The 2012 Elections Thread - Page 36

"It's the economy, stupid."

Corporate media whose Obama coverage is 60% negative + Fox, where it's 100% negative.

Unlimited shadowy corporate money funneled into the system + a longterm conservative strategy coming into full bloom.

Racism and unfettered sociopathic greed on the right + impossible purism on the left.

Degraded schools + bad economy. 

The main beef is that he hasn't been very effective in the leadership role. For example, he spent all his political capital on health-care reform, left the drafting of the bill to the clucking jerks in the House leadership, remained hands-off throughout most of the process, then parachuted in only when the damn thing was about to go down in flames. And we ended up with a bill that is (as many centrists like to point out) damn near identical to the one proposed by Republicans back in the 90s. Which isn't what many of his supporters (myself included) were plumping for when we worked to elect a liberal leader.

On foreign policy (where the President traditionally wields power), he has been extremely solid, if far more hawkish than many people expected. The failure with Guantanamo, again, comes down to a failure of leadership on the domestic front. He said he was prioritizing the issue, but his administration never really followed through, and now its place is pretty much enshrined in law with the NDAA.

On a more macro level, he isn't winning going away because of the economy. Anyone who has been paying attention is well aware that its ludicrous to pin all the blame for the sad state of affairs on the sitting President, but my fellow countrymen aren't exactly known for 'paying attention'.

The ironic thing, though, is that a lot of the same people that might be against Obama due to racism aren't really too fond of Mormons, either. Combine that with the fact that Romney's often portrayed (correctly, to a degree) as a moderate whose policies laid the groundwork for Obamacare, plus the fact that he seems to have been coronated the candidate by the party leadership, and he's basically lost a lot of the hardcore right-wing base right out of the gate, plus the Ron Paul supporters.

 

Yes, there's always a certain aspect of "toeing the party line" with Republicans, but this primary season is going to disenchant a lot of them. And practicality doesn't win elections. For all the "Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line" argument, there's ALWAYS been a strong element of genuine passion and support for the winning candidate on either side for the last 30 years. Obviously the right loved Reagan, and that love carried over to Bush I, a singularly unlikeable individual. After four years of him, there was no passion left (though Perot played a factor there as well). And as hard as it is to swallow, a lot of the people on the right genuinely liked Dubya. Why not, he was a likeable guy. He had the Christian redemption narrative that's been discussed, and of course the media working overtime to convince us that he was a great leader and anyone who thought otherwise must hate America. He struck the right balance. When the GOP ran McCain/Palin, in theory they had the same balance of moderate experience vs. passionate figure, but in practice both sides of the ticket scared too many people away.

 

This is the same issue they're having right now. They've got a palatable moderate centrist candidate who doesn't excite the base, comes off as a spoiled rich kid, and isn't that politically different from Obama anyway. But the other candidates are only appealing to a certain sector of the GOP base, not to everyone else, which is what you need to win the general. OK, Ron Paul might have the buzz around him to win the general, but it's pretty obvious the party leadership isn't going to let him win. And in the meantime, he, and Gingrich, are doing a great job of sabotaging the right's ideals and sucking all the wind out of Romney.

 

So yeah. Lots can happen, but I think there are a few too many factors holding Romney back. He literally doesn't appeal strongly to ANYONE except the super-rich, and they've historically needed to get some excitement from the masses to win elections.

 

Of course there's almost a year to come and anything can happen. But right now, I think Romney's a major dud of a candidate. They can inspire Obama hate all they want, but as 2004 showed, hatred for the sitting candidate doesn't win elections either. You need to be inspired by the challenger, and Romney isn't remotely inspiring.

 

Hubris, naturally. See also: John Edwards' love baby.

 

 

Hahahahahaha.  I mentioned this in the Ron Paul shill thread, but Obama would positively DEVOUR Paul in the general election.  Aside from the fact that Paul's mainstream appeal shrivels dramatically the more time he spends in the spotlight, and how his crazy gold standard and isolationist desires would make even the GOP's big business base uneasy enough to stick with the devil they know, those newsletters are positively toxic.  You've given the first black president license to ignore the flailing economy and run against the KKK.  If Aaron Sorkin were writing the narrative for this election, he wouldn't make it that easy on the "good" guys.

 

I was considering rising up in the streets and taking my country back, but I'm just not sure where I would charge my iPhone.

Obama hasn't begun to campain in earnest yet. A very bloodied Romney is going to come out of his party's nomination process and face a man who can take credit for literally saving the American automotive industry from extinction, killing Bin Laden, killing Reagan's nemesis Qadafi, putting a quarter million young Americans on their parents' insurance plans overnight, and ending the war in Iraq, all in his first term, and all while the opposing party ran a history making permanent filibuster.

Obama's first term has taught a generation of liberals that the fight doesn't end when we elect our guy, we still have to fight to see progress, but this election belongs to what Karl Rove dismissively referred to as the "reality-based community." A rival candidate with a better solution to the economy failed to show up.

I'm like perpetually only a day away from taking a machete, putting on a beret, running to the hills, and staging violent kidnappings at government check-points.* It's like a constant tug on me 24/7.

 

 

*And opening a cocaine plant, but honestly that kind of goes without saying at this point.

 

Hmm, maybe. I'd never underestimate the power of a groundswell of excitement centered around a charismatic figure. Plus, expecting Americans to vote AGAINST racism? Call me dubious. We're never going to find out, though.

There's racism and there's RACISM.  We keep electing old white guys, but not actual klansman.

Colbert/Cain rally LIVE;

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/msnbc.com/46072465/

YAY!!!!  Watching now!  "The Lockheed Martin Burger King"!!!

 

He just called up Herman Cain.  Colbert is a stone cold genius.

That was great. Missed the first part with Cain, he did some of his Pokemon quotes.

 

Yeah, Colbert is really doing this very well. I really hope Cain gets a lot of votes tomorrow, it would be hilarious if he comes close or ahead one of the other candidates.

Funny observations by Matt Taibbi about last night's debate:

 

 

I really can't put my finger on what Colbert is trying to achieve in South Carolina.

He's creating the most effective and creative device to bring attention, criticize and protest against the Supreme Court decision on Citizens United.

Today is the 2 year anniversary, so the timing is *perfect*. The vote for Cain thing is a way to make more news, and bring more publicity, mocking the whole thing while screwing up with the results of the primaries.

 

I'm not even sure he planned it this long, I don't think so, but if he did ... I mean wow ... just wow.

Stewart and Colbert are doing an amazingly effective job at exposing what a joke campaign finance is in the United States since Citizens United.  But they're also exposing full well the corrupting influence of money in politics.

 

Hopefully they'll buoy groups like http://movetoamend.org/ and we can finally end this "money = speech" nonsense.

Eric Rudolph, the Atlanta Olympic Centennial Village bomber, was on the run from the law for 5 years. Where was he? Living in the Southern Appalachian areas of Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Justified is a great show, but dead on accurate with the people that live up here. 

Meanwhile, in Connecticut...

It looks as though the moment I've been waiting for will happen next week. Linda McMahon (who, as you'll recall, is running for the Senate seat to be vacated by Joe Lieberman, who is not running for reelection) will finally have an opponent for the Republican primaries. Former Congresscreature* Chris Shay is expected to announce his campaign next Wednesday in Hartford. Shay has in the past demonstrated a complete lack of fucks to give when it comes to mentioning the high mortality rate among Linda's employees. He will go there. Oh, yes.

*A gender-neutral term proposed as a replacement for "Congressman" by the late Robert Anton Wilson, author of books on semantics and one-time California Gubernatorial candidate for the Guns and Dope Party.

ETA: corrected for factual accuracy. Wilson did not run for President; he ran for Governor of California in the same election that saw Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Gary Coleman, Ariana Huffington and Mary Carey vie for the office.
Edited by Reasor - 1/20/12 at 2:03pm

MSNBC's Chuck Todd apparently takes issue with Stephen Colbert's recent activity.

 

Maybe if the "4th estate" started doing a better job, there wouldn't be a need for people like Colbert or Stewart to use comedy and satire to point out how crazy the political system is in this country.

 

I just love how dim Todd is here.   Stephen Colbert is corrupting the election process?   How exactly can it get more corrupt than it is now?   The whole point of what Colbert is doing is to show how corrupt the Super PAC system really is by actually making a run for president.   I hope he continues this in Florida or however long the primary process lasts.  

Todd: "You're also going to be held accountable on how you cover and how  you do your job a little bit"

 

Todd, their job is to entertain people and make them laugh. They'll be held accountable on if they're not funny or not. That they're held accountable like a news organization, and treated like one (Fox seems to think Comedy Central is one) is a testament of how POORLY you guys are doing your own damned jobs.

What Todd is saying is such a  perfect encapsulation of what's wrong with the MSM.     Why worry about how Republicans are going to feel about it?    If you're trying to be fair, balanced, and unbiased you should just report what's going on and not care if the GOP is going to beat up the MSM again.   Note to MSM, the GOP will ALWAYS hate you or at least pretend to.  

 

Todd and the rest of his MSM counterparts should be ashamed that Colbert and Stewart are the real heir apparents to Edward R Murrow and Walter Kronkite.   That's gotta sting some.

Completely agreed, Dynamntov. I find it the fact that Todd is so quick to question Colbert's motives in using his SuperPAC and the claim that the satire of the Steward and Colbert is in fact detrimental to the American institution outright ludicrous. Also how is Colbert marginalizing the Republican candidates with his PAC any different from any other existing SuperPAC?

 

Also, if Todd is so worried that satire of the system is making a generation too cynical then perhaps he should look at why the system is inspiring so much satire and attempt to rectify that.

...kinda sad in a way, but still a great comparison.

Took the words out of my mouth, although my response would have been "Chuck Todd's an idiot."  DynamoTV is much more eloquent.

I always liked Todd, but he's sort of morphed into a stooge the past few years. His comments betray a deep ignorance / denial of reality. 

 

On the other hand, I don't really understand what exactly Colbert is doing. Can anyone break it down for me? 

It's really simple.   He's illustrating in very real world terms how corrupt Citizens United has made the election process.   What he's doing can be seen as less comedy and rather activist journalism at its best.   I'll see if I can dig up Colbert's appearance on the Daily Show where he sits right beside John Stewart and exploits the loophole of coordinating with Super PACs through a make believe TV set.   And he constantly has a lawyer on call to make sure everything he's doing is legal.   The best part is he shows presidential candidates doing and saying what he's lampooning.   It's brilliant.

 

 

Most people in America do not understand how campaign finance works, don't have the first clue.  All the backdoors and unseemly practices that have been won through millions in lobbying aren't covered by the idiotic corporate media and the politicians certainly aren't talking.  By reveling in what he's allowed to do with dark money (money that requires no disclosure of where it came from -- i.e. the Koch brothers paying hundreds of millions for favorable legislation down the line), he's educating people on what these guys are doing.  Most people don't realize that something like 95% of the time, the candidate with the most campaign cash wins in the US and A.  Colbert has just found a way to make something extremely serious funny.

 

Interestingly, I heard something on NPR today about how some corporations are against corporate money in politics.  The shareholders of Target were not happy with the backlash their business received as a result of Target backing a virulently anti-gay candidate for Governor.

Just wait until Romney's nominated and Colbert explains to the nation how offshore banking works.

Not that Romney's nomination is guaranteed any longer, now that FOX News has all but made its endorsement of Gingrich official.

From the last link posted by Reasor above.

 

 

I don't need to embellish this with any witty quip or a joke.  Stands on its own, really.

The only thing I can add to it is that it's not a parody. It's real, and Fox published it.

 

no words....

He makes the argument that since his daughters are sticking by him, after 3 marriages, he must be in the right. First time I see that "argument" being made ...

No mention on how he left the first two after they got sick, wouldn't that be reason enough to think he might "quit" on the presidency as soon as his horrible policies would make everything worse?

"Like, do you know what Mom's like chances of, like, getting like elected President are? Like, a million to, like, one! Go Dad!"

Re: the Chuck Todd video, all I can say is...

 

 

"Now, no one enjoys a joke more than me. Well, except perhaps my wife. And Captain Johnson. Come to think of it, most people enjoy a joke more than me, but that's not the point. The point is, this primary has gotten entirely too silly."

LOL

 

breaking news...some never before seen footage of the GOP debates has surfaced...

 

 

Newt and Mitt should just be thankful the GOP didn't pull the ace from their sleeve this cycle...

 

 

Representative Fin-tim-lin-bin-whin-bim-lim-bus-stop-F'tang-F'tang-Olé-Biscuitbarrel decided that this race was simply too silly, even for him.

Excuse me?

 

Someone *cough cough Romney cough cough* has decided to play dirty.

S.C. Officials To Investigate Bogus Emails About Newt Gingrich's Ex-Wife, Marianne

That article from Fox News literally makes me sick to my stomach. I honestly think the democrats must have planted a few sleeper cells within the Republican infrastructure to undermine them. I HAVE to believe this. 

Screen capture of a poll conducted yesterday on Dan Savage's SLOG:






ETA: Holy shit, stop the presses, time out, flag on the play.

CHUCK NORRIS ENDORSES GINGRICH


Edited by Reasor - 1/21/12 at 11:14am

God Chuck Norris is the biggest fucking tool.

Chuck Norris still wants to karate chop the "Negro Problem".

Chuck Norris is so gladly cashing in on that undying meme* and using it to support such shitty people, that everytime he appears I want the ghost of Bruce Lee to appear and one inch punch him in the chest until he regains his senses.

 

 

 

*When the fuck will this die? It was never funny.

His meme needs to be given to someone more worthy. He's such a conservasshole (That's my new term for conservative asshole. I'm trying to make it catch on).

 

I suggest Gina Carano, based on Haywire and American Gladiators. Reasonably sure she could kill him.

 I didn't watch the last debate, but from what I've read and seen in clips, I think John King should have followed up on his question to Gingrich. Ask Newt how can a serial cheater who takes the vow though sickness and health with a BIG grain of salt, and impeached a president for doing exactly what he was doing at the same time talk about values without looking like a hypocrite? Then asks his supporters if Newt's indiscretions are in the past, do they think the same thing about Clinton's

 

  I am all for publicly funded elections. Its a better use of my tax money than Haliburton  loses billions of dollars in Iraq.

First taking the balls out of Expendables 2 and now this?   How the mighty have fallen.

 

 

 

With just an ad of her choking the shit out of him.