Should the Democrats try to lose the November election?
With the 2006 midterm elections less than two months away, a growing number of Republicans are desperately hoping that their party will … get its head handed back on a plate. The fashionable conservative theory of the moment is that Republicans would be better off losing control of the House, maybe even the Senate, too—and perhaps even the White House in 2008 while they’re at it.
There is no comparable whooping for defeat on the other side. Democrats universally hold to the prosaic, uncontorted position that it would be good for them to win control of Congress in November and bad for them to lose.
As a matter of political logic, both sides cannot be right. […] If the conservative theory is correct, the election should be a race to the bottom.
But to several other conservative analysts, the case for defeat is explicitly political. National Review writers Jonah Goldberg and Ramesh Ponnuru, among others, think Republicans really would win strategically by losing this election (or, if you prefer, lose by winning it).
Still, there are reasons why the Democrats might be better off denying Republicans the defeat they crave in November. For the Democrats to win the House this year would offer the unappealing prospect of responsibility without power.
#29: LMAO!
As Reagan used to say, “There you go again!”
The Republicans have made a mess of things, but are breaking with the President more and more. The Bush/Cheney crowd refuses to learn from their mistakes, indeed they seem oblivious of them. Is it denial, or a different agenda? The Democrats have a chance to gain control of the House and even the Senate, but they have to show a leadership that seems to be largely lacking in the Washington crowd, with the real push coming from the base, which is furious. I don’t view this as a Rep-Dem matter, or a Con-Lib matter–this ain’t a football game–but a matter of the future of the nation. This is the time for statesmen, not political posturing. It is the policies which must change. Who will stand for the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? Bush and Cheney certainly don’t, and the Republicans have bent over backwards to support the neo-cons, and many still do. My question for the Democrats is, what do you stand for? Where do you stand on the collapse of the auto sector, the deindustrialization of America, globalization? Will you admit that the economy is in trouble, dominated by a huge and unstable financial bubble? Which do you care more about, the upper 20% of the population which gives you money to maintain the status quo, or the lower 80% which desperately needs your help? Bush is doing a great job of discrediting himself, but what will you do differently?
#28, One more thing: I think the Democrats (thanks to Moveon.org and DailyKOS) may possibly rue the day they kicked Lieberman out of the Democratic Party.
Lieberman left the Democratic Party on his own accord.
…Terrorism is itself a tool of the weak. If you can’t take your enemies headon then you resort to sowing the seeds of Terror. States like Iran will fund Terrorist organizations precisely because they cannont win a direct conflict with the West and the USA in particular from a military standpoint. So they’ll pay out money to all sorts of Terrorist organizations like Hexbollah and others to inflict a million little cuts until we tire of the confrontations and give in through sheer attrition…
Comment by ZeOverMind — 9/21/2006 @ 9:24 am
Sounds like their style of fighting is winning. Maybe you prefer that all armies line up on a big field and shoot each other until one side gives. That used to be the gentleman’s way of fighting. But somehow using brains instead of extremely sophisticated killing machines to better another’s army is wrong in your book.
But if you can’t win legitimately you slander your opponent in the elector’s eyes. Shoot, Karl Rove made it a specialty.
You effen neo cons make me puke with your self righteous, my a**hole is bigger then your a**hole stance. Always claiming the moral high ground, you can only see the moral high ground if you lay on your backs and look straight up. Way up.
I’m a neo-lib and I’m proud.
No doubt about it, Bush has made many many mistakes. But the difference between Bush and the previous Administration is that in the Clinton Administration there was a perception to cut and run when the going got tough. Whatever you may feel about Bush and Cheney, you have to admit one thing they have for the most part stayed the course. Maybe what you perceive as arrogance or inflexibility is a leadership style that is not beholden to public opinion polls. Whatever you may think about how things have been done so far, you can’t say that Bush has been pandering to the public. There’s an old (well maybe not THAT old) children’s book which could sum up Bush’s determination: “He said what he meant and he meant what he said, an elephant faithful 100 percent” – Dr. Seuss, Horton Hatches the Egg. Not exactly the most high-brow reading I’ve done lately, (i’ve got a daughter who’s 5) but the book talks a lot about the virtues of Patience – Something that we in America do not have a lot of these days.
“They taunted. They teased him. They yelled ‘How Absurd! Old Horton the Elephant thinks he’s a bird!'” And thats just the start of the indignities that poor Horton has to endure.
Who would want to follow an Act like Bush jr….
It takes 1-2 terms for all the CRAp to fall to earth that 1 president DID while he was in office.
Who wants to deal witg ALL the stuff thats hit the fan, and clean up a MESS, after a un-potty trained pres SAT in the BIG chair.
Lieberman left the party because he lost the primary which was nicely engineered by the rabid extremists of the Democratic Party. He still wants to be Senator so it’s not like the Democrats left him a lot of choices. You say he left, I say he was forced out.
Does terrorism work? Well that depends. It depends if the government who’s been attacked has the means and more importantly the WILL to do what it takes to eliminate the Terrorists. All one has to do is look at the Narod Nayavolya (The People’s Will) in Tsarist Russia. http://www.kiwipedia.com/narodnaya-volya-1.html The Tsar’s secret police conducted a ruthless campaign and anhilated the terrorist group and now they are but a footnote in history. How do you fight Terrorism? Well with these people you aren’t going to be talking you way into a compromise so it’s going to have to be a nasty drawn out slog=fest. Lining up on one side of the battlefield and declaring the last man standing the winner would be nice and easy in comparison but I don’t think the Terrorists are going to oblige us so it’s their war on their terms unfortunately. It’s the weak willed whining and sniveling thats going to make us lose this conflict and I am damn glad that it’s not Al Gore who’s leading this nation in the fight.
I’m not a neo-con. I’m a fiscal and political conservative first and I don’t care about the religious issues. I do think that US foreign policy is too closely aligned with Israeli interests. Unfortunately we’re too closely sucked into this to cleanly extricate ourselves out of it, so we may as well make the best of it. I’m not too happy with Bush or the way the war is being fought, but until the Democrats or someone comes up with a more credible strategy then I say we stay the course. Unfortunately for the Democrats they’ve squandered their advantages going into November and I think they’ll be coming up a day late and a dollar short. Kudos to them if they can pull it off. Otherwise expect a bloodbath at DNC on Novemeber 12th. I’ll bring the popcorn.
Of course if this happened during the Roman Empire and the Republican party managed to keep the house and senate, I would expect the Senate to grant Karl Rove a Triumph, paint his face and arms red being pulled in a chariot by 2 white horses following a path through the streets of DC while Nancy Pelosi would be standing behind him holding a laurel crown over his head and whispering repeatedly into his ear, “Remember thou art mortal”. The day’s festivities would end with the slaying of.. well at least I can still daydream about this. 😀
actually the election is on November 7th 2006, so the possible bloodbath will be November 8th. You bring the drinks. 😀
I can respect and debate Mr. Fusion. But ECA you leave me speechless.
Neo-lib? Calling you a quack is shorter and more to the point.
Well I remember a time back in 1994 when a relatively unknown whip named Newt Gingrich had predicted that the GOP would kick out the incumbant Democrats who’d had been the majority party in power since 1932 (with only 1946 to 1948 and 1952 to 1954 being the briefest of Republican control) Of course all the major news outlets thought he was totally nuts and ignored him, until the day after the election. So yah.. it COULD happen. Given the slim 15 seat majority the GOP holds means that they have to pay attention to every hotly contested election. And thats where Rove’s microtargeting marketing machine will work it’s genius. Every vote will count and I’d wager 1500 Quatloos that the GOP isn’t going to give an inch to chance when they can get out the vote in those marginal areas.
As far as Jeffords goes, no big loss. Sander’s is way way out there and will undoubtably vote Democrat. Still, that doesn’t negate Lieberman’s potentially pivotal role. The Democrats need 51 Senators to gain control and if it’s 50D/49R then they’ll need to do a LOT of good old fashioned bootlicking to old Joe to cement control. He says he’ll vote D, but we’ll see how he really feels after the election.
ZeOverMind
Better take your meds. You’re rambling so much I have no idea what you are trying to say.
Horten hatches an egg? Standard neo-con reading. Discussed at Administration stratagy sessions. Bushes second favorite book, after the Care Bears coloring book.
The Tsar’s secret police conducted a ruthless campaign and anhilated the terrorist group and now they are but a footnote in history. Where the Administrations looks to for ideas
I do think that US foreign policy is too closely aligned with Israeli interests. Which is very relevant to the Democrats losing the election
I would expect the Senate to grant Karl Rove a Triumph, paint his face and arms red being pulled in a chariot by 2 white horses following a path through the streets of DC while Nancy Pelosi would be standing behind him holding a laurel crown over his head and whispering repeatedly into his ear, “Remember thou art mortal”. Typical neo-con tribute, praise the scum sucking, lying, chicken hawk, cowards that would slander and besmirch real heroes like John McCain, Max Clelend, and John Kerry.
Well I remember a time back in 1994 when a relatively unknown whip named Newt Gingrich had predicted that the GOP would kick out the incumbant Democrats (like the minority whip is an unknown)
Every vote will count and I’d wager 1500 Quatloos that the GOP isn’t going to give an inch So you still haven’t taken your meds yet and its back to Horton’s world.
Lieberman left the party because he lost the primary which was nicely engineered by the rabid extremists of the Democratic Party.
But this is after you said…they’ll have an awful lot of sucking up to Joe Lieberman for the shoddy way they’ve treated him to garner his support. So Joe left but it isn’t his fault he can’t play the democratic election process. Is he supposed to have been anointed?
Hey.. joe was beaten fair and square. There is no doubt about it. But I do think he’s going to win his in spite of Lamont’s win of the democratic primary.
And you’re right. I am ranting too much. I do that when I’m having fun 😉
And you’re right. I am ranting too much. I do that when I’m having fun
Comment by ZeOverMind — 9/21/2006 @ 8:06 pm
That still doesn’t explain the meaningless rantings. I equate such blather as the mindless drivel of someone intoxicated upon the exuberance of their verbosity.
Being neither a Democrat or a Republican, but a good old fashioned Conservative…..here’s my take……no Horton by the way.
The polls show races getting tight. At the moment there are 40 seriously contested seats. All the rest will be won by the incumbunts.
Out of those 40 seats, Republicans are defending 25, the Dems 15. As of the latest Rasmussion poll no Democrat is in danger of losing(guess Rep. Livingston or Johnson with the 90,000 bucks in his freezer isn’t losing), 9 of the Repub. seats look solid or leaning for the Repub….the rest are leaning Dem or a toss up. Oh, sorry, just checked my notes, Rep. Bean in Indiana(Dem) is in the toss up and so is the guy from La. with the FBI marked money.
Rasmussion says the Dems can pull off a House win, if they take 16 of the Republican seats and hold 13 of theirs.
In the Senate…..Talent of Mo., Burns of Montana, DeWine of Ohio and Santorium of Pa. are all trailing their challngers and are all considered leaning Dem…..which would leave the Dems 1 vote shy of 50…they need to pick up 2 more Senate seats and not lose any.
Republicans could pick up a seat in Maryland, and possibly Michigan and New Jersy. The best hope is New Jersy. But Michigan is looking good for them….so that means the Dems have to pick up 4 seats to have a 50/50 split(using Sanders a Dem vote and Liberman)
Today, they said Chaffee fell behind the Dem. for the first time, so if that were to hold, that would leave 3 seats needed for the Dems.
Looking at the way the house races are starting to move, I honestly think the Democrats are going to miss taking over by about 3 seats, maybe 4. And in the Senate, it is starting to look like a 52/48 split for the Republicans.
I think the Republicans SHOULD hope for a Democrat takeover in the House……Here’s why……
Imagine 2 years of Nancy Pelosi, and the ultra-Liberal left that would have the Senority for House Committiee chairmanships. Just think of the amount of nothing but hot air and impideiments to goverment that will produce. Now imagine the Gop in 2008…….using this bunch as why a Republican President is needed……to kepp the left wingers from complete control……it will work. Mainly because the House wing of the Democratic party is now run by the leftist of the left. They won’t miss a chance to attack Bush in any way they can, and nothing will get done, even less than now.
If you want to know what they would be like…..just imagine….Moss, J,…Mr. Fusion, ……Roc Rizzo……and Mr. Mustard running the House.
That alone should put the damn Republicans in power for another 20 years.
Being neither a Democrat or a Republican, but a good old fashioned Conservative
Then why do you sound like a neo-con?
(if the Democrats win)(j)ust think of the amount of nothing but hot air and impideiments to goverment that will produce.
In other words, only a Republican Congress can work with His Royal Highness, George Bush the Worst. The Great Uniter and Defender of the Realm.
If you want to know what they would be like…..just imagine….Moss, J,…Mr. Fusion, ……Roc Rizzo……and Mr. Mustard running the House.
I don’t claim the competence to be a political leader and I don’t see any of the others claiming superiority, but shoot, your examples are even then a sight better then what we have running the show now.
Here is what we do as good Americans..
Republicans – Vote SPINACH
Democrats – Vote CABBAGE
Libertarians- Vote CARROTS
Everyone Else – VOTE
By has it have happened before… Take a look at 1994 again. How many seats did Republicans lose while they picked up 52 seats? There’s no way the Democrats gain 15 and give 14 back at the same time.
20. “You do not come into my country, my congressional district, and you do not condemn my president.”
HE JUST DID!
#50….AB CD….the Republicans had a net gain of 52 seats in 1994.
And no Fusion….I’m not a neo-con. I think Bush has been an almost total failure as President and the Republican party has replaced princible with the love of power. Thanks to the neo-cons.
I wish the Republicans would have a near total collapse this election….the only fear I have is that those moderates and true conservatives will be the ones taking the fall, not the neo-con religious rightists. The Democrats are tossing out the moderate-conservatives in their party and if they get defeated in the Republicn party as well, there is no hope of sanity ever coming back into politics.
We now have had 12 years of Republican control of one or both houses, but the Conservatives have been replaced in the last 8 years by the neo-con religious right and the country is going to hell because of it.
One ideology rule is bad, no matter which one it is.
Yeah net 52, with no incumbents losing. It was something like 57 vs 5. The chances of 15 Republicans losing and 14 Democrats losing, i’ll give 20-1 odds to anyone that wants to make bets.