The Virginia Landslides...
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| Thu, 11-05-2009 - 3:10pm |
The Republicans wiped the floor with the Democratic candidates. It's been a painful trainwreck in coming for the past few weeks but it was far worst than expected (20% and in key offices). I have to say I'm impressed w/ the speeches since given by governor elect McDonnell and will be curious to see how much he follows what he's said. OTOH, Michael Steele, what a class act...not. Gloating and preening belong in the NFL and even then, you can be fined for doing it too much.
I don't think it's a sign, as many have said, that people in Virginia are tired of Obama, although there are, and have always been the anti-Obama-ites. They've definitely become more vocal and hateful, sadly. I think it's a matter of:
1) The Republican candidates ran great campaigns. They avoided a lot of the mudslinging, got their views out, ran moderate compaigns, despite being extremely conservative. I was impressed that many ads are more about them as people/candidates and less about how bad the other candidate was.
2) The Democratic candidiates...didn't. Deeds ran a terrible campaign, heavy in mudslinging and in the end, reminded me of McCain in the last days of his election when it went downhill, just a lot of flinging and nonsense. What was Deeds for? Who knows? Who else ran on the Dem ticket? I had to look for information on them.
3) I don't think it was about Obama because neither party talked about him. If it had been like last year's election, everyone was disavowing Bush. That wasn't the case here. There was little against health care, nothing about death panels. All local, as it should be.
4) Why couldn't the Democrats find better candidates???


In New Jersey the same mudslinging took place by the Dem. govenor. (Making fun of the opposition's weight.) Karl Rove type attacks don't work for Democrats or have we all had our fill of such slimy politics?
This is good..........
Analyst: Election Wasn't Referendum on Obama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er4EOtMzTdI
I'm from NJ, the Democratic candidate run a mudslinging campaign from the beginning.
Terrible and embarassing.
"I'm very disappointed in the way the Democrats are behaving."
Yes it was a big disappointment for those that behaved that way. Hope it's the last of Rove type politics.
My understanding is that the Rep's that won were on the moderate side.
Op-ed about the Republican defeat in NY's 23rd district........
>"The reason why the Democratic victory in New York’s 23rd is a mixed blessing is simple: it increases the odds that the Republicans will not do Democrats the great favor of committing suicide between now and the next Election Day.
This race was a damaging setback for the hard right. Hoffman had the energetic support of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Fox as well as big bucks from their political auxiliaries. Furthermore, Hoffman was running not only in a district that Rove himself described as “very Republican” but one that fits the demographics of the incredibly shrinking G.O.P. The 23rd is far whiter than America as a whole — 93 percent versus 74 — with tiny sprinklings of blacks, Hispanics and Asians. It has few immigrants. It’s rural. Its income and education levels are below the norm. Only if the district were situated in Dixie — or Utah — could it be a more perfect fit for the narrow American demographic where the McCain-Palin ticket had its sole romps last year.
If the tea party right can’t win there, imagine how it might fare in the nation where most Americans live. Some G.O.P. leaders have started to notice. Mitt Romney didn’t endorse Hoffman despite right-wing badgering to do so. On Wednesday, Michael Steele dismissed the right’s mantra that somehow Hoffman’s loss could be called a victory and instead talked up the newly elected Republican governors who won by appealing to independents and moderates. Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell are plenty conservative, but both had rejected Palin’s offers to campaign for them. They also avoided the tea party zanies, the fear-mongering National Organization for Marriage and the anti-abortion-rights zealots Hoffman embraced. They positioned themselves as respectful Obama critics, not haters likening him to Hitler. t doesn't appear that the far right stratrgy is work."<
Segment from........ The Night They Drove the Tea Partiers Down
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/opinion/08rich.html?hp