United Liberty

Facing a tough race for re-election against Steven Palazzo, Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS) told a local paper that he voted for John McCain, a Republican, for president in 2008 over Barack Obama, his party’s nominee:

How scared is Mississippi Rep. Gene Taylor about his reelection prospects? Over the weekend the 10-term Democratic congressman made a startling admission: He voted for Republican John McCain for president in 2008.

Taylor made the revelation that he didn’t vote for President Barack Obama to the Biloxi Sun Herald just as he’s locked in the most competitive reelection battle of his career against Republican state Rep. Steven Palazzo. Despite the district’s strong GOP tilt – its residents voted 67 percent for McCain in 2008 – Taylor has never won reelection with less than 58 percent of the vote.

Palazzo’s challenge to Taylor flew under the radar for most of the election cycle. But as of late, the state representative has capitalized on the extreme dislike for the Democratic leadership in the conservative coastal district, particularly for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In ads, he’s hammered Taylor for voting for Pelosi as speaker and reminds constituents Taylor has voted with Pelosi 82 percent of the time. In pre-general election campaign spending reports filed last week with the Federal Election Commission, Palazzo narrowly outraised Taylor in the first two weeks of October.

In addition to Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Jim Marshall (D-GA) and others, a two more Democrats may be abandoning Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

Joining a small but vocal group, Reps. Mike McIntyre of North Carolina and Mike McMahon of New York have both hedged in recent interviews about whether they would vote for Pelosi again as speaker if Democrats hold on to the House.

McIntyre, who has represented the south tip of the Tar Heel State since 1997, told WWAY in Wilmington, N.C., that he would “look forward” to supporting Pelosi’s opposition - the most space any member of Congress has put between themselves and Pelosi. McIntyre added that Pelosi probably won’t even run for speaker again.

“From what we’re hearing, she’s probably not going to run for speaker again,” McIntyre said, according to WWAY. “And if she does, I’m confident she’s going to have opposition, and I look forward to supporting that opposition. We want to have a more moderate type of alternative for leadership, and I’m confident we’re gonna have that alternative. You know, when she had opposition before, I voted for her opposition, not for her. And we’re expecting her to have opposition this time.”
[…]
McMahon, somewhat less forcefully, told the Staten Island Advance’s editorial board that he would decide who to vote for based on what’s right for the district.

“It’s hard to answer a hypothetical question when you don’t know who the candidates are, you don’t know if she’s running again,” McMahon said, according to the newspaper’s website.

In case you’re wondering, Pelosi’s office, which is losing a top aide, did confirm that she is running for Speaker again next year.

A day after they launched a new website aimed at Blue Dog Democrats, the Club for Growth is continuing to expose these fiscal frauds by shining sunlight on their record on free trade:

Blue Dog Democrats claim to be fiscal conservatives, but to them, that means holding the line on just taxes and spending. Nowhere in their agenda do they profess to be supporters of free trade, which is something you would expect from a true fiscal conservative.

There’s a reason for that. The Blue Dogs, by and large, are huge protectionists.

96% of them (52 of 54) voted to slap tariffs on China last week. Before that, 86% of them (38 of 44) voted to block the free trade agreement with Colombia.

Worse still, twenty-three of them have sponsored the TRADE Act, which is the ultimate protectionist bill to sign up for. It would reopen all of our previous free trade agreements and essentially gut them. It’s no wonder that the labor unions love it.

Supporting free trade is good for the middle class, despite the outright lies from populists like Lou Dobbs and President Barack Obama. Even Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS), who often goes against party on fiscal matters, has fallen into trap of blaming free trade for the many of nation’s problems.

Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS) has become the first Democrat to sign a petition to repeal ObamaCare, legislation he voted against back in March:

The Blue Dog Democrat, who frequently bucks his party’s leadership, signed the petition Wednesday, his office said.

A spokesman said they had no comment on why he signed it.

Taylor is the 172nd person to sign on the act to repeal the bill – following conservative Republican Rep. Steve King (Iowa), who offered the act on June 16. The entire House Republican leadership has also signed onto the petition. Taylor is the second person to join the effort to repeal the bill since the August recess, following Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Jim Gerlach.

Taylor underscores how unpopular the legislation is in some conservative districts held by Democrats — although he voted against the bill. Taylor, though, has bucked trends for years, holding onto the Gulf Coast seat since 1989.

The petition is being pushed by Heritage Action for America, which is run by the Heritage Foundation, and they are making sure they get the word out about Taylor signing the petition.

Taylor has always had an independent streak. Back in 1998, he was one of a few Democrats that broke his party and voted for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton (he voted for all four of the articles of impeachment, the only Democrat to do so). Unfortunately, one of his biggest flaws are his anti-trade views.