M Night Bipartisans' The Village

They're coming.

The Village Bipartisan Idiots.

They'll never leave Obama alone until he becomes one of them.

Their attack is already underway from people like Nebraska's Bob Kerrey.

I believe this is likely because Obama will surround himself with professionals, not ideologues or acolytes. An unprecedented number of patriotic, politically savvy and centrist men and women have been part of his campaign team - and are therefore likely to make up President Obama's governing team.

I believe this is likely because of who Obama is. Republicans have tried desperately to paint the man as a secret radical. But the imagery just doesn't connect; Americans see a man who is calm, respectful, considerate and careful. That is just what the doctor ordered for our politics.

Last, I believe this is likely because Obama understands that to succeed, he must make peace with John McCain just as he has done with Hillary Clinton. When this historic election concludes, I expect the two to sit down, without precondition, and negotiate an agenda of reform.

But that will only be the beginning. To build up the political capital for the kinds of changes needed in these difficult times, Obama will need to communicate the following to Congress, in no uncertain terms: The Democrats have not won a mandate for all their policies. Rather, the American people have resoundingly registered their frustration with a failed status quo, and the next President must chart a new, less partisan course.

Bob Kerrey is only the start of the Sensible Washington Establishment douchebaggery that will start in long and loud on November 5.

Everyone in the Village Idiot club, left, right, "sensible" center, will be saying how Obama now needs to immediately do whatever the hell the GOP wants to do as a "bi-partisan effort".

There will be a good two months of pressure for Obama to:

1. Keep as much of Bush's cabinet as possible, especially Robert Gates and Michael Mukasey, if not Condi Rice.
   
2. Drop all charges/pretense of charges/hints of pretenses of charges against Bush and quash any investigations.
   
3. Drop any notions of reversing controversial Bush policy at all: PATRIOT Act, Gitmo, torture, wiretapping, etc. Kerrey's already asking for this.
   
4. Show he "reaches across the aisle" by giving into more bad GOP legislation from the wingnuts.
   
5. Abandon progressives, period. Obama will be pressured to prove he's not a liberal, and will be advised to "distance himself from Pelosi/Reid".
   
6. Enact McSame's economic, health, and military plan rather than his own.
   
7. Escalate wars in Afghanistan and start one in Iran.

In other words, Obama will be told to be McSame, because he doesn't have a "mandate like Bush did." Even if the Democrats have 60 Senate seats, 275 or even 300 in the House, and Obama in the White House, it's not a mandate for change...it's a mandate to do the same exact f'ckin stuff for the last 8 years, got it?

Palinocrats

There's been a lot of talk this election season about Obamicans: pissed-off moderate Republican voters (mostly male) who are sick of Bush, sick of the wingnuttery, and sick of the GOP in general.

But there's always a flipside to everything, and to the Obamicans, their opposite number is the disaffected pro-life feminist who believes that the GOP putting Palin on the ticket and Hillary's loss of Obama is proof the Democrats have abandoned feminism...the Palinocrats like the Daily Beast's Wendy Button.

The final straw came the other week when Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (a.k.a Joe the Plumber) asked a question about higher taxes for small businesses. Instead of celebrating his aspirations, they were mocked. He wasn’t “a real plumber,” and “They’re fighting for Joe the Hedge-Fund manager,” and the patronizing, “I’ve got nothing but love for Joe the Plumber.”

Having worked in politics, I know that absolutely none of this is on the level. This back and forth is posturing, a charade, and a political game. These lines are what I refer to as “hooker lines”—a sure thing to get applause and the press to scribble as if they’re reporting meaningful news.

As the nation slouches toward disaster, the level of political discourse is unworthy of this moment in history. We have Republicans raising Ayers and Democrats fostering ageism with “erratic” and jokes about Depends. Sexism. Racism. Ageism and maybe some Socialism have all made their ugly cameos in election 2008. It’s not inspiring. Perhaps this is why I found the initial mocking of Joe so offensive and I realized an old line applied: “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party; the Democratic Party left me.”

The party I believed in wouldn’t look down on working people under any circumstance. And Joe the Plumber is right. This is the absolutely worst time to raise taxes on anyone: the rich, the middle class, the poor, small businesses and corporations.

Our economy is in the tank for many complicated reasons, especially because people don’t have enough money. So let them keep it. Let businesses keep it so they can create jobs and stay here and weather this storm. And yet, the Democratic ideology remains the same. Our approach to problems—big government solutions paid for by taxing the rich and big and smaller companies—is just as tired and out of date as trickle down economics. How about a novel approach that simply finds a sane way to stop the bleeding?

That’s not exactly the philosophy of a Democrat. Not only has this party belittled working people in this campaign from Joe the Plumber to the bitter comments, it has also been part of tearing down two female candidates. At first, certain Democrats and the press called Senator Clinton “dishonest.” They went after her cleavage. They said her experience as First Lady consisted of having tea parties. There was no outrage over “Bros before Hoes” or “Iron My Shirt.” Did Senator Clinton make mistakes? Of course. She’s human.

But here we are about a week out and it’s déjà vu all over again. Really, front-page news is how the Republican National Committee paid for Governor Sarah Palin’s wardrobe? Where’s the op-ed about how Obama tucks in his shirt when he plays basketball or how Senator Biden buttons the top button on his golf shirt?

As Digby says at the end of eviscerating Wendy Button here:

I suspect there's going to be a very lucrative niche opening up for these Palin Democrats with lots of wingnut welfare to go around.

Hell, I'll go one step further: The path Sarah Palin will have to take to the Oval Office in 2012 is by walking directly on the backs of people like this. They need each other, just like Bush and Rush did.

The GOP is already maneuvering for 2012. The sycophants and water carriers are already lining up for Obamabashing, The Industry.

As I've said before, the hatred for Clinton and Bush combined will be shockingly pale compared to the pure vehemence against Obama.

His honeymoon will be over before he is even sworn in.

Starting the Palinocrats tag now, and keeping an eye out for em. There will be more.

Errm, Another Last Reminder Of Bushenomics

GDP officially contracted by 0.3% for 3rd quarter. Remember, that's all BEFORE most of the bailout. Steve Benen makes the point about what this means for the last 6 days:

The McCain campaign, presumably with a straight face, issued a statement that argued Barack Obama, by moving the country in an entirely different economic direction, "would accelerate this dangerous course." The McCain campaign added, Obama is "change Americans cannot afford."

I have to admit, this is rather amusing. The economic policies of the last eight years clearly haven't worked. Obama is offering a new approach. McCain's argument, in effect, is that we need to stick with what we know has already failed. If can only keep doing what Bush has done, and wait for it to start working, everything will work out fine. Indeed, we "cannot afford" to go in a different direction.

Why anyone would find this persuasive is a mystery.

22% of America still believes Bush and his policies are fine, remember?

One Last Reminder Of Bushenomics

ExxonMobil reported a nearly $15 billion third-quarter profit today, a new American milestone of capitalist excess. Fifteen. Billion. Dollars. So far the company has made $80 billion plus in the last 21 months or so despite the financial downturn.

Companies make profit, it's what they do. But oil companies still need government subsidies for "exploration" and land deals and tax credits and discounts, and ExxonMobil is making roughly $1 billion a week, and that's where I have something of a problem with them when they're still demanding my taxpayer dollars with the best lobbyists money can afford.

And of course, the Maverick Twins fought these companies so very hard. Dems are just as complicit. But it's time to get our priorities straight.

How To Know When The GOP Is Up To No Good

Follow this simple checklist:

1. The GOP exists.
2. It's a day of the week ending in the letter 'y'.
3. They are behind in the polls.
4. They are accusing the Democrats of cheating, for this is the only way Democrats could possibly be ahead in the polls.

If you answered yes to all four questions, simply take whatever the GOP is accusing the Democrats of doing, and you now know exactly what the GOP is up to.

The Ohio Republican Party launched Tuesday a radio ad that opens with the sound of a ticking clock and asks, "Could Ohio's election be stolen?"

In suggesting that "many" voting registrations in the state "may be fraudulent," the 60-second spot cites the case of a Cleveland man who has told election officials and news reporters that he signed multiple registration cards in exchange for cigarettes. The ad says that the man was "bribed to register 72 different times and vote illegally."

Mike West, a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in Cleveland, said Tuesday that the board has uncovered 80 registration cards with Freddie Johnson's name on them that were submitted since January, "but he has never voted. ... We have no record of him ever voting."

Ohio Republicans have said in court briefs that fraudulent registration forms raise fears that fraudulent voting could occur.

The ad berates Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D) for allegedly ignoring problems with voter registrations and "concealing evidence." The ad will run throughout the state, as many as 20 times a day in some locations through Nov. 4.

Asked about the spot, Kevin Kidder, a spokesman for Brunner, said, "We are not going to dignify it with a response."

The fact that the GOP is taking out radio ads on this is a huge clue that the GOP is up to no good in Ohio. When they are accusing Dems of trying to steal the election, you'd better believe the GOP is trying to do exactly that.

Interestingly enough, the US Justice Department said it's not going to investigate the Ohio GOP's claims too closely. Not enough evidence. Perhaps they are tired of being Bush's legal thugs. Perhaps they are being held in reserve. Perhaps it's one hell of a feint.

Perhaps Obama is going to win by such a margin that Ohio really won't matter by itself.

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