We’ve come to take our government back ---- very good! locked & loaded!!!
On May 19, 12:20 pm, JSM <[email protected]> wrote: > Last month the Pew Research Center > reported<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4239596:6311521139:m:1:1...>that > only 22% of Americans trusted the government to do the right thing > always or most of the time. And that was the good news for incumbents: > > Favorable ratings for both major parties, as well as for Congress, have > reached record lows while opposition to congressional incumbents, already > approaching an all-time high, continues to climb. > > Significantly, a majority of Americans (52%) see the members of Congress > themselves as the source of their dissatisfaction. Only 38% attribute their > frustration to “a broken political system.” > > Last night’s election results in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas seem > to bear that out: > > - In Kentucky, political newcomer Rand Paul trounced Secretary of State > Trey Grayson. As a proxy for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, > Grayson > had inadvertently become the Washington insider in the race despite never > having been elected to federal office. And, as the son of libertarian > presidential candidate Ron Paul, the younger Paul was also a proxy of > sorts. > He came to embody the desire of voters in the Bluegrass State to send the > ultimate outsider to Washington. His mission? Shrink the federal behemoth, > balance the budget and reduce the federal debt while exhibiting some long > overdue humility from our public servants. > - In Pennsylvania, given the opportunity to oust a five-term incumbent > Senator with plenty of inside-the-Beltway clout, Democratic primary voters > cheerfully complied. They dumped Arlen Specter in favor of a relative > newcomer, second-term Rep. Joe Sestak. In his victory speech, Sestak struck > a defiant populist tone, characterizing his victory as a “win for the > people” over “the establishment, over the status quo, even over Washington, > D.C.” > - In Arkansas, Democratic primary challengers from both the right and > left squeezed incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln into a run-off against the > state’s leftist Lt. Governor, Bill Halter. While Halter galvanized > Arkansas’ > Democratic base on the political left, businessman D. C. Morrison ran to > Lincoln’s right as a conservative, Reagan-loving Democrat. Morrison cast > his > vote for Ron Paul in 2008 and spent considerable time railing against > Obamacare, bailouts, the stimulus bill and mounting government debt, > Morrison pulled a not insignificant 13% of the Democratic vote. > > Seniority on the most powerful congressional committees and endorsements > from Washington’s most powerful insiders, including President Obama, were > liabilities last night. > > So, what explains the outcome in the special House election to replace > recently deceased Rep. John Murtha (D-PA)? An aide to Murtha, Mark Critz, > handily defeated Republican businessman Tim Burns in a contest many pundits > felt would serve as an early barometer of Republican prospects in November. > As one political consultant noted last night: “I think us pundits in > Washington are going to have to revise our thinking about whether this is a > wave election year for Republicans." > > Ron Brownstein, the brainy political expert at National Journal, argues that > to regain control of the House, Republicans must prevail in seats such as > this one. Districts where there is little racial diversity (i.e., where > whites comprise 90% or more of the electorate) and few attended college. > Murtha’s seat, Pennsylvania-12, fits this profile to a tee. > > Get ready for an outpouring of new analyses spouting a new conventional > wisdom, one that dismisses the power of the Tea Party movement, and > questions whether 2010 will be a watershed election after all. > > But, if Critz’s victory is to serve as some sort of a blueprint for > Democrats, it will require some serious triangulation. Critz, after all, > campaigned (rhetorically, at least) to the right of most Washington > Democrats. “I opposed the health care bill,” he insisted during a debate, > and then added for good measure that “I’m pro-life and pro-gun. That’s not > liberal.” As with the outcomes in those Senate primaries, Washington’s > Democratic establishment cannot draw much solace from this development. > > There is an overriding lesson for conservatives from last night’s results as > well. > > Many are prematurely confident that November will be one of those rare > “wave” elections that upend the Washington power structure and realign our > politics. Maybe. But the early warning signs have been there for everyone to > see for awhile now, at least since Sen. Scott Brown’s (R-MA) historic > election in January. Savvy liberal political strategists and worried > Democratic primary voters, moreover, have had ample time to adapt to the > demands of an angry and increasingly conservative electorate. Few Democrats > in swing or conservative districts will run as Pelosi or Obama liberals. > Instead, expect their rhetoric to morph the populism of Joe Sestak into the > conservatism of Mark Critz. As Rand Paul > said<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4239597:6311521139:m:1:1...>last > night: > > I have a message, a message from the Tea Party. A message that is loud and > clear and does not mince words: We’ve come to take our government back. > > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help seehttp://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community athttp://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
