Over Here - Red Rage
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 05:27AM The Puppet Masters pulled a little too hard on the strings of the Right Wing Fringe this month. They managed to do what no Democrat had done in 100 years, namely get a Democrat elected to Congress in the 23rd New York Congressional District.* In other words they helped paint a red section blue in the blue state of New York, and in so doing exposed the danger to the Party of allowing the unhinged to heckle the rest out of their senses.
Sarah Palin, former Vice Presidential Candidate and current quitter, managed to gain righty praise by endorsing a third-party candidate over the Party's alleged softie selection. Palin of course made the endorsement in the forum she is best suited for, Facebook. The list of right wing lunatics, talk show hosts and ultra conservative journalists who beat her to the punch is a who's who of the right wing movement, but give a gal credit for taking the assist and running to the basket.
The 23rd New York Congressional District voters, who less than two years ago re-elected a Republican by a 2 to 1 margin, now shifted to a Democrat. And the Republican candidate, hounded and politically slandered, dropped out, endorsed the Democrat and may now herself effect the balance of power in the New York State Assembly by crossing the aisle. Heck of a Job!
Anger can only get you so far. It is no substitute for a plan. No need for the majority of the Party to debase themselves for the alleged base. When you elevate screamers and shouters over thinkers and doers, you are bound to lose in the end.
*technically portions of the district have been represented by a Democrat in the past 100 years, but parts of the district have not. A print the legend moment.
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Reader Comments (32)
Great post Mahons.
A slap in the face for Palin and the usual ragbag of foaming-at-the-mouth rightists.
"No need for the majority of the Party to debase themselves for the alleged base. "
I seriously doubt whether Scozzafava represented the majority of the Party. If they had nominated a resident of New York state with more conservative credentials (Hillary Clinton perhaps?) then they would have won in a landslide.
"When you elevate screamers and shouters over thinkers and doers, you are bound to lose in the end. "
Yes and let's hope that the Democrats can learn from their defeats in New Jersey and Virginia.
it's sad to see a man clutching at straws.... What Mahons neglects to grasp is the true battle that took place in the 23rd as I said in my post the republican base stomped on the party bosses choice and threw her out. It is unimportant that the Dem beat a man who didn't even live in the district or was unkown a month ago. It would have been truely sad if he didn't.
What the 23rd was a message internal for the republican party.
The only race that shows anything nationally is NJ where Corzine spent 30 Mil of his own money and Obama was there campaigning for him every other day, yet in a state where the Dems out number the Rep 5-1 they still lost.
Clutch all you need to if it makes you feel good Mahons....lol
Ross- perhaps, in practice I suspect more Republicans are pro-choice like she is. Certainly she supported the recent wars, the tax increases under Bush and was supported by the NRA for her gun rights stance. But I will certainly grant you that on some social issues (abortion and gay marriage) she doesn't have the same favorable ratings among conservatives. But she would have won without the third party challenge of Hoffman (who incidently agreed to support her until he got the third-party nod).
As for Virginia, I doubt there are many people even among Democrats who think the Democratic candidate was worthy. He wasn't and justly lost. In New Jersey, I think it was more voter frustration with local issues than national ones, but you are quite correct that it will be portrayed as a rebuke of the President.
Troll - You base was represented by a lame third-party candidate and beaten by a lame Democrat in a safe Republican district. Add the people who voted for the equally lame Republican candidate and you might see the limits of extremists.
You were going to have a Democrat anyway.
Better to have a real Democrat than a faux Republican who was really a left of center Democrat like Scozzafava.
Those who nominated her are the ones who made the fight necessary - they need to be dealt with.
Phantom - Scozzafava was endorsed by Peter King, Newt and the NRA. She certainly has positions that aren't found among mainstream conservatives, but Jane Fonda she ain't.
Lots of Democrats are endorsed by the NRA.
The Democrat Party has for tactical and Machiavellian reasons abandoned any efforts at gun control.
Palin and the wing nuts are redundant.
Mahons, do you think there is an anti-""corporate politics "" indicator- what with Corzine losing( easily associated with GS) and Bloomberg's squeak through.
I despise Jon Corizine, don't know anything about his opponent, but few could be worse than JC as he has been known to call himself. Yes! I am glad Corzine was whacked.
Christie, the new governor, was a very successful federal prosecutor.
Corzilne's campaign ran lots of ads making fun of Christie because of his weight problem ( serious )
( from the great wiki )
Despite the initial misgivings over his degree of experience, Christie proceeded to earn praise for his history of convictions for public corruption. During his tenure, Christie's office won convictions or guilty pleas from 130 public officials, both Republican and Democratic, on the state, county and local levels without losing a single case.[12] The most notable of these convictions included those of Essex County Executive James W. Treffinger in 2003 on corruption charges,[13] former New Jersey Senate President John A. Lynch, Jr. in 2006 on charges of mail fraud and tax evasion,[14] State Senator and former Newark mayor Sharpe James in 2008 on fraud charges,[15] and State Senator Wayne R. Bryant in 2008 on charges of bribery, mail fraud, and wire fraud.[16]
Christie also initiated a long-term investigation into money laundering and political corruption known as Operation Bid Rig. The third phase of the investigation, from 2007 to 2009, resulted in the arrest of 44 public servants and religious leaders in July 200
Pinky what you call the wing nuts, are the largest percentage of americans. You delude yourself quite frequently
Troll,
You wing nuts were rejected yesterday. Completely and utterly.
Moderates won the day, which is a good thing.
Pathetic analysis of a watershed election night, Mahons.
Obama put time and money, reputaion and resources on the line in Virginia -- and he LOST by a landslide across the entire ticket, not just the Governorship. In the very blue state of New Jersey, Obama came and campaigned beside Corzine, the Union supporter, and LOST! Despite the fact that Corzine outspent his Republican rival 3:1.
And the 23rd was a close if confusing contest between a Conservative candidate, and the Dem. While the Conservative lost the election, the victory for the Conservatives (and ultimately the Republican Party) is the exposure of the RINO - DeeDee S. who endorsed the Democrat at the end of the day! Turns out the Conservatives were correct about her! She was a Democrat for all intents and purposes.
The 23rd, combined with the solid victories in New Jersey and Virginia,represent sundown for the Bush, McCain, Graham etc Republican Party; a Big Government party that in Bush's words "abandoned free market principles" and became essentially Democrat-lite. Republicans came out and voted because they want responsible fiscal policies. End of story.
The new Republican Party - god willing - will stand for 1.small government. 2 Fiscal sanity. 3. strong national defense. The tent will be big enough for the social libertarian as well as the social conservative because social issues will not be the political driver that it was in the Bush years.
Off-topic, sort of:
Joe Wilson voted against funding for Swine Flu Vaccines.
Joe Wilson's wife got Swine Flu.
Joe Wilson condemns Obama for lack of Swine Flu vaccines.
LOL
Off-topic, sort of:
Joe Wilson votes against funding for Swine Flu Vaccine,
Joe Wilson's wife gets Swine Flu,
Joe Wilson condemns Obama for lack of Swine Flu Vaccines.
He's a moron
Joe Wilson who voted against funding the swine flu vaccine said:
"The current administration is solely responsible. They can't blame this on any prior administration," said Wilson. "This is the responsibility of the current administration. They've put the lives of Americans at risk."
Phantom, here's a neat wee trick with the Wilson behaviour:
Joe Wilson votes against Universal Health Care...
Joe Wilson loses HC coverage and his wife gets seriously ill...
Joe Wilson................ ( Finish the sentence).
Lets just say he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer
" blames Obama for the fact that the family had to declare bankruptcy over medical costs "
Fuck you very much Patty.
Pinky: also off topic --
the Federal Government launches an all out, balls to the wall push to take over the healthcare system, claiming that said-federal takeover will save money, and be more efficient.
and yet... when faced with a simple thing like the distribution of a flu vaccine for the swine flu, the federal government cannot deliver in a timely, efficient fashion!
The vaccilnes were made by private companies, not by the feds.
Whoaaaa, LOL Mahons.
If that was a landslide, yesterday..... Obama is safe enough for a long long time.
Palin soundly rejected, The wing nuts in disarray.
Phantom, don't confuse the poor thing with facts or truth.
In the US lawsuit culture, if it were not for governmental purchasing - and legal immunities given by the govt to the vaccine makers -- there would be no vaccines. It would never happen.
Lawsuits have driven most of the private makers out of the business. There are very few firms who can handle this work
Pinky/Phantom: The vaccinations were made, of course, by private companies -- but the Fed approves the vaccinations - and they were slow to do so...that is why there is a shortage...but don't let facts get in your way, as Pinky is so fond of saying.
Well,, maybe they were slow in approving it because this is a complex matter to know what the formula should be
Better the right vaccine to be delivered slowly than the wrong vaccine to be delivered quickly.
Mahons: sorry. "pathetic" was too strong a word. your analysis is incorrect, although funny.
It is notable that Obama actively campaigned for the two Democrats that lost!!
Owen, the Democrat in the 23rd race, should be very grateful that President Obama didn't come campaign for him! - the Conservative, Hoffman, would have won for sure.
Well,, maybe they were slow in approving it because this is a complex matter to know what the formula should be
Better the right vaccine to be delivered slowly than the wrong vaccine to be delivered quickly.
Obama appeared in NJ five times - so often, that he appeared desperate. I think that the very frequent appearances made Corzine look vulnerable.
If you have any kind of decent candidate, you don't need the President of the US to stump every week.
Plus, they had Slow Joe Biden make appearances - very bad move. He has no star power at all.
I think Obama's magic has disappeared and is turning into the opposite.
(It's about the trillion dollar debt Obama has shoved down our grandchildren's throats.)
Putting aside your undeniably charming writing style, Mahons, I think this article from American Thinker captures the reality of last night's rout more accurately than yours:
“Or put another way, Republicans won two races decided by millions of voters -- and Democrats won a small race dominated by party operatives. In addition, the GOP made some historic gains in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Washington state special elections to boot.
In the context of Bob McDonnell's huge win in Virginia and Chris Christie's surprisingly comfortable win in New Jersey, of all places, the fact that Bill Owens scraped up enough votes to win NY-23 is a testament to the superior political insider maneuvering of the Democrats over the Republicans. So you mean the GOP party apparatus stinks? Well yes, but I think we knew that already.”
"http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/forget_the_21_spin_it_was_a_ro.html