Election Predictions

[theknife]

Originally Posted by Mazer

You can hardly claim that the Democrats trounced the Republicans with a mere 52% of the popular vote. The 57.4 million who voted for McCain are far too many to be considered to be on the fringe of American politics. The reason they live in thinly populated fly-over country because they grow the food and mine the minerals and fuels that keep city dwellers like you and me fat and happy. They also supply the majority of military personnel. Be glad they don't hold people like you in the same regard as you hold them, else those red areas might decide to close their borders and the military might decide to go on strike. You can breathe easy, red-state Americans are much too patriotic to do such a thing, but I wouldn't take them for granted if I were you.

no, actually, it's just the right-wing ideologues and the American Taliban (aka evangelicals) factions that i find detestable - i'm ok with the rest of red America. and i agree, it was strictly an electoral trouncing, not a popular one.

that being said, the meme that 1)the electorate is really just yearning for the GOP to return to their conservative roots and 2)when they do, they'll be swept back into power is more than a little silly and not borne out by any post-election polling data whatsoever. now more than ever, Americans are painfully aware of government's place in their lives and they voted with the expectation that government should do more, not less. the election was not about making government bigger - it was about making government more competent. check your ideology at the door, red america - we're all in this together.

[Mazer]

Originally Posted by theknife

now more than ever, Americans are painfully aware of government's place in their lives and they voted with the expectation that government should do more, not less. the election was not about making government bigger - it was about making government more competent.

More competence in government would be great, but if the 111th congress manages to bring its approval rating above 25% I'll be very surprised. The government is the biggest it has ever been, and that's one thing I think the new regime intends not to change.

What people want is a government that compliments our hard work, not one that supplements it. We're going to see if the Democrats received that message or if they're going to pursue the same agenda that lost them their majority in 1994. Their party may have the bigger tent, but it's only a tent in the figurative sense; it's not a shelter against the storm. No, we have to provide for ourselves and for each other. We need to work hard, get educated, save our money, and pay our debts (and a few platitudes from Obama to that effect would do wonders for the economy, despite the disappointment it would cause his proselytes). The government can and should assist, but it can't and shouldn't try do what we can do for ourselves, not while funding a deployed military force and paying down its own debt.

[Nicobie]

Originally Posted by Mazer

More competence in government would be great, but if the 111th congress manages to bring its approval rating above 25% I'll be very surprised. The government is the biggest it has ever been, and that's one thing I think the new regime intends not to change.

What people want is a government that compliments our hard work, not one that supplements it. We're going to see if the Democrats received that message or if they're going to pursue the same agenda that lost them their majority in 1994. Their party may have the bigger tent, but it's only a tent in the figurative sense; it's not a shelter against the storm. No, we have to provide for ourselves and for each other. We need to work hard, get educated, save our money, and pay our debts (and a few platitudes from Obama to that effect would do wonders for the economy, despite the disappointment it would cause his proselytes). The government can and should assist, but it can't and shouldn't try do what we can do for ourselves, not while funding a deployed military force and paying down its own debt.

I really have nothing else to add on this subject, and don't think I could say it any better anyway....