How a Loss of the Senate Could Help Obama

[babylonsister]

The thought is repugnant to me, but he may have a point...

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2014/07/05/how_a_loss_of_the_senate_could_help_obama.html

How a Loss of the Senate Could Help Obama

Dana Millbank: "Crazy talk, you say? Maybe so. The prevailing view is that a Republican Senate would only compound Obama's woes by bottling up confirmations, doubling the number of investigations and chipping away at Obamacare and other legislative achievements."

"Yet there's a chance that having an all-Republican Congress would help Obama -- and even some White House officials have wondered privately whether a unified Republican Congress would be better than the current environment. Republicans, without Harry Reid to blame, would own Congress -- a body that inspires a high level of confidence in just 7 percent of Americans, according to a Gallup survey last month finding Congress at a new low and at the bottom of all institutions tested."

[Mike Nelson]

1. Well, there's that, and...

...Milbank prefers Republicans.

[bemildred]

2. By this logic, if the Dems win both houses, it helps the Republicans.

Whereas the true case is if you have shitty policies, people will try to throw you out. If not, not.

[fadedrose]

9. Dems in both bodies?

The best thing they could do that would improve the country precluding future problems with the R's would be through legislation forbidding gerrymandering by governors.

We should have districts with natural, sensible, and logical boundaries drawn on a map, not snaky curves and circles around areas that ensure Republican victories even in states with Democratic majorities.

We lost David Bonior, popular Speaker of the House, when a Republican governor gerrymandered districts that put Candice Miller in.

Even shitty policies can't throw her out.

[bemildred]

10. Impeach the felonious five.

We need a USSC that is not compromised with reactionary dogma.

[fadedrose]

13. You mean????

that with both Bodies Democratic, we could actually get rid of Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, Alito and Kennedy?

I never knew that....

[bemildred]

17. Entirely possible, and legal too. nt

[Fred Sanders]

12. The cheating of democracy by gerrymandering electoral boundaries is the heart of the problem, and

Last edited Sat Jul 5, 2014, 12:28 PM - Edit history (1)

it has the most easy cure.

If the media could be bothered to point out the obvious huge corruption evidenced by gerrymandering,then maybe it could be done.

The conspiracy of media silence on this is a criminal act against democracy,

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. I'd rather help the American people.

I think President Obama will be just fine, but the rest of us will be seriously screwed over if Republicans own Congress.

[bigtree]

4. no, too many variables

. . . any point or strategy will be lost over a short period and the political landscape shifts in very unpredictable ways in election seasons. The idea of waiting republicans out has been done and done.

[Lee-Lee]

5. I'm not buying the premise

They will send bad bill after bad bill to his desk and force him to veto one after another- while painting him as the obstructionist for doing it.

[frazzled]

6. Most Americans don't even know which party has control of Congress

Or don't care. They just have some vague notion of the "gubmint." And (as we've seen expressed so many times even here), others believe "they're all just the same."

So, no ... this will not help. And what is meant by "help" anyway? Some electoral strategy or advantage? As a poster said upthread, what we should be thinking about is what will help (or hurt) the American people.

And that is not a Congress fully controlled by Republicans. Especially today's breed of Republicans.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

7. Or the surviving Blue Dogs will turn rabid, thereby compounding Obama's policy woes. n/t

[randys1]

8. If the American people are so dumb they can look around and say the problem is

there are not enough rightwingers, then we are absolutely doomed for certain in the short term and probably permanently

Which is why it is time to break up the country into 4 provinces.

[Fred Sanders]

11. The media purposely reports that "Congress" failed to act, or "Congress" is the problem, on

purpose refusing to separate the do nothing Republicans as the true problem, from Democratics, refusing to point out the record filibusters and plain madness of Republicans in general.

If the Republicans take the Senate and so all of Congress, the media will just change the tune and say Congress wants to get this or that done, but Obama refuses to cooperate with Congress, count on it.

[genwah]

14. No. Just no. Anyone needing Senate confirmation, any...just no.

[MineralMan]

15. Makes no sense whatsoever. What would help President Obama

would be gaining majority control of the House and increasing the majority in the Senate. We can do that, but only if activist Democrats go all out to GOTV in November. There are a number of House seats that can be flipped with a solid, continuing GOTV program. Enough to switch majority control to Democrats.

That's what we need to do. Any suggestion that anything would be better if Republicans controlled both houses of Congress is ridiculously stupid.

GOTV 2014 and Beyond!

[Historic NY]

16. It would help the SCOTUS get another whack job...

like shit doesn't roll down hill now...the senate would block any chance Obama has left to get a replacement liberal on the court.

[Savannahmann]

18. Baloney

This is not the first effort to spin the disaster scenario of losing the Senate into some sort of Golden Fleece. None of them make sense. Because they put the President into the position of agreeing with the Rethugs on whatever legislation they choose to put forth, and there will be no stopping them if they win the majority. Or vetoing the legislation. Either way, the Democratic Party would suffer.