But the larger question is whether the country is ready to deliver a majority to a Republican Party that now holds problem-solvers like Castle in contempt, is scared to death of a well-financed right wing that parades under a false populist banner, and, in primary after primary, has aligned itself with Sarah Palin, who anointed O’Donnell one of her Grizzlies.
Will moderate voters take a chance on the preposterous proposition that this Republican Party will turn around and work in a calm, bipartisan way with President Obama? Or will they use their ballots to wake up the Republicans and tell them that they need more Mike Castles, and fewer extremists?
-- E.J. Dionne Jr.
A tiny pool of Republican primary voters helped but even if it was fifty thousand (see Biden interview) or some such number, some sanity can be hoped for. But, "preposterous" is a good word to apply to the perverted mind-set that allows what is happening in government these days.
Glenn Greenwald (citing Karl Rove? low hanging fruit!) sees some sign of class discrimination, but as I noted in the comments, don't quite see it. There are some real reasons to oppose her and other tea party candidates. Sharon Angle et. al. are worse than many Republican regulars (who I don't want either), including those kicked out for the crime of working with Democrats. He really goes after some candidates, crying hypocrisy that isn't quite there, suggesting the Senate is just a bunch of tools. I'm sorry, there are quite a few credible people there, and not just his token maverick, Russ Feingold.
It is helped by a certain degree of intellectual laziness displayed by calm cites of this as "interesting" as if we are supposed to take it seriously (see comments, including mine). Just going for the non-elites, who as Rachel Maddow et. al. show are not as elite-free as that last link implies, for the sake of that or in anger leaves a lot to be desired. There are outsiders (Al Franken, for instance, and various others not as well known) out there that can be used to fight the system. It is lazy and reckless to push for change by picking many of the people out there now.
Up to a point, yes, it's understandable and how things should work. But, it remains preposterous to expect reform with this bunch of insurgents. It is as or more likely that more of a bottleneck will occur and Obama will be assisted since government will seem more divided, the opposition more unhinged/a threat. Hopefully, nature ebb and flow will lead to somewhat better economic results, though I doubt support of less taxes for the rich and overturning flawed health insurance reform and the like will aid that. The enemy of your enemy is not always your friend.
I wonder how the Lib-Dem/Tory coalition is going across the pond.