The Politics Thread

[Vee]

I still can't believe he shut off the campaign staff's credit cards so they couldn't even pay for the hotels or cabs home. That is hysterical.

[Max]

Earlier in the politics thread, I lost my temper and used incendiary and possibly threatening language against Vee after he posted a .gif of Mitt Romney essentially burning himself alive (just like the terminator does in the closing scenes of Terminator 2). While I was appalled at what I saw in the .gif--and believe that public reaction here would be very different if the same .gif was made of Obama--it certainly did not give me license to behave the way I did. I wish there was a way to convince Vee that I did not mean the words I wrote, and that I am not a threat, but there is nothing I can do except to say I am sorry (which is meaningless).

I know that a lot of people are jubilant over Obama's re-election victory, and I am sorry for acting like a sore loser. But the flip side to sore losing is obnoxious gloating, which must also be avoided. Things like that .gif just reek of obnoxious gloating, rub salt into the wounds, and are completely unnecessary (to say the very least). For me, the Romney loss was devastating, because I feel that it will take much longer for a meaningful economic recovery to start (and for me to get a decent paying job). I have been extraordinarily depressed these past six months or so, to the point that there are times I think I would be better off dead. Please note that I have never attempted suicide nor will ever do so (thus don't panic over the statement that I think I would be better off dead), it is just that things seem totally hopeless in the Obama economy, and I am not convinced if things will ever turn around.

Edited November 9, 2012 by Max

[juppiter]

There were few surprises for me because I was following Nate Silver and he went 50 for 50 this time. The biggest shocker for me-- the one that NOBODY predicted-- was Heidi Heitkamp winning in North Dakota. I knew she was running an amazing campaign there and she was making it closer than anybody else could have, but I thought the narrative would be that as well as she was doing it was just too far a reach for any Democrat to win that seat. She is proof that even in today's hyper-polarized electorate, "all politics is local" can still be true when you've got the right candidate. She related to the voters and made them like her in a year that everyone said a Democrat could not be elected in North Dakota. Wow.

Edited November 9, 2012 by juppiter

[DRW50]

I think I might have predicted that (I'm not sure). I knew she'd make it very close. There were never anything but bad comments said about Rick Berg, and I'm a little surprised the GOP chose him (he was the Congressional rep but that had only been for one term). She won even though Obama lost by 20 points. That's quite a feat.

Article about voter suppression backlash.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/why-mitt-romney-lost-a-simple-overriding-theory/264491/

Speaking of which:

http://www.thenation.com/blog/171108/watch-colorado-gop-poll-watcher-report-high-concentration-people-color

[juppiter]

Right but look at Kirsten Gillibrand winning with 70+% of the vote in New York. She has gotten more popular in the past couple years because she fought for the bill to give health coverage to 9/11 rescue workers, but she went from nobody to Senator in 2009. There was talk of her getting a primary challenge in 2010. Now she gets 70% of the vote? It's because of the D next to her name. My thought (and likely, Rick Berg's thought as well) was that Rick Berg did not have to be remarkable because he had an R next to his name. Heidi Heitkamp's feat is remarkable.

[Mr. Vixen]

I rarely post in here, but the banter is good cocktail fodder.

[Wales2004]

I'm sorry for all you've gone through with the hurricane. What Barack Obama did is probably transparent to individuals because it's related to FEMA but it is a huge deal to have red tape cut.

I don't get why he would reach out to Mitt Romney other than symbolic healing because Mitt Romney's not the leader of the Republican party. Unless you want Mitt Romney to publicly apologize for his remarks about no one asking him to produce his birth certificate then I'm not sure why you feel Barack Obama ought to apologize.

I fail to see what he said that wasn't true. Mitt Romney lied constantly and switched positions so much that he probably had a hard time keeping up with what he last said.

On another note, Karl Rove is nuts. His definition of suppressing the vote is ridiculous. Then there's poor Bill O'Reilly who needs to go and place his head on Pat Buchanan's shoulders because "traditional America" is gone. R.I.P.

[Soapsuds]

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[juppiter]

Romney's loss kind of reminds me of the failure of "Life with Lucy." The audience laughed at everything she did just because she was Lucille Ball and Lucille Ball was a goddess. But when the show actually went on air audiences didn't find it funny at all. The Romney campaign was so insulated by pundits saying that the polls were wrong and biased toward Obama that he never saw the inevitable coming. I almost, ALMOST, feel bad for him. In the slightest. Like in Precious when Mary beat her daughter for years and years and allowed her boyfriend to rape Precious repeatedly, but when Monique gives that amazing performance and says, "Who was gonna love me?" and you ALMOST kinda feel for her... that is how I feel.

[GoldenDogs]

Uhhh... what's going on here is that I browsed headlines, sent a personal message to someone on here, then had about 4 minutes to post this morning so I offered up a quick summation of things I desired to discuss here. No narrative... simply questions, Marceline.

Sheesh.

[GoldenDogs]

You're a doll, Ann. Your warmth and welcoming attitude is what drives me to return and participate often in this forum. And I won't even go into your keen political insights... You're so bright, I need a pair of sunglasses just to get a good look at you.

[DRW50]

Nothing new here, I just thought it was well-written.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/hippies-wander-into-the-lions-den-maul-lions/264921/

[JackPeyton]

I wonder what the odds of Clinton vs Bush in 2016 is?

[Wales2004]

So Karl Rove fleeced all those donors and his excuse for no return on their investment is that Barack Obama had an advantage as an incumbent because he didn't have to go through primaries.

I didn't get to say adios to Reince Priebus.

Some Tea Party leader was on CNN telling Soledad O'Brien they don't do social issues yet they backed candidates like Todd Akin who does.

They can blame Mitt Romney for losing his own bid but to try and pin Todd Akin and the others on Mitt Romney is silly. He certainly didn't hurt Paul Ryan who was re-elected.

Are they going to keep saying it was the ground game that cost them, try to push the least painful of immigration reform bills, and stick Marco Rubio further out front now?

In commenting on John McCain, Jonathan Capehart said something to the effect of "he had to tourette's it out," and there was no outrage or apology on his part as far as I know.

[Ann_SS]

Rove did not fleece anyone. Rove or not, those plutocrats hate President Obama and the lower classes, they were always going to spend millions to attempt the manipulate the electorate. The Koch brothers and their ilk through ALEC and other ways have been working for years to push their conservative agenda. While I am happy that they got defeated, this is only one victory over their money and attempts at social engineering. It is going to be a long hard fight holding the line against the plutocrats going forward.