I'm sick or hearing post-mortems of Democratic losses in Election 2010

[Denninmi]

The patient isn't dead yet, but it seems that it has already been transferred to the morgue and has been cut open and autopsied.

ABC's 'World News Tonight' just showed a segment in which reporter Jake Tapper basically wrote the Democrats' obituary for this election. In particular, he singled out Barbara Boxer, Harry Reid, and Patty Murray as being on political life support and about to go down in flames:

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/vote-2010-election-democrats-playing-blame-game-elections/story?id=11948327

I'm confused ... please help me understand this.

Is the election over? Have the Republicans already won the House and Senate? Have these three already gone down to defeat?

Just taking one of these three, are all of the polls that have consistently shown Boxer with a 3-6 point lead over Carly Fiarino wrong? A figment of my imagination? Are we, as Dems, just whistling past the graveyard in denial?

Or, is this really the final, openly right wing corporate takeover of ALL media? Are they no longer trying to report, but trying to influence?

You know, I never really bought the "liberal media" argument anyway -- "back in the day" as they say, I thought that journalists like Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, David Brinkley, for example, were pretty unbiased and just reported the news. I once had the opportunity to hear one of Michigan's premier political print and electronic political reporters speak, and I asked him his opinion of "liberal bias" -- he told me that he knew he was doing his job well and being fair and balanced when he got complaints about his stories from both left and right.

Now, it seems to me that so-called "journalists" for the most part are openly biased and are trying to influence the public, not merely reporting. Tonight's report was the second in less than a week that made me want to toss my cookies. The final segment on 'This Week' last Sunday about the benevolent right wing Chilean president and business saving those poor trapped miners was virtually an infomercial for the right.

What is going on? Am I just wrong about all of this?

[derby378]

1. Touchscreens?

:shrug:

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. I know Reid is struggling (but if there's good GOTV I believe he will survive)

but Murry and especially Boxer look like they'll survive. Did I miss something? :shrug:

[hay rick]

3. Would that be pre-mortems?

If I was trying to push the country even further to the right, I would cover up my agenda by advertising all the times I was described as "too liberal." No rocket science here...

Worst part of this particular article had to be the Bayh quotes. Regurgitated here:

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., who is also retiring, said that Democratic politicians focused too much on the liberal base, pushing away independents who were more concerned about jobs and the deficit.

"Before we broke for the election," Bayh said, "the congressional Democrats' closing message was what to do about gays in the military, what to do about illegal immigration and what about the prospect for tax increases on more successful Americans."

Bayh said that during a time of real economic stress for Middle Americans, those issues just did not resonate for independents and moderates.

"It's shaping up as a Republican wave," Bayh said. "The question is how many Democrats can find their way to the high ground? I think if we are successful in localizing and personalizing as many of the elections as possible it doesn't have to be a complete disaster."

Bayh said he still held out hope that Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind., would beat former Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., to take Bayh's open Senate seat.

So the Democrats have been coddling the liberal base and proper frame for discontinuing the Bush tax breaks for the rich is "tax increases on more successful Americans." It's a pity Mr. Bayh isn't sticking around to lead us "to the high ground." Or not. My feeling is the only reason Mr. Bayh would lead a middle class American to high ground would be for the purpose of pushing him off a cliff.

[Skink]

4. If you are going to electronically manipulate nationwide elections you need complicit media.

[devereaux]

5. Russ Feingold

Russ is currently schooling Ron Johnson in their final debate right now. People shouldn't count him out yet.