The Tea Party movement served up a strong brew in red states, while in swing states it wasn’t everybody’s cup of … whatever.
In Senator-elect Rand Paul of bright-red Kentucky, the movement to dramatically roll back government spending and power may have found its leader. In his victory speech, Paul sounded like someone who wanted the mantle. “We’ve come to take our government back,” he said.
Rand Paul, the Republican candidate for the Kentucky U.S. Senate seat, thanks supporters during an election night party on November 2, 2010 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Paul defeated Democratic candidate Jack Conway to win a U.S. Senate seat. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
In Florida, home of the famous color changes of 2000, voters elected Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio. There was proportionally greater Republican turnout than usual.
But there were also setbacks. Christine O’Donnell’s nomination in moderate Delaware cost the Republicans what would have been almost a sure Senate seat pickup had they nominated moderate Mike Castle. In that state, a plurality of voters viewed the loosely organized movement of smaller-government activists unfavorably.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s win in swing-state Nevada over Sharron Angle was particularly bad news for the Tea Party movement, whose master strategist, Californian Sal Russo, had set up his election night headquarters at the same Las Vegas City Center hotel as Reid in hopes of dramatizing the change pf power.
On CNN, Anderson Cooper and David Gergen thought that Sarah Palin came out a winner by backing more winners than losers, setting her up to be a kingmaker if not a presidential candidate in 2012. The challenge for the Republicans in 2012 will be to capture the Tea Party energy without alienating independent voters. The challenge for Democrats is to reduce the energy gap.
Hello, always i used to check blog posts here early in the morning, because i like to find out more and more.
The failed efforts of two administrations to stimulate the economy and restore employment should be a big red flag to those who are paying attention. Where are the jobs? Since 2000, during both the Bush and Obama administrations, we have had tax cut after tax cut, and stimulus, after stimuls (the $800B+ stimulus was 1/3 tax cuts), without much bang for the buck. (Yes, we know that the housing bubble and military spending cushioned some of the blow). 2000-2010 still remains the lost decade with more of the same on the horizon.
Businesses are not jumping on the band wagon to hire more people. Why? Is it a conspiracy to thwart and embarrass the present administration? How silly. They are not hiring because they don’t need to. . Increased productivity=fewer jobs. This demonstrates the power of technology and automation, in tandem with outsourcing, to suppress employment while increasing productivity. This trend has been emerging and accelerating over thirty years here AND in other industrialized economies.
So while there may be a recovery on paper, or while there may be a recovery for the investors and corporations, there is no recovery in sight for the working people. And there will be no recovery for the middle class until decent jobs come back.
Once you look at our economic crisis through the prism, that the US is morphing from an Industrial Economy into the new Knowledge Based-Digital-Global economy, the politicians of both parties appear to be dinosaurs and in over there heads, STUPID EVEN.
Whoever thinks this economic mess can be fixed by caressing corporate America is in for a big surprise. Only a strong middle class with corresponding chipping away of the power of corps will benefit the country, otherwise more workers and their families will be marginalized in the years ahead as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. America is in decline, and only Obama is working for the long term, whereas the supposedly angry Repubs care only about today and how well they each do individually over the the collective good. Sad, but like one poster said…the show is in the other shoe now. Boehner said already that the agenda is Obama’s, as in admitting that they can offer (the Reps) no solution but rather obstructionism..