Dispatch from Kentucky

I don’t think it will wake anyone up.
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The fact is, this is a Republican, elected in a primary by Republicans, in a red state.
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Where is the earth shaking message?

And most importantly of all, Dems showed up for the KY primary in droves, making one wonder of the so-called “enthusiasm gap”.

I believe the 2010 election will be all about “Politics is local”. The response Americans might give a poll taker generally (It’s the deficits, Stupid!) might not carry over to how they actually pull the levers in November (It’s all about jobs, Stupid!).

We might not like “pork” generically but if we actually see results in our backyards from the stimulus spending, we will reward those who helped ease our financial pain.

Where is the earth shaking message?

Republican Primary results: 348,680 total votes.
Democratic Primary results: 513,659 total votes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_Kentucky,_2010

Not surprising. The Tea Partiers are in for a surprise when they realize that their preferred candidates are no different from any other politician. It doesn’t say much for them that they don’t already realize this.

What’s worse, as bad as the incumbents are, knee-jerk reaction by voters is bringing in people who are even bigger slime bags. Like Hayworth. [Then again, AZ voters are responsible for the state legislature. Enough said in that direction.]

No, no,no… throw the bums out. Long live the new bum!
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All of the victory speeches were eloquent bumpersticker-ese. If they say they’re going to take the government back and no more business as usual… well you have to believe them.

The rain in Philly did keep Specter’s voters down. Too many shouts of “I’m melting!” I guess.

Ok, so this cow has been milked, what will the Press come up with next?

grape:
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Now that is interesting. Startling, actually. Doesn’t that kind of wipe out the analysis MS blogged about lack of enthusiasm?
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Thanks!

Rand Paul’s victory was a win forthe Paulites. Not the tea party.

It’s even more startling when you read the poll of Republican primary voters and see that 43% of Grayson’s supporters have said they will not vote for Paul in the general election:
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53% of likely Grayson voters for today have an unfavorable opinion of Paul to only 23% with a positive opinion of him. More importantly though just 40% of Grayson voters say they’ll support Paul in the general election if he wins the Republican nomination with 43% explicitly saying they will not.

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And remember, that was before the news got out that Paul refused to take the concession call from Grayson. That’s only going to PO his supporters more.
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http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/05/more_on_rand_paul.php#more?ref=fpblg

So when do we see the reaction when the Republicans realize that they now oppose meddlesome foreign adventures and favor lagalizing drugs……

“We have come to take our government back.”

Once they retrieve the country back, from whoever has stolen it, I wonder what they plan to do, specifically. I think it is safe to assume they will not be raising taxes, which only evil socialists/fascists do, so I have to assume they will be cutting expenses, dramatically, given that borrowing from the communists in China must be over as well.
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Can one of the local teabaggers lay out exactly where the cuts will occur, how big those cuts will be and how quickly those cuts will balance the budget and reduce the deficit to zero?

Ya mean Miss Prissy didn’t explain it all? Why don’t you lay out $100K or so and let her talk to you about it!

“Can one of the local teabaggers lay out exactly where the cuts will occur.”
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Here is what is going to be cut. “Nose to spite face.” When the first private security guard responds to the robbery they reported instead of the police, they will then say WTF?.

I think Paul’s win says more about the lack of power of party leaders than anything else. McConnell couldn’t even get the people of his own state to vote for the person he wanted. But then again, Specter also lost…showing the dems have very little power over their constituencies as well. Everybody from Obama down to Rendel to the mayor of Philly has been saying for weeks that Specter should get the Dem nod for PA Senator.
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The voters will not be told what to do. Period.

“when do we see the reaction when the Republicans realize that they now oppose meddlesome foreign adventures and favor legalizing drugs..”
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It will be ok then, just as sex is today. After all it is really a problem of no windows and doors in Congressional offices, and time away from the wife. Just ask them.

One of the things that drives me most crazy re the fawning the MSM is doing over the Tea Baggers is how they keep letting that stupid phrase “Take Our Country” back go unchallenged.

Derek is right, they are implying the 2008 election was rigged or something. Otherwise they are expressing their distaste for democracy. Of course many Tea Baggers want the governors to appoint their state’s US senators so I guess we know how the Tea Baggers feel about a majority of their fellow citizens.

And since they are so high on “State’s Rights”, seeming to be saying that the state government trumps the “One nation under God” sentiment of the pledge many conservatives want school children to recite every morning, I believe they only really love America when it is being governed by Republicans.

I was mortified when other progressives stated they would leave our country if Bush the Lesser got elected. But rightwingers who constantly complain that Dems are less patriotic than the GOP find no irony in Limbaugh’s “threat” to move to Costa Rica is health care passed.

It is a price we pay for using their web sites.

For a candidate who framed himself as the crusading outsider, the shindig was a pretty genteel, insider-y affair, populated more by personal connections, campaign coordinators and influential backers than Tea Party folks.

Ah, limousine conservatism!

“Take Our Country” back go unchallenged.”
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I think the Tea Baggers/Party/Republicans in Disguises or whatever you want to call them are setting a trap for themselves. They do not fully understand who is backing them and they don’t fully understand who they are backing. Politicians are masters at pretending they are just like you and want the same things as you. We got a gifted one in the WH right now. However, unless they can replace a majority of the republicans in the congress this year those they do get elected is either going to out right abandon them once they get to DC or end up working with the people they hate to get some of the stuff done they seem to want done.

Although it will be miscast by Media Inc., gigantic night for Progressives;

- GOP loses Murtha’s House seat it claimed it would surely win
- known GOP’er Arlen Specter kicked out
- known GOP lapdog Blanche Lincoln, brought to knees by progressive Bill Halter. She is in trouble.
- Teahadist-favored GOP extremist Rand Paul, now has to try to win against a moderate Dem in the fall. Agenda of Zilch, exposed.

Grand Slam!

Balkingpoints / www

“There were none of the ubiquitous “Don’t Tread on Me” flags; instead I noticed one or two people wearing the ubiquitous Tea Party symbol as a lapel pin.”

Clearly, ubiquitous doesn’t anymore mean what it used to mean.

Doesn’t that kind of wipe out the analysis MS blogged about lack of enthusiasm?
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Not entirely. Scherer made a blanket statement, and the results of a closed primary in Kentucky seem to disprove it…making a similar blanket statement in the other direction would be similarly flawed. My gut is that Scherer’s prattling about an ‘enthusiam gap’ was not wildly inaccurate…but there will be numerous examples that prove to be exceptions.
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Not that Mikey will let those expections interfere with the standard ‘Dems are in trouble’ theme.
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Lessons I learned from this:
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- An activist ‘base’ can have a large impact in small contests, like party primaries.
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- That ability for impact fades when it’s time for the general election.
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- The media pays an inordinate amount of attention to very vocal minorities, particularly conservative minorities like the teabaggers or the Chamber of Commerce, and…
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- …Whatever news it is, it’s always good news for Republicans.

Given the fact that raising taxes is a tactic used only by radical, big city slicker, country thieves — liberals, rationalists, empiricists, and other kinds of extremists — surely the TeaBaggers, once they have fully taken their country back, will totally reject the idea of ever raising taxes, “no new taxes,” again.
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If they decide to eliminate the deficit in 2010, then they need to find approx. 1.1 to 1.2 trillion, it looks like, to me, and one can only assume that they intend to find that money in the current budget.
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I’d like to know, teabaggers, where do you plan to make the cuts, to balance the budget?
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In addition, where do you plan to start cutting to pay off the debt?

I only ask this because I assume at some point the campaign metaphors will be turned into actual policy and operations.

I agree with your caution.
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It is very surprising to see the turnout so much larger, and in a red state.
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I think that the dissatisfaction is directed at incumbents, certainly. The GOP and the media seems to have made incumbents synonymous with democrats.
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I think that the baseline might be that the teabaggers aren’t nearly as influential as they think, and that there will still be a 2010 rebound, but not as big as the GOP hoped.
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One still open question for 2010 is, with all the brouhaha over the AZ law, how badly they will suffer due to the loss of Latino votes…

You guys may be right that this is less of a seismic win that Tea Party folks are claiming, but the turnout figures don’t necessarily prove that. There are actually far more registered Democrats than Republicans in Kentucky, even though the state tilts right. The Republican primary was closed to voters who hadn’t registered by Dec. 31, which probably kept numbers down, and the tight battle on the Democratic side could also have sent people to the polls.

“Ya mean Miss Prissy didn’t explain it all? Why don’t you lay out $100K or so and let her talk to you about it!”
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Since I found out that Grizzly Bears can abort their own children, if they’re isn’t enough food to go around, I’ve been boycotting her events, her take back America psychic gatherings. However, I imagine she will be competing with Kevin Trudeau soon, and no one will be able to escape her spell binding presence and good old fashioned, America loving, unique take on things, her world-view.

You have a point, Alex, but really, everybody is trying to read tea leaves here.
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I’m satisfied that the Tea Party isn’t getting as much traction as they claim. Also, these are primaries, with different mechanics than general elections, so we aren’t really comparing apples to apples.
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On top of that, we have an ideological testing ground (Pawlenty’s). People will see what the Tea Party and far right are all about. I won’t venture to wild a guess, but I think a lot of people won’t be happy. Also, with good economic news (except for EU) coming at an increasingly frequent rate, things might be completely different in November.

Rand Paul comes across about as strong as a wet noodle. This was the first time I have seen him and could not believe how wimpy he appeared. He also went on an incoherent rampage about the President’s trip to Copenhagen.
If he wins, he will be virtually alone in the Senate. His stand on major issues is unrealistic and could actually harm Kentucky if government subsidies were eliminated.
He may be Republican, but he will likely butt heads with McConnell who expects all GOP senators to bow and kneel to his every wish and every opposition (regardless of merit). Me thinks the Blue Grass voters are drinking too many Mint Julips. What else would explain their weird voting.

The President, Governor and other Dem leaders in Pennslyvania supported Specter publicly for his critical support of the Financial Reform Bill. I am sure they are all very happy that he lost (he is showing a few signs of senility). Sestaks’s idiology is more in tune with the President and the Democratic Party. He is young, energetic, hard working and driven (which got him into a little trouble in the Navy when his disciplinary expections hurt morale and caused him to be demoted from Vice Admiral *** to Rear Admiral ** thus ending his Nary career).
The supportive comments Specter gained were appropriate in thanking him for his past service. It would have been rude to do otherwise. He did serve the people of Pennslyvania well.

Derek @ 8.4: She must hold some secrets “they” don’t want you to know about

It seems to me the baseline we want is party primary turnout over the past 6 years. If it’s typical for KY to have small Democratic turnout leads, then this probably means nothing. If it’s atypical, then it’s good news for the Dems.

I’m not a teaperson, but if their representatives took power, I believe they would probably cut taxes, and claim that this will raise revenue. They will not make major cuts to significant programs. In the event that the tax cuts do not raise revenue, they will either borrow, despite their rhetoric, or underpay obligations and salaries. Probably a combination of both. They may make an appeal to the patriotism of employees and contracted companies to keep doing their thing anyway. It will be up to those individuals what to do, but I wouldn’t anticipate good results for long.

“Me thinks the Blue Grass voters are drinking too many Mint Julips. What else would explain their weird voting.”
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It’s not Mint Juleps, it’s the “conservative” Kool-Aid.

Well-made mint juleps with top-shelf bourbon are the (maker’s) mark of par excellence. It’s the cheap crap that makes one look like a rube.

This has been the Republican meme since the days of Coolidge. McCarthy, HUAC, Birchers, Nixon, et al refined the message. Fear has been the Republican password for decades: Fear of Commies, fear of foreign influence, fear of diversity, fear of others, fear of homosexuals, fear of womens’ choice, fear of feminism, fear of “heretics”, fear of the educated elite, fear of taxes, fear of those who don’t agree with them 100%. Of course, the fear is ginned up and manipulated and they really have a huge megaphone now with talk radio and Fox and a weakened traditional media.

He probably belongs to a country club.

Listened to him on Maddow. He does belong to the country club where he had his victory party. What a cliche.

Saw a report on Olbermann by WaPo reporter that Rand Paul thinks that the Civil Rights Act and Disabilities Act should be repealed.
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Maddow interviewed him on her show. She is always very respectful to her guest no matter there political persuasion. She asked Paul about repealing the above acts. He thinks they are fine for public institutions like schools, etc but infringe on businesses freedom of speech. How he equates speech with action is not clear. And since the laws refer to public accomodations, this would include restaurants etc. He tried to tie it into being able to take guns into restaurants. It was pathetic. He hung himself.
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Wait tell the teabaggers learn he wants a $2000 deductible on Medicare. The more he talks and the more the media delve into his speeches and writings the more extreme he becomes. I actually like his father. Would never vote for him. But Rand is just sleazy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/20/rand-paul-tells-maddow-th_n_582872.html
Maddow’s interview with Rand Paul.
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And yes, I think he does wear a toupe and it is permed.

Washington State has a lot of Indian Reservations. I have lived close to several of them. For a while I worked in a tavern in Eastern Washington. There was a hitching ring outside of the front door. It used to have a sign that said no Indians allowed, tie up your Indian. The sign was gone but the ring was still there. Rand Paul would have said that the business had the right to the sign and to disallow Indians from entering. I assume freeper and NewRustee would agree. When I was young there were still restaurants in Washington State that stated the owner had the right to deny service. Everyone knew what the sign really meant. Yes, that was the good old days. The real America the baggers want back.