The Day After the Day After

 

Because they’re like sports writers with three-fourths of their copy written before the end of the seventh inning, the post-election punditry poured out predictably on the air and over the Internet before cleaning crews at the local Marriott could plug in the Hoover to suck up the victory confetti.

Everybody had an answer for everything. Some had answers to questions that weren’t even asked. And, of course, there was the inevitable discussion of “What does it all mean for 2016?!?”

The answer: Not a damned thing.

Whatever you’ve heard, whatever you’re thinking, whatever has been said, written or postulated, it’s all wrong. Every last word is a lie, including “the” and “a.”

Why? Because elections are snapshots in time, events that dominate and issues that resonate for the briefest of moments. And anyone who can tell you what the world is going to look like in September and October two years from now is a charlatan.

After the President’s re-election in 2012, the geniuses of the left pronounced permanent realignment. ObamaCare would kickstart us into Nirvana and 2014 would be a stampede to a $15 minimum wage and emancipated lady parts. By golly, by Christmas of this year you’d gladly pay $8.50 for a Big Mac because it would come with a coupon for a free D&C at Bob’s Abortion Emporium.

Wendy Davis would turn Texas blue, Nancy Pelosi would be the Once and Future Speaker, and peace would reign from Palestine to Pasadena.

But what happened? Life happened. Ebola. And the alphabet — VA, IRS and ISIS. There was the UnAffordable Health Care disaster that still exists no matter how much happy talk a sycophantic media can produce.

So enjoy the moment. 2016 will come soon enough. The issues and the personalities will coalesce in time. Strategize lightly, be as prepared as can be, but remain nimble enough to take advantage of what your opponents — and the times — hand you.

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  1. user_50776 Inactive
    user_50776
    @AlKennedy

    EJ, thanks for nailing it exactly.  Your seventh inning analogy was particularly apt.  Things will happen between now and the fall of 2016 that we can’t predict or anticipate.  We just need to react to those with sound conservative principles.

    • #1
  2. Pencilvania Inactive
    Pencilvania
    @Pencilvania

    I picture the Obama presidency so far as the first two acts of a Feydeau farce, where all the backstories are set up and the action starts to pick up speed.  The next two years are Act III, with doors opening and slamming shut non-stop, actors galloping between rooms, diving under beds, dashing out in their underwear, stammering panicked and ridiculous alibis, mistaking identities, eyeglasses flying, falling out windows and flailing behind drapes.  Yes, we would do well to stay nimble. 

    • #2
  3. x Inactive
    x
    @CatoRand

    Exactly right EJ.  Every word.

    • #3
  4. Casey Inactive
    Casey
    @Casey

    EJHill: elections are snapshots in time, events that dominate and issues that resonate for the briefest of moments.

    Yes, and no.  It is a single data point and trying to extract broad meaning out of a single data point is foolish.  However, data points are connected to many other data points.  Connecting them all as clues can help us understand.

    What I’ve tried to do in this post is put this single data point in context.  The last 60 years have been dominated by particular divisions.  We are at an inflection point.  The divisions of the next 60 years will be different.

    Certainly, I can’t tell you what exactly that will be though I have an inkling.

    • #4
  5. Ryan M Inactive
    Ryan M
    @RyanM

    Couldn’t agree more.  Extremely well said.  Even if the media analysis is right for today (which I don’t grant), it simply has no idea what tomorrow will look like.

    • #5
  6. user_494971 Contributor
    user_494971
    @HankRhody

    Cato Rand:Exactly right EJ. Every word.

    Except possibly for “the” and “a”

    • #6
  7. Nanda Panjandrum Member
    Nanda Panjandrum
    @

    <APPLAUSE>, EJ!

    • #7
  8. HeartofAmerica Inactive
    HeartofAmerica
    @HeartofAmerica

    My favorite part:

    Why? Because elections are snapshots in time, events that dominate and issues that resonate for the briefest of moments. And anyone who can tell you what the world is going to look like in September and October two years from now is a charlatan.

    Exactly.

    • #8
  9. Larry3435 Inactive
    Larry3435
    @Larry3435

    EJ,  That is absolutely true.  Unless it’s not.

    • #9
  10. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    And anyone who can tell you what the world is going to look like in September and October two years from now is a charlatan.

    That reminds me, Karl Rove needs to go. If he helped get some people elected, fine.  Thank you for your service.  But he needs to get out of the way before he gives us Barack Obama II.  One was enough.

    • #10
  11. user_199279 Coolidge
    user_199279
    @ChrisCampion

    The next budget that Congress produces will be telling.  That’s more or less what all of this boils down to.  The dollars reflect priorities.  I’m highly confident that the budget will go up, not down, after a couple of base years of hugely inflated spending courtesy of Barry and the House have set the new ground floor for deficit spending and the national debt.

    • #11
  12. user_357321 Inactive
    user_357321
    @Jordan

    They write all the copy before the 7th inning because most of the time they probably don’t have to change a thing.

    • #12
  13. Fricosis Guy Listener
    Fricosis Guy
    @FricosisGuy

    I think the only clear statements about 2016 that came out of Tuesday are:

    1. Scott Walker remains a legitimate candidate. He would’ve been disqualified if he had lost.
    2. Martin O’Malley is probably sunk. Handing over one’s seat to a GOP upstart in a deep Blue state doesn’t bode well.
    3. Rand Paul collected a lot of favors.
    • #13
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