I’ve been saying this for a while in a variety of ways.
Not too long ago campaign reporters were stripped of their press tags if they did not invoke Tip O’Neill’s mantra (“All politics is local”) in at least half their stories. Now the dominant orthodoxy is that all politics is national. But one of the biggest questions to be tested in November is whether candidate quality matters in individual races — or whether the adroit and clueless alike get carried off to Congress by the same national wave.
Every wave election has its Eric “Tickle Me” Massa or Helen “Black Helicopter” Chenoweth. But if the people have any agency then the quality of the candidates matters. If I live in Ohio, I can simultaneously be angry about the state of the economy and my choice for Democrat while still being cognizant that John Kasich and Rob Portman are whores for the Wall Street banksters and Republican Party that cratered the economy. I’m not voting for them. And I’m not voting for Rand Paul because I’m tired of seeing the Senate deadlocked and unable to even confirm the president’s nominees. I’m not voting for Ken Buck or Joe Miller or Sharron Angle because they want to force rape victims to bear their assailant’s child. I’m not voting for Alvin Greene because he’s totally unqualified for the job, despite the fact that his opponent is the most odious member of the Senate.
The people hate Republicans even more than they hate the Democrats, and that means that, if they are acting rationally, they aren’t going to put the Republicans back in charge. Maybe the people aren’t feeling too rational at the moment with 10% unemployment, and maybe they’ll register their displeasure by voting out a few Democrats who don’t deserve to lose. But I am still skeptical that the Republicans won’t suffer for their flawed candidates. It’s one thing to give someone new a chance. It’s another thing to hand control over to people whose views you don’t agree with at all.
I know logically, I ask myself all the time can these people really be this delusional.
For example, here in Dallas, if you ask people what they think about Rick Perry 7 out of 10 will probably tell you that he’s an idiot, and even the 3 of 10 who sorta like him, will probably still tell you he’s a douchebag.
Nationally though, Perry is some big deal to teatards, cause of all his secession BS. The Dallas Morning News continually report on Perry’s scheming and machinations, but I don’t recall if I ever see it in any of the national stories.
IDK, but I kinda think we have Fox News to thank for the “nationalization” of local politics. The Fox News faithful, hear all the mis-information and dishonest reportage by Fox, and it’s no wonder that it eventually seeps into how the viewer views local pols as well.
I hear ya Booman. But in its not just a question of rationality- more specifically, its about whether people will act rationally based on the information they have. You’re assuming that people are properly informed and then pose the question whether people will act rationally based on such information. I actually think people are hard-wired to act on self-interest, but they are often doing so based on misinformation. Fox news, all the outside interest groups spending in this elections and the GOP itself are focusing efforts on confusing and misleading the voters about whats going on.
No doubt, but they still have a ton of shitty candidates.
That’s only part of the problem – if they are behaving rationally and have enough knowledge of the situation to make a decent situation. You can be as rational as you want but if you’re working on bad information you can make decisions that look incredibly irrational to an outside observer.
Since you use my home state of Ohio as an example, let me use it as well. Kasich and outside Republican groups have been spending money hand over fist on ads blaming Ted Strickland for job losses in Ohio. Because he’s been governor for the last 4 years, it’s his fault. Nevermind that as a member of the House of Representatives Kasich voted to make it easier to offshore jobs every time he was given an opportunity – Strickland is the one responsible for Ohio’s problems.
Strickland can run ads to try to make that case, but he’s getting overrun by Kasich’s money. Ohio voters should – should – be skeptical of Kasich. But the knowledge of what a wormy slimbucket of vile excrement he really is isn’t going to penetrate until it’s too late and he’s sitting in the governor’s office making things even worse for Ohio than Bob Taft did.
I hope that’s not what happens, but living here in the thick of it I can only think that unless Kasich gets caught with a dead prostitute or a live boy, Strickland is in trouble.
I hope that’s not what happens, but living here in the thick of it I can only think that unless Kasich gets caught with a dead prostitute or a live boy, Strickland is in trouble.
Unfortunately, for most Republicans, history has proven that even those things are merely small speed bumps in most instances.
I’m a Buckeye too, and even though the news media is giving the impression that the race is tightening, I’m afraid that things are not likely to turn around enough to put Strickland over the hump. In my phonebanking experiences of late, it seems like the general anti-incumbent attitude has solidified in much of the state. In my calls to registered Dems, it seems like so many just seem to have resigned themselves to his defeat. And it is quite disheartening to me. We are pushing really hard right now to convince people that all they need to do is get out and vote. That will make the difference. But sometimes the apathy I hear is just disturbing. There are many people you talk to who are enthusiastic, but also a goodly number who are just writing it off. It wears you down to talk to some of these people, but the option of Kasich in the Governor’s mansion is just galling to even think about. I don’t think people realize what a tool he really is.
Don’t know if you’ve seen the ad Steve Benen and Bill Simmon put together. But if you haven’t, you’ll love it!
I’d love to see this go viral.