Let us dispense with this canard now

[cpwill]

Post-election narratives are already shaping up. famously voters in 1994 were accused of 'throwing a temper tantrum' :roll:, but today's pre-excuses seem to revolve around people not knowing what they are voting for, voting out of fear, and massive amounts of outside money coming in to buy the election for Republicans.


well, i'm no psychiatrist, but dealing with the third one is as easy as pie.

Who is the largest single political contributor in the 2010 campaign cycle? You can be pardoned if you answer, erroneously, that it’s some new conservative group organized by Karl Rove. That’s campaign spin by the Obama Democrats, obediently relayed by certain elements of the so-called mainstream media.

The real answer is the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. The union’s president, Gerald McEntee, reports proudly that AFSCME will be contributing $87,500,000 in this cycle, entirely or almost entirely to Democrats. “We’re spending big,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “And we’re damn happy it’s big.”

The mainstream press hasn’t shown much interest in reporting on unions’ campaign spending, which amounted to some $400,000,000 in the 2008 cycle. And it hasn’t seen fit to run long investigative stories on why public-employee unions — the large majority of whom work for state and local governments — contribute so much more to campaigns for federal office.

Nor has it denounced the Supreme Court’s decision last January in Citizens United allowing unions to spend members’ dues on politics without their permission and without disclosure...

Public-employee unions have collected big-time from the Obama Democrats. The February 2009 stimulus package contained $160 billion in aid to state and local governments. This was intended to insulate public-employee union members from the ravages of the recession that afflicted those unfortunate enough to make their livings in the private sector — and it did so.

How it benefited society as a whole is less clear. State governments in California, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey are facing enormous budget deficits and much, much greater pension liabilities. Much of the life of their private-sector economies has been sucked out by the public-employee unions, with a resulting flight of middle-income citizens unable or unwilling to bear such burdens...

 

[Diogenes]

I think it's called "prepositioning" as they test their excuses on focus groups. It's a natural response to avoid the consequence of successful "propositioning" where the john failed to pay up.

But the Dems may not lose all that badly. In the words of the late, great political philosopher J. Stalin, "The power to vote is nothing. The power to count the votes is everything."

The Dems failed when they were caught trying to steal the election in Florida back in 2000, but they got away with it (and gave us our first Frankensenator) in 2008. Using lessons learned, I fully expect multiple attempts this year - especially if they get away with what they have already apparently pulled in Nevada.

 

[cpwill]

there is an ongoing thread tracking those exact attempts, as they become available; it does indeed appear to be widespead.

 

[cpwill]

and what is the final count?

Despite a deluge of campaign spending over the last few months by Republican-leaning outside groups, Democratic candidates and their allies have outspent Republicans over all on television advertising in House races, according to data provided by Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks political advertising...

Democratic candidates and their allies spent $142 million on television advertising across all House races in the general election, compared with $119 million by Republican candidates and their backers...

The Democratic advantage on television spending in House races was something of a revelation, given all the attention that has been garnered this year by the staggering expenditures by Republican-oriented independent groups after a Supreme Court ruling in January that lifted restrictions on corporate political spending.

But it appears that the Republican-leaning groups were able to make a significant impact in many House races by leveling the playing field for underfinanced Republican challengers, who in previous elections might have had little chance against Democratic incumbents.

“Republican groups basically provided the advertising version of bridge loans for the underfunded challengers, running ads before they could go up on the air for themselves,” said Evan Tracey, president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group...

Democratic Party committees, for instance, have raised significantly more money than their Republican counterparts. And, in competitive House races, Democratic candidates have generally had a financial edge over their Republican opponents as well...

The overall Democratic spending advantage on television in the House holds true not only for all races, but also when just the 105 races that the group classifies as competitive are considered. Democrats have so far outspent Republicans on television in 68 of those 105 contests. In all House races, Republican-leaning outside groups spent $38 million on television, compared with $13 million by Democratic-oriented groups. But Democratic candidates outspent Republican ones, $97 million to $49 million. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also outspent the national Republican Congressional Committee, $30 million to $26 million...

 

[FilmFestGuy]

I think it's called "prepositioning" as they test their excuses on focus groups. It's a natural response to avoid the consequence of successful "propositioning" where the john failed to pay up.

But the Dems may not lose all that badly. In the words of the late, great political philosopher J. Stalin, "The power to vote is nothing. The power to count the votes is everything."

The Dems failed when they were caught trying to steal the election in Florida back in 2000, but they got away with it (and gave us our first Frankensenator) in 2008. Using lessons learned, I fully expect multiple attempts this year - especially if they get away with what they have already apparently pulled in Nevada.

So, instead of the canard we are too dismiss, we have a replacement canard proposed in this thread?

Because conservative mythology is truth - and liberal mythology is nothing but conspiracy theory.

Keep in mind that in 1994, Republicans were sure they were going to oust Clinton in '96 and in 1982, Democrats were sure they were going to oust Reagan in 1984.

Further keep in mind that independent have switched parties three times in four elections now.

The biggest issue is that the parties keep believing that voters have "given them a mandate" and they then over-reach. It appears that Republicans are poised to over-reach yet again. I expect the culture to be very different in 2012, and I also expect there is potential for a strong third-party or independent candidate.

 

[cpwill]

independents are not fickle; independents are misunderstood. three times now they have voted against the people in power; and the new incoming class has always translated that into a mandate to sieze more.

for Republicans, attempting to give that power back to the people isn't going to be overreach, it's going to seem like someone finally get's that Washington is not the solution, Washington is broken.

 

[Wiseone]

I gotta agree with you, unions piss me off on so many levels. Especially public and government workers unions. And especially auto worker unions.

 

[cpwill]

private sector unions i mind a lot less; the pressure of the marketplace keeps them from becoming too destructive; else they kill the host and themselves. plus the owners are capable of defending their interest in negotiation. the situation is reversed, the owners can't defend themselves ad the negotiators are extremely suscptible to bribery. when public sector unions drag down the host, however, they drag us all down.