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Well, the Republicans sent out their "B" team once again and as usual they lost. Romney isn't as bad a choice as Dole or McCain but he didn't run a campaign that would exactly inspire anyone, either. You've got to inspire confidence way before October and Romney didn't. Sort of ironic given the crowds he was drawing late in the game.
My hope is that they'll realise they've maxxed out their vote with white christian voters, and that only gives them 49% of the vote. Hoping the Democratic base doesn't show up in big numbers is basically the only way they win, and with demographics being as they are that situation is only going to get worse for Republicans. That means simply doubling down on the narrow base and hoping to get even more turnout from them is a losing strategy. Instead the party really needs to rebrand itself to appeal to a broader base, and that means the race to be the most extreme has to stop.
Yes I hope so too, have to say as an outsider the whole thing was pretty unpleasant and to be honest downright scary!
The Democratic majority in the senate also has to be pretty important in terms of legislature and you have to think now that we will finally see Obama get some of the things he has promised on the table. Not like last time, with every motion being blocked for the sake of it, and with this being his final term he won't have to be looking over his shoulder with everything he does.
Good news for the Brits and our army who will now leave Afghanistan by 2014 and then presumably will have at least 2 years rest in any case.
I missed it, but reports have it Mitt Romney's speach was pretty gracious.
Pacific wrote: Yes I hope so too, have to say as an outsider the whole thing was pretty unpleasant and to be honest downright scary!
I mean, it isn't that likely just yet. As much as the Democrats are happy and Republicans are sad, there's really only 100,000 votes in each of Ohio and Virginia, and 50,000 votes in Florida and it would be very different.
My point is more that if the Republicans look long term (and that's a massive if) they can see that their general support is in trouble, demographically speaking. Taking a more Texas style approach to issues like border control could see a lot more Hispanic voters tempted by their family values platform, than the present Alabama style race baiting that kills their support with Hispanic voters.
The Democratic majority in the senate also has to be pretty important in terms of legislature and you have to think now that we will finally see Obama get some of the things he has promised on the table. Not like last time, with every motion being blocked for the sake of it, and with this being his final term he won't have to be looking over his shoulder with everything he does.
Well, Obama doesn't have the house, and the senate doesn't really turn on a simple majority (it helps, but it isn't all that). So the next four years really depends on where the two sides can find middle ground, and how much each side is willing to concede.
The real hope is if the 2008 Republican strategy of Obama as a one term president dies, and they realise they've got to work with this guy to achieve anything. Time will tell on that one. The Grover Norquist 'no new taxes' pledge is a heavy constraint on any possible bargaining from the Republicans.
Good news for the Brits and our army who will now leave Afghanistan by 2014 and then presumably will have at least 2 years rest in any case.
I think that stuff was happening anyway. To be honest the only point of difference between Romney and Obama on foreign policy was on Iran, where both guys would say 'we're for sanctions, and if Iran keeps building a bomb we'll take more aggressive action', except for political purposes Obama emphasised the first part, and Romney emphasised the second part.
Meanwhile I'm pretty sure the withdrawal of Afghanistan was happening under each of them.
EDIT And XKCD has fething hammered it, on that whole weird attack on Nate Silver is biased and misleading thing we saw in the last couple of months.
Because looking at averages of state polls and using that to predict an election just makes sense, and it fething works.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2012/11/07 09:22:45
“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”
Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something.
Powder Burns wrote:what they need to make is a fullsize leatherman, like 14" long folded, with a bone saw, notches for bowstring, signaling flare, electrical hand crank generator, bolt cutters..
sebster wrote: And in the really big news, Bachman is narrowly trailing her Democratic opponent in her house seat. Man that'd be fantastic if she got booted. Be a real sign that people might not be crazy for everything the Democrats offer, but they sure are sick of the really crazy end of the Republican party.
My hope is that the GOP realizes that the Tea Party is a cancer that needs to be booted. Considering how diverse the Democratic Party is I could even see the GOP split into two parties. They could let the Tea Party become their own party and have the GOP proper move towards moderation while picking up blue dog democrats and moderates.
My fear is that the GOP will "realize" that they didn't win because Romney was not conservative enough, and that they need to double down on being more conservative.
Remember Alfred's line in The Dark Knight about how in the mob's desperation, they turned to a man they didn't truly understand?
The GOP and the Tea Party are a lot like that. The Tea Party gave them a burst of adrenaline in 2010, but set them on the wrong path for the long term. Party leadership knows what it's up against -- note how in an age when the rightiest righties are louder than ever, they run McCain and Romney back-to-back for POTUS. Their problem now is that the GOP is very fractured, and the reactionaries are likely going to be more unwilling than ever to play ball.
But as I've said consistently, the GOP will eventually figure it out because it's ultimately about winning elections and not about ideological purity. Most of the "pure" types fake it anyway.
Well, maybe rockerbikie is a racist and feels that Native people are the superior race, I have no idea.
can you be a Nazi aboriginal?
Maybe Dakka should read for once, I am not a Nazi, I have changed. I was just a pissed off little kid back then, I would like an aboriginal America to be President because it was originally there land. Also, I praised that Obama won. If I was still a "Nazi", I would have stated something stupid and claimed it should of been Romney. I have a frickin poster of Ho Chi Minh in my room. How many times do I have to state I have changed, socially I'm on the right but econmoically I'm on the left. Look I'm a Nationalist Communist, philsophy wise similar to Ho Chi Minh.
Edited by Manchu.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/11/07 14:40:14
Well, maybe rockerbikie is a racist and feels that Native people are the superior race, I have no idea.
can you be a Nazi aboriginal?
Maybe Dakka should read for once, I am not a Nazi, I have changed. I was just a pissed off little kid back then, I would like an aboriginal America to be President because it was originally there land. Also, I praised that Obama won. If I was still a "Nazi", I would have stated something stupid and claimed it should of been Romney. I have a frickin poster of Ho Chi Minh in my room. How many times do I have to state I have changed, socially I'm on the right but econmoically I'm on the left. Look I'm a Nationalist Communist, philsophy wise similar to Ho Chi Minh. [snip]
I read plenty 6 months ago and before when you publicly and vociferously were proclaiming that you were a nazi, 2 months ago you claimed to be a conservative, and this week you think you're a communist. Next week you'll probably be a Girondian. But you'll always be Dakka's adorable litle neo-Nazi.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2012/11/07 14:52:11
Avatar 720 wrote: You see, to Auston, everyone is a Death Star; there's only one way you can take it and that's through a small gap at the back.
Powder Burns wrote:what they need to make is a fullsize leatherman, like 14" long folded, with a bone saw, notches for bowstring, signaling flare, electrical hand crank generator, bolt cutters..
Well, maybe rockerbikie is a racist and feels that
I read plenty 6 months ago and before when you publicly and vociferously were proclaiming that you were a nazi, 2 months ago you claimed to be a conservative, and this week you think you're a communist. Next week you'll probably be a Girondian. But you'll always be Dakka's adorable litle neo-Nazi.
Actually, I am kinda a mixed bag between communist and conservatism. Instead of antagonising others, you could instead make a rational argument, wait, I'm being a bit too much of an optimist expecting an argument which is not insultive or antagonisive. By treating me like an idiot you are just providing evidence of the edited part of my first post which shall not be stated again. Ok? I use rational and logic, you use pure emotion and anger. I shall recite a passage now. The monkey looked at the moon, he jumped at the moon, leaping trying to proove it's superiority but it was just looking at the moons reflection. No matter how hard you try to be more intelligent than me you can not, like the monkey you are looking in the reflection of me( the moon).
Powder Burns wrote:what they need to make is a fullsize leatherman, like 14" long folded, with a bone saw, notches for bowstring, signaling flare, electrical hand crank generator, bolt cutters..
Breotan wrote: Well, the Republicans sent out their "B" team once again and as usual they lost. Romney isn't as bad a choice as Dole or McCain but he didn't run a campaign that would exactly inspire anyone, either. You've got to inspire confidence way before October and Romney didn't. Sort of ironic given the crowds he was drawing late in the game.
The great white hope was "B Team"?!?
It is hard to inspire people when you are focused on repressing them, taking away civil liberties, labeling them lazy and unpatriotric, etc., etc.
Pro tip: don't continually insult and dismiss the people you need to vote for you...
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/11/07 15:37:43
Manchu wrote: I can't wait to read all the threads about how awful the electoral college is.
Well romney did win the popular vote so....
It's like democrats win do to a system they probably hate. True democracy would've worked against them. Irony!
And, now that it's the next morning, Obama has a 2.5 million lead in the popular vote, with tons of votes still to come in from California and Washington, which should add even more to his lead.
Breotan wrote:Well, the Republicans sent out their "B" team once again and as usual they lost. Romney isn't as bad a choice as Dole or McCain but he didn't run a campaign that would exactly inspire anyone, either. You've got to inspire confidence way before October and Romney didn't. Sort of ironic given the crowds he was drawing late in the game.
McCain was an excellent choice, definitely not the "B" team you're suggesting. His (previously) moderate stance is exactly what is needed to win. His downfall was picking a mentally unstable idiot for a running mate. Hell, even Romney wasn't even part of the "B Team" on the national stage. If he never had to pander to the Liars for Jesus crowd during the primaries, then he would've crushed Obama. Until the GOP splits away from the hardcore, fundamentalist-right base, it will never get anyone other than the "B Team", or else someone that looks like them, on the national stage again.
rockerbikie wrote:Maybe Dakka should read for once, I am not a Nazi, I have changed. I was just a pissed off little kid back then, I would like an aboriginal America to be President because it was originally there land. Also, I praised that Obama won. If I was still a "Nazi", I would have stated something stupid and claimed it should of been Romney. I have a frickin poster of Ho Chi Minh in my room. How many times do I have to state I have changed, socially I'm on the right but econmoically I'm on the left. Look I'm a Nationalist Communist, philsophy wise similar to Ho Chi Minh.
Sounds like you have a propensity to idolize very extreme, violent fringe croups. I think you should read some Hobbes; it would do you good.
rockerbikie wrote:Actually, I am kinda a mixed bag between communist and conservatism.
I think that's a recipe for Stalin-worship, which is just as worrisome as being a neo-Nazi (not saying you are- I don't know you).
Powder Burns wrote:what they need to make is a fullsize leatherman, like 14" long folded, with a bone saw, notches for bowstring, signaling flare, electrical hand crank generator, bolt cutters..
funny thing I heard about a voting place in Flordia
a woman tries to go in and vote
the person at the door tells her she cant go in
why you may be asking
because of the shirt she was wearing. it is a rule that no political signs were allowed in the voting place. The woman was like ????? Then she looked down at her shirt and this was what she saw
she asked to speak with another official that could spell the candidates name right
3000+
Death Company, Converted Space Hulk Termies
RIP Diz, We will never forget ya brother
Actually, while Hitler was in power the Nazi groups in Australia were extremely progressive in their embrace of Australian Aboriginal culture. They put them, culturally, on a footing that the rest of Australia probably still hasn't reached.
Seriously, for anyone interested in just how weird history gets, Nazis are the gift that keeps on giving.
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Easy E wrote: As of 5:00 am CST Michelle Bachman was declared the winner in MN 6th District by 1% point.
The challenger Graves is considering a recount challenge, but it probably won't do any good.
Well that's just a damn shame, really.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ouze wrote: Yeah, I was smelling, frankly, desperation in some of the attacks on Mr. Silver in the last 2 days about how he obviously had his thumb on the scale.
Yeah, there really was. Something a little similar happened in 2004, when Democrats suddenly decided that the polls were biased, but from my general impression it was nothing like what we saw from right wing pundits this time around.
Seems the strategy of 'don't like reality, shout your opinion loudly' is just how they work.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2012/11/08 01:45:23
“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”
Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something.
3000+
Death Company, Converted Space Hulk Termies