Epiphany for Democrats?

Exodus: Dodd Out. Dorgan Out. Ritter Out. Who's Next?

January 6, 2010 could well become a national day of mourning for Democrats, as it brought news that Sen. Chris Dodd (D., Conn.), Sen. Byron Dorgan (D., N.D.) and Governor Bill Ritter (D., Colo.) will not seek reelection, significantly altering the political landscape for Republicans in 2010.

Read the rest. It's being argued that Dodd's retirement isn't necessarily good news for the GOP; Dodd was such a perfect poster boy for the culture of corruption. Good riddance, regardless. (Roger Kimball agrees.) And Jim Geraghty notes:

The spin on this, as well as in Colorado's governor's race, is that this gives Democrats a better shot than with a supremely weak incumbent. But I'd say the same electoral environment that makes Chris Dodd and Bill Ritter toast is not going to be easy for any other Democrat. The Republican candidate will inevitably have the easier time persuading voters he's a break from the past that the electorate has determined is unacceptable...

More good news from the Campaign Spot: Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida, the "sneering and obnoxious id of House Democrats," will be seriously challenged for his seat. No problem for Grayson: he "welcomes the hatred."

On Dorgan's surprise announcement:

His departure creates an enormous pickup opportunity for the GOP. . . . From his statement:

Although I still have a passion for public service and enjoy my work in the Senate, I have other interests and I have other things I would like to pursue outside of public life. I have written two books and have an invitation from a publisher to write two more books. I would like to do some teaching and would also like to work on energy policy in the private sector.

Translation: "Dear lobbying and law firms, I am available, and seeking something like the Daschle deal. Show me the money."

Various and sundry other items:

On airline safety: The Bad Guys are Winning: Scrap TSA and Start Over

Let me get this straight: a guy buys a one-way ticket in cash with no baggage, and tries to blow up the plane. Some poor fool goes the wrong way through a checkpoint at Newark, and the entire airport is shut down for several hours. Now TSA arrests Michael Yon for refusing to say how much money he makes.

It was bad enough when the organization's day-to-day operations treated law-abiding citizens like cattle. But this is strike three. Scrap the organization as it exists and start over. As it is currently set up, it achieves none of its goals. It isn't preventing the bad guys from coming in, it's causing massive delays over false alarms, and it's making false arrests of innocent citizens.

Like Joan "AKA" Rivers?!

A Jennifer Rubin omnibus: Circle the wagons:

So why is the administration the last place where the light bulb goes on? Again, you have to look to the top. The president, we are informed, “wants no more finger-pointing.” Well, especially at him. But if there is no blame assigned, there is also no accountability. And that still seems to be the name of the game here. Even after all of the criticism, the White House persists in doing the same old damage-control routine: deny fault, defend current policy, attack critics’ motives, and deflect blame. That is why they seem to be in perpetual catch-up mode, racing to avoid the fallout from the voters (and increasingly from the Democrats) who perceive that the Obami are simply not getting it.

C-SPAN vs. the Obami:

C-SPAN’s Brian Lamb has asked Congress and the president to keep their word on transparency and let C-SPAN cover the “critical stage of reconciliation between the Chambers.” The answer certainly will be “no.” After all, there is not likely to be an actual conference committee, so cameras would have to follow Reid and Pelosi around as they buttonhole members and offer up more Cornhusker Kickbacks. And that wouldn’t look too good.

. . . More and more of what comes out of the White House sounds like third-rate talking points. They seem to have grown accustomed to saying just any old thing and getting away with it. Now, they are being challenged. We’ll see how they respond. That enemies list (e.g., Fox News, Gallup, Rasmussen, Chamber of Commerce) is getting pretty long. But who’s going to believe that C-SPAN can be dismissed as a partisan attack machine? Maybe Obama should stick to a few of his promises — or at least concede that he just doesn’t want to.

Nah.

Bringing us together:

So who is going to gain from ObamaCare? The uninsured. But do they vote in great numbers? Not as much as seniors, certainly. And certainly not in numbers equal to all the anti-ObamaCare groups. Plus, remember the timeline: the uninsured don’t get anything from this bill until 2014. They are supposed to race to the polls to defend something they won’t see, if ever, until after the 2012 presidential race? Somehow I don’t see it.

The bill is really a political wonder, a tribute to the ability to forge alliances with disparate groups. It just happens to have done that for the opposition.

Read the rest.

In case you missed it, Mickey Kaus's list of who won't like the bill, referred to above by Ms. Rubin:

A--Will old people be happy? No, they're kind of pissed off.

B--Will young people be happy? Well, they're getting targeted by the mandate to buy insurance and milked by community rating to make the system solvent. So maybe not.

C--Will opponents of the bill like it? Obviously not. They will turn out.

D--Will supporters of the bill like it? Two subgroups here: i) Those who wanted more (like a public option or single payer) are disappointed and maybe angry and demoralized. But at least they have a good reason to show up at the polls (to elect liberals who will help them achieve what they want). ii) Those who didn't necesarily want more--who are happy with the Pelosi/Reid product--have far less incentive to show up. For them, the deed is done. Unless, that is, Dems can somehow bait the Republicans into making repeal of Reid/Pelosi a hard-core pledge. ...

Maybe they should have thought this through?

Linked at Michelle Malkin (buzzworthy)

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