Posted on 07/17/2007 9:15:55 AM PDT by SConservative
ATLANTA (AP) — Voters turned out Tuesday to choose a successor to the late U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, and one thing was certain — the winner will be another Republican.
No problems were reported as voting got under way at 7 a.m. in the largely rural 10th congressional district. Facing off in the runoff were former state Sen. Jim Whitehead and Athens doctor Paul Broun, the top two vote-getters in the June 19 election.
Whitehead drew 44 percent of the vote last month, short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. Broun was the runner-up, with 21 percent of the vote, narrowly ahead of a Democrat who came in third in the 10-candidate field.
Norwood, 65, died in February at his Augusta home after battling cancer and lung disease. He was in his seventh term.
Whitehead, supported by most local GOP party leaders, argues his experience in the state Legislature would make him more effective. Broun cast himself as an outsider who would serve regular citizens rather than special interests.
In recent days, Broun distanced himself from an e-mail sent out by his wife that appeared to question Whitehead's faith. Whitehead issued a news release saying Broun's answers on a questionnaire suggested he was not sufficiently opposed to gay marriage and legalized marijuana.
Must be good people in this district. I would suppose the Democrat which managed to come in THIRD place was not of the moonbat variety either.
I think Whitehead will win big, what disappoints me is that when I voted at 7:30 this morning I was the first one at my precinct.
“Must be good people in this district. I would suppose the Democrat which managed to come in THIRD place was not of the moonbat variety either.”
It would sure seem that way! The Democrats have largely conceded the South these days and there’s a reason for that: the South is just too conservative for them. I mean, look at the candidates that are running in this coming 2008 election: Hillary Clinton who is anathema to many or most southerners, Barack Obama who is a liberal black from Illinois - hardly a sell in the South and John Edwards who already proved that he’s a failure down South.
What about the more conservative southern guys down here? They’re cut out of the loop. Let’s pray to God that the South remains a beacon of common sense in this nation!
Whitehead is the establishment Republican candidate. He’ll likely win the race, but that’s not good.
Broun is the better conservative in the race.
Either way we win.
vote early, vote often
The democrats are pretty much writing off the south. They are so super strong on the coasts that it really doesn't matter about the interior of the country. Remember those maps called "Jesusland", or "Dumbfu#kistan"? Thats how they view the normal American who doesn't live in an elite coastal city.
So Whitehead is another Newt Gingrich?
Whitehead is another RINO.
But I did drive 100 miles round trip to cast my vote for Broun (we moved between the election last month and the run-off, still in the district though)
I guess I should be glad to have a conservative rep, then. When I lived in Ohio that dork Latourette was my congressman, ick.
“The democrats are pretty much writing off the south. They are so super strong on the coasts that it really doesn’t matter about the interior of the country. Remember those maps called “Jesusland”, or “Dumbfu#kistan”? Thats how they view the normal American who doesn’t live in an elite coastal city.”
Hold on just a moment. The South isn’t like Alberta is to Canada, just a tiny sliver of conservative outpost thinking. 1 out of 3 Americans live in the South today (me included) and there’s just no way of thinking that the shrivelling coastal regions will swing things for the Dems easily. Ignoring the South was fatal in 2000 and 2004 and may be their Waterloo in 2008, too. My prayer is that it will be.
“Whitehead is the establishment Republican candidate. He’ll likely win the race, but that’s not good.
Broun is the better conservative in the race.”
How is Broun better? From the sounds of it, he’s not as strong on certain issues. I visited his page quickly and he seemed to avoid the social issues. Fill me in please.
“The democrats are pretty much writing off the south. They are so super strong on the coasts that it really doesn’t matter about the interior of the country. Remember those maps called “Jesusland”, or “Dumbfu#kistan”? Thats how they view the normal American who doesn’t live in an elite coastal city.”
Unfortunately, that’s not true and last November’s election showed it. Out of the battles for control of 26 house and senate chambers in the South, Democrats strengthened their position in 10; Republicans only did so in 3. There was no change in 10, and 3 others were influenced by independent candidates.
Democrats saw their biggest gains in Southern state house races. Key states: Florida (+7 house seats for Democrats); Kentucky (+5); North Carolina (+3); and West Virginia (+4). Republican gains were small; the largest was the GOP’s 2-seat pickup in the Alabama senate.
Altogether, Democrats gained 26 seats in Southern state legislatures, and Republicans lost 20 seats in the 13 states.
Democrats strengthened their position in 8 Southern states; in 5 of those, significantly so (AR, FL, KY, NC and WV). The GOP only strengthened its position in Alabama.
The Dems have definitely not given up on the South and currently they are out fundraising Republicans in the Southern states but that could change once the Republicans settle on a single candidate.
True what you say, but that was 2006. If the democrats DIDN’T pick up seats it would have been abnormal. 2008 is a whole new ball of wax.
You need to remember, though, that while the Dems did make a little bit of headway here and there in the South, it was very muffled. The change you suggest in a number of those states was actually not all that dramatic. In Florida, for instance, the loss of 7 seats in the FL House of Representatives was actually quite minor in a house with 120 members. To prove the point, a Florida Dem switched parties shortly after the election and a Republican was elected governor in the open race by a comfortable margin. Were there a true GOP route in the South, Crist would never have won an open race.
I agree that there were some slight gains for the Dems in NC, KY and WV, but nothing as dramatic as what we saw in Ohio, for instance. Don’t forget that the GOP made gains in OK and GA, too. In fact, Georgia Dems were largely massacred as Sonny Perdue became the first re-elected GOP governor in the state and his party expanded control of the legislature. And Democrats had virtually nothing to celebrate in AL, SC, MS and LA. In Texas, the GOP once again took the cake, even in an extremely strange 4-way gubernatorial contest (TX GOP gained one seat in the senate and lost a couple in the house). Then TN was largely a wash with Bob Corker winning an open Senate seat and no changes in the legislature.
All in all, the South was pretty slim pickings for the Democrats. Their big gains were rooted in beating the Northeast and Midwest like a pinata for GOP US House seats.
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