Resignations
[Guest post by DRJ]
Patterico already posted on Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak’s announcement that he plans to resign at the end of his current term. The reaction to Stupak’s announcement ranged from delight to disappointment, including speculation about “the real reason” he quit:
“He was pilloried by both sides of the aisle: the left for originally blocking the bill and the right for his “yes “ vote, which they view as a betrayal of their principles. Being Stupaked—stabbed in the back—is now part of the conservative lexicon.
In announcing his decision, he admitted he had considered retiring several times. At one point, there had even been chatter about his running for governor, but he always thought there was one more job to be done. Now, he says, his “main legislative goal [health care] was accomplished.”
A close friend says he suffered over this conclusion, talking it over with his wife Laurie and son Ken for the better part of last week before deciding he was ready to go. “It’s time for him to make money,” she says. “He’ll back and forth between Washington and Michigan and probably become a lobbyist or something like that.”
Stupak’s letter to his constituents focused on the satisfaction he felt from passing health care and on his desire to spend time with his family and friends. Others attribute his resignation, in part, to the abuse and death threats Stupak, his wife and family faced.
This reminds me of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s resignation (speech reprinted here and here). It’s not exactly the same — Stupak is at the end of his term, while Palin’s term wasn’t over — but it’s unlikely Palin’s resignation jeopardized her Party’s ability to hold the governorship. The same may or may not be true for Stupak’s Congressional seat.
Overall, though, there are several similarities: Both Palin and Stupak acknowledged the importance of taking care of and being with their families. Both stressed the satisfaction they felt from what they had already accomplished for their constituents, as well as their belief that it was time to move on to other goals. Palin was also concerned about the cost to Alaska (in time and money) of repeated ethics complaints. Stupak essentially made the same point when he complained to the media that protesters made it impossible for his staff to get their work done and for constituents to call his office.
It’s easy to say Stupak’s and Palin’s resignation speeches were spin but I hope both were more truth than spin. That’s why I’m watching to see what Sarah Palin does with her career and why I’m also watching Bart Stupak. I expect both to seek out ways to support their families, hopefully in ways that support the values they claim to hold dear.
— DRJ
That’s just it, DRJ, Stupak has destroyed any principles he may have once had. Upon what stand(s) can he rest?
Also, the threats to which he referred were from his own party and the left, generally. Rush played several soundbites that reflect this truth. I have no sympathy, and no respect, for this weasel.
At least BHO has been consistent.
Ed from SFV (7f3244) — 4/10/2010 @ 6:31 pmCash out when the cashin’s good. Palin left to make herself a millionaire in the speaker fees business.
Now Stupak get the PHAMRA of insurance company payoff. He done good. The announcement of his new job will bring welcome hilarity over rightists scratching their heads, still cannot figure out Obamacare was an industry device, not some Socialist scheme…or socialist scheme in the future. Or whatever the idiots believe.
Jack (694aa2) — 4/10/2010 @ 6:41 pm(D)never quit. After stealing and lying to those who elected them they go back to Washington and steal and lie from everyone else.
highpockets (43ec0c) — 4/10/2010 @ 6:47 pmStupak also tried to float the “travel” excuse for why it was just “too hard”.
AD - RtR/OS! (c8e2b4) — 4/10/2010 @ 6:50 pmHe quit because he would have faced a determined GOP opponent this fall, and the Tea Party brigade was out for blood, and he had the correct political type: D-weasel.
Also, if all of the political harrassment was so severe, why is he sticking around until the end of his term?
Gov.Palin, on the other hand, was facing financial ruin from all of the bogus ethics complaints that were bringing the AK Gov’s office to a stand-still.
I don’t think his retirement, and her resignation, are comparable.
DRJ – Threats are unfortunate and need to be investigated and prosecuted. One major difference with Palin’s situation is that the ethics violations turned out to be baseless and part of an orchestrated smear campaign on behalf of the Democrat party that continues to this day. With Stupak, it seems like genuine grass roots anger at his positions, from both sides, IMHO.
daleyrocks (1feed5) — 4/10/2010 @ 6:52 pmReal men never stupak. I real man overcomes adversity and stands by his beliefs. I have never stupaked anything.
highpockets (43ec0c) — 4/10/2010 @ 6:59 pmthe truth is real pro-life democrats are as rare as unicorns.the ones who lie about it are as common as cockroaches,and deserve as much respect.
clyde (eb655f) — 4/10/2010 @ 7:03 pm“7.the truth is real pro-life democrats are as rare as unicorns.the ones who lie about it are as common as cockroaches,and deserve as much respect.”
How DARE you slander me with that association!
Cockroach (5559f7) — 4/10/2010 @ 7:13 pmStupak was active in health care issues for years before this legislation was on the radar. During his years in Congress, he focused on health care issues far more than anything else — things like Accutane, H1N1, Salmonella outbreaks, contaminated Heparin, numerous FDA issues, and health issues in his Great Lakes region. This supports his claim that he has always been a proponent of health care issues and reform.
I still question whether Stupak’s abortion stance was sincere or contrived in the final push for ObamaCare. If it a sincere position, then I expect him to dedicate a significant part of his efforts to anti-abortion groups and issues to follow through on his beliefs. I also expect Palin to dedicate a significant part of her efforts to her signature issues: energy, national security, and fiscal responsibility.
We’ll see what they do in the future. Sometimes peoples’ intentions are only understood in hindsight and that may be true with them.
DRJ (daa62a) — 4/10/2010 @ 7:48 pmStupak has a nice lobbying gig with Planned Parenthood lined up.
He’s already their favorite Congressman so now he be rightly compensated out in the open.
MU789 (00e597) — 4/10/2010 @ 8:18 pmStupak lost the support of those he was supposed to be representing, while Palin was still immensely popular with her constituents.
Anon Y. Mous (338965) — 4/10/2010 @ 8:26 pmStupak’s letter to his constituents focused on the satisfaction he felt from passing health care and…
All he had to say in that letter was, “I did what I wanted to do and didn’t care what you thought.”
Blacque Jacques Shellacque (5ef35b) — 4/10/2010 @ 11:09 pmThis is a sad post.
You don’t like Palin. Just say it. As a conservative I have been treated to 37 years of fake, angled media reports. Do you think I can’t recoginize one done from friendly terrain?
Honestly this post is pathetic. These resignations are nothing alike. You are trying to do the same thing as the MSM does, just from a ‘conservative’ perspective hoping we won’t notice.
I notice. I call BS on this post. You simply don’t like Palin.
However you did your job. You reminded us Palin resigned just like that liar to the nation and sell-out Stupek.
I wish all the conservative blogs I read would just come out and say they don’t like Palin. Instead they all seem to try to do the same thing you just did.
I could Fisk your post and show how you are wrong but why? You still won’t like Palin. Nor would you admit to posting this only to knock Palin down or get hits.
You won’t do that because you don’t want to lose half your readers. I think it would be better for the conservative movement to do so now than to wait until the primaries. You won’t keep me as a reader until then anyway. Might as well do it now.
Ralph (ac9f3b) — 4/11/2010 @ 12:55 amThe difference is that Palin’s career still has great potential — while Stupak’s career is over.
Icy Texan (d77cdb) — 4/11/2010 @ 1:30 am[…] Admits He Allowed Obama to Fund Abortions With Taxpayer Money Patterico’s Pontifications: Resignations and Breaking: Stupak to Spend More Time With His Family and Stupak’s Opponent Now Numbering Over […]
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em… Retire! Democrat Abortion Turncoat Stupak Says Won’t Run for Reelection « Frugal Café Blog Zone (a66042) — 4/11/2010 @ 4:34 am“… You reminded us Palin resigned just like that liar to the nation and sell-out Stupek…”
Sstupak didn’t resign, he announced his upcoming retirement – there is a great amount of difference.
AD - RtR/OS! (1aff5d) — 4/11/2010 @ 11:38 amI don’t view it as a betrayal of my principles (me being somewhat on the right). The problem is that I see it as a betrayal of what he claimed were his principles. In other words I think he’s a liar. Pelosi did the same thing he did but no one accuses her of betraying the principles of the right. She told everyone what she was going to do and did it. Stupak, on the other hand, said he would do one thing and did the opposite. I don’t like either of them, but at least with Pelosi you know what you’re getting.
Not My Problem (543f41) — 4/11/2010 @ 12:22 pmNicely written article. I find it strange that the public is always demanding politicians have principles and when someone does stand up and make a courageous decision that apparently alienated both sides, he is forced to resign.!!??
Contrast his stand and the enemies he made on both sides with the empty comic rhetoric of Sarah Palin whose pandering and jumbled thoughts are material for Sat Night Live… even completely unedited! Ya! Asking what materials she reads or what the Bush doctrine is, is really unfair!!! Real gotcha journalism!! Like asking what the duty of the VP is ..how unfair!!
Stupak was always concerned about abortion but this fight was not abortion nor about a good health care bill but about handing Obama a defeat whether or not the country needed reform.
Stupaks career may be over but as long as there are comic shows and people who think platitudes and winking are substitutes for reason and thought, Palin has a great career!! You betcha!!
I understand she is making millions and all I can say is “God Bless Her” I hope she cleans out those adoring followers of every last dime and sends them all to the poor house… without government healthcare… before retiring in endless wealth and a hearth laugh at their stupidity and gullibility! Go Sarah!!
VietnamEraVet (c16623) — 4/11/2010 @ 3:49 pmWxcept for BP, Conoco, Exxon for a time, the Republican party establishment from the party chair to both Murkowski and Stevens
ian cormac (3e0a07) — 4/11/2010 @ 4:30 pmSheesh,VEV, dial the incoherency down.
SPQR (26be8b) — 4/11/2010 @ 4:49 pmAnon Y. Mous:
I can’t find any evidence of this. After she was picked as McCain’s VP, Palin’s Alaska polls dropped with the torrent of bad media publicity and continued to slide up until her resignation.
It’s true, though, that Palin’s ratings were still very high but I don’t see anything that tells me Stupak’s ratings with his constituents have fallen much more than Palin’s. The reports I’ve seen suggest Stupak’s constituents view these issues very much like Stupak — pro-life and pro-health care reform. It’s that dichotomy that has turned the race for Michigan’s 1st Congressional District into a toss-up.
DRJ (daa62a) — 4/11/2010 @ 6:24 pmIcy Texan:
This is probably true if you mean Palin’s political career, as I think you do. But both will use their political intermissions to enhance their finances, and I bet both would return to politics if the right opportunity comes along.
DRJ (daa62a) — 4/11/2010 @ 6:28 pmVietnam Era Vet:
He wasn’t forced to resign. He chose to.
DRJ (daa62a) — 4/11/2010 @ 6:30 pmRalph:
Your powers of observation and deduction have betrayed you, Ralph. I voted for Sarah Palin and I hope she runs for President some day because I would still vote for her.
My point is that people who believed Sarah Palin’s explanation for her resignation — and I do — should consider whether there is a similar explanation for Stupak’s resignation. My answer is “Maybe there was.”
DRJ (daa62a) — 4/11/2010 @ 6:38 pmThat’s sadly true, if Elliot Spitzer thinks his career can be resurrected, despite what he did to
ian cormac (3e0a07) — 4/11/2010 @ 7:26 pmthe NY financial scene, including decapitating AIG
by forcing out Ace Greenberg, there’s sadly hope
for a weasel like Stupak
ian cormac – While I deplored Spitzer’s tactics of trying cases in the media and like to point out that many of his most celebrated cases fell apart before or upon reaching the court room, Hank Greenberg’s hands are not clean. It was unfortunate for him to end a career on a $5 billion restatement at AIG, but he was not a victim.
daleyrocks (1feed5) — 4/11/2010 @ 7:39 pmDRJ
Those polls showing her sliding were at best IMO just out to damage her and they are still trying to do so. Much like the polls showing Obama having 45% (suuuuure) and those showing Bush having 29% (riiiight)
Palin wasnt obviously a politician – something that would net anyone at least a 50% approval rating – its the old adage – govt means taxes
Just my opinion
EricPWJohnson (e88db7) — 4/11/2010 @ 7:51 pmWeirdly, Laura Ingraham is evidently claiming that Barney Frank will be retiring too.
This is wild.
SPQR (26be8b) — 4/11/2010 @ 8:54 pmI hope that’s true.
DRJ (daa62a) — 4/11/2010 @ 9:10 pmWell she’s been in public life for 15 of the last 18 years, the newspapers turned on a dime, after Aug 29th, as soon as she started to challenge Obama
ian cormac (3e0a07) — 4/11/2010 @ 9:26 pmSPQR
Frank may realize this is as far as he’s going to go, any its expenive to live in Virginia and his home town and if a bank was offering you 10 million a year as a lobbiest what would you do?
Me somehow I would blame the animosity in Washington and take the money – but thats just me…
EricPWJohnson (e88db7) — 4/11/2010 @ 9:52 pmA few workers in our area got Salmonella poisoning. It is a good thing that they did not die and they have fully recovered. .
Henry Barnes (d0049c) — 4/28/2010 @ 11:42 pm[…] Slaughter: “There is nothing now that we can’t tackle” Patterico’s Pontifications: Resignations and Breaking: Stupak to Spend More Time With His Family Quin Hillyer, American Spectator: […]
“Tele-Med Abortions”: Planned Parenthood’s “Download Abortion” Operation, Abortion Pills Dispensed Via Tele-Conferencing « Frugal Café Blog Zone (a66042) — 5/24/2010 @ 7:38 am