Why are people so disappointed in the election results???

[silus]

I'm pretty baffled by all this. I'm not here all the time, but I thought this forum was still influenced by what Ron Paul has brought to this election cycle. Did it become a McCain camp all of a sudden? I dont understand this consistent disappointment here by the results. I mean, would you be elated had McCain won? It really doesn't make much sense to me.

Personally this at least opens the door for a 3rd party run in 2012. If the Republicans won, it would have funneled most opposition still to the Democratic side. But either way, i'm not taking any joy or sadness in who won today, the mission remains the same, and the mission would not have changed regardless of the election results.

 

[Minlawc]

We are more dissapointed with the congressional losses...

 

[muh_roads]

Did BJ Lawson lose?

 

[silus]

Oh. Which libertarian leaning Republicans lost?

 

[tremendoustie]

I'm pretty baffled by all this. I'm not here all the time, but I thought this forum was still influenced by what Ron Paul has brought to this election cycle. Did it become a McCain camp all of a sudden? I dont understand this consistent disappointment here by the results. I mean, would you be elated had McCain won? It really doesn't make much sense to me.

Personally this at least opens the door for a 3rd party run in 2012. If the Republicans won, it would have funneled most opposition still to the Democratic side. But either way, i'm not taking any joy or sadness in who won today, the mission remains the same, and the mission would not have changed regardless of the election results.

No, we would not be elated. What sucks is that B.J. Lawson lost, along with many other great liberty candidates, and the total # of votes for third parties was way to low.

Almost no one here likes McCain either, but realizing how screwed this country is with Obama is a sobering thought, even if the alternative was not better.

 

[silus]

Almost no one here likes McCain either, but realizing how screwed this country is with Obama is a sobering thought, even if the alternative was not better.

Sounds like you prefer another helping of George W. Or maybe the status quo is not sobering at all to you. :shrug

I'm not criticizing you, but its funny how human nature can make us prefer the past 8 years to Obama... Or more accurately, preferring absolute shit to unknown shit. Its like people would actually prefer a continuation just so its predictable.

 

[tremendoustie]

Sounds like you prefer another helping of George W. Or maybe the status quo is not sobering at all to you. :shrug

I'm not criticizing you, but its funny how human nature can make us prefer the past 8 years to Obama... Or more accurately, preferring absolute shit to unknown shit. Its like people would actually prefer a continuation just so its predictable.

I'm not sure whether more Bush would be worse or better than Obama, we'll see. I definitely wouldn't jump at the trade, if you offered me more Bush instead.

At least people hated Bush, so what he could do has been limited. Obama will be able to get away with anything he wants.

The status quo is very sobering also though, and Bush has been intolerable.

 

[john_anderson_ii]

The democrats have nearly absolute power now. Not really because they have good ideas that are going to be good for the nation, and not because people really believe in the 'change' to a socialist/federalist agenda, but because the Republicans effed just about everything up. The stain of neoconservatism has destroyed any credibility in the Republican party.

Well the democrats are almost certain to eff everything up just as bad as the republicans have. Remember, the Bush republicans represented a major shift to the left for the republican party. The election of Obama, and with the help of major players like Reid, Pelosi, and Biden the democrats are sure to drag America even further down. There will be a large shift to the left. Not that a McCain election would have been much better.

When the democrats complete what the neocons have started and the country is brought to it's knees, I can only see three options for this country:

Option 1: The nation swings further left and begs the government to bail out, or nationalize, more of the banking industry, more of the energy industry, etc. This drags the republicans even further to the left because they are competing for votes.

Option 2: The credibility of the democrats gets trashed and America cries out for a return to the right, thereby restoring the credibility of the republicans somewhat, and the GOP has to shift back to the right.

Option 3: America wakes up and stops playing the party game. With the credibility of both parties in shambles America turns to individuals with good libertarian values and 3rd parties. This is a longshot.

In reality Option 2 seems the likeliest. The republican party was just smashed, and it now has to decide how it will pick up the pieces. Will it shift further left into neoconservativsm in order to chase votes, or will it shift back to the right in order to offer itself as an alternative to the mess the democrats will surely make of things.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

I'm depressed in general, regardless of Obama or McCain. Neither of those two made a difference to me. I'm depressed at the state of the nation, the fact that Lawson got killed, and Robert Owens had a horrible showing.

I think I'm more depressed about Ron Paul losing the primaries now than I was when he withdrew in June.

 

[jbrace]

Who's faults is it the Republicans messed it up?! No one but ourselves. I dont get why your sitting here whining about omg were screwed. We've been screwed for awhile now. We would be in the same boat with Mccain or Obama.

 

[Kludge]

I'm very concerned with the margins Democrats now have in the federal government... I was not expecting the GOP to experience such a crushing defeat and it's going to make it all the more difficult in 2010 and 2012 for ourselves and the GOP should we choose to move forward mutually.

 

[john_anderson_ii]

I'm very concerned with the margins Democrats now have in the federal government... I was not expecting the GOP to experience such a crushing defeat and it's going to make it all the more difficult in 2010 and 2012 for ourselves and the GOP should we choose to move forward mutually.

In the short run, an Obama presidency with a Democrat house and senate is going to suck. I'm sure Obama will have the opportunity to appoint at least 2 if not 3 justices, meaning we will again have a supreme court that thinks the Constitution is a 'living and progressive' document.

In the long run this outright slap in the face to the republican party might, just might wake them up and bring them back to their libertarian roots so that we can move forward mutually. Of course, this was what I thought after 2006 as well.....

 

[merrimac]

I'm not in a bad mood. The Republicans just got their asses handed to them and so there is a little hope that they will produce a quasi-Ron Paul like candidate in 2012. I have a suspicion that many Republicans will stop supporting the Iraq war because we will have a Democratic commander and chief.

BTW, I am very, very happy that the McCain supporters are feeling what I, as a Ron Paul supporter, felt about 9 or 10 months ago.

 

[jclay2]

The Reason Why We Are Depressed

The reason why this election is so depressing is because it makes official what we allready know. Of course with all the trillions of dollars being spent on bailouts, our country was completely toast and in the gutter. Now that we have a self proclaimed socialist, it makes it more real. Although the Democrats and the Republicans are essentially the same, the do have a pendulum. With the huge democrat win, we now realize that the center of the pendulum, status quo, has been shifted farther left and closer to socialism. Lastly, with the huge democratic margins and a hurting economy there is great concern that Obama and the democrats might feel "mandated" to start a new new deal, causing trillions of dollars of defecits we can't afford.

Yes, Mccain would have likely gotten us to the same place, Obama just makes it more apparent.

 

[vodalian]

I'm not in a bad mood. The Republicans just got their asses handed to them and so there is a little hope that they will produce a quasi-Ron Paul like candidate in 2012. I have a suspicion that many Republicans will stop supporting the Iraq war because we will have a Democratic commander and chief.

BTW, I am very, very happy that the McCain supporters are feeling what I, as a Ron Paul supporter, felt about 9 or 10 months ago.

Yes another person who thinks elections are about revenge. Big surprise there..

 

[Paulitician]

I'm excited! I already have my suspicions of what's going to happen the next 4 or 8 years (and it doesn't look at all pretty), but to watch in real time will be fun.

 

[jclay2]

I'm excited! I already have my suspicions of what's going to happen the next 4 or 8 years (and it doesn't look at all pretty), but to watch in real time will be fun.

Yeah, I have that same feeling.

 

[john_anderson_ii]

I'm excited! I already have my suspicions of what's going to happen the next 4 or 8 years (and it doesn't look at all pretty), but to watch in real time will be fun.

Sort of like a train wreck in slo-motion. It's horrible and disgusting, but I just can't look away.

 

[tremendoustie]

I'm excited! I already have my suspicions of what's going to happen the next 4 or 8 years (and it doesn't look at all pretty), but to watch in real time will be fun.

I don't know. If it means people will wake up and reject the corrupt institutions that are failing, I won't mind whatever hardship comes, and I will cheer the failures of statism. If people are going to get suckered into willingly and happily giving up yet more freedom, that doesn't sound fun at all to me.

People getting brainwashed and conned just makes me sick to my stomach.

 

[Minuteman2008]

The democrats have nearly absolute power now. Not really because they have good ideas that are going to be good for the nation, and not because people really believe in the 'change' to a socialist/federalist agenda, but because the Republicans effed just about everything up. The stain of neoconservatism has destroyed any credibility in the Republican party.

Well the democrats are almost certain to eff everything up just as bad as the republicans have. Remember, the Bush republicans represented a major shift to the left for the republican party. The election of Obama, and with the help of major players like Reid, Pelosi, and Biden the democrats are sure to drag America even further down. There will be a large shift to the left. Not that a McCain election would have been much better.

When the democrats complete what the neocons have started and the country is brought to it's knees, I can only see three options for this country:

Option 1: The nation swings further left and begs the government to bail out, or nationalize, more of the banking industry, more of the energy industry, etc. This drags the republicans even further to the left because they are competing for votes.

Option 2: The credibility of the democrats gets trashed and America cries out for a return to the right, thereby restoring the credibility of the republicans somewhat, and the GOP has to shift back to the right.

Option 3: America wakes up and stops playing the party game. With the credibility of both parties in shambles America turns to individuals with good libertarian values and 3rd parties. This is a longshot.

In reality Option 2 seems the likeliest. The republican party was just smashed, and it now has to decide how it will pick up the pieces. Will it shift further left into neoconservativsm in order to chase votes, or will it shift back to the right in order to offer itself as an alternative to the mess the democrats will surely make of things.

This is a reallly excellent post. What scares me is how many will think that the GOP didn't shift far enough toward the left/neoconservative ideology. Tim Pawlenty was on CNN earlier mentioning how the party has to be more inclusive toward blacks and Hispanics and so on. Individual liberty, how about that, rather than group identity politics. The GOP cannot hope to compete with the Dems on that front. McCain was the biggest pandering fool the GOP has ever seen and where did it get him?

I'm really hoping for option three, but I'll settle for option two.