# Stupid Republican idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897 "2009-03-26T18:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 376
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7501 "2012-11-08T02:52:32Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > OK, brace yourself. This one is going to be hard to believe. > > Linda McMahon, Pubbie running for the Senate in Conn, is telling voters that she would work well with Obama in a bi-partisan relationship. Slogan: “President Obama and Linda McMahon will fight for us!” She is trying to ride Obama’s coattails into office. > > If I’m lyin’, I"m dyin’. > > [http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/11/linda-mcmahon-vote-for-obama.php?ref=fpb](http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/11/linda-mcmahon-vote-for-obama.php?ref=fpb) And she lost to the actual Democrat. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7502 "2012-11-08T23:19:21Z")
John Boehner must be hitting the sauce harder than usual today- he announced, in regards to the GOP’s attempts to repeal Obamacare, that “the election changes that” and “Obamacare is the law of the land”. [He then changed his mind an hour later and vowed to repeal it.](http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/11/08/1168621/boehner-obamacar/) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7503 "2012-11-08T23:23:53Z")
I almost feel bad for Speaker Tang…he finally realizes his dream of being Speaker of the House and he has to spend his entire tenure like a hostage to the Tea Party’s gun… ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7504 "2012-11-08T23:33:35Z")
Does Romney’s campaign staff work for Boehner? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7505 "2012-11-08T23:43:32Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Does Romney’s campaign staff work for Boehner? My guess? Agent Orange is tired of playing Great Wall of Wingnuttia against the Obama incursion, but once he made the earlier statement, Cantor and company had a little sit-down with him, talked about his future, maybe. As in, “If you want to be the Speaker come January, you will walk that back…” I don’t think Cantor wants to be the Speaker…like Tom Delay before him, he knows the real power is behind the guy with the gavel. As long as Speaker Tanningbooth does what Cantor tells him to do, Cantor’s perfectly happy keeping him as the figurehead. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7506 "2012-11-08T23:45:37Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Hannity had a fair and balanced election analysis with Ann Coulter. Hannity expressed his disgust with the blatant lies the Obama campaign told about Mitt. He warned that now that the Dems have lowered the bar on how much campaigns can lie about their opponent, future campaigns will be even sleazier. Must be the new Republican talking point of the day. I never listen to Rush, but thought he might be good for a chuckle today. He was saying the same thing. “The Democrats spread all these lies about Romney’s character. We (Republicans) don’t do that! Who are the people who actually believe these kinds of lies?” It was kind of funny if you imagined Rush was talking about himself and his listeners … > [@Smapti](#): > > John Boehner must be hitting the sauce harder than usual today- he announced, in regards to the GOP’s attempts to repeal Obamacare, that “the election changes that” and “Obamacare is the law of the land”. > > [He then changed his mind an hour later and vowed to repeal it.](http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/11/08/1168621/boehner-obamacar/) Just saw Boehner on ABC news. Diane Sawyer asking if he’ll be willing to talk revenue increases to prevent the fiscal cliff. “Raising tax rates for small businesses … for any American … is unacceptable. It won’t pass the House.” Nice. Grover Norquist still pulling the strings, and it ain’t that far till January 1. I still believe saner minds will prevail and we’ll get some kind of deal, but I’m considerably more nervous now that Boehner has proven again the House GOP is perfectly fine with driving the economy off a cliff as long as the well-off don’t have their taxes raised! ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7507 "2012-11-09T00:41:17Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > John Boehner must be hitting the sauce harder than usual today- he announced, in regards to the GOP’s attempts to repeal Obamacare, that “the election changes that” and “Obamacare is the law of the land”. > > [He then changed his mind an hour later and vowed to repeal it.](http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/11/08/1168621/boehner-obamacar/) Well, maybe they’ll back off and only pass 31 repeal bills this year rather than 32. Compromise! ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7508 "2012-11-09T01:09:36Z")
[Karl Rove: Obama Won ‘By Suppressing The Vote’](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/karl-rove-obama-suppressing-vote_n_2094459.html) He keeps using that word. I do not think it means what he thinks it means… > [@](#): > > Mitt Romney lost the election because President Barack Obama engaged in voter suppression, according to Republican political strategist Karl Rove. > > “He succeeded by suppressing the vote,” Rove said in an interview on Fox News with anchor Megyn Kelly on Thursday afternoon, “by saying to people, ‘You may not like who I am and I know you can’t bring yourself to vote for me, but I’m going to paint this other guy as simply a rich guy who only cares about himself.’”… Obama _said_ “I’m going to paint this other guy as simply a rich guy who only cares about himself” to people instead of actually going ahead and painting the other guy as simply a rich guy who only cares about himself? 😕 Is this like what they call an “informed ability” in characterization? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7509 "2012-11-09T01:45:35Z")
Poor Karl. I’m almost starting to feel sorry for the little bugger. I imagine him sitting in his den, in a pair of striped boxers and wife-beater, bottle of Jack in one hand and a teddy bear in the other, muttering, “Ohio … Ohio … Ohio …” over and over while he weeps. Or am I overreacting? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7510 "2012-11-09T03:20:58Z")
Not as bad as the rich guys who pissed away 300 megabucks. Overreactionaries. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7511 "2012-11-09T05:08:52Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I don’t think Cantor wants to be the Speaker…like Tom Delay before him, he knows the real power is behind the guy with the gavel. As long as Speaker Tanningbooth does what Cantor tells him to do, Cantor’s perfectly happy keeping him as the figurehead. Gah! Cantor’s still in? The guy who tried to wreck the nation’s credit rating for his own profit? Hey, somebody point him out to Michelle Bachmann, who supposedly wants to find who’s anti-America in Congress. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7512 "2012-11-09T05:17:19Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Poor Karl. I’m almost starting to feel sorry for the little bugger. I imagine him sitting in his den, in a pair of striped boxers and wife-beater, bottle of Jack in one hand and a teddy bear in the other, muttering, “Ohio … Ohio … Ohio …” over and over while he weeps. > > Or am I overreacting? Eh. From [the NYT:](http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/karl-roves-mission-accomplished/) > [@Paul Krugman](#): > > Remember how Rove and others were supposed to raise vast sums from billionaires and corporations, then totally saturate the country with GOP messaging, drowning out Obama’s message? Well, they certainly raised a lot of money, and ran a lot of ads. But in terms of actual number of ads the battle has been, if anything, an Obama advantage. And while we don’t know what will happen on Tuesday, state-level polls suggest both that Obama is a strong favorite and, much more surprising, that Democrats are overwhelmingly favored to hold the Senate in a year when the number of seats at risk was supposed to spell doom. > > […] > > Well, what if we’ve been misunderstanding Rove? We’ve been seeing him as a man dedicated to helping angry right-wing billionaires take over America. But maybe he’s best thought of instead as an entrepreneur in the business of selling his services to angry right-wing billionaires, who believe that he can help them take over America. It’s not the same thing. > > And while Rove the crusader is looking — provisionally, of course, until the votes are in — like a failure, Rove the businessman has just had an amazing, banner year. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7513 "2012-11-09T08:38:56Z")
Apparently, Romney was completely unprepared for the possibility that he might not win by a landslide, and was [“shellshocked”](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/mitt-romney-lost-election_n_2095013.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D232168) when Obama won Ohio and Coloraro. Not only did he not write a concession speech in advance, he and his campaign both [deliberately ignored polls that showed Obama leading in key states](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57547239/adviser-romney-shellshocked-by-loss/?pageNum=2&tag=page), leading them to dump resources into Pennsylvania because they believed that Florida and Ohio were a lock. What’s more, the campaign had even paid for and was prepared to launch [an eight-minute fireworks display in Boston Harbor](http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2012/11/08/mitt-romney-planned-boston-harbor-fireworks-show-that-was-scotched-election-loss/qmgtVKPq4zNnDyb9FbLWeJ/story.html) to celebrate his inevitable victory. All this time we’ve been assuming Romney was a cool, calculating operator, planning each move carefully and conservatively to maximize his advantage. Turns out he just believed his own hype and thought he couldn’t lose. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7514 "2012-11-09T10:39:43Z")
I don’t know what to say about this so I’ll just drop this here: [Mitt Romney’s Campaign Cancels Staffers Credit Cards In The Middle Of The Night](http://www.forbes.com/sites/helaineolen/2012/11/08/mitt-romneys-campaign-cancels-staffers-credit-cards-in-the-middle-of-the-night/) > [@](#): > > From the moment Mitt Romney stepped off stage Tuesday night, having just delivered a brief concession speech he wrote only that evening, the massive infrastructure surrounding his campaign quickly began to disassemble itself. > > Aides taking cabs home late that night got rude awakenings when they found the credit cards linked to the campaign no longer worked. It’s a blog but…seriously? Did this just happen? ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7515 "2012-11-09T13:07:42Z")
Mary Matalin and James Carville wrote a book about their experiences working on the 1992 campaign, _All’s Fair: Love, War, and Running for President_. (It’s a really good read, if a little dated now.) Anyway, she talks about going back to her office at the end of the night on Election Day only to find that her office has been cleaned out, the furniture gone and her belongings packed into a cardboard box. She says you get paid through Election Day and that’s it. So it doesn’t surprise me to hear that somebody cut off everybody’s campaign expenses credit cards. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7516 "2012-11-09T14:13:19Z")
In God we trust, Republicans pay cash. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7517 "2012-11-09T15:56:54Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I don’t know what to say about this so I’ll just drop this here: > > [Mitt Romney’s Campaign Cancels Staffers Credit Cards In The Middle Of The Night](http://www.forbes.com/sites/helaineolen/2012/11/08/mitt-romneys-campaign-cancels-staffers-credit-cards-in-the-middle-of-the-night/) > It’s a blog but…seriously? Did this just happen? Seems kind of like BS to charge one’s workplace for the cost of a cab to get home. When I commute to and from work, no matter what time of day I go in or time of night that I leave, I don’t consider my employer responsible for my personal transportation costs. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7518 "2012-11-09T16:17:20Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Seems kind of like BS to charge one’s workplace for the cost of a cab to get home. When I commute to and from work, no matter what time of day I go in or time of night that I leave, I don’t consider my employer responsible for my personal transportation costs. If you don’t live in the city you are having the cab ride in, you are not ‘commuting’ and it is a business expense. If my job requires I travel on business from L.A. to Sarasota Florida, I pay for the ride to LAX but the business picks up the expense of travel costs until I return to LAX. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7519 "2012-11-09T16:18:49Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Seems kind of like BS to charge one’s workplace for the cost of a cab to get home. When I commute to and from work, no matter what time of day I go in or time of night that I leave, I don’t consider my employer responsible for my personal transportation costs. I doubt most of these people lived in Boston. Wouldn’t your employer pick up the tab if they sent you to Seattle for a conference (I know you work for the feds, so they pick up the tab for everything, but bear with me)? ETA: ninjaed. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/7520 "2012-11-09T16:35:40Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Apparently, Romney was completely unprepared for the possibility that he might not win by a landslide, and was [“shellshocked”](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/mitt-romney-lost-election_n_2095013.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D232168) when Obama won Ohio and Coloraro… > > Turns out he just believed his own hype and thought he couldn’t lose. That is totally amazing. All this time, I thought the Republicans at the top of the food chain were cynically manipulating their base, lording over them from the top of Bullshit Mountain (Jon Stewart’s coinage). It turns out they’re merely very, very stupid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=375) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=377)