One of the bigger stories to hit over the weekend, and getting a few comments at Montana blogs Rabid Sanity and The Electric City Weblog, is the public breakup between Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and the influential liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas, founder of The Daily Kos.
Here’s how The Washington Examiner’s Byron York describes it:
In June 2006, Moulitsas was rhapsodic when Tester won the Democratic primary to challenge then-Sen. Conrad Burns. “What a great night,” Moulitsas wrote. “Not only did the best Democrat win, but so did Conrad Burns’ worst nightmare. Say hello to the next Senator from the great state of Montana.” Electing Tester and other favored progressives would create “a whole new ballgame in Washington DC,” Moulitsas added. “Let’s do everything we can to make it happen.”
That has all changed now, after Sen. Tester voted against the DREAM Act which would give federal benefits to illegal immigrants and their children.
There are Democrats I expect to be a–holes. I never thought Jon Tester would be among them.
Anybody who votes to punish innocent kids is an a–hole. Plain and simple. And while I expect it from Democrats like Ben Nelson and C-Street denizen Mark Pryor, I honestly thought Jon Tester was different. I was wrong. I am now embarrassed that I worked so hard to help get him elected in 2006. I feel personally betrayed.
To me, he is the Blanche Lincoln of 2012 — the Democrat I will most be happy to see go down in defeat. And he will. Nothing guarantees a Republican victory more than trying to pretend to be one of them.
To me this vote wasn’t a surprise at all. Tester is less than 2 years out from his re-election vote, so he will no doubt be working very hard to appear more moderate than his voting record has shown. I expect the conservative blogs in Montana to get a laugh out of this dispute, while the liberal blogs in Montana will try and play up this one DREAM Act vote in an attempt to somehow say- look he’s a moderate. They’re dreaming if they think one vote can cover up that record.