Republican Wave

[Guynemer]

This isn't ****ing rocket science.


Economy, economy, economy. That's it. That's all this is about. It's not about gays, or HCR, or Afghanistan, or "connecting to middle America", and any of that stupid **** you hear 24/7 on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC. Economy.

[DinoDoc]

@Arrian: I'm not denying the economy wasn't a factor but the economy in and of itself doesn't push us into the historic ass kicking the Democratic party received on Election Night they were always going to loose seats over that. To get to that number you have to consider the controversial policy stances taken by the DNC in Congress and in the White House, something which you strangely seemed to minimize as a factor.

[DaShi]

Actually, I voted because of the LHC, which was difficult because a lot of candidates were silent on the issue.

[Arrian]

Ok, DD. You think it HCR and other policies were more important in the election that I do. I think the state of the economy was relatively more important than you do. :shrug:

Obviously, there is an intersection between policy and the economy - the Stimulus. Some thought it needed to be bigger, others smaller (or none at all), still others thought the size was okish but it was badly targetted (too few tax breaks, too many, too much infrastructure spending, too little...). Whatever, the point is that it did not work well enough. Disatisfaction with that probably falls under both my "it's mostly the economy, stupid" analysis and your "it's a rejection of the policies, dummy!" analysis.

Doesn't really matter. Whichever of us is correct, the Dems will learn the wrong lesson. They're Dems.

-Arrian

[Boris Godunov]

How many Dems ran on it?

You mean all those Democrats who lost their seats? If they didn't run on it and lost, this would prove... what?

[Dinner]

Oerdin, do you ever get tired of being so wrong?

Give me the Senate. I was exactly right about the Senate numbers.

[Hauldren Collider]

This isn't ****ing rocket science.


Economy, economy, economy. That's it. That's all this is about. It's not about gays, or HCR, or Afghanistan, or "connecting to middle America", and any of that stupid **** you hear 24/7 on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC. Economy.

I think it's not just economy, but also deficit and healthcare, though they are all closely related. At least to the extent and reasons that voters care about them.

[Dinner]

I'm surprised that the Dems were able to convince most of the blue dogs to vote for these policies.

I forgot the names but there was at least one blue dog who voted against both health care reform and wall st reform and he still lost. Even if they voted against it they'd still be tarred by it so really they should just vote their conscience and do what is best for the country since they'd be punished any way.

[Boris Godunov]

I think it's not just economy, but also deficit and healthcare, though they are all closely related. At least to the extent and reasons that voters care about them.

Nobody cares about the deficit. Presidents and congresses have enjoyed great approval numbers while racking up massive deficits (Reagan!). As long as the economy is strong and unemployment isn't bad, the deficit doesn't bother people.

[MOBIUS]

Still, now Obama can blame the Republicans for the next two years and get a 2nd term.

[Hauldren Collider]

Nobody cares about the deficit. Presidents and congresses have enjoyed great approval numbers while racking up massive deficits (Reagan!). As long as the economy is strong and unemployment isn't bad, the deficit doesn't bother people.

1. Please drop the Reagan canard...the deficit from Reagan was military spending countering the Soviet Union, as has been continually pointed out, tax revenue increased and domestic spending decreased under Reagan. Reagan actually made cuts to Social Security and Medicaid.

2. No, there are plenty of people who care about the deficit. Granted a large part of them don't stop to think that eliminating it means cutting into their entitlements, but if you tell them how deep we are in debt they become genuinely concerned.

[DinoDoc]

Still, now Obama can blame the Republicans for the next two years and get a 2nd term.

He still has the Presidency and the Senate. I don't see how your point works.

[DinoDoc]

You mean all those Democrats who lost their seats? If they didn't run on it and lost, this would prove... what?

If the measure was as popular with the American people as you claim, why did so few Democrats actually run on it?

[DaShi]

He still has the Presidency and the Senate. I don't see how your point works.

DD thinks Americans will start thinking reasonably now.

[Dinner]

1. Please drop the Reagan canard...the deficit from Reagan was military spending countering the Soviet Union

You have no idea what you're talking about. Yes, Reagan did increase the military budget (all the better to dole out pork to lobbyists!) but the deficit increased massively faster then military spending. Reagan's deficits were due to his massive tax cuts for the rich. In this case I mean literally just the rich who had their top tax rate cute from over 50% to just 28% (even lower then today) while everyone else only got a few percentage points drop. The tax rate on the rich was actually lower then the tax rate on the middle class.