As for the final Senate election in Delaware, it’s still 7 weeks away. A lot can happen in that time. Two days ago, the establishment Republicans were wanting their “moderate” and were slow roasting O’Donnell on a spit; today, however, they handed her a fat check. Now why would they do something like that if she had NO chance to win? One of you prediction-believers care to explain that one?
In case some of you have never been involved whatsoever in state nomination politics, it is a dirty game no matter the side you are on. Many of the people who you see on a ballot only got there after years and years of service to their party in one form or another. You might say this is a demonstration of loyalty, a sort of litmus test that demonstrates that they know who’s who in the food chain, and can show in some way they have worked with the other fish in the tank and will not present a danger to them.
That is not the case with people who have sprung up a bit prematurely like many of the Tea Party candidates. What’s at play here is a lot of fear that the status quo applecart will be tipped over and that the candidate will no longer play by party rules. But that exact quality is what has broad appeal with voters right now for the simple reason they are tired of getting RNC funding letters saying, for example, that if you don’t dig in your wallet RIGHT NOW and send them 50 bucks, Hillary might be President, or Obama, and once that happens it will be too late. Then you watch as the legislative circus comes to town. All the talk about working across the aisle, openness, operating in the light of day they all promised goes right out the window. Not only that, but the people who promised R voters they would stand up to that kind of thing failed to do so.
Remember back before the D’s controlled the Congress and there was talk about using a “nuclear option” to railroad legislation? Remember that? And do you also remember Sen. McCain and a bunch of waffling, work-across-the-aisle types caved in to the Dems, chiding us about how important the “traditions of the Senate” were. Well where were those “traditions of the Senate” when bills were being debated in closed sessions? When bills were up for vote before anyone had a read of them? Where committee votes were deemed passed by “eyeball” rather than a count of ayes and nays?
To work cooperatively is one thing; to capitulate against principles in a continuing string of concessions is something altogether different. These clowns in our Congress might think we have no memory of the promises they break to us, but like with everything else in life, people who grab an inch are soon reaching for a mile and one day it comes to a crashing halt. These primary defeats of wishy-washy, capitulating candidates IS that day of reckoning.
The argument we hear is: Well if this person wins the primary, we might lose the general election.
Answer: Yes, that’s right, you
might. But at least I can vote without holding my nose. Instead of being upset with the voters, you should be upset with your electoral committees for not finding a candidate that would give his/her word and keep it, thus attracting the same voters the Tea Party currently does. The shame is on you, the party, not us, the voters. The power given in the Constitution is not to state party organizations, but to “the People.” The People have spoken; if you want to win, you will listen, or you will go down in flames and the people will wait another 2 years and teach you this lesson again, and again, and again until you get your head around the real problem.
The sad fact of the matter is that for all their blowhard rhetoric, the RNC has not lived up to what they promised. They want to shrug it off under the idea they are a minority and have no power. Funny, when they were a majority we had many “across-the-aisle” compromises, so if they can give in to compromise when in the majority, and don’t demand the same when in the minority, they were simply burned and need to admit it, gain a majority, and stop capitulating on matters of principle. NOTE TO RNC: This means gain a majority
without capitulation experts like Castle and McCain.
People are fed up with the “way it works” in DC, but let someone run who isn’t one of the Beltway Club and watch how fast the criticism of them starts. They have no experience - yeah, like Obama doesn’t suffer from that affliction?
They can’t beat the Dem because the polls say so. Oh, like polls are never wrong? Gore V. Bush - Gore favored to win - didn’t happen. Carter v. Reagan - Carter strong favorite - Reagan cleaned his clock.
Washington has this fantasy idea that voters are like consumers with I-Phones. All we have to do is tell then what they should want and we can make token steps in that direction but meanwhile spend money we don’t have on pork and making ourselves popular. Well people are waking up. Even Obama supporters are leaving him in droves, finally seeing that he is no different than any of the other promise breakers on the Hill. Fool me once…
