Tag: Election 2014
A Not Sugar-Coated Sugar Coating
I won’t sugarcoat it – we always knew tonight would be a challenging night. In short, it could have been worse.
— Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), quoted by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, sugar coating the election results.
The Moribund Midterms
Nasty ads have ended, campaigns have been run.
OK, we’ll concede, the Republicans have won.
Now it’s on them,
And not the Dems,
To get some meaningful legislating done.
Time Magazine’s 2014 Election Night Drinking Game
In celebration of our democracy, here are TIME’s 2014 Election Night drinking game suggestions:
“Ground game.” The key is to pace yourself. Drink one sip.
An incumbent is described as “embattled.” Drink three sips.
A Taylor Swift reference. Drink three.
“It will all come down to turnout.” Finish your drink.
John King doodles on his Magic Wall. Drink one.
A network presents publicly available information as an exclusive. Drink three.
Hologram sighting. Finish your drink.
A Democratic dynasty candidate loses. This includes: Mark Begich, Jason Carter, Andrew Cuomo, Mary Landrieu, Michelle Nunn, Mark Pryor, Mark Udall. Drink one. Let’s not go crazy.
Democrats win a battleground state: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Hampshire or North Carolina. Finish your drink.
Americans Are Turned Off by and Tuned Out of Midterms
People feel they’re victims of the process, that politics isn’t something to participate in, it’s something that is done to them. The feeling is getting worse, it’s getting much deeper, it’s covering larger and larger groups within the electorate …. Their frustration is much worse than anything I’ve heard before.
— Democratic Party pollster Geoff Garin, quoted in Politico.
Republicans Have Already Begun to Gloat
In the game of expectations, it’s typical for parties to remain cautiously optimistic before a major election even when everything looks to be going their way. Republicans, however, are nearly gloating.
— National Journal
No Matter Who Wins, Both Political Parties Are Going Extinct
Whichever side emerges victorious, both Republicans and Democrats should face up to a much bigger truth: Neither party as currently constituted has a real future. Fewer and fewer Americans identify as either Republican or Democratic according to Gallup, and both parties are at recent or all-time lows when it comes to approval ratings. Just 39 percent give Democrats a favorable rating and just 33 percent do the same for Republicans. Not coincidentally, each party has also recently had a clear shot at implementing its vision of the good society. If you want to drive down your adversary’s approval rating, just give him the reins of power for a few years.
— Nick Gillespie, writing in the Daily Beast.
Midterm Madness Ends
On this Election Day we’re unhappy to confirm
That the 2014 campaign has left us feeling infirm.
After four billion dollars
Somehow democracy feels smaller,
And we’re glad to say goodbye to these nasty midterms.
