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Buh-Bye, Harry Reid, Majority Leader!! — 56 Comments

1. NH hurt, though.

   But Walker? Yesssss!

   And Joni? Yessssss!

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFr03FpjVP8

   This seems strangely relevant as salt in the wound. I guess the storm will keep on twisting as will this sweet memory.

2. Another meaning of 51 is Harry Reid lowering the Senate requirement to pass a bill to 51. Dumb move, Harry. What goes around comes around.

3. I’d expect Alaska to return to the GOP fold… it’s a classically GOP state.

   And Landieu is obviously toast.

   So the next Congress will have 54 GOP Senators.

   That leaves Virginia and New Hampshire on the bubble.

   NH will probably — barely — stay with Shaheen. Ballot stuffing and cross-border voting has its effect.

   Virginia is so close we may have to await for all of the last minute mail-in ballots.

   &&&

   Near as I can tell, every race has broken towards the GOP, sometimes remarkably so.

   &&&

   Tomorrow morning I would expect that Barry Soetoro’s primary concern will be where to tee off.

   He needn’t sweat Congress.

   It’s going to be very interesting to see how the GOP uses its committee powers to expose the maladministration.

   There’s enough grist for those mills — clean through to 2017.

4. blert:

   Even if Brown loses in NH, and it looks like he will, it’s pretty close. Considering Shaheen is a popular ex-governor and incumbent, and Brown a newcomer, it’s a pretty good showing.

   Would rather have the win, of course.

5. There is one other effect that we tend to forget: 2/3 of the committee staff positions go to the majority party.

   Consequently, there will be a huge exodus of Democrat apparatchiks from The Hill.

   We may also come to see Jerry Brown’s last effort at the presidency… in 2016.

   Hillary is sure to be damned by Benghazigate… and much else.

6. well, NH s other senator is Kelly Ayotte an R
   (but she has amnesty issues, she pro)

7. VA is going Dem. What is amazing is that it was so close.

   Did anyone notice Krauthammer laughing at Juan Williams when he denied the election was a rejection of the Democratic Party? Fox showed it only for a split second out of respect for their weakest link I suppose.

8. Bob from Virginia:

   Very similar to NH. NH wasn’t supposed to be close, either, but it is.

9. I like Joni also. Sometimes conservatives like to brag about the superiority of their women. Joni is set to continue the trend of beautiful smart and likeable conservative women.

10. Another win I’m especially happy about is Tim Scott from South Carolina. Haley appointed him to finish a term and now he has won his seat on his own.

11. I was dreading the evening, worrying that all the polls that showed races becoming closer and closer were true. Having seen the margins of some victories, the great comeback by Tillis, and the various victories in gubernatorial races, I’m now far more elated than relieved.

    And make no mistake about it. Unless some dramatically positive improvements arrive for the average American, Obama will be on the ballot in voters’ minds in 2016, just as he was today.

12. It looks like Libertarian Sarvis blocked Gillespie in Virginia. For no-one imagines that Sarvis took many votes away from Warner.

13. Left cannot get away with bashing these women,
    as I mentioned before, the left unloaded all their
    buckshot on sara palin . Curic, letterman , SNL,
    just every other lefty from under every rock has gone after her, pathetic assaults of a mom with a handicapped child, So she took one for the team &
    will make the way smoother for these women & put a nail into W on W. And Dirty harry gone Yipee !

14. illuminati:

    Tim Scott is great, and he has stood up to a lot of smearing.

    I watched most of Ernst’s victory speech, and I really think she could be a winner on the national level. She’s a natural.

15. I agree about Joni Ernst, if I were Hilary I would be very concerned about the possibility of Joni being a presidential candidate. I told my wife that she is a lovely looking, smart, funny lady that has the ability to come through the medium of television and connect on a personal level.

    She might have the talent and spark coupled with optomism to be a real contender and then if she were successful she seems to have some real experience in leadership to be an actual leader.

    Anyway, I am a now happy camper and we will see what tomorrow and the next two years bring.

16. Now that Fox has called a net gain of 7 for Republicans I am optimistic 🙂

    Joni Ernst has a wonderful laugh, showing the human side that appealed to Iowans.

    I do not think that Obama will concede anything as a result of this election. He is a dedicated Marxist and will continue to “transform” America. That will make the next two years a non-stop battle.

17. Now is the time to be sober and articulate the position on immigration. Unfortunately, immigration is the Achilles heel for unity. I’m not quite sure that it is worth it yes or no.

    Yes for what? Millions more of Democratic voters? Forever? Is that true?

    When the feedbag runs out, then what happens? Discouraged democrat non-voters like tonight?

    Of course I oppose it on principle but whether it means permanent democratic majority? I don’t know.

    Fortunately tonight enough of us voted.

18. And Maryland, Illinois, and Massachusetts have Republican governors. As a Maryland native , I couldn’t be happier. I hope this dampens O’Malleys visions of a presidential run.

    I guess Obama is pretty upset to see the Chicago machine run out of gas. Maybe he’ll rethink the pipeline now.

19. New Mexico is probably the most Hispanic state in the union with about 50% Hispanics. That makes things hard for Republicans but is not impossible. Hispanics lean Democrat but if the Republicans give them the right candidate they can win. The Republican governor of the state Susana Martinez just won re-election by 58%. Unfortunately the Democrats have held the state legislature for many decades.

20. I am so happy Ernst won. She won all but the 4 most populous counties, and made it close enough in those counties to cruise to victory. I think she is the real, rare, deal. She means what she says and says what she means. She has a bright future on the national scene.

    MAKE THEM SQUEAL! Goodnight to all.

21. I like that Ernst is a LTC and her husband is a retired Army Ranger CSM.

    I would encourage the Right not to settle here. Activate and drive forward and spread out, full spectrum. GOP elected officials can only do their part if the people of the Right do their part as activists everywhere else.

22. I like that Ernst is an ARNG LTC …

23. I read DUTY by Robert Gates last week, and although he was pretty mild on individual critiques for the most part, he makes no bones about despising Harry Reid.

    Gates goes into a lot of Defense Dept minutiae that is probably good to have on the record but reads as inside baseball a couple years later, but this lack of sensationalizing does make it strikingly powerful when he relates in sad amazement the conversation Obama and Hilary have in front of Gates in which they laugh about how they opposed the surge and/or later said it had failed simply in order to please the primary base.

    Several times later on Gates is appalled by how all Obama’s closest circle care about is how this or that foreign policy decision will appear to the base. Not whether it’s a good or bad idea, or how it will work out, but just how it will LOOK, in a snapshot, in one newscycle.

    Well, we all know know this, but it was interesting to see it confirmed by someone who was on the inside.

24. Neo: “I have to say I’m surprised at how jolly several of them look, including Rachel Maddow (not Chris Matthews, though; he seems out of sorts).”

    Left activists and Democrats have different perspectives.

25. I am pleased to see that every instance where my prognostications went awry, it was to the GOP’s benefit. 🙂

    Scott Brown’s loss was very sad to see. But quite frankly, up until six weeks ago, few thought he had any chance. He deserves accolades for his tenacity and pluck. After two back to back loses in two states, I will understand if he returns to private life for good. But I do hope he’ll consider another run in the future.

    In the grand scheme of things, though, his loss was more than worth the rest of the results tonight. Wow! I’m overwhelmed and very pleased. While my hope for the future is still tempered by a deep seated pessimism, it does shine a little brighter tonight. 🙂

    I had an inkling tonight would be big when the Virginia race keep coming in so close. In the end, Warner will win, but the fact that this was a dogfight and NOBODY anticipated it, was a sign of a pending wave. And that is exactly what we got.

    Congratulations to Joni Ernst. She is an inspiration to conservative women and very much a face of the future of the GOP.

    Congratulations to Cory Gardner. He earned the seat and his campaign and persona should be a model for future Republicans running in purple states. I do hope Udall’s defeat, after one of the most juvenile, asinine campaigns in modern politics, will permanently bury the “War on Women” narrative. But I have my doubts

    Congratulations to Scott Walker!!! I was fairly confident of his victory, but seeing it confirmed really boosts my optimism. In him, I see a future President (though not likely until 2020 or 2024).

    Governors-elect Baker, Hogan and Rauner demonstrate again how voters in liberal states will turn to a Republican who clearly is a superior manager. I wish them well. Defeated Governor Corbett demonstrates how a incompetent hack will lose, even in a year heavily favorable to his party.

    In the end, I really could not have asked for a better night. You can’t win them all, ever. That the only significant defeat which was a possible a victory 24 hours ago, was Scott Brown, makes this night Christmas and my birthday all wrapped up in one. 🙂

26. miklos000rosza,

    My fervent hope is that the Democrats who blatantly lied about the Iraq enforcement are held to account for their betrayal.

    And when I say Democrats, I set aside the Left, because I expect the Left to do what the Left does: propagandize against us. The Democrats’ betrayal was the harm.

27. Scott Brown was very close.

    I think he appeared a bit too opportunistic in swooping into another state and immediately run for senate again though.

    Not that I have anything against him, I contributed for his MA senate race.

28. The “libertarian” thing worked in VA last cycle also. No one in his right mind thought Sarvis could even come close. And as blert said, he didn’t pull any dem votes away. What amazes me, is the fact that the same ploy as last time, worked again. Even after the much publicized analysis of the previous election in VA exposed it.

29. I wonder if Obama is going to do as much damage as possible now. Honestly.

    All the fried chicken in the world…………

30. How to bring down inflation and increase employment? Whether tis nobler to fake and bake the numbers or commit to responsibility? Will our new senators and governors have the committment to make us suffer in the short run to survive in the long run?

    We have seen tonight a repudiation of post modern ideology results much like the first and hungry near-dead pilgrims discovered that prosperity follows responsibility not ideology. I’m hoping that somewhere, somehow, there arises a plan to fix this nation that acknowledges basic reality.

31. waitup: “Will our new senators and governors have the committment to make us suffer in the short run to survive in the long run? … I’m hoping that somewhere, somehow, there arises a plan to fix this nation that acknowledges basic reality.”

    Like I said, elected officials can only do their part of that if the people of the Right, activated as a full-spectrum social movement, do their part.

32. Words over reality.

    The Sandra Fluke overwhelming defeat shows that work triumphs over words. The “audacious” hope of the Democrats (immigrants) rests on words. Although audacious hope may be a short term advantage, the promise must be delivered. And it must not be a lie.

    http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-California/2014/11/04/No-Fluke-Sandra-Loses-State-Senate-Race-in-California

33. Good point, Eric.

    We need to fight for our liberties and freedom internally as surely as if we were fighting overseas or on our borders.

34. Maybe Harry Reid just didn’t go after the Koch Bros enough.

35. As expected, Alaska is reverting to the GOP.

    When you toss in Louisiana the Democrats were gutted.

    +7 ===>>> +9 at the end of the day.

    The GOP will have 54 Senators.

    &&&

    I’m not expecting miracles, just plenty of investigating committees.

    As Nixon could tell you, the results can be brutal.

    Exposure is the play.

    &&&

    Plus, some salami tactics in reconciliation.

36. You called it pretty damn good, Blert.

    Will it bring back the economy? Jobs? Out of work inquiring minds want to know?

37. The don’t give up Pilgrim spirit is Mia Love.

    This makes me happy.

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/11/mia-love-wins-in-utah-first-female-african-american-republican-in-congress/

38. Two more years of Obama don’t seem so forlorn now.

39. As far as 2016 goes, my choice right now is Scott Walker. He has three gubernatorial wins in four years (2 elections and one recall). The guy is squeaky clean or else the dirty mud would have been slung by the Dems by now.

    He’s an executive who has weathered a withering storm of venomous criticism and come out smelling like the proverbial rose. I want no more Congressbastards or bastardettes being president for the long term.

40. Great that Scott Walker won, but when do they have the recall election? It will be interesting if it’s around the same time as the Republican national convention.

41. Surprises of the election:
    1) Who thought Virginia would be that close? I expect Warner will win in the end, but a fantastic effort by Gillespie. I note that the “Libertarian” Sarvis played the spoiler again. IIRC, this is the SAME SARVIS who spoiled the Cuccinelli governor’s race. Man, when are VA libertarians going to wise up?
    2) Georgia. Perdue didn’t just beat Nunn, he crushed her like a grape.
    3) Poll bias. Most Republicans outperformed the polls by several percent. It seems Democrats were right: there *was* bias in the polls, but it was towards them.

    I don’t see how Landrieu can possibly win her runoff, unless Rs just rest on their laurels and stay home. But at this point, the Senate is already lost to Dems, so why would anyone spend a lot of money trying to save Landrieu?

    Alaska won’t be called for a while because of absentee ballots. Sullivan won by almost 4%, but that only amounts to 8,000 votes. I expect it’ll go Republican, but watch for shenanigans. That brings the total to 9 seats. A nice cushion for 2016, which we might need.

    Now, the question is how Obama will react. And how the Republicans will react in turn. I note that the GOP establishment is already taking credit where it isn’t due (Karl Rove). Considering how panicky the GOP was before Kansas, they might want to express some gratitude to their base. That would be classy.
    So I don’t expect it to happen.

42. 4) 3 more states now have Republican governors, including freakin’ MARYLAND and ILLINOIS!!!

43. If Obama does the immigration amnesty he has threatened, creating millions of Democratic voters, he should be impeached on the grounds that he hasn’t upheld the Constitution. I’d like to see how some of the Democratic senators in purple states would vote.

44. New Hampshire might want to re-think their “Live Free or Die” motto since they just re-elected a senator that has now been linked to the IRS targeting scandal in a big way.

45. So…Brown lost? Sheeeeiiiit. I have not kept up with Mass politics since leaving in the late nineties, (the kids are still there, but all still Dems) and was surprised to hear of this Baker individual. Another Willy Weld, or is he the real deal? Anyhow, good news here in Ga. Sam’s charming daughter is headed back to D.C., and Jimmah’s grandson presumably back to Illinois.

46. What makes me hopeful is that most of the Republican winners seem to want to be doers rather than footstompers. They seem willing to set priorities and do their homework. The Dems will have a much harder time demonizing Republicans in the future, especially if progress is made on setting the country on a new path. I also don’t see the new winners as being out for a bigger job in the next election. There seems to be some humility in that group that tells them they are supposed to do the job they were elected to do. We probably have some people who will influence policy behind the scenes and stick together when it counts. We also have some young people who will do a good job explaining our ideas to the general public and make the people feel that they are taken seriously.

47. Matt_SE: “Now, the question is how Obama will react. And how the Republicans will react in turn. I note that the GOP establishment is already taking credit where it isn’t due (Karl Rove). Considering how panicky the GOP was before Kansas, they might want to express some gratitude to their base. That would be classy.
    So I don’t expect it to happen.”

    Part of activating the people of the Right – the base – as an effective social movement is taking credit rather than expecting gratitude. The electoral piece is important but it is just one piece. One step. If you want the GOP to champion your agenda, then use yesterday as a springboard for the base to become a real, dedicated player of the activist game. An activated base is needed to re-write the GOP agenda and provide (force on) them the competitive full-spectrum social cultural/political machine needed to reify that agenda. The Left’s social cultural/political machine remains intact and working full-spectrum.

48. Wavy gravy!

49. Real Nevadans are thrilled Harry got his $ss kicked, even though he wasn’t on the ballot.

    The liberal transplant retiree hoards from the Rust Belt, Snow Belt, and Kalifornia voting for him in 2010 got him re-elected. We native Nevadans know all about Reid and his sleazy ways. His politically active son has been rejected by the electorate in a few elections already, but the Reid’s crave power above all.

    Harry should be in jail for the remainder of his worthless natural life.

50. No one has said it but when the college kids and blacks stay home, elections turn out pretty well for America. They will come out in 2016.

51. I like Governor Walker (I am from Wisconsin). He has been under attack since he took office, and he has valiantly fought off one attack after another. However, you need to keep in mind that Walker did not complete college. Even though I think he would make a good president, this fact alone would destroy him in a national election.

52. One additional note on Scott Brown’s New Hampshire loss. Keep in mind that his active campaign forced Dems to spend money where they’d rather not (a “sure” thing). His presence may have had a greater effect than we will ever know.

53. texexec — one line in the budget would do the trick:

    “No funds, appropriated or non-appropriated, may be expended to grant permanent residence to any persons in the U.S. illegally.”

    Let’s see Barry veto the budget over that! Guaranteed override — no Dem will give up his pork over this!

    Theat being said, I WOULD grant a limited legal residence to illegals, as part of “comprehensive immigration reform.” Here’s what should be the Republican plan:

    1. Secure the borders.
    2. Identify everyone in the U.S. as to citizenship or residency; issue and require carrying of identification indicating status.
    3. Issue five-year, nonrenewable visa to all persons in the U.S. illegally, except any with criminal records.
    4. Any person holding the five-year visa may apply for a Green Card or a temporary agricultural worker visa without returning to his home country, in line with everyone else.
    5. Any person who has applied for a Green Card within three years of issuance of the visa will be permitted to remain in the U.S. until his application is processed.
    6. A 15% withholding tax is imposed on all foreign remittances, creditable against Social Security and income tax.
    7. The INS is directed to issue XXX,000 temporary agricultural visas (six months in duration, may be renewed annually.)
    8. Any person not in compliance with this statute will be immediately deported. If the person is not accepted by his own home country or another country, or does not wish to return to his home country, he will be immediately transported to Guantanamo Naval Station and interned there.
    9. Any person violating this statute will be imprisoned for five years; second offense, 10 years; third offense, life.

    What would the Dems say? — we’d be maintaining the Dream Act and giving all the illegals chance to apply. If we’ve waited since Reagan to solve this problem, we can wait another 5 years!

54. eve: “However, you need to keep in mind that Walker did not complete college.”

    I didn’t know that about Walker. I went to his wikipedia entry and there it is.

    Odd.

    I wouldn’t mind seeing Walker make a go at the Presidency without a college degree just to shake up the deep-set convention.

    His achievements have exceeded the measure of the credential. A college degree is not the end-all/be-all measure of a man.

    But normally that’s something I would say about someone who forewent college altogether.

    It’s odd that Walker didn’t complete his degree because he enrolled at Marquette Fall 86 and left Spring 90, which implies he’s likely only a semester’s or fewer worth of credits short of his degree. He obviously can complete it if he wants. He could have mopped up his last credits piecemeal over the years. Has Walker ever explained why he decided not to complete his degree?

55. Eric:

    I wrote about Walker’s lack of a college degree here. You can bet that both the issues I mention in that post will come up, big time, if he runs.

    Walker discussed the issue here.

56. I’ve watched Scott Walker closely and he’s my favorite if he becomes a viable candidate for 2016 prez.

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