The unwritten rules of political conquest
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| Yes, I'm still an idiot. Thanks for asking. |
When your side loses an election, you have to suffer through a period in which the winners get to say that their victory means that everything for which they stand, and for which they might ever stand, has been unreservedly embraced by the electorate. Even if they win by only the slimmest of margins, they get to say that their vanquished opponents are forever defeated and will never rise again. Any empirical indicators to the contrary will be, for the moment, ignored. The spoils of victory in politics allow for a window of hyperbole in which anything can be, and will be, said.
So, Democrats got spanked in the Wisconsin recall elections. I'm sure you noticed.
The rules of the game now demand that we, Democrats everywhere, the losers, take our medicine.
Accordingly, Sarah Palin gets to say that "Obama's goose is cooked." The New York Post says this is the "death knell for unions." A number of right-wing talking heads are gleefully proclaiming Wisconsin is now in play for Romney this fall. And so it goes.
Yes, victory gives them a few days to say things like this, more or less unchallenged, and then we will get back to normal.
Three things might bring them back to earth a bit sooner, if they really are inclined to live in the land of the rational: Walker outspent Barrett 8 to 1 and that won't happen anywhere in the fall; exit polls done on Tuesday had Obama up by six or seven points over Romney and also on key questions about who could best manage the economy and who cared about the middle class; finally, the recall election outcome, also according to exit polls, was really about how people felt about recall elections as much as anything. Most thought they were a bad idea short of official misconduct.
All of this suggests implications much more nuanced.
But, hey, it's their day. They get to gloat. Those are the rules. Things will get back to normal soon. Trust me.
(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)
Accordingly, Sarah Palin gets to say that "Obama's goose is cooked." The New York Post says this is the "death knell for unions." A number of right-wing talking heads are gleefully proclaiming Wisconsin is now in play for Romney this fall. And so it goes.
Yes, victory gives them a few days to say things like this, more or less unchallenged, and then we will get back to normal.
Three things might bring them back to earth a bit sooner, if they really are inclined to live in the land of the rational: Walker outspent Barrett 8 to 1 and that won't happen anywhere in the fall; exit polls done on Tuesday had Obama up by six or seven points over Romney and also on key questions about who could best manage the economy and who cared about the middle class; finally, the recall election outcome, also according to exit polls, was really about how people felt about recall elections as much as anything. Most thought they were a bad idea short of official misconduct.
All of this suggests implications much more nuanced.
But, hey, it's their day. They get to gloat. Those are the rules. Things will get back to normal soon. Trust me.
(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)
Labels: Democrats, Republicans, Sarah Palin, Scott Walker, Wisconsin
posted by Richard K. Barry at
3:06 PM
1 Comments:
Let's see: Cheeseheads managed a surprising quick recall. With almost no help from the cynical national Dems (who used the recall vote's failure to launch a massive writing campaign specifically for Obama), that did exceptionally well in almost unseating a governor-in-office. Who had enormous funding, including a 90 day period where, thanks to a code loophole, donations were untrackable.
And on top of this, they got a guy who was strongly union to knock out a sitting GOP state senator, retaking the senate.
So--where's this failure all the Camille's are swooning tragically about? Life goes on. As the corporations know, it's all about strategic vision. You corrupt people from both parties, you move ahead, you grab a judge, you may lose a legislative vote, then you launch a few initiatives in a secret conference, etc. It's not about a momentary setback. The story of our politics doesn't end like the conclusion of a Disney film. It's going to be a lengthy struggle to take back the nation, and that means daily mini-battles for government accountability and transparency.
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Balakirev, at 1:27 PM
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