No Narrative.
The joy of primary day is that it comes to nothing but spin and is quickly meaningless with the next day's maneuvers. Sestak discarded Specter, Lincoln struggles with Arkansas, Rand Paul storms Kentucky and Mitch McConnell's authority, and it comes to what? No payoff, just the possibility of payoff. Do we care if the GOP takes Kentucky, Arkansas and Pennsylvania? No. A night of incumbent fatigue is not a story we can trade on --certainly not a change in authority in Congress. Specter and Lincoln still vote all the way till Christmas. We only care if it looks like the GOP may take the Senate. That raises money and temperatures and weakens the strong horses in the Obama administration and on the Hill. Consider the Senate weakened. Shrug. The larger story for what I saw last night is that the White House lacks a narrative, the Democrats lack a narrative, and the GOP, the also-ran weakest horse in reality, gets a chance to construct a narrative.
GOP Blind.
The Republicans failed in the open seat Special of PA-12 because the Republicans lack a narrative that speaks to conservative Democratic voters. Mark Critz (right) a Party op and newbie pol staffer, with no wealth and no grit, a guy who just recently was district manager for Murtha, dispensing baubles, ran as a faux-Republican: anti-healthcare, anti-captrade, anti-abortion, pro-guns, pro-national defense. The faux beat the newbie entrepreneur Tim Burns by eight points in a district that has voted solid Murtha since Nixon. The GOP is blind and pointless. No narrative. Speaking Salena Zito, PTR, on the failure of GOP bucks from the NRCC to develop an adequate turn-out model -- and to let the SEIU create a faux-Republican to beat you -- who'll vote with Pelosi all the way to November. The Democrats do not need to beat anyone good at reading the wind; they just need to beat the sad-sack GOP elite, a whining crowd of cronies.
"Specter *** still vote[s] all the way till Christmas." JB
'Joe Sestak: "I Stood Up to My Party"' - CBS
What's the book on Specter resigning to give Rendel a chance to apt. an interim whom the party apparatus could back to punish Sestak for jumping the line?
Quite right, John! There’s no narrative – no political narrative, that is. There hasn’t been a political narrative since Obama got himself elected. The Congress has disgraced itself beyond redemption - and made itself irrelevant. All the rest is shadow dancing; mere window dressing. Every dictator the world has ever seen has maintained the tinsel trappings that mimic democracy. Iran and Afghanistan hold fraudulent elections – as does Venezuela, Russia, etc. The dictator always wins 99% of the vote. Hurray for the dictator!
There is a narrative alright, but it’s no longer political. It’s Obama’s narrative of change. That’s the one and only narrative that counts. Obama will proceed. Obama will win, for he holds the reigns of power. I can’t wait to see what happens in November – or, rather, what doesn’t happen. Politically, nothing will. But we will find ourselves further diminished and at the mercy of Obama’s change.
Everything has an expiration date. America was finished when we elected Barack Hussein Obama. We say he grovels at the feet of Calderon. He doesn’t grovel; he is in total sync with the Mexican president. He truly believes America has no right to defend its borders. And Calderon believes it as well. His is a poor country. America is rich. That is the narrative. Both men regard this as our unpardonable sin that must be rectified. Without borders, America cannot claim to be a country.
Just the fact that we are even debating whether or not a 13-story mosque should be built within a stone’s throw of the hole we call ‘Ground Zero’ shows we have been defeated. We might as well fly the Nazi flag above Arlington Cemetery.
It’s just a matter of time now for the final recognition of our humbling to sink in. Will it come in November, or two years from now when Obama is overwhelmingly re-elected? I’m sure we’ll be talking about it – if talk radio is still on the air by then - or playing dirges.
http://peterkoelliker.blogspot.com/
I would say the mainline GOP establishment was repudiated here. It started with Scozzfava, continued with Bennett and now Grayson. The GOP and it's lackeys seem complacent in endorsing the same old horses in spite of the fervor for change out there. It's not just the dems that will get the brunt, it's anyone in the way. The likes of Newt, Dick, and Mitt aren't respected anymore, and they aren't Tea Partiers. The people have spoken, and Mr Potato Head Steele better listen, because he's next come January.
Fair warning: Obama will promise everything and deliver nothing. Specter may have done better in the primaries if Obama came to campaign, it was a Democrat Primary.
Disagree with JB's comment last night that Rand Paul's problem is that he has a big mouth because he comes out against the Civil Rights Act. This implies that if you have a point of view that is unpopular you should keep quiet about it until elected (or maybe even after elected.) This kind of thinking is exactly why we get people like Barack Obama in office.