Let's just ignore all the Tea Party candidates who made it into office. Let's ignore all the good they did and focus on a few fraud-drenched elections.
Posted on 11/03/2010 5:56:25 AM PDT by Colofornian
LAS VEGAS — At polling places across Nevada Tuesday, researchers conducting exit polls asked voters one fundamental question about Harry Reid: Do you approve or disapprove of the way he has handled his job as senator? The results were terrible for the Senate Majority Leader. Fifty-five percent of voters disapproved of the job he has done, while 44 percent approved. Such numbers might seem a sure indicator of defeat, and yet by Tuesday night, Reid was leading his supporters in a victory celebration.
The exit pollsters also asked whether Reid, running for a fifth term in the Senate, has been in Washington too long. Fifty-five percent of voters said yes, while 41 percent said no. And still Reid won.
It's long been common knowledge here that many, many Nevadans don't like their senior senator. What Tuesday's exit polls showed was that their feelings go well beyond simple dislike. And yet, if the exit polls are correct, a significant number of people voted to re-elect a man they think isn't doing a good job and who has stayed too long in the Senate. In the end, Reid won 50.2 percent of the vote to Republican challenger Sharron Angle's 44.6 percent.
It would be hard to find a more telling measure of Angle's deficiencies as a candidate or the devastating effectiveness of Reid's scorched-earth negative campaign against her. Funded by millions of dollars from public-sector unions, Reid relentlessly attacked Angle from the moment she won the GOP nomination. Many of the earliest attacks went unanswered, forming impressions of Angle so negative that they outweighed the voters' negative opinion of Reid.
And then there was Reid's organizational strength. Both Reid and Angle held their election-night parties in Las Vegas casinos, Reid in the new Aria complex and Angle at the Venetian. That's nothing out of the ordinary in Nevada, but the difference between them was that Reid was entirely at home, with the enormous financial power and organizing muscle of the gambling industry and its union allies in his corner, while Angle was relying on votes from people who live far from Las Vegas. Republicans across the country who were hoping for a miracle in this race discovered that raw power wins the day.
And bending the rules, too. On election day there were reports that casino giant Harrah's had worked with the Reid campaign and the unions, particularly the Culinary Workers Union, to herd virtually all unionized employees to early voting stations to vote for Reid. According to a report in National Review Online, one Reid staffer told Harrah's officials that he would do anything -- for emphasis, he wrote it ANYTHING -- to get those workers to the polls.
By mid-day Tuesday, the Nevada Republican Party had filed a complaint with the Secretary of State's office. "Employees' votes were being tracked and supervisors were instructed by top management to personally confront employees to find out why they had not voted," the complaint said. "Further, the evidence shows that Harrah's management has continually communicated to employees their concern with electing Harry Reid and not just to ensure that the employees voted for the candidates of their choice." Such conduct, the complaint argued, violates Nevada law.
Democrats denied any such violations. And the fact is, Reid won by about 40,000 votes, a margin difficult to explain by charges of fraud. Also, squabbling over alleged irregularities tended to obscure the enormous advantage that open union support gave Reid. Nationally, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees spent $91 million trying to elect Democrats. A good chunk of that went to Reid, mostly for get-out-the-vote operations.
Even though they are not a huge part of the electorate, unions gave Reid an important edge. Exit pollsters found that 18 percent of voters had a union member in their household, while 82 percent didn't. The voters who didn't have a union member in the household split right down the middle between Reid and Angle, 48 percent to 48 percent. But among those who did have a union member in their household, Reid won 67 percent to 29 percent.
Every single aspect of the Reid campaign was organized to the max. "For people willing to volunteer, there's a free lunch afterward in the cafeteria," Reid staffers told people waiting in line to see First Lady Michelle Obama at a Reid rally on Monday. Everyone at the rally was given a sheet of paper with the phone numbers of people, presumably Democrats, to call and urge to vote. Speakers at the rally said they wanted to create the "biggest phone bank in the country," which sounded like an exaggeration but did indicate how much emphasis Reid put on getting in touch with voters.
When it comes to Angle's troubled campaign, one last statistic tells the story. The exit pollsters asked voters whether they had a favorable opinion of the Democratic and Republican parties. Among those who said they had a favorable opinion of the Democratic party, Reid won 93 percent of the vote. Of those who said they had a favorable opinion of the Republican party, Angle won 82 percent. Reid did a better job winning Democrats than Angle did winning Republicans.
So in the end, there was Reid onstage at the Aria, smiling as his supporters chanted HAR-EEE! HAR-EEE! HAR-EEE! Never terribly popular, for the last two years, he had defied the voters of his state as he pushed Barack Obama's unpopular agenda through the Senate. And as he did so, unemployment in Nevada climbed to 14.4 percent, the highest in the nation. It was no wonder, then, that a majority of the Nevadans who went to the polls Tuesday disapproved of the way Reid has done his job. The wonder was that he got away with it.
Effectively that is TAXAYER MONEY.
The dues which go to the public sector unions is money that should be returned to the taxpayers since the public employees aren't using it for their own personal use.
We need to outlaw all public employee unions.
They are a cancer on the republic.
The question becomes: Does Harry Reid still have the support to remain as Majority Leader, or does he face a challenge in January??
After a defeat of this magnitude, I can’t see how he stays in the Leadership, even though he was reelected. No matter what, Reid is badly damaged.
Please. Not on a public board.
As Senate Majority leader, We the People have to live with the consequence of their negligence at policing their state.
The adults need to step in.
Maybe Angle can get a position in a Palin Administration.
But now that the election is over, those who know and love here will acknowledge that she is dumb as a box of rocks, and not fit for demanding cabinet posts.
Can any astute on-the-ground, FR Broadband Journalists give us the lowdown on the impact of the Hispanic vote in this disastrous election?
Can any astute on-the-ground, FR Broadband Journalists give us the lowdown on the impact of the Hispanic vote in this disastrous election?
Bingo
This group called the Tea Party EXPRESS threw money down in NV, AK, and DE. That’s 0-3.
These states were certain Republican wins before they got involved. Now we have 6 more years of Harry Reid, 6 years of Coons, and whatever in AK.
These guys have a right to throw their money where they want but I don’t like them using the name of the Tea Party. They are not the Tea Party. The media and a lot of people identify the Tea Party Express as the Tea Party. They are using the coattails of the good people of the Tea Party for their own agenda.
Thanks Tea Party Express for costing us 3 senate seats for the next 6 years. These candidates may not be ideal to you but they may be the best we can hope for in these states.
In the end Sharon Angle ran a great attack campaign against Reid but she had baggage that made it an uphill climb,and that gave Reid this opening. She had said things that were popular in the Republican primary that she couldnt or wouldnt explain in the general election. Rand Paul had much better luck in a more conservative state and sounded better on TV than Angle. On MSNBC they were actually declaring last night a victory for Democrats for saving Reid, GAG.
On the bright side, I think Reid continuing as Senate majority leader with 53-54 is the worst situation for Democrats and Obama 2012. If Republicans had the 53 they would be in for two rough years. This makes it very difficult for Obama to veto budget bills and blame Republicans for everything.
“Fifty-five percent of voters disapproved of the job he has done, while 44 percent approved. Such numbers might seem a sure indicator of defeat, and yet by Tuesday night, Reid was leading his supporters in a victory celebration.
The exit pollsters also asked whether Reid, running for a fifth term in the Senate, has been in Washington too long. Fifty-five percent of voters said yes, while 41 percent said no. And still Reid won”
Harry “LBJ” Reid?
I, my wife and everyone I know did our part to get rid of Harry. Las Vegas votes decided this. And, we know who was in charge of the voting machines there.
Make Nevada the first intensive and extensive investigation of voter fraud. Send in teams of investigators and lawyers to dig all the dirt; demand prosecution and jail time for the obvious perpetrators.
There’s a lot of dipsh*t NV Repub who endorsed Harry Reid too.
I guess the good thing is Reid is still the face of the Dem Senate going into 2012, which does not bode well for Obama’s reelection.
Ohio McDonald’s gives voting advice in paychecks
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2617419/posts
If it is wrong here...then it is wrong there.
Knowing how our Unions work I really don’t believe the Nevada election was on the up and up, but that’s just me.
You considered Castle a Republican?
BTW, your facts are wrong. Coons will face re-election in 2014.
And do you think that Reid didn't pull some strings to ensure his re-election that no Republican could have overcome, even one of your RINO favorites?
Let's just ignore all the Tea Party candidates who made it into office. Let's ignore all the good they did and focus on a few fraud-drenched elections.
He "borrowed" votes from his son, too many votes!
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