April 28, 2009

Specter Leaves the GOP

Posted by Michael under Uncategorized | Tags: , , , |
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Arlen Spectre (D-Pennsylvania)

The Spectre (D-Pennsylvania)

So Arlen Specter has bailed on the Republican party. I expect he used his cosmic future-gazing powers to foresee that the GOP will soon be a regional party centered in the South and rural Mid- and Mountain West. Not the way I expected the Democrats to hit 60 votes, but so be it.*

John Dickerson seems awfully convinced this is great news for Obama, but I’m probably not the only one who’s unsure about that. Dem #60 won’t be a reliable vote on things like card check (not that I have a problem with that), so while it doesn’t really get them out of any filibusters they couldn’t already get the votes on. Worse, it lets the Republicans go around a year from now when it’s another election year (…sigh…) and say, “the Democrats have a supermajority in the Senate, we need more checks and balances” when little has changed except symbolism.

Still, 60 Democrats is 60 Democrats. And you have to feel for a guy like Specter, who had to feel less and less at home in the party of torture, tax cuts for the wealthy, and hopes for Obama’s failure. I remember driving home from school a couple of years ago with my buddy Hoob, hearing Specter on NPR saying something that sounded reasonable, and us saying, Arlen Specter is now one of the good guys? Arlen Specter? And now it’s official. As Obama said to him on the phone today, “We’re thrilled to have you.”

And what’s left of the decimated moderate GOP (I’m sorry, is Lindsey Fucking Graham now the moderate GOP?) is speaking up, trying to wrest control of their party. I wish them luck. We need two sane parties in this country.

* Assuming that Al Franken continues to win his court battles against Norm Coleman. At this pace, however, Coleman may just try to string it out in the judicial system until the seat is up again in five years.

** Hat tip to Nick at Hide the Elephant for the HTML lesson.

 

March 25, 2009

The GOP’s Hope, cont.

Posted by Michael under Uncategorized | Tags: , , |
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In response to my favorable opinion of Meghan McCain, a dissenting reader writes:

Following your thinking to its conclusion, there would be no difference between Republican and Democrat, so why would that trouble you? Many of us rightwing nutjobs think we’re already there and are working overtime to fix it. The Republicans got their butts handed to them because they acted too much like the Dems, not because they don’t act enough like them. Those that voted against the Rs are now seeing what they really voted for. We’ll see together in 2010 how that works out.

1. I don’t see that as the logical conclusion at all, as there are still many principled disagreements to have about those other issues. Now, if you think social issues are more important than how the economy, energy, military, etc., then I could see a case for claiming Democrats and Republicans were the same.

2. Who said I was troubled by it?

3. While I agree that Republicans broke type on spending during W’s two terms, they pretty much stuck to the script on tax-cutting, on the gutting of regulation, and on environmental and cultural issues. But I do understand why “they voted us out because we weren’t being conservative enough” is a story that helps the right feel like they’re fixing the problem without actually having to question whether some of their beliefs seem a bit fringe-y to a lot of people who might otherwise be persuadable.

4. I feel pretty confident that digging in on traditionally “conservative” positions on cultural issues is the path to a permanent minority, but Democrats will be perfectly happy to have Republicans try it.

 

March 25, 2009

GOP’s Hope for the Future: McCain

Posted by Michael under Uncategorized | Tags: , , , |
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No, not that one.

Now, assuming that you set aside the fact that she sounds like she’s in the first half of her twenties, this is a message that can at least remove some of the stigma of being a conservative right now, which will be necessary before the Right can get the socially-moderate Center to listen to them again. If a person can call herself a “progressive Republican” with a straight face and say, essentially, “don’t worry about that older generation,” it can gradually change the face of what it means to be a Republican at all. At the very least, it could take social issues off the table, not because left and right suddenly agree, but because people who don’t want Roe v. Wade overturned or who want their gay friends to have the right to marry can say to themselves, “Well, the party IS becoming more moderate,” and turn their attention to the economy, the military, etc.

This is both a good thing for liberal social causes and a bad thing for Democrats. If Republicans become more palatable to the center on social issues, the Dems lose their biggest stick to whack them with. They’ll have to have better policies than, “Oh, did AIG get bonuses we don’t like? That’s okay, we’ll just tax 90% of them! Happy now?” Uh… no.

Of course, the K-Lo’s and Kristols and Limbaughs and Hannitys of this world will want to strangle young McCain before she makes it out of her political cradle anyway, so let’s see how this plays out within the party first…

 

February 28, 2008

The Democrats and K-12 Education

Posted by Michael under Uncategorized | Tags: , , |
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If you were wondering what the educational policy differences were between Clinton and Obama, wonder no more.

Hat tip: Dana Goldstein, via Ezra Klein.

 

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