The L.A. Times notes that prominent right-wing activist Grover Norquist views the 2006 election “as a bump on an otherwise smooth road to continued conservative dominance.”
150,000:
Number of Iraqi civilians who have been killed in the war — “about three times previously accepted estimates” — according to Iraq’s health minister.
First Post-Election Meet the Press Features Exclusively Pro-War Politicians
The 2006 election was defined by a) a repudiation of the war in Iraq and the current Iraq strategy, and b) widespread national victories for Democratic House, Senate, and gubernatorial candidates.
Yet, according to a press aide, this Sunday’s edition of NBC’s Meet the Press will include two interviews: one with Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), an Iraq war supporter who defeated Ned Lamont (D-CT), and one with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who recently called for 20,000 additional U.S. troops to be sent to Iraq, and who was not up for reelection in 2006.
In other words, the first post-election edition of Meet the Press will exclusively feature politicians who support the war in Iraq, neither of whom ran as a Democrat.
How Quickly We Forget
Marty Peretz, November 9, 2006: “I am not indifferent to the death of Palestinians, not at all.”
Marty Peretz, November 7, 2006: “The Palestinians behave like lemmings.”
No indifference there at all. It’s just that their behavior is best explained by analogizing them to animals.
Incidentally, he’s backing the Rahm/Hoyer wing of the leadership against the Pelosi/Murtha axis.
Microtargeting
I’m experiencing CW whiplash today. About a week ago, everyone thought one big Republican advantage was their superior “microtargeting” abilities and GOTV operation. Then they lost the election. Now today I heard an influential Democratic advisor type arguing that this shows that “macrotargeting the middle class” is better than microtargeting, and Josh Marshall’s hinting around that it was all mumbo-jumbo.
Well, maybe it was. Certainly, I haven’t reported on this question at all. That said, I recall having read a lot of fairly detailed reporting on GOP GOTV in 2004. After all, nothing about losing one election debunks the idea that the Republicans have a better GOTV operation. It’s just that even really good GOTV can’t save you from massive unpopularity.
So I’m not really sure, but I wouldn’t write microtargeting off just yet. It’s very possible that the Republicans really have developed superior methods and that Democrats should try to imitate them. After all, if you compare the 2006 exit polls to the 2004 exit polls you’ll see an electorate that actually got much more demographically pro-Republican. You have a larger proportion of men, a larger proportion of white people, a smaller proportion of young people, fewer people making less than $15k, more people making more than $200k, lots of things like that. Democrats managed to significant improve their performance with just about every demographic sub-group out there (except, interestingly, African-Americans who voted just the same) so you’d need to be a true turnout magician to prevent a Democratic win.
National Review’s Victor Davis Hanson
can’t bear to say goodbye:
Don’t Blame Rumsfeld! [Victor Davis Hanson]
I don’t see how removing the Secretary of Defense helps either the country or the Republicans, especially given the pre-election vote of confidence in his full tenure. He was on the right track reforming the military; the removal of the Taliban and the three-week victory over Saddam were inspired.
Bolton renomination already dead.
“Prospects for extending John Bolton’s job as U.N. ambassador essentially died Thursday as Democrats and a pivotal Republican said they would continue to oppose the nomination,” the AP reports. “Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), who was defeated by Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse on Tuesday, told reporters in Rhode Island on Thursday that he would continue opposing Bolton. That would deny Republicans the votes they would need to move Bolton’s nomination from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to the full Senate.”
Bush Will Push Bolton Nomination in Lame Duck Session
At today’s White House press conference, Tony Snow revealed that the White House has officially renominated John Bolton as U.N ambassador and plans to push for his confirmation during the lame duck session of Congress. Bolton, who has repeatedly failed to gain Senate confirmation, is one of Bush’s most divisive nominations. The move comes one day after Bush pledged to “to work with the new Congress in a bipartisan way.” Watch it:
[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2006/11/bolton.320.240.flv]
In September, Bolton’s nomination was sent back to the White House after Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) said he had “more questions that needed to be answered.”
Incoming Senate Foreign Relations chairman Joe Biden (D-DE) said yesterday that Bolton’s nomination is “going nowhere,” but previous accounts have indicated that Bush plans to again recess appoint him during the lame-duck session.
Transcript: Read more
George Allen is going through a “nightmare.”
A senior Allen staffer tells CNN that the senator is “sequestered in his home, ‘shell shocked,’ and going through ‘a nightmare,’ during this period of limbo.”
In defeat, Santorum is clear and to the point.
From Rick Santorum’s farewell letter: “And I did, and I’m very proud of that. I do not rescind a word because those words are words that this country was not receptive to hear tonight. But, they are going to continue to hear those words from me and I assure you from many others as that threat become my clear, and hopefully our country is called to action to stop that threat before it becomes too serious of a threat to the future of our country.”
