Bill Maher's warning to liberals: Obama could still lose to Santorum

[NJMaverick]

Quote:In last night's final New Rule, Bill Maher had a two-pronged message, first noting how Rick Santorum is a joke candidate, but then noting that Americans have far too often gone ahead and elected those joke candidates as President.

So, maybe that's why everywhere I go lately, the supermarket, the dry cleaners, the withdrawal window at my bank (weeps), people all say the same thing to me. "May I have some money?" But after that, they say, "Obama is gonna crush these clowns. It's gonna be the biggest landslide since...." And then their voices trail off, 'cause they don't know any history.
Because history shows that many times, the joke candidate is the one who ends up winning. And you don't even have to go all the way back to that asshole Millard Fillmore to verify this. Just think about the year 2000, when gas was 12¢ a gallon, and the Internet was powered by steam. George W. Bush, the town drunk of Texas, decided he should try his hand at some presidentin'. And oh, how we laughed! Ha ha ha ha ha! He was up against super-smart Al Gore, America's one-man genius bar. It was IQ versus barbecue. But as we know, Bush won, twice, and Al Gore is now running a TV station that you only get if you order the "Just Give Me Every Damn Channel in the World" package.

Or, take back in 1968, the idea of Ronald Reagan as President was so ridiculous, it was a running gag on Laugh-In. Right along with the one they did about an Asian basketball player.

....

Yes, Obama could lose. And in fact, in the swing states, which are the only states that matter, he is losing in this week's Gallup poll, to both Romney and Santorum. 59% of Americans think the country is on the wrong track, and that's before they gave away the Best Picture award to some silent French movie where nothing blows up!

I often talk about how conservatives are in a bubble, but liberals have their bubble too. And inside it, Obama is a shoe-in, because the Republicans are just so ridiculously out of touch. Well, they may be out of touch with you, but believe me, they're in touch with your brother-in-law in rural Pennsylvania.

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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/03...ia=siderec

[azmouse]

It's why we can't get complacent. The only way we get the landslide victory for Obama that we want is if we vote and we get our friends and family to vote.

[jaxx]

We need to watch everything the pubs are doing, they are ruthless and want control of the country. I put nothing past them.
I'm glad you posted this Mav, everyone needs to be reminded of what staying home, not voting, not fighting back on the slurs, etc. can cause........a republican majority. We can't go back there!

[Andy823]

(03-03-2012 10:22 AM)jaxx Wrote:  We need to watch everything the pubs are doing, they are ruthless and want control of the country. I put nothing past them.
I'm glad you posted this Mav, everyone needs to be reminded of what staying home, not voting, not fighting back on the slurs, etc. can cause........a republican majority. We can't go back there!

Getting the vote out should always be the top priority. Those who decided to "stay home" to teach president Obama a lesson in 2010, put republicans in office, and that is unacceptable!

I think we will see a lot more of the same tactic used in 2010, with right wing trolls trying to encourage the left to "stay" home for one reason or another. I really don't think it will work as well as it did in 2010 because people have seen what happened in states where republicans gained control, and what has happened in the House since republicans took control.

I see a whole lot more voters getting bad as hell with republicans this year, and I really think the voter turnout on the left will be huge! I also think the "stay at home" voters will be mostly republicans this year.

[Still a Democrat]

Of course he could, but Romney would be the tougher opponent. I hope Santorum gets the nomination.

[OptimistesMaddie]

(03-03-2012 11:00 AM)Still a Democrat Wrote:  Of course he could, but Romney would be the tougher opponent. I hope Santorum gets the nomination.

unable to think on his feet. When it comes to real debates with our president he will fail. His arrogance will be on full display and there will be no one to help him.

[Treestar]

I don't agree with the premise. Palin for example, I believe, caused McCain's loss to a great degree. Chimpy got in for unusual reasons - and the incumbent was not running, having just had 8 years. I don't know why Fillmore was a joke, but that's too long ago to be relevant.

[sandnsea]

The biggest reason Obama would lose is if Dems stay home and the left votes third party. Complacency is the Democrats worst enemy, I agree with that. And the ability of the GOP to tap into the bigotry of white America, never doubted that for a minute.

[OptimistesMaddie]

until we win.

Complaceny is our worst enemy...

[janedrake]

In general, I don't care for Maher, but I do think he's on the right side of this one. Couldn't imagine why Republicans were winning the polls leading up to the mid-terms - running on nothing but ignorance, lies, and rabid bigotry -- but there the clowns are in control of the House. Oddly enough, although he richly deserved it, I think the fact that the media ran endless stories on Romney in the empty stadium has garnered him a sympathy vote. There is NOTHING that Romney and Santorum have accomplished in the past ten years that should even put them within shouting distance of the presidency - over Barack Obama - but with the dawn of the millennium, the country seems stuck with an epidemic of "teh stupid." So, I cringe every time I see a progressive post something like "Please, please, please God let the nominee be Santorum!" -- because there may be even more Walking Stupid amongst us than we think - and a Santorum presidency, I feel, would be like electing the late David Koresh as president.

[There Is No Spoon]

Of course, even before hyperpartisanship, midterms were always a time where the party out-of-power made a comeback. And we knew many of the wins in '06 and '08 wouldn't stick in the long term as well.

This election ought to have good turnout - I think the result will be influenced more by how people feel about the economy than anything. The social issue thing has been a major backfire for the R's, so the only chance they have now is a bad economy.

I do, however, appreciate Maher keeping a fire lit under our side. If you recall, he just gave $1,000,000 to Obama's Super PAC - he now has a horse in this race.

Santorum? He'd be obliterated worse than any candidate in history - I don't care what anybody says.

[suzie]

The one big misstep that I think Republicans have made is in making the war on women public.

There was still a lot of dissension in the Democratic Party after 2008 because of the split between those who supported Clinton and those who were for Obama. There were many Clinton supporters who were loyal Democrats and worked as hard as they could for Obama in the General Election in 2008. I'm not complaining at all about the people who supported Hillary or attempting to blame them for anything--most of my close Democratic friends were Hillary supporters. Just saying that there were still hurt feelings on both sides--as there are after any brutal primary season.

I think that with the long primary season and then getting back together for the General Election in 2008, Democrats were just a little tired in 2010--it was like no one could muster the emotional energy to do much.

But the Republican War on Women, especially this latest flurry of activity, has reunited Democrats in a way that I don't think the other side could have anticipated. Especially coupled with the very obvious racism that Republicans have displayed toward Obama. There was a lot of dismay about Obama and Democrats for the past year or so, among a lot of the people that are Democratic supporters. However, Republicans are now threatening whole generations of women and their daughters and suddenly all that other stuff seems to be forgotten.

Republicans way overstepped.