So good to see the republican party self destruct

[Sir X]

Conservatives attacking moderates saying you arent conservative enough and right wing radicals attacking both moderates and conservatives saying you are too liberal.

What the hell do they expect to win next election ? Alabama and Texas ? do they plan to se·cede ?

The democrtas must be licking thier lips at this.I think Sarah palin plan is to support the tea party and then reinvent herself as a repub healer or unionist then fight for the repub nomination.

Wont happen the good old boy repub network wont let it happen , they would rather loose to Obama Dems than let it happen.

Beautifull

[Islandman]

Self-destruct is a bit of an overstatement. They should still gain quite a number of seats in the mid-term elections. But the teabaggers are definitely pulling the party to the far right.

Hopefully for the Dems, Palin will decide to run and win the Republican nomination. Thats the best thing that could happen to them given the headwinds of a bad economy.

[Assasin]

if this is all the hope the democrats have we are doomed.

Why would I be laughing when the democrats have failed miserable with majority in all the branch of governent. They failed to implement even the simpliest policies with their infighting and now have to depend on tea party?

The fact is the Democrats fail to energise their base and right now if Obama wasn't the president the back vote would be on the sidelines an can I blame them? with about 20% umemployment for black males?

[Islandman]

We expect way too much from the promises of politicians.

Obama has done a fairly decent job so far in my opinion. It doesn't live up to the "Hope and Change" slogans but I never bought into that anyway, you can't change anything as big and complicated as Washington in any short period of time.

This was no ordinary recession. It was decades in the making and will take years to recover from. Just the reality Obama has to deal with. Then again, if it was not for the crisis showing up McCains limitations I am not sure he would even have won the election.

Obama will need all the help he can get from extreme right wing conservatives to win a second term. I hope they nominate teabaggers all over the country. From what I have heard so faf from them, most of them are damaged goods and mental midgets .

[Assasin]

you see the problem is not Obama but those people who rode on his coat tail to victory and refuses to make policies even the very basic ones that the people supported fully at the time. Two problems I have with Obama and one is he tried too hard to work with the right wing even when he realised the republicans were not about to support anything he did. The second is the "keep people in home" was a big failure in my opinion as it fail to help people and they pulled the housing stimilus right in the selling season, they could have half it to keep up the momentum.

Things like an energy policy you would expect the democrats to pass one already although Don1 say it is in effect. If they can't pass that then what can a democrat pass?

[MdmeX]

I want to know why a man like Charlie Rangel is being contemplated to win another seat.

They say Innocent until proven Guilty, but his name is embroiled in one issue after another.

Why some of these people can't retire, mi waan know.

[Gamma]

boss, can you imagine if it was mccain in charge?!!!

[Hortical]

The self destruction of the GOP is greatly exaggerated. The Tea Party wingnuts have energized right wingers which will result in loses for the Democrats in November. House Democrats are projected to lose at least 44 seats. Every siting president has lost about 25 house seats in the mid term elections. Democrats will lose a lot more due to the terrible economy. Democrats will also lose seats in the Senate as well. I doubt the loses in either the House & Senate will be enough for a GOP takeover, but it will be more difficult for Obama to advance his agenda.

[Sir X]

First thoughts: The purge inside the GOP
O’Donnell’s stunning victory last night epitomized the ideological purge and conservative insurrection within the GOP… It was the culmination of events we’ve witnessed going back to last year… Still, this purge isn’t out of the ordinary; it’s what parties do after they lose… The Senate is still in play, though O’Donnell’s win makes it more difficult for Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn… Why the White House is happy… Last night also was a bad night for current and ex-insiders… Don’t miss Murkowski’s shot at the Tea Party Express… Polling the tax debate… More exit interviews… And profiling OH-15.
From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** The purge inside the GOP: How do we make sense of Christine O’Donnell stunning Mike Castle in Delaware, Carl Paladino crushing Rick Lazio in New York’s GOP gubernatorial primary, and Kelly Ayotte and Ovide Lamontagne still running neck-and-neck in New Hampshire’s Senate GOP contest? It’s simple: We’re witnessing a purge within the Republican Party. A longtime moderate like Castle? Gone. A well-known fixture in New York politics like Rick Lazio (who agreed to be the party's sacrificial lamb to Hillary in 2000)? Adios. Ayotte supporting Sonia Sotomayor’s SCOTUS nomination? Problematic. We’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: This is no longer George W. Bush’s Republican Party, or even Ronald Reagan’s (at least the Reagan who raised taxes and agreed to amnesty for illegal immigrants). It’s a Republican Party that’s being led by Palin, DeMint, Beck, Hannity, and Limbaugh. And while Palin is the catnip here, DeMint is the real player -- the unofficial head of the GOP Senate’s Tea Party caucus and the guy who truly bears watching.
*** A year and a half in the making: O’Donnell’s surprising victory is really culmination of something that had been growing since last spring, when Arlen Specter defected to the Democratic Party. It carried over to this April, when Charlie Crist quit his Senate GOP primary. Then in May, Robert Bennett was unable to win his party's nomination. In Kentucky, Rand Paul upset Trey Grayson, who was Mitch McConnell's hand-picked candidate. It carried over to Nevada, where Sharron Angle won the GOP primary to challenge Harry Reid. Then, in Alaska, virtually unknown Joe Miller upset Lisa Murkowski. Now O'Donnell wins in Delaware, becoming -- by our count -- the sixth Tea Party candidate to win a contested GOP Senate primary (joining Paul, Angle, Miller, Mike Lee in Utah, and Ken Buck in Colorado).
*** The GOP’s civil war isn’t out of the ordinary: Yet it’s important to understand that this purge isn’t out of the ordinary. It’s what political parties do after they lose, and what has happened within the GOP -- after 2006 and 2008 -- is that those who value ideological purity the most are beating those who value winning the most; in fact, the Democrats went through this in the '70s. This is why the Michelle Malkins are arguing with the Karl Roves, and vice versa. One thing is certainly clear, however: This temporary evolution within the Republican Party will end up pushing the 2012 GOP presidential field more to the right. Next year, we won’t see a John McCain (supporting comprehensive immigration reform), Rudy Giuliani (supporting abortion rights), or a Mitt Romney circa ’06 (supporting a health-insurance mandate). As Pat Buchanan asked on “Morning Joe,” if they want to lead this party in 2012, don’t the Romneys and Pawlentys and Barbours need to embrace O’Donnell and campaign for her this fall? Buchanan made this point: In '64, Nelson Rockefeller refused to wear a Goldwater button, while Richard Nixon campaigned for him in 40 states. One became president, the other got kicked off the GOP national ticket. Bottom line: Does the Tea Party/DeMint crowd punish any presidential wannabe in '12 who doesn't help O'Donnell meaningfully? Does this become like the ‘06 Lamont-Lieberman litmus test.
*** The Senate is still in play: While O’Donnell’s victory last night makes it harder for Republicans to pick up the 10 seats needed to win back control of the Senate, that chamber is still in play. Linda McMahon (in Connecticut), John Raese (in West Virginia), and Carly Fiorina (in California) just became more important to Mitch McConnell and the NRSC’s John Cornyn. And get this: If O’Donnell loses and if Republicans end up gaining nine Senate seats in November and not the magic 10, a switch of just 1,850 votes in the DE GOP primary would have been the difference between being in the minority and being in the majority.
*** The White House is happy with last night: The happiest people today are the beleaguered folks in the West Wing. The intra-party spat inside the GOP means the White House gets a few days out of the spotlight, something it desperately needed. Team Obama obviously believes the farther to the right the GOP is pushed by the Tea Party, the better in the long run it is for the president and his 2012 prospects. But the White House and Democrats still have a major enthusiasm problem heading into November -- one they are now starting to believe can be dealt with by simply highlighting some of the Tea Party nominees. Indeed, could last night and all the attention it will receive be a tipping point to get Democrats fired up and ready to go on Election Day?
*** A bad night for the insiders: Here’s another way to look at last night’s results: Anyone who was associated with Washington or the establishment took a hit. Mike Castle wasn’t alone; three ex-members of Congress (Lazio, Mark Neumann in Wisconsin, and Charlie Bass in New Hampshire) either lost or received tougher-than-expected races. Even Richard Nixon's grandson got thumped (remember, his opponents ran against him on the whole sense of entitlement issue). And don't forget Joe Malone, who at one time in Massachusetts was the Republican Party. He got pummeled. This is a purge -- not just based on ideology, but also against those who are part of the establishment. Outsiders won up and down the ballot last night. Then again, are we shocked that members of Congress (either current or former) are having a hard time selling themselves as agents of change?
*** An 'outside extremist group'? Don’t miss this comment from Lisa Murkowski in her statement yesterday that she won’t run as a Libertarian but is still mulling a write-in bid (and will make a final decision by Friday): “As disappointed as I am in the outcome of the Primary and my belief that the Alaska Republican Party was hijacked by the Tea Party Express, an outside extremist group, I am not going to quit my party. I will not wrap myself in the flag of another political party for the sake of election at any cost.” Wow. "Extremist"? This isn't coming from someone in the liberal blogosphere.
*** Polling the tax debate: Dem polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner went into the field to ask the tax questions and found that among likely voters, by a 55%-38% margin, Americans want to let the Bush tax cuts expire. Those numbers are identical for independents. Dems favor letting them expire 69%-22%; Republicans are against 54%-39%. By a 68%-28% margin, respondents in the survey said they favor extending the Bush tax cuts for just the middle class for two years. More than 60% favored permanently extending the middle-class tax cuts and either phasing them out for those making $250,000 a year or more or letting them expire. The poll, however, showed Republicans maintaining a seven-point, 49%-42% generic ballot edge. These results aired on MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” last night.
*** The exit interviews: As part of NBC Senate producer Ken Strickland’s series of the U.S. senators who are retiring this year, and here are snippets from two of the posts we’ll run on First Read. First, here’s Jim Bunning (R-KY) on the two senators he doesn’t get along with: I have difficulty with Durbin and Schumer. Maybe it’s their personalities; maybe it’s my personality.” And here’s Evan Bayh (D-IN) on the difficulty of crossing party lines on issues: "Any deviancy from party orthodoxy is viewed as an act of betrayal or a lack of moral fiber.”
*** 75 House races to watch: OH-15: The Democratic nominee is first-term incumbent Mary Jo Kilroy. The GOP nominee is former state Rep. Steve Stivers, whom Kilroy beat by just 2,000 votes in ’08. Obama won 54% in this district in 2008, while Bush got 50% in ’04. As of Sept. 14, Kilroy had nearly $1.7 million in the bank, and Stivers had $1.5 million. Kilroy voted for the stimulus, cap-and-trade, and health care. Cook rates it a Toss Up, while Rothenberg has it Lean Republican.

[Islandman]

Thats basically how I see it too.

There is a danger for the Repugs in 2012 if the wingnuts really start to run the show though. They may bring out the right wing but lose enough of the center to give Obama a second term. It will be interesting.

[Assasin]

the thing is what are they going in to do? Cut medicare, social security, education etc? bigger deficits and tax breaks

4 years might be too much. Democrats needs to get them act together.

[Assasin]

well macain is a liberal to the nuts that are coming in.