Showing posts with label democrats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label democrats. Show all posts
What Happened Tuesday?
Everyone saw Tuesday's Republican sweep coming, so this really isn't about dissecting Obamacare wrath, Tea Party angst or any of the other issues. What amazes us at Brett is how widespread the changers were nationwide.
According to the New York Times, Republicans made strides in almost every major demographic on Tuesday. Now some such as Hispanics and Asians are still low numbers, but it shows something happened to get people's attention.
It's a stark turnaround from 2008 when many political insiders declared the Republican Party dead and nothing more than a "regional" group. The region expanded, but in this ever changing political climate it remains to be seen if the party can keep that base or face a 2012 revolt by the Democrats.
According to the New York Times, Republicans made strides in almost every major demographic on Tuesday. Now some such as Hispanics and Asians are still low numbers, but it shows something happened to get people's attention.
It's a stark turnaround from 2008 when many political insiders declared the Republican Party dead and nothing more than a "regional" group. The region expanded, but in this ever changing political climate it remains to be seen if the party can keep that base or face a 2012 revolt by the Democrats.
One Week Until To Go
In less than six days, South Carolina voters will head to the polls to decide who will run a large swath of the state's government for the next four years. In theory, this should be a near clean sweep for the Republican Party. This is a traditionally conservative voting state and many swing voters likely will go Republican because of a perceived anti-Obama anger that is swelling amongst citizens.
Here is a list of all of statewide ballot. It will be interesting to see what kind of political stops are pulled out in the next six days. Who will launch a major attack? What secret will be revealed that will sink a candidate. Will there be a surprise victory come Tuesday night?
It's cliche to say this election will be historic because in reality every election is important, but for a state desperately needing leadership, there is a hope that the voters get it right.
Here is a list of all of statewide ballot. It will be interesting to see what kind of political stops are pulled out in the next six days. Who will launch a major attack? What secret will be revealed that will sink a candidate. Will there be a surprise victory come Tuesday night?
It's cliche to say this election will be historic because in reality every election is important, but for a state desperately needing leadership, there is a hope that the voters get it right.
More thoughts on the Greene machine
What did Alvin Greene's "surprise" victory in the race to be South Carolina's Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate really tell us? It's not anything can happen. Nor is it politics as usual. Or even that politics is changing. The real story is this is why people campaign hard. This is why their are yard signs, mass mailing and television ads. I often hear from people who complain about politicians who spend all their time campaigning and "wasting" money on ads. The lament is that the voter is smart enough to find the right person on their own.
Greene shows that doesn't happen. Greene, for those of you who haven't heard, is the unemployed Army vet facing a felony charge for showing pornography on a computer to a college freshman. He didn't campaign. Never filed reports with the state. Held no rallies. He paid his fee to the Democratic Party, vanished and ended up winning Tuesday night.
Conspiracy theorists are fishing the idea that Greene was a Republican plant to beat Democrat Vic Rawl. It's possible and not unheard of in South Carolina, but it does seem a little far fetched. Why would anyone pay Greene to essentially not run a campaign is highly circumspect. It could happen in a general election, but in a primary seems odd. Was Vic Rawl that much of a threat to U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint? No. Could this be a way to draw attention away from the malfunctioning GOP in the state? Maybe.
So, who voted for him? The theory is that Democrats focused on the gubernatorial race came out, hadn't been following the Senate race, and voted for the first name on the ballot. The other is that somehow black voters found out Greene was black and voted for him. The third is that Republicans somehow stuffed the ballot box. Yes, Republicans abandonded their own strong races to play a joke on the Democrats. Does that make sense?
Another possibility is machine error. Maybe the electronic voting tallies were wrong? Stranger things have happened.
The reality is voters elected a man they had never heard of in a race they didn't care about. Rawl apparently overlooked Greene in the race and was focused on November. He nor anyone gave Greene a second thought, and he waltzed right in.
That is why we campaign.
Greene shows that doesn't happen. Greene, for those of you who haven't heard, is the unemployed Army vet facing a felony charge for showing pornography on a computer to a college freshman. He didn't campaign. Never filed reports with the state. Held no rallies. He paid his fee to the Democratic Party, vanished and ended up winning Tuesday night.
Conspiracy theorists are fishing the idea that Greene was a Republican plant to beat Democrat Vic Rawl. It's possible and not unheard of in South Carolina, but it does seem a little far fetched. Why would anyone pay Greene to essentially not run a campaign is highly circumspect. It could happen in a general election, but in a primary seems odd. Was Vic Rawl that much of a threat to U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint? No. Could this be a way to draw attention away from the malfunctioning GOP in the state? Maybe.
So, who voted for him? The theory is that Democrats focused on the gubernatorial race came out, hadn't been following the Senate race, and voted for the first name on the ballot. The other is that somehow black voters found out Greene was black and voted for him. The third is that Republicans somehow stuffed the ballot box. Yes, Republicans abandonded their own strong races to play a joke on the Democrats. Does that make sense?
Another possibility is machine error. Maybe the electronic voting tallies were wrong? Stranger things have happened.
The reality is voters elected a man they had never heard of in a race they didn't care about. Rawl apparently overlooked Greene in the race and was focused on November. He nor anyone gave Greene a second thought, and he waltzed right in.
That is why we campaign.
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