Not such a grand old party

Salon ^ | July 19, 2006 | Greg Land

[wouldntbprudent]

In the end, Ralph Reed couldn't even fill a room. None of the boldface names who'd once embraced him were present, nor was there much sign of his diminished fundamentalist base. Tuesday night, less than three hours after the polls closed and with more than half the precincts still unreported, Reed -- deemed an almost unstoppable force when he declared his candidacy for Georgia lieutenant governor -- stood, flanked by his teary-eyed wife, Jo Anne, and four children, to concede defeat before a half-empty ballroom of downcast loyalists and representatives of the hated media.

[wouldntbprudent]

Have to say this is a stunning defeat.

Don't think it's explained much at all by the lobbyist "scandal."

[msnimje]

It wasn't a stunning defeat. It was very smart of the Republicans in Georgia to vote for a man who will not HELP the democrats.

Ralph Reed, like or not, helps the Democrats because of the way the Democrats conduct business. We need Ralph Reed in the party, just not in office.

[wouldntbprudent]

I'm not disagreeing with your theory. But, regardless of why Reed lost (and your theory is fine), the fact is that it is still stunning in the sense that he was widely expected to do much, much better in seeking office.

[msnimje]

In my little world of Republican residents of Georgia I don't know anybody who wanted Ralph to win or who thought he would.

I never saw any polls or anything before that so it is what I expected to happen.

[q_an_a]

I think Reed has one major flaw - he has no experience that would make voters think he could be good as an office holder. He left the big job he had to take an big money job. People get nervous when they see a profit taking situation occur from a not for profit person.

In addition, his first job turns out to have a tait of scandal. People know that politics breeds some scandal, so why send in someone who already looks less than pure?

[wouldntbprudent]

Interesting. I'm no insider on Georgia politics, by any means, but Reed was at least widely respected as someone who could win elections. So there was some surprise that he couldn't win his own.

[Vision]

Salon wishes...deep down in their mentally ill defense mechanisms.

[TSchmereL]

Without regard to whether or not Ralph Reed would have made a better representative of the people of Georgia or not, Ralph Reed suffers from a severe handicap that will ensure his defeat everytime.

Look at the guy:

Can't you just see Dean Wormer telling Ralph Reed "Put Neidermeyer on it. He's a sneaky little shit, just like you."

Perception is so important in politics. Ralph Reed just looks like everything that the Liberal Democrats say they hate about Republicans.