Which Party is Dumber - Republicans of Democrats?

Some days it seems the two major political parties are vying over which should be considered the dumber of the two.

The Democrats just got shellacked in the mid-term elections. A key strategy of the Republicans was to nationalize House races and make individual elections more about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi than the local candidate. Ads ran in nearly every competitive district showing Pelosi saying "We had to pass the bill to find out what's in it." That quote spoke volumes about Democrat arrogance and helped Republicans gain control of the House. Well, that's not how Democrats see it.

Outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) leadership had "nothing to do" with Democrats' losses in last week's election, the No. 3 House Democrat said Monday.

"It has everything to do with an environment that we found ourselves in that had nothing to do with Nancy Pelosi or the people that we had on the field," Clyburn said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

"We're very introspective about this, and we are having discussions as to how we should go forward," the South Carolina Democrat explained. "And I think that my party feels that this had nothing to do with Nancy Pelosi's leadership.

Okay, keep telling yourselves that it had nothing to do with Pelosi. Please keep her as the primary face of your party in congress.


The Republican party just finished an election cycle where they gained control of the House of Representatives and picked up several seats in the Senate. So, how do they respond? Some fools speaking for the establishment wing of the party have spent the past week trying to assign blame rather than passing out credit. The latest is a fool congressman from Alabama named Spencer Bachus (sounds like a cousin of Thurston Howell III) declared that Sarah Palin is to blame for the GOP not winning the Senate. Let me get this straight, Palin and the Tea Party movement generated enthusiasm for conservative candidates all over the country leading to gains in both houses and instead of saying thank you, he decides to blame her for not winning five more seats. I have one question for Rep. Bachus. Just what the heck did YOU do to help elect anyone besides yourself?

Election Night Reactions to Results

6:00 PM Polls close in parts of Kentucky and Indiana. Initial returns very positive for Rand Paul. I expect this race to be called within an hour.

6:43 With less than 2% of returns CNN already projecting Republican wins in 3 House races. KY 5, IN 5 & IN 6. 215 more needed for control of the House.

7:00 FOX is projecting Dan Coats has won the Indiana U.S. Senate seat. One gain

7:01 FOX is projecting Rand Paul will be the next U.S. Senator from Kentucky. Hold.

7:08 Incumbents senators Jim DeMint (R) of South Carolina and Patrick "Leaky" Leahy (D) of Vermont both projected to win easily.

7:15 CNN now projecting 11 House winners for the GOP and 1 Dem.

7:30 Ohio polls close and immediately Rob Portman is projected the winner of the U.S. Senate seat currently held by George Voinovich. Guess my vote helped.

8:00 Jeopardy break over

8:01 Marco Rubio projected to win Florida's U.S. Senate seat. This is a man to watch in years to come.

8:02 Kelly Ayotte projected to win New Hampshire's U.S. Senate seat.

8:08 Connecticut and Delaware vote to continue Obama's failed policies by elected the dishonest Dick Blumenthal and the marxist Chris Coons to their open senate seats. Bad case of voter fail.

8:11 Current House projections 32 GOP & 8 Dem. I expect GOP to reach the 218 necessary to have a majority around 9:45 PM.

8:32 In Arkansas Republican John Boozman unseats Sen. Blanche Lincoln. GOP pick up.

8:33 House at 57 GOP and 18 DEM. Next hour will be very interesting.

9:23 Ohio governor's race looking ugly. However, as more precincts report the margin is tightening up.

9:41 Sadly CNN is projecting Barney Frank will win reelection again. Once again the voters in Massachusetts showed they are incapable of making a good decision. Disgusting!

9:54 In a night of ups and downs, there is some good news for our country. The next congress will not include the absolute most despicable member of the last congress. Alan Grayson lost his reelection bid.

10:03 CBS just projected the Republicans will get control of the House in the next congress. That will most likely lead to my congressman John Boehner serving as Speaker of the House.

10:05 Col. Alan West, USA(ret) of Florida will join the next congress. Another big improvement over the last congress.

10:11 Longtime incumbent Rep. Paul Kanjorski lost tonight. I like seeing any DEM incumbent lose, but particularly ones with hard to spell names.

10:26 Hickenlooper declared winner in Colorado governor race. This race is exhibit A in why vetting of candidates needs to happen prior to primaries. The losing Republican nominee should never have survived a thorough vetting process.

10:39 FOX is now projecting Ron Johnson is defeating Russ Feingold! No surprise, but good to see. One half of McCain/Feingold is gone.

10:40 Great news. Nikki Haley is now projected to win the South Carolina governor race. This contest got particularly ugly with nasty accusations of infidelity and other garbage. Glad to see she overcame the nonsense to win.

10:53 More good news: 20 year incumbent John Spratt and the awful Debbie Halverson are losing.

10:56 A commenter on twitter just made a great point that some of the tea parties biggest wins this year have been made coincidentally by women and people of diverse ethnic and racial background. Hmmmm, that tends to undermine the BS line from the DEM's/mainstream media that the tea party is racist. Nope. An understanding of economics and math and a desire to adhere to our nations Constitution is not a trait that belongs to any one race or gender.

11:04 As soon as the polls close California is called. Disgustingly, but not surprisingly, the idiots in California have rewarded incompetence. Sen Barbara Boxer was reelected to another six year term and Jerry Brown was returned to the governor's office. That state will continue to spend themselves towards insolvency with an expectation that they will be bailed out by the rest of the country. That must not happen! Irresponsible states being bailed out by monies confiscated from citizens of responsible states is morally reprehensible. We will be left to wonder if Chuck DeVore would have given Boxer a better challenge if he had won the primary.

11:40 Pennsylvania Senate seat is finally called for Pat Toomey!

11:50 John Boehner, the presumptive next Speaker of the House just gave a contrite and heartfelt speech. Keep him in your prayers as the attacks will only get more visceral.

11:52 Illinois congressman Phil Hare who infamously said who cares what is in the Constitution was rightfully kicked to the curb. Also Renee ELmers beat the violent and aggressive incumbent Beb Etheridge.

11:53 John Kasich has won the Ohio governor race over incumbent Ted Strickland. Let's hope his lead stays outside the margin of fraud.

12:28 Another victory for corrupt politicians and unions results in Sen Harry Reid returning to the senate. Sad news for our country. Reid remains the negative face of Obama policies.

12:35 Bed time. Night.

Election Predictions

Lots of election predictions out today. Here are links to a few:

We have the wildly optimistic from Kathleen Lopez of NRO. She sees Republicans picking up 80 seats in the House and 9 in the Senate including the California seat currently held by Maam Boxer.

We have very detailed predictions from Jim Geraghty. He predicts every House race and every contested Senate seat.

Winners and Losers is a collection of predictions from various experts at a NRO Symposium.

Don Surber toyed with the idea of doubling his months old prediction of 51 House and 5 Senate seat gains for Republicans. While noting some numbers that could lead to the double down, he stuck with his original prediction to avoid any chance of disappointment tonight. His 51 and 5 are the bare minimum gains I could see for the Republicans.

For laughs, here is a link to Meghan McCain's predictions. They are predictably nonsensical. She only predicts five races and my guess is she gets all five wrong. Particularly amusing is her idea that Gov. Charlie Crist will win the Florida senate seat. He'll be lucky to avoid third place after the silliness of the past week where he and Bill Clinton tried to push the Dem nominee to drop out of the race. This race will be called for Marco Rubio within minutes of the polls closing.

My own predictions: In Ohio, Rob Portman will win the senate seat easily. In the governor race Kasich will win, but won't be outside the margin of fraud/recount shenanigans. Strickland's ads have been effective both in painting Kasich as a Wall Street big wig and as being anti-gun rights. My congressman, John Boehner will win easily and will be the next Speaker of the House as the Republicans gain 60+ seats. I don't see the Republicans getting a majority in the Senate. It will be close, but I don't trust California voters doing the right thing and kicking Boxer to the curb. A side note to that prediction is the Democrats actually have a lot more Senate seats to defend in 2012. At least two senate races will go into a protracted recount process. There will be at least five long term incumbent congressmen who were perceived safe that will get beaten. Let's hope Barney Frank is one of them.

Tonight's drinking game? If watching MSNBC drink every time a host cries or says the word disaster. If watching FOX drink every time they say historic, unprecedented, or better than expected.

Tomorrow's Election

Tomorrow's election and the impact of the Tea Party movement can be summed up in one simple thought:

More Government = Less Freedom
Less Government = More Freedom

Our problem of excessive government did not happen over night. No, it developed over decades. Every time something bad happens and people respond by saying "government ought to . . . . " it leads to a government response that grows government and reduces freedom. Government has legitimate roles to play. Government is a necessary evil to do collectively what we need but can not do individually. Interstate highways can't be built by individuals. National defense is not a personal responsibility. However, much of what our federal government has decided to do and fund are not federal responsibilities. Tomorrow is the first step to fixing the problem. Some of the people elected tomorrow will fail. They are human and human beings make mistakes. The concerns of the Tea Party movement are not getting different people elected, but rather about changing the culture of spending in congress. The Republicans will be the majority party in the House in the next congress and will have between 48 and 52 senate seats. If the Republicans don't fight all wasteful spending then a lot of them will face primary challenges in 2012.

Poll Numbers Shifting as Election Nears

As the 2010 mid-term election is now only a week away you will start seeing polls narrowing. I am not referring to individual races getting tighter which may or may not happen. No, the narrowing I expect to see is polls from the various polling agencies getting closer. It is one thing to play with the demographic make up of those being polled to prop up a campaign a month or so out from election. However, once you get close to the election the pollsters need to play straight as their reputation rests on being close to the real results. A website titled Expose Liberal Bias has watched the New York Times adjust their House of Representatives map over the last couple weeks. Here is a link to a post from 14 October showing 155 Solid Democrat Seats and 168 Solid Republican leaving 112 in play. Now, here is a link from 23 October showing 152 Solid Democrat Seats and 174 Solid Republican leaving 109 in play.

There will be a couple more updates between now and election day. Watch it shift. Pollsters can only sell their services is they are perceived as credible. The last polls will be fairly accurate.

If you know someone unsure about voting in this election, refer them to this website It is ugly and getting worse quickly.

Which Should Be a Greater Concern; Witchcraft or Marxism

In the Delaware race for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Vice President Biden some odd allegations are being tossed around. The Republican candidate, Christine O'Donnell is being mocked as a witch because on some idiot's "comedy" show years ago she said she dabbled in witchcraft in high school or knew kids that were involved in it or whatever. The Democrat candidate, Chris Coons once described himself as a bearded Marxist and claimed it was the instruction of Marxist professors that lead him to become a Democrat.

Okay, for this exercise, let's assume both allegations are true. Which is a bigger issue? My first inclination is to give a flippant answer like well since there is no such thing as witches and there is such a thing as Marxists I'm more concerned with the Marxist. Or alternatively, I thought about looking at the job they want and whether the Senate is more likely to vote on sorcery or legislation which could lead to socialism, communism, marxism etc? However, I decided that isn't serious enough for the matter being discussed. The better way to look at this question is to look back at the last century. How many people were killed by witches or warlocks in the 20th century? Huh, how many was that? Okay, then how many were killed by communists? Holy crap! Over a hundred million!

Bottom line: I'm not too concerned about imaginary witches. I am concerned about the evil that is done in the pursuit of communism. Remember most socialists believe the only reason communism hasn't worked in the past is the wrong people were in charge.

Funniest Thing on Internet Today - Lisa Murkowski Edition

What really makes this funny is that it is all true.

McCain No Longer Needs to Pretend He's a Conservative

I had no prior comment on the Arizona U.S. Senate primary. The incumbent Se. John McCain had an honorable career in the military but has been unpredictable and often misguided as a senator. His opponent, J.D. Hayworth, was a relatively good congressman. He was strong on some issues but hardly a fiscal conservative. Because of the strong antipathy to the out of control spending in DC, Hayworth was unlikely to beat McCain. McCain's weak point was his support for open borders and no enforcement of immigration laws. McCain did a couple TV ads pretending to care about border security and based on tonight's voting he fooled enough people to secure the GOP nomination. Now, that the primary is behind him don't be surprised to see McCain tilt back to the left on several issues.

Beyond my distaste for McCain's incessant need to be loved by the media, I'm just personally opposed to career politicians in general. With six year terms of office, the Senate is more prone to this problem. McCain is better than Bob Byrd or Ted Kennedy but I'm equally opposed to any of them holding office for life.

Today's Stupid Congressional Speech

A few months ago we had a moronic congresscritter from Georgia warning us that stationing more U.S. military personnel in Guam could cause the island to capsize. Today we get more words of wisdom from a different moron congresscritter this one from Texas. I must caution you that there is a distinct possibility that you endanger your brain cells if you listen to her very long. If the state of Texas has any pride (and I've heard they have boatloads of pride) she will be replaced in November. However, gerrymandered districts make her reelection a near certainty.



Um Rep. Jackson-Lee, I'm not sure how to break it to ya, but there is no South Vietnam anymore. They were overrun and taken over by the North after our cowardly politicians in DC refused to let our military win. Also, FYI your commie friends in Vietnam killed millions in the south after getting control of the entire combined country. Sadly, this probably isn't even close to the dumbest thing she has said in her decades in office.

(h/t BaseballCrank)

Dumb Idea of the Day

From Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard we get this ridiculous idea:

All the well-deserved praise for Campbell Brown’s classy statement announcing her departure from CNN prompts a thought: Brown is now a free woman, she's a well-spoken and impressive one, she lives in New York, and she has moderate political views. And she's a patriot who wants to serve her country. Campbell Brown should accept a draft (which I hereby launch!) to be the Republican nominee for the Senate against Chuck Schumer.

Is that how messed up New York is that the Republicans should spend money backing a liberal candidate who was so unpopular that she quit her prime time cable news show because no one bothered watching???

(H/T Baseball Crank via Twitter)

Breaking News: Another Democrat Senator Decides to Retire

A month ago we were somewhat surprised when two Democrat senators, Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) decided to retire at the end of their current term rather than face the voters in November. Since then several Democrat congressmen have decided not to run for reelection signaling an understanding of how difficult an electoral environment Democrats face this year. The most notable announcement was Rep. Patrick Kennedy's last week. Now, this morning we get word that Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) is also retiring. Bayh's announcement would normally be pretty shocking. He is the son of a popular Indiana senator and considered to be well liked himself and remembered in Indiana as a successful governor. It is a sign of wide spread discontent that a senator like Bayh who would normally be a shoe in for reelection is not even bothering to run. He must be seeing some awfully poor internal polling numbers to make this decision. Bayh is not a left wing extremist like some Dems. He is fairly moderate and has been frustrated by the far left Chicago style tactics of the Obama administration. I don't think we've seen the last of Bayh. It would not be surprising to see him challenge for the Dem presidential nomination some time in the future.

This race just shifted from likely Dem retention to near certain Republican gain as former senator Dan Coats should coast to an easy victory now.

Breaking News: Two Democrat Senators Announce Decision Not to Run for Reelection

2010 has been shaping up to be a tough year for the Democratic party. Voter anger over the excessive "stimulus" spending, fear of the threatened health care "reform" and the high unemployment added to the normal mid-term election environment had the Republicans salivating at the thought of large gains in the House of Representative and hopeful to pick up a few senate seats. A few congressmen viewed the difficult landscape and decided not to run for reelection. Yesterday there was some more potentially good news as Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) both decided not to seek another term. While it is always difficult to unseat an incumbent, Dodd was seen as especially vulnerable as he has been embroiled in a couple high profile scandals over the last couple years. Dodd's decision not to run actually makes it less likely that the Republicans will pick up that seat. Connecticut is a fairly liberal state and a fresh Democratic face without Dodd's ethical baggage and who doesn't have to defend votes made in the current congress will be tougher to beat. By comparison, North Dakota actually becomes easier for the Republicans without an incumbent in the race. Even though North Dakota is a Republican leaning state, Dorgan is personally popular and this would have been a difficult gain unless a high profile Republican like the current governor entered the race. Now, I'd rate this a likely Republican pick up regardless of whether Governor John Hoeven runs.

Separately, I wonder how much Democratic leadership leaned on Dodd to retire? Unlike Dorgan, Dodd would likely have influenced more races than just his own. With Dodd's various ethical lapses, and individual Republicans likely to be running against the Dem majority as much as against their personal opponent, I expected that he would join Harry Reid as the focus of ads in states besides his own.

Regardless of whether Connecticut voters replace Dodd with a Republican or just elect some other Democrat the next congress will be more decent and more ethical for his absence. Hopefully, the state of Connecticut has gotten over their fixation with the Dodd family. Like father, like son, nearly forty years ago it took a scandal to get Dodd's crooked father to retire from the senate. Wonder if we can talk Chris Dodd into further emulating his father and get him to change his mind and run as an independent thereby splitting the Dem vote resulting in a Republican win.

2010 Will Be Interesting - Reason #1

This should be an interesting year for many reasons. Here is just one reason 2010 will be fun to watch:

Jim Geraghty at NRO's Campaign Spot found this piece in a local Ohio paper on former Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio, recently released from federal prison for bribery and racketeering:

I’m going to run,” Traficant declared before some 35 members of The Biz Society assembled at the Rosetta Stone restaurant downtown to launch the group’s Youngstown chapter.

Traficant said he still isn’t sure which district he’ll throw his hat in, but he has nominating petitions circulating in three congressional districts –the 17th, the 6th and the 16th. And, the former congressman noted he hasn’t decided on whether to run as a Democrat, a Republican, an independent, or perhaps on another party ticket.

Hey, Traficant wasn't much more corrupt than the rest of Congress and he was a lot more entertaining.

2009 Election Post-Mortum

It is very easy to draw the wrong conclusion from these odd year elections. Reality is each cycle is different and the set of circumstances on the ground in those states may not be the same next year let alone three years out in 2012. Virginia and New Jersey will each be replacing a Democrat governor with a Republican one. However, that is where the similarities end. In Virginia it was an open race whereas in New Jersey an incumbent, Jon Corzine was running for reelection. Corzine was hampered by various scandals and a growing resentment of New Jersey's high taxes and unemployment rate. In Virginia, Deeds was a poor candidate who didn't appeal to voters. We do not know how much the mood in the country regarding the stimulus spending and the attempts to overhaul our health care system played into these races. There is no denying it played a role to some degree.

Democrats, particularly those up for reelection next November, have to weigh that public sentiment as they cast votes going forward. Do they vote faithfully with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid only to find themselves out of office? Do they buck their party leaders and then find campaign funds drying up and end up out of office anyways?

Republicans have to learn how to properly respond to the anti-stimulus, anti-incumbent, dissatisfied with government mood. For decades Republicans have said things like "I'm for smaller government" or "I'm for lower taxes." That may make sense to those of us who can make the connection between tax burden and the overall economy. However, we are approaching the point where half the population pays no income taxes and thus don't understand the problem. Republican leaders and spokesmen need to find a way to convey to the populace at large how higher taxes hurts everyone whether they are personally paying those taxes or not. Currently, a large segment of the voting population believes tax cuts only benefit the rich. Many don't believe the ever increasing national debt is a threat to them. Overcoming those misconceptions is the biggest job of the Republicans going forward. Additionally, they need to admit that they were wrong to overspend when in power last decade and have learned not to act like Democrats.

The media tries to play up social issues. However, as strongly as some of us may feel about hot button social issues they will not drive large number of voters from one side to the other. A percentage of the population may correctly believe abortion to be evil. A different percentage may believe killing a child is no big deal as long as the mother makes the choice. However, to most voters those issues have no direct impact on their life. Massive national debt that will inevitably lead to inflation affects everyone. The great majority of us will never be affected by whether boys marry other boys or girls marry other girls, but we will all be impacted by our share of the national debt. Each individual's share is currently over 38 thousand dollars and that isn't per taxpayer - no, that is per person. Republicans should stick to their principles on the social issues, but must also ensure voters understand the difference between the parties on fiscal issues which is of more immediate concern to most voters.

On the local issues, as I thought, all the Ohio statewide issued passed and the candidates I supported lost. Oh, well can't win them all. As Norma explains, we are going to regret issue number three most of all. Unfortunately, local candidate Chris Lyons lost. There was just not enough difference position wise to drive voters to back her over the incumbent. This was not her time, but I hope she tries again in the future.

Today is the first day of the 2010 race. Should be interesting. The Obama administration can claim that last night was not a reflection on the unpopularity of the president's policies. Next year that claim won't hold water.

Specter First Casualty of the Stimulus Fallout???

One aspect of Sen. Specter's decision to switch parties that has not been noted yet is he was one of the "Republican" votes that allowed the massive pork filled crap-sandwich called a stimulus bill to pass. His decision to switch was obviously prompted out of fear of losing a primary battle to Pat Toomey who is a strong fiscal conservative who was emphasizing Specter's complicity in that awful waste filled legislation. I don't think it is an automatic done deal that Specter will win the Dem nomination and if he does he'll still face a tough general election and you can be sure he will be hammered over that particular vote.

2010 Mid-Term Senate Race - Connecticut

Over the next year or so I'll do updates on the 2010 mid-term elections. Most of the updates will be of senate races though a few key or surprising house races may get some attention.

The first, surprisingly concerns a long time incumbent - Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut. Normally, senate incumbent are safe particularly in states that consistently vote for the incumbent's political party. Such is the case with Sen. Dodd. Next year he will be finishing his fifth full term in the senate representing a state that has fairly reliably voted Democrat. However, Sen. Dodd has been under a major ethical cloud over the past year and now appears particularly vulnerable.

Exacerbating Dodd's problems is that his perceived ethical lapses are easily connected to our current economic troubles. As the mortgage industry was falling apart creating a headache for the entire credit market, it was revealed that Dodd received a special, below market rate, mortgage from Countrywide Financial. Even if one was inclined to give Dodd the benefit of doubt (which I'm not) it is hard to imagine the powerful Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee receiving a special loan as anything but a serious conflict of interest if not tantamount to a bribe. That is just the tip of the iceberg of troubles for Dodd. Last week he looked and acted guilty in the back and forth over who modified the "Stimulus" bill to ensure the AIG executives received bonuses. That was quickly used in commercials harping on the fact that Dodd and President Obama were the largest recipients of AIG campaign donations. Here is a link to an article detailing some of his other scandals including a shady deal for a mansion in Ireland.

Current projection: 70% chance for Republican pick up unless Dodd doesn't run for reelection. If Dodd decides not to run again then I'd rate this a safe Dem retention.

Trivia: The last time a "Republican" won a U.S. Senate seat from Connecticut it was after Dodd's father chose not to run for reelection after his own ethical lapses. Hmmm, what's that they say about apples not falling far from trees?