Posted on 11/04/2015 2:30:55 PM PST by Servant of the Cross
Last night's off-year elections produced a number of noteworthy outcomes, none larger than Republican Matt Bevin's upset victory in Kentucky's gubernatorial race. Bevin ran as a hard-charging outsider conservative, warts and all. Public polls gave his opponent, Democrat Jack Conway, a modest but stable lead throughout the race's home stretch, averaging out to a three-point Conway advantage in a three-way contest. They were off by double digits. Bevin won handily:
DailyKos tweet at link ...
Bevin, boosted by a massive investment from national Republicans and help from his former nemisis Mitch McConnell, nationalized the race, tying Conway to President Obama at every opportunity - on coal, on school choice, on social issues, and especially on Obamacare. Democrats have cited Kentucky as a model of the law's success, touting its functioning exchange, improved insured rate, and the unequivocal support of the state's term-limited governor. Here's the timeless advice he dispensed to his party as Kentuckians went to the polls yesterday:
Tweet: Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear says Democrats will run on Obamacare in 2016 and "pound the Republicans into dust."
Oops. Matt Bevin ran as an unflinching opponent of the promise-shattering, cost-increasing law, and pounded Beshear's would-be successor into dust. Democrats reacted by chalking their loss up to the "unexpected headwinds of Trump-mania," a hilarious piece of trolling. Also swept away by the anti-Obama current was a Democratic "rising star" seen by many as a viable challenger to Sen. Rand Paul. Oops, again. Bevin becomes just the second Republican governor of Kentucky in approximately four decades. His Lieutenant Governor, Jenean Hampton, is the first non-white politician ever elected to statewide office. A black woman. Elected by Republicans. With Bevin's victory, Republicans are now set to control 32 governorships, compared to Democrats' 17 (Alaska's independent governor was opposed by Republicans, but endorsed by Sarah Palin). Barack Obama has proven quite adept at getting himself elected, but has acted as a one-man wrecking ball to his party's electoral performance across all levels of government:
@RoryCooper Tweet: Under President Obama, Democrats have lost 900+ state legislature seats, 12 governors, 69 House seats, 13 Senate seats. That's some legacy.
A few additional odds and ends from across the country:
Virginia: As Matt wrote last night, Republicans maintained a commanding majority in the House of Delegates, and defended their slim edge in the State Senate. Clinton ally Gov. Terry McAuliffe and special interests poured prestige and millions of dollars into several key races in an effort to win back the upper chamber, focusing heavily on Obamacare's Medicaid expansion and gun control. They lost.
Ohio: Voters overwhelmingly rejected ballot measures legalizing marijuana for both medical and recreational use. Clearly, this issue is not yet a national winner, though even some legalization advocates have argued that Ohio's proposed regime would have established an unfair scheme benefitting privileged "cartels".
New Jersey: Outspent Republicans lost a handful of seats in the General Assembly, increasing Democrats' lower chamber majority to its largest level in 36 years - probably not a headline that Chris Christie's presidential campaign wanted to see.
Maine: Portland voters rejected an increase to the minimum wage, and Republicans appear to have won two legislative seats in special elections.
Pennsylvania: Democrats won a clear majority on the state's Supreme Court, which will have major implications on a host of issues, including redistricting, for years to come.
ping ...
Yet the MSMs’ lips remain locked to Obama’s Obunghole.
but isnt he a loonatic? hmm, looks like anyone can win in 2016, just look at all of the loony dems running.
...and the GOPe still refuses to challenge Barack.
Under President Obama, Democrats have lost 900+ state legislature seats, 12 governors, 69 House seats, 13 Senate seats. That's some legacy.
Mongol General: Conan! What is best in life?
Conan: Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentations of their women.
From another thread: "People are still Voting Against Obama, as they did in Nov, 2014 and will again on November 8, 2016. It's the only way people can express their rage against what Obama is doing to America. If voting against Hillary isn't enough, throw in Obama. They are birds of a feather. Defeat Clinton/Obama 2016!"
Unpossible. I was told this guy and any like him were losers. I was told that we had to vote for lesser evils like Mitch, not conservatives because lesser evil wins and winning is what matters. Not principle.
Look at all the great things a lesser evil like Mitch won for us this past month alone!
WINNING!
For political junkies, this is one of the biggest upsets ever. Surely shocked me
I would imagine that at least 40,000 of the Bevin supporters are also for HRC though that should seem unlikely. There always so many “trend” voters looking for winners and decided to take a chance on Bevin.
Good point, but the U.S. Senate remains wholly liberal and will be so in 2017 too. And Orrin Grant Hatch is no help in that department, UT.
You know, it just hit me, the Clintons and Obamas have virtually destroyed the Democrat Party. The people are leaving in droves. If it wasn’t for the MSM carrying their water, the democrat party would just wither away and die. Their hard core group is what, 20%? Combine all the subgroups, the academics, the DSA and the CPUSA and that gives you about 20%. The rest of America is finally getting the picture. . .
It should be noted, though, that the Democrat Party remains a force simply because the GOP is turning its back on those same conservative, middle-class people who are the core of their grassroots support. The GOP has always been a party of big-business, big-government globalists, and that inconvenient fact severely limits its prospects for success in any given election.
Yes that's undeniable, but where are the results of these changes? While there are likely some good things happening in the states and localities, show me where these changes have translated into a change in direction at the Federal level? The answer is that the GOPe idiots who are still in control, left their balls and their backbones at home when they moved to Washington and as a consequence, The Half-Breed has run over them like a Black linebacker, untouched by human hands. Either that or they are so beholden to the US Chamber of Communists and the “K” street lobbyists, that they never had any intentions about doing what they promised their constituents they would.
Bevin, boosted by a massive investment from national Republicans and help from his former nemisis Mitch McConnell...
I read on another thread that the NGA had donated sparingly, and only late in the race (R's were heavily outspent in this election), and that Mitch wasn't much help at all.
So, Kentuckians, what's the real story?
GOP 2016 happened for one reason IMO. Thats because of entropy/dispersion. Those democrats have over the years brought their liberalism to the GOP in fleeing the Marxist DNC.
The GOP is now so diluted as to be less conservative in sum than a Democrat of the Reagan years. And the GOP voter of 2015 thinks outright liberalism is conservative because a Marist Dem opposes a given GOP position.
I especially liked,"It should be noted, though, that the Democrat Party remains a force simply because the GOP is turning its back on those same conservative, middle-class people who are the core of their grassroots support. The GOP has always been a party of big-business, big-government globalists, and that inconvenient fact severely limits its prospects for success in any given election."
Will the conservatives ever take over the GOP? We'll see. .
More and more I think we all need to back an Article V Convention of States. No matter what gains we make in the States, the Beltway is so entrenched I think it's going to take an Article V Convention with actual amendments - similar to Levin's proposed amendments - before we see real change.
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