Patterico's Pontifications

This looks like a historic blow-out of the Republicans, the flip side of Reagan’s first victory.

As a long time Republican, I feel like Charlton Heston looking at the Statute of Liberty; this party, in eight years, blew itself up. The anti-elitist, media-paranoid, ditto-head, corruption-friendly, GWB culture of insularity and incompetence is finished as a national political force, though I am sure that tendency will continue on the Internet, and of course, on this site. The “Joe the Plumber” Republican Party is a spent political force. The Republican Party will have rebuild and reorient itself to an organization that stops worshipping stupidity and excusing incompetance if it does not want to go the way of the Whigs.

Cyrus Sanai (4df861) — 11/4/2008 @ 8:17 pm

You are right, Cyrus, the Republicans will have to remember that being CONSERVATIVE is what won Ronald Reagen his two terms, that conservative values are what Republicans vote for and that smaller government and fiscal responsibility are the two most important planks in the Republican party. The current group forgot this and tried to out liberal the Democrats. This is what we get for it.

For the record, I voted for Sarah Palin, not John McCain. Did anyone really want him as the Republican nominee?

Jayman (8f6541) — 11/4/2008 @ 8:24 pm

Not that I believe Cyrus description of the Republican party. His description comes straight from the Huffington Post kook left dictionary. And to be honest, The onlything I really agree with him about is that the Republicans need to rediscover theri base and remember what they are elected to do.

Jayman (8f6541) — 11/4/2008 @ 8:27 pm

Cue the Imperial March; Luke’s “father” has ascended. May the “farce” be with us for only 48 months.

Leonardo DaFinchie (bd60dd) — 11/4/2008 @ 8:28 pm

I am no longer proud of America.

nk (95bfab) — 11/4/2008 @ 8:28 pm

Will be interesting to see how the GOP rebuilds itself. It needs a big new constituency from somewhere. I’d think Hispanics would be a likely target if the GOP can figure out an immigration strategy that doesn’t alienate them too much.

Aplomb (b6fba6) — 11/4/2008 @ 8:29 pm

We all know why Gingrich and the Republicans won in 1994…he had a very clear vision and he enunciated that vision in a way the electorate could identify and then convinced all Republicans running for office to sign on…that is leadership.

We can blame this one squarely on Bush…as the titular head of the party, it was his job to herd the guys straying from the herd back into the herd with use of his veto, bully pulpit, and clear arguments. And when face with strong opposition, he should have taken it to the American people.

If you look at the county by county results, there is a sea of red out in the countryside…there are still plenty of conservative Democrats out there, we need a leader to inspire them and us…I hope the Republican leadership uses the next two years to come up with a plan that has more substance than simply attacking the opposition.

GoDaddy (6ed79d) — 11/4/2008 @ 8:37 pm

I’d think Hispanics would be a likely target if the GOP can figure out an immigration strategy that doesn’t alienate them too much.

Has a large majority of the people of Mexico been favoring their liberal politicians and version of the US’s Democrat Party for generations — in spite of the total morass that country has been stuck in indefinitely — because Mexico’s right has been opposed to, and making a stink about, illegal immigration?

Mark (411533) — 11/4/2008 @ 8:50 pm

“Barack Obama is our next president.”

The perversity of the universe never ceases to amaze me.

Dave Surls (1395e0) — 11/4/2008 @ 8:58 pm

I’d think Hispanics would be a likely target if the GOP can figure out an immigration strategy that doesn’t alienate them too much.

Immigration strategy is now the responsibility of the Dems.

JD (5b4781) — 11/4/2008 @ 8:59 pm

Committed racist hate monger ascends to American Presidency.

Perfect Sense (9d1b08) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:04 pm

It will be tough watching anything on TV and avoiding this a$$hole. My hubby is completely dropping out and will not discuss, read, listen to or otherwise engage in politics of any type as of tonight. I’m thinking even Rush/Sean/Mark are now verboten. I’m thinking of all the things I can do now to avoid seeing/hearing/knowing about any of this. I’m serious.

This man is not my president and never will be.

Peg C. (48175e) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:12 pm

This man is not my president and never will be.

Yes, he is, and yes he will be, unless you are not an American.

Don’t be like them.

JD (5b4781) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:16 pm

Wow, anyone watching his speech? Amazing all the worshipful gazes he receives from his adoring fans. I don’t remember, was it like this for Reagan, or is this a whole new level of cult of personality?

JVW (8a718e) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:18 pm

JVW – This is a whole new level.

JD (5b4781) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:30 pm

JD:
i’m an American: i am *not* a lying, racist, socialist leader of a personality cult set on destroying this country for personal gain, so no, he is most definitely *NOT* my President.

it was good enough for the moonbats for 8 years and no one objected, even though they had zero solid reasons to claim so. this is different, and sauce is sauce.

the only speech i ever want to actually hear from his lying mouth is the one where he resigns from the office in disgrace for high crimes, misdemeanors and/or treason.

redc1c4 (27fd3e) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:31 pm

That would be B. Hussein Obama.
Chumps.

Larry Reilly (d11f9a) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:32 pm

Drunk as usual Larry?

daleyrocks (60704b) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:35 pm

Small chump.

Larry Reilly (d11f9a) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:38 pm

Does this mean that there will be a huge sale on prayer rugs tomorrow?

steve mudge (b98ff2) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:42 pm

red – Though you and I agree often, on this we will disagree. I cannot stand Baracky and his cult with every fiber of my being. But he will be my President in short order. Hopefully, only for 4 years.

Mary – It is racist to say his middle name.

JD (5b4781) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:42 pm

I mean it is absolutely frightening. Now they are showing a bunch of GW students dancing and shouting in front of the White House. How does The Dear Leader maintain this level of excitement once he has to start making real choices and compromising on his promises? So much for his attempts to lower expectations — he had better hope that his supporters are so ignorant and bubble-headed that they won’t care if he pulls a Clinton and backtracks on every promise he made to the far left. Otherwise, I think this will be a one-term administration.

JVW (8a718e) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:45 pm

Larry Reilly,

One more remark that looks like you’re spoiling for a fight and I’ll send you into moderation.

Dissent and different opinions are great. Spoiling for a fight, we don’t need.

Your choice.

Patterico (cc3b34) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:47 pm

The reality is he did not AT ANY TIME run a post-race campaign, he’s not a unifying character, and he is a product of the sleaziest campaign this country has ever seen. His twenty years in Chicago is racist to the core: the wife, the preacher, the church, the lies, the friends and the Annenberg nonsense. Why is the bald truth considered anything less than candid? It’s fact, not fiction.

Committed racist hate monger ascends to American Presidency.

Comment by Perfect Sense — 11/4/2008 @ 9:04 pm

It will be tough watching anything on TV and avoiding this a$$hole. My hubby is completely dropping out and will not discuss, read, listen to or otherwise engage in politics of any type as of tonight. I’m thinking even Rush/Sean/Mark are now verboten. I’m thinking of all the things I can do now to avoid seeing/hearing/knowing about any of this. I’m serious.

This man is not my president and never will be.

Comment by Peg C. — 11/4/2008 @ 9:12 pm

i’m an American: i am *not* a lying, racist, socialist leader of a personality cult set on destroying this country for personal gain, so no, he is most definitely *NOT* my President.

it was good enough for the moonbats for 8 years and no one objected, even though they had zero solid reasons to claim so. this is different, and sauce is sauce.

the only speech i ever want to actually hear from his lying mouth is the one where he resigns from the office in disgrace for high crimes, misdemeanors and/or treason.

Comment by redc1c4 — 11/4/2008 @ 9:31 pm

Vermont Neighbor (c91cfe) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:49 pm

Hey. Listen to JD! He is the smart one among you all.
Racists! 🙂

love2008 (0c8c2c) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:53 pm

Murtha won, convincingly.

DRJ (cb68f2) — 11/4/2008 @ 9:57 pm

So, instead of Yellow Dog Dems, we can call Murtha’s voter Redneck Racist Dems.

Redneck racist were apparently an important demographic for the Dems.

JD (5b4781) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:01 pm

Just of note: McCain won convincingly in Arkansas and in Tennessee. Does this mean that the Clinton/Gore style Democratic party is finally dead and buried?

JVW (8a718e) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:03 pm

This wasn’t about Palin or McCain, it was about Obama and it was about Bush. McCain might have won (he’s only a few percent down) if Bush had not graced the campaign with one last disaster.

Obama’s charisma coupled with Bush as political Clouseau made this nearly impossible for McCain to win.

I thought Palin was a good choice, advocated the choice matter of fact, because McCain needed to rally the base, which she did. It would have allowed McCain to appeal to the center had Bush not foreclosed that with his financial Death Star.

After that it was all downhill.

I blame Bush. Yes the press hated him but they hated Reagan, too. Reagan made them eat their hate. Bush, well, see Clouseau.

Kevin Murphy (0b2493) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:06 pm

. . . had Bush not foreclosed that with his financial Death Star.

I missed the part where Bush demanded that people enter into bad loans that they couldn’t afford. I think I also missed where Bush told lenders to package these loans in a really horrible and sleazy way. History will certainly record that the Bush Administration made a great number of mistakes, but to pin this loss entirely on him as you seem to be doing will only give Republicans a false sense that once GWB is gone their problems will be over. Republicans need to do a lot of soul-searching in order to figure out what the party stands for and where it sees the nation going. Tonight’s loss is definitely not all the fault of George W. Bush.

JVW (8a718e) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:15 pm

Man, I’m glad the election didn’t come down to NC, IN or MO. All so close.

Aplomb (b6fba6) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:17 pm

A positive note is this truly and finally consigns Bill Clinton to the pages of history.

Peccator Dubius (0a6237) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:19 pm

That isn’t to say that the Republican Party doesn’t have a decision to make. It can be:

A. The liberty-oriented party of small government, balanced budgets with low taxes, individual rights and for a strong defense.

B. The religious-oriented party of big government and moral clarity, with little use for individual liberty, free-spending with low taxes, and a strong defense.

C. Two parties, one social conservative, one liberty oriented.

I wonder which one Reagan would have joined. Right now all we seem to have in common is the strong defense and low taxes. Hence McCain. Not good enough, or it’ll just be the Democrats, who are much worse.

This is going to be a bloody year or two.

Kevin Murphy (0b2493) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:19 pm

I missed the part where Bush demanded that people enter into bad loans that they couldn’t afford. I think I also missed where Bush told lenders to package these loans in a really horrible and sleazy way.

JVW – I think he was referring to the bailout package, but I agree with your point. In fact, that illustrates the point that I made elsewhere. President Bush, and Sen. McCain failed us miserably. Where were they in making that point? Not once did I hear either one of them making that point forcefully.

JD (5b4781) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:19 pm

JVW–

Bush’s incompetence was not being able to move the Day of Reckoning by a couple of months, either way. How many “own goals” do you tolerate before you get another goalie?

Kevin Murphy (0b2493) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:20 pm

Comment by Kevin Murphy — 11/4/2008 @ 10:06 pm
“if Bush had not graced the campaign with one last disaster. ”

I am so damn tired of hearing this crap. How was the housing bubble Bush’s fault? (rhetorical cause we all know it really wasn’t). Why do people still place blame anywhere except on the Democrats that created the mess, blocked any action to preemptively fix the mess or come up with any ideas on how to fix the mess?

Obama came up with exactly what original thoughts on how to fix the problem? Chirp… Chirp… Chirp.. That’s what I thought. So why this all got laid on McCain’s door mat is beyond me. (okay, not really. The media blamed this on Bush and Republicans, so it must be so.)

Jayman (8f6541) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:22 pm

This basically all falls into the following gripe:

Yes, the press hated him. Yes, there was worldwide opposition. Yes, the Congress dragged its feet and worked at cross-purposes; they even sided with the enemy at times. Yes, the challenges were almost insurmountable.

But Reagan faced all of that, and more, and won out every time. Bush wandered around with his foot in a bucket. Get the difference?

Kevin Murphy (0b2493) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:23 pm

We’re in for at LEAST 2 years of economic hell. Enjoy, LIberals. You wanted this. Enjoy the results.

Scott Jacobs (d3a6ec) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:24 pm

President Bush, and Sen. McCain failed us miserably. Where were they in making that point? Not once did I hear either one of them making that point forcefully

Yeah, but we shouldn’t have expected them to do so. From the very beginning, GWB has been reluctant to dive too heavily in the fray and bash Democrats. It’s just how he is — frustrating to be sure, but it’s been his modus operandi for eight years now.

On NRO there was an interesting assessment of why McCain was not more aggressive in taking the fight to Obama and the Dems. It boiled down to this: McCain is from a different generation and didn’t understand how Obama’s people would seek to (and be able to) tie every single problem, no matter its origin, to Bush/Republicans/McCain. By the time he figured it out, it was too late for him to counter it. Also, his great tactical error was during the primary season when he chided the North Carolina GOP for running an anti-Obama ad that featured the Reverend Wright. Is it any wonder that Obama managed to win that state?

JVW (8a718e) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:28 pm

There was nothing for McCain to do. I’m not a big fan of McCain’s politics (McCain-Feingold, the idiot medical plan, etc), but once the Dow tanked 2500 points, the public took one look at their 401(k) statement and said “Enough!”

It’s rather amazing this wasn’t a landslide. Be thankful to McCain for that.

Kevin Murphy (0b2493) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:32 pm

Peccator Dubius — 11/4/2008 @ 10:19 pm: A positive note is this truly and finally consigns Bill Clinton to the pages of history.

Yea, now that you mention it, America has, in fact, elected — actually elected — its first black president. Unfortunately, I suspect the unethical and scroungy characteristics of Bill Clinton (who entered office with the hilarious promise that his administration would be the most ethical in American history) will pop up in various aspects of Barack Obama.

I don’t care for Obama’s ideology, but if I believed he nonetheless was a very honest, very honorable person, even I would have a tough time being a major cynic and skeptic towards his winning the White House, particularly during the honeymoon period of his presidency. But he’ll be entering the Oval Office with more clouds hanging over his head than what I recall was the case with Bill Clinton back in January 1993.

Mark (411533) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:38 pm

I can’t wait to see the dynamic between President Obama and Senator Clinton when the next Congress convenes. Don’t you think HRC will look for a little bit of payback? What part of Obama’s agenda do you think she will try to torpedo first?

JVW (8a718e) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:43 pm

JVW – Insubordination and dissent will not be tolerated under Baracky.

JD (5b4781) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:45 pm

But he’ll be entering the Oval Office with more clouds hanging over his head than what I recall was the case with Bill Clinton back in January 1993.

So true, Mark. And he’s totally unequipped to deal with any of those clouds. He’ll be putty, as usual, in the hands of the various Unsavories who guide his career. And we’re the ones who’ll suffer.

Vermont Neighbor (c91cfe) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:45 pm

Insubordination and dissent will not be tolerated under Baracky.

Maybe, JD, but I don’t think he will have much of a choice. The exit polls seem to indicate that, despite certain expectations to the contrary, that Obama managed to win over 80% of the Hillary primary vote tonight. They stuck with the Democrat, but I think that white women over the age of 45 will not stand for The Dear Leader to be condescending or bullying to Hillary in any way whatsoever. He is going to have to watch himself around her, lest he lose their support in 2010 and 2012.

JVW (8a718e) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:49 pm

I think Justice Stevens is already planning a retirement party next summer.

Aplomb (b6fba6) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:51 pm

They wanted this, I hope he’s better for the country than their hopes and plans.

In the Coleman-Franken-Barkley race, Minnesota has an automatic recount if the winner’s margin is less than 0.5% of the total votes in that race (or less than 100 votes if that is larger.)

htom (412a17) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:58 pm

Oh, and we need a new term for “minority President”; we’ve already had three of those!

htom (412a17) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:59 pm

Sen. McCain gave a fantastic concession speech, far better than that given by either Sen. Kerry or VP Gore. That man I might have been able to vote for.

aphrael (0f5b23) — 11/4/2008 @ 10:59 pm

If you want to know why you lost all you have to do is look at yourselves. The Republicans had it all but instead of helping this country they dug a hole it will take decades to get out of. I need not spell out the details.

But there is another factor that can be seen here. Take a look at the truly hate filled, nasty posts that are posted by SOME on this blog.

Check out posts 16 and 11 and see why you have been rejected. America is better than people like this.. they are a cancer on society and have gutted the GOP and brought about their own demise.

VietnamEraVet (543dfe) — 11/5/2008 @ 4:37 am

I suspect that the Obama-hating will be as intense as the Bush-hating has been, and the reactions by the Obama supporters will be even worse than those by the Bush supporters. 🙁

htom (412a17) — 11/5/2008 @ 5:55 am

VietnamEraVet, your comments continue to show some sort of bizarre revision of past history that seems typical of trolls.

SPQR (26be8b) — 11/5/2008 @ 6:17 am

Htom

I just thought the same thing this morning. All the black folks that voted for him are not going to be happy when the MSM brings the hammer down, they are going to freak.

There is two sides to being president, you can be remembered like Reagan or treated like Bush, Bush saw both, after 9/11 he had a 90% rating only to have a 20% rating years later.

The American people are pretty fickle.

ML (14488c) — 11/5/2008 @ 6:26 am

The American people are pretty fickle.

Obama has talked the talk now he has to walk the walk…..One screw up and they’ll turn on him.

Especially, when he’s not putting gas in people’s cars or paying their mortgages.

SoCalMom (348213) — 11/5/2008 @ 6:45 am

I expected a headline today from the LAT “We Did It!” I’m sure they’ve got fingers crossed for a bailout.

The news is even worse this morning. Al Franken?! And Californians voted for more spending and more statism and more Dems in Sacramento. High speed train?!

Patricia (ee5c9d) — 11/5/2008 @ 6:51 am

Well my job is done here.

May God Bless all of you. I hope that you all hope for the best for America and put party biases aside. I know, I know…… we should all hope President Elect Obama does the same.

Hope that he will.

Call me a centrist, but I actually hope the Republican party does rebuild itself. I believe our country functions best when the two parties check and balance themselves.

Good Luck in ’12.

Oiram (983921) — 11/5/2008 @ 8:26 am

My congratulations to the Blue Team on their many wins. The American people have spoken, and they want the Democrats in charge.

Now if the Republicans are smart, they won’t spend the next two years simply crying, but will do some significant soul-searching on what it means to be a Republican. The brand is fatally flawed right now. They aren’t/haven’t been fiscally conservative, and socially conservative isn’t really enough. (The president-elect is against same-sex marriage, so it’s not that socially liberal positions are critical.)

When the Republicans were in charge, the deficit and spending ballooned to obscene levels. The Democrats might do no better, but we expect that of them.

Blaming others is a winning strategy when you’re in denial, but it’s not an adult strategy.

steve miller (0fb51f) — 11/5/2008 @ 8:37 am

11/4/2008

Obama Wins

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