GOP Radicals Help Democrat Take NY House Seat

[Supergirl]

http://www.casavaria.com/cafesentido/2009/11/04/5004/gop-radicals-help-democrat-take-ny-house-seat/

BTW, Huffington Post just had an article yesterday pointing out the divisive, negative impact Sarah Palin has had on previous races.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannyn-moore/sarah-palin-rogue-republi_b_343116.html

This is the best news of Election Day, IMO. More evidence that the Republican party has officially imploded, and Sarah Palin pulled the trigger.

[Winehole23]

This is the best news of Election Day, IMO. More evidence that the Republican party has officially imploded, and Sarah Palin pulled the trigger. Overblown, IMO.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/124010/Generic-Ballot-Provides-Clues-2010-Vote.aspx

[101A]

No, the biggest news of election day is:

"All politics is local".

What happened in NY has more to do with NY23 than Sarah Palin.

What happened in Virginia and New Jersey has more to do with Virginia and New Jersey than it does Barrack Obama.

This is going to remind all politicians of that truism; and they will act accordingly; since many are up for election (in their respective localities) one year from today. I think Americans are pissed, and no politician, Democrat OR Republican is particularly safe.

[rjv]

what is weird is that no one republican or dem is safe and yet independents just can't win.

[Supergirl]

what is weird is that no one republican or dem is safe and yet independents just can't win.

Well, from what I gather the Conservative Party has won elections in that district before, but no Democrat has won that district for 100 years.

Joe Lieberman won his re-election bid as an Independent. Jesse Ventura won his governorship on MN as an Independent. Mayor Bloomberg was elected in NYC as an Independent. Just to name a few...

[spursncowboys]

Steele needs to be replaced.

[ElNono]

no, the biggest news of election day is:

"all politics is local".

What happened in ny has more to do with ny23 than sarah palin.

What happened in virginia and new jersey has more to do with virginia and new jersey than it does barrack obama.

This is going to remind all politicians of that truism; and they will act accordingly; since many are up for election (in their respective localities) one year from today. I think americans are pissed, and no politician, democrat or republican is particularly safe.

+1

[Supergirl]

oh and of course Bernie Sanders has been elected repeatedly in VT as a Socialist.

[Supergirl]

Steele needs to be replaced.

Steele owes his job to Barack Obama. Does he not know he's Token Black Guy in the Repuglican Party?

[doobs]

Maybe the GOP has learned it needs to take its voters seriously. When you nominate an unpopular candidate in an undemocratic fashion, you risk a third party split and a Democratic victory.

No matter what ended up happening in NY's 23rd, it's clear the local GOP bosses screwed the pooch.

[Winehole23]

+1



"Might the media, with really very few other elections to cover, be stuffing one hundred thousand pounds of their bullshit into District 23's five-pound bag?"

[DarrinS]

Democrat won by a few percentage points over a guy no one heard of a couple weeks ago. That's quite a mandate.

[Winehole23]

The Best Of Both Worlds? (http://www.amconmag.com/larison/2009/11/03/the-best-of-both-worlds-2/)


Clearly, I overestimated Democratic power in New Jersey, which I assumed was more or less unbeatable despite Corzine’s low approval ratings and weak polling. The pick-ups in both gubernatorial races were impressive, and it seems to me that the scale of the win in Virginia was significant and not easily dismissed in a state that had been trending Democratic for the last several cycles. Even taking into account that Corzine had once trailed Christie by double digits, a statewide Republican win in New Jersey certainly signals dissatisfaction with the status quo at the state level. Certainly lower turnout favors the more mobilized party, and Republicans made the most of this today. Exit polling indicates that protest votes against Obama were more or less offset by support for him, but there appears to be much less enthusiasm on the Democratic side. Oddly enough, the one race in which there seems to have been overperformance in the Democratic effort was in the House special election that doesn’t have much significance.



What is more encouraging to me is that the wins by Christie and McDonnell show that competent center-right candidates interested in governance and all those “parochial” local issues can tap into voter discontent and win electoral victories. Hoffman’s possible defeat suggests that campaigns dominated by the presence of national activists, empty sloganeering and indifference to local interests may not gain traction even in those districts that are traditionally inclined to favor the politics of someone like Hoffman. Those of us who would like to see Democratic domestic agendas thwarted without empowering the Palins of the world may have managed to get exactly the results we would wish to have.

[elbamba]

Steele owes his job to Barack Obama. Does he not know he's Token Black Guy in the Repuglican Party?

I suppose racism is alive and kicking in the USA

[Crookshanks]

GOP Radicals? Are you serious? Hoffman was not a radical - he was a conservative. But I guess to the resident libs here that means radical. The radical was Scozzafava - a true liberal masquarading as a Republican. If you're going to act like a liberal, then join the democrat party!

[balli]

GOP Radicals? Are you serious? Hoffman was not a radical - he was a conservative. But I guess to the resident libs here that means radical. The radical was Scozzafava - a true liberal masquarading as a Republican. If you're going to act like a liberal, then join the democrat party!
You're so fucking dumb. You think every politician, on either side, should be an extremist. And that is what you and Rush and Palin and Hoffman are- extremist, radical trash. And such a moron you don't even know it.

I mean lol at people so fucking dumb and spiteful that they cut off their own noses and then cheer about it.

You think there aren't DINO's out there? You think moderates have no place in either of our parties? Fuck you crookshanks, see how well that works out for you... or America.

[DarrinS]

You're so fucking dumb. You think every politician, on either side, should be an extremist. And that is what you and Rush and Palin and Hoffman are- extremist, radical trash. And such a moron you don't even know it.

I mean lol at people so fucking dumb and spiteful that they cut off their own noses and then cheer about it.

You think there aren't DINO's out there? You think moderates have no place in either of our parties? Fuck you crookshanks, see how well that works out for you... or America.


http://blog.bioethics.net/ritalin.jpg

[balli]

I mean lol at people so fucking dumb and spiteful that they cut off their own noses and then cheer about it.:clap

[Wild Cobra]

Well, considering the democrat is more conservative than the republican, I'm OK with the results.

[Crookshanks]

Well, considering the democrat is more conservative than the republican, I'm OK with the results.

It's true - the radicals did help the democrat - but the radical was Scozzafava, not Hoffman.

Also, her name and Owens name were on the ballot TWICE because they were endorsed by two different parties - and she got 5% of the vote. You think it might have turned out differently had she not been on the ballot?

[rjv]

Well, from what I gather the Conservative Party has won elections in that district before, but no Democrat has won that district for 100 years.

Joe Lieberman won his re-election bid as an Independent. Jesse Ventura won his governorship on MN as an Independent. Mayor Bloomberg was elected in NYC as an Independent. Just to name a few...

my point is that the dems and GOP are not in danger at all. there is no emergence of a third party on the horizon at all.

[EmptyMan]

http://www.casavaria.com/cafesentido/2009/11/04/5004/gop-radicals-help-democrat-take-ny-house-seat/

BTW, Huffington Post just had an article yesterday pointing out the divisive, negative impact Sarah Palin has had on previous races.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannyn-moore/sarah-palin-rogue-republi_b_343116.html

This is the best news of Election Day, IMO. More evidence that the Republican party has officially imploded, and Sarah Palin pulled the trigger.

lol, this is why I am so thankful I saw the game for what it is and quickly got over it all.

I'd hate to give a shit about this pointless garbage. It is extremely comical seeing how much hatred the americants have conjured up for Palin.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Mayor Bloomberg was elected in NYC as an Independent. Just to name a few...

he ran as a republican.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Steele owes his job to Barack Obama. Does he not know he's Token Black Guy in the Repuglican Party?
wow. you are a damn loon

[boutons_deux]

According to Viguerie (who complained that dubya and dickhead were too leftist), Repug party is now ALL teabaggers, so even center-right Repugs are to be purged.

[Marcus Bryant]

The NJ and VA results should scare the fuck out of the Dems. I guess the good news for them is that there's 12 months for the the current voter sentiment to change.

[Supergirl]

he ran as a republican.

Not in this election he didn't...maybe in the initial election.

[Supergirl]

The NJ and VA results should scare the fuck out of the Dems. I guess the good news for them is that there's 12 months for the the current voter sentiment to change.

The NJ and VA results shouldn't scare anyone. The economy is down, the governors were the people in power when the people expected something to be done. It's no surprise that 2 incumbent governors lost. It also has very little bearing on anything nationally.

Many states that are general liberal and left-leaning have had Republican governors - like Massachusetts, for example, which elected Mitt Romney.

the right wing nutbags should be scared - because big picture, they're LOSING. The vast majority of people under the age of 25 don't care whether gay people can marry and assume abortion has always been legal and are OK with it. There is a fringe in this country that has Fox News to whip people into a frenzy, but that is desperate moves from a desperate people - they are gonna have to accept that their radical views are the minority or get out, eventually.

[Marcus Bryant]

-20 point swings between the last election and this one in two blue states, one dark blue and the other light, has to be disturbing. Especially considering that the White House was actively engaged in NJ and the president campaigned for Corzine.

The NY congressional race had a bit too much drama going on to reveal much of a trend. I guess if the Dems can count on that occurring in a large number of GOP leaning districts that might be an indicator of things to come. NY has an active Conservative party, which is not the case elsewhere. Not to mention that it's highly doubtful that anywhere else outside of the Northeast would you find a Republican congressional nominee withdrawing from a race and endorsing the Democrat.

But what seems more likely is the GOP uniting behind candidates focused on economic matters and the excessive federal spending, while de-emphasizing or ignoring social issues next fall.

[Marcus Bryant]

The NJ and VA results shouldn't scare anyone. The economy is down, the governors were the people in power when the people expected something to be done. It's no surprise that 2 incumbent governors lost. It also has very little bearing on anything nationally.

Many states that are general liberal and left-leaning have had Republican governors - like Massachusetts, for example, which elected Mitt Romney.

the right wing nutbags should be scared - because big picture, they're LOSING. The vast majority of people under the age of 25 don't care whether gay people can marry and assume abortion has always been legal and are OK with it. There is a fringe in this country that has Fox News to whip people into a frenzy, but that is desperate moves from a desperate people - they are gonna have to accept that their radical views are the minority or get out, eventually.

ROFL. You are in some serious denial.

[boutons_deux]

VA _always_ elects the governor from the party opposite the WH.

Corzine is a corrupt wall st bankster, not a popular group

[Supergirl]

-20 point swings between the last election and this one in two blue states, one dark blue and the other light, has to be disturbing. Especially considering that the White House was actively engaged in NJ and the president campaigned for Corzine.

The NY congressional race had a bit too much drama going on to reveal much of a trend. I guess if the Dems can count on that occurring in a large number of GOP leaning districts that might be an indicator of things to come. NY has an active Conservative party, which is not the case elsewhere. Not to mention that it's highly doubtful that anywhere else outside of the Northeast would you find a Republican congressional nominee withdrawing from a race and endorsing the Democrat.

But what seems more likely is the GOP uniting behind candidates focused on economic matters and the excessive federal spending, while de-emphasizing or ignoring social issues next fall.

The GOP isn't uniting in the least. Palin is in the process of blowing up the Republican party. You're delusional if you think anything otherwise.

VIrginia is a swing state at best. It voted for Obama in the last election, and THAT was the huge turnabout and upstaging. Virginia hadn't voted Dem in a long, long time before Obama won.

As I said, NY having a Republican gov means very little. Both candidates were pretty terrible, ran terrible campaigns which focused on calling each other "fat" and "bald" and the fact that those were the best 2 options NJ had to choose from says more about NJ than it does anything else.

[Winehole23]

the right wing nutbags should be scared - because big picture, they're LOSING. The vast majority of people under the age of 25 don't care whether gay people can marry and assume abortion has always been legal and are OK with it.The vast majority of people under 25 years old don't vote.

Long term, you might have a point. (On abortion though, the recent trend does not appear to favor the pro-choice viewpoint.)

[Marcus Bryant]

As for political parties in "disarray" and hijacked by their extremist wing, that seems to fit the other side of the aisle quite well.

Anyways, last year when independents broke for Obama it was the sign of the country heading into the land of perpetual sunshine, rainbows, and lollipops. Now that independents are breaking for the GOP in Democrat-leaning or Democrat-controlled states, it's the sign of some kind of nutbag rebellion. Yeah, right.

[Marcus Bryant]

The GOP isn't uniting in the least. Palin is in the process of blowing up the Republican party. You're delusional if you think anything otherwise.

LOL. Yeah, sure. Did she kill it in NJ and VA? They have the internets there too.



VIrginia is a swing state at best. It voted for Obama in the last election, and THAT was the huge turnabout and upstaging. Virginia hadn't voted Dem in a long, long time before Obama won.

As I said, NY having a Republican gov means very little. Both candidates were pretty terrible, ran terrible campaigns which focused on calling each other "fat" and "bald" and the fact that those were the best 2 options NJ had to choose from says more about NJ than it does anything else.

Sure, big statewide contests don't matter, it's the oddball congressional special election which does.

Keep on hoping and changing.

[Marcus Bryant]

The vast majority of people under 25 years old don't vote.

Long term, you might have a point. (On abortion though, the recent trend does not appear to favor the pro-choice viewpoint.)

Further, does the GOP figure out that a winner in this environment is fiscal conservatism and ignoring social issues? Once it does, they'll be back in the majority and riding the wave of that long term trend.

[Winehole23]

The GOP isn't uniting in the least. Palin is in the process of blowing up the Republican party. You're delusional if you think anything otherwise.Maybe. Palin may not run in 2012. The meme that she is central to the fortunes of the GOP is overblown IMO.


VIrginia is a swing state at best. It voted for Obama in the last election, and THAT was the huge turnabout and upstaging. Virginia hadn't voted Dem in a long, long time before Obama won. On the contrary, Virginia is deep, deep red. It might be a very long time before before VA votes another Democratic president.

Independents and moderates repelled by McCain/Palin last year will return to the GOP, by and large, unless some kind of Perot figure should suddenly emerge. IMO Sarah Palin is not such a figure.

[Marcus Bryant]

Maybe. Palin may not run in 2012. The meme that she is central to the fortunes of the GOP is overblown IMO.



True. I don't find myself following her every move, unlike left-wing nutbags who can't seem to get enough. I guess I should start hanging on Nancy Pelosi's every word.

[Wild Cobra]

You think it might have turned out differently had she not been on the ballot?
Yes, I do.

[Marcus Bryant]

Maybe Pelosi has a Down's baby in her closet that we can mock and obsess about, just like all the cool and socially advanced 25 year olds living at home with moms did last year.

[coyotes_geek]

Yes, I do.

I disagree, but for conversation sake, who do you think McCain could/should have picked that would have swung things in his favor?

This election was all about Bush and Obama being able to paint McCain as another Bush. (the irony of Obama himself being another Bush not withstanding) Who McCain had as VP didn't matter. IMO at least.......

[Crookshanks]

I disagree, but for conversation sake, who do you think McCain could/should have picked that would have swung things in his favor?

This election was all about Bush and Obama being able to paint McCain as another Bush. (the irony of Obama himself being another Bush not withstanding) Who McCain had as VP didn't matter. IMO at least.......
Maybe I shouldn't speak for WC - but I was referring to Dede Scozzafava when I said the election may have turned out differently if SHE wasn't on the ballot. This wasn't about Sarah Palin.

[coyotes_geek]

Maybe I shouldn't speak for WC - but I was referring to Dede Scozzafava when I said the election may have turned out differently if SHE wasn't on the ballot. This wasn't about Sarah Palin.

I got confused. My bad.

[Marcus Bryant]

It's not like Pawlenty or Romney would have changed the outcome of the election. Ridge wouldn't have helped either.

[Wild Cobra]

I disagree, but for conversation sake, who do you think McCain could/should have picked that would have swung things in his favor?

This election was all about Bush and Obama being able to paint McCain as another Bush. (the irony of Obama himself being another Bush not withstanding) Who McCain had as VP didn't matter. IMO at least.......
McCain was worse than Bush. I honestly believe he would have had a hard time making a better choice. Maybe a good conservative like Huckabee or Romney, but really... Do you know a single conservative that liked McCain? He to damn fucking liberal!

[Winehole23]

Nor Huckabee. Nor the astonishingly weak Fred Thompson.

[coyotes_geek]

McCain was worse than Bush. I honestly believe he would have had a hard time making a better choice. Maybe a good conservative like Huckabee or Romney, but really... Do you know a single conservative that liked McCain? He to damn fucking liberal!

It didn't matter who the republicans put up. Once Obama got past Hillary it was over. He was going to beat anyone with an "R" after their name.

I think McCain could have beaten Hillary.......

[Marcus Bryant]

McCain was worse than Bush. I honestly believe he would have had a hard time making a better choice. Maybe a good conservative like Huckabee or Romney, but really... Do you know a single conservative that liked McCain? He to damn fucking liberal!

What's so conservative about those two clowns?

[Wild Cobra]

What's so conservative about those two clowns?
They are better conservatives than most prominent republicans.

I don't expect somone to be 100% conservative on all conservative issues. That would be rediculous, don't you think?

[Marcus Bryant]

Oh, you mean "conservative" as in the state's glory we shall find our own happiness and liberty.

[Winehole23]

Soi disant conservatives still haven't settled on what flavor of faux populism they like best. Taking Romney and Huckabee seriously is a symptom of that.

[exstatic]

"This makes life more complicated from the standpoint of this: If we get into a cycle where every time one side loses, they run a third-party candidate, we'll make [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi speaker for life and guarantee [President] Obama's re-election," Gingrich told the New York Times hours after Scozzafava's exit. "I think we are going to get into a very difficult environment around the country if suddenly conservative leaders decide they are going to anoint people without regard to local primaries and local choices."

[hope4dopes]

:lmao
http://blog.bioethics.net/ritalin.jpg
:lmao

[doobs]

Democrat radicals in Congress and the White House help GOP take governor seats in NJ and VA.

[Cry Havoc]

http://www.seanbonner.com/blog/archives/piratesarecool.jpg

[Wild Cobra]

http://www.seanbonner.com/blog/archives/piratesarecool.jpg

That really needs to be extended to 2010 reflecting the temperatures declining with the increase of the Somoli pirates.

[Homeland Security]

The NJ and VA results shouldn't scare anyone. The economy is down, the governors were the people in power when the people expected something to be done. It's no surprise that 2 incumbent governors lost. It also has very little bearing on anything nationally.

Many states that are general liberal and left-leaning have had Republican governors - like Massachusetts, for example, which elected Mitt Romney.

the right wing nutbags should be scared - because big picture, they're LOSING. The vast majority of people under the age of 25 don't care whether gay people can marry and assume abortion has always been legal and are OK with it. There is a fringe in this country that has Fox News to whip people into a frenzy, but that is desperate moves from a desperate people - they are gonna have to accept that their radical views are the minority or get out, eventually.

Why should the "right wing nutbags" be scared? In response to losing their majority, they are purging out everyone who is not a true believer and stockpiling lots of weapons and ammunition. Seems like they have a plan and you just don't understand the new paradigm.

[admiralsnackbar]

Why should the "right wing nutbags" be scared? In response to losing their majority, they are purging out everyone who is not a true believer and stockpiling lots of weapons and ammunition. Seems like they have a plan and you just don't understand the new paradigm.

But who does understand the new paradigm? Do they? By purging everyone but the most extreme adherents to... (do we even know anymore? Christian corporatist right-wing interventionist fiscally-irresponsible war-hawk-ism?) they only alienate more moderate voters... what's the electoral end-game there?

The GOP used to mean business and reason over sentimentalism and religion, but now it just seems lost in the wilderness, and run by people I'd be embarrassed to talk policy with. They're like the Democrats after Carter: rudderless, whiny, weak-minded, and without ideas.... doing the same shit over and over, even when it's proven not to work.

They all talk about what Goldwater/Reagan conservatives they are, but judging by their actions, they must do it for the same reasons teenagers buy Lady Gaga: they think they're supposed to even though they can't articulate why. They certainly don't want to dance to it. Seriously -- talk about RINOs -- whole effin' party seems like it's made up of Foghorn Leghorn Dixiecrats that somehow convinced voters they mixed WF Buckley in with their Bible readings.

Funniest of all, the closest thing they had to classical conservatism (Ron Paul) they laughed at and marginalized. Some of Paul's ideas are a little daft, but the GOP would do well to move in a direction that actually generated enthusiasm in voters instead of trying to use the Gingrich playbook from the 90's as if people wanted to listen to all that I'm-more-patriotic-than-you-are horseshit again /old man rant

[Winehole23]

The GOP used to mean business and reason over sentimentalism and religion, but now it just seems lost in the wilderness, and run by people I'd be embarrassed to talk policy with. They're like the Democrats after Carter: rudderless, whiny, weak-minded, and without ideas.... doing the same shit over and over, even when it's proven not to work.

They all talk about what Goldwater/Reagan conservatives they are, but judging by their actions, they must do it for the same reasons teenagers buy Lady Gaga: they think they're supposed to even though they can't articulate why. They certainly don't want to dance to it. Seriously -- talk about RINOs -- whole effin' party seems like it's made up of Foghorn Leghorn Dixiecrats that somehow convinced voters they mixed WF Buckley in with their Bible readings.Nice take, AS. :tu