DAYLEE PICTURE: A mantis in Borneo. From the Daily Mail of the UK.
"Second terms often bring a new set of frustrations for a president, following the laws of diminishing returns and lame-duckiness. But history also shows that a second term is required to create, or to ratify, presidential greatness — and in that sense, Obama is not ambivalent about his ambitions."
21 Reasons for Obama's Victory and Romney's Defeat (Tom Bevan and Carl M. Cannon) from Real Clear Politics
"...the Republican ticket’s razor-thin losses in those battleground states indicate that this outcome was not foreordained. And as Al Gore and George W. Bush learned in 2000, if you win -- or lose -- a race this close, there are a hundred pivot points that explain the result. Here are 21 of them:...
The End of a Long, Ugly Road for the GOP’s Southern Strategy (Melinda Henneberger) from the Washington Post
"Ann Romney said one thing during her husband’s presidential run that no one can dispute: “This is hard,” she said of the slog. (Actually being president is hard, too, as George W. Bush once noted 11 times in a single debate.) Here’s one campaign call, though, that should never have been a head-scratcher: Running on white resentment is not a winning strategy, and the next Republican who tries it will lose, too."
A New America Speaks (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post
So much for voter suppression. So much for the enthusiasm gap. So much for the idea that smug, self-appointed arbiters of what is genuinely “American” were going to “take back” the country, as if it had somehow been stolen. On Tuesday, millions of voters sent a resounding message to the take-it-back crowd: You won’t. You can’t. It’s our country, too."
The Emerging America (Fareed Zakaria) from the Washington Post
"Growing up in India in the 1960s and 1970s, I always thought of America as the future. It was the place where the newest technology, the best gadgets and the latest fads seemed to originate. Seemingly exotic political causes — women’s liberation, gay rights, the fight against ageism — always seemed to get their start on the streets or in the legislatures and courts of the United States. ... For me, Tuesday’s elections brought back that sense of America as the land of the future."
Vote was Astronomical for Obama in Some Philadelphia Wards from the Philadelphia Inquirer
"In a city where President Obama received more than 85 percent of the votes, in some places he received almost every one. In 13 Philadelphia wards, Obama received 99 percent of the vote or more."
Cuban-Americans Move Left from the Wall Street Journal [partial
subscription wall]
"Like many Cuban-Americans here, Mark Blanco says he grew up in a strictly Republican family that revered Ronald Reagan and reliably voted for GOP candidates every election. So he says his grandfather fumed when Mr. Blanco told him he was casting a ballot for President Barack Obama on Election Day."
Elizabeth Warren, Wall Street Critic, Stands Good Chance Of Getting Senate Banking Seat from the Huffington Post
"The chances are good, but not guaranteed, that Elizabeth Warren will secure a highly coveted seat on the Senate Banking Committee, a move that would dramatically elevate her campaign against Wall Street excess."
Mitt Romney Had Every Chance to Win—But He Blew It (Michael Hirsh) from the National Journal
"With plenty of paths to victory, Romney simply didn’t give voters enough of a reason to support him over Obama."
For U.S. Chamber of Commerce, election was a money-loser from the Washington Post
"The Chamber spent nearly $24 million to defeat several high- profile Democratic Senate candidates, including Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, former governor Timothy M. Kaine in Virginia and Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. But out of 15 Senate races where the business organization put down money, only two went the Chamber’s way."
The Tea Party Is Dead. Long Live the Tea Party (Kevin Drum) from Mother Jones Magazine
"The tea party has done its job, and for all practical purposes its hard-nosed, no-compromise ideology now controls the Republican Party in a way that neither the Birchers nor the Clinton conspiracy theorists ever did. It's no longer a wing of the Republican Party, it is the Republican Party."
The GOP Must Choose: Rush Limbaugh or Minority Voters (Conor Friedersdorf) from the Atlantic
"The talk radio host is the voice of a coalition totally oblivious to how its racially-charged rhetoric sounds."
Rebuilding the GOP’s Appeal (Michael Gerson) from the Washington Post
"As a matter of strategy, it is generally not a good idea to express disdain for an electorate one hopes to eventually influence. ... These changes call for another, more hopeful conservative tradition: that of Edmund Burke."
Maybe Gerson will have better luck with this line than David Brooks or Andrew Sullivan. My suspicion is that more thrashings will have to occur first.
Election Leaves Republicans at a Loss for Answers (Tom Cohen) from CNN
"Listening to Republicans try to explain what went wrong in their
worse-than-expected election thumping reveals a party struggling to define itself amid continuing change in the nation it seeks to lead."
Conservatives Struggle To Explain How Mitt Romney Lost 2012 Presidential Election from the Huffington Post
"The evidence behind the president’s victory points toward a stronger appeal to middle-class Americans, one of the most formidable ground games in the history of politics, and serious failures within the GOP to attract Latino and women voters. But a faction of conservatives were having none of it -- offering up instead a series of explanations for their nominee’s loss, rounded up below:"
THAT'S RIGHT! Don't buy into the liberal media clap-trap! A pox on those Latinos! Obama's campaign suppressed GOP voters! Women need to simply vote as their right-thinking white husbands tell them to! That's the ticket!
WIS-Sen. (R) Ron Johnson Blames Obama's Victory On Ignorant Electorate (Amanda Terkel) from the Huffington Post
""If you aren't properly informed, if you don't understand the problems facing this nation, you are that much more prone to falling prey to demagoguing solutions. And the problem with demagoguing solutions is they don't work," "
As a GOP lawmaker, he should know all "demagoguing solutions".
Mitt Romney’s ORCA Program Couldn't Stay Afloat from Politico
"Numerous Republicans in and around the Romney campaign called the ORCA platform a total bust, stranding thousands of volunteers without a way of reporting data back to headquarters and leaving Romney central command without a clear view of developments on the ground."
Want some detail on how bad ORCA was? Check out this item!
The Unmitigated Disaster Known As Project ORCA from Ace of Spades HQ
"Project ORCA is a massive undertaking – the Republican Party’s newest, unprecedented and most technologically advanced plan to win the 2012 presidential election."
Life after Defeat for Mitt Romney: Public Praise, Private Questions from the Washington Post
"Mitt Romney began his retreat from public life Wednesday at a private breakfast gathering with a couple hundred of his most loyal and affluent campaign benefactors. The former Massachusetts governor, humbled by the thumping that ended his six-year pursuit of the presidency, reminisced about the journey and tried not to cry."
How the GOP’s War on Voting Backfired (Ari Berman) from the Nation
"By pushing voter suppression laws, Republicans wanted the 2012 electorate to be older, whiter and more conservative than the young and diverse 2008 electorate. But the GOP’s suppression strategy failed. Ten major restrictive voting laws were blocked in court and turnout among young, black and Hispanic voters increased as a share of the electorate relative to 2008."
The Power of Truth: In the 2012 Election, Reality Overwhelmed Pretense, Gamesmanship, and Self-deception (William Saletan) from Slate
"Every four years, the race for the White House ends in accusations of deceit. Each side says the other spent millions of dollars to lie and skew the outcome. This year’s post-election accounts of backstage calculations and fateful turning points continue that tradition. But if you read these accounts carefully, you’ll find a happy surprise beneath the spin and recriminations: Lies failed. Truth prevailed."
Weekly Standard: Republicans Must Play White Identity Politics Better Next Time (Alex Pareene) from Salon
"Jay Cost calls on the GOP to nominate someone whites will really love, like Nixon."
State of Denial from the Econmist [of London]
"It was a telling moment of denial, much like the comforting myth that there is no such thing as climate change or, if there is, that humans are not involved. Ensconced in a parallel world of conservative news sources and conservative arguments, all manner of comforting alternative visions of reality surfaced during the 2012 election."
7 Right-Wingers Lashing Out at America For Not Electing Romney from Alternet
"Conservative media figures attacked Americans for reelecting President Obama, with most claiming that those who voted for Obama did so because they see him as Santa Claus and just "want free stuff." Others, like Fox News' Greg Gutfeld, likened Obama voters to "the wife who ignores a horrible husband because she can't imagine an alternative.""
Small Business Owner Fires Workers After Mitt loses from Salon
"After failing to coerce his employees with anti-Obama civics courses, a Las Vegas proprietor lashes out."
Republicans ‘Test’ For Voting Fraud, Wind Up In Custody from Talking Points Memo
"Two Republicans in separate states were taken into police custody during the past week for allegedly attempting to test how easy it would be to commit voter fraud. ... “From what we understand, he was trained by the Republican Party,” Sandoval told TPM."
Analysis: Obama May Now Seek to Make Deeper Mark on High Court from Reuters
"President Barack Obama's election victory on Tuesday may give him the opportunity to deepen his liberal imprint on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Is Beau Biden Democrats' Next Emerging Star? (Erin McPike) from Real Clear Politics
"Talk of the 2016 presidential election has already begun, and though Democrats like what they see in terms of demographic trends in the electorate, they also have a weakness to consider at this point: The bench of potential contenders for the next election -- aside from Hillary Clinton, who has said she will not run -- is thin, especially in
comparison to the GOP’s."
TV EDITORIAL NUGGET!!
Rachel Maddow on Obama's Re-election from MSNBC
In the main, I rarely see Rachel Maddow's program -- but this commentary is spot-on!!
"Last night was a good night for liberals and for Democrats for very obvious reasons. But it was also, possibly, a good night for this country as a whole.
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