I'm way too tired to write a well-rounded post with a single meaningful theme, and a beginning, middle and end. The Live Event here (in which over 2500 people participated) went on into the early hours of the morning.
So here are my thoughts in semi-random order, to be supplemented as the day goes on:
- There was only one national election last night, and that was for the House of Representatives. While the media is harping on the fact that Republicans picked up "only" 6 seats (maybe more, a couple are not over yet, but likely Democrat)[in the Senate], only 38 seats were up for election. Extrapolate that number, and in a national election Republicans would have picked up 15 or so Senate seats. And the next Senate cycle is looking even worse for the Democrats, as this cycle many of the battles were in deep blue states whereas next time the landscape is not as favorable to Democratic incumbents.
- The Democrats received the feared political decapitation. The Democrats lost, in a single night, two generations of leadership: Numerous members of the old guard, including multiple committee Chairmen, lost, as did dozens of newer members from the 2006-2008 cycles. Because the Tsunami struck in one cycle, there are no young Democratic guns waiting to step into the breach. The Democratic Party in the House is worse than a chicken with its head cut off, it is a chicken with its head and feet cut off.
- The Tea Party movement made this all possible, so disregard the memes that the Tea Party cost the Republicans the Senate. Without the energy and commitment of the Tea Party movement, the Republican Party would remain as moribund and stale as the Democratic Party is today.
- Harry Reid. Surely the disappointment of the night. There is no one more responsible for our current economic mess and the Democrats' political mess than Reid. He won, so Democrats are happy. Don't wish too hard for something, you just got it. The poster-child for Democratic Party mischief and malevolence remains on the poster.
- Harry Reid. Don't kid yourself that Sharron Angle made his win easier. Could Sue Lowden really have stood up to the onslaught by the Reid machine? Nothing against Sue Lowden, but Harry Reid's team took credit for destroying her in the primary by pushing the "health care for chickens" barter thing and fomenting other attacks. If Lowden could not survive the primary and Reid's under-the-radar attacks, she would not have survived the general election.
- Mike Castle. Good riddance. Delaware was not the difference as to whether Republicans took the Senate. Non-Tea Partiers Carly Fiorina, John Raese, Linda McMahon and possibly Dino Rossi (still waiting) could not pull it off.
- Mike Castle. Good riddance. If you had manned-up (I just had to use that phrase) and worked to elect Christine O'Donnell, and brought your Delaware Republican machine with you, the results in Delaware may have been different, or at least closer. Since we would not have won the Senate anyway, the elimination of Mike Castle was worth the loss in Delaware.
- Best line of the night. Eric Cantor on MSNBC, with a rather deliberate smirk on his face: "It's a pleasure to be on MSNBC tonight."
- Most profound headline: The midterms may have saved a superpower: Americans say no to US decline.
- Best comment by a Live Event participant: "Today is the day the seas began to rise again."
More to follow ....
--------------------------------------------
Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube
Prof.
ReplyDeletein reguard to Dems headless, feetless chickeness...On the other hand, Republicans have gained a number of potent high profile candidates thanks to the nationalizing of the elections. Marco Rubio and last year's victory from Chris Christie. Strong lower rank players like Alan West as well.
With candidates like these, things are looking much, much brighter.
Virginia and Ohio have both turned away from the destructiveness of the progressive agenda and that can only bode well for 2012.
ReplyDeleteGreat live event, professor. Many thanks for holding it.
ReplyDeleteBiggest opportunities thrown away yesterday:
ReplyDeleteLinda McMahon losing to the very vulnerable pathological liar Blumenthal.
Carly Fiorina losing to the detested (even among CA Democrats) Barbara Boxer.
Meg Whitman losing to the even more detested (even among CA Democrats) Jerry Brown.
It's time for the GOP to stop selling nominations to liberals with big checkbooks. There were perfectly good conservative Republicans running for at least the two Senate seats that could have won. Next time, let's try running Republicans instead of democrats.
California is never going to have the chance we threw away yesterday. Inexcusable. There just is no GOP in CA, just a state adjunct to a corrupt national machine led by Karl Rove.
And before the CA haters toss in the knee-jerk "we ought to give CA back to Mexico", how about we give the whole country back to Britain if that's going to be the attitude with Republicans.
Can you extrapolate that second point, please?
ReplyDeleteIt will also be interesting to see how many retirements there will be among the remaing old guard now that they're out of power.
ReplyDeleteA 60-70 something year old Democrat cannot expect to gain a chairmanship again and there may be a lot of turnover in 2012. Hopefully a lot of lessons will have been won by Tea Party activists; that the elected Republicans won't disappoint and that 2012 will be another big year.
@pasadenaphil
ReplyDeleteI don't know if any Republican could have won either of those seats here in California.
I say that because of the passage of Prop 25, which pretty much cuts Republicans completely out of the state legislature. California is now completely run by the unions.
only 6 seats in the Senate, but of course 60+ in the House
ReplyDeletemalclave: We'll never know because the GOP doesn't run Republicans anymore. Boxer's seat was Pete Wilson's old seat and since 1989 when I first moved here, we have had 3 Republican governors out of 4. And my own congressman was Republican too.
ReplyDeleteSo it is pointless to wonder "if any Republican could have won either". The only thing that has changed since those seats were held by Republicans is that the Republican state party committee sold out to the Democratic state party committee. What's the point of having a Republican party if they don't have the spine to run Republicans?