Sorry for the delayed response, but the Communist takeover last night apparently led to immediate rationing, as my internet AND television went out for a number of hours. In all seriousness- someone please tell the folks at Adelphia Cable that election night is a shitty time to perform ‘scheduled maintenance.’ I was left huddled around the radio listening to Coast to Coast with George Noory for election results.
At any rate, it appears that I was not alone last night in plunging a sharp knife into the back of the corrupted and perverted King- a few million others apparently chose to join in the fun, as well. It was hard to resist- the GOP had become arrogant and contemptible, and it was nice to see my party take a slap to the face, and hopefully we can begin to rebuild.
It is going to take a few days for things to shake out, but it looks to me like this year was the year of the fuzzy middle. Some will attempt to claim that ‘the moderates got wiped out,’ but that simply isn’t the case- scores of moderate Democrats were elected. Moderate Republicans may have been wiped out, but that is because they were the only Republican targets voters could get a clean shot at- most House seats are so gerrymandered that it is difficult to defeat nutjobs like Cynthia McKinney (and stop by Hank Johnson’s site and thank him for getting rid of her). Look at the Senate elections- Allen, Santorum, Talent, Burns, Chafee all went down- and only one of them is a moderate- the rest are social conservatives. Voters didn’t reject moderates- they rejected social conservatives and they rejected Republicans.
What was rejected yesterday was the in your face, in your bedroom, out of touch with reality ‘conservatism’ that the hacks and the phonies have been pushing on us for the past few years:
Arizona has become the first state in the country to reject a ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage, on the same night that South Dakota voters refused to make their state a test case in the fight to outlaw abortion.
South Dakota voters pulled the plug on an attempt to challenge the landmark abortion case of Roe v. Wade, as citizens there overrode a law that would have banned abortion in that state. In a ballot campaign that drew nationwide attention and dollars, opponents of the ban succeeded in taking it off the books by a vote of 56 percent to 44 percent with 99 percent of votes tallied.
The gay marriage vote in Arizona is likely to capture national attention, even as seven more states on Election Day joined the 20 states that already had passed constitutional prohibitions on gay marriage.
Arizona refused to outlaw gay marriage by a vote of 51 to 49, with 98 percent of voting precincts counted. The vote is likely to spur debate about whether public opposition to same-sex unions is weakening since Massachusetts became the lone state to allow gays and lesbians to marry in May 2004.
Among the most contentious of the 205 measures on ballots in 37 states was a proposal on stem cell research in Missouri. The measure to write protections for stem cell research into the Missouri Constitution may win by a narrow margin. It was leading 51 percent to 49 percent with 96 percent of precincts reporting.
There will be a long, nasty, brutal bloodletting within the GOP, with social conservatives convinced the reason we lost was in part due to the fact that “We kept abortion on demand the law of the land for at least another seven years because we had to try to fund the use of human beings as research matter” and other such nonsense. We lost because, as the oft-perceptive Baseball Crank notes (although, I think, drawing the wrong conclusion), the country got a taste of big-government conservatism, and they didn’t like it.
As they shouldn’t. The GOP is now poised to elect new leadership- Hastert will be gone, Frist is gone, Boehner is damaged goods. Who the GOP selects to takeover (Red State throws out the names Shadegg and Pence), and the way they intend to move forward will, in large part, determine whether or not the GOP will be relegated to minority status for a long time coming. A return to principles is necessary- strong (and honest and realistic) on national defense, strong on individual liberty, in favor of limited government (in both the size and scope, as well as understanding that privacy is a core conservative issue) fiscally prudent, and, probably most important- honest and without the rampant corruption we have witnessed the past few years.
If the powers that be think that the reason the party failed is because they were not in-your-face socially conservative enough, that what we need is more God in schools, science, law, and my bedroom, and continue down that path, they will be once again greeted with a knife in the back by folks like me. The Democrats, I assure you, will do a number of things that will make me once again receptive of an honest, mature, and decent GOP.
It is their call. I hope they make the right choice, and I hope they have learned that people aren’t going to vote for an insane and crazy and out of control party just because ‘the Democrats are worse.’ The country disagrees.
*** Update ***
Like I said- the long knives will be out:
Well, former RS Contributor John Cole should get his wish: a Congressional majority that combines the fiscal discipline of Robert Byrd and the integrity of Alan Mollohan. Enjoy your new friends, John.
I didn’t vote for Byrd and Mollohan- I voted against the GOP. The GOP you and Red State have fellated for the past few years, no matter how corrupt, decadent, small-minded, shortsighted, and reckless they behaved. And let’s be honest- my vote had no impact on their re-election (Byrd won by 30%, Mollohan won by close to 30%). My vote was a protest vote, not the one that put them over the top.
The Republicans didn’t lose because folks like me refused to go lock step with them over the cliff. They lost because people like Red State pointed them over the cliff and told them it was the promised land.
chopper
“the democrats are worse! and america needs more worsiness!”
Walker
I just don’t believe in the limited government GOP anymore. They say these words as an opposition party, but when given the opportunity as a ruling party, they screw us.
I feel like a battered wife. The GOP beats us up all day, but when we really get upset about it, they calm down, try to act all rational, and tell us how much they really love us.
Zifnab
~RedState
Keep telling yourselves that. You may start sounding like a Democrat.
zzyzx
I’m not surprised by what’s happened. A few months ago I was listening to Rush – know your enemy – and he was banishing all moderate conservatives and independents to the Democrat Party. If you want a party of true believers, you’re going to be in the minority.
The Other Steve
If Republicans can’t win the abortion argument in South Dakota… they’ve lost the argument.
I gotta say, I was really surprised by those results. When I first heard the moderates were going to try to put it up on the ballot as a referendum, I thought it was doomed for failure and a waste of time.
The fact that they defeated the ban, shows to me that most people in this country are actually reasonable and they don’t want someone telling them what to do, even if they may agree with them on principle.
The Other Steve
I think the Presidents rhetoric of accusing people who disagreed with him of being unpatriotic traitors in the end was his undoing. He has HARD negatives now. 60% of the country can’t stand him, and it’s not likely he’ll ever get any of them back.
grumpy realist
Bush has never had to learn how to be competent. Why should he have learned anything about diplomacy, or how it’s better to charm people than run roughshod over them with “it’s my way or the highway”?
And unfortunately, a sizable number of the hangons to the Republican party are the same.
When will the sane Republicans kick people like Grover Norquist and Perle to the sidelines?
Better yet, take Rove out and axe him as well.
SomeCallMeTim
Perhaps worth noting that McKinney lost twice.
mrmobi
Nicely done, John. All of us moonbats are proud of you.
Now it gets ugly. Anyone who believes that the president will suddenly go “bi-partisan” is in for a rude awakening. I see no indication that W will change his ways, so look for more signing statements that invalidate laws, more strengthening of the “unitary executive,” and a continuation of the erosion of civil liberties. The man is incapable of learning.
Now, though, we have the numbers to push back.
grumpy realist
John, are there any republicans who would run on the following platform?
1. Civil rights. Habeus corpus, etc.
2. Small gov’t. Devolve stuff more down to the individual states.
3. Fiscal austerity, including “pay-as-you-go” and hacking away at the national debt. (Get rid of half of the military budget for Shiny Cool Technology, use 10% of it to support soldiers and veterans, and dump the rest.) Needs testing on SS.
4. Privacy rights and extremely strong personal information protection.
5. Total revamp of redistricting. Much better anti-dirty tricks legislation, and with stuff that BITES.
6. Cutting back of federal taxes (along with federal programs), and shifting to state taxes. (State taxes cannot be grabbed by the feds to pay for large federal programs or to states who don’t carry their own load.)
grumpy realist
Oh, and I forgot to mention:
7. Firm committment to science and technology support. Hiring of gov’t employees due to their competence, not due to their idealism.
ThymeZone
Well, Arizona, traditionally red state, defeated DOMA, approved raising minimum wage, defeated JD Hayworth, reelected woman Dem governor by a landslide, sends two new Dem reps to Congress in January.
Voters are reasonable, and the way to get them to vote for you is to convince them that you have their interests at heart.
I agree, and this obviously planned and managed spin today is just dreary. Bush has had six years to show his bipartisanship skills. Today, on Nov 8 2006, he starts talking about them?
Fuck him.
AkaDad
I’d like to think America won this battle…
yet another jeff
To paraphrase Darrell…
“You Wingnuts keep pushing the big govt. morality nanny state, let all of the voters see your supporters for who they really are. The voters have spoken.”
yet another jeff
Oh, and John…I’m sorry your party went psycho like JD in Heathers. Like Communism, big C Conservatism looks good on paper, but that human nature thing always throws a wrench into the works.
You did good. You give us hope for a rational and lowercase c conservative party…someday….
Tsulagi
I’ve never been a registered Republican or Democrat. To do either seems repugnant to me. I don’t want either to think I’m owned, but rather their candidates have to earn my vote. Until this election, I’ve voted for both in the past.
Even with these election results, it’s going to be a long time before the GOP and I kiss and make up. Way too easy and way too fast that party made the jump to dark crazy land marching in lockstep. Anyone including any in their own ranks who didn’t parrot the latest mantra or support the latest bullshit was branded a traitor. Fuck you!
I don’t forget or forgive easily. Sorry, mom. They have to earn it. So until people like Dobson, Bush, Cheney, Brownback, Rove, and others are the GOP’s lunatic fringe, every GOP candidate is going to start out in the hole with me.
Nikki
Best. Post. Evah.
Walker
Absolutely. I loved Buckley’s party, but that party is dead. They ain’t coming back.
Alan
You’re right John….it’s the type of conservatives at Redstate that helped navigate the GOP over the cliff. But they won’t get the message. Hell Rush Limbaugh is echoing Michele Malkin today saying their version of conservatism actually won yesterday. And as I stated on another post, Tom Delay thinks if the GOP was more vocal at turning back the culture of death they’d probably would’ve won. These people live in a whack-job vacuum.
Bombadil
Grumpy —
You could probably get a lot of bipartisan support on numbers 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 about now.
On 2 and 6, though, not so much, I think. State taxes are climbing and without federal money coming in, they’ll be higher still. A good amount of the federal money goes to education, and in many states (like mine, Massachusetts), the local money that goes to schools comes from property taxes, which are at an even more local level (not state, but cities and towns themselves).
Oddly, I think you might have an easier time making your argument for number 6 in “blue” states, rather than “red” states (if that means anything any more). For example, Massachusetts gets back less in federal money than we send in taxes (since 1993, we have received roughly $0.84 for each $1.00), while John’s state of West Virginia has received about $1.62 during the same time frame and Kansas has received $1.04. [Link here for some source data — there’s a spreadsheet with a state-by-state breakdown.
metalgrid
Unfortunately, they’re correct. Look at it this way – many sane parts of the country voted out a whole bunch of moderate Republicans. A lot of batshit crazy Republicans still got voted into power from plenty of places. This basically means the Republican party got even more socially conservative and christian socialist. The moderate and libertarian Republicans are completely out of power now because the electorate no longer trusts them due to the socialism of their christian conservative brethren.
The ship has sailed on Mr. Cole’s brand of Republican. The Red State Republicans are in charge of their party and their brand of conservatism isn’t exactly compatible with our host’s. The two choices we’re down to now is secular nanny statism or the theocratic kind. It’s much easier to see the lesser evil now, but that doesn’t soften the blow that it’s still statism.
lard lad
Jesus, this feels good. Like a deep breath after six years in a burlap bag.
Bombadil
For giggles, here’s the top and bottom ten for 2004 (receiving federal dollars vs sending federal dollars — 1 is highest receiving)
1 – New Mexico
2 – Alaska
3 – West Virginia
4 – Mississippi
5 – North Dakota
6 – Alabama
7 – Virginia
8 – Hawaii
9 – Montana
10 – South Dakota
……
41 – Colorado
42 – New York
43 – California
44 – Massachusetts
45 – Nevada
46 – Illinois
47 – Minnesota
48 – New Hampshire
49 – Connecticutt
50 – New Jersey
You want to try to convince conservatives like Ted Stevens in Alaska (or, for that matter, John Cole in West Virginia) that they should give up all that government largesse? You’ll have a much more receptive audience in liberal California, Massachusetts and New Jersey, I think.
jh
Cynthia McKinney’s problem wasn’t that she was nuts (although there is evidence that she was) it was the she
A. Looked nuts
B. Forgot that old mantra: all politics is local
Dave Ryan
John – Cable died at the dorms, too. I called up and they said they had no real explenation for it at 1.30am. I told them it was ridiculous, was met with some hap-handed response, and then I hung up.
Took it as a sign I’d been watching too much Cooper/Blitzer/Dobbs for one night.
Dreggas
The GOP died last night. It is indeed now God’s Own Party and is ownly a hairs bredth away from being a dinosaur. Just watching heads explode today the underlying message is that they weren’t christian enough blah blah blah and if that’s the route they are going they will go the way of Pat Robertson, the so-called moral majority, and the christian coalition. While the fundies will still howl they were sent packing last night and need to crawl back under their rocks.
Let them have their night of the long knives. They will only be stabbing themselves. The republican party I grew up with can no longer be called such I just hope my father realizes it soon lest he commit seppuku with rush and the rest once they completely fall into decline.
RSA
From RedState:
“It wasn’t so much that heads came up when I flipped the coin as that tails didn’t come up.” What I think is more striking, though, is that it was “we” “we” “we” before the election, but now it’s “they” “they” “they”. But sometimes the identification slips through (even within a single sentence):
Are we feeling a bit of cognitive dissonance?
gus
I followed the links to RedState, and spent 15 minutes wallowing in the infighting and recriminations. Delicious!
Bruce Moomaw
On your list of Senator, John, you forgot DeWine — a decidedly moderate conservative, although not an actual liberal like Chafee. Your overall point stands, however; he got swept out simply as part of the overall wave of revulsion among Ohioans at the engrenched GOP’s corruption and arrogance.
What has genuinely astonished me, so far, is Bush’s reaction. When I’d heard yesterday morning that he’d canned Rummy, I immediately assumed that the Lieberman Replacement Scenario was rolling to keep the Senate in GOP hands. Nope; he seems to have genuinely had an acpocalyptic face-to-face confrontation with Cheney and told him, at long last, to go suck eggs. (Given the moral nature of both protagonists, I hesitate to compare this to Theoden finally ditching Wormtongue; it may be more comparable to the scene in which Wormtongue finally gets fed up at following Saruman’s orders, cracks, cuts Saruman’s throat and then runs off with a yell down Hobbiton Lane. “You told me to; you made me do it!” But I digress.) At any rate, he finally seems willing to start following the orders of Daddy’s advisors, which means that we may have at least a nominal return to sane governance.
One other beneficial effect of this election is the final destruction of the myth of Karl Rove as Genius, in which I never believed but a hell of a lot of other people on both sides of the fence did. As William Saletan pointed out a few months ago in “Slate”, the Dems also had a tendency to swallow this because “it was more flattering for them to believe that they had kept losing to an evil genius than for them to believe that they had kept losing to a fool” simply because of their own foolishness. The man simply had an unusual run of luck, starting with a whole series of chance events (including Nader) in the 2000 election –which he came within a hair of personally blowing for Bush by assuring him that he was a landslide cinch in the election and should spend the last few days of the campaign trying to add California and New Jersey to his list of states (both of which he lost by a landslide) — and then, of course, the 9-11 attack (without which the GOP’s goose would have been cooked by 2002), and the fact that the Dems nominated their second boob in a row in 2004. Evidently the reason Bush was so stubborn before this election is simply the fact that Rove kept assuring him that he was absolutely sure to win yet again. The destruction of the Rove As Genius myth will be good not only for the GOP; it will be good for the Dems, because it will force them to actually start thinking seriously about their disastrous neglect of serious thought on foreign and security issues (about which Matt Yglesias wrote a splendid “American Prospect” piece in March 2005) and the fact that it is THAT which really caused them to lose narrowly in 2002 and 2004 — they’ll no longer be able to excuse themselves on the grounds that they had been inevitably outwitted by Professor Moriarty.
Mike
“…the fiscal discipline of Robert Byrd and the integrity of Alan Mollohan.”
Doesn’t he realize that’s a trade up from the fiscal discipline of George Bush and the integrity of a Tom Delay.
Seriously, I can’t believe Republicans even argue these points anymore.
Redleg
I agree with Mike above. The Republican party and those “conservatives” who have enabled them to run up this outrageous national debt have the f-ing gall to talk about fiscal discipline.