Legal Commentary

What It Doesn't Mean

By Big Tent Democrat

Ezra Klein delivers the, as usual, obtuse Beltway blogger analysis:

Politicians are, by nature, a fearful species. But their nightmares became a lot more specific last night. The Tea Party, for all its unexpected successes, cannot topple every incumbent Republican in the country. But by toppling the right ones, it can make every incumbent Republican vote and speak and act with the Tea Party in mind. So though the Tea Party isn't likely to send all that many of its own Republicans to Washington, the likely outcome of last night's primaries is that the Tea Party takes over the Republicans who are already in Washington, and don't want to be sent home.

(Emphasis supplied.) Ezra fears GOP intransigence now that Mike Castle has gone down. Unlike the GOP instransigence that we have seen the past 20 months. Incredible. I suppose Klein is thinking of Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. But I think it is clear by now that they had no plans to vote for any Dem initiatives. The small business stimulus bill, which is essentially Republican in its thrust, cleared a filibuster only because retiring GOP Senators Voinovich and Lemieux (a Crist protege) broke ranks. Snowe and Collins didn't. In terms of how Republicans in Congress will vote, the O'Donnell win means nothing. And anyone with eyes should know that. But the Beltway makes people blind.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on September 15, 2010 (boomark / email).