The Gift
Scott Brown’s election is the best gift Barack Obama could have hoped to receive on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration.
Consider the enormous weight of expectations on Obama’s shoulders when he was inaugurated: The first black man to be president, Obama was also only the fourth Democrat to win more than 51 percent of the popular vote. With a filibuster-proof Senate (which Republicans haven’t had since the 1920s), and an overwhelming majority in the House, Obama was expected to fulfil every liberal wish at last.
With that enormous weight on his shoulders, Obama was bound to fail.
But Brown’s victory has liberated him. Obama is merely mortal after all, and will be judged by the standards we hold mere mortals to. He does not have 60 votes in the Senate, and not even the most fervent liberals seriously believe he can pass Cap-and-Tax or an illegal-alien amnesty this year.
Obama and his fellow Democrats now have a chance to regroup, to wage a popular campaign over the rest of the year instead of hawking massively unpopular legislation.
Sure, the liberal wishlist is dead. But it always was. There will be no great liberal transformation until history comes up with a conducive moment.
The question now is this: Do Democrats understand this opportunity? Or will they hand Republicans even bigger victories in November?
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January 20th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
“Sure, the liberal wishlist is dead. But it always was.”
True, Obama has never been the champion of Liberal causes that many on the left (not me) believed he may be. But that is and was not an unreasonable expectation, because he’s certainly the closest thing we’ve had in a very long time.
Nevertheless, the fact that he seems to be disenfranchising liberals could, arguably, be his downfall. Every president needs their base.
January 20th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
He is not the first black man to be president. He is a light skinned white raised mulatto with no slave blood. Your statement is an insult to any black with two black west African parents whose ancestry included slavery and Jim Crow
January 20th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
liberalism is a mental disease.
January 20th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Poli, I normally agree with you; but unless Obama is someone different than his speeches, actions, books, and associates paint him to be, anything he does successfully will work toward the destruction of the America we know.
I would not trust him to fix a bicycle tire.
You need to remember the dialectric. They will promise anything in order to gain power. Then, like his progressive ancestors, he’ll have us on our knees begging for a handful of grain.
Well, actually not us. We, being too solidly entrenched in our evil capitalistic ways, will be dead. Our children and grandchildren will be the slaves.
You can trust a communist to be a communist.
January 20th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
- “With a filibuster-proof Senate…” – As we’ve seen in the last year, this is true in theory only. Lieberman is his own party, and the blue dogs are the democratic equivilant to Rinos. Togther they forced the dems to turn HCR into something only a mother could love, and at the same time, totally piss off their base. The right mistakenly thinks that this means the public thinks HCR goes too far, when actually half the folks don’t think it goes far enough. The lesson Obama should take from this is that when you try to please everyone, you don’t please anyone. So you might as well please the people that got you here. Negotiating with republicans is a complete waste of time, and time is something we don’t have. Republicans and terrorists have one thing in common – they want to destroy America. Their reasoning is different, however. The terrorists want to destroy America because they hate it; republicans want to destroy America because they think it will hurt Obama. And boy do they hate Obama.
- “With that enormous weight on his shoulders, Obama was bound to fail.” – Actually he’s on record as the most successful first year president ever in getting his agenda through. HCR is still a maybe, but I don’t think Cap and Trade is going to make it. Unfortunately, the country expects him to fix 8yrs of republican screwups in only one year, and that may be a little tough for him. But he’s trying…
- “Obama and his fellow Democrats now have a chance to regroup, to wage a popular campaign over the rest of the year instead of hawking massively unpopular legislation.” – Actually, the majority of the public wants health care reform. Just not the watered down version that we’re stuck with now.
- “Sure, the liberal wishlist is dead.” – I wouldn’t say that. In fact, if I were the dems, I’d put all my agenda out there and let the republicans spend their lives explaining (well, actually lying their asses off) why they’re going to filibuster everything. I suspect the repubs will go to the well once too often, and the public will start to get tired of it. More importantly, the republican’s abuse of the filibuster will set the prescedent for how the dems will treat legislation when they become the minority. The republicans may find that using it as their primary means of legislation may be the beginning of the end of the filibuster itself.
January 20th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
- “He is not the first black man to be president. He is a light skinned white raised mulatto with no slave blood. ” – You should check American history for details on how much black ancestory one needs to be black. The number that come to mind is 1/32. By the standards of the US over the last 300 years he’s considered black. His light skin might have gotten him assigned to work in the big house, but there’s no question that the US would have considered him a slave back then. BTW, there’s no such thing as “slave blood”, at least I don’t know of any tags that you could find in blood that would identify someone as a slave.
- “Your statement is an insult to any black with two black west African parents whose ancestry included slavery and Jim Crow” – Unfortunately, there are very few blacks in America that don’t have at least one caucasion in their family line since their ancestors were captured and brought here as slaves. That’s because black women that were brought to this country as slaves were most often raped by their white male masters, although in the later half century there have been some mixed marrages. Look around you – most black American have skin color varying from almost white to very dark. There are some that are even lighter than Obama. They are all considered black in the US, because historically, they had no choice. I don’t know of any black person that is not proud that Obama and the US considers him to be black. Well, execpt for Michael Steele. Anyway, I’m sure black people don’t appreciate being told by you how they should feel about Obama. Maybe you long for the old days when you could actually do that…
January 20th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
Anyway, I’m sure black people don’t appreciate being told by you how they should feel about Obama. Maybe you long for the old days when you could actually do that…
…..
Maybe he is black.
January 20th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
OBAMA IS AN ELITIST THAT THINKS MOST AMERICANS ARE TOO DUMB TO REALIZE THAT HIS GOAL IS TOTAL SOCIALISM-TOTAL STATE CONTROL OF EVERYTHING.
hE MAY, FOR A SHORT TIME, ACT RATIONAL, BUT HIS GOALS WILL REMAIN THE SAME.
HE AND HIS DEMOCRAT LEMMINGS ARE TOAST!!
THE TRUTH IS OUT AND HE’S GONE FAR TOO LEFT TO ever RECOVER.
January 20th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
Oh, well. I guess this is no reason to celebrate.
Obama will be re-elected in 2012 with Democrat majorities in both Houses of Congress.
Pity, really. I was feeling so good about things just a moment ago.
January 20th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Brown is a conservative’s dream. To be able to elect a GOP Cosmo Boy in Massachusetts is beyond wildest expectations. Now the GOP’s hope is that Brown might “take a hike on the Appalachian trail” or “have a wide stance in an airport stall”.
Conservative Dream come true: if Brown were to “Dance with the Stars” like Tom Delay.
Finally, the GOP has their own Camelot in Massachusetts.
January 20th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Got some bitter libs out there!
Heh, heh, heh…. not that I mind…
January 20th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
HANOI JOHNNY REPORTEDLY ON SUICIDE WATCH !!!
He has no outlet as 99% of MA bars closed a week after Hic Kennedy bit the dust!
Barney Frank is reportedly offering solace..
Stay tuned!
January 20th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
Obama is biracial with no genetic connection to America’s blacks. He morphed into being black so he can get white liberals to play the race card for him. He is a changeling
January 20th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
Neal,
Barney is offering WHAT??? Oh never mind I read it wrong the first time….. my bad
January 20th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
EDWARD …
OFFERING TO LISP – ON HANOI JOHNNYS’ PRIVATE PARTS!
January 20th, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Why do I constantly read of black women being raped. Is it so unbelievable that they may have, to gain this, or that, advantage, much as women do today, seduced the white men exposed to them?
January 20th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
What amazes me is how many lefties still try to moby their way around Poli’s site. I would have expected them to be a little more sophisticated…
America is still only an election away from defeat–but we’ve been there before. Those crowing about a single victory are not paying attention. We need to put Conservatives in a lot more House and Senate seats before anyone should be getting too comfortable.
The Lord gave us a victory. We should humbly thank Him; and prayerfully plan to remove all of the leftists (not all of the Democrats, not only Democrats).
Note that “even in Massachusetts” the voters responded very favorably to a responsible, conservative, small-government platform. That needs to be the core message going forward.
January 20th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
Thanks goodness people like MikeyW and )))McRock((( are not giving up. It can only be good for the rest of us normal folks.
January 20th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
OBA-MAOISM IS DOA!
NOW IN 2010 ELECTIONS – LET’S MAKE 1994 SEEM LIKE A GREAT YEAR TO THE TRAITOROUS LIBS!
January 20th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
“The Lord gave us a victory. We should humbly thank Him; and prayerfully plan to remove all of the leftists…
Which “Lord” are you referring to, loon? The one who only serves Conservative/Republicans? LMFAO whack job.
January 20th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
- “Maybe he is black.” – Black people don’t use the word “mulatto”. It is even older than negro, and considered an insult.
January 21st, 2010 at 12:35 am
Anyone else see this picture of Scott Brown?
http://eagleionline.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/scottbrownpicture.jpg
I’m not saying anything…just saying…
January 21st, 2010 at 4:32 am
Hiya, Sky King (a/k/a MikeyW)!
Here’s one more installment of your blood pressure booster.
“Lt Bush is an exceptionally fine young officer and pilot. After completing the F102 all weather interceptor school in November 1969, he came in this unit as a highly qualified fighter interceptor pilot. Lt Bush possesses sound judgment and is mature beyond his age and experience level…Lt Bush performed in an outstanding manner…He continually flies intercept missions with the unit to increase his proficiency even further. Lt Bush is a natural leader but he is also a good follower of military discipline. Lt Bush has outstanding growth potential and should be promoted well ahead of his contemporaries.”
Last time I looked, The Obama Messiah never served his country in uniform.
January 21st, 2010 at 6:50 am
Mad Dog:
“The Obama Messiah never served his country in uniform.”
I suspect he was too busy writing his autobiographies.
January 21st, 2010 at 6:53 am
Seems like the trolls found their balls again (that would be everybody except Sock Puppet who can’t seem to get the Cosmo spread off his mind). This is going to be a fun few years. That’s right guys, Obama’s not left enough…..No political trends going on here………..He needs to ram healthcare through………Anyone for Cap-in-Trade? Immigration Reform?
Clinton was at least tricky.
January 21st, 2010 at 6:54 am
Climate Change: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/87479ee2-0600-11df-8c97-00144feabdc0.html
One more reason to thank the Lord for Scott Brown’s victory.
January 21st, 2010 at 9:13 am
http://reason.com/archives/2010/01/21/health-insurance-by-command
Three steps forward, two steps back…
These demo-coms are pretty stupid, really…
January 21st, 2010 at 9:34 am
lovin’ me some demo disarray today!
January 21st, 2010 at 9:38 am
How is the Cosmo Boy Messiah doing today?
January 21st, 2010 at 9:53 am
Much better than your demo idgits….
LOSER!
January 21st, 2010 at 10:25 am
- “Last time I looked, The Obama Messiah never served his country in uniform.” – I’m sure that’s actually relevant somewhere – maybe on Mars. GWB sort of served his country and was a complete and utter failure as pesident.
- BTW, don’t you just love that Scott Brown rally in the stock market?
January 21st, 2010 at 10:28 am
- “We should humbly thank Him; and prayerfully plan to remove all of the leftists…” – You better pray that your or your family don’t get sick. And if the repubs get back in power, you’ll want to get your kids out of the military.
January 21st, 2010 at 11:05 am
MikeyW – “don’t you just love that Scott Brown rally in the stock market?”
WOW. I don’t think you could have expressed your knowledge about the economy any more succinctly.
January 21st, 2010 at 12:17 pm
- “WOW. I don’t think you could have expressed your knowledge about the economy any more succinctly.” – Hey, that’s what Fox News (Business) called it a couple of days ago when it was up over 100 points. The usual cast of idiots (Hannity and Fox and Freaks, etc.) were all saying this as well. Now that the market is tanking, not so much… Are you saying Cavuto is an idiot?
January 21st, 2010 at 1:57 pm
MikeyW is now telling us he gets his news from Fox!
Won’t he get banned from Kos and DU for that?
January 21st, 2010 at 3:01 pm
MikeyW is now telling us he gets his news from Fox!
News? You mean source of humor and grounds for sarcasm.
You do know that it is run by Roger Ailes, don’t you?
January 21st, 2010 at 4:20 pm
- “MikeyW is now telling us he gets his news from Fox!” – Know the enemy. Plus it tells me what your talking points will be tomorrow.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:09 pm
I believe it was ABC News tonight that attributed the market’s downward plunge as a reaction to Obama going after the mega banks.
Know the enemy….;)
January 21st, 2010 at 7:13 pm
I do not care if the fact that Scott Brown won means Republicans will pick up fewer seats this year in both houses of Congress; this liberal onslaught straight into socialism had to be stopped now.
If health care had passed in its’ original form (not to say it eventually won’t), we could never have repealed it, and we would have ended up with a crappy health care delivery system run by the federal government. A Coakley win would have also meant full steam ahead after that to cap and trade, card check, and reinstituting the fairness doctrine.
Whether the Republicans pick up 3-4 Senate seats or 7-8 in November doesn’t matter in one respect: the liberal agenda could not pass either way without 60 votes.
January 21st, 2010 at 10:09 pm
No, MikeyW, you are clearly the “Mayor of Simpleton”.
January 21st, 2010 at 10:55 pm
“The Obama plan to overhaul the banking industry by restricting big banks’ riskiest – and most profitable – trading activities has sent the Dow down more than 200 points today. The average has now sustained a two-day loss of more than 300 points.” Jeez…….., MikeyW, maybe that had something to do with it…..or maybe the new employment numbers? Please don’t speak, you’ll only make it worse.
January 22nd, 2010 at 3:04 am
- “No, MikeyW, you are clearly the “Mayor of Simpleton”.” – Ha. Ha. I love how wingnuts try to use the definative “clearly” to add some kind of import to their worthless statements. Straight from the Cheney School of Communication. I didn’t originate the “Scott Brown rally” – your wingnut “experts” on the “fair and balanced” clown channel did as they were celebrating. You wingnuts shouldn’t spout off nonsense without expecting it to come back to haunt you.
- “MikeyW, maybe that had something to do with it…..or maybe the new employment numbers? Please don’t speak, you’ll only make it worse.” – That’s no better guess than the one you fruits made a couple of days ago. If you haven’t noticed, employment numbers have been going down all year, while the market’s been going up. So we got another month of bad employment numbers. Why don’t you try again. And now that you republican’s have your 41st no, what does Wall Street have to fear from Obama? You guys are going on a filibuster binge the likes of which the world has never seen. You can be sure nothing from Obama’s dems will see the light of day on the senate floor. And with today’s Supreme Court ruling giving corporations the ability to open the floodgates of campaign contributions, Wall Street can now buy every politician on the mall. It’s friggin’ Christmas for capitalism. The Market should be going like gangbusters.
January 22nd, 2010 at 8:55 am
There you go…….you just had to go and prove my point, didn’t you?
January 22nd, 2010 at 8:58 am
Earl Grey – “I believe it was ABC News tonight that attributed the market’s downward plunge as a reaction to Obama going after the mega banks.”
One would think….but MikeyW’s PoliSci 101 class professor said it was Scott Brown.
January 22nd, 2010 at 1:04 pm
- “There you go…….you just had to go and prove my point, didn’t you?” – Actually, you proved mine: you don’t know Jack. But thanks for playing.
- “One would think…” – And one would be wrong. ABC, like Fox News likes to keep things simple, but the answers are not simple. This week, the Chinese decided to clamp down on lending. You think that would have an impact on the market? Of course, but where is that in any of the reporting? So when when a bunch of reporters, too lazy to do any real reserch come down from the mountaintop with one sentence answers to why millions of transactions went a certain way in a given time period, I’m skeptical. The Fox News clowns attributing a temporary market rise to the election of Scott Brown is commical. But par for the course with wingnuts. I like to point that out.
- “….but MikeyW’s PoliSci 101 class professor said it was Scott Brown.” – I’m an electrical engineer, never had to take PoliSci. Did do Electromagnetic Fields though…
January 24th, 2010 at 10:49 am
Obama will ruin this country. He’s already on the road to chaos and destruction of this land as we know it. He’s come after guns. He’s subverted the Constitution. He’s lied in addressing Congress. He’s not an American. He’s a Kenyan. He’s a socialist, communist, fascist ,liberal ,neo liberal, devil worshiping scum. He’s not a Christian.
I HOPE HE FAILS! I don’t care about the country at this point. I HOPE HE FAILS!
The sooner we can be rid of him the sooner the country gets back on track.
I hope the GOP Senators keep stonewalling his every move.
They’ve done ok so far. Now, with Brown in there. Maybe we’ll get back to a decent, wholesome, Conservative U.S. We are a Christian Nation. If they don’t like Christianity, GET OUT ! Leave! We don’t want you here. There is no room for you devil worshipers . We will crush you at every turn. We will raise up arms against you. We will take you out where you sleep.
After all, we are Christians. We have God on our side.
January 25th, 2010 at 7:03 am
So we’re agreed? None of MikeyW’s posts make any sense, and he is the poster child for know nothing, never learned anything anywhere liberals.
As usual, Mad Dog has the last word.
January 26th, 2010 at 7:07 am
Obama raised the expectations of the American people. If voters had unrealistic expectations of him, it is largely his own doing.
Now voters know that he’s not qualified for the job he holds; he’s incompetent; and he’s a thuggish, arrogant bully, Chicago-style.
January 26th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
There being no opposition, it is now agreed that none of MikeyW’s posts make any sense, and he is the poster child for know nothing, never learned anything anywhere liberals.
As usual, Mad Dog has the last word.