A Grand Illusion

Well, I think we can call NY23 the first nail in the coffin of the teabagger movement. Can’t wait to see what Beck & Palin have to say about it. Actually, nah. I’m sure they are going to blame it on the media or ACORN or call Scozzafava a turncoat.

As Reid Report notes, the conservatives who ran on the issues and not just on ideological opposition to Obama won. The one race where the wingnuts got everything they wanted:

Running as an unabashed conservative, even to the point of pledging eternal fealty to Glenn Beck and the 9/12 movement;

Bringing in not just Sarah Palin, but also a literal army of right wing stallwarts, from teabagger king Dick Armey to Fred Thompson, and even Rick Santorum, to show just how authentically right wing he is;

Pledging to do what the Club for Growthers want — drown government in a bathtub by slashing spending and refusing to take earmarks, despite the fact that the district he wanted to represent (but which he doesn’t live in) depends on federal money for its very survival;

Engaging the right wing blogosphere. Hoffman had RedState, Michelle Malkin and all the rest working hard for him, not to mention the full weight of Fox News;

.., and most importantly, handing the teabaggers the ultimate victory by knocking off a supposed RINO

…that race they lost. As Andy says “thanks for the seat!” Marco Rubio is taking notes and wondering how can he craft a message appealing to the independents that were instrumental in VA and NJ. Noooo Marco, you are doing great! Stay on message. You don’t want NRO and Limbaugh turning on you.

No spin on NJ or VA. NJ is a defeat for the Dems, even if it’s not the referendum on Obama that conservatives wanted it to be. Bottom line is that the Democrats are also in an ideological fight between the ones who wanted Obama to be more daring and the ones who believe he has to govern center-left. We’ll see what approach works better in the 2010 elections.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS