Election Aftermath

[nathanm]

Glad to see that some got the sarcasm. I tend to agree with some of the articles on CNBC that I have been reading that whats happening is a sell off of high paying dividend stocks, the two best being AT&T and Verizon, so as to avoid the potential dividend tax. The example was that if you bought 1000 shares of AT&T you would invest ~ $34,000.00, the dividend is ~$1.76/share so you would get $1760.00, but at a tax of 43% you would only get a return of ~$800.00.

Dividend tax, as in paying income tax like the rest of us schlubs.

[Townsend]

Well now someone's lying to herself a little.

Top Democrat says 'rape' comments didn't determine Senate outcome

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/07/top-democrat-says-rape-comments-didnt-determine-senate-outcome/

(CNN) - Widely condemned comments about rape from two Republican candidates weren't the determining factor in Democrats retaining the upper chamber of Congress, a top Senate Democrat said Wednesday.

Sen. Patty Murray, the chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said the two seats her party picked up were instead the prize for hard work ahead of an election that once seemed an uphill climb for Democrats, who were defending 23 of the 33 seats being contested in Tuesday's vote.

We always said we were going to put ourselves in a position to seize upon Republican missteps and we did," Murray said on a conference call. "But offensive comments from Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock did not decide this election. It was a result of hard work and critical strategic decisions over many months."

Those two Republicans received massive blowback this summer and fall for comments on rape and abortion – Akin for claiming that pregnancy was rare after "legitimate rape," and Mourdock for saying God intends for pregnancies occurring from rape.

Both Akin and Mourdock lost their bids for U.S. Senate in elections where Democrats previously appeared vulnerable.

Murray also touted a persistent spending deficit for Democrats, saying the fact her team was outspent in close races was proof the politicians running under the Democratic banner were "the best class of candidates I've ever seen."

"We proved to Karl Rove, the U.S. Chamber [of Commerce], and a bunch of right wing billionaires, they can spend all the money they want, but they can't buy themselves the U.S. Senate," Murray said on the call. "If I'm Sheldon Adelson, Charles Koch or a big oil executive, I would be picking up the phone today and asking the Chamber, asking Karl Rove 'What the heck did you do?'"

The disparity among the Democratic candidates who won – including those in the progressive wing like Massachusetts' Elizabeth Warren, and more moderate senators-to-be like Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota and Tim Kaine in Virginia – didn't worry Murray, who said she was "confident we'll be able to work with these people to move in the right direction."

She added she had "sympathy and understanding" for Sen. John Cornyn, her counterpart at the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

"I don't see this as a John Cornyn problem, I see this as a Republican Party problem, and they'll have to figure out how to deal with that," Murray said.

On that point, she and Cornyn seem to agree. The Texas Republican released a statement Tuesday night urging some introspection for the GOP.

"It's clear that with our losses in the Presidential race, and a number of key Senate races, we have a period of reflection and recalibration ahead for the Republican Party," Cornyn wrote. "While some will want to blame one wing of the party over the other, the reality is candidates from all corners of our GOP lost tonight. Clearly we have work to do in the weeks and months ahead."

[carltonplace]

Republicans could easily capture the hispanic vote if they would just change their message on Imigration.

It turns out that the term "self-deport" just isn't that popular.

[Townsend]

If money is going to continue to be no object then I think the Republican party will be bought and there will be no chance of moderate politics within the party.

[nathanm]

If money is going to continue to be no object then I think the Republican party will be bought and there will be no chance of moderate politics within the party.

As long as they continue to cede everyone center-right or left of that point, they will indeed continue to be a (very loud) bucket of fail.

[JCnOwasso]

"Dogs and cats... living together... MASS HYSTERIA"

[swake]

The Republican party needs to sit down and stop this hard right turn or as a party they will soon slide towards irrelevancy and I don't think they can do it. The Tea Party will not let them. This is the first election since Roosevelt where an incumbent held office with unemployment above 8%, think on that. The Republicans still couldn't win. It's not going to get better either.

Over the last six presidential elections dating back to 1992 Republicans have only won the popular vote once, in 2004. The average percentage of the vote for Democrats over that time is 48.7% compared to 45.1%. And the demographics of republican voters would predict a negative trend line. Republican voters are older, and nearly all white. 89% of the votes for Romney were from white voters as compared to 59% for Obama. But each presidential election the percentage of white voters drops 2%, in 2008 white voters made of 74% of the electorate, this year it was 72%, next time it's likely to be 70%.

Those voters are being replaced by Hispanics mostly in the south and southwest. In 2004 Bush got 44% of the Hispanic vote but McCain's percentage dropped to 31% as the Tea Party types started pushing new immigration laws. Having to run far to the right in the primaries Romney number fell all the way to 26%. Now with the Tea Party radicals firmly in charge of the house the Republican party stance is likely to become more anti-immigration, not less. Four years from now Florida and Nevada may not even be in play for Republicans. And Texas and Arizona may well be the new battleground states. If not in 2016, they will be by 2020. No Republican is going to be able to win if the Democrats can reliable hold California, Florida, New York and Illinois and force Republicans to fight for Texas.

A Tea Party dominated Republican party can win localized elections in red states and Republican gerrymandered districts but the Senate is also likely out of reach. Democrats will control 53 seats in the next Senate, 55 with the Independents. In the next two Senate elections republicans will have to defend 35 seats compared to 29 seats for Democrats. That disadvantage with the ongoing demographic shift nationally means that Republicans are going to be more worried about keeping the Democrats from getting to 60 than they are about getting to 51.

[Teatownclown]

Oh, but the past 4 years when the market was up over %50 was not Obama's doing?

Conan, time to quit f#$king with the facts. 

[Conan71]

Oh, but the past 4 years when the market was up over %50 was not Obama's doing?

Conan, time to quit f#$king with the facts. 

Relax.  Go smoke another bowl.

[Townsend]

New fear ad:

[nathanm]

Ah, yes, I see that the money machine hasn't let up a bit. Do you think Republicans would give so much if they knew that the folks that send them the mailers and call them on the phone keep 80 cents on the dollar?

On the bright side, Trump's army has failed to turn up yet...

[Hoss]

Ah, yes, I see that the money machine hasn't let up a bit. Do you think Republicans would give so much if they knew that the folks that send them the mailers and call them on the phone keep 80 cents on the dollar?

On the bright side, Trump's army has failed to turn up yet...

Ah yes, but what you don't realize is that Trump's army has turned up...it is stationed in his hair for full stealth capabilities...

[nathanm]

One more bit of bad news/gloating that should be taken care of today: Across all the House races, Democrats won the popular vote by about half a million. Thanks to the 2.5% (ish) Republican gerrymandering advantage, the Republicans still have a decent sized majority. God help the Republicans if the playing field is ever leveled.

[TulsaRufnex]

Four years from now Florida and Nevada may not even be in play for Republicans. And Texas and Arizona may well be the new battleground states. If not in 2016, they will be by 2020. No Republican is going to be able to win if the Democrats can reliable hold California, Florida, New York and Illinois and force Republicans to fight for Texas.

See what happens when you re-elect a pro-immigration globalist California governor who sold arms to Iran to pay ransoms because under his watch hostages were taken at many of our foreign embassies... whoever did that must really hate America.... oh wait, that was Ronald Reagan.  Nevermind. 

[nathanm]

See what happens when you re-elect a pro-immigration globalist California governor who sold arms to Iran to pay ransoms because under his watch hostages were taken at many of our foreign embassies... whoever did that must really hate America.... oh wait, that was Ronald Reagan.  Nevermind. 

It's called entrepreneurial spirit. Not that you'd know anything about that.