Stu Rothenberg and Charlie Cook are both branded as independent campaign analysts, but both of them strike me as quiet cheerleaders for the right. That doesn’t mean that they are terrible analysts; they are both actually quite good. Which makes it notable that both of them are warning the Republicans off their fascination with faux-scandals.
I don’t think the GOP will be taking their advise, however. They love to rile up their base and they know that actually legislating will divide and weaken their caucuses.
You might appreciate this Pincus ed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fine-print-the-press-and-national-security/201
3/05/20/04553d22-be3b-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html
Isn’t that pretty much exactly what I said?
“They love to rile up their base and they know that actually legislating will divide and weaken their caucuses.”
As I’d guess you’re aware, this is almost exactly what the Heritage Foundation sent as “advice” to leaders of the GOP Congressional Caucuses. All scandals, no legislation. They even named “controversial” legislative issues which should be avoided.
It’s hard to get more openly fraudulent and pathetic than this. If they’re rewarded at the ballot box for this behavior (again), we’ve got a real problem. I don’t believe they will gain a lot of seats this way, though, particularly in the Senate, which appears as though it will remain an Achilles’ heel for them, given their base’s habit of nominating extremists in their Senate primaries.
Quiet cheerleaders? Did you forget about last week already? Billmon(remember him?!?) sums it up perfectly:
https://twitter.com/billmon1/status/336893804307156995
Gaaaa!! Here is a better link(still Twitter):
http://bit.ly/10Mvjzq
Obama has always been preternaturally skilled at this form of political warfare: getting his enemies to destroy themselves. Maybe that’s the best/only way for a black Prez to do it. Direct confrontation, as much as so many progressives demand it, might only lead to backlash due to a lot of unspoken beliefs people have about Obama and his race.
In any case, you’d think the GOP would have figured out his methods by now and adapted to them. But they can’t seem to see past their derangement. The Republicans’ anger is the source of their strength, but it also contains the seeds of their downfall. Ain’t it ever thus.
yah sure. if you just ignore cook’s klan-level racism, sure he’s “quite good”.
I can’t ignore something if I am unaware of it.
they are complete assclowns for the right.
why is this so hard to see?
All we need now is a 2013 equivalent of Terri Schaivo for a repeat of the over-reach and religious extremism that got Newt and his fellow backward assholes kicked out of power in the 1990’s. Maybe they’ll rush to the aid of some fetus and get a woman killed in the process.
My mistake–this happened in the early 2000’s. Still–it showed what Republicans mean by “small government” except when it comes to legislating their religious extremism.