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You are here: Home / Bloomberg-Bayh bitches

Bloomberg-Bayh bitches

by DougJ|  November 24, 201111:14 pm| 117 Comments

This post is in: Our Failed Media Experiment

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Non-partisan, straight reporting at Kaplan. Top “story” right now.

Update. This is pretty awesome, on Evan Bayh’s supposed political future:

The Washington Post’s Chuck Lane sees a branding possibility. “Quitting the Senate was a no-lose move for the presidentially ambitious Bayh, since he can now crawl away from the political wreckage for a couple of years, plausibly alleging that he tried to steer the party in a different direction — and then be perfectly positioned to mount a centrist primary challenge to Obama in 2012, depending on circumstances.”

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Reader Interactions

117Comments

  1. 1.

    Steeplejack

    November 24, 2011 at 11:17 pm

    Justin Bieber on a stick. Some sort of shark has been jumped.

  2. 2.

    Spaghetti Lee

    November 24, 2011 at 11:18 pm

    Is a “middle option” a euphemism for some sort of sex act?

  3. 3.

    JWL

    November 24, 2011 at 11:19 pm

    To be called the Can’t We All Just Get Along Party.

  4. 4.

    redshirt

    November 24, 2011 at 11:21 pm

    One of the beauties of the Internet: Has the National Media ever been mocked to this degree before the Internet? I don’t see how.

  5. 5.

    aretino

    November 24, 2011 at 11:22 pm

    Tendulkar on 85 already — the century of centuries is imminent

  6. 6.

    Bruuuuce

    November 24, 2011 at 11:23 pm

    “Bipartisan” = “one very purple Blue Dog and ninety-nine Big Money Republicans who know Mitt can’t beat Obama”?

    Okay, not quite. But the real clue here is that the Board of Directors of Americans Elect includes Christine Whitman. How could anyone ever trust her or a group that includes her. (We won’t even note that the head of E*TRADE seems to be driving this. I guess he’s tired of his buddies from Goldman getting all the plum jobs.)

  7. 7.

    Phil Perspective

    November 24, 2011 at 11:24 pm

    Did they even talk to one registered Democrat for that article? It doesn’t appear so. And what politician is going to go along with the “Americans Elect” nonsense? Is HolyJoe going to run as their sad excuse of a candidate?

  8. 8.

    Phil Perspective

    November 24, 2011 at 11:26 pm

    @Bruuuuce: I figured it out. Whitman and Harold Ford, Jr.!! They’ll win in a landslide!! Not!

  9. 9.

    dollared

    November 24, 2011 at 11:26 pm

    Awesome. 20 unemployed political consultants hanging together and scamming money of Michael Bloomberg’s friends. In America 2011, the grifting has never been better.

  10. 10.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 24, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    Put the fucking hedge fund parasites behind this shit up against a motherfucking wall.

    Oh, wait, that’s too shrill.

    Up against a Samuel L. Jackson catchphrase wall.

  11. 11.

    4jkb4ia

    November 24, 2011 at 11:33 pm

    I had to make sure that was right. nytimes.com has got either Egypt or Yemen as the lead story and has nothing about politics for quite a while, unless you count breaking up the AT&T-T-Mobile merger. It looks as if I will be spending quality time with the paper tomorrow that I really don’t have. (Sunset approx 4:42) (And the grocery store was closed today, so we have to descend upon it hopefully before noon)

    Takeout from Kohn’s turned out more or less all right! It was a draw. I cannot bake a pie of any sort and the pies were delicious. But I can roast better vegetables than they can.

    AND Taegan Goddard basically took the day off. That is how egregious this headline is.

  12. 12.

    SenyorDave

    November 24, 2011 at 11:36 pm

    Its been said before, but the Post can’t fold soon enough. These shitbags could get any deal they want since they own most of the GOP and more than a few Democrats.

  13. 13.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    November 24, 2011 at 11:36 pm

    And yet, the third party will govern just like Republicans. The important thing is they’re not called Republicans.

  14. 14.

    4jkb4ia

    November 24, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    Seriously, that they are not writing about Egypt/Yemen says everything about being a provincial gossip rag that both Ezra and Greg Sargent are too good for. (Fingers said opposite of intent.)

  15. 15.

    Violet

    November 24, 2011 at 11:41 pm

    Isn’t there already something like that? The No Labels party, or something?

  16. 16.

    Petorado

    November 24, 2011 at 11:44 pm

    Someone needs to tell these suddenly sobering Republicans: you go to election day with the Republican party you made—not the party you might want or wish to have at a later time. They spend the last bunch of decades breaking their party and now they own it. What’s with the newfound buyer’s remorse? Dr. Frankenstein was more proud of the monster he’d created than the Repubs are of theirs.

  17. 17.

    suzanne

    November 24, 2011 at 11:59 pm

    “Middle option” must be like “opposite marriage”.

  18. 18.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    November 25, 2011 at 12:01 am

    So, a number of Republicans have realized that they fucked up big time aligning with the Tea Party and religious conservatives, and they hope to win the election by convincing the Tea Party to vote for them since they aren’t Republicans. Rinse and repeat every two years.

  19. 19.

    Sal

    November 25, 2011 at 12:03 am

    Everyone agrees this is stupid. Only the beltway media will fall for something this fake.

  20. 20.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    November 25, 2011 at 12:07 am

    Ahhh, “bipartisan” is a cover for “conservative” at the Kaplan version of toilet paper. IOW, the conservatives are cringing knowing well that the clown car of candidates they have collected is hauling ass headlong into a brick wall.

    That or Romney…lol!

    If they think that a third party candidate (read: conservative) can win the presidency by drawing from both parties then I would have them tested for drug abuse. Someone is making the calculation that there are enough dissatisfied voters from both sides to maybe give them a win.

    Big money is looking for “their” president because they aren’t happy with the options they have now.

  21. 21.

    Nylund

    November 25, 2011 at 12:10 am

    The way I see it, it’s like this. Whenever I hear the “centrist” dream policies, it actually sounds quite a bit like Obama. But everyone knows Obama is a liberal and liberals are dumb (and never mind those people clamoring for Obama to be more liberal, they’re just crazy hippies!) Plus, if you support Obama, that just proves you suffer from the dreaded “liberal bias” we always hear about (never mind Fox, talk radio, the talking heads on the Sunday shows, or the majority of the major newspapers.) Thus, what all the kewl kids want is a “third party” that will offer up the compromised solutions that neither party is willing to offer (except for the always willing to compromise Obama and easy folding Democrats).

    In short it’s “we want Obama, but we can’t say that because then we won’t get invited to the cool cocktail parties, and maybe if we can find a non-black Obama that doesn’t call himself a Democrat all the rednecks in flyover country and the GOP wouldn’t be such obstructionists, even if this “third party” person suggests the same exact policies as Obama.”

    Seriously, just grow some balls and admit that one party is insane, and no matter how “uncool” it’ll make you in the DC cocktail party circuit point out that we already do have one perfectly reasonable, sane, and pragmatic party that can lead. We don’t need another. What we need is to stop the insanity of the other party. Adding a third party won’t do that.

  22. 22.

    dollared

    November 25, 2011 at 12:13 am

    We have no idea who is behind these clowns, but we do know their platform:

    Exactly the Obama platform, except hedge fund managers continue to pay 15% on their earnings.

  23. 23.

    Paddy

    November 25, 2011 at 12:19 am

    Doing a referral Holiday shopping post tomorrow, so if you have a site, charity, ebook, book or whatever that you think would be a good holiday gift, email me here. Lots of good stuff to check out.

  24. 24.

    Redshift

    November 25, 2011 at 12:21 am

    @Xecky Gilchrist:

    And yet, the third party will govern just like Republicans. The important thing is they’re not called Republicans.

    Yup, just like the Tea Party, in addition to being wingnuts who just hated the president for totally non-racist reasons, were Republicans who wanted to pretend they weren’t Republicans because W was such a disaster.

    How many Republican parties will we end up with?

    Does anyone know enough history to tell me if anything like this happened to the Whigs before they went down the tubes?

  25. 25.

    Suffern ACE

    November 25, 2011 at 12:21 am

    Isn’t there already something like that? The No Labels party, or something?

    No labels was just the test. Main point of that group was to build a mailing list and hand out “yellow penalty cards” to Obama whenever he said something “partisan” or “true” while ignoring anything that the republicans said that he was responding to. I don’t know…it seemed a little suspicious…any time Obama said something that indicated that he was the head of the Democratic party, he got a foul. It’s as if the refs had been paid off.

  26. 26.

    Redshift

    November 25, 2011 at 12:22 am

    @Violet:

    Isn’t there already something like that? The No Labels party, or something?

    That failed completely, so they’re re-branding it and pretending it’s something different.

  27. 27.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    November 25, 2011 at 12:24 am

    @JWL:

    As a conservative counter to the current Republican ‘We Can’t All Just Get Along’ Party?

  28. 28.

    Lockewasright

    November 25, 2011 at 12:24 am

    Tacking to the right of Obama with a blue dog will court pretty much none of the democrats who are pissed at Obama as they think themselves to be to his left. It may, however, take teahadists or moderates away from the GOP depending on which of them is pissed off by the primary results.

  29. 29.

    Comrade Mary

    November 25, 2011 at 12:26 am

    @Steeplejack:

    Justin Bieber on a stick.

    Hey! That’s a classic Canadian Easter treat that you’re mocking!

  30. 30.

    John O

    November 25, 2011 at 12:28 am

    Please FSM give me a Bloomberg-Bayh ticket.

    I know where most of those votes will come from.

  31. 31.

    boss bitch

    November 25, 2011 at 12:31 am

    A party funded by hedge fund managers who won’t reveal their names? at a time when people are very aware of income inequality, the 1% and all that? yeah, I can see Americans going for that. Obama is shaking in his boots.

    Damn idiots.

  32. 32.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    November 25, 2011 at 12:33 am

    @Redshift:

    The Whigs indeed did split over the issue of slavery, leading to their eventual demise. The Republican party came about through the efforts of the anti-slavery Whig faction.

    An interesting note from wikipedia:

    The Whigs suffered greatly from factionalism throughout their existence, as well as weak party loyalty that stood in contrast to the strong party discipline that was the hallmark of a tight Democratic Party organization.[5] One strength of the Whigs, however, was a superb network of newspapers that provided an internal information system; their leading editor was Horace Greeley of the powerful New York Tribune.

    Weak party, factionalism and a “superb” network of newspapers to spread their views. Hmmm….

  33. 33.

    Suffern ACE

    November 25, 2011 at 12:38 am

    I don’t think it will be Bloomberg. He would only run if he could win. Bayh, maybe. Honestly, I don’t know where Bloomberg’s voters would come from? Liberals and a few the very few Republicans who were happy about the things he said about the Cordoba Center during the “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy?

  34. 34.

    rikyrah

    November 25, 2011 at 12:46 am

    I wish these mofos WOULD run against the President.

    bring.it.on

  35. 35.

    cat48

    November 25, 2011 at 12:46 am

    I don’t like Peter Ackerman’s background. He was on the Board of Directors at Cato Institute and a Board Member or something of Rockport Capital. Wonder how close to the Koch’s he is? How nice to have a Hedge Fund pick a Unity team to run for Prez who refuses to release any Fundraising reports related to America Elect. I’m fairly sure Friedman said in his America Elect column that the Headquarters was a Hedge Fund. Lovely………

  36. 36.

    Cacti

    November 25, 2011 at 12:48 am

    “The answer to a question that nobody asked.”

    Who is Evan Bayh, Alex?

  37. 37.

    Suffern ACE

    November 25, 2011 at 12:49 am

    Re: Update: No way that Bayh would be running as a Democrat. What is Lane smoking. Bayh didn’t just leave his race in a tiff. He dropped out of the re-election race at the last minute almost at the filing deadline, leaving the Indiana Dems scrambling. If I remember right, he took the money he had raised to run and went home.

  38. 38.

    SenyorDave

    November 25, 2011 at 12:54 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: Maybe the anti-slavery wing of the current Republican party will split off and form a third party, but that would be such a small percentage it wouldn’t be significant.

  39. 39.

    J. Michael Neal

    November 25, 2011 at 12:55 am

    @aretino: Dismissed for 94, and it’s the fourth day and we’re still on the first innings. I smell a draw.

  40. 40.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 25, 2011 at 1:06 am

    The “leadership” of Americans Elect includes Douglas Schoen and Lynn Forester de Rothschild, according to http://www.americanselect.org.

    I am less surprised by this information than I should be.

  41. 41.

    Steeplejack

    November 25, 2011 at 1:06 am

    @Comrade Mary:

    Point taken. Sorry. But cursing is rarely pretty.

  42. 42.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    November 25, 2011 at 1:07 am

    Is Anne Elk (Miss) involved in this idea that there’ some huge middle that can be tapped for this third party?

  43. 43.

    patrick II

    November 25, 2011 at 1:15 am

    I think I may looking at this differently than most of the comments I have read so far. A Bayh candidacy, or whoever else they run, can’t beat Obama, but any third party candidate that appeals to the center can cause trouble. The republicans would vote for the republican candidate if he were the devil, independent or moderate democrats might move to the perceived independent Bayh. I think any third party candidacy would be trouble for Obama. That is what I perceive the motivation of the big money is. If Bayh actually runs his motivation would be ego, a la Nader in 2000, and perhaps just as destructive.

  44. 44.

    pseudonymous in nc

    November 25, 2011 at 1:16 am

    The WaPo is just fucking trolling its readers now: it’s the equivalent of “Megan Fox Wears Panties” on HuffPo, because it’s guaranteed to get clickthroughs and comments.

    @J. Michael Neal: that’s the biggest total the Windies have knocked up in a test match since forever, I’m sure. But I’m still angry at the ICB for granting the Australians and Saffers just two tests.

  45. 45.

    Anoniminous

    November 25, 2011 at 1:19 am

    pfui

    Bayh has no name recognition, no organization, no money, no talent, and no political “space.”

    It’s another Beltway fantasy.

  46. 46.

    Elizabelle

    November 25, 2011 at 1:22 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    ‘Splains a lot. Ewwww.

    It’s American Select. We’re hedge fund managers and who knows who else, and we can buy us an election. Or we think we can…

  47. 47.

    Anoniminous

    November 25, 2011 at 1:25 am

    @patrick II:

    Bayh, if I read him correctly, isn’t going to self-fund. That means somebodies have to jack-up $100 million, or so, to establish an organization, run the ballot drives to get him on the ballot, open state and local offices, pay people to run ’em, & etc. etc. etc.

    And if he does get on the ballot the most likely outcome is, if he is lucky, two to four percent of the vote, drawn equally from both sides.

    ETA: And he’ll need another $400 million to run a campaign.

  48. 48.

    Suffern ACE

    November 25, 2011 at 1:25 am

    @Anoniminous: Yeah. It’s like the beltway thinks that any ol’ rich guy can play the part of Ross Perot.

  49. 49.

    Redshift

    November 25, 2011 at 1:30 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee:

    Weak party, factionalism and a “superb” network of newspapers to spread their views. Hmmm…

    Yes, very interesting. Perhaps some hope for them “going the way of the Whigs” after all.

  50. 50.

    hrprogressive

    November 25, 2011 at 1:34 am

    Don’t those morons know that we already have a “Moderate” Party in the Democrats?

    Seriously, anyone who thinks there’s anything that resembles a real liberal “party” is fucking kidding themselves.

    Fuck Evan Bayh, Fuck Mike Bloomberg, pre-emptively fuck Joe Lieberman, and fuck every single last Blue Dog Democrat until the cows come home.

    When “Moderate” means “A mix of positions between liberal and conservative” again, as opposed to “Tut-tutting everyone with an R or a D next to their name and supporting the most corporate friendly legislation possible”, then maybe I’d consider a “Moderate”.

  51. 51.

    Suffern ACE

    November 25, 2011 at 1:35 am

    @Anoniminous: Question is, who is going to run those local offices? Are there that many unscrupulous Democrats and Republicans out there to be pulled into a local network? A Nader or a Perot can pull that off by offering some sort of exciting cause or personality. That is not Bayh. The people who might be attracted to his personality probably already have a collection of Romney pin-up posters on their lockers.

  52. 52.

    Hob

    November 25, 2011 at 1:39 am

    …and then be perfectly positioned to mount a centrist primary challenge to Obama in 2012, depending on circumstances.

    That’s just about the most amazing use of the phrase “depending on circumstances” that I’ve ever seen. DougJ, I won’t say you must start using that as a tag on your posts; but if you did so, you might be perfectly positioned to win a Pulitzer Prize, depending on circumstances.

  53. 53.

    DougJ

    November 25, 2011 at 1:41 am

    @Hob:

    It’s such a great all-purpose qualifier.

  54. 54.

    Anoniminous

    November 25, 2011 at 1:42 am

    @Suffern ACE:

    Bayh was a dying breed: Blue Dog Democrat. They got creamed in ’10 and have zero power or influence.

    Also it looked like he would have to actually … you know … work to be elected (he inherited his seat from daddy) and the odds were no better than 50/50.

    For a lefty (moi) losing Bayh is like losing a dose of crabs. Yeah you kinda miss them when they’re gone but not all that much.

    ;-)

  55. 55.

    Anoniminous

    November 25, 2011 at 1:48 am

    @Suffern ACE:

    In order:

    Question is, who is going to run those local offices?

    Beats my pair of aces.

    Are there that many unscrupulous Democrats and Republicans out there to be pulled into a local network?

    No. Anyone outside of Indiana jumping ship can kiss their political careers good-bye.

    A Nader or a Perot can pull that off by offering some sort of exciting cause or personality. That is not Bayh. The people who might be attracted to his personality probably already have a collection of Romney pin-up posters on their lockers.

    Now here’s where we differ. IMHO, people who might be excited by Bayh have a pin-up poster of Snap-Off socket wrenches on their lockers.

  56. 56.

    J. Michael Neal

    November 25, 2011 at 1:49 am

    I finally made it to Chicago. Only sixteen hours after my train was originally supposed to leave Minneapolis. Although, to be honest, if we can only run either a good freight rail system or a decent passenger rail system, I’d rather go with freight. I just need to remember to drive down here next year.

    Now I need to figure out how to encourage my parents to get me drunk enough to tell them just how badly I’m doing. Somehow, telling my folks that I’m suicidal isn’t something I’m up to sober.

  57. 57.

    J. Michael Neal

    November 25, 2011 at 1:57 am

    @pseudonymous in nc: Yeah, well, me and my Curtly Ambrose t-shirt are going to keep being enthused whenever the Windies strike.

  58. 58.

    Elizabelle

    November 25, 2011 at 1:58 am

    “Leadership” of American Select.

    http://www.americanselect.org/who-we-are

    It’s disgruntled Republicans who want to be a spoiler for Obama. Because Obama doesn’t represent moderates. Or something.

    Mark McKinnon.

    Enough said.

    PS: They have a “Chief Leadership Officer”, Wendy Drake, who appears to actually be their chief fundraising officer.

    Money equals leadership, bitchez.

    About the most honest thing on their website.

    PPS: Their chief legal counsel, Daniel B. WInslow:

    Dan also serves as an elected member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

    He’s a Republican. Although the American Select website won’t tell you that.

  59. 59.

    DougJ

    November 25, 2011 at 2:00 am

    @J. Michael Neal:

    Hey, happy Thanksgiving! Good luck.

  60. 60.

    DanielX

    November 25, 2011 at 2:04 am

    Yeah, yeah, fuckin’ Evan Bayh. If I recall correctly, I commented to an old friend recently that Mitt Romney was sorta like the Mormon version of Evan Bayh – a man who never held a conviction so deeply that he couldn’t reverse it in a heartbeat if expediency required it.

    Speaking as a long time observer of Evan, my guess is that he hasn’t taken a leak in the morning in the last twenty years without checking an opinion poll first. For chrissakes, how do people figure he got two terms as guv’nor and two terms as senator from Indiana as a Democrat? Think of Evan Bayh as a somewhat more down home version of Joe Lieberman, and you won’t be far off the mark.

    In an interview in Indianapolis Magazine (and other media outlets) after leaving office, he spent a lot of time and air in bemoaning the horribly partisan state of Congress and talking about taking a position teaching at a university or possibly heading a university, roughly the political equivalent of retiring to a cave in Tibet to contemplate one’s navel. Which would have been a good thing….he might actually have done something productive for students, or faculty, or stray campus dogs.

    To the surprise and amazement of absolutely no one with a pulse, instead Evan has multiple gigs as, among other things:

    a commentator for Fox News

    a partner in a lobbying with Andrew Card, former chief of staff for W, with major client the US Chamber of Commerce

    and paid political pimp for whoever coughs up enough bucks
    (okay, the last is pure embroidery on my part)

    You get the idea….I say pimp, because Evan is making the bucks from peddling voters’ asses to the highest bidder. We don’t even get to enjoy getting screwed.

  61. 61.

    Elizabelle

    November 25, 2011 at 2:06 am

    @J. Michael Neal:

    What’s with the “suicidal”? (Also, happy Thanksgiving. On the rails.)

  62. 62.

    cat48

    November 25, 2011 at 2:11 am

    @Elizabelle:

    Obama must have really ticked off his exDNI head, Dennis Blair, b/c he’s on the damn Board, too, along with Lady Lynn. Wonder if she’s still supporting Huntsman & if Huntsman would be the Rethug on the team with the Dem. Hmm….

  63. 63.

    David Koch

    November 25, 2011 at 2:18 am

    The funny part is I don’t see where Blommie differs from Obama.

    They both want a carbon tax, they both oppose the Bush tax cuts. Neither of them are neo-cons.

    If anything, Bloomie is more liberal as he’s fervently anti gun.

  64. 64.

    licensed to kill time

    November 25, 2011 at 2:27 am

    @J. Michael Neal: JMN, just tell them anyway, maybe they can help. Best of luck to you – sometimes life just sucks but it’s better than the alternative. Hang in there.

  65. 65.

    GregB

    November 25, 2011 at 2:32 am

    Evan Bayh(BAAMFP)-Indiana.

    Bland as a Mutha-Fucka Party.

  66. 66.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    November 25, 2011 at 2:33 am

    @licensed to kill time: Agreed.

  67. 67.

    NRH

    November 25, 2011 at 2:33 am

    The people making these claims are the ones who believed, and wanted to believe, that 2010 represented a mass repudiation of the Democratic Party, rather than the result of a highly skewed electorate. These are exactly the people the Overton Window describes; lacking principles of their own, they designate ‘between the parties’ as ‘moderation’ and ignore how their positions have to shift over time to stay there. In 1994, supporting the Republican alternative to the health care bill would have been the right-wing position. In 2010, that almost-identical bill was the left-wing position (at least in terms of getting any traction in Congress). They don’t care that they had to abandon their prior positions just to stay ‘in the middle.’

  68. 68.

    Anoniminous

    November 25, 2011 at 2:35 am

    @J. Michael Neal:

    Go here and please, please, please CALL.

    Things can turn around for you as long as you get the medical treatment you, at this time, need.

  69. 69.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    November 25, 2011 at 2:38 am

    @Anoniminous:

    @J. Michael Neal:
    __
    Go here and please, please, please CALL.
    __
    Things can turn around for you as long as you get the medical treatment you, at this time, need.

    Quoted for EMPHASIS.

  70. 70.

    David Koch

    November 25, 2011 at 2:43 am

    Meanwhile, even the liburel NYTimes is using one of their patented concern trolling pieces in support of Ryan’s voucher plan to kill Medicare.

    But some Democrats say that — if carefully designed, with enough protections for beneficiaries — it might work.

    Yet, they don’t quote a single elected Democrat nor a single Democrat running for office.

    And if that wasn’t bad enough, they have a 1100 word front page story on Romney’s hair (no, really).

  71. 71.

    Suffern ACE

    November 25, 2011 at 2:56 am

    @David Koch:

    And if that wasn’t bad enough, they have a 1100 word front page story on Romney’s hair (no, really).

    I hope that there is no Times access wherever Somerby is spending his holiday.

  72. 72.

    patrick II

    November 25, 2011 at 2:56 am

    @Anoniminous:
    “American Elect” is funded by hedge fund billionaires, and plans to register in 50 states. I am reading this as a challenge to Obama — raise our taxes and you will see a third party candidate.
    I am not dismissive of the threat as most here are.

  73. 73.

    Anoniminous

    November 25, 2011 at 3:34 am

    This is their history.

    From the link:

    The group was originally organized as a political organization and at that time tax documents show that Peter Ackerman, father of the Chief Operating Officer Elliot Ackerman, had contributed $1.55 million. In 2011, it changed its designation to a 501(c)4 social welfare group. Chief Executive Kahlil Byrd states between 300 and 400 donors have given Americans Elect $20 million, with no contribution exceeding $5 million. He states that the major donations are technically low-interest loans, the bulk of which the organization says it intends to pay back as it widens its contribution base so that no single individual will have contributed more than $10K.

    Loans? That means they have to raise $40 million merely to get to where they are now leaving them $480 million short of where they need to be in order to be competitive.

    I’ll point to another analysis.

    These people, at this time, are a bunch of rich brats running around as Legends In Their Own Mind.

    Keep an eye on them? Sure. Worry about them? Not until they demonstrate they have Clue One about how politics is actually done.

  74. 74.

    Suffern ACE

    November 25, 2011 at 3:37 am

    @Anoniminous: FWIW-I wonder what interest rates those loans carry. It almost sounds like an investment vehicle.

  75. 75.

    patrick II

    November 25, 2011 at 3:55 am

    @Anoniminous:
    I don’t mean be argumentative, but while the $480 million to be competitive as far as I know is true I don’t think their goal is to be competitive. I think it is to siphon off a couple of percentage points from Obama. Perhaps I have just grown too cynical, but I don’t think the people behind this mean what they say about the “middle”. They want Obama out.

  76. 76.

    William Hurley

    November 25, 2011 at 4:13 am

    Clearly, the meaning of the root-word in “centrist” is being warped beyond usefulness or recognition by this “new”, Villager-oriented “dream team” and their paid propagandists (a.k.a. the VSP press).

    TO assert that a political center is located on a between Obama and the GOP is akin to asserting that a standard ruler’s “venter” is at the 9″, not 6″, mark. Obama’s a center-right politician and, with rare exception, the GOP is at the farthest right-wing edge. As such, a “centrist” party would be a reinvention of Nixon circa 1968.

    What is interesting is that the underlying discontent the electorate harbors for the President is now on display from Obama’s left and his right. As I’ve been saying, Obama’s not re-electable. Given the dynamics of real voter and advocacy groups’ behavior with regard to this new “centrist” play and “Occupy” (a.k.a. unBama), the hard and inescapable facts of the economy’s malaise have ordained doom for Obama. In the face of the now heavier fact-base weighing-in against an Obama victory in 2012, it’s time for those who consider themselves politically “leftist” to act. You can act to save the political left or to sink with the President.

    Really, consider that Obama’s 2008 coalition is deeply fractured with flight occurring from his left and right. Also note that this new “centrist” group, if it does more than Villager-friendly inventions usually do, may well crimp Obama’s fund raising success thereby forcing the President to make-do with a total of less than the $1 billion he said he intends to raise spend. Lastly, there’s the actual real world moving ahead on its own vector. Even if the Euro crisis gets no worse the seeds for widespread recession and deflation are sprouting shoots across the EU and in the UK. In short, their self-imposed austerity will have sharp, negative consequences for the US economy even if the EEU somehow survives. Never-the-less, US unemployment at the time of the elections will be north of 9% and ~30,000,000 wiring age American will be un- or under-employed.

    Lastly, lastly, the stumbling US economy (BLS issued downward revisions of past GDP growth earlier this week) and the slow down in US exports to the EU and UK over the next 12+ months put the nation’s finances in a very peculiar place. That “place” is right back at the threshold of our own self-inflicted fiscal stupidity when re-re-negotiating the debt ceiling limit. Yes, I’m suggesting that declining economic activity, no substantive growth in employment, a swelling in the ranks of the unemployed and an other tectonic shift in the global economy all add up to conditions that foreclose on Obama’s reelection chances.

    Realizing the true shape of the electoral landscape after the election, and Obama’s loss, is of no good to anyone. Now is the time to act in service of a left-friendly future. If it’s too late to primary Obama from the left, then a brokered convention may have to be planned.

  77. 77.

    Lojasmo

    November 25, 2011 at 4:14 am

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    some kind of sex act?

    Stabbing at the political gootch.

    @J. Michael Neal:

    Hope you are getting some support and medical help.

  78. 78.

    Anoniminous

    November 25, 2011 at 4:21 am

    @patrick II:

    No problem. We’re having a discussion.

    I agree “they want Obama out.” I have a hard time seeing how they can siphon off enough Democratic votes without also siphoning off Republican votes as well; the GOP voters aren’t monolithic.

    @Suffern ACE:

    Does, doesn’t it?

    To me it looks like they are trying to apply Neo-Classical Economics based Finance practices as a political method. And, IMO, you can’t do that with much hope of success.

  79. 79.

    Elizabelle

    November 25, 2011 at 4:29 am

    @Anoniminous:

    Thanks for the links.

    I find Americans Elect to be deeply dishonest.

  80. 80.

    Jebediah

    November 25, 2011 at 4:54 am

    @Suffern ACE:

    A Nader or a Perot can pull that off by offering some sort of exciting cause or personality. That is not Bayh.

    He offers all the appeal and excitement of water-flavored ice cream.

  81. 81.

    Shalimar

    November 25, 2011 at 4:54 am

    @William Hurley: Blah blah blah blah blah. No one with money or the credibility to run supports challenging Obama from the left. Your fantasy has less chance of happening than a Palin electoral landslide.

  82. 82.

    Sly

    November 25, 2011 at 5:00 am

    Every generation needs an American Liberty League.

  83. 83.

    Sly

    November 25, 2011 at 5:03 am

    @William Hurley:

    Now is the time to act in service of a left-friendly future. If it’s too late to primary Obama from the left, then a brokered convention may have to be planned.

    Just like every generation needs a Huey Long.

  84. 84.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    November 25, 2011 at 5:30 am

    @Shorter Hurling Billy:

    Primary Obama!!

    You use a lot of words to say that. Do you think it’s effective?

    It’s not, you’re not convincing enough. Sell HARDER!!

  85. 85.

    Uriel

    November 25, 2011 at 6:00 am

    @William Hurley:

    If it’s too late to primary Obama from the left, then a brokered convention may have to be planned.

    Wow! You sir, are clearly this centuries heroic exemplar of that noblest strain, the archetypal ‘great man of history’- a man who boldly refuses to shy away from the chance to plant his footsteps in defiantly the sands of human discourse for that one bright moment, proudly seizing the stage of history to state, unashamed,for one and all to see, “I am truly, proudly and irrevocably out of my rabbit assed mind.”

    Congratulations.

  86. 86.

    noodler

    November 25, 2011 at 6:48 am

    @Redshift: Whigs, Nice pull. Alas, all of my Whig knowledge is sitting on a 5 1/2 inch floppy, from a paper written in wordperfect back in the 80’s. Love me some millard fillmore though. How long do those floppys last? can anything read them these days? Could make a small mint from that service.

  87. 87.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    November 25, 2011 at 7:15 am

    I still have two 5 1/4 drives on hand, plenty of discs too…lol! I’d have to dig them out of a box. Also have several versions of WP for both DOS and Windows. Same with every Win version from 3 up. Also have just about every version of DOS too.

    All original discs. I just box them up when they’re not needed but I do have a lot of it backed onto CD-R discs.

    Comes in handy periodically. Tons of Win and DOS apps too.

    I’m a terminal packrat when it comes to computer stuff.

    ETA: As long as the discs are kept in a cool, dry place then they should be fine.

  88. 88.

    JPL

    November 25, 2011 at 7:18 am

    CBS Early Show just had on Evan and kept calling him Senator. They gave him hugs and kisses of course.

  89. 89.

    Baud

    November 25, 2011 at 7:25 am

    kept calling him Senator

    I believe he keeps the title, even if he’s not in office.

  90. 90.

    Rihilism

    November 25, 2011 at 7:33 am

    @Hob: @DougJ: I can see the yard signs now…

    VOTE FOR BAYH*


    *depending on circumstances

    BAYH FOR PRESIDENT*

    *depending on circumstances

    EVAN BAYH IS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR*

    *The information provided in this yard sign is given by way of general comment only and should not be used as a substitute for specific professional advice. While all reasonable care has been taken in producing this information, subsequent changes in circumstances may occur at any time and may impact on the accuracy of the information.

    Amerucans Eblecht, its directors or employees nor any third party do not give any warranty or representation as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness or completeness of the information now or in the future. Except for any liability which cannot be excluded the directors and employees of Amerucans Eblecht and any named third party disclaim all responsibility for any loss suffered, directly or indirectly by any person acting in reliance upon the information contained therein.

    Offer not valid in godless NY or CA.

    Void where prohibited.

  91. 91.

    Linda

    November 25, 2011 at 7:38 am

    I never fail to be impressed by the mediocrities who believe that the average American, who has never heard of them and would fall asleep if they got to listen to them, are breathlessly waiting to vote them into the highest office in the land. Working the fundraising circuit and drinking with too many politically addicted toadies will do that to you. Maybe he could run on a ticket with Fred Thompson.

  92. 92.

    dmsilev

    November 25, 2011 at 8:03 am

    @William Hurley:

    Now is the time to act in service of a left-friendly future. If it’s too late to primary Obama from the left, then a brokered convention may have to be planned.

    Nice use of the passive voice there. Be specific. Who will have to plan a brokered convention? Who, for that matter, has the ability to say “even though Obama didn’t face any real opposition in the primary, we’re not going to renominate him but instead will pick a replacement in a smoke-filled room.” and make it stick?

  93. 93.

    Maine Independent

    November 25, 2011 at 8:32 am

    Let’s see, would they call it the 99-1/2% Party as they are positioned between the 99% of the rest of the country and the 1% most greedy (wealthy) elites?

    Or the much more appropriate Wanker Party.

    Bayh is so Centrist, because Obama is so Left? What a joke.

  94. 94.

    Anya

    November 25, 2011 at 8:38 am

    @J. Michael Neal: In addition to the link provided by @Anoniminous: please get both of these books and use the CBT and mindfulness meditation. I’ve seen it work. Please get help and take care of yourself.

    The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness

  95. 95.

    Anya

    November 25, 2011 at 8:41 am

    @J. Michael Neal: The second book: Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think. You can get it at a used book store or get it online. It’s a lot of work because you have to try out these techinques, but it really works. Also, PLEASE get help! Talk to someone.

  96. 96.

    zoot

    November 25, 2011 at 8:56 am

    be great to have a real choice from obama. But another skank such as bayh – forget it. I’ll stick with the skank we have over a skank as horrible as bayh is at trying to fool us and as demonstrably stupid and slavish to the rich as bayh.

  97. 97.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    November 25, 2011 at 8:57 am

    @Maine Independent:

    99 and 44/100ths % Party. Pure, like Ivory Snow. ;)

  98. 98.

    Svensker

    November 25, 2011 at 9:04 am

    @J. Michael Neal:

    What everyone said. Get help. Talk to your parents. Life is worth it. You are worth it. The BJ Borg would not be complete without you.

    Also, what Anoniminous and Anya said.

    Big hugs.

  99. 99.

    gelfling545

    November 25, 2011 at 9:14 am

    @J. Michael Neal: I’m reading this late & you may not see this but I just want to say please tell your folks if you’re having trouble. As a parent of adult offspring I can tell you that most parents would like to know about trouble soon enough to be of help, even if it turns out that all we can really do is remind you young’uns how much we love you.

  100. 100.

    CarolDuhart2

    November 25, 2011 at 9:51 am

    @dmsilev: You know, what we are seeing is the stages of grief for the “Primary Obama” people. First Schoen & Company try to persuade Obama to drop out, and @William Hurley talks about creating a “brokered convention.” Others are still hoping that Hillary will suddenly decide she wants to stop being Secretary of State. Stop it, you people. It’s not going to happen. I believe even “Americans Select”, with their phony internet Convention will fail to find a candidate.

    Face it, it’s a choice between Obama and whatever nut (if Romney stumbles) the Republican Party will put up next year.

  101. 101.

    CarolDuhart2

    November 25, 2011 at 10:07 am

    @dmsilev: The truth is-nobody. And nobody wants to. And nobody has the power to-the Kennedy family is moving away from electoral politics to philanthropy, Who else even has the potential to do it?
    Right now, the Democrats outside of the whiny “Primary Obama” crowd is enjoying the respite from conflict. It’s rare for us Democrats, you see. The last time was 1996, and the time before that was 1944.

  102. 102.

    Mike in NC

    November 25, 2011 at 10:09 am

    These clowns need a logo. How about a nice yellow flag with a rattlesnake on it?

  103. 103.

    SW

    November 25, 2011 at 10:18 am

    I call bullshit on the Kaplan diploma mill. What Republican primary voters are clearly saying is that if Willard is the establishment nominee, we need, hell require a true conservative third party. And I will proudly contribute to that righteous cause.

  104. 104.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    November 25, 2011 at 10:29 am

    @J. Michael Neal: Talk to your folks, and if you need some ideas for medical stuff, please email me : info at nami-wc dot org.

  105. 105.

    harlana

    November 25, 2011 at 10:29 am

    J Michael Neal: I know what it’s like to not want to live. I have spent the holidays crying about the countless times I have let my family down and for being unable to have a healthy relationship, for trashing opportunity after opportunity, not knowing why, for being a failure at life. I know how you feel. But keep going, that is all I can tell you, keep going for them, even when you don’t see the point in it for yourself. That is the only reason I keep going. There is some reason I am still here, you are still here. God bless.

    from a tortured mind

  106. 106.

    Admiral_Komack

    November 25, 2011 at 10:55 am

    “The Washington Post’s Chuck Lane sees a branding possibility. “Quitting the Senate was a no-lose move for the presidentially ambitious Bayh, since he can now crawl away from the political wreckage for a couple of years, plausibly alleging that he tried to steer the party in a different direction—and then be perfectly positioned to mount a centrist primary challenge to Obama in 2012, depending on circumstances.”

    Do it.
    I dare you.
    The Professional Left will blow Bayh; no one else will touch him.

  107. 107.

    Hal

    November 25, 2011 at 11:18 am

    If there is a third party challenge, I have a feeling it will end up being another Republican against Romney.

  108. 108.

    4jkb4ia

    November 25, 2011 at 11:56 am

    And here is the silly story on Mitt Romney’s hair that really made Page A1. Taegan Goddard did note this and it is probably a sign of progress that a male candidate gets a story like this.

  109. 109.

    Scamp Dog

    November 25, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    Keep in mind that the Atlantic link is from February 2010, nearly 2 years ago. The only worthwhile quotes from the article are from Larison and Matt Yglesias, both providing well-deserved scorn on the idea. (I know lots of people here dislike those two, but in this instance they’re right).

  110. 110.

    Elizabelle

    November 25, 2011 at 12:46 pm

    @Scamp Dog:

    word

  111. 111.

    NR

    November 25, 2011 at 2:42 pm

    A middle option? So they want someone to the left of Obama? I can get behind that.

  112. 112.

    rikyrah

    November 25, 2011 at 6:26 pm

    If they are well-intentioned,then why are they HIDING their donor list?

    this is but another scheme to attempt to defeat the President

    sometimes, snakes are just snakes

  113. 113.

    William Hurley

    November 26, 2011 at 2:20 am

    @Uriel:

    I appreciate your perspective. However, your composition indulges both literary extravagance and evidentiary neglect.

    If, as your post implies, you do in fact believe that Obama will win reelection, what are the factual or conditional points underwriting your faith?

    What will you think you might have done differently when, on Nov 7, 2012, Obama begins his lame duck period?

  114. 114.

    William Hurley

    November 26, 2011 at 2:24 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee:

    OK, it’s “not convincing enough”. Nice declaration.

    What is your standard of measure? Do you even have one?

    Is it fair to assume that you, like far too many others, have a faith-based conviction (facts need not apply) regarding the “inevitability” of Obama’s reelection?

  115. 115.

    William Hurley

    November 26, 2011 at 2:26 am

    @Sly:

    Indeed, and Obama is ours.

    How many innocent foreign citizens were killed today by drone strikes approved by Obama himself?

  116. 116.

    William Hurley

    November 26, 2011 at 2:33 am

    @Shalimar:

    Yes, there is a reluctance to challenge Obama in the primaries – to the Democratic Party’s and the nation’s detriment. Competition is as American as apple pie.

    The sad fact is that on Nov 7th next year, there will be many who will look at the then recently concluded election cycle and wish that they had had the wisdom to take risks and spend differently – a course of action that they’ll ponder in the wake of Obama’s defeat.

    There will be others, more of them most likely, who will glance past their own failure to read the electoral “tea leaves” accurately and take their long running whine-fest against the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party to new levels.

  117. 117.

    irishdave3

    November 26, 2011 at 5:52 am

    …apparently this leads to the O’Bama/Huntsman “fusion” ticket…it’s all Bi…partisan and centrist too also…Biden to State and Hilarty to World Bank with Lyn Rothschild’s assistance.

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