Midterm Elections (Nov. 2)

Bond · 10-18-2010, 08:11 PM

Predictions? Musings? Rants?

I see the Republicans regaining a sizable majority in the House, with the Democrats holding on to a 2-4 seat majority in the Senate.

manasecret · 10-19-2010, 12:42 AM

I just hope the sensible, non-ideological, simply-get-nitty-gritty-things-done former Houston mayor -- Democrat Bill White -- wins as governor of Texas over that do-nothing current governor/emperor Republican Rick Perry.

Professor S · 10-19-2010, 09:17 AM

Unlikely. Recent polls show that Perry has gotten a boost from previously undecided voters, which is the norm. It won't be a run-away, though, so anything can happen.

Vampyr · 10-19-2010, 11:13 AM

I can't believe after 8 years of shenanigans before being voted out, republicans are about to be voted back in by saying "we aren't the same republicans."

Oh well. At least the awful political ads from both sides will be over soon.

Professor S · 10-19-2010, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vampyr

I can't believe after 8 years of shenanigans before being voted out, republicans are about to be voted back in by saying "we aren't the same republicans."

Oh well. At least the awful political ads from both sides will be over soon.

This all following a very distinct pattern. Clinton came out of the box with a similar agenda and the Dems were annihilated during the first mid-term. The question is, will Pres. Obama move the center as Clinton did (and govern quite well, in fact) or will he remain pushing his current left of center agenda. If so, the new pattern will be that of Carter, not Clinton...

Bond · 10-23-2010, 01:42 AM

Will the recent Juan Williams firing from NPR have an effect on the elections?

Professor S · 10-24-2010, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bond

Will the recent Juan Williams firing from NPR have an effect on the elections?

I don't think so. To be honest, I don't agree with his firing, but I'm not seeing it as a huge issue like some. NPR has always leaned left, and Juan (while still moderate) has been steadily inching right of late.

Actually, I would say he has remained still as democrat leadership have moved left.

Bond · 10-25-2010, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Professor S

I don't think so. To be honest, I don't agree with his firing, but I'm not seeing it as a huge issue like some. NPR has always leaned left, and Juan (while still moderate) has been steadily inching right of late.

Actually, I would say he has remained still as democrat leadership have moved left.

I agree to the political implications. However, his comment was taken wayyy out of context.

Professor S · 10-25-2010, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bond

I agree to the political implications. However, his comment was taken wayyy out of context.

I agree. He was describing a fear he has that we need to overcome as a society, and somehow that made him a bigot. Juan Williams... who made his name as part of the civil rights movement... fired for being a bigot. Really?

Professor S · 11-03-2010, 10:09 AM

What we learned:

1) A Tale of Two Tea Parties. Rubio and Paul win, O'Donnell and Angle lose. Having the "tea party" stamp next to your name does not guarantee victory. The American people are smart enough to see through labels and identify is an individual is a good candidate. Angle and O'Donnell were lousy candidates, and they lost. In the end, their defeat should send a message to the Republican party that they need to listen to.

2) Money does not win elections, an informed voter base does. Lots of money was spent during this election, and in many cases the biggest spenders lost handily. In the end people chose based on their principles, whether we agree with those principles or not.

3) California, the worst run state in the union, deserves everything that is happening to it. Jerry Brown? AGAIN? Really? Barbara Boxer? AGAIN? Really? The definition of insanity is to repeat the same action over and over again expecting a different result.

4) While FoxNews is biased, MSNBC is deluded. Liberals like to say that facts have a well known liberal bias. Well I think Olberman and Maddow prove that statement wrong last night. Their analysis was comical, and I watched it all night. They could not bring themselves to make the admission that left leaning dems lost based on their record, and not simply because of advertising. Also, making the statement that the main reason why dems lost was due to advertising is essentially accusing voters of being mouth breathing retards who vote for the last person to run a commercial. Its offensive and condescending.

5) They still don't get it. If Harry Reid's post election speech is any indication, Democrats will be in trouble again in 2012. You do not take a historic beating like they did, and then pretend that you can continue to set the same tone afterward. Contrition will be the difference between Pres. Obama being another Bill Clinton, or if he falls down the same sorry path as Jimmy Carter.

The Germanator · 11-03-2010, 11:37 AM

Bummer of a night. Especially for a PA voter. Oh well. Expected, but disappointed. I hope Republicans actually do something positive other than try to stifle Obama and make him lose in 2012, otherwise politics will continue to bug the hell out of me.

Professor S · 11-03-2010, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Germanator

Bummer of a night. Especially for a PA voter. Oh well. Expected, but disappointed. I hope Republicans actually do something positive other than try to stifle Obama and make him lose in 2012, otherwise politics will continue to bug the hell out of me.

I was very happy to see the Republicans take the Governor's office. I forget his name, but watching the debates and commercials, he appeared to be the only candidate who actually had a plan. Onorato just seemed to repeat generic talking points. Toomey I can take or leave. It worries me that he is so tied to big business through his lobbying, but Sestak was a horrible choice to run against him. Way too liberal to win a PA senate seat. A moderate dem would have won easily.

The Republicans in the house will have the opportunity to present legislation at least. As Speaker, Pelosi buried most Republican sponsored bills and they never hit the floor for an up or down vote. These bills will now likely be sent to the shaken-up and "moderatized" Senate, and with a little modification, many will be sent to the President for approval or veto. We'll how Clinton-esque Pres. Obama can be.

On a side note, now that the Republicans are in power, I hope they do not bury Democrat legislation like the Dems buried Republican legislation when they controlled the house. The Speaker position is one of responsibility and order, not control and "king-making". Present the bills and let the votes decide. In any case, I'd much rather see fewer bills, narrower in scope, than these monstrous bills that try and do too much and hide self-serving earmarks and other nastiness.

The process is as broken as anything else.

Jason1 · 11-04-2010, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Professor S

or if he falls down the same sorry path as Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter did not fall down some sorry path, and im sick of people calling him a bad president. He was a great president. Just because he didnt get elected to a second term does not mean he was a bad president, and likewise getting elected to a second term does not mean you did a good job your first term, or were a good president.

This is of course never talked about, but Carter did not fire one shot, did not drop one bomb, did not launch one missile. He Normalized diplomatic relations with China for the first time in a long time, brought peace between Israel and Egypt.

Carter also cut Oil consumption in this country IN HALF. When Carter was elected the US was importing 8.6 million barrels of oil per day, which he cut down to 4.3 million barrels per day. Now, we are back at 11 million. Carter put Solar Panels in the White House, and Reagan of course took them down. I could list numerous humanitarian things he did and continues to do to this day, but I'll stop there.

President Obama has inherited a political polarization in this Country that is Unheard of. Republicans have said they will not give Obama support under any circumstances. Obama is doing a superb job under the ridiculous circumstances the Republicans have managed to cause.

I guess at the very least now that the Republicans control the house, they are partly responsible for whatever happens, so they cant be complete idiots anymore.

Professor S · 11-05-2010, 12:22 AM

Jimmy Carter: 11.3% unemployment, an oil crisis that crippled the nation (if that is the reduction in oil consumption you mention, it is nothing to brag about), unheard of inflation, a stagnant economy, and an expansion of Russian aggression. Let us not forget about his hostage debacle that went on for a year. But I'm sure all of that was somebody else's fault.

Almost all of his achievements were reversed; his presidency made irrelevant. Any way you shake it, either in policy choices or in lasting impact, Jimmy Carter is one of the greatest failures in presidential history.

As for Pres. Obama, time will tell. History has a way of objectively looking at controversial times. History has not been kind to Carter. It has been very kind to Clinton.

TheGame · 11-05-2010, 05:58 AM

Politics are pretty disturbing right now. Republicans were just in control and raped the country in the ass with no vasaline... then managed to turn around and blame all of the issues they created on Democrats (since they took control right after the residual issues started).

Dems, on the other hand, failed to take control of the situation they had in washington and chose to compromise with a party that wasn't willing to do so. So hardly any of the real issues were getting resolved, and they looked weak... which demoralized their base and caused them to lose all of these elections (deservingly so).

Will Obama win in 2012? Well, I can safely say that Dems base is demoralized and will likely not be as strong in voting as they were the first time... and maybe some will be so ignorant that they'll completly forget the fact that a republican run congress ran the country into the ground less then 5 years ago. The facts will come out sooner or later, and I highly doubt the Obama/Democratic congress did as bad as Bush. But we'll find out soon enough.