I’m so glad the election is over; I can only imagine how bad it must have been for people who have tee vee. There were surprises, but every permutation of the race was called by some pundit or other – it’s a variation on the hundred monkeys theory and not that far off, either. (You can take that any way you see fit.)
“The people have blah blah blah, we now roll up our blah blah and get down to the hard task of blah.” It’s worse that the damn post-game sports interviews. I expect nothing, literally. Now that the Republicans have one house of Congress and the Democrats coming late (as always) to the new political climate, the government will freeze up and things will just get worse by inertia for the next two years. (Cheery, huh?)
I feel some bizarre obligation to fill up this space once a week so let’s look at what this might mean for some familiar figures:
Barack Obama. “There is no doubt that people’s No. 1 concern is the economy,” he said. “What they were expressing great frustration about is that we haven’t made enough progress on the economy.” Oh, right. It’s the economy, stupid. Clinton, circa 1992. Those who fail to learn the lessons…. This is election was tough for President Obama, governor, not so much for Candidate Obama, 2012. Now he’ll have something to push back against and in two years HE can be the one running against Washington. Again. (He also said he takes “direct responsibility” for Democrats’ losses Tuesday. It was refreshing to hear someone in the beltway associate himself with the “R” word.)
John Boehner. Very emotional speech Tuesday about working his way up from floor sweeper in his dad’s tavern. From the slur in his voice, it wasn’t only the broom he remembered. I have to admit, while I disagree with Mr. Boehner on just about everything, I think he’s one of the more colorful characters (again, take that as you please) in politics today. Sure, he’s got a fake orange tan, but the voice, the look. He reminds me of an early 60s lounge singer. Give him a mock turtleneck under a v-necked sweater and he’s good to go. And go he might. Republicans don’t always dance with the one what brung ya. Mr. Boehner is going to have to keep the tea partiers happy or it’s his effigy they’ll be burning in six months. That means he’ll have t get something done (or undone, as the case may be) and the wackos won’t want to hear excuses about the Senate or the president’s veto pen. Mr. Boehner’s second-in-command, the self-styled “Young Gun” Eric Cantor (R-VA) might be more than happy to grab hold of the steering wheel. The recent volume of the same name by Mr. Cantor, Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) praises all things GOP – but never mentions Mr. Boehner. Watch your back, John.
Sarah Palin. Will she or won’t she run for president in 2012? In the era of the endless campaign, we ought to know soon. She did not have a good night Tuesday. In this election season, Ms. Palin endorsed 64 candidates. Ten lost in the primaries, another 32 lost Tuesday, ballots are still out on five more (including Alaska, where it doesn’t look good for Joe Miller). That leaves 17 wins for 64 attempts or .265 batting average. Not enough to win the pennant. In fact, an argument can be made that her endorsements cost the Republicans the Senate (i.e. she prevented stronger Republicans from getting the nomination). Certainly that was true in the case of Delaware, maybe in Nevada as well. The Palin factor was not, however, the only one in play, but she’s more responsible for the GOP failing to take the Senate in 2010 than Ralph Nader was for the Dems failing to take the White House in 2000. Possible outcomes for Ms. Palin include 1) don’t run and keep on with the Fox News and the reality show, but no one like last month’s flavor of the month 2) run for presidency and lose (probably in the primaries), still last month’s flavor 3) run for and win.
Now Lie In It
I’m so glad the election is over; I can only imagine how bad it must have been for people who have tee vee. There were surprises, but every permutation of the race was called by some pundit or other – it’s a variation on the hundred monkeys theory and not that far off, either. (You can take that any way you see fit.)
“The people have blah blah blah, we now roll up our blah blah and get down to the hard task of blah.” It’s worse that the damn post-game sports interviews. I expect nothing, literally. Now that the Republicans have one house of Congress and the Democrats coming late (as always) to the new political climate, the government will freeze up and things will just get worse by inertia for the next two years. (Cheery, huh?)
I feel some bizarre obligation to fill up this space once a week so let’s look at what this might mean for some familiar figures:
Barack Obama. “There is no doubt that people’s No. 1 concern is the economy,” he said. “What they were expressing great frustration about is that we haven’t made enough progress on the economy.” Oh, right. It’s the economy, stupid. Clinton, circa 1992. Those who fail to learn the lessons…. This is election was tough for President Obama, governor, not so much for Candidate Obama, 2012. Now he’ll have something to push back against and in two years HE can be the one running against Washington. Again. (He also said he takes “direct responsibility” for Democrats’ losses Tuesday. It was refreshing to hear someone in the beltway associate himself with the “R” word.)
John Boehner. Very emotional speech Tuesday about working his way up from floor sweeper in his dad’s tavern. From the slur in his voice, it wasn’t only the broom he remembered. I have to admit, while I disagree with Mr. Boehner on just about everything, I think he’s one of the more colorful characters (again, take that as you please) in politics today. Sure, he’s got a fake orange tan, but the voice, the look. He reminds me of an early 60s lounge singer. Give him a mock turtleneck under a v-necked sweater and he’s good to go. And go he might. Republicans don’t always dance with the one what brung ya. Mr. Boehner is going to have to keep the tea partiers happy or it’s his effigy they’ll be burning in six months. That means he’ll have t get something done (or undone, as the case may be) and the wackos won’t want to hear excuses about the Senate or the president’s veto pen. Mr. Boehner’s second-in-command, the self-styled “Young Gun” Eric Cantor (R-VA) might be more than happy to grab hold of the steering wheel. The recent volume of the same name by Mr. Cantor, Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) praises all things GOP – but never mentions Mr. Boehner. Watch your back, John.
Sarah Palin. Will she or won’t she run for president in 2012? In the era of the endless campaign, we ought to know soon. She did not have a good night Tuesday. In this election season, Ms. Palin endorsed 64 candidates. Ten lost in the primaries, another 32 lost Tuesday, ballots are still out on five more (including Alaska, where it doesn’t look good for Joe Miller). That leaves 17 wins for 64 attempts or .265 batting average. Not enough to win the pennant. In fact, an argument can be made that her endorsements cost the Republicans the Senate (i.e. she prevented stronger Republicans from getting the nomination). Certainly that was true in the case of Delaware, maybe in Nevada as well. The Palin factor was not, however, the only one in play, but she’s more responsible for the GOP failing to take the Senate in 2010 than Ralph Nader was for the Dems failing to take the White House in 2000. Possible outcomes for Ms. Palin include 1) don’t run and keep on with the Fox News and the reality show, but no one like last month’s flavor of the month 2) run for presidency and lose (probably in the primaries), still last month’s flavor 3) run for and win.
How far to the Canadian border?
© Mark Floegel, 2010