What a silly idea.

I know!  How about we try primarying a few sitting House members or Senators?  Seems like less of a fool's errand.

Or is that not the point?

Fair enough you say for an instant he did have that kind of power.

Near the top of the list of things I hate is people putting words in my mouth.  I never said anything about the President's "power," or it's loss.

Somewhere farther down that list is people ranting off topic.  I'm sorry Obama doesn't communicate on your smart-guy "bandwidth" and that your "class of people" know he doesn't belong in their club.  But I really can't relate.

My point here was that Lincoln is remembered because in the end his accomplishments outweighed his failings, despite the fact that at times he floundered in his position and even actively resisted the things for which he is now remembered.  He learned and adapted to a changing world.

My point was that we do not know what is yet to come, how Obama will learn from experience, and least of all how he will be remembered.

Sure, they're both "conservative," but that word no longer means what we think it means.

More accurate, perhaps, to call Castle sane and O'Donnell nuts.  He voted for cap-and-trade; she's trying to pattern her speech patterns on Sarah Palin.

Oh yeah, I forgot to about that, thanks.  Lest we forget we have some good Reps, and not all "insurgents" are the same as "movement candidates."

Saujani is a good example of the establishment trying to subvert the popular discontent.  Nice to see that effort squashed last night.

If I'm reading you right, shouldn't Lamontagne be listed first, since he's the insurgent against Ayotte, the establishment pick?

And I'm with you, Kuster damn well better win.  Since I'm trying not to get my hopes up, I'll stick with saying that any other insurgent victories in these races would be a bonus.

Yes, kudos to the AP -- hopefully others will follow their lead.

I remember Bowers making this point in the primaries, starting in late 2007.  They all wanted to pretend they'd "end the war" when that was obviously not what they were talking about.  Now it's not just being talked about, and such a deception can only come back to bite.  (I think your title is quite apt in that regard.)

We'll all have fingers crossed tonight... would be even better than NV, imo.  PPP's now previewing numbers that show Coons doing 26 points better against O'Donnell.

Well, if Obama is actively trying to imitate another President, or imagines exact parallels between present challenges and those of another time and context, he's a fool.  I hope he's not so shallow a thinker as to do that, because as you say it would be nuts one way or another.  What we're supposed to learn from history is how not to re-enact it, right?

Whatever is in his mind/ego on this, the parlor game of comparing him to others seems to be amazingly popular among just about everyone else.  (Not sure why; was it not as much fun to do this for Bush, or did I just not notice it?)  I've come to think of it as a political Rorschach test, or else just a way to make an indirect but serious(TM)-sounding statement about him.

But mostly, I think it's a waste of time for us to be pretending that we can classify his legacy at this point.  We've got him here for at least two more years -- and we should still be in the business of getting him to do the right thing wherever possible, and doing the best we can without him elsewhere.

I agree that Obama would have approached the Presidency differently had he more political experience -- but what kind of experience it was might have resulted in him doing better, or worse, than he has.  It's hard to know.  For one, I think his loss to Bobby Rush made him a much more cynical politician, and I do wonder if he might have aimed higher if he hadn't been informed by that.

All that aside, judging him against Lincoln less than halfway through one term is beyond premature.  Lincoln as president radically disappointed his base (and the left) on many occasions, such as by supporting a Constitutional amendment to preserve slavery, or a suspension of habeas corpus; he was also regarded at points to have crucially underestimated his opposition, leading to irreversible losses.  In 1864, he was thought by many to have lost the war beyond any hope of reversal, and he even acknowledged in writing that he was unlikely to win re-election.

But that's not how we remember him, is it?  The future is always more surprising than our most confident predictions.  So I'll keep hoping the President will make better choices, and be more of an ally, while I do what I can to keep progressive causes marching onward.

What exactly are we all carrying on about?  Obama's numbers are entirely unsurprising for a modern president in a recession.  In itself, that says nothing about the things he's done right, the greater number of his mistakes, or the fact that this is typical of all presidents.  It says nothing about the factors of this year's midterm drubbing... except the tautology that there's a recession and the President isn't all that popular.

So Obama's a typical president: very disappointing to people who thought he was anything besides less dangerous than McCain.  But this kind of cheering for his failure is as much a turn-off as the babbling of those still stuck in the clap-louder bubble.

But am I getting you right that you think Palin-endorsed Kelly Ayotte is going down in her NH-Sen primary?  I haven't heard anything to suggest that, but it would be a big deal if it happens!

And thanks for promoting Matt Dunne on MyDD.  I never expected an endorsement like that when there are several other good (and more establishment) candidates running, but I've grown to really respect Matt too and support him.

Anyway, good luck in your next endeavor, I hope it's a good experience!

all of nature is just a big bunch of suckers for giving away everything for free.  Food, forests, ore, sunlight, water -- nature just doesn't get that you've got to charge something for sustaining all life and beauty.  The whole point is to make money.

Giving stuff away?  That's no way to live!

Those are really good ads.  The silence is excellent; the way they fit a little documentary into 30 seconds, incredible.

I'm not a huge fan of Reid's from a progressive standpoint, but I certainly want him re-elected.  And these ads are different, and really stand out.  Brilliant work, and kudos to the teams that created them.

Somebody get the ads up -- in Boehner's district, if possible.  This is insanity, and he should sooooo pay the price of his wankerism on this one.