I would like to take this opportunity to defend Vic Snyder from my dear friends LWC and Freedonian.
As a former constituent of AR-02, I have seen the leadership and vision of Congressman Snyder first hand. Vic is a great representative. He’s not flashy, he’s not sexy, but he’s solid. There are a lot of good reasons to not “primary” Vic over this one vote. My list follows below:
1. Vic cannot be successfully attacked from the left. No one in their right mind would try to run any campaign against Snyder from the left. Since his election in 1996, Vic has been characterized as a bleeding heart liberal in every single general election. Admittedly, this characterization is false, Snyder is a left leaning moderate, but for Arkansas, Snyder is a liberal. Any primary campaign against him from the left would be doomed to failure in AR-02.
2. Vic is Squeaky-clean. If ever there were a representative that embodies all that a true steward of the people should be, it’s Vic Snyder. For 10 years he has been a measured, insightful, and scandal-free representative for the people of AR-02.
3. Vic is no Blue Dog. There are 42 self-identified “Blue Dogs” in the House, and Vic ain’t one of them. Any potentially successful primary candidate against Vic would have to come at him from the right. Is that what we want?
4. Does the punishment fit the “crime”? One vote of a bill doomed to failure in the Senate and an assured veto from the President should not mean that Vic needs to be primaried. I disagree with his decision, and have written him to find out WTF, but if we held everyone to the “one vote and you’re out” rule, we would have a Republican majority FOREVER.
Finally, here are some facts and figures, about this vote.
30 of 42 “Blue Dogs” voted against HR2237 representing 51% of the Democrats who voted against it and 12% of the total noes.
Full support of the Blue Dogs would not have carried the measure. That would have taken 42 of the noes.
The measure could have been carried had the “Blue Dogs” and the “New Democrats” come together to pass. 13 “New Democrats” of 44 voted against. Vic Snyder is a member of the “New Democrat” coalition. Other New Democrats voting against include: Barrow, Bean, Berkley, Chandler, Etheridge, Herseth, McIntyre, Melancon, Moore, Schwartz, Scott, and Udall.
Finally, So, you wanna primary Majority Leader Stenny Hoyer? Good luck with that.
I have written Vic to find out what I can about his vote. I’ll report if I get an answer. My point is, this is one vote on an issue that will take 292 in the House and 67 in the Senate to become law. I understand your passion, and agree that many in the list of 59 need to be primaried, however, this needs to be done on a case by case basis, not just on one vote. Remember, it’s about the whole block of cheese, not just a slice.