Wednesday Open Thread [3.5.14]
First Read reports on the Texas party primaries last night (which are as ridiculously early as Delaware’s are ridiculously late):
“Yet if the GOP establishment largely won the battle last night, the Tea Party has already won the war. Every Republican running for office — up and down the ballot — did so by running hard to the right and hard against President Obama (even in races that have nothing to do with the president)… And in another example of how the Tea Party has already won the war, just check out the tweet that Sen. Lindsey Graham — another establishment Republican facing a Tea Party primary field this year — fired off yesterday regarding the situation in Ukraine: ‘It started with Benghazi. When you kill Americans and nobody pays a price, you invite this type of aggression.'”
“Bottom line: Establishment Republicans have figured out how to survive (for the most part) in these primaries, but the question is whether this has been good for the party in the long run.”
Let me give you a hint: it will doom them in national elections, it will guarantee a Ted Cruz or Rand Paul nomination, and will result in a 400 electoral vote landslide by President Hillary Clinton. Now, some would say that is bad for the party. I disagree. I think Republicans love their base to be outraged so that they can be bilked. Nothing better for that than 16 years of Democratic control of the White House.
Meanwhile, as I mentioned yesterday, the one major legacy of the Presidency of George W. Bush was to eliminate the moral standing of the United States with respect to preemptive wars. Whenever President Obama and Secretary Kerry say that Russia has no right to invade a foreign country unprovoked, everyone guffaws a little bit thinking back to President Bush’s unprovoked invasion of Iraq. The second major legacy of perpetual war during the Bush presidency, indeed, the excitement and longing for war by admitted war pigs like Rumsfeld, Cheney and Wolfowitz; has turned Americans off to war and military force. A new poll from You Gov shows that Americans have little appetite for any involvement in Ukraine. So perhaps John McCain can shut up now.
Less than a third of Americans (30%) think that what is going on in Ukraine is the world’s business. Only 18% say that the US has any responsibility to protect Ukraine, while 46% say that the US does not. Support for helping to protect Ukraine is higher among Republicans (26%) than among Democrats (13%) but just under half of both groups say that the US has no responsibility to defend Ukraine.
NATIONAL–MARRIAGE EQUALITY—Washington Post-ABC News: 50% of Americans say the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection gives gays the right to marry, while 41% say it does not.
Beyond the constitutional questions, a record-high 59% say they support same-sex marriage, while 34% are opposed, the widest margin tracked in Post-ABC polling.
I love polling discrepancies sometimes. From this poll, the results reveal that 7 to 9% support gay marriage but think it is unconstitutional. That’s odd.
CONNECTICUT–GOVERNOR–Quinnipiac poll: Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) 43, Tom Foley (R) 42.
MINNESOTA–U.S. SENATE–Survey USA poll: Sen. Al Franken’s (D) 49, Julianne Ortman (R) 41; Franken 49, Chris Dahlberg (R) 41; Franken 50, Mike McFadden (R) 40.
ARIZONA–MARRIAGE EQUALITY—PPP: 49% support gay marriage, 41% do not.
VIRGINIA–U.S. SENATE–Roanoke College poll: Sen. Mark Warner (D) 56, Ed Gillespie (R) 29.
I agree with your point that the grifters who live off the outrage (and savings accounts) of angry white people win when the GOP loses. The problem for the GOP is that the grifters and politicos have now been so thoroughly mixed together that nobody really has a huge stake in the GOP’s electoral success.
Also,
So perhaps John McCain and Chris Coons can shut up now.
Fixed!
That 7-9% difference in constitutional polling on marriage equality is quite possibly explained by the subset of Libertarians (about half of a total of maybe 12-16% in the population) who do believe in marriage equality but don’t believe the state should have ANY role in marriage and therefore don’t believe the Constitution authorizes any marriage regulation.
Chris Coons continues his rush to the bottom. Opposes Obama’s civil rights nominee b/c…Mumia!:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/congressional/20140306_Senate_rejects_Obama_nomineee_who_helped_fight_death_penalty_for_Abu-Jamal.html
Here is one of the most absurd explanations I’ve ever read regarding a vote made by a purportedly ‘responsible’ elected official:
“”As a lawyer, I understand the importance of having legal advocates willing to fight for even the most despicable clients, and I embrace the proposition that an attorney is not responsible for the actions of their client.
The decade-long public campaign by others, however, to elevate a heinous, cold-blooded killer to the status of political prisoner and folk hero has caused tremendous pain to the widow of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner and shown great disrespect for law enforcement officers and families throughout our region. These factors have led me to cast a vote today that is more about listening to and respecting their concerns than about the innate qualifications of this nominee.”
Got that? He was just doing his job, and doing it well, but the cops are pissed off so Coons just has to vote no.
I guess that, in Coons’ America, defendants have no rights. Nor do those who fight to protect those rights. Except for the right to be turned down by idiots who know better.
What a pathetic excuse for a senator this guy is.
He must be feeling heat from that really good GOP challenger that is nipping at his heels.
Note to Coons’ staff – TURN OFF THE FUCKING 24/7 FOX NEWS!!!
Jesus.
Notice anything about this Redstate.com coverage of the nomination vote?
BTW, you know what Debo Adegbile is most adept at? Battling voter suppression efforts, that’s what.
Congratulations, Chris. By bending to a mob of angry police groupies, none of whom, by the way, have ever experienced even a pang of conscience following a police shooting of a black youth, you have set back the cause of fighting voter suppression.
You come across in public as a man of conscience. This unconscionable vote causes me to question whether that is but an act.
BTW, there were 48 yes votes (Reid changed his vote to ‘no’ for procedural reasons). Coons and one more D would have enabled Biden to break any tie.
This was a cowardly vote by someone who now only stands for his own reelection, regardless of how insubstantial his presence in the Senate is.
I’m officially mighty PISSED. Even CARPER voted for this nomination. Get the fuck out of the Senate if you’re so scared that you can’t cast a rational vote.
This is the kind of extremely chickenshit, “guarding my electability at all costs and in the face of no real electoral challenges”, that Mike Castle was famous for.
Either Coons really is a worthless fossenknob, or he has a terrible staff. Perhaps both.
BTW, maybe we should call him Cowering Chris. From a HuffPo article:
“A spokesman for Coons declined to make him available for an interview or to say whether Coons had worked with Adegbile in Adegbile’s current role as senior counsel for the Judiciary Committee.”
“Tell them I’m not available. I’m not coming out there.” (Um, I wrote that quote.)
Or maybe Craven Chris.
Primary deadline not for four more months. Would love to see a challenger.
Ted Kaufman would have stood up.
Geez, we knew that Bob Casey is a weak Democrat. I had never expected that Coons would be outfitting himself as Lieberman 2.0.
We can safely assume that Coons would have hid under the desk on the Lani Guinier nomination.
No chance. You might as well call him “Senator for Life, Chris Coons”
Or Tom Sharp 2.0?
Nah, Sharp made no bones about what he believed. You knew what you were voting for.
Chris has misled us, and that’s being generous.
Chris, if you’ve joined a cult, and, yes, the Third Way qualifies, you owe it to us to come clean.
Yikes! Rep. Darryl Scott is retiring — one of the good ones.
Coons afraid of Gordon’s legion of cops?