Party rant, read at own risk.

[Negotiator]

The election's practically here, thought I'd just ramble a bit about the DNC and RNC.

Let's get the expected GOP-bashing out of the way. The guys in charge of the party (and this goes far beyond Bush) screwed these guys up. That identity politics was the main theme of their convention tells me there's some major distortion going on. I could care less if someone comes from a small town, whether they like sports, what their accent is, etc, if I can buy into the idea of them being in charge. This whole "us vs. them" mentality frankly pisses me the hell off. The DNC is just as guilty of it, I'm not thrilled with them either, but at least most of it goes to issues. I do think that the next generation, the Pawlentys and Jindals, have the opportunity to exert some major influence on the national scene. Guys like Stevens, Craig, McCain, their credibility is shot. The new guys should steal the DNC tactic of "We're not them" and tack on why the new guys should be listened to.

As for the DNC, they've got some major house to clean. One of their Presidential candidates thought he could get away with an affair while conducting his campaign. C'mon, now that is dumb. Pelosi and Frank are HUGE laibilities. Both parties managed to come together in a real surprising showing of bipartisianship, and Pelosi suddenly decides it's a good time to bash the hell out of the people she needed supporting the bill. That's like celebrating a touchdown when you've only reached the five yard line. They'll have the Executive and Legislative branches, will likely have the Judicial branch before too long, continuing to bash on the GOP will look like what it is, kicking a dog when it's down, and it WON'T play well, especially if they're caught dickering around instead of trying to fix what's broke. If Obama doesn't make it clear that this isn't a budgetary gravy train, I'd almost guarantee the pubs get the hint and start setting up fiscal conservativism as their 2012 platform, and they'll win.

[joerco]

Originally Posted by Negotiator

The election's practically here, thought I'd just ramble a bit about the DNC and RNC.

Let's get the expected GOP-bashing out of the way. The guys in charge of the party (and this goes far beyond Bush) screwed these guys up. That identity politics was the main theme of their convention tells me there's some major distortion going on. I could care less if someone comes from a small town, whether they like sports, what their accent is, etc, if I can buy into the idea of them being in charge. This whole "us vs. them" mentality frankly pisses me the hell off. The DNC is just as guilty of it, I'm not thrilled with them either, but at least most of it goes to issues. I do think that the next generation, the Pawlentys and Jindals, have the opportunity to exert some major influence on the national scene. Guys like Stevens, Craig, McCain, their credibility is shot. The new guys should steal the DNC tactic of "We're not them" and tack on why the new guys should be listened to.

As for the DNC, they've got some major house to clean. One of their Presidential candidates thought he could get away with an affair while conducting his campaign. C'mon, now that is dumb. Pelosi and Frank are HUGE laibilities. Both parties managed to come together in a real surprising showing of bipartisianship, and Pelosi suddenly decides it's a good time to bash the hell out of the people she needed supporting the bill. That's like celebrating a touchdown when you've only reached the five yard line. They'll have the Executive and Legislative branches, will likely have the Judicial branch before too long, continuing to bash on the GOP will look like what it is, kicking a dog when it's down, and it WON'T play well, especially if they're caught dickering around instead of trying to fix what's broke. If Obama doesn't make it clear that this isn't a budgetary gravy train, I'd almost guarantee the pubs get the hint and start setting up fiscal conservativism as their 2012 platform, and they'll win.

She only bashed Bush during the speech. The only time she used the word "Republican" was when she was praising the bipartisanship.

[The Great Danton]

Originally Posted by Negotiator

Both parties managed to come together in a real surprising showing of bipartisianship, and Pelosi suddenly decides it's a good time to bash the hell out of the people she needed supporting the bill.

You say this as if it's a good thing.

[SpartyOnInChitown]

Originally Posted by Negotiator

The election's practically here, thought I'd just ramble a bit about the DNC and RNC.

Let's get the expected GOP-bashing out of the way. The guys in charge of the party (and this goes far beyond Bush) screwed these guys up. That identity politics was the main theme of their convention tells me there's some major distortion going on. I could care less if someone comes from a small town, whether they like sports, what their accent is, etc, if I can buy into the idea of them being in charge. This whole "us vs. them" mentality frankly pisses me the hell off. The DNC is just as guilty of it, I'm not thrilled with them either, but at least most of it goes to issues. I do think that the next generation, the Pawlentys and Jindals, have the opportunity to exert some major influence on the national scene. Guys like Stevens, Craig, McCain, their credibility is shot. The new guys should steal the DNC tactic of "We're not them" and tack on why the new guys should be listened to.

As for the DNC, they've got some major house to clean. One of their Presidential candidates thought he could get away with an affair while conducting his campaign. C'mon, now that is dumb. Pelosi and Frank are HUGE laibilities. Both parties managed to come together in a real surprising showing of bipartisianship, and Pelosi suddenly decides it's a good time to bash the hell out of the people she needed supporting the bill. That's like celebrating a touchdown when you've only reached the five yard line. They'll have the Executive and Legislative branches, will likely have the Judicial branch before too long, continuing to bash on the GOP will look like what it is, kicking a dog when it's down, and it WON'T play well, especially if they're caught dickering around instead of trying to fix what's broke. If Obama doesn't make it clear that this isn't a budgetary gravy train, I'd almost guarantee the pubs get the hint and start setting up fiscal conservativism as their 2012 platform, and they'll win.

I agree with everything here except for the judiciary. By appointing Alito and Roberts, Bush ensured that the Supreme Court will remain conservative for the foreseeable future even if Obama is elected and serves two terms. Here are the respective ages:

Roberts- 53
Alito- 58
Thomas- 60
Scalia- 72
Kennedy- 72
Ginsburg- 75
Stevens- 88
Souter- 69
Breyer- 70

Roberts, Alito and Thomas will obviously be around for awhile. You'll have to pry Scalia's dead body out of his seat if there's any risk he will be replaced by a liberal. Kennedy is still relatively young.

On the liberal side, Stevens is likely to go soon, either by choice or by nature. Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer will be around for awhile.

The next President will likely have 1 appointment, but it will be Stevens' seat and the best that could happen with that for the liberals is the maintenance of the status quo.