(I fear that the quantity of Boehner’s tears may be more of a threat for rising sea levels than AGW. Eek!)
The established ultra right that comprises the old guard Republican Party continues to lose ground to the super mega ultra right wing tea partiers.
It is ever so much easier to block effective government functioning than it is to provide effective government functioning. So the tea partiers, who want less government, have this built in advantage for getting their way. A continuing rise in their power will probably result in even more gridlock, if that is possible.
Another alarming thing is this increasing profusion (and seeming success) of invoking “God’s power” in winning elections.
At this point, the best outcome that I think I can reasonably hope for is that the Republicans become so reactionary that Independents will come to realize how out of balance they have (and, apparently will continue to) become.
There is a little more to the situation in Maryland. A low percentage of the electorate voted in the primary that put Brat on the ticket. A large percentage of those voting were teapartiers. That’s what should be considered by both Republicans and Democrats. Too many mainstream voters just aren’t voting which leaves the door wide open for the lunatic fringe.
“Take Tuesday’s upset in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, in which Dave Brat beat House Majority Leader (for now) Eric Cantor (R). A total of 65,000 people went to the polls, more than Cantor’s campaign was expecting. But in a district that has 738,000 residents (according to the Census Bureau), that’s only 8.8 percent of the population represented. And Brat only got a little over half of that vote.”
I can’t help but smile at the Republicans being hoist by their own petard. They’ve worked so hard to get in the way of people voting because they felt they could block the more liberal ones, and that’s just what happened, but in their camp. :lol:
Occam
There is a little more to the situation in Maryland. A low percentage of the electorate voted in the primary that put Brat on the ticket. A large percentage of those voting were teapartiers. That's what should be considered by both Republicans and Democrats. Too many mainstream voters just aren't voting which leaves the door wide open for the lunatic fringe. "Take Tuesday's upset in Virginia's 7th Congressional District, in which Dave Brat beat House Majority Leader (for now) Eric Cantor (R). A total of 65,000 people went to the polls, more than Cantor's campaign was expecting. But in a district that has 738,000 residents (according to the Census Bureau), that's only 8.8 percent of the population represented. And Brat only got a little over half of that vote." http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/06/11/the-remarkably-small-percentage-of-people-it-took-to-oust-eric-cantor/Right. That's what I eluded to in post #12, when I said that Brat's win was due to "... his rabidly right wing constituents who were motivated to vote...".
There is a little more to the situation in Maryland. A low percentage of the electorate voted in the primary that put Brat on the ticket. A large percentage of those voting were teapartiers. That's what should be considered by both Republicans and Democrats. Too many mainstream voters just aren't voting which leaves the door wide open for the lunatic fringe. "Take Tuesday's upset in Virginia's 7th Congressional District, in which Dave Brat beat House Majority Leader (for now) Eric Cantor (R). A total of 65,000 people went to the polls, more than Cantor's campaign was expecting. But in a district that has 738,000 residents (according to the Census Bureau), that's only 8.8 percent of the population represented. And Brat only got a little over half of that vote." http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/06/11/the-remarkably-small-percentage-of-people-it-took-to-oust-eric-cantor/There's even a little more than that. When mainstream voters DO come out, who do they get? Imbecile "normal" Repubs, spineless Dems, or Repubs in Dem clothing, for ex Obama. Point is, even without the fringe, people are just fed up to the point where they don't care anymore...which was the plan all along. The Fascists that are taking over may be evil but they're not stupid...and I guarantee they don't give a darn about which party is in power. It's just that the morons that make up the tea party (which was an astroturf group remember) are easier to control, starting with Palin.
I doubt that extremists are easiest to control. I think that people who are primarily motivated by money would be easiest to control. People who are controlled primarily by ideology will go where the ideology leads. The ideology that tea partiers have, that government is bad, is good for those who control our policies, to an extent, as less regulation tends to be good for profit margins, to a point. But past a certain point, things break down. The tea party is a bit like the mujahedeen. (Arming and training them, served our purposes for a while, but they came back to bite us, badly.)
There is a little more to the situation in Maryland. A low percentage of the electorate voted in the primary that put Brat on the ticket. A large percentage of those voting were teapartiers. That's what should be considered by both Republicans and Democrats. Too many mainstream voters just aren't voting which leaves the door wide open for the lunatic fringe. "Take Tuesday's upset in Virginia's 7th Congressional District, in which Dave Brat beat House Majority Leader (for now) Eric Cantor (R). A total of 65,000 people went to the polls, more than Cantor's campaign was expecting. But in a district that has 738,000 residents (according to the Census Bureau), that's only 8.8 percent of the population represented. And Brat only got a little over half of that vote." http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/06/11/the-remarkably-small-percentage-of-people-it-took-to-oust-eric-cantor/Right. That's what I eluded to in post #12, when I said that Brat's win was due to "... his rabidly right wing constituents who were motivated to vote...". But all the motivation in the world for right wingers to vote would not have made Brat the candidate if the rest of the electorate were voting. It was the people who didn't vote who got Brat in. Lois
... It was the people who didn't vote who got Brat in. LoisCantor didn't motivate enough of his ultra right wing constituents to vote for him. Brat did motivate the super-mega-ultra-right wing voters. Either way you want to look at it. But if your point is that those among us that are too cynical and apathetic to vote, are largely to blame for the poor quality of political leaders that we have, I tend to agree. But in this case, perhaps it will turn out for the best. Maybe there's a chance that Bratt will lose in the general election. I don't think Cantor would have.
Cantor didn't motivate enough of his ultra right wing constituents to vote for him. Brat did motivate the super-mega-ultra-right wing voters. Either way you want to look at it. But if your point is that those among us that are too cynical and apathetic to vote, are largely to blame for the poor quality of political leaders that we have, I tend to agree. But in this case, perhaps it will turn out for the best. Maybe there's a chance that Bratt will lose in the general election. I don't think Cantor would have.I hope you're right, but I believe Cantor's district is heavily Republican. Perhaps if we all pray hard enough, God will force voters to go with Brat's Democrat opponent? Maybe this was God's plan all along...
You know, there is also the possibility that democrats voted against Cantor. In his district in Virginia, you do not have to be a party member to vote in the primaries. There is some speculation that democrats in the district wanted to take down Cantor and hobble the the Virginia GOP with a far right Tea Party candidate that throws them into a tail spin. I’m just sayin.
Cantor didn't motivate enough of his ultra right wing constituents to vote for him. Brat did motivate the super-mega-ultra-right wing voters. Either way you want to look at it. But if your point is that those among us that are too cynical and apathetic to vote, are largely to blame for the poor quality of political leaders that we have, I tend to agree. But in this case, perhaps it will turn out for the best. Maybe there's a chance that Bratt will lose in the general election. I don't think Cantor would have.I hope you're right, but I believe Cantor's district is heavily Republican. Perhaps if we all pray hard enough, God will force voters to go with Brat's Democrat opponent? Maybe this was God's plan all along... Of course... if by "pray" you mean "send money to Cantor' opponent" and by "God" you mean "thinking rationally".
Of course... if by "pray" you mean "send money to Cantor' opponent" and by "God" you mean "thinking rationally".Uh, right. That's it. That's exactly what I meant. Of course.
You know, there is also the possibility that democrats voted against Cantor. In his district in Virginia, you do not have to be a party member to vote in the primaries. There is some speculation that democrats in the district wanted to take down Cantor and hobble the the Virginia GOP with a far right Tea Party candidate that throws them into a tail spin. I'm just sayin.There weren't enough Democrats voting to have made a difference even if they all voted against Cantor. They voted for him in droves in the last election and the polls showed him as leading in the primary.
There weren't enough Democrats voting to have made a difference even if they all voted against Cantor. They voted for him in droves in the last election and the polls showed him as leading in the primary.It would have been kind of insane anyway for Democrats to utilize such a strategy since Virginia's 7th District leans heavily Republican. They could have all written in Ted Bundy (were he still alive and somehow a free man and an established citizen of that district and still a registered Republican and willing to serve) and the Democrat would still probably lose the general election.* So, no. Not a very credible conspiracy theory. *(Okay, I admit; this might be a slight exaggeration.)
I guess it depends on what stategy they are trying for. Since Cantor was a shoo-in it was expected that the primary turn out would be extremely small and that the tea party voters would only be there to express their extreme views. So, the Democrats could have helped push the tea party candidate over the top. And since voters don’t have to declare their party, it wouldn’t be spotted. This leads to:
A) Replacing a powerful Republican who had a political future. (accomplished)
B) Getting another Republican nut job in Congress to help people see the extremist ideas being pushed. (likely)
C) Annoying enough Republican voters there to have them either vote Democrat or not vote at all thus allowing a Democrat to be elected. (doubtful)
Occam