Although I love popular culture references and I love politics, I hate it when pundits compare politicians to characters from popular culture. So I’m pleasantly surprised that no one (according to my google searches) has compared Brown and Coakley to Sam and Diane from Cheers (along with “Homicide”, the finest show ever to air on television with commercial interruptions). It seemed like an obvious comparison to me, especially with Cliff in the campaign mix.
I do wonder if Brown will represent a new model for Republican candidates in 2012, if we’ll see more affable himbos running for Congress in 2012. The fire-breathing teabaggers and bitter old men haven’t turned out so well. Sure, Palin was telegenic, but she’s also angry and mean. Maybe it’s time to run candidates who have done semi-nude photo-shoots instead of candidates who are feuding with son-in-laws who have done semi-nude photo-shoots.
In other words…THIS IS GOOD NEWS FOR JOHN THUNE!
The Republic of Stupidity
Please don’t tell me this means we’re going to get Newt Gingrich in a pair of Speedos…
Trevor B
I think it takes more than a pair of speedos to hide Newt Gingrich’s fat ass, 20 speedos would still have a hard time with that.
Zifnab
Fix’d!
What they really need to do is run the rich son of a formerly well-respected politician who has a background in sports and business, and a real cowboy-esque image.
I mean, find one of those candidates that someone would really like to have a beer with. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Republicans have never tried this before. :-p
Jim
Jon Stewart did say that Martha Coakley went to Cheers and didn’t know anybody’s name.
I’d argue with you on that. It’s true, but you need a perception greater than most who-would-you-rather-have-a-beer-with voters have to see it. On the surface she’s happy and smiley and just so glad to get out there and meet and greet with regular patriotic Americans who want to do the right thing about our taxation without representation in Congress there and get rid of impendiments to job creation like global warming and death tax panels. If Martha Coakley had gone out to shake hands in front of Fenway on a cold January afternoon with a shit-eating grin on her face, we’d be back to arguing over the Cadillac Tax.
mistermix
Thune’s bible college was in So Cal, so his yearbook probably has tons of shirtless beach shots, similar to Brown’s Cosmo spread.
FlipYrWhig
I’ve been telling everyone that this is part of the Republican plan. First Bob McDonnell, now Scott Brown, and let’s not forget Marco Rubio.
DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio
Yes, you are correct Doug. How do you think Ronald Reagan became president? He could act the part, and he could hit his marks.
When it comes to real presidentin’ he didn’t really remember a lot of shit. Brown is pretty easy to take compared to the Gipper.
Zifnab
@Jim:
Yes, but turning the debate into a policy debate would be a good thing. By all means, lets tear into legislation. Because playing the “Name your favorite Red Sox fan” gaff game is really not winning any votes.
(Seriously, where did they find Coakley, that she would say anything about the Yankees in BOSTON?!)
Punchy
@Zifnab: More like Sam and Dave. Can I get me somez “Soul Man”?
Paris
“semi-nude photo-shoots”
as long as the candidate is not a woman because, ya know, family values and such.
New Yorker
Or maybe it’s time for the Democrats to stop running mediocre hacks in states like MA (and NY) because they think their overwhelming advantage in said state means the voters will vote for anyone so long as the “D” is next to their name.
It’d be nice if the Democratic Party in MA and NY would get off their asses and find genuinely good candidates. Maybe then we won’t hear stories about farces like Harold Ford wanting to run. Maybe then, NYC could elect a Democratic mayor for the first time in two decades.
Joshua Norton
We have the same problem in California. The “qualified” Dem pols are charmless wonks and corporate hangers-on like Gray Davis. We held our nose to vote for him, but when the blood was in the water and they came for him, everyone basically told him “you’re on your own”.
It’s not a matter of better ideology, it’s a matter of better candidates.
Senyordave
Message to Obama and othe Dems:
Propose a huge (10%?) across-the-board tax cut, that will make everyone feel good. Then propose a huge job creation tax cut (how about no FICA tax for new employees for the first two years?).
The hell with the future! Don’t even try to solve problems! Most people have largely forgotten that Bush all but ruined the country. It’s your recession now, Barack.
Athenae
It’ll be a Norm Coleman year. People will vote for anything with an R after its name and then wake up the next morning all “What the fuck did I DRINK?” and chew their arms off rather than wake up the electrocuted gopher they fucked in a moment of political acid-crazed lunacy.
A.
Joshua Norton
Not to mention Carrie Prejean.
David Hunt
Redundant part of phrase removed to place it better into Republican line of thought.
Demo Woman
@Senyordave: A tax cut for those earning under $150,000…. The repubs would vote against that one.
someguy
If that was Sam and Diane, then Michael Steele is Woody.
Except dummer. And not loveable.
The Republic of Stupidity
@Senyordave:
Au contraire, Senyordave…
Given the enormous shift in political power we’ve had in just 24 hrs, this is now ‘The Brown Great Depression™’…
And I was also promised a ‘huge stock market rally’ this morning… and I’m not getting it… what’s up w/ that?
Xenos
@Zifnab: Where did we find Coakley? She was a success, not a hack, and had already won state-wide in her AG race. She is an outsider as far as the party hacks are concerned, coming from a remote part of the state and not owing any favors to the machine.
Coakley had a good track record as AG for taking on Wall Street, but her doing so while appearing like another well-connected Democratic power-lawyer was way to subtle for the people listening to sports radio. They are the ones who made this election, and I am not sure if there are any Democrats running who could have neutralized that dynamic, except the neo-Mitt who used to own the Celtics.
Like a lot of liberals I voted for her because that proven success made her a safer bet than Capuano, who I liked but who had never proven any appeal outside his district. Next time I suppose I will vote for the hack, as a hack at least would know enough to rely on the machine, accept help from the national party, and be humble enough to get out there and work for the fucking election.
The Republic of Stupidity
@Paris:
I live in CA… two names for ya: Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina…
This isn’t a question of ‘family values’… its’ Basic Human Decency…
Bubblegum Tate
@Joshua Norton:
Hahaha! I just snarfed my tea.
Stroszek
Brown was elected a whole twelve hours ago and the economy still isn’t fixed.
You’ve had your shot, buddy. It’s time for change!
ajr22
I just don’t see how out government will ever function again. I know the republicans will claim this win gives them a mandate, and the media will play along against all reason. The republicans will never reach a super majority, and after what they just pulled I don’t see how the dems will let them ever pass anything in their agenda. So at this point nothing can be done by either party. I guess that in and of itself is the republican agenda but fuck how are we supposed to compete with China when our government doesn’t work?
Bob In Pacifica
Early in this election cycle I’ve seen a lot of middle-aged Republican businesswomen coming on as schoolmarms promising to run the government like a business. Carla Fiorini got an initial buzz here in California until someone pointed out that at Hewlitt-Packard she not only ran the company into the ground but also sent lots of jobs overseas. Sending jobs overseas is not good on a politician’s resume.
Will
Marth Coakley could fuck up a PBJ.
Jim
@Bob In Pacifica:
Stupid, incompetent, and a liar, and she’s only down by 3 points against Boxer, no? WTF? I thought Fiorina would face a challenge from the right over abortion. Is that happening at all?
aimai
Xenos has some very accurate observations upthread. I’d like to point out that MA has a history of not having very inspiring political leadership at the local level–that is,the bench level. We have great people here in academia but they aren’t political people and they don’t run for office–unless they are John Silber, combining the worst of all possible worlds. Brutal academic elitism of the old school right wing kind with demagoguery, bad political goals, and also running as a Dem.
Romney came from outside and elbowed aside Jane whatever her name was. Brown just did the same thing, effectively. He was an insider, a minor apparatchik, and he ran as an outsider. The kinds of democrats who do that exist–in fact one of them was in the primary, Khazei and we had a very good woman run against Kerry years ago from the left. But those candidates can’t get any traction in the primaries because they don’t have good name recognition/machine backing. We need some more self financed millionaire liberals. That would have been Kennedy, of course, but he daid.
aimai
GReynoldsCT00
OT, but check check this out… Gopers win again
Joshua Norton
Even dead, I daresay he’d do a better job than either of the two hand cranks who wanted to replace him.
Uriel
Wait- Sam and Diane were on Homicide?
Damn. I knew I missed some stuff there at the end, but that really must have been a game changer. Were they working the Waterfront? I can see some real fireworks between Munch and Diane!
The Grand Panjandrum
OT: I just want to cheer everyone up a bit this morning. According to Spencer Ackerman:
Blair is testifying in front of Joementum’s committee. Oh, goody.
Rock
I fully expect John Thune to be the next President. Cause, you know, like Peggy Noonan said about Brown “he looks American”. So, not only do we elect someone because he looks the part, but the media elite think that doing so is perfectly reasonable. As was posted here earlier, the US had a good run.
mcd410x
C’mon, people, we’re looking forward not backward!
Ask yourself a question today: What does the Democratic Party stand for? In an effective party with a message, you would be able to answer this in a sentence or two … so, what does it stand for?
Comrade Dread
I don’t care. I’m just very, very tired.
And I have absolutely no faith now that either party can/wants to/has the balls to address the fundamental problems facing America that will require tough, gutsy, smart, and painful decisions.
Rather, I suspect, Democrats will be running scared for the foreseeable future and Republicans will continue being obstructionist without providing alternative ideas beyond tax cuts, until they win majorities when they will cut taxes, deregulate companies further, and complain about the Obama debt even as they add trillions to it.
I can’t imagine anything changing until the dollar collapses or until foreign governments or investors decide they’ve had enough and no longer wish to finance irresponsible and reckless politicians in Washington.
Annie
Republican ad: Looking for Republican candidates to advance who are mean, racist, stupid, and incompetent, but who are willing to say almost anything conservatives and the party tell them to say, and to say it with gusty and complete sincerity (ability to tear on camera is a plus). Unattractive people do not apply.
Just remember our core principles are fiscal responsibility (except for Republicans receiving such things as farming entitlements — oops we mean subsidies), personal responsibility and individual rights (except when the religious right wants to use the government to tell all of us how to live), small government (except when using the government to promote conservative interests), and strong national security (except for utter failures like Iraq, which we will continue to spin into a victory.
Clearly the trend is for Republicans to advance stupid, mean, and incompetent candidates, with shitty governing records and real life accomplishments, who look good on camera, and
Kryptik
@mcd410x:
At this point, the only short answer I can see is “Principled bipartisanship in enjoying punching DFHs in the face.”
Violet
I think part of what this election shows is that people are sick of the status quo. It was the Republicans in charge before – they got thrown out in 2008 because things sucked. Now it’s the Dems in charge, things still suck, and the average person can see that their representatives are taking care of their rich friends on Wall St. and in insurance companies, while leaving regular folks with nothing. And they don’t like it. Time to throw the bums out, but this time it’s the Dems turn.
Any representative or party who figures out that they should take care of the voters, rather than the rich folks on Wall St., etc. is going to have an easier time getting elected than those who don’t.
FlipYrWhig
@Comrade Dread:
To quote the prophet Homer: Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.
Seriously, that’s the lesson. There isn’t a way to do something with the health care system, finance, immigration, climate, that isn’t going to cause some level of inconvenience or even pain. There isn’t a harmless easy way to establish equilibrium between all the competing interests. But if everyone is going to bitch about imperfect solutions, there will never be an end to the bitching, and there will never be a start to the solving.
Skepticat
Xenos and Aimai make excellent points. Decent candidate, hideous campaign.
Zifnab, your comment that turning the debate into a policy debate would be a good thing is correct. Unhappily, that doesn’t work any longer in the tea-stained world we’ve stumbled into.
jwb
@Jim: And what this signals is that unless the economy picks up by the summer the Dems are in a boatload of trouble no matter what they do about HCR or anything else—and I do believe this could be as bad as 94 assuming the goopers don’t actually primary themselves to death. Since there’s really no time to enact a new stimulus that will be effective by summer, that leaves them with few good options; a jobs bill would help the overall optics a bit but I don’t think it could get implemented soon enough to affect the overall economy by August—really getting out and running against the banks is their best political option. It will be interesting to see whether the Dems actually have the stomach to do it. I’m betting not.
eastriver
What you said about HOMICIDE is the truest thing I’ve read on this site. (Just don’t go to THE WIRE. I can’t follow you there.)
C Nelson Reilly
Harold Ford should get in on some of this action
FlipYrWhig
@Xenos:
If the Pats hadn’t gotten humiliated in the playoffs, would the “Nation” be in a better mood?
Brian J
I don’t think this means anything special other than they got lucky because they ran a good candidate (in the political sense) and we ran a shitty candidate. Does anyone really doubt that this guy, short of some pretty impressive dance to avoid taking the wingnut stance on every issue, will be gone in three years? Does anyone really doubt that the long term trends favor the Democrats?
In other words, they might get lucky sometimes, but they won’t get lucky all the time…unless we let them.
Col. Klink
I’m starting to go a little off the deep end here.
I’m read a highly recommended diary on GOS (a site I used to love and still do at times) that indicates in no uncertain terms that the reason for the Massachusetts Senate disaster is because Obama is GOP-lite.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/1/20/827418/-No-message,-no-base,-no-win
Only seconds after reading that I go to Sully, who has a post by some erudite ‘very serious conservative’ type who explains (I think sincerely, and not concern trollishly), that the problem is:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/
So the Left now holds out for Rosa Luxemburg, while the Right goes on a beer hall putch bender. Godwin, baby – I’m going there! Screw the Black Jimmy Carter tag and add Weimar Kenyan to the ensemble.
GregB
I still blame Balloon Juice.
-G
Tsulagi
I think that’ll be met with a resounding You Betcha! First time I saw a photo of him thought he looked like a Kennedy.
Think they’ll be doing the math. Doug Hoffman, who had the look and personality of a zombie on valium, loses what had been a safe R-seat. Brown the himbo wins Ted Kennedy’s seat. Casting calls are going out as we speak.
gex
OT: but more of this from the press and the public, please!
Prosecutor should investigate three questionable Gitmo suicides – St. Louis Post Dispatch
Jim
Wow. I don’t go in for the GOP-lite HE SOLD US OUT hysteria, but that’s dumber than Jane Hamsher after sharing a box of wine with Ann Althouse.
Col. Klink
Great idea for more Himbo candidates, but couldn’t the Dems then court Levi Johnson run against Sarah Palin?
We could pay off the national debt by putting it all on C-SPAN pay per view.
Brian J
@Tsulagi:
But can they count on the fecklessness of the Democrats each and every time?
Wait, I don’t want that answered.
The Grand Panjandrum
Village Voice wins the internets today:
With everybody from Barney Frank to Evan Bayh bailing on HCR I say Obama has about 24 hours to snatch this bunch of pussies up by the short hairs and give them the what for, or he can kiss his entire agenda goodbye.
Napoleon
I have such a profound sense of despair after reading about many of the Dems (like Barney Frank) running away from HCR and BO saying nothing. What a bunch of incompetents who deserve to be kicked out of office.
Dennis-SGMM
@Comrade Dread:
It stopped being about addressing the fundamental problems facing America years ago. It’s about winning the contest for first place at the trough. If either party came up with a workable plan to cure cancer and ensure world peace the other party would automatically and thunderously oppose it because it might help their opponents to get or keep the best trough placements.
It’s either the Good Guys or the Bad Guys with no other alternatives, so all one side has to do is make sure that the other side loses. What else are you going to do? Vote for Them? And if you become disgusted and refuse to vote that counts as voting for Them too so vote for Us.
Corner Stone
@Napoleon:
But he *can’t* say anything! Haven’t you read anything here over the last 6 months?
HCR is legislation. And the Congress deals with legislation.
flyerhawk
Don’t know where else to post this but did you guys catch Limbaugh comments on Haiti?
http://www.hiphoprx.com/2010/01/19/rush-limbaugh-haiti-comments-americans-dont-need-to-give-obamas-exploiting/
The Grand Panjandrum
@Dennis-SGMM: I noticed you back in these parts the other day. Welcome back.
I am sick of the feckless pussies we keep electing. I’m here in NH and will continue to work for people I believe have enough sack to actually take a stand and work to get something done. Fortunately our critters seem to be doing a reasonably good job, but watching Barney Frank (who does not represent my district obviously, but is a true liberal, and often an ass kicker) hit the exits was almost more than I could take.
Corner Stone
@gex:
I’m afraid with Brown’s win in MA last night that this is not really politically feasible. This administration is now going to need to be very conciliatory with the opposition if they want to try and pass HCR any time in the near future.
If the DoJ starts wide open and unfettered look-sees into these events then it’s all but a given that the R’s will block EVERY PIECE OF LEGISLATION.
So, I feel pretty confident that we will eventually do the right thing. When we get the chance to. But not now.
Scuffletuffle
@Xenos: What Xenos said.
Deborah
People had no idea who Brown was, too–just like Thune! “No one hates me yet” could be a powerful argument for any candidate. I think you’re right. Any semi-nude Thune photos?
Or will Republicans draft Levi?
Bob L
Doesn’t seem like any grand mystery in that election; everyone right and left is pissed at the sense of entitlement in the country’s elite that they view the government as their own toy. Coaklyn, with her lack luster campaign came across as feeling entitled to the office while Brown came across as wanting the office to do something with it he thinks is in the public good.
Dennis-SGMM
@The Grand Panjandrum:
Thanks! Life had reared its ugly head for a few months.
Steeplejack
@Col. Klink:
Dude, your very name is Godwin bait.
DBaker
I do wonder if Brown will represent a new model for Republican candidates in 2012, if we’ll see more affable himbos running for Congress in 2012
I think Mitt Romney qualifies as a himbo and it didn’t work out to well for him….
Mittens/Thune in ’12, that’s the ticket!
fraught
Brown is sooo much more dangerous than Palin. He’s read a book or two, his looks don’t have a sell-by date like hers at age 50, and his kids are not sulky high school dropouts and dunces (there’s a word that need revival) like the Palins. He makes Mitt and Pawlenty break out in a sweat because they look like left-overs in a 99 cent store. Be afraid.
Col. Klink
@ Steeplejack
It’s a leftover from my days at Jesus’ General, but I admit it may come in handy if Commander Beck seizes power in 2012.
licensed to kill time
“affable himbos” – good one, DougJ!
also, your post title made my mind start humming
a little ditty ’bout Sam and Di-ahh-ane,
two ‘Murikan kids growin’ up
in the Heartland
damn. it’ll be stuck there all day.
terry chay
Seems to me that it wasn’t a vote for Brown so much as a vote agaist Coakley. The best analogy seems NY-23 in reverse.
The Populist
@Paris:
Yep, I don’t understand this guy completely. I know he ran as an “independent” via the GOP. He never mentioned being a Republican in his literature. He is pro-choice from what I have read and seems to want to give his daughters to the highest bidder (joking).
The fact he did a nude spread cracks me up because he is the antithesis of a Republican AND a tea bagger. I know the tea baggers latched onto him because he’s a “breath of fresh air to shake up tired old DC” but he seems lite on every other issue I can dig up (Oh yes, he does want to torture people).
So basically, will this guy be a “maverick” or will he continue to vote with the GOP 96% of the time like he did as state senator (except he did vote for universal health care?!?!?!).
He’s an enigma but I bet he still goes with the GOP 96% of the time while pushing his goofy charm ala Palin.
The Populist
@fraught:
Agreed. One daughter is a college basketball player and the other is a med student at Syracuse. He seems affable but I am not sold as I see through his silliness.
He seems to be selling the everyman much better than any GOP candidate I’ve seen in quite some time. He could be the face of the GOP for the future. Personally, I don’t quite get him but I understand how he won.