What I'd like Bush's legacy to be

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Saturday November 29, 2008 · 1:41 PM PST

2008/11/29 · 13:41

Bush is now worried about his legacy. It's odd and sad that he didn't worry about his legacy before he got us mired in the fubar that is Iraq, while he was eating birthday cake while Katrina was destroying New Orleans, and so on. I would like to see Bush have the same legacy of Millard Filmore and John Adams: that they were the LAST presidents of their respective parties.

Many diarists have reported that the GOP is reeling. While I maintain that obituaries for them are premature, I celebrate the GOP's woes, and think it's wonderful that the Republicans are in as much of a tailspin as they are.

I worry about us being complacent though. Yes, Dems have the presidency, and we hope Obama will represent us (finally, after thirty years of having no advocate). Yes, a majority of Representatives and Senators are Democrats, but many are Blue Dogs or spineless, and in 2009 the Republicans will still have 40-42 Senators, 22 governors, etc.

Some bleeding hearts and others believe that we should lay off them, that they've fallen enough. I disagree: I see an opportunity to obliterate them completely, and think we should take it. They would've shown no mercy to us in 2002; I do not think it's due to them either.

SeattleDanny

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Sunday November 16, 2008 · 9:26 AM PST

2008/11/16 · 09:26

There have been many diaries celebrating the death of the GOP, and event which I'd find magnificent.

A reality check though: after this election, Republicans will have:

40-43 seats in the US Senate (depending on still-to-be-resolved races in AK, MN, and GA)
175-180 US House seats
Governorships in 22 states, including CA, HI, RI, and VT (states which absolutely SHOULDN'T)
Majorities in the legislatures in 14 states (counting NE that's technically non-partisan), and majorities in one house in an additional 13.
MANY former Republican representatives and staffers at various levels, who could claim to be a "statesman" and carry the Republican banner forward. NO states have Republican-free legislatures.

SeattleDanny

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Thursday October 30, 2008 · 2:53 PM PDT

2008/10/30 · 14:53

It bears repeating that Sarah Palin really is frightening. Right after she was announced as VP, there were many diaries on her, which subsequently died down. Now that the election is close (in time anyway--but also the margin appears slimmer than I'd like), it would be good to remind everybody about the leader that Mrs. Palin is and would be.

When I posted a list a little bit ago, it was pretty long, and I thought nothing else about Mrs. Palin would come out. I was wrong.

She has continued to invigorate the tabloids and the Democratic party. Saturday Night Live has also benefited from her candidacy, in a way not complimentary to her.

Many of the scandals listed were mentioned here and/or here.

SeattleDanny

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Thursday September 25, 2008 · 9:22 AM PDT

2008/09/25 · 09:22

Washington State has a unique ballot system: anyone can run for any office they like, regardless of the wishes of the parties. The application to run for office includes a blank for "Party Preference". Candidates could write anything, including Sandanista Party if they wanted, or Flying Spaghetti Monster Party. The ballot would read "John Smith (Prefers Flying Spaghetti Monster Party)".

An important reason this was enacted was the make more elections competitive: Even if a race contained no Republicans, this new system would advance the top-two vote-getters to the general election, regardless of party. A sample Washington ballot

SeattleDanny

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Friday September 19, 2008 · 6:27 PM PDT

2008/09/19 · 18:27

There are many corrupt GOP officials at the national level, in fact I would venture to say most or even all national GOP figures are corrupt.

At the local level, though, there are some GOP officials who are still (relatively) uncorrupted. Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna is one of those: he just filed suit against two conservative lobbying groups who were dishonestly raising money for the GOP gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi.

SeattleDanny

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Thursday September 18, 2008 · 3:15 PM PDT

2008/09/18 · 15:15

A competitive high-jumper uses a technique called a "Fosbury Flop": the jumper twists her/his body so that the highest part of the jumper is the part over the bar. The Fosbury flop doesn't allow him/her to jump any higher, just allows her/him to clear a higher bar.

Barack Obama's campaign is similar to that: prior to his presidential run, he may have never been to Iowa. Because of name familiarity, Hillary's numbers were initially much higher. Shortly before the caucus, Obama gave a scintillating speech there, and he won the caucus. He may not visit Iowa again, but it doesn't matter: he's already cleared that hurdle.

SeattleDanny

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Wednesday September 17, 2008 · 2:53 PM PDT

2008/09/17 · 14:53

There have been many posts on DailyKos about various aspects of Palin's qualifications and experience and suitableness for VP. Many of the scandals listed were mentioned here and/or here; most of the new ones are either newer than those diaries or escaped their authors' notice.

Numerous diarists have urged us to "Forget Palin. Focus on McCain." There are three reasons I feel we shouldn't do this:

McCain is 72. Were McCain to die (not such an unlikely scenario), Palin would be president .
Selecting his VP is arguably McCain's most important campaign decision. If we can convince folks that he botched that, it's a major blow to his campaign. and
Palin may draw in many voters who otherwise wouldn't have voted for McCain. Attacking her individually may dissuade some of those voters.

SeattleDanny

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Wednesday September 10, 2008 · 10:34 AM PDT

2008/09/10 · 10:34

According to the BBC, Paul is not running himself, but encouraging supporters (of whom he has many) to vote for third-party candidates.

SeattleDanny

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Thursday September 04, 2008 · 12:01 PM PDT

2008/09/04 · 12:01

Many diarists have commented that we need to be able to complete cloture votes so that Republicans won't be able to stop Obama's agenda by filibustering in the Senate.

Assuming Joe Lieberman leaves the Democratic party completely, or is kicked out, we would need to gain 10 Senate seats. Most handicappers agree that Virginia, Alaska, Colorado, New Hampshire and New Mexico are at least pretty likely to flip. The senate seats from Minnesota, Mississippi (the special election), Oregon, Maine, and North Carolina, look like they COULD flip, and if they all do, or if most of those do and there are some upsets, we're good.

But if that doesn't happen, there is another path to a filibuster-proof Democratic majority for us: convincing liberal Republicans to flee the sinking ship. It may have escaped the attention of some on this site, but the Republican party does contain some mavericks (not McCain, but there ARE some).

SeattleDanny

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Saturday August 30, 2008 · 9:38 AM PDT

2008/08/30 · 09:38

I'm not the first to point out that 2008 will have a historic election, but it's remarkable how historic it is. The following list is probably incomplete, but still impressive.

If Obama/Biden wins we will have:

First part-black president

First president born in Hawaii

First president who has lived overseas as a child

First president whose parents divorced

First president adopted by an Indian nation

First Catholic vice president

If McCain/Palin wins we will have:

First president born on US Territory overseas (Panama Canal Zone)

First president from Arizona

First president who takes sleeping pills (Ambien)

First female vice president

First vice president from Alaska

First vice president born in Idaho

Prety impressive. I feel the need to point out that not all of these represent change, really, but they're still historic. If I missed any, please add them in the comments.

Republicans' spin on November 5

SeattleDanny

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Friday August 08, 2008 · 10:28 AM PDT

2008/08/08 · 10:28

I'm going to be very optimistic here in my predictions: I know these things haven't happened yet, but I want to predict how the pundits will "report" them if they do happen.

SeattleDanny

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Thursday August 07, 2008 · 11:33 AM PDT

2008/08/07 · 11:33

The Wikipedia article "United States Senate Elections 2008" (here) repeats the predictions of several pundits. Writers have added pundits whose predictions they repeat, but five have been reported since January.

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What I'd like Bush's legacy to be

They're NOT dead yet

Yes, Sarah Palin is THAT scary

The Pinocchio Party w/Call to Action

WA sues GOP fundraiser

Obama's "fosbury flop", and why polls don't matter

Sarah Palin's scandals

Ron Paul to Nade the election?

Another path to 60

A Historic Election

Republicans' spin on November 5

Handicappers' Senate Predictions