ConservaDems Playing Into Media Narrative, Because

Here's Ed O'Keefe in today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle, writing approvingly of "moderate" Senate Democrats holding sway in the new Republican-majority Senate:

Some of the most influential senators in the new Congress are neither in the majority nor among the longest-serving. They don’t show up on the Sunday-morning talk shows, and they aren’t talking about running for president in 2016. 

Instead, they’re a pack of Democrats from mostly smaller, rural states who are inclined to work with Republicans on legislation President Obama doesn’t support. They may even be willing to help the GOP override his vetoes. 

Some of them support building the Keystone XL oil pipeline and are expected to be active as the Senate begins to debate the issue this week. Others want Congress to pass tougher sanctions against Iran, and all are open to making changes to Obama’s health-care law. All three issues have drawn veto threats from the White House in recent days. 

One of the biggest unanswered questions about the week-old Congress is whether the new Republican majority will be able to overcome Capitol Hill’s culture of stifling partisanship and cultivate enough Democratic support to challenge Obama. 

These moderate Democrats say they will cooperate if Republicans don’t use the Senate floor to score political points — as Democrats have done over the past several years. They have big expectations for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who will need to keep his larger conference unified while sustaining his promise to allow a more open and nonpartisan debate process.  (our emphasis)

Of course, the usual conservaDem suspects are included:  Sens. Heidi "Ho" Heitkamp, Joe "I Don't Know If I'll Vote for Obama" Manchin, Joe Donnelly, Jon Tester, blah blah blah ad nauseam.  (Again, more reasons why progressive Democrats should never contribute the the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.  Never.)  Each and every one of these spineless career politicians, having no core convictions to speak of, would rather sell out their party and their president in order to continue their time in office.  To hell with them.  And with their counterparts in the House.

They also provide useful props to the Ed O'Keefes of the media world who are desperate to forge the narrative of the newly-responsible Republican Party straining to find reasonable Democrats on the other side of the aisle to do the plutocrats' people's business.  It's as if O'Keefe and his crass menagerie of neutered conservaDems believe politics is all about self-preserving deal-making and not about standing for something you believe in, you know,  as a Democrat.  "Big expectations" for Mitch "Missy" McConnell, indeed;  we suspect if you check these conservaDems pockets, they'll be full of wooden nickels.

 Damn, we're so tired of these too- clever- by- half hacks with all their "inside politics" game- playing and the media that love this kind of narrative.  Maybe that's part of the reason why people of all political stripes admire Sen. Elizabeth Warren;  she's true to herself and true to the bedrock convictions of the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.

Obama Delays Executive Action On Immigration

President Obama, feeling the pressure to do what he can to save the prospects of some conservaDems in the South and elsewhere, has decided to delay any executive action on immigration until after the November mid-term elections:

The decision is a reversal of Mr. Obama’s vow to issue broad directives to overhaul the immigration system soon after summer’s end, and sparked swift anger from immigration advocates. The president made the promise on June 30, standing in the Rose Garden, where he angrily denounced Republican obstruction and said he would use the power of his office to protect immigrant families from the threat of deportation. 

Today:

“Because of the Republicans’ extreme politicization of this issue, the president believes it would be harmful to the policy itself and to the long-term prospects for comprehensive immigration reform to announce administrative action before the elections,” a White House official said. “Because he wants to do this in a way that’s sustainable, the president will take action on immigration before the end of the year.”

Who are these conservaDems the President wants to help, even at the expense of doing the right thing for millions of immigrant families?  Jon Stewart gives you a peek (at about 1:30) of who Obama's fighting for, even as they dis him.   Hey, we like Alison Lundergan Grimes and, for that matter, almost (almost) any Democrat over a Republican.  But, endlessly favoring short-term political calculation over taking a principled stand (and we're looking at these Democratic Senate candidates just as much or more as we are the President) is not leadership.

But, if you want short-term political calculation, try this:  to the extent the President's further alienated the immigration reform community while maybe marginally helping a few conservaDems, this looks like a lose/lose proposition  to us.

BONUS:  Charles P. Pierce has his usual pithy read about Obama's decision.