Posted on 03/12/2008 2:33:57 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Saturday's special election has left area Republicans stunned, and some of them are directing their ire at Jim Oberweis and his campaign.
Democrat Bill Foster defeated Oberweis by roughly 5,000 votes Saturday to become the new congressman in the 14th District. That seat has only been held by a Democrat once, immediately after Watergate, and has been in the hands of retired Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert for the past 21 years.
The 14th District has long been considered a Republican stronghold. So how did Foster, a scientist and businessman from Geneva, muster enough votes to win?
(Excerpt) Read more at suburbanchicagonews.com ...
Imagine how the democrats will feel when Speaker Nancy Pelosi is replaced by Cindy “Peace Mom” Sheehan...
LOL
Its Illinois so surely that is a rhetorical question!
Until the DIVIDE is stopped and the PARTY gets itself back together, no matter what we see with the DEMS in the national limelight, the DEMS are setup to take any open seat that comes available while the Conservatives sit back and whine on and on and on....
This is a huge defeat. Something like this (losing a district once held by a former House Speaker) is a rarity, and we shouldn’t downplay its importance.
More than anything else, I blame Jim Oberweis himself, with Dennis Hastert the runner up for endorsing Oberweis.
Also, all signs indicate that Oberweis is going to stay on the ballot, giving him the opportunity to lose another election.
Special elections are never good to use as benchmarks for general trends.... We’ll see what happens next regular election with this district.
It was an off time election with 20% turnout... I am not saying its not something to note, but I don’t think its as big of a deal as is being made by the press...
Had this election happened as part of a normal cycle, you would have had a hell of a lot better turnout than 20%.
Republicans need to stop “pondering” and start DOING something. When Dems face an unfavorable landscape, they systematically go about changing it.
RIght after 9/11 it was conventional wisdom that the Dems would be a minority party for decades. By repeating “Bush lied” and other falsehoods, they changed the landscape.
Republicans could do the same thing. Simply repeat your message ad nauseum. Of course, this assumes they come up with a decent message! Whatever, they should stop moping and get about tearing down a Dem and electing Republicans.
Here is an excellent editorial, and its headline is the best part of all:
Looks like the Stupid Party shot itself in the foot again. Dry run for the anti-McCainiacs in November who want to see a 'rat socialist elected.
Off time elections usually play to the pubs advantage. I saw the writing on the wall here in the Lehigh Valley in 2007 when the dems stomped the pubs.
How about trying something new like maybe putting forth candidates who can get elected? It’s not the fault of the voters. It’s the lackluster candidates.
The GOP would probably fare somewhat better if they offered up a couple more decent conservatives.
Just the beginning of the trend.
Wow. So this consistent loser Oberweis intends to lose AGAIN in November?
How pathetic...
Last Aug., I said, on a few sites, “St. Sen. Lauzen should be elected to Congress, and Oberweis should be appointed to replace Lauzen, in the state senate.” I hope that many voters, in that district, agree that I was right. If Lauzen had won the primary, he would have received more votes, during the special general election.
Yep, that’s a pretty good column. The author nails Lauzen pretty good, too, and deservedly.
Hey Chris, if Oberweis slanders you, don’t whine about it. Simply insinuate that anonymous people have told you privately about Oberwies’s unhealthy fascination with young boys and his secretly arranged trips to Thailand. Whatever. But don’t whine and sulk. Fight back.
The R candidate in this election is an also ran ad naseum.... you have low turn out, and a poor candidate you get a loss every time regardless of party.
There’s no denying that. This election was a rejection of Oberweis, not an endorsement of Foster.
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