I’d rather not go into the details, but this seems to be the origin of the bizarre “Shove a curling iron up her butt!” comments made by a Scott Brown supporter at a rally this weekend.
Unsavory sex abuse cases play a big role in Massachusetts politics. In 1998, the Democratic nominee for governor, Scott Harshbarger, lost in part because of his infamous prosecution of the Amirault family (which I agree was a terrible miscarriage of justice). Coakley has been criticized for her role in this case, but to me it seems fairly tangential. Weirdly and personally, I have heard about this case for my entire adult life: for reasons I can’t explain, when my uncle is drunk around the holidays, he starts joking about Tookie Amirault and the “magic room”. I can also remember my grandmother telling me she wouldn’t vote Harshbarger because he wouldn’t let priests wear their collars in their courtroom when they were being tried for sex crimes.
Massachusetts politics is strange. It’s very liberal by any measure and it’s completely dominated by Democrats (I would argue that the recent success of Republican gubernatorial candidates was caused by the fact that the Democrats ran a lunatic in 1990 while the Republicans ran a moderate candidate who went on to be a moderate and well-liked governor). But, Cambridge and a few other places notwithstanding, the liberalism is not always of the high-brow, nuanced variety. It’s more the liberalism of places like Italy or Spain, where there’s genuine concern for the poor and respect for the working class, but also a lot of superstitious, essentially conservative Catholicism and a lot of retelling of decades (if not centuries) old stories. If Coakley loses on Tuesday — and I think she’ll win by 6-10 points — it will be more because of the state’s idiosyncrasies than because voters reject health care reform.
The Republic of Stupidity
But therein lies the rub w/ Coakley and the Winfield case, Doug…
You’re ‘using facts’… and ‘making sense’… which leads you to hope that ‘people will listen to reason’…
***eyes roll…***
JMY
I just had to laugh at this:
http://www.bobcesca.com/blog-archives/2010/01/idiot.html
You want Obama’s agenda to succeed, yet you don’t want Coakley to win? How else is HCR going to succeed if Brown wins? Stupidity at its finest.
JMY
And to add…one of the comments said Rahm needs to go because the Obama administration had done a poor job of convincing people that change is good and the country will be better under a Democratic administration. If people didn’t realized this after 8 years and the bullshit Republicans, conservatives, and tea baggers pulled this past year, then there is nothing else that can be done to convince people that Republicans are horrible at this point. The sad thing is – it’s very simple.
Common Sense
I’m not entirely convinced that Brown is going to automatically vote against this. I know what he’s saying now, but I seem to remember Joe Liebs saying the same thing a few weeks before he voted in favor of HCR. Considering that he’s got to run in a GE year in Massachusetts in 2012 and only has two years to build a resume I could see Brown bucking the GOP quite a bit the next few years. And really I don’t see a big difference between Brown and “centrist” Dems on most issues. Granted he would be quite a shift from Kennedy’s vote, but Brown’s not the leap off the deep end some make him out to be.
zoe kentucky in pittsburgh
There is a pretty good reason for Mass voters to reject current HCR– they already have it. I remember there being some talk at some point about states like MA (or maybe only MA?!) being worried about how it might interfere with what they already have in place but I don’t remember if there was any resolution. (Does anyone else know the status of that detail?) I think the case could be made that MA should have the right to opt-out of they want.
Regardless, it would be an awful seat to lose for so many reasons. I think we can regain momentum this year but losing Kennedy’s seat could be the kind of ugly signal that the GOP/teapartiers/Villagers wouldn’t be able to stop talking about, making things far worse for dems and Obama.
MikeJ
@JMY: At least in an explicitly parliamentarian system everyone knows that it doesn’t really matter who their local representative of Labour/LibDem/Tories are, it only matter where the swingometer goes. Sadly, Americans seem too stupid for that, and worse yet, proud of the fact that they ignore what the parties stand for.
Brick Oven Bill
Re: I can also remember my grandmother telling me she wouldn’t vote Harshbarger because he wouldn’t let priests wear their collars in their courtroom when they were being tried for sex crimes.
The reason that Brown is winning is not because all Catholics are dumb, nice try though DougJ. The reason is that people are beginning to understand the Obama agenda.
You should also be nicer to your grandmother.
The Catholic Church acknowledged that the sun does not revolve around the earth decades ago. They even apologized to Galileo for putting him under house arrest for the rest of his days. Galileo was, of course, a Heretic.
Jim
@JMY:
here’s another choice nugget from that Sullivan article
Yeah, Brown can’t do any damage in the Nelson-Lieberman-Snowe Senate in just two years, while his victory is seen by the Broders and the Cokies as proof that Obama went too far on the health care bill they want defeated because it doesn’t go far enough and once the Dems lose the dysfunctional supermajority things will really get moving in a progressive direction while the Village comes together to declare Obama a failure after one year, cheered on by FDL, Eschaton and OpenLeft.
Beam me the fuck up.
The Republic of Stupidity
Any proof to support this silly contention?
wiley
The fear of ritual sexual abuse in day care centers was rampant nationally. I was working in day care center in Austin, Texas at the time, and many parents were paranoid. Never underestimate the media’s power to generate thoroughly nutty fears. “Day care providers” became potential “satanic ritual sex abuser of children”. The media highly encouraged the public to be very suspicious of providers without asking people to consider if their daycare center had a hidden dungeon where such elaborate activity could be hidden.
Our center was quite public—parents walked in unannounced throughout the day—most are.
matt
When are democrats going to learn that putting up complete windbag cardboard cutouts leads to horrible failure. Gore, Kerry, and possibly Coakley as well.
Their hubris is quite honestly really disgusting.
Waingro
I’m a newcomer to MA, but I tell everyone who will listen that this state is just weird. I really don’t understand this place. It has this pseudo-reactionary, small-c conservative thing I can’t fully grasp.
Waingro
Yeah, that’s another thing. I’ve noticed that elected officials here are either dimwitted hacks or insufferable Lord of the Manor types.
Comrade Mary
Coakley by 6-10 points? Really? With no sarcasm whatsoever and the greatest respect, how do you see that happening? I’m staying away from most political news just because I’m so apprehensive about Tuesday.
The Republic of Stupidity
satanic ritual sex abuser of children???
Cool… sounds like a career move to me…
Does De Vry, or perhaps Phoenix, offer a degree?
DougJ
With no sarcasm whatsoever and the greatest respect, how do you see that happening?
Huge Dem rej advantage. The race is getting a lot of attention so turn-out may be decent. Obama won by 26 so even a ten point victory is a pretty bad underperform.
Fencedude
A commenter on 538 pointed out that assuming Coakley gets all 660,000ish Dem primary voters (a relatively reasonable assumption), Brown would need a turnout on the order of 1.3~1.4 million to beat her, assuming EVERY SINGLE ONE of the extra voters who did not vote in the Rep or Dem primary voted for him.
That would be a turnout of 50% of the 2008 presidential race in Mass.
handy
@matt:
Not to get all Somerby on you, but the caricature of Gore that we all remember was in large part a media concoction. And Kerry was unfairly painted as an effete elitist in much the same way as Obama during his campaign.
Brick Oven Bill
Behold my proof, The Republic of Stupidity:
My guess is that Officer Crowley, the one Obama called ‘stupid’, but then came on TV and was very measured, articulate, and reasonable, is voting for Brown.
Officer Crowley, the stupid police officer, who spoke clearly from the heart, without a teleprompter, will most likely vote for Brown.
Zero teleprompter plus fifty states plus Obama’s brain equals fifty, uhhhh, seven states. The ‘uhhhh’ in this instance was for thoughtful reflection.
Brown is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve, and is thus a dangerous Teabagger, which will probably also help him.
Brown by two.
Cat Lady
@zoe kentucky in pittsburgh:
You nailed it. I’ve listened and read to a lot of voter commentary here in MA, and polls show the majority support the state’s mandated health care, but it’s the whole frame of “we have it here, ok, and I don’t want to support anyone else” that’s troublesome. Coakley isn’t making the case herself and the surrogates are too little too late by stating that 1. we are already are paying and will pay more without reform, and 2. no progressive program is enacted full blown and fully formed – you need to get the bill that’s the nose under the tent that keeps improving and then it can’t be taken away. Logic and wonkery isn’t going to do it.
People are grumpy here – the Pats are out of the playoffs, the weather is miserable, the Red Sox’s off season wasn’t very good – their acquisitions are going to be batting 7th, 8th and 9th after letting Mike Lowell and Jason Bay go, which frankly I think sucks too. Scott Brown is attractive and different, or so says Curt Schilling. There are way more Brown signs than Coakley signs, just like Obama v. McCain signs.
I don’t agree that Martha will win by more than 1% or so, or at all. We’ll see. I hope I’m horribly wrong.
cleek
cite ?
MikeJ
@handy: Yes, Kerry the effete elitist war hero who volunteered for the most dangerous duty his service had to offer and single handedly saved the lives of every man on his and another boat. John Kerry is a bad mother fucker. Anybody who thinks he’s a cardboard cutout is a moron.
The Republic of Stupidity
But… George Walker Bush WAS the Real Deal… a simple man… with a ranch… who liked nothing better than wearing cowboy boots, drinking Lone Star long necks, and cutting brush back on the homestead…
JMY
@Jim:
I don’t even know what to say. I wish I could understand how you would want Brown instead of Coakley, but want Obama’s agenda to succeed, when Brown has shown that he will do anything to prevent the president’s agenda from succeeding.
My friend said maybe Democrats need to loose badly in the mid-terms, just so people can realize how bad Republicans are. I told him maybe we should stop being friends because that is a bat-shit crazy idea. Obama wouldn’t be able to do shit if Repubs got a majority or made substantial gains in Congress.
Yutsano
@zoe kentucky in pittsburgh: We actually have a system up here in WA called Basic Health that would work more or less like the exchanges do. It wasn’t really designed to be a high-risk pool (although it does function as that) but it was more designed to insure people who made too much to qualify for Medicaid. It mostly suffers from the fact that it’s woefully underfunded, especially after the massive deficit because of the economy and housing bust. (There is no income tax in WA.) If the federal funds from HCR could somehow be diverted to that, we’d have our exchange program up and running in almost no time flat. I’m guessing MA is trying to get the same deal for their health system.
matt
@handy: I agree completely in retrospect on Gore. I kinda disagree with it about Kerry, having lived here in mass for long long time, I can’t think of the last time he really gave a shit about the state here. But he has a D so i can’t vote some bigger asshole in. Kerry did so little to dissuade anyone watching of his effeteness.
I’m going to go into the station and hold my nose and vote for Coakley because there is no “both killed and mangled” option.
The Republic of Stupidity
@Brick Oven Bill:
Sorry, but that’s just… silly.
I’m surprised you didn’t truck out the goat’s entrails and some tea leaves wile you were at it.
And not a single reference to ‘prions’… or Orwell…
You’re slipping…
SGEW
The fact that B.O.B. is confidently predicting a Brown win is probably the most reassuring thing I’ve heard all day.
MikeJ
Hey cleek, since you’re here, your deduper program doesn’t follow windows shortcuts so I can compare one music dir (or drive) to another without throwing in a hard link (which is a pain in the ass under windows). Otherwise I’m a fan.
DougJ
cite ?
Read what people are talking about in the campaign right now. It’s not health care, it’s curling irons and Tookie Amirault and the like.
BR
I’m not giving in yet.
I’ve decided, and been acting on it, that the best approach is to call my friends here in MA and have them each call their friends in MA and get them out there to vote.
Phone banking to friends is far more effective than to strangers.
Everyone here needs to be doing that. Even if you’ve called strangers, you need to make sure every friend of yours is voting for Coakley on Tuesday. (And that they know that the Kennedy on the ballot IS NOT related to Ted Kennedy.)
John Cole
Obama and HCR are both polling higher than Coakley in Mass., but you know damned well they will be blamed anyway. I’ve already had someone tell me a Coakley loss will be Obama’s fault for not keeping the left wing happy. Never mind that the real blame lies with those who failed to turn out in the primary and choose a better candidate and with Coakley for running a shit campain.
Svensker
@Yutsano:
My wingnut brother’s kids are all on B.H., which pisses me the hell off. He tells me what a great deal it is for them, then tells me “Obamacare” is going to kill the country one grandma at a time.
Jim
@DougJ:
and al Qaeda in the shopping malls. Don’t forget al Qaeda in the shopping malls.
gwangung
Really?????? I thought you guys were smart…Cameron might be wasted in LF, but there’s no way to consider Beltre to be anything but a massive upgrade at 3B.
handy
@matt:
Fair enough about Kerry. I just think it’s always important to emphasize policy over personality when judging politicians (not saying you don’t care about policy). It’s just that I see people get too caught up in the “how will it play out in Peoria” nonsense.
lahke
I’m a transplant here in MA also, and finally decided that it’s a conservative state, but a Democratic one. The folks who come in to school at Harvard, MIT, etc are one population, but most people are in tight ethnic families who move in to the house next door to their parents and still have Sunday dinner together. Lowest divorce rate in the country, too. I think that same-sex marriage passed because they couldn’t stomach all those gay couples living in sin.
morzer
Brick Oven Bill, it’s amazing how you move from guesswork to predictions, without any awareness of how one is no basis for the other. You must be getting desperate to recycle the old teleprompter nonsense.
Irrelevant,YetPoignant
@handy:
Actually, people usually just vote for the guy who’s taller.
DougJ
Cameron might be wasted in LF,
They moved Ellsbury, or Ellersby as my family invariably calls him, to left.
soonergrunt
@The Republic of Stupidity:
I’d say that boat has sailed.
@Brick Oven Bill:
Brown’s an LTC in the Army Reserve? So fucking what? That means he has a college degree and hasn’t been caught breaking the law too seriously. EVERY single eligible Captain and Major in the Army Reserve and the National Guard was promoted for the last three years running simply because the AR and NG are so massively understaffed at the O-3 to O-5 ranks. Retention in the mid-grades of the officer corps has been in the shitter since 2005 and is only just now starting to recover. So he’s a field-grade officer in the reserve. That’s almost as impressive as a potty-trained five-year-old.
Jim
The loss of the seat will be Obama’s fault because he, somehow, picked Coakley over Capuano. I figured Coakley beat out Capuano by out-polling him almost two-to-one in the primay. But… O-Bot. I’m always going to believe my lying eyes over the fact that Obama only got elected to block meaningful health care reform. (When’s lent? I’m gonna give up reading Eschaton comment threads for Lent.)
MikeJ
@gwangung: Yeah, as a Red Sox diaspora fan and part time Mariners fan living in Seattle, I liked the off season trades. I can cheer for both teams at the same time.
jcricket
The thing that gets me the most mad, honestly is the whole FUCKING STUPIDITY of voters who think that voting for the opposite of whomever is in power “sends a message”.
Sure, it sends a message that voters have no interest in trying to understand what’s actually going on in the world and who might represent those interests – or even how the political system works and what impact having more or less of the people in a given political party does to the chances of legislation they care about actually happening.
Yeah, yeah, politicians do a shit-ass job of explaining the system, and the opacity is in no small part due to the way the institutions operate (see Senate, the). But “throw the bums out” does nothing to advance a country or an agenda.
Look at the right-wing, they barely got what they wanted 30-40 years ago, yet by continuing to elect Republicans, and demanding incremental “improvements” in the Republicans they elected, they pushed the country seriously to the right.
If people in the middle or left think the country will be better off simply by switching their votes every 4 years, they deserve the Congress they’ve got.
handy
@MikeJ:
Out west the Angels really laid an egg this off-season. Hats off to “your” Ms. They look good.
gwangung
@DougJ: Well, good. Cameron has always been a massively (criminally, even) underrated player. He was unearthly good as a CF, and is probably only very, very good as CF with age, and people pay far more attention to his strikeouts than they do to his power and ability to garner walks. If he keeps bat speed up, he should do fine.
@MikeJ: Losing Beltre hurt, but Boston is as good for him as a hitter as Safeco was terrible for him. The one park that seemed specifically designed to kill him as a hitter.
cleek
@DougJ:
i believe Anecdotes v Data was decided in favor of the defendant.
Yutsano
@MikeJ: Except of course when they play each other, amirite? :)
wiley
I have to wonder how many of those who vote for the other party to send a message, actually sent messages to their representative while they were in office.
DougJ
Cameron versus Bay.
DougJ
i believe Anecdotes v Data was decided in favor of the defendant.
This is Anecdotes v Nada, though.
gwangung
@DougJ: Yeah, I’m a USS Mariner fanboy. Wasn’t sure how many other folks are modern stats-oriented…
Yutsano
@gwangung: I’m a sort of sabremetrics person by proxy, as my brother (who I live with) swears by the stuff and can spout baseball stats at the drop of a hat with scary accuracy. So in the metrics convos I can do okay. I know I can get an honest opinion out of him about any of the Mariners’ off-season moves and he’s usually more right than wrong.
MikeJ
@Yutsano: Ever go to a Red Sox game at Safeco? Half the people there are wearing Sox hats. Which is true in pretty much every city I’ve ever seen them play.
There are an awful lot of us former (at least temporary) Bostonians spread around the country. Which of course is annoying when they inevitably jack up ticket prices for Boston games.
Yutsano
@MikeJ: Not been to one (last time I was at Safeco was for an Orioles game) but I have seen them on TV and you’re right there is a huge sea of red for those games. Considering the behavior of Red Sox fans (I know a hardcore one, he got married on the floor of Fenway Park) it’s a welcome sight. You know who I’m comparing that to.
Cat Lady
@gwangung:
The Sox are spending more money on their roster than they ever have, but the frustration is that they’re not going to compete with the Yankees without power hitters in the middle of the order. They appear to be going with pitching and defense, and that’s not gonna get her done in the AL east.
Cat Lady
@BR:
No more fucking calls.
kthxbai.
Bob In Pacifica
French fries, ladies and gentlemen. French fries.
When the Rethug’s affair with the waitress is revealed it will be too late.
French fries.
MikeJ
@Cat Lady: They’ve never won a series by winning the AL East, at least in recent memory, have they? Second in the AL East is double plus super duper extra winner in any other lesser division, and that’s good enough to get in the playoffs.
I’d gladly forget all those April through July wins against the fucking yanquis for four wins against them in the playoffs.
gwangung
Hm. Isn’t that where pitching and defense helps most?
Yutsano
@gwangung: Stop with your damn facts good sir!
gwangung
@Yutsano: Ah, sorry. I’m a bit of an ass that way.
Yutsano
@gwangung: I mean, never mind the fact that you’re right, or that I expected these chinks in the Yankees to be exploited by SOMEONE before Steinbrenner completed his purchase last yeah, but meh.
DougJ
chinks in the Yankees
Racist.
Xenos
Coakley went to my college, Brown went to my law school, and I am thinking I paid way too much for my education.
I thought it flat out impossible just one week ago for Brown to win this. But it looks like he was able to pivot from the pathetic primary turnout numbers to appeal to the many, many disaffected middle class and lower-middle class independents in the inner and outer suburbs. If he wins it will be because some really interesting (if depressing) cultural changes are taking place to change the voting patterns of a big swath of Massachusetts. It will be the return of the Reagan Democrats, more foolish and self-defeating as ever.
Next bumper sticker: “Blame Me, I’m From Massachusxettes”
Yutsano
@DougJ: Dear God I’m going to Hades for it, but that seriously made me laugh out loud.
ds
I can’t fucking understand the tribalisms of Massachusetts politics, but from what I’ve gathered from relatives, Coakley is doing badly because she’s a woman, has no personality, is part of the corrupt Dorchester Democratic machine but isn’t even from Boston (she’s originally from the Berkshires), so she doesn’t get the favorite son effect.
People don’t view Scott Brown as a threat, because the Massachusetts Republican party basically runs straight down the center and is basically equivalent to what would be considered a moderate Democrat is any other state. Scott Brown has a reasonably moderate record, voted for RomneyCare and has basically attacked the ugly process behind the current health care bill while insisting that he still supports the concept of health care reform.
Obama’s approval is close to 60% in the state and the health care bill has majority approval.
This really isn’t a “referendum on health care reform/Obama” like the Villagers insist, even though that may be the end result of the election. People are treating it like a local race.
I hope Coakley makes it. Even in the best case scenario it will be a huge blow if she loses. Special elections are so hard to poll that I wouldn’t be surprised if either Coakley or Brown wins by a wider than expected margin.
gwangung
@DougJ: That is a Pork Filled Players approved joke.
Yutsano
@gwangung: That’s it. I just applied for a job in the Seattle area tonight that I fit the qualifications for to a T, and I plan on finding out as much about them as possible should I get it. Oh and maybe talking my brother into going to more Mariners/Seachicken games.
Mattsky
John the other choices weren’t good either. Coakley thought that once she won the Democratic nomination she won the Senate seat. I thought so too. Most people did.
Part of what is going on is Coakley making too many gaffs and running a bad campaign. She has gone real negative this past week and it looks desperate. Some of it is real slime ball stuff that may be backfiring.
Obama and HCR is also part of why this election looks like the Democrats may lose this seat. Obama was in town today and he couldn’t fill a venue that holds 3000 people and wasn’t all that inspiring.
HCR isn’t selling well and the Dems have themselves to blame for that. Also they tried some of what is being sold as HCR in MA already with out good results.
I know if Coakley loses the spin will be she was a crappy candidate. There is no doubt that she has. Her campaign spelled ‘Massachusetts’ wrong for crying out loud! But it’s really more then just that.
It will be nice to be able to watch the playoffs next weekend with out all the political ads.
Yutsano
@Mattsky: Your facts are not squaring up sir. How do you reconcile your statements with reports that the Obama event not only was sold out but that over 10,000 tried to attend? Or are you just trying to be a subtle troll?
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Me, too. And I am one!
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: If you should ever make it out this way I’ll see if we can’t find the troupe Gwangung is talking about and laugh our asses off mercilessly. It sounds like a big hoot to me!
Boney Baloney
Hey, DougJ, buck up, bunky. At least “they didn’t mention wetsuits and dildos,” to paraphrase some mirror-blind turd I read with disbelief recently.
Autoerotic asphyxiation is as funny as two dogs stuck together, right? The decedent’s whole family can laugh along, because after all, they encouraged him and took photos for their scrapbooking parties. Matt Y didn’t call Mr. Wetsuit’s family members out by name, so they’re pretty much free from shame by association, and nobody they ever met, or knew personally, knew they were related to Captain Dildo. No blood, no foul! In fact, let’s refer to the man by name again, just for jolly!
But when some applesauce-sipping banjo-player in the peanut gallery yells tacky shit about… theoretical… self-abuse with a curling iron, and people laugh, it’s time to break out the flamethrowers and machine-gun the survivors as they attempt to flee from the fire doors, amirite?
But hey, I don’t want to pee on the campfire! Stop me if you’ve heard this one: these two PUMAs and a Nader voter walk into a bar…
Yutsano
@Boney Baloney: Umm…¿que?
Glocksman
HCR aside, after reading of her actions in the Amirault case, I wouldn’t support her for dogcatcher, much less the US Senate.
Of course I wouldn’t vote for Brown either, so if I were an MA resident I’d vote Jim Beam.
DPirate
I was in the magic room. There is no clown. Just a guy in a panda suit talking about sexual harassment.
Boney Baloney
Oh hey, a clip of the speaker smiling at the curling iron jape. Now I have the whole set: Obama staring at the girl’s ass as he helped her aboard an escalator while the French President stared into the distance; and Super-Democrat playing pocket pool while “Don’t Tase Me Bro” guy was zapped to the deck for daring to raise his voice.
(That’s officer material, right there. The pussy pulpit. Forget the 3 A.M. phone call, that was more like the scene in “The Dead Zone” where the candidate uses a child as a human shield. Behold true command ability, with nobody actually shooting and de-facto control of the whole room… an officer AND a gentleman. Shiny boots, shitty pants.)
Yutsano
@Glocksman: You could always vote for Joe Kennedy. You know, the other one.
Jager
Being a LTC in the Guard is no big deal, esp for a lawyer. Brown’s in it for the money and the retirement.
Here is another old fucking guy story: When I got back from Viet Nam, I was an buck sgt, a ranger and a bunch of guys I knew were in a guard unit and they were urging me to join (c’mon man we have so fucking much fun at camp!) I told them that I wasn’t interested for 3 reasons: (actually more) 1. The battalion comander was a high school football coach, a beetle browed moron if I ever saw one. 2. One of the company commanders managed the men’s department at the local JC Penney store. 3. If the Guard ever did get called up for Viet Nam I wasn’t going back under the command of a guy who loved the single wing offense
Boney Baloney
Oh-oh, my follow-up comment is awaiting moderation! I can understand that, I guess. I didn’t include a hyperlink or a reference to virility medication, so it must be down to Word Press. Or “delay, deny, and hope it passes by.” No, I blame Word Press. Bayesian filtering has a well-known insomniac bias. (“What?” asks a brave fellow commenter. Heh. Indeed! This. Also.)
Oh! Jane Hamsher is worse than Hitler. THAT should get me past the gatekeeper.
mai naem
@lahke: Why is it conservative to live in tight ethnic families and have family dinners on Sunday? I believe I understand the gist of what you are trying to say but I didn’t realize being liberal meant that you couldn’t have a tight ethnic family and have Sunday dinners?
Xenos
@mai naem: Note also that ‘ethnic’ in this context refers to immigrants whose families arrived 70-100 years ago. More recently arrived ‘ethnics’ are not nearly so politically conservative. As an example I would give certain family members of mine who are proud soc-ialists – real soc-ialists from the European Social Democratic movement.
Sly
@John Cole:
This kind of analysis on the part of the left is wishful thinking in the extreme. They think in terms of symbolic victories and overton windows and all that nonsense. Because they are always right about how to govern, they think that any electoral loss by those who are not in lockstep with them will “wake them up” to the greatness of Kucinich, or whatever. “If Coakley loses maybe the DLC/Blue Dogs will ‘get it’ and they’re move more to the left, and it’s worth losing one Senate seat to see that happen.”
Because the DLC and the Blue Dogs have a long tradition of moving to the left when their candidates lose elections.
The reality is that local conditions, and the politics surrounding them, matter a hell of a lot more than national issues. Coalitions are built by compromise, not by fiat from some central party figure or organization. The left of the party, largely based in cities, has no right to run roughshod over moderates, who are mostly suburban and rural. And moderates have no right to run roughshod over them. So the obvious answer is to allow each constituency to campaign on their own local issues and concerns, and reach consensus on national issues. That’s how its always been done. At least when parties are successful.
But neither side wants to do it now because recognizing the legitimate argument of their counter-party will give them the herpes, or something.
The Grand Panjandrum
While Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 3-1 margin the single largest bloc of voters are Independents. They make up half of the registered voters in the state. The fact that D’s outnumber R’s is almost meaningless in this context.
Mattsky
Yutsano
I have since read things the refute the story that the hall was not filled. At least that there were people that wanted to get in but could not. Please note that the majority of the thousands of people that were out site the event were for Scott Brown not Coakley. But I was wrong with what I said.
Paul L.
Progressives should embrace the talking point that a convicted sex offender Gerald Amirault supports Scott Brown.
Coakley should run a ad saying just that.