Safe Seats and the Carolina Blues

The American Thinker ^ | November 13, 2008 | C. Edmund Wright

[St. Louis Conservative]

The voting shift in this nation is largely about two dynamics: safe seats and the Carolina blues. To get a really good close-up glimpse of what demographic problems the Republican Party is facing in the national electorate, one has to look no further than the North Carolina Senate race lost by Elizabeth Dole.

The loss by Dole was not simply a result of the headwinds (self-inflicted as they were) that all GOP candidates faced in 2008, though that was a factor. The Dole loss was more than that. Dole lost a senate seat held by Republicans since 1972. Dole lost the "Jesse Helms" seat. Truth be told, she never filled it adequately, but at least she did win it in 2002 against Clintonite Erskine Bowles.

Consider: Counting the 30 plus 6 years that Helms and then Dole occupied that seat, and the multiple terms served by conservative Democrat B. Everett Jordan before that, this is a seat soon to be occupied by a liberal for the first time in modern American political history. The other N.C. seat has gone back and forth between the parties for the past four decades, but this is a loss of the Helms seat. This is seismic.

[doodad]

Halfbacks and refugees from liberal morasses are the key to this. They are making deep inroads in GA as well.

[Rummyfan]

They ruin where they lived before - Massachusetts, New York, etc - then move to Republican states and proceed to put the same kinds of people in office that will effect the same failed policies that the new voters relocated to get away from. It’s happening in Virginia too.

[doodad]

Yep.

[Sgt_Schultze]

Liberals are human driver ants.

[NC28203]

I think a lot of this can be laid on Liddy Dole, who had not lived in the state in over 40 years before running for this seat, and then failed to show up after getting elected.
Since she worked the same 140 some days as Obama, you would think that she could have made it “home” to North Carolina more than a total of 35 days over a span of two years in 2005-2006.
Let’s face it she was the Senator from the District of Columbia. Even Bob couldn’t vote for her in this election because he doesn’t get any further from the Capitol than their condo at the Watergate.

[bilhosty]

I hate to say but I think it is all over. I have never been so discouraged. With immigration changing the demographics, we just have to appeal to the independents and moderates. We need to present a new conservatism, I guess or just see it got to hell.We started losing these people in the mid ‘90’s when we became very Southern and Evangelical. We lost everyone who is secular and suburban and not small town.We lost everything North of the Ohio and East of the Missouri. I do not think we can continue doing that. Nor do I think we can say that we just weren’t small town or southern enough to win there. People here just seem to not be facing reality. The GOP lost because it was unresponsive to the majority of the people of this country including moderates, Independents AND small town conservatives.

[teacherbarbie]

Many of the Yankees moving here are destroying our southern culture. I wouldn't say they were in love with Barack,because I lived in the triangle for ten years. I would say Barack Obama’s win in NC probably had more to do with the young and blacks,throw in the economy. We have more colleges than most states in the union.
Dole was a bad candidate. She was seen as Hillary Clinton(but worse) She only won last time because of terrorism. I would say she won the first time off of name recognition. If you put in a good candidate you can win it back.

[St. Louis Conservative]

No, I think we just need to start winning arguments, like the author said. Once the albatross of Bush and the rest of the big-government neo-cons is off our necks, it will be a lot easier.

[TaxRelief]

I blame the incompetent NC Republican Party Leadership. They are more obsessed with maintaining their little empire and keeping conservatives out, than winning elections.

[St. Louis Conservative]

Why did Pat McCrory lose?

[kalee]

She was always to busy to come here to help our County Party raise money, but that didn’t stop her from requesting that we contribute the money we did raise to her reelection campaign.

Out of all the Republicans who lost, I think Dole is most deserving and can only blame herself. I am sorry to see the seat go Dem, but not sorry to see Dole out.

[kalee]

She was always to busy

to should be too

[TaxRelief]

Just a guess:

1. Barack Obama was out-spending McCain in NC paying for 10 to 1 “volunteers” who campaigned for all democrats. It was a trickle-down.

2. Dole angered her base with the “Godless” attacks on Kay Hagen, which spilled over.

3. Perdue ran ads “hinting” McCrory was racist.

4. Perdue promised free [community] college to all: a suburban grab. Many parents I spoke to interpreted it to mean any UNC school would be free.

5. The rural vote in NC is traditionally Democrat. And Perdue capitalized on that by running ads saying McCrory would send money to Charlotte and take money away from eastern Carolina.

6. McCrory couldn’t energise the conservatives, either. Republicans put all their energy into GOTV, but were technilogically way behind the Dems. (Thank the NCGOP old guard leadership for that.)

7. Perdue scared everyone into believing McCrory would let NYC turn NC into a huge garbage dump.

8. The clincher: Perdue was a daughter of a coal miner.

BTW, how is Beverly Perdue any different than Sarah Palin? Yet the media did not crucify her....

Link to anti-MCCrory ads:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=BevPerdueForGovernor&view=videos

[bilhosty]

Have you ever argued with someone? Did you change his mind even if you did win? With the media drowning out conservatives i do not think that is the answer. what you have to do is make conservatism relevant to the average person. You also have to be responsive to his needs. We didnt do that. Or should I say the people who ran the show did not do that. We have to present a face that is relevent to the majority of the people for 2008 and not for 1988.

[St. Louis Conservative]

And that face would be?

[bilhosty]

I dont know that some one wiser than me will hVe to figure out

[MitchellC]

To add to everything TaxRelief said, the Dems also worked hard to get big numbers of straight-ticket votes. They had nice looking voter guides and did their best to make sure that every single person in line for early voting had a guide placed in their hands by a Dem volunteer, to my understanding, in every single precinct. The NCGOP had pretty much zilch to counter it with.

[MitchellC]

In a state like North Carolina, there is a disturbing and counter productive trend going on. Liberals are fleeing northern states due to high taxes and other business-killing liberal policies and coming to North Carolina for jobs. And damned if they aren't now voting in the exact same kind of politician they tried to flee by leaving New York, New Jersey, Michigan and so on. They are turning Carolina blue, but thanks to the inner cities in the states they left, no such reciprocal effect is taking place in the states they fled.

NC *Ping*

Please FRmail MitchellC if you want to be added to or removed from this North Carolina ping list.

[Tax-chick]

by a Dem volunteer

That would be a Dem. "employee." They were being paid.