"A black sheriff?!": The Official Topic of Obama and New Era American Politics

[Mandark]

Oh shit, also Iran.  Most big foreign policy decisions are reacting to surprises, but I really think that Obama and his team want to get on the path to de-escalation and normalized relations, and Khamenei might be ready to talk turkey.  There are still a billion reasons why it could fail, but I really expect/want/hope a major push on that front.

[Positive Touch]

yeah i totally looked at the wrong numbers. of course MO did not go for obama; he lost it by 250,000 votes

[AdmiralViscen]

I was watching Fox when they called Ohio and blondie looks off screen and says "What does that mean?"

[Joe Molotov]

#tcot is pretty awesome.

Obama won by dividing America. I hope his supporters know they're on their own now. The self-reliant half is DONE with them.

Atlas Shrugged is now a reality!!

This is truly #war. If you're not up for it, you're the enemy not the foe. Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way.

Not sure this person knows what the word foe means.

I guess now we'll experience what the Jews did when you turn your back to God. Book of Judges.

Bout to get Old Testament up in herr!

Time to kick Chris Christie and Colin Powell out. Good riddance traitors.

Did my duty, held my nose, voted for Romney-It wasn't enough. #GOP establishment is Hell-bent to run RINO candidates. We need CHANGE

Hell yeah! Let's get some REAL Republicans in here!

Plz pray for all of us conservative students who have 2 go back 2 our liberal campus' today! We're about 2be put through the ringer.

Life ain't fair.  :'(

[Stoney Mason]

Fuck yeah. Woke up to good news and a lot of bitter tears from pundits. Lol at Rasmussen and Gallup polls. All hail Nate silver and Sam Wang.

[Joe Molotov]

[Brehvolution]

(Image removed from quote.)

Coffee through the nose. Thanks Joe!

Watching blondie from fox news walk back to some area to talk to 2 guys to confirm Ohio was in the bag for Obama was some delicious TV. Because hearing it from them wasn't enough. She had to ask them to their face. I saw Mitt's concession speach and it was a nice gesture. No booing from the crowd was pretty surprising.

There are a lot of liars caught last night. Let's not forget who they are!

[Joe Molotov]

I saw Mitt's concession speach and it was a nice gesture.

Yeah, for a second I had this fear in the pit of my stomach that he might go out there and give an Akin-esque speech just out of spite, but instead he just gave a simple, gracious speech. Probably the best moment of his entire campaign.

[Brehvolution]

Same. I thought he would come out and be like

[ToxicAdam]

It's funny reading all the comments by casuals that the Republican party is in decline/bordering on obsolesence, yet in 2 more years they are going to be panicking when they make significant gains at the mid-term.

Also, I disregard a lot of the pundits that feel that Christie/Huckabee could have beaten Obama. I don't think they appreciate just how super-effective his campaign has been. Like he said in his speech last night ... historically superior to anything American politics have ever seen. There was no candidate that was going to match their efforts in the swing states and the fact they hit them so early on. Smart people are going to be looking at this 2012 campaign and taking notes.

[Mupepe]

Feels good to listen to the radio this morning and hear the whining.  Feels good to see the solemn faces at work and know why.  Goddamn I love living in Texas.

[Yeti]

xkcd had this nice burn this morning

[Brehvolution]

1. 5 year smear campaign
2. Citizens united
3. Voter ID attempted in 7 states
4. The most dishonest presidential campaign in my lifetime

America prevails

[Stoney Mason]

It's funny reading all the comments by casuals that the Republican party is in decline/bordering on obsolesence, yet in 2 more years they are going to be panicking when they make significant gains at the mid-term.

There is always over exaggeration after an election about the dominance of a party's coalition. Just a few years back a lot of Republicans were talking up the idea of a permanent Republican presidential coalition. That being said the basic slow moving reality is true that Republicans need something more. They are tapped out on how many white voters they can mine as the white vote declines as a percentage going forward. Which is not to say that going forward the democrats won't also have their coalition issues.

Yes, the auto bailout mattered in Ohio. Sure, Hurricane Sandy helped the president. And, yes, the economy was the No. 1 issue. But make no mistake: What happened last night was a demographic time bomb that had been ticking and that blew up in GOP faces. As the Obama campaign had assumed more than a year ago, the white portion of the electorate dropped to 72%, and the president won just 39% of that vote. But he carried a whopping 93% of black voters (representing 13% of the electorate), 71% of Latinos (representing 10%), and also 73% of Asians (3%). What’s more, despite all the predictions that youth turnout would be down, voters 18-29 made up 19% of last night’s voting population -- up from 18% four years ago -- and President Obama took 60% from that group. The trend also played out in the key battleground states: The president won about 70% of the Latino vote in Colorado and Nevada, and he won 60% of it in Florida (a high number given the state’s large GOP-leaning Cuban-American population). On Monday, we wrote that demography could determine destiny. And that’s exactly what happened. While the campaign’s turnout operation deserves all the credit for getting these voters to the polls, the most significant event of this presidential contest might very well have been the 2010 census.

Obama’s demographic edge creates this dilemma for the Republican Party: It can no longer rely on white voters to win national elections anymore, especially in presidential cycles. Indeed, according to the exit poll, 89% of all votes Mitt Romney won last night came from whites (compared with 56% for Obama). So the Republicans are maximizing their share with white voters; they just aren’t getting the rest. And come 2016, the white portion of the electorate will probably drop another couple of points to 70%. Politico’s Martin puts it this way: “Battling a wheezing economy and a deeply motivated opposition, Obama still managed to retain much of his 2008 map because of the GOP’s deficiencies with the voters who are changing the political face of once conservative-leaning Virginia, Florida, Colorado and Nevada. Republicans face a crisis: the country is growing less white and their coalition has become more white in recent years. In 2004, George W. Bush won [about 40 percent] of Hispanics. Four years later, John McCain, the author of an immigration reform bill, took 31 percent of Hispanics. And this year, Romney captured only 27 percent of Hispanics.”

[ToxicAdam]

I don't deny that the party has long-term problems, but short-term they should have no problems continuing on the same track and still competing nationally. Just like GWB's demographics were specifically his, Obama's are also his own. Every new cycle it shakes out a little different depending on the issues/candidates of that year.

If Democrats make the mistake of nominating Biden in 2016, they are easily susceptible to a Republican populist du jour taking states like Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida and winning the election. S/He's not going to have the same baggage that Romney carried into this election.

[Great Rumbler]

For those of you who missed this bit of comedy last night:

[Stoney Mason]

I don't deny that the party has long-term problems, but short-term they should have no problems continuing on the same track and still competing nationally. Just like GWB's demographics were specifically his, Obama's are also his own. Every new cycle it shakes out a little different depending on the issues/candidates of that year.

If Democrats make the mistake of nominating Biden in 2016, they are easily susceptible to a Republican populist du jour taking states like Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida.

I definitely agree that demographics are sometimes more related to the candidate rather than the party to a degree. I remember when Bush won like 40% of the latino vote people thought that was the beginning of the wave for Republicans. But it was an anamoly unique to Bush because he didn't demonize lationos and he had family members who were. For Democrats its hard to imagine for example that the next Democratic candidate will motivate blacks and other minorities in the same way. That being said a white candidate also won't lose as many white votes just by not being white. I like Biden but I also don't think he should be nominated either because I can see him losing a lot of the swing states as he doesn't carry the intangibles that Obama does. 

I wish Obama had just picked Hillary as his VP in 2008 and it would all be so much easier. She would crush on women who are voting more than men and also garner a large Hispanic and Black turnout.

[Human Snorenado]

Let's be real, TA- in order to win a GOP primary, odds are you have to lie down and wallow in the much with the crazies.  Good luck capturing more latino vote when you can't get a non-teahadist through a primary.

If the GOP does have another good mid-term it will be because of obstructionist FUD and lower turnout amongst minorities and young people, same as in 2010.

Stoney, don't pin this on me but there IS a politically ambitious female Senator from NY... it's just her name isn't Clinton.  My girlfriend Kirsten

[Brehvolution]

Stoney, don't pin this on me but there IS a politically ambitious female Senator from NY... it's just her name isn't Clinton.  My girlfriend Kirsten

She came to my office last year and I got to shake her hand.

[Yeti]

For those of you who missed this bit of comedy last night:

 

[Brehvolution]

Watching blondie from fox news walk back to some area to talk to 2 guys to confirm Ohio was in the bag for Obama was some delicious TV. Because hearing it from them wasn't enough. She had to ask them to their face.

[ToxicAdam]

Everyone is tongue-bathing Nate Silver today, but all the aggregators/tea leaf readers had this election right. RCP has been doing it for longer and have also been just as reliable. The only people that had it wrong (wildly so) are the party cheerleaders and pundits.

The amazing thing to me are just how close the pollsters get across the board in a massive election that has many different variables that can alter the results. It's really an incredible feat they pull off.

[Don Flamenco]

Great start we got here...Romney defeated.  I didn't listen to the acceptance speech, i don't need to be rallied or given a huge hit of hopium, i'm just waiting to see what actually happens. 

[Joe Molotov]

In approximately 25 years the whites will be a minority.  It is interesting that both conservatives and liberals believe that a country that is essentially Mexico/Africa will somehow not actually be Mexico/Africa.  An interesting experiment, that I will be watching from a safe distance.

 

[tiesto]

In local politics, nice to see Tim Bishop defeat Randy Altschuler by a 52-48% margin (their last race was extremely close and didn't get resolved for a few months). Seriously, everything I wanted to happen, politically, actually happened. Spent all last nite schooling all the repubs complaining about how all their hard working dollars are going to welfare queens

[Brehvolution]

Alan Grayson won his seat back!!

He noted Tuesday night to HuffPost that his turnaround is the biggest on record in the history of House. No other candidate had lost by 18 points in one year, only to turn around and win the next cycle by 25 -- a 43-point swing.

I can't wait to see him destroy people again.

[Don Flamenco]

In approximately 25 years the whites will be a minority.  It is interesting that both conservatives and liberals believe that a country that is essentially Mexico/Africa will somehow not actually be Mexico/Africa.  An interesting experiment, that I will be watching from a safe distance.

 

Afrikexico. 

Mexicafrica

[Great Rumbler]

Obama's up about 2.7 million in the popular vote right now, a smaller margin than last time but still a clear victory all the way around, at least.

[Joe Molotov]

Dow Jones down over 350 points, welp America had a good run.

[Great Rumbler]

We'll all be dead in a month and half from giant meteors infected with gay space aids anyway, so it's not really a big deal.

[ToxicAdam]

Thank god the market is tanking. I shorted Amazon when they had that bad earnings report and have been eating shit since.

[Joe Molotov]

Dick Morris steps up to explain why he's not a complete sack of crap (Hint: Hurricane Sandy, Chris Christie, also how he was he to know minorities were allowed to vote!) Still waiting to hear if Dean Chambers has committed suicide.

http://nation.foxnews.com/2012-presidential-race/2012/11/07/dick-morris-why-i-was-wrong-about-2012-election

I’ve got egg on my face. I predicted a Romney landslide and, instead, we ended up with an Obama squeaker.

The key reason for my bum prediction is that I mistakenly believed that the 2008 surge in black, Latino, and young voter turnout would recede in 2012 to “normal” levels. Didn’t happen. These high levels of minority and young voter participation are here to stay. And, with them, a permanent reshaping of our nation’s politics.

lol @ Obama Squeaker

But the more proximate cause of my error was that I did not take full account of the impact of hurricane Sandy and of Governor Chris Christie’s bipartisan march through New Jersey arm in arm with President Obama. Not to mention Christe's fawning promotion of Obama's presidential leadership.
It made all the difference.

If Romney couldn’t manage this trick against Obama in the current economy, no Republican could.

EVEN REINCARNATED RONALD REAGAN WITH ABRAHAM LINCOLN AS HIS VP COULD NOT HAVE DEFEATED OBAMA!!

[ToxicAdam]

I think it's hilarious that they are busy throwing their best 2016 candidate under the bus to cover their own asses.


No mention of Romney getting owned by early spending in the swing states? Can't believe these guys make money doing this.

[Madrun Badrun]

wrong thread

[Great Rumbler]

In other news, Puerto Rico is probably the closest it's ever been to becoming the 51st state:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/puerto-rico-votes-on-whether-to-change-relationship-with-us-elects-governor-and-legislators/2012/11/06/d87278ae-288b-11e2-aaa5-ac786110c486_story.html

[Steve Youngblood]

I was hoping that the 51st state was going to be Gingrich's moon colony.

[Steve Contra]

There are some salty motherfuckers out there right now, and it's interesting how much of it is swinging into blatant racism, rather than just dog whistles.

And LOL at anyone Republicans saying "we were simply too nice, next time we'll really bring it!"

What are they going to do, accuse Obama of being compicit in 9/11?  Bring firehoses to polling stations?

[Stoney Mason]

There are some salty motherfuckers out there right now, and it's interesting how much of it is swinging into blatant racism, rather than just dog whistles.

In large parts of the south it was always about racism. It's just their anger has reached the point where they don't care about trying to hide it anymore.

[Steve Youngblood]

There are some salty motherfuckers out there right now, and it's interesting how much of it is swinging into blatant racism, rather than just dog whistles.

More so than the angry people, I find myself taken aback by the melodramatic ones that seem to be sad that -- by electing Barack Obama over Mitt Romney -- America is officially on an irrevocable downward trajectory. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've got a one year old son. I don't like the thought of him having to chip in personally $100 millions dollars to pay down our debt to the Chinese and thus having to work in a labor camp in Beijing.

[Joe Molotov]

There are some salty motherfuckers out there right now, and it's interesting how much of it is swinging into blatant racism, rather than just dog whistles.

And LOL at anyone Republicans saying "we were simply too nice, next time we'll really bring it!"

What are they going to do, accuse Obama of being compicit in 9/11?  Bring firehoses to polling stations?

Next time they'll find a candidate that will call out 49% of Americans as being worthless, filthy moochers.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I think it's hilarious that they are busy throwing their best 2016 candidate under the bus to cover their own asses.

Are you suggesting Republicans aren't forward thinking

[Eric P]

In local politics, nice to see Tim Bishop defeat Randy Altschuler by a 52-48% margin (their last race was extremely close and didn't get resolved for a few months). Seriously, everything I wanted to happen, politically, actually happened. Spent all last nite schooling all the repubs complaining about how all their hard working dollars are going to welfare queens

vito "sexy workspaces" lopez won much to my dismay

[Steve Contra]

I think the best news to come out of yesterday is the fact that the gay rights train is going full steam ahead.  It's pretty much unstoppable now.

[Stoney Mason]

There are some salty motherfuckers out there right now, and it's interesting how much of it is swinging into blatant racism, rather than just dog whistles.

More so than the angry people, I find myself taken aback by the melodramatic ones that seem to be sad that -- by electing Barack Obama over Mitt Romney -- America is officially on an irrevocable downward trajectory. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've got a one year old son. I don't like the thought of him having to chip in personally $100 millions dollars to pay down our debt to the Chinese and thus having to work in a labor camp in Beijing.

To be fair I was pretty salty/depressed after the 2004 election. The most I've ever been politically.

Southern white men are hot because they live in a culture where all their peers around them feel the same way they do about everything culturally. So its inconceivable that Obama could win. And worse the world is going to hell in a handbasket with the gay rights and the weed and all the other stuff.

[Human Snorenado]

There are some salty motherfuckers out there right now, and it's interesting how much of it is swinging into blatant racism, rather than just dog whistles.

And LOL at anyone Republicans saying "we were simply too nice, next time we'll really bring it!"

What are they going to do, accuse Obama of being compicit in 9/11?  Bring firehoses to polling stations?

Next time they'll find a candidate that will call out 49% of Americans as being worthless, filthy moochers.

By the time the next election rolls around, Obummer's America will probably be comprised of 60% moochers.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

There are some salty motherfuckers out there right now, and it's interesting how much of it is swinging into blatant racism, rather than just dog whistles.

And LOL at anyone Republicans saying "we were simply too nice, next time we'll really bring it!"

What are they going to do, accuse Obama of being compicit in 9/11?  Bring firehoses to polling stations?

Next time they'll find a candidate that will call out 49% of Americans as being worthless, filthy moochers.

By the time the next election rolls around, Obummer's America will probably be comprised of 60% moochers.

That should give us some sweet gains in the House then

[Steve Contra]

One of my military friends on facebook is talking about how soon we will all be dependent on the government for a paycheck, and all his military buddies are agreeing.

[Dickie Dee]

I thought this was interesting:

A glance at the exit polls showed that Obama won the foreign policy question pretty handily. Only five percent of respondents thought that foreign policy was the most critical issue in this campaign — but of those five percent, voters went for Obama over Romney by 56% to 33%. Voters were also more likely to trust Barack Obama in an international crisis (57%-42%) than Mitt Romney (50%-46%).

That he won overall on NS isn't surprising, but I would've expected the 5% that listed it as the most critical issue to have visions of Ahmadeenajedidonnnn riding a nuke over Nebraska Slim Pickens-style

[Mandark]

I think the best news to come out of yesterday is the fact that the gay rights train is going full steam ahead.  It's pretty much unstoppable now.

It's been pretty clear where the country was going on this in the future, but conservatives were still able to say that gay marriage had never won a public vote in any state and it was true.  Gay marriage advocates were oh-fer.  Now that's finally broken, and the big question in the decade or two ahead is whether this becomes a red-blue (or south-everywhere else) divide, or whether something happens on the national level through either Congress or SCOTUS to make it truly national.

Everyone is tongue-bathing Nate Silver today, but all the aggregators/tea leaf readers had this election right. RCP has been doing it for longer and have also been just as reliable. The only people that had it wrong (wildly so) are the party cheerleaders and pundits.

To be fair, Silver seems to have gotten the state margins better (and called Florida right) than RCP, and if we bring up the longer track record then we gotta mention that RCP circa 2000 was basically the Unskewed Polls of its day.

Also, Christie isn't getting the nomination, regardless of his palling around with Obama.

[Mr. Gundam]

I think the best news to come out of yesterday is the fact that the gay rights train is going full steam ahead.  It's pretty much unstoppable now.

It's been pretty clear where the country was going on this in the future, but conservatives were still able to say that gay marriage had never won a public vote in any state and it was true.  Gay marriage advocates were oh-fer.  Now that's finally broken, and the big question in the decade or two ahead is whether this becomes a red-blue (or south-everywhere else) divide, or whether something happens on the national level through either Congress or SCOTUS to make it truly national.

I bet it goes to SCOTUS in the next year or two. People are just chomping at the bit to challenge the decision in Iowa.

[Mandark]

Might not have to wait that long.  There's a good chance SCOTUS will take up the Prop 8 and DOMA cases very soon.  I'd feel a lot better if Obama got a nominee in to replace Kennedy, but whadyagonnado?

[Cerveza mas fina]

Did Gay Marriage come up in the debates?

Now the election is over will the Daily Show cover something else?

[Phoenix Dark]

TLDR warning

I talked to a lot of family members and friends who claimed they were going to sit out this election after Obama's gay marriage decision. But as Romney and his camp started crucifying Obama while gutting voter rights I saw VERY homophobic black people fall back in line. These folks have disappointments and disagreements with the president but came to his aide because they saw their champion being spit on and insulted.

My mom didn't like Bush politically but liked that he was a strong Christian, and loved his Texan charm which reminded her of our southern family members; she was rather indifferent about McCain. My mom is homophobic but I cannot call her intolerant - she treats all people with respect, supports gay marriage, and I don't believe she is someone who naturally hates people. But she hates Romney. Not as in really dislikes: she hates him and everything he stands for. She can't stand Anne Romney either. And it boils down to not just him being an entitled asshole, but the way he belittled and insulted the president. She literally believes Romney is racist due to his Mormon faith. I know for a fact that many older black people feel the exact same way that she does. And most of them showed up to vote.

I just wish my grandparents had lived longer, not just to still be here but to see him get re-elected. My granddad served in WWII and said when his company was told FDR had died, they all not only cried but wound up bonding with their white higher officers, who were crying as well. My grandmothers had pictures of JFK, Jesus, and MLK in their homes (my grandma on my mom's side used to say she met JFK and MLK in person, and couldn't wait to meet them again plus Jesus in the future). And naturally they loved Obama, voted for him, and spent a lot of time just cherishing the idea of his family being in the White House, being excited about the health care bill being passed (which benefited them), etc. Personally I'm more jaded and not the biggest Obama fan but there's no doubt his mere existence is important

[ToxicAdam]

To be fair, Silver seems to have gotten the state margins better (and called Florida right) than RCP, and if we bring up the longer track record then we gotta mention that RCP circa 2000 was basically the Unskewed Polls of its day.

I'm not going to hold RCP's 2000 performance over their head as it was their first year of operation and they weren't very discriminating on what information they allowed to influence the aggregate.


Related ... here's a fun read in hindsight:

http://townhall.com/columnists/hughhewitt/2012/08/02/quality_control_among_the_polls_will_realclearpoliticscom_protect_its_brand/page/full/

[Mandark]

DC and its Maryland suburbs probably had as much enthusiasm for Obama as any place outside Chicago during the 2008 campaign; it's all black folks and immigrants and effete librul honkeys around here.  I kind of regret not taking a camera with me the last few weeks and just documenting the sheer amount of Obama apparel being worn.

But for all the snark about Obama being the ShitWhitePeopleLike candidate and being the choice of suburbanite faddists, no demographic came anywhere close to being as invested in him as old black folks.  Generally I dislike and am worried by the tribal aspect of politics, but it was really moving to see just how much this meant to black Americans who had been around long enough to live through and remember the civil rights movement and all the shit that it fought to overturn.

And while we're being maudlin, I felt really shitty when I realized scorcho wasn't able to see this.

[Brehvolution]

One of my military friends on facebook is talking about how soon we will all be dependent on the government for a paycheck, and all his military buddies are agreeing.

They should feel right at home then since they already get paychecks from the government.

[Steve Contra]

One of my military friends on facebook is talking about how soon we will all be dependent on the government for a paycheck, and all his military buddies are agreeing.

They should feel right at home then since they already get paychecks from the government.

thatsthejoke.jpg

[Joe Molotov]

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/332937/romney-adviser-it-was-messaging-robert-costa#

A Romney adviser partly blames last night’s defeat on a weak message. “Turnout was the big problem, since we didn’t get all of McCain’s voters to the polls, but we really should have been talking more about Benghazi and Obamacare,” an adviser says, speaking on the condition on anonymity. “Those are major issues and Romney rarely mentioned them in the final days.”

Haha, go to bed guys. "If only we pushed harder on Benghazi and Obamacare!! The president was never properly vetted!"

[Stoney Mason]

My favorite Republican talking point from this election is how the country is now divided and this is a major new problem because of Obama.

As if  Bush won both his elections with blow-outs and ignoring the fact that a Republican presidential candidate hasn't won a big electoral and voting margin since 1988.

[Steve Contra]

They should have talked more about Obamacare?

Also, can anyone tell me the official Republican line on why we should be so outraged about Benghazi?  I mean I get that, like Fast and Furious, it pushes their buttons, but has anyone laid down a coherent attack on Obama about it, true or not?