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sparkindarknessI wasn’t going to comment on this in general because I’m very much an outsider but seeing it storm up and down the net there is one refrain that just bugs me so much watching American politics:
“NOOOOO the health care bill and all future legislation is doooooooooooooom!!”
Yes, you expect some gloom and doom... but why are the Democrats so damn WET? They’ve had a super majority for a year now but they always seem to be wrestling with the Republicans. Why? You think the Republicans would be compromising and meeting you half way if it were the other way around? I just really don’t get this and I’m curious how things work in the US that this has happened?
George W Bush didn’t have a supermajority - yet still managed some to push through some of the worst hair-whitening legislation you could have the displeasure to see defiling paper. The Dems certainly stopped some of the vileness, but they let a lot of unpleasantness pass. So why, even with the majority, did the Dems seem to struggle and fight?
I once assumed that American politics just had more of a culture of bipartisanship than UK politic. It seems committees et al regularly contain members from both parties even when one is solidly in power (would never happen over here. You win an election decisively? You do things your war). But, if there is a culture of reaching across the aisle, well, maybe someone should tell the Republicans? Because they don’t seem to realise. And I don’t think a system based on compromise and meeting each other in the middle when one side isn’t shifting an inch.
I’ve heard the republicans declared to be the party of “no.” And it’s a great summation. But when did the Democrats become the party of whining, cowering in the corner and folding?
What did I miss? What am I missing?
And, for the record, my outsider’s view on why it was lost (because I have to stick my oar in I just do)
1) Croakley ran not only a gods awful campaign, but an utterly indifferent one. She tried to sleep walk her way in. It was ridiculous how little effort she put in and how much she screwed up.
2) It’s a safe seat, people stayed home. It happens - if you expect it’s a walk over then surely YOU don’t have to vote right? Someone else can - and it’s cold out there.
3) The Dems severely underestimate the teabaggers. Yes yes they’re nucking futs. Yes their talk is so beyond ridiculous, yes anyone with even a tenuous grasp of reality and the brain power of a diseased marmot can see it’s ridiculous.
BUT PEOPLE ARE STUPID. This can’t be emphasised enough. People are silly. People will believe anything, no matter how ridiculous, no matter how vile, no matter how detached from reality if they want to believe it, it conforms to their prejudices or it’s told to them in a sufficiently charismatic fashion. History is full of examples of people believing really ridiculous shit en masse. Dismissing the teabaggers because they’re stupid was foolhardy.
4) The Dems have hacked off a lot of bases - and not just the GBLT community which I know you’ve heard me talk about. There’s a lot of criticism of the Dems being wishy-washy, settling for half measures and dragging their feet. And even the most ardent supporters of the historic healthcare bill seem to be saying “it’s better than it is now...” which is damning with faint praise indeed. The war in Afghanistan, the wishy-washy torture debate, the stupak amendment, the general waffle with healthcare and the fact the economy still sucks like a sucking thing (I know, something inherited, but still) and the big bank bail outs have made a lot of people unhappy - and the Dems & DNC seem to have largely dismissed that.
There is some good news - better these lessons were leaned now than in the midterms, right? Because that would have sucked. And you can bet that next senate election in Massachusettes this guy isn’t going to be sitting comfortably.
And you could probably hook Kennedy up to a turbine - he’s got to be spinning fast enough to power the whole state.
“NOOOOO the health care bill and all future legislation is doooooooooooooom!!”
Yes, you expect some gloom and doom... but why are the Democrats so damn WET? They’ve had a super majority for a year now but they always seem to be wrestling with the Republicans. Why? You think the Republicans would be compromising and meeting you half way if it were the other way around? I just really don’t get this and I’m curious how things work in the US that this has happened?
George W Bush didn’t have a supermajority - yet still managed some to push through some of the worst hair-whitening legislation you could have the displeasure to see defiling paper. The Dems certainly stopped some of the vileness, but they let a lot of unpleasantness pass. So why, even with the majority, did the Dems seem to struggle and fight?
I once assumed that American politics just had more of a culture of bipartisanship than UK politic. It seems committees et al regularly contain members from both parties even when one is solidly in power (would never happen over here. You win an election decisively? You do things your war). But, if there is a culture of reaching across the aisle, well, maybe someone should tell the Republicans? Because they don’t seem to realise. And I don’t think a system based on compromise and meeting each other in the middle when one side isn’t shifting an inch.
I’ve heard the republicans declared to be the party of “no.” And it’s a great summation. But when did the Democrats become the party of whining, cowering in the corner and folding?
What did I miss? What am I missing?
And, for the record, my outsider’s view on why it was lost (because I have to stick my oar in I just do)
1) Croakley ran not only a gods awful campaign, but an utterly indifferent one. She tried to sleep walk her way in. It was ridiculous how little effort she put in and how much she screwed up.
2) It’s a safe seat, people stayed home. It happens - if you expect it’s a walk over then surely YOU don’t have to vote right? Someone else can - and it’s cold out there.
3) The Dems severely underestimate the teabaggers. Yes yes they’re nucking futs. Yes their talk is so beyond ridiculous, yes anyone with even a tenuous grasp of reality and the brain power of a diseased marmot can see it’s ridiculous.
BUT PEOPLE ARE STUPID. This can’t be emphasised enough. People are silly. People will believe anything, no matter how ridiculous, no matter how vile, no matter how detached from reality if they want to believe it, it conforms to their prejudices or it’s told to them in a sufficiently charismatic fashion. History is full of examples of people believing really ridiculous shit en masse. Dismissing the teabaggers because they’re stupid was foolhardy.
4) The Dems have hacked off a lot of bases - and not just the GBLT community which I know you’ve heard me talk about. There’s a lot of criticism of the Dems being wishy-washy, settling for half measures and dragging their feet. And even the most ardent supporters of the historic healthcare bill seem to be saying “it’s better than it is now...” which is damning with faint praise indeed. The war in Afghanistan, the wishy-washy torture debate, the stupak amendment, the general waffle with healthcare and the fact the economy still sucks like a sucking thing (I know, something inherited, but still) and the big bank bail outs have made a lot of people unhappy - and the Dems & DNC seem to have largely dismissed that.
There is some good news - better these lessons were leaned now than in the midterms, right? Because that would have sucked. And you can bet that next senate election in Massachusettes this guy isn’t going to be sitting comfortably.
And you could probably hook Kennedy up to a turbine - he’s got to be spinning fast enough to power the whole state.