Decision ‘08

Two More Casualties Of The Tuesday Blowout

One thing is clear: John Bolton WILL NOT be confirmed as UN Ambassador (remember, he was a recess appointment - if he couldn’t through under better circumstances, he won’t get through now).

We also are saying goodbye to a good man who did a LOT for the Republican Party. Ken Mehlman was widely rumored to be leaving even before the election, so he’s not really a Tuesday casualty so much, but his is a giant loss. Mehlman, in my view, deserves much of the credit that usually goes to Rove for pulling 2004 out; his focus on detailed metrics and database-driven GOTV efforts was and is a thing of beauty. Mehlman couldn’t have stopped this Democratic victory this year, because it was driven by factors outside of his control (Iraq, poor leadership from Congress).

On a personal level, I always appreciated the outreach efforts Mehlman made towards bloggers, and I found him to be one of the most energetic, smart, and quick-witted men you’ll ever have the fortune to see or hear. I can see why Mehlman would want to leave what must be one of the most time-absorbing, non-stop stress jobs in the world, but he will leave behind GIANT shoes to fill.

Thank you for your service to your party and your country, Mr. Mehlman, and God bless you and yours…

10 Responses to “Two More Casualties Of The Tuesday Blowout”

1 Chris J. Breisch Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 10:17 am
Mehlman had definitely planned to exit after the election and was saying so as early as this summer, so I would say that it’s inaccurate call him a casualty. Losing John Bolton is a severe blow as well.
2 Anonymous Liberal Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 10:39 am
I’m sure Mehlman is a nice guy in person, but he also has no scruples when it comes to politics. The ads put out this eleciton cycle by his RNC were perhaps the least honest, the sleaziest, and the most dispicable of all time. Many of them were just outright lies and the RNC continued to air them even after they had been definitively exposed as lies. Many were so bad that television networks refused to air them. Other than Rove, no single person has done more to lower the overall quality of our political discourse than Mehlman. Good riddance.
3 Mark Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 10:48 am
Rubbish, Anonymous…every election cycle - every one! - we hear about how the negativity and dishonesty, etc., have never been worse. Have you ever read any of the articles and books that look at the history of mudslinging in this country?

Mehlman didn’t choose the content of those ads; he paid for some of them, but he was not the producer, director, or writer of a single one. If you want to argue that the two national committees should no longer be able to fund ‘independent expenditure’ ads of this sort, then make that argument…but don’t hold Mehlman responsible for sleazy discourse in this country. It’s as time-honored a part of politics as kissing babies and flag-burning-ban amendments…
4 Aaron Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 11:03 am
So will Karl Rove be succeeding Mehlman? Maybe Joe Lieberman can be ambassador to the UN . . . leading to GOP control of the Senate.
5 Mark Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
As to your Rove suggestion, God, I hope not…Lieberman has said he would not accept any offers from Bush or the Republicans, even if they were to come…
6 Chris J. Breisch Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
No, it’s Michale Steele to replace Mehlman.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20061110-121131-5518r.htm

And frankly, I don’t want to try get Lieberman out so that he can be replaced by a Republican, or to get someone to change parties. That is sleaziest politics at its worst. I was against it when Jeffords switched, and I’m not going to be a hypocrite by wanting it now. The Democrats won the Senate. The people have spoken.
7 Chris J. Breisch Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Damn typos. Michael, not Michale.
8 Dmac Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
“Many of them were just outright lies and the RNC continued to air them even after they had been definitively exposed as lies…”

Still waiting for the above commenter to actually do some work and provide cites for his many declarative statements. Is it really that hard to do this simple task? Perhaps he has some learning disability that we’re not aware of.
9 too many steves Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
And here I thought Lee Atwater held the title of most despicable, deplorable, malevolent, and just-plain-creepy political operative of all time.

For heaven’s sakes, can we drop the idea that elections will ever resemble the famed and fabled Lincoln/Douglas debates? We are talking about a struggle for power and control of the reins of government and however unpleasant you may find the process it is vastly superior to the violent alternatives that we see other less enlightened peoples employ.

P.S. go read these: http://www.nps.gov/archive/liho/debate1.htm

Personally, I nodded off after this “I appear before you to-day for the purpose of discussing the leading political topics which now agitate the public mind.”.

Which is not to say a little more subtlety in the campaigns and attacks wouldn’t be welcome.
10 Aaron Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
Well, it wouldn’t be exactly the same now if Lieberman decided to caucus with the GOP or leave the Senate as it was with Jeffords. Jeffords had just been elected, less than a year earlier IIRC, with financing from the GOP. Lieberman won on his own dime, even though he did assure voters he would caucus with the Dems if elected.

Exciting news about Steele, though. I wish he had been in the Senate, but I’m glad to see he’s not going away. Perhaps the governorship of Maryland is in his future.