Washington Post Shills for GOP
I don't believe my own article title, but if you go to Daily Kos, or Atrios, or other liberal blogs, I'm quite sure that they will believe it.
You see the Post has a story in today's paper (page A1) with the headline "Democrats Face Uphill Battle to Retake House", which (correctly) points out the tough job the Democratic party has in retaking that chamber of Congress.
Over the last few months anytime the Post has mentioned the Democrats and says they might have difficulty with something, the Kossite's come out in the letters to the editors, in the comment sections on the Post blogs, etc, to call them shills for the right.
The fact is, very seldom to 15 seats switch sides of the aisle in one election. It was kind of frequent from the 1978 to the 1984, but then didn't happen again until 1994 when the GOP took control of the House. Since then 8 seats in one year has been the biggest net gain for either party, and that was the GOP in 2002.
In the last 30 years the Democrats have only been able to come up with big wins in the House twice, once in 1974, when the removal of Nixon gained them 49 seats, and again in 1982, when a lie about Reagan's plans for Social Security and Medicare gained them 27 seats. In that 1982 election they had a net loss of 1 Senate seat. (Stats available here)
Other than those two elections they've never gained more than 7 seats in a single cycle in that time. So the idea that taking the house will be a cakewalk for them, or even moderately easy, is a pretty tough sell.
During the 2004 cycle, when Bush was supposedly unpopular, and the anti-war crowd was going to gain them seats they lost two more. So the idea that Bush alone is going to be the catalyst for their gains is probably misplaced.
The Post isn't shilling for the right, or talking down the Democrats. They are pointing out the truth, getting big gains in the House is tough, and it's been tougher for Democrats than the GOP.
Technorati Tags: Democrats,politics, Rahm Emanuel,Harry Reid ,Nancy Pelosi, 2006, elections, Congressional Elections, Iraq, leadership
You see the Post has a story in today's paper (page A1) with the headline "Democrats Face Uphill Battle to Retake House", which (correctly) points out the tough job the Democratic party has in retaking that chamber of Congress.
Over the last few months anytime the Post has mentioned the Democrats and says they might have difficulty with something, the Kossite's come out in the letters to the editors, in the comment sections on the Post blogs, etc, to call them shills for the right.
The fact is, very seldom to 15 seats switch sides of the aisle in one election. It was kind of frequent from the 1978 to the 1984, but then didn't happen again until 1994 when the GOP took control of the House. Since then 8 seats in one year has been the biggest net gain for either party, and that was the GOP in 2002.
In the last 30 years the Democrats have only been able to come up with big wins in the House twice, once in 1974, when the removal of Nixon gained them 49 seats, and again in 1982, when a lie about Reagan's plans for Social Security and Medicare gained them 27 seats. In that 1982 election they had a net loss of 1 Senate seat. (Stats available here)
Other than those two elections they've never gained more than 7 seats in a single cycle in that time. So the idea that taking the house will be a cakewalk for them, or even moderately easy, is a pretty tough sell.
During the 2004 cycle, when Bush was supposedly unpopular, and the anti-war crowd was going to gain them seats they lost two more. So the idea that Bush alone is going to be the catalyst for their gains is probably misplaced.
The Post isn't shilling for the right, or talking down the Democrats. They are pointing out the truth, getting big gains in the House is tough, and it's been tougher for Democrats than the GOP.
Technorati Tags: Democrats,politics, Rahm Emanuel,Harry Reid ,Nancy Pelosi, 2006, elections, Congressional Elections, Iraq, leadership
posted by Crazy Politico at 4:19 AM
3Comments:
The title of your post in and of itself made me laugh. They are probably trying to help the democrats by urging them to get their act together now before it is too late.
Rush was just talking about something outrageously biased yesterday that the Post had printed so I don't think they are shilling for the Gop. That would be a hard sell unless you are a looney leftist.
They try and sell that theory all the time.
Glad I could give you a giggle for today :)
Election is still half a year away and the DEMs are already celebrating their victory and dividing the spoils. A bit premature I think.
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