Incumbent U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski trails teabagger challenger Joe Miller by about 2000 votes with 98% of precincts reporting in yesterday’s Alaska Republican senatorial primary, and the finger pointing has begun
One GOP source, who requested anonymity, said some are pointing fingers at Murkowski’s team of advisers who told her not to go negative until late in the campaign.
This is an extraordinarily negative election cycle, and with few exceptions, incumbents and challengers alike should be advised to go extraordinarily negative as early and as often as possible. Let the shit fly. That’s how to win in 2010.
Go negative? Please, please do!
I mean, most people are getting pretty sick of the excuses. We can’t get this done because of George Bush. We can’t get that done because principled Republicans are blocking stupid policies. All while you folks hold the White House and both houses of Congress.
Please go negative and keep whining about how inefective at actual governing your side is. It will ensure Republicans a chance to try to pull the nation back into sane policies.
Yeah BAY-BEEEE a whole foriegn policy based on “my dick is bigger than yours” and “I’m tougher than my daddy”.
Of COURSE that’s sane…what’s wrong with me.
@#1
You are just the looniest looneytoon, pally. Keep knockin’ em into the third base bleachers.
I’ve got a Boltin’ John Bolton rookie card I’ll sell ya….Cheeeeeeeeeeppppppp…..
I don’t know if it’s THE way to win, but it certainly is a way to win. I’ve got a feeling that in the Murray/Rossi match up it would take much to knock Rossi on his ass.
Oops, that should be wouldn’t take much.
# 1: I’ve sat through lots of Republican candidate speaches, especially at gatherings of Evangelical Christians. If there is an opportunity to take questions, someone will inevitably ask “Why can’t we stop abortions?”
The candidate will then reply that it’s not within his power alone to stop abortions, because it’s all those “liberal judges” who “ignore the Constitution” who allow abortions to take place. “Continue to vote for me, and for fellow Republicans like me, and we can make sure good, conservative judges are appointed to make abortions illegal again!” he would proclaim.
Applause all around.
But the first time I heard that speach was in the mid 1980’s. I heard it over and over again, all through the George W. Bush administration. Yet despite Republicans having control of both houses of Congress, the Presidency, and both houses of Congress for most of George W. Bush’s term, the Republicans did nothing but play lip service to the abortion issue.
This isn’t to say that they didn’t have the opportunity. “Sanctity of Life” bills were offered by Ron Paul and others several times over the past couple of decades, including 2006. Those bills would have deprived the federal courts of jursidiction in abortion cases – a tactic which would pass Constitutional muster, since it doesn’t deal with the original jursidiction of the court.
Those bills all died in committee each time – even with the Republicans in charge. Meanwhile, the Republicans had little difficulty in cutting taxes for the wealthy, passing legislation authorizing spying on U.S. citizens without a warrant, allowing detention and rendition of U.S. citizens without trial and without the right of habeus corpus, etc.
So if the Republicans can claim that they can’t get anything done on an issue which is a bedrock platform plank for them every year for the past thirty years, then Obama’s should get a lot more leaway than a year and a half to clean up the mess left behind by eight years of the Bush administration.
Oh, and on the abortion issue, it’s abundantly clear that those behind the Republican Party DON’T WANT a resolution of the abortion issue in their favor. Abolishing Roe vs. Wade would do nothing more than put it back into the hands of the states, where a majority of voters quietly prefer that abortion be available.
But more importantly, it would take away one of the issues which they need to rally their Evangelical base, raise campaign funds, and drive a wedge between some Catholics and the Democratic party. The last thing they want is to get their way on that issue.
By the way, my Dad was a combat engineer in Korea during that war. He wouldn’t talk about it much. When I pressed him, he once said he learned one thing during the war. “It’s a lot easier to blow up bridges than to build them”.
Of course, he learned a lot more than that. But everytime I hear Republicans throwing bricks at Obama because the economy isn’t fixed yet, I remember what he said.
It was interesting to hear that John McSame tried to out teabag his opponent and pretty much succeeded. There goes the maverick myth.
Was what he did considered “going negative early”?
RHP,
I’m not actually blaming Obama for the economy. Yes, he made a stupid promise that unemployment wouldn’t rise above 8% if we passed his boondoggle, sorry, stimulus bill. But that’s politics and a Republican would have done the same thing to get legislation through.
Having said that, do you really think the average voter won’t blame whoever is sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office? Do you really see the average voter as possessed of a sense of historical perspective and rational thought about the economic situation? If so, you have more faith in the levelheaded and patient understanding of the average voter than I do.
RHP,
Abortion is a two edged sword. Dems use it to gin up their base, Republicans theirs. For any given legislator it may be involved in a fraction of a percent of his or her votes, but it’s an emotional bomb political operatives like to throw, on either side.
That’s one issue. Democrats have been in control of the federal government for 2 years now. Health care reform passed, yes. But only as a form of corporate welfare for insurance companies. It didn’t do anything really to help average Americans with the costs of health care. There’s no public option (which is good, but not what progressives wanted.) Financial reform passed in a form so watered down as to be meaningless to the base of the party which controls the government.
How long do you blame Republicans for doing what they are supposed to be doing, being in the opposition? When do you blame Democrats for being unable to govern on the principles on which you voted them?
Again, don’t get me wrong. The comical incapacity of dems is wonderful for the future of the country. But if I was a democrat faithful promised the earth, moon and sky and all I got was a bunch of excuses, I’d be pretty annoyed.
re 11: ‘bagtards spell doom for Republicans, not Dems. They need to be tagged by moderate Republicans and Democrats alike for the passionately uninformed crackpots that they are.
re 1:
The words Principles and Republicans don’t belong in the same sentence.
When do you blame Democrats for being unable to govern on the principles on which you voted them?
I blaming them for not starting yet.
Why don’t we have universal health care like Denmark has?
Why don’t we have gay marriage yet?
Why don’t we have Card Check yet?
Why don’t we have net neutrality in to law?
Why don’t we have NAFTA and WTO renegotiated yet?
Why don’t we have better financial reform yet?
Why do the democrats keep acting like watered down republicans?
hey lost, you must have missed it,
In another thread you pronounced:
It has resulted in the slow decay of this country. You see it most clearly in places like Seattle and LA.
In what ways is Seattle decaying? Are there too many gangs? Are there too many gay people? Are there too many unwed mothers? Not enough Christians?
Really, you have to back a general statement like that up with examples of what you see as decay in Seattle.
I’m sure everyone would love to know.
The problem for you is that you can’t vote Republican, and the Democrats know this about their left leaning base. They can break promises, play politics, and generally not perform, and your vote is safe.
The problem for those on the right is that the Republicans take them for granted as well.
The net effect? Maybe 40% or more of the voters selecting the representative of a party they don’t really like, but which is the lesser of two evils.
Ain’t democracy grand?
I would vote republican if the republicans being nominated were not frothing conservatives, far right of a tea bagger.
Ain’t democracy grand?
RE 15
I will do that, but later. Right now I’m late to go water-skiing and since the question is good it deserves a good answer which I don’t have time to deliver.
Have a nice evening.
@1 “It will ensure Republicans a chance to try to pull the nation back into sane policies.”
What a ridiculous statement. Republicans have no track record of pursuing sane policies. They do have a track record of starting needless, unfunded wars, starting unfunded government programs, running up soaring deficits, and showing us too damned much moral degradation and hypocricy in the form of toe-tapping, diapers and blowjobs in park toilets. They ran this country into the ground while telling us that “deficits don’t matter”, that the constitution is just another “damned piece of paper”, and that we should fear, instead of love our neighbor. Why on earth should anybody believe them now? For the last two years mostly all they’ve had to say is NO. When we do hear their ideas, we’re hearing about the dismantling of Social Security and Medicare, the old saw about tax breaks for the rich, more war and even prohibition, for Christ’s sake. Those despicable people purposely come up with one boogeyman after another to stoke fear in us of our own citizenry. Sane policies, you say? What a load of shit. Your tri-cornered hat is just lipstick smeared on the Republican pig.
It’s an absurd policy for anyone to read lostinapileofhisownexcrement’s posts, let alone respond to them.
McCain spent twenty million in a primary going real dirty. Seriously dirty. And along the way he pitched his character and ethics into the shitcan again. But it worked.
Harry Reid came out against the ‘mosque’. You know he doesn’t really believe that’s the right stance, but he’s playing their game. Fuck ’em, do whatever it takes to keep the slimy scum out of power.
re 16: A metaphorical picture of the difference between the way Democratic politicians treat their constituents as opposed to the Republicans is that the Democrats cop a feel and the Republicans bend you over and gleefully fuck you in the ass.
How is showing yourself to be stupid enough to vote for a Republican going to influence a Democratic politician to show you more respect?
We’re just going to try our best to get better, more progressive Democrats elected. Until another Teddy Roosevelt shows up, you will never catch me voting for a Republican — ever.
I’m just not that stupid. But you are.
Goldy–
The desperation of your post shows that the Atheist Progressive Movement is on life-support. You cannot defend the actions of ImamObaMao and the complicity of the Democrat Congress. “Let the shit fly”??
Come on Goldy.
Defend the Porkulous.
Defend ImamObaMaoCare.
Defend Deficit Spending.
Defend the economy. (Biden is trying hard…it’s hysterical. The guy is a fool)
Look, even MOONBEAM is tanking in California.
Folks want experienced JOB CREATORS in office not self-proclaimed “intellectual” Marxists.
The covers have been ripped off the Progressive Movement. Americans hate it. They hate what you stand for.
“Let the shit fly”
That’s real leadership Goldy!!
Please do.
Moonbeam in California–
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Nice collapse!
@23 COOL! PLEASE let another Republican win in California. I want California voters to see what 10+ years of Republicans governors gets you. Just like George W. Bush was a MASSIVE disaster for the country and the most unpopular President EVER (yes, still more unpopular than Obama), this will just continue the trend of Republicans ruining things.
This started when folks were sick of Gray Davis. Looking back, the Davis days were WONDERFUL compared to the pile of horror that is the Schwarzenegger years. One more Republican governor and another series of horrible horrible years in California should help cement the idea that Republicans can not govern. Sure sure, Republicans blame the evil “legislature” (you know the folks voted for by the people) but the California legislature has been Democratic since 1970, and there were many good years in between.