Posting Towards Gomorrah

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
When did the "a" change to "u"?

You tell me, Penske_Uccount.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
BTW, what will the Dems do if they retake the House? Seriously--what's the agenda? What will they attempt to accomplish?

(a) Not much, if they don't have the Senate and Bush is around to veto stuff.

(b) Fight with themselves, predictably. Both parties fight among themselves, but the Democrats like to share their fights with reporters.

(c) Investigate stuff. All sort of Administration activity, surely. Leading to....

(d) Fight with the Administration about whether and how it has to respond to Congressional subpoenas.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
No, precisely the opposite. But you're probably right about the lack of an agenda.

The Democrats have all sorts of ideas about policy. If you're implying that they haven't thought about what they want the government to do, I think you're mistaken. They probably have too many thoughts. But I suspect they lack consensus about where to spend political capital, not least because they don't even have it yet, and they don't have a unified message. So this means there's no agenda in the PR sense -- no clear public list of priorities.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
But I suspect they lack consensus about where to spend political capital, not least because they don't even have it yet, and they don't have a unified message. So this means there's no agenda in the PR sense -- no clear public list of priorities.

Do you think they will help their cause by not trotting out whatever message they can if they retake the House? I can see why many commentators have suggested they'd be better off not winning the house in 2006. That way they can run on pie in the sky ideas in 2008, whereas if they have control of the house, they could reasonably be expected to try to advance something . . . and if they fail, have it bite them.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Do you think they will help their cause by not trotting out whatever message they can if they retake the House? I can see why many commentators have suggested they'd be better off not winning the house in 2006. That way they can run on pie in the sky ideas in 2008, whereas if they have control of the house, they could reasonably be expected to try to advance something . . . and if they fail, have it bite them.

Help their cause before November or after? Right now, I think they're completely focused on trying to win the House. They think the GOP is unpopular, and they'd rather make the election a referendum on the GOP's record than on their proposals.

I disagree with this strategy because I don't think it takes too much of a short-term perspective. I think they need to talk more about what they'd do, because that's what gives them the political capital to do it later, whether or not voters picked them for that reason -- and I don't think their agenda will matter much to voters this fall.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
When did the "a" change to "u"?

Approximately 2 years after Calcutta became Kolkatta. You see, the newly independent nations can't have place names that are cruel reminders of their former colonial oppressors.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Do you think they will help their cause by not trotting out whatever message they can if they retake the House? I can see why many commentators have suggested they'd be better off not winning the house in 2006. That way they can run on pie in the sky ideas in 2008, whereas if they have control of the house, they could reasonably be expected to try to advance something . . . and if they fail, have it bite them.

It's not that they don't want to trot out their message and agenda. They simply can't agree on what it is. There are more factions in the Democratic Party than there are in the Republican Party right now, and there is no big gorilla everyone else feels they have to kowtow to the way the Rs all kiss the radical Christian right's ass.

Imagine we were all in the same political party for a minute. What would our message be? That will give you a good feel for the Ds current crisis, I think.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by taxwonk
It's not that they don't want to trot out their message and agenda. They simply can't agree on what it is. There are more factions in the Democratic Party than there are in the Republican Party right now, and there is no big gorilla everyone else feels they have to kowtow to the way the Rs all kiss the radical Christian right's ass.

Imagine we were all in the same political party for a minute. What would our message be? That will give you a good feel for the Ds current crisis, I think.

Free love and nickel beer.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by taxwonk


Imagine we were all in the same political party for a minute. What would our message be? That will give you a good feel for the Ds current crisis, I think.

And they want to be my latex salesman?

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
And they want to be my latex salesman?

Exactly.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Interesting article here in the New Republic about how the GOP has moved away from race-baiting -- with the exception of Sen. Allen -- in the last decade and about how this was driven in large part by evangelicals.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
bet 1 month board support? what is significant gains?

Sure, so long as I get credit for it this time [:sniff:].

Ah -- you have identified my fudge factor. I feel pretty comfortable saying a Dem net gain of 2-3 Senate seats.

P.S. In response to some later posts I noticed but have yet to fully read. I agree that the Board has begun to stink. I participate less than in the past due to time constraints. (kids
and work)

As you all know, I tend to play it straight, and don't much like the psycho socks or dada posts (had a soft spot for Gilligan, though) -- but, whatever turns you on.

S_A_M

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
Burger has some good shit, too.

And S_A_M.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Here's a correction to that map from the Detroit Free Press showing change in median income over the last six years. The national numbers are somewhat better than the Free Press reported, but still show a decline over the last six years. Some of the state-by-state numbers are quite different, though. Median income has declined the most in Wisconsin (-16.5%) and Michigan (-14.9%) and has increased the most in Hawaii (+14.3%) and North Dakota (+10.3%).

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by taxwonk

Imagine we were all in the same political party for a minute. What would our message be? That will give you a good feel for the Ds current crisis, I think.

dunno on message, but i would find someone to challenge Ty in the primary.