“Post Partisanship” From Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao

Even though his wife is now out of a job, that doesn’t mean that the Senate’s Minority Leader isn't still obstructing away, of course (heckuva job to send him back last year, Kentucky voters – you gonna extend the same privilege to Senator “I Hear Voices” too next year?).

With this in mind, I give you this story, featuring Mitch McConnell supposedly believing that the GOP must “change” (and if you believe that, I’ve got a book of updated safety workplace regulations from Dubya’s Department of Labor to sell to you…and speaking of Former Commander Clueless, I also posted over here.)…

However, this doesn’t sound like “change” in any way, shape, or form (from here)…

Top Senate Republicans are raising doubts about the Senate version of the (recently passed by the House with zero Repug votes stimulus) package, which is approaching $900 billion. "In a time of trillion-dollar deficits, we cannot afford Washington business-as-usual," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Thursday. "Are these projects really necessary? Will they stimulate the economy? Should we ask the American people to foot the bill?"

Actually, this story tells us that the American people have already been asked…

A national poll released today shows that 94 percent of Americans support a national effort to build up the country's infrastructure. Meanwhile, 81 percent of Americans say they are prepared to pay 1 percent more in federal taxes to support infrastructure projects. (Separately, a new Gallup Poll finds that a slim majority of Americans, 53 percent, support a $775 million stimulus package of the type Barack Obama described in a speech (on January 8th).)

And by the way, speaking of the stimulus, the king of the “Roadblock Republicans” said here that “he didn’t think [the stimulus is] going to have any problem getting over 60 votes,” even though (as you can plainly see from the headline) McConnell’s Repug colleague, the even-more-clueless Jim DeMint of South Carolina, predicted the stimulus package would get “zero” votes, adding to the illustrious legacy he’s helped to build here and here (where he said there would be riots in Detroit if the automaker loans were approved; I don’t call that a bailout since the funding was already agreed upon for retooling, but will be used to insure GM and Chrysler’s solvency instead).

And returning to the matter of McConnell and his beloved Graying Obstructionist Party in the AP story (really “ruled” by these characters, let’s not forget), we read this…

McConnell called for the GOP to embrace its conservative tenants – and resist diluting its message – to bring people back and attract new rank-and-file, saying: "Our principles are universal. They apply to everyone."

If he wants to believe that, fine. However, this Daily Kos post from last April (citing a Pew Research study that really doesn’t leave room for doubt on which way younger voters are going in this country) features the following from Ezra Klein…

Political scientists argue that the more often someone votes for a party, the more that preference gets locked in. Each vote marginally increases your personal identification with the party you pulled the lever for. Three election cycles, and you're probably a partisan for life, or something near to it. Which means an advantage like this (for the Dems), though potentially temporary, also opens the door to a more enduring electoral edge with this generation.

And as long as McConnell and his beloved Repugs keep fighting the stimulus, to say nothing of squabbling with Obama and the Dems on the Iraq war, Afghanistan, and a whole host of other issues, that trend will never change.