November 20, 2007
Lampson's strategy

I confess to having mixed feelings about this story concerning Rep. Nick Lampson's political strategy these days. I like Rep. Lampson, and have liked him for a long time. He's a good guy, a dedicated member of Congress, and easily the best representative District 22 has had in a long time, or could reasonably hope to have any time soon. Though he's made a number of votes I don't like, he's still good on a lot of issues I care about. I'm generally willing, perhaps more so than some, to cut guys like him in unfriendly districts a certain amount of slack. I can even overlook the otherwise tedious "I'm not going to be afraid to go against the party" stuff on the grounds that being a Democrat in his district is not exactly an asset, though how it will ever become one without people standing up for its honor is beyond me. I just wonder if this balancing act is going to succeed. Will the activist base work for him this time around? Are there enough soft-Rs who can be persuaded to cross over? Obviously, he and his campaign have put a lot of thought into this, and they're pursuing what they have concluded is the best course. I don't know how well it will go, but then I can't say any other strategy would be better. I'm glad it's someone else's problem, that's for sure.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on November 20, 2007 to Election 2008
Comments

Every bad vote makes me less and less excited. On an absentee ballot, it's not terribly difficult for me to happen to skip a race.

Posted by: Justin on November 20, 2007 8:51 AM