Hey democrats

[billvon 2,442]

Yes, we all know the democrats swept the elections this cycle. Presidency by a big margin, gains in both senate and house, a blowout upset if you go by the "deskewed" conservative projections. And yes, that's a popular endorsement of the democrats over the republicans, and an indication that they enjoy significant public support. Even now there is talk of how the Tea Party is dead and will no longer influence the US political climate, and that the GOP will be playing catch-up for a long time. And indeed they are in a tough position; as the economy continues to recover after all their dire warnings - and Obama obstinately refuses to turn into Karl Marx or Osama bin Laden - they will have less and less credibility when they claim the end is nigh. Polls indicate that voters will blame the GOP if we go over the fiscal cliff, which seems to give democrats a pretty free hand.

But I wouldn't be too happy, democrats. History has a pretty clear cycle; the average time for a party to stay in power is about nine years. Sometimes it's longer, sometimes it's a lot shorter. And while the economy will continue to recover, there are some very serious problems looming over it - and it will invariably crash again in ten years or so, as it always does. And when it does, there's going to be plenty of blame to be had - and it will all be pointing at you.

So you have a few choices going forward.

First off, you can take the path it looks like you're taking so far. Pat yourselves on the back, decide that you don't need to compromise on anything because THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN, and continue business as usual. Get into rancorous arguments, blame the GOP for everything, bloviate on how mean they are. Go over that cliff and blame the GOP. People will probably buy it, at least for a bit. Taking that path I could see you having another four, _maybe_ six years of electoral successes before people get sick of the party in power and revert to the "throw the bums out!" meme.

Or you can take the middle road. Act like you lost the election - or perhaps just act as if it was a very close election and you saw no gains. Treat voters as if you have to win them back next time, because you do. Specifically:

-Compromise on spending. Give the GOP the spending cuts they are asking for; match them on cuts you guys want, like defense. "I'll cut if you cut" is a strong position to bargain from, especially when you are up against the party of "cut spending."

-Compromise on tax increases. You're going to be able to axe the majority of Bush tax cuts, especially for the rich. Don't get greedy; don't try to go after more than that.

-Keep unions at arm's length. They have been staunch supporters of the democrats for a long time but they are sort of taking control of the party. And they have amassed enough power on their own that they don't need an entire political party supplementing that power. Send em some nice thank you notes and concentrate on more important things.

-As the economy recovers don't take all the credit for it. While government has a small role in our economy - mainly not damaging it unnecessarily - most of what happens with our economy is up to the companies and the people who drive it. And if you take credit for the good times, you'll take the blame for the hard times. A good thing to learn from the GOP's mistakes during the last cycle.

And yes, even if you do all that, the republicans may be obstinate. But wouldn't you rather be seen as the party that tried, only to be thwarted by a party that refused to work with you? Rather than seen as one of the two reasons our government _still_ doesn't work?

[kallend 1,653]

Just to be clear, the Dems also won the overall popular vote in House elections, 49.68 percent to 48.42. The GOP only has a house majority because it gerrymandered the districts.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[lawrocket 3]

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The GOP only has a house majority because it gerrymandered the districts.

Huh? The GOP cannot gerrymander. Second, I live in Cali and gerrymandering is downright extreme here. And third, name a district that has not been gerrymandered. here are the ones I know of:
(1) Alaska
(2) Delaware
(3) Montana
(4) North Dakota
(5) South Dakota
(6) Vermont
(7) Wyoming
(8) District of Columbia

Because they only have one electoral district. Other than that, it's all been gerrymandered. Drawn and redrawn by the parties in power.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[likearock 1]

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Quote

The GOP only has a house majority because it gerrymandered the districts.

Huh? The GOP cannot gerrymander. Second, I live in Cali and gerrymandering is downright extreme here. And third, name a district that has not been gerrymandered. here are the ones I know of:
(1) Alaska
(2) Delaware
(3) Montana
(4) North Dakota
(5) South Dakota
(6) Vermont
(7) Wyoming
(8) District of Columbia

Because they only have one electoral district. Other than that, it's all been gerrymandered. Drawn and redrawn by the parties in power.

Yes, both parties are not blameless here. But the aggregate stats that Kallend provides show that Republicans do it to a greater degree.

[champu 1]

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Just to be clear, the Dems also won the overall popular vote in House elections, 49.68 percent to 48.42. The GOP only has a house majority because it gerrymandered the districts.

Pretending, for a moment, that this wasn't a flagrant attempt to derail an otherwise refreshingly interesting topic of discussion...

What I conclude from the statistic presented is simply something we've known for a while, there's not only an ideological divide between the parties but a geographical one as well. People tend to amalgamate, and that only adds to the challenge of the party in power to make the right decisions such that they don't fall out of a favor in the predictable fashion Bill described.

[Niki1 1]

I wish the leaders of the national parties would read that.

Politics is the art of the possible. If both sides realize that anyting can affect everything, there is a lot to bargain with on both sides. If either side says that something is "non-negoticiable" things are going to get bad fast. For both sides.

Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done.
Louis D Brandeis

Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

[Shredex 0]

We just need a Libertarian in office. Stop this two-party crap where the media controls who wins.

[billeisele 122]

isn't it interesting that one group can "win" by 1-2 or 5% then proclaim that they "have the support of the people"

if any of them gave a hoot about the good of the country many issues would be easy to solve

Give one city to the thugs so they can all live together. I vote for Chicago where they have strict gun laws.

[kallend 1,653]

Quote

isn't it interesting that one group can "win" by 1-2 or 5% then proclaim that they "have the support of the people"

if any of them gave a hoot about the good of the country many issues would be easy to solve

Would you prefer the situation in 2000, when the "winner" had fewer votes from the people than the "loser"?

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[billvon 2,442]

>We just need a Libertarian in office.

We've had them for quite a while. Yes, having more than two parties, overall, will help us.

[billvon 2,442]

>if any of them gave a hoot about the good of the country many issues would be easy to solve

The vast majority of them do give a hoot, in my experience. The problems arise because:

1) they discover they have to adopt their party's platform if they want to be elected

2) a lot of people out there equate "caring about the country" to "doing exactly what I want them to do" - and thus are usually disappointed

3) The popular thing to do is often not the right thing to do. Most politician's biggest fault is that they DO do what their constituents want. (And in a representative democracy, it's hard to get around that one.)

[RonD1120 58]

Luke ''The Drifter'' says:
"We Americans got so tired of being thought of as dumbasses
by the rest of the world that we went to the polls this November
and removed all doubt."

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.