Tuesday Open Thread [3.11.14]
“I think the thing that is getting a little tiresome, the gay community, they have so bullied the American people, and they’ve so intimidated politicians. The politicians fear them, so that they think they get to dictate the agenda everywhere.” – Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), quoted by the Huffington Post.
Hahahaha. I mean, that’s real chutzpah there. Is she and her fellow bigots saying that they have never bullied gays before? Well, if the gay community is bullying Michelle and her wayward band of bigoted Christianist theocrats, it is well deserved. True Karma at work. But, Michelle, politicians would not respond to the so called “bullying” (others may call it effective politics and lobbying) if the voters were not there behind the gay community and supporting them.
Today is the special election in Florida’s 13th Congressional District, which pretty much encompasses all of Pinelas County on the St. Petersburg peninsula in Tampa Bay (see map below).
The Republicans have held this seat for 58 years. Congressman Bill Young died late last year, and this special election is being held to replace him. Now, special elections in election years are important as they can, not always, but can be an indicator of things to come. Remember the great example of Harris Wofford being Dick Thornburg in the special election for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat in 1991. The surprise victory by an unknown Democrat over the Republican U.S. Attorney General was a sign of trouble coming for the GOP in 1992. I have already seen headlines from our so called liberal media that state if the Dems do not win this special election, it spells doom for them in 2014.
But, isn’t that the other way around? Remember, this seat has been in Republican hands, and has been deep red Republican territory, for the last 58 years. If a Democrat running in support of Obamacare wins there, does that not spell absolute devastation for the GOP? Well, a new Public Policy Polling survey in Florida’s 13th congressional district released last night finds Democrat Alex Sink leading David Jolly (R) by three points, 48% to 45%.
Kevin Drum: “You’ve probably seen this before from other sources, but the chart… basically shows that for the past 40 years voting patterns haven’t differed much by age. In fact, there’s virtually no difference between generations at all until you get to the George Bush era. At that point, young voters suddenly leave the Republican Party en masse. Millennials may be far less likely than older generations to say there’s a big difference between Republicans and Democrats, but their actual voting record belies that.”
“Whatever it was that Karl Rove and George Bush did–and there are plenty of possibilities, ranging from Iraq to gays to religion–they massively alienated an entire generation of voters. Sure, they managed to squeak out a couple of presidential victories, but they did it at the cost of losing millions of voters who will probably never fully return. This chart is their legacy in a nutshell.”
My home girl Rachel Maddow reported last night that DC Republicans are throwing David Jolly under the bus vigorously and in large numbers. They appear to be anticipating defeat and are trying to preemptively tamp down all the “bellwether” stories.
Concerning the 2014 election consider that for Republicans the low hanging fruit has already been picked in 2010, they may well pick up seats but it will not be easy and not in any substantial numbers. Also consider that the Tea Party has largely worn out their welcome in the GOP, hence Mitch McConnell’s statement that “we will crush them” in the primaries. I suspect these primaries will generate substantial amounts of far right sour grapes. Regardless it will be interesting.