News Nuggets 1109

DAYLEE PICTURE: A tiny mantis larvae in an American flower.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT SENATE REFORM NUGGET!!
Democratic Solution To The Filibuster: Make Them Talk (Ryan Grim) from the Huffington Post
"The next time a minority of senators find something the majority supports to be objectionable, they may be required to take the Senate floor and explain just why they object. And when they're done with that, they'll have to keep talking, and talking, and talking."

UP-FRONT CAMPAIGN NUGGET!!
The Sore Losers Club (Steve Kornacki) from Salon
"Romney and Ryan have an excuse, of course: It was only last week that they lost, so the wounds are still raw. The question is whether they’ll end up like John McCain, who is still clearly not over his loss to Obama four years ago. [...] For years, McCain was one of the most popular politicians in the country. His reputation took a hit in ’08, but he had an opportunity to restore it in defeat. Instead, he’s behaved like an embittered partisan warrior. And so far, it’s an example that Romney and Ryan are following."

The Petraeus Affair’s Resulting Witch Hunt (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"The “keep cool” advice seems especially useful now that Washington’s latest set of scandals is entering the phase of congressional investigation, righteous political indignation and public penance. At times like this, people tend to repeat the old bromide “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” But it can also be toxic under the wrong
circumstances."

Meet Second-Term Obama (John Dickerson) from Slate
"He doesn’t need to say he has a mandate. He just plans to act like he does."

In U.S., Views of Obama, Democrats Improve After Election; Favorable Opinions of Obama Highest in Three Years from Gallup
"Now that the presidential election is over, Americans look a bit more positively toward both the winner (Barack Obama) and the loser (Mitt Romney) than they did in the final days leading up to the election. "

Rice's Chances of Being Nominated Probably Just Increased from Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
"If you thought that Obama might decide to pass on nominating Susan Rice to be the next Secretary of State, think again. Yesterday's confrontation might have been the best thing to happen to her chances of being nominated."

Scapegoating Susan Rice Does U.S. No Good (Robert Kagan) from the Washington Post
"Republicans also need to do their part to show that the partisan sniping of the recent campaign season is over and that they know it is time to get serious again. One place to start would be to back off their promises to oppose the nomination of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice as secretary of state."

Tax Haters Figure Out They’re Screwed (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"The main task before President Obama now is to yank the debate over taxes and spending back from the far right, where it has lingered for the last two years, and toward the center. He has to demonstrate that the dynamic that held in 2011, when Republicans could wrench concessions out of him by holding the economy hostage, has been replaced by a new one in which the Republicans’ gun is aimed at themselves. So far it’s working."

Most Republican States Won’t Build Exchanges and That Is a Good Thing (Jon Walker) from Firedoglake
"If states want to go beyond what a federal exchange would do, like California’s exchange which will be an active purchaser or D.C.’s which will combine all the small markets, only then does it make sense for a state to make the investment in building their own system. On the other hand, there really is no point in a state taking all the effort to build an exchange that only meets the minimum federal standard and will be basically identical to having a federally run exchange."

Romney's Campaign Surrogates Are Done Defending Him (Josh Voorhees) from Slate
"Romney's fellow Republicans—those still in office and/or those harboring dreams of higher office—wasted little time putting some space between themselves and their former presidential nominee."

At Republican Governors' Gathering, Plenty of Blame for Romney from Los Angeles Times
"The conference is the first meeting of party leaders since the election, and there's ample discussion of what went wrong."

The Real Romney (William Saletan) from Slate
"Another secret recording shows what Romney really thinks about minorities, birth control, and public assistance."

Why the Republican Party Needs to Wake Up (Megan McCain) from the Daily Beast
"Four years after her father lost his bid for presidency, Meghan McCain on why the Republican Party is still having a major identity crisis."

The Republicans Still Don’t Get It (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post
"I know it’s early, but I have a sinking feeling the Republican Party is taking all the wrong lessons from last week’s election. Short term, that’s a boon for Democrats. Long term, it’s a problem for the country."

Let’s Just Say It, Karl Rove Is A Big Part Of The Problem from National Memo
"Now that Rove’s own permanent campaign against the president has failed and he ‘s seeking to change the Republican Party’s ground game to more closely resemble what Dean built for 2008 and what the Tea Party replicated in 2010, the poetic justice is rich ..."

Five 2016 Contenders Who Are Throwing Romney Under The Bus (Henry Decker) from National Memo
"Notably, most of the Republicans who have spoken out against Romney’s misguided election postscript are considered to be rising stars of the party — and potential presidential nominees in 2016. "

Republicans Outspent Democrats by Over $100 Million in Battlegrounds (Markos Moulitsas) from Daily Kos
"In fact, Republicans outspent Democrats in every state except for New Hampshire, where the good guys had a $100,000-edge. In all the battlegrounds combined, they outspent us by a crazy $115 million."

Romney Sinks Quickly in Republicans’ Esteem (Dan Eggen) from the Washington Post
"Ten days after failing to sail into the White House, Mitt Romney is already being tossed overboard by his party."

Romney Gets the Last Gaffe (Alex Koppelman) from the New Yorker
"Indeed, part of his problem throughout this campaign, and the one before it, is that he’s never been good at disguising his lack of respect for the American electorate. His changing positions, his evasions about them, his misrepresentations—they all, ultimately, came off as a challenge: I think you’re too stupid not to fall for this. And there are very few people who appreciate being told they’re dumb, or the person who said it."