Slaughter in the House

And things were not all that better in the Senate. Well not all that much of a surprise. As much as all the pundits and politicians talk about this was an endorsement some how of the Republicans, it really wasn't.

This was all about the economy. Plain and simple. With unemployment officially at 9.6% and real unemployment or under employment well above that, the election results are not all that much of a surprise. The party in power is always rewarded or punished based on where the economy is. And since these are very very scary times, the public threw the bums out. But according to several exit polls, the Republicans should take pause because they are just about as universally disliked as the Democrats are.

Having said all that, the Democrats got what they deserved and the president especially. It's hard to believe this is the same Obama who won the presidency just two years ago. He and his administration played defense the entire election season. You heard little if any of the accomplishments of the administration. They all seemed too busy giving interviews to the New York Times talking about what would happen after the election with the Republicans winning. My thought on that is you give those types of interviews after the election not before a vote has been cast.

Another problem is they spent too much time getting health care reform passed. They lost control of the agenda on this one and let the Republicans demagogue it something that they do so very very well. The administration was too uninvolved in the process of drafting the legislation. They decided to avoid the mistake the Clintons made but erred on the side of not being involved at all. They took too much time trying to find compromise with the Republicans when none was to be had.

Another huge mistake, as far as I see it, was early on in the presidency someone said unemployment would probably not go above 8 percent. You never never never ever put out a number on where you think unemployment will be especially on how high you think it will go. Just plain dumb.

For the Republicans they have the right to crow about what they did. But now comes the hard part the party of no has to come up with some ideas. And as far as I can tell they don't have any.