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Washington's Five Biggest Losers
Chip Somodevilla, Pool/Getty Images
Who came up the shortest in the Capitol’s quadrennial reshuffling? Hint: None of them are named John McCain.
With the election over, let's take some time to think about who really lost this year, people who gaffed, aged, or otherwise slouched into the limelight and who will start the year with a fund of political capital smaller than your 401(k).
1. Bill Kristol. The jovial Weekly Standard chief has shown little interest in keeping his New York Times column—heck, he barely showed interest in writing it—which is perhaps just as well, as it was the source of some of the cycle's most eye-poppingly wrong predictions and least solicited advice. And though you might choose to think his advocacy of Sarah Palin for VP was how he inflicted the worst damage on the McCain campaign, we think he effectively ended the race by saying that like the Red Sox, McCain would come back—which only doomed the Red Sox.
Even Joe Lieberman has already gotten more out of the Obama administration than John Kerry has.
2. Jesse Jackson, Jr. And you thought he might have been interested in changing his name before. If he's lucky, maybe he can be buried under the name "Candidate 5." Less embarrassing.
3. Public Financing. In the words of one former Republican campaign staffer, "It didn't just lose, it died. Dead dead. Drawn, quartered, its entrails burned while its body was hung." And while Obama aides are feeling pretty smug about their “small-donor” model, one wonders what will happen when the rock star is just another president presiding over midterms. The policy was a noble goal that died at the hands of a former proponent, a death that's almost Shakespearean in its symmetry but much much more boring.
4. John Kerry. At least when he lost the presidency, people felt sorry for him. Bill Richardson didn't say have the crazy things Kerry said in the name of electing Barack Obama—McCain staffers cite his "Depends" joke as a low—and he got a Cabinet seat out of it. Even Lieberman has already gotten more out of the Obama administration than Kerry has.
5. TIE: Norm Coleman/Al Franken. The epic battled of the boring versus the outraged. With the Dems having lost sight of getting to a filibuster-proof 60 seat super-majority, the race has ceased to be of national interest. And yet, sadly for Minnesota, it continues. And no matter who wins in the end, right now they both are losing. Coleman because he can't even seem to beat Al Franken. Franken: Can't even seem to beat Norm Coleman.
Wonkette emerita, political junkie, self-hating journalist, and author of Dog Days. Ana Marie Cox has worked for Time, Mother Jones, Suck, and most recently, Radar. Follow her on Twitter.
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Wonkette emerita, political junkie, self-hating journalist, and author of Dog Days. She has worked for Time, Mother Jones, Suck, and most recently, Radar. Follow her on Twitter.
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flickdog
Funny list.
beachmom
Come on, Ana -- are you kidding me? First, you have a typo on the John Kerry item, so I have no idea what you are trying to say re: Bill Richardson. Secondly, John Kerry is Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. If that is the definition of "loser", we would all be so lucky to make the top 5 losers. Oh, and he traveled abroad last week and this week unofficially for PE Obama. Check the Google.
Issywise
"....while Obama aides are feeling pretty smug about their "small-donor" model.."
The facts are in. Journalists should report facts. Obama's mix of big to small donors is the same as Dubya's was four years ago.. Obama's big donors invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in Obama for the same reason they did in Dubya---he looked like a winner. These professional donors made an investment for return. Obama accepted the money on that basis: more money by far than an previous American politician has accepted.
The press--including this website, should quit indulging in promulgating political campaign generated myths like the "small money" nonsense.
A little reality please.
You are, of course, free to delude yourself, but if you aspire to serve journalistic standards, you have to practice a degree of discipline.
monkeyman
They may be the losers but the rest of us are the winners!
Bulldoglover100
Actually the "facts" need to be looked at closely and not just a quick glance. Obama's small donor list? Was HUGE. The "list" your refering to lumps ALL donors and amounts. It did not, at first glance, take into account the donors who may have given 30.00 one month and then 30.00 every month there after. It just gave their total. When researched it showed that the majority, by millions, were small donors and Bush? did not even come close.
You people who cite facts that are incorrect are the reason the Republicans lost. The uneducated tried to convince the educated...never works.
Bulldoglover100
Hey ya snall minded bastards! Leave ALL comments up unless there are offensive. Mine was NOT and yet you removed it. No wonder people prefer Huffington Post
Banjo1
Self-hating? Maybe it was all that preoccupation with anus intercourse.
ScottRose
I vote for including McCain in the list, even if only in a three way tie with Franken and Coleman.
He made Palin a household name, which alone puts him in a league with Johnny Knoxville and Jackass.
He went on to flush his reputation down the drain with Joe the Plumber.
To leave McCain off this list is profoundly unfair, given the strenuous efforts McCain exerted to deserve being included on it.
Abelard
ScottRose makes a good case for Sen. McCain on the list. I say that "Joe the Plumber" also deserves a place on the list. His fifteen minutes of fame lasted about as long as it took to find out that he hadn't been paying his taxes...
natedrashn
I think it should be noted that while Kristol was one of the few learned that supported Palin once she was the nominee he probably correctly postulated that Lieberman was McCain's only hope in his column on August 24.
Issywise
Bulldoglover100
The people who report that Obama's big versus small donor distribution was the same as Bush's are http://www.campaignmoney.com/ and opensecrets.com.
Not hardly shills for either the Republicans or the Democrats. You are the one whose partisan eyes cloud reality in service to partisan preferences.
Fact are facts. If you must embrace myths to believe in a candidate there is something wrong. Moreover, you remove yourself from constructively looking at issues independently of partisan electoral prospects--which are as temporary as the next election, while problems in our system of self government are ongoing for generations because nobody can see past partisan advantage to address them.
GabrielD
It's nice that McCain staffers cite the Depends joke as a low for John Kerry, but given that the low point for John McCain was his running mate stirring his supporters to call for the murder of his opponent, I think the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee comes off as just a bit less of a loser this time around.
And shouldn't there be a spot on the list for journalists that lose two jobs in as many months?
pabarge
"Bill Richardson didn't say have the crazy things Kerry said..."
Can you even write a simple English sentence? Apparently not.
poli2323
Not sure what she means about Kristol. He called Palin as McCain's VP nominee, and he predicted Colin Powell's turncoat endorsement months in advance. Not bad. What did Cox call right?
menckenlite
What about all of the journalists who believe that Gov. Palin said she can see Russia from her house? It was the delightful Tina Fey who said that. How many journalists cannot distinguish reality from fantasy? How many readers are misled each day? That's called keeping the voters informed? Is the democratic system a loser in any of this?
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