Posted on 05/10/2008 8:42:34 AM PDT by shrinkermd
No, not the lesson the national press is pushing, that Mr. Jenkins's loss is a sign of GOP disaster this fall, or that it demonstrates how difficult it will be for Republicans to link local competitors to the liberal Mr. Obama. Republicans face tough odds, yes. But that's because they've yet to prove they've learned a lesson, as they demonstrated again with Mr. Jenkins.
By the lazy standards of the GOP, Mr. Jenkins should've been a cinch to win a Baton Rouge district in Republican hands for 34 years, and that President Bush won with 59% in 2004. Their candidate was a rock-solid social conservative who, in 28 statehouse years, had never voted for a tax increase, and who wanted to erect a U.S.-Mexico wall.
Yet Mr. Jenkins was also a divisive firebrand. He was infamous for carrying around plastic fetuses, to demonstrate his opposition to abortion. He'd previously landed in a weird entanglement with former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
More debilitating to the Jenkins campaign was a strong whiff of the ethical problems that have plagued Republicans. A labor union ran ads noting Mr. Jenkins's had seen 19 tax liens filed against him and his broadcasting company since 1990. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee pointed out that a murky Jenkins charity had paid him consulting fees, paid rent to his company, and paid more than a half-a-million dollars to his wife.
Democrats, meanwhile, have realized it's more important to win than to impose liberal litmus tests on candidates. Mr. Jenkins's opponent, Don Cazayoux, was pro-life and pro-gun. He had nice things to say about John McCain, and rarely mentioned Mr. Obama or Hillary Clinton. A self-styled "John Breaux Democrat," he focused on education and health care.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
This will be a tough year.
McCain isn’t even either of those two.... very tough year indeed... and look around ya... it’s no one else’s fault.
Ding! You can stop reading right there.
We have the FR Quote of the Day.
To lose a safe seat we need only run more McCain clones.
I will not vote for McCain in November.
It worked in '06 in PA and it will continue to wipe out Republicans here, not that it matters much since the elected Republicans from W PA vote in lockstep with Murtha.
So you're saying that the Mexicans are voting?
I say that if you have a real conservative, less taxes, less government, pro-life, pro-gun, anti-illegal and pro-fence you have a shoo-in. Just don't count on the support of Washington and the national silk-stocking Republicans.
But you'll get plenty of local support from conservative, grass roots Republicans who will give you their time and money along with their vote.
There are scores of local and statewide races that are proof. Look at the number of "rats" that have switched parties in the South.
The Louisiana Republican party is a joke. They have been losing a lot of elections by super large margins that they should have won or at least have been very competitive in. We got lucky with Jindhal, but that was in spite of the La. Republican party, not because of it.
Landrieu will get re-elected easily this year.
Jenkins was the worst possible candidate for that seat and still nearly won the special election. If Republicans can find a decent candidate they can get that seat back in 2008. Same with Denny Hastert’s seat in Illinois.
40,000,000 reasons to vote for mccain...abortion
“Mr. Jenkins should’ve been a cinch to win a Baton Rouge district in Republican hands for 34 years, and that President Bush won with 59% in 2004”
What was the change in the voter makeup after Katrina? If this was once a safe Republican district, how did the influx of people from New Orleans affect it?
It didn’t help plus the fact the Dems outspent Republicans 2 to 1.
Well said, they leaders of the LA Republican party are not interested in anything but themselves.
He will not be able to appoint conservative judges.
I do not trust he will appoint them.
His amnesty plan will destroy our coountry.
Republicans won’t be able to stop him from working with Socialists.
He hates conservatives, so what makes you believe he will apponit them to the SCOTUS?
When all is said and done 20,000,000 new Democrat voters will not let him appoint conservatives to the bench.
He worked FOR George Soros to pass McCain/Fiengold so conservatives would be handi-capped in running against him.
So, IMHO conservatives should send him no money and not cast a vote for him, unless he moves back to the right.
I know I will not vote for him at this point.
McCain is a Socialist piece of trash.
One reason for this loss may have been a Katrina backlash against the GOP, which won’t carry into other states.
That said, we all need to work hard, donate lots, and fight long this Fall.
Richard Baker almost lost in 1998.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Baker_(politician)
After being unopposed in 1994 and 1996, Baker faced Marjorie McKeithen, daughter of longtime Republican Louisiana Secretary of State Fox McKeithen and granddaughter of former Democratic Governor John McKeithen. Court-ordered redistricting before the 1996 elections had drawn considerably more blacks into the district than Baker had previously represented. Amid a nationwide backlash against Republicans for what was seen as overzealous behavior during the impeachment of Bill Clinton, Baker just barely held onto his seat by about one thousand votes, narrowly avoiding a runoff.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
‘More debilitating to the Jenkins campaign was a strong whiff of the ethical problems that have plagued Republicans. A labor union ran ads noting Mr. Jenkins’s had seen 19 tax liens filed against him and his broadcasting company since 1990. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee pointed out that a murky Jenkins charity had paid him consulting fees, paid rent to his company, and paid more than a half-a-million dollars to his wife.’
Democrats can’t lead but they can sure knock out Republican candidates with various real and bogus “ethics” violations.
The funny thing that the national media fail to point out is that they’re compromising their liberal banner with people like this (and Heath Shuler and Brad Ellsworth, etc, etc). That’s short-sighted of them because they’re keeping conservatives in Congress. That said, the GOP ran terrible candidates in both Jenkins and Oberweis.
Correction. They’re running liberals pretending to be Conservatives. You cannot be a Conservative and vote for moonbat incompetence that the rodent leadership stands for.
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