Author: Moe_Lane

Jim Geraghty is nicer than I am.

He’s referring to the President’s current problem as “Obama Doesn’t Have Much Experience With Political Rejection.” I typically refer to said problem as “Obama’s never been smacked in the face with a lead pipe.*”

Hey, it gets people’s attention.

Anyway, Jim and I both agree on the central point: we’ve got a President who has never really had to face the consequences of failing before. I’m really hoping that the President learns quickly. Or that he learns quickly how to learn quickly…

Crossposted to RedState.

*Metaphorically, for the slow of brain. Or the outrage fetishists.

Only Rep. Frank could go kill health care rationing…

…and he just did.

“I know some of my Democratic colleagues had been thinking about ways to, in effect, get around the results by working in various parliamentary ways, looking at the rules, trying to get a health care bill passed that would have been the same bill that would have passed if [MA AG] Martha Coakley [D] had won, and I think that’s a mistake,” Frank said. “I will not support an effort to push through a House-Senate compromise bill despite an election. I’m disappointed in how it came out, but I think electoral results have to be respected.”

And if you’re wondering why Barney Frank did this, it’s because he can read a map.He’s the only member of the MA Congressional delegation whose district went completely for Coakley [UPDATE: Actually, no, that was Capuano’s district.  OTOH, Rep. Frank is one of the safest Members of Congress right now, so the point fortunately still stands], and at least two of them are personally sweating the election results right now – so if anybody’s going to be taking the lead in walking back from the precipice, it should be the guy who can take the hit and still be favored to keep his seat in November.  Mildly disappointing, from a Republican point of view… but killing this abomination of a health care bill is the best thing for the country, which of course should be our paramount concern.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

The Insidious… Centaur Conspiracy?

This fellow seems to be quite adamant on the subject (via @EdDriscoll).  I’m trying to figure out why centaurs: I mean, sure, let one of them start drinking and the next thing you know you’ve got a six-limbed Dionysian frenzy all up in your face, but that’s a known problem.  Running through the recent portrayals in the arts… well, there was Prince Caspian, and aside from apparently casting a lookalike for the Rock as one of them I don’t see anything that would actually spark much ire, there.

Is this a Generation-whatever-we’re-up-to-these-days thing?  I don’t have cable TV, so it takes me a bit to catch up with new cultural trends, sometimes.

Moe Lane

Gooooooood MORNING, Massachusetts Members of Congress!

Did you SLEEP well?

[UPDATE: Jove nods: I switched out Frank and Caputo.  My bad, and thanks to reader jack for pointing it out.  The basic point remains.]

Hi, John Olver!
Hi, Richard Neal!
Hi, Jim McGovern!
Yeah, hi, Barney Frank. [UPDATE: Excuse me, that’s Barney Frank]
Hi, Niki Tsongas!
Hi, John F. Tierney!
Hi, Ed Markey!
Hi, Michael Capuano! [Michael Capuano.]
Hi, Stephen Lynch!
Hi, William Delahunt!

…Why the colors?  Because of this map, of course:

…Members of Congress who have towns whose voters went for Scott Brown are in red; Barney Frank (who is blessed with a Boston district) is in blue.  They’re all Democrats, so no need to distinguish there.  Interesting, huh?  And it makes me want to ask a couple of questions:

  1. How do the people on that list really feel about the current health care bill in the Senate?  More importantly, how do they think that their constituents feel about it?
  2. Do they really think that it’s appropriate for Senators Schumer (D-NY) and Kerry (D-MA) to use crude sexual imagery when referring to their constituents?  Particularly the ones that are really, really motivated to vote?

I think that these are questions that really should be answered.  Soon.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Redstate.

NEXT.

Also: [ahem] “See, I told you so.”

[UPDATE]: Welcome, Instapundit readers – and I assure you, I don’t ever want to get on Glenn’s bad side.  I heard that he once linked a site in Reno, just to watch it crash…

This message goes out to every vulnerable Democratic Congressman representing a Republican or even centrist district – and after tonight, who among you is not vulnerable? It is a simple message: we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. The easy way is, you suddenly decide that you have a burning desire to spend more time with your families. So you don’t run for re-election, you walk off stage technically undefeated, and you go join a lobbying firm. The hard way is, you do run for re-election, and we pry you out of your seats.

We want to do this the hard way. We will enjoy doing it.

That’s your only warning. And remember: nobody is going to be able to save you. If the President, the DSCC, the DCCC, the DNC, the SEIU, ACORN, and the netroots couldn’t manage a win in Massachusetts… what do you think that they can do for you?

Moe Lane

PS: To my readers… go have a drink. Go have a few. Celebrate. Tomorrow, we talk about how we’re going to take FL-19 and HI-01 away from the Democratic party.

PPS: More than a few people wanted me to mock specific members of the netroots in this post – but when I’m on my way to the main hall to deliver a message I see no reason why I should stop at the kennels along the way. Continue reading NEXT.

The pre-penned outrage of the Coakley campaign.

Important tactical tip for would-be accusers of election fraud: when you send out your press release, proof-read it first. It helps one avoid elementary errors, such as making it obvious that you had prepared your accusation before the polls even opened, let alone closed*.

“Reports that the Coakley campaign is making reckless accusations regarding the integrity of today’s election is a reminder that they are a desperate campaign. In fact, news reports point out that today’s accusation was a pre-dated, in the bag political attack. Furthermore, Senator John Kerry accused Brown supporters of intimidation and bullying — a tactic taken directly from his own 2004 playbook. The reality is that Massachusetts voters will determine the outcome of this election despite political attacks leveled by Martha Coakley and national Democrats.” — Daniel B. Winslow, Counsel for the Scott Brown for U.S. Senate Campaign

The remarkably cool thing here, of course, is that the Scott Brown campaign has the savvy to link to Hot Air for the screenshot.

Moe Lane

*Not to be mean, but… oh, just watch Jon Stewart:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Mass Backwards
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		 Political Humor Health Care Crisis

So you tell me how with-it this campaign is.

Crossposted to RedState.

NRSC dropped money into Brown race… *quietly.*

I approve.

Working quietly and under the radar, the National Republican Senatorial Committee shifted $500,000 to the Massachusetts GOP in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s dramatic election, according to Republican sources.

The NRSC transfer, made in several dispersals beginning Jan. 7, was used for phone and mail get-out-the-vote operations targeted at independent voters, said Rob Jesmer, the NRSC’s executive director.

NRSC officials kept quiet about the money transfers, despite public taunts from their Senate Democratic counterparts that the GOP leadership was declining to put money behind Brown’s candidacy.

…and do you know why I approve? I approve because the Coakley race has become a giant hole in the ground in which the Democrats have been pouring money for the last few weeks; and if the DSCC had realized that they were spending five times as much as the NRSC had they probably wouldn’t have spent it. Fear of the unknown is the most potent kind of fear, folks; and this was a large unknown space on the map for Democrats. I’ll happily endorse the NRSC spending half a million to help win one of the seats that the DSCC spent 2.5 million defending: how about you?

Now, if we can only convince them to stop getting involved in primary races…

Moe Lane

PS: Positive feedback works to correct behavior, too. Just saying.

Crossposted to RedState.