Posted on 01/13/2009 3:31:50 PM PST by nickcarraway
Evolving conventional wisdom holds that the growing string of senior Republican senators packing it in for retirement or a governor's office means gloom for the party in next year's midterm congressional elections, which are usually a time for an incumbent president's party to suffer.
But, counterintuitively, that may not be the case.
Bill Clinton remembers the Republican revolution of 1994 only too well -- and so does one of his top aides then, Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's incoming White House chief of staff. Indeed, Emanuel, who took over the House seat of someone named Rod Blagojevich in 2002, was one of the main engineers of the Democrats' congressional turnaround in 2006 that ended 12 years of rare Republican rule on the Hill.
About 12 hours ago, Ohio GOP Sen. George Voinivich announced his retirement next year at 72. He said he wanted to pursue more spiritual fulfillment. He's the fourth Republican senator to hit the streets in recent days -- Missouri's Kit Bond is opting out at 69, Florida's Mel Martinez returns to private business (and his potential prohibitive replacement, ex-Gov. Jeb Bush, decides to stay there). And Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback is leaving to go for the governor's office.
Additionally, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson has made noises about going home to challenge incumbent GOP Gov. Rick Perry, there being no Lone Star love lost there.
Though most seem to cite the political equivalent of "spending more time with family," there are several other truths. It's brutal to be the distinct congressional minority, especially when the other party takes over the White House with such a wave of popular enthusiasm even before next week's inauguration. Enjoying cozy honeymoons is a hard time to conceive of disenchantment and divorce, though half of them
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
If we are going to run youngish Holy Rollers against Democrat incumbents I think we need to take these actions now ~ PURGE any Conservative pundits with a known or suspeced bias against Holy Rollers ~ I'm thinking of Krathammer ~ guy's a regular bigot of the Church of First Prissiness Fur Shur.
Secondly, Pay to Play has gotta' be installed. Only we need to make sure we do it the honest way and that is that the successful candidate MUST guarantee his supporters are going to bring money, not just their opinions to the table. That should apply to anybody in fact.
Thirdly, NO RINOS ~ and yes, it's as possible to have a RINO Holy Roller as it is to have a RINO Mormon. We have to give up this addiction to RINOs back in the caucuses and then the primaries.
Fourthly, speaking of primaries, where we have them, NO CROSSOVERS.
That pretty well cuts it. Should improve our ability to run youngish Holy Rollers (particuarly the gals if they're cute), as well as our chance to run youngish non-Holy Rollers (particularly the gals if they're cute).
Now I know many of you will think I'm being cynical, but this is politics and at the moment the Democrats put a guy into the White House who is probably going to get a bunch of us killed. We have to stop the Democrats in the Senate to put a stop to this.
This is why we have to get Charles out of the way early for the next campaign ~ so he's either gotta' come around, or we have to work to make sure he doesn't get public exposure.
Good. Let them go home. They faild us. We need new blood in D.C.
I agree. They aren’t doing anything, go home, better than sitting there looking like pansy as*ses
Wasn’t long ago that Democrats were jumping from their party to our ‘s .We now know staying in the play for free medical & a pension was their motivation.
Well it would be interesting to see if we got fu*k or fu*k our selves by being so happy to great them.
But I suspect our own crew did us in
The definitive question is: What do conservatives seriously do about, both, the short-term political future and the long-term political future, instead of fully focusing on the question of: What do Republicans seriously do about, both, the short-term political future and the long-term political future.
bttt
...to refresh me...
...How about one issue at a time, one skurmish at a time. How about conservatives not trying to win the war right now. We have four years to plan our tactics. Standing up against the front line and saying “I hate you” democrats and I hate Obama will only get you shot down. Yer silenced as an individual, and no use to a collective...
...How about one issue at a time, one skurmish at a time. How about conservatives not trying to win the war right now. We have four years to plan our tactics. Standing up against the front line and saying “I hate you” democrats and I hate Obama will only get you shot down. Yer silenced as an individual, and no use to a collective...
If we want to get anything done we have to take state legislatures, state houses, the House, the Senate and the control of several big cities.
Standing up and calling Obama names doesn't do a lot of good, but preparing materials such as "The Top Scandals of the Obama Administration" do (and he's not even in office yet and has 20 scandals).
Obama has picked the weakest cabinet in American history ~ should be a lot of material to make the public ready to vote 'em out in under a year.
...That’s exactly my point. The Congress makes the absurd laws. The president can only suggest absurd policy. (default, remove absurd absurdity). The 3 branches of government are running so far away from their constitutional authority, they’ve become THE COLLECTIVE GOVERNORS...
**We need new blood in D.C.**
We need Conservatives, or AT LEAST a center/right Republican. These RINO’s that make the LEFT WING of the DEMS seem almost Moderate, HAVE TO GO.
You referenced “4 years”, right?
We’ve got another campaign starting in just over a year for the House of Representatives, 1/3 the Senate, a number of Governors, and state legislatures.
No “center/right” candidates! That is precicely what got us into this mess in the first place. Conservatives ONLY.
Unless the GOP recruits new, younger independent conservs, they will lose all of those seats. There are female, Hispanic Pubs who should be looked at. The RNC has to be led by a conserv because some RINO will only lose even more races and not get the funding they need to inspire the BASE. Enough is enough. Either the GOP goes younger and smarter and more diverse with conser. as its foundation, or it disappears from the contests altogether.
...4 years for the executive branch, unless he resigns, or is impeached or convicted. Yer right, we have elections on all levels to think about. One step at a time, one issue at a time, one breath at a time...
...Not surrendering yet. We have too much to do...
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