COUNTDOWN to November 2010 Election

[Foxfyre]

Yesterday was the last of the 2010 primaries and the field of candidates for governor, the U.S. House, and the U.S. Senate has been decided. On November 2, 47 days from this OP, we will go to the polls for possibily one of the most historic elections in U.S. history. Certainly it is seen by many Americans as one of the more important.

With the President experiencing steadily decreasing approval ratings and Congress and the GOP and Democrats individually earning much lower numbers, this election may be the first in a long time in which issues and values, as opposed to personalities and political parties, will determine the winners.

39 governor seats are up for grabs--20 currently held by Democrats; 19 currently held by Republicans.

In the Senate, the Republicans need to win 10 additional seats to take over the majority currently held by the Democrats.

In the House, the Republicans need to win 40 additional seats to take over the majority currently held by the Democrats.

Let's discuss polls, trends, status, prospects, hopes, and fears re this election cycle here. NOTE: Certainly most of us will be taking sides, but if we could keep personal insults, trollism, and ignorant platitudes to a minimum, that would be much appreciated.

 

[The Infidel]

 

[Foxfyre]

One phenomenon I've seen already in this election cycle is the love/hate relationship developing between the GOP and the Tea Partiers. The GOP philosophically know they have to have the Tea Party vote to win, but we have seen increasing hostility toward 'Tea Party candidates' who have opposed and have now won over the establishment candidate favored by the party. And yet the Tea Party choices have won again and again, the latest being O'Donnell winning over Castle yesterday in Delaware.

It was interesting seeing the GOP party 'bosses' and 'talking heads' denigrating Castle again and again and expounding that she was unelectable in the general election--she will dash the GOP's chances to take control--even as the talk show denizens such as Limbaugh and Hannity defended and promoted her.

That is one of many races that it will be interesting to watch.

 

[LibocalypseNow]

I don't think the Senate was ever a real possibility for the Republicans. I think that was a way over-the-top expectation in my opinion. It's virtually impossible for them to take the Senate back. However they could make it close again and that's enough of a win for me. Just get the Senate close again and you've won. The House is a real possibility for the Republicans though. Either way the Republicans will make some gains and that's good enough for me.

The Republicans are in the midst of a Revolution in the Party to weed out the phony Neocon Check-Pant establishment. This Revolution could hurt them initially in November but it is essential for the overall future survival of the Party. People are just so sick of them being the Democrat-Light Party. So the Republicans will likely make some modest gains with real Conservatives as opposed to making massive gains with more phony Check-Pant Republicans. Personally i prefer these modest gains with real Conservatives. I guess we'll see though. Make 2010 count America.

 

[Jeremy]

North Dakota

Congress:

Berg (R) - 52%
Pomeroy (D) - 44%

Election 2010: North Dakota House of Representatives - Rasmussen Reports

Senate:

Hoeven (R) - 69%
Potter (D) - 25%

Election 2010: North Dakota Senate - Rasmussen Reports

 

[Baruch Menachem]

I think the Tparty loathes the Republicans a bit more than they do the Democrats. The Democrats are the adversary they can deal with, the Republicans are the sell out who has hurt them badly.

 

[VaYank5150]

Now that Christine O’Donnell has won the GOP Senate primary in Delaware, Democrats will definitely retain Joe Biden’s old Senate seat. It’s not because O’Donnell is too conservative — it’s because of her numerous and serious personal issues.

(For those seeking specifics, there are plenty.

•Her lawsuit against ISI for “mental anguish” is exhibit A. It even contains an apparent lie about her seeking a Master’s Degree at Princeton.
•Exhibit B is her lies about having a college degree all these years — and no, she didn’t simply finish paying loans, as she implies. People who take student loans use them to pay their schools, and they get their degrees. She did not until 20 years later.
•Exhibit C is the fact that she has no apparent income, then she admitted to John McCormack that she has concealed income by leaving it off her financial disclosures.
•Exhibit D is the fact that she appears to be paying her personal rent with her campaign money, which is completely illegal.
•Exhibit E is the question about whether O’Donnell’s home was foreclosed. These three points suggest we have a grifter who understands conservative rhetoric.
•Exhibit F is her false claims that she “tied” or “beat” Joe Biden in two counties in 2008.
•Exhibit G is her campaign’s assertion that Scott Rasmussen is a tool of Mike Castle’s campaign.
•Exhibit H is her campaign’s deliberate stoking of rumors that Mike Castle would switch parties or has cut a deal with the Biden family to hand the seat over to Beau Biden in four years.
•Exhibit I is her former campaign staff’s video accusing Mike Castle (baselessly) of a homosexual affair, followed by O’Donnell calling him “unmanly.”
•Exhibit J is her paranoia over who’s hiding in the bushes and vandalizing her house.
•Exhibit K…well, you get the picture.


Read more at the Washington Examiner: Democrats will keep Delaware seat, but look at the bright side | Washington Examiner

 

[LibocalypseNow]

I think Less really is More in this case. The establishment Check-pant Republicans aren't going to fully support all these real Conservative candidates therefore less elections will likely be won by Republicans in November. People will just have to lower their expectations for coming elections. However the Republicans who do win will be real Conservatives as opposed to the usual phony Check-Pants. For me that's an incredible victory. So there will be less Republicans winning than previously thought but there will be more real Conservatives in our Congress. This is definitely good enough for me. Less really is More in this case.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

them grapes was sour anyway.

 

[Wry Catcher]

It's funny that you would disparage platitudes given the entire 'platform' of the Tea Party (as near as I have discerned) is one great big platitude.
Cut taxes, cut government is easy to say, easy to rally the masses using populist rhetoric without any convincing argument of how a member of Congress, or even a coaliton of a dozen or so, might actually manage to cut taxes and shrink government.
When will Palin or Armey or Limbaugh - the leaders of this 'movement' - offer a plan. How will budget cuts for the wealthiest Americans impact the public debt? How many jobs will a 3% cut in taxes produce when a person earning $200,000/year has an extra $6,000 per year?
If elected, what can Backbenchers do? Hold more Michelle Bachman press conferences? Or run and hide from the media as we have seen from Sharon Angel?
The Tea Party is less a movement then a mob; groups of enraged people challenging the establishment -damn, it would make a great movie:

Dick Armey as the Black Knight, or maybe Newt Gingrich; written by Michael Palin, oh my, are they related?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhRUe-gz690]YouTube - Black Knight[/ame]

 

[Foxfyre]

Re O'Donnell, the GOP has not been able to attack her on her position on the issues, so they went for the politics of personal destruction via attacking her character. They've even gone so far as to say they'll support her as the GOP candidate but won't give her any national GOP monies. The question is: how much of that is legitimate criticism, and how much of it is making mountains out of molehills? Are they really rejecting a candidate based on character? Or are they acting like vindictive children punishing the person who challenged the establishment?

Not that the phenomenon is unique to Republicans. Many of us were strongly criticized for making an issue of Candidate Barack Obama's character just as Bill Clinton's character was defended as 'irrelevent' to his qualifications to be President. And yet it is character issues that is usually used to attack such prominent rightwing figures as President Bush, Newt Gingrich, Trent Lott, Sarah Palin, Tom Delay, Meg Whitman et al.

The double standard is alive and well in both parties and neither show stellar righteousness or principle in how they go about attacking their opposition even within their own parties.

Evenso, against oppostion from both the GOP and Democrats, we've seen candidate after candidate start out at great disadvantage against a better known opponent. But as the underdog gains name recognition and keeps beating the drum of conservatism--fiscal responsibility, smaller less intrustive government, a sensible tax policy for everybody, protect our borders and people/law enforcement--we have seen their stars rise.

I don't have any clue how the November election will ultimately turn out. But I'm not trusting the pundits and talking heads to get it right this time. I think it is going to be an interesting ride.

 

[Foxfyre]

I think the Tparty loathes the Republicans a bit more than they do the Democrats. The Democrats are the adversary they can deal with, the Republicans are the sell out who has hurt them badly.

I know the Tea Party loathes the RINOS more than they do the Democrats, but the Tea Party is not stupid. They know as independents they have far less chance of winning than they do as attached to a major political party. So with the Republicans being more right of center or at least closer to the center than Democrats, the Tea Partiers set their sites on reforming the Republican Party and restoring it as the standard bearer for conservativism.

The only way they can do that is to throw out the arrogant and complacent who no longer hear or care about their constituents and infuse new blood who are committed to resetting the national direction. And the GOP party bosses are not handling that all that well.

 

[LibocalypseNow]

Man i was absolutely ecstatic when i saw how much Karl Rove disliked O'Donnell in Delaware. If a phony Neocon Check Pant like Rove dislikes her,you know she's the right choice. WTG O'Donnell! You go girl!

 

[LibocalypseNow]

The Democrats had their Revolution and their Socialists/Progressives won. Now the Republicans are having their Revolution and i hope & pray the real Conservatives win. I guess we'll see though. Make 2010 count America.

 

[kyzr]

The conservatives are cleaning house tossing bums out. The dems keep re-electing them, look at Rangel as an example. November will be the democrat "machine" against the grass-roots "Tea-Baggers". I hope the independents choose wisely.

 

[Foxfyre]

With a few exceptions, almost all the major conservative talk show hosts have been supporting the Tea Party initiatives. And despite all the leftwing's (mostly erroneous) claims that those talk show hosts promote the Republican Party, As previously posted, it is interesting seeing those talk show hosts square off against the GOP establishment.

I received this in email this morning, but I watched this exchange on Hannity last night and believe this to be an accurate transcript of a discussion between Hannity and Karl Rove re O'donnell:

Rove: I’ve met her. I got to tell you, I wasn’t frankly impressed as her abilities as a candidate. And again, these serious questions about how does she make her living? Why did she mislead voters about her college education? How come it took nearly two decades to pay her college bills so she could get her college degree? How did she make a living? Why didn’t she sue a well-known and well - conservative think tank?

Hannity: This is probably one of the few times we’re going to disagree here because I met her. I’ve interviewed her a lot over the years. I found her quite impressive. More importantly, she is a solid conservative. I think what people are saying in this primary, in this race and I think all across the country in these other races that we are mentioning here is that you know what, if you vote for cap and tax and have an opponent that says they wouldn’t they have an choice, they have an option.

So I think it was very substantive, very based on issues, very based on the voting record of one and the promised voting record of another.

Rove: Again, you are making my case this was about Mike Castle’s bad votes. It does conservatives little good to support candidates who at the end of the day while they may be conservative in their public statements do not event the characteristics of rectitude, truthfulness and sincerity and character that the voters are looking for.

We’ll see how she can answer these questions. She sure as heck didn’t answer them thus far in the campaign and not in the general election that she will be asked about.

Hannity: I interviewed her and I felt her explanations were more plausible —

Rove: Did you ask her about the people who were following her home to her headquarters and how she has checked each night in the bushes? Did you asked her - I mean, there were a lot of nutty things she has been saying that just simply don’t add up to —

Hannity: It sounds like you don’t support her, but I will tell you, I think —

Rove: I’m for the Republican, but I got to tell you, we were looking at eight to nine seats in the Senate. We are now looking at seven to eight in my opinion. This is not a race we’re going to be able to win.

Hannity: You may be right in the end, I don’t know. We can look into our crystal ball and can say things. I would argue back to you gently that I don’t think we can make progress in stopping the Obama agenda with rhino Republicans that, you know are not going to be there when the solid votes are needed.

Rove: I agree. But we also can’t make progress if we have candidates who got serious character problems, who cause ordinary voters who are not philosophically aligned with us to not vote for our candidates out of concern of what they said and what they do.

Hannity: We send people to Washington and forgot why we send them there and they got fat and lazy and out of control. And they’re paying a price and they should pay the price.

Rove: And in 2006 that we had people who had really violated the people’s trust by engaging in acts of corruption, which is why the Democrat culture of corruption theme was so powerful in 2006.

Hannity: I don’t hear one allegation that begins to compare to Charlie Rangel or William Jefferson or anything like that.

Rove: That’s not a very good defense.

Hannity: They seemed to be trumped up charges from my standpoint that the Republican establishment was throwing against her.

 

[Rozman]

The Republicans are in the midst of a Revolution in the Party to weed out the phony Neocon Check-Pant establishment. This Revolution could hurt them initially in November but it is essential for the overall future survival of the Party. People are just so sick of them being the Democrat-Light Party. So the Republicans will likely make some modest gains with real Conservatives as opposed to making massive gains with more phony Check-Pant Republicans. Personally i prefer these modest gains with real Conservatives. I guess we'll see though. Make 2010 count America.

LibocalypseNow

I wanted to say pretty much the same thing.What is the sense of voting for a Republican who will vote like a Democrat.I think no matter how things end up the GOP will be stronger because of the Tea party influence.For the first time for me anyway the American people have taken a major step in taking government back.No longer will we be happy,if we ever were,sitting back and listening to what the candidate wants to do.Now the candidate is being told what the people want done in Washington.

This in the long run makes the Republican party stronger.Maybe the Conservative element will start to have a more active part in the future.

 

[logical4u]

Now that Christine O’Donnell has won the GOP Senate primary in Delaware, Democrats will definitely retain Joe Biden’s old Senate seat. It’s not because O’Donnell is too conservative — it’s because of her numerous and serious personal issues.

(For those seeking specifics, there are plenty.

•Her lawsuit against ISI for “mental anguish” is exhibit A. It even contains an apparent lie about her seeking a Master’s Degree at Princeton.
•Exhibit B is her lies about having a college degree all these years — and no, she didn’t simply finish paying loans, as she implies. People who take student loans use them to pay their schools, and they get their degrees. She did not until 20 years later.
•Exhibit C is the fact that she has no apparent income, then she admitted to John McCormack that she has concealed income by leaving it off her financial disclosures.
•Exhibit D is the fact that she appears to be paying her personal rent with her campaign money, which is completely illegal.
•Exhibit E is the question about whether O’Donnell’s home was foreclosed. These three points suggest we have a grifter who understands conservative rhetoric.
•Exhibit F is her false claims that she “tied” or “beat” Joe Biden in two counties in 2008.
•Exhibit G is her campaign’s assertion that Scott Rasmussen is a tool of Mike Castle’s campaign.
•Exhibit H is her campaign’s deliberate stoking of rumors that Mike Castle would switch parties or has cut a deal with the Biden family to hand the seat over to Beau Biden in four years.
•Exhibit I is her former campaign staff’s video accusing Mike Castle (baselessly) of a homosexual affair, followed by O’Donnell calling him “unmanly.”
•Exhibit J is her paranoia over who’s hiding in the bushes and vandalizing her house.
•Exhibit K…well, you get the picture.


Read more at the Washington Examiner: Democrats will keep Delaware seat, but look at the bright side | Washington Examiner

Maybe she could campaign on: it worked for Obama!

 

[uptownlivin90]

Yesterday was the last of the 2010 primaries and the field of candidates for governor, the U.S. House, and the U.S. Senate has been decided. On November 2, 47 days from this OP, we will go to the polls for possibily one of the most historic elections in U.S. history. Certainly it is seen by many Americans as one of the more important.

With the President experiencing steadily decreasing approval ratings and Congress and the GOP and Democrats individually earning much lower numbers, this election may be the first in a long time in which issues and values, as opposed to personalities and political parties, will determine the winners.

39 governor seats are up for grabs--20 currently held by Democrats; 19 currently held by Republicans.

In the Senate, the Republicans need to win 10 additional seats to take over the majority currently held by the Democrats.

In the House, the Republicans need to win 40 additional seats to take over the majority currently held by the Democrats.

Let's discuss polls, trends, status, prospects, hopes, and fears re this election cycle here. NOTE: Certainly most of us will be taking sides, but if we could keep personal insults, trollism, and ignorant platitudes to a minimum, that would be much appreciated.

What we are seeing is normal in American politics, with a few exceptions.

The most obvious of which is the Tea Party Movement from my perspective, are a strange mixture of two different wings of the GOP. The first and most dominant group involved in the GOP is the re-surging American Christian Right. Their characteristics are that they have a hawkish foreign policy, hold a firm allegiance to the State of Israel, are generally Evangelical Christians, consider themselves staunchly pro-life, pro-gun, and domestically are conservative when it comes to the economy. Their major concerns are the deficit, abortion, taxes, homosexuality and the crumbling family unit in America, and dealing with terrorism and national security. The second wing is the libertarian wing of the party that is far more concerned with the economy then with social issues. They are a small group and their major concern with the tea party folks is that they have been up and arms since before 2008.

It is a legitimate force in American politics but I think personally it will ultimetly serve a purpose only in this election cycle. I think this is the major resurgence of the base of the Republican Party a base that was largely abandoned when John McCain ran as the GOP candidate in 2008. He didn't run as a "christian right" candidate, and his running mate who absolutely IS a christian rightist was literally shunned, mocked, and forced into submission by the McCain campaign which FURTHER alienated the "christian right" which caused even more issues. What we have here is this angry, alienated, disappointed, and disgruntled element of the GOP realizing how large it actually is and under the banner of the Tea Party Movement trying to assert itself within the party as a driving force again.

This isolates also the more libertarian wing (because of the war-hawk policies, and the christian right issues), but many are far less ready to critizise the Tea Party Movement (think Rand Paul) simply because both wings feel that the republican party has lost it's original message AND they are both staunchly conservative when it comes to the economy.

Therefore in this environment a more economically moderate republican ISN'T welcome in the mix, when it comes to regaining the house and Senate. The Mike Castles, John McCains, Olymbia Snowes, and Charlie Crists aren't "dying off" they're just being isolated by this wing of the party that is now the driving force behind politics in the GOP. In EVERY election cycle after a Presidential election the President's Party is going to loose seats. The difference between this and 1994 is that the Republican Party is not electing "Republicans" because they have an (R) next to the name. This LARGE and INFLUENTIAL wing is refusing to vote (R) but are now voting for the (R) that represents them.

It would be like if all of the "lunch pail democrats" that we talked about during the Hillary/Obama campaign only voted for "lunch pail democrats". So many are asking will this actually slow the momentum the party is due to have simply because of the nature of these election cycles. Who's to say? I'm not exactly sure. The Christian Right isn't as scary to many independents as the hard leftist democrats. I'd be willing to bet in some states the trend will go democrat in a way that it wouldn't have if it wasn't for the Tea Party candidate. Which states those are, it's way to early to tell.

 

[Stephanie]

Now that Christine O’Donnell has won the GOP Senate primary in Delaware, Democrats will definitely retain Joe Biden’s old Senate seat. It’s not because O’Donnell is too conservative — it’s because of her numerous and serious personal issues.

(For those seeking specifics, there are plenty.

•Her lawsuit against ISI for “mental anguish” is exhibit A. It even contains an apparent lie about her seeking a Master’s Degree at Princeton.
•Exhibit B is her lies about having a college degree all these years — and no, she didn’t simply finish paying loans, as she implies. People who take student loans use them to pay their schools, and they get their degrees. She did not until 20 years later.
•Exhibit C is the fact that she has no apparent income, then she admitted to John McCormack that she has concealed income by leaving it off her financial disclosures.
•Exhibit D is the fact that she appears to be paying her personal rent with her campaign money, which is completely illegal.
•Exhibit E is the question about whether O’Donnell’s home was foreclosed. These three points suggest we have a grifter who understands conservative rhetoric.
•Exhibit F is her false claims that she “tied” or “beat” Joe Biden in two counties in 2008.
•Exhibit G is her campaign’s assertion that Scott Rasmussen is a tool of Mike Castle’s campaign.
•Exhibit H is her campaign’s deliberate stoking of rumors that Mike Castle would switch parties or has cut a deal with the Biden family to hand the seat over to Beau Biden in four years.
•Exhibit I is her former campaign staff’s video accusing Mike Castle (baselessly) of a homosexual affair, followed by O’Donnell calling him “unmanly.”
•Exhibit J is her paranoia over who’s hiding in the bushes and vandalizing her house.
•Exhibit K…well, you get the picture.


Read more at the Washington Examiner: Democrats will keep Delaware seat, but look at the bright side | Washington Examiner

LOL, she has personal problems..
well I guess that is way worse than being CORRUPTED and UNDER INVESTIVGATION, like a slew of Democrats-Progressives are.
gawd you lefties are Pathetic. you did the same thing to Palin. ya couldn't dig up much POLITICAL on her, so you all went after her personally and included her FAMILY.