Posted on 11/09/2005 6:24:13 AM PST by new yorker 77
The media has always spun things the way they spin it.
1994 was "the year of the angry white man" and a "temper tantrum" and surely a passing "fluke"... and yet Republicans have held on to power ever since.
The way the media portrays events, how other people supposedly think about it, its significance, etc, doesn't actually affect the way people view it beyond either reinforcing their own view or pissing them off.
In 2001, President Bush had an 87% Job Approval post 9/11 and Democrats performed better then than they did here in 2005.
I'm looking at history and comparing election over election. The results show I am correct.
Virginia elected Republicans when Reagan and Bush 41 were President.
It has been 32 years since the President influenced Virgina politics.
How did an 87% Job Approval Bush help defeat Warner in 2001? He didn't. Warner recieved over 52%.
Correct that: Virginia elected Democrats when Reagan and Bush 41 were President.
Well the facts also show that Kilgore did worse than Early did in '01. And Earley ran a horrbile campaign. If you take a look at only the two-party vote, Kaine did better than Warner. Trying to spin this as a good thing isn't going to get us anywhere, we need to admit we lost and look at why.
Virginia has not elected a Governor of the same party in 32 years.
That's not true. Allen and Gilmore won back to back elections.
Had to laugh at this one. Typical NJ politics, more precincts reported than exist.
It is governors who eventually become POTUS, not Senators or other Washington insiders. The GOP needs to start grooming these guys as future candidates. Virginia is one of the those states that should produce a good POTUS candidate, and Kilgore wasn't it.
FACT: Virginia has not elected a Governor of the same party as the party of the President in 32 years. You need to educate yourself.
FACT: While Kilgore was one point lower in 2005 versus Easley in 2001, Kaine was also lower than Warner versus both Republicans. It's called math. Add up the votes collected by Kilgore and Potts, two Republicans. Compare that to Easley in 2001 and the GOP performed better this time than they did against Warner.
Do you understand now?
Well, and in Virginia Republicans apparently one two of the three statewide elections. In 2001, they won only one of the three. Still, getting close but losing is still losing.
I would agree with your other point that the Virginia election (and others) were much more about state and local issues. Democrats who attempt to spin it otherwise are only kidding themselves.
Well, sure. And this would make a real difference in places like Virgina. On the other hand, even an ideal GOP candidate or organization faces a decidedly uphill fight in places like New Jersey.
You are elimintating the votes to Potts, a Republican, to make your false points.
But Bush's numbers weren't in the toilet in 2001, so I see this as worse for the RATs ... They can gain when the Pubbies are down ...
FACT: A lower turnout + a smaller vote percentage for the Democrat in 2005 is WORSE than 2001.
It'll be solid if the outcome is a GOP win in the Atty. General race. Consider that the Lt. Governor and the Atty. General ran against each other this year: if both are GOP, then the Dems have to come up with a candidate with visibility who isn't in those two offices. Warner was successful partly because he lost an earlier Senate bid, but gained visibility that way (and he could spend, spend, spend his own money).
The Dems might could conceivably mount a lost-cause campaign against Allen in '06 with a candidate more likely to contend for governor two years later. But I have no idea who they'd use for this type of strategy. It'd be nice if they found a candidate with pockets as deep as Warner's.
The GOP is in a funk. Hopefully, we are at our low point and will gradually climb leading up to the '06 elections.
If we don't make some substantial changes and go on the offensive, however, last night could be the sign of even worse things to come.
We control pretty much everything in DC. There is no reason we can't recapture the agenda if we have strong leadership from the top. Time for Rove to earn that "genious" label again. It is way past time for W to re-engage the American people in a serious dialog about the crucial issues facing our country.
The Republicans also took two of the major statewide offices of VA. The leader of the opposition to Kaine in VA is now LT GOV Bill Bolling.
Those are the "down ticket races" where Republicans took seats from Democrats that I was talking about.
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