memeorandum: How to waste 10 million dollars (Politico)

11:45 AM ET, November 6, 2014

Top Items:

Now We Can Get Congress Going — Reform the tax code, redefine ‘full time’ as working 40 hours a week, move on the Keystone XL pipeline—there are plenty of tasks ahead. — Americans have entrusted Republicans with control of both the House and Senate. We are humbled by this opportunity …

Discussion: New York Times, National Review, The Daily Caller, Patterico's Pontifications, Taylor Marsh, The Federalist, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite, Liberaland, Fox News, Washington Post, Algemeiner.com, Washington Times, TIME and Talking Points Memo

Ron Fournier / National Journal:

Obama Isn't Listening to Voters He Claims to Hear — “I hear you,” the president says. But he doesn't. — Shellacked and thumped by an angry electorate, President Obama declared to every American who voted in Tuesday's elections—and to those who've checked out of the political process—"I hear you."

Discussion: Philly.com and Ed Driscoll

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Barack Obama's case for himself has holes — President Barack Obama and his aides are arguing that the stinging defeat Democrats suffered at the polls Tuesday wasn't a rejection of the policies he's advocated over the past six years, citing evidence of popular support for his agenda even as voters turned against his party.

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette and PoliticusUSA

The Huffington Post:
Obama Pledges Immigration Executive Order By End Of Year

Discussion: TheBlaze.com, Daily Kos, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, ImmigrationProf Blog and National Review

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
The Democrats Have Two Choices Now: Gridlock or Annihilation

Discussion: Hot Air, Pew Research Center, Taylor Marsh, Washington Post, Bloomberg View, National Review, Hit & Run and Liberal Values

USA Today:
Obama: ‘Obviously, Republicans had a good night’

Discussion: Daily Kos

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Mitch McConnell may be the greatest strategist in contemporary politics

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice and The Dish

Townhall.com:

Obama Has Called the GOP's Bluff. What Will the House Do Next? — SHARES — If you were looking for any acknowledgment from President Obama that he bears any responsibility for the massacre Democrats suffered at the polls on Tuesday, then you were probably very disappointed in his press conference yesterday.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Federalist and Washington Post

Washington Post:
Transcript: President Obama's Nov. 5 news conference on midterm election results

Discussion: Firedoglake, Balloon Juice, Althouse, The Federalist, Inside Higher Ed, White House.gov Blog, Los Angeles Times, Hit & Run, Lawfare, National Review, Patterico's Pontifications and New York Times

New York Times:
Mr. Obama's Offer to Republicans

Discussion: Power Line, Mediaite and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Washington Post:
GOP crafts narrow agenda for new Congress, seeking unity, Democratic votes

Discussion: The New Republic, New York Times, Techdirt, Hit & Run and Hot Air

Ashley Killough / CNN:

Chris Christie's big moment — (CNN) — Gov. Chris Christie granted interviews to all five major news networks Wednesday morning, reveling in the thumping Republican governors gave Democrats on Election Night. — As chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Christie helped raise $106 million …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway

Alec MacGillis / The New Republic:

Democrats Didn't Lose Governor's Races Because of a GOP Wave. They Lost Because of Bad Candidates. — I knew Democrat Anthony Brown was in trouble in the race for Maryland governor when every single voter I spoke with Tuesday—including several who voted for Barack Obama …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Baltimore Sun, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Weekly Standard and American Spectator

Washington Post:
Republican Larry Hogan wins Md. governor's race in stunning upset

Discussion: The Agonist, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, The Daily Caller and Conservatives4Palin

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

C-SPAN Caller On Air: ‘Republicans Hate That N***er Obama’ (VIDEO) — A man who called into C-SPAN's “Washington Journal” Thursday morning referred to President Barack Obama as “that n***er” before getting booted off the air. — The caller, who gave his name as Anthony from San Diego …

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite and Jezebel

Politico:

How to waste 10 million dollars — Embracing the irony of setting up a super PAC that would spend big money in order to fight super PACs and other groups that spend big money, Harvard professor Larry Lessig and GOP strategist Mark McKinnon went all-in on the idea voters would kick megadonors to the curb.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Gawker

Libby Nelson / Vox:

Republicans now have historic majorities in state legislatures. That's a really big deal. — One Republican victory in the midterm elections has been mostly overlooked. Yes, Republicans took control of the Senate and a surprising number of governorships. But they also won a record number of state legislature seats.

Discussion: ABC News and The PJ Tatler

Brendan Nyhan / New York Times:

What 2014 Elections Can Tell Us About the 2016 Ones: Not So Much — America has again embraced our long history of electoral overreaction. While it's true that Republicans won a major victory at the polls, the results tell us far less about future elections than some commentary has suggested.

Discussion: The Mischiefs of Faction, msnbc.com and Washington Post

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Dana Milbank: Obama seems numb to this latest ‘shellacking’ of Democrats — “I hear you,” President Obama said to the voters who gave Democrats an electoral drubbing in Tuesday's midterm elections. — But their message went in one presidential ear and out the other.

Discussion: Hot Air and Hinterland Gazette

Kendall Breitman / Politico:

Anchorage station airs over 16K campaign ads — KTUU, the NBC affiliate in Anchorage, Alaska, wins the award for most Senate ads aired in the 2014 election cycle. — The station played 13,200 Senate ads in 2014 through Oct. 27, according to data analysis from the Center for Public Integrity of Kantar Media/CMAG data.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable and Outside the Beltway

Tom Brune / Newsday:

Steve Israel, outgoing Democratic House campaign chief, sees 2016 hope — WASHINGTON — The political climate for Democrats can only get better in 2016, said Rep. Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, on the day after Republicans swept into power in the Senate …

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, susiemadrak.com, Hot Air, DownWithTyranny! and Washington Post

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:

CHARLES PIERCE LIVE BLOGGING: OPEN ALL NIGHT … 1:30AM — I think it was contemplating the fact that both Sam Brownback and Paul LePage both may have survived as governors that was the last straw for me tonight. Brownback has wrecked his state. Even Kansas Republicans believe that.

Discussion: Althouse, The Mahablog, Common Dreams and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Rebecca Leber / The New Republic:

Congratulations, Voters. You Just Made This Climate Denier the Most Powerful Senator on the Environment. — In handing Republicans control of the Senate on Tuesday, Americans effectively voted for the party's hostile plans against President Barack Obama's environmental legacy.

Discussion: Raw Story, Firedoglake, Little Green Footballs and Hit & Run