Ahhh ~ GOP/TPer fantasyland survived the November election ~ ~ Sooz

Coming to grips with who won (and who didn't) in 2012
By Steve Benen - Fri Dec 28, 2012 8:35 AM EST

Grover Norquist gave voice last night to a sentiment that's been surprisingly common over the last several weeks. It is, to be sure, a transparently dumb sentiment, but the idea keeps popping up anyway.


Hmm. In the mind of this influential uber-lobbyist, Republicans had a great election cycle, so President Obama should just "get over it." In context, this is presumably in reference to the ongoing fiscal talks, in which Norquist apparently thinks the GOP should get its way since John Boehner was "elected Speaker."

In case anyone is confused enough to take this argument seriously, let's set the record straight.

Boehner, for example, was "elected Speaker" by the electorate. The Speaker is chosen by House members, and in this specific case, we don't yet know with certainty that Boehner will prevail.

But let's put that aside, because it's not really the point. Rather, the national election results speak for themselves: President Obama, whom Republicans fully expected to defeat, won fairly easily, earning 332 electoral votes, and becoming the first president since Eisenhower -- and only the sixth president in American history -- to win at least 51% of the popular vote twice.

In the Senate, where Republicans were certain they'd add seats, Democrats expanded their majority. In the House, Democrats not only added seats, they collectively earned roughly 1.4 million votes than GOP candidates -- the only reason House Republicans maintain their majority is gerrymandered districts.

Even among governors, mentioned in the above tweet, Republicans expected a blockbuster cycle, but managed a net gain of only one gubernatorial office.

For that matter, there's overwhelming polling evidence that the American mainstream agrees with Democrats and supports a policy agenda in line with Democratic proposals. It's why nearly all surveys say voters will blame the GOP if a fiscal agreement isn't reached in time.

Norquist doesn't have to like reality -- if I were him, I'd be frustrated, too -- but it's clear Democrats had an excellent cycle and have public opinion on their side. Someone should "get over it," but I'm fairly certain it's not the president.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/28/16212149-coming-to-grips-with-who-won-and-who-didnt-in-2012?lite

Must really grate on ol' Grover that there's a movement in the GOP to dump Boner.

I'm not sure "ol' Grover" recognizes that pesky fact, oskar ~ he's obviously accepting denial as his own reality ~

Sooz

Grover is scrambling because the republicans he had chained to his pledge are cutting themselves loose. He fears dwindling into obscurity.