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A Republican Defeat - Lessons from the rout in Pennsylvania 12
Wall Street Journal ^
| 05/20/10
Posted on 05/19/2010 4:35:30 PM PDT by MissesBush
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Some won't like this post, but I think there are important lessons to be taken from this piece. The GOP needs a specific agenda beyond "We're not Obama and Pelosi." Hell, run on repealing Obamacare if nothing else. But running on the crap Burns ran on? Obviously it ain't gonna work...wake up GOP. The other lessons are A) We should have gotten rid of Steele earlier this year when his irresponsible stewardship over RNC finances surfaced B) Conservatives need to get their butt in gear to get out to vote and to GET OUT THE VOTE this fall and not just assume we have it won.
To: MissesBush
Lessons- don’t raise expectations too high and don’t take anything for granted.
2
posted on
05/19/2010 4:36:32 PM PDT
by
Clintonfatigued
(Obama's more worried about Israelis building houses than he is about Islamists building atomic bombs)
To: MissesBush
I never considered Murtha’s old seat to be a “swing” seat. It has historically be very Dem leaning seat. But point taken about having to fight for seats and not taking anything for granted.
To: MissesBush
Critz ran to the Right of Rush Limbaugh and was not called on it. Sadly, he will take his marching orders from Pelosi when he reaches DC. (They will allow him, however, to oppose when they have enough votes without him, a la Stupak.) The 2-1 Dim voter ratio was stupid enough to reelect Murtha after he insulted them repeatedly. How can we expect them to learn?
4
posted on
05/19/2010 4:39:41 PM PDT
by
Ingtar
(My dog died yesterday, but less than expected. - Freeper Juan Meden)
To: MissesBush
Pennsylvania has a closed primary. I am not sure if the Independents were allowed to vote or if they came out to vote for just the one race they should have been allowed to vote in. In Nov. when everything is up for grabs we will get most of the Independent vote. Things will be different for PA 12 then.
5
posted on
05/19/2010 4:40:36 PM PDT
by
Plumres
To: Ingtar
Critz ran to the Right of Rush LimbaughThere's the lesson in a nustshell.
Will the GOP learn? Probably not.
6
posted on
05/19/2010 4:41:23 PM PDT
by
skeeter
To: MissesBush
If nothing else it’s giving Democrats a strategy to try and follow in the fall, especially for those candidates trying to retain the seats of retiring Democrats. Time will tell if it works.
To: Plumres
Good point Plumres. The Democratic turnout for the primary surely helped Critz. And by November, Critz will have a voting record to defend. My bet is he’ll be just like all the other “Blue Dog Democrats,” more like lapdog Democrats.
8
posted on
05/19/2010 4:42:00 PM PDT
by
MissesBush
(Stay angry--right through November)
To: MissesBush
Murtha's district must be 90% communist. I wish them luck when the USA splits into the southern low tax states and the northern high tax states.
Can you say Greece redux?
9
posted on
05/19/2010 4:43:43 PM PDT
by
2aberro
To: MissesBush
Republicans also got outsmarted on message.Yada, yada. Critz ran to the right of Atilla the Hun, in a 2-1 Dem/Rep district. We're coming mofos.......
To: MissesBush
The post is BS..the district is 2 to 1 democrat to GOP voters...
Anyone who expected another result was deluded...
11
posted on
05/19/2010 4:45:23 PM PDT
by
Crim
(The Obama Doctrine : A doctrine based on complete ignorance,applied with extreme incompitence..)
To: MissesBush
RINO,Race Baiting STEELEand his detestable”Team” in the RNC strikes OUT again! Remember Scott Brown and Chris Christie and the Virginia Governor made sure they kept STEELE and “HIS” RNC a Million Miles away from each of their Campaigns! This is a Big Warning! District 12’s Loss is a Horrendous Screwup on the part of the RNC and the Candidate!
12
posted on
05/19/2010 4:45:30 PM PDT
by
True Republican Patriot
(May GOD Continue to BLESS Our Greatest President :George W. Bush!!)
To: Plumres
Critz will have to take some stand on immigration and on cap and trade....
the pubs must stand for something....a balanced budget ammendment for instance....
13
posted on
05/19/2010 4:45:42 PM PDT
by
cherry
To: MissesBush
Lessions from the rout? Is the WSJ serious? The RATs hold that district by a 2:1 margin but still the margin of victory was much closer than that margin! Moreover Critz won by adopting a much more conservative tone! All this ignores the fact he will only be serving until November. By then the Tea Party movement will only have grown stronger.
14
posted on
05/19/2010 4:46:13 PM PDT
by
Man50D
(Fair Tax, you earn it, you keep it! www.FairTaxNation.com)
To: MissesBush
The one thing the voters in No. 12 will find out is that Critz will not automatically assume all the powers and privileges his former boss had. He’s not going to be able to bring those costly taxpayer funded boondoggles, such as an airport no one uses to an area consisting of cow pasture and mines. Critz will be nothing more than a junior congressman. Maybe he’ll get a position on the House Dog Catcher Committee, but that’s about it.
Perhaps when it turns out that Critz can’t spend all that much money on unions and useless projects as Murtha had done in the past, the people might be inclined to pitch him out in November.
To: MissesBush
Sounds like WSJ is hitting the panic button. There were a number of factors at work here. For starters, Ed Rendell scheduled this election on the exact date of the Dem Senate primary to boost Dem turnout. 2nd of all, this district is hopelessly gerrymandered for Democrats. Third of all, the Dem candidate was a protege of Murtha and won the sympathy vote. 4th, voter registration is 2-1 Democrat.
I say screw this district. It's just one district out of 435. Let the clowns have their pork and their Rat candidates and be misled by Democrats.
To: MissesBush
Hell, run on repealing Obamacare if nothing else.
You said it. I've been listening to candidates, commentators and pundits over the past few days. They go on about "the anti-incumbent mood" or anger over spending --- all of which are true, but they never mention Obamacare! This stood out to me in the stories on Blanche Lincoln. Obamacare sealed that woman's fate.
Republicans must point at any opponent who voted for Obamacare and remind voters of that, and if they weren't in Congress at the time, they should ask the opponent how they would have voted on it or whether they'd vote to repeal it. Pat Caddell said on Brian & the Judge this morning that the Republican Party could @$&@#% up a one car funeral. He is so on target with that, it seems.
17
posted on
05/19/2010 4:47:41 PM PDT
by
LostInBayport
(When there are more people riding in the cart than there are pulling it, the cart stops moving.)
To: MissesBush
The lesson I learned: Americans will continue to vote for “More Free Stuff from the Government”, over and over again, until the day when the Government’s checks are no longer cashable.
18
posted on
05/19/2010 4:47:57 PM PDT
by
Notary Sojac
(I've been ionized, but I'm okay now.)
To: MissesBush
Burns was a poor candidate, and unfortunately, Republicans are stuck with him again in November.
I think the lesson for the GOP establishment is: “you’re not wanted.” I don’t know what they’re going to constructively do with that. Unfortunately, they’re not going to roll over and embrace Main Street and the Tea Parties. Michael Steele and the RINOs aren’t going to see the handwriting on the wall and go quietly.
The lesson is we need good candidates, and the RNC under Steele, and the NRSC under Cornyn are not the ones to recruit them. It is up to the citizens and the Tea Parties. These are the candidates that will win, and they will not only take back our government, but also take back the Republican party. The Washington establishment and the GOP establishment are in bed together, and we’re going to break up their incestuous relationship for good.
19
posted on
05/19/2010 4:47:59 PM PDT
by
counterpunch
(GOP: Government's Other Party)
To: MissesBush
We’ll win some and we’ll lose some.
20
posted on
05/19/2010 4:48:40 PM PDT
by
cripplecreek
(Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
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