For Republicans, some daunting numbers
You can lead an elephant to water but ...
Some numbers:
– Thirty-three U.S. Senate seats were up for grabs in the 2012 election. Democrats won 25 of those 33 seats.
– Mitt Romney is going to the White House today to have lunch, not to check out his new crib. And the main reason he will have to dine and dash is because American women rejected both his candidacy and his party, voting for Barack Obama by a margin of 55-44 percent. The gender differential in most down-ticket races was even larger.
– The Republican-run U.S. House has 19 major committees. Next year, it appears that all 19 will be chaired by white males.
– The current Republican House caucus includes 24 women. Next year, that number will drop to 19.
– In the last three presidential election cycles, Americans under 30 voted Democratic by an average of 60 percent. And lest Republicans try to comfort themselves with the argument that it’s nothing new, that young voters always vote Democratic, it simply is not true. In the previous eight election cycles, an average of just 46.5 percent of young people had voted for the Democrat.
What does it mean? Generally speaking, younger voters who cast repeated ballots for a particular party tend to form a lasting affiliation with that party.
– On Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner reiterated his caucus’s strong opposition to raising taxes on the wealthy. Also on Wednesday, a new Washington Post poll was released reporting that just 37 percent of Americans agree with the position that Boehner and others have made the central focus of their party’s economic identity.
As longtime conservative Bruce Bartlett puts it in his much-cited piece for The American Conservative:
“At least a few conservatives now recognize that Republicans suffer for epistemic closure. They were genuinely shocked at Romney’s loss because they ignored every poll not produced by a right-wing pollster such as Rasmussen or approved by right-wing pundits such as the perpetually wrong Dick Morris. Living in the Fox News cocoon, most Republicans had no clue that they were losing or that their ideas were both stupid and politically unpopular.
I am disinclined to think that Republicans are yet ready for a serious questioning of their philosophy or strategy. They comfort themselves with the fact that they held the House (due to gerrymandering) and think that just improving their get-out-the-vote system and throwing a few bones to the Latino community will fix their problem. There appears to be no recognition that their defects are far, far deeper and will require serious introspection and rethinking of how Republicans can win going forward. The alternative is permanent loss of the White House and probably the Senate as well, which means they can only temporarily block Democratic initiatives and never advance their own.”
Political power ebbs and flows. It always has and always will. But it doesn’t just ebb and flow on its own. It fluctuates because losing parties take stock of why they’re losing and adapt to changing realities. If a political party not only refuses to adapt but makes a refusal to recognize changing realities a central part of its identity, ebb and flow can be delayed for a long, long time.
– Jay Bookman
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949 comments Add your comment
Soothsayer
November 29th, 2012
6:34 pm
Well, we’ve got Fish Sandwich who is Andy/I Report/You Whine’s alter-ego and now we’ve got Nero who’s Dave R.’s alter-ego. What IS the world coming to? Things must be boring over at Kyle’s place tonight!
Nero
November 29th, 2012
6:35 pm
Kammie is my new pet project. I want to be her best friend.
josef
November 29th, 2012
6:35 pm
BROSEPHUS
You shouldn’t've told me THAT!
And, yeah, I’ll definitely run on a national cuss your congressman day…hold a lottery for a chance to do it “face to face” in Congress…knock the hell out of that deficit in a year’s time…
JamVet
November 29th, 2012
6:37 pm
Grassroots movements, including the Occupy protests demonstrated the power of an informed and empowered citizenry. And there is little doubt that they helped us non-Republicans have great success on November 6.
Or would it be more correct to say that the irrational and enraged over-reaction by the right wing reactionaries helped the GOP lose the election?
Either way, it is time to make it count. And to end economic injustice.
The US Congress has until December 31st to ask the richest 2% of Americans to pay their fair share. Or they can do what they have done historically – put even more money in wealthy pockets at the expense of middle class families who can barely make ends meet.
As I have written many times (hat tip Ralph Nader), there is much too much money and power in too few hands and the system is corrupted to keep it that way.
It’s time to level the playing field. It’s time to make things right for we the people who built this country.
No more tax breaks to the people who need them least and who have profited the most from them.
Nero
November 29th, 2012
6:38 pm
I think douchesayer is paranoid. I’m my own person. Leeches tend to get a little delusional when the circlejerk is interrupted by an interloper. Hugs fix everything. C’mere Soothy.
josef
November 29th, 2012
6:38 pm
Oh, yeah, and ZamVet for Secretary of the Treasury!
Soothsayer
November 29th, 2012
6:39 pm
I’ll get to you in a second douchesayer.
Now I know that that would get you banned over at Kyle’s. Maybe Jay should adopt Kyle’s rules.
JamVet
November 29th, 2012
6:39 pm
Things must be boring over at Kyle’s place tonight!
Tonight???
The place has been a right wing morgue since November 6.
So……………. the intellectually immature inevitably make their way over here…
They BOTH suck
November 29th, 2012
6:40 pm
Sooth
Certainly a regular but I doubt it is Dave. Both annoying and needy for attention, but different styles
Nero
November 29th, 2012
6:41 pm
Kyle’s blog is weak. It’s much more fun to come over hear and engage all the Bookman sycophants.
Soothsayer
November 29th, 2012
6:41 pm
Poor ol’ Dave R. Here let me queue up that moving speech you delivered to the commission. I know everyone here would like to hear it. AND, to get to know YOU better! What do you say?
josef
November 29th, 2012
6:41 pm
ZamVet
“…the intellectually immature inevitably make their way over here…”
Well, just being EOI, but like shall seek like… and we do know how to make them feel at home…
Nero
November 29th, 2012
6:42 pm
Well at least suck figured out I’m not somebody else.
Nero
November 29th, 2012
6:43 pm
Try again Soothy
Nero
November 29th, 2012
6:43 pm
Enter your comments here
Soothsayer
November 29th, 2012
6:44 pm
“Anyone who refers to another commenter by anything other than the handle the latter uses will be subject to a ban of at least one week.”
Too bad we don’t have the same rules here that Kyle has.
Nero
November 29th, 2012
6:45 pm
I guess sport is gonna stay butt hurt. I don’t blame her. She can dish it but can’t take it.
They BOTH suck
November 29th, 2012
6:45 pm
“Well at least suck figured out I’m not somebody else.”
Oh, you are someone else since the election, not just the one that was mentioned.
Nero
November 29th, 2012
6:46 pm
You gonna cry some more Soothy? You leeches do that so well.
josef
November 29th, 2012
6:46 pm
SOOTH
“Too bad we don’t have the same rules here that Kyle has.”
Why? That’d take all the fun out of it and stymie creativity…
Dekalb comments
November 29th, 2012
6:47 pm
I find it interesting that so many posters cannot stay on point with the subject of Bookman’s blog.
No one can deny significant demographic changes are re-shaping the country and the electorate. Either the Republicans find a compelling message or vision for the electorate or they will be increasingly marginalized.
If, as many conservatives believe, the new demographics reveal a “moocher” mentality, then the GOP needs to meet that mentality with facts and a plan, not “self-deportation”.
I for one challenge that premise but would accept it for argument’s sake. What will the GOP say or do with this demographic to win elections?
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 29th, 2012
6:47 pm
Tick…tick…tick….
Nero
November 29th, 2012
6:47 pm
Suck,
No I’m relatively new. Just decided to stop lurking.
Nero
November 29th, 2012
6:47 pm
Sport! You’re back!:)
Libertarian and Proud
November 29th, 2012
6:48 pm
@Madge – “Gray Davis wanted to keep the extra money in the state’s coffers, the public wanted it back into their own hands.”
That’s right – God forbid that the most heavily taxes citizens in the country get a few of their dollars back when the Gov’t can spend it, and then complain that they need more because of the deficit. Rule #1 in Gov’t spending – make SURE you spend every dollar or your budget will get cut next year.
They BOTH suck
November 29th, 2012
6:49 pm
“No I’m relatively new. Just decided to stop lurking.”
If that makes you feel good. Run with it.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 29th, 2012
6:49 pm
I find it interesting that so many posters cannot stay on point with the subject of Bookman’s blog.
After 7½ pages or so the topic is somewhat exhausted, so we kinda go off topic every now and then.
josef
November 29th, 2012
6:50 pm
DeKalb
“I find it interesting that so many posters cannot stay on point with the subject of Bookman’s blog.”
I’m assuming you’ve got a problem with serendipity. Jay’s blog is the old fashioned front porch in the cyber age…the sh*t you can learn here is, in and of itself, an education…
Nero
November 29th, 2012
6:51 pm
DeKalb,
As week and spineless as Repubs are, they don’t have to do a thing. The leeches will overreach and it will all come burning down on top of their heads. They always do. It’s in their DNA to succumb to hubris.
Soothsayer
November 29th, 2012
6:52 pm
Now here’s an honest feller making an honest speech after he lost his commission seat. How the commissioners keep a straight face is beyond me. But, then, you decide.
I’ve always found this video to be inspiring. I don’t know who this feller is, but he sure is inspiring.
Nero
November 29th, 2012
6:53 pm
Suck finds comfort in being Bookman’s boot licker. You run with that if it makes you feel good.
getalife
November 29th, 2012
6:54 pm
nerd,
What is with all the hugs?
Are you some kind of weirdo?.
Brosephus™: "Browning America Since 1973"
November 29th, 2012
6:54 pm
josef
The latest 25% increase puts them up 400% over the past 5 years.
Nero
November 29th, 2012
6:56 pm
No, I’m just not a retired Boomer future stealing leech. To me you can’t get more weird than that. Do you eat your young too?
josef
November 29th, 2012
6:58 pm
BROSEPHUS
SH*T! Maybe it’s past time we put the SONS OF THE CONFEDERATE VETERANS Plan in place…! Amazing, though, isn’t it? And where are Yankee Sharia and MAJOR historians on this one? I think we need to hold a conference with Professor Gates…
They BOTH suck
November 29th, 2012
6:59 pm
getaife
A few weeks ago, I said it was time for the Falcons to lose down at the Big Easy.
I think it will be payback tonight.
getalife
November 29th, 2012
6:59 pm
“Do you eat your young too?”
Weird and creepy.
Is that you dave?
getalife
November 29th, 2012
7:01 pm
Both,
I think the Falcons will win too.
1-1.
JamVet
November 29th, 2012
7:01 pm
If a political party not only refuses to adapt but makes a refusal to recognize changing realities a central part of its identity, ebb and flow can be delayed for a long, long time.
And given that, can you say yet another big time electoral defeat for the GOP in 2014?
But if the nitwits think that their salivation lies in them not having to do a thing, I’m good with that too.
In fact, I could get real used to this…
Nero
November 29th, 2012
7:03 pm
No old man. No Dave here. Call your nurse. I think your IV line has a kink in it.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 29th, 2012
7:04 pm
I don’t know who this feller is, but he sure is inspiring.
Nero
November 29th, 2012
7:05 pm
Boomer leeches get so confused the closer it gets to collecting that check. Calm down getaleech. It’s coming.
Elections Have Consequences
November 29th, 2012
7:05 pm
Interesting. I noticed Jay modified his blog from this AM, wonder why?
Nero
November 29th, 2012
7:05 pm
Long time sport! How are ya?
Soothsayer
November 29th, 2012
7:07 pm
Pomposity has a name and I think we all know what that name is!
Nero
November 29th, 2012
7:09 pm
Sooth got her panties in a bunch too.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 29th, 2012
7:09 pm
Pomposity has a name and I think we all know what that name is!
My bologna has a first name….
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 29th, 2012
7:09 pm
Sooth
Asshattery does also
Soothsayer
November 29th, 2012
7:10 pm
If you can bullshyte for 3 minutes, I’d say that qualifies you to be an attorney. Whatayasay?
getalife
November 29th, 2012
7:10 pm
nerd,
Leechers are kooks like birthers.
Take off that silly hat.
Democratic Plantation Dweller
November 29th, 2012
7:11 pm
I am just glad that it is not my responsibility to take care of myself…it is the government’s responsibility to care for me.
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 29th, 2012
7:12 pm
If a tin foil hat gets struck by lightning will it become a permanent fixture?
Inquiring minds want to know LOL
Soothsayer
November 29th, 2012
7:13 pm
What time is it? One thing I like about Dave R. is that he can stay up late like me since he don’t have to work. I think this may go on until the wee hours. I can’t wait!
Nero
November 29th, 2012
7:14 pm
getaleech,
Boomer leeches are generational thieves. Stop stealing from future generations. Live within your means. The Greatest Generation would be ashamed of your greedy entitlement mentality. Walk away from the trough. You’re already too fat and bloated.
They BOTH suck
November 29th, 2012
7:16 pm
get
I was thinking nero might be short for neurotic.
Doggone/GA
November 29th, 2012
7:16 pm
Josef
“Fascinating book this one”
Sorry for the late answer, I had to run out for dinner. Yes that’s the one…and you’re right, it’s fascinating!
TaxPayer
November 29th, 2012
7:17 pm
FOUR MORE YEARS of scrolling past the con loser’s whines. It’s worth every bit of the wear on the tip of my finger.
josef
November 29th, 2012
7:17 pm
NERO
“The Greatest Generation would be ashamed of your greedy entitlement mentality. Walk away from the trough. You’re already too fat and bloated.”
Oh, I don’t know about that. We are, after all, their children, their progeny, their legacy. They made us what we are today…and BTW, we haven’t done such a bad job of it, all things considered.
getalife
November 29th, 2012
7:18 pm
nerd,
You are doing a heck of a job.
Stay the course.
Dekalb comments
November 29th, 2012
7:18 pm
@Democratic Plantation Dweller….
Good…please come to my home tomorrow @ 08:00 hours and clean my house, mow my lawn and care for my animals. I will give you a hermetically sealed Twinkie.
Next Idiot….
josef
November 29th, 2012
7:19 pm
DOGGONE
That one completely rearranged my way of thinking along those lines…
Nero
November 29th, 2012
7:20 pm
Sooth, I have a job. Somebody has to pay for your leech entitlements. You’re a Boomer leech too aren’t you? Explains a lot.
josef
November 29th, 2012
7:21 pm
Dekalb
Stay on topic!
Nero
November 29th, 2012
7:22 pm
Suck,
And here I was thinking that suck was short for….well suck. Nevermind. :/
Dekalb comments
November 29th, 2012
7:23 pm
I am on topic…..the new topic is Idiots on Parade
They BOTH suck
November 29th, 2012
7:24 pm
Nero
Don’t be scared. Speak your mind.
Doggone/GA
November 29th, 2012
7:25 pm
“If a tin foil hat gets struck by lightning will it become a permanent fixture?”
It might. I saw a show about lightening and they interviewed a woman who was struck by lightening down in Florida, and the strike tattooed her gold necklace into her skin.
josef
November 29th, 2012
7:25 pm
Dekalb
Oreo
November 29th, 2012
7:25 pm
Nero sounds a lot like the love child of Andy and USMC.
Soothsayer
November 29th, 2012
7:25 pm
Falcons @ 8:00 NFL network (154 Dish Network). Let’s hope our Falcons whoop up on them Saints. (Sorry, getalife!)
Oh, and Nero/Tiberius/Dave R. I’m sorry I’m so hard on you. I really am. It’s just that you’re the type of person that makes it easy! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Oh well is wondering where you are over at Kyle’s blog! He’s lonely for you!
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 29th, 2012
7:25 pm
Dekalb comments
the new topic is Idiots on Parade
————————————————–
Film it and post it on youtube for FNM
Nero
November 29th, 2012
7:25 pm
getaleech,
Thanks. I will. Right over the Cliff along with you cuts in your entitlements. It’s gonna be great!
RAMZAD
November 29th, 2012
7:26 pm
It not not take a course in Statistics for Engineers to see that the GOP is extinct. Just go to YouTube and look at the faces and the age demographics that were at the convention in Tampa.
Nero
November 29th, 2012
7:26 pm
You’re not so bad Sooth. At least you love the Falcons too.
Doggone/GA
November 29th, 2012
7:26 pm
“That one completely rearranged my way of thinking along those lines…”
Yep, mine too.
Have you seen this yet: “Mermaids: The Body Found” on Animal Planet? If not, keep an eye out for it, they show it every now and then. But if you watch it, make SURE you watch it all the way to the very end. That’s very important.
JKL2
November 29th, 2012
7:27 pm
The party of handouts win again.
Now Forward! lemmings, over your cliff.
Brosephus™: "Browning America Since 1973"
November 29th, 2012
7:27 pm
I am on topic…..the new topic is Idiots on Parade
Screw topic, that should be the theme here.
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 29th, 2012
7:28 pm
Just go to YouTube and look at the faces and the age demographics that were at the convention in Tampa.
———————————-
The SAD thing is that they keep having heart attacks over their anger at Romney getting beaten.
TOO BAD
Doggone/GA
November 29th, 2012
7:29 pm
“The party of handouts win again”
Well, if “winning” is the only goal…maybe the loser should pay better attention.
The GOV
November 29th, 2012
7:30 pm
“No I’m relatively new. Just decided to stop lurking.”
Sure you are weirdo. Get out of the shrubbery.
josef
November 29th, 2012
7:31 pm
DOGGONE
I’ve been struck by lightening….I was sitting at my typewriter one day (tells you how long ago THAT was!!) and talking on the telephone…the outside door was open and lightening struck the tree outside…the whole next few seconds was one of those “slow motion” things…the lightening balled and rolled through the door, and struck me. It went through me into the typewriter and ‘phone, killing them both but leaving me, well, stunned! There was no pain at all. But the most bizarre thing was the feeling in my mouth afterward. I was talking to a friend later who knows about these things and she told me that what had happened was that the strike had killed off the bacteria in my mouth and that what I was feeling was a clean mouth…probably the only time in my life I ever had one, metaphorically as well as literally…but she said had I not been on the phone and had my hands on the keyboard, it would probably have killed me…
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 29th, 2012
7:32 pm
Josef
That explains a lot about you.
j/k Sorry I am weak sometimes
Nero
November 29th, 2012
7:33 pm
Thanks for the heads up GOV. The knights who say ni sure took their sweet time showing up.
josef
November 29th, 2012
7:33 pm
DOGGONE
Have not seen it…will do,,,thanks for the recommendation…
Soothsayer
November 29th, 2012
7:34 pm
At least you love the Falcons too.
Oh, I don’t love ‘em. Only when they’re winning. The rest of the time they’re just a bust of knee-cap-busting thugs in expensive suits!
JKL2
November 29th, 2012
7:34 pm
jamvet- The US Congress has until December 31st to ask the richest 2% of Americans to pay their fair share
Hurrah! You’ve covered up to 8% of the deficit! outstanding. Who cares if obama has no clue about how to take care of the other 92% as long as those evil rich guys get theirs. How dare they be successful why others starve…
PS: Those “starving” are morbidly obese but they are “starving” and someone needs to help those poor people.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 29th, 2012
7:35 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_pT07DlB_Y
Just saw this on G4 and thought it was hilarious.
moonbat betty
November 29th, 2012
7:37 pm
Parasite is a much better noun/adjective than leech.
Nero
November 29th, 2012
7:39 pm
Sooth,
I think you meant the NBA. I’m a diehard Falcon ’til the end. Love ‘em except Turner. He is torturous to watch off the snap. UGH!!!! So SLLLLOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!
Nero
November 29th, 2012
7:39 pm
*tortuous
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 29th, 2012
7:40 pm
Kam
josef
November 29th, 2012
7:41 pm
SOOTH
“Only when they’re winning.”
Yeah, but we love our Saints even when they’re not…
JamVet
November 29th, 2012
7:41 pm
2, you obviously have learned nothing at all from the recent election. And two of the three before that.
Excellent.
Just keep telling yourself how smart and industrious you are and how stupid and lazy everyone else is.
Your results/failures speak for themselves. (And Alan West says hello from the unemployment line.)
Keep up the good work…
Doggone/GA
November 29th, 2012
7:42 pm
Josef,
Wow! I’ve never been that close. The closest I’ve ever come was lightening that struck near our house and the boom sounded like the end of the world…it was right over our roof. I had a friend tell me once that her house was struck…but when she described what happened it was even more shocking, so to speak. She went up in her “dog room” to check on some puppies that were in a portable pen, and when she touched it she said the house was struck. But what happened was that she was shocked, and thrown across the room. When she went outside to look for damage, the glass from the window in that room was in her driveway.
I said HON! Your house was not struck by lightening, it THREW OFF a bolt! So she got an electrician in and turned out her house was not grounded and it started the leader stroke and what she actually saw was the return stroke.
JKL2
November 29th, 2012
7:44 pm
doggone- Well, if “winning” is the only goal…maybe the loser should pay better attention.
I keep hoping the 47%ers will finally wake up and realize the lying POS’s they elect could care less about what happens to them and are only in it for themselves..
moonbat betty
November 29th, 2012
7:44 pm
lol, Kam.
Jamvet posted a hilarious video of a black teacher calling roll in a white class room.
I’ll see if I can find it, but if you are around JamVet,can you post that again?
moonbat betty
November 29th, 2012
7:45 pm
speak of the devil…
Doggone/GA
November 29th, 2012
7:46 pm
“I keep hoping the 47%ers”
When you have to lie to make your point, you have NO POINT.
Soothsayer
November 29th, 2012
7:46 pm
I got struck by lightnin’ one time. Her name was Thelma Lu.
josef
November 29th, 2012
7:46 pm
COMMON SENSE
DOGGONE
May Grandparents’ place and the Old Place had lightening rods…it was something to behold as a wee one…