to much older principles from another time.

So Dole is a moderate populist according to your scale; this means that all old-school conservates are moderate populists to some significant degree, which is why the argument breaks down by using the scale.