John writes:
BTW- If Bush earned political capital in 2004, can we call this a fucking landslide yet?
The answer my friends is, yes. Bush “won” in 2000 with 271 electoral votes. In 2004 he upped that to a massive 286.
Obama underperformed his 365 from 2008 to end up with, likely, 332 this time around. In short, enough though he lost 33 electoral votes, he still beat Bush’s best result by 46. Bush, you will recall, pursued a maximalist agenda his entire eight years in office.
I know we all know all of this. But over the next few weeks, the President is going to be besieged with advice from “centrists” to “compromise” with the GOP, to reach across the aisle, to be bipartisan. We need to continue pressing our agenda and values. We’ve won the war. Now we need to win the peace.
gussie
I’m not concerned with him being besieged by advice.
I’m wondering how we govern with the House under the thumb of fanatics.
Can we?
joes527
Sweet wingnut tears
Mark B.
As a Texan, I want to apologize for sending crazy motherfucker Ted Cruz to the U.S. Senate. Hopefully in 6 years the demographics would have shifted enough to vote him out. You know, he’s not even a real Texan. Motherfucker was born in Canada.
Baud
NPR was all-Villagy, fiscal cliff last night. I don’t normally listen to NPR, and was disappointed at how awful the coverage was of this election.
When Bush won in 2004, the Republicans also gained seats in and controlled Congress. Not exactly the same situation, unfortunately.
Joshua Norton
All the pundits who were so miserably wrong about this election will start the new horse race to 2016 in 5..4..3..2..
Dave
Screw Compromise.
There seems to be a lot of talk about reaching across the aisle this morning. About Democrats needing to work with Republicans. And that celebrating a historic win last night is unseemly and improper.
Bull.
Politics is not a Kumbayah circle where we all hug. Politics is not a game where you shake hands when the clock reaches 0:00. Politics isn’t a rec league where everyone gets a participation medal just for trying.
Politics is a bloodsport. It’s about not only beating your opponent, but running up the vote as much as possible so that they never forget how badly you beat them.
And when you are dealing with a party as intellectually stunted, bankrupt and dangerous as the Republicans, politics is about grinding that party into the metaphorical dust. It’s about turning them into a myth that parents use to scare their kids into eating the brocolli on their plate.
You cannot reach across the aisle to work with today’s Republican Party. Today’s Republican Party works in a sphere completely divorced from reality and common decency.
One party wants to make gay and lesbian Americans live as second-class citizens. One party believes that poor people have it easy and billionaires have it hard. One party thinks that global climate change doesn’t exist while New Jersey’s shoreline remains underwater. One party thought it was okay to bring the United States to the brink of bankruptcy. One party is actively looking for a way to start another war in the Middle East. And it’s the same party each time.
You cannot work with crazy and the Republican Party is crazy. There is no halfway with this kind of diseased mindset, otherwise you are just halfway to Hell.
Democrats shouldn’t be reaching across the aisle or shaking GOP hands or acting humble this morning. We should be trumpeting our success loudly and constantly. We should be making it clear that the GOP lost because they have no new ideas or good ideas. We should be making it clear that THEY have to move towards US if anything is to be done.
We should keep our foot on their throat and keep pressing down. And each time we win, we need to press down harder.
Beating the GOP isn’t enough anymore. It’s about consigning them to the dustbin with the Whigs and the Know-Nothings.
Mr Furious
In the car this morning I heard plenty of variation on “reaching across the aisle” and “proving to those who voted against him that he’s there President too,” and I think, “Fuck that. Start grinding your heel down, Obama.”
Seriously. Reaching across the aisle too soon or too far is like the teen who check’s Jason’s pulse and says, “We’re safe, he’s dead.”
Mark B.
@Dave: They can no longer win elections by solely appealing to racist white males, and that’s been their strategy since the time of Nixon and the Southern Strategy. They are going to have to completely reinvent themselves to be relevant, or they just become a regional party.
gussie
@Dave: Still not sure how Obama is going to have the opportunity to compromise. The Republicans have a lock on the House. And by ‘lock on the House’ I mean ‘loaded gun pointed at the hostages.’
cmorenc
The first “compromise” the GOP is likely to insist upon is:
– the GOP will be on-board with extending middle-class tax cuts;
– in exchange, the Dems must get on-board with extending upper-income tax cuts and pledge not to raise any taxes.
This will come in conjunction with their proposal to forego insisting on extremely draconian spending cuts to social programs, Pell grants, medicare etc. in return for the dems agreement to agree to only severely draconian spending cuts to Yadda yadda yadda…
The “compromise” will be to propose “surrender, Dorothy!”…er, Dems, or else the GOP will turn over the “hourglass of death” and begin letting the sand drain inexorably toward the fiscal cliff. Where’s Toto when we need him?
beltane
@Mr Furious: Most of those people who voted against Obama will never accept that he’s legitimately American let alone that he’s their legitimately elected president. He tried reaching out to them during his first term with disastrous results. Now is the time to crush them and treat them like the scum they are.
Jack Bauer
No to this compromise bullshit.
We have demographics, smarter politicians and policies on our side. Their clock is running out, they need to come to us, if not – fuck ’em.
Corner Stone
I, for one, welcome our new more powerful Kenyan overlord.
The Moar You Know
There is no option but to compromise with the GOP, they have the House. This is unfortunate but, although we won much more than I thought we would last night, we did not get the House back and we have to live with our failure to do so.
What I am hoping for is true compromise, the kind where everyone walks away having given something up, and everyone walks away having gotten something. The GOP’s version of compromise, in where they get everything they want and we get squat, is not going to fly. I am not confident from this morning’s rhetoric that they understand this.
Dave
@cmorenc:
Democrats can ignore that tax offer. The counter is to let the cuts expire in January and give them a proposal the next day that cuts taxes for everyone making less than 250K. Dare the GOP to refuse to pass it in the House.
libarbarian
I can’t believe you believe the results of last nights election! They clearly over-sampled Democrats.
Re-weight the votes by party affiliation and Romney won the election. Suck it Libs!!!!!
Corner Stone
I’m having a rough morning and need some advice. Should I move to ME or MD for the legal gay married sex, or to CO for sweet smelling legal bud?
Mark B.
Has Chris Christie been declared an unperson yet? The contempt was palpable every time his name was mentioned last night on Fox. I don’t particularly like the bastard, but if he wanted to switch parties, I’d welcome him into the fold. He’s a talented politician.
Violet
@Mark B.: In good news from Texas, Joaquin Castro, twin brother of Democratic Convention keynote speaker and San Antonio mayor Julian Castro, won his election and is going to Congress. Yay!
Villago Delenda Est
The only compromise Obama should entertain with the Rethugs in the House is agreeing to dispatch them with a handgun, as opposed to running them through with a lance.
General Stuck
I don’t think anything will change from the status quo of Obama demanding new taxes and revenue for compromise, and the house nutters refusing to raise taxes one cent. It is all the conservatives have left . And since the economy is primed for some big growth, all the cutting and taxing and deficit angst will fall away, and Obama’s impending impeachment will take center stage.
reflectionephemeral
Very well put.
I hope I’m wrong, but this is how I think it works.
Republicans don’t care what centrists, or liberals, or scientists, or anyone who knows anything about anything think about them. Therefore, they are always too far right, to the extent their policy preferences can be rationally categorized.
“Centrist” commentators always criticize “partisanship,” the blame for which they always mete out equally to both parties, regardless of the policies the parties are actually proposing. Therefore, they are always wrong.
Democrats care passionately what “centrist” writers at places like the Post & Times think about them. Therefore, they are always too far right.
GxB
@joes527: Good God that was painful to skim-watch even through the schadenfreude. But it was the first time I was glad I waded into the comments on YouTube in a long while – couple good larfs in there.
Roger Moore
Fuck that. No Justice, No Peace. The Republicans aren’t going to stop fighting just because they lost the election, I say we keep fighting the war until the Republicans are completely crushed and finally concede.
jwb
@gussie: Actually, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts is a gun pointed at the House’s head, since there is now no way out of a tax increase.
PeakVT
@gussie: Probably not. I think Obama should try to work with the Republican caucus for six months (or make it look like he is trying). And after they reject his offers – which they will, because they’re nuts who hate their fellow Americans – then he should run against them for the next 18 months.
James K. Polk, Esq.
@gussie: Tax code reform begins with congress doing nothing now. The Bush tax cuts expire the 31st December without congressional action.
Remind me who has the gun?
MattF
I’m relieved, in any case, that Obama has won a popular vote majority– so I won’t have to keep repeating “…oh, yeah, just like George Bush did” when wingers demanded that Obama surrender his prerogatives because he didn’t really win.
Schlemizel
John hit the right metaphor for their idea of compromise a couple years ago.
Obama: Lets get some dinner – how about Italian?
GOP: NO! TIRE RIMS AND ANTHRAX OR WE SHUT IT DOWN!
so we should get to chowing on those tire rims now in the spirit of bipartisan reach arounds
Violet
@Dave: This. Boot on the neck. Grind the GOP into dust.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@Baud:
Typical/Awful, Tomato/Tomahto.
What you heard was typical, ie, awful, Nice Polite Republican coverage. I heard that piece as well and thought, yup, NPR hasn’t skipped a beat in years.
They’ll never get a dime of my money.
rlrr
@Violet:
I say one of the Castro brothers will be the break out candidate in 2016…
cmorenc
@beltane:
The problem is that like a foul-mouthed fire-breathing dragon, the GOP house majority squats directly across the legislative bridge to progress, and it’s tough to figure out where the vulnerable spot is in its scales to kill it now that the 2012 elections have maintained enough strength to keep it there for another two years, with help of gerrymandered congressional districts that are unchangeable in most states until 2020. How do we deal with this monster?
Mark B.
@Violet: Overall, the Texas delegation is 15 Democrats and 21 Republicans which is +1D from the previous congress. Things are going in the right direction.
Villago Delenda Est
@libarbarian:
Last night Taco made the idiotic statement that the only reason Florida was close was because busloads of illegals were brought into to make it so.
This is Florida, mind you, where in order to vote you have to run through a set of flaming hoops to prove your citizenship.
Schlemizel
They never give an inch of ground that they can keep; they keep all that they can get;
they make no concessions that can redound to their own discredit; they assume all that makes for them;
if they pause it is to gain time;
if they offer terms it is to break them: they keep no faith with enemies
if you relax in your exertions, they persevere the more: if you make new efforts, they redouble theirs.
gussie
Oh! That’s true! I forgot the tax gun. Thank God for that.
Thanks for talking me down …
chopper
@Mark B.:
does the GOP even know how? the only ‘reinvention’ they’ve tried is the teabagger uprising, wherein the party became even more right wing than before.
seriously, the less-crazy wing of the GOP saw the writing on the wall in 2008, but they weren’t able to change the party to avoid the slow, inexorable demographic disaster they face. instead the teabaggers took over. we got SB1070, we got crazy freakouts over gays and abortion. look where that got them.
i see no end game here that doesn’t involve a huge schism. and a split like that would ruin the GOP whose main strength is in the tightness of its coalition.
AA+ Bonds
This is the saddest thing I’ve read so far
Violet
@rlrr: Unlikely, unless Julian runs for Governor and wins in 2014. I don’t think a first term House Rep or a city Mayor could be a viable candidate for President.
Napoleon
Christ – Fucking Matt Lauer was brow beating Warren this morning on what compromises she would make with the Rep.
beltane
@cmorenc: I guess the first step in dealing with the monster is to accept the fact they are a monster instead of worthy opponents who must be treated with civility and respect.
Robin G.
I might be alone in this, but I wonder if we won’t see a more accomodating House this time around. Anyone who isn’t actively batshit sees what happened to the Tea Party last night, and I kind of feel like in the midst of the upcoming Civil War, we’re going to be able to peel off some GOP reps interested in survival. But this might be the high from last night talking.
By the way, Puerto Rico voted to become a state last night. That could get interesting.
rlrr
@Violet:
Yes, but as a possible VP…
Culture of Truth
NPR was doing their level best to belittle the victory, how people liked Obama personally but felt his Presidency failed (not I!) and how anyway he only won because of a coalition of latinos, asians, blacks, women, gays, young people, and assorted weirdos who shouldn’t be allowed to vote anyway.
Schlemizel
@Villago Delenda Est:
My response would have been: Lets pretend you are right despite the obvious stupidity of that position but lets just pretend for your sanity that you are correct. We’ll give you all of FLAs electoral votes . . . are you happy now? Did that give the Marquis du Mittens a better position?
I do have to admit I am really sad to see this election over for one reason. I can’t imagine a better moniker than “Marquise du Mittens” for any candidate. It fits in every way
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
Not yet we haven’t. Not only is the House still Republican, but there are still plenty of people who think the Civil War isn’t over yet.
Mark B.
@chopper: I agree with this assessment. The Republicans bet the farm on racist white people and now they can’t do anything about it. They lost all of the moderates, and if they try to get them back, they lose their base, but in the long run that’s what they are going to have to do to survive. Most of the Tea Party base is going to be dead in 20 years.
Villago Delenda Est
@jwb:
Let.Them.Expire.
Not only the deserting coward’s moronic tax cuts, but every Rethug in the fucking House.
Jorge
There is so much Obama can get done that requires no agreement from the idiots on the hill. The executive branch has wide discretion and my guess is that Obama will be executing all over the place. After all, this is the guy who ended DADT oh his own.
As Chris Rock said to Marc Maron, “I’m like everybody, I want more action. But I understand that he’s trying not to piss off a lot of people. But I believe wholeheartedly if he’s back in, he’s going to do some gangsta shit.”
rlrr
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
There are still plenty of people fighting against the gains from the Age of Enlightenment…
ding dong
I didnt hear that much compromising crap from my president last night. Just sayin’.
Corner Stone
@Violet:
He just told Chuckles Todd he was not running for Gov, and seemed sincere about it. We’ll see if that holds up.
ksmiami
@Dave: Off to class, but FTFW! Preach it brother.. Today’s current Republican party is a disease – a cancer on our polity and ruinous to the nation. And like a cancer, the disease needs to be excised lest it kill the host
Corner Stone
@Jorge:
Excuse me?
Violet
@rlrr: Ohhh, yes. I would LOVE to see one of the Castro twins, a Latino from Texas, as the VP. Demographics, motherfuckers! Suck it, wingnuts!
blingee
Bad news Bernard,
Without out the house you are not gonna see shit when it comes to “press your agenda”. Obama won’t have a choice but to be centrist. Something you STILL do not understand apparently
For now just go to Colorado, sit down in a public area somewhere and light up a joint. There’s your progress!
Mark B.
@Corner Stone: I think 2018 is a better opportunity for one of the Castro brothers. The statewide democratic organization in Texas is in a shambles, and I doubt they could put together a credible statewide effort by 2014.
rlrr
@Violet:
Putting Texas in play would be sweet…
reflectionephemeral
@Robin G.:
I hope you’re right, but I don’t agree:
Impartial strategery would seem to compel the GOP to engage in some kind of glasnost. But who in the party has the fortitude, predisposition, or incentives to reform?
First off, the logic of extremism is awful tough to bottle up once it takes over.
Plus, “The Iron Law of Institutions holds that the people who hold power in institutions are guided principally by preserving power within the institution, rather than the success of the institution itself.” So, extremism can be bad for America, even bad for the GOP’s popularity, but gaining power within the party.
Those two factors combine to leave no space among GOP politicians, or in its discourse, for reform.
I hope I’m wrong! But that’s how it looks to me.
Schlemizel
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
Thats right. It wasn’t actually over when Grant took Vicksburg. There was no way the secessionist, slave loving bastards were going to win after that but the war itself dragged on. There were many defeats and set backs after July 4th 1863 & the road was painful. Unnecessarily so because the bastards refused to accept that they had lost.
The metaphor is still valid.
SatanicPanic
All these conservative era pundits- George Will, Peggy Noonan, et al. can all fuck off. No one cares about what they have to say anymore.
burnspbesq
Wait a sec.
Higher taxes. Reduced defense spending.
I thought we were FOR those things.
I loves me some fiscal cliff.
Also too, congrats to my law school classmate Jackie Lacy, the new Los Angeles County District Attorney.
Violet
@Corner Stone: There are going to be a LOT of people pushing him to run. Successful, young Latino mayor of San Antonio? He’d have a good shot if the TX Dems could figure out how to support him. Maybe the national party would help if they thought they had a shot to win the Governor’s election.
Bruce S
I have it on authority of Bob Dylan.
MADISON, Wis. — Bob Dylan says he thinks President Barack Obama is going to win a landslide.
Dylan made the prediction Monday night midway through the song “Blowin’ in the Wind” during a concert in the battleground state of Wisconsin.
Dylan spoke to the Madison audience as he was wrapping up his concert that came just hours after Obama appeared at a morning rally in the same city with rocker Bruce Springsteen.
Dylan made his comments during his encore when he said, “We tried to play good tonight since the president was here today.”
He went on to say he thinks Obama will prevail Tuesday.
Dylan says, “Don’t believe the media. I think it’s going to be a landslide.”
After his comments, Dylan completed the song to the roar of the crowd.
Corner Stone
@Mark B.:
I disagree with this, only to the extent that it’s not in a “shambles” but is exactly where the TX D Party leaders want it to be.
rlrr
@SatanicPanic:
But they will all still have jobs – so much for living in a meritocracy.
Martin
Did you catch Gerson on NPR this morning? He said that Obama needs to
show he’s serious by embracing “entitlement reform” to address
long-term budget deficits. Wow! Win the election…to do the bidding
of the 1% (center-right nation, blah, blah, blah, &c. dontchaknow).
beltane
@SatanicPanic: They’ve seemed old and irrelevant for a long time but last night I realized that no one under the age of 80 cares in the slightest about what these people have to say. Even my 72 year old mother thinks people like George Will are the voice of a vanishing generation.
Violet
Question: How do we keep the organization together and make more of an impact on the 2014 midterms than we did in 2010? I hope Dems learned their lesson last time. Let’s organize all the people who got involved and get them calling on policy and so forth. WE THE PEOPLE.
Kane
I realize that the word bipartisanship is considered a dirty word for some, but we are going to have to reach across the aisle if we want to get things done. We can and must continue to pursue our agenda, but we must also seek to find those who may be willing to work with us.
I understand that we won’t be joining hands and singing kumbaya. I know that the uber-partisans will do all they can to block and prevent bipartisan solutions. I realize the monied interests will just dust themselves off and continue to attempt to influence the agenda. And I understand there will be those who out of self-interest will continue to stoke the fires of our differences to blind us from our commonality. But we must try.
Elie
@Baud:
NPR sucks. I listen to their “news” only with acknowledging that they are just Fox-lite. This morning one of their assholes actually said that the recovery was going to be affected because businesses were going to have to pay more under Obamacare. He actually said that! (Steve Iksee (sp?)). If I hadn’t trained myself to expect this kind of crap from them, I might have thrown a pillow at the radio. And then there are Cokie Roberts and Mara Liasson — need I say more?
Comrade Jake
Ezra had a tweet up stating that this whole “mandate” thing is kind of moot. What matters is what a President can actually get done with the Congress that’s actually in place.
Along those lines, Donald Trump is rather upset today:
LOL.
Corner Stone
This Sara Taylor Fagen on Chuck Todd’s show may be the stupidest Republican strategist I have seen in some time.
Corner Stone
test for moderation
ETA, I’ve got something in mod and haven’t the foggiest what tripped the FYWP filter.
Oh well
28 Percent
It’s worth noting that in 2004, even before the returns were in, the pundits (in all their wisdom) were almost universally insisting to the public that the closeness of the election would necessitate that Bush would govern from the center – it was actually framed like he didn’t have any other options. And the first thing he did was to give that idiotic “political capital” press conference – with an air of somebody who had only just had “political capital” explained to him – and then try to dismantle Social Security.
The pundits are going to call for centrism because they always do and what’s going to go on in Washington for the next four years is going to closely match the holding pattern and, very likely, the brinksmanship, of the last two. The more things change, the more they stay the same, but what happens when very little actually changes at all?
Robin G.
@reflectionephemeral: I don’t see a lot of reform in the institutional party coming yet, but I think we shouldn’t underestimate the power of self-interest. Basically, I’m banking on the teabaggers having just blown their wad, and a dozen — we only need a dozen or so, right? — GOP reps understanding that they don’t need to be as afraid of those mouthbreathers as they were.
The tell, I think, will be if Cantor sticks the knife in Boehner and becomes speaker. Boehner, asshole though he is, knows what’s happening.
jwb
@Villago Delenda Est: Sure, happy to have them expire. But the political point– the gun at their heads– is that there is no way the GOP gets out of negotiating on taxes now. Since it’s either taxes return to pre-Bush levels–and I find it doubtful they will find that acceptable– or you find common ground with Dems, which will include some higher taxes on the rich. Obama actually holds a very string hand right now and I am hoping he has figured out how to play the negotiating game better. I do gave the sense that he’ll play better poker this time through.
Culture of Truth
American people, meet me at camera 2
What the fuck do you want??
Violet
@AA+ Bonds: From the article you linked:
Yes, yes, that’s exactly what happened, with those numerous Republican primaries, the multiple Not-Mitt candidates. The Republican establishment stuffed the candidate down the party’s throat. Nevermind all those GOP voters making their decision. No, no. It’s the establishment’s fault.
Keep on thinking that, GOP. Next time nominate a Real Conservative. That’s how to win elections!
PeakVT
If anyone has the ear of Cantor, please whisper to him that he should finally do the deed…
SatanicPanic
@rlrr: For that reason, maybe it’s good to have them there. “See, working hard and being smart can help, but sometimes being wealthy is just dumb luck”
Soonergrunt
Politico just called Montana Senator for Jon Tester (D). He’s returning to the Senate.
Joshua Norton
Ugh! ! Opened the morning paper and Horse Race 2016 has already started. Annnnnd it’s Hillary for Prez one more time.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/2016-hopefuls-to-seek-gold-in-California-4014987.php
Kill me now so I don’t have to endure another 4 years of perpetual campaigning.
Seanly
I don’t know why I watch it*, but on Headline News this morning, Robin Meade said “Obama is only leading the popular vote by 2 million.” Umm, that seems like a lot to me.
PEC & 538 are witches with their wicked math & science. PEC called ND for Heitkamp while 538 went w/ Berg. Sam Wang outgeeks Nate Silver?
My hopes for the next 4 years – Obama drops the stupid BS about entitlement reform. Let the Bush tax cuts expire – honestly, let’s go back to Clinton era rates for everybody. Bring our troops home and use diplomacy to deal with Iran & North Korea. Infrastructure investment – roads, bridges, sewers, water mains, intracoastal waterway, dams, schools and power grid all need substantial investment. Continue healthcare reforms with smart & cost-effective entitlement tweaking.
(note: I am a bridge engineer so I have a vested interest in fixing our crumbling & neglected infrastructure. Honestly, it needs a lot of work just trying to maintain what we have.)
* – yes, I know why I watch it… I’m a sucker for pretty women.
Bubblegum Tate
O/T, but I just have to give a shout to m’man DJ Mel for doing a great job DJing at the Obama rally last night. He ran the tunes perfectly and slipped some real gems in there. Props!
MattMinus
@Mark B.:
Let’s not all start sucking each other’s dicks just yet. Christie is still a fucking scumbag and a bully, and most certainly not a democrat.
He’s horrible, he’s just not insane. It’s sad that we think of him as someone we can wok with just because he likes his racism institutional instead of explicit.
Culture of Truth
I know someone who had ear of cantor. Took weeks of antibiotics to clear up.
burnspbesq
@Kane:
No, it’s on the Republicans to reach out. The fiscal cliff means that Obama has all the leverage, if he wants to use it (and he should).
jwb
I see the moderation filter is in overdrive this morning. FYWP.
peorgietirebiter
The comments from Ed Gillespie and Mitch McConnell tell me that these pukes need to be crushed but it won’t happen with the big bang we all want. Obamacare is now permanent and time is on our side. The trick will be to avoid using the next four years to build a better circular firing squad.
EconWatcher
@Kane:
I suspect there are a at least a few dozen Republicans in Congress who would like to reach across the aisle and get something done. Heck, I think Boehner is one of them.
But the problem is, they probably can’t. I mean, think about the likes of Dick Lugar and Bob Bennett. These guys weren’t RINOs; they were hard core conservatives. But they got ousted by the tea party for showing any willingness to compromise on anything.
I would say Republicans in Congress have learned two survival lessons: Don’t compromise with Dems on anything, and don’t say anything about rape.
Cermet
@The Moar You Know: I call BULLSHIT on this need to ‘compromise’. We own the senate and, of course, the presidency. The bush tax cut expire on their own – the President need do nothing. The so-called cliff will do little at first and only slowly climb – easy to handle that and the thugs will have heavy duty defense corps screaming to prevent the cuts; guess who has the real upper hand! President Obama! We are in the driver’s seat and let the thugs try and do their damnest – 2014 will be here soon! We WON and the thugs are eating shit and the Wallstreet pigs are scared – they will be calling the thugs to agree to the President’s agenda. No need to fear – they, the thugs – are the ones in the shit’er.
PeakVT
@Kane: Trying is a great thing to do. In this case, it will fail. Then what should Democrats do?
The Moar You Know
@James K. Polk, Esq.: Debt ceiling/default.
It appears both parties have a gun. It also appears the House’s is far larger.
Grumpy Code Monkey
Congressional Republicans have stated flat out that they aren’t interested in working with the President on anything, that they would rather see the country default than give the President the tiniest of tax hikes, that they would rather see millions of people go sick than make even the tiniest compromises on health care, that they would rather see the banks and corporations in charge than the unwashed masses.
Obama did reach across the aisle, and they slapped his hand back.
Fuck them. They can go rot in hell.
Robin G.
@Soonergrunt: This amazes me. I never thought we’d keep that.
And can someone tell me what in God’s name just happened in North Dakota??? How was that a thing?!?
Ben Franklin
@Bruce S:
Not only did I see him at Hollywood Bowl a couple weeks back, but I also predicted a landslide…..
Synchronicity….
But the fundamentalist complexion of the House has not changed. It is imperative the same ground game used in the election makes it more difficult for the Obstructionists to stymie progress, again. It’s Neanderthals versus Cro-Magnons and we know who won last time they met.
Corner Stone
@MattMinus:
I guess that settles my dilemma. Off to Colorado it is!
jibeaux
My thought is, that to the extent he is able, Obama has got this.
Greg
It doesn’t hurt to reach out a little. If Obama can peel off a dozen or two Repubs in the House to vote for reasonable things then it not only means we get more done, it also hastens the schismatic war to come within the GOP.
But essentially, the Dems don’t need to do anything. We _want_ the “fiscal cliff”. We have most of Obamacare coming online automatically in 2014.
reflectionephemeral
@Robin G.:
But they do need to be afraid, don’t they? The rank and file of the party demands Mourdocks, not Lugars.
Sorry, I don’t entirely understand your comment. Are you saying that if Cantor becomes speaker, then we know that the GOP is doubling down on stupid?
Schlemizel
@Kane:
Sure, you start on the anthrax while I choke down these tire rims.
Explain to me the ground you see as compromise & we’ll talk. If not you can’t than these are the sorts of empty words our galtian masters love to hear because it means “do it our way” for them
Baud
@Greg:
I think it’s possible. In two election cycles, the tea party have cost the GOP 5 Senate seats. I think/hope they have blown their wad and are spent.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@burnspbesq:
Co-signed. Instead of continuing to play the game using GOP terms by trying to preserve the portion of the Bush tax cuts that benefit working and middle class taxpayers, Dems should let the whole kit and kaboodle expire. Then turn around and propose a new jobs bill (not a tax bill) every damm month until either the House GOPers either cry uncle and vote for one of them, or else make them keep explaining month after month why they don’t care about jobs.
EconWatcher
@Greg:
We most certainly don’t want the fiscal cliff. Ask K-thug. The fiscal drag from simultaneous tax increases and spending cuts would likely put us back in recession, right quick.
Schlemizel
@28 Percent:
I remember 2000 – lead by Brooks the pundits said Boy Blunder simply HAD to govern as if he had a mandate because anything else would be weakness and failure. There was no talk of compromise, there was no suggestion to give the Dems a reach around.
And how big a margin of victory did the asshole from Maine have in 2000?
Bex
@Napoleon: Does anybody actually care what Matt Lauer thinks? Why is anybody watching that pile of garbage, ad-ridden, promo-laden Today show?
Villago Delenda Est
The pattern for the GOP is to double down on the stupid every time they’re thwarted.
Rmoney pursued this every single time he was caught in a lie, and the Rethug House is no different.
The next Congress will out do-nothing the current one. The only change will be in the Senate, where Reid MUST revise the rules to deny the vile pustule McConnell and his klown kar komrades their free filibusters and secret holds.
Mike in NC
@Joshua Norton: Kill me now so I don’t have to endure another 4 years of perpetual campaigning.Sorry, this is America. We have permanent campaigns now.
I tried to grab some trophies on the way in to work today, but for some reason it seemed like 90% of the Rmoney/Ryan signs had vanished overnight. I finally found one, though, as well as a yellow Tea Party flag. Best catch was one of the signs that read “Navy SEALs Removed One Threat to America. Remove Another and Defeat Obama in November”. Assholes.
Corner Stone
I think what I just noticed for the first time, strangely, is that some 57M+ people actually voted for Mitt.
Am I reading that right? What the fudge, man.
The Moar You Know
@Greg: You may. It means the end of my career and the loss of my home. I want the tax cuts to expire but not at the cost of my livelihood.
Seanly
@Elie:
I used to listen all the time to NPR. Republican guests always got the first & last word when they had even bothered to let a Democrat in too. Even early this decade they were the worst purveyors of dried-up 3-months-behind-the-curve conventional wisdom.
Mike in NC
I tried to grab some trophies on the way in to work today, but for some reason it seemed like 90% of the Rmoney/Ryan signs had vanished overnight. I finally found one, though, as well as a yellow Tea Party flag. Best catch was one of the signs that read “Navy SEALs Removed One Threat to America. Remove Another and Defeat Obama in November”. Assholes.
Culture of Truth
Bear in mind that regardless of what actually occurs (ie catfood commission) Obama has to be seen as making gestures of “reaching out to the other side” and compromising, so it’s best not to panic at the first sight.
hep kitty
@Baud:
Which explains why you were disappointed in the coverage.
catclub
@rlrr: I would guess 8 or 12 years. The Castros are young, and in 8 or 12 years, they would bring Texas along with them. How does a GOP candidate win the EC without Texas, nowadays?
hitchhiker
@Corner Stone:
WA for both!
Baud
@Schlemizel:
Actually, no. The GOP often talk about working with Democrats. W, in fact, emphasized his ability to work with Texas Democrats throughout the 2000 campaign, and Romney said something similar about Massachusetts. They don’t mean it, but they do feel the need to talk about it.
danimal
Young Conor can be a pretentious d-bag, but my-oh-my is he spot on about the GOP’s self-imposed idiocy.
Preferably read while smoking a victory cigar and sipping the good liquor.
LD50
@Culture of Truth: Romney lost, they really don’t need to keep sucking his dick to keep their jobs.
28 Percent
@Schlemizel: Honestly, it was over when the first shot was fired on Sumter. Grant was absolutely right when he said that the ‘men that fired on Fort Sumter were the greatest practical abolitionists that the world had ever seen’ – the southern aristocrats were faced with an inevitable change and hurried it along by throwing all in to fight against it.
Here’s hoping that the current batch does the same. In that vein, theories to encourage:
1. Romney lost because he was too moderate
2. Romney lost because he was outspent
3. Conservative ideology is sound, it just needs a better sales pitch
4. The real mandate was in the Republicans retaining the House
5. Marco Rubio for Veep!
catclub
@EconWatcher: This is true. And Obama knows that recessions mean actual suffering for actual people – the hostages. But on the other hand, a recession in 2013 might mean recovery is strong and lasting in 2014- 2017. Timing of recessions and recovery is a useful talent. Ask Ronald Reagan.
PeakVT
Pundit prediction roundup from yesterday. A whole lot of people are looking stupid(er) today.
rlrr
@LD50:
Maybe they’re just doing it for fun…
catclub
@28 Percent: What about: Paul Ryan has the stink of loser on him?
Kane
@EconWatcher: For every Dick Lugar and Bob Bennett there’s a Joe Walsh, Allen West and Heather Wilson. You can bet that tea partiers in congress took notice that their fellow tea-partiers took a beating, and that Michele Bachmann eeked out a win despite out-spending her opponent 12-1.
Villago Delenda Est
@Kane:
Bipartisanship was possible when one party had not decided to go batshit insane.
Right now, it’s simply not possible when the stated goal of the batshit insane party is to fuck things up.
Schlemizel
@MattMinus:
I thought now that gay marryin is required we would all be forced to!
Baud
@hep kitty:
Liberals really need an honest and credible source of news. I used to think blogs could serve that function, but they drifted in other directions. The good stuff on MSNBC is all talk, rather than straight news.
Villago Delenda Est
@28 Percent:
“Conservatism” cannot fail, it can only be failed.
Rmoney failed “conservatism”.
He is now an unperson.
Corner Stone
@hitchhiker: Just when I thought today could not get any better!
japa21
I think House Republicans can be more persuadable to be reasonable than Senate Republicans. There are probably a lot od GOP House memebers that represent districts that don’t have a high level of crazies where being seen as sane is actually a plus. The next two years is not a destroy Obama two years so he can’t get another term.
So yes, I think there probably are a dozen or so House members to work with. However, the key is Boehner, who I think is willing to work with Obama, but doesn’t want to lose his position. He has to be willing to bring things up for a vote. If Cantor takes Boehner’s position, there will be no ability to get anything through the House.
Violet
Been following Dick Morris’s Twitter feed. He finally posted, linking to his blog. Headline: Why I Was Wrong.
He actually admits he was wrong:
But the really fun part is in the comments, if you can bring yourself to read them. Samples:
Pundit FAIL.
rlrr
@japa21:
There’s something wrong with a political party when John Boehner starts looking like the voice of reason…
Schlemizel
@Baud:
GOSH I HOPE NOT! I hope between the teabaggers and the Paultards they kill 8-10 MORE GOP Senators & 40-50 COngressthings
Punchy
I agree that Obama has the gun in this duel with the Teatardists. Do nothing? Tax increase. Do something? Tax increase for da rich only. What O wont do is up the tax breaks for everyone, the House position. Gotta love the automatic expiration clause for these things.
Baud
@Violet:
I can tell by the correct spelling that those comments are troll comments from liberals.
Robin G.
@reflectionephemeral: More or less, yeah. If Cantor becomes Speaker, he’ll continue to drive the GOP into kamikaze crashes with every vote, because it’s political suicide to openly defy the speaker (for Republicans). Boehner, I think, would at least try to keep the racist rapists from holding the reins, out of interest of the GOP not, you know, ending.
Culture of Truth
Dick Morris’ problem is that Dick Morris is stupid.
double nickel
@Mark B.: On behalf of Canada, I apologize. But he stays down there regardless.
Violet
@Baud: Some of them are “Top Commenters”, whatever that means on his site.
Woodrowfan
I am a very very happy man today. Tired from a 20 hour day working the polls, but damn happy.
Senator Kaine! twice-failed candidate Allen!
Baud
@Violet:
It means DougJ has been busy. :)
me
The Republicans retook the Wisconsin state senate so I guess they’ll double down on union busting and voter suppression now.
aimai
@Dave:
Correct. In any event the President and the Senate Dems should draw up a list of broken promises from the House and the Senate Republicans and refuse to come to any terms with them unless they give hostages to fortune in the form of a direct give back/funding/ spending agreement/tax proposal with no return guarantee. Boehner and Cantor and lipless turtle have broken every single agreement they brokered. They can’t be trusted to partner on anything.
aimai
Hungry Joe
“We have to reach across the aisle/work together for the good of the country,” etc., is just what you say the day after the election. Every election. It means about as much, and is about as sincere, as publicly wishing your opponent well.
henrythefifth
The whole “landslide” and “mandate” thingies only apply to white guys running for president.
EconWatcher
@Woodrowfan:
Thanks for your hard work.
I believe we’ve heard the last of George Allen now, and not a moment too soon. An odious man.
But I did meet his wife Susan briefly during this campaign, and she seemed quite charming. She could do better.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Violet: I was talking to my dad about him. My answer is that he should move to another state.
MattMinus
@Kane:
But what can they do with this knowledge? They might be clued in to what they need to do to win a general, but they also know that will kill them in the primary. Do any of them think the primary voting base of crazies will be chastened by these results? More likely their prescription will be to go double-Akin.
Look at Lugar. He didn’t DO anything “wrong”, he just wasn’t willing to talk as bat-shit crazy as the teahadist.
I imagine that being a republican congressman is like managing a baseball team where the GM is the dumbest of sports-talk radio callers.
The Moar You Know
@danimal: Spot on and scathingly good. Frankly I wish the GOP would listen. I don’t think they’re going away, and that being the case it would be nice to have them operating in the real world, instead of this echo chamber which in short order is going to convince them that default is the way to stick it to the ungrateful Obamunist voters.
Schlemizel
@28 Percent:
You sure are right about the RUbio love we should expect from the GOP! I told some friends this AM to expect 90% of the GOP to be taking classes to learn Spanish in the next 2 years!
Not to go off in the weeds but actually the secessionist slave loving bastards could have “won” the war in several ways before 7/4/63. It would have been a Pyrrhic victory ultimately but a win none the less. Thats where we are with todays GOP. If they do ‘win’ it will only make the pain drag out longer and the ultimate destruction much worse but they could have won last night & we all would be paying dearly.
Shelby Foote lays out a nice case that had Lincoln been in charge of the CSA & Davis the USA the results would have been different. He is right on one level the bastards would have had a short-term win in what we think of as the ACW. Thank Pasta Lincoln was on the right side.
Villago Delenda Est
@Culture of Truth:
That’s the problem with “conservatism” in general now.
It’s basically infantilistic navel gazing on a grand scale by people older than five.
hueyplong
The highlight of my politics-watching life was Karl Rove on FoxNews last night yelling at his own people for calling Ohio and giving a graphic demonstration of analysis untethered to reality for all the world to see.
His humiliation on his own homer network was exquisite. Even Megyn Kelly at one point said, “That’s awkward.”
Turns out God loves me more than I thought.
LanceThruster
The Great White Dope has left the building.
Na Na Na Na
Na Na Na Na
Hey Hey Mitt
Goodbye!
I had much fun last night cuz I was too busy after voting loading more stuff to move from my old place. Was about to get the load on the road and MSNBC called it for Pres. Obama. No nail-biting whatsoever (except maybe being confused about overhearing “calling it for Romney” until I realized they were just talking about a particular state).
I don’t care about Mitt’s “gracious” concession speech, the time to show integrity was while campaigning. You can’t Etch-a-Sketch from boorish to dignified so easily.
The only news from the Romney/Ryan camp I’m still interested in is Rmoney’s tax returns. Considering he wanted people to believe his Mormonism made him a better person, imagine if he actually told the truth about the tax code as it relates to his earnings, his plan to change it, and his actual vision for redirecting the country. Whether or not the argument was compelling, people might have responded to a candidate acting with demonstrated integrity.
Instead, enough people recognized a charlatan (x2) and voted accordingly.
Baud
@MattMinus:
Possible, but not inevitable. The Klan grew really big in the 1920s then faded quickly. People move on.
becca
@Mark B.: A regional party? Like the Confederacy?
We have all been here before (repeat).
Cermet
@The Moar You Know: Utter and complete BS – the President has the biggest gun BECAUSE – and I’ll make this clear – thugs depend on defense companies contracts for their districts far more than democrats; guess who will be screaming about possible defense cuts? CEO’s (last I checked, they ARE the 0.01% that matters and their voice IS heard by thugs.) They, the asswipe thugs, not us have THE BIG GUN.
Villago Delenda Est
@LanceThruster:
I think a lot of people who voted for him know he’s a charlatan, but voted for him anyway, because he was not the ni*CLANG*.
Brachiator
@James K. Polk, Esq.:
Both sides have a gun, pointed at each other.
The expiration of the Bush tax cuts is merely one of a boatload of expiring tax provisions, some going back to Bill Clinton.
And even though practically no one talks about it, Congressional Republicans and Democrats have been quietly working behind the scenes, trying to prioritize which are “must pass” provisions. Little things, like alternative minimum tax relief, otherwise millions of people get an automatic tax increase.
Here is a very soft voice assessment from Forbes:
Taxpayer Advocate: Expired And Expiring Tax Laws Wreaking HavocIn short, Obama and the Congress can’t really get by on temporary budget resolutions, unless the Congress want to take obstructionism to new lows. The House, and House Republicans, still have a considerable advantage here, and the bottom line is that a ton of tax law needing major revision.
SatanicPanic
@Violet: Dude, how stupid do you have to be to trust Dick Morris in the first place? good lord
PeterJ
@Bernard Finel:
Obama lost 27 electoral votes and 6 was lost due to the 2010 census.
reflectionephemeral
@Robin G.: Fair enough, but Boehner has been & will have to continue looking over his shoulder at Cantor, whose popularity reflects the party’s continuing extremism. I agree that Boehner would rather govern like a grownup, but he’s a Republican, so he can’t.
Schlemizel
@japa21:
Does not matter that MOST of their district is not insane. If the 20% that bother to show up for the primary vote are 50%+1 insane they are dead meat & they know that
rlrr
@Villago Delenda Est:
Back in 2008, someone figured Obama starts out with something like a 10-15% vote deficit because he’s a you know what.
Jay in Oregon
It is ever thus.
Republicans who win have received a mandate from on high to pursue their agenda, and Democrats had better fall in line.
Democrats who win are urged to adopt the policies of the people they defeated in order to avoid hurting people’s fee-fees.
Seriously, is there anything that any of these right-wing pundit assholes can say that we haven’t predicted for weeks?
“Obama has to pivot to the center now.”
“America is a center-right nation.”
“He doesn’t have a mandate.”
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Cermet:
IMHO the time has come to play really nasty hardball with military base closures. If cuts in defense spending threaten the recovery, make it an exclusively Red State Recession. Let the fuckers learn the hard way that the govt DOES TOO create jobs.
Schlemizel
@me:
FUG! that is really bad news – I just lost my smile for the day
wearing those stupid foam wedges on their heads must cause brain damage!
Violet
@SatanicPanic: I know. That’s why the comments are fun. The people seem like they truly feel Dick Morris let them down. Do these people have brains?
LD50
I hope Political Observer shows up today. I missed the opportunity last night to call him a pathetic loser.
jc
It is now time for Obama to demand that Republicans work with him and not the other way around.
General Stuck
A note on the large caliber of bullet we dodged last night.
Kowtowing to the neocons, he’d have to keep that up to win a second term. A lot of future dead people can breath a sigh of relief this morn.
LD50
@Violet: “I trusted you, man! I TRUSTED YOU!!”
horatius
From India, with Love.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/files/2012/11/03461852sand_image_1024w.jpg
me
@Schlemizel: It’s all about redistricting. They made it nearly impossible for the Democrats to get a majority either house of the legislature.
Baud
@LD50:
I hope we never see him again.
Schlemizel
rAmen brother!
Villago Delenda Est
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ:
Back in the Reagan 80’s, the Navy actively pursued a “home ports” program for carrier groups in order to spread the lard around as many places as possible, in order to make killing Navy programs more politically difficult. Having multiple bases does make some military sense (not putting all your eggs in one basket, ala Pearl Harbor, for example) but it makes even more political sense. This is why there are a plethora of military bases of all the services spread all over the country…to create a situation where a lot of civilian jobs depend on a nearby military base (and a nearby military payroll), making base closing politically difficult.
Because while these morons talk about how government cannot create jobs, the reality is a lot of communities are directly dependent on soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines spending their paychecks on everything from q-tips to blow jobs in a local community.
Schlemizel
@me:
Gatamm off-year elections & the gatamm people who don’t bother to vote in them!
Kane
@MattMinus: First and foremost, politicians are about self-preservation. Republicans aligned themselves with the tea-party because it was in their best short-term political interest to do so. The threat of being primaried was an effective tool to keep the handful of Republican moderates who were willing to reach across the aisle in line.
But that’s all changed now. The defeat of Joe Walsh, Allen West and Heather Wilson is proof of that. Simply being a tea partier will not save their positions in congress. And Christine O’Donnell, Ken Buck, Linda McMahon, Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock and all the rest are proof that if the GOP wants to continue to exist as a political party, they must move back to the center and work across the aisle.
beltane
@horatius: That is very wonderful.
Violet
Donald Trump seems even more unhinged than usual:
No idea what Rock Center’s ratings are, but taking that kind of shot at the lead news anchor at the network that runs your stupid reality show and gives you the publicity you crave seems kind of…shortsighted. I wish NBC would cancel The Apprentice because ratings tank after people decide that Trump shouldn’t be rewarded for his antics.
chopper
@PeakVT:
i like how markos called the EC perfectly.
Baud
Where is Kay? I want a Kay post so we can thank her for Ohio. (She’ll insist it wasn’t all her, but we know different.)
SatanicPanic
@Violet: “I can’t believe they sold me this car!”
LanceThruster
@Baud:
But PO was right…it was a Romney landslide (‘ceppin’ it was him being buried in one).
I guess “us people” got enough of what the Romney’s were willing to part with as far as pertinent information about them.
More than enough.
Schlemizel
@Kane:
But because of the primary math it may not be possible. Because of their commitment to the cause the teabaggers and the Paultards will swing a big club. There is the beauty of the modern GOP – can’t win with them morans, can’t win without them.
oops – smile is back 8-{D
Robin G.
@reflectionephemeral: True. I don’t expect a 180. But I really think that the side effect of the tea party costing the GOP the Senate two cycles in a row — and by such an embarrassing level — plus the loss of West amd Walsh, not to mention the demographic numbers that are making their balls crawl back up inside their bodies, will lead to less willingness to kowtow to the Eric Cantors. For everyone left in the GOP with a functioning brain it’s clear that Latinos are more dangerous than teabaggers.
I could be wrong. (I really don’t think we’ll see the full reckoning until 2016, when the GOP will have a civil war like no other.) I guess I’m expecting self-interest to win out over principled self-immolation for the reps who don’t approve of rape.
Villago Delenda Est
@horatius:
We may not give a rat’s ass who is running India, but people all over the world give a rat’s ass who is running this country.
And they’re happy campers today.
me
@Schlemizel: Yep, if the people who came out yesterday to vote for the President had voted earlier this year, Walker would be gone and if they had voted in 2010 he wouldn’t have been elected in the first place.
Baud
@LanceThruster:
PO was the Westboro Baptist Church of this blog. Good riddance.
chopper
why the hell am i in moderation?
Villago Delenda Est
@Violet:
The Donald is right now engaging in biting the hand that feeds him.
This is a very wise move (snicker!) on the part of The Donald.
Schlemizel
@Baud:
probably in bed recovering. That woman busted a hump the last few days (Pasta bless her ever lovin heart!). She needs some rest I bet.
I got about 8 hours sleep over the last week of ’04 and maybe an hour or two more in ’08. It takes a while to recover – although it was a hell of a lot faster in 8 than in 4! – ! – ! damn I hate not being able to mutiple the !’s !
Suffern ACE
@me: I think wisconsin might be the one of the easiest states to do that kind of redistricting in. And because I think the turnout for 2014 will again be like 2010, it is going to take a long time to take that state back. Hopefully you can get a governor in there who can dam up the stream for a bit.
Schlemizel
@me:
I wish I knew how to get people to understand that!
@chopper: Cole told me its because he hates you ;)
The Red Pen
@Violet:
I was hoping someone would bring this up. Freepers are calling for his head. Michael Barone has so far gotten very little backlash for making the same predictions.
No word on re-skewing the polls.
Villago Delenda Est
@chopper:
FYWP doesn’t like the cut of the jib of your comment, I’d wager.
Something about “pen1s”, “ca$ino”, or “socia1ism”, or who knows what. FYWP is like the phone company. It doesn’t care. It doesn’t have to.
Surreal American
UNSKEW THE ELECTION!!!
James K. Polk, Esq.
@Brachiator: Ha ha ha, Forbes’ tears of sorrow over rising taxes taste far sweeter than I could possibly imagine.
Look, the 1% is about to get a HUGE tax increase. That is the gun. They are the ones with the megaphone to the Republican congress critters ears. The house majority has no choice but to follow the wishes of their puppet masters.
Obama has the gun. The Republicans have a SuperSoaker. If he slow plays this hand, the Republicans will have no choice but to belly up to the table and eat a huge shit sandwich.
Villago Delenda Est
@The Red Pen:
Dick Morris has the taint of once working for Bill Clinton. Barone, to my knowledge, has no such questionable affiliation in his past.
Also, he’s lower profile, not being a Faux Noise go to talking head.
28 Percent
I’m going to go out on a proverbial limb: Chris Christie will run for the nomination in 2015… and get thumped in the primaries. It’s going to be a McDonnell/Rubio ticket for the R’s in 2016.
Jay in Oregon
@Kane:
The problem with that is that the Republicans have spent four years demonstrating that they would rather watch this country burn than work with this president.
And they have no incentive to change their course now, because in 2016 they won’t be facing Obama again.
Bipartisanship does not mean “give the other side what they want” and that’s all they will accept. This isn’t hyperbole: it is their constantly re-stated position.
Republicans are NEVER told that they have to pivot to the center or reach across the aisle; that sage advice is reserved exclusively for Democrats.
slag
So, it seems as though the real failure pundits succumbed to when predicting this election was in presuming the rest of us to be as shallow and insipid as they are. My hope for democracy is suddenly rekindled.
Schlemizel
I have the name of a great proctologist that could help them find one!
patrick II
An important but underrated task is Obama’s need to push through both executive and judicial appointments. He doesn’t need the house for that and he has been way behind on getting that done. And some of those appointments should be serious young liberals, and he should not let McConnell chase out someone like Elizabeth Warren because they would actually be too good at their job. (how did that work out for you, Mitch?).
It will take a change to the filibuster rule, but Obama should support Harry Reid when he changes the Senate rules to make that body the actual majority vote institution as it was designed to be.
japa21
@Suffern ACE: Not so sure about that. I expect turnout in 2014 to be higher than 2010, though not at 2012 levels. I want, desperately want, to believe that Dems learned a lesson in 2010.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@28 Percent:
Given that the GOP got their clock cleaned by women and latinos yesterday, Susana Martinez won the demographic lottery last night.
Applejinx
Guys, here’s the deal. This is what’s going to happen- I’ve been calling stuff pretty well, though I’m no Nate Silver. But I can spot political stuff going down pretty good.
Eric Cantor becomes Speaker, specifically in order to up the brinksmanship
All the Bush taxcuts expire. Obama needs to talk about bipartisanship but make concessions the House won’t accept (easy).
This solves the deficit, and the money is used for infrastructure and Obamacare.
The government insurance agency that’s able to compete nationally on a nonprofit basis chokes out the for-profit industry and that’s the path to single payer, which will save us a lot of money.
Chris Christie is the new face of the Eisenhower Republican. He can provide kick-ass government services for half the taxation Eisenhower used (look it up and marvel). He will be demonstrating what ‘bipartisan’ looks like for years even if Bruce Springsteen has to give him a sweat-stained headband to rub on his personal places. Welcome to global geopolitics, Bruce, we’ll issue you a handi-wipe to try and cleanse your shame and disgust.
Paul Ryan is a wanker- fuck him. No mention of him by Obama unlike a certain other guy… Ryan aligns himself with Cantor to be marginalized, and the Ike repubs blame his plan (not unreasonably) for the 2012 loss.
Mitt Romney… hold onto your seats… Mitt Romney is the new McCain. Obama wants him to be, and so he shall be. He will become an elder statesman, AS THE MA LIBERAL he in the end ‘revealed himself to be’. He is offered the chance to line up alongside Chris Christie and be celebrated, and all he has to do is own some of the positions he’s held over the years.
I am convinced of this. Obama explained things to him and that is why he spoke and looked the way he did. He cannot have the Presidency but he can be the new McCain, only aligned with Christie and against Cantor/Ryan (I’m sure he hates Ryan more than you can believe, and vice versa).
Watch for Ryan aligning with Cantor and the teabagger House, watch for Christie peeling off moderates, watch for Mitt being inexplicably treated as a MODERATE statesman- and try not to throw up too hard, it is politics and you had better have a strong stomach to win.
Mitt Romney was ALWAYS a loyal and decent opponent, never race-baiting, and was always proud of inventing Romneycare before it was Obamacare, and also always supported women’s rights, ethnic rights, everything that makes up the continuing fabric of our great country. You may ask ‘so why didn’t he win?’ and the answer is, it is Ryan’s fault and the teabagger rape-apologists’ fault and not his fault. Ryan killed it for him, and Obama was just too good to beat.
There’s my little Nate Silveration- to be tested against reality as that develops. Heh, time I started a political blog too…
MomSense
@CornerStone
Do you have cataracts? We can haz medical marijuana here as well as legal gay married sex.
Between the President’s big win, the Senate, shutting the whole legitimate rape thing down, marriage equality, and reeferendum madness–I am feeling fantastic today!
I can barely keep my eyes open but it is a happy, happy tired.
Schlemizel
@Applejinx:
If you want to be Silver-like, show your work. How does any of that happen?
jurassicpork
CBS says 303. Where did you get 332? Obama, so far, has also gotten 10,000,000 fewer votes than in 2008 while Romney got 2,000,000 more than McCain.
In that vein, Mike Flannigan weighs in on last night’s elections while noting a troubling difference between 2008 and 2012 and asking an important question no one else seems to be asking.
Rommie
@28 Percent: Yeah, I’d agree that, as things currently are, Christie is DMW in the 2016 primaries. Rubio and Jeb will stick the shiv in early and often, and the base will cheer them on every stroke.
A lot can happen between now and 2015, but CC is a RINO in the eyes of the people he’d need to win.
Frankensteinbeck
Obama will continue to do what has worked fantastically well for him in the past. He will smile, make nice when he wants something, and stick a knife in the GOP’s back when they think they’ve won. In the history books, they’ll sum up his presidency with the ‘Everybody calm the fuck down, I’ve got this’ photo.
SatanicPanic
@Applejinx: I bet you’re right on Obama cutting him a deal- his reputation in exchange for some help dealing with the Republicans. I don’t know if it will be worth much though.
Robin G.
@Jay in Oregon:
Thing is, while some of them did it for Randian principle, a lot did it because they thought it was an electoral winner. There’s no doubt in my mind that McConnell and Boehner believed stonewalling EVERYTHING and then blaming Obama for not getting things done would work. Instead they got their asses handed to them. They know how bad that is.
Raven
@Applejinx: “Mitt Romney is the new McCain”
From where? McCain is a Senator, Mitt is an unemployed douche.
MattF
@Applejinx: Well, your guesses are as good as mine, but I agree that Ryan is headed for obscurity. The media had a crush on him, but that’s worn off– what’s left is a minor-league ideologue and a major-league liar.
Brandon
I would be really happy for someone to start busting the pundits on Obama’s “no mandate” “narrow” victory last night. For example, that nasty Krauthammer last night. And in 2004:
Shameless. And he’s not the only one, it’s the new Villager meme as validated by NPR.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@japa21:
Ditto that. But the debacle in 2010 was driven by a bottom-up problem with the electorate, not just a top-down problem with the Dem leadership. I’m hoping that 2014 will be very different because 2010 was driven by the fight over passing Obamacare and seniors freaking out over it. That favored the GOP because it wasn’t an issue that younger voters cared about as passionately as seniors did, so it riled up the most GOP-friendly demographic while the more Dem-friendly demographic stayed home. From the speeches last night it looks like the next 2 years will be more focused on immigration reform amongst other issues, and that has the opposite slant: it is a topic of vital concern to latinos, and less so to everybody else.
Applejinx
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ:
Here’s the hardball.
Cut defense and government jobs in red states- and then push a welfare state as hard as possible, Obamacare, all manner of stuff spun to set off ‘welfare’ red flags in wingnuts.
Let them die or compromise- Chris Christie can be used effectively to yell at these guys and say he is a Republican and HE didn’t have a problem helping his people, what is their fucking problem?
Use Mitt Romney to do likewise- like, for the benefit of red states offer a total single-payer option and title it Romneycare, not Obamacare. Give ’em exactly what Romney put together and see if that shakes ’em.
They want to bitch about welfare while riding government Hoverounds? Rub their noses in it publically, and call ’em on the hypocrisy.
28 Percent
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ: I like the way you’re going there. Any chance they can find someone who is female, latino and disabled (trifecta!) for the veep spot? Republicans love them some token diversity, as long as a Great White Father does all the decidering.
AnotherBruce
@Robin G.: So let’s see, the Republicans retain the House but failed big time in taking control of the Senate in a year when the numbers favored them. So they’re going to get rid of Boehner and retain McConnell? Good choice guys, it’s going to be fun watching your political suicide.
Elie
@Applejinx:
Your scenario is intriguing —
I DO see Christie providing a locus for moderate REpublicanism to attach to. There are bunches of those Republicans recently defeated by the Tea Party who might have an interest. I the Teahadists kill of the prospects for a resurgent moderate Republican party, then the party will be out in the wilderness for a long time. Sadly, we need two parties — to govern effectively. The teahadists aren’t interested in governance — they are only interested in ruling — their ruling and out obedience. They will destroy what is left of the REpublican party and those who can swim better jump while they can
I have NO IDEA where you get that Romney is loyal and decent. I don’t see that and I also don’t think that he is very smart. The man couldn’t keep to a single position with any integrity during all of this so why would the President trust him in any way?
danimal
@Applejinx: Here’s an outrageous thought for the day: Appoint Romney to a cabinet-level position (HHS Secretary? A….Special Czar???) for implementing
RomneyObamacare and trimming entitlement costs. He’s as likely as anyone to put together a plan that can pass both houses. He could flip-flop between Moderate Mitt and Severely Conservative Mitt whle putting some distance between Obama and politically difficult cuts.I don’t think the BJ community would like this one bit, but it sure sounds like a winner from the totebagger POV. Flame away!
Randy P
@Mark B.: I came of age in the early 70s. I thought all the bigots would be dead soon, and I actually believed anti-Semitism had died in WW2. Hopelessly naive, I know.
MOST of the 27% is over 60, I think. But a sizable chunk is not.
Slagathor
@Dave:
I’m a long term lurker who’s taken refuge here for the last few months to stay sane. And this post finally motivated me to say something in response — simply that you’re words are extremely well put.
If I wasn’t in a line of work where I need to sound politically neutral, publically, I’d quote you all over my web page and FB page.
I hope those in power, and policy makers, follow your advice.
J.D. Rhoades
@Robin G.:
Anyone who isn’t actively batshit sees what happened to the Tea Party last night,
The problem is, they ARE actively batshit.
Applejinx
@SatanicPanic: The amount of chaos it can produce is incalculable. You’d have Cantor and Ryan from the hated House, creepy wonk-looking teabagger types, against basically the ‘lovable blowhard’ Christie bullying and going off on the teabaggers as he already has done (Republicans LOVE a bully) and the previous authority figure and would-be President, who is still white and distinguished looking with many sons. Romney is another Republican archetype and Republicans also love their authority: for them to schism like this is a very big deal.
It was already pretty hard for the Republican coalition to hold together including the teabaggers WITH electoral victories like the midterms.
Now that era has passed. Some have figured it out. And the center CANNOT hold through an escalating series of back-breaking debacles. This was their best shot at holding out for another election that way, and they had the full force of the MSM to a ridiculous extent, and shot their whole wad at once.
And failed- their wave broke against the rock and fell back.
There WILL be a schism. There can’t not be. There must be shelter for the electable Republicans. Think of ’em as electable Republicans. You know, the kind that didn’t want to destroy the whole government and enact American Taliban?
Elie
@Frankensteinbeck:
It always surprises me how often Obama’s ruthlessness is underestimated — even by our own side. He is a deceptively mild but very hard inside puncher. His work on Romney with the baseball bat of Bain all summer laid the groundwork for his next part — the ruthless, storm surge of a “ground game”. Like the storm surge, it just seems to come on you without the obviousness of a tidal wave. Next thing you know, you are in deep shit and drowning.
PeakVT
@danimal: To hell with giving that liar an important position.
OTOH, offering Romney the job of ambassador to France would be good for some laughs. I don’t think he’d accept, though.
The Moar You Know
@Applejinx: Great idea, the House will…whoops.
A GOP House isn’t going to do those things.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@PeakVT:
Keerist on a Cracker, why are you trying to provoke a war with France?
catclub
@danimal: That implies that Romney is actually willing to work. He wanted to BE president, but he cared nothing about the things involved in doing the work of the president. He knew nothing about foreign policy. He knows nothing about actually running companies – just extracting fees and dividends from them, and gaming the tax code and Federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
I do not see it.
dww44
A bit late to this thread and posted this over at Booman when the same subject came up. I.E., the necessity for Obama and Dems to forthwith go about the urgent task of reaching compromise with our friends across the aisle.
I got this from Mr.Pickens in an early morning email:
I responded and told him to redirect that message to the folks on his side of the partisan divide. Obama had already tried that with ungood results for himself and us. I don’t expect to hear back from Mr. Pickens.
Kilgore Trout
@Corner Stone:
Um, Washington State for both? :-)
Applejinx
@Elie: Do I really have to put everything that is cynical in quotes?
Of COURSE Romney is a horrible creep.
He’s very well groomed, though, and he can be used. You’ll notice Obama never once got into calling him out for the despicable faithless creep he is.
When I say Romney is the loyal and statesmanlike face of the new Republican moderation, helping red states accept Romneycare and guiding them into the strong arms of Chris Christie, the WHOLE THING should be read in quotes with a bit of Dramamine.
I am laying out the required spin- the 11-th dimensional chess move. My own politics are a lot like my Senator Bernie Sanders. I do not personally believe Romney is loyal, or good, or a statesman- but by GOD would it be useful to have Obama paint him as that in order to deconstruct the toxically insane, scary right wing. Nobody ever successfully got the MSM to depict Romney as the wreck he is. Let’s use that momentum of the MSM and have their pet guy Romney seeking public acclaim by taking elder statesman status, but siding against the teabagger right that he only pretended to appease.
THAT at least is true. He’s only ever pretended to appease people, EVER. He absolutely was only lying to the teabaggers for their votes, and ‘liberal statesman’ is as valid a final role for him as any, because it’s ALL been bullshit from the start.
Does that help?
catclub
@The Moar You Know: Black politicians can’t hand out advantages to their own side.
(See Washington, Harold) Only white ones can use patronage as a weapon. If Obama managed that I would be amazed, and impressed. Another myth busted.
The Moar You Know
@Applejinx: I agree with you on this. Kamikaze teabagging isn’t going to go down well with goopers from states that still aren’t in third world status, and the party’s going to split viciously. Christie was the Fort Sumpter of this war. There’s going to be some interesting shit, but frankly my only concern is to find a way to let the tax cuts expire without the 10% hit to Defense, because then I am unemployed, in my fifties, and totally fucked.
danimal
@PeakVT: @catclub: I don’t really see that scenario happening, it’s more of a thought experiment. But from all accounts, Romney was actually an engaged wonk on health policy in MA while developing Romneycare. If he really cares about policy (big question), Obama could find a place at the table for him.
Obama is going to have to find ways to appear bi-partisan while clubbing the Tea Party into a fine, misty pulp. Elevating Romney in some way could do the trick.
Tonal Crow
Obama’s got a mandate. Time to spend the political capital he’s earned. Top ‘o the list: decarbonizing the economy, or else.
Amir Khalid
@28 Percent:
I can’t imagine Chris Christie running for anything (he said with a straight face) in 2016. Right now, there are apparently Republicans saying he blew Mitt off and threw the election to Obama just to get Bruce Springsteen’s autograph. As absurd as this sounds, Timothy Egan did post on NYT’s election blog that The Boss had won the election for Obama by helping to neutralize one of Mitt’s biggest surrogates.
Of course, Christie really did have a crisis on his hands and no time to entertain Mitt, who couldn’t do anything for NJ anyway. What probably happened is that, rather than Christie suddenly forgetting himself and turning into a fanboi, Obama was seizing an opportunity not only to help New Jersey, but to curry favor with an important Republican.
Anyhoo, there’s now a Republican grudge against Christie, which is likely unjustified, but will nonetheless weigh against his making a presidential bid in 2016.
Woodrowfan
On my way to work this am I saw a house that always have republican signs out front is now flying an upside US flag. aaaah sweet, sweet wingnut tears!
NR
This post is hilarious. Obama will pursue Republican policies. He would pursue Republican policies even if he’d won with 80% of the vote. It’s what he wants, and he’ll do it no matter what.
NR
This post is hilarious. Obama will pursue Republican policies. He would pursue Republican policies even if he’d won with 80% of the vote. It’s what he wants, and he’ll do it no matter what.
Jay C
Long, late thread I know, but let me add my $.02 to the criticism of the “MSM” – major networks, anyway -coverage of the election. Their biases (and most certainly NOT in the stale old “liberal media” canard way) were as blatant as can ever recall them being: most of the network anchors, and their various assortments of Beltway Village Idiots, displayed a palpable sense of disappointment when it became obvious that Romney’s momentum had screeched to halt at about 190 EV; and that Obama’s final push (Ohio) elicited little but a sort of polite acknowledgment from all but the paid Democratic operatives. Immediately segued by the talking-heads into stock blather about “Obama having to reach across the aisle” and pop-sociology “analysis” of voter demographics which tended to leave one with the impression that no white people anywhere in the country voted for President Obama.
Disgusting.
Corner Stone
@Applejinx: Fascinating stuff. Your newsletter? I do not wish to subscribe.
Jay C
Long, late thread I know, but let me add my $.02 to the criticism of the “MSM” – major networks, anyway -coverage of the election. Their biases (and most certainly NOT in the stale old “liberal media” canard way) were as blatant as can ever recall them being: most of the network anchors, and their various assortments of Beltway Village Idiots, displayed a palpable sense of disappointment when it became obvious that Romney’s momentum had screeched to halt at about 190 EV; and that Obama’s final push (Ohio) elicited little but a sort of polite acknowledgment from all but the paid Democratic operatives. Immediately segued by the talking-heads into stock blather about “Obama having to reach across the aisle” and pop-sociology “analysis” of voter demographics which tended to leave one with the impression that no white people anywhere in the country voted for President Obama.
Disgusting.
trollhattan
@28 Percent:
I think Chris Christie’s first concern is remaining Governor Chris Christie come election time. I suspect his seat was looking more vulnerable the more he stumped for Willard.
Corner Stone
@Kilgore Trout:
The problem is I want to be married to Mary Jane but have recreational legal gay sex.
It’s just all messed up.
trollhattan
@Raven:
He’s now free to go home(s) and try to spend his moolah before he dies. Let’s say he has a quarter billion (bet it’s more) that won’t become a larger sum with time (how likely is that?) and lives twenty more years (not for infinity like Dick Cheney). That means he’d have to spend [some button clicking]:
Thirty-four thousand dollars a day.
Do any of us really understand just how stinking rich our plutocrats have become? I don’t think so.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Randy P:
Most of the ones I know aren’t all that old. Starting with family: My brother and sister-in-law, in their mid-50s; my sister and her husband, in their 40s; my daughter and her glibertarian husband, in their mid-20s; and the spawn of my brother and sister-in-law, also in their 20s. I don’t think that the dying off of old white guys is going to be sufficient to rid us of the Tea Partiers.
trollhattan
@Corner Stone:
Mary Jane always got my vote in the “Ginger or Mary Jane?” poll.
El Cid
Republicans wouldn’t ask permission or if it made sense to declare such a win an absolute victory for their cause, in fact a mandate sent directly by God.
They’d just declare it and act that way.
trollhattan
@Comrade Scrutinizer:
The “Rush Limbaugh Generation” of unfortunate kids growing up in listener households began in 1984, so the oldest of them are in their late 20s. I don’t know if you can deprogram that, and I run into quite a few of them in my “blue” city.
Corner Stone
Joe Manchin just stop it. You’re a Democrat in West by God Virginia. You WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT.
Stop sucking on the tip of every damn fool Republican who whistles at you while you’re walking past a construction site.
4jkb4ia
63% said that taxes should not be raised to cut the deficit. This is the poll number that throws most into question that, at least in the states where there was any competition of any sort, this was a victory for liberals instead of a referendum on the failures of Mitt Romney as a candidate. The obvious rejoinder is that every state wasn’t polled.
dww44
@Comrade Scrutinizer: Sadly, I think you’re right. Willful blindness, I call it.
LanceThruster
@Woodrowfan:
I went to my old neighborhood to vote and was embarrassed going home because my sister had a Romney/Ryan sign on the lawn. She’s underemployed at an architects office but doesn’t understand that it’s Rethug policies that trashed the economy and that trickle down is a proven failure.
She a churchy and thinks that Goppers are “values voters.”
[sigh]
She’s younger than me with no love life to speak of yet thinks it makes sense to deny same sex couples the rights to love and marry as they see fit. Last fight I had with her over what I consider the selfishness of her political views while at the same time considering herself a moral person, I blurted out, “Fvck your Republican Jesus!”
Her head nearly exploded (and she told dad on me! I’m 55yrs old!). Granted she was the only female in a household of men as my dad was a widower When we were all toddlers, but eff GOP Jeebus.
And eff Mitt Romoney and the White Horse he rode in on (and OUT! Woo-hoo!).
chopper
@Villago Delenda Est:
FYWP doesn’t like references to the electoral college or the GOS?
odd. maybe a glitch in the matrix.
LanceThruster
@trollhattan:
Back when I had LDS neighbors, I pulled up in my car listening to some Rush outrage and turned off the engine and opened the car door to hear the rest of the segment. The LDS mom cheerfully called over to me and asked if I was a Rush fan too. I said, “No, but it’s a good way to keep tabs on the lies of the opposition.” Her smile went away and she never made political small talk with me again (which is sad but typical as I’m always willing to defend my views and listen to others do the same).
Lurking Canadian
@Applejinx: I’m not sure I agree with your vision, but I must say that if Obama can spend the next four years somehow engineering the Republicans back into a sane opposition party interested in governing, rather than a pack of jackals who just want to watch the world burn, he deserves to be on Mount Rushmore.
LanceThruster
@Lurking Canadian:
I think that’s only possible through attrition by mortality. They won’t come to their senses on their own. They’re proud of their intractability and wholly unaware of their level of ignorance.
Darkrose
@Corner Stone: Move to WA and have both!
Keith G
I love how so many here are proclaiming that Obama should rain thunder on the opposition. Dudes, that is not who he is. Have you learned nothing these four years. Crikey, one day in and you are already giving me a headache.
Brachiator
@James K. Polk, Esq.:
Once again, and let me say this slowly, if ALL the expiring tax provisions expire, there is a huge tax increase for everyone.
In addition, credits such as the earned income credit and additional child tax credit shrink to miniscule proportions, kicking the working poor in the ass big time.
Education credits: gone. Mortgage relief: gone.
Once again, anyone, especially Balloon Juicers, who think that it’s just the 1 percent who are looking at a big tax increase, are missing the larger point.
Who has the greatest absolute advantage is not clear. But you are right that it will be very difficult for the Tea Party people and the GOP to be purely obstructionist.
But who says that the wingnuts are sane?
@trollhattan:
You can’t entirely blame Limbaugh or his listeners for this. I find the number of libertarian and conservative techies to be very interesting. One guy, who hosts a number of tech podcasts, was very big on how you should vote your libertarian conscience, and how neither Romney nor Obama were good candidates. These people live in a strange world in which the evil government and their excessive laws are the only wrong worth getting exercised about.
Tonal Crow
@PeakVT:
How about (permanent) ambassador to Camp X-Ray? Romney came this || close to pulling us into the nihilist abyss where up is down, true is false, and slavery is freedom. GOP him. GOP him to whatever hell his “god” has created.
fuckwit
My prediction: we see a transformation in Obama in his second term much like we saw in his second debate.
He’s always been a strong closer. I don’t think he’ll ever stop believing in democracy, government, process, or the Constitution (Shrub never seemed to give any of those much of a care), or the ability or necessity of compromise. Nor will he ever stop being a moderate and pragmatist on policy. He is who he is. Still, if come at him, he will knock you out. Ask a RMoney if you doubt.
I’m going to predict a lot more hardball from the President now. He doesn’t have to run for re-election. He is facing off against an actively hostile and not at all sane House. He has staked out an aggressive agenda for the next 4 years.
Popcorn. ANd, PLEASE take only a short break from volunteering, then let’s get to work on taking back the House in 2014. Start now. Don’t wait.
Kayla Rudbek
@Applejinx: sort of like Mike Stearns v. William Wettin in Eric Flint’s 1633?