Barack with Illinois State Director of Veterans Affairs, Tammy Duckworth after placing a wreath at The Bronze Soldiers Memorial in honor of Veteran's Day (Duckworth is on the short list to replace Obama's Senate Seat in Illinois)
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GOP in the Wilderness
The Republican Party is continuing to lick their wounds from the November 4th thrashing. As they are emerging on camera, the only thing they can acknowledge is that "the country is center right."
Really?
If the country was center right, why did the McCain Campaign and the Republicans continue to lose seats in the house and senate?
No answer.
Barack Obama won an electoral landslide, 365-173. He won by at least 7 points, as of now 52.6-46.1, the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter who won over 50 percent. That is a popular vote landslide.
Chris Matthews of Hardball had two strategists on his program yesterday, Todd Harris and Steve McMahon, to talk about Barack Obama making bold, important moves on the economy, Iraq, Education, etc. All the things that the public voted him into office to do. Why? Obama won a mandate, that is why.
During this segment Matthews assails Harris and his Republican talking point of this country is "center right". George W. Bush was elected twice under the closest margins, in other words less than 50% and no mandate election. The country was evenly divided under both of Bush's wins. Still, Bush rammed through his mandate, did not tip-toe through the tulips, and all his decisions for this country was wrong.
The Barack Obama Landslide was notice to the Republican Party and to the current government that the voters do not want your ideology, we don't want you in charge anymore, you were rejected. Period.
The map above is what the Republican Party is reduced to, a regional party. They have a lot of work to do with African-Americans, Hispanics, Gays, Asian-Americans, Independents, Moderates and Democrats. Their party is one of "great old white guys." That does not win elections, ask Congressman Chris Shays who was defeated in Connecticut, the last Republican standing in the Northeast.
Ask Senator Mel Martinez of Florida who chastised his party about not being inclusive on Meet the Press.
Governor Jeb Bush--former Governor Jeb Bush last week made a comment that if Republicans don't figure it out and do the math that we're going to be relegated to minority status. I've been preaching this for a long time to my colleagues within my party. I think that the very divisive rhetoric of the immigration debate set a very bad tone for our brand as Republicans. The fact of the matter is I think in Florida there was not a great ideological shift, but I think there was plenty of room for improvement in how that state was looked upon.
The fact of the matter is that Hispanics are going to be a more and more vibrant part of the electorate, and the Republican Party had better figure out how to talk to them. We had a very dramatic shift between what President Bush was able to do with Hispanic voters, where he won 44 percent of them, and what happened to Senator McCain. Senator McCain did not deserve what he got. He was one of those that valiantly fought, fought for immigration reform, but there were voices within our party, frankly, which if they continue with that kind of rhetoric, anti-Hispanic rhetoric, that so much of it was heard, we're going to be relegated to minority status.
So, while the Republicans are running around here talking about this country is "center-right", they need to wake up and sniff the reality in the air, they are just dead wrong.
••
Obama Transition
At a briefing before well over 100 reporters, John Podesta, the co-chair of Barack Obama's White House transition, announced three priorities for the interim period and laid out just how comprehensive the effort would be.
The transition team will operate off a budget of $12 million ($5.2 million has been appropriated by Congress, the rest will be raised separately through individual donations of under $5,000), employ 450 people and operate out of offices in Washington D.C. and Chicago. Already, Podesta reiterated, the team has granted 100 interim security clearances.
As for the priorities - they resembled the same major interests Obama announced repeatedly on the campaign trail.
• The team, Podesta said, would be "laying the groundwork in stabilizing the economy and putting Americans back to work."
• They "also will be engaged as is required and necessary in national security issues that remain constant throughout the transition."
• And, of course, there is "the task of building a government."
••
Memory Lane: January, 2008 in New Hampshire on a bus tour
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and...............
Sparring Starts as Republicans Ponder Future
Michelle visited DC schools for Malia and Sasha
President-Elect and First Lady To Be Welcomed at the White House
White House Says Obama Leaks Not Accurate
Designers: First lady's ball gown should be bold
Finding Fame With a Prescient Call for Obama (for our guy, Nate @ 538 to your right)
Portrait of an epic victory
A GOP Bridge to Nowhere
It is time for Joe Lieberman to GO....
••
I am done talking about Sarah Palin. She is doing her media tour to clean up her "Tina Fey" image, which will be hard to do, since she is totally in lack of knowledge pertaining to the issues and the public saw that. So, Sarah can continue her media tour and hopefully FOX or somebody will give her a TV show, because that is the image that she is reduced to. Hey, not bad, ask billionaire-ess Oprah. But as far as politics, if the Republicans want her for 2012, good luck.
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