Doug Brady - A thoughtful article by Paul Goldman with the above title appears in today's Washington Post. Many beltway Republicans have been trashing Tea Party candidates and those who support them such as Governor Palin and Jim DeMint. Karl Rove and Charles Krauthammer are only the most recent examples. These insurgent candidates, claim the beltway denizens, have hurt the Republican's chances to regain control of Congress in November.
Apparently the thought of competitive primaries in which the lowly "commoners" are given a real choice is abhorrent to the DC elites. But America is still a democracy, not an aristocracy. Slow Joe Scarborough, in one of his typically loud and obtuse statements at MSDNC, summed up beltway sentiment toward Tea Party candidate successes when he proclaimed "I blame Sarah Palin" for...well, something.
The general thrust of the establishment's argument, when you boil it down, is that the Republican Party would be in peachy shape if not for the unwashed Tea Party rebels. In other words, the Republican Party needs Governor Palin and the Tea Party rabble with whom she associates like I need a stone in my shoe. In his piece, Goldman looks at the influence of the Tea Party movement on the Republican primaries in a far different light.
What if, Goldman ponders, Governor Palin had encouraged Tea Party candidates to take the third party route instead of competing in Republican Primaries? She certainly could have. Throughout the summer and fall of 2009 when the Tea Party movement was coming together, many thought that's exactly what they would do. If they had, how would the Republican Party be expected to fare in the November mid-terms? Dismally, I suspect.
A recent CBS poll pegged Republican Congressional Approval at 20%. To be sure, the sampling methodology employed by CBS was laughably biased in favor of Democrats, but even Rasmussen finds that 75% of Republican voters believe their GOP representatives in Washington are out of touch. And yet the GOP is enjoying record leads in the generic ballot and enthusiasm gap. Indeed at the moment it's conventional wisdom that Republicans will sweep to huge, perhaps historic, victories in November. What explains this contradiction?
Goldman argues that it's in large part due to Governor Palin's decision to encourage Tea Party candidates and other restless conservatives to remain within the Republican Party via competitive primaries and not take the third party route. Given the state of the Republican Party, particularly in Washington, Goldman has an excellent point, although I think the late 1970s provide a better analogy than the 1912 analogy Goldman uses. All of the energy and enthusiasm on the Republican side is with the insurgent candidates, not the establishment (who are doing little more than riding the wave generated by the insurgents).
In the 1970s when beltway Republicans had similarly lost their way, Reagan followed the same approach. Reagan understood then as Palin understands now that the best way to revitalize the conservative movement and return America to its constitutional roots is to retake and reform what should be the home of conservatives: the Republican Party. After the sweeping Democrat victories of 2006 and 2008 (as in 1974 and 1976), there was talk that the Republican Party may become extinct and go the way of the Whigs. Not anymore.
The inescapable conclusion is that rather than "blaming" Governor Palin for upsetting the GOP apple cart, the GOP should be thanking her. By encouraging Tea Party candidates to compete from within the party rather than from without, the party has been infused with energy and excitement that was unimaginable less than two years ago. Sure, some establishment feathers have been ruffled, but they needed to be. Ironically, Governor Palin may well have saved the party that has yet to fully accept her.
Excerpts from Goldman's article follow:
Delaware Republicans have proved it: Sarah Palin is the best asset the GOP has right now.
There has been a lot of carping about Republicans' prospects for November since Palin-backed candidate Christine O'Donnell defeated longtime Delaware officeholder Mike Castle for the Republican Senate nomination Tuesday. But contrary to conventional wisdom, the 2008 vice presidential nominee has kept the party strong. How? She has kept the Tea Party faithful inside the GOP tent. Had she instead encouraged these disillusioned voters to mount third-party challenges across the 2010 general-election ballot, dozens of Democratic incumbents, not to mention challengers, would be smiling like Woodrow Wilson in 1912.
[...]
Consider: If Newt Gingrich or Glenn Beck held Palin's political clout, they might very well have used this power to encourage independent conservative challenges, figuring the resulting GOP chaos would redound to their benefit. Palin rejected this course, even though it probably would have been in her political interest.
Consider also that Palin has received no credit for being loyal to a party establishment that continues to treat her with maximum low regard. Americans have never sent to the White House an individual rejected four years earlier as a vice presidential nominee. So it is doubtful that Palin stuck with the GOP because she hoped to be rewarded with the chance to lead it in 2012. Think about it: A lesser person would have opted for payback, not party.
That the GOP establishment fails to appreciate the debt it owes her is reflective of the elitist outlook that is contributing to Tea Party activism nationwide.
[...]
Simply put, Palin started as Tonto but has become the Lone Ranger. Instead of fading out last summer, she remained strong and stood by her party. She has become a bridge between the old Republican guard and the growing right-wing dissatisfaction with not just Democrats but also Republican officeholders. Palin's ability to advocate for using the GOP, not a third party, to channel this angst has allowed Republican voter anger to boil, yet not boil over.
Should Republicans run up the score in November, Sarah Palin will deserve a lot of credit she will never get.
I'm not as pessimistic as Goldman on that last point. If, as expected, the GOP has a big night on November 2nd Governor Palin will get (and deserve) a huge amount of the credit. The GOP establishment and their candidate may try to diminish her role, but their ability to pull the wool over our eyes is long gone (along with the candidacies of Dede Scozzafava and Mike Castle). The Republican Establishment may not appreciate or understand the debt they owe her, but the rest of us do. Read Goldman's entire article here. It's not without the obligatory Washington Post snark, but surprisingly fair for the Post.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Foreclosures Rise; Repossessions Set Record
CNBC -US foreclosure activity rose in August from the previous month, and banks and lenders took ownership from homeowners at a record pace, according to a new report released Thursday.
Bank repossessions, often the final step in the foreclosure process after a home fails to sell at auction, increased about 3 percent from the month before to 95,364, a record high. At the same time the number of properties that received default notices—the first step in the foreclosure process—decreased 1 percent from a month ago and fell 30 percent from a year ago, a sign that lenders are focusing on their backlog of foreclosure inventory before tackling new distressed loans, according to foreclosure listing website RealtyTrac, which released the report.
Overall, foreclosure fillings rose 4.18 percent in August from the previous month, and were down 5.48 percent from a year ago. In all, 338,836 properties were in the foreclosure process. One in 381 U.S. households received a foreclosure notice in August. (Foreclosure notices are defined as a default notice, auction sale notice or bank repossession.)
“There is a buildup in delinquent loans that are not in foreclosure,” said Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac, adding that banks and lenders are slowing the process to avoid a drop in home prices. “It’s a managed slowdown more than anything else,” he said.
“The underlining conditions haven’t improved,” Sharga added, referring to high unemployment and falling home prices in certain markets.
The ten states with the highest foreclosure rates were little changed from the previous month, according to the RealtyTrac report. For the 44th straight month, Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate in the country with one in every 84 properties in the state getting a foreclosure notice. (Nevada also has the highest unemployment in the country.)
Florida ranked second with one in every 155 households receiving a notice, followed by Arizona (one in 165 households), California (one in 194 households) and Idaho (one in every 220 households.) (See the full list in our slideshow.)
Vermont had the lowest rate, with one in every 18,389 properties receiving a foreclosure notice.
The RealtyTrac report comes a day after the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that demand for home loans fell even though mortgage rates were at record lows. Also on Wednesday, real estate website Trulia.com reported that homeowners nationally slashed more than $29 billion from their asking prices in August, as they tried to lure buyers stalled by unemployment
Bank repossessions, often the final step in the foreclosure process after a home fails to sell at auction, increased about 3 percent from the month before to 95,364, a record high. At the same time the number of properties that received default notices—the first step in the foreclosure process—decreased 1 percent from a month ago and fell 30 percent from a year ago, a sign that lenders are focusing on their backlog of foreclosure inventory before tackling new distressed loans, according to foreclosure listing website RealtyTrac, which released the report.
Overall, foreclosure fillings rose 4.18 percent in August from the previous month, and were down 5.48 percent from a year ago. In all, 338,836 properties were in the foreclosure process. One in 381 U.S. households received a foreclosure notice in August. (Foreclosure notices are defined as a default notice, auction sale notice or bank repossession.)
“There is a buildup in delinquent loans that are not in foreclosure,” said Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac, adding that banks and lenders are slowing the process to avoid a drop in home prices. “It’s a managed slowdown more than anything else,” he said.
“The underlining conditions haven’t improved,” Sharga added, referring to high unemployment and falling home prices in certain markets.
The ten states with the highest foreclosure rates were little changed from the previous month, according to the RealtyTrac report. For the 44th straight month, Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate in the country with one in every 84 properties in the state getting a foreclosure notice. (Nevada also has the highest unemployment in the country.)
Florida ranked second with one in every 155 households receiving a notice, followed by Arizona (one in 165 households), California (one in 194 households) and Idaho (one in every 220 households.) (See the full list in our slideshow.)
Vermont had the lowest rate, with one in every 18,389 properties receiving a foreclosure notice.
The RealtyTrac report comes a day after the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that demand for home loans fell even though mortgage rates were at record lows. Also on Wednesday, real estate website Trulia.com reported that homeowners nationally slashed more than $29 billion from their asking prices in August, as they tried to lure buyers stalled by unemployment
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Establishmen Republicans Are Just As Bad As The Democrats
Cassy Fiano - Last night, as conservatives predicted and establishment Republicans feared, Christine O’Donnell defeated Mike Castle in Delaware’s GOP primary. And predictably, establishment Republicans are throwing a gigantic temper tantrum in response. Mike Castle is refusing to endorse O’Donnell. Karl Rove is bitterly complaining (video here), pointing out inanities to try to discredit her like… the “fact” that she took too long to pay off her college bills? (Um, hate to point it out to you Karl, but I think there’s a lot of Americans who can sympathize with that.) It’s been rumored that the NRSC is refusing to back her. And the GOP is blaming her win for losing the chance to take back the Senate in November… although, as Ed Morrissey points out, just last week they were trying to keep expectations of taking back the House (let alone the Senate!) down.
Like I said, the GOP establishment is throwing a giant temper tantrum. And it’s quite frankly disgusting.
There’s a lesson to be learned here. And the lesson is that the establishment Republicans are by and large no better than the Democrats. Karl Rove got one thing right, and it’s applicable to most of the RINOs getting voted out of office right now: voters last night were voting more against Mike Castle’s liberal voting record (cap and trade, DISCLOSE) than they were voting for Christine O’Donnell. And that’s exactly the point. Politicians in Washington have become completely infatuated with the power they think they hold. Instead of seeing themselves for what they are — public servants elected by their constituents — they have gotten this deluded notion into their heads that they own the seats they hold in Congress, regardless of whether voters still want them there or not. Arlen Specter switched parties, Charlie Crist is running as an independent and bashing GOP principles he claimed to hold just months ago, Lisa Murkowski is debating a write-in campaign, and Mike Castle is refusing to back Christine O’Donnell. What will it take for them to get the message that WE make the decision? Voters are the ones who choose who they want to represent them, not the beltway establishment. We don’t make the choice that the NRSC wants us to make, and the NRSC sulks.
The establishment talking point is that O’Donnell cannot win in Delaware because she is too extreme. Well, that may very well be true. But she’d have a much better chance if the establishment would rally behind her than if they played right into the hands of the Democrats. And that’s what they’re doing right now. If Mike Castle had won last night, conservatives would have grudgingly held their noses and stood behind him in order to keep the Democrats from keeping another seat in the Senate. When the situation is reversed, there’s no such sense of unity from the GOP establishment. It’s all take for them and no give, and voters are fed up.
For years, Republicans in Congress have gotten selfish and lazy. They ignored what their constituents wanted from them, they got tone-deaf, and they turned themselves into the Democrat-lite party. Conservative principles? There’s no home for them right now in the Republican party, and so Republican voters are forcing a change. They’re bringing in new blood and they’re sending a message to the RINOs left standing: adapt or die. If voters wanted spend-happy fat cats that are indistinguishable from Democrats, they would have voted Mike Castle in again. Charlie Crist wouldn’t have been trailing Marco Rubio in all of the polls. Arlen Specter wouldn’t have had to leave the party with his tail tucked between his legs. Voters have spoken, they’re making their voices heard, and Republicans are angry about it. What does that tell you?
This is about much more than just Christine O’Donnell. This is a fight for the soul of the Republican party. This election season has shown that there is a change coming, like it or not, and the response from the GOP has said everything that needs to be said. The GOP doesn’t respect their constituents anymore than the Democrats do. These primaries aren’t just anti-Democrat, although Democrats will inevitably take the worst of it. It’s anti-incumbent, because most of the incumbents have come to see themselves as some sort of holier-than-thou royalty who deserves a seat in Congress for life. They act in their own interests only, regardless of what is best for the country or what voters want, and Democrats do not have a monopoly on that. Establishment Republicans are just as bad, and voters are fed up.
A change is coming. The lesson to Republicans is clear. Will they be willing to learn and change? If not, the purge will just keep coming. Adapt or die.
Like I said, the GOP establishment is throwing a giant temper tantrum. And it’s quite frankly disgusting.
There’s a lesson to be learned here. And the lesson is that the establishment Republicans are by and large no better than the Democrats. Karl Rove got one thing right, and it’s applicable to most of the RINOs getting voted out of office right now: voters last night were voting more against Mike Castle’s liberal voting record (cap and trade, DISCLOSE) than they were voting for Christine O’Donnell. And that’s exactly the point. Politicians in Washington have become completely infatuated with the power they think they hold. Instead of seeing themselves for what they are — public servants elected by their constituents — they have gotten this deluded notion into their heads that they own the seats they hold in Congress, regardless of whether voters still want them there or not. Arlen Specter switched parties, Charlie Crist is running as an independent and bashing GOP principles he claimed to hold just months ago, Lisa Murkowski is debating a write-in campaign, and Mike Castle is refusing to back Christine O’Donnell. What will it take for them to get the message that WE make the decision? Voters are the ones who choose who they want to represent them, not the beltway establishment. We don’t make the choice that the NRSC wants us to make, and the NRSC sulks.
The establishment talking point is that O’Donnell cannot win in Delaware because she is too extreme. Well, that may very well be true. But she’d have a much better chance if the establishment would rally behind her than if they played right into the hands of the Democrats. And that’s what they’re doing right now. If Mike Castle had won last night, conservatives would have grudgingly held their noses and stood behind him in order to keep the Democrats from keeping another seat in the Senate. When the situation is reversed, there’s no such sense of unity from the GOP establishment. It’s all take for them and no give, and voters are fed up.
For years, Republicans in Congress have gotten selfish and lazy. They ignored what their constituents wanted from them, they got tone-deaf, and they turned themselves into the Democrat-lite party. Conservative principles? There’s no home for them right now in the Republican party, and so Republican voters are forcing a change. They’re bringing in new blood and they’re sending a message to the RINOs left standing: adapt or die. If voters wanted spend-happy fat cats that are indistinguishable from Democrats, they would have voted Mike Castle in again. Charlie Crist wouldn’t have been trailing Marco Rubio in all of the polls. Arlen Specter wouldn’t have had to leave the party with his tail tucked between his legs. Voters have spoken, they’re making their voices heard, and Republicans are angry about it. What does that tell you?
This is about much more than just Christine O’Donnell. This is a fight for the soul of the Republican party. This election season has shown that there is a change coming, like it or not, and the response from the GOP has said everything that needs to be said. The GOP doesn’t respect their constituents anymore than the Democrats do. These primaries aren’t just anti-Democrat, although Democrats will inevitably take the worst of it. It’s anti-incumbent, because most of the incumbents have come to see themselves as some sort of holier-than-thou royalty who deserves a seat in Congress for life. They act in their own interests only, regardless of what is best for the country or what voters want, and Democrats do not have a monopoly on that. Establishment Republicans are just as bad, and voters are fed up.
A change is coming. The lesson to Republicans is clear. Will they be willing to learn and change? If not, the purge will just keep coming. Adapt or die.
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