Friday Morning Fix - November 7th, 2008
The 2008 U.S. Presidential Elections are over and Barack Obama has won. His first order of business was to try and lower the stratospheric expectations of his presidency and he did so in his acceptance speech. The following statements stuck out like a sore thumb to me:
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there…..and we know that government can’t solve every problem.
Is it me or did he immediately start campaigning for 2012? Regardless, President-Elect Obama now has everything he wanted – the White House and a majority in both houses. What’s that they say about being careful what you ask for?
Obama won this election decisively. However, conservatives like Robert Novak are claiming that the victory was not decisive enough to be called a mandate. Whatever. McCain mentioned in his concession speech that not only had the American people spoken, but they had “spoken clearly.” Ed Morrissey does an even better job of addressing the issue right here:
In the first place, talk of “mandates” is, and always has been, irrelevant. What matters is whether the winning candidate has enough votes to move most of their agenda through Congress — and Obama clearly does. He may not have enough votes in the Senate to keep Republicans from blocking everything, but he has enough for all but the most radical measures to pass.
Besides, as Jazz Shaw points out, Novak declared 2004 a “mandate” for George Bush. In that election, Bush won fewer states, had a narrower popular-vote margin, and got a smaller Senate majority than the Democrats won last night. Obama broke through the red/blue line that had dominated national politics over the past eight years. If we’re talking mandates, that seems pretty clear.
Anyway, Politico immediately launched a new blog that I think is pretty cool (if not a bit stalkerish.) Politico 44 (Obama is the 44th POTUS) is an up to the minute diary/blog of the Obama administration that has already begun tracking his every move. For example, he arrived home today at 5:48PM EDT and tomorrow afternoon at 1:30PM EDT he’ll give his first press conference as President-Elect after he meets with his economic advisors.
The Sarah Palin phenomenon continues to baffle me. I asked several weeks ago if I was being too hard on her, but now that the campaign is over and the unfiltered (to use a Palin word) truth is starting to come out –it looks as if she’s much more ignorant than I had ever imagined. This video from Fox News (the official channel of the GOP) says enough about her utter lack of common knowledge, but Newsweek has even more about how strange this woman is, including:
At the GOP…One night, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to her hotel room to brief her. After a minute, Palin sailed into the room wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat with her laconic husband, Todd. “I’ll be just a minute,” she said.
Yes, I know. She’s hot. But I’d prefer a VP with a clue.
Amazingly, there are still several Kool-Aid drinkers out there who remain mesmerized by Palin. Michael Ledeen of the National Review Online writes:
The continued trashing of Sarah Palin — IMHO the most qualified and by far the most exciting candidate of the four — is very disappointing, and the rash of unseemly whining from the McCain camp just shows once again why so many of us were depressed when he won the nomination.
The “most qualified of the four?” Wow. Trust me, we have not heard the last of the Palin stories from McCain staffers – aptly named “Lipstick Confessions” by the uber-liberal bloggers at the DailyKos.
The 2008 presidential race will not be forgotten and I had an absolute blast blogging about it. I especially appreciate the growing readership of RandallHMiller.com that joined me in the process. From my daily posts to live-blogging the debates and election night itself I’ve never felt alone. Instead, I’ve felt a momentum and enthusiasm (not to be confused with constant agreement) that makes me look forward to this next phase with great anticipation - and for that I am grateful.
About the Author: Randall H. Miller is an American educator/blogger. He is also a former U.S. Army officer (82nd Airborne) with a M.A. in Diplomacy (focusing on International Terrorism) and a B.A. in Criminal Justice. Use the form on the right to sign up for the "Friday Morning Fix” and other timely updates. The words and ideas expressed here are 100% his own and not those of his employers or affiliated organizations.
GPalmer
| Nov 7, 2008 | Reply Vote: 
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Randy, I don’t get the cartoon… is that Todd Palin ‘hunting’?
Anyway… Who do the Republicans put up against Obama in 2012? And, is there really any possibility of the Libertarian party being relevant?
RHM
| Nov 7, 2008 | Reply Vote: 
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@ GPalmer,
I’ve been blogging seemingly non-stop about Palin. The cartoon is me “beating a dead horse.”
Personally, I don’t think the LP will EVER be relevant in a national election. They just can’t ever seem to get their shit together and are unwilling to compromise an anything - no matter how ridiculous.
For example, the IRS and Dept. of Education are never going away. But instead of trying to reform them (or scale them down) the LP insists on completely dismantling them. Like a little kid clinging to his teddy bear.
dickmill
| Nov 7, 2008 | Reply Vote: 
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Republican nominee for 2012? Sorry…I think the GOP should just vote “present” and wait for 2016. For one thing, they should maximize their resources in taking back the congress. And for another, it’ll take them 8 years to just begin that process.
My prediction: the Republicans MIGHT have a president again in 2024. They’ve done that much damage…
RHM
| Nov 7, 2008 | Reply Vote: 
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@ dickmill,
I don’t think so. Lots of things can happen and voters have short memories. I hope they regroup and rebuild their party to the point where people like me would consider voting for them again. But that may be wishful thinking.
Frank the Tank
| Nov 7, 2008 | Reply Vote: 
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@Dickmill
You must be in Massachusetts smoking…………….
JAC | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply Vote:
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As usual, great blog Randall!I completely agree with your comments about the short term memories of voters, as well as newly registered voters that did not experience fist hand what happened this time around. I also think that another problem that might surface at the 2012 election is that many people expect change fast and will judge Obama as a failure and vote him out if his changes haven’t taken effect right away, even though the next president would probably benefit from the changes he implements!
Daniel Williams
| Nov 7, 2008 | Reply Vote: 
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Ouch - the truth hurts.
Yes, the Libertarian Party ticket failed on number of levels. So it is entirely possible the radical wingnuts - marginalized by Barr’s nomination - will regain favor and screw things up beyond repair in 2010 and 2012. But I don’t think so.
I met nearly every state LP chair and found most to be reasonable individuals, doing their best to placate the base while reaching out to moderate voters. We do have a message that resonates with most Americans, it is just that we’ve never had a messenger with the right personality and people skills to sell it.
Like you say, RHM, lots of things can happen and voters do have short memories.
Pinkie | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply Vote:
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I want to start this off saying that I didn’t vote for McCain/Palin. It seems like this shit coming out about her is sour grapes. So what if she was taking a shower in a hotel room and came out in a towel. What does that have to do with anything? And the reports by ther staffers seem more like the blame game because of a lost election than anything substantial. I mean, if Palin is really that stupid, she should never have been selected for VP or removed from the position when they realized it. Keeping her on the ballot in such a case was being dishonest with the american people.
It just sounds like staffers are trying to make excuses for McCain’s loss of the election. There are enough reports out there that Palin was restricted in what she could say and the campaign was pissed that she wouldn’t stick to the talking points. She was a wreck in interviews because the staffers caged her in. Take a look at her ineterview with Glenn Beck in march (i think) on youtube to get a better sense of what this woman is really like.
Another angle to these reports is that the good-ole-boy establishment of the GOP and the MSM are threatened by this woman portraying real change in our government. She went in and really reformed Alaska to an extent, for better or worse. She got rid of corrupt officials in the Republican party at home. She faced down the oil companies and won. That sort of real change is scary to those she might take it away from.
It will be interesting to see Palin in a couple of years when she is not being held back by a campaign. I think she will surprise a lot of people.
Frank the Tank
| Nov 7, 2008 | Reply Vote: 
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@Pinkie
I’d say it’s even money that she replaces Ted Stevens as Senator.
dickmill
| Nov 7, 2008 | Reply Vote: 
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Things for the GOP to think about going forward — here’s one of the most important:
THe Right owns talk radio. They’re putting a lot of effort now into whining about the Fairness Doctrine. WRONG! Forget about fighting over the radio!
The largest talk radio audience is Rush Limbaugh — 2-3 million per day. Add to that all the others and you might reach 5-6 million. AND…you can only listen when they happen to be broadcasting, e.g. Rush 1-3 PM in Boston, unless you take the trouble to listen to a recording (which I doubt happens a lot.) You’re also largely in your car when you listen (people watch TV more than listen to radios at home — do many even HAVE radios now at home?)
So…while the GOP big-wigs are trying to defend their radio turf, the vast majority of real people are either watching TV or…ON THE INTERNET!
Who owns the grassroots on the internet? The Democrats. Look at fundraising; look at recruitment; look at the age demographics; etc.;etc.;etc.
Like any other war, is you can keep the enemy pinned down and defending territory you don’t value very much, you’re free to pillage the good stuff. George W. doesn’t really know much about the “internets”, and congressmen have shown even less knowledge than Palin displayed on world geography.
There are 1.3 BILLION emailers in the world. In the US, nearly 75% of our 300 million+ population have access to the internet. Messages can become viral in less than a day. Fundraising and collections the same. (The day following the election I received several Obama emails asking for more donations for “the cause.”)
Memo to GOP: Now that the voters have essentially thrown the bums out (you!), you’d better get with the 21st century. You’re riding down the pot-holed, traffic-jammed interstate on the burned-out hulk of the confused-talk-express BUS — and the Dems are working from home on the internet.
RGVgal
| Nov 7, 2008 | Reply Vote: 
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If the stuff coming out about Palin’s lack of knowledge about “the major policy issues of the last 10 yrs” is true, McCain and his entire campaign owe the American people an apology for repeatedly lying to us and pretending like they put “Country First”. I think the campaign advisors are doing more damage to McCain than Palin by leaking all this because this reflects very poorly on his judgement.
Those on the right that are still high on the Palin kool-aid, need to take a look at the exit polls. She doesn’t appeal to moderates and if they keep insisting that she is the future of the GOP, they will be in the minority for many yrs.
Over at Slate they are having a very good discussion about the future of the GOP that is worth reading.
RHM
| Nov 7, 2008 | Reply Vote: 
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http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/1108/Duprey_Schmidt_deny_Newsweek_report.html
And Greta van Susteren asked Steve Schmidt about the now infamous towel incident reported by Newsweek.
Schmidt’s response: “Never happened.”