Wednesday, November 08, 2006

The Election

A few thoughts:

1. Great cooga-looga-cooga-looga! And all it took (as Professor of Dangerous Studies Michael Berube puts it) was "the Abramoff scandal, the Foley scandal, the Haggard scandal, the suspension of habeas corpus, the creation of the Cheney Archipelago of secret torture sites, a criminally incompetent response to one of the worst natural disasters in US history, and a hopeless war that has killed thousands of US troops and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and may well go down as the single worst foreign policy blunder in the history of the republic. I can’t wait for ‘08!" Yeah, me too.

2. More seriously, I was in DC in '94 during the so-called Republican Revolution, and it had a similar "throw the bums out" kind of feeling. For complicated reasons, it's very difficult to unseat an incumbent in our political system in its current forum, and yet an astonishing number of entrenched, incumbent Republicans (though no Dems) will be looking for other employment in a few weeks. People appear to be really angry. Much of the anger is (obviously) about Iraq but a good deal of it seems to stem from the feeling that, in twelve short years, the Republicans had become incredibly corrupt.

3. Some thoughts on specific races I care about:

a. Massachusetts has its first black governor in its history (and the second in the country's) and Deval Patrick is a decent guy with mostly good ideas. In other respects, it was a pretty boring election here. The only alternative to our congressman was a socialist, and I haven't gone that crazy. Also Massholes appear to prefer to be inconvenienced when buying a bottle of wine. Another victory for classic interest group politics.

b. Virginia: Webb won, though it looks like they'll be a re-count. George Allen is an a-hole. I have a hard time imagining they can figure out a way to cheat enough to make up 7,000 votes. Also, I agree with Matt: Damn you, G.G. Parker. In other news, Virginians don't like gays.

c. In Pennsylvania, Senator "man on dog" is now a member of the private sector. I could only handle CNN last night in 10 minute doses. They were talking about Santorum as if he was the second coming of Pay Moynihan. Who are they kidding. The guy's an idiot.

d. In Maryland, in my opinion--though perhaps others will differ--the voters got it right. Ehrlich and Steele are basically bad guys and they deserved to lose.

4. A lot of moderate Republicans went down in the House. I suppose I should be upset about that, since I'm basically a moderate Republican myself. But I'm not. The reason is that, over the last six years, on votes where it really mattered (e.g., over torture and Supreme Court nominees), Republican moderates were always and in every case a rubber stamp for what Bush wanted. The idea that they're some kind of break on right-wing extremism is little more than a joke.

5. Thank the Lord we won't have to hear/read any more stories about what a genius Karl Rove is. Ezra Klein sums things up nicely: "If nothing else, this election will destroy the myth of Rove. He managed to lose the vote in 2000. Win a few seats in 2002. Barely pull out a reelection during a time of instability and war. And then lead his party to historic losses in 2006. Enough of this guy. He could've created an enduring majority after 9/11. Instead, he pursued a strategy of polarization and radicalization, tenuously constructed atop a foundation of corporate handouts (Medicare Part D), perverse policy, and fear mongering. Along the way, he destroyed the country's fiscal health and international prestige. Discrediting his leadership template will be one of this election's sweetest effects."

6. I suspect that this book will be a big seller among Republicans in the coming weeks.

7. Finally, if you think that this experience is going to make Bush and company more conciliatory, I would recommend that you not bet much money on it or you'll be severely disapointed (and somewhat poorer). (Click here for more.) However, as I've learned from the Dog Whisperer, you can teach old dogs new tricks, so maybe I'll be the one who's surprised. But I doubt it.

Posted by jwb at 11:26 AM   

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