I'm sorry, I guess I must be a little dense. Either that, or I'm just not hearing this right, because I just ain't gettin any part of this argument. Personally, I thought the Republicans did pretty darn well on Tuesday. I guess where my confusion comes in is because I’ve watched as it has been reiterated by any number of people that November 2, 2010 produced a real ground swell and that the Republican Party made its largest single day gains in the House of Representatives since 1948. Can you imagine, 1948! As well, it made the largest gains of any political party in local, state, and federal races combined in more than 100 years. But wait, there’s more, 19 state legislative bodies ultimately flipped to the GOP. Of the 18 states that will gain or lose seats in Congress for the next decade, the GOP now controls 12 of the 18 Governor’s Mansions. The Democrats have all but been wiped out except among those specific coastal enclaves inhabited by the loony liberal elites and of course those containing the majority of minority districts. And the GOP, long said to not be able to make inroads in New England, now controls the Maine Governor’s Mansion, the Maine legislature, the New Hampshire Legislature, a New Hampshire Senate seat, and several congressional seats. So I guess I'm just not understanding how, exactly, any of that equates to this election having been a failure. The argument just doesn't hold water. I mean, here we are sitting on top of gains that can truly be called historic, and we still have a surprisingly large number of critics trying to make the claim that the election was somehow a disappointment. Am I missing something here? These mealy-mouthed crybabies running around doing all of this complaining are accomplishing nothing more than to show Americans what their real priorities are.
Because, it would appear that that sniveling little weasel Lindsey Graham, along with an odd collection of several others including I'm told, Trent Lott, who strangely enough is now being paraded about as being nothing short of an elder statesman, are now whining incessantly about how the Republicans should have, could have, won the Senate. And as their rather warped little theory goes, were it not for the fact that we had some seriously flawed candidates, that realistically the Republicans could have achieved at least an even split. Never mind the fact that the primary reason for this failure having occurred is the fact that very few people have been convinced that the Senate GOP has actually learned any lessons from either 2006 or 2008. But instead of placing any responsibility upon themselves, these self-serving cowards, now feel compelled to blame someone, anyone, but themselves, for lacking the sufficient vision, commitment and determination. This type of behavior is no different than Barry's when he goes around blaming the voters for Democrat losses, accusing them of not appreciating all that “he” has chosen to do for them, with the Senate GOP now blaming, of all people, conservatives for their own ineptness regarding the failed attempt to regain control of the Senate. And the main recipient of that blame seems to be focused on none other than (drum roll), Senator Jim DeMint. Yup, can you believe it? The man who should be viewed as being more of a savior, and without whom, gains made would have been substantially fewer in number, is now viewed as being at fault for the fact that "Dingy" Harry still runs the Senate. These pathetic hypocrites have the gall to accuse the one man responsible for many of the impressive victories that were racked up, as "not being a team player." Here's a question for ya. Just whose team is it that ol' Lindsey plays on? It seems to change with whichever direction the political winds may be blowing at the time. And just who did this worthless fraud of Republican go out and campaign for? I don’t recall seeing him anywhere out there! What did he personally do that could have increased the odds of us winning the Senate seat in either Nevada or Delaware, or both? NOTHING! NOT A DAMN THING! And after offering little or no assistance to either Angle or O'Donnell, those who view themselves as being members of some sort of GOP political hierarchy, still have the nerve to do nothing more than to blame DeMint? GIVE ME A BREAK! And then, I think it was on Wednesday morning, I heard Bill Kristol, supposedly the conservative’s conservative, on Bill Bennett's radio show, again casting blame on the Republican candidates in those very same contests, and thus in a round about way, on DeMint, for the not being able to win these crucial seats. Saying that when you have flakey candidates, it can effect the election outcome. Who is Kristol to decide which candidates may, or may not, be flakey? These two people won their primaries fair and square, and as such were deserving of support by the party. Ya know, speaking of flawed or flakey candidates, can anyone say John McCain? Yet if I remember correctly, there was good old Lindsey standing right by McCain’s side throughout 2008. These days I view Kristol as being more like one of those inside the beltway elites and as being so far out of touch with reality that his opinion really matters very little anymore. It's guys like this who always make sure to speak in terms that won’t adversely effect they're chances of being included on any of the proper DC dinner party guest lists.
Senate Republicans, and any number of notable, loud-mouthed RNC sources, would be serving themselves much better, I think, if they were a little more hesitant about going around, essentially to any state-run media outlet that will put them on the air, and whining about Jim DeMint. I mean let's be serious, that type of behavior is not only more than just a little petty, it's also destructive in that it clearly shows a very distinct lack of unity. Unity that is so desperately needed right now. Because unity is going to be what’s needed if we are ever going to have any hope of achieving some level of success over the course of the next two years as we prepare for the next election. It certainly isn't the type of behavior that instills any level of confidence in the leadership of the party, that's for darn sure. Maybe instead of blaming the good Senator from South Carolina, the NRSC "Dynamic Duo" of John Cornyn and Rob Jesmer, and to a lesser the RNC itself, should step up to the plate and accept a good share of the blame themselves, if they're so determined to find blame. After all, it is because of people such as these, that the level of distrust of the GOP remains so high among so many in the general voting public. They simply are not seen as being trustworthy individuals who are truly committed to the advancing of the conservative agenda. In other words, they are doing much more harm than good to the conservative cause. And I'm still not certain whether even now many of them see the bigger picture here. And without that having yet occurred, they place in jeopardy any possibility of Republicans making any potential gains that stand to be made in 2012, when there will be 21 Democrat Senators up for re-election. For the record, that's twice as many as the number of Republicans who will be in the same situation. But then, I suppose they’ll just find someone else to blame for whatever losses that may be incurred or failed attempts made to gain additional congressional seats. It would seem that we have a good many Republican Senators who are quite content being in the minority, actually preferring that scenario rather than being “forced” into supporting conservative candidates which might actually achieve for them the majority status. How demented is that? What just might have to be done here, is to have guys like Graham and even Cornyn put into the position of having to face a stiff primary challenge. A challenge from someone who is actually conservative so that we can then simply move past them and their rather outdated, and rather perverse, way of looking at things.
Here are the facts as stated on Redstate:
"1. Jim DeMint is being blamed for Sharron Angle’s nomination in Nevada. DeMint specifically did not endorse nor campaign for Sharron Angle prior to her nomination. Even here at RedState, I backed Danny Tarkanian.
2. Jim DeMint waited until the end of the Delaware Primary to endorse Christine O’Donnell and, frankly, I’d rather Chris Coons than Mike Castle. You may not think you would, but you would. But that is beside the point. O’Donnell was a week away from the primary and already ahead in the polls before DeMint said one word or spent one dime.
3. In Colorado, and this is the biggie, Ken Buck barely lost. The NRSC, shortly before the end of the Colorado Primary, sent millions to Jane Norton freeing her up to attack Ken Buck to be anti-women. Michael Bennet then picked up Norton’s campaign attacks and clobbered Buck.
4. Likewise in Colorado, neither the NRSC or the RNC funded GOTV program. They relied on the Republican Governor’s Association, which left Colorado when Dan Maes cratered.
5. Instead of pouring in additional resources to Washington, Colorado, etc., the NRSC sent $8 million to California in the last week for Carly Fiorina who lost by somewhere around ten points.
6. In Alaska, Jim DeMint did nothing to help or support or fund Joe Miller until after he became the Republican nominee. Not including the NRSC, Jim DeMint spent $727,000.00 to help Joe Miller. The rest of the Senate GOP members combined contributed roughly $25,000.00 each. [correction: I didn't write that last sentence correctly and have updated]
7. GOP Senate candidates underperformed their polling at around 3% in most races. Why? Because the NRSC did not fund a ground game operation, nor did the RNC. They either left it to Karl Rove or Haley Barbour. There was not, as in past years, a mass exodus of GOP Hill Staffers from Washington to the ground in swing states."
But there is an even larger point to be made here. If we're being honest here, most of what occurred on Tuesday, other than the losses in Nevada and Delaware, happened in spite of the NRSC not because of it. Remember, even before this whole election cycle got started, these rocket scientists had taken it upon themselves to back pretty much all of the wrong horses. They tried to be cute in their attempt to dictate to voters, and in several different states, who the "appropriate" or "acceptable" Republican candidates should be. How dare they be so arrogant as to believe that they should be the ones to go about the dictating to anyone, who is or who is not to be considered as being a viable candidate. Hence, Christine O’Donnell’s and Sharron Angle’s primary wins were largely reactions brought about by the very nefarious actions of the NRSC. These supposed "elites," these pseudo-conservative know-it-alls of the party, seem to think they know much better than the people, when it comes to whom it is that should be chosen to represent those people in Congress. From the perspective of these political aristocrats, these self-identified power brokers, they and they alone, are to be the ones to decide such lofty matters, as they see themselves as being much better equipped to make the correct decision. They are to be the ones to have the privilege of selecting who it is that should have the opportunity to become a member of their rather exclusive little club called the U.S. Senate. Recently even Indiana governor, Mitch Daniels, who is I'm told a potential contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, felt compelled to add in his two cents to the whine and cheese party, saying, “We didn't turn up the strongest candidates.” Presumably he too was referring to the tea party-backed candidates, who won their primaries but lost Tuesday in Colorado, Delaware and Nevada. Was this just one more thinly veiled swipe at DeMint? So it would just seem that we now have far too many on our side, in the Senate as well as, apparently, in some supposed presidential hopefuls, who appear to be much more eager to aggressively challenge conservatives than they are willing to challenge Barry "Almighty." So do these individuals view conservatives as being a bigger threat to this country than Barry is? That mentality is definitely going to have to change, and very quickly, if we are to have any chance of being able to turn back some of what Barry has managed to do. Since the election many of the right things have been said by the leadership in public, but we should be very wary and not be I an hurry to take anything that has thus far been said at face value. Actions will be what speaks louder than words currently being uttered, and now is the time for that action to begin. Only time will tell if the words being spoken today, with victory still fresh in everyone's mind, will turn in action tomorrow. So until that action materializes, the verdict will remain out.
Now compare the mentality of those who comprise the NRSC against that of those who presently make up the House campaign body, the NRCC. I'm sure many of us remember back to how it was that those folks got clobbered over the NY-23 debacle and the supposed Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava. Well, it would seem that that little experience taught them a very valuable lesson, because since that little fiasco, the NRCC has decided to take more of a hands off approach in letting the local voters actually choose their own local candidates. And look at the results that were accomplished. A historic gain of 60+ seats in the House! But those who comprise the NRSC still just don’t seem to get it. Nope! After all, these guys are in the Senate, the upper chamber and thus consider themselves as being on a slightly higher plain than those in the House, or we the little people who are, from their point of view, the great unwashed masses. They’re much more worldly than we the people, and should therefore have more of a say regarding any prospective members. So a rather different tack was taken, with it doubling up around the country essentially igniting a civil war, of sorts, during the campaign, with the grassroots. A civil war that would have never even happened but for their meddling in the Florida contest and doing their best to steer that contest toward Charlie Crist. Regarding Crist, the people of Florida knew from the outset what was best for them, and that most certainly wasn’t Crist. And in the end the people were proven to be right, and in a big, big way. But those in the NRSC just could not bring themselves to leave well enough alone. And now all they can do is whine about it and to blame DeMint? Sorry, but that's nothing short of lame. And you know, DeMint must be doing something right, for him to have many on the left, such as those loons over that the Daily Kos, going absolutely out of their minds.
The NRSC’s argument amounts to nothing more than telling the world that voters exercising their right to pick their own candidates are just too stupid and Jim DeMint, well he’s just as stupid for siding with the voters. Now can someone please tell exactly what level of confidence, or trust for that matter, that such a mentality will bring about? Because I see this type of idiotic behavior succeeding in doing nothing more than to push people further away from the Republican Party. And if that is their intent here, than maybe it’s these folks that need to gotten rid of next. Because it is those in the NRSC who would have you believe that Arlen Specter was more viable than Pat Toomey, that Charlie Crist was more viable than Marco Rubio or that Mike Castle was more viable that Christine O’Donnell. Or for that matter, that Lisa "Sore Loser" Murkowski is more viable than is Joe Miller! Oh, and by the way, that would be the same Lisa "Sore Loser" Murkowski, who during the primary said that she is NOT in favor of repealing Obamacare. Now I know every now and again that I do experience instances where I may be a little short on the uptake, but does any of this cockamamie notion really make sense to anyone? And you know, this is what really scares the crap outta me about these guys. I mean, honestly, just what planet is it that they think they are living on? Because I think it's now time for more than just a little honesty here. The NRSC and RNC have absolutely no one to blame but themselves for Republicans having lost at least two crucial Senate races. These guys need to get their heads out of their collective butt. Because all they are going to succeed in doing by participating in such antics is to add even more fuel to the drive for a third party movement in this country. Or, perhaps maybe that’s their intent. I guess only time will tell, but I’m just not that confident that these guys will get their act together in time. But, we’ll see.
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