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Campaign roundup: The epilogue
By adamg on Wed, 11/03/2010 - 7:22am
Barney Frank spent much of his victory speech last night complaining about Republicans, added: "Massachusetts has reaffirmed the complete political irrelevance of the Boston Herald." A Republican operative who writes a column for the Herald retorts: I'm irrelevant? You're irrelevant!
WBUR sums up the blue wave that swept Massachusetts. At Blue Mass. Group, David sees in the Massachusetts vote an answer to the Tea Party wave:
Here's hoping that, as Democrats elsewhere sift through the wreckage of what happened tonight, they look to Massachusetts to see what can actually work. The GOTV operation assembled by the combined efforts of the Deval Patrick campaign, the state Democratic party, and Organizing For America, worked brilliantly. It should be a model for 2012 around the country. And the top of our ticket here ran a largely positive campaign in which he stood up for what he believed, and never tried to pretend to be something he wasn't.The next couple of years won't be easy, here or elsewhere. But I'm pleased and proud that Massachusetts Democrats will be playing a leading role.
The Outraged Liberal dusts off his Don't Blame Me, I'm from Massachusetts bumpa sticka.
D.R. Tucker on Red Mass. Group about Patrick: You know, I've got to give the guy some credit.
Town by town results in governor's race. Results for all other races.
Bonnie Sashin explains why she voted.
John Carroll recaps the results on TV last night.
The Globe reminds us that Tim Cahill gave a concession speech.
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Comments
Classic Barney Frank - "How do you like me now?"
Wow. Whether you like or dislike him, you have got to acknowledge, and to an extent admire, that Barney Frank refuses to pull any punches. Some might see this as pompous gloating, but if I had been subjected to what he has been, I might have been even more in-your-face to certain elements than he was. I would have liked it if he had been a bit more conciliatory towards Mr. Bielat, as I do not think that Bielat falls into the category of far-right Republicans that Barney was speaking of, but on the other hand, he did accept a lot of support from those types and perhaps brought it on himself. As I said elsewhere, I think that Bielat will be back, and I will certainly consider supporting him.
On a related note, you really have to give Barney credit for his command of history. While I knew the story of the original Gerrymander of the 4th District by Governor Gerry way back, I did not know the story from the 60s. I also particularly enjoyed the story about Father Drinan, who to this day, still commands a huge amount of respect and admiration here in the Brookline/Newton area. That really says something good about this Commonwealth, as does, as Barney stated, the fact that the body politic largely ignored the nonsense that was spewed by certain elements of the msm.
We need more Democrats like
We need more Democrats like him. Maybe we could have accomplished something when we had control of The Legislative and Executive branches--a great opportunity wasted in attempted "bipartisan" cooperation. That's not the language they understand. You think the Republicans are going to cooperate with us now that they hold the reins? They shouldn't! They should show us how it's done so that the next time we have the chance to do what is right we will actually do it and not try to pretend that they have anything but base motives and spite as their guiding light.
Whit
Brilliant
so we are sending 10 democrats back to Congress to serve in the minority party?
Mass Congressman - Mr. Boehner, we have to build some roads and upgrade our century old bridges and dams in our State and pay for our mini-Obamacare - we need billions just for that. The last Congress sent us billions and that was the only way to keep it going.
Speaker Boehner - Remind me who are you again?
Mass Congressman - I'm a Mass Congressman.
Speaker Boehner - (ROTFLOL) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! One of those ten, I mean soon to be nine. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Yeah - we showed them. Barney isn't irrelevant - our entire delagation is irrelevant. It's probably a good thing we turned down that sales tax decrease. Forget the $2 billion shortfall. When Washington tells us to stick it, that $2 billion turns into $3-$4 billion.
Balance people - the world works best when there is balance.
Nonsense
I expect it will be more likely one of the 2 following scenarios:
Obama: I want to tax the rich at pre-Bush levels.
Boehner: No. (tantrum)
Government shuts down.
Boehner: I want to continue the Bush tax cuts, but if I don't get any Democrats on board, then we'll just get vetoed.
Mass Congressman: My ears are itching; is someone talking about me? You know, I need some road money.
Basically, we've setup our government to either return to compromise and horse trading...or we've set it up for an absolute collapse of spectacular proportion. Boehner doesn't have the numbers necessary to do ANYTHING he wants to do. He's an impotent despot of the House alone. However, he has a single card to play if he wants to just throw feces and disrupt Obama (as we've heard is the Republicans' sole goal in life for the next 2 years). He can make everything Obama and the Senate want into non-starters in the House.
So, either the two parties work together or the gears grind to a halt and the whole system shuts down. America's Heartland and Deep South helicopter parents have handed the whiny kid a lollipop to shut him up...
Veto?
Boehner is not going to trade anything for any veto. Even if he could eke out the vote in the house it would fail in the Senate - not worth the political capital.
for the next two years a small handful of Demoratic Senators hold all the cards (not Kerry). works like this - the house will push the right side and Obama the left. the Republicans will generally vote on party lines in the Senate as will any Dem not up for reelection in 2012. that leaves 10 Democratic senators plus/minus with their finger in the air testing the wind. for now, depending on their district, they have all the power in the government and will be inclined to lean a little right if they want to be re-elected in 2012. If those winds change - they may need to shift a little left.
This is not a bad thing - there is balance and those small number of senators will be forced to compromise or stick to their guns - and if the govt shuts down - they get the blame.
Unlike Mass which is a one party bully system - the only fights you occasionally get are the bullys that are all in the same gang. the Dems won - again - no surprise. But there is momentum toward a more balanced system. we'll see if the momentum continues.
Though I would prefer a more
Though I would prefer a more vibrant two party system in this state, I think your logic fails in this instance. Suppose a Republican had made his way on to our delegation. Would that Republican want to ask for federal spending, or would he want to establish his Tea Party credentials?
Ted Kennedy and the Republicans
Ted Kennedy made this work by proposing big spending programs with a pound of flesh for the conservatives, like No Child Left Behind which instituted testing programs which were hated by the left. But he had a combination of sentimental credentials and he also knew where his bread was buttered.
Different times. That's when
Different times.
That's when the GOP had something called liberal conservatives and New England Republicans to work with. The party's line is now "my way or the highway" as they shrink, and as they plan their politics around government shutdowns and filibusters.
I'm going to go an predict their fortunes will be much worse in 2012 then the Dem's after this.
Learn how DC works
You don't seem to understand how DC works. Its based on seniority and power over committees where agendas get set and deals get made. Having Barney Frank in the House as one of the most senior members is key to Mass. getting its voice heard. Junior congressmen start out at the bottom either as junior members of Committees or heads of meaningless committees that have no power. Keeping senior members in our delegation is much more valuable than sending some token Republican junior to the House.
Ha! Even Barney Frank says you're wrong!
When the world almost collapsed and many were trying to pin at least part of the blame on him he said that he was in the minority party and there was nothing he could do, despite all of his "seniority" and power over committees.
If you don't speak up, nobody will hear your voice - at the very least that's your job when you are in the minority (granted, once he got in power he didn't do anything to stop the wheel from spinning although it would have been too late anyway).
Even if Barney couldn't do anything, by virtue of being a Congressman he holds a bullhorn. He should have at least spoken up and sounded the alarm about any number of things, even if he were powerless. This is the "powerful man" we just sent back to DC so that he can return to the role he apparently filled by his own admission from 1994-2006 - professional SEAT WARMER.
The world of politics runs on leverage - we just gave away all of ours at least in the house.
Or, you know, they just toss
Or, you know, they just toss all that into an appropriations bill along with everybody else's billions, which both sides are free to do and have in fact been doing for years. Boehner doesn't have line-item veto.
Double plus reverse electoral psychology theory
That argument explains why Steve voted for Coakley over Brown. He just couldn't countenance all the power Massachusetts would throw away by electing a minority party Senator.
Howie in the sandlot
And of course Howie Carr's highly literate response of "I'm like rubber you're like glue..."
Well, he is writing to the level of his audience.
And I'd agree that Barney should have wisely held out a at least a twig of an olive branch not so much to Bielat, but to some of the people who voted for him (that Barney must still represent). Returning veteran, wanting to add more public service to his record by "cleaning up Washington" -- Mr. GI Smith Goes to Washington has gotten a bit hackneyed, but still resonates with a lot of people. Putting a butt out in its face only serves to insult people and rile them up for the next fight. And it makes you look like a douchebag.
That being said, that was a very cathartic, if rambling, victory speech. And just how much cough syrup did that kid behind him chug before getting on stage? C'mon mom get that kid to bed.
Best part of this whole thing..
Listening to that idiot Michael Graham's head explode this morning. Can't wait to hear Michele (One L on Facebook!) McPhee go off tonight about Suzanne Bump and the "murderah" in her office.
Also, in other 96.9 news, did anyone happen to hear Jimmy Severino's rant yesterday about how Question 2 would allow "undesirables' to live in his precious, all white community? To quote Hit Girl; "Wotta douche".
Democrats spent money defending Mass
It looks to me like the Dems in the citadels (like MA) kept all the money and let the swing districts get overwhelmed by the barbarian hordes.
But what do I know I was 180 degrees off on the ballot questions.
Biden our time
By waiting one more election cycle, we're going to turn in our Risk Cards for even more armies than the Republicans just got. You'll see...you'll ALL see!
Australia Strategy
I just plan to fall back into Australia, get all the extra armies that holding it entails and beef up Siam. Just out of spite I'll keep Irkutsk and some nasty comments about Barney that I saw written on a mens room stall in Clery's.