will the Tea Party affect November mid term elections?

[cityboi]

If the GOP takes over the house today, the toss up districts will be what decides this election. But could it be possible since the polls are so close in these districts that enough democrats will vote so that the house stays in the hands of the democrats? With all the poll numbers out there and the media pundits saying its a done deal for the GOP, it might just actually scare enough democrats into getting off their butts and vote. So if the democrats were to win, it would likely spark extreme anger on the GOP side because they got their hopes up. Hopefully if that happens tempers will calm down because there are some crazy lunatics out there and congress may need some extra security after this election if some how the democrats keep control of congress. Honestly I don't know why people want the GOP to take over because that would cause even more gridlock in Washington and nothing gets done. With high unemployment and a fragile economy, more gridlock in Washington is the last thing we need right now. Then again it makes sense if you are a republican because if there is gridlock and nothing gets done, people will hold Obama's feet to the flame and it makes it difficult for him to get re-elected. The GOP doesn't want Obama to succeed and its unfortunate people put politics over getting this country out of this economic mess. The GOP wants to roll things back to the way they were when Bush left office and thats the very reason we are in this economic mess. The GOP wave seems to be fueled by hate for Obama instead of economic policies. If the GOP takes over the house, people can say goodbye to unemployment extensions. Without those unemployment checks, the economy slides back into the ditch because people wont have the money to spens and we'll see a rise in foreclosures and people losing their vehicles. People spending money is what stimulates the economy and if they don't have the money to spend, it leads to more job layoffs. Those unemployment extensions need to stay in place until this economy begins to get back on track. Yes its expensive but these are dire times and people can't find work. The Bush administration put this country on the brink of a great depression and its going to take time to repair the damage. Unfortunately too many people are impatient and they are blind to see the progress that has been made.

I voted early last Saturday. You can't complain if you don't vote.

[cityboi]

Democrats in Greensboro, NC charge voter suppression. Apparently there was police check point near 3 voting sites in an African-American neighborhood and democrats are charging that it was a deliberate attempt to intimidate, suppress or stall turn out in the neighborhood almost entirely made up of democrats. I do think they could have chosen another day to do this check point. Apparently a check point like this was done before on the day of the May primary voting. The Greensboro Police department promised they would not do that again on voting days and it looks like they did it any way. On top of that the check point was near an African-American housing projects. Some are saying on the blogs that its "reminiscent of Jim Crow voter intimidation tactics"

http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/11/02/article/democrats_police_checkpoint_may_have_suppressed_turnout

[cityboi]

I think tonights results answered the topic question. GOP takes back house as predicted and it appears the Senate may stay in control of the democrats. The American people just made matters worse because for the next two years and we can expect even more gridlock in Washington. Washington will continue to be broken especially when you have a GOP congressman saying "I Want To Be Senate Majority Leader In Order To Make Obama A One-Term President" Republicans voted out the moderates, the very ones that would likely compromise on legislation. Now we are left with very liberal and very conservative congressmen. Nothing will get done. Elections have become popularity contests. They have turned into political games much like the Super Bowl where we root for one team over the other. This is a dangerous game we are playing because our economic future is at stake. There are some people who would rather see this country go through a great depression than for Obama to get re-elected in 2012.

[dxartist]

I think tonights results answered the topic question. GOP takes back house as predicted and it appears the Senate may stay in control of the democrats. The American people just made matters worse because for the next two years and we can expect even more gridlock in Washington. Washington will continue to be broken especially when you have a GOP congressman saying "I Want To Be Senate Majority Leader In Order To Make Obama A One-Term President" Republicans voted out the moderates, the very ones that would likely compromise on legislation. Now we are left with very liberal and very conservative congressmen. Nothing will get done. Elections have become popularity contests. They have turned into political games much like the Super Bowl where we root for one team over the other. This is a dangerous game we are playing because our economic future is at stake. There are some people who would rather see this country go through a great depression than for Obama to get re-elected in 2012.

it doesn't matter which party in control of the House, Senate, or Presidency. They are all one in the same party. The only difference is that we'll have either the welfare state or the warfare state. The end result is more government control over our lives and less freedom.

As for the Tea Party, it started out nobly, but ended up being co-opted by Neocons of the Republican Party.

[cityboi]

As predicted let the gridlock begin! president Obama is inviting republican and democratic congressmen to come and work TOGETHER to get the economy back on track. Obama said no one party is going to direct which way we go and its going to have to involve ideas from both republicans and democrats. yet senate minority leader Mitch McConnell isnt budging and said the democrats need to come over and support a conservative agenda. This is the kind of bull I was talking about. I knew this would happen once the people voted the GOP back in the house. Mitch McConnell said his primary goal is to make Obama a one term president. Shouldn't his primary goal be to address the economy and job situation? If his goal is to make Obama a one term president than his goal is to make sure Obama is not successful in improving the economy. Politics are destroying this country and I am SOO SICK OF IT! Both these parties are going to have to give and take. As long as you have one party saying "we wont compromise" nothing is going to get done and people will still be without jobs. A divided congress in these economic times is a terrible idea. I don't know what the hell America was thinking. We were seeing slow growth in the economy under a democratic white house and congress yet too many people were impatient and wanted faster results so they voted for the GOP, the same party whos economic policies got us into this mess. The irony is that many people on unemployment benefits voted for this new GOP house. Little do they know, these same people they voted in office are going to cut off their unemployment benefits. But since both parties are now sharing power, the only way to move forward is to compromise the way Bill Clinton and the republican house did in the 1990s. When they worked together, things got done and we had a booming economy. There was a time when Americans respected our presidents even when we didn't support them. But now when a president from either party is elected, they are hated and don't get any respect. Politics have gotten so bad, our politicians are in constant campaign mode. The 2012 election campaign began the day after GOP was elected to the house and for some it began the day after Obama was elected.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20021772-503544.html?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.5

it doesn't matter which party in control of the House, Senate, or Presidency. They are all one in the same party. The only difference is that we'll have either the welfare state or the warfare state. The end result is more government control over our lives and less freedom.

As for the Tea Party, it started out nobly, but ended up being co-opted by Neocons of the Republican Party.

Actually there were quite a few democrats in the Tea Party when it began and yes it ended up being a front for a conservative movement to get GOP candidates in congress. They took a lot of pages out of Obama's campaign book.

[cityboi]

151,000 new jobs in October.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/october-jobs-report-stuck-rut/story?id=12058020

People just aren't patient enough. Clearly there is a trend that the economy is improving, even though its happening slower than people would like. And now people want to change leadership, muck it up and elect people who want to return to the policies that got us into this mess. Slow steady economic growth is actually more healthy than rapid economic growth. We were on the brink of a major depression and I'd have to say President Obama is doing a great job.

[15895]

151,000 new jobs in October.

http://abcnews.go.co...ory?id=12058020

People just aren't patient enough. Clearly there is a trend that the economy is improving, even though its happening slower than people would like. And now people want to change leadership, muck it up and elect people who want to return to the policies that got us into this mess. Slow steady economic growth is actually more healthy than rapid economic growth. We were on the brink of a major depression and I'd have to say President Obama is doing a great job.

I have to disagree with you. I think Obama has done a horrible job.He has spent much more than needed, healthcare reform is a joke, he has failed to advanced homosexual causes, he spent all this time talking about shovel ready jobs just to find out shovel ready jobs do not exist.

Nonpartisan Experts Conclude Health Overhaul Reduces Labor Force By 788,000 Jobs

http://www.rightside...being-lost.html

For the first time in five months, the economy added jobs in October, but the 151,000 in new hires weren’t enough to lower the unemployment rate, which remained stuck at 9.6 percent. It was an improvement from the 41,000 jobs that were lost in September, revised upward from the initial estimate of a loss of 95,000.

Read more: http://www.politico....l#ixzz14QTS4NRi

"We were promised. The president said we would keep unemployment under 8.5 percent (if the stimulus passed)."

http://www.politifac...ama-promised-s/

- Obama is now promising that he will work with Republicans; however, nothing has stopped him from that before....

- Democrats think holding onto the senate was a major victory... but they forget, only 37 of the total of 100 seats were up for grabs...

- democrats holding onto the senate means Republicans have a punching bag to gain momentum for the 2012 elections beating up Reid and Obama and still complaining about Pelosi...

[cityboi]

I have to disagree with you. I think Obama has done a horrible job.He has spent much more than needed, healthcare reform is a joke, he has failed to advanced homosexual causes, he spent all this time talking about shovel ready jobs just to find out shovel ready jobs do not exist.

- Obama is now promising that he will work with Republicans; however, nothing has stopped him from that before....

- Democrats think holding onto the senate was a major victory... but they forget, only 37 of the total of 100 seats were up for grabs...

- democrats holding onto the senate means Republicans have a punching bag to gain momentum for the 2012 elections beating up Reid and Obama and still complaining about Pelosi...

Putting the republican party back in only makes matters worse. First of all their policies wreck this country and secondly we are going to have even more grid lock than we had before the midterm election. I agree that Obama's administration hasn't been perfect but he is doing a MUCH better job than G W Bush. Obama has tried to work with republicans. He said lets have your ideas. But the GOP is the one not willing to work with the president. They want the president to support their conservative agenda 100% instead of compromising using republican and democratic ideas to move the country forward. They refuse to compromise. I do think Obama got off track a little focusing on healthcare his first year instead of jobs but I think the GOP is in just as much peril if their main focus is repealing Obama's healthcare bill instead of focusing on jobs for the American people. Jobs are what drove people out to vote, not healthcare, gay rights issues, ect. If you look at the places on the map that switched from democrat to GOP the most, they were the midwestern states that have really been affected by loss of jobs. Until both parties focus on that, neither party will get it. I do believe Obama has the support to win re-election in 2012, especially when you factor in the youth and minority vote. In mid term elections those demographics are notoriously known for not voting in large numbers. People forget that both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton loss big time in the midterms but both presidents were re-elected. Many independents who voted for the GOP this week still support Obama's vision, they just wanted checks and balances to make sure he doesn't go too far. A vote for the GOP in the mid terms doesn't mean independents support their agenda or will vote for the GOP nominee in 2012.

[krazeeboi]

I have to disagree with you. I think Obama has done a horrible job.He has spent much more than needed, healthcare reform is a joke, he has failed to advanced homosexual causes, he spent all this time talking about shovel ready jobs just to find out shovel ready jobs do not exist.

The complaints about spending, healthcare reform, and the stimulus I can understand even if I don't agree, but the charge that "he has failed to advance homosexual causes"? Are you kidding me? You've seriously got the wrong perspective if that's what you're looking for in a president, even a Democratic one.

[15895]

Republicans have nothing to do with Obama's administration thus far. Obama has had a super majority. The public has rejected his policies. Republicans may run the country into the ground, but that will not resonate at all during the 2012 election. The GOP would tear Obama up if he dared put any blame on the Republicans. He should run based on his merits and accomplishments of his past 3 years (it will be 3 years during election season).

Does Obama want to run on his policies, his agenda, and everything he has done thus far? He should. And that alone should get him re-elected if the people felt he has done a good job.

Presidential elections should not be about who sucks less but who leads the greatest. The new Republican party is different from the previous administration and the general public is buying it.

Whoever the American people feel can lead the country better, they will vote for that candidate.

Bush may have ruined the economy, etc. etc. but Obama was elected to fix it. He promised passing the Stimulus bill would cap unemployment at 8%. As far as I know, that was not a very popular nor wise thing to do as it failed. And it failed at a considerable loss. Healthcare was very unpopular with the people. etc. etc. etc.

But if you really want to help your candidate of choice - Obama - then I suggest you talk about all the wonderful things he has done during his 1st term to make him a great president such as his policies and plans. And let the Republicans run on what they plan on doing.

I'm just saying. I want to see Obama run on the merits of his fist term. I want him to sound confident in all actions he has taken. I want him to say how great of an idea the stimulus bill is, how great his healthcare idea is, etc. I don't want him talking down about Republicans.

Pictures paint a thousand words. I'll leave it with these:

The complaints about spending, healthcare reform, and the stimulus I can understand even if I don't agree, but the charge that "he has failed to advance homosexual causes"? Are you kidding me? You've seriously got the wrong perspective if that's what you're looking for in a president, even a Democratic one.

I was under the impression that Obama would do more for homosexuals. Hey, at least I'm not the lady who thought she wouldn't have to worry about house payments and getting her car filled up at the gas station.

And for the record, I am not a Republican. I supported my North Carolinian Democrats; however, I feel like Obama doesn't deserve my vote for 2012. If there are no candidate I feel that are better than Obama, than I will not vote. And I am a registered democrat...

[cityboi]

Republicans have nothing to do with Obama's administration thus far. Obama has had a super majority. The public has rejected his policies. Republicans may run the country into the ground, but that will not resonate at all during the 2012 election. The GOP would tear Obama up if he dared put any blame on the Republicans. He should run based on his merits and accomplishments of his past 3 years (it will be 3 years during election season).

Does Obama want to run on his policies, his agenda, and everything he has done thus far? He should. And that alone should get him re-elected if the people felt he has done a good job.

Presidential elections should not be about who sucks less but who leads the greatest. The new Republican party is different from the previous administration and the general public is buying it.

Whoever the American people feel can lead the country better, they will vote for that candidate.

Bush may have ruined the economy, etc. etc. but Obama was elected to fix it. He promised passing the Stimulus bill would cap unemployment at 8%. As far as I know, that was not a very popular nor wise thing to do as it failed. And it failed at a considerable loss. Healthcare was very unpopular with the people. etc. etc. etc.

But if you really want to help your candidate of choice - Obama - then I suggest you talk about all the wonderful things he has done during his 1st term to make him a great president such as his policies and plans. And let the Republicans run on what they plan on doing.

I'm just saying. I want to see Obama run on the merits of his fist term. I want him to sound confident in all actions he has taken. I want him to say how great of an idea the stimulus bill is, how great his healthcare idea is, etc. I don't want him talking down about Republicans.

Certainly moving forward if the GOP won't compromise in moving this country forward, the blame can be placed on them. Obama is extending the olive branch and wants to work together and incorporate some conservative ideas and policies. GOP leaders are already talking about repeal healthcare so it looks like that is their focus instead of job creation. We talk about Obama's policies. Many of these policies would not have been put in place if the economy wasn't so tore up. Desperate times call for desperate measures and people can't expect the booming economy of the 1990s 2 years after Obama is elected. We are seeing encourage numbers. Over a million jobs have been added this year. Thats the first time that has happened in over 4 years. Healthcare reform is needed, I dont care if it isnt popular. Sometimes presidents have to do unpopular things. When social security was first proposed, it was very unpopular in this country but today its something that we are all glad we have today. Now I do think the Healthcare could have waited but I see why it was pushed thorough. The democrats were taking advantage of the fact they controlled the White House, the Senate and the House and they knew they'd have the votes to get it through.

[krazeeboi]

AirNostrumMAD, you actually do make good points. For some reason, the Dems have always been failures at communicating their agenda and their accomplishments. However, the problem is that people expect something that it caused it several years to get into to be resolved in two. It just doesn't work that way. All Obama can do right now is get things stabilized until the market essentially corrects itself. But no one gets credit for preventing a crisis. I think that by 2012, the economy will show more consistent signs of turning around and, barring something unexpected (i.e., national security crisis), that will be enough to get Obama re-elected.

As far as the national debt/deficit is concerned, neither party is willing to truly tackle that problem. The Dems don't really run on that platform anyway. Republicans do, but they'd rather focus on stuff that won't even make a dent in the deficit like earmarks and a supposed $200 million/day presidential trip to India instead of proposing real solutions like tax increases, entitlement overhauls, and reducing defense spending. The public, particularly the Tea Party crowd, is just as hypocritical since they don't want to deal with any of those issues either but claim to be serious about reducing the deficit.

I also think it's pretty sad that you won't vote if you feel as though there are no candidates to your liking. At least vote for a third party or something. I think you're living in the world of the ideal ("Presidential elections should not be about who sucks less but who leads the greatest") instead of the real world.

[DeepEyez]

Rejection of the Obama Agenda? PUH-LEASE!!!!! People don't have jobs and/or working less hours (which makes it terribly difficult to keep up with payments) so they voted against the president in historically RED STATES! No surprise.

The right-wing media, GOP and their corporate allies have been waging a PR war against the president and Obama has not responded only until recently. The GOP have chosen not to cooperate with the President, further creating more divide among the people. Obama made plenty of compromises with Republicans on ALL MAJOR LEGISLATION, yet unfortunately those compromises undermined the strength of those laws.

Quick example, the reason why the stimulus didn't produce the desired effect of the president is because it was, believe or not, TOO SMALL! Why is it too small, Republicans asked that he make it smaller and add 300 billion dollars worth of tax cuts, which he did. As a result, economy still lags.

All the talk of deficits and spending is bullcrap, although there needs to be some bringing it down and under control, but REPUBLICANS HAVEN'T BEEN SERIOUS ON THAT ISSUE IN DECADES! The biggest drag to the federal deficit is MILITARY SPENDING but know one wants to cut that down. So those government programs such as Social Security and Medicare, which both have a specific set of financing, as the source of the problem. Yet the people who caused problem get away scot-free and remain protected by poor white southerners in their fits of rage.

The President needs to go out in the public and be PRESIDENT. His run at being a consensus building prime minister is not the job of our country's chief executive.

[cityboi]

As long as things CONTINUE to improve, Obama will be fine in 2012. Despite the big loss in the midterms, Obama is still either ahead or tied with the republican front runners in the polls. He is tied with Mitt Romney, but I doubt Romney will beat Obama in 2012. I also doubt Newt Gingrich or Tim Pawlenty can beat Obama in 2012. Obama is way ahead of Sarah Palin in the polls. Many people adore her and she does have her place and purpose in the republican party but most don't think she is qualified to be president. The Tea Party could have enough influence to get her nominated but she would lose badly in the general election. Democrats are hoping Sarah Palin wins the republican nomination. So many democrats and independents would vote just to make sure she doesn't become president , it might even help democrats with congressional seats in 2012. She is the weakest in the polls of all the front runners. Mike Hukabee is a front runner and came in second behind John McCain in the primaries in 2008. But He has had some pretty radical ideas and he is too far to the right for moderates and independents. Having a christian preacher for president might hurt us abroad and fan the flames of the muslim extremist movements. While Mitt Romney is THE front runner, the first front runner rarely seem to clinch the nomination. We have seen this time and time again with other front runners. (Howard Dean, Hillary Clinton, Rudolph Giuliani, ect) Jeb Bush is a potential candidate but I think George Bush has tarnished the Bush name. I don't think anyone wants another president Bush.

Bobby Jindal was promising and could have inspired young people and minorities like Obama but he made some serious gaffes. He would have been a good contender and still could emerge by 2012 and might be the GOP's best hope. Jindal might have a hard time winning in the the GOP primaries because many in the GOP might have trouble with voting for a minority candidate. Only time will tell but I still believe Obama will win re-election. In 2008 Obama won because of the new youth voters, minority voters and to a great extent independents. Those demographics gave Obama the edge in Ohio, Florida, Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia. Many of those states hadn't voted for a democrat since the 1960s and 70s. Before Obama, the last time Virginia and Indiana voted for a democrat was Lyndon B Johnson in 1964. In North Carolina it was 1976 when the state's electoral votes went to Jimmy Carter. Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina were extremely tight races and the youth and minority vote made the difference. Without the youth and minority vote, The electoral map would have looked very similar to 2000 and 2004 and McCain could be our president today.

[cloudship]

Don't forget, it was Mitt Romney who first pushed the Health Care requirement in Massachusetts that Obama's plan is based significantly on.

Then again, I suppose it really has not been so drastically detrimental to Massachusetts, either.

[cityboi]

Don't forget, it was Mitt Romney who first pushed the Health Care requirement in Massachusetts that Obama's plan is based significantly on.

Then again, I suppose it really has not been so drastically detrimental to Massachusetts, either.

Thats the irony of it all. Republicans are against Obama's healthcare plan yet the Republican frontrunner for 2012 they are supporting enacted an almost identical plan in Massachusetts. Its all about politics to most people and the issues become secondary. If Mitt Romney does become the nominee, Republicans and Mitt Romney certainly can't run on repeal healthcare in 2012. All of the potential republican candidates are weak candidates. As I said before Bobby Jindal might be their best hope because he is young and he is a minority like Obama so he would inspire young and minority voters in the republican party the way Obama inspired young and minority voters in the democratic party. They need someone to match Obama. An old guy with old ideas isn't going to cut it. But I have my doubts that many in the GOP will support any kind of minority so he may have a hard time just clinching the nomination. Jindal may have a hard time connecting with the average voter because he certainly doesn't have the speaking ability that Obama has and Jindal has made a number of gaffes.

[cityboi]

Good news for Obama. Looks like he got a little boost in the polls despite results of the midterm election. It seems that people were more angry at congress than Obama. What is interesting is that Former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton both lost favor among voters in the weeks following the midterm elections during which their parties experienced significant losses. I guess we should know by now that the political climate can change on a dime. People saw a little bit of humility in Obama in his post mid-term speech. Its very rare when a president takes responsibility for things when they don't go right. Other reasons for his uptick in the polls was the recent jobs report and his trip to India which is an effort to open up US markets to help create jobs.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20022246-503544.html?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.5

[cityboi]

After election results, is Obama moving to the center with a less liberal agenda? Obama may support a plan that cuts $4 trillion in deficit. Some democrats don't like this plan. Bill Clinton moved to the center after big democratic congressional losses in 1994. By doing that he was able to work with republicans and move forward some things on his agenda.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/11/10/news/economy/fiscal_commission_prelim_report/index.htm?hpt=T2

[cloudship]

I am starting to get real confused with all these parties. I had a hard enough time taking Palin seriously with some of here comments in the past, and the whole Tea Party name is kinda ironic, when the Tea Party was not about no taxes but about the taxes the colonists were paying going to support the colonies themselves and not some other country. NOw she has a reality TV show. Is Sarah Palin really Tina Fey, taking comedy to yet a new level? I mean, the only "party" that seemed to make any sense and have a rational discussion about the issues was actually a Comedy Central stunt, maybe we have become so media focused that the whole political system itself is just a reality show gone wild.

[sean]

I am starting to get real confused with all these parties.

^ heard that! i'm starting to hope that both the democratic party and the republican party will just wither away and die like the whig party did. they are both ineffectual because neither of them has the stomach to prosecute fraud given that corporate-funneled hush money keeps them on script. the script being to divide and conquer the public and to convert citizens into consumers. its all a bummer unless you can peel yourself away from the tv screens and m$m blogs; take a hike and get some fresh air!

[cityboi]

House GOP blocks jobless benefit extension. It would be interesting to know how many people on unemployment voted for the GOP in the midterms........

"But allowing benefits to expire in the holiday season may draw negative attention to Republicans, especially when measured against their insistence that tax cuts for upper-income taxpayers not be allowed to expire."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/18/politics/main7067573.shtml

[krazeeboi]

It's crazy that they were doing this well before the midterm elections, but the Dems didn't make it an issue during campaign season like they should have.

[cloudship]

Unless they are waiting to use it for the 2012 elections...

[richyb83]

Tend to stay away from political threads; but can not stay silent on this

IMO the Republicans/GOP have sent Sarah Palin in to hijack the Tea Party...she's trying to talk a good game; but she has no chance. Ron Paul may be the closest thing to a Tea Party Leader(if there was one)...his message has not changed in over 20 years...he would like to audit the Federal Reserve & global organizations like the International Monetary Fund will come under scrutiny as well..but that measure has been blocked by the politrixters. Once the findings of a false money system has been fully exposed, and the news has reached the sleepy masses, will the one world currency emerge??? We're living in some exciting times indeed!

Some feel the Progressive/Socialist agenda has hijacked the Democratic party(hard to argue)...You can dislike and disagree with Obama's policies and not be a Republican - or a racist....despite what the MSM says.

Are we being duped by the two-party system??

[cityboi]

Sarah Palin can't tell the difference between North and South. It shouldn't surprise me because she thought Africa was a country and didn't know it was a continent.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20023899-503544.html?tag=pop