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Republicans on a Roll
Weekly Standard ^ | 11-05-03 | Fred Barnes

Posted on 11/05/2003 10:16:24 AM PST by Indy Pendance

WHEN WE HEAR that old saw about how local issues prevailed on Election Day, you can be sure of one thing: Republicans won. And of course Republicans did on Tuesday, capturing the governor's races in Kentucky and Mississippi. In both contests, there are important national implications that favor Republicans.

So forget the "it's-all-local" line, which was the media's early take on Tuesday's election, just as it was after the California recall on October 7, in which a Democratic governor was ousted and 62 percent of Californians voted for a Republican replacement. Sure, local issues matter. But they aren't the whole story, especially a year before a presidential election.

Let's start with Mississippi. Haley Barbour, the Republican candidate for governor, came with a well-known background in national Republican politics and the Washington lobbying community. Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove pounded him as an outsider who didn't have a feel for the concerns of average Mississippians. Nonetheless, Barbour didn't shy away from his Republican connections in Washington. He played them up, promised to exploit them as governor, embraced President Bush, and brought him into the state for a campaign appearance.

Barbour won handily, 53 to 46 percent. And the victory was not only over an incumbent governor, but in a state that hasn't realigned fully at the state level. Democrats still control both houses of the state legislature. Barbour is the second Republican governor of Mississippi. At best, he benefited heavily from having an "R" by his name. At worst, it didn't hold him back.

Then there's Kentucky, where U.S. congressman Ernie Fletcher, the Republican, whipped Democrat Ben Chandler for governor by 55 to 45 percent. Kentucky has been trending Republican. All but one House member and both senators are Republicans, and Bush won the state easily in 2000. But until Tuesday, Kentucky hadn't elected a Republican governor in 32 years. The trend there continues.

Chandler's big campaign theme was to link Fletcher to Bush and blame both of them for a supposedly wretched economy in Kentucky. Like Barbour, Fletcher welcomed the tie-in with Bush. He, too, invited Bush to campaign for him, which the president did last weekend. By no stretch of the imagination can a case be made that Bush hurt Fletcher--quite the contrary.

Now, did the sex scandal that tarred the current Democratic governor, Paul Patton, make things difficult for Chandler? Of course it did. It was a huge issue. But that doesn't mean there was no national angle in the race. There was. Democrats attacked Fletcher for his connection with Bush. The attacks failed, maybe even backfired.

Putting Kentucky and Mississippi together with California, we can draw some national conclusions. We have a moderate border state, a conservative deep South state, and a liberal and Democrat-leaning West Coast state. Republicans triumphed in all three. In some cases--low taxes, spending restraint, opposition to trial lawyers--Republicans used the same issues, which seemed to work. The "R" next to a candidate's name was not viewed by voters as odious. The three wins may not constitute a national trend, but they certainly make Republicans feel a lot better about 2004 than Democrats do.


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California; US: Kentucky; US: Mississippi
KEYWORDS: 2003; barbour; fletcher; fredbarnes; gopsweep; schwarzenegger
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1 posted on 11/05/2003 10:16:24 AM PST by Indy Pendance
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To: Indy Pendance
BTTT.
2 posted on 11/05/2003 10:17:19 AM PST by veronica ("I just realised I have a perfect part for you in "Terminator 4"....)
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To: Indy Pendance
Love it!
3 posted on 11/05/2003 10:19:45 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Davis needs to get out of Arnoold's Office)
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To: veronica
Someone explain to NJ to me! Ugh....Get me out of that state! McGreevy's goons carry the day.
4 posted on 11/05/2003 10:22:05 AM PST by Wright Wing
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To: Indy Pendance
I really can't believe Terry McAuliffe's still has a job.
5 posted on 11/05/2003 10:22:30 AM PST by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

To: dead
Let's pray he keeps it!
7 posted on 11/05/2003 10:24:19 AM PST by Indy Pendance
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To: Indy Pendance
On to Louisiana
8 posted on 11/05/2003 10:27:07 AM PST by Republican Red (Karmic hugs welcomed!)
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To: dead
Yes, Slick Willie needs him there.
9 posted on 11/05/2003 10:30:45 AM PST by RiflemanSharpe (An American for a more socially and fiscally conservation America!)
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To: ExGuru
They are not just "local matters" to the liberal media, they are hardly worth mentioning at all.

I'll never forget listening to NPR in November 1994, the day after Republicans recaptured Congress. NPR featured two measly races in which Democrats managed to win, and barely mentioned that Republicans had won everywhere and anywhere.

10 posted on 11/05/2003 10:32:41 AM PST by Plutarch
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To: dead
I really can't believe Terry McAuliffe's still has a job.

MVP!
MVP!
MVP!
MVP!

11 posted on 11/05/2003 10:37:07 AM PST by Coop (God bless our troops!)
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To: dead
I really can't believe Terry McAuliffe's still has a job.

He must have some really good dirt on a lot of 'Rats!

12 posted on 11/05/2003 10:38:30 AM PST by Klatuu
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To: dead
I really can't believe Terry McAuliffe's still has a job.

He's really a GOP mole. Gotta be. No other explanation. He and Karl Rove meet secretly once a month to plan strategy.

13 posted on 11/05/2003 10:43:37 AM PST by jalisco555 (Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.)
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To: Wright Wing
Maine is even worse. All democratic or rino. We need to hang tough, our time will come.

14 posted on 11/05/2003 10:44:01 AM PST by Rocket1968 (Democrats will crash and burn in 2004.)
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To: Plutarch
I'll never forget Peter Jennings that day. The look on his face as his program started, he said without words, "Dear God, what have you foolish people done?". That Tuesday in November 1994 was a good day.
15 posted on 11/05/2003 10:44:40 AM PST by whereasandsoforth (tagged for migratory purposes only)
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To: Indy Pendance
"The "R" next to a candidate's name was not viewed by voters as odious. The three wins may not constitute a national trend, but they certainly make Republicans feel a lot better about 2004 than Democrats do."

Without overconfidence, I like the saounds of this.

I hope the dems don't learn, and send out McAuliffe, Clinton, Barbra S. and Jesse Jackson to campaign, in 2004.

Seriously, somewhere out there a thinking democrat must be looking at the results from 1994 forward, with Clinton running the dem national scene.
16 posted on 11/05/2003 10:45:47 AM PST by truth_seeker
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To: truth_seeker
What amazement & irony. The Klintoons turned out to be the pubbies greatest asset. Without such the milk-toast pubbies would be a big minority.
17 posted on 11/05/2003 10:50:37 AM PST by Digger
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To: truth_seeker
What amazement & irony. The Klintoons turned out to be the pubbies greatest asset. Without such the milk-toast pubbies would be a big minority.
18 posted on 11/05/2003 10:50:38 AM PST by Digger
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To: truth_seeker
Seriously, somewhere out there a thinking democrat must be looking at the results from 1994 forward, with Clinton running the dem national scene.

There is – his name is Zell Miller.

19 posted on 11/05/2003 10:57:29 AM PST by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: Indy Pendance
I live in Ky.

Paul Pattons sexual escapades along with Steve Henrys legal problems assured a Republican win in Ky.

20 posted on 11/05/2003 10:57:30 AM PST by Stewart_B ("You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.")
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