The fierce politics of please, none of the above!

Posted: October 15, 2010 | Author: dakinikat | Filed under: Uncategorized |Comments Off on The fierce politics of please, none of the above!

I’m glad I don’t have to vote in Nevada. If there was ever a Hobson’s choice for a Senate seat, this would be it. The option is to take the horrible offerings that spring from two corporate parties or just stay home. Either way, you’re about to get stuck with the worst that both parties offer. The current political domination of two parties and the state laws that have enabled this duopoly has given new meaning to the Zen Act of choosing None of the Above, PLEASE! We need serious political reform if our choice continues to be between Bat Shit Crazy and Visionless Huckster Beltway Insider.

If you eyeball the current newspapers, Reid appears to be the loser of last night’s debate. How is this possible? This is incredible given the ongoing outrageous comments of his challenger, Sharron Angle. Angle basically offers an agenda that returns the country to a post civil war status, at best. She seems to be walking back some of her most outrageous statements from the primaries. Angle even admitted yesterday to CNN’s Jessica Yellin that she did not fully understand issues like social security where in the primaries she favored privatization alone. Now she is aware of a ‘blended’ approach and thinks that might be a better idea. How do you get to the point of running for a position of one of 100 US senators without fully understanding the ramifications of eliminating one of the primary legislative achievements of the 20th century? This is a bit like saying we can probably go back to slavery as long as the supply side of the market shows that it could be useful. She’s also said that it was a mistake to send government aid and troops to help victims of Katrina and that unemployment pays more than a job. She believes two American cities–one that doesn’t even exist in Texas any more and another in Michigan–are under Sharia law. She’s just the poster child for the Republican Right who seems to think that facts are untruths because they want them to be untrue. Damn the data! Full speed ahead with the things we want to believe because of our continual blind faith in ideology.

So how did Reid manage to lose the conversation last night to Angle?

The air of desperation around Reid must be thick to have engaged in a debate with a woman that appears to exist in some other plane of reality. The fact that he came off worse than her–as outlined in many news sources–just indicates how bad things have gotten. I find Christine O’Donnell to be goofy, affable, and some one I wouldn’t run away from if I met her on the streets. She’s somewhat likeable despite her Paris Hilton affinity for purse dogs and her affectation of Sarah-Palin-light looks. But, all I have to do is see Angle’s eyes. I’d cross the street to avoid her and drag my daughters with me, pronto! They look as though they don’t see what the rest of us see and she sounds that way too.

This is what the current political party system delivers; batshit crazy Republicans and Democrats that are corporate and political insiders who could care less about actual public policy. I’m sorry but THIS IS NOT a CHOICE! It’s a travesty! Down with the political duopoly! The outcomes are costly and terrible!

Let me just highlight some of the media coverage as listed by Memeorandum. (Standard “I’m not a right wing republican racist ratfugger” Rubber Rule here plus a new “I don’t agree with every one on every point, I’m just quoting it folks” addendum. I’m tired of the BOHICA of presenting some one else’s punditry.)

From Jon Ralston at the Las Vegas Sun: Reid lost the debate to Angle.

Angle won because she looked relatively credible, appearing not to be the Wicked Witch of the West (Christine O’Donnell is the good witch of the Tea Party) and scoring many more rhetorical points. And she won because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid looked as if he could barely stay on a linear argument, abruptly switching gears and failing to effectively parry or thrust.

Whether the debate affects the outcome — I believe very few Nevadans are undecided — it also perfectly encapsulated the race: An aging senator who has mastered the inside political game but fundamentally does not seem to care about his public role (and is terrible at it) versus an ever-smiling political climber who can deliver message points but sometimes changes her message or denies a previous one even existed.

Look upon these works, ye mighty, and despair.

T.A. Frank from the New Republic: Reid My Lips: Last Night Was a Disaster; The Senate majority leader should’ve stayed home.

Why Harry Reid agreed to have a debate with Sharron Angle is a bit of a mystery to me. If your campaign is based on portraying your opponent as loony, then why give that opponent a chance to look reasonable? Lyndon Johnson never debated Barry Goldwater. Then again, I’m no political strategist. And neither, I’ve come to see, is Harry Reid. So let’s focus on what matters now: that a debate was held in Nevada last night between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his Republican challenger Sharron Angle. And its upshot was—sorry, folks—that Angle improved her chances.

Jonathan Martin, Poltico: Nevada Senate debate fizzles.