Roundup

As constantly as the sun rises in the east,... (4.00 / 2)

As constantly as the sun rises in the east, if it's bad for America and the world, W.'s for it. The two months left of this villain will feel like a long prison term.

I clicked on the link. Saw the article about putting coal fired plants next to national parks and my first thought was that I was reading an article in The Onion. How about putting nucular (sic) plants in the basement of elementary schools thereby leaving no child behind? Jesus Rick Rolling Christ! Every time I think this administration has hit bottom they manage to break through the ledge and go deeper. Now it is a parody of itself but not really very funny.

...the Doo Dah Man once told me you've got to play your hand. Sometimes the cards ain't worth a dime if you don't lay 'em down.

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by: rambler american @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 10:27:17 AM UTC

"Dingell's supporters say that among many Democrats, respect for the seniority system runs deep." (4.00 / 3)

I have no respect for the seniority system.  Legislative tradition be damned, committees chairs should be chosen by open elections within their committees.

The seniority system disenfranchises swing districts.

--
Hope > Anarch-tea
Twitter: @DougLindner

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 12:51:19 PM UTC

"Age and seniority gave way in Congress on Thursday" (4.00 / 2)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11...
Change in Congress More Than a Slogan

By CARL HULSE
Published: November 20, 2008

WASHINGTON - Age and seniority gave way in Congress on Thursday, a transformational shift for an institution where tremendous power has traditionally been built on sheer longevity, accumulated and savored with the passage of years.
The farewell speech of Senator Ted Stevens, 85, a 40-year member of Congress, came on the same day that House Democrats deposed Representative John D. Dingell, 82, a 53-year member, from his committee chairmanship. It was one of those moments when lawmakers could almost hear an era ending.

"This election really was about change," said Senator Norm Coleman, Republican of Minnesota, as he sorted through the striking events of the day.

It was not only Mr. Stevens, an Alaska Republican, and Mr. Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, who found themselves treated like old bulls put out to pasture. Senator Robert C. Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat who turned 91 on Thursday and has amassed 56 years in Congress, had already voluntarily relinquished the chairmanship of his beloved Appropriations Committee before his colleagues could ease him out.

The abrupt change in status for the three lawmakers sent this fact swirling around Capitol Hill: their combined age of 258 exceeds the age of the United States itself.

...don't stand in the doorway don't block up the hall


note to close readers: this might be sarcastic so think twice before reading to candidates for use in their attacks on each other

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by: JonnyBBad @ Fri Nov 21, 2008 at 04:21:42 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Kenney's column (4.00 / 1)

Joe Kenney's column blasting the Republican Party for his loss is a classic case of refusing to take personal responsibility.  It was his job to raise money to pay for his campaign, and he didn't do the job.  He complains that the state party did not provide him with staff, a phone line and a statewide mailing; does he really think that the state party should have raised him $250,000 to pay for that? No, Joe Kenney should have raised another $250,000.  If the NHGOP had $250,000 sitting around, they would have been negligent to spend it on the campaign of a guy who wasn't doing his job. I have little patience for candidates who don't do their job, then blame "the party" for not doing what the candidate should have done. Maybe Kenney didn't have the ability to raise the money, but that isn't Fergus Cullen's fault!  

I hate to be in the business of defending Fergus Cullen, but the losses by Kenney, Sununu and McCain in New Hampshire had nothing to do with Fergus Cullen.



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 13:56:36 PM UTC

You lost me at "Joe Kenney's column" (4.00 / 1)

Who?

--
Hope > Anarch-tea
Twitter: @DougLindner

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 16:47:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hah! (0.00 / 0)

Love it. . . .  

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 17:39:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Agreed (0.00 / 0)

. . . but a capable party chair might have been more effective at controlling the suicidal nastiness in the 1st CD primary, or recruiting a 2nd CD GOP nominee with an IQ approaching triple digits.  Fergie should take a hit for that.

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 17:39:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Donahue: "The world does not know what to do with its primed intellect" after the election (4.00 / 2)

Wow. I hate to keep on picking on Donahue, but one of the things she could do with it is reflect on all the things she got wrong during the election, maybe figure out why her analysis was so off.

That might be a really good post election task, don't you think?

Here's some passages to start reflecting on:

"Underdog McCain Scores with Underrated Palin":

Those who are calling Governor Palin McCain's Hail Mary pass are making the same mistake they made in calling McCain road kill a year ago. Palin pointed that out in her speech last night. McCain is not only being helped by Charlie Black and Karl Rove on strategy, but he is also a strategist of the rarest kind himself. When the chips are down, he is the most motivated to survive.

"With Palin, McCain makes it a Race":

Palin gives teeth to being pro-life, having a Downs syndrome child. This is a possibility every woman thinks about when she is pregnant. Palin has a six month old. AND she is a hunter.

Either Central Casting and Candid Camera have teamed up to trick cable television, or this is the best real choice and the best hidden secret the republicans have made in decades.

Palin understands energy policy and is an old-school, Teddy Roosevelt Republican who cares about conservation and the environment.

"Unity Too Cute by Half?":

It's not because New Hampshire voters won't turn out-- they will. It's not because they don't want to see Senator Clinton or Senator Obama-- they do. But strategically, Obama does not need to overtly court Clinton voters in New Hampshire. Obama needs the independent voters who thought he had a lock on New Hampshire and used McCain to send him a message to view him as a real change candidate. New Hampshire indies will look for the Party Nominee that better embodies and communicates change.

(So here's another project -- find out how many people voted for McCain in the primary but Obama in the general and see whether that comes near to accounting for the win margin? It could be like a Smith/Donahue road trip. Like one of those ones in the movies where the characters all learn something about themselves.)

I don't have time to do more here. Maybe at some point we'll have to run a greatest hits of wrong pundit predictions on the front page.

Donahue might not know what to do with her intellect, but I have some ideas on what we could do with ours.  

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 14:05:51 PM UTC

And for those who wonder why I "pick" on her (4.00 / 1)

I think it's because her history is as a DC analyst, a Beltway villager. But then she came up here, and now all the Beltway villagers go for their local view from one of their own -- presented like it's local wisdom.

But the predictions of Donahue track exactly with the predictions of the Wolf Blitzer crowd, there's nothing local about her analysis at all. It's a shell game.

I'm not saying that you have to be local to understand New Hampshire, but I don't think you can come out of eight years with the Beltway crowd and then suddenly be the local expert here.  

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 14:12:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Rocks and hard places (0.00 / 0)

Just a stab on my part.

Said DC pundit goes NH native. Choice.
-Feed your MSM sugardaddy what it wants with local garnish. Keep to all the preconceived notions, but gather enough cherry picked folklore to make it sound legit.

-Live off the land and capture as much of the "true" political landscape as you can. Cross your fingers and hope someone will pay for what your report.

Hmmmmmm. Does said "pundit" have student loans and a SAAB to payoff?

"Ill writers are usually the sharpest censors." - John Dryden

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 14:26:07 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You can't get much more pro-life (0.00 / 0)

than being a hunter, can you?

Let's add another reason for highlighting Donahue's laughable errors: she is a wingnut.

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by: elwood @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 14:31:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Rule of Thumb (4.00 / 2)

I don't respect "political analysts" who never worked in politics themselves.  I learn from Chris Matthews, Tim Russert, Pat Buchanan, Jeff Greenfield, David Gergen, Mike Murphy, etc., because they have lived through campaigns and invested their hearts in causes greater than themselves.  

Whether I agree with them or not, these folks recognize that ideological purity and conventional wisdom isn't worth much in the heat of battle.  

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 17:46:11 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Donahue worked in the Senate (0.00 / 0)

for Colorado Senator Hank Brown (R).

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by: elwood @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 18:17:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

"Lived though campaigns and invested their hearts in causes greater than themselves" (4.00 / 3)

Brown was a one-termer elected in 1990 who retired in 1996.  Donahue worked from him from 1993-1995 -- two years, no campaigns, a quick antiseptic stopover on Capitol Hill in between "journalism" stints.  In contrast:

* Matthews was Tip O'Neill's senior aide and political right hand on House races during the 1980s.

* Russert was Pat Moynihan's Chief of Staff and Mario Cuomo's senior counsel and political advisor.

* Buchanan was a Nixon and Reagan speechwriter and campaign advisor, and ran for President three times.

* Greenfield was a speechwriter on Bobby Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign.

* Gergen worked for Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton in political advisory roles.

* Mike Murphy invented the "Straight Talk Express"

These guys (and several others) know what it's like to shape a message with limited funds while your opponent compares you to the antichrist.  They know that presidential campaigns are won not by candidates who master arcane details of health care policy, but by those able to establish personal rapport with voters on a grand scale.  And they understand that true political analysis demands an understanding of history and passion -- it ain't about sitting on your lazy ass and recycling nonsensical conventional wisdom.

While the primary has many blessings, it also makes rock starts out of self-proclaimed New Hampshire political experts with few insights  to their name (see: Cameron, Carl).  Donahue falls in this category.

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 18:58:38 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Kill this phrase. (4.00 / 2)

Teddy Roosevelt Republican

The descendants of Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and Barry Goldwater endorsed Barack Obama.  Let's stop pretending people who think like Teddy Roosevelt are still Republicans.  Neither party is the same as it was when TR was President.

--
Hope > Anarch-tea
Twitter: @DougLindner

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 19:24:04 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

General Patton, too. n/t (0.00 / 0)

"Ill writers are usually the sharpest censors." - John Dryden

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 19:34:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]