With the Republicans predicted to pick up anywhere from 39 to 70 or more House seats in today's elections, commentators and analysts have been searching avidly for the perfect, over-the-top metaphor to describe the GOP's presumed triumph and the Democrats' defeat. Here are ten:
A violent "undertow"...
"House Democrats are suffering the full violence of this national undertow," says political analyst Charlie Cook, as quoted in the New York Daily News.
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That leads to a "devastating cascade"
"Democrats face losing a devastating cascade of as many as 100 House seats," says Charles Hurt in the New York Post.
Or, worse yet, a "tidal wave"
With polls showing an "unprecedented" 15-point Republican lead on the generic ballot, we can expect a "tidal wave" of Democratic defeat, says the Left Coast Rebel at the blog of the same name. "Stay tuned for tidal wave updates..."
Or maybe it's a "tsunami"
Mark Blumenthal at The Huffington Post, seeking metaphorical precision, asks, "Will it be a tsunami or bad storm?" In any case, the Republicans' victory will be "nearly unprecedented... winning a huge majority in the House and probably taking control of the Senate as well."
Sarah Palin's thinking "earthquake"
"I think it's going to be a political earthquake," said Palin on Fox News Sunday. "The message will have been sent to the left that they blew it." (Pun intended?)
Speaking of blowing, beware the "hurricane winds"
"The Democrats are about to feel the force of hurricane winds," says Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, as quoted on MSNBC.
Whatever the weather, it's a "massacre"
Democrats are going to face a "massacre," says MSNBC's Patrick J. Buchanan, as quoted on Newsmax.
A "bloodbath," if you will
"If you were to believe what the polls are saying... it's going to be something close to a bloodbath for Democrats," says James Clyburn, the House Majority Whip, as quoted by The Hill.
Why not think bigger? What about a "mass extinction"?
Dems could be in the throes of a "mass extinction," says Elspeth Reeve at The Atlantic Wire. "House Democrats are preparing to meet their death panel."
Put it all together and you have an "apocalypse"
I'm seeing "signs of the Democratic Apocalypse," says Karl Rove in The Wall Street Journal.
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