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You are here: Home / Your Special Election Punditry Preview

Your Special Election Punditry Preview

by John Cole|  September 13, 20116:24 pm| 58 Comments

This post is in: Our Failed Media Experiment

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If the Republican wins, this proves that the Democratic party is in disarray and that Obama will lose in 2012.

If the Democrat wins, this will mean nothing since it was a Democratic seat and the fact that the Democrats had to spend so much money on it shows the Republicans are motivated and Obama will lose in 2012.

You are welcome.

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Reader Interactions

58Comments

  1. 1.

    West of the Cascades

    September 13, 2011 at 6:29 pm

    Thank you. Saves about 30 minutes of webreading tomorrow.

  2. 2.

    JPL

    September 13, 2011 at 6:29 pm

    Well thanks John. IMO which doesn’t count for much, if the repub wins we are antisemitic. The republican is running a fear campaign against Muslims who may or may not be Semitic.
    9/11 forever.

    BTW..OT…IMO…John you should watch My Dog Tulip. It’s hilarious.

  3. 3.

    Spaghetti Lee

    September 13, 2011 at 6:30 pm

    Don’t forget TEH MOSQUEZ. I’m sure every hack in Washington is salivating at digging up that story again.

    It just boggles the mind that this district in New York City, of all fucking places (and yes, I know it’s demographically different than the rest of the city) could elect a teabagger because of this stupid bullshit mosque story. Have none of them been paying attention to the failfest that the GOP has been putting on ever since they regained power? NY-9 has a huge number of people who died in 9/11: Does the Republican refusal to provide medical care to the people who survived not resonate at all?

    As for the Nevada one, whatever. It’s been in Republican hands forever. Of course something like 80% of it is Federally owned land, military space, airspace etc., so it would stand to lose if the Republicans got their way on spending, but hey, rural Nevada, don’t let that stop you from showing the world how different you are from “those people” down in Vegas.

  4. 4.

    Mattminus

    September 13, 2011 at 6:35 pm

    I didn’t really hear any radio ads for this race before this morning, but, when I did, I couldn’t help but notice I never heard the word “Republican” in any of them.

  5. 5.

    John PM

    September 13, 2011 at 6:38 pm

    John, thank you for the summary. Let the drinking commence!

  6. 6.

    MattR

    September 13, 2011 at 6:39 pm

    @John PM: The only nice part of today’s dental work is the percocet.

  7. 7.

    OzoneR

    September 13, 2011 at 6:40 pm

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    Have none of them been paying attention to the failfest that the GOP has been putting on ever since they regained power?

    Sure they have, they like it.

    NY-9 has a huge number of people who died in 9/11: Does the Republican refusal to provide medical care to the people who survived not resonate at all?

    Sure it does, but there’s a black President who hates Israel and wants to tax and spend and also too the mosque

  8. 8.

    MattR

    September 13, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    @OzoneR:

    Sure it does, but there’s a black President who hates Israel (according to an email they received) and wants to tax and spend and also too the mosque

    ftfy

  9. 9.

    lamh32

    September 13, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    OT, but a lil credit where credit is due:

    Females, minorities top Obama picks for judges

    President Barack Obama is moving at a historic pace to try to diversify the nation’s federal judiciary: Nearly three of every four people he has gotten confirmed to the federal bench are women or minorities. He is the first president who hasn’t selected a majority of white males for lifetime judgeships

    More than 70 percent of Obama’s confirmed judicial nominees during his first two years were “non-traditional,” or nominees who were not white males. That far exceeds the percentages in the two-term administrations of Bill Clinton (48.1 percent) and George W. Bush (32.9 percent), according to Sheldon Goldman, author of the authoritative book “Picking Federal Judges…”

  10. 10.

    Tom

    September 13, 2011 at 6:53 pm

    Close, but not quite.

    If the Republican wins, this proves that the Democrat party is in disarray and that Obama will lose in 2012.

    If the Democrat wins, this will mean nothing since it was a Democrat seat and the fact that the Democrats had to spend so much money on it shows the Republicans are motivated and Obama will lose in 2012.

    FTFY.

  11. 11.

    PeakVT

    September 13, 2011 at 6:58 pm

    More than 70 percent of Obama’s confirmed judicial nominees during his first two years were “non-traditional,” or nominees who were not white males.

    The wingnuts are going to go apeshit over that once it makes the rounds, even though that number makes sense in light of the fact that white males make up … (wait for it) … about 30% of the US population right now.

    I can’t wait for the poutrage.

  12. 12.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    September 13, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    you have to admit, the special election is a far better and more tastier fundraiser than the chicken dinner at 5k per plate. besides, why should the political class have to pay for all their own politics? this is like a tax cut to them, motivated people who can’t afford a dinner, send them cash.

    greatest thing since 5 day old rolls.

  13. 13.

    Professor

    September 13, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    There are more people than rich people in the USA. The Republicans don’t give a shit about poor people. So why do poor people vote for the Republicans? Does that mean that the poor people are poor because they are stupid? Just asking!

  14. 14.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    September 13, 2011 at 7:04 pm

    @PeakVT: Yes, that proves we white males should make up 30% of the judiciary. Do you want tyranny of the majority in the judiciary?

    Plus. The constitution guarantees a trial by peers. How can a white male CEO (as in REAL American(r) ) be get a trial by a white male (as in REAL American(r) ) judge if 70% of the judges are females or minorities?

  15. 15.

    Jenny

    September 13, 2011 at 7:04 pm

    If the Republican wins, this proves that it’s all Obama’s fault. the Democratic party is in disarray and that Obama will lose in 2012.

    /fixed

  16. 16.

    Martin

    September 13, 2011 at 7:06 pm

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    It just boggles the mind that this district in New York City, of all fucking places

    You don’t understand the magnitude of the issue. We’ve got a president that fully recognizes the statehood of a population of savages lead by ruthless men, beholden to a radical ideology that are committed to the destruction of the government of their neighbors, upending their peaceful lives with violence and terrorism, and refusing to permit reasonable security measures be put in place in defense of these acts.

    I am of course referring to Obama’s support for the people of New Jersey.

  17. 17.

    dmsilev

    September 13, 2011 at 7:09 pm

    What does it mean if there’s a tie? Can we blame that on ACORN?

  18. 18.

    Martin

    September 13, 2011 at 7:10 pm

    @dmsilev: Of course. You can always blame ACORN.

  19. 19.

    General Stuck

    September 13, 2011 at 7:10 pm

    Weiner’s voters better think long and hard about voting for a wingnut.

  20. 20.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    September 13, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    @Mattminus: I never heard the word “Republican” in any of them.
    Didn’t Scott Brown do the same thing? I’m sure more than a few Blue Dog Dems in the South and rural Mid-West, too.

  21. 21.

    General Stuck

    September 13, 2011 at 7:17 pm

    Is this real, is it really happening? There is a special election for a seat held by a disgraced democrat for sending multiple pics of you know what, to multiple woman, and folks are asking why the republican might win?

  22. 22.

    fuckwit

    September 13, 2011 at 7:18 pm

    This special election is about Israel. That is all.

    Not Obama, not Repugs, not Democrats, not the candidates themselves and their qualifications or character.

    That’s a militantly Likudnik district. The whole fucking election is about Israel. Whomever is the biggest islamophobe will win. Odds on the Rethug.

  23. 23.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    September 13, 2011 at 7:19 pm

    Beating a dead horse.

  24. 24.

    JWL

    September 13, 2011 at 7:20 pm

    “If the Republican wins, this proves that the Democratic party is in disarray and that Obama will lose in 2012”.

    Not quite. It will mean that Obama should steer ever more rightward, in order to placate the all-important “independent” voter in 2012.

  25. 25.

    kd bart

    September 13, 2011 at 7:21 pm

    Isn’t this seat being eliminated for the 2012 election?

  26. 26.

    Morzer

    September 13, 2011 at 7:22 pm

    @General Stuck:

    It’s the scrotum hokum votum.

  27. 27.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    September 13, 2011 at 7:24 pm

    Guy from the Marlins just made the worst pitch in the history of baseball. You will see the replay.

  28. 28.

    Martin

    September 13, 2011 at 7:24 pm

    @kd bart: Yes, which is why it’s a bellweather for 2012.

    /villager

  29. 29.

    Jenny

    September 13, 2011 at 7:24 pm

    It’s better that this happened now than later.

    Weiner was going to resign in 2013 after he became Mayor and seat would have gone Republican in the special election because of teh nuty Likudniks who live in the district.

    But because Weiner resigned now they decided to eliminate what would have ended up being a future republican district.

    Well played, Mauer.

  30. 30.

    Too Many Jimpersons (formerly Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.)

    September 13, 2011 at 7:29 pm

    And it’s funny that after the recall elections, pundits weren’t spouting this:

    “If the [Democrat] wins, this proves that the [Republican] party is in disarray and that [the Republican nominee] will lose in 2012.

    If the [Republican] wins, this will mean nothing since it was a [Republican] seat and the fact that the [Republicans] had to spend so much money on it shows the [Democrats] are motivated and [the Republican nominee] will lose in 2012.”

    Our political anylists could look at 1912, when William Howard Taft, the sitting Republican president came in third, and won 8 electoral votes and two states, or the 1936 election, when Roosevelt won 46 states, and Landon won two (As goes Maine, so goes Vermont!), and they’d still find a way to tell us that the Republicans were really the big winners and the Democrats were on the ropes. (My God, the Republicans brought ont he depression, and the Democrats have been working overtime to end it, but even with those advantages, Roosevelt couldn’t win Maine and Vermont? The Democrats are in deep trouble if they can’t inspire out enough voters to come out and vote, and judging by what happened last night in Maine and Vermont, it looks like the Democrats have a real motivation problem on their hands going into 1938 and 1940. I’d be amazed if they hold still Congress in ’39, and I think it’s fair to say Alf landon’s stock is on the rise.)

    Al Franken once wrote that one of the biggest biases in the American press today is not liberalism, but laziness, and he was spot-on. To always come to the same tidy conclusion, whatever the facts may be, and not bother to think things through at all is the worst kind of laziness, and it pretty much defines our press today. I fear we’re screwed.

  31. 31.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    September 13, 2011 at 7:33 pm

    Too Hot to Fish in Athens!

  32. 32.

    MikeBoyScout

    September 13, 2011 at 7:33 pm

    Who has to win for me to get my pony?

    I WAS PROMISED A PONY!

  33. 33.

    Cacti

    September 13, 2011 at 7:36 pm

    Congratulations on whoever wins this seat that will exist for 15 more months.

  34. 34.

    wrb

    September 13, 2011 at 7:41 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred):

    The original story was beautiful- friend in Georgia sent it to me when it came out in July

    NYT follow-up

  35. 35.

    Keith G

    September 13, 2011 at 7:43 pm

    this proves that the Democratic party is in disarray

    Regardless of the outcome, the Democratic party is in disarray. I am not blaming any single person, but the “brand” if it exists at all is unclear. In the modern era, we have always been a party of wide coalitions depending on a strong and assertive politician or two in order to give focus to a public face.

    Now Democrats seem to be a widely diverse, amorphous group of separate interests, so I find it not surprising that the NY race is a mess. That really is to bad since the Teabaggers seem quite intent on giving us chances to marginalize them.

  36. 36.

    lol

    September 13, 2011 at 7:44 pm

    @lamh32:

    Whatever.

    We all know Mitt Romney or John McCain would’ve done the same.

    Both sides are the same, sheeple. Wake up!

  37. 37.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    September 13, 2011 at 7:44 pm

    @wrb: The Banana Herald! Stay away from the comments in that rag.

  38. 38.

    Jade Jordan

    September 13, 2011 at 7:46 pm

    John, I am in awe of your thought clarity. In teabagger that would be John thinks. I can’t figure out if you get your smarts from drinking, overeating, or chasing 3 pets around the house and yard who are all smarter than you?

    You nailed it, must be good news for George W. Bush, John McCain, and the Repubs no matter who wins.

  39. 39.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    September 13, 2011 at 7:48 pm

    @wrb:
    From the NYT article

    n the Bobby Kirk Facebook page, someone pretending to be Mr. Kirk answers questions and posts thoughts along the lines of “Got a hankerin’ for some pork. I think I’ll head up the road to Hot Thomas’ for a spell.”

    A few weeks back a trucker with a flat pulled into Hot’s BBQ and called for a wrecker. Hot did not tolerate people parking in his lot so he went out with his cane and banged on the truck. Push came to shove and the cops ended up hauling Hot away. Two weeks ago he was at Tractor Supply in Athens and he killed himself in the parking lot.

  40. 40.

    OzoneR

    September 13, 2011 at 7:48 pm

    @Keith G:

    Now Democrats seem to be a widely diverse, amorphous group of separate interests,

    This has been the case since as far back as I can remember

  41. 41.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 13, 2011 at 7:49 pm

    @Jade Jordan: You are a bit irony impaired, aren’t you?

  42. 42.

    arguingwithsignposts

    September 13, 2011 at 7:51 pm

    @OzoneR: well you don’t remember very far, do you.

  43. 43.

    OzoneR

    September 13, 2011 at 7:52 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    well you don’t remember very far, do you.

    early 1980s

  44. 44.

    Elie

    September 13, 2011 at 7:57 pm

    @Keith G:

    Keith:

    Look at the world around us.

    There is a lot of “dissaray” — from economic to social to environmental, political, whatever…

    We are, (in my opinion) in one of the periods of transition and transformation.

    There is great foment, instability but also opportunity.

    Things have to sort themselves a bit. The old guard and old institutions don’t quite work/fit and the changes in information, communication and speed — are literally changing our concept of nation states and our loyalties and identifications.

    For better or worse, we will see a lot of false solutions and a lot of realignments, etc. I hear that the magnetic poles of the earth could flip sometime soon…

    Hold on to your knickers and stay awake, as they say. What is apparent at any point in time may be quite misleading…

    (I can always remember reading about these transitions – like after WWI, in the history books. But I think one of those is right here on us. Democrats?)

  45. 45.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 13, 2011 at 7:57 pm

    @Keith G: Remember the Will Rogers joke: I am not a member of any organized party — I am a Democrat.

  46. 46.

    JC

    September 13, 2011 at 7:58 pm

    Off-topic – Beck is back, with GBTV (Gayboy Television – please insert your own suggestions for GB)

  47. 47.

    arguingwithsignposts

    September 13, 2011 at 8:06 pm

    @OzoneR: this is why we have history. try the early 1860s.

  48. 48.

    jaywillie

    September 13, 2011 at 8:06 pm

    Teabaggers plan to split PA electoral vote:

    Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi is trying to gather support to change the state’s “winner-takes-all” approach for awarding electoral votes. Instead, he’s suggesting that Pennsylvania dole them out based on which candidate wins each of the 18 congressional districts, with the final two going to the contender with the most votes statewide.

    So far, the idea has received support from colleagues of the Delaware County Republican in the state House and from Republican Gov. Tom Corbett.

    As the article points out, had this allocation been used in 2008, President Obama would have received only 11 of the state’s 20 electoral votes. That’s precisely what this is about–denying 10 EVs to the other side.

  49. 49.

    OzoneR

    September 13, 2011 at 8:07 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    this is why we have history. try the early 1860s.

    In the early 1860s, I’d be a Republican

  50. 50.

    Cat Lady

    September 13, 2011 at 8:10 pm

    @Elie:

    You’re on my wavelength and there are a lot of us here who are surfing the same wave. Shit’s stirred up, and we all need to be the clear eyed calm in the middle of the shitstorm. Also.

  51. 51.

    Moonbatman

    September 13, 2011 at 8:11 pm

    Remember the Special Election Rule of Thumb: All politics are local if the Republican wins.

    That and the Koch brothers stole it.

  52. 52.

    soonergrunt

    September 13, 2011 at 9:14 pm

    You are welcome.

    Thanks. I can go to bed early.

  53. 53.

    Lojasmo

    September 13, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    @Too Many Jimpersons (formerly Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.):

    My senator is always spot on. ALWAYS. SPOT. ON. Don’t you fuckimg forget it.

  54. 54.

    wrb

    September 13, 2011 at 9:28 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred):
    ‘least Hot made point as he went.

    Lotta folks only stood up for less.

  55. 55.

    NobodySpecial

    September 13, 2011 at 10:43 pm

    @OzoneR:

    In the early 2010s, I’d be a Republican

    Edited for accuracy.

  56. 56.

    Elie

    September 13, 2011 at 11:16 pm

    @Cat Lady:

    Uhn huhn

  57. 57.

    LosGatosCA

    September 14, 2011 at 12:51 am

    @Professor:

    Yes. Also rich people are stupid, too.

    It’s not an income demographic problem. The people is stupid and getting more stupider everyday.

    Grab a few of these tasty lead chips. Bethcha can’t eat just one.

  58. 58.

    Sheesh

    September 15, 2011 at 11:33 am

    Hey — why dry up this thread now that the outcome is known?! Think of the future historians, what if this is the only thread that survives?!

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