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Shuts and Failures

by Michael Maiello

Ramona's picture

We All Won Last Night

by Ramona 11/7/2012 - 9:15 am   |
 

President Obama won a second term last night and it wasn't even a squeaker.  The Senate and the House stayed pretty much the same, but Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Baldwin and Tammy Duckworth are going to Washington. 

Joe Walsh, Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin will wander off into an oblivion they so richly deserve.  

Karl Rove was seen on Fox howling foul over Ohio with such naked grief his election night companions could only look on, astonished. 

Donald Trump threw such an incomprehensible hissy fit on Twitter you just had to know the little guy was not happy.

Mitt Romney won't be Grand CEO of the United States of America and the incorrigible members of the top one percent may finally have lost the keys to the candy store.

Mitch McConnell, after four long years of egregious intransigence, got no satisfaction.  He did not make Barack Obama a one-term president.

And Joe Biden is ours for four more years.

Barack Obama transcended an unprecedented barrage of hatred and constant attempts at humiliation and now has another chance to help us out of the mess we're in.  We can and will move forward, but it'll take a massive effort on both the president's part and on our own.

We can do this.

And we will.
 

Not to mention voters in major states showing up in support of same sex marriage and decriminalizing marijuana... both mature steps for a democracy.

I know that the Republicans, with media help, are going to spin the election as "close," even though it was an electoral college spanking.  But the country moved in our direction last night.  All of those people who opposed letting Elizabeth Warren run the commission she designed can now deal with her as a Senator.  I predict that now that she's won, she'll have that seat for as long as she wants it.  Unless somebody smart puts her on the Supreme Court.

by Michael Maiello 11/7/2012 - 12:02 pm

RE: But the country moved in our direction last night

NYT counters: most definitely NOT.  They're very clearly trumpeting a rightward analysis of the vote on their home page right now.

And what they say does sync with things I've read about how the Obama team planned to win, leaning heavy on new kinds of tactical analysis and tactical GOTV.

by artappraiser 11/7/2012 - 12:24 pm (re: Michael Maiello)

Well, I'm not saying the electorate has changed.  We're more polarized than ever.

But, you can make leftward progress without changing the electorate.  An incumbent Senator Elizabeth Warren is a game changer in the Senate, since she's in a pretty safe state.  Popular acceptance of same sex marriage rights, as opposed to having them court ordered, is a big step.  It changes the country and makes it a freer place.

by Michael Maiello 11/7/2012 - 12:51 pm (re: artappraiser)

Not  new news to me:

Parenting by Gays More Common in the South, Census Shows

by artappraiser 1/19/2011 - 12:20 pm

By Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times, January 18/19, 2011

by artappraiser 11/7/2012 - 1:00 pm (re: Michael Maiello)

RE:  We're more polarized than ever.

The new strength of a sort of 50/50 split being reiterated once again worries me a lot. Bill Clinton maintained a 2/3 approval rating through most of his second term. Most of my lifetime the political situation could usually be attributed to the 1/3 conservative crazies fighting the rest of the country. I wish to see evidence of returning to that rather than moving away from it. But I am not seeing it.

Rising tides lifting a lot of boats usually helps the most with the moderation, let's hope Obama can see that happens even with an obstructionist Congress.

by artappraiser 11/7/2012 - 1:09 pm (re: Michael Maiello)

The Senate is inarguably more liberal now; very close to where it was in 2009.  The President was re-elected after supporting gay marriage.  The electorate is changing, and while it becoming more diverse doesn't make it inherently more liberal (except, perhaps, on immigration), it is harder to see how it is equally or more conservative based on last night.  The House of Representatives is now the bastion of conservative political power in America.  It is also one of the least popular and respected institutions, especially when it takes on the President frontally.  Which is precisely what it must do now to project conservative power.

So I disagree with the NYT piece that states that case.

by Articleman 11/7/2012 - 1:03 pm (re: artappraiser)

Sorry to say this but the addition of Jeff Flake and Ted Cruz alone moves the Senate to the right. They will make McConnel and Coburn look like bastions of liberal thought. Just check out Cruz's conspiracy theories.

by The Decider 11/7/2012 - 1:14 pm (re: Articleman)

Everyone knew that Obama's win would be less strong this time and one could make the case that it was because the electorate moved right. Just as one could make the case that in 2008 the electorate moved left. I don't believe either of those ideas are true. A significant part of Obama's wins was neither right nor left. Both were reactions to the bad economy and desire for a change. The dissatisfaction and desire for change was away from the republicans in 08 and away from Obama in 2012. Yet still in this bad economy Obama didn't just get 271 but likely 332.

If it were just the very moderate Obama who won I wouldn't think we have a left ward shift. But we won almost all across the board. One more state legalized medical marijuana and 2 states legalized it outright. Two states voted to legalize same sex marriage. After years of trying and a slow left ward shift we've reached a tipping point on these issues. This will only continue.

Both Akins and Mourdock lost. One could make the case this was just about abortions for rape victims or insulting unscientific talk about a women's body shutting down. I disagree. First these weren't gaffs, a significant minority of people believe life begins at conception and all abortions should be banned. They think they are in the majority. They are not. I believe, while uncomfortable with abortion, a majority believes it should be legal at least in the first trimester. Those who are at least that much pro-choice have not been voting that issue because they felt it was safe. Akins and Mourdock as well as the overall republican position convinced enough that they better vote that issue before abortions were banned. I also believe the election of Kaine had something to do with republican's push for vaginal ultrasounds for those seeking abortions.

The first openly gay senator was elected. Without her sexual orientation being a big campaign issue.

Warren wins in Mass. I know Mass is very blue but Brown was well liked and an incumbent while Warren could be easily tagged as an out of touch elitist. He still lost.

The economy is still the most important issue and all these gains could easily be lost if there are not significant improvement in the unemployment rate in the next two to four years. But I think there is a clear left ward shift in the electorate. No it has not become liberal and it will take some years for that shift to become obvious. But age based demographics are clear that it will continue.

 

by ocean-kat 11/7/2012 - 3:12 pm (re: artappraiser)

Amen, Mona!

by Doctor Cleveland 11/7/2012 - 1:02 pm

Of course, for there to be winners, there must be losers.  We didn't all win last night.  Here's my list of winners and losers:

WINNERS:

 - Barack Obama, one of the most embattled Presidents in recent memory.

 - Democrats generally, who retained their Prez and picked up valuable Senate seats.

 - Anyone who has a vested interest in a more liberal SCOTUS.

 - Mothereffing wizards, those who still believe in the magic of numbers, people looking for Rainbow Connection, etc.

 - LGBT rights, which are civil rights.

 - Unambiguously: Big Bird.

 - Jay-Z, Katy Perry, the Boss.

 - Somehow, Herman Cain. Also: Chris Christie.

 - Anyone looking to put this relentless election cycle in the rear-view mirror.

LOSERS:

 - Conservatism in general, including the following people specifically: Dick Morris, Peggy Noonan, David Brooks, Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and probably Joe Scarborough's upper lip once they're done counting Florida.

 - Go-Go 80's Reaganaut Drug Warriors who still maintain that smoking a joint is a moral crime on par with murder and rape.

 - Unskewed polls.

 - Political pundits.

 - Tone-deaf white guys running for office who are suddenly taken hold by an unshakeable feeling that the path to political power is paved with impromptu symposiums on the nexus between rape and reproductive rights.

 - Super PACs.  Also: Sheldon Adelson.

 - Meatloaf, Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, Rafalca, Tagg Romney, Rudolph Giuliani.

 - Chik-Fil-A.

by DF 11/7/2012 - 1:11 pm

This is your #1 big loser here, mho:

 - Super PACs.  Also: Sheldon Adelson.

Who's afraid of the big bad Citizen's United? At least until "they" can learn to move away from the overkill, making little girls cry? Best to go back to the traditional ways and means, lobbying Congress....the Madison Avenue profession of influencing the public isn't as easy as it first appears?

by artappraiser 11/7/2012 - 1:43 pm (re: DF)

Some very evil people lost last night!

Oh but they are still good people on the 'inside' and...

No, Akin and Murdoch and rush and sourcrauthammer and noonan and....

These evil folks lost big big big last night.

by Richard Day 11/7/2012 - 5:33 pm (re: DF)

My goodness it is fun when your side wins!

And unlike the Super Bowl, this contest means something!

by Richard Day 11/7/2012 - 3:09 pm

We all won?  Well someone needs to call turdblossom and tell him so 'cause he is throwing an absolute hissy fit.

by The Decider 11/8/2012 - 8:47 pm

Well, I thought about a few exceptions but I didn't want their names in my title.  Especially Turdblossom's.  How would that look, for pete's sake?

by Ramona 11/8/2012 - 9:22 pm (re: The Decider)

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