Dear George,
We stayed up till after
midnight on election night, and we could hardly believe what we were
seeing. Despite the media having
described for months a neck-and-neck presidential race that was too close to
call, Obama won the Electoral College vote by a sizeable margin, and he got
more total votes than he’d gotten against McCain in 2008. The Democrats increased their majority
in the Senate, added seats in the House, and elected the first openly gay
Senator (Tammy Baldwin, Wisc.) and three new gay congressmen. Here in Ohio liberal incumbent Sherrod
Brown soundly defeated Tea Party darling Josh Mandel, despite the latter’s
receiving 15 million dollars in funding from conservative Super PACs and
various rightwing billionaires.
Considering the demographic profile of votes, the election outcomes had
a revolutionary tone to them.
Based on exit poll data, Romney won most or all of the traditionally
dominant groups in American society: whites (59% for Romney), the wealthy (54%
among voters making over $100K per year), males (52%), middle-aged persons
(51%), suburbanites (50% to 48%).
In contrast, Obama’s victory rested on a coalition of supposedly
low-power and often disenfranchised groups: women (55% for Obama), youth (60%
of voters under 30), low-income voters (63% of voters making less than $30K per
year), union members, African-Americans (93%), Latinos (over 70%), Asians (over
70%), Arab-Americans, Jews, gays and lesbians, urban-dwellers (62%). By and large, the Republicans in their
post-election statements vacillated between shock, anger, and depression. The Democrats, though happier, seemed
equally amazed. Here are a few of
the things that prominent Republicans and Democrats had to say on election
night and the days that followed:
Republicans/Conservatives
- Rush Limbaugh (conservative talk radio host):
" The first wave of exit polls came in at five o'clock. I looked at
it, and I said ... 'this is utter BS, and if it isn't, then we've lost the
country."
(www.huffington.post.com, 11/7)
- Grover Norquist (Republican lobbyist who got nearly all
Republicans in Congress to sign a pledge to not raise taxes): "The
president was...elected on the basis that he was not Romney and Romney was
a poopy head and you should vote against Romney and he won by two
points."
(www.huffingtonpost, 11/12)
- Sarah Palin (former Alaska governor and
Republican VP candidate): "I just cannot believe that the majority of
Americans believe that it's OK to ignore the constitution and not have a
budget."
(www.huffingtonpost.com, 11/7)
- Sheldon Adelson (billionaire casino magnate who
spent over $54 million to defeat Obama and other Democrats) [when asked
how he thought the money he donated was spent]: "By paying
bills. That's how you spend
money. Either that or become
a Jewish husband -- you spend a lot of money." (www.nymag.com,
11/8)
- Karl Rove (whose American Crossroads groups spent
$300 million supporting Gingrich, Romney, and others): Obama won by “suppressing
the vote."
(www.news.yahoo.com, 11/10)
- Richard Viguerie (Republican direct-mail
consultant): "In any logical universe, no one would give a dime to
their (Rove's and Gillespie's) ineffective super PACs, such as American
Crossroads."
(www.politico.com, 11/10)
- Todd Akin (who claimed in the Missouri Senate
race that women's bodies prevent pregnancy in cases of "legitimate
rape"): “I don’t really have a solution, except for the fact that the
Lord’s in charge and our job is not to be bitter about it.” (www.politico.com,
11/7)
- Richard Mourdock (Indiana Senate candidate who
said that, if a woman becomes pregnant from being raped, it's
"something that God intended to happen"): "…though I was
attacked for it as well -- make no mistake, I stand that all life is
precious in the eyes of God."
(www.whatthefolly.com,
11/7).
- Karen Hughes (former Bush adviser): "If another Republican man
says anything about rape other than it is a horrific, violent crime, I
want to personally cut out his tongue." (www.huffingtonpost.com, 11/12)
- Jonathan Collegio (spokesman for Karl Rove's American Crossroads
group): "We've lost at least six Senate races in the last two cycles
because of sub-optimal candidate quality." (www.usatoday.com, 11/8)
- Laura Ingraham (conservative talk radio host): "Are the
defeats the fault of the GOP and its candidates, and do they now need to
pander to minorities... No.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. We don't need to change to appeal to voters. We need voters and their mindsets
to change."
(www.politico.com, 11/11)
- Steve Schmidt (senior campaign strategist for McCain in 2008):
"For too many swing voters, conservatism has come to mean crazy
statements, intolerance and loony candidates -- and too often, the elected
leadership is afraid of a talk radio industry where the hosts define who
is and is not a conservative."
(www.politico.com, 11/11)
- Bobby Jindal (Louisiana governor and rising Republican star):
"We've got to make sure that we are not the party of big business,
big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, big
anything. We cannot be, we
must not be, the party that simply protects the rich so they get to keep
their toys."
(www.politico.com, 11/13)
- Bill O'Reilly (Fox News host): "The white establishment is
now the minority... " (www.politico.com, 11/11)
- John Boehner (Republican Speaker of the House): "If there's a mandate
in yesterday's results it's a mandate for us to find a way to work
together on the solutions to the challenges we all face as a
nation."
(www.whatthefolly.com, 11/8)
- Mitch McConnell (Senate Minority Leader): "Look, he (Obama)
may think it would be helpful to his presidency to continue to divide and
demonize us. But my answer
will still be short and firm: No.
We won't agree to any tax increases that will hurt the
economy."
(www.online.wsj.com, 11/11)
- Paul Ryan (Republican VP candidate): "I think we lost because the
president did a better job of getting his voters to the polls. We didn't win. That's just how it goes
sometimes. Now we've got to
make divided government work."
(www.fox6now.com, 11/12)
- Mitt Romney (Rep. presidential candidate in his
concession speech) "This is a time of great challenges for America,
and I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our
nation."
(www.washingtonpostcom, 11/7/12)
- Donald Trump (tweets from the billionaire
businessman and Republican primary candidate): "This election is a
total sham and a travesty. We
are not a democracy!"
"More votes equals a loss...revolution!" "Lets fight like hell and
stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us." (www.businessinsider.com, 11/6)
- Victoria Jackson (former Saturday Night Live cast member):
"America died. I can't
stop crying. America
died...Thanks a lot Christians, for not showing up. You disgust me." (www.digitalspy.com,
11/7)
Democrats/Liberals
- Rachel Maddow (MSNBC political program host):
"That happened! That really happened. We are not going to have a
Supreme Court that overturns Roe v. Wade, there will be no more Antonin
Scalias and Samuel Alitos added to this court. We’re not going to repeal
health reform, no one is going to kill Medicare, and make old people fight
it out for health care on the open market. We’re not going to give a 20% tax cut to millionaires
and billionaires, and expect programs like food stamps and kids’ health
insurance to cover the cost of that tax cut. We’re not gonna make you
clear it with your boss if you wanna get birth control under the insurance
plan you’re on..." (www.theeverlastinggostoppers.com, 11/8)
- Maureen Dowd (liberal NY Times columnist): “But the more they
insulted the president with birther cracks, the more they tried to force
chastity belts on women, and the more they made Hispanics, blacks and gays
feel like the help, the more these groups burned to prove that, knitted
together, they could give the dead-enders of white male domination the
boot.” (www.nytimes.com,
11/11)
- Bill Maher (HBO Real Time host): "White
people vote for white people like it's going out of style. And like most things white people
do, it's going out of style."
(www.huffingtonpost.com, 11/10)
- Julian Zelizer (political historian at Princeton University):
"The '60s culture wars
won, and that's a legacy that we're now seeing. 'Doing away with taboos' -- about race, sexuality,
drugs and gender roles -- accompanied a rejection of government control
over sex and drugs, particularly marijuana. Most of America, even in the red states, moved in a
more liberal direction, even in areas where they're conservative on taxes
and government spending."
(www.nytimes.com, 11/9)
- Harry Reid (Senate majority leader): No one
thought we could do it (maintain a majority in the Senate). But, as in everything in life,
races are not won by sprinters. They’re won by marathoners.” (www.politico.com, 11/7)
- Barack Obama (from his victory speech): "We are an American
family and we rise and fall as one nation and as one people...Tonight you
voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not
ours."
(www.politico.com, 11/7)
- David Letterman (late night talk show host): "Hey Clint --
f**k you!" (www.politomix.com,
11/9)
Frankly,
the Republicans seem in complete disarray, with reactions spread all over the
map, ranging from cries for more extreme conservative candidates to an
expressed need for the party to revise its policies to appeal more to the
mainstream and to ethnic minorities.
With women voters outnumbering men, a shrinking size of the white
majority, and younger voters clearly favoring the Democrats, the Republican
party’s future prospects seem in peril.
The Democrats tended to be a little more gracious after election night,
but that’s the prerogative of winners.
The hitch is that the Congress remains just as sharply divided, and the
gridlock that has paralyzed legislative function for the past two years may be
lodged firmly in place. With the
“fiscal cliff” looming, negotiations during the next month and a half will be
the test. Let’s keep our fingers
crossed.
Love,
Dave
G-mail Comments
-Donna D (11-17): david, this is great! thanks for
the quotes...really great.
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