The real action in this election cycle was in the Republican primaries, they are almost over, and we already know who won: (drum roll, please!) President Obama. American conservatives have suffered a crushing and lasting defeat. The center of gravity in American politics has shifted permanently and irreversibly to the left (and conservative ideology will eventually follow).posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:40 AM on September 15, 2010 [31 favorites]
The saddest thing is that this conservative calamity is mostly self-inflicted. More and more conservatives get Oprah-cized (one of their favorite leaders, Sarah Palin is sometimes called “the conservative Oprah”, and in my humble opinion Glenn Beck deserves that title too). They now believe that expressing their feelings (e.g. by nominating quixotic candidates) is more important than trying to influence government policies (e.g. by nominating viable candidates). They withdraw from practical politics and instead join a protest movement. They march in the streets in tricorn hats while the liberals (whom they unwittingly help to put in office) are creating new entitlements and raising taxes...
...Even if Republicans capture the House this November, they will have a barely functional majority – a 225-210 split is about the best we can realistically hope for – and will be almost certain to lose the House again in 2012, potentially even by a worse margin than in 2008. Such a scenario would be devastating to conservative causes, since Obama would claim that his own re-election victory combined with his party wrestling the House from the GOP (and expanding their Senate majority) gives him a clear mandate to implement his agenda (rather than pursue bipartisanship).
Christine O'Donnell won her primary over Mike Castle with a little over 30,000 votes last night. But lets put this in perspective, there are over 600,000 registered voters in Delaware. Christine O'Donnell won with 5% of the possible vote. 5%. And Mike Castle lost with about 4% of the total possible votes. In other words, those fired up Republicans, you know the ones who have a massive enthusiasm gap working for them, made up just 9% of the possible electorate last night....posted by beagle at 9:25 AM on September 15, 2010
Past performance does not always translate well when it comes to mid-term elections, but I thought it would be useful to look at the last mid-term Senatorial race in Delaware:
There were about 241,000 votes cast in the 2006 Senate election. Tom Carper got 171,000, his Republican oponent 70,000. Thats right, Carper won by over 100,000 votes. About 40% of registered voters voted in this race, Carper got 71% of the vote. Assuming similar turnout in this general election, O'Donnell will need at least 120,000 votes to beat Coons. In other words, four times the votes she got last night. So where is she going to get them? Well, undoubtably some moderate Republicans will hold their noses and vote for her anyway. And she will get some small percentage of indepenent, conservative leaning voters. Democrats? Not so much.
Of course Coons should run like he is 10 points behind right up to election day. But I like the way the numbers look right now.
"Christine O'Donnell says Sarah Palin's endorsement made all the difference in her campaign, criticizs 'Republican cannabalism'and shrugs off doubts from Karl Rove and other Republicans that she's unelectable: 'They also said that Ronald Reagan wasn't electable.'"*posted by ericb at 11:55 AM on September 15, 2010
"Once O'Donnell's victory was assured, the requisite thumbsucking over What It All Means got dialed up to 11 almost immediately. [MSNBC's Chris] Matthews was the wildest, divining a secret hidden block of frustrated Hillary Clinton voters who had been marinating in frustration since the 2008 primaries and were bleeding from the teeth to vote for anyone with ovaries, even someone who spent the 1990's inveighing against the evils of jacking off.posted by ericb at 2:18 PM on September 15, 2010 [28 favorites]
... O’Donnell is a creature of an age in which politics have no meaning beyond performance art. She is the Creature From The Green Room, with no apparent public career beyond being available whenever some teenage booker from the cable shows needed someone to say something reliably stupid… Her resume is so thin as to be opaque, and a lot of it seems to be a lie. She seems to be something of a deadbeat, and 'U.S. Senator' seems to be her idea of an entry-level position.
... She is what politics produces when you turn them into a game show and the coverage of them over to a generation of high-technology racetrack touts. She is what you get when political journalism reduces politics to numbers on a scoreboard, divorcing them from the real world consequences of what are increasingly seen as cute little eccentric decisions.
She is what politics produces when we abandon self-government for self-gratification. And that’s the real obvious irony in her victory on Tuesday night, and the only thing about it that truly matters. Christine O’Donnell’s campaign is a successful exercise in angry, misfit masturbation[.]"
"Christine2010.com, O’Donnell’s website, now resolves to nothing more than splash page asking people to donate. There is no content, contact info, or biography.posted by ericb at 2:28 PM on September 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
However, until at least '9:32 last night, there were several other pages, including one titled About Christie,' another explaining, 'Why Christie?' another supposedly debunking smears against O’Donnell, a list of endorsements, and several press releases. Here is a screen grab, recovered from Google cache, of the many options a visitor to O’Donnell’s website would have had, had they visited her site before it was stripped.
The URL for all of these pages now direct to an error page. Could O’Donnell be trying to reinvent herself?"
The SS didn't go around and politely asking if you had Jews hiding in your attic.
"Although O'Donnell won with a small percentage of votes in one of the nation's smallest states, her victory reverberated across the nation and widened a chasm separating conservative insurgents and their Tea Party allies on one side, and mainstream Republicans and centrists on the other.posted by ericb at 6:50 AM on September 16, 2010
'It's official: There is now a civil war within the Republican Party,' said Mark McKinnon, a former adviser to the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and John McCain. 'The good news for Republicans is the Tea Party is capturing the anti-establishment energy in America. The bad news is that includes the Republican establishment.'"
“TPM has unearthed a 1997 C-SPAN video that shows O'Donnell voicing concerns that a drag queen ball ‘celebrates the type of lifestyle which leads to the disease,’ objecting to terming those with AIDS ‘victims’ and calling AIDS a consequence of a certain ‘lifestyle which brings about this disease.’posted by ericb at 7:18 AM on September 16, 2010 [6 favorites]
After complaining that ‘there is a gross disproportionate allocation of funds’ going to AIDS treatment and prevention in comparison to resources designated to combat heart disease, O'Donnell compared living healthier to changing the ‘lifestyle’ that she said lead to AIDS.
‘When somebody finds out that they're at high risk for heart disease, they cut out the fatty foods, they start exercising, they quit smoking. However, our approach to AIDS, when you're in a high risk behavior, is to eliminate the consequences so that you can continue in your lifestyle which brings about this disease,’ O'Donnell said.
Referring to people who get AIDS as victims, O'Donnell said, was ‘the kind of spinning with words and manipulating words that empowers the bias when it comes to AIDS.’
O'Donnell also took issue with government spending on preventative programs. ‘A lot of the money that we're spending goes to things that we know will not prevent AIDS, but indeed will continue to spread the disease,’ she said. ‘A lot of our money goes to distribute condoms in high schools, and a lot of our money goes to distribute material that is literally pornographic.’”
"She’s going to have to learn very quickly to dismiss what some of her handlers want. Remember what happened to me in the VP. … So she’s going to have to learn that, yes, very quickly. She’s going to have to dismiss that, go with her gut, get out there, speak to the American people.Speak through FOX News and let the Independents who are tuning in to you, let them know what it is that she stands for, the principles behind her positions."posted by ericb at 8:52 AM on September 16, 2010
"My job as a Fox analyst is to call it as I see them," Rove explained this morning. "My job is not to be a cheerleader for every Republican."posted by mrgrimm at 10:20 AM on September 16, 2010
"In other O'Donnell news that may or may not be related, Bob Schieffer tweeted Saturday that the candidate has pulled out of a scheduled appearance on CBS's 'Face the Nation' on Sunday. She is still scheduled to appear on 'Fox News Sunday' at 9 a.m."posted by ericb at 8:34 AM on September 18, 2010
"O'Donnell: I believe psychics are either kooks or they’re tapping into a real power ... It’s not a holy power, it’s an evil power ... Psychics exploit the human being's natural desire that longs for something higher.posted by ericb at 8:41 AM on September 18, 2010
Maher: I would say the exact same thing about religion. (applause)
O'Donnell: The same way a pimp exploits the natural desire to be with the opposite sex ... psychics put people in spiritual harm, the same way pimps put people in physical harm."
"'It turns out Miss O'Donnell has treated her campaign funds like they are her very own personal piggy bank. She's used that money to pay for things like her rent, for gas, meals and even a bowling outing. And that's just flat-out illegal,' said Melanie Sloan, the [Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics] executive director. ... 'For example, in 2009, Miss O'Donnell wasn't a candidate for anything, yet she had numerous campaign expenses, things like travel and gas, and yet she had no actual campaign'"posted by ericb at 8:47 AM on September 18, 2010 [2 favorites]
"'It's like a hostage crisis,' Maher said. 'Every week you don't show up, I'm going to throw another body out.'"Drip. Drip. Drip.
I'm not a witch. I'm nothing you've heard. I'm you.posted by mrgrimm at 8:38 AM on October 5, 2010
None of us are perfect, but none of us can be happy with what we see all around us--politicians who think spending, trading favors, and backroom deals are the ways to stay in office.
I'll go to Washington and do what you'd do. I'm Christine O'Donnell, and I approve this message.
I'm you.
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Go, Chris.
posted by Pax at 8:33 AM on September 15, 2010 [2 favorites]