Posted on 11/10/2010 9:42:23 AM PST by randita
Back to Article Democratic Losses Hit State Farm Teams Hard
By Steve Peoples
Roll Call Staff
Nov. 9, 2010, 11:30 p.m.
While the GOP celebrates historic gains in the House, Republicans in state capitals across the country are cheering massive pickups that wiped out key Democratic bench players — a shift that they say may shape elections for years to come.
From Minnesota to Montana, Democrats lost state Speakers, Senate Majority Leaders, lieutenant governors and other up-and-comers whose political futures are now uncertain at best.
Nowhere is the shift more apparent than in New Hampshire, where the GOP won all three federal races and picked up a record 124 seats in the 400-member state House of Representatives.
“We didn’t just beat them. We cleaned out their entire bench. Everyone they talked about running for Congress, governor, down the line. They’re all gone,” said Ryan Williams, spokesman for the New Hampshire Republican Party. “They were building a good farm team. But the farm team is not around anymore.”
The high-profile losses include Maggie Hassan, the state Senate Majority Leader rumored to have greater ambitions. Another is Deb Pignatelli, a member of the governor’s executive council, also thought to have interest in running for Congress.
Granite State Democrats acknowledge the painful losses but insist their bench remains strong.
“We’re feeling very confident moving forward,” New Hampshire Democratic Party spokesman Harrell Kirstein said. “In a state that’s as fiercely independent as New Hampshire, politics are very cyclical. The pendulum swung one way and will swing back the other way.”
He added that President Barack Obama personally phoned unsuccessful 2nd district Congressional candidate Ann McLane Kuster (D) the day after the election to encourage her to challenge Rep.-elect Charlie Bass (R) in 2012. “Annie Kuster is on track to beat Congressman Bass in two years,” Kirstein said.
The Granite State is just one example, however, in a landslide election that saw the GOP pick up at least 675 seats in state legislatures across the nation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Republicans flipped 19 chambers, including the House and Senate in six states: Alabama, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
“They’re going to have to do some serious rebuilding,” said Mark Jefferson, executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party. “Some of their best talent, or people considered to be their best talent, have really taken it on the chin.”
Wisconsin Democrats lost Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, a rising star in lieutenant governor candidate Tom Nelson and state Sen. Pat Kreitlow, a former television personality thought to have statewide appeal.
Jefferson also said that Democratic Rep. Ron Kind may have narrowly survived his re-election bid in the 3rd district, but negative press that surfaced in the campaign’s final weeks could hurt his prospects for running for statewide office in the future. Kind is viewed as having Senate aspirations whenever Sen. Herb Kohl (D), who is up for re-election in 2012, decides to retire.
“He came out of that race seriously wounded,” Jefferson said of Kind. Like their colleagues in other states, Wisconsin Democrats admit to having a disappointing cycle but downplay the lasting effects of the 2010 drubbing.
“Let them do their victory lap, but it’ll be one lap exactly. ... We have a pretty deep bench here,” said Graeme Zielinski, communications director for the Wisconsin Democratic Party. “They will have to own their record at some point soon. A week in power, they have been talking about gays, guns, banning fake weed. They haven’t been talking about creating jobs. They’ve been talking about their weirdo, right agenda.”
In Minnesota, Republicans claimed 41 seats between both chambers, taking control of the state Senate for the first time in history. State GOP Chairman Tony Sutton says the political landscape may have changed forever.
“You had a thinning of the herd,” he said of Democrats. “And it thinned out those that are more middle-of-the-road Democrats. In some respects it will make it hard for them legislatively; the people that are left are very liberal. And they’re left with an urban-centric delegation in a state that is largely suburban and rural.”
For example, Senate Majority Whip Kathy Saltzman (D) was defeated in her Washington County district, despite having won the endorsement of the state Chamber of Commerce.
While the GOP cheers the loss of up-and-comers like Saltzman, last week’s shift also elevates the Republican farm team’s prospects. Minnesota’s Senate will now feature the first female Republican president and Majority Leader combination, according to Sutton, who added that the likely new Republican House Speaker, Kurt Zellers, “is a real rising star” at just 41 years old.
In New Hampshire, however, there are signs that the defeated Democrats might not be gone for long. In addition to Kuster’s likely candidacy, Pignatelli offered supporters cause for optimism in a message posted on her website.
“It’s clear that what happened here in New Hampshire was stunning, even for politics. There will be lots written about it, that’s for sure,” she wrote. “A favor — as you travel on the roads in District 5, if you see any of my signs along the roadside, will you please stop and pick them up? Would appreciate it. Maybe you’d be willing to save them for a couple of years.
Anything but Progressive. They’re staunch Donkey backers.
End the ethanol farce NOW.
The farm subsides just enrich the corporate farmers and the greedy farmers.
The real reason America lost millions of small farmers is the very government programs that purport to save the farmers.Vastly increased government rules and restrictions made it uneconomical for small farms to survive,much less thrive.
And many farmers contributed by falling victim to "new paint disease";this is when a farmer buys un-needed new machinery (i.e. ,replaces perfectly useful machinery) because his neighbor got a new tractor,etc.It is just another example of consumerism.Now buying a new item because it actually improves your life by reducing labor or increasing productivity or providing greater enjoyment is fine;but Americans enslave themselves buying too much stuff just because everyone else is.
Yes, they should eliminate the ethanol subsidy, and they should also eliminate the requirement to put it in gasoline.
But since a lot of people have been sucked into this stupid program, I still think it should be phased out over a period of a few years, so they can get back to using the land for something more sensible.
Graeme Zielinski, communications director for the Wisconsin Democratic Party. “They will have to own their record at some point soon. A week in power, they have been talking about gays, guns, banning fake weed. They haven’t been talking about creating jobs. They’ve been talking about their weirdo, right agenda.”
******
Ex-reporter joins Dem Party as spokesman
Jan. 13, 2010 Madison — Former Journal Sentinel reporter Graeme Zielinski is the new spokesman for the state Democratic Party.
“I was raised in a proud Democratic family and I am similarly proud to hold this position,” Zielinski said in a statement.
Zielinski is a Milwaukee native who formerly worked at the Journal Sentinel, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the San Antonio Express-News, the Capital Times and the Onion.
This is too good.
I wasn't there for the march but watched it on C-SPAN.
This is an area where the Dems have yet to counter. The Tea Party movement has bubbled up from neighborhoods and small towns. Those folks are running for all kinds of local offices - from school board, to city council to mayor. The cream of the crop will rise and run for statewide office and from there, federal.
I don’t see similar interest by the moveon.org or dailykos folks. They just stand on the sidelines and throw stones. The pink shirts show up and act stupid from time to time, but they don’t seem to want to take on civic responsibility. They’re just media hogs.
The best Dems have are the SEIU purple shirts but they just come out when given free stuff and they’re not running for anything. They’re just rabble rousing.
A major factor in the Tea Party movement is the near 2 to 1 advantage conservatives enjoy in their use of social networking. I see that growing by leaps and bounds.
Obama built up this massive email contact list, but there’s no evidence many of those people are networking among themselves. They’re just taking directives from on high. That’s not a movement, it’s a dictatorship.
NH has always had a huge state house. The average size of its state house districts is under 3,500 residents. Talk about local representation!
“Ex-reporter joins Dem Party as spokesman
...
Zielinski is a Milwaukee native who formerly worked at the Journal Sentinel, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the San Antonio Express-News, the Capital Times and the Onion.”
Allstate to benefit?
Heh...
I disagree, the NH voters and Tea party should take credit, not that wind bag. His golden boy Stephens got pounded, in spite of Sununu’s very obvious “love” for stephens and disdain for Kimball.
Wow, so banning K2 -- responsible for a death in a nearby state no less -- is a 'weirdo, right agenda'. No, it's a public health issue. And that kind of attitude is exactly why so many of your friends are now out of a job.
So Gramz -- what do you think your boss Mike Tate thinks about your cavalier attitude towards dangerous drugs?
You keep on keepin' on, Gramz, and when you're in the unsmiling line in your 90th week of unemployment, maybe you can shine my shoes.
Don't know much about Wisconsin politics, but this is as good a zinger as I've read on these boards.
With commodities at record highs, this is something that can be politically feasible now. However, it should also go along with any reforms necessary to help make exporting crops easier. Food is one thing we can easily make and export and help to balance out trade.
The first Democrat loss after Obama was the crippling blow to ACORN. Then the Tea parties rose up and became the legal conservative counter to ACORN. Conservatives went into the election with a ground game, and Democrats had none.
There are 400 seats in the NH House of Reps? Really?
Progressives have been trying to push their agenda since the 20s, each generation gets burned and then pushes back, but each time the camels nose is a little further under the tent.
Great idea! NOW is the time to do it! Also a great way to educate people before the next elections.
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