Posted on 11/09/2005 4:50:09 PM PST by zbigreddogz
Ya think? I'll say.
And Texas, thank you.
I would not count the NJ race. The people here are not going to vote republican unless that person really comes off as a moderate. Forrester did to some degree but IMHO he doesn't have the "gravitas" to overcome a republican stigma in this god forsaken state.
Of course... in my county it was all republican wins... we even voted for Forrester.
Irregardless I would not call this a Democratic win by a long shot. However... I do agree we cannot sit around and expect good things to happen next year without some work involved.
Well, at least we now get independent performance audits in Washington State. The problem remains, however, that the Dems get to vote how much funding the office gets. The auditor's office can't be that effective if the Dems give him/her a dollar if you know what I mean.
Nominate for funniest post of the day!
Hi onyx. Sheesh, but it's getting thick these days on FR.
There was no national effort by the GOP, nor federal offices involved in this campaign. These were individual state races with little or no involvement from the White House. These races turned on local realities, not the national political mood. To claim based on 3 losses that the GOP nationally is in trouble is extrapolating WAY TOO MUCH into what were basically local elections.
Winner: Status Quo. Blue states stayed Blue (VA elects Dem govs on as much as GOP ones - they can only serve four years) and Red states stayed Red.
Both in races and initiatives. There was no movement either way.
This means absolutely nothing in regards to 2006. The 2006 Senate races are likely going to stay with each party and the House districts are drawn to protect incumbents and only about 20 seats out of 453 are even a contest.
Message to the GOP: stop running away from conservative issues, get off defense (geez, they are huff-puffing Dems; just ignore them), and stop pissing off the base.
To President Bush: GET TO WORK! Stop acting like you really didn't care to win a second term and FIGHT the Dems HARD! Close the borders and 2006 is another GOP coup!!!
But he won't fight. He won't push the Dems. He wants to "get along" and write his legacy.
Ohio -- Soros got his ego kicked six ways to doomsday.
I already stated why. Read my post.
Yes, it is. I am about to drag out my "the sky is falling graphic."
Good grief, did ANYBODY read my whole post?
It wasn't the Governor's races the concerned me. It was the Governor's races, + the Ballot initiatives + King County blowout that concerned me.
I think that, along with Hackett, does show something of a trend.
Yes, but the Democrats do this unusual thing. They actually run candidates that will govern to achieve the agenda of their base. Perhaps when Republicans start running candidates like that, then the base will be motivated to come out to the polls. After years and years of the mantra "hold your nose and pull the lever, at least it won't be a Democrat", they might want to try a new strategy.
I like the fact that in CA, unions spent over $100 million (some borrowed) to maintain the status quo. Ouch...
3/4 of the states you mention are far lefty strongholds. In VA it sounds like this Kilgore guy ran a lame campaign while his rat opponent ran a fake-right campaign. I don't know how you can extrapolate these results to the rest of the nation. I do know that if Jeb Bush were running for any office tomorrow in the state of Fla. he would win easily.
People generally are very fearful of ideologues of whatever stripe. I believe that Bush, by correctly labeling Al Qaeda as lunatic ideologues, has unfortunately given creedence to the idea that all ideologies are suspect.
By going back to the fundamentals of lower taxes, lower government spending, less bureaucracy, etc. we might be able to regain some momentum.
Of course this would require some major shake-ups. A party of competence has to be a party without graft and corruption. Anyone that is seen as being corrupt needs to be pushed to the side. Republicans need to hold themselves to a higher mark. Even if certain campaign tricks are legal, they shouldn't all be used.
Arnold really hurt himself by continuing to receive money from magazine endorsements that appeared to be a conflict of interest. He didn't break any laws, but I believe it did help to tank his initiatives.
Politicians get all sorts of perks such as being able to hobnob with other famous people, jetting around the world on fact-finding missions, bedding hot interns, etc. They should sacrifice some things in order to maintain those perks.
We should also be the party (ala Calvin Coolidge) of politicians who voluntarily step aside. The words of the day should be "Move up or move out." If you are a House Rep and can't make it to the Senate after four terms, then you should move out of the way for someone else. Likewise, if you are in the Senate for 12 or so years and can't get a job as a governor or president, you should step aside and let someone else get the job done.
If Republicans can once again be seen as competent civil servants rather than hucksters and ideologues, then we can use our "better business practices" approach to eliminate a lot of the crap that has been foisted upon us in the past few decades.
How about this for a tax reform idea: A law that simply states that the total number of words in the tax code will be reduced by 10% each year. If in any year the number of words is not reduced by that amount or more, then the salaries of all elected officials will be reduced by 10%.
No ideology, no axe to grind, just a simple rule to force the necessary compromises to get a handle on at least one mess created in the past.
The California debacle really wasn't one. 60% of the vote went to Kerry in 2004. The majority of California voters still think that communism is a viable political system. In these odd off year elections, only those with a vested interest turn out - in this case the scummy teacher's unions. The status quo was retained in California. The RATs have had the majority in the legislature for 50 years. The last conservative governor was Reagan. Since then, only RINOS and outright commies have won elections in the majority of counties. The urban and immediate suburban counties around Los Angeles and San FranSicko have large commie majority voting blocs. They call the tune in California politics.
One thing we could do, but it won't happen, is unite, not divide.
Define "Republican". Tell me, what are the core principles, the immutable philosophy, the non-negotiable stands the party takes?
Then we can talk.
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