Posted on 04/01/2009 6:25:40 AM PDT by freespirited
RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who was the first to elevate the 20th CD race to a contest of national importance by declaring it a must-win for the Republican Party, just issued the following statement on last night's cliffhanger:
"With over 5,000 absentee and military ballots still left to count, this race is far from over. We are confident that the Republican advantage in these absentee and military ballots can put Jim Tedisco over the top, and the Republican Party will do everything in its power to make sure all lawful votes are counted.”
”We are proud of Jim Tedisco and his campaign. Together, and in partnership with the Tedisco campaign, the New York Republican Party, the Republican National Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee went toe-to-toe with the Obama Democratic machine that looked invincible in the Northeast just a few months ago and showed that our party can and will be competitive in areas of the country where our party hasn’t won recently.”“President Obama, Senator Clinton, Eliot Spitzer and Chuck Schumer all won this district, and a Democrat won the last two congressional races. The fact we are in a dead heat race in NY-20 means we are making progress as a Party standing firm for fiscal responsibility.”
Despite his positive talk, it's hard to see how Steele, who is already under fire within the party, is going to be able to declare a decisive victory in this race, even if it ends up titling in Tedisco's direction once all the paper ballots are counted.
The chairman made an early foray to the 20th in the wake of Tedisco's selection by the GOP county chairs to carry their banner into yesterday's special election. He also appeared at a fundraiser for Tedisco that was hosted by Manhattan GOP chairwoman, Jennifer Saul, her father, Andrew, and attended by former Gov. George Pataki.
Steele is due back in New York today for a closed-door coffee with GOP leaders and Mayor Bloomberg, who is still trying to put together sufficient support among the city's Republican county chairs to run on their ballot line for a third time this fall.
Assuming 6000 ballots to go, Tedisco would need just over 51% to prevail. I don't know whether he can pull it off or not. But it's pretty clear the press spin is designed to demoralize Republicans, not offer fair comment.
I read earlier that it was 10,000 absentee ballots and the Republicans had an edge of 1100. They are supposed to count them on Apeil 13th.
Now I am disheartened knowing that Michael “Abortion is a choice” Steele is actively and publicly supporting Tedisco.
That does not bode well to have Steele as a cheerleader, as he wants to pull in a bigger tent and Tedisco is not expanding the tent.
Yes, but how many of the absentee ballots were sent in by ACORN?
This election was ACORNed. But it is still conservative enough that military ballots could spell the difference.
Steele is a fool.
Well, that's news! :) VERY good points about average voting there, other than presidential campaigns. If the media says black, it must be white. That is axiomatic. V's wife.
Make no mistake, this was VERY winnable. I live within walking distance of the district.
The fact of the matter is that Republicans have betrayed their base and when a candidate displays wishy-washy tendencies, the base just shuts them off. I have no doubt that this is true elsewhere as well, but I can tell you for sure that is the case here.
The people that defended and fought for conservative principles believed in Republicans and were let down. People took a lot of crap for these guys and the people they fought so hard to elect left them lying in the dirt to fend for themselves. Many of them don’t know what the hell to believe now.
If a Republican candidate displays ANY sign of not being rooted in principle, the Dem will win. Tedisco shot himself in the foot when he was wishy-washy on the bailout bill, trying to play both sides. It was a bonehead move and as a career politician, he should have known better.
Plus, ACORN was a factor here, as it always is in NY.
Wow, do you recall where you read that?
IIRC, this was a solidly Republican district for over a century and, although encompassing the home of FDR, it was represented during the New Deal era by Hamilton Fish, a staunch conservative. Has the district changed due to an influx of people from New York City and its immediate suburbs in recent decades?
This better illustrates it: Men Should Act Like Men
This is getting old. Ronald Reagan pointed the way to success by campaigning on solid principles boldly and articulately presented. By contrast, Alf Landon, Tom Dewey, Bob Dole, John McCain, and Richard Nixon in his first try for the White House provide examples of how the wishy-washy, me-too approach can be a fast track to failure. Yet me-tooism prevails among the GOP's leaders.
Polemicist Samuel Francis dubbed the GOP the Stupid Party. They seem to be living up to this moniker.
Tedisco was up 20 points quite recently...this is bad news for the GOP...we better get working to rebuild this party or 2010 is going to be a GOP blood bath.
I believe that is what is happening. I have family from Amsterdam who complains about all those coming from NY to get better welfare. But, they don't mind them come election time, since they are democrats.
When will republicans understand, don't TRY to follow the main stream media. Tedisco was in the saddle and there he did a 180 turn on the stimulus package. From then, he consistently came down and he should be thanking his lucky star to be even this close. He was a very POOR candidate. At first, I thought, he had all the experience in local politics and he will win the district by 10 to 15%. What a disappointment!!
That is a factor, as is the proximity to Albany, which brings in government employees.
It’s not that they ‘don’t mind’ them. They count on them voting for Democrats which is the entire reason they’re so hell bent on enslaving everyone with welfare.
“Richard Nixon”
in defense of Nixon’s first run for Pres there were some mysterious ballot issues in a few states thanks to Kennedy’s mob friends
keep in mind this was a very close election
Nixon also could have campaigned more in more strategic areas as opposed to making an appearance in all 50 states
This should have been very winnable but, like McCain, the candidate can only blame himself. To get this close given the lukewarm quality of the Republican candidate is nice, but not convincing. Steele said just about all he could--and it isn't over yet.
Folks,
I just got an email on the number of absentee ballots. Total number is 5906
Republicans outnumber the absentee ballots by a margin of 798
798-59= 739
Looks like Tedisco might win by 500 votes. What a poor show by our party?
We have to stop letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. We will never get perfect politicians, especially in districts that were recently held by Democrats. It is starting to look like we won this race. It is a win by a Republican for a district formerly held by a Democrat. Let the Democrats try to spin that as a loss by the GOP because it wasn't a big enough margin. We need to proclaim loud and long that a REPUBLICAN WON A DEMOCRAT DISTRICT.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.