Writing about the amusingly irrelevant Netroots Nation conference, Ken Thomas of AP poses this stumper:
What's a frustrated liberal to do? Democrats on the ideological left are grousing that President Barack Obama is just not that into them, and they're soul searching at a big weekend meeting about the strained political relationship as he seeks re-election.
Might they stay home when he asks them to vote for him again?
It just so happens that I've devised a foolproof method to look into the future and divine the answer to this question. Take a blank sheet of paper and write the word "NO" on both sides, as big as you can. Fold it into a paper airplane and throw it out the window. Go outside and pick it up, then close your eyes and unfold it. With your eyes still closed, turn the paper over exactly five times—I can't emphasize this enough. Now open your eyes and look at the side of the sheet facing you, and whatever word you see there is the correct answer!
I think you should have incorporated a python and some burned incense, but I'm a traditionalist.
Posted by: No One of Consequence | Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 05:07 PM
Oh, but there will be much reluction!
http://www.correntewire.com/let_reluction_begin
Posted by: vastleft | Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 05:38 PM
John, you're right that Obama can take the Netroots Nation crowd for granted, but can he take everyone for granted?
Pfeiffer was asked if Obama had any sort of a jobs plan and he just stared into space. Is simply being employed now just a liberal fantasy only Daily Kos readers care about?
Posted by: Mikemariano | Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 08:20 PM
Predictions:
Obama loses some small % voters from last election - people who normally would not have voted - who realize if not that they were duped at the very least that voting doesn't do much for them.
In polling therefore field of "likely voters" is reduced. And the Obama lead over whatever Republican is lessened.
Dem strategy then becomes to tilt more right (we will be told "centrist"), purportedly to coax over undecided voters, which the usual useless lib organs will pronounce unfortunate but "necessary" to keep a Rep out of office.
Because, yknow, if there were a Republican president then something *bad* would happen. Not like now...
Posted by: Quizmasterchris | Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 10:54 PM
I predict that the number of potential voters who have a home in which to stay will continue to decline. Desperate for warmth, and attracted by the smell of coffee, these people will stagger into their local polling place. The trick will be keeping them from stripping the voting machine wires for copper.
11 Dimensional Chess!
Posted by: GregMc | Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 03:26 AM
I think there's a real opportunity for some entrepeneurial type to make a killing selling nose-clips to all those Democrats who will be holding their nose to vote for Obama.
Posted by: NomadUK | Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 04:58 AM
Are we all prognosticating now? Okay.
Remember the record turnouts of previous years, including the Bush coup (Florida had more black votes than ever before in 2000, granting Gore a decisive victory -- so that was fixed)?
Here, now, we will see a backlash. There will be record low turnouts. Combined with Obama's war chest, we will see a new U.S. record: the most money spent per vote in U.S. Presidential history.
Obama will win because Repugs don't care to win -- our aristocracy is lazy. Exception: if any Repug begins to obsess over jobs, that person will win the primary and general handily.
That last bit is subject to change. This is a harder one to predict than the 2008 election because 2012, unlike 2008, is shit that doesn't matter.
Posted by: No One of Consequence | Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 07:15 AM
Meh. I think you saw that poll from Netroots that Yggy is waving around. This just allows you to flaunt your origami fetish and call it political science.
Posted by: Happy Jack | Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 04:41 PM
Remember the old Chinese story about the farmer whose horse ran away and then came back with a wild horse and the son was trying to ride the wild horse and got a broken leg and the army came to take away all the young men to be soldiers for ten years or the rest of their life whichever came first and the son couldn't go because of his broken leg so he had to stay home.....
Who knows if it's good or bad?
see also Desiderata, a poem by 20th century Indiana lawyer Max Ehrmann.
http://www.businessballs.com/desideratapoem.htm
Posted by: mistah charley, ph.d. | Monday, June 20, 2011 at 04:20 AM
A different take on irrational, destructive cycles of enthusiasm from a more modern source:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3_95F5e-Ac&feature=related
Posted by: No One of Consequence | Monday, June 20, 2011 at 08:13 AM
Hell, yes, there's a jobs program. It consists of two parts:
1. The administration will work with congress to cut regulations, spending, and taxes.
2. The president will make speeches about jobs creation.
I'm thinking "A Herbert Hoover for the 21st Century" as a campaign slogan.
Posted by: lacp | Monday, June 20, 2011 at 09:05 AM