Thursday, November 09, 2006

Election 2006 Thoughts

Yes Virginia, there was a "Macaca" Allen and you sent him on a shell shocked extended holiday. The votes have been counted and Democrats assume majority in the Senate.

Around town, Coshoctonians handed Joy Padgett a solid whack of reality. It's tough to win a Congressional district when you can't prevail in your hometown. Let's face it, Joy didn't have a chance. Anti Republican sentiment, the "freedom fries" Ney albatross, and bankruptcy questions colored Padgett as another rubber stamp Republican't.

As the national races closed, the pundits began blathering about exit polls and voter motivations. Mostly, they proved themselves as out of touch with typical Americans as Republicans who were given the boot.

One thing I've not heard discussed are the pundits themselves. I can speak from personal experience that windbag, hatemongers like Ann "Mrs. Ed" Coulter, Rush "Oxycontin" Limbaugh, and Bill "Falafael Boy" O'Reilly turned my stomach to anything Republican. Their twisted rhetoric sounded like lap dogs yapping for big daddy Bush's approval and access to the White House doggy door.

In fact, Limbaugh's bellowing and Michael J. Fox nastiness probably tipped the Missouri senate race in favor of the Democrats.

I wonder if anybody, including Karl Rove, learned a lesson.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Karl Rove crazy like a fox? At first I though the idea that perhaps Rove and Bush quietly tanked the election was proposterous. But the more I read the pundits and study the evidence, the more I see some rationale behind the argument. Bush's chances of having some positive legacy increased threefold on Tuesday. Let's start with the election itself. Bush never campaigned on the economy. Unemployment at a historic low, low interest rates, gas has moderated, home ownership at an all time high, the DOW at an all time high, average wages have increased, etc.. Bush waited until Wednesday to boot Rummy. Had he done this two weeks ago, it would have been a monumental October surprise. This could have been coupled with an earlier release of the Iraq Survey Group's report on the need for a new direction in the conflict. This is a bipartisan commission led by Baker and Hamilton. This would have sent a message of impending change in our approach to the war. Remember, stay the course was the theme used by the Democrats to thump the GOP. Many of the races were won by razor thin margins. The Republicans have not challenged a single vote. Why this seems odd! Had the outcome been reversed, how many recounts and lawsuits do you suppose would be swirling around the country. Now comes the really fun part. The war and national security have now been passed to the Dems plate. They have never really detailed a clear plan for exiting Iraq either sooner or later. All they have said is we need a new direction. It is now there problem. They practically got down on their hands and knees and begged for the ball. Next, Nancy Pelosi has promised a 100 hour agenda that is so over the top, Hollywood doesn't have the necessary special effects to pull it off. Now it gets even more fun. A Democratic control of both houses in 2008 almost assures a Republican in the Whitehouse. Remember, we don't want any rubber stamps. And if the Dems don't deliver the huge prize of resolving Iraq, reforming ethics, improving an already robust economy, resolving the crisis in healthcare, securing our borders and assuring we have no more 9/11's, they will be swept out on a wave bigger than the ripple they came in on. It could be the last gasp of air escaping the party. Finally, Democrats are notorious for fighting amongst themselves (they are like the scorpion stinging the turtle carrying him across the river, it is in their nature). Many of the newly elected political ideologies are closer to the middle. This will cause Mother Nancy mucho headaches. The biggest let down to the voters will come if and when the Democrats unleash a hurricane of subpoenas and hearings on Whitehouse conduct during the past 6 years. Voters absolutely do not want another two years of Clintonesque Ken Star daily soap operas. They want results, no, they demand results. Two years is not a lot of time to deliver on some pretty garish promises. But whatever strides they make, it will be with Bush's cooperation and most folks will only remember how things were better when "W" left office in 2008 than they were in 2006. Americans have a very short memory. Study recent politics (finally my Political Science degree is actually worth something), the Nixon scandal was so horrible that the voters elected a Republican president 4 years later and began the march towards the conservative revolution.
Republicanism didn't die on Tuesday. It merely took a breather. Karl Rove, you crazy old fox you.

Submitted by: a regular CTCN Contributor and political analyst.

Randy M. Combs said...

After looking at the somber Republican faces on this morning's USA Today front page, I'd concur that Bush is desperate for a breather.

If the Republicans had won, do you think Rummy and his pals would still be in the employ of Bush?

You do remember Rove talking about his polling and how his numbers showed the Republicans winning?

Methinks Karl grew too big for his already tight britches. His textbook trickery of voter suppression, dirty politics, and mudslinging didn't work this time. It sure wasn't for lack of trying.

The only reason the Bush control freaks would pass anything on to the donkeys would be this: they screwed up everything and knew they were in over their heads.

Hasn't that always been Dubya's forte? Bumble something into the ground and let someone else clean up the mess? Of course, it's understandable that an administration of draft dodgers would not have an understanding of the military.

Speaking of fighting amongst themselves, the Republicans are doing a pretty good job of that right now. They're playing the blame game. Mehlman is doing the cut and run. If the electorate had only stayed the course. We'll continue to spread democracy and freedom in Iraq by fighting them over there and not here. Mission accomplished, indeed.

Trite little soundbites can bite back. Time to hire a new PR firm.

 
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