Senior White House adviser David Axelrod just made an appearance on MSNBC, and, as host Andrea Mitchell asked him about the elections last night (which, by the way, are being cast by some as an "awful day" for President Obama) and their implications, Axelrod noted that Democrat Bill Owens' surprise victory in New York's conservative 23rd district might pull some Blue Dog Democrats more in line with the president's agenda:
I think as the Blue Dogs welcome their new colleague Congressman Owens and remind themselves that he's the first Democrat to hold that seat in 140 years, since Ulysses S. Grant, and that he campaigned on the Obama program, they'll have to say, 'You know what, we're onto something here if we stick with the program...'
Post-election analysis from party strategists is to be taken with a grain of salt, and, especially
the day after an election, it's probably healthier to take it with more than one grain. But Axelrod's point is well-reasoned: if
Conservative Doug Hoffman had won--and particularly if he had won
big--it would have served as a warning to Democrats in conservative
districts that anti-tax, anti-spending, anti-Obama-agenda sentiment
will be a powerful force in 2010.
Instead, the White House and Democratic House leaders get to remind
them that, despite the quirks of the three-way (until this weekend)
NY-23 race, it was the Democrat who came out ahead...and that the
program might be worth sticking with.
On the other hand....
-A third party conservative came from way behind two weeks ago to put the election in doubt.
-The Democrat victor still garnered less than 50% of the votes.
-This was just one victory in a whole series of votes.
Something is going on and whether Axelrod wants to face it or not there are people out there that he and his party need to pay attention to.
Actually, quite to the contrary, the harder Right that Beck/Palin 'conservatives' tack, the more they ensure that Obama and his party DON'T need to pay attention to them. I'm sure he will still pay attention, because he's far more generous and genuinely bi-partisan than I am, but he doesn't need to. The hard Right is less than 20% of the country, and is totally, completely, and in all other ways unpersuadable about basically anything. But, their coalition is not strong enough to win elections, even in traditionally conservative districts, even when the Dems do a terrible job campaigning for their guy. That's how a rump party becomes marginalized.
OK, you had me through the part where you said Obama is genuinely more Bi than you are. Unfortunately there is a word thrown in the middle (partsan) that just doesn't make any sense. It throws the whole point you were making off kilter. You should fix this error immediately.
Axelrod has to say something.
After all, he just met:
THE AMERICAN REGENT
http://naturalfake.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/the-american-regent
I know the GOP is happy for any news that can be spun as good, but today's jubilation seems pretty ridiculous. Deeds ran a terrible campaign and gave Obama supporters very little reason to vote for him, and Corzine is an unpopular former Goldman Sachs Chairman at a time when most Americans (rightly, IMHO) hate bankers.
>Something is going on and whether Axelrod wants to face it or not there are people out there that he and his party need to pay attention to.
Something IS going on, but not sure what you're getting at. The only way these mid-terms are any kind of referendum on Obama is further proof that the voters who elected him want reform, not half-measures. The Democratic base didn't show up.
JB, NY-23 hasn't been represented by a Democrat in over 100 years. The special election was called to replace Republican Rep. John McHugh who won 60% of the vote in his last election.
The "third party conservative candidate" came from behind because he was the surrogate candidate of the right wing of the GOP. The right wingers shot themselves in the foot by driving moderate Republican DeDe Scozzafava out of the race. So, yes, there's something going on--but it's not a ringing endorsement of the increasingly rabid GOP base.
I used to think that Axelrod was really smart. Now, I am questioning that assumption.