Maddow blasts 'Conservadem' Ben Nelson for cheering Herman Cain

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow wasn't surprised Tuesday to find out that "sort-of Democratic" Sen. Ben Nelson had been seen cheering then-Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain during his 1991 parody of John Lennon's "Imagine."

Talking Points Memo spotted then-Nebraska Gov. Nelson in the video after it surfaced Monday.

"Do you see who that is?" Maddow asked. "Politics geeks of the world, do you see who that is standing and enthusiastically cheering on Herman Cain? That is Ben Nelson, now a sort-of Democratic senator from the great state of Nebraska, but at the time of this video in 1991 he was the sort-of Democratic governor of the great state of Nebraska."

While the cheering of Cain was telling, it was Nelson's intention to vote against President Barack Obama's jobs bill that really illustrated why he was deserving of the "Conservadem" label, according to the MSNBC host.

"Conservadems like Jon Tester and Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman are siding with the Republican senators, who are siding with no voters -- not even their own!" Maddow exclaimed, noting a recent CNN poll that found that 63 percent of Republicans favored saving the jobs of teachers and first responders.

"Conservadem senators like these guys always try to get ahead by trashing their own party. That is what makes them Conservadems in most cases."

Watch this video from MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, broadcast Oct. 18, 2011.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Photo: Flickr/Silicon Prairie News