Election 2009
[NOTE: I’ll be adding comments as the night goes on.]
So far McDonnell is projected the winner by a longshot in Virginia. New Jersey is unknown, and New York 23 likewise.
Random observations:
(1) I was watching CNN for a while and saw James Carville and Mary Matlin, and marveled once again that this particular pair is still married. Love, ain’t it wonderful?
(2) On Fox, there was a report that one of Obama’s aides (can’t remember who—Axelrod? Emanuel?) said the President won’t be watching the election returns tonight, he’ll be looking at the basketball game. Besides being extremely difficult to believe, it strikes me that at this point such a statement doesn’t convey cool confidence, it displays either arrogance or almost pathological disinterest.
Let me repeat: I don’t really think it’s the truth. But does Obama really want to conjure up the idea that he’s either (a) lying (b) smug (c) asleep at the wheel; or (d) some combination of a-c?
(3) If Hoffman ends up beating Owens, you’d have to say that Sarah Palin has shown more political savvy and leadership than many people give her credit for. Wasn’t she the first big Repubican name to make the leap and endorse him?
(4) And speaking of political savvy, if the results tonight continue to trend in a strong Republican direction, I guess it wasn’t such a smart move to call the town hall attendees and the Tea Party participants crazy haters.
(5) Wow. Christie wins in New Jersey. That’s seismic.
(6) “Change” can cut both ways. Exit polls indicate that the desire for change was a big motivator in the New Jersey results. And young people can be fickle. They stayed home in New Jersey.
(7) Christie’s victory speech sounds sincere. Of course, I’m predisposed to like him. It will be very interesting to see if he can actually improve things in New Jersey. If so, it certainly would be a great advertisement for a more fiscally conservative approach to crises. Take back New Jersey!
(8) Good one!
(9) Gay marriage in Maine is in a dead heat.
(10) Owens won; not a good thing. Republicans need to nominate good candidates in the first place so this sort of party-splitting doesn’t happen in the future.
Hoffman is leading in New York.
Palin is a better person and more savvy pol than any of the major Repubs. This was clear last year and it is why she has been ruthlessly and brutally attacked. It is why she became an object of scorn. It is why even regular jane and joe Dems despise her and hate her for no good reason at all…Al of them sense the goodness of her, and the skill of her, and the toughness of her. They know she will defeat them if she gets the chance, and they will do everything never to give her that chance.
I have to admit the Hoffman thing is impressive. This was a fight She chose, and few people even knew it was a fight to even be picked. She rode into town, endorsed someone no one ever heard of for who knows what reason (at the time) – and she won.
She showed a “rogue” intelligence and skill that left the aparatchiks left footed, dazed, confused and frankly looking and sounding foolish.
And it was effortless for her.
Well you know, my greatest friend at work is married to a lady whose politics differ from his (and his match mine more than hers). I don’t understand that–and at the same time, I recognize that it’s not necessary for me to understand it. He and she are both politically interested, if not precisely politically active. My husband and I are of like political mind, and I don’t know how I could be happy with a man whose opinions are so diametrically opposed to mine. I can’t tell you how it happens, except that politics is not equally essential to every match.
Well, I have no explanations on offer. It’s just interesting to note the differences!
e) this is his way of handling the reality of rejection; by denying its existence/importance.
I wonder how he will react? The guy’s so batty guessing his actions are providing a major pastime for just about anyone interested in the news. It’s like living an updated version of “Watch on the Rhine”.
It looks Corzine will have to print a few score thousand “absentee” ballots to secure the election. Unfortunately it looks like Hoffman is not going to make it, nonetheless it will be a Pyrrhic victory for the Democrats.
N.J called for Christie
YAY!
“… such a statement doesn’t convey cool confidence, it displays either arrogance or almost pathological disinterest.”
Hey, “It’s not about me.”
I’m sure you guys have seen it but:
New Jersey
Chris Christie
Republican
951009
49%
Jon Corzine
Democrat
852303
44%
Christopher Daggett
Independent
105053
05%
Virginia
Robert McDonnell
Republican
1117143
58%
R. Creigh Deeds
Democrat
777369
41%
http://www.foxnews.com/
Wow.
Baklava- Just when I was going to make my shortest post — EVER — You stole my line! (my word). lol
Just wanted to log on and say; Hurray for the twin GOP wins in Virginia and New Jersey!!
I have hopes that this will put a brake on the Dem’s agenda in congress. It should send a chill through the Dems having to seek re-election in those less-than-dark-blue districts.
At this point I’m glad about NJ and especially about VA. NY-23 is still too close to call, though it looks like Owen might win there. Even so, the fact that Hoffman came so close is very big, considering that the “Republican” nominee endorsed the Democrat.
Even if Hoffman loses
Palin wins via Facebook
Arctic fox
Fox News just predicted that the Democrat Owen will defeat the Conservative Hoffman. I’m not a NY resident, but I would have voted for Hoffman even with the liberal Republican Scozzafava in it. This is actually an example where, notwithstanding the loss, it was prudent to go against the establishment Republican who was merely a clone of the Democrat. In the case of NY’s 23rd, I think it was worth the gamble, because there really was “not a dimes worth of difference” between the liberal Scozzofava and her Democrat opponent.
My concern is that what happened in NY’s 23rd district could happen in other races where someone who is actually more centrist to moderately conservative gets the boot from more ideological Republicans, on the grounds of not being ideologically pure. There has been much talk of kicking out those who aren’t 100% to the right, with the definition of what is “to the right” defined in a very limited way. In many races, a perfectly respectable Center Right candidate could get the boot just because they arent Far Right on every issue, and thus handing the race to the Democrat. I always thought, for example, that it was unfair to lump in (as some have done, in a rote manner) the clearly liberal Scozzafava, and the slightly more centrist Olympia Snowe, together with Center Right conservative people like McCain and Lindsay Graham. Ideological purity may cause a rush of excitement at first, but it would appear less appealing when the Dems continue to control Congress and ram through all they want at will.
In any case, I regret Hoffmans loss. Its a great shame that the Republican leadership in NY decided to back someone so completely out of touch with the Republican mainstream. It was a worthwhile gamble, notwithstanding the loss.
Correction to my previous post:
“I always thought, for example, that it was unfair to lump in as RINOS (as some have done, in a rote manner) the clearly liberal Scozzafava, and the slightly more centrist Olympia Snowe, together with Center Right conservative people like McCain and Lindsay Graham.”
Lindsay Graham is ooooozing leftward. McCain is the only Republican I could stand when I was a Dem. IOW, a very weak reed….
Hoffman’s showing, regardless of how the Big Media will spin it, is very impressive: no one knew who the heck this guy was just 30 days ago; he didn’t have his own party’s endorsement; and he came within a whisker of winning.
Faux Independent [lifelong Dem.] Mike Bloomberg lost a lot of altitude: he only won by five or six points when the polls had him EIGHTEEN points ahead just last week. Now, ACORN was turning out drunks and drug addicts, faking absentee ballots, and voting the graveyard for Bill Thompson, and Thompson, a black man, had the lion’s share of the ethnic vote, but even so, Bloomie should’ve won by more. He’s been wounded in the contest, and will be a real lame duck this time.
I couldn’t bring myself to vote for him. I knew he’d win, and I was too blamed mad at him for high-handedly overturning the term limits law whose sanctity he was so eager to protect, back when it was Mayor Giuliani in Bloomie’s way.
But seeing Thompson with the usual Gang of NYC leftard suspects, including, especially, that attention-whore sharpton, made me wish I’d turned in a protest vote, at least. The attention-whore sharpton got in between Thompson and his wife, and between Thompson and his father, when the candidate tried to thank them during the concession speech. It was embarrassing.
Also, on the RINO question: Beware the Ratchet Effect. We keep ceding a little ground to the Left, and a little more, and a little more: next thing you know, our backs are up against the Pacific Ocean.
Case in point: the RINOs aren’t even debating the huge question of WHETHER we should socialize our health sector; they’re only quibbling about how FAST we should do it. So what use are they?
This is one frog who doesn’t want to be boiled.
I want to believe he was watching election returns instead of basketball. If the opposite is true, perhaps he should be coaching a team some where.
I just read Noonan’s Novemer 02 article. For the first ime ever, I think she just wants to be on the side of the opinion that’s winning. You know, keep her job as it were. I am truly disappointed in her. She seems to have most of it right in the commentary. But it is as if she went there kicking and screaming the whole way.
A magisterial run by McDonnell, and Christie is a hero to take the race away in NJ where The Time of the Living Dead is not Halloween, but always Election Day when New Jersian zombies seem to rouse themselves long enough to vote early and often… It’s a Demo tradition there…..
The interesting question now will be just what the “Beltway Republicans”, the NRCC, and Michael Steele & Co. — who are doing the recruiting for next year’s races — will take away from these three 2009 elections. We’ve had the “teaching moment”. The big ??? is will they have a “learning moment”, and recruit more libertarian/conservative people for next year’s races. Time will tell.
As for Dear Leader not watching the election returns, it begins to seem totally in character. The Demo losses don’t fit the narrative of his narcissistic movie, and if it’s not in his movie, it doesn’t exist. So, he will ignore it. Just as he didn’t “notice” all the tea parties. Perhaps it’s just the way he reacts when things don’t go his way (i.e., a .0002% drop in adulation), or when events (real reality) show he’s not perfect. I just hope it’s not alternate reality time at the White House very often. Who knows….., but it certainly doesn’t fill one with confidence nor a happy secure feeling to realize our current Commander-in-Chief has such a penchant for denial. As Insta Glenn Reynolds says, “The country is in the best of hands…..”
“McCain is the only Republican I could stand when I was a Dem.”
But does that make him any less conservative? He actually has a very good voting record with the American Conservative Union, which you don’t get by being liberal. One of the best points aboit McCain is that he actually (imho) gave the appearance of being a “maverick” by cooperating with the Dems on a few issues (i.e. “campaign finance reform, which I opposed) while still being fairly strongly conservative (check his voting record). He was, at the very lest, as conservative as GW Bush.
“Case in point: the RINOs aren’t even debating the huge question of WHETHER we should socialize our health sector; they’re only quibbling about how FAST we should do it. So what use are they? ”
That certainly doesnt describe McCain. He’s been strongly against the Obama-Reid-Pelosi plan from the start, and he voted against Bush’s prescription drug plan because it was financially on solid ground. He’s also been among those most adamant opponents of excessive government spending and “pork.” You may be thinking of Olympia Snowe.
Which is exactly the point. The name “RINO” is being applied with excessive broadness against people who are completely different. I’ve seen McCain and Graham (both still fairly conservative) put on the same list as Olympia Snowe (really much more liberal).
Getting away from the McCain example… my point is simply that there are times to be divisive and times not to be.. and some people are hitting the “RINO” button with too much zeal. The Hoffmans campaign was a perfect example of when it IS prudent to be “divisive” . . . when Scozzofava proved to be no different (truly no different) than the Democrat. But not everyone who isn’t all the way to the right is a Scozzofava.
Correction:
” . . .he voted against Bush’s prescription drug plan because it was financially NOT on solid ground.”
How much would O gain in stature if he were to humbly acknowledge these ‘Pub wins and admit that he hasn’t been listening to those who want to be heard and that he will from now on? That, together, we can find solutions?
Instead it is political war and spin and I’d rather watch basketball.Is this what he promised?
If you look at the exit polling in the NYC mayoral race, you will see that 70% of all voters approved of Bloomberg’s job performance while 45% said that his changing the term limits law would make them more likely to vote against him. So a great many people voted for Thompson just to teach Bloomberg a lesson, and I’ll bet they were shocked at how many other people did the same. Local politics is anyway just that, local. You may feel cheered by the new Republican governors in New Jersey in Virginia, but has having a Republican governor in California helped your agenda much?
As for NY-23, I pointed out in another comment that the former Republican congressman won over 65% of the vote in 2008 and was such a RINO that Obama named him Secretary of the Army, but the true believer lost, with 5% of the people choosing to vote for the withdrawn candidate instead of him.
Hy wrote, “but has having a Republican governor in California helped your agenda much?
Living here. I can tell you…. The fight with the CA legislature is daily.
The problems CA has (due to the makeup of the CA legislature) will continue until voters learn.
We have 12.3% unemployment rate (4th highest in the nation)
Intel and Apple are located in CA but they are expanding in other states and reducing their footprint here.
Toyota closed a plant in Fremont, CA
Big government liberalism is the problem. Opportunity is stifled. The private sector cannot succeed with the myriad of laws that CA legislature pumps out daily. It’s horrible and they don’t get it and they don’t stop. It’s all posted on the CA legislature page if you want to view what they are up to!
What is your belief?
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/11/04/taxpayer-message-in-colorado-springs-shrink-government/
This is a good message for politicians
A safety net is needed for the elderly and non-able bodied. What liberals do is DILUTE that safety net. That is not born of love and caring. That is born of misguided power mongering at the leadership level and at the rank and file level a buy into the propaganda that conservatives “don’t care”.
Malkin had to dig deep for Colorado Springs because the Maine Tax Relief Initiative ballot measure failed 60%-40% and the Washington Initiative 1033 state ballot measure failed 55%-45%.
I read this elsewhere today:
According to press secretary Robert Gibbs, Obama wasn’t even keeping an eye on the election returns. He was watching the Chicago Bulls game.
If that were true, that would be illustrative in and of itself of why this is only the beginning of the bleeding. Obama had made five trips to New Jersey to stump for Corzine. He made three to Virginia to stump for Creigh Deeds. He invested a lot of political capital — especially in New Jersey.
But none of his slogans or his catch-phrases or his pleadings on Corzine’s behalf worked. The pundits predicted the New Jersey race would be too close to call, primarily on the perception that Obama’s magic would carry the day.
But the race wasn’t a race — it was a rout. Christie beat Corzine by almost four points despite the presence of a Democrat-funded spoiler aimed at sucking away Christie votes.
Given the effort and the political capital invested on Corzine, if Obama really wasn’t watching the returns, then he is as incompetent as his record so far would suggest. On the other hand, if he was watching but wanted to downplay the results, then he isn’t merely a liar, he’s a supremely arrogant liar.
In either case, he doesn’t come off well.
Have to agree.
Sarah Palin, the Club for Growth, the National Organization for Marriage, Tim Pawlenty, and Glenn Beck all supported Douglas Hoffman, despite the presence of a Republican candidate picked by the state party from the state assembly with a good chance to win. But none of their slogans or catch-phrases or pleadings on Hoffman’s behalf worked. The pundits predicted that the NY-23 race would be too close to call, but the race wasn’t a race, it was a rout. A district which had elected its previous GOP congressman with 65% of the vote instead elected the Democrat by almost four points and gave the withdrawn Republican candidate over five points to boot.
Given the effort and political capital invested in Hoffman, the GOP needs to rethink their approach to races in districts that aren’t fully right wing. But they show no public signs of doing so, so they are either as incompetent as their record so far would suggest, or they merely want to downplay the results, in which case they aren’t merely liars but supremely arrogant liars.
Nice try, Hy,
The difference, of course, being that Corzine was the INCUMBENT, whereas hardly anybody had heard of Hoffman a month ago.
5% of voters voted for Dede even though she dropped out.
2% difference in the race.
Too bad Doug didn’t have more time to get his name out there. He’d a cleaned Owen’s clock. 😉
Corzine was a deeply disliked incumbent. He lost because he’d been in office for a long time and didn’t accomplish what the people in his state hoped he would.
The lesson for Democrats is that they had better start doing the things that they were elected to do, or they’ll find themselves out as well. That Saturday Night Live skit about how Obama has done nothing is going to resonate louder and louder. But politicians are craven and beholden to wealthy supporters, so I don’t actually have much hope.
Hy wrote, “The lesson for Democrats is that they had better start doing the things that they were elected to do”
Obama ran as a centrist.
If he does what YOU elected him to do – he will be handed MORE LOSSES 🙂
It is when Democrats lose that America will succeed.
Centrists have trouble getting out the voters. What we saw in VA is that without an exciting candidate to vote for, a lot of Democrats who voted for Obama stayed home. As a Democrat who wants his party to continue holding Congress, I need candidates who are dynamic, exciting, and doing something. Alternatively, mediocre candidates will do if they have truly evil opponents, so I hope you guys continue that Hoffman thing and purge all the non-crazies from your party.
Take your stimulous loving Generational Theft Dede’s and call them non-crazie’s all you want.
If Doug has more than one month of campaign – it would’ve been a different result and you know it. 🙂
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Jobless-rate-tops-10-pct-for-apf-563122944.html?x=0&.v=8
Let’s blame Bush ~!