Short & Quick

Politics
Elections have consequences as I have often said.


The 2008 presidential election meant this country was going to lurch left – although many didn’t expect it to be such a sharp turn.


Well, the 2010 midterms provided a ‘correction.”


A correction is when the American people tell Washington they’ve got it wrong. In this case, it was as simple as a right/center nation reminding the President and his Democratic cohorts in the House and Senate of this fact.


Remember, every 15-20 years, we give liberals some power and they blow it. This time, they had maximum power (the executive and the legislative branches) and blew it faster than a fat boy downing a pair of twinkies at lunch while the jocks put gum in his hair.


That was my "bullying" reference since it's such a hot topic these days.

By the way, you know how you stop a bully - punch him in the face. And if he doesn't back down and kicks your ass, get your older brother involved or double team him with one of your boys and kick his ass.


Sensitivity training doesn't work with some people. They need beaten on to learn the most valuable lesson of all - there is always someone bigger, badder, and/or better than you.


Back on point.


The Democrats couldn’t help themselves. So they shot their wad so to speak (aka: spent like drunken sailors) until they couldn’t spend any more. And knowing their power was likely to be short-lived, they convinced themselves they had to pass as much liberal legislation as quickly as possible before the correction came.


You see, unlike others, I believe Obama, Pelosi and company knew full well they would lose much of their power in 2010. They saw the anger building (i.e. the town halls). They had pollsters telling them independents were pissed as far back as last year. They didn’t care. So they publicly said what they had to say (aka: “They’ll like the health bill once they know what’s in it.”) to pass the time while they lurched us left.


Either that or they were complete morons and misread the nation. No one walking on two feet is that stupid – not even Nancy Pelosi.


By the way, she's totally gone. I have a feeling, in the near future, we're going to get a scroll on CNN indicating she's dangling buck naked from the Golden Gate Bridge (her home base) singing "There once was a man from Nantucket..." while drinking Vodka straight from the bottle given to her by three circus clowns just passing through.


Back on point - again.

The end result – Obama’s agenda was on trial in the 2010 midterms but he wasn’t. So he didn’t care those he convinced to follow his lead walked the plank and lost their seats. It wasn’t him.


You see, it doesn’t take courage to pass unpopular legislation when you personally aren’t up for re-election. You let others fall on the sword and thank them nicely for being good soldiers as they clean out their Washington offices and turn in their leased condo keys.


Now let’s see how Obama handles matters over the course of the next two years when he’s up for re-election himself.


Will he drift back toward the middle or stay hard left and go down in flames in the next election, assuming the Republicans post a candidate that can walk, chew gum, isn’t a leper and has no child molestation convictions on his record?


My hunch is he’ll drift back toward the middle some to give himself a legitimate shot at re-election. Remember, all he needs is his base (liberals, AA, & Latinos) to turnout, which they likely will in 2012, and to recapture a majority of the all-important independent vote.


He gets the independents back by seeming reasonable and by telling them you don’t want the Republicans in charge of all three branches after the 2012 elections.

“You see how we screwed it up after 2008 when we had all the power? The Republicans will screw it up even worse.” That’s his upcoming narrative folks.


You see, unless the Republicans blow it big time, they are likely to keep the House and regain the Senate in 2012 based on redistricting – which going to take place, state by state. And with most states going red, the Republicans are doing the redistricting. In simple English, they get to “rig the game.”


For example, Obama is looking at a totally different Midwest map than he was two years ago. States like Indiana, Ohio and even Pennsylvania are likely to go Republican next time around. He simple can’t win the election (get electoral votes) without much of the Midwest in his pocket. It isn’t likely to be there next time around with many of these states now in Republican control (i.e. governors & legislatures).


So Obama will attempt to show he’s somewhat reasonable while telling the nation you want divided government – elect me while you stumble toward a Republican legislative branch.


His other alternative is to stay hard left and prove his critics right – that’s he’s a true lefty and doesn’t care about being re-elected. He just wants to fundamentally transform the country regardless of cost to him (no second term) and his Party (getting mauled in elections while he’s in charge).


My money is on him compromising some. Why? The guy’s got way too big an ego to not want the gig for another four years.