Republicans: The New Whigs

[SteppingRazor]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-sweeney/republicans-the-new-whigs_b_101677.html

Once the minority of House and Senate are comfortable in their minority status, they will have no problem socializing with the Republicans. Any farmer will tell you that certain animals run around and are unpleasant, but when they've been fixed, then they are happy and sedate. They are contented and cheerful. They don't go around peeing on the furniture and such.

Uber-rightwinger (and, to judge him by his quote, total douchebag) Grover Norquist spoke those words soon after the 2004 election, when the Democrats were still looking at their care-worn, frayed-nerve faces in the mirror and asking, "How could this have happened?"

But given last night's election results, perhaps it's time for Democrats to engage in a little douchebaggery of their own. And I'm not talking about West Virginia, where Hillary Clinton scored a victory in her brave but ever-more-quixotic campaign for the Democratic nomination. No, I'm talking about the election in Mississippi's first congressional district, where Democrat Travis Childers beat Republican Greg Davis.

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And now, R+freaking 10, and the Republicans lost by about six points. If that is a sign of things to come, the Democrats could be looking at mind-bogglingly huge pick ups in the House, especially in blue states with widespread soft Republican districts. Take Michigan, where districts 6 through 11, all held by Republicans, have voting indexes of R+2, R+2, R+2, R+0, R+4 and R+1, respectively. With its huge money advantage, solid candidates in many districts in which the Dems were previously content to provide passive resistance, and the examples of the previous special elections -- especially last night's win in Mississippi -- Democrats could be looking at picking up some 20 to 30 seats in the House.

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