This is one time Democrats can't blame the Tea Buggers on a loss. It is, quite simply, our own damn fault.
1) Martha Coakley is a highly respected Attorney General but that does not a candidate make. She ran a sloppy, half-hearted campaign. Throw in a a little of this and a little of that - complacency, possible arrogance, and maybe even a sense of entitlement - the campaign was doomed from the beginning. The woman isn't stupid but the fact that she didn't take control of her campaign, fire her advisers and hire new ones makes me question how effectively she could have run a senate office.
2) The Democrats. What can one say? Complacent. Arrogant. Lazy. Disorganized. Sluggish. Spoiled. Snivelers all. And everything is the president's fault. Geez.
In short, if we don't quit whining, stick together, get organized and get off our asses, we ain't going to accomplish nuttin'. "That woman" and the Tea Buggers will take over because we handed the country to them on a silver platter.
3) Concessions to Lieberman stripped the health bill of its most popular provisions (PO & Medicare expansion) -- that's why support for it fell below 50% in polls.
ReplyDeleteTea Buggers
I'm stealing that.
I have turned off cable news and am staying away from blathering pundits.
ReplyDeleteThe commentary today: Obama not tough enough, too tough, not engaged enough, too much political capital invested, the House should pass the Senate bill, 2-4-6-8 reconciliate, too far left, too far right, too this, too that. Cramer predicted the Dow will go up; the Dow is down ... over three digits!
Noise, noise, noise.
Nuff said.
I posted an extensive editorial on this. Unless we focus on what Obama promised in his campaign, we're toast.
ReplyDeleteI'm stealing Tea Buggers too! Magnificent!!
The Dems have definitely snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The DNC knew how important it was, to media especially, they should pulled all the stops. The fact that Obama is still president and there is still majorities in both houses is being overlooked, you would think the Republicans had won control, but Truth 101 said this morning they do have control. He has a point.
ReplyDeleteI'm stealing Tea Buggers too.
I recommend TomCat's editorial -- it's quite comprehensive (and a lot more informed than the MSM "noise, noise, noise").
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of surprised, but pleased, at your reactions. Almost removed it because I thought I'd be snatched bald-headed.
ReplyDeleteLieberman will get his. An old Indian saying: Man who have one foot in the boat and one in the water will fall off. Old Leslie saying: Man who rides the fence can slip and hurt himself where it hurts most.
Octo: It's not just cable. It's print as well. Negative, misleading headlines with snide little digs in the body of the article.
Holte: But the control is very tenuous. If we keep acting like the proverbial asses, we'll lose it all.
TC: I'm going to hit your blog right now.
Go for the Tea Buggers. One of my 2:00 am moments.
TN: I didn't expect stereotypical Tonto-speak concerning Native Americans to show up here. The last time I saw it was in an arch-conservative blog.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much ignored the cable news through the whole thing, and got a lot of info from blogs, and from Drudge. Drudge, not for its conservative bias, but because his page has the most information crammed into it and is better designed than any other news-aggregation site out there.
If anyone knows another great site like Drudge, let me know. Not Huffpo (cluttered with huge borders, unreadable fonts, and pictures of blogger faces) or Daily Beast (which gives us big 'buzz board' logos instead of actual headlines).
dmark: I don't care for HuffPost for the same reasons you do as well as some others. I kind of agree with you about Daily Beast, especially the layout, but I still get some good leads from them. I think I went to Sludge once or twice but remember that there was something I didn't really care for.
ReplyDeleteI've checked the Drudge Retort (yes, not the Matt Drudge one) a few times, and it has seemed OK. Not sure everything there is late-breaking though.
ReplyDeleteRight on, Leslie, Right on!
ReplyDeletedmarks: have you tried Media Matters America
ReplyDeleteor Memmorandum?
Bee: Thanks - I was a little pissed when I wrote that - in case you couldn't tell. ; )
Infidel makes a great point, the people are angry because the PO was removed. But if you talk to a conservative they will tell you the anger comes from the HC bill alone, whether or not it has a PO is not their concern. They don't want ANY of this dem bill! So that means, DEMS LISTEN UP, put the PO back in and we will be HAPPY voters!!
ReplyDeleteSue: I think it's anybody's guess right now. I'd like to see the Congressional Democrats get their act together - plus they have those damn yellow dawgs to contend with. I signed that petition.
ReplyDeleteI thought this Chris Floyd diatribe might be worth sharing here:
ReplyDelete“It is not just Obama's agenda, of course. It is the agenda of the Democratic Party: war, empire, and corporate profit über alles. Is this really worth defending, even with a held nose? Yet progressives and liberals will continue to insist that, bad as it is, we've got to keep supporting the Democratic Party – because there is no alternative, because otherwise, Tea Party torture mavens like Scott Brown or Sarah Palin will get elected.
But as we've already noted above, it is the Democratic agenda itself that is opening the door for extremist opponents, who then exploit the genuine dissatisfaction and genuine suffering caused by that agenda. The fact that these opponents also support the same core agenda means that the nation will keep ping-ponging back and forth, with an electorate hungry for change desperately chasing anyone who promises it – only to rush back in the other direction when the 'change agent' proves to be just another stooge of the status quo.”
Worth a read.
I think that the Village Voice said it best today, Leslie: "Scott Brown Wins Mass. Race, Giving GOP 41-59 Majority in the Senate".
ReplyDeleteI'm getting tired of this political system and especially of the Democrats. I'll be posting something along these lines tomorrow evening. Great analysis, by the way. Stay gold.
Octo: "the nation will keep ping-ponging back and forth, with an electorate hungry for change desperately chasing anyone who promises it – only to rush back in the other direction when the 'change agent' proves to be just another stooge of the status quo.”
ReplyDeleteIn other words, politics as usual. I linked to the full article and while I agree for the most part, I'm too old to get too bent out of shape as I've seen the same thing in every presidency since I first voted. The bottom line for me is that we - the little guys on the block - have to find a way to make our voices heard. Hard to do since if you put three Dems in a room, none of them will agree on anything.
JBW: Always eager to get your perspective on the matters at hand.