The Other McCain

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Gun-Grabbers Now Hunting Blue Dogs, Target Georgia Democrat John Barrow

Posted on | January 19, 2013 | 10 Comments

Rep. John Barrow (D-Georgia) may well be the most hated man in Congress. Liberals hate him — and he has faced challenges in Democrat primaries — because among other things, he was one of 39 House Democrats who voted against ObamaCare. Republicans may hate him worse because Barrow is one of the last vestiges of the moderate “Blue Dog” Democrats, who prevent the GOP from consolidating its gains in Republican-leaning states like Georgia. In 2010, my buddy Ali Akbar helped run the Tea Party-backed campaign of Barrow’s GOP challenger, Ray McKinney. That challenge fell short, but Republicans were more hopeful in 2012, after re-destricting moved more GOP voters into Barrow’s 12th District, but somehow that damned Blue Dog managed to escape with a 54%-46% win over Republican Lee Anderson.

Can Republicans beat Barrow in 2014? It’s too early to say, but right now Barrow is being targeted by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence:

Will Barrow risk his amazing record of political survival by voting for Obama’s gun-control proposals? Georgia Republicans are perhaps secretly hoping he’d be that stupid, because he’s already their Number One target for 2014 and a vote like that would likely doom him. And so the profound irony is, your Second Amendment rights are unlikely to be infringed by Congress, because of this crafty Blue Dog’s determination to be the last surviving white Democrat in Georgia.

(Hat-tip: Nathaniel Botwinick at The Corner.)

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Category: Constitution, Democrats, Georgia

Comments

  • http://twitter.com/thatMrGguy Mike G.

    As far as Democrats go, we need more like him. The only chance the GOP has of beating him is if he’s primaried out.

  • Tim

    There is no such thing as a “blue dog.” they are all cowards, just like the RINOs. This fake will cave. Mark my words… If he stands-up, then I was wrong for voting for Lee Anderson. We will see.

  • http://opinion.ak4mc.us/ McGehee

    If he votes to keep Pelosi as his party’s leader in the House and for Speaker, he’s on the wrong side. Not that a vote for Weepy would help, but at least it’s not a vote for Screechy.

  • http://wizbangblog.com/ Adjoran

    Barrow was insured reelection by the fractious GOP primary.

    But it is just plain silly to speculate whether or not he will “cave” to Obama gun proposals. Stupid, in fact. It is well established Democratic procedure in Congress, upheld and practiced by Pelosi as well, that vulnerable members get a pass on tough votes when it doesn’t affect the outcome. And the only reason any Obama proposal (IF in fact there ever is one in the form of a bill, Obama is mostly hot air & EOs) would ever come to the floor of the House is to get Democrats on the record for it.

  • http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

    Weepy and Screechy! I loved that cartoon!

  • http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

    I know people who are really conservative, church-going, anti-gay-marriage gun owners, but who are lifelong union people.

    They voted for Obama, naturally.

  • http://opinion.ak4mc.us/ McGehee

    Don’t forget the guy who sits next to Weepy in the SOTU cartoons: Creepy.

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  • Dana

    He’ll only be a real problem if the House is divided 216 to 216 without him on the organizational vote, And, if the Democrats should capture the House in the 2014 election, Mr Barrow would be starting his sixth term, and with that much seniority, would be in line for a significant subcommittee chairmanship.

    When I lived in the Old Dominion, we had a similar situation with Rep Norman Sisisky. He was a long-time, entrenched, conservative Democrat, and even as the state was moving Republican, and despite his district losing black precincts to create the majority-minority 3rd District for Bobby Scott in 1992, Mr Sisisky couldn’t be beaten. Finally, he died in office, and then his district went Republican, went with Randy Forbes, a very conservative man.