My rooting interest is less about Obama himself than about how big a hurt he can put to the Republican Party. I don't want the Republican Party simply defeated in November, I want to see it smashed beyond all recognition, in such wriggling, writhing, anguished disarray that it can barely reconstitute itself, so desperate for answers that it looks to Newt Gingrich for visionary guidance, his wisdom and insight providing the perfect cup of hemlock to finish off the conservative movement for good so that it can rot in the salted earth of memory unmissed and unmourned in toxic obscurity.
He's got a way with words, hasn't he? He evokes Carthage; I'll go with Norse mythology. Let the movement sink beneath the waves of a mighty sea, dragged below by a Kraken, and let it suffer a similar fate.
Posted by Linkmeister at October 8, 2008 01:50 PM | TrackBackMore and more people are saying exactly that. Of course, I live in Massachusetts so need to give myself a reality check now and again....we generally vote for the Democrat. However, it is still nice to hear that sentiment!! Two couple we are very close with are of the other party and are intelligent, thoughtful people--one couple is very wealthy or was before the events of the last few weeks--and yet all 4 are voting for McNasty and Pugilist Palin. I just shake my head in disgust. WHAT ARE THEY THINKING!! So, we have respecfully agreed--for the sake of a 30+ year friendship--to forego all political matters until after November 4th. GRRRRRRRR
Posted by: cyn at October 9, 2008 03:58 AMI think we need a party in opposition to those in power. What that party should be, and how they contrast themselves to the majority, remains to be seen.
It is likely that the coming Democratic landslide will completely fracture the Republicans, a party whose cracks between the religious fundamentalists, small business main streeters, Libertarians, and Rockefeller-type big business types have been building for years.
A coherent opposition is important, however, is crucial, since power will indeed corrupt the majority over time as well.
The current Democratic party has its fractures as well, and the fact that there will be no money to pay off the various constituencies in the coming years will exacerbate them.
Clinton triangulated and governed well. Will Obama do the same? If he pulls the party too far to the left, he will risk creating a 21st century counterpart to what the southern Democrats did in the 70's and 80's. If he stays in the center, he will alienate the progressives, who have a long agenda of spending priorities.
Or, perhaps Obama will try to change the game completely.
Posted by: pixelshim at October 10, 2008 02:54 AMI think it's too soon to tell what Obama will do, Pix. I'd say he's got a 100-day window to set an agenda and push it through Congress.
If McCain and Palin don't settle their supporters down we'll just see the Clinton years all over again, but with threats of violence to boot.
Posted by: Linkmeister at October 10, 2008 02:26 PM