The president continues to fantasize that he’s a campaign asset this fall:
Obama himself has largely shucked his “postpartisan” ideal, and you can expect some sharp rhetorical elbows thrown at Republicans when he addresses a Labor Day rally in Milwaukee on Monday. That’s likely to escalate in coming weeks as Obama – and first lady Michelle Obama – go stumping for Democrats.
“They’ve forgotten I politick pretty good,” he told a crowd in Austin, Texas, last month.
Oh, yeah? Tell it to Creigh Deeds, John Corzine and Martha Coakley.
I continue to challenge the conventional wisdom that Barack Obama is either a good campaigner or a smart politician. He won the nomination because the Dems wanted an alternative to the arrogant and “inevitable” Hillary and he was black. He won the election because McCain was a horrible candidate and ran a horrible campaign, people were fed up with the mushy Bush-era Republicans, and because he was black.
People have gotten to know him now, and they don’t like it.
Yes, the best thing for the Democrats would be if President Obama stayed in Washington and let Sarah Palin and the Tea Party continue their work of winning the midterm elections for the Democrats 🙂
“let Sarah Palin and the Tea Party continue their work of winning the midterm elections for the Democrats”
Mr. Matuala, I don’t understand their appeal either but, Sarah Palin and the Tea Party, are like, popular.
We’ve got two more years of Obama. He must and will be weakened. Those that must, keep thinking that Sarah is some strange creature. American are and have always been strange creatures. What the world will never understand is that Americans, unlike the rest, do not live in fear. After 9-11 the world thought we’d cower. That’s not what happened.
Americans know the heart of America will never let us down. Fools can keep strategizing… Fools can keep fantasizing… America will come out on top. The tea party is filled with strange creatures that both love their enemies and will beat the crap out of them. Strange indeed.
Sarah Palin and the Tea Party continue their work of winning the midterm elections for the Democrats
I love to see “thinking” like that. It’ll make the pounding that the arrogant “Progressives” and their Democrat stooges get this November even larger and all the more enjoyable.
Paul Milenkovic.
They are popular among the radical right. But elections are won by bringing the independents and those in the middle of the road to your side, not those on the extremes. Those in the middle may not attend rallies much or be very visible, but their votes are the ones which sways the election one way or the other.
President Obama’s campaigning simply reminds those in the middle they may have made a mistake in 2008 and misjudged how radical he was. Best for him to fade from sight and allow the Tea Party rants to scare them into voting for the Democrats.
The appeal of Sarah Palin and Tea Parties is populist and extends beyond the “radical right”, whatever that is supposed to mean.
The right/left distinction refers to the French Estates General and the seating arrangement in the runnup to the French Revolution. Right traditionally means the “royalist” or “aristrocratic” faction, and to refer to either Sarah Palin or Tea Parties as “radical right” is stretching a whole lot of definitions.
So what is “radical” about the positions advocated by this “radical right” (and yes, I mean Tea Parties). Paul Ryan’s wonkish proposals to increase the Social Security retirement age and phase out benefits for higher-earning recipients to keep government debt in check? Go ahead and demogogue these ideas as touching “The Third Rail of American Politics” as the President does when he gets warmed up, but radical?
In our political system, radical commonly means politics outside the legal framework in which elections and other “process” takes place, couched in language such as “direct action.” Radical could mean advocating “direct action”, or it could mean actually engaging in “direct action”, or in some way associating or condoning such advocacy (cough, Bill Ayers, cough).
Yeah, yeah, there are the “open carry” yahoos, and some of the more imperate 2nd Amendment advocacy, but by “radical right”, are you talking about a bunch of Mormon-lead geezers, who police their own litter, whose big fear is that Health Care Reform is going to punch holes in their Medicare benefit? Can you say, “Medicare Advantage”? I knew you could!
Except TEA Party rallies
Except at TEA Party rallies
Which is why in the latest Communist News Network poll the leftypigs are forced to admit that the Republicans are ahead on the generic Congressional ballot by seven percent. It’s that bitch Palin and her TEA Party thugs, you see, who are terrorizing the independents into pretending disgust for the Demonrats.
Akatsukami Says:
[[[Which is why in the latest Communist News Network poll the leftypigs are forced to admit that the Republicans are ahead on the generic Congressional ballot by seven percent.]]]
[[[The generic ballot question asks respondents if they would vote for a Democrat or Republican in their congressional district, without naming any specific candidates.]]]
Yep, this year should have been a cake walk for Republicans. But when you put a name for the Republican and they are associated with the Tea Party, as in Nevada, and the voters hear their tea Party rhetoric, as they have in Nevada, the Democrat surges out in front.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6724JH20100803
[[[Among voters who said they are likely to vote, Reid held a 48-44 percent lead over Republican challenger Sharron Angle, much narrower than the 52-36 percent edge he had over her among registered voters.]]]
Before the tea Party won the Republican primary no one expected Senator Reid to be reelected. Now he has a very good chance to do so.
[[[ Those in the middle may not attend rallies much
Except TEA Party rallies
or be very visible,
Except at TEA Party rallies
but their votes are the ones which sways the election one way or the other. ]]]
Sorry, the evidence goes the other way. The Tea Party is not supported by those in the middle or even many Republicans…
FYI
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20014921-503544.html
August 27, 2010 1:55 PM
Many Nevada Voters Wish Sharron Angle, Harry Reid Weren’t Their Candidates
Posted by Brian Montopoli
[[[Here’s a striking statistic out of the Nevada Senate race: 68 percent of the state’s voters said in a new poll that they would have preferred if the state’s Republicans had nominated someone other than Tea Party-backed nominee Sharron Angle, according to a new Las Vegas Review-Journal/8NewsNow poll.
Even more shockingly: That includes two in three people who say they are voting for Angle. ]]]
Yes, 2 out of 3 that may vote for Sharron Angle don’t agree with her views, they simply dislike Senator Reid so much they are willing to put a radical in office knowing they will be able to get rid of her in 6 years, and as a freshman Senator won’t be able to do much damage….
Reality Check – If the Tea Party wins it won’t be because the public agrees with them, it will simply be because they dislike those currently in office more…
Hey Tom, try a newer Reid poll. He is tied to slightly behind in the latest batch.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/nevada/election_2010_nevada_senate
There, let me help you.
The Tea Party is not supported by those in the middle or even many Republicans
Thomas has cleared it up for us. The tea party is supported by…
THE LEFT!
The thing about Sharon Angle being a “right-wing Tea Party nut-case” who is going to lose to Harry Reid, we are talking Arizona, and being a right-wing Tea Party nut-case may actually have more appeal, there, than in say, Austin, Texas, where being a right-wing Tea Party nut-case is only popular outside the precincts of the University they have over there.
I think they only reason Mr. Reid gets elected over there is along something like “I am a Democrat but also a gun nut and proud of it” kind of thing.
In the interest of accuracy, I need to point out that Reid vs. Angle is in Nevada, not Arizona. Not sure if that affects Paul’s point or not.
In other words, Thomas, the TEA Party is looked upon with disdain, but Barry Dunham, “Dingy Harry” Reid, and San Fran Nan are hated with the burning passion of a thousand fiery suns? Works for me.
I guess the narrative must be that Tea Partiers are extra-terrestrial creatures with the power to flood election booths in defiance of Real Americans(tm).
In Marxist speak, the Tea Party members would be labeled as counter-revolutionaries because they oppose the established order of government by the ruling class. The Soviets would execute them, send them to insane asylums or send them to the Gulags. In America, those aren’t legal options so the “ruling class” will do everything they can to destroy their reputations (e.g. calling them racists) and otherwise discredit the Tea Parties. Luckily, they don’t have the options of the Soviets (yet).
M Puckett,
Yes, I expect the polls will go back and forth as Republicans try to decide if 6 more years of Senator Reid are better then enduring 6 years of Freshman Senator Angle. The key will be how many Nevadans Republicans are so disgusted with their options they simply don’t vote.
Whereas Sue Lowden would have had a commanding lead now.
Ken,
[[[Thomas has cleared it up for us. The tea party is supported by…
THE LEFT!]]]
No, the polls show 57% of tea Party supporters are Republicans, but it makes this election a win-win for President Obama.
If the Tea Party alienates enough Republican and middle of the road voters he gets to keep his majority in Congress. And if they do manage to win a majority then he will have their statements to use against them to scare middle of the road voters in the 2012 election. IF he’s really lucky he may even have Sarah Palin running against him.
So no, I don’t think the Tea Party is a left wing conspiracy, just a lot of good luck for the Democrats, the gift that keeps on giving 🙂
The key will be how many Nevadans Republicans are so disgusted with their options they simply don’t vote.
Then you and your fellow state fellators are in deep shit.
Paul Milenkovic,
[[[I think they only reason Mr. Reid gets elected over there is along something like “I am a Democrat but also a gun nut and proud of it” kind of thing.]]]
Actually talking to folks here in Northern Nevada its probably more likely to be simply because Senator Reid is not Sharron Angle.
The Dems have a 79% chance to lose the House at the moment, and despite Thomas’s eagerness to spin that as some kind of Xanatos Gambit win for Planetary Personality One, the fact remains that it throws a wrench into the Disaster Machine for two years, maybe more, and that’s really a win for us all.
Titus,
Interesting computer simulation. It will be interesting to see how accurate it is in November and if the Tea Party threw a monkey wrench in their assumptions since their assumptions assume only two homogeneous political parties. In any case it looks like it will be an interesting paper to read when the journal its published in comes out.
Curt Thomson,
Your article just proves what I am saying, that most Republicans in the state don’t like Sharron Angle and will vote for Senator Reid instead IF they vote at all, which is why his margins will fall.
That reminds me. Anybody you see on the right I should send a small check to? Angle, for instance?
If the Tea Party alienates enough Republican…
…they may no longer be able to maintain their false flag operation and we’ll see them put a D behind their name.
…and middle of the road voters…
Who don’t have the sense to get out of the middle of the road but even clueless are starting to realize that the messiah isn’t.
…he gets to keep his majority in Congress…
That’s always a risk, but if you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything (you apply this to the tea party, I apply it to Obama. Now, which of us is delusional?)
if they do manage to win a majority then he will have their statements to use against them to scare middle of the road voters in the 2012 election.
Yes, you continue to make the case that only responsible people should have a vote.
If he’s really lucky he may even have Sarah Palin running against him.
Only this time all the bullshit smears of the past will have no power, they’ll have to come up with something new or the people will realize how baseless it all is.
One thing people may realize is if they want to clean out all the unelected people that actually implement things nobody ever voted for, they need someone like Sarah. Results will give her the same polls she had in AK before the national smear machine went tilt.
Darkstar,
Take you pick , but the right wing money machine is already pouring funds in. Still, some of the non-millionaire Tea Party candidates may need some help: -)
Ken,
I stand for the American Dream and making it accessible to all. What do you believe in other killing the dream for others.
[[[One thing people may realize is if they want to clean out all the unelected people that actually implement things nobody ever voted for, they need someone like Sarah.]]]
No need to smear her. Like Sharron Angle you just put her in front of a real crowd or on TV and let her talk. The more she talks the lower goes her polls.
Keep telling yourself that Thomas. When people see Sarah, they wonder what the yahoos in the media are talking about. She’s not everybodies cup of tea, but she doesn’t have to be. Obama will get turned on by the left once they realize he’s toast. Hillary knows it.
I stand for the American Dream and making it accessible to all.
You lie. You can’t be an Obama supporting and honestly make that statement. Obama’s nightmare is not the American dream by any measure. Yes, I do want to kill the dream of marxism of any flavor.
@Thomas Matula: OK then, I’ll send a donation to SarahPAC.
http://www.sarahpac.com/donate
Done. That’s $50 for SarahPAC. 🙂
Ken,
[[[You lie. You can’t be an Obama supporting and honestly make that statement.]]]
What makes you think that I support President Obama when I have mentioned in other threads I voted for President McCain? Just because I don’t support the Tea Party’s wacky ideas? Do you honestly just see the world as black and white? Or have you become so extreme that anyone who doesn’t buy into the Tea Party is a liberal to you, including a majority of Republicans?
For the record I don’t support any of President Obama’s policies, not even his space policy as some folks who post here that seem to be Tea Party supporters do. Which is why I am so disappointed to see the Tea Party, by its extremism, take sure victory away from the Republicans this fall ensuring President Obama stays in control of Congress.
To make it clear, if the Republicans fail to take control of Congress this fall it will be because of the extremism of the Tea Party, and so anything President Obama accomplishes with a Democratically controlled Congress will be the fault of the Tea Party which decided to put philosophy and grand standing ahead of pragmatic politics.
Darkstar,
[[[Done. That’s $50 for SarahPAC.]]]
$50 dollars that will help the Republicans to lose and keep Congress under the control of Democrats. So when they pass bad laws, don’t blame me as I warned you…
Ken,
Correction, Senator McCain, it just thinking how much better it would be if he had won and was President….
Sorry Tom, I got a bit confused and thought you were an Obama supporter. I apologize for saying you lie. I had a Joe Wilson moment.
pragmatic politics
I think it’s pragmatic politics and political correctness that gets us into this mess. We don’t get any real debate, instead everybody is so afraid of being smeared they won’t take a position. The first time I heard of Angle was when a reporter was on the radio saying what a crackpot she was. Then he described her positions… and she sounded too good to be true. Just because the government creates something doesn’t mean it’s now sacred.
Personally, I want to see the commerce clause removed even if it opens up a can of worms in a constitutional convention. I know it’s dangerous, but that’s what we need these tea party candidates to do, unwind 50 years of mess congress has created.
For the record I wish she were a better candidate, but it’s not because her positions are crazy. They are not. If any are, I’m sure 99 others will moderate them.
Ken,
[[[For the record I wish she were a better candidate, but it’s not because her positions are crazy. They are not. If any are, I’m sure 99 others will moderate them.]]]
Yes, I guess the Nevadan phase 41 to Angle will have to be changed to 99 to Angle 🙂
Reid is scum.
http://www.desertconservative.com/2010/07/15/unseat-reid-unseat-him-as-you-take-out-the-trash/
Right after the primary earlier in June, Reid put a vicious negative ad on the air saying that Sharron Angle, the Republican nominee, wanted to “phase out” Social Security and Medicare. He used her own voice saying those words in his ad.
Sharron really had said that we need to “phase out” the method of funding Social Security and Medicare so that the Congress, led by Reid, cannot raid the funds to pay for their deficit spending as happens now. But Reid edited the clip to give a false impression.
And then Reid spent $1 million pushing this false charge on Nevada TV. (The average Nevadan saw the Reid attack ad about 25 times!!!).
And the Republicans in Nevada will long remember that Tea Party interference in their primary basically ensured Senator Reid would be re-elected. Polls before the primary showed both Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian would have had a huge lead over Senator Reid now, instead of it being a toss-up.
Thanks again Tea Party for ensuring the state clown was nominated to run for the Senate.
possible outcomes; dem, rino, tea.
dem: we get to blame the dem.
rino: GOP gets the blame (and deserves it.)
tea: they work to actually fix the problem.
Sounds like a win, win, win to me.
Scaring people to win is a short term tactic. It doesn’t always work. We will find out in a few weeks.
Ken Anthony,
[[[tea: they work to actually fix the problem.]]]
Thanks! I needed a laugh 🙂
Historically parties like the Tea Party rarely fix anything because the members are too few to have the majority needed to do anything but rant and too zealous to compromise, the path to real solutions. Especially since movements like the Tea Party are not organized around solutions, but based on protesting the current state of affairs. As soon as actual solutions are proposed, and given their egos, the leaders just end up arguing among themselves and the party breaks apart…
Yes, it will be a laugh riot if a significant number of Tea Party candidates actually make it into office 🙂