Here's something mrs whatsit wrote in the comments to last night's election post. (I found the photos to illustrate her painful observations about the appearance of the 2 men, and I corrected her misspelling of "Scozzafava.")
A few points about the Congressional race from someone who lives in upstate NY (not in district 23, but nearby.)
1) We have been inundated with TV commercials here. On TV, Hoffman comes across as exceedingly weird, skinny and overeager with googly eyes, bright yellow teeth, and an odd, halting way of speaking.
He kept repeating a slogan that he was a common-sense Reagan conservative and common sense isn't so common any more. It got annoying.
Owens, by contrast, is big and rugged-looking. He's an Air Force veteran and he has that military solidity, calm and self-possession.
He seems like a country guy, and this is a rural district. He presented himself as a centrist. On the human level, Owens is the kind of person voters around here feel comfortable with. Hoffman's not. Neither was Scozzafava.
2) On the numbers -- as of this morning, with 93 percent of the vote counted, the math-challenged local newspaper is reporting that the split is 46 percent Hoffman, 49 percent Owens, and 6 percent Scozzafava, who was still on the ballot, not having quit until Saturday. (Adds up to 101 percent, but who's counting?) In any event, Scozzafava's vote is bigger than the split, which seems to put most attempts to diagnose the Owens/Hoffman outcome into guesswork territory.
Owens came across as to the right of Ms. Scozzafava, whose ads emphasized her support for such lefty favorites as card check. Hoffman, by contrast, seemed to belong pretty far over on the right. Upstate NY has traditionally been rock-ribbed Republican but has been trending Democratic recently, with the result that Blue Dog Democrats and other center-tending politicos have been doing well. I don't think the Owens win has as much to do with the candidates' political parties, though, as it does with who they are personally and with their ad presentations.
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76 comments:
Obama didn't campaign for Owens, and Owens won.
Obama campaigned for Deeds and Corzine -- and they lost.
I think this is much clearer.
One of the bigger questions is why would 6 percent vote for Scozzafava after she dropped out of the race?
To understand NY23 you have to remember how corrupt NYS politics are. Most of the state leaders are under indictment or investigation. NY republicans are happy to chase union endorsements so they can hand out patronage jobs. Also upstate NY is an economic disaster and much of the remaining jobs are prisons and state/county positions. That a guy like Hoffman can do as well as he did says a great deal.
1) Didn't live in the district. This has more of a subconscious effect on district dwellers than people give it credit for. Besides, Hoffman doesn't have the cult of personality Hillary does to pull of successful carpet-bagging.
2) Got complete boned on the issues. When questioned about purely localized issues, Hoffman dropped the ball badly. If you're running for local office, you must know the local issues.
I never thought he had a chance to begin with. The only reason I cared about NY23 was the erie way in which Scuzz handled it.
Well, if TCOT is to be believed it looks as if Scozzafava's last minute endorsement gave Owens a major lead in independents.
So between this and the 6k votes she took (plus the absentee ballots which were mailed before her collapse) I guess she did get her revenge.
Hoffman lost because he is a right-wing extremist who opposes gay marriage.
Too bad for him he wasn't running in Maine, which we now know must actually be a Christianist enclave, due to the defeat of SSM there last night.
On Hoffman's loss:
"When [William F.] Buckley ran for New York mayor in 1965, his main goal was to derail the candidacy of liberal Republican John Lindsay even if it meant sending votes to Democrat Abraham Beame."
Same thing here. The GOP loss was intentional by Buckley. He wanted the NY Republicans to stop nominating candidates who were functionally Democrats, and bring it back rightward.
Lindsay won, and according to historian Fred Siegel, he was the worst mayor in NYC history. "I put Lindsay at the bottom, below even Jimmy Walker and Abe Beame and David Dinkins. Lindsay wasn't incompetent or foolish or corrupt, but he was actively destructive. The city lost 700,000 jobs in his wake."
In his NYT obit: "his administration was plagued with strikes and slowdowns by transit workers, teachers, police officers, firefighters and sanitation workers.", ...a "limousine liberal"; biased toward minority members, the rich and glittery Manhattan.
...Many experts traced the city's mid-70's fiscal crisis to the Lindsay years, though Mr. Lindsay disagreed, insisting that it may have come sooner if he had not imposed new taxes."
Gee, that all sounds strangely familiar.
Although I must say that it is entertaining seeing the left attempt to claim, usually in the same breath, that the two governor races (one in DC's backyard and one basically taken over by the WH) were meaningless while the election in upstate NY (and the bizarre nature of it) shows that the GOP is in a state of civil war.
Slightly OT but I was watching the victory speech from VA last night and the newly elected Att. Gen.'s speech basically consisted of thanks and attacking the Obama's administration (health care, bailouts, regulation).
Sorry, that should read "attacking Obama's"
Owens appears to be more of a Blue Dog Democrat that a Progressive. The name of the party hardly matters to me, as long as they vote in a way that will help us start to climb out of this fiscal hole that we're in. Scuzzafava would have been part of the problem.
Them yeller teeth didn't help.
Why didn't Doug Hoffman win?
Hmmmmm ... maybe it's because Republican Party infiltrators spent $900,000 pushing Socialist Democrat Dede Scuzzyfava.
Let me push a different angle: I think Hoffman did win.
He exposed what's going on at the top of the Republican Party ... how top Republicans are sending conservative campaign donations over to secretly-Democrat candidates.
The jig is up.
The Republicans just guaranteed third-party candidates from coast-to-coast. The Tea Party just became a national force.
If Republicans want to win now ... they'll have to be conservative ... or else they'll lose in 3-way races.
Hoffman was victorious.
By forcing the Republicans to tack back to the right, he just ensured that Barack Obama is a one-term lame-duck President.
So I guess that this inevitably leads to the question of:
"What happens next fall?".
I have no idea, but I imagine that at the very least the use of a primary should prevent the Republican split.
While I like the Conservative's politics, I can see that the Democrat was a better candidate.
But I hope the Republicans see the shot across their bow. Ignore conservatives at your and the countries peril.
Trey
One of the bigger questions is why would 6 percent vote for Scozzafava after she dropped out of the race?
I wonder how many people vote early in the district.
The national folks like Newt Gingrich should never have gotten involved in NY-23 to begin with. I had never heard of Scozzafava until that happened, which inevitably led to national conservatives questioning why the national GOP was wasting money promoting somebody so out of touch with the party's core principles. If she was the local pick of the local party structure, fine, let the locals run her; once the nationals weighed in for her, it was almost inevitably going to be a cluster-f***.
On the whole, though, I agree that it is a win for conservatives. The winning Democrat, Owens, is likely more moderate than the Republican was, and the GOP has, hopefully, perhaps learned to be a bit more discerning in spending its hard-raised money.
On the whole, though, I agree that it is a win for conservatives.
Interesting spin. Backing a losing candidate is a win.
I agree it can be a learning experience. If you want to run a conservative, have conservatives be in charge of the party. Or, have a primary before a special election. I wonder if Doug Hoffman would have beat Ms. Scozzafava in a primary.
I wonder if this helps Mitt Romney, who had the presence of mind to stay away from the whole thing.
Maybe it had something to do with his being for Dede, before he was against her.
Maybe the voters are not comfortable with a third-party candidate.
Maybe the voters rejected the candidate who represented nasty personal attacks against his opponent.
Maybe voters just don't like skinny guys with yellow teeth.
From what I’ve read, NY-23 is solidly Republican but not especially conservative (it voted for Obama last year), and Hoffman was a relatively uncharismatic candidate (manner and teeth) with poor command of the local issues. Moreover, more than 95 percent of Hoffman's contributions came from out-of-district. Did the conservative activists ever bother to check whether he resonated particularly well with the the district? Seems, not so much.
The national folks like Newt Gingrich should never have gotten involved in NY-23 to begin with. I had never heard of Scozzafava until that happened, which inevitably led to national conservatives questioning why the national GOP was wasting money promoting somebody so out of touch with the party's core principles. If she was the local pick of the local party structure, fine, let the locals run her; once the nationals weighed in for her, it was almost inevitably going to be a cluster-f***.
I agree. It was a local election until the insertion of National figures like Gingrich and Palin.
The push to advance conservative candidates is a good idea, but it can backfire if the candidate is not local or palatable to the people that are residents in the district.
While "I" would prefer a more conservative Representative than an Olympia Snow, she IS representing her own district and they, the voters, have a right to be represented by someone who reflects their own views.
If the people in NY didn't think that Hoffman was representative of themselves, then he shouldn't win, no matter how much I or others would have liked to see a more conservative trend.
This is the beauty of a representative government as opposed to a centralized power structure such as we have been gradually herded into and that Obama wants to force on us.
If we lose this ability of the people to choose who THEY want and the ability of the representatives to vote in the best interest of their own districts without being steamrolled by party leaders.....we will have lost all of the freedoms that our founding fathers and many of our own immediate ancestors fought and died for to preserve.
If Hoffman was a common sense Reagan Republican, he should have had the sense to know how to talk to people and show a caring personality. Being right is not enough to win strangers over to your side. But at least he did the Eugene McCarthy act by breaking up the wedge of group think over at the GOP that had refused to let the Republicans have any traditional conservatives as their candidates for elections. So where is the Rogue this morning? Is she still charging ahead without getting the GOP's permission?
The Conservatives have sent a strong message to the GOP to stop sending crap candidates. That was a win for Conservatives.
Hoffman lost however, in the face of two opponents, one who became a turncoat and threw support to the Democrat - which proved the point of Conservatives - that the GOP had no business supporting Dede.
Hoffman's support also came into the race late and was primarily concerned with making a point at first, rather than winning the race. Winning the race became a goal with something like 72 hours to go. Democrats can crow all they want about this race, but despite pretty serious odds, Hoffman had a good showing.
Now it's up to a Democrat to address an area of NY that is completely depressed and economically in shambles.
I suspect MadisonMan's first comment is closer to the issue. Dede stayed in until early voting ended. How much of that 6% came from those votes, and how many of those voters would have voted for Owens?
MadisonMan's second comment is less intelligent. A guy comes in late in the race, without establishment credentials or backing, and comes with 3 points of taking the race? Yes, AJ Foyt noted the guy that comes in 2nd in a race is a loser, but I submit that is the attitude of "the establishment" that resulted in Dede getting just 6% of the vote.
wv: nexterm What else can I say?
The real lesson here for potential candidates is to click on the web page ads for teeth whitening.
Plus, Hoffman, dude, a few push ups, and more hamburgers than Aspergers might have helped.
One question about Hoffman that nobody seems to have asked, is this, does he smoke? Yellow teeth probably aren't as noticeable on a black face.
WV: fooro
Australian word.
Here is the analysis of NY-23.
Hoffman = weird, skinny, googly eyes, bright yellow teeth, odd halting speech.
Owens = big, rugged-looking, veteran, solidity, calm, self-possession.
I think this type of analysis in 2008 brought us the Obama Administration and Democratic control of the House and Senate.
This may be the method by which many Americans weigh candidates, but I suggest it is no analysis at all. It is lazy.
Doug Santo
Pasadena, CA
Obama didn't campaign for Owens, and Owens won.
I suppose, technically, having Joe Biden show up in Watertown to misrepresent the opposition is Obama not campaigning for Owens. But that is stretching reality a bit.
I suppose promoting the ton of stimulus money spent in NY23 is not Obama campaigning, but, really now.
Hoffman and conservatives won if only because they exposed the backroom shenanigans that allow the party bosses to manipulate nominations. Scozzafava was a horrible choice for the district.
All the talk of Hoffman being from outside the district is bull. He was inside the district until the district lines were jerrymandered the last time around. The same thing happened to me and I only became aware when I went to vote in a primary and found out I was no longer in the district.
Scozzafava's late exit ensured that absentee ballots that favored her would not go to Hoffman. Plus, her name was on two lines of the ballot as was Owens. Hoffman was on only one line, the fourth one down.
Political junkies often overlook the fact that many folks do not tune in to politics and it is not the central focus of their lives. They are accustomed to going to the voting booth and pulling the lever (or whatever passes for a lever in their district)for the party with which they identify.
This is particularly so in rural areas. So unless you are able to get your information directly to each voter you cannot change this tendency. In a rural district like much of NY 23 this is a function of time and money.
Scozzafava's late exit deprived the Hoffman campaign of the time.
I would expect a better result in 2010.
Whether Hoffman is the perfect candidate is moot. You fight the war with what you have, not what you wish you had. He stood up and took the lead and did a damn good job of it.
That's why I call this a victory delayed.
http://nygoe.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/a-victory-delayed/
Not living anywhere near NY23, I hope the district is happy with their choice. Based on the two pictures Althouse posted, I would definitely be tempted to punch the chad for Owens.
But I think the most important thing that should be taken from this race is by the GOP. Nominate moderates if you must, but if the Democrat is to the right of the Republican, they don't deserve national money.
Hoffman is okay. Owens is a pretty decent democrat. This was an exceedingly weird race. I wish that Doug Hoffman won, but, more importantly, I am glad Dede Scozzafava lost because she was a terrible candidate from the get.
I always judge a candidate by his teeth. That's why I voted against Geo.Washington.
I agree with Doug Santo:
"This may be the method by which many Americans weigh candidates, but I suggest it is no analysis at all. It is lazy."
I guess old Abe Lincoln (I'm not suggesting that Hoffman is the 21st century Lincoln) could never have been elected by today's appearance standards.
Disclosure:
A pet peeve of mine is judging someone by the color of their teeth, for goodness sake! I'm old enough to think that today's artificially white teeth look like the cheap false teeth of the past. Also, it could be that Hoffman has a dental condition that keeps him from being able to have his teeth whitened.
All I care about is the Dede Scozzafava - and what she represents - lost. Period.
I'm a conservative first and Republican second, and yes, even with a loss for Hoffman I regard this as a win on BOTH accounts.
Because the "enemy" in this case were the dirtbags who promoted Scozzafava in the first place. And a message - YOU WILL LOSE - needed to be sent to them.
It was.
. On the human level, Owens is the kind of person voters around here feel comfortable with. Hoffman's not. Neither was Scozzafava.
Yes. And Owens was a strong pro-gun rights Democrat who knew the local issues, on top of that.
==============
Madison Man - I wonder if this helps Mitt Romney, who had the presence of mind to stay away from the whole thing?
I think it did. Especially since Romney was working to help Christie and McDonnell fundraise early on.
Romney also has a book coming out about his strategy for renewing America, some 120 days after Palin's book hits the bookshelves.
I guarantee Palins book will sell more.
But I guarantee that more opinionmakers and leaders read and think about what Romney writes.
Yes, he's a little dorky looking, but that's what I want! I'm so SICK of the slick, TV-ready, silky-pony, oh-so-attractive candidates. Good Lord, can't people see past that??
Honestly, if he'd had two more weeks, or if Dede had withdraw two weeks earlier, he would have won.
Florida: I'm with you. It was a moral and political victory, even though it wasn't a ballot-box victory.
Twelve months....
Scozzofava was undoubtedly the worse candidate, that makes 0-2 in the NRCC bullpen. Let's see how Owens votes on cap n trade, and
the health care plan, and Afghanistan, which is one of thereason for Ft. Drum, being where it is
One should only vote based on dental appearance and muscled good looks. No fatties. That plus a few MOR platitudes should suffice.
I'm disappointed that Hoffman lost, but I do agree with the sentiment that "Republican" Scozzafava losing is more than half a loaf.
It will be interesting to see how Owens votes on Pelosi's health care bill.
Amusing to see the attempts by conservatives to dress up this defeat as a victory. What Hoffman's defeat shows is that, given a clear choice between the loony far-right and almost anyone else, the voters will not vote for the far right. It is a warning bell to the Republicans that if they allow the far right to take control of their party they are doomed to perpetual opposition. Palin was the first nail in the far-right's coffin, this is the second. You have been warned.
I'm not a big Pataki fan, but what he said on TV last night about this race was correct. It's almost impossible to win an election when your name appears only on line C, your opponent has two lines, including line A, and someone else has 2 lines, including line B. If the only people who voted were those who follow politics and government closely, I'd bet Hoffman would have one. But not everyone is as much of political junkie as the average Ann Althouse commenter.
That of course is why Dede got 6%. Many people just don't get the word.
Akbari, you're full of beans. Hoffman wasn't an "extremist" in any way shape or form -- unless you consider limited government, lower taxes and more individual freedom "extreme."
"Hoffman lost because he is a right-wing extremist who opposes gay marriage."
Damn. Does this mean 46% of the district is right wing extremist.
A least the district is not as extreme as Maine.
Does NY State have 'straight ticket' voting?
(I could easily see 5-6% of voters not realizing that voting Republican didn't mean voting Hoffman.)
In NY, all politics are loco.
Note to self:
(1) whiten teeth
(2) ditch shorts
(3) shave facial hair
The ballot didn't help.
As to the yellow teeth and halting speech, if we pick our candidates based on their looks and not the wisdom of their views, then we get what we deserve. We are the ones who lose, not the candidate.
I understand presenting yourself in a affable manner, but I'm sure there were people who felt inspired by someone who didn't have "the look" that they had the courage to run in this super-saturated media age. More people know about Doug Hoffman now. I think he helped clear some of the road for others around the country who don't have the "look", but have smarts, wisdom and heart. Many people voted for a guy with "yellow teeth" and "halting speech" who had courage and common-sense views. More will follow.
BTW Doug was a member of the National Guard and Army Reserve.
Both candidates were veterans.
Doug wasn't very photogenic.
Before he runs again - he must invest in some Crest White Strips...
“I expect Democrats to vote for me, I expect independents, and I expect Republicans. When I got into the race … I think there’s a number of people in America that are fed up with what’s going on in Washington, and we all as average people have to stand up and fight back, because we can’t spend money we don’t have.”
Quote by "Average" Doug Hoffman
http://washingtonindependent.com/66383/ny-23-hoffman-says-victory-would-be-for-average-people-not-necessarily-republicans
I CANNOT imagine Republicans/Indpedents/Libertarians that are so ignorant that they would vote on how someone looks, ignore the mess they'll be leaving their children and vote for a Republican.
Thank you for this article and for letting me know our country is gone. We're filled to the brim with complete worthless moronic Americans who are more concerned about how rugged a candidate looks.
So this was the make or break editorial meeting, that decided the fate of NY 23rd. good luck with that:
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20091027/NEWS03/310279938
You would think there would have been some questions, on the main issue for the last six monthes, you'd be wrong
"I wonder if this helps Mitt Romney, who had the presence of mind to stay away from the whole thing.
Mitt Romney's political career is over. He is a secret Democrat. A secret Democrat trying to run for the presidency with conservative campaign donations.
Romney, as the governor of Democrat Massachusetts (hint, hint) created the precursor to ObamaCare.
He signed into law one of the worst health care reform bills in the nation. It's bankrupting Massachusetts. And it's Barack Obama's model for ObamaCare. Mitt Romney invented Democrat health care reform and got it passed in Massachusetts.
Romney is a wolf Democrat in sheep's clothing.
His political career is finished.
As someone noted above, Owens will have to vote against Obamacare and card check if he wants to retain his seat. His next opponent may not be a goofy guy with yellow teeth nor a lefty-republican.
A month ago the man described as "weird, skinny, googly eyes, bright yellow teeth, odd halting speech" was polling at 16% while Dede was leading the pack with 35%.
Today, with 40+ precincts still to report, Doug Hoffman pulled in 45% of the vote while Dede sits at 6%. The GOP continued to spend money on Dede's campaign and to attack Hoffman until a week before the election. That allowed Owens to shift right-wards (with WH connivance) without penalty.
Pretty good return for a non-professional political run, I'd say.
Or: this Republican-but-not-conservative district that rejected a conservative candidate might well have voted in a moderate Republican. NY is the state that long kept Rockefeller and Javits in office, not to mention Lindsay. Bill Buckley may have wanted to teach NYC a lesson by acting as spoiler in Beame's favor, but at least part of the lesson learned was that voters may find a Buckley-type conservative problematic. Those self-proclaimed guardians of Republican purity, the ones who have decided that so-and-so is a RINO who must be purged from the party, might want to at least give a glance back to 1964. Somewhere in my closet I have a can of AuH20 as a souvenir (sold to me by Don Dumont—for those with memories of northern IL in the 60s).
'Because the "enemy" in this case were the dirtbags who promoted Scozzafava in the first place.'
I'm pretty sure those 'dirtbags' were the local Republican leadership.
I grew up in the area but have not lived there for 30 years. My two cents worth.
Its basically a local issue and also reflective of the Republican Party in NY. I would say that this is a conservative area, traditionally republican. Traditional hot buttons:
-guns (deer hunters)
-abortion (significant Catholic vote)
-"not New York City" insofar that NYC represents "liberal values"
BUT
Its economically depressed and jobs are always an issue. More important, it has a more "traditional" and "eastern" view of Republicanism. So just as the Democratic Party has had to figure out how to elect Democrats out West, so Republicans will need figure out the Eastern Republican brand.
(Personally, when I first read of Scozzafava's politics I thought, "How did she get the nomination in this district? Were they going for the Italian vote?")
Horse hockey. At the bottom of it all you will find election theft.
Don't delude yourselves.
It seems Owens won because he was the most appealing candidate, particularly on a personal level. The Republicans put a loser in the slot. Based on what I saw of her, Republicans would have lost even if Hoffman had not been a factor.
Memo to Republicans: Better Candidate Recruitment!
I live within sight of NY 23, across the lake. Grew up in Upstate NY. I think this was fine experiment and object lesson for Tea Partiers. Good to have a low stakes battleground to test and demonstrate things. Better with a blue dog Democrat in congress than DIABLO. I don't demand ideological purity, but seriously, the woman supports Card Check and ran on the Working Families Party line in the past, an ACORN front.
As for living out of the district, he used to live in it and it got gerrymandered away from him. I don't know that locals held that against him too much, unless they already opposed him and were looking for more reasons.
I sort of credit Hillary with the purpling of Upstate NY. In the past, Democrats treated Upstate with such utter contempt, and favored NYC so openly and heavily, that it was enough for the Republicans to say they weren't Democrats to win. Hillary actually spent time, you know, listening. Something that Democrats spend precious little time doing to flyover rubes like the upstaters... Hmmm
One thing no one has mentioned. This race wasn't even on the radar until the rocket scientists at the White House put it there along with Jersey, chortling that third party candidates would hand both to the Demos. Hoffman turned it around in two weeks, largely due to RahmBO and Astroturf.
mrp said...
A month ago the man described as "weird, skinny, googly eyes, bright yellow teeth, odd halting speech" was polling at 16% while Dede was leading the pack with 35%.
Today, with 40+ precincts still to report, Doug Hoffman pulled in 45% of the vote while Dede sits at 6%. The GOP continued to spend money on Dede's campaign and to attack Hoffman until a week before the election. That allowed Owens to shift right-wards (with WH connivance) without penalty.
Pretty good return for a non-professional political run, I'd say.
I'd agree with that. the fact that Scuzzy got +/- 5% was the margin, although the assumption that it all would have gone to Hoffman is asking a bit.
I saw Hoffman with the Thompsons on Cavuto and he seemed as if he really didn't know how to act on camera (obviously, he didn't). The fact is, with so much going against him, Hoffman didn't do too badly, something both the country club types in the GOP and the White House might want to consider.
WV "prosupe" People in favor of Superman.
Electronic machines were used in NY-23. If they are like the ones used in my home town, the first page permits the voter to chose to vote a straight party line (usually just the Dem or Rep). Given Scozzafava's 5 or 6 percent of the vote, I wonder if this option made the difference.
I think it was because he got fewer votes than Owens.
If Hoffman wanted to win, he could have taken on the corrupt Beltway establishment over things like this shocking statistic. Instead, he was on the other side.
Don't send a tea partier to take on the corrupt establishment; they're useful idiots for it.
Yeah 48behind, whatever.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their teeth but by the content of their character. I have a dream today
Dr. Martin Luther Gleem, Jr.
But consider that the content of Hoffman's character included
weirdoness. Conservatives need to select their candidates more carefully. Get some focus groups in there.
After all that, why didn't Doug Hoffman win?
Because Obama only sent Biden instead of showing up himself.
I think he hurt himself by being a way out there extremist. He signed onto Glenn Beck's 912 pledge, he didn't know or care about local issues in the race and ran as an ideologue.
Lush Windbag accusing Sozzafava of bestiality didn't help much, either.
I think the 6% for Scozzafava were protests votes and a lot of the "little people" were not pleased with the national Republicans playing games with their representation. Or maybe they were R's pissed at the third party intrusion.
@fls
yeah...focus groups, that's the ticket...it worked so well for McCain.
That Big Media is making Palin the issue this morning is classic 3 card Monty slight of hand, everyone knows who lost most last night.
Make no mistake, Dems in red/purple districts got the message; it's the economy stupid, not ideology or party allegiance.
Unless the economy improves and unemployment drops enough to be felt at the local level; Obama will be as toxic to Dems in 2010 as W was in 2006.
After all that, why didn't Doug Hoffman win?
Well, it certainly didn't help the cause for this idiot to say that Glenn Beck was his "mentor" and that he would turn to him for guidance.
Princess Sarah was a big help, too.
If anyone in the world really needs to investigate possible coverage via what he calls; "Obamacare," it has to be Sloanasaurus, one of the most mentally deficient fools who frequent this site.
focus groups, that's the ticket...it worked so well for McCain.
McCain was very personable. Imagine if the candidate had been Ron Paul.
One of the things to keep in mind about elections in Upstate New York is that ever since Mario Cuomo was Governor, most people who want to work have to leave the state to get a job.
When Jack Welch was CEO of GE he once said that he would rather do business anywhere else on earth rather than New York. I personally think that he was exaggerating since he never moved any GE operations to North Korea, Zimbabawe, Somalia or Afghanistan however jobs continue to move out of New York and no new jobs are created.
When Hillary Clinton went on her "listening tour" she heard over and over again that what Upstaters wanted was jobs. When she campaigned, she promised jobs. She never delivered but at least she had the courtesy to tell lies that were tailored to the Upstate voters. The Downstate dominated New York State GOP don't even show that much respect to the folks who live north of the Catskills.
"I will help other people to get involved and run to make sure that we continue this fight,” Hoffman said by telephone from his campaign headquarters in Saranac Lake, N.Y.
(Same pledge he made to the GOP before he helped defeat them.)
i shy away from the ad hominem attacks and cringe at nasty cracks about personal appearance, but i have to be honest and say that the first time i SAW hoffman he kinda freaked me out. being from outside the district and heavily funded by the out-of-state
certainly didn't help him with the locals either.. but the dude is..uhhh..not the most attractive man around..no offense.
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