Tag: Tea Party

Still Waiting for That Other Apology

Trish

When I hear Bush apologize about being wrong about WMDs, I’ll give a shit whether or not Obama said he’s sorry.

@RudePundit, on Twitter, commenting on those being given air time to say Pres. Obama should apologize more because the Affordable Care Act website wasn’t fully functional when the health care exchanges became available on Oct. 1. The toll-free phone number, in-person “navigators,” and other venues in various states worked great on opening day, despite the 17-day tea party led government shutdown that began simultaneously.

Tea Bagger Loser in Alabama Special Congressional Election Shows How Not to Give a Concession Speech

Jon Ponder

The much-watched special election for the U.S. House seat in Alabama’s District 1 ended with a victory for Bradley Byrne, the far-right Republican who was not a tea bagger. After losing the race by just a few points, the tea bagger, Dean Young, demonstrated the sort of juvenile behavior that has become the trademark of the tea party lately:

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3 Things to Know About Florida Politics Now

Trish
  1. Former Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist is running for governor in 2014 as a Democrat. The official announcement was made in Crist’s hometown of St. Petersburg, and puts an end, not to speculation that Crist would run, but to when the campaign would begin. It’s on.
  2. Alex Sink (D), former state chief financial officer, who lost to Gov. Rick Scott (GOP/Tea) in 2010 by 1% in a campaign where Scott provided $75 million of his own money, announced she is running for Congress to fill the seat of U.S. Rep. Bill Young (R), who died in October. Sink claims a fundraising headstart, and if successful, will help chip away at the Republican majority in the House. Dist. 13, where Sink is running, is 37.7% Republican, 35.2% Democratic, 23.2% independent, and the rest “other.”
  3. Republicans are already gunning for both Crist and Sink. This promoted tweet from the Florida GOP went up as Crist was delivering his announcement:

GOP, Tea Party Unfavorables Hit New Record High

Buck Banks

64%

Of Americans say they have an unfavorable view of the Republican party, an all-time high dating back to 1992 when CNN first asked the question, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. Only 30% say they hold a favorable view of the party. Meanwhile, 56% say they have an unfavorable view of the tea party movement, another record high in CNN polling.

Good News, Bad News for Cruz

Trish

15 points

The rise in UNfavorability experienced by Sen. Ted Cruz (Tx-Tea) among Republicans who do not align themselves with the tea party, in a new Pew poll. In June, 16% were unfavorable to Cruz, while today, 31% are. The tea party itself also fell among Republicans, with only 27% of those who think of themselves as liberal or moderate Republicans approving of the movement, compared to 46% in June. The good news for Texanadian Cruz is that among the shrinking league of tea party members, his popularity rose from 47% to 74%.

John Oliver: 10% Approval But 90% Re-Election Rate? Yes.

Trish

John Oliver, of Daily Show fame, is also half of a funny, intelligent podcast called The Bugle. Comedian Andy Zaltzman, who lives in England, is the other half, and John recently explained our government shutdown to his countryman.

He particularly pointed out the depressing legacy of legislative redistricting, and how it’s left even the worst representatives invulnerable to losing office. Oliver:

It’s a pretty bold move for Congress to do something that pisses almost everyone off on this kind of scale for no kind of rational reason, but again, that’s hardly surprising. There is no incentive for them to be anything other than awful. Just look at the numbers.

Congress currently has a ten percent approval rating. Apparently that is lower than the approval rating for colonoscopies, which actually makes sense because the more you think about it, both Congress and colonoscopies deal with assholes, but the American public can at least acknowledge that colonoscopies serve a practical function.

Also, colonoscopies exist to make assholes better; Congress just seems to make them worse. And yet, Andy, and yet, even with this mere ten percent approval rating, members of Congress also have a ninety percent re-election rate. How is that fucking possible? Andy, they’re somehow batting 900 while striking out every time they’re at bat. That doesn’t obey the basic laws of mathematics.