Laura is a Princess
Hey all. Sorry for the lack of posts of late. Two major reasons for said lackage... First, I have been very busy with school crew health etc. Second, I don't really have anything to say. Well, I have a few things to say, but the only important one cannot be spoken of, which is why I have nothing to say. Ok, that sounded like something Laura would say. Straigh up though, the only purpose of this post is to say simple that...

LAURA IS A PRINCESS

Also, while we are on the topic, Rooney is an incredible band.

peace
- posted by Alex @ 11/29/2004 08:28:00 PM

 
It Is Time For Him To Go
This entry is about only one thing: Terry “McAweful” McAuliffe

In the NBA, if the Sacramento Kings were to face the LA Clippers in the playoffs, a blowout would be predicted, and a win would be expected. It is the only part of the season that matters. If the Kings were to lose the the Clippers in this series, the Kings’ head coach would be in some serious trouble. He might get fired on the spot. He may be given a second chance do to his other successes. But if the Kings face the Clippers again the next year in the playoffs with the same result, the chance of the Kings’ head coach keeping his job would be next to none. And should he be allowed to keep his job, the Kings’ management would be heckled and harassed until it finally let the coach go. It doesn’t matter if the average attendance rose or the team did well in the regular season, you play the game to win the championship, and a two consecutive losses against the same opponent, when you are the more skilled and talented team, at the only time when it really counts, is simply inexcusable.

Someone ought to inform the DNC (Democratic National Committee) of this.

Let us take a look back at the year 2000, one which most democrats try hard to forget. While the presidential loss was upsetting, the election was not a total waste. The Democrats managed to pick up four senate seats to gain control of the senate by the most narrow majority, they gained two seats in the house to cut into the Republicans hold of that legislative body, and they gained one governorship. While the presidential loss was a blow to the party, the Democrats’ gains in the legislature and governorships were extremely helpful.

2001, Eager to erase the memory of the presidential election of 2000, the DNC appoints a new chairman, Terry McAuliffe. McAuliffe modernizes the party’s grassroots campaigns, and he reduces the entire debt of the DNC, both hugely important improvements (these improvements correspond to the increase in average attendance in the metaphor above).

2002 Was the midterm elections. Typically, the president’s party loses legislative seats during midterm elections. Typically, the governing party loses legislative seats when the economy is tanking and showing no signs of improvement. However, under McAuliffe, the Republicans were able to prevent these elections from falling into the category of typical. Oh wait, never mind, McAuliffe isn’t the head of the Republican party, that is just the party which benefits from his leadership. Despite the miserable economic conditions and the other factors which usually cause a governing party to lose seats in the midterm elections, the Democrats are the party that loses two senate seats and eight congressional seats. The Republicans now control all three or the major governing body’s. Due to his successes in other areas, the DNC decides to let him try again in the 2004 election.

So now it is 2004, and an unpopular president with an approval rating below 50% is running for reelection. The majority of the country thinks that the country is heading in the wrong direction. The majority of the country thinks that, if the president should be reelected, that the next four years should not be the same as the last four. Despite all of these indicators which spell doom for an incumbent, George W Bush wins. And to compound that loss, the democrats lose 4 senate seats and 4 congressional seats. Even if you do not count the Republican winning the seat vacated by retiring Georgian Zell Miller (he should have changed parties long ago, for he rarely ever agreed with the Democratic party line) as a loss, then the republicans still gained 3 seats in the election. In the two elections since good ol’ McAuliffe took over, the democrats have lost control of the senate, lost a presidential election that all the indicators show they should have won, and lost a total of twelve house seats and six senate seats (five without Zell Miller). After all the gains of 2000, in just three short years, McAuliffe has produced only a growing number of losses. If he were a head coach of any team, he would certainly be fired now, if he had not already been.

How were the Democrats planning on winning this election anyway? They barely campaigned in Arkansas and Missouri, both Clinton states that could have potentially gone for Kerry. They barely campaigned across the south. They did not even put up a fight in North Carolina, the home state of the Vice Presidential candidate. Outside of the states which Gore won in the year 2000, The Dems only really tried in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Hampshire. Did they really expect to win this election spending so much time just trying to salvage states that Gore had won, and so little trying to actually change the way other states voted? If so, then that is just further reason that it is time for Terry McAuliffe to go.

McAuliffe does not need to be kicked out of the democratic party, but it is time for someone new to take over. Or should we give him a third chance? Maybe his third time around he’ll lose enough seats so that the Republicans can have the sixty votes needed to break a filibuster. Is that what we want?

McAuliffe has shown that he should be kept around, he is good at improving the ground game and similar logistical issues. However, he has also proven himself inept when it comes to campaigning and helping the Democrats to actually win an election. It is time for a change.
- posted by Alex @ 11/03/2004 04:10:00 PM