Noah Rothman
Mediaite
1/18/2013
In a segment on MSNBC’s Hardball about the dynamics that lead to a victory for President Barack Obama in the 2012 elections, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown said that he found the Democratic Party’s fortune in the last cycle not necessarily indicative of future success. Brown said that Democrats did not win races at the state-level in the numbers they should have and, in combination with Mitt Romney’s weak candidacy, the “cult of the personality” around Obama was more responsible for his victory than the Democratic Party’s appeal.
Michael Smerconish opened the segment by asking if the 2012 election results herald a more progressive future with an ascendant liberal collation. The Nation columnist John Nichols said that the coalition of voters the president assembled in 2012 was impressive and would be difficult to defeat. However, he cautioned that holding that coalition together without Obama on the ballot in 2016 would be a challenge.
Brown interjected, saying that the results in 2012 did not make him feel secure in the Democratic Party’s prospects for electoral success in the immediate future.
“I believe that it would have been a more telling benefit for the party if it had been Nancy Pelosi reemerging as the Speaker of the House, and if Democratic governors had won in the numbers that they needed to win in, as well as legislative bodies being dominated by Democrats,” Brown replied.
“I think, the cult of the personality had a lot more to do with the end results this time around, in addition thereto, the defective candidacy of the Republican nominee,” Brown added.
Watch the video at Mediaite.
H/T Weasel Zippers
Related: CBS News’ Political Director: Obama Must ‘Destroy’ Republican Party
…Slate is what it is and some bloodthirsty Slate writer orgasmic over the prospect of Obama permanently pulverizing and destroying the GOP is as noteworthy as green on grass.
Oh, except after someone like Brit Hume connects the dots.
The author of this outrageous left-wing fever dream is John Dickerson, whom Slate describes as “Slate’s chief political correspondent”. What Slate leaves out of its little bio, though, is that Dickerson is also the political director at CBS News.
Dickerson is merely being Dickerson, and there’s no doubt he speaks for legions upon legions of those in the media today.
What is worthy of note, though, is that a CBS News’ political director is now comfortable openly calling for the destruction of the Republican Party. He obviously fears no admonitions from his colleagues or his employer…
Update: Obama’s No. 1 Second-Term Goal—Win Back The House
…He promised that “we are not as divided as our politics suggests,” and “not as cynical as the pundits believe.”
And he claimed that “whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you. I have learned from you.” It was all so soothing and heartfelt.
But if you want to know how Obama will actually govern in his second term, forget about these well-crafted speeches, and pay attention instead to what he said at his press conference a few days ago.
There he made it clear for anyone with ears to hear that his goal isn’t to achieve some kind of grand unity to tackle the nation’s toughest challenges.
No. Obama’s No. 1 goal in his second term is to do whatever it takes to destroy Republicans and win back Democratic control of the House in 2014, giving him two more years to enact his agenda without any GOP meddling.
America Held Hostage?
Republicans, he said at that press conference, are holding “a gun at the head of the American people,” and are threatening either to “gut Medicare” or “wreck the entire economy.”…
…The only question is whether Republicans understand what Obama is up to. Because if they still operate under the delusion that Obama actually wants to achieve consensus, bring the country together or do any of the other things he’ll claim at his inaugural, they risk handing Obama the real prize he’s after.
Read the whole thing.
Also, King Hypocrite
…He also hugged and “high fived” four children who were on stage with him. Obama also said, “If there is even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there is even one life that can be saved, then we’ve got an obligation to try.”
Obama’s staged theatrics are well and good, but (and there’s always a “but” with Obama) they serve to highlight what a hypocrite he really is.
Have you ever heard of Illinois Public Act 91-0015 (SB-759)?…
Update 2: Biden: Obama Administration “On The Cusp Of Doing Some Really Great Things”… Like on the cusp of destroying the country?
