Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - prognostications based on election results?

roachboy · 11-08-2006, 07:24 AM

and here is the obvious question...

what are your provisional assessments of the election results as they unfold?

for myself, i am not yet clear about it...and obviously it will be diffcult to say much that is not obviously provisional while the mt and va senate races remain unclear.

1. general question:

why is it that television news gets to effectively determine the speed with which an election results are "determined"? i was in a resto last evening with friends--on the wall across from me were 3 television monitors---football, espn meta-football, and the cnn talking heads. so it was the election and other sports. and once again i watched election results being projected based on very small percentages of actual votes counted.

since it is evident that there are procedural problems with elections, and that these problems appear to be more complex than simply one or the other party like two puppeteers pulling the strings for their own advantage, why is it not reasonable to allow for more time before elections are effectively decided on television based on statistical models etc.?

i think people can handle a period of uncertainty in the interest of making sure that such democracy as there is in the states is actually functioning.

what is the deal with this?

2. on the results themselves:

well, it seems fairly clear that we are in for a couple years of ideological battle over which party gets to represent the center. again.
it is obviously too early to tell how the right is going to respond, but i think this poses an interesting dilemma for them.

ideology

what i would expect from on the ideological level is to see the right shift into oppositional mode and try to use the new composition of congress to reinforce their version of identity politics.

in other words, i expect to see the right media apparatus shifting into a version of the mode it worked under clinton. this because despite the myriad debacles they have to deal with thanks to the bush administration, the right managed to get considerable turnout and many races were and remain much closer than i had imagined. so their political machinery held in general, even as it lost ground tactically. that is why i do not expect much in the way of change from the right on ideological grounds--i think this will be seen as a tactical loss.
the strategy will unfold in a straight line.

politically--in terms of actual governing--the position the republicans are in is interesting-ish: i expect you will see what is required, which would be a shift toward the center legislatively. but this remains a bit murky in terms of outcomes, so..

structurally, it looks like paralysis.
i do not see this as a good thing, particularly not on the question of iraq.

on iraq: what do you see following from yesterday?
i am not sure.
i dont see "this isn't working" as the reverse of any consensus within the democrats about what to do.

what do you see the implications of the election for the process of creepng executive power? do you see any of the administration's attempts to alter the balance of power between branches being withdrawn or changed?
it is still early, but maybe a sense of how this will go...

economic policy change?
i am not sure that i see any consensus amongst democrats on this.
i am not sure there is one.

i do find myself feeling a bit of relief on the question of judicial appointments. in this, paralysis is surely preferable to stacking the courts from the right.

in terms of international reactions so far--what i have been seeing is an enormous, global sigh of relief tempered with a bit of anxiety over the implications of gridlock in a context already so thoroughly shaped by the bush administration and its various wars.
but we'll see: for me this is an interesting question.

this is far from comprehensive as questions go, so feel free to reframe the thread as it goes.

and who knows, maybe we can have an actual discussion, since none of us knows exactly what will transpire on the basis of yesterday...

and as a proactive note to the proactive mods: i do not see these results are much reason to go all partisan. paralysis is what it is. it is a stopping, not a moving forward. i think you can relax a little.
what do you see as resulting from yesterday?

11-08-2006, 07:24 AM	#1 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	prognostications based on election results? and here is the obvious question... what are your provisional assessments of the election results as they unfold? for myself, i am not yet clear about it...and obviously it will be diffcult to say much that is not obviously provisional while the mt and va senate races remain unclear. 1. general question: why is it that television news gets to effectively determine the speed with which an election results are "determined"? i was in a resto last evening with friends--on the wall across from me were 3 television monitors---football, espn meta-football, and the cnn talking heads. so it was the election and other sports. and once again i watched election results being projected based on very small percentages of actual votes counted. since it is evident that there are procedural problems with elections, and that these problems appear to be more complex than simply one or the other party like two puppeteers pulling the strings for their own advantage, why is it not reasonable to allow for more time before elections are effectively decided on television based on statistical models etc.? i think people can handle a period of uncertainty in the interest of making sure that such democracy as there is in the states is actually functioning. what is the deal with this? 2. on the results themselves: well, it seems fairly clear that we are in for a couple years of ideological battle over which party gets to represent the center. again. it is obviously too early to tell how the right is going to respond, but i think this poses an interesting dilemma for them. ideology what i would expect from on the ideological level is to see the right shift into oppositional mode and try to use the new composition of congress to reinforce their version of identity politics. in other words, i expect to see the right media apparatus shifting into a version of the mode it worked under clinton. this because despite the myriad debacles they have to deal with thanks to the bush administration, the right managed to get considerable turnout and many races were and remain much closer than i had imagined. so their political machinery held in general, even as it lost ground tactically. that is why i do not expect much in the way of change from the right on ideological grounds--i think this will be seen as a tactical loss. the strategy will unfold in a straight line. politically--in terms of actual governing--the position the republicans are in is interesting-ish: i expect you will see what is required, which would be a shift toward the center legislatively. but this remains a bit murky in terms of outcomes, so.. structurally, it looks like paralysis. i do not see this as a good thing, particularly not on the question of iraq. on iraq: what do you see following from yesterday? i am not sure. i dont see "this isn't working" as the reverse of any consensus within the democrats about what to do. what do you see the implications of the election for the process of creepng executive power? do you see any of the administration's attempts to alter the balance of power between branches being withdrawn or changed? it is still early, but maybe a sense of how this will go... economic policy change? i am not sure that i see any consensus amongst democrats on this. i am not sure there is one. i do find myself feeling a bit of relief on the question of judicial appointments. in this, paralysis is surely preferable to stacking the courts from the right. in terms of international reactions so far--what i have been seeing is an enormous, global sigh of relief tempered with a bit of anxiety over the implications of gridlock in a context already so thoroughly shaped by the bush administration and its various wars. but we'll see: for me this is an interesting question. this is far from comprehensive as questions go, so feel free to reframe the thread as it goes. and who knows, maybe we can have an actual discussion, since none of us knows exactly what will transpire on the basis of yesterday... and as a proactive note to the proactive mods: i do not see these results are much reason to go all partisan. paralysis is what it is. it is a stopping, not a moving forward. i think you can relax a little. what do you see as resulting from yesterday? __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 11-08-2006 at 07:26 AM..