Who Deserves The Credit?
We at The Agitator consider ourselves determinedly independent when it comes to politics, so we won't weep if a few progressive Republicans were elected here and there across America yesterday (though we're hard pressed to think of any … maybe Arnold).
That said, we can live with the Dems winning control of the House, and probably (it's 5AM) the Senate.
If they do, whom do you think should get the credit?
- The Democratic Party's fundraising and GOTV operation
- Jack Abramoff and the stench of corruption
- President Bush
- MoveOn
- Some dissaffected or specially motivated voting block (e.g., Hispanics, youth, suburban Moms, environmentalists, stay-at-home religious conservatives)
- President Bush
- Jack Abramoff & the stench of corruption
- Congressman Foley
- President Bush
- Don Rumsfeld
- The uniquely attractive (appalling) qualities of each individual winning (losing) candidate
- President Bush
- A deliberate and careful calculation by the American voting public that putting all the power in one party's hands is problemmatic
- Liberal bloggers
- Jack Abramoff and the stench of corruption
- President Bush
- Voting machine errors (or manipulation)
- Al Gore
- President Bush
- YouTube attack videos
- Michael J. Fox
- President Bush
- Friends and relatives of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid coming out of the woodwork all across America
- Political independents who had no option but to make the least bad choice
- Jack Abramoff and the stench of corruption
- President Bush
It's probably clear how we view it!
Keep in mind, how you award credit says something about the “mandate” you think the Dems might (or might not) have received from the voting public.
Meantime, in by far the best election post we've seen, blogger David Aidem breaks this fantastic “news”. The political parties have made a deal with Nielsen Ratings to have all future elections decided solely on the basis of exit polls. Here's just a taste of David's post:
After all, stated one party spokesperson, if Nielsen is trusted as the judge and jury for over $70 billion in TV ad spending, the paltry $3 billion spent on U.S. elections is, by comparison, insignificant. He concluded, We should have done this sooner. After all, what really matters is that the American people get the feeling of voting; the counting is academic.
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