Entrail-Stirring.
The smooth and sanguine Gerald Seib, WSJ, succinctly argues that the elections in New Jersey, Virginia and New York 23rd are like entrails to be stirred for the portents of next year's Apocalype Lite between the GOP right-wing and the White House. All the spin is spun, all the smears are tossed, all the TV time and robo-calling is committed. What starts now with the poll closings is the repetitive gabbing by the parties and by the actors to make sense of what does not actually represent a coherent result. Three blue states are no measure of reality, and one of them an obsession for Washington because it is across the river and the traffic is terrible. New Jersey is everyone's favorite stale joke. Upstate New York, the North Country, is the most fun here just because of Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, Fred Thompson, Joe Biden, Andrew Cumo and Jackston Stephens of the Club for Growth all claim to know where it is. Smile. Dede and Doug are headed to OprahFoxMaherRoseBordersAmazon, and good for them, a perfect new partisan couple, the Bickersons reborn.
What's the Worst that Can Happen?
The Republicans are looking for a break in the weather. The party is demoralized and decommissioned. Casting a telegenic man with a drawl named "Not So Old" McDonnell to please Northern Virginia for one term is not worthy of lengthy comment: eventually everyone who is not actually paranoid gets a chance to run for governor in Virginia. There are a few pockets of red in the North and West, but the blunt fact is that GOP is only credible inside the Old South and Texas, and those regions are untouched by what happens in Jersey to Goldman Sachs Corzine or the Ichabod Crane of the Adirondacks, Hoffman. What's the worst for the GOP? Losing Jersey after coming close will bite, not much, since the state is out of reach in a presidential year and there are no scandal-exposed incumbents to hoot about for next year. The national Democrats have so much under cultivation that their problems are those of the rich landowner -- how to protect almost everywhere all the time? Losing Virginia in an off year's off-year points to little more than that the Democratic party did not pull the minority vote without a spectacular minority candidate like POTUS on the ballot. Next year will present the same question of voter enthusaism without Obama on the ticket, but all Congress will be in motion with lots of heavy-lifting by POTUS and celebrity surrogates such as Oprah and Bill Clinton. What's the worst for the Democrats? A sweep will look to be significant, but it would be a mistake to treat it as weighty. Using a sweep to gain cash and interest for next year would be useful for both parties, so perhaps the insider's game at the White House, with Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod commanding the legions, will be to manufacture a crisis over Democratic losses just to take full advantage of the rallying next summer. Small cynical details to be filled in. A trusted blue informant writes me, "Republican sweep, false dawn." Unknown.
Bloomberg.
Deserving a note is that Mike Bloomberg is coasting to his third term. It is a non-story. New York City is in credible shape despite the crash, and the credit goes to Bloomberg and his ace police boss, Ray Kelly. Bloomberg doesn't believe in partisan politics. He has opinions, but mostly he just does a job in a low-key, zestful way. Credit to him. If results were enough, Bloomberg would be governor and headed to the White House in time. This is the age of posturing and blame-shifting, and Bloomberg is weak on the former and ignores the latter in public. Bloomberg has no private voice: all business, all the time.
(1)
Not quite so obviously meaningless, John. In fact, it could be quite a watershed. If Republicans win it means the GOP has broken free from being joined at the hip with Bush. Bush-bashing has been the single most effective propaganda campaign perpetuated and sustained on American soil in this century. It will never be topped.
Republicans winning means it's over. The merely wounded can return to work; the dead can be buried honorably. Hopefully, along with it will come a sense of sobriety. It will be sorely needed to clean up the blue and red playpen we've insisted on occupying these past dozen years.
http://peterkoelliker.blogspot.com/
Obama campaigned in Stamford, CT a few weeks ago. Strong Democrat city. Only 1 Democrat has won on a slate of 15 open positions. Stunning. I expect similar Democratic Bloodbaths across the country. If Obama does not get unemployment down by 2010, it will be a bloodbath.
As of the time I'm writing this, they've reported R wins in Virginia and Joisey, and D significantly ahead in NY - 23. This could well be a pyrrhic victory for conservatives today. The NY election is the only one that will actually count in the short run other than just "for show", and it looks like we've lost that one.
Hoffman has been running between 70 and 75 on intrade.com over the last weeks, until just now, and it's dropped to 15. Oh, boy, did some people take it in the shorts today! If there's one thing that can cheer me up after watching a Demmycrat win in NY 23, it's watching a bunch of people take it in the shorts over what they thought was a sure thing.
NY23will be close. Tiny towns are reporting their results manually.
Corzine loss is huge for the Dems in Jersey. The Jersey machine *FAILED* tonight. Only MI, IL, and MA have stronger Dem machines.
It is interesting to note New Jersey's departure to the GOP. I thing it's a much larger indicator against incumbent power brokering. Question to ponder Corzine was a Goldman Sak man- any rub from that? Or has the the duck, dodge, dip and dodge again of the Jersey Democrat machine works that had Senator Corzine step into the governor ship in the first place?
As for the battle for the 23rd (@11pm est looking as the only W for Democrats)- What I see a rally against the "RINO" brand - Do not pretend the GOP can. Scarfavoro(SP?) was a moderate- she fell far from the tree. Grant that the scheme here was to push a conservative base that failed to join the battle for McCain. There is the key, it's not about the social issues here and now . . .gay marriage and abortions are on the shelf in lite of a growing economic collapse and a short fall of jobs. About the biggest foul to the movement was to present a a candidate that fails to know the local issues.
Shocking is the cash flow Bloomberg tossed to subvert the will of NY term limits and it's a whole effect was ? . . . still waiting to see? . . . I as a NYer can see the value in Bloomberg for the past 8 years But When NYers tell you got 8 years that is what they meant. (& they do tend to back it up) I certainly have no interest in Thompson but he was the only legit option in my mind.
NY-23: lessons learned for conservatives
1. Have a Real primary and try Vetting your candidates with more discretion, than say the Obama team might do for it's cabinet. What's good for the goose is not good for the gander. The R's where bullied and backstabbed in NY-23 by a RINO and party hacks by a slim percentage, and ended up with a Dem running as a R and then Hoff who is frankly an out of the mainstream, 3rd party candidate who has a crazy look in his eyes.
2. Goodbye Presidential Palin's. Hopefully this sets Palin outside of the running in any future Presidential elections. If you want Obama in 2012 then elect a Palin or Huckabee in the primaries. She had enough juice to bring attention to Scozzafattza, but not enough to make the average citizen elect a strange man from a strange party. which brings us to...
3. Tea Party, YES. Third Party, NO. 3rd party politicians are not a good idea. Being united behind a recognizable brand does stand for something, and makes a huge difference. The rare exceptions to the rule are just that, exceptions. I hope the 3rd Partiers get the message. If so, the NY-23 debacle will be worth it's valuable message: Tea Party, YES. Third Party, NO The fat lady with the branding who dropped out of the race a couple of days ago, siphoned off just enough votes to shipwreck the Republicans in an election they clearly would have won if unity had been present. This country has always ran on a Two Party system and it's not going to ever change. Just ask Ralph Nader, Ron Paul, and Ross Perot or better yet GHW Bush. Now you can add Hoff to the list of would have beens.
Although dgg's opinions are reasonable, I disagree with the general idea that you have to win at all costs. It gets old rooting for the lesser of two evils. Hoffman did kind of look like a dork, though. The lesson to be learned here is next time get somebody who doesn't look like a dork. I'm telling you all, looks are everything in elections. Christie looks like a big teddy bear. Corzine looks like a shifty, bribe-taking socialist with pederastic tendencies. I mean, it's a no-brainer, right? Stay away from those awful wild-eyed people. And remember you all, winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. Compromise every last one of your principles as long as you win. It's what made America great. (America was great at one point, if I remember correctly.)
And the next person who takes a gratuitous swipe at Sarah Palin on this blog, unless it happens to be JB or someone else who ranks higher in the pecking order than me, I'm going to make them go crying for their mommy. LEAVE SARAH PALIN ALONE. She is a saint, a goddess compared to some of the trash like Boxer and Feinstein that California has sent to Washington. The more people come on and tell me Sarah Palin isn't a viable candidate, the more it strengthens my resolve to devote my time and resources to her candidacy in 2012, if she decides to run. You'll know me if you see me in the paper, dgg. I'm the guy out of the mainstream, with the wild look in my eyes.
- Unknown - How does this reflect back to the tea partiers? Will the failure to gain in the NY 23rd tame their thoughts and ambition down a notch or will they attempt a full out and assault against Florida's Chris? Rubio challenger has had little notice outside the Club for Growth.
Sarah Palin detractors- nothing worth slinging mud over at this stage of the game. Palin is not an astute political player yet and having been anointed "sainthood" by the persons such as our own Lou, will only envelope her in a martyrdom shrine. Palin needs to think before she tweets her next tweet . . . she is trying to use the medium of the new era and it often bites a political aspiration right in the nether region
Events during the past 12 months have made clear what the voters in NY23 (bless them) have figured out: That among other things, Palin is Elmer Gantry in a skirt.
Hoffman ,without the organization of the GOP and Dem machines, came within a few percentage points of pulling off an improbable upset(not sure how many of the GOP votes were absentee ballots ) . It is good fun to minimize the Palin effect but without her and other conservative's efforts Hoffman would not have stood a chance.
Like Larry Kudlow likes to say ..... These races this year are mustard seeds . Let's see what grows from them.
Oh, where to start??
Palin--I'm not sure about her ability to fill a president's shoes but we've got time to ponder. I like her a lot--in part, Lou, because I like the look of a strong women.
I think the bold,public choice to back the Rep party choice (Scozzafava--god, I hope that name never surfaces again.) was the wrong pick but ballsy. she will get points in many quarters for that. recall her book is called Going Rogue. bold is good in these days of smarmy, pie in sky politicians.
JB suggests the VA and NJ wins are really not important or immediately impactful. I disagree. In NJ it may not eventually mean much--we've got Dem machine so strong it most likely won't be suppressed by a governor. Deadlock. Unless as a prosecutor Christie has the goods on the scum we have here.
But, watch the moderate Dem's in congress fly away like spooked quail from the medical reform legislation, 2nd stimulus and Cap'n Tax. The WH won't acknowledge it, the Dem's will not admit it, but this shot across the bow will get plenty of attention.
I am gloating a little bit today. Obviously the Dem's in NJ and VA couldn't get their buses out to kidnap lazies, bums, dementia-ed, apathetic,illiterati, gangbangers that won in large part for BO. Mark my words--The BO election will go down as a "random", black swan event never to be soon repeated. He won in the perfect storm: crapping out economy, inarticulate incumbent, orgiastic and biased media, ACORN, mumbly and bland opponent, first (half) black, "clean and articulate" (per Biden) guy, tremendous speaker, shit-for-brains electorate.
JB must be doing tryouts for the Dem party spinmaster team.
Hoffman came close, but Scuzzy betrayed her own party by throwing in with the Democrat. Would not Hoffman have won if she had endorsed him (as an ally to the Republican party, which he would have been, in the main)?
Limbaugh is right: Scuzzy showed the world what RINOs really are. They are people who would rather see liberal Democrats in power than conservatives. If it takes an election loss to root this kind of anti-party person out of a traditionally conservative party, then it is a price well worth paying.
I don't live in that district, so I didn't see what the campaigns looked like to the average voter. I think Hoffman made some obvious mistakes, like blowing off the debate. Also, the amount of attention and money that district outsiders invested in him may have made him seem more like a cause for other groups in America instead of a representative of his home NY district.
Close only matters in horseshoes, but that Hoffman came this close is definitely an encouragement to the Tea Party movement. If they can craft their messages and pick their candidates just a little more carefully and intelligently, victory is very close at hand.
Tom - there is a thought to ponder Hoffman could have Won if he had the backing of Dede supporters who still casted 5% under her name. So What is the lesson of the 23rd ? A more modeled game plan and time management or throw the bums out against non conservative GOP candidates? Time will tell
back to DGG- I have long consider the absolute need for third and fourth parties the best for the direction of the country. The notion of mandates is pure egotistical drivel- Alas it is not likely to happen 1. because the two parties write the rules
2. because the money driven hype will always drag the voters to the box under the pretext that "this" election is too important to waste your vote on a dark horse candidate.
Much to see yes? Is this a populace movement- messaging "throw the bums out" mentality or an attempt to move to true base ideology?
I have a very logical, and thus un-sexy, explanation for the NY-23 results.
Hoffman and Owens ended up splitting about 95% of the vote, and I'm going to ignore the 5% that the Scuzzmeister got because I have no idea how to explain them except as residual.
Now, imagine a district in which you have the following mix:
45% are hard-core conservative and will always vote for the most conservative on the ticket regardless of party
40% are hard-core liberals and will always vote for the democrat or most liberal on the ticket.
10% are independent and tend to vote liberal but will vote for a Republican as long as the Republican has some centrist polices (i.e., can be relied upon to bring home the pork)
Now, Scuzzymandia would have won in a two-way race against Owens because she would have gotten 45% of the hard-core conservatives who would pick her as the least of two evils, plus 10% of the independents who would actually feel a good deal of affinity for her, her being a centrist after all. 45% + 10% = 55%, she wins.
Enter Hoffman. Scuzzy loses the 45% to him right off the bat. However, the other 10% are scared of Hoffman because he really believes in small government and they find him too extreme. So the 10% cast their lot in with Owen, who gets his guaranteed 40% progressive base, and he wins 50%-45% over Hoffman (the actual outcome).
Granted I don't have any proof of these numbers, except that (i) they could be right and (ii) if they are right, it explains everything perfectly.
In fact, if yall ever need anything else clearly explained, you'll know where to find me (looking for pictures of Palin in jogging sweats on the internet).
Point of information, I said she was a saint compared to Boxer and Feinstein. Given the way I feel about those two, it's not really saying much.
The question to be answered by every voter is, "Are both parties dead?" There is enough evidence to indicate that this is indeed so. The next question is: “Can we afford to start from scratch; to plan, nurture and organize a new party into existence?” The answer is decidedly no.
The Democrat Party, which is now the Socialist Mop Party (SMP), is threatening to sweep our country into the ash heap of history (and us along with it). We must act now! Granted, the Republican Party has pretty much kept silent during this time of crisis. This gives the impression of it being sorely ineffective - complicit, even. Still, it must be said, Republicans do not seem as determined to cast us upon the jagged shoals of feudal servitude and personal bankruptcy.
There's not much time. We must go into battle with what we have - a dispirited party of losers. Perhaps, with some combination of threat and encouragement, we can goose them back to some semblance of strength. Perhaps we can salvage the GOP mantle and some of the elements of its structure and animate the carcass with our own desperate need to preserve what we have worked so hard for. Perhaps this would suffice to frighten our enemies - the jihadis; the communists; the nihilists; the dreamers; the one-worlders; the Utopians; the narcissists; the thieves; the charlatans; the liars; the soulless - just long enough to delay their final assault.
It's day to day now. Each weekend evening we can count among our blessings with John Batchelor's dulcet tones to accompany us is a gift. Pray that the tsunami unleashed by the Obama election will not be sufficient to destroy the elemental precepts of our civilization.
http://peterkoelliker.blogspot.com/
the only trouble w/ your scenario- the 23rd has gone red for close to the past 100 years- if the break down you present is as close to an equal division this would have been evident b-4 now.
Now it is an outside chance a moving feast . . . there is the chance this area is seeing an uptick in progressive minded folks moving into the region not probable mind you- Most intelligent folks are on the expressway out of the Empire state and given the long diminishing job outlook up state one must doubt it.
As for proof of anything in underlying reasons to this election day shake up- there will be spin galore and yours is as good as the nexts
no harm no foul my friend
JimJin--- got your phone handy?
Don't you feel the need to make a few calls right about now?
Point taken, but two comments: there's red, and then there's red. It sounds like NY-23's brand of red is far more centrist than in most places.
Other comment is that while my numbers may be off 5% here or there, the basic logic is the same: the results can be explained by the swing of the independents away from the extreme. That's what John and others have been concerned about. If the Tea Party wing gains control it will consign us to 40% everywhere, which means we'll lose everywhere there are a significant number of indepedents.
Where I disagree with John and others is that I think there's a sweet spot where it's conservative enough but not scary (to some people) conservative.
- PK-
the party is a far distant cry from it's purpose and intent. The election of 08 showed it
The conservative base recognized the the impending doom as McCain offered a lackluster campaign who only promise was it would less worrisome than an Obama administration. ( and that evidence is clearly set b-4 us now)
It may be unpractical to search for the same over at the Dem side of the aisle but it there none the less, Progressives are feeling pretty disenfranchised from the current administration if read our tea leaves correctly - where was the massive turnout that was mobilized just a year ago for Obama? In New Jersey no less!
Yes We as "Right wing neophyte"s can not /do not need to introduce a third party here and now
but it would be an answer to a great many problems at the core of US politics
- i see your point- and that is the billing the conservative have unfortunately found tied around their collective necks
I find myself more aligned to a the Goldwater model than the current right wing theocratic version we see the Tea Partier's Portrayed as. I am not certain where the truth meets the artful interpretation
I do think there is a swell opportunity that CoG will support conservatives that don't rightly embrace current Administration's overtures. That paints the movement into a very partisan light and I am certain they are gonna revel in it.
SOS!!!
JimJin--- got your phone handy?
Don't you feel the need to make a few calls right about now?
First of all, whatever strategy conservatives use to come back into power will be touted by liberals as extremist, wacko, etc. etc. The truth doesn't matter - this is political spin. And the harder they're fighting for their political lives, the more untrue the spin gets. So, it was 100% predictable that we'd be saddled with some unfavorable name or other. I mean, can you imagine waking up one day and reading, "Dems happily cede control of Congress to Republicans, citing their warm and fuzzy feelings towards the new brand of conservatism"?
I have gotten way too desperate these days to worry much about what model of conservatism we adopt. Whatever model we adopt that promises to, and delivers on, reducing taxes and government interference in every single aspect of our lives is fine with me. As long as the government doesn't succeed in its efforts to destroy my business, my career, and everything I've worked to become my entire life (literally), I'll be happy. This is about survival for me, and it makes me a heckuva lot less picky.
Dick Morris says it all.
A DEATHBLOW TO OBAMACARE
By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
Published in the New York Post on November 4, 2009
Printer-Friendly Version
Chris Christie's gutsy win in New Jersey puts the arrogant big spender Jon Corzine in his place. But it is the election in Virginia that probably has more to say to marginal Democratic congressmen considering how to vote on health-care reform.
Obviously, Christie's victory is a body blow to Obama after Corzine outspent the Republican by five-to-one and the president put on a serious push for the incumbent. Corzine's defeat sends a message that the nation is moving sharply against Obama.
But Virginia results are the most important. More than 80 Democratic congressmen and 20 senators come from states that John McCain carried in 2008. For them, the sudden switch in Virginia, a swing state that Obama actually carried, heralds tough political times ahead.
New Jersey is the quintessential blue state. If it goes Republican, blue state congressmen needn't worry. Their districts are likely still safe. But when a Republican in Virginia wins by 20 points, it sends a message to red-state Democratic congressmen to take cover.
Polls indicate a declining level of popular approval of the Obama policies (Rasmussen shows his job approval at 46 percent), but to see actual Democrats losing or barely squeaking out victories in solidly blue states sends a far clearer message to the Democrats in Congress.
Until last night, Democratic moderates, the so-called blue dogs, could bask in the light of their candidate's success in 2008. But now they must hear hoof beats behind them. The party discipline on which Obama depends to pass a health-care program that Americans reject by 42 percent for, 55 percent against (Rasmussen again) will only work if beleaguered Democratic incumbents can wrap themselves in Obama's cloak and tough out the popular criticism. But the limits of Obama's drawing power are readily apparent in the Republicans' 20-point victory in Virginia and the race in New Jersey.
In the coming weeks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be asking their troops to cast potentially career-ending votes for health-care changes, Medicare cuts, higher taxes and fines on the uninsured. Whether they take that risk depends on their faith in Obama's drawing power.
But the votes in Virginia, in particular, show the limits of Obama's appeal. The winner, Bob McDonnell, won the attorney general's race in the last election by a few tenths of a percent over the same opponent. That he coasted to so huge a victory in the swing state of Virginia now has to send a message to red-state Democratic congressmen: Obama may be able to survive in the deep water into which he is leading his party, but you can't.
I guess we are going to have to endure for a few days the conjecture of implications that a few local elections have for our Nation.
Then maybe the issues that directly hold sway and impact our future, our livelihoods, and our standard of living can somehow become the discourse once again.
John --
Two points to consider:
(1) In Virginia, the secretary of state conveniently tabulates gubernatorial votes by Congressional district. In four swing districts now held by "Blue Dog" Democrats Boucher, Nye, Connelly, and Perillo, McDonald trounced Deeds. If the members of Congress holding those seats have any clue, they will see that their constituents are concerned about the invasive government-oriented approach Queen Pelosi is pushing on health care. This will cause them to think twice about walking the plank -- especially when the House of Lords, i.e., the Senate, is unlikely to vote on a health care bill this year. Can you remember when Clinton got his BTU tax bill passed by the House by a single vote, only to find it DOA in the Senate? Members who walked that plank like Marjorie Margolies-Mesvinsky got blown out in the 94 cycle. They were labeled as having been "BTU-ed." Same thing in 2009 with health care.
(2) With regard to the gubernatorial wins in VA and NJ, one thing that has to be considered is that the governor in each of those states plays a huge role in the decennial redistricting. In NJ, its particularly problematic because Republicans now have a dominant seat at the table. Dems wont be allowed to gerrymander as much. That dynamic is the same, albeit less so in Virginia, since GOPers already held the House of Delegate. But now, Republicans hold two of the three bodies that will control Virginia redistricting (the Democrat-controlled tate senate being the hold out). Regardless, Republicans have a stronger hand in redistricting, which means more competitive Congressional seats in 2012.
To: Lou Filliger
You hit on something very important that I want to address before I disagree slightly with your Palin opine. Looks are very important, we all did love the look of Christie’s teddy bear appearance and affable demeanor. When Corzine attacked him because of his weight, most of us thought that could be me, or that could be my neighbor, or brother in law, etc.. most of the fat guys we know are likeable family guys. Hoffman on the other hand, looked wild eyed and a little scary frankly, and politics is about a name and a face. Right or wrong, a cagey crazy eyed look will scare off 10-20 % of the public that just doesn’t care enough about party politics to pull the trigger for the weird guy. And I’m sorry to say that, because I’m sure he’s a nice man and that we have many beliefs in common. That said I’m a pragmatist who understands the history and the significance of the two party system, and how politicians live and die by the rules that were set up long before we stepped into the game. I’m no republican, but you can bet that come election day I don’t encourage splitting the vote, because history shows it benefits the Dems more often than not. One thing about democrats: the socialists, the communists, the greens, the peacers, and the neo hippies and activists, they don’t jump up and down demanding new splinter groups and political parties during election cycles. They all take their moderate-to radical beliefs (i.e. Big Tent) and go and pull the trigger for the D. The center-center right- and right in this country, would do well to get to take note and do the same (Big Tent) so that we don’t have to spend countless hours/years and dollars to defend ourselves against a dangerous unleashed Congress and Whitehouse.
We have to stay competitive. Period. It’s called statistics and you may hate them, they may piss you off, but they are based on science, and wishing away science is detrimental to your health. Literally and figuratively.
Now Palin. I love this wonderful lady on many levels. Because I love strong women, because she loves our military, and I understand and agree with the lion share of what she believes. But obviously her life and her persona have become somewhat of a circus, if not a train-wreck, publically. Is it fair? Is it her fault? No and umm No-well maybe. She reminds me of my mom and my sister and I like her, but she is just not Presidential (yet). Period. Besides the fact that she is not yet Presidential, the main problem I have with her is that she mixes her personal faith too much with her politics. And that, dear friends, is the NUMBER ONE obstacle conservatives face. As a conservative, like our founding fathers, I want the government out of my life as much as is reasonably possible. And like our founding fathers, I want YOUR personal religion out of my politics as much as possible. I am an advocate consistency. Differing opinions on faith divide the conservative electorate. Again the Dems do not face this problem because they simply don’t bring it up much. They accept the Christian, the Jew, the Muslim, the Atheist, the wacky Scientologist, and the Pagan by uniting them politically behind societal problems. And as wrong headed as they are on nearly everything else, nearly all of the time, they’ve absolutely got this aspect of politics pegged and they will grow as the demographics continually shift away from Christianity in this country. But politics should not be captive to religion anyways! I go to the synagogue or the church for my morality, not to my politician. When a scandal in the D party pops up, the individual D falls on his sword, not the Party, because the party is full of differing moral beliefs and faiths, and they accept and acknowledge it.
Back to conservatism. When I go into the booth, I’m not voting for a church or a God, I’m voting for a human being, a Man or Woman, who can help get us out of the financial and security mess that we are in. I believe in God, but is it Sara Palin’s God or Mike Huckabee’s God? FRANKLY, I DON’T CARE. Jesus is not up for election in this booth. Neither is Yahweh or Muhammad or the Buddha. So stop it, because the demographics of this country, boy they are a changing. Again Look at the Statistics and charts on religious demographic shift in the USA, Look at the SCIENCE behind those figures and what I am saying here, and for one moment check your emotions at the door. Competiveness is the key in politics in the two party system in which we this country has thrived. And on average people are becoming more open minded, more religiously diversified, more educated-out of necessity, and less religious in general. Guess what? That's YOUR electorate!
Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
When you boil it down, if you are religious it means you defer to a higher power. You have a pretty good idea of what you can do and what you can't. You trust in the higher power to take care of whatever may be outside your reach.
Non-religious people think that either they can do everything or nothing. Both viewpoints speak of serious delusion. People of such persuasion are not fit to lead unless it's off a cliff.
Thanks for backing off of the talking points and opening up. I was surprised at how much we have in common after your lead-off pitch rubbed me the wrong way. You do know I'm a Libertarian and an Atheist, right? I haven't cast a Republican vote for any office, from President right down to Chief Trash Collector, in the last 20 years.
Being an Atheist, I'm kind of philosophical about religion in politics. I'm a big sports fan, especially baseball. They sing God Bless America now at every 7th inning stretch. That's fine, but they sing it with such fervor and meaning! And after 162 games it starts to get slightly old. There's a voice in my head that I try to tune out saying "There's no God and there's no America anymore, but other than that it's a great song." That voice is not a productive one and I tune it out. I digress .... where I'm going with this is that when you're an Atheist, practically everyone seems to be intrusively religious to you by comparison. It's all a matter of degree. They say that 90% of the people in the U.S. believe in God. So, that makes exactly 90% of the population that strike me as being superstitious zealots with a control-freak streak about it in the bargain. Viewed in this light, Palin, Obama, and GWB are all in the same camp. Bach wrote a famous chorale, "We all believe in the same God". To twist that title slightly, "I disbelieve in all their Gods equally".
Having said all that, I'd vote for the Pope for President right now if he could do away with health care reform.
Nonreligious people are unfit to lead precisely because we have transcended the need to either lead or be lead. "If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written on your own forehead, by your own hand." - K. Gibran
Lead or be "led", not Lead or be Pb.
Religiosity should be personal not political, let's be clear.
Even if you defer to a higher power, why is that any of my business? Is God or Jesus going to come down from heaven and lower my taxes? Is he/she going to grant me protection from the ever-plotting socialists who want to commandeer our political system and control our way of life?
NO.
A man or a woman with the political authority to stand against liberal ideology, is going to be tasked with protecting us and representing our interests Politically. I don't care where they get the inspiration to do so. Atheism may not make sense to me, but hypothetically speaking, an atheist who is a conservative can represent me well on the most important Political issues. If you disagree, it's because you've fallen into a political trap that democrats had inadvertently set decades ago, when the national Southern Strategy flipped from Democrats to Republicans. Politicking based on religious divisions can and will turn Republicans, Nationally, into a minority party if they do not step away from the practice. Maybe not this year or next year, but in ten years if this problem hasn't been solved, mark my words, Republicans will be forever in the minority politically. America will then change dramatically in ways that we might all personally pray against for the rest of our lives.
My message is:
Politics has nothing to do with prayer. It's a man's game. Men will win and loose politically regardless of religious affiliation. You don't believe me? Ask Stalin, Mao, Hitler, and that crappy little Kim Jung Ill. How religious are they? Did they need God's permission to seize power and create hell on Earth? If your God is the political higher power and he cares, why is Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House?
Politics is not a matter of personal faith. We must push to clearly separate the two, or we will suffer many more crushing defeats.
Imagine there's no country,
I wonder if you can.
Nothing to kill or die for,
A brotherhood of man.
Imagine all the people,
Living for today.
John Lennon
Thanks Lou,
I appreciate your candidness and your way of thinking.
I don't classify myself as libertarian although that may closely describe me, certainly more than republican or democrat. But why shouldn't I fight to have one of the major brands representing me. You either have to play the game or step away from it entirely. Politicians have too much power for me not to care who wins. Trust me and ask any family who went through WWII in Europe and the ensuing Soviet Block afterwards. Most of the European nations that were devastated in WWII were quite modern and freedom loving before Politicians destroyed their families and their way of life. We all know the stakes are high and history is notorious for repeating itself.
America will crumble under socialism because our society was not built to operate in a state of mediocrity. We were built to be bigger and better than the rest. Yeah I said it. We were built to compete and win using superior political ideas and ingenuity. We were also built to root out the corruption that is inherently built into capitalism by way of greed. It's the yin and the yang.
and thus it becomes a debate on the philosophical battle between this and that
no wonder we struggle to keep equilibrium in this nation.
We have round robin discussions that inevitably collapse into the microcosms simply for the sport of it
Oh, I don't see any battles here we're just like a bunch of big cats swatting each other a little bit to keep in shape, keep on our toes. No real fights here, at least not recently. Anyway, what were you expecting, that we would were going to solve all the problems of the world? Maybe tomorrow!
I'm pretty sure Socrates never debated anything... wait wasn't he the guy that science was built upon? ...so I mean yeah, why debate philosophically about anything?
Once again, the Devil in disguise that has snatched from US and holds our destiny and future captive is the collective lobby slinking through the halls and backrooms of our institutions preying upon the weak willed, unprincipled, and depraved. Well practiced in the arts of deception, subterfuge, and cynicism it transforms lofty ideas and wholesome endeavors into stale and static machinations and sucks the life from the processes that would enable US to clear the way and lead the world into the future.
Of course, he views progress as a threat. Naturally, self comes before any other consideration. Undeniably, he desires the devotion of his minions to be unwavering and irrevocable (after all, this is about the soul.) Confusion and paranoia are his shopmark and the price of his wares requires collusion. The ones who repent and testify to the deceit in order to cleanse themselves are branded and cast as heretical then sent to the gallows of public humiliation.
We should be more aware of the deleterious nature of this demon and hold him to account for keeping US from embracing the future and condemning US to living in the past. We place blame spuriously on the well intentioned who toil at finding a way through the fog of uncertainty... why not exorcise the Devil himself?
Oh yeah.. and I would ask when was the last time that America was America?
please excuse my curmudgeonist temperment
I just often have been in far too many discussions on current events that somehow find themselves tied down at the moors in the battle between issues such as God and Man.
We can view and review the results of these small elections searching for many of ideas and theories but when we bring it so far out of context - it just falls to the level of philosophy 101
When was the last time America was America?
When Jack Ruby appeared on the screen and shot Lee Harvey Oswald, and walked away in broad daylight.
That's an easy one.
No excuses needed... welcome. Be forewarned though, once here, you may never leave.
Hahhahhah (dotdotdotdedommmreowreowreowreow) hahahahoohaha- Blrrrrrb
Please remain on the line... someone will be by soon to show you to your room
Word of caution- do not attempt to go barefooted on the escalator....
Oh... I sure didn't expect anyone would equate that as being the highlight in the American experiment and the best example of what America stands for (Ruby, by the way, didn't just walk away from his act of vigilante murder)
Wow... that's crass revisionism
No, the Warren Commission Report was crass revisionism.
Excuse me, I should have said "The split-second before Ruby shot Oswald was the last time America was America". There was arguably a Schwarzchild Singularity at the exact moment of the shooting.
BnL--AARP and AMA endorses the HealthScare reform legislation in the House?
Doesn't make sense... oh, weel nothing does
JB,
Why have you turned so snarky lately in most of your postings? The Virginia race (I live just outside of Richmond) turned on a number of points that have nothing to do with your analysis. Deeds ran a relentlessly negative campaign which I think the White House counseled him to do. McDonnell stayed on message and kept pushing a practical agenda to improve the economy, improve transportation, help provide energy independence, and improve education. Deeds was unable to articulate his positions. The White House, ably aided by the media, tried to create a "macaca" moment when they dug up McDonnell's thesis from Regent University, but McDonnell was a better candidate than Allen in his run for the senate, and people realized that a thesis over 20 years old was less important than going to Jeremiah "the land of the greed and home of the slave" Wright's church for 20 years.
Over 5,000 people turned out for the 4/15 tea party in Richmond, held in the rain, directly across from the palatial Federal Reserve Bank building. Their discontent was not confined to just Democrats, but anyone touting more government control, wasteful spending, and erosion of our liberties.
John, you need to get out of your NY/LA ersatz "urban sophisticate" milieu and realize that there are smart, sophisticated, conservatives out there who will never vote for the liberal apparatchiks that Rockefeller Republicans still think they force down our throats.
Were there really people brandishing posters showing piles of corpses that were taken at Nazi concentration camp Dachau in the "Twelvers" gathering at the Mall today?
Did the good people there protesting take any action???
Anyone know?
All I know is what I saw watching it on c-span2. The Republican congressmen and women came out and addressed the crowd at about 2 minutes a pop, maybe 30 or 40 of them spoke before I had to go back to work. The crowd was very well behaved. As usual the MSM focused on one or two semi-obnoxious signs as being representative of the whole group. There was an article on one of the news services whose headline read something like "9 arrested in advance of Tea Party protests." It later was clarified that the 9 arrested were that Pink group that had to be removed from Lieberman's office for giving him grief over his threatened filibuster. They were pro-public option protestors, in other words, exact opposite of Tea Partiers.
Now I'm getting really mad at Obama and here's why. I don't feel like he's my President, and I don't feel like he wants to be my President with the remarks he makes. What a nice gesture it would have been for him to come out and address the Tea Party gathering! And say, look, I understand your concerns, you really have a good point, I feel your pain. Something to at least acknowledge that they are red-blooded Americans with a legitimate point of view. But no, he just makes another snide remark about how the Tea Partiers are all either insurance lobbyists or people fooled by the lies of insurance companies. Putdowns, slights, insults of our intelligence. Same with the Dems in Congress. No Republican or moderate Dem can ever be against Health Care Reform simply because they're against it. No, it always has to be because they were paid money or lied to bhy the insurance companies. It's not bad enough that they're castrating us but they have to insult us at the same time they're lopping off our nads by saying "You never really needed these anyway, it was just the insurance companies lying to you when they told you you did."
Don't care what you or any of the naysayers say about the Tea Partiers, to me, they are true American heroes, right up with the FDNY firefighters at 9/11 and the boys on Omaha Beach. At least we didn't get taken without a fight. I just hope that Pelosi and Obama can feel the rage being directed at them from every quarter.
I wonder if the PotUS was invited to come speak to the protesters?
The only thing I've questioned about the demonstrations are the infiltrators with extreme displays that invariably get singled out as representative of the whole. The various factions of MSM either overlooks them and gives them a pass or they highlight them. Either way, it distracts from the message.
All I know is the rhetoric is not substantiated by the facts and both sides are guilty guilty guilty of trying to manipulate the story by any means at their disposal.
Dare I quote FDR? "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
We are all in this together.
Actually Thoreau said it first, FDR borrowed it.
Really? I never cared for the transcendentalists... much too serious for me
There's always something to learn--- thanks!
Pat, sorry to jump in so late but the NY23rd had a Dem as recently as the early 90's...I don't know where this 100 year GOP-hold story came from.
Fantastic blog, You make impressive points in a concise and pertinent fashion, I will read more of your work, thank you for your time.