Let’s face reality. Even with all three of those seats (NV, CO, and DE), the GOP still loses the Senate on a tiebreaker (Biden), so it’s not like these candidates cost the GOP the Senate.
Despite her large loss, O’Donnell at least prevented a “Republican” Castle from being elected, which would have given Obama the “bipartisan” cover he needs on Cap & Tax and other issues. Tellingly, O’Donnell won independents but didn’t get enough GOP votes to win. Remember that the next time a RINO demands “loyalty” after a primary win.
Reid likely would have stolen the election from anyone, so running Angle wasn’t a net loss, either.
Buck may not have been the best candidate, but like the others, losing (or more precisely, not picking up) a few seats here and there, when the balance of power isn’t at stake, is a small price to pay to send a message loud and clear to the establishment GOP that it’s not just the ‘rats who are being targeted. The RINOs had better be worried, too. The Maine twins, Lindsey Graham, and others had better play “tea party” if they want to keep their jobs in the next couple of cycles.
Suppose the supreme court doesn’t pull out the rug on Obamacare. It took 60 senators to get it passed. Do you think it will take any less to get its repeal to a Republican president’s desk? Do you think we’ll close that gap anyway after the next election? What if Coons’s seat is #60?
Comment of the Day. +1000
OK, I'll go first.
Palin cannot be elected President.
We have to think about 2012 as well. Yes, the terrain is favorable in 2012 (we definitely lose MA, but have opportunities in NE, ND, MT, MO, OH, PA, VA, WV and perhaps a couple more).
But since we threw away 3 seats this time (DE for sure, NV and CO almost certainly), we will need to score 4 or 5 pickups in 2012 to get the majority. And even then we’ll have to rely on Lisa to get anything done. This is way more difficult than it should to be.
Look - Angle ran full 9% behind Sandoval’s numbers in NV. That’s how terrible a candidate she was. And O’Donnell was a disaster, I think she cost Toomey some votes as well, good thing he had some to spare.
I agree with primarying Graham - we can do better in SC.
The only good thing I can say about a Mike Castle loss is at least we don’t have to hear him as the “counterpoint” to Chuck Schumer on Meet the Press. Still, I’d rather have him around than the bearded marxist.
Reid may have beaten anybody, but looking at this 5 point loss on Nov 3rd, I would have been interested to see how Lowden or Tark would have held up. At the very least, I think that 2% none of the above would have been ours. I think we might have pulled it out.