After Ronald Reagan's seismic victory over Jimmy Carter in 1980, jubilant conservatives declared that the New Deal was finally done, five decades after its architect, uber-Dem Franklin Roosevelt, was elected to the first of four terms.
After his solid victories in 2008 and 2012, Barack Obama was hailed by liberals as the irresistible force behind an emerging, permanent Democratic majority. Turns out those predictions were a tad premature, to the point that even Huffington Post political analyst -- on MSNBC, no less -- announced last night that "the Obama era is over."
It was past midnight after MSNBC reluctantly broke the news that Joni Ernst's victory in Iowa shifted control of the Senate to the GOP, when the network's Chris Matthews asked HuffPo's Howard Fineman to weigh in. To his credit, Fineman dispensed with the spin and laid out hard-nosed analysis that surely had MSNBC's core viewers (those still witnessing the ongoing train wreck) wincing as he spoke --
MATTHEWS: We were just arguing about the lame duck and you're taking us right to '16. What do you know?
FINEMAN: Well, what I know is that the Republican victories in the governor's races around the country, especially in blue states, are exciting Republicans a lot tonight and I think with good reason. As Rachel (Maddow) was mentioning earlier, I mean, you're looking at not only Illinois going to the Republicans in the governorship, Wisconsin staying with the Republicans (Scott Walker's third win since 2010, including a recall election in 2011), Connecticut (still too close to call, NY Times reports this morning), possibly Massachusetts (Democrat Martha Coakley conceding this morning), Maryland, as you say, a blue state if ever there was one (whose voters just elected Republican Larry Hogan in "stunning upset" -- WaPo). This is an indication of what the ground game is going to be like and what the playing field is going to be like in 2016 because there are 18 states and the District of Columbia that form the big, the blue wall, the big blue wall for Democrats in which they have 242 electoral votes just starting out with that group of states that regularly vote Democrat.
Now you've got a situation with the Republicans taking governorships in some of those places, showing I think a chance and an excitement that they've got to really compete strongly in states they need to get to break through. Illinois is big and there's no mistake about it. The notion that, I don't know whether we've called the race in Massachusetts yet, but the fact that Charlie Baker is ahead there is really significant, OK, been really interesting. Connecticut, Maryland, the overwhelming defeat of a Democrat in Maryland. You know, you can put that down to Anthony Brown's weakness as a candidate if you want but I think it means a lot more than that.
And on some of the Senate races, the fact that Mark Warner barely survived in Virginia, a state that's sort of under Barack Obama became a part of the Democratic coalition, I think is a warning to Democrats heading into 2016.
After discussion between Matthews and Fineman on Republicans showing greater "audacity" than Democrats (hmm, where have we heard that word before ...?) and MSNBC pundits chuckling that fellow panelist/RINO Steve Schmidt might well have gotten himself elected this year too (those crazies will vote for anyone!), Matthews, arms defensively folded, asked Fineman "which party has the spark right now?" --
FINEMAN: Oh the Republican party for sure. The Dems have to reinvent themselves all over again. The Obama era is over.
You remember, the one that was supposed to endure in perpetuity? Cue the voice of Billy Crystal mimicking Edward G. Robinson in "The Ten Commandments" ... Where's your Messiah now?! (h/t, Debra Burlingame)
