Election Aftermath
So the GOP takes the Senate. Republicans can’t get anything passed, but they can submit legislation and make Obama veto it, and that’s exactly what they should do. At this point, the idea is to stake out positions for 2016. (Instead of doing what they should do, of course, they will allow Obama to force them to become obsessed with amnesty. Yay GOP!)
As for governors, Brownback held on in Kansas, which few predicted, and the GOP won a governorship in Illinois. I said, in Illinois! Meanwhile, Tim Scott of South Carolina became the first black Senator to be elected in the South since Reconstruction. If you haven’t been paying attention, he’s a Republican. Yay GOP! (For real this time.)
Closer to home, most of the propositions I wanted to see defeated, were. Proposition 47, which I told you will be a disaster, was a glaring exception — and we also approved billions in water bonds, which is a bad idea but unsurprising in a drought. A proposition to force the state to set aside money for a rainy day passed, which makes the Big Spenders sad, and yours truly happy. Much of the results in this area could be predicted simply by following the money; if one side was far better funded, that side won. Yay Big Money.
The quality of the results in the races for judge were mixed. On the positive side, Tom Griego beat Andrew Stein, who referred to himself as “Gang Homicide Attorney” — probably hoping voters would think he prosecutes gang members who commit homicide, when he actually defends them. If that was the idea, it didn’t work. Meanwhile, an actual gang homicide prosecutor, my friend Dayan Mathai, lost his runoff election. I’d like to think that it was a contest fought on the merits, but I tend to think instead that voters just weren’t comfortable with Dayan’s unusual name. Yay voters!
All in all, a pretty good night. Time to go to work.
Ding.
Patterico (9c670f) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:18 amAnd Kashkari did pretty well, considering his moribund, underfunded party.
The biggest revolutionary act here would be if a court would rule that public employee forced dues money could not be used for political donations at all. Employees are not really given a voice in how the money is spent, so I would propose that only a portion of dues could be collected, that which goes to actual union activities, and the other donations should be voluntary.
That would end Dem dominance here.
Patricia (5fc097) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:28 amdidn’t Bill Maher specifically target a race or races
anyone know how that turned out?
happyfeet (09ace0) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:29 amCotton and the voters gave Pryor a good old fashioned ass whuppin’ down in Arkansas, where every congressional seat is now held by a Republican.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:29 amPat Quinn is not conceding the race to Bruce Rauner here in Illinois “until the last vote is counted”. I think it takes two weeks for all of the provisional ballots to be counted, so even though Rauner had 51% to 46%, Quinn thinks there are hundreds of thousands of votes out there, all of them for him. What a class act!
rochf (f3fbb0) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:31 amI am pleasantly surprised with the results.
But there is so much that needs to be done, it is no guarantee of anything.
It does seem to make clear, however, that there is still a significant number of folks who do not always abide by what the main stream media tells them.
There will be competing agendas at interpreting results. I wonder if Tom Corbett, gov of PA, was told by his political consultants that it would be a bad idea to try to protect PA’s traditional marriage law.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:35 amQuinn thinks there are hundreds of thousands of votes out there, all of them for him.
If they’re not there now, they will be there as the count goes on and the Machine determines how many it needs, rochf.
nk (dbc370) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:35 amfeets-
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:37 amIt was claimed that Maher was going to put 1 million into a Minnesota Congressional race, and the repub won reelection, I believe.
Proposition 47, which I told you will be a disaster, was a glaring exception
I was thinking of how ticked off I’d be if some crook stole money from my checking account, and certainly for an amount of around $900, and how because it wasn’t a bit more than that, the last laugh now will be on the crook, not me.
California is well on the road to becoming a northern adjunct to Mexico. Yah voters.
Mark (c160ec) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:38 amDon’t forget Mia Love in Utah as the R’s first black female House Rep. Along with Tim Scott that is pretty cool.
My prediction is that Obama will act as a rat trapped in a corner. He will try to get his amnesty through executive fiat. He also knows that in the end the media will be on his side (after they go through the obligatory Obama bashing so they can say they are bi-partisan) and he will campaign, which is what he does best, on the idea that the R’s are extremist and are a danger to the republic and anything that he holds dear. In the end the media will go along with him and start to clear brush for Hillary in 2016. We shall see.
Ipso Fatso (10964d) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:40 amVote no on Mitch or its amnesty for all.
Vote no on John, or its amnesty for all.
Republicans have a chance to change the way the games are played.
send these progressive non-leaders to the auditorium seats.
mg (1f9584) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:41 amA million dollars is more than you spend on cable in your whole life
happyfeet (09ace0) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:43 amQuinn thinks there are hundreds of thousands of votes out there, all of them for him
Have the cemeteries been polled yet ? I hope the GOP has good lawyers, at least better than Norm Coleman’s lawyers six years ago.
In Orange County I googled all the judges to see who had appointed them. Crude but all I could do.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:45 amSince you are all dying to know:
Ben Allen thumped fellow lefty Sandra Fluke by a 3:2 margin for the state senate seat in Patterico and my senate district.
I don’t know if Patterico and I share a state assembly district, but in my district a Republican appears to have knocked off an incumbent Democrat by 2400 votes out of over 80,000 cast. Someone was saying earlier that Democrats lost their super-majority in the California legislature, which will hamper their ability to raise taxes unilaterally.
So even though California remains solid for Democrats in statewide offices, there are some rumblings of discontent in certain pockets.
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:47 amAlso look for the media to start to have “Obama Regret” not over him being a disaster, but over the fact that he will have to leave office in 2017. And they will offer up endless positive retrospectives on how he (and they) changed history, how he offered so much hope, over his soaring rhetoric, and promise for the future. Most negative aspects of his presidency will be White Washed. Pun intended. This also will be done with an eye on helping the D Party for 2016.
Ipso Fatso (10964d) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:47 am“(Instead of doing what they should do, of course, they will allow Obama to force them to become obsessed with amnesty. Yay GOP!)”
Patterico – I disagree. I think its more like they will pass a bill to secure the border, which is what the American public overwhelmingly wants and force Obama to put up or shut up with his open borders BS.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:51 am#14: my senate district, too.
Also note that the GOP gained seats in both houses of the state legislature and will gain between 2 and 4 seats in Congress (leading in 3, nailbiter in one, none called).
In AZ2, another nailbiter for Martha McSally, female A10 pilot and squadron commander who refused to wear a burka in Saudi Arabia and made the military accept it.
Kevin M (d91a9f) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:51 amSpeaking of Prop 47:
Yesterday former CA State Senator Roderick Wright, having been convicted of 8 felonies, spend an hour in jail (he got 90 days, but crowding you know) and then was released to probation.
One only wonders what happens for misdemeanors.
Kevin M (d91a9f) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:58 amObamacare is working, just not in the way Democrats thought!
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:04 amAssuming that they have some sober leadership, the GOP will pass bills quickly to address the economy. A tax cut. A repeal of Dodd-Frank. A delay of the employer mandate on Obamacare. If Obama vetoes they may well override.
If you look not only at the House pickups (which will be in the high teens before we are done), but at the number of close calls for the Dems (with a bit more R turnout, 5 more seats in CA could have flipped), the House is thoroughly weaned from the KoolAid.
And, if you don’t succeed, try again — Obama’s position is pretty weak and relies on the Senate sustaining vetoes, which they may not do with anything that even looks like a compromise.
There are good prospects for governing around him so long as they don’t go for wild change.
They are probably not going to be able to close cabinet departments, or end Obamacare. They WILL be able to terminate programs and drastically alter “Obamacare” so long as they do not return to the preexisting-condition exclusion (that is a new 3rd rail that the center will not accept).
Kevin M (d91a9f) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:08 amI think they should make Ted Cruz or Jeff Sessions the majority leader of the senate. Think of the possibilities.
Tanny O'Haley (c674c7) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:12 amThey will also be able to pass some immigration bills. A border fence crash project. A bar on using federal money to issue work documents to illegals. A repeal of the prohibition on sending Central American kids home.
What I don’t know about is what they will do if Obama comes completely off the walls, such as attempting to “pardon” all the illegals, or issuing debt not authorized.
Kevin M (d91a9f) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:15 amI think they should make Ted Cruz or Jeff Sessions the majority leader of the senate. Think of the possibilities.
Ted pisses everyone off with his “my way or the highway” act. I want someone who can get stuff done and doesn’t act like he’s the only one in the room with a brain. Ted’s positions are great, but he won’t get anywhere trying to bully senators.
Kevin M (d91a9f) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:19 amHickenlooper (D) has moved to a 22,000 vote lead over Beauprez (R ) for Colorado governor. Meanwhile, two libertarian-leaning candidates (one running on the libertarian ticket, the other as an independent) have combined for 56,000 votes and a Green candidate has received 23,000. I’m not a believer that people who vote independent or alternate-party would otherwise vote for a Republican or a Democrat, but I’m sure Beauprez laments those libertarian votes.
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:21 amDe-fund the Secret Service detail for him and Michelle. But not the kids’.
nk (dbc370) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:21 amFund the White House kitchen only for the exact same Michelle school lunch menu.
nk (dbc370) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:25 am“Fund the White House kitchen only for the exact same Michelle school lunch menu.”
Very funny, nk. On the same note, we should legislate that all politicians children should have to attend public schools. It will never happen but it is worth a shot (:
Ipso Fatso (10964d) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:32 am==What I don’t know about is what they will do if Obama comes completely off the walls, such as attempting to “pardon” all the illegals, or issuing debt not authorized.==
Clearly, Dems will always be Dems. But I am less sure that the ones left in both houses after January will be quite as eager to march in lock-step with the severely wounded and disrespected president as Dem congressman and senators–new and old–may have been in the recent past. A lot of them are going to have to run for re-election in two years, don’t forget. So for self-preservation a few veteran Dem strategists and money men and even the media are are going to step in to help curb and sabotage the Obama WH I believe. But yeah, it’s all going to be both interesting and ugly in Washington for a while. .
elissa (0b0435) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:35 amSomewhere there must be a long German word for snort my taint.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:40 amIpso, do you remember maybe twenty years ago that the kids of Chicago’s Deputy Mayor for Education were going to the Winnetka school district?
nk (dbc370) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:44 amThe headlines I want to read -Ted Cruz voted majority leader of the senate.
mg (1f9584) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:48 amSessions would be fine as well.
#24: LP candidates these days are getting a lot of pothead votes. Virginia is a case in point. NOt sure if they’d even vote otherwise.
Kevin M (d91a9f) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:50 amDon’t they have a seniority system?
nk (dbc370) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:50 amnk, no I don’t but nothing in this town would surprise me.
Ipso Fatso (10964d) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:54 amWhat they should do is return to regular order with functioning committee hearings to produce the 13 appropriation bills in both chambers and meaningful debate. What they will do is push leadership driven pre-negotiated bipartisan omnibus bills more quickly than meaningful opposition can form.
crazy (cde091) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:56 am#24: LP candidates these days are getting a lot of pothead votes. Virginia is a case in point. NOt sure if they’d even vote otherwise.
I doubt if potheads really vote in Colorado any more, now that they have full legalization. Only the ones who are motivated by other issues.
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:59 amTed Cruz, the anti-Reid. Lots of bills passed that push conservative themes that are vetoed by president Obama. The people see who really is obstructionist.
Jeff Sessions – No amnesty, ever.
Both – The senate would actually pass a budget.
McConnell – Old GOP who lets the democrats run over him in the name of “fairness”. Won’t get much done, will be perceived as republican lite. Doesn’t get in the way of Obama because Obama is the president.
Fairness = bipartisanship
Tanny O'Haley (c674c7) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:08 amNo talk about republican Larry Hogan winning the Gubernatorial race in Maryland? It’s one of the bluest of blue states as well.
Burnside (8fa39f) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:08 am#29… “Schnauben meine Makel”, daley
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:16 amI think there are bipartisan bills that could be passed and the Budget should go back to the appropriations bills like it should be.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:18 amNo talk about republican Larry Hogan winning the Gubernatorial race in Maryland? It’s one of the bluest of blue states as well.
We talked about it on the Election Results thread last night. One of the best things about Maryland is that it was one of the few states where Dear Leader was invited to — if not begged to — come in and campaign for the Dems nominee.
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:18 amThat failed “mini-me” strategy was a laugh riot!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:21 amDefinitely in spirit, if not the flesh… http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/197817/
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:30 amSuggestion to McConnell and Boehner when they next visit the WH:
When Obama starts talking about his plans, they should both say “We won!”. Hopefully it will be recorded.
Kevin M (d91a9f) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:34 amreturn to regular order
that’s crazy, crazy
Kevin M (d91a9f) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:35 amI think we will know what President Obama will do when he does it.
Fundamental transformation of America is still front and center.
He obviously did not change a thing for political reasons to help elect senators, every time they tried to distance themselves he reiterated his claim that the election was about him and his policies.
I know this must be getting old, but old friend Bill Ayers thought the death of 25 million Americans was an OK price to pay for a transformed America; the loss of a few senate seats was nothing.
If the repubs in charge think president Obama is going to react in a typical political way to this situation, they are wrong and need to be replaced if they haven’t learned by now.
The Colorado governorship is still up?? Hmmmm.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:35 amAnd now it begins… the Dims interpret, “you suck, get off the stage!” to mean “the American people sent both parties a clear message that we need to work together”…
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:38 amanyone notice the margin increase in Texas (voter ID?)
EPWJ (992ed5) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:39 amvoter ID?
No.
Kevin M (d91a9f) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:47 amIt will be interesting to gauge past voter fraud bench line in Texas
EPWJ (992ed5) — 11/5/2014 @ 10:09 am37. Tanny O’Haley (c674c7) — 11/5/2014 @ 9:08 am
Jeff Sessions was re-elected unopposed. No challenger, either in the primary or in the general election.
I don’t know why. High filing fees?
Sammy Finkelman (0e1021) — 11/5/2014 @ 10:45 amI don’t think it’s actually a German word, but French. People think it’s German because their soldiers use it a lot when occupying Paris.
Steve57 (c1c90e) — 11/5/2014 @ 10:50 amHere, I submit, is the statistic from yesterday — per CNN exit polling, which is consistent with that I’ve seen everywhere else on this — that should most terrify the national Democratic Party and that ought make everyone reevaluate a lot of conventional wisdom:
In the Texas gubernatorial race, Republican Greg Abbott won the votes of 49% of Latino males, compared to Democrat Wendy Davis’ 48%. Among Latinos of both sexes, Abbott pulled a very respectable 44%.
Another Texas data point from last night:
So in a majority-minority district created under Voting Rights Act pressures to be a Democratic safe seat, despite the overwhelmingly Hispanic/Latino composition of that district, a black Republican beats an incumbent Latino Democrat.
The national Democratic Party’s entire hope to improve its position in Texas and many other red states is based on racial demographics. But the Dems’ static and dogmatic assumptions about race are increasingly questionable. What may be a reasonable assumption about how Latino/Hispanic voters will vote in California in the 2020s may be a completely unrealistic assumption about how Texas’ Latino/Hispanic voters will vote.
Beldar (fa637a) — 11/5/2014 @ 10:53 amBarack Obama just learned about the election results this morning from TV. Nobody is madder about this turn of events than he is. If somebody told the voters his policies were on the ballot, causing the Democrats to lose, it’s an outrage. He’s launching an internal investigation into the matter immediately.
Naturally, neither he nor anybody in the administration can comment further on yesterday’s election until the investigation is complete.
In related news, Michelle’s permission to eat fried chicken has been rescinded. If your children even draw a picture of a drumstick at school today they’ll violate the Obama administration’s zero tolerance policy and the matter will be referred to local authorities for possible prosecution and action by child protective services.
Steve57 (c1c90e) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:01 amTim Scott (R-SC): Didn’t he receive more votes than did Grahmnesty?
And what about an “R” winning the Governorship of MD?
askeptic (efcf22) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:04 amOMG, Zelda is a County Supervisor!
Personally, I would have preferred (and always did) Thalia Menninger.
askeptic (efcf22) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:06 amSteve57, couldn’t a drumstick be construed to be a weapon (club) and violate the no-weapons policies?
askeptic (efcf22) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:07 amAre you people still going on about the election? President Tiger Beat has moved on to more pressing issues.
Everybody else is still wrong about everything.
Steve57 (c1c90e) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:09 amIf it’s a weapon, askeptic, then it’s a biological terror weapon because fried chicken causes a disease WORSE THAN EBOLA!!!
Steve57 (c1c90e) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:11 am2001 big space baby
pdbuttons (944767) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:12 amSammy Finkelman (0e1021) — 11/5/2014 @ 10:45 am
No one in Alabama was as dumb as Abortion Barbie to challenge him in either a primary or general election.
askeptic (efcf22) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:13 amHe has the Sally Fields vote: You love me, you really Love me!
And, Yes – They Do.
Beldar, to me the key going forward as far as Latinos and the R party is how we handle immigration. If the R’s demonize Mexicans, or illegals, etc., as has been done in the past (think Pete Wilson-Calf), they will drive Latinos back to the D Party which I don’t want to see. I don’t have any good suggestions or ideas although I am sure they are out there. I don’t want to see blanket amnesty but I will admit that I am a lot more Liberal than probably most others that post here or most conservatives for that matter. No doubt the fact that my grandmother snuck over the boarder around 1910 from Mexico would have something to do with that.
Ipso Fatso (10964d) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:14 amSteve57 (c1c90e) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:11 am
After I hit ‘submit’ I thought that if the ‘chicken fry’ was highly-spiced (Popeye’s?) it could be considered a ‘bio/chem weapon’ also.
askeptic (efcf22) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:15 amI don’t want to deny Beldar his expertise, but I think it has been said that the Hispanic community in the Rio Grande Valley is not all that supportive of illegal immigration as it is highly disruptive.
askeptic (efcf22) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:20 amdaleyrocks #29 and steve57 #52 – I seem to remember that the Germans simply went with the english language word as taught to them by the Leader of the Free World …
So they use “Obamania” …
Alastor (e7cb73) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:30 am“Are you people still going on about the election? President Tiger Beat has moved on to more pressing issues.”
Steve57 – I think he’s pivoting back to the national security threat posed by climate change and jobs once again.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:30 amHow about this for a concept … ?
Current Senators, most likely Republicans, regularly and repeatedly and publicly ask Senator Reid to respond to the electoral results and electoral message from November 4th, 2014, by putting those House-passed bills which are awaiting a Senate vote up for a vote ?
The response of Senator Reid and the other Democrat/Progressive current Senators will tend to show how January and forward is likely to go …
Alastor (e7cb73) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:33 amBeldar, to me the key going forward as far as Latinos and the R party is how we handle immigration. If the R’s demonize Mexicans, or illegals, etc., as has been done in the past (think Pete Wilson-Calf), they will drive Latinos back to the D Party which I don’t want to see. I don’t have any good suggestions or ideas although I am sure they are out there. I don’t want to see blanket amnesty but I will admit that I am a lot more Liberal than probably most others that post here or most conservatives for that matter. No doubt the fact that my grandmother snuck over the boarder around 1910 from Mexico would have something to do with that.
Ipso Fatso, I agree that using the language of “invasion” or warning of a “takeover” is a dead-end for the GOP. I’m with you in that I am much more of a squish on immigration than a lot of my fellow conservatives, and I would like some commonsense agreement to be reached. The focus should be on law and order, and we should be asking the following questions:
1. In an era where tens of millions of American citizens are unemployed or underemployed, should we really be importing in more labor from outside our borders?
2. Given that many people illegally cross our borders to escape the dysfunction and corruption in their home nations, can the U.S. really be the escape valve for all of Central America’s economic and social ills? Is our willingness to provide asylum to these refugees actually preventing those countries from addressing their own problems?
3. Is it just to reward those who break the law and arrive illegally over those who are patiently waiting to migrate here in a legal fashion?
I acknowledge that there is a measure of xenophobia in some Republicans’ aversion to the influx of illegal immigrants, but I think that most of us are simply frustrated that the laws are so flagrantly and casually violated without any real consequence.
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:36 amAlso…NCAA basketball brackets.
March Madness is only four months off.
Steve57 (c1c90e) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:44 amHere are the results from last night in Louisiana’s Senate race:
Landrieu (Dem) – 42%
Cassidy (Rep) – 41%
Maness (Rep) – 14%
Clements (Rep) – 1%
McMorris (Lib) – 1%
Ables (Dem) – 1%
Going into the top two runoff, we see the Republicans with 56% of the votes cast, the Democrats with 43%, and 1% for Libertarians. Now Louisiana will be Louisiana, and none of us would be surprised if the Landrieu machine somehow bought up Maness’s supporters, but short of that is there any real scenario where Landrieu wins? All Cassidy has to do is say to voters, “Do you want your Senator to be in the majority party or the minority party?” Plus, as much trouble as Dems have dragging voters to the polls for mid-terms, what chance do they have of getting them there for a runoff?
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:45 amThe guy who killed three girls in a crosswalk on Halloween was a poster child for Prop 47. I thought this horrible example of letting “petty” criminals go free would make an impression on voters. Guess not.
Patricia (5fc097) — 11/5/2014 @ 11:49 amJVW, you make some great points. This is an issue, if handled right by the R’s, that could help them with a growing voting demo for years and put the D’s on the defensive. Boy would I love to see that.
Ipso Fatso (10964d) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:07 pmObama: GFY, racists.
DNF (46af08) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:16 pmObama is speaking. He says the lesson of this election is that the GOP ran a good campaign and that voters want politicians in DC to work together on things like the minimum wage. He admits that Republicans will want to offer other bills that he says won’t work, so he won’t sigh them. The message is Get Stuff Done, and that will be his goal.
He’s doubling down on his policies. The question is whether the media will let him do it without criticism. They shouldn’t but they love him. Hopefully they love the idea of Hillary in 2016 more, because they are going to have to choose between them in the next two years.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:16 pmAnd immigration will be done with or without Congress.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:17 pmHis ego will NOT allow him to accept that he and his agenda were firmly and soundly rejected. He blames Congress, specifically the House.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:21 pmNBC News senior White House correspondent Chris Jansing: Voters are unhappy with Democrats and Republicans. Why did they punish just the Democrats?
Obama: people are unhappy with DC. Send me good bills, like the Senate immigration bill, and they will be happy.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:22 pmABC’s Jon Karl: Should you have done more to reach out to Congress?
Obama: I ask myself every day how to solve the partisanship. I will be spending more time with McConnell and Boehner now that they are the leaders. I would enjoy Kentucky bourbon with McConnell, although I don’t know what he drinks.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:26 pmBloomberg correspondent: Let’s talk about Iran.
Translation: Let’s help make you look Presidential again.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:27 pmJansing’s question is the lamest so far. Basically, why did you let Jimmy have all the pie and not give me any?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:30 pmSoftball.
nk (dbc370) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:32 pmAs mentioned above, yes, Tim Scott received more votes than Graham.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:35 pmThough they did have different opponents, so not sure what that means.
70. “none of us would be surprised if the Landrieu machine somehow bought up Maness’s supporters”
Not a serious person.
DNF (46af08) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:36 pmThey, the White House co-respondents*, are a total bunch of lickspittles.
*Lawyers already know the profound difference between correspondent and co-respondent. https://www.google.com/#q=co-respondent+meaning
nk (dbc370) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:36 pmObama sure does everything he can a helluva lot.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:51 pmHe’s doubling down on his policies. The question is whether the media will let him do it without criticism. They shouldn’t but they love him. Hopefully they love the idea of Hillary in 2016 more, because they are going to have to choose between them in the next two years.
Remember when the media was all in a huff because George W. Bush was “stubborn” and refused to consider alternative ideas? No doubt that Barack Obama will be cast as “principled” and “Presidential” when he doubles down on his failures.
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:51 pmI hereby issue a DNR on DNF…
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:52 pmClintttton bites his lip… Obama smacks his lips.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:53 pmand you have had what to do with increased energy production, Mr. Preezy?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:54 pmMajor Garrett is not cooperating!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:55 pmAfter decades of a relentless message that the GOP obstruct, particularly in recent years, voters turn to the GOP because they want the GOP to cooperate with Obama’s agenda? How does anyone say that with a straight face?
Dustin (801032) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:56 pmJim Acosta CNN grows a pair! “Your party rejected you.”
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:57 pmA Texas election aftermath:
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:57 pm87. N/A ciego.
DNF (46af08) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:58 pmJust minutes ago, Obama said he would be willing to have a drink with McConnell .. and then The Hill posts this:
This is what we need the media to do a lot more. Make him eat (or drink) his words.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:01 pmWas that just Acosta again who returned to the idea that Democrats had rejected Obama’s leadership?
And I love Dear Leader’s response, “I love campaigning. I love meeting people, and giving out handshakes and hugs. . . .” Well no kidding, sir. It’s the only thing you happen to be good at.
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:02 pmHe loves meeting adoring people.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:03 pm“I did it… my wa-a-a-a-ay!”
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:05 pm– Frank “Ol’ Brown Eyes” Obama
Boy, he just doesn’t do humility does he?
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:07 pmObama: there’s so much bad new in the media. No wonder people get discouraged. But I’ll keep trying, even if it means drinking with McConnel or letting Boehner beat me at golf.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:07 pmThis is his humility, JVW. He’s usually much more arrogant.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:08 pmOffering to spend time with anyone who doesn’t adore him is humility to him.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:09 pmOf course, part of his message is that the media is to blame for this for not being positive enough in its coverage. Will they toe the line or will they start thinking about Hillary?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:10 pmObama offered the GOP a very generous compromise. He’ll give them a chance to implement his agenda before he uses his pen and phone and does it for them.
Steve57 (93de3f) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:13 pmBut I’ll keep trying, even if it means drinking with McConnel or letting Boehner beat me at golf.
See, this is what I don’t get. Is this an in-joke and Obama assumes that all the reporters there know that John Boehner is actually known as a pretty darn good golfer and can easily beat Obama on the course? Is Obama just poking fun at himself pretending that he is as good a golfer as Boehner, or does he actually think that when Boehner regularly beats him that it is just because he let the Speaker win?
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:14 pmWow, Fox news just played a clip of Obama’s defiant insistence that this isn’t a repudiation of his agenda and contrasted it with a clip of Clinton right after the 1994 midterms accepting full blame and admitting that things would need to change.
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:15 pmMcConnell is about to speak. This should be an interesting contrast, too.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:18 pm91. ” there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar”
DNF (46af08) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:18 pmOffering to spend time with anyone who doesn’t adore him is humility.
He thinks bigger than that. It’s full-tilt martyrdom. Come down off that cross, Mr. President!
Dana (9ec88a) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:18 pm104. Thread winner, IMO.
DNF (46af08) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:22 pmHeard in the White House:
“It’s just a flesh wound.”
Kevin M (56aae1) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:24 pmWell, even the MSNBC hostess is laughing at Obama’s unwillingness to accept blame.
I think this might be the last of me watching MSNBC.
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:26 pmPeople just don’t sufficiently appreciate Obama’s greatness. America is not worthy.
Raaaaacists!
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:28 pmWhen this is all done (after the LA runoff), the GOP will have a pickup of 19 or 20 House seats for a total of 252 or 253. They will have 54 Senators by election and possibly two more by
defectionrealignment. Some say 3 more.As far as the filibuster is concerned, they should make Reid a deal: rescind the nuclear option for the rest of the term and they’ll consider keeping the filibuster in the next Congress (hint: they won’t).
Kevin M (56aae1) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:28 pmAs far as the filibuster is concerned, they should make Reid a deal: rescind the nuclear option for the rest of the term and they’ll consider keeping the filibuster in the next Congress (hint: they won’t).
Bad idea. Just junk the filibuster, along with open-ended holds on nominees. You can extend courtesies to the opposition without allowing them to gum up the works indefinitely.
Art Deco (ee8de5) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:34 pm103. Quintessential antiChristo.
DNF (46af08) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:34 pmWow, Fox news just played a clip of Obama’s defiant insistence that this isn’t a repudiation of his agenda and contrasted it with a clip of Clinton right after the 1994 midterms accepting full blame and admitting that things would need to change.
Ronald Reagan once was turned down for a job in the sporting goods department at Montgomery Ward. He had occasion more than fifty years later to wonder what his life would have been like had they hired him in 1932. Look at Obama and look at Clinton. Which one do you think could make a living in commission sales?
Art Deco (ee8de5) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:37 pmAs far as the filibuster is concerned, they should make Reid a deal: rescind the nuclear option for the rest of the term and they’ll consider keeping the filibuster in the next Congress (hint: they won’t).
Nah, for a variety of reasons the Republicans should just acknowledge that the Reid Rule is here to stay. Even if the Dems replace Reid with Schumer or Durbin, any deal on parliamentary procedure that is made when the GOP controls the Senate will not be honored if the Dems regain control in 2016. The GOP can hopefully band together and defeat Obama’s bad nominees on an up-and-down vote (maybe with some help from the remaining red state Democrats), and for the worst of them they can just invoke the Leahy rule and refuse to hold hearings or votes for them.
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:47 pmit’s how/the way the message is being delivered, it’s not the agenda, not his policies…
no… he’s not mopey.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:53 pmso he hears the 2/3 of those who didn’t vote… “I hear you, too.” what a schvantz.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 1:55 pm“Constitutional showdown or blackmail, Republicans. Your choice.”
– el Presidente Barack Obama
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 2:01 pm“He’s a charming guy… crappy policies.”
– Jack Welch
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 2:02 pmDe-fund gasoline purchases for the Presidential motorcade for golf outings.
I hope he is paying his own greens fees, not the taxpayers.
nk (dbc370) — 11/5/2014 @ 2:09 pmhttp://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/11/05/the-most-important-thing-that-obama-said-during-that-insufferable-presser/
DNF (46af08) — 11/5/2014 @ 2:26 pmJVW,
The problem is that Obama is going to nominate everyone he possibly can in a lame-duck session and get them rubber-stamped. AG, for example, or whomever quits next. Maybe the GOP can stop it by the help of scared Dems, but a lot of them won’t care. Alternatively, McConnell can threaten retaliation, but that’s not his style.
Kevin M (56aae1) — 11/5/2014 @ 2:29 pmhttp://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/11/05/maine-king-to-continue-caucusing-with-democrats/
DNF (46af08) — 11/5/2014 @ 2:37 pmI imagine that Angus King’s conversation with Mitch McConnell went something like this:
King – Hey, Mitch – if I caucus with you guys will you give me seniority over the newcomers and maybe even let me head a subcommittee?
McConnell – Nope.
King – OK, I’ll stay with the Democrats.
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 3:07 pm“I’ve got Hardballs set to record at 7pm EDT. I’m hoping for an aneurysm.”
http://minx.cc/?blog=86&post=352947
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 3:11 pmThe problem is that Obama is going to nominate everyone he possibly can in a lame-duck session and get them rubber-stamped. AG, for example, or whomever quits next.
Cabinet-level appointments can still be filibustered, can’t they? I thought the Reid Rule only applied to lower courts and the minor bureaucracy.
Besides, I would hazard that some of these incumbent Democrats who lost (Udall, Hagan, Pryor, etc.) probably aren’t too thrilled with Obama and may want to try to run again down the road, so why would they risk being seen as some kind of enablers for his radical agenda just as they are heading out the door? I’m guessing that Obama’s ability to wreck havoc between now and the end of January isn’t all that great.
JVW (60ca93) — 11/5/2014 @ 3:15 pmThey used to make a tranquilizer with Obama’s name in it: Meprobamate a/k/a Miltown. There’s a song about it:
It’s so difficulty today
nk (dbc370) — 11/5/2014 @ 3:24 pmYou can hear Obama say
And the voters just don’t appreciate
That golf is tiring
And the Republican got Congress
And they’re gonna kick my flat ass
And Harry Reid pretends he doesn’t know me
So he rushes to the shelter
Of his little Obama helper
78. DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 12:26 pm
Did you notice how he oraised McConnell at the expense of Boehner?
McConnell, he said, never made a promise he couldn’t keep. Earlier he had said that Boehner sometimes coujldn’t gte his caucus to follow through. He also prsaised McConnell’s for telling him accurately what would pass and what wouldn’t. At least now he thinks it is accurate, and taht McConnell can count votes.
It had to be squeezed out of Obama that he wouldn’t sign a bill that abolished the individual mandate. He tried to say that indirectly. He said he wouldn’t sign anything that make the legislation not work. He almost didn’t want to say that he considered the individual mandate one such thing. He mentioned Romney. First by decsriptiopn, and then, getting a bit bolder, he actually went ahead and mentioned Romney’s name, too.
Obama, I think, falsely attributed agreement on some matters with Republicans. He said they agreed on infrastructure. If you listened further, it became clear that what Obama really wanted was the construction jobs. And that means, of course, union jobs. Jobs that pay union scale at least. Davis Bacon. If Republicans want to spend money on projects they probably want it to cost as little as possible. Obama wants to create as many high paying (union) jobs as possible and get the least done for the most amount of money. Ir that;s the way it is so long as lets other people select and direct the projects.
By the way, the Keystone pipeline is infrastructure. But it’s not more work on what we have, it’s something new.
Sammy Finkelman (570401) — 11/5/2014 @ 3:27 pmThe CBS Evening News said the Republicans have 52 Senate seats, the Democrats 45, and 3 are undecided, but it didn’t say which, except that Louisiana was one of them.
Are the other two, Georgia and Alaska?
Sammy Finkelman (570401) — 11/5/2014 @ 3:47 pmVA, 0
DNF (46af08) — 11/5/2014 @ 4:03 pmMcSally (AZ2) up by 2K with 100% in. Now for the fraud.
Three House seats picked up in CA, or so it seems.
Assuming that the two LA seats go red (they should with heavy R margins), the GOP should end with a net gain of 20, for 253.
Kevin M (56aae1) — 11/5/2014 @ 4:35 pmSammy, I am almost tempted to send you to lmgtfy.com
The other two are AK and VA. VA is likely Dem, pending recount.
Kevin M (56aae1) — 11/5/2014 @ 4:37 pmI want to see a cartoon of Bummer with his face beat up like he just went two minutes with a professional prize fighter. (Two minute is me being generous.)
This… but with more brusing and busted lip.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 11/5/2014 @ 4:47 pmAre the other two, Georgia and Alaska?
Sammy Finkelman (570401) — 11/5/2014 @ 3:47 pm
Seriously, WTF, Sammy! All the googling and cut and pasting you do and you ask that question?!?!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 5:01 pmDid McConnell say he was looking forward to working with new leadership from the minority side in the Senate?
That would have been a nice, gentlemanly shot directly at Dirty Harry’s gut.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 11/5/2014 @ 5:08 pmSpeaking of local elections, Doug Ose upsets the carpetbagger, Obama ditto voting, Ami Bera.
You might remember Bera as the benefactor of the State Democrats concerted media whisper campaign and gerrymandering against long time rep Dan Lungren.
Doug Osi in his spare time saved our local county parks through creative semi-privatization , when the local supermajority Dems were in the “lets close all the amenities to show the local rubes” mood following the shelacking their party took in the 2010 election.
It’s a good thing when deserving and faithful public servants like Doug win the vote, good for everybody, but unfortunately Ose hasn’t cleared the fraud gap built into California elections.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 11/5/2014 @ 5:12 pm137. Sammy Finkelman: Are the other two, Georgia and Alaska?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 5:01 pm
I wasn’t 100% sure that Georgia was still undecided, because I had heard something about Perdue winning, and I wasn’t up to date on Alaska, although I knew the results are not supposed to be in for time, and I didn’t calculate out whether what I knew would add up to 52. I thought it added up to 51.
And I really wanted to know what CBS was counting as decided and undecided.
Sammy Finkelman (570401) — 11/5/2014 @ 5:15 pmIn fact, Kevin M @135 says Virginia is the third undecided one, (therefore not Georgia)
Sammy Finkelman (570401) — 11/5/2014 @ 5:18 pmI miss Zell Miller.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 11/5/2014 @ 5:20 pmTingle’s could use an ass whoopin.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 11/5/2014 @ 5:28 pm29.Somewhere there must be a long German word for snort my taint.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:40 am
Will three do?
Schnauben meine Makel
Yoda (cffabe) — 11/5/2014 @ 5:51 pmNational Journal has a map of the Congressional districts, with red for Republican and blue for Democrat. That’s a lot of red.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 5:58 pmYoda too late you are. Upthread look you must.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/5/2014 @ 6:00 pm137. Research and thought thereupon diminish typo output.
DNF (46af08) — 11/5/2014 @ 7:28 pm145. DRJ (a83b8b) — 11/5/2014 @ 5:58 pm
That sort of thing has been true for a long time, ever since it’s been standardized that blue = Democrat and red = Republican. (That was in the year 2000)
There was a famous map in the year 2000 of the vote for President by county. It was almost all red.
The same thing would be true of Congressional districts, maybe not so strongly. Democrat voters are concentrated in small areas, while Republicans are more spread out.
The total area of a random collection of districts with Democratic members of Congress is probably a lot smaller than a random sample of the same number of districts with a Republican member of Congress.
The area disparity is probably least strong when it comes to entire states, as states may be “blue” even though most of the blue comes from a small portion of the state.
Sammy Finkelman (c5cea5) — 11/6/2014 @ 7:10 am20. Kevin M (d91a9f) — 11/5/2014 @ 8:08 am
Since the Senate is the harder of the two bodies to get Republican backed legislation passed, and since Mitch McConnell is really good at vote counting, House Speaker Boehner will probably let Senstor Mitch McConnell take the lead in plotting strategy.
Actually, they’ll all meet together, House and Senate Republican leaders. What’ll they do first? I don’t know. There will probably be a mix of bills to get vetoed and bills to get signed, and McConnell probably can actually figure out ways to get things that would surprise you signed by Obama. Some of that may take a couple of what looks like false starts.
Tax cut? I don’t see. This will be negotiated with the White House, or be part of the budget process, which is not immediate. Repealing a few unpopular (in Congress anyway) small taxes (in terms of revenue raised) might be relatively early. The medical devices tax is one of them.
Obama talks about tax reform, but if you noticed yesterday, he thinks tax reform is a way to raise money. Republicans don’t want to go in for that kind of tax reform. They may get to work early on tax reform, but that won’t cme out of committee until at least mid-summer.
Dodd Frank? Might be an idea. But McConnell has got to get Democrats to want it. I don’t mean Harry Reid. I mean a good sampling of other Democrats. That will be his general strategy. Get a significant number of Democrats behind a bill, and if you can get 67 votes, or better yet, 70, (because Obama or Biden or Bill Clinton might persuade a few Democrats to back down) you’re really in the clear. And yes, there’ll be places he can reach 70 or 75. And Obama won’t want too many narrowly sustained vetoes, either.
I don’t think anybody cares about cabinet departments, although Homeland Security is a prime candidate for dimantling. But that’s the sort of thing maybe to wait for the next President for.
There are a bunch of third rails. Immigration policy has a couple of them.
Obamacare? First of all, there’ll be problems when people start filling out their income tax returns for 2014, and don’t get all their refund.
I think repealing (or zeroing out) the individual mandate, and overriding President Obama’s veto of that bill, is maybe a possibility, even though that destroys the whole structure of Obamacare as it’s been conceived and leads it to insolvency. More likely to get signed or overridden is repealing it retroactively just for the tax year 2014.
That can later be done again for the tax year 2015.
And then the tax year 2016.
By which time people will come to expect it, so even introducing a bill doing that in late 2015 or early 2016 will be enough, and Obama will be forced to negotiate, maybe in his last year, a replacement for Obamacare. If you don’t officially repeal it, or if Obama can claim this is even better than the PPACA, this might stand a real chance of getting done. With the continuation of the no exclusion for pre-existing conditions rule, you’d need a completely re-worked system.
Obama claimed that you need an individual mandate for a market system. No you don’t – there are ways of getting a market, and what you have now is not a market at the individual patient level.
The problem, Rush Limbaugh has stated more or less, is not government paid insurance, it’s insurance. (And yet nobody wants a pay as you go system)
Nobody has yet come forth with a really good proposal for an alternative system, but anyone in politics who does will gain tremendously in stature.
Sammy Finkelman (c5cea5) — 11/6/2014 @ 7:51 amI thought the Republicans won.
Ted Cruz for majority leader of the senate!
Tanny O'Haley (c674c7) — 11/7/2014 @ 8:54 amMorning Jolt quoting Politico:
Control of the Senate is no loneger at stake, and she’s behind anyway.
She was at 40 percent in the polls and finished with 43 percent on Election Day. Republican Bill Cassidy was at 34.5 percent in the polls and finished with 41.9 percent. Republican Bill Manness got 13.7 percent.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 11/7/2014 @ 11:15 am