I report, I decide.

I don't think Taylor has balls at all. This wreaks of desperation.

Can I ask a rather obvious question here? How does one vote "no" on Obama, then "yes" on Pelosi within weeks of eachother? What does that say, Gene? Principle only triumphs when no one can see your vote? Don't insult my intelligence sir.

7 days outside of this election for Taylor to admit ("claim" would be more accurate) he voted for McCain is the action of a desperate man (& I voted for Taylor in previous elections by the way). This is the proverbial kitchen sink being thrown in his attempt to separate himself from the most dreaded American trio since "lions, tigers & bears" - Obama, Pelosi, & Reid. And by the way, Ike Skelton is by no means going to oppose the Obama agenda. Had Gene the gonads you assign him he would have stepped up during the Obamacare debate, and countless others, and said as one of the three senior members of the Blue-Dog caucus, we simply must oppose our President (and the Speaker). And publicly, repeatedly, laid out why. True, by voting "no" he didn't help it pass, but he didn't help defeat it either. He could have, with his other 2 senior blue-dog colleagues, have made an impact had they jumped into the national debate. The Blue-Dogs did it in a run up to the Democrat presidential nomination of 92', and made Clinton (as he went begging for their support) a real contender. They CAN have an impact if they step up. They didn't. Taylor didn't. Palazzo has an ad showing Gene as THE vote which put Pelosi over the top to win her Party's nod as Speaker. Taylor has been in congress for years. Either he didn't know how radical she was and should have, or he did know and voted for her anyway. And when you add to this that Rep Ford (D) TN, himself a blue-dog, ran against Pelosi for speaker and Taylor went with Party over principle, well ... don't tell me 7 days outside of your only close election, "hey guy I didn't even vote for Obama", in some pathetically transparent attempt to prove your conservative bonifides with an example no one can either prove nor disprove. Bottom line: You had a chance to prove your independence, to "officially" regret your Pelosi vote, by publicly opposing her and the White House, by forcefully jumping into the national discourse. I consume news and information into the upper 1/10th of 1 percentile of Americans Mr. Taylor, and I haven't seen your face nor heard your voice once. That is until this week, when in a last ditch effort you disclosed your two year old personal presidential vote. Instead you have just quietly voted "no", and hoped no one would remember your putting Party above principle.

And this dovetails into another point I wanted to make 7 days outside of a monumental midterm election. Many moons ago I posited the idea that Tip O'Neal's famous quip, "All politics are local", had been turned on its head. No more evidence need be presented then what's happening with Gene Taylor. By 2010 the Speaker of the House (if they choose to exercise it) has a bully pulpit so loud, so visible that it runs a close second only to the President himself (domestically). I contend this trend started with Gingrich simultaneous to the dot.com/information explosion. America came out of the 1990's with a plethora of talk radio programs, cable news stations, and the limitless sources of the Internet. No more would 5 or 6 guys between DC and New York decide what news was. And the technology allowed the official "record" to expand from a vote cast to every speech, Town Hall meeting, and gathering a public official attended. And in an era where the Speaker can be so visible, such a public presence, number 2 in the triumvirate of faces that represent your Party, it's not enough to simply say "I wont vote for her again" (and only when you're losing no less). If she no longer represented you nor your constituents you should have publicly joined the fight to stop her before your reelection campaign. You sir should have been on the front lines opposing this, as a sane voice inside of the Democrat party, joining the fray in order to prevent legislation you thought harmful to S. MS and the nation. THAT would have ensured your reelection and put the necessary distance between yourself and Pelosi, proving your independence from a Party bent on steering drastically Left. If she uses her bully pulpit via new media and technology to raise her profile and corrupt yours, then you use it right back to clear it ... yet you were no where to be found. As a former supporter of yours I can't tell you how disappointing that was. And in this golden era of information where news is literally at the consumers fingertips 24 hours a day, your silence will define your loyalty just as surely as any action. Quite frankly Palazzo need make only one case - we can't take the chance he'd vote for another Pelosi. And Mr. Taylor, he's right.