and pretend they were for an explicit exclusion of benefits for illegal aliens all along.

is not easily forgotten, among both independents and seniors.

They have been had by Obama, and they know it, and they are not happy and will not forget being betrayed.

They really and very naively thought they were voting for a moderate.

Charlie Cook has been warning them, and they are starting to take him seriously. The really tell-tale line is a bit further down the article:

With history as a guide, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who heads the party’s House campaign committee, said he has warned colleagues to be prepared for an exceptionally challenging environment going into 2010.

I have the unfortunate “pleasure” of having this tool as my representative in Congress. He is incapable of having an original thought, so if he’s prepping the party for problems, they know from the top down that they are on the wrong side of the American people but they can’t give up their ideology for long enough to make the politic decision.

As for how much of a tool he is, I live in the most People’s Republic county of the People’s Republic of Maryland, but use to be represented by Connie Morella (Republican squish). Van Hollen couldn’t win against her in an even race, they had to gerrymander the district so he could win.

As for how bad the trouble the Dems are in, I’ve seen a couple of news articles the last few days about him “working” with auto dealers who were RIFFed as part of the Chrysler “bankruptcy.” Seems some of the rather large and potentially voter influencing dealers got burned and they’ve been letting the Dem leaders know they aren’t happy, probably along with the notes about why they are currently withholding their donations to the Dem party.

read it a couple of times, unless they meant to say independents

The only confusion we feel is when we wonder why our politicians don’t get it.

…is that since we don’t agree with the Marxist in Chief that we must not understand what he’s selling.

or that they aren’t getting heard?

I think they are wisely holding off until healthcare is either defeated or it passes. To do anything right now that would distract from beating this bill, or to bring unnecessary attacks on the GOP, would give the Dems a hand that they don’t have right now. Once the shoe falls, I think we’ll see a “contract” of sorts come out. First, the GOP needs to know what they will be working with, which, until the bill is voted on, they won’t.

I see a lot of 1994 in 2010 and if it comes true then its still going to come down to candidate recruitment.

People like the Holden PA, Pomeroy ND, Petterson MN, Moore KS, Synder AR, Mattheson UT, Salazar CO etc . Many of these people represent GOP districts they must not be given free ride again this cycle

…which has appeal on several levels:

1. It’s WHAT THE CONSTITUTION CALLED FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE.

2. States compete with each other for tax base and population. They are laboratories for innovative ideas in ways the federal government is unable to be.

3. States can’t run a printing press and thus must held be accountable from a budgetary standpoint.

All of this fits together, and it just happens to be a perfect prescription for an electorate which hates Washington with a passion. And it has a final benefit in that Republican politicians who willingly devolve power away from Washington are acting against their own interest, and that lends to them instant credibility.

All very good points. These and many other ideas created by the base need to be put into a newer version of the “Contract with America” and then select candidates for office who will promote and follow that platform.

You nailed the way out of the recession on point #1, but after that your ideas won’t take you where you think they will.

MacAoidh and NightTwister’s posts are the real keys here. The Contract with America was a top down approach to the problem, and that was why it failed. This needs to be a bottom up correction, and NightTwister is right, this one is going to be that kind of change. It needs to be that kind of change because the solution MacAoidh points to is also the better pathway. You can balance the budget by raising taxes, but that isn’t necessarily good for the country. And this is one of those places where I do agree with libertarian conservatives, even the ones who need the big ‘L’: The fundamental problem at the moment in the size of government. The corruption we see from outfits like ACORN and the guy we lost because of the military contract scam arise because of the size of government. It isn’t sufficient to simply freeze it, it needs to actively be reduced. That reduces the benefits of corruption, thereby reducing the temptation to it. It also makes it possible to more quickly reduce the deficit and eventually the debt. But because it necessarily reduces the power of those in office, I doubt you can get the current crop to do it.

the alternative being that we keep silent and let the Democratic roll over us all.

At least this way they know that there’s pushback, which may give them pause. And if our opposition pushes them to go completely out on a limb, so much the better.

And as far as cultic leaders, they don’t do so well when people realize that they have no clothes.

And bullies lose their power when people start to stand up to them and fight back.

Which is what is starting to happen, the people who were totally intimidated by Porkulus and the auto bailout are starting to resist and are not getting crushed, but finding more support. This can snowball quite quickly once people start to cross the fear threshold, emboldened by those who are forging a trail ahead.

or something like that, Erick’s words a couple weeks ago.

his relentless pushing of ObamaCare has cost him massively in terms of support from independents, seniors and whites.

He is destroying the coalition that elected him.

And he is destroying his own credibility with this statements about no new taxes, not increasing the deficit etc.

And, he is doing it in a way that is making the hard left really angry, like his deal with Phrma.

He is neither effective or smart.