Top Items:
Myglesias / Yglesias:
Obama Should Move to the White House — Rather than plunge into the debate over whether Obama should “move to the center” or adopt tactics of high-intensity conflict with congressional Republicans let me suggest another tack. A day contains 24 hours. That's true for you, for me, for John Boehner, and for Barack Obama.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein and Dennis the Peasant
RELATED:
Ezra Klein:
What comes next in a universe where the government works — On Feb. 5, 2011, the president signed the Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction Act of 2011 into law. The legislation lifted the employer-portion of the payroll tax for a year, approved more than $50 billion in infrastructure investments, and cut the deficit.
Discussion:
ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Donklephant
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Democrats find common ground: It's the White House's fault — The bodies aren't even cold yet in the House, but the Democratic Party has already opened up a bitter debate over who's to blame. — The party's bloodied moderates Wednesday released two years of pent-up anger at a party leadership …
Discussion:
Blog For Arizona, New York Times, RedState and The Moderate Voice
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Inside White House, calls for shake-up — Some of the calls for a White House shake-up are now coming from inside the building. — Frustrated current and former West Wing staffers, speaking on condition of anonymity, told POLITICO they hoped Tuesday night's humbling losses …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, Hot Air, Wake up America, Ballot Box and American Power
Jonathan Allen / The Politico:
Obama and Boehner: Mutual scorn?
Obama and Boehner: Mutual scorn?
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, CNN, Viking Pundit and No Left Turns
Myglesias / Yglesias:
Governing from the White House
Denver Post:
Bennet wins in Senate race — Appointed U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet will be elected to the U.S. Senate after pulling ahead of challenger Ken Buck this morning. — Long after most Coloradans — including the candidates and their supporters — had gone to bed, returns from Denver …
Discussion:
Ross Douthat, Little Green Footballs, Tablet Magazine, The Washington Independent, The Atlantic Online, Mediaite, Guardian, National Review, Wonkette, Firedoglake, Eduwonk, Politics Daily, Crooks and Liars, Beltway Confidential, Michelle Malkin, NPR Topics, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Donklephant, Election Law and The Mahablog
The Daily Beast:
5 Best Moments from MSNBC's Apocalyptic Night — Matthews asked Bachmann if she was hypnotized. Olbermann feared the Tea Party would eat away at the Earth's core. O'Donnell prepared for the Rand Paul end times. WATCH VIDEO of the liberal network's most distraught moments on Election Night.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, RealClearPolitics Video Log and Hot Air
RELATED:
First Read / msnbc.com:
Just 32% of Tea Party candidates win — A Don't Tred On Me flag flies above protesters at a rally in April in Macon, MO. — From NBC's Alexandra Moe — For all the talk of the Tea Party's strength - and there will certainly be a significant number of their candidates in Congress …
Discussion:
TalkLeft, NO QUARTER, The Political Carnival, The Hill, TPMDC, PERRspectives, CNN and New York Times
Colby Hall / Mediaite:
Results Are In And Many Agree: Fox News Offered More Balanced …
Results Are In And Many Agree: Fox News Offered More Balanced …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Hot Air, Media Decoder, JammieWearingFool, Wake up America and Tuned In, more at Mediagazer »
Ray Sanchez / ABCNEWS:
Exclusive: Speaker Nancy Pelosi Says She Has ‘No Regrets’ — Pelosi Tells Diane Sawyer She Hasn't Thought About Her Future Yet — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today she has “no regrets” one day after a Republican landslide stripped her of the power that defined her historic tenure as the first female Speaker of the House.
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, TPMDC, Taegan Goddard's …, The Politico, The Note and CNN
RELATED:
Christina Wilkie / The Hill:
Prank! GOP leaves a gift at Democratic HQ — In 1992, a life sized donkey was placed at the front door of the Republican National Committee offices. It was a fitting prank in a year when Democrats took the White House and retained majorities in the House and Senate. — Last night, Republicans got payback.
Discussion:
The American MAXIM, Weasel Zippers, Gateway Pundit, iOwnTheWorld.com, Outside the Beltway and RedState
Sean Cockerham / Anchorage Daily News:
Write-in vote lead has Murkowski smiling — ELECTION COULD MAKE HISTORY: Final counts may be weeks away; parnell, young post strong results. — scockerham@adn.com — Election returns Tuesday night showed Lisa Murkowski with a chance to become only the second candidate to run …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Fix, CNN, TPMDC, skippy the bush kangaroo, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, Wonkette, Salon, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, NPR Topics, The Hill, National Review and Liberal Values
RELATED:
Ken Tucker / EW.com:
George Bush really does not ‘appreciate’ Kanye West's Katrina criticism: ‘The worst moment of my presidency’ — President George W. Bush says that when he heard Kanye West say, “George Bush doesn't care about black people,” “it was one of the most disgusting moments in my presidency.”
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Gawker, NPR Topics, Colorlines, Lawyers, Guns & Money, ComPost, Speakeasy and Shakesville
RELATED:
Telegraph:
Barack Obama sex doll for sale in China — Americans may have fallen out of love with Barack Obama, but the president of the United States is still an object of affection for the Chinese, who have remodelled him as a blow-up sex doll. — A doll wearing a dark blue suit and red tie …
Discussion:
Don Surber, Moonbattery, Weasel Zippers, AMERICAN DIGEST, Breitbart.tv, The Jawa Report, Left Coast Rebel and JammieWearingFool
The Hill:
GOP likely to urge Obama officials not to shred documents — Republicans are likely to urge the Obama administration not to shred documents as they transition to the House majority. — Before the election, GOP officials on Capitol Hill privately discussed the issue but refrained from publicly tackling it …
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker, Weasel Zippers, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Gawker and New York Times
RELATED:
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Darrell Issa: I'll investigate George W. Bush too
Darrell Issa: I'll investigate George W. Bush too
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
John B. Judis / The New Republic:
A Lost Generation — Obama deserved to lose—but the country doesn't deserve the consequences. — Asked on Monday to assess the significance of the coming Democratic defeat, Tim Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, tried to portray this election as fairly typical.
Discussion:
Ross Douthat and Pacific Views
Paul Krugman:
Nobody Cares About Process — Urk. I just gave up on the presidential press conference. When Obama declared that Americans rejected Democrats in part because “We were in such a hurry to get things done that we didn't change how things got done,” I checked out. — Nobody cares about this stuff — they care about results.
Discussion:
Dennis the Peasant and Hullabaloo
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:
For immediate release — Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in September confirms that the pace of recovery in output and employment continues to be slow. Household spending is increasing gradually, but remains constrained by high unemployment, modest income growth …
Myglesias / Yglesias:
The Changing Electorate — One reason it's difficult to read midterm elections as reflecting shifts in the “national mood” is that the actual set of voting people is quite different. According to exit polls, for example, the relative proportion of youth voters and senior voters shifted quite dramatically:
Discussion:
Dennis the Peasant, Indecision Forever and The New Republic
J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:
Reid: 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal depends on GOP cooperation — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday that a critical Defense Department authorization measure that contains a repeal of the controversial “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” (DADT) policy banning openly gay Americans …
Discussion:
CNN and TPMMuckraker
New York Times:
G.O.P. Leaders Vow to Repeal Health Care Law — Fresh off their sweeping victories in the midterm elections, Congressional Republican leaders on Wednesday said that they would use their new majority in the House and bolstered ranks in the Senate to pursue a vision of smaller government and lower spending …
Discussion:
Guardian, The Caucus, Outside the Beltway and Democratic Strategist
Steve Singiser / Daily Kos:
Rasmussen Being Rasmussen: The Evidence Is In — Now that the confetti has been swept up, and tears (of joy or anguish) have largely been dabbed dry, time for a little dispassionate analysis. As the resident poll guy here, I have been fairly steadfast in my criticism of Rasmussen Reports, as have several of my colleagues.
Discussion:
Salon and The Monkey Cage
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Barney Frank: I'm a victim of the media! — Didn't Barney Frank win his race? In this train wreck of a victory speech, Frank spent more time attacking the media and his opponent, Sean Bielat, than most losing candidates do in conceding their races. Its closest analogue, in my recollection …
Discussion:
Instapundit, Mediaite and Pajamas Media
The White House:
Press Conference by the President East Room — THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. Last night I had a chance to speak to the leaders of the House and the Senate and reached out to those who had both won and lost in both parties. I told John Boehner and Mitch McConnell that I look forward to working with them.
Mark Schmitt / American Prospect:
The “F-You” Election — Progressives lost this election — but conservatism and the Republican Party are hardly stronger for their success. — Six years ago, pollster and political scientist Stan Greenberg published a book, The Two Americas, in which he broke down the American electorate of the middle Bush era into new categories.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The New Republic and Ezra Klein
Mallory Simon / CNN:
Iowa voters oust justices who made same-sex marriage legal — (CNN) — Voters in Iowa chose to remove three high court justices who helped make Iowa the first Midwestern state to permit same-sex marriage. — The vote marks the first time a member of the Iowa Supreme Court has been rejected …
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, TPMMuckraker, theblogprof, Washington Monthly, POWIP, Shakesville and Right Wing Watch
Lee Fang / ThinkProgress:
Rand Paul Explains His Support For Plutocracy: ‘There Are No Poor...We All Work For Rich People’ — Last night, Kentucky elected Rand Paul (R-KY), the son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), to the U.S. Senate. Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Paul announced his intention to do anything it takes …
Discussion:
The Other McCain, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Left Coast Rebel
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Hillary in right place at right time — LOL could put a text ballon on her saying, “did you all see that sh!t?”. — Could put a Text Balloon next to her saying, “Did you all see that sh!t?” — Hillbill is running for President in 2012 that's why she's getting the hell out of dodge right now.
Discussion:
blogs.telegraph.co.uk
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Tenther Senate Candidates Get Thumped At The Polls — For over a year, ThinkProgress has been tracking “tentherism”, the radical view that pretty much everything the federal government does is unconstitutional. A shockingly large number of the GOP's Senate candidates this cycle embraced tentherism …
Discussion:
Slate, The Political Carnival and commondreams.org
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Some Implications — First thoughts. — 1. Nancy Pelosi will presumably step down as Democratic leader in the House. Steny Hoyer could be challenged from the left as he seeks to move up to replace her, and he could lose—partly because the defeat of Democrats in swing districts throughout …
Discussion:
Left Coast Rebel, The Other McCain and Ben Smith's Blog
Marc Schneider / PopEater:
True Story: ‘Real World’ Star Sean Duffy Wins House Seat in Wisconsin — The glass ceiling for reality stars in Congress has been shattered, thanks to ‘Real World: Boston’ standout Sean Duffy, a Republican who picked up an open seat in Wisconsin's 7th District seat during Tuesday's big election.
Discussion:
Politics Daily, PopWatch and Gawker
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Hispanics saved the Dems — Luis Gutierrez is pushing Harry Reid today to return to immigration legislation, on the grounds that Hispanic voters saved his hide. — Reid got an amazing 90% of the state's 12% Hispanic voters, according to exit polls; Sharron Angle got just 8%.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice