Posted on 10/13/2012 7:54:55 PM PDT by tricky_k_1972
Why Joe Walsh Might Win the 8th
It ispossible that Rep. Joe Walsh, Tea Party-Ill., will hold on to his seat.
A poll conducted this week by We Ask America has him leading challenger Tammy Duckworth, 47.8 percent to 45.1 percent. (The previous poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling in late September, had Duckworth ahead, 52-38.)
This is not supposed to happen. House Speaker Michael Madigan drew this seat not just for a Democrat, but specifically for Duckworth. One of the reasons Duckworth lost to Peter Roskam in 2006 was that she didn't live in the district, and was unwilling to move, because her house had been modified to accommodate her disability. The house is in the new 8th District. After that defeat, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and President Obama helped her build a resume. Blagojevich appointed Duckworth head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Obama named her Assistant Secretary for Veterans Affairs.
With the help of her mentors, Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Duckworth has raised five times as much money as Walsh. Walsh also helped Duckworth raise money by saying she wasn't a “true hero” because she bragged about her military service. Duckworth was given a prime-time speaking spot at the Democratic National Convention, where delegates were in tears as she talked her rescue from the wreckage of a Black Hawk helicopter.
So how can Duckworth possibly lose? Well, maybe for all of the above reasons. Walsh’s party wants nothing to do with him. The congressman skipped the Republican National Convention, and the National Republican Campaign Committee announced in September it would stop buying TV ads for him. But that lack of support has played into Walsh’s argument that he’s an independent, while Duckworth is a partisan D.C. Democrat. Even though he’s the insider, he’s running as the outsider. Walsh has declared that he’s a Tea Partier before he’s a Republican. In their first debate, he came off as fiscally responsible, while she looked like an advocate for liberal special interests. Because he has no support from national Republicans, Walsh has done all his campaigning inside the district, while Duckworth flew to Charlotte and made a speech at a college in California. In a congressional election, face-to-face campaigning can be everything.
Duckworth’s numbers may also have been hurt by President Obama’s lousy debate performance. It turned independents toward Romney, and the suburbs are full of independents.
Walsh is a shameless, sexist, racist, creedist, colorist, national originist political bully who will do and say anything to win. He poked Duckworth during their sit-down debate and criticized her for spending too much time picking out a dress to wear to the convention. (Those gals take forever to get dressed. Huh, huh, huh.) Maybe Duckworth needs to stop campaigning as the reasonable, responsible candidate, and start calling Walsh a deadbeat dad. You know what happens to politicians who’ll do anything to win? They win. And do you know what happens to two-time political losers? They never run again.
So what's the deal, why so pissed, "House Speaker Michael Madigan drew this seat not just for a Democrat, but specifically for Duckworth."
So you redistrict the state, and make a seat just for her, an injured vet, in the burbs of Chicago, IL, against a Tea party candidate, and SHE STILL CAN'T WIN, perfect!
Eddie sounds like a whiny, leftist bitch.
Approves.
I wish this were true, but if their name is John Cox, Steve Lonegan, John Raese (and on the Dem side, Myrth York & Dan Seals), they become three, four, and five-time losers because they can't take the hint after multiple defeats in a row that voters don't like them.
Regarding IL-8, my track record for predictions has been terrible there (I said there was no way Crane would lose in 2004, and said Walsh had no chance against Bean in 2010), so I'm not going to make any predictions on the race this time. I do think there's a SLIGHT chance Walsh could win it again though, and it would be hilarious if Duckworth STILL lost running in a now Dem-majority district, custom-made for her.
Go, Joe!
Apparently this is the wrong Joe Walsh I was thinking off...
Newt Gingrich lost in 74 and 76 to Jack Flynt and then Flynt retired in 78.
Democratic dreams of big wins in Illinois fading.
Yep, I was reading that, did a little more searching around and found this article. I thought it was so over the top that it was actually funny, or sad, take your pick.
I live in the 10th can’t wait to vote for him
I live in the 10th can’t wait to vote for him!’pmp
If you live in the 10th, how can you vote for Walsh, who’s running in the 8th?
Funk #49....!!
Well, it is Chicago. Although to truly be able to vote the maximum number of times I think you have to be dead.
Yes, he did come closer than any other Republican had in that historically Democrat seat, but still came up short twice. He had the fortune of not having to run against an incumbent the third time, and after being elected to the open seat, the district was redrawn to be Republican. I discussed this with Newt's supporters during the 2012 GOP primary when they were claiming Newt's history of winning elective office as soooo much more impressive than Rick Santorum's. Actually, their record of running for elective office is about even.
Rep. Walsh will easily win. All of the voters, in the new 8th Dist., have a republican congressman, Walsh, Dold, Roskam, or Hultgren. The majority of those voters have a republican state senator, Pankau, Murphy, or Dillard.
Some people, who live in the current 10th Dist., will live in the new 8th Dist.
Yeah, I own a house in the 8th too.
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