{"id":37,"date":"2008-11-05T02:06:04","date_gmt":"2008-11-05T07:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dailypilot.com\/dailyblogger\/panderson\/?p=37"},"modified":"2008-11-05T02:06:04","modified_gmt":"2008-11-05T07:06:04","slug":"37","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.suppliedtoanderson.com\/?p=37","title":{"rendered":"Two good friends dine again on election night"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" \/><meta name=\"ProgId\" content=\"Word.Document\" \/><meta name=\"Generator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 11\" \/><meta name=\"Originator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 11\" \/>\n<link href=\"file:\/\/\/C:%5CTmp%5Cmsohtml1%5C03%5Cclip_filelist.xml\" rel=\"File-List\" \/><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"country-region\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"PlaceType\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"PlaceName\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"State\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"place\"><\/o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>  <w:WordDocument>   <w:View>Normal<\/w:View>   <w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom>   <w:PunctuationKerning\/>   <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas\/>   <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false<\/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>   <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false<\/w:IgnoreMixedContent>   <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false<\/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>   <w:Compatibility>    <w:BreakWrappedTables\/>    <w:SnapToGridInCell\/>    <w:WrapTextWithPunct\/>    <w:UseAsianBreakRules\/>    <w:DontGrowAutofit\/>   <\/w:Compatibility>   <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4<\/w:BrowserLevel>  <\/w:WordDocument> <\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>  <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState=\"false\" LatentStyleCount=\"156\">  <\/w:LatentStyles> <\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object  classid=\"clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D\" id=ieooui><\/object>\n\n\n<style> st1\\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } <\/style>\n\n <![endif]--> <\/p>\n<style> <!--  \/* Style Definitions *\/  p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal \t{mso-style-parent:\"\"; \tmargin:0in; \tmargin-bottom:.0001pt; \tmso-pagination:widow-orphan; \tfont-size:12.0pt; \tmso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; \tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\"; \tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";} @page Section1 \t{size:8.5in 11.0in; \tmargin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; \tmso-header-margin:.5in; \tmso-footer-margin:.5in; \tmso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 \t{page:Section1;} --> <\/style>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 10]>\n\n\n\n<style>  \/* Style Definitions *\/  table.MsoNormalTable \t{mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\"; \tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; \tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0; \tmso-style-noshow:yes; \tmso-style-parent:\"\"; \tmso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; \tmso-para-margin:0in; \tmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; \tmso-pagination:widow-orphan; \tfont-size:10.0pt; \tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\"; \tmso-ansi-language:#0400; \tmso-fareast-language:#0400; \tmso-bidi-language:#0400;} <\/style>\n\n <![endif]--><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Scott Baugh and Frank Barbaro, <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:placename w:st=\"on\">Orange<\/st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st=\"on\">County<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>\u2019s top political bosses, on Tuesday had their traditional election-night dinner again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">This time the party chairmen dined at the Club House restaurant at <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:placename w:st=\"on\">South<\/st1:placename>  <st1:placetype w:st=\"on\">Coast<\/st1:placetype> <st1:placetype w:st=\"on\">Plaza<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>. When I caught up with them the outcome of the presidential race was not quite clear. I figured Barack Obama for the winner, though, because three major networks had called <st1:state w:st=\"on\"><st1:place w:st=\"on\">Pennsylvania<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> for him. John McCain needed to flip that state from red to blue to complete his narrow path to victory. Still, if he could get <st1:state w:st=\"on\">Ohio<\/st1:state> and <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:state w:st=\"on\">Florida<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> he had a shot.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Then we found out <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:state w:st=\"on\">Ohio<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> had gone in the Obama win column.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Baugh still wasn\u2019t ready to concede. As he likes to say, the GOTV doesn\u2019t end until the guy with the white hair says so. That moment came about 8:15 p.m. But we weren\u2019t quite there yet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Still, I felt they both knew what would happen. They are seasoned number crunchers and the polls looked so daunting for the <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:state w:st=\"on\">Arizona<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> senator.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cThe key to not being depressed is acceptance,\u201d Baugh quipped.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span>\u00a0<\/span>So they both debated how Obama would govern.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Baugh worries that Obama would govern as an ultra-liberal, but Barbaro was convinced that President-elect Obama would govern as a pragmatic centrist.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cHe\u2019s a liberal\u2019s liberal and I don\u2019t think this country\u2019s ready to be that liberal,\u201d Baugh said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cHe\u2019s going to look at things from the standpoint of what will work,\u201d Barbaro said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Baugh countered that Barbaro was indulging in wishful thinking, projecting his own centrist beliefs on to Obama. Baugh thinks Obama is clever enough to know that if he yanks the country too far to the left he will hurt himself with independent voters and could get punished in the mid-term elections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Me, I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t think any of us know. Some presidents get intoxicated with power and their egos prevail. We saw that four years ago when President Bush missed the signs that the country was still so deeply divided and he bragged he had some political capital to spend. So he went about trying to reform Social Security. His approval ratings sank and they\u2019ve been dropping like an anchor ever since. President Clinton did the same thing. He had a Democratic majority and tried to run things his way. Remember \u201cDon\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell?\u201d and his disastrous ramrodding of healthcare reform onto even members of his own party in Congress? He got punished in the mid-term elections, too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Baugh doesn\u2019t like Obama\u2019s middle-class tax-cut plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cIf you give 95% of the country a tax cut it has to come from somewhere,\u201d Baugh said, referring to the top earners who would pay more under an Obama plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThey\u2019re the job creators,\u201d Baugh said of the country\u2019s top earners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cMore like the job shippers,\u201d Barbaro countered, referring to how many corporations have taken their tax cuts and moved jobs overseas for the cheaper labor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Both men recognize that a lot of healing has to happen now. The country remains divided in many ways.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cWe\u2019re beyond ideology now,\u201d Barbaro said. \u201cWe have to be problem solvers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Ironically, Obama\u2019s victory makes Baugh\u2019s job easier, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cWe go back to basics of limited government. We set a standard that people are calling for,\u201d Baugh said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Republicans in DC made a mistake running up huge deficits under Bush and now they have to learn the lesson, Baugh said. It\u2019s why we\u2019re seeing so many more \u201cdecline to state\u201d voters. Those are \u201cdisaffected Republicans,\u201d Baugh said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Barbaro recalled how in 1978 he had managed to make Democrats the majority party, and then he retired. It was post-Watergate, Jimmy Carter was midway through his term and Gov. Jerry Brown ruled <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:state w:st=\"on\">California<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">But then the Reagan Revolution came two years later and the GOP has reigned since then.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">My how things come full circle. Barbaro predicts Brown will return to the governor\u2019s office and the Democrats are picking up registrations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cIn the past 15 months the Democrats have netted 60,000 new registrations,\u201d Barbaro said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Baugh was quick to point out that happened \u201cin the context\u201d of an unpopular war in <st1:country-region w:st=\"on\"><st1:place w:st=\"on\">Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>, an unpopular Republican president and a collapse of the markets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Barbaro believes Obama\u2019s victory will help generate more fundraising for the Democrats in <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:placename w:st=\"on\">Orange<\/st1:placename>  <st1:placetype w:st=\"on\">County<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>. That, of course, remains to be seen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">By the time of dinner\u2019s end, <st1:state w:st=\"on\"><st1:place w:st=\"on\">Ohio<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> had been called for Obama and it was pretty clear he would win, so I asked Baugh what his thoughts were on the historic nature of the first black commander in chief.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cIt\u2019s important to this country. It\u2019s a unique point in time,\u201d Baugh said. \u201cBut it should be more about the direction of the country than the color of a man\u2019s skin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cThe <st1:country-region w:st=\"on\"><st1:place w:st=\"on\">United   States<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> has finally come of age,\u201d Barbaro added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scott Baugh and Frank Barbaro, Orange County\u2019s top political bosses, on Tuesday had their traditional election-night dinner again. \u00a0 This time the party chairmen dined at the Club House restaurant at South Coast Plaza. When I caught up with them the outcome of the presidential race was not quite clear. I figured Barack Obama for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supplied-to-anderson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppliedtoanderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppliedtoanderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppliedtoanderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppliedtoanderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppliedtoanderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppliedtoanderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppliedtoanderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppliedtoanderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppliedtoanderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}