Posted on 11/28/2012 6:17:35 AM PST by EDINVA
EXCERPT FROM THE EMAIL:
I am writing to advise you that after a great deal of consideration I have decided to suspend my campaign for the Republican Party's nomination for Governor of Virginia. Needless to say, this was a very difficult decision for me, and I know it will come as a surprise and disappointment to you, but I am confident it is the right decision.
With open primaries and no party registration available the convention is THE ONLY DEMOCRATIC WAY to select a candidate. Otherwise we’d just be handing over the choice to the anti-semitic and fasicstic Democrats in Alexandria and Arlington to do the job ~ and that jus’ ain’t right!
Bolling knows what he's done ~ he should have slunk away.
“McAuliffe couldn’t even get the Democrats to vote for him ... Must be a streak of masochism in him.”
Hard to understand. He was never a charming or endearing person. After he lost the primary some years ago, he went underground and hadn’t been heard of by the general public until this past month when his gubernatorial ambitions again came to light.
That is in marked (if you will ) contrast to Mark Warner who took advantage of his race against JOHN Warner to build name ID, and then stay in the public eye until there was a viable race for him to run and win.
McAuliffe doesn’t seem to have contemplated a long term strategy to be elected governor. Perhaps he’s counting on the same voting public as Obama enjoyed in ‘12. I don’t see that happening. (but what do I know?)
Just remember, there was no way Kaine was ever going to be elected governor. The former mayor of Richmond? Get real. There was no way Mark Warner was ever going to be elected governor. From Connecticut? Never held office before? There was no way either were ever going to be elected to the US Senate, either.
And there is no way McAuliffe will ever be elected governor.
And, actually, I would like some toasted cheese to go with my port, if you have any.
First off, you should well remember that since the ‘70s, VA has tended to vote contrary to the Presidency in its Gubernatorial races. The last time it didn’t was 1973, and even then, Mills Godwin only barely won over the moonbat Henry Howell. From 1977 onward, it has voted like clockwork against the WH party: for Republican John Dalton; 1981 for Democrat Chuck Robb; 1985 for Dem Gerry Baliles; 1989 for Dem Doug Wilder; 1993 for GOPer George Allen; 1997 for GOPer Jim Gilmore; 2001 for Dem Mark Warner; 2005 for Dem Tim Kaine; 2009 for GOPer Bob McDonnell. I expect Cuccinelli will continue the trend next year, especially given that Willard will not be in the WH.
If you have some miraculous information that Cuccinelli will lose next year, please share it. I might remind you that he also received a higher % of the vote than Bolling did, and Bolling should’ve performed better given that he was already an incumbent running for reelection and Cuccinelli was making his first run for statewide office.
As for Kaine and Mark Warner, both lucked out in races running against Republicans who ran poor campaigns. Although I supported it then, I realize now that George Allen’s retread candidacy was a fiasco. We should’ve run someone else against Kaine.
I had serious qualms about giving Allen a second shot at it (although I felt a little more confident about it after Webb announced he wouldn't be running for re-election), and it turns out that Allen was indeed the wrong choice. I still can't believe Romney managed to lose Virginia to Obama, but I think Allen still ran behind Romney in most parts of the same. 1994 Allen didn't show up for the campaign, 2006 Allen did.
I think Shaheen will be re-elected in N.H. if they try the same strategy and recycle John "my daddy was Governor" Sununu for a rematch. (even though 2014 should a terrible year for the RATs overall). Shades of the Wellstone vs. Boschwitz rematch. We're trying the same thing over again after voters kicked out these Senators six years ago and still don't like 'em. It's not going to change anymore than Stephenson vs. Einsenhower in 1956 helped the RATs.
Cuccinelli should be elected Governor easily next year, especially with the backlash against the national RATs. But it's troubling that Virginia used to be very reliable for us in Presidential elections and seems to have become a very centrist swing state in recent years, allowing the marxist Obama to win it twice. It's almost as if Virginia and West Virgina have switched sides. West Virginia was never part of the "solid south" but it was always more likely to go RAT in Presidential elections because of poor white people controlled by the coal miners unions. Gore loss in West Virgina in 2000 was considered an upset, and since then it's become strongly Republican in presidential contests, to the point where the RATs don't even try to contest it anymore (I think it's probably because the national RATs moved so far left on social issues, and the pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, and pro-gun local RATs in West Virgina still win elections regularly). Virginia, on the other hand, is no longer the GOP friendly state it was, when it even terribly unpopular RAT presidents with horrible economic records can win it, and liberal RATs imported from northeastern states can win the governorship. But none of that changes the fact the RATs have a terrible weak bench for Governor next year. McAuliffe wouldn't even win the RAT primary if they could find anyone else. He's a walking disaster. He might win if it's Minnesota (Al Franken!) but even Virginia isn't that bad yet.
With respect to NH, I’m not sure whom else we can run against Shaheen but Sununu, Jr. Frank Guinta wasn’t able to win reelection against one of the two moonbats and hopefully Charlie Bass goes away for good. Ovide Lamontagne ended up being a total bust, and he already ran against Shaheen in 1996 and was shellacked. Who else is left ? Bring Judd Gregg out of retirement ? Bob Smith ? Craig Benson ?
Bolling might not be out of the running yet; some articles I’ve read suggests Bolling might run as an independent. One of his advisors hasn’t shut the door on that possibility.
VA’s shift has definitely troubled me, and the fact that Obama was able to win it a second time was a shocker. There’s the shift in NOVA, but I’ve noticed Republican candidates in recent years tend to run behind in other metro areas when they lose, like the Richmond suburbs, Virginia Beach, and Chesapeake. Even when Romney was running ahead of McCain in rural, small-town counties, I noticed when the results from Chesterfield County (suburban Richmond) came in, Romney wasn’t up from where McCain was four years ago. That told me Romney was likely to lose. Suburban VA as a whole seems more swingy than it used to be.
What’s former Gov. Steve Merrill up to these days?
If Bolling were to pull a stunt like that, it would truly be the end of his political career. He might as well become a Democrat now.
As for Steve Merrill, I can’t see luring him out of political retirement. He’ll be 68 in 2014 and wouldn’t have run a race in 20 years.
The NH GOP is way, WAY too incestuous. They desperately need new blood. The one big statewide “win” they got lately was with Kelly Ayotte. She was A) NOT the child of some former Governor, and B) NOT some retread who was kicked out of that office before (surprise!). The NH GOP establishment would have people believe that “only” candidates like Charlie Bass and John Sununu are “viable” choices for national office, when the opposite is true. Voters are fed up with the blue bloods who act as if they are entitled to hold major office, which resulted in the big RAT wins of 2006, 2008, and 2012. If it had been up the elder Sununu, Ayotte would have been deemed “unelectable” and passed up in favor of Judd Gregg’s kid, or something along those lines.
Sununu brings baggage as a politician’s kid and also makes it easy for Shaheen to attack the GOP nominee as a failed “rubber stamp for Bush’s policies” blah blah blah…
IMO, they really need to start mining the zillions of state legislators they have for higher office. We’re talking about a state that is quite small both geographic and population wise, it shouldn’t be too hard for one of their long-time state senators to start building up funds for a statewide campaign down the road. They outnumber the RATs 2-to-1 in the lower house (at least, going by 2010, I’m not sure what the new numbers are) If they can find a conservative Republican who is a popular legislator in a traditionally Democrat stronghold, that would give them even more of a leg up. Run the Speaker or the Senate President for national office if they really want someone who has clout. Running state legislators for the U.S. Senate works for the RATs all the time, look where they got Obama from.
Mark my words though, Sununu vs. Shaheen rematch = 6 more years of Shaheen. You heard it here first.
>> Bolling might not be out of the running yet; some articles I’ve read suggests Bolling might run as an independent. One of his advisors hasn’t shut the door on that possibility.
>> If Bolling were to pull a stunt like that, it would truly be the end of his political career. He might as well become a Democrat now. <<
I think there is a valid complaint with the Virginia A.G.’s office being used as a political stepping stone to automatically get the nod for Governor 4 years later (might as well re-title the Office “Governor nominee in waiting”), but Bolling is not the solution. Cuccinelli is a stronger candidate and more popular statewide, which is why Bolling will not win the GOP primary. I can’t imagine him bolting to run as an independent,that would almost certainly result in a RAT win with the GOP vote being split. Agree with Fieldmarshaldj, I don’t think he’s stupid enough to pull a Charlie Crist.
The NH GOP is way, WAY too incestuous. They desperately need new blood. The one big statewide “win” they got lately was with Kelly Ayotte. She was A) NOT the child of some former Governor, and B) NOT some retread who was kicked out of that office before (surprise!). The NH GOP establishment would have people believe that “only” candidates like Charlie Bass and John Sununu are “viable” choices for national office, when the opposite is true. Voters are fed up with the blue bloods who act as if they are entitled to hold major office, which resulted in the big RAT wins of 2006, 2008, and 2012. If it had been up the elder Sununu, Ayotte would have been deemed “unelectable” and passed up in favor of Judd Gregg’s kid, or something along those lines.
Sununu brings baggage as a politician’s kid and also makes it easy for Shaheen to attack the GOP nominee as a failed “rubber stamp for Bush’s policies” blah blah blah…
IMO, they really need to start mining the zillions of state legislators they have for higher office. We’re talking about a state that is quite small both geographic and population wise, it shouldn’t be too hard for one of their long-time state senators to start building up funds for a statewide campaign down the road. They outnumber the RATs 2-to-1 in the lower house (at least, going by 2010, I’m not sure what the new numbers are) If they can find a conservative Republican who is a popular legislator in a traditionally Democrat stronghold, that would give them even more of a leg up. Run the Speaker or the Senate President for national office if they really want someone who has clout. Running state legislators for the U.S. Senate works for the RATs all the time, look where they got Obama from.
Mark my words though, Sununu vs. Shaheen rematch = 6 more years of Shaheen. You heard it here first.
>> Bolling might not be out of the running yet; some articles I’ve read suggests Bolling might run as an independent. One of his advisors hasn’t shut the door on that possibility.
>> If Bolling were to pull a stunt like that, it would truly be the end of his political career. He might as well become a Democrat now. <<
I think there is a valid complaint with the Virginia A.G.’s office being used as a political stepping stone to automatically get the nod for Governor 4 years later (might as well re-title the Office “Governor nominee in waiting”), but Bolling is not the solution. Cuccinelli is a stronger candidate and more popular statewide, which is why Bolling will not win the GOP primary. I can’t imagine him bolting to run as an independent,that would almost certainly result in a RAT win with the GOP vote being split. Agree with Fieldmarshaldj, I don’t think he’s stupid enough to pull a Charlie Crist.
McAulife will undoubtedly draw the Democrat voters who showed up in 2010!
The NH GOP fared poorly downballot. The only thing they managed to keep was a paltry 2-seat majority in the State Senate (and the Dems dropped to just 5 of 24 seats in 2010, and have since gone back up to 11). The GOP lost the Executive Council (going from 5R-Zip to 3D-2R) and they also lost the House, too. I can’t really speak to many of those holding office and their potential. From what I heard of the (outgoing) GOP House Speaker William O’Brien from some other FReeper, he’s not much to write home about.
GOP lost the NH House and barley kept the Senate 13-11.
NH is not a seat I’m optimistic about gaining in 2014. (Beating Warner either, he is inexplictably popular).
Though he lost I’d just as soon go with Guinta anyway rather than Sununu.
If Bolling runs as an independent he should be castrated and exiled to the moon.
That traitorous move would ensure democrat victory just like when that RINO scumbag with support from the RINO Mr. Liz Taylor cost Olly North in the 1994 Senate race.
Are you saying there was alcohol involved?
Oh no!!! Not again!! I need to stop using that word altogether. That's like the 6th time!
Have you met Auh2orepublican? He got me on the first 5 times. :-D
McAuliffe is a clown compared to those 2 much better politicians and less offensive personalities.
The rats could win that race but probably not with him, especially with Osama in the WH, something would have to go wrong. McAuliffe can’t pretend to be a moderate.
He certainly couldn’t (0% chance) win a “landslide” as you suggest, over any Republican. What’s your problem with Cuccinelli?
Actually, I’ve gotten so accustomed to you writing “barely” as “barley”, it would be strange for me to see you write it any other way. :-P
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.