One of Axelrod’s minions paid us a visit last night:
ellen887, on November 3, 2010 at 1:16 am Said:
Hmmmm. republicans gain 56 seats in house (so far) and 6 seats in the Senate-hardly a bloodbath. In fact, the last time a Democratic congress lost seats was under Bill Clinton, with 54 republican gains in the house and 8 seats in the Senate. not much difference, and the economy back in ’94 was not nearly as bad as it is now.
You’re gonna keep hearing this meme. It’s the official meme of Obamanation and, as usual, it’s bullshit.
The election of 1994 didn’t reverse the trend of two previous elections where the Democrats picked up an average of 26 seats in the House and 7 seats in the Senate.
1990 – Democrats gain 7 seats in the House and gain 1 seat in the Senate.
1992 – Democrats lose 9 seats in the House and there is no net change in the Senate.
1994 – Democrats lose 54 seats in the House and lose 8 seats in the Senate.
2006 – Democrats gain 31 seats in the House and 6 seats in the Senate.
2008 – Democrats gain 21 seats in the House and 8 seats in the Senate.
2010 – Democrats lose at least 60 seats in the House and at least 6 seats in the Senate.
Not to mention that Bill Clinton only won 43% of the votes in 1992 while Obama got 53% in 2008.
The rise of Movement Conservatism began in 1980 with the election of Ronald Reagan. This coincided with a shift in American politics that saw the South turn solid red. Prior to 1994 the Democratic party controlled the House of Representatives for all but six of the previous 62 years.
In 1994 the Republican party was led by Newt Gingrich and was united behind his Contract with America which was a list of proposed reforms that were electorally popular. The GOP also took advantage of a number of scandals involving Congressional Democrats, as well as 20 Democratic retirements.
The elections of 2006 and 2008 were a mandate for change that the Democratic party has squandered with giveaways to the Malefactors of Great Wealth, broken promises and more of the same old, same old. The Republican party currently has an approval rating of around 25% and is internally fractured between the GOP establishment and the Tea Party activists.
This election was not a victory by the Republicans, it was a resounding repudiation of the Democratic party by the voters. Although the Democrats managed to hold onto the Senate that was largely due to the fact that relatively few Democratic seats were open or up for reelection.
In the House of Representatives the Democrats lost more seats than they gained in the previous two elections. They even lost Obama’s former Senate seat in Illinois! What was a massive shift to the left has now been turned into a massive shift to the right.
The Democratic chickens have come home to roost.
Filed under: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Democratic Party, zombies Tagged: | 1994 Election, 2010 Election, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Democratic Party
Remember when the Obots were telling everyone that the Big Dawg was a lousy president because he “lost” Congress?
It used to be “Obama won’t be like Bill.”
Now it’s “Obama is just like Bill.”
And throughout the onslaught of Newt and the right wing from 1994, he still managed to stand by democratic principles.
1994 was not a republican victory, it was a repudiation of dems. They fought Bill on everything including health care and were booted out. Just like yesterday only the dems were booted because they and the president didn’t keep their campaign promises. Bill tried but didn’t have congress behind him.
Cue BTD:
“Two peas in a pod, but obviously Obama is the better pea because Chris Matthews likes him”
Speaking only for me.
LOL
I’m trying to remember when ObamaNation’s Clinton/Obama comparisons started morphing from “nothing like” to “just like.” All I know is I have serious Clinton/Obama fatigue. Good grief, but I wish they’d leave Bill out of their Obamaganda meme blitz. Back in 2008, after I finally started paying attention, the two presidents Obama reminded me most of were Nixon and Bush 2. And everything Obama has done in the past two years just confirms my initial assessment. He is one of the worst Republican presidents this country has been subjected to.
It’s Obamination not Obama Nation.
That’s really unfair to Nixon. His health plan was much better than Obama’s.
& don’t forget when people were warning Obama about this months ago, he smirked and said: “Well, that won’t happen, because you have me this time.”
Yea. That worked out really well didn’t it?
Isn’t their constant revisionist history exhausting for them? Justifying last night’s enormous losses as “not so bad” and “could have been worse” is the ridiculous story they are peddling. Keep driving that car right off the cliff–go ahead.
I never get tired of the lady with the spray can.
But why does she keep spraying bullshit smell? Is she trying to cover up Obama’s loser stink?
She’s spraying bullshit repellent.
I would rather see a photo of her stirring up the stink, instead of spraying it. As in the Stink Stirrer.
Politico:
Watching his presser right now, I’m sure Obama doesn’t get it.
But he did take the opportunity to remind us that HE is the PRESIDENT.
He just said “My Republican Friends..”
..myiq I might need the bucket..
Seems like he needs to keep reminding himself, “I am the President, I am the President, I am the President.”
This presser would not be so bad if he had done anything in the last two two years to:
1) convince us he was sincere and not lying through his teeth
2) prove he is competent to handle the job he was given.
I should think he’s relieved. He can finally stop pretending to be a Democrat.
Never thought we’d get a Democratic president even more tone-deaf than Bush.
As usual the Obots are clueless. Even if I bought what they’re selling(which I don’t) how does injecting Bill Clinton disdainfully actually DO ANYTHING? Does it advance progressive policies? Oh I forgot. Those type of things don’t matter in cult of personality land. Policies are arcane and don’t win elections in Obotland.
Some people just never learn.
It further marginalizes traditional Democratic principles and constituencies, which was, after all, what Obama was hired to do.
Mission accomplished!
Obama wants us to be like China…
Holy Jesus I don’t wanna work in a sweatshop.
Scary!
Thanks for the deft analysis!
Tweeting you and adding you to my PUMA round-up:
http://syd4.blogspot.com/2010/11/puma-reactions-to-last-evenings-rout.html
Too bad the only way for the Oborg Collective to lose was for the Elephascist Dominion to win, but I’ll enjoy it for today, at least.
He still thinks he hasn’t done enough to communicate and that he has to work on not just doing things, but doing them differently.
Ugh.
The questioners are nailing him on his policies and agenda, but he thinks the American people just don’t have enough confidence in the economy and how things are being done.
He still is talking about considering all ideas to “see what works.”
What a jerk. Hillary KNEW what needed to be done, what would work.
An amateur was pushed down our throats, and the people are now barfing him back up.
He’s asking whether he could have done something differently.
Ummm…you think?
He also doesn’t have any regrets. Gawd, this man is so clueless.
Now he’s asking “What are our priorities, what do we care about?”
Every time he speaks he sounds like a neophyte. He is clueless. Apparently he doesn’t know that when you run to be president, you damn well better know what you’re doing.
I have to say this, I thought I could not be more disgusted with the President then I was with Bush. But this man….ugh, my disgust for Obama reaches too much farther heights.
Amazing, isn’t it? Don’t think you’re alone in that….
No regrets of course not after all he still has his job and hasn’t that been what it’s about all along, him!
The phrase “not run” springs to mind.
“An amateur was pushed down our throats, and the people are now barfing him back up.”
LMFAO
Speaking of memes.
Obamacare is actually very good because it was the only solution to the Medicare donut hole.
First heard it last night from Geraldine Ferraro and just now from Obama.
They’re already working on the seniors for 2012.
What is the Medicare donut hole?
It’s a period of time where seniors are paying full price for their medications I think. I know that my neighbor paid a medication co pay and got coverage for her insulin from January to July. August through December she was on her own paying full price.
Thanks. I need to check with my mother to see how that’s going for her.
It’s typical they call something so outrageous a soft cuddly thing like” a donut hole” …WTF
For Obama (and his core following) the primaries have never ended.
Most of the stuff Obama did – and his biggest mistakes – were in the effort to show Clinton up.
Tackle healthcare right off the bat – before making sure the economy was on its feet was done because the tea leaf readers told him Clinton lost in 1994 because he failed to pass healthcare. Solution: pass Heritage Foundation healthcare – even if voters told you loud and clear in December 2009 they hated it.
I did not remember – right away Obama’s ampaign leaflet blaming Clinton It was the posting you quoted that made me dig for it.
They called us bitter, but they’ve been sore winners from day one, and are now sore losers.
I’ve never seen such sore winners as the obots. They’ve gone from sore winners to sore whiners in two short years.
They’re pricks.
You’re very concise today.
You forgot “limp”.
It has definitely been quite a bit of fun watching and listening to “progressive” heads explode today!!!
That presser he just did was a doozy. He’s loosing it. His response is the typical narcissist disbelief. How many times did he remind us (really reminding himself) that he is the PRESIDENT, by God? He could not shut up about it.
I am the president. I AM the president. Hey, I’m the President of the Fecking United States! I have the plane and everything! You guys forget that I AM the president! I still am! I am! I am beloved! Stop it! What’s with the hard questions? I am THE PRESIDENT!
Gawd, he’s still droning on….
“as commander in chief”……
See, he has to keep reminding himself of his position. He’s rattled.
Looks like someone upped the Valium too high. Or maybe it’s reached the point that he’s actually boring himself to death.
I didn’t watch, but maybe Michelle needs to sew more seals in his underpants as he seems a bit insecure again.
lol
And he seems to be channeling Bush….”It’s hard work. It’s going to take a lot of work. We have to do some work. ”
It is a good thing I did not eat today, cause all this regurgitation is filling me up.
And I must say this as well, about HCR….having access to health care when you have pre-existing conditions means being able to afford it.
Bah, just do what the banks do — derivatize your health status and sell it.
Anyone interested in a 10th share of my left kidney?
My kidneys are fine, its my liver that is kaput….all those damn Epilepsy meds did me in. Dang, I got to get my Kinesis Keyboard out, can’t type without it.
(((Minx)))
Doesn’t he have the Presidential Seal below his podium? Can’t he look over and see it to confirm his job title? It was hard campaigning and having all the cheating in place to steal the nomination, and McCain was a fall man for the GOP-ers in power whose best chance of winning again anytime in several generations was to have the Obama image installed, but has he forgotten he took the oath of office TWICE?
Is he off teleprompter?
Sometimes I’m so grateful that I couldn’t get the digital converter to work with my rabbit ears the last time I rearranged all of the cables.
Obama asked about DADT…
punts to Gates.
Then has the NERVE to say they can’t act until everything gets settled in court.
LMAO
Jesus this guy.
He ain’t Jesus
he thinks he is:lol:
He’s lecturing those who want to hold him accountable, rather than admitting he needs to be accountable.
He wants to make sure we all understand that he is IN CHARGE, yet strangely, nothing is actually his responsibility.
You mean the courts’ decisions that he appealed 3 times?
Those bad bad courts. See, not his fault, even though he wants you to know that HE IS THE PRESIDENT!
Brilliant!
Exactly LOL.
Peter Baker brings up 0s quote from 2008, post general election, about elections having consequences, and oh by the way, “I won”. A woman sitting behind Baker grinned ear to ear right then. They are starting to call him out, and his energy with every question seems to flag.
Why doesn’t Axelrod…
Cue the hand picked Obama Cat food Commission…
…and get on with the show?
FYI, the correct comparison would be 1932-4 & 2008-10
IOWA loves me! sez the prez. Did I mention I’m the Prez?
That Iowa comment was a weird hearkening back to the his halycon days of historical campaigning. He longs to go back to that, because this “responsibility” crap really sucks ass.
Why don’t you reporters ask me about my compelling life story, and stop with this results stuff? It’s making me uncomfortable. C’mom, guys.
Fluff my pillow!
And besides, he says, “I read letters!!!!”
Ugh.
WaPo puts on a call Bill made to a radio station – while stumping for a candidate – the non-political part, of course
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/blog-post/2010/11/bill_clinton_offers_lil_wayne.html
CDS everywhere on the blogs is making me sick. Thank goodness for TC.
Yes, I am totally turned off by all this Clinton Hate.
More on the Obama coalition – with exit polls data
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2010-11-03-Analysis_N.htm
Damn bitter knitters, couldn’t you stay down?
I’ve posted that over at TL,and I keep getting slammed – several people telling me things like “She lost her big Senate races”, and “She only won House races”, and (my favorite, from Jeralyn) that most of the people she picked to win (as opposed to “endorsed”, I guess) were late in the game and didn’t really mean much (no, actually, most were this summer).
It’s funny – they all want to diss for hours when Palin shows up to support her kid on DWTS, but won’t give it any credit that she had some clout last night. I still don’t think she’ll be the nominee (nor I hope not), because I think she’s a moron, but they don’t seem to realize that every time some liberal blog or MSNBC nastily focuses on her misspellings, her tweets, or whatever, all it does is fire up her base and gives her credibility and power. She needs to be ignored!
She’s not a moron. That’s just a sexist meme the MSM insists on pushing. Any GOP man had her track record, Rove would be groveling at his feet.
That’s true enough.
What was Palin’s won-lost record on endorsements compared to Obama’s?
Considering she helped people who had no chance and Obama barely stumped for only one Representative (who lost) it’s probably still higher than Obama’s
I heard on TV that the Tea Party had an 85% success rate. Not bad for a group that’s been around less than 2 years.
Let me rephrase – I don’t think she has the chops to be president. I think she shoots from the hip and doesn’t have an interest in delving too deeply into issues beyond soundbites.
commenter on H is 44 nailed it:
Fuck me, He’s Norma Desmond
“I’m big, its the pictures that got smaller”
Thats how he comes across.
LOLOLOL.
“All right Mr. De Mille, I’m ready for my close-up,”
Love this!
This is begging for a picture … please somebody make up one.
Actually, if you crunch the numbers from 1994, Obama would have only lost 46 seats. Hahahaha:
One final perspective, offered by distinguished political demographer Rhodes Cook, is not a forecast, but puts 2010 into the context of 1994 by examining the different terrain on which Democrats are battling this year. Cook divided House districts into those won by the Democratic presidential candidate in the two previous races (blue districts), those won by the GOP in the two previous presidentials (red districts) and those delivering inconsistent results (purple districts). In 1994, Democrats lost 6 percent of the blue, 27 percent of the purple and 54 percent of the red seats. If Democrats forfeit the same share of each category in ’10 as in ’94, the party would turn over about 46 seats.
http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/mark-mellman/126079-the-house-in-perspective
They also ignore the depth of the wave. Governorships and state legislatures and down-ticket races got creamed.That did not happen in ’94.
Oh yeah. The Democrats lost big in PA, OH, and FL, and don’t they need two of those states to win the presidency?
Here’s another little factoid that should humiliate the Obots:
Republicans will have their largest majority in the House of Representatives since 1928, larger than the entire Gingrich era. And they did it in one cycle.
http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/11/03/for-once-a-post-mortem-really-feels-like-a-post-mortem/
This is what is referred by me as the revenge of the disenfranchised and disillusioned Clintonistas..
And might happen again in 2012, you know. We Clintonistas has deep memories..
Over in the Kool-aid Kingdom they aren’t talking about the ass-whooping their guy brought on the Democrats.
No, they’re talking about (who else) Sarah Palin. Except (as usual) they are factually challenged.
CBS:
I think she did good. A lot of her candidates were unknowns, and even the ones who lost made the incumbents fight for their seats. She’s solidified her own power base now, for sure.
Yup. Jane Hamsher has Palin as her number one loser today. Unbelievable.
If Hamsher were smart she’d revise her opinion of Palin as some dumb bunny. Palin saw that the power structure would never support her so she went outside the power structure to create her own infrastructure. She managed to get people on the ballot in a decent number of spots in a remarkably short time too. Anyone who sees someone who can do something of this magnitude as unintelligent really isn’t very bright themselves.
She is also using the mere threat of her getting into the 2012 race as leverage to scare the crap out of the GOP establishment, and move them more toward conservative populism.
Dumb, my ass. I don’t have to agree with her to recognize a political prodigy with killer instincts, who knows what she’s doing.
Yep, I disagree with her but I would never in a million years call her dumb. It’s easy to see why her opponents called her a Barracuda.
If she became head of the RNC, the Obots should start packing up their offices now.
Yeah, considering that Tea Party candidates won about 85% of their races and lost in some of the bluest states against entrenched candidates. Yeah, Sarah Palin really got dusted, didn’t she.
What is really getting me mad is all the CDS…like votermom says. I expect all the Sarah talk, but this renewed angst against the Clintons, and us Clintonistas is too much.
They have to project their anger, frustration and humiliation onto someone. Hate the Clintons is their default mode.
Make your own jokes
I made my own recycled lunch.
I’m sure Boehner already has one shackled to his desk.
Come to think of it, this is probably a pretty good metaphor for our trade status.
Of course the Chinese love him. He, along with former President GW Bush and Congress, have handed China our economy and our jobs on a gold platter.
Great posts, myiq! You keep hitting them out of the ballpark.
djmm
I found this at TGW:
Hey, no one realizes how much he really cares, no one is filming him reacting so empathetically to the plight of the “folks”. Can someone PLEASE get going on a youtube of the President in bed tearily reading through the sad emails he gets so we know he feels the folks pain?
Love how he managed to get in a dig at Clinton though, he never misses that opportunity.
What did he say?
A Clinton dig? Huh?
I missed it, must have dozed off for a second.
Where’s Wonk? This conversation is great, but where’s the Wonk’s point of view?
I miss her too…
http://letthemlisten.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/the-morning-after-who-thrust-the-gop-into-our-house/
Thanks for the link. I much prefer reading Wonk here because I find the dark field/bright letters format so hard to read.
Please tell me I didn’t miss something–she’s still around, right?
thanks for link went for a visit nice site
Athenae (via Corrente):
Nice!
and spot on
Can I just say that her acting like an “ex-president” remark had me thinking what SNL would use for Obama’s powers … maybe INVISIBILITY
Susie Mandrak’s comment
Wow! Righteous.
djmm
It was bloody–Tweety and Scarborough got into a snit with each other. Matthews looked like hell–apparently Bachmann called him out for ‘the tingles’ last night. He so needs to be fired.
I’m just down about Rick Scott winning Fl.–must keep a sharp eye on my pension now.
Bachmann was a tool. She wouldn’t answer his questions and no she didn’t call him out, one of her supporters had a sign that asked about his leg tingling.
Tingles just asked her who she’s going to investigate. That’s a question whose answer will never do her any good.
One other thing I noticed in the presser–the red carpet behind him with all the gilt edged furniture. Has that always been there?? I don’t remember it–I just thought it looked ‘emperor like.’
Obama is in trouble in 2012. Fl., Pa., and Ohio all have republican governors now and will have in 2012. They will be controlling the election apperatus of each of these pivotal states. This will give a huge edge to the republicans.
And we’ll be right back to where we started again, but weaker and with a depression to show for it.
What is the deal with Reid? Will the Democrats elect him speaker again?
Reid would be Senate Majority Leader, if he’s anything. Let’s hope he steps aside for new leadership with some actual backbone.
Pelosi lost the Speakership of the House when it went under Republican control. Scary Spray-Tan Boehner is Speaker-Presumptive. My guess is Pelosi won’t run for House Minority Leader – and is she runs, won’t get elected.
Excellent post, myiq. You nailed it on all counts.
It was pretty much that “fake, astro-turfed, fringe, not-really-grassroots” movement that kicked the Dems’ asses last night, and is transforming their party to their liking.
And if liberals don’t wake up and get some populist chops at the grassroots level real soon, instead of functioning as handmaidens and footsoldiers for one of the two widely-despised political machines, it’s going to be worse in 2012. Yeah, Reid won against a fruitcake, but he won ugly, with the arm-twisting power of the political machine on full display. That’s not the kind of thing you want out in the open, even if it did GOTV for him.
The shift in the psychology of the electorate has moved away from R vs. D, and toward Us vs. Them. And liberals, with a few exceptions, seem to be hellbent on allying themselves with their preferred less-evil “Them”, mostly out of fear. They are fighting the battles of 1994, and missing the clear-as-day fact that this is NOT the electorate of 1994.
The left is fast on its way to being viewed as beholden to and a toady of “The Man”, and being on the side of The Man is poison in an age of growing populism. And not liking the ideology of a populist uprising does not make them not populists. Oh yes hell they are.
I could be wrong, of course. But I’ve pretty much nailed the truth of what was happening with all this teaparty crap from the beginning, and where it would lead. It’s been playing out exactly as I warned. Sucks to be right, sometimes.
Heh what fun would creating a populist movement be? It’s much more fun to keep rehashing the who is/was the most evil Democrat evah. Sigh.
I’m incredibly frustrated because the conservatives seem to have figured out how to leverage themselves both inside and outside their power structure while I am stuck working with a circular firing squad.
Honk! (that’s a Chevvy honk, btw)
“The left is fast on its way to being viewed as beholden to and a toady of “The Man”, ”
Actually the so-called left is already viewed that way by most, including me. They’ve earned it!
Every 30-40 years the Dems and Repubs go through a realignment… technology changes, culture changes, and social norms change, etc. Look at how well women and minorities did as Republican candidates this year! Not that social justice isn’t important anymore, or that those issues are resolved… but now that our culture has made such great strides in this area in the past 40 years it’s not as much a driving force as it once was. Also unions are in a much different historic condition than they were back int he day they were really needed as a firewall.
It seems that today it’s more about the individual versus the corporation, or the masses versus the elites, or ideology versus reality… and the current party ‘platforms’ are quite out of touch with current historical trends. It will probably take a few election cycles for new political memes to show up that better reflect the real underlying issues.
Yeh, it’s sooo much more fun having 2/3 of a whole than it was surviving on 1/2 or less of what everyone else was getting. Why work for the whole enchilada when this year’s line item is sooo sparkly?
ERA TODAY!
How many times can you sell your soul? I suspect Reid made a trip down to the crossroads to win this election.
Reid is an annoying putz. I daresay he is our most pressing issue though. The liberals and progressives have 2 years to find someone who can represent them and sell their viewpoint. I can’t think of a single person who’d be willing to take the job(and although I love Hillary on domestic issues I don’t see her primarying unless Obama steps aside.)
We aren’t even a day out from the midterms and already, Teh One is capitulating.
Asshat.
Hillary 2012
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101103/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama
Just watched the presser. Obama really doesn’t get it. Milwaukee, WI, of which the actual city is primarily minority (especially AA), is now the 4th poorest city in the nation.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/103929588.html
And in those minority areas you could see many many signs for Johnson and Walker!
BTW, Does Obama not realize that we are fighting 2 wars right now????
Maybe common sense is returning the former DNC (now known as Obumbles Dimocrats) and obots everywhere.
Asshats.
Hillary 2012
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/nobody-cares-about-process/
I doubt it. He still thinks its merely a perception issue, and says that both Reagan and Clinton had that problem.
Asshat.