Morning Widdershins: What Happened Last Night?
Posted by: madamab on: November 4, 2009
- In: Current Events | Morning Widdershins | Obama | Open Thread | Politics
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Now What?
As I write this, the Republicans have swept the Virginia elections for Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. The pundits are falling over themselves talking about how Obama is reacting (or not reacting) to the results, and whether it is, or isn’t, a reflection on Obama’s Presidency. Meanwhile, Republican Chris Christie is ahead in the race for Governor in New Jersey, and the race for New York Mayor is tight. Heavy turnout in Maine augurs well for same-sex marriage rights.
I don’t know what happened last night after I wrote this post, but whatever it was, it’s bound to be dissected and discussed by everyone who opinionates on politics. So why should we be any different, Widdershins? What do you all think about last night’s developments?
This is an open thread. (Because of last night’s elections, we’ll combine Action Wednesday with Feminism Friday this week.)
60 Responses to "Morning Widdershins: What Happened Last Night?"
November 4, 2009 at 7:42 AM
Washington State voted to expand domestic partnerships, whatever that means. Maine also voted in favor of medical marijuana.
November 4, 2009 at 7:53 AM
See the NYC tabloids for what happened here
http://edgeoforever.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/tabloids-and-the-mayoral-buy-out/
And that hillarious Obama detachment of it all…
November 4, 2009 at 8:23 AM
I haven’t read much of the MSM spin, but of what I have read, there doesn’t seem to be much discussion of the fact that the Chairman of the DNC is the current gov of VA and the Democratic candidate for governor was hand picked by the party and yet, the Dems got their asses handed to them.
November 4, 2009 at 8:57 AM
Hmmm…. Bloomberg outspent his opponent by $92M and won by 5%. That roughs out to $12.4M per percentage point.
November 4, 2009 at 10:08 AM
Damn! I am pissed that Bloomberg won. Had Thompson been a more compelling candidate, and had he been backed by the Party, I am quite sure we would have a new mayor today.
Janicen – my relatives in VA told me that when Deeds won the nomination, he was their least favorite of all the Democrats who were vying for it – one of whom was Terry McAuliffe, who apparently had too many Clinton cooties for the National Party. Deeds was the most conservative and the least charismatic, according to them.
Looks like the DNC picked a lemon.
As for Maine, that SUCKS. It just shows that the fundies will always be able to beat state-based civil rights. We need LGBT equal rights from a federal level, based on the ERA. DAMMIT!
NY-23 – now, there’s a delicious win for Bill Owens and for us non-fundie types. I am so happy that Palin and her army of wingnuts were repudiated by the voters up there. And interestingly, if McDonnell hadn’t run as a social moderate, he probably would not have won VA, from what I am reading.
I feel very sorry for New Jerseyites. What did they do to deserve either Corzine or Chris Christie? As chat said, that election was clearly about being pissed off at the incumbent.
Meanwhile, Politico has the talking points already: Obama can’t do any more liberal stuff because Republicans will win in 2010.
Obama now faces a much tougher challenge persuading these mostly moderate Democrats to put themselves further at risk by backing such liberal priorities as expanding government’s role in heath care or limiting greenhouse gases.
Those f*cking DINOcrats are going to use this election to pretend they “have” to torpedo every possible good thing that could come from a Democratic Presidency. It’s going to embolden Obama to become even MORE of a right-wing Republican.
I am sure this spin came directly from Axelrove’s mouth.
November 4, 2009 at 10:15 AM
If BHO runs to the middle, he will lose even more of his liberal base. His army of youth is now among the swelling ranks of the disaffected unemployed. He is truly painted into a corner. He needs to understand that people are angry, and “It’s the economy, stupid!” A rising tide may lift all boats, but the TARP tide lifted the yachts and left the dingy’s on the beach.
November 4, 2009 at 10:20 AM
And from page 3 of the Politico article:
[Democrat Chris] Van Hollen held up their success in New York as indicative of what could happen in the future when the conservative and moderate wings of the GOP clash.
“The Republican Party spent close to a million dollars to lose a seat they had held since the Civil War, and in the process launched a civil war of their own,” he said.
Former Republican Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, an outspoken moderate who is often frustrated by his party’s rightward tilt, said the message of the Christie and McDonnell wins — and the Hoffman loss — is that his party should own the center on economic issues.
But he said the lesson for Democrats is even more urgent.
“Any Democrat from a border or Southern or even a rural district has got to take a deep breath and look for some ways to get some distance from from Obama,” Davis said.
Gosh. If I didn’t know better I’d think that Barack Obama was a massive, epic, mindblowing FAIL for the Democratic Party instead of its New Messiah who is ushering in a post-partisan era of Unity, rainbows and unicorns!
November 4, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Chatblu – He is only painted into a corner because he continued George Bush’s economic policies instead of firmly and clearly repudiating them.
Had he done what needed to be done, i.e., raised taxes on the wealthy, regulated the banks, forced the all the Adjustable Rate Mortgages (predatory sub-prime loans) to change to a reasonable interest rate, frozen foreclosures, and helped create jobs, instead of throwing money at his buddies in the financial industry, things would be turning around.
Now the Republicans actually seem credible on the economy after 8 years of Bush systematically destroying it.
Great job, Obamacrats. Really. Thanks ever so.
November 4, 2009 at 10:28 AM
If you were to add the number of votes for the Repub and the “Conservative” in NY 23, they outdid the Dem. This is a case of the Repubs outsmarting themselves. Also, I grew up in a small town, and much of that district appears to be small towns. Small town people don’t particularly care for outsiders (Pawlenty, Thompson, Palin et al) coming in and telling them what to do. And Tom David is correct – the Repubs that won were moderates, not wingers.
November 4, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Ref #10: You are absolutely correct. He promised the left, and delivered to the right. The clear message from yesterday was frustration.
November 4, 2009 at 10:37 AM
@11 – Yes, I agree, chatblu. The moderates are the future of the Republican Party. The fundies and wingnuts have had their way for far too long. Time to kick them to the curb.
Unfortunately, they may find a new home elsewhere – in the Democratic Party – if the Obama DINO faction has its way.
I really want to get all the fundies of all religions together on one island, and let them all fight with each other instead of us normal people.
November 4, 2009 at 10:47 AM
The LA Times asks, Where Have All the Young Voters Gone?
The young voters are disillusioned. They believed Obama’s BS about being new and improved and now realize he’s just not that into them.
As well, I suspect there was not as much effort put into duplicate voting (at home and at school)so the numbers don’t look as high as they did in 2008. JMHO.
November 4, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Janicen – Obama’s coattails were non-existent even on Election Day, remember? The young ‘uns only voted for him because they are trendy, and Obama was a cool new trend. Now the trend is over and they’re on to the next big thing, whatever that is.
We told the Obamacrats not to throw away their traditional base of women, older people and blue-collar workers so they could attract Independents and youngsters. We told them that a thousand times. But Donna Brazile expressed her disdain when she wrote: “Message to base: Stay home.”
Well, Donna, we did, and now you don’t have your new base either. Independents went Repub, and young ‘uns stayed home.
What are you gonna do now, Donna? Obama? DNC? DSCC? What are you gonna do?
The way I see it, you either get back your old base by acting like real Democrats, or you continue to run after the new base by acting even more Republican.
I think I know what the Obamacrat DINO faction will do, don’t you?
Like I said, it’s gonna be a long three years.
November 4, 2009 at 11:14 AM
Carly Fiorina has announced that she will run against Barbara Boxer.
November 4, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Thanks a bunch, Obamacrats. Now Virginia is stuck with a governor who graduated from Regent University School of Law. You just can’t get more fanatically conservative than that.
November 4, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Madamab, you are right to throw this back into Donna Brazile’s face. Her disregard for the Democratic base was galling and stupid. I saw that the youth vote was down to 9-10% in NY and VA.
Chat noted upstream that these results are a repudiation of the status quo. Isn’t it a sad irony that people were saying that about last year’s election results?
November 4, 2009 at 12:02 PM
One other thing that’s driving me crazy is the WH saying that Obama didn’t watch any election returns, like we’re supposed to be impressed with that. To my mind it makes him seem like a disengaged spoiled child who went to NJ and VA and campaigned for the Dems several times and once his “work” was done, he didn’t give enough of a crap about the results and what effect it all has on the party, the voters, his administration, etc. You know if Big Dawg was POTUS, win or lose, he’d be sitting there dissecting the results precinct by precinct and figuring out what went wrong.
November 4, 2009 at 12:31 PM
Of-frigging-course the youth stayed home and didn’t vote! I’ve been writing since last summer (as have many here and other blogs) that Donna Brazile’s new coalition didn’t give a rat’s ass about the (D) and about the issues. They were only interested in Obama. That’s why he raised almost a billion dollars while other candidates were broke and the DNC was in debt. Once Obama was no longer on the ticket – they stayed home. I bet most of them didn’t even know there was an election at all. You’d have to be pretty fucking stupid to not see this coming from a million miles away. Donna Brazile and her new Democratic coalition can kiss my ass!
I love that story about how Obama can’t do anything liberal anymore. It’s like reading The Onion!
November 4, 2009 at 12:45 PM
DYB – I feel like the entire last two years was an Onion story! I wish we could all Bob Newhart this whole thing. Ha ha, just a dream!
I agree, Janicen, that spin about how this election didn’t matter to Obama was just like the BS from KKKarl about how Dubya didn’t look at polls. Even if it’s true, it isn’t flattering in the slightest to the character of either one.
November 4, 2009 at 12:47 PM
I think Fiorina is wasting her time and money. She was fired from HP, which doesn’t reflect well on her leadership skills. And Boxer is very popular in California.
If she were to run against Pelosi, well, that might be a different story.
November 4, 2009 at 1:24 PM
OMG! Check this out! The White House doesn’t like Anthony Weiner very much. He is, after all, a REAL Democrat who tends to speak the truth. Just like Hillary!
Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s stunningly narrow re-election in New York was a moral defeat for the billionaire incumbent, and a profound embarrassment for a Democratic establishment – from the White House on down — that abandoned his rival, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, as a hopeless loser.
Bloomberg’s meager five-point win left Democrats pondering what might have been if New York’s Democratic donors hadn’t turned their back on Thompson, if its politicians had worked for him, and most of all if President Barack Obama had offered anything more than the lamest words of praise.
“Maybe one of those Corzine trips could have been better spent in New York. Who knows?” remarked New York Rep. Anthony Weiner, who weighed his own run for mayor, referring to the White House’s devout attention to the New Jersey contest.
“Maybe Anthony Weiner should have manned-up and run against Michael Bloomberg,” shot back a White House official, who attributed the night’s results across the board to anti-incumbent fervor.
What a bunch of petulant assholes these Obamacrats are. Cannot take the slightest bit of criticism, even when it’s well-fucking-deserved.
I find it so ironic that Obama has been so dismissive to the AA Democrats of New York – first our Governor, David Paterson, and then the Democratic challenger to Bloomberg, Bill Thommpson. Just underlines that he does not give a sh*t about the AA community or the Democratic Party. It’s always and forever All About Obama.
November 4, 2009 at 1:30 PM
So the White House says that Weiner should have “…manned up…”. Fu#k them. A$$holes.
November 4, 2009 at 1:48 PM
Wow, “manned up?” Wow. I don’t even know what to say… They are like 4 year olds. It’s really astounding and embarrassing.
November 4, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Yes, they do manage to be both sexist and homophobic in just one sentence, don’t they?
Can you believe that they would say that to a guy who’s supposedly in their own Party?
They are JACK*SSES!!!!
November 4, 2009 at 2:16 PM
OT> And did you see that Carrie Prejean now has a sex-tape? Yep, that Bible-thumping “gay marriage is against my religion” made an amateur porno. Apparently Miss America pageant lawyers presented the tape as evidence against her in her lawsuit.
http://www.tmz.com/2009/11/04/carrie-prejean-sex-tape-settlement-miss-california-usa-pagneat/
November 4, 2009 at 2:25 PM
Oh Gawd, DYB.
What she does is her own business, but when she tries to force her strange version of “morality” on others – that’s where I draw the line!
November 4, 2009 at 2:26 PM
I can’t stand that expression “manned up.” Ugh. Headline News reported that Obama was watching basketball last night. That may appeal to his jock-wearing supporters, but I completely agree with Janicen’s take.
November 4, 2009 at 2:42 PM
MB> I don’t care that she made a porno. I care that she somehow declared herself better than me because she’s a Christian.
I would really love to see somebody (a journalist with integrity!) take that “manned up” statement and really take the White House to task for it. What a nasty statement.
November 4, 2009 at 2:56 PM
I love how the White House is chastising Anthony Weiner for not running for NYC Mayor. Why would he do that? So he could be abandoned by the National Party just like Bill Thompson, then blamed for the loss?
November 4, 2009 at 2:58 PM
That’s what I’m saying, DYB. She is going around trying to impose her “Christian” morality on other people, yet that same morality condemns what she herself did.
You know what would be really ironic? If that porno had girl-on-girl action in it.
November 4, 2009 at 3:16 PM
LOL! Weiner responded to the White House by taking a shot at both them and Corzine’s attacks on Christie’s weight:
Weiner had his comeback at the ready to day: “If the White House is going to criticize me, they should man up and call me fat,” he emails.
Oh snap!
November 4, 2009 at 3:26 PM
B0bot Avrosis woke up from koolaid stupor for a moment to make the right comment on the manning up
Manned up? So is the White House saying that Weiner is acting like a woman or a gay? And which one does our White House find worse?</blockquote
http://www.americablog.com/2009/11/white-house-official-slams-democratic.html
November 4, 2009 at 3:33 PM
Oh, thank you all for such succinct analysis. I’ve been too busy to do much more than lurk here for weeks as I can, but I just have to take a mo to type my YES! re your comments on the “manned up” comment and so much more in this thread. With the idjits on the toob like Prima Donna Brazile, it just continues to make my day, many days, to know that this place is here for me to find people who see it as it is.
And especially today, when His Oneness is in my state and dominating even the local toob channels. But I bet it all will be for naught, as it looks like my state will be another that will switch to a Repub governor next year. The Dems are in disarray here, after the White House pushed out the only Dem in the race. Why? She’s a she, and she backed HRC all the way.
So I have to laff at the White House pretending that Obama is so above meddling in our local politics. I just will have yet more to blame him for when we get one of the awful Repubs who are running. The Dems can destroy their own party, for all I care — but leeeeeeave my local politics alone.
November 4, 2009 at 4:08 PM
Cream City! It’s so good to see you. Glad you are keeping busy in RL. It’s a good thing, as Martha Stewart would say.
This made me sad.
And especially today, when His Oneness is in my state and dominating even the local toob channels. But I bet it all will be for naught, as it looks like my state will be another that will switch to a Repub governor next year. The Dems are in disarray here, after the White House pushed out the only Dem in the race. Why? She’s a she, and she backed HRC all the way.
Both the Repubs and the Dems are attacking their own women now. Woo-hoo! Post-partisanship at last!
November 4, 2009 at 6:32 PM
Ooooh! I so love that about Carrie Prejean. I’d love to see the tape, even in a cleaned up version, made public.
Of course what amazes me is how these folks want to get up on their moral high horse when they have to know that something like this was in their background somewhere and that it would be found out.
November 4, 2009 at 6:50 PM
Great comments today, you all are nailing it.
I am blown away by how low the discourse is that emanates from the White House. They sound like a bunch of middle school kids. I work a lot with my eleven-year-old to encourage good speech and word choice while WH sources talk like a bunch of stupid punks.
How are we going to take this country back from the corporate interests that have dominated our last three presidential elections. That’s the change I’m looking for.
November 4, 2009 at 6:59 PM
Tell me about it. Erica! That’s the change we really need.
With Obama we got just another corporate shill pretending to be a populist, while the more populist Dems keep being thrown under that famous bus.
I don’t know how we stop this madness. I keep thinking that maybe 2012 will be the year of the third-party candidate. It’s very interesting how they seem to be entering the conversations and the races with a lot more impact.
One thing is for sure – we haven’t seen what happens when the electorate wakes up to the fraud in both Parties, and really gets angry. I sure hope we can handle it in a non-violent way. But we do love our guns here in Murka, yes we do.
November 4, 2009 at 7:39 PM
Chatblu> A “deathmatch?” What the hell were these people thinking?!
November 4, 2009 at 8:02 PM
Who the heck knows? Best three falls out of four? I’m sorry it’s to be cancelled.
November 4, 2009 at 8:05 PM
Yeah, that is a huge missed opportunity. Way to go, promoters.
November 4, 2009 at 8:12 PM
Madamab can I fainally say :Itold you so” to my obat friends? please pretty please?
November 4, 2009 at 8:33 PM
Oh, Fuzzy, don’t do it. I just did an I-told-you-so in a family dinner table discussion and got told again to just get over it by the Nu Demsters. They still are convinced that all is hopey-changey. They still see stars and styrofoam pillars! They are so . . . young.:-)
November 4, 2009 at 8:37 PM
No, Fuzzy, you have been a saint so far!! Just hang on a little longer…I know you can do it! You are my inspiration with your Tuesday night Obama dinners!
November 4, 2009 at 8:42 PM
By the way…pretty soon they will come to you, Fuzzy, with their little tails between their legs!
November 4, 2009 at 8:43 PM
thanks but today I am in a mood car died and I am at a loss what to do…EQ (Equality California)called out Pampers for aidng and abetting the enemy it the march towards equal rights of the LGBTQI community. We some are waking up!
November 4, 2009 at 9:11 PM
I hope the car can be remedied, and I’m pleased to hear that the LGBT community is haning a Ned Beale moment.
November 4, 2009 at 9:50 PM
Oh boy…things are looking pretty good for the Yanks right now. 5-1 in the 5th inning! They could win the Series tonight!
November 4, 2009 at 10:11 PM
Rut-roh…Ryan Howard of the Phillies has woken up and hit a 2-run home run. 7-3, Yankees.
November 4, 2009 at 10:22 PM
Still the same point spread, but they have remembered that they are on the field.
November 4, 2009 at 11:11 PM
Check this out:
http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20091104/US.Gay.Marriage.What.Now/
November 4, 2009 at 11:23 PM
Wow, chat. More and more, the LGBT community is realizing that Obama is not there when they need him most.
The Admin will probably say that they supported Corzine because of his promise to sign the gay marriage law in NJ. That is utter crap, of course. Corzine is a Goldman Sachs guy and Obama owes him. It was quid pro quo, nothing more.
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November 4, 2009 at 7:09 AM
Christie won, Maine overturned same-sex marriage, Virginia was swept by the Repubs, and a Democrat carried NY 23 for the first time in a century. What happenned last night was a repudiation of incumbents, and in Maine, a repudiation of their Governor and Legislature. Sounds like a general repudiation of the status quo.