How do you plan to repair the economy and put Americans back to work? Fire Pelosi?
That is about as much of a plan as has been articulated by the GOP, now drooling over the portent of a slaughter of the incumbent Democrats they challenge. But behind their sound bites and wicked attack ads, there are GOP leaders working away at whom to blame for the implosion of their reckless rhetoric on the midterm campaign results. My bet is that the impending Republican election debacle will be laid at the feet of Michael Steele and of Sarah Palin, since neither of them is in government.
I doubt if the independents will bother to vote. Why should they? Taking them at their word, they are independent because they do not affiliate themselves with either of the lame-stream parties – the ones with historical animal mascots. The tea party is part of the Republican brand, as Mr. Steele professes. Independents seem to have misgivings about the democratic administration, even though it does have an agenda and policy objective. The alternative party has nothing to offer, except firing Speaker Pelosi.
The only winner of the midterm elections is television – the prime medium of sit-on-your- butt consumerism. Sure, there is print advertising, kind of. But, print advertizing requires action. It has to be read and, because of that, print is easier to ignore. Television does all the reading for its audience, already conditioned to hear and retain the key elements that so many test marketing groups and statistical models have predigested for their consumption.
Under the guise of the oxymoron “television news,” celebrities have been made of previously little known amateur politicians such as O’Donnell, Whitman, Fiorina, McMahon, Paul, Rubio, Miller and the like, as if to solely prove that anyone can be elected to high public office. The constitution says nothing more than a candidate has to be born here and attained the age of thirty. It does not say that a candidate has to be credible other than to take an oath to defend the constitution from all enemies, foreign or domestic. More on that in a moment.
Article comments
1 - emo
None of the polls really showed any pending GOP victory in 1998. The pundits were just going on the "6 year itch" which plagued the incumbent party in 1938, 1958, 1966 and 1974. Polls havent never been dramatically off in recent elections (1948 was off, but only because Gallup stopped polling in Mid Oct). Overall the polls are correct. The GOP will win 50-70 seats.
PS Rubio is hardly an amateur politician and TV is hardly a new medium. Also the constitution doesnt say that a Senate candidate must be born in the US, just a citizen.
2 - Dave Nalle
Emo, good point on Rubio. It's hard to imagine less of a political novice. Miller also has extensive political experience.
Given his ignorance of basic facts about these candidates and his assumption that business experience has no value for candidates, I wonder how seriously we should take Tommy's article as a whole.
Dave
3 - Baronius
What about Joe Miller? He may not have political experience, but he's a graduate of West Point and Yale Law School, and has a Master's in economics from the University of Alaska. He earned a Bronze Star in the liberation of Kuwait, and has served as a state judge. Those are some serious academic and governmental credentials for an amateur politician.
4 - Baronius
Speaking of Rubio, wasn't there some guy in the Illinois state house that ran for Senate a while back? He only had 8 years of legislative experience, same as Rubio, but never achieved the leadership position that Rubio did. I think he won the Senate seat, too, but he only lasted four years there.
5 - Tommy Mack
Corrections.
Article 1 Section 3: "No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen."
Marco Rubio appeared on my list in error.
Tommy
6 - Baronius
So you're standing by the notion that Joe Miller doesn't have relevant experience in public service?
7 - Baronius
Tommy, I should note that I agree with you about the difficulties of transitioning from outsiders to insiders. There's a difference between cooperation and selling out, but the former could look like the latter to many old supporters. But I think that they've been relatively clear about their intentions in that 40-odd page Pledge. Yeah, it could have had more specifics, but I think it's unprecedented for a midterm election to have what amounts to a party platform.
8 - handyguy
Rubio and Miller [and Sharron Angle] disqualify themselves through their extremist positions, not their resumes. Yes, they are literally eligible to run; no, they don't deserve to be in the Senate.
9 - handyguy
Ditto Ken Buck. I will give Ms. O'Donnell a pass because her campaign has basically been a non-starter; call her a protest candidate.
10 - Dan(Miller)
There are three essential doctrines in which we must all believe and upon which we all must act; to do otherwise is extremism:
All to the right of President Obama are imbued with the worst of original sins, extremism, and are therefore intrinsically bad;
Only through complete acceptance of President Obama as their only true savior can they escape perdition, for He is the Way, the Truth and the Light;
The only proper function of conservatives is to demonstrate, by thought word and deed, their absolute extremism, immorality and incompetence; they should be permitted to do so only on Halloween.
Thus saith Bishop Dan, grand master of the Church of Global Warming.
Dan(Miller)
11 - handyguy
And if you reverse those positions, you define your own: everyone to the left of Marco Rubio is a socialist extremist evildoer.
12 - handyguy
Call that the doctrine of the Church of the Happy Lobbyist, whose mottos are All Taxes are the Demonic Spawn of Satan, and Corporations Are Angels Incapable of Sin.
13 - doug m.
Does Dan(M ever offer anything of substance because his flowery language doesn't hide his hollow contributions?
14 - Tommy Mack
Ref: Joe Miller
While he has what should be an excellent CV for the Senate, I have to agree with Handy on extremes. His advocating a repeal of the 17th Amendment -- direct election of senators -- is a republican theme this year, never mind the civics involved. His hypocritical position on entitlements is as anti-Alaska as a candidate can get. Both positions undermine his credibility.
So, my point about the idea that anyone can get elected, especially when they are made into television celebrities, stands.
By the way, should he be elected, Mitch McConnell will tell him to shave.
15 - Baronius
So your real problem with those candidates is that you don't agree with them, and the point that we agreed on (the difficult transition) was just a head fake.
16 - Tommy Mack
My dear Cardinal,
Jeremiah Denton and Paula Hawkins were both extraordinary Americans, as individuals and as one term Republican Senators -- January 1981 to January 1987. Hawkins was succeeded by Bob Graham who retired. Denton was succeeded by Richard Shelby who still serves. The candidates I mentioned pale by comparison.
The major difference is our political cult of personality, which does not require any substance, as Sarah Palin proves. So the question is not one of transition for this cyclical ilk.
I believe the word your were looking for them was transubstantiation.
17 - Joseph Cotto
I believe that there has always been a segment of society which somehow translates its own personal anger into the political realm, despite the fact that this anger has little or nothing to do with politics at all. This is why we see the most radical and extremist of those on the left-wing (The Code Pink, Netroots Nation, and Impeach Bush types) thriving in communities where they can seek refuge as ideological minorities (Such as San Francisco, Burlington, and Berkley), with the same standing for those on the far right (Which is why we see the craziest of Tea Partiers in rural, insular, and, dare I say, all-around-redneck areas).
It is only natural that these types of people will be attracted to the ceaseless echo chamber that is the punditocracy on FOX News and MSNBC. On either one of these networks, they can hear and see what they wish to without any significant dissenting opinions. The fact that FOX News and MSNBC are so popular is merely a symptom of the much larger problem, which is that many of our fellow countrymen and women have taken the political process to a frightening level, particularly with regards to social issues. They see it, in my opinion, as a means of validating their respective lifestyles and philosophies as opposed to selecting whomever they believe best to control Congress and/or the White House. Hence the cult of personalities built around such figures as Howard Dean and Sarah Palin.
18 - Glenn Contrarian
Mr. Cotto -
The difference between Fox and MSNBC can be found on any reputable fact-checking site. I recommend the Pulitzer prize-winning Politifact.com.
19 - Alan Kurtz
Glenn Contrarian (#18), you need to get either your eyes or your head examined. Joseph Cotto (#17) did not say there's no difference between Fox and MSNBC. He said that each network offers an echo chamber to its "punditocracy," where viewers "can hear and see what they wish to without any significant dissenting opinions." That's so true it ought to go without saying, just as should the fact that these networks play to opposing constituencies and thus peddle points of view opposite to one another.
20 - pablo
Alan is right on the money Glenn.
21 - Heloise
I just want to see Pelosi ungaveled.
22 - Dan(Miller)
Speaker Pelosi is having a party! There is no word as to whether crow is on the appetizer menu. However,
A staffer for a congressional Democrat who came up short on Tuesday reports that a team of about five people stopped by their offices this morning to talk about payroll, benefits, writing a résumé, and so forth, with staffers who are now job hunting.
But one of the staffers was described as a "counselor" to help with the emotional aspect of the loss.
For those who may be interested, there are some really yummy crow recipes here.
The devil made me post this; I could not help myself and shall seek psychiatric help.
Dan(Miller)
23 - Tommy Mack
Thanks, D(M),
The Crow Creole looks pretty good. Hope they have some recent issues of New Yorker in your Dr.'s office.
Tommy