and unfit to run this country

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102193.html

this needed its own thread. thanks hooksaw

[Edited on October 16, 2006 at 12:41 PM. Reason : .]

10/16/2006 12:40:53 PM

thanks hooksaw for pointing out 7 month old articles that say the same things that people have been saying for a long time (whether rightly or wrongly)

10/16/2006 12:42:19 PM

congratulations, you pasted a link to an opinion article, did mommy and daddy give you a hand on how to do this??

10/16/2006 12:43:52 PM

you people needed more doses of truth. the radical left is too radical, and the "moderate" left has no idea what they are doing. how are you going to take back america like that, huh?

^opinion? they talk about real events. refute those.

[Edited on October 16, 2006 at 12:44 PM. Reason : .]

10/16/2006 12:44:19 PM

just wait a few weeks. you'll see.

10/16/2006 12:45:54 PM

LOL

10/16/2006 12:46:40 PM

Sorry randy, but your hypocritical child molesting house republicans are getting the boot, son.

10/16/2006 1:15:56 PM

dis-strategery

10/16/2006 2:10:46 PM

I have said it before...as confident as you libs are...and i understand that you are confident...republicans are very confident that they will keep both houses...and they might even pick up some seats...im sure you can find me some polls or articles that say otherwise...but trust me....the GOP is confident

10/16/2006 2:27:08 PM

ok thanks

10/16/2006 2:28:31 PM

yup

10/16/2006 2:30:48 PM

Quote :

"republicans are very confident that they will keep both houses...and they might even pick up some seats"

riiiiiight.

keep both houses: maybe
keep the senate: likely
but a net gain of seats? no way in hell

10/16/2006 2:33:18 PM

like i said....i know you are confident


personally...i dont think they will make any gains...but i have friends who are like..."it will be a banner year for the GOP!!".....ehhh...i think they are nuts....but i dont think they will lose either house

10/16/2006 2:38:55 PM

North Carolina's Republicans are in danger. Heath Schuler is on the verge of winning as is Larry Kissel. that is two seats right there. Never mind the other seats throughout the country.

10/16/2006 2:42:27 PM

i dont think so...they will both pull it out....polls are polls

10/16/2006 2:47:35 PM

Look at the District Kissel is trying to get elected in then comeback and talk to me.

10/16/2006 2:48:50 PM

yeah....ive seen it

10/16/2006 2:49:31 PM

If you had seen it, you would know that it is a democratic district with more democrats elected on the local level then any other district in the south. Kissel's only problem was name recognition and that is now taken care of. +1 for the Democrats

10/16/2006 2:51:18 PM

yeah....you might be right....even still...one seat...

10/16/2006 2:55:41 PM

that is just one seat that over a month ago looked like the incumbent would win handedly, now the incumbent is trailing by a lot.

10/16/2006 2:59:45 PM

k...like i said...they wont make any gains...but they will keep both houses for sure

10/16/2006 3:02:46 PM

Quote :

"I have said it before...as confident as you libs are...and i understand that you are confident...republicans are very confident that they will keep both houses...and they might even pick up some seats...im sure you can find me some polls or articles that say otherwise...but trust me....the GOP is confident"

no shit they say they're confident

if they didn't say that, it would be like a boxing promoter saying "Yeah, my fighter's gonna get the shit beat out of him, but hey...it happens."

10/16/2006 4:40:42 PM

Robin Hayes called me to help them.

I worked there when I was in 9th grade.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

DIG DEEP!!!!!!!!

10/16/2006 4:55:53 PM

Hold up Randy, I have a Maureen Dowd piece that totally refutes your original post.

I'll post it in a minute

10/16/2006 6:43:13 PM

Karl Rove predicts they won't lose control, but lose a couple of seats.

As evil and corrupt as he is, I think he's probably right.

10/16/2006 8:47:21 PM

If there's ever been a chance for the dems to take over, this is the time. If they can't, then they're in worse shape than I thought, which doesn't bode well for '08...

10/16/2006 9:43:29 PM

Quote :

"as confident as you libs are"

what is a 'libs'

10/16/2006 9:45:35 PM

^liberals

10/17/2006 7:50:48 AM

First, Shailagh Murray and Charles Babington are experienced writers--not columnists--for the Washington Post, which is the newspaper that brought down Nixon. It is certainly not a conservative publication.

Second, does anyone dispute the report? If so, let's hear it.

10/17/2006 10:20:31 AM

Quote :

"k...like i said...they wont make any gains...but they will keep both houses for sure"

The sentiment in the beltline is quickly trending towards "lets just keep them from getting more than 20", almost like it is a foregone conclusion that they are going to give up the House.

10/17/2006 10:23:17 AM

^beltway

and

state409c is right

the house is gone, are you kool aid drinkers THAT delusional? look at the races. heather wilson is down 10 points in the latest polls...shays is in tight, simmons MIGHT pull it out...

and these are going to be the bell weather type races.

10/17/2006 10:54:56 AM

The House is gone. It would take a nuclear strike to save the house now and I wouldn't prefer it to Democrats controlling the House.

In fact, the whole lot of the them needs to be cleaned out to show them that we aren't all crazy.

10/17/2006 11:06:24 AM

Voting booths need a non-incumbent lever... we'd all save time.

10/17/2006 11:14:14 AM

Quote :

"Voting booths need a non-incumbent lever... we'd all save time."

A coworker always tells me he wish he could get the non-incumbent movement started.

Too many representatives are politicians, and not representatives.

10/17/2006 11:19:58 AM

problem with the "non-incumbent lever" is that it fucks your state/district big time, as incumbent advantage is not only built into the electoral process, but in determining committee positions and such, especially in the senate.

10/17/2006 11:26:14 AM

Quote :

"problem with the "non-incumbent lever" is that it fucks your state/district big time, as incumbent advantage is not only built into the electoral process, but in determining committee positions and such, especially in the senate."

If it fucks all states equally, then does it fuck anyone?

10/17/2006 11:31:21 AM

then committee assignments (budget, ways/means/approps) become arbitrary, and I would rather be able to have SOME say in whether i can [help] direct federal dollars [to the district/state i live in] rather than just luck of the draw.

i dont see much traction behind something like this, other than the feel good notion

[Edited on October 17, 2006 at 11:37 AM. Reason : .]

10/17/2006 11:34:15 AM

Quote :

"then committee assignments (budget, ways/means/approps) become arbitrary,"

You mean...become more democratic?

10/17/2006 11:38:02 AM

no

someone [in leadership] would have to assign them

what metric are they going to use as a general guideline if not time served factored in with specific [district] characteristics. (i.e. big ag state=ag committee, installation in district= armed services committee, etc etc)

face it, seniority is a main component of the system.

if you cant tell people back home you did this or that based on your degree of relevancy to the body to which you belong, who the fuck wants to vote for you? and if you're fresh off the boat as a back bencher, you're not getting on approps or rules or something like that...



[Edited on October 17, 2006 at 11:42 AM. Reason : .]

10/17/2006 11:41:44 AM

moving back to the thread topic

im curious though

for the Republicans saying the house wont flip...

(im a Republican)

where do you get the seats?

i can't make the magic number looking at the various races

or are most of you just parroting what the RNC/NRCC/NRSC put out as someone mentioned, because they have to as a press angle, not because they really believe that

10/17/2006 11:47:17 AM

Quote :

"and if you're fresh off the boat as a back bencher, you're not getting on approps or rules or something like that..."

Under the current system, but we aren't talking about that.

Besides, who said once you have to leave because of the incumbent lever, you can't come back 2 years later?

Quote :

"if you cant tell people back home you did this or that based on your degree of relevancy to the body to which you belong, who the fuck wants to vote for you?"

Most people in local elections are getting neutered versions of the truth as it is and aren't voting going backwards, they are voting going forward, which is why politicians are saying whatever it takes to get elected.



I'm just playing a little bit devils advocate here, I agree with you that an incumbent lever in general can't work, and indeed, some representatives are indeed that, not just politicians.

I'd rather see in each district a non-partisan overseer that acts as a BS filter to help voters cut through the crap.

It's one thing to be aware of what you want to vote on and compare it to a candidates platform, and papers usually do a good job of laying this out for people, but it takes an additional level of tedious research to go back in time, see what the incumbent promised, and see how he actually voted on the bills, to know whether he will actually do what he says he will do, rather than saying what he will do to get elected.

I'd rather not here Vernon Robinson's unprofessional rants. Give me some third party that says
in 2004, Miller said he would do this, this was his platform. This is how he voted on bills.

10/17/2006 12:03:10 PM

Quote :

"Under the current system, but we aren't talking about that."

but thats the thing,

in a body such as the house

with its' rules written the way they are

it REQUIRES leadership, much moreso than the senate

as such, somebody is having to make the placement decisions, and if it's not done by an elected leader (speaker), and the party conferences, as it's done now, who is going to make the calls?

10/17/2006 12:10:11 PM

more on the original thread topic

if the GOP maintains control of the house

it will be miraculous on the level of the MNF game last night...and the Dems will be the cards

a subpar team facing a defensive monster with an offense that couldnt do anything right but in the end still pulled it off on defense...

it can happen, but i just dont see it

10/17/2006 12:12:25 PM

also,

Howard Dean has a Dennis Green type meltdown in the post election news conferences

10/17/2006 1:12:22 PM

i just realized I just connected two worlds that on TWW are diametrically opposed to one another...and it's quite possible that in the context of each section by itself, no one knows what the fuck i am talking about

10/17/2006 1:45:50 PM

because no one who cares about sports cares about politics.

10/17/2006 2:00:11 PM

hey way to make my point that i already made

you are uniquely qualified to be here!

10/17/2006 2:03:12 PM

(i was being sarcastic)

10/17/2006 2:07:58 PM

Quote :

"and it's quite possible that in the context of each section by itself, no one knows what the fuck i am talking about "

do you honestly think you are the only one that lives sports and talks politics?

10/17/2006 2:22:05 PM

the majority of people who post in here or sports talk post almost entirely in one section or the other.

im flattered that you're personally insulted though

10/17/2006 2:30:00 PM