< Poligone, but one note | Main | Pawlenty on Midday >

The natives are restless, but so what?

Posted at 10:22 AM on June 4, 2006 by Bob Collins (9 Comments)

I've been a little reluctant -- and still am -- to buy into the argument that Republicans are as good as dead in November because the voters are angry. That may be true -- heck, let's face it, it is true -- that the voters are angry. But this country returns incumbents to office in greater numbers than the Politburo in the '80s, number one. And, number two, the world is full of polls that show an incumbent hasn't got a prayer when the question is job-approval. It's only when you add a candidate -- one with a rootin' tootin' name -- as an opponent, that things start looking up.

Now, don't get me wrong: I'm not saying the Republicans will do well in November. I'm also not saying the Democrats will do well in November. I'm just saying that June is awfully early for me to know. Consequently, I don't. YMMV.

All that is a preamble to three things that struck me this week while I was on vacation as -- shall we say -- a stretch in the old "things are great" department.

1) Rep. Steve Sviggum saying because there's an anti-incumbent mood, and more Republicans are not running for re-election in the House than Democrats (in other words, there'll be more Democratic incumbents), that bodes well for GOP chances for retaining control of the House. Now, maybe it will. Maybe it won't. But other than the assasination, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

2) Today's Pioneer Press op-ed page. OK, I'll be honest with you: I'm not a big fan of the PiPress op-ed page; not because it leans one way or the other, I just don't think it's very well written or put together and I think the person who selects Letters to the Editor, works for Bulletin Board on the side. Still, I had a hard time finding anything good on that page Sunday where Iraq was concerned. If Republicans have lost the Pioneer Press....

3) This quote from Tom Scheck's story on GOP chances in November.

"When you don't have effective leadership that says we're going to stick to our promises, what are we supposed to do? We end up hold the water for them and then they pretty much turn the bucket upon us." -- Rolando Perez, GOP activist.

Ouch.

Still, in order for that to hurt, wouldn't Republicans have to stay home in November? First, Republicans don't stay home in Novembers. They vote. Most Minnesotans vote. And what are folks like Rolando Perez going to do? They've almost got no choice but to hold their nose (in his case) and vote.

Some folks have been doing that for years.

So color me clueless. Again.

Comments (9)

... I think the person who selects Letters to the Editor, works for Bulletin Board on the side.

I think the Bulletin Board is much better written, myself.

I gave up on the Pie-in-the-Ear Press in no small part because of its clueless editoral pages. I expect they'll eventually be moved to the Want Ads section at the rate they're going.

As for Republican voters, they're morons. When they follow the likes of Michele Bachmann's gay bashing, that much becomes all too clear.

Posted by anonymous | June 4, 2006 9:39 PM

Come on annonymouse, have the courage to post your name when your going to lash out.

Let me guess, the editors at the PiPress are too nice to Bush and Pawlenty. They spend all their time defending them and not enough bashing them.

"I'm rubber and you're glue" Name calling, is that the best you got?

Posted by triple_a | June 5, 2006 7:08 AM

Almost sadly, I have to agree with triple A here. Name-calling does nothing but make the political chasm in our country wider. Most Republicans vote Republican for reasons they think are important, just as DFLers vote DFL for reasons they think are important. Argue the issues all you want, but calling the other side "morons," "elitists," "hippies," "rednecks".......these do nothing but provide a moment of self-edification and years of damage to our political discourse.

This goes for lefties and righties.

Posted by MN Campaign Report | June 5, 2006 8:44 AM

Fine guys. Let's not call people who base their vote on calls to write constitutional amendments enshrining discrimination names. Oh dear, we can't have that. Unless they're Republicans who have mau-maued "liberal" for decades without worrying about sounding like meanies themselves.

As for the PP op-ed pages, I remember when they were in Section A, before they were demoted to the "your locality's name here" section. It was a deliberate move on the paper's part to downgrade them, and Bob made a funny but valid point about how they begin to resemble the Bulletin Board.

Posted by anonymous | June 5, 2006 9:37 AM

I have to admit, yes, that it's disturbing to pick up the A section and get to the next to last page and see some entertainment/hollywood nonsense spread over two full pages. That really is making statement about your newspaper that's not very endearing to intelligent life (I'm sorry, I find nothing intelligent about entertainment news).

For the record, I tend to go back and forth between the Press and the Strib based, not on political philosophy, but on the fact if you cancel one, 13 weeks later they offer you a much lower rate. (g)

Posted by Bob Collins | June 5, 2006 9:41 AM

Anonymous-

I'm not saying I disagree with you - on the contrary, I agree wholeheartedly with you. My point is this: what does name-calling do? We know we're right, why not speak to them as equals and convince them of it as well? The conflation of Christian theology with post-modern Jerry Falwell-style political activism and racism is one of the great failures of the past twenty years - if we on the left are unafraid to meet these people as equals, their votes can be had with enough work and fairmindedness.

Just my $0.02.

Posted by MN Campaign Report | June 5, 2006 10:28 AM

Mr. Campaign Report, while I recognize the importance of being polite and respectful in actual public discourse, I reserve the right to vent my spleen online, especially when an effort to win votes by appealing to bigotry rears it's ugly head yet again. What do you call people who justify their vote by citing gay marriage as the #1 threat to us? "Mistaken"? Well, yes, but then I think that glosses over the mendacity involved.

Posted by anonymous | June 5, 2006 2:15 PM

If your question is anything more than rhetorical, I would respond by asking them why they think the way they do - prod them into the inevitable logical contradiction they WILL make....or they'll get huffy , start yelling, and I would win anyway, and the intended effect upon bystanders would be obtained anyway.

This would require quite a bit of time, unfortunately, a luxury we in politics often don't have.

Posted by MN Campaign Report | June 5, 2006 4:42 PM

I'm not anonymous and I think any middle-class person who votes Republican is voting against their own interests, but hey, Anonymous, here's why you need to use your name and civil language:

Everyone in this thread is now talking about you and your methods rather than the topic at hand. If that's what you were trying to accomplish fine, otherwise you have undercut your own goals.

As regards the November elections, this has to be mandatory reading: http://tinyurl.com/ogrhq

Look, folks: we have to stop going into these elections in denial of even the POSSIBILITY that the elections are being stolen. I personally believe that in 2000 and in 2004 election results were altered to serve Republican advantage, and I believed this at the time, not merely since reading Kennedy's article.

Regardless of the past, if we go into the 2006 elections refusing to even consider that these elections could be stolen, we will be terribly vulnerable to that taking place. And whether or not you think the elections in 2000 or 2004 were stolen, you have to agree that it is absolutely foolish to go into the 2006 elections with an electoral system that is not trusted.

Do you trust that your vote will be accurately counted? I don't.

Posted by Albatross | June 6, 2006 11:51 AM

June 2006
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30

Master Archive

MPR News
Radio

Listen Now

On Air

Midday

Schedule

Shortcuts
Hourly Newscast
Hosts
Station Map

Other Radio Streams from MPR

Classical MPR
Radio Heartland

Services

Become a Sponsor

In The Spotlight

Sound Learning
Looking for ways to ensure your students are doing quality research from credible sources? Sound Learning is a launching point to Minnesota Public Radio's content on the Web.
The Current Music Blog
Your daily note for good music, news and pop culture. With attempted jokes.