1 Thanks for the coverage.  It's good to note how severely we lost, because it mitigates for the GOP.  It probably was hopeless, but I think it was worth an attempt of some kind.  Call me crazy.

No matter how strong the Tea Party seems, we're going to have many strongholds of entitlement sellers.  Sadly, even the GOP is happy to increase entitlement spending.  Like I said in the other thread, the GOP has very little merit... it's just that the democrats are out of control and far more corrupt.

And that will only get us so far towards ending the basic problem of our country: too many people count on their neighbors to take care of their personal needs. 

2 Shit, I just reread the post and realize that we would have won if we had given a maximum effort.  We easily could have brought those numbers.  And this would have been more than one seat.  Scott Brown's election was an extreme, but the way it shaped the narrative and gave hope to the Tea Party and scared the hell out of democrats ... that force would have existed had we taken this seat, too.

We can't win if we don't try, and we need a new RNC chair who will organize election efforts a little bit kinda maybe..

3

"With a bit of GOTV by the GOP, this one was winnable because Lynch drew 83,000 votes in 2008. Snagging even half that, would have made him a solid winner." - Purple Avenger

Bullshit. Get real.

4 The GOP doesn't want to win. It wants to be liked by is enemies.

5
Another FAIL! by the GOP...

6
what eman said!

7 Dicks, they are.

8 kan we haz michael steele's hed nao?

9

It wasn't winnable. this is Broward County. the stupidest voters in the country. They would have elected Charlie Manson if he had a D by his name.

The best we could hope for was a good showing of the halfway sane and somewhat competent who occasionaly see the light and vote with the 40 or so solid conservatives in the area.

10

kan we haz michael steele's hed nao?

Not if Gingrich has anything to say about it.

cocksucker

11 Dave C, indeed, if the GOP's various sub groups had stayed out of primary contests, that money could have been used in these long shot races.  A lot of people are noting that Steele is leaving way too many seats on the table.  He is blowing the census work he could be doing.

He's selling his book and speeches and taking credit for anything anyone does to stop the democrats.

For the price of a round trip private plane ticket, or a Steele party in Hawaii, or a dozen evenings at Voyeur, we'd have had enough money to simply let every Republican know about this election.  That alone would have made a huge difference.  Republicans REALLY REALLY want to vote right now.  If you tell them where to go, they will fucking turn out.

This election was barely publicized, and we didn't try even a cheap GOTV phone bank.  I find that simply amazing.  All people know of the RNC right now is that they like paying for raunchy clubs.  Why not show them the RNC does more?  Put every step of the election work on youtube and show me what I'm paying for.

I feel like Someguy, but I'm actually being very reasonable and not asking for very much.

12 We were going to get involved but we couldn't find a good lesbian sex joint to hold our meetings.

13 From now on, anytime there is an election that the GOP isn't spending money on, we just need to let them know that there is a new S&M club in the area.

14 Gerry Owen, no seat is winnable if we won't try.

But the GOP won Ted Kennedy's seat.  This is the best time I've ever seen to attempt long shots.  And this race was special in that turnout was tiny.  We could have won with a well organized GOTV effort.  The RNC actually fired the people who handled a lot of the GOTV in 2000 and 2004 and 2008.  Steele needed to fill as many slots as possible with family of cronies... that's how the beltway works.

Maybe we simply couldn't have won, no matter what, but what in the fuck is the point of working for or donating to a party with that attitude?  I might as well just ignore the RNC until it replaced Steele with someone who wants to tell me we need to fight even when the odds are stacked against us.

15 I AM A GOLDEN GOD!!!!_{And I can't be bothered with such piddly stuff.  Books to sell, speech fees to pocket, strippers to rent, you know how it goes.}

16 Look we can't win too many of these elections, or people are going to expect us to start delivering on that whole "limited government" thing.  And we can't really do that, or our buddies in the Senate will get mad at us and say hurtful things. 

Hell, the unions might march in protest or something, and who needs that headache.

17 The Bridge to Nowhere: built with Michael Steele.

18 It wasn't winnable.

40,000 > 37,500.  All that was necessary was to get LESS THAN HALF the people who voted for Lynch in 2008 to vote again.

Obviously, having the Palm Beach elections supervisor NOT send out any notices that there was an election happening was part of the Dem strategy to keep this a stealth election.  They knew they could easily scare up the 37,000 votes that won simply by having the party distribute absentee ballots.

I'm thinking about $100,000 spent in the right way would have won this for Lynch.

19

"I'm thinking about $100,000 spent in the right way would have won this for Lynch." - PA

If that's true, which it isn't, why didn't Lynch spend it himself? Well, duh.

20 It looks like the GOP is too busy with its own little civil war to worry about elections. Maybe next year.

21 From what I have read this district didn't even put out a lot of publicity that the election was going to happen. I know it was overwhelmingly favored for the Dems but the GOP could have put in at least a token effort. Michael Steele is too busy cultivating his McCainian style of leadership by bashing his own party to gain instant media attention.

22 PA, did you mention this to the local GOP office or higher up?

23 The GOP is just as frazzled by the TEA Party as are the Democrats. They are also in disarray.

24 OK, that pretty well settles it. The Tea Party is over. 

25 Stop holding Michael Steele to a higher standard just because he badly looses potentially winnable elections!

26 With all due respect, this looks like it was a solid thrashing.

27 If that's true, which it isn't, why didn't Lynch spend it himself?

Yea, everyone has $100K just laying around.  What fucking world do you live in? 

28 Jewish seniors overwhelmingly voted for the dem. I guess this shows that Jewish people either don't care about Israel and healthcare or have totally bought into the lies they are being told. On another site, it was reported that the elections administrator didn't even send out any information about this special election. Republicans won't be doing as well in November as they think. We are doomed!

29 27

I don't think the Tea Party is over but it is definitely time for them to go from self promotion to gearing up to win elections even if they have to drag the GOP over the finish line kicking and screaming. For them legitimacy will truly be proved when the DNC gets severely thrashed in November.  

30

@26: "The GOP is just as frazzled by the TEA Party as are the Democrats.

They are also in disarray."

You said it.  I've seen monkey shit-fights at the zoo that are more organized than this.

31 eman, that's true, and it's sad.

It's time for the GOP to admit it's been way off course from its stated principles.  It's time for the GOP to join the Tea Party and promise specific reforms to spending and entitlement sustainability, as well as promising to investigate specific corruption problems.

Instead, they recognize that the Tea Party is a huge threat to their potential to make an easy personal living.  Steele's flying around in style, becoming incredible wealthy.  Does he give a shit that the GOP is leaving a lot of chips on the table? 

This is a clear cut example of how we gave up a seat we could have fought for with a realistic chance for a win.  A lot of people are denying that with non sequitors... some noting that the candidate didn't use the best strategy (and the true patriots will usually be somewhat poor candidates in this way, even though Lynch had his chance and we need a different candidate next round).

Too many Republicans in DC and the RNC are thinking of their personal future as lobbyists.  Almost all my friends from when I worked on the hill are now lobbyists.  To them, it would be great if the GOP was in power, but that's not priority 1.  And when the GOP is in power, cutting spending drastically is simply not a priority at all.  We all know it.

32 Michael Steele and the GOP.  Proud winners of the Trojan-ENZ "Boner of the Week" award.  Yet again.

33 With all due respect, this looks like it was a solid thrashing.

Losing by 18,500/35,700 in a district where 300,000 voted in 2008 isn't a trashing, it represents zero effort on the GOP's part.   Even a modest effort would have caused the Dems to spend a disproportionat amount of money on a race they figured to spend nothing on.

That's why some of these seeming stone losers need some small effort.  The amount of machinery your small effort will compel the other side to mobilize is money they can't spend elsewhere in races that are actually tight.

34

Stop holding Michael Steele to a higher standard just because he badly looses potentially winnable elections!

Higher standard? Hell, I'd be happy if he was held to SOME standard. Anything. But we can't, apparently, because he's black. We're supposed to just stand around shrugging our shoulders and smiling while the country and the future of every child circles the toilet bowl.

I swear to God, if I run into one of those "Man of Steele!" motherfuckers I'm going to kick them in the nuts so many times their balls will be filling their shoes.

35 Assuming the returns are complete and include absentees/early votes, for whatever reason, turnout was better in the Palm Beach County portion of FL-19 than the Broward County portion.  In 2008, about 70% of the vote came from Palm Beach; in the special election, about 80% did.  Democrat Deutch also won by 10 points more in Palm Beach than Broward - 64-33 instead of 54-43. 

Increasing turnout might not have necessarily been beneficial in a heavily Democratic district - though Lynch's turnout machine was terrible in the more Republican-leaning Broward precincts (relatively speaking). 

36 I also suspect that Lynch isn't particularly cozy with the Palm Beach republican apparatus (such as it is) for whatever reason.  They tolerate his wearing the label, but don't seem too enthusiastic.

37 The amount of machinery your small effort will compel the other side to mobilize is money they can't spend elsewhere in races that are actually tight.

Pfft.  Didn't Reagan try that with the Soviets, just with military spending?  What kind of strategy is that?

38 We no showed for this fight, of course we got thrashed.

There isn't a single race in this entire country that shouldn't employ basic GOTV and cheaper methods.  We need to fight for everything we can get.

Think about how Howard Dean's shadow is cast over this entire thing.  The election officials that played a game with the election being a secret?  That was another fight the GOP kinda forgot to take seriously.

There are ripples from GOTV efforts that extent to the next race, to statewide races, and to a better political party.  It's better to see the RNC fight than get another 120 color flyers in the mail.   They know the numbers of enough Republicans to have changed the outcome in this district.  They know their addresses, too.  They could have put together volunteers and a cheap effort and had a realistic shot.  But they need to attempt these cheaper efforts even in the races we can't win, because the effects go beyond the single race.

39 The DNC is scared right now with all of the numbers coming out so badly against them in polls. Just getting them to spend money where they didn't have to would have been a small victory.

40 Yea, everyone has $100K just laying around.  What fucking world do you live in? 

Posted by: Purple Avenger at April 14, 2010 01:27 AM (ilaDP)

 

News Flash, dimwit: If a candidate can't raise at least $1,000,000.00 on his own, he or she isn't worth a shit as a candidate. $100,000.00 is pocket change, you dolt.

41 With all due respect, PA, you don't know squat about the dynamics of that election.

42

The worst thing about Steele is HE'S STILL IN CHARGE OF THE FUCKING RNC!

This country is committing fucking suicide.

43

With all due respect, PA, you don't know squat about the dynamics of that election.

With all due respect? "Dimwit" and "dolt" is all due respect?

Fuck off. With all due respect.

44

Higher standard? Hell, I'd be happy if he was held to SOME standard. Anything. But we can't, apparently, because he's black. We're supposed to just stand around shrugging our shoulders and smiling while the country and the future of every child circles the toilet bowl.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at April 14, 2010 01:38 AM (P33XN)

At least that is not as bad as being called a racist, and really they are only your children.

45 Something caused the Broward and Palm Beach parts of the district to decouple. They voted fairly similarly to each other in 2008 and 2004, best I can tell.  Whatever it was accrued to Democrat Deutch's advantage, driving both turnout and raw votes.  Was Deutch running ads on West Palm Beach TV?  Did Lynch even have the money to counter Deutch's ads?

46

At least that is not as bad as being called a racist, and really they are only your children.

Yeah, and not for long. Soon Dear Leader and his comrades will decide the children will belong to the state. And they'll act to make it a reality. 

47

@45: "This country is committing fucking suicide."

Haven't you read The Constitution? Turns out, it is a suicide pact.

48

'Nothing wrong with being informed on by your own kids for cultural rehabilitation.

It's patriotic, and if you disagree then you must be a racist, and the penalties for racism are harsh.

49

17 Gerry Owen, no seat is winnable if we won't try.

If by "Trying", you mean running a candidate with financial crap that can be thrown at him, GREAT!

This is NOT, by any stretch, freindly turf. I do not care how good it gets in Nov this year or 2012- we will probably lose here.

However, you are correct- special elections in this climate, we had a remote to decent chance. Sadly, we didn't have a strong enough candidate, who-unlike Scott Brown, did not pull the grass roots strings of the nation to help out.

The RNC helped out Brown a bit late when he showed he was viable and could get some funds on his own-face it, they are pretty tight, whores and strippers aren't cheap these days.

I am no fan of Steele by any means, I haven't been since they picked his sorry self- but this wasn't the race to commit their meager resources towards. 

50 Hello, teabaggers! Gestalt Brooksian entity back here again to say NEENER NEENER NEENER, TOLD YOU SO!

Don't you know that even if the GOP had pulled out all the stops and spent money and pulled half the votes this candidate got in 2008, Lynch had no chance? WE HAVE SEEN IT. By projecting our group consciousness into a neighboring reality in which the RNC went balls-to-the-wall to contest this race, we can confidently report back that it made no difference!

Don't try until we TELL you to try. That is all. Good night.

51

"With a bit of GOTV by the GOP, this one was winnable because Lynch drew 83,000 votes in 2008. Snagging even half that, would have made him a solid winner." - Purple Avenger

Bullshit. Get real.

Posted by: Dianne & Brian at April 14, 2010 12:51 AM (ITzbJ)

--Fuck, winnable or not, the GOP still should have tried and at least made the Dems have to bleed some cash instead of just coasting.

52

39 I also suspect that Lynch isn't particularly cozy with the Palm Beach republican apparatus (such as it is) for whatever reason.  They tolerate his wearing the label, but don't seem too enthusiastic.

Frankly, I think you may be on to something-his funding for this race SUCKED. In this climate? For this seat? against this agenda? he raised $88,785??? to Deutch's $1.3million????

Excuse me-WTF???

Seriously, I can't fault the RNC not spending money here- if this campaign looks like they can't f'ing find enough $ to put gas in the humpty and get the candidate to meet and greets....

53 The Republicans will pick up a minimum of 40 seats in the House and a minimum of 8 seats in the Senate this year ..., and you think that the Republican Party is in disarray?  Get real. You don't know squat about the GOP.

54 Lamar Alexander can support a carbon reduction bill. Fuck Me!

55 my last post, the first para is Purple Avenger's..I forgot to Italicize..it don't read right...my apologies...I was responding to his extremely prescient point.

56

The worst thing about Steele is HE'S STILL IN CHARGE OF THE FUCKING RNC!

 

Amen to that, Dack..I wanted Blackwell to begin with. Now i think we need Romney.

He saved the Olympics, he can save this....

57 "The Republicans will pick up a minimum of 40 seats in the House and a minimum of 8 seats in the Senate this year ..., and you think that the Republican Party is in disarray?  Get real. You don't know squat about the GOP. Posted by: Dianne & Brian"

That's a non sequitur.  The GOP has picked up little popularity and is in complete disarray, but the democrats are being resisted by almost everyone.  The GOP is just the alternative to the obvious fuckups, you democrat moby idiot.  Of course, while you're acting like the concerned conservative cheerleader here, I remember you calling the party racist a few threads back.  You're a hostile angry democrat who is too pathetic to stand on your own arguments honestly.  You are laughing all the while, but you're simply not a real man.

Gerry Brown, I agree with what you're saying, for the most part.  Lynch probably wasn't the ideal, but this was a special case we should  have fought for.  I think winning this seat now would have given us a chance to keep the seat in November... and now that fight is much less realistic. 

These are nitty gritty tactical details... stuff I expect Michael Steele to be able to talk about at length, but know he's barely paying attention.  I think a $100,000 effort would have realized profit for the RNC.  People don't think that organization is doing anything right now... what better way to fix that than to actually fight the good fight?

58 It is not just the Jewish seniors, it is all seniors.

Millions of seniors who rely on SS will hold their nose and vote the party that keeps talking about printing money.

In a way, I do not really blame them.  They paid in after all, but then they just kept voting in people that stole it. 

Bread and Circuses!

59 Every district. 

Try, not balls to the wall every time, but a legit effort, in every single district.  In every single race.

Yeah, that's hard work.  That's what we need to do, though.  It's not just about the immediate race, either. 

There are zero districts we should completely ignore.  Even San Francisco and Woodstock... put in a basic GOTV effort, some basic mailer about the issues and election times.  This is serious business for people who can win tough battles against odds at least frequently... this is not a business for those who are too pragmatic to try when there's a good chance of losing.

60 We pickup a minimum of 50 seats if Silver is to be believed.
We cross the 30 governorship mark if polling and trending holds

We pickup a MAXIMUM of 9 Senate Seats though, because Pataki has decided against knocking out that moron Gilly...and with that I doubt Rossi or Thompson will jump now, they wouldve both declared by now.

Still winning the house, a majority of governors mansions, and forcing VP Biden to make deciding votes in the Senate (but filibustering easily before that if it comes to it) is fantastic for a party whose leadership is nowhere to be seen.

61 The GOP winning big in November will have more to do with the power of local energized groups like the Tea Party then anything the GOP has done its self. I hate to continuously knock the GOP but damn they just really seem disconnected and inept at times.

62

This is a tough one to comment on.  If the GOP decided to make a go of it then the Dems would have been forced to spend money to counter as they could ill-afford to lose another "safe seat".  However if the GOP decided to go in they would have had to go in hard.  If they didn't then they would run the risk of losing a seat that they weren't really trying for and the MSM would have a field day.  To be honest, if the GOP went in then the Dems would have countered and probably won as this is a Dem seat until voters truly realize what's happening in Washington.  A few more snubs of Israel and the jewish vote may turn on Obama pretty quickly.  Perhaps the best strategy with districts like this is to spend the time between now and November with mailers, townhalls and old-fashioned knocking on doors.

On the Michael Steele issue, maybe it's time for him to consider stepping down.  He's becoming a lightning rod for bad press and I don't think his heart is really in it. 

63

That's a non sequitur.  The GOP has picked up little popularity and is in complete disarray, but the democrats are being resisted by almost everyone.  The GOP is just the alternative to the obvious fuckups, you democrat moby idiot.  Of course, while you're acting like the concerned conservative cheerleader here,I remember you calling the party racist a few threads back.  You're a hostile angry democrat who is too pathetic to stand on your own arguments honestly.  You are laughing all the while, but you're simply not a real man.

 

Hey, dimwit. Cut and paste it, or show everybody here that you are a liar.

So far, you've already shown that you're a hothead and a dufus. LOL

64 conartcriti, you're probably right that it's fantastic.  Literally.

It's a complete fantasy to credit the upcoming november slaughter to the republican leadership.  Perhaps Palin and Beck and Rush can get a bit of credit, but really, the credit is all due to Pelosi, Axelrod, Reid, and a smattering of corrupt assholes on the left, and also due to millions of normals folks who are getting the word out on the Tea Party movement.

Here's why this is a problem: the GOP isn't winning and will not have evolved correctly into the party that can survive and lead long, or more importantly, do what must be done with the nation's entitlement system.

We're amnesty light.  A lot of GOPers regret not having their own Romneycare first.  Most of these people will get angry if you tell them to make Social Security sustainable.

Is Michael Steele explaining just how far around the bend the democrats and republicans have let the entitlement obligation get?  Is he putting together a plan that is sustainable?  Or is he just pointing out that the democrats went further and more corrupt than Tom Delay's government?

We are not going to win in November.  Yes, the GOP will win, but we won't.  We're just losing a little less, with the GOP jogging off the cliff instead of running.

65

Amen to that, Dack..I wanted Blackwell to begin with. Now i think we need Romney.

I'll take Jimmy Romney, Boston street urchin and convicted felon, over the ass clown in charge now.

I mean, fuck. Reality is farce.

66

Dianne & Brian at April 14, 2010 02:31 AM (ITzbJ)

I thought you were going to bed. When you're there, have someone hold a pillow over your head into everything goes black.

67 If The RNC was competing somewhat close to the DNC, then a a $100k investment may have had some divedends- but that is still hard to justify when the candidate you are supporting with the cash has raised less than $90k on his own. Deutch raised $1.3 MILLION. That is a tough mountain of cash to climb.

68 I am curious, has anyone considered that Obama is hoping the GOP wins at least the House? I mean with the Dems in control of everything the media has no one to blame to make Obama look good but with a GOP controlled house the media has a perfect target to use to get Obama his second term.

69 Pretty pathetic, Dianne.  Everyone knows I'm telling the truth about you.  You were calling republicans racist for criticizing Steele.  Do you deny it?  I don't see a denial, just a demand.

I am happy to let everyone decide if you're telling the truth about me.  Anyone who trusts you is free to think I'm a liar... I probably don't want their respect very much, because you're a pathetic moby.  A real man would come on out and say why they support Obama right now.  You can't do that, and I'm happy to have trolled you into a frothy rage.

70

I'll take Jimmy Romney, Boston street urchin and convicted felon, over the ass clown in charge now

Is he available?

71 Hmmm ... perhaps the Tea Party movement is a paper dragon? Can they translate anger into votes at the ballot box. A little publicized special election where the turn-out will be small is exactly the type of race that the Tea Party should be able to impact greatly, even in a Democratic district. The size of the spread is what makes me go .... hmmmm. 

72 Drew in MO, I think Obama is a true believer in liberalism.  So while he would take the benefits of blaming the GOP house for everything bad, I think he really wants as much power as he can get right now, to get all the liberalism he can into the law... even if it's a shorter career for him.

Bill Clinton certainly benefited from your strategy, though.  I can't deny that.  But Obama will be pretty tired of all the House investigations I hope we see next year.

73 75

Seriously? Its Palm Beach. It would require having working class people to actually have a Tea Party movement.

74

73 Pretty pathetic, Dianne.  Everyone knows I'm telling the truth about you.  You were calling republicans racist for criticizing Steele.  Do you deny it?  I don't see a denial, just a demand.

 

Cut and paste it, you blowhard. Or admit that you are a liar.  You sick freak.

75 "If Michael Steele was a white man, I wonder"  bla bla bla, if anyone was seriously wondering if dianne's claims had any merit, he said GOP criticism of Steele was because he was black in the other thread on this race.  Links don't work for me, but it's on the main page.

I googled the "ITzbJ" hash, and this dude is a complete psycho racist, or at least pretending to be one.  Constantly attacking every blogger here, making really lame racial attacks, or flipping to being the right's defender and calling us the racists.

Just a moby who is terrible.  The 3 people who noticed him are completely unaffected... if they are ever affected, it will be to polarize to the right.  What an idiot.

Just like the Crash the Tea Party efforts, this reeks of weakness and intellectual bankruptcy.  You can't outright explain why Obama's path makes sense, or why the spending and intrusion of the government are a great policy, so you pretend to be the people you can't debate, and attempt to make them look bad.

That shit doesn't work well.  It's so cowardly, too.

76 By the way, I notice that Dianne refused to deny  my accusation was correct.  I didn't prove him a liar to win an argument with him... I'm sure everyone realized he's a moby since he's such a bad one, anyway.

But that's one good way to handle mobies who attempt to bully.  You see them freak out and they lose their cool and humor.  Just ask them to deny your charges, and they go crazy.  It's so easy.

Remember this on April 15th, and bring a camera.  Make sure you get the fakes and phonies on video, freaking out when you ask them to deny they are fakes and phonies.  Post that shit on youtube, like I will.

Yes, dianne, I just completely destroyed your reputation... but that's absolutely nothing.  You couldn't even keep track of your claims from a very short time ago this evening, when you accused republicans critical of Steele of being racists.  That's because you're dumb, btw.

77 The MSM is already having a field day with this election. On the "AMerica Right" satellite station, the news updates are from AP for some reason, and the election is the 2nd story following Obama's historic Summit to End All Summits. They even have an interview with Deutch saying how his victory vindicates Health Care, Obama, and every other Dem disaster.

78 LOL, google his hash and see if you can spot that he hates Jews, too.  It shouldn't be hard.  What a typical Carter style democrat.  It wouldn't occur to me to log into Kos hundreds of times and pretend to be a liberal.

Why is it so hard for the extreme left to just let the discussion take place without all the smears and fakes?

79

LOL -  You made a complete fool out of yourself this afternoon, and you just did [again].

Dayum, goober, you are dumb. You never learn. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

_{(Pssst, goober just said, Duh?)}

 

80 This would have gone to the GOP had Lynch been told to read my comments on the blogosphere.

81 My post 79 cut and pasted the proof that my accusation was accurate, Dianne.  I realize you're just trying to maximize attention now, but why?

And why do you hate the Polish and the Jewish?  What's your problem with conservatives wanting to have a discussion about this stuff?  Why can't republicans criticize black people for reasons unrelated to race?

Why do you think I would be bothered that some insane racist who consistently refuses to articulate any kind of reasoning, thinks I'm a fool?  Do you think anyone wants you to approve of them?   You demanded I cut and paste, refused to deny the charge, and when it's pasted, you just assert I'm a fool.  That's not exactly embarrassing me.

The only thing anyone can legitimately knock me for is feeding a really lame troll.  (and if people google your hash, they will see that you admit you are a "troll passing through").

82 Throwaway Handle, why are you wasting so much time on Douche & Bag here? No need to feed the moby cockknockers (and yeah, that would definitely apply to Dianne though not necessarily to Brian).

83 War, I think you're right.  I'm feeding a troll.  I really have no excuse and it's not a big deal.  I don't even think his trolling was that onerous compared to a lot of what I've seen.

I'm just getting in gear for seeing mobies in person on the 15th.  But more importantly, sometimes people just piss me off.  This troll's much more annoying because he's stupid than because he's dishonest.  That he thinks his methods would have any impact at all is a huge insult.

84 I'm just getting in gear for seeing mobies in person on the 15th.

Y'know, an air horn would do wonders on those people.

85 The GOP will probably take back the House and whittle down the Senate...they should be able to do that by accident. The question remains...exactly WHO are these new GOP Congresspeople going to be? Are they merely going to be opportunists, happy to be elected and tuning out the public afterwards? Will many oft hem be actual conservatives who will, in fact, work hard to repeal or at least obstruct the most inane aspects of Obama's agenda?

86 The district had ~300,000 voting in the FL 19th 2008 election.

I wonder how many of them are dead?...

87 $2 million is nothing in the internet era. Scott Brown was raising $1 million a day. At $5 per person it would only take 400,000 conservatives. That's only .3% of the 120 million conservatives in the country. If people wanted to do something besides wring their hands and bitch, we could develop a conservative culture that has a massive strike force of donors, doesnt have to be that much per person, who could jump on a situation like this at a moment's notice and scare the dems sh*tless. Yeah, I know, that makes too much sense. But that's me...I'm all about the reasoned discourse...despite my name.

88 At $5 per person, that is over half an hour minimum wage.

Would rather feed Dianne & Brian to my trees in that time.

Time is money, and we need to think green.

89 I guess this troll is already famous on here, then?  I guess I haven't been reading the threads much lately.

Anyway JYKun,
American Crossroads PAC doesn't seem to have a website up yet, which is annoying, but that might be the solution we are looking for... are least one of them, anyway.

A huge solution is to run for piddly little GOP positions locally and helping take over the party.  The last thread on this race covered that.  That probably should be a huge aspect of the Tea Party.  Like Howard Dean making sure the democrats infected every position that relates to election certification, the Tea Party has to take aim. 

Priority 1 is limiting the power the social democrats have, but Priority 2 is somehow fixing the GOP.  It's such a fucking mess, at least if you think spending more money that we have is bad.

We should also discuss why we have a politician chair the committee.  How does that help?  There are more qualified people with smaller egos and less interest in their political destiny.  CEOs, strategists, retired and somewhat unelectable badasses (Cheney is an example) is the only kind of politician we should consider.  Instead, the RNC chair is like a consolation prize.

Do we even need a single person acting like the 'leader'?  We need nuts and bolts of getting better candidates and better plans.  Does anyone give a shit what Steele's email tomorrow will say?

90 Don't stick your hand in the crazy.

This wasn't a winnable district.  It's Robert Wexler's district, the whiny Clinton apologist who lied for the Clintons on any station, any time of day.  DEEP Blue here.

The low turnout is a good sign of the lack of enthusiasm among Democrats this year.  But there was never a serious chance of winning - once Democrats got wind of any major effort here, they could have countered with their own at less cost and with more response.

Be real.  You can't win them all.

91 Zirconia blank can worldwild ship and supply dental zirconia in the china.

92 A question...

The first link shows these totals include early voting and absentee ballots and provisional ballots.

They can have all that stuff counted on election day?  How is that possible.

It would be interesting to know what percentage absentee ballots made of the total.. These counties, I would imagine, would have  higher percentage than many others around the country.

93 On MSNBC this am they are complaining about what a right winger McCain because he is critical of Obama's spending... Mac has always been a deficit hawk. Oh, and they are saying CHILL-Lay..(Chile)...

94 This wasn't a winnable district. It's Robert Wexler's district, the whiny Clinton apologist who lied for the Clintons on any station, any time of day. DEEP Blue here. The low turnout is a good sign of the lack of enthusiasm among Democrats this year. But there was never a serious chance of winning - once Democrats got wind of any major effort here, they could have countered with their own at less cost and with more response. Be real. You can't win them all. No, you definitely can't. You can, however, make them contest every seat. I don't know how much difference that makes in geographically larger states, but here in the northeast millions of people can easily make a day trip to other districts. Will Barney Frank lose his seat? I hope so, but I am guardedly optimistic, at best. What a strong Republican challenger will do is keep Frank's organization in his own district working for the local race. They won't be able to drive to an adjacent district to help a fellow Democrat.

95 Posted by: cat fitler kittehs!

96 I'm not a moby.  I simply have gender confusion issues.

97 Deutch, of course! Who else? Not that fool weakling Lynch. We got an iron man now, a man with guts!

98 Oops, lotts of typpos in last poste, sari evrywunn.

99 It's one of these special districts, you know the ones, they elect any fool running on the Democrat ticket. Obama zombies, not real intelligent voters.

100 Whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower. Damn, I was hoping to surrender to Canada.

101

Oh well -- I guess the Tea Party phenomenon was just a flash in the pan. It looks like Joe and Jane Citizen have decided that life is far easier being sheeple.

It was fun while it lasted.

102 Oh well -- I guess the Tea Party phenomenon was just a flash in the pan. It looks like Joe and Jane Citizen have decided that life is far easier being sheeple. It was fun while it lasted. Germans, Pearl Harbor, etc

103 My understanding on this election was that the GOP didn't do a lot of support for two reasons; (1) low probability of win (2) Is only good until Nov of this year so would have to do it all over again in a few months when the fall election cranks up.

The real question is why did they call a special election so close to the time when the run up to the fall election should be starting?

104 Whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower.

Best Commander in Chief evah!

105 Vic, while you're right about the logic the RNC employed, it's bad logic.  This was a realistic path, and if we won, it would have made for a realistic chance in November.  Realistic, not likely.  Warranting some investment, not much.  Now, of course, there's nearly no chance we'll win in this district.

But this is just one example of the many chips not being played that frustrate a lot of people.

106 But what will the Supreme Court look like in 2012? Behind the Stalking Horse: Obama's Real Top picks For Supreme Court Justice

107
All that talk about Republican momentum and a rout in November might be slightly exaggerated. Looks like the GOP is gonna have to put a little effort into winning, after all.

That's if they really do care about winning.

108
oh, and I'm going to the rally at Boston Common, today. First I'm going to Target to buy a cheap digital cam.

109 Gerry Brown, I agree with what you're saying, for the most part.  Lynch probably wasn't the ideal, but this was a special case we should  have fought for.  I think winning this seat now would have given us a chance to keep the seat in November... and now that fight is much less realistic.

The solution to this was quite easy in fact, the republican's could have handled this quite simply by calling on various tea party's for volunteers (not even necessarily in the local area, hell most of us don't pay for long distance anymore), furnishing them a calling list and having them call registered republicans in the area to get out the vote.

With even a modicum of effort and virtually no capital outlay they could have probably had a major impact on the results of this election.  As usual the Democratic machine in Florida quite purposefully cheated to give their candidate a decided advantage, and it worked.

This is exactly the sort of thing we need to stand up and fight, even if the final outcome may not go our way the statement that politics as usual is no longer acceptable needs to be made loud and clear to both parties.

Like cockroaches who scatter when you turn on the lights, we need to start turning the lights on.  We won't get them all out of the woodwork, not for the next few years and maybe not ever, but that doesn't mean we should let them scurry about the kitchen floor with impunity.

Just my two cents worth.

110

Mrs. North and I just put the kids on the school bus.  She's in the shower right now, washing her breasts. 

We're going to Washington, DC today.

I have a list of 66 moron Congressweasels, cross-referenced with their caucus (in the case of the Blue Pigs) and their relevant committee assignments.

My message is simple:

NO to the VAT,

NO to AMNESTY,

REPEAL, don't REPLACE, healcare,

and in the case of the Senators

NO to CAP and TRADE.

 

We're watching you and waiting.  We may never in my life vote for someone who believes as you do, but we're eagerly awaiting your votes, in order to see who we should be sending money to defeat, who we should be phone banking against, etc., etc.

 

I carry with me, I hope, your blessings.

111 Florida sucks.  It was never really part of the South.  And it just gets worse with each snowbird that moves down.

112 Sorry PA, but stop bitching your NOT paying ANY state income tax tomorrow!

OT,
Looks like the press is starting to not like "The One's" imitation of Hugo.

http://tinyurl.com/y5nn8g3

113 As a Conservative resident of Florida 19 I have followed this thread with some interest.  Let me lay out some observations.

First, everyone should be aware of the fact that Florida 19 is a gerrymandered district that the Republican controlled Florida legislature designed to elect a Democrat.  The gerrymandering was done specifically to keep former congressman Clay Shaw in a winnable neighboring district.  Unfortunately, Shaw lost the seat to Ron Klein. 

Second, Lynch was a very weak candidate.  He has never held elective office.  He was unable to raise any significant money.  There was a hint of financial scandal associated with him that both his Republican opponent in the primary and the Palm Beach Post made well known throughout the district.  This isn't Scott Brown that we were running in the race.

Sometimes you have face facts.  FL 19 is a district that is unwinnable in 98 out of 100 elections.  We're better off spending our limited resources trying to win back Clay Shaw's old district than to waste them in a district that can only be won in a year where Republicans would win 300 or more seats.

114 I'm holding the voters responsible for this.  After almost a year and a half of complete dem control (the dems began controlling the country in Jan. 2007)and these people STILL voted in dems?  Hopeless.

115 Why do the Tea Partiers have to wait for the Republicans to organize them to support a good candidate? Here in Texas we had a Tea Party conservative up against a 30-year RINO incumbent in a Republican in a runoff election. The Tea Partiers worked the phones and walked the streets for free, beating at least a 2 to 1 money advantage. The true conservative won 58% to 42%. We can run as Republicans, but we don't have to kowtow to the Republican National Committee.

116

Good article about Ray LaHoods's idiocy:

TransportationÂ’s bicycle policy hits potholes

117

Err . . . make that LaHood's idiocy.

118 Why do the Tea Partiers have to wait for the Republicans to organize them to support a good candidate?

They don't with a good candidate, which from the sounds of it Lynch wasn't.  But most tea party's don't have access to the database that the political parties maintain of their registered members and whether or not they voted for your party in the last election, and their home phone numbers.  That's a pretty useful bit to have if you want to organize a get out the vote campaign.

The true conservative won 58% to 42%. We can run as Republicans, but we don't have to kowtow to the Republican National Committee.

Agreed wholeheartedly, but again these are much different circumstances here.  As a general principle your right of course, that's the way it should be done, but this is something of a special case scenario and it was only presented as one of many things the republican's could have done with zero cash outlay and only the bare minimum of effort that might have made a significant difference in the outcome.

119

At least this time they didn't stuff the ballot box with dead people's votes. They didn't have a secret election either. Just a spur of the moment election. No big deal. Don't bother anybody with it. You'll have to wake up all the retired people from their naps.

120 Speaking of races we should be thinking about...what about Louise Slaughter? Who's running against her and why is no one paying attention to that district?

121 Sometimes you have face facts.  FL 19 is a district that is unwinnable in 98 out of 100 elections.

Which means it is winnable 2% of the time.  Now, if you can make a good showing with no cash outlay and with a 100% volunteer effort, why wouldn't you?

122
Wake up call to the complacent GOP.  Get your act together.  Wake up call to voters - wakey wakey.  The overall polls look good for the R's in Nov., but don't get cocky. 

123
Democrats in Colorado are running campaign ads focusing on "out of control Washington spending" - you know -the same out of control spending they voted for!

Democrats are going to step up the lies and deception big time.  Also, count on election fraud, and watch what local state governments are doing to gut the election laws so elections are easier to scam and double vote.

124 Guys are we seriously going to let Louise Slaughter run unopposed? Who is David Crimmen?

125
Obama: Whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower.

Ahmadinejad: “American officials bigger than you,” he said of President Obama’s attempts to talk him out of developing nuclear weapons, “more bullying than you, couldn’t do a damn thing, let alone you.”

That just about says it all.

126 Remember, in the long term those 30+ govenorships mean more then an extra seat or two in the Senate. Taking the House means taking a chunk of the agenda and authorizes investigations - and specifically will re-energize the IGs. I would rather money be spent at the State level getting control of the gerrymandering process from the census; then on a marginal Senate race (unless it is #12).

127 BREAKING NEWS!!

Jake Tapper is a Mangina!

128

This is one of the rare cases where I would say it wasn't worth the effort. This district is overwhelmingly old, retired left-wing New York Democrats. The rest are thirty-something New York socialists. When I lived there, 30 years ago, there were probably still some old IWW Wobbly types in their nineties still voting  (They probably thought they were voting for FDR.) 

The Dems wheel them out of the condos and nursing homes, bus them to the polls, and help put their palsied fingers on the "D" on the touchpad.  This is true for all of Broward/Fort Lauderdale. 

129 The effort in FL19 should have been focused on the precinct organization in the conservative dense sections of Broward Co. -- because with the upcoming redistricting; (FL should gain 2 seats) those precincts might move into a winnable package. http://tinyurl.com/2g86t8

130 Meanwhile Ahmadinnerjacket wants the UN to investigate 9/11

131 Minnie - now they walk the absentee ballot packages around with a pitcher of orange juice and cookies.

132 Snagging even half that, would have made him a solid winner.

But let's say that the RNC did put out a strong GOTV drive.. wouldn't the Dems have caught on and upped their efforts, too?  They know they have a huge lead so they played it easy, but if we kept it close, they would have put their starters and $$ back into the game, right?

133

@148 - now they walk absentee ballot packages around  with a pitcher of orange juice and cookies.

Heh.  That's all too believable -- unfortunately.

134 Dianne and Brianne: which one gives the BJs?

135 PressSec    Nonpartisan observer: The President is a mainstream, pragmatic moderate, operating in the center of American politics http://bit.ly/bDIsIn

136 With all due respect, PA, you don't know squat about the dynamics of that election.

Well, why don't you explain it to us then?  Really, what the fuck to I know about the FL19th?  I've only lived in and voted in this area for ohhhh...maybe 25 years now.

137 Minnie, I have elderly relatives who "voted" and couldn't tell you what name was anymore. Nursing home management and board got some nasty letters from our family over that.

138

What up! What did I miss? Anyone want to buy my book?

139 I have elderly relatives who "voted" and couldn't tell you what [their] name was anymore.

The nursing home staffs are very "helpful" in assisting them to fill in their absentee ballots for them. 

This is one area of Democrat vote fraud that generally flies under the radar and is never ever reported on, but has major impact on local elections.

140 Some districts are too far gone, so I'm willing to let it slide. Where I live, if a special election was held, the GOP candidate could promise unicorns and skittles for eternity and still be crushed by a Democrat who promised to kill every other resident. There's a reason why both parties always get a least 100+ seats no matter how bad the situation.

141 I may be short on details, but it seems like it is a win for us.

If we are going to have big government, big spending, big taxes, marxist-progressives ruling us, I want them to have (D_ after their names.

A (R- hurts us.

142

Everything about this special election should show us the problems with the RNC and the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee.

 

We had a weak candidate.  Why? 

 

Out of a pool of 650,000 people in a district, we should have been able to recruit some stellar person to be waiting in the wings of this gerrymandered democrat area just in case a Massa style situation came about. 

 

Sure, in a normal year it might not be fiscally prudent to spend heavily in this district, but we need people who can assess the situation on the ground and make decisions as opportunities present themselves. 

 

Why wasn’t there any call for a “money bomb” for our guy?

 

Where was the call for internet or Tea Party assistance? 

 

FL19 was an easy opportunity to catch the competition sleeping and make a pickup that would have had fantastic optics on the national scene.  ItÂ’s time to either change the management of the back room operations or start a new shadow group to fill the void.

143

Where I live, if a special election was held, the GOP candidate could promise unicorns and skittles for eternity and still be crushed by a Democrat who promised to kill every other resident.

Oh, so you live in FL-19 with PA as well?

I agree with PA to a point- this was a winnable race. But we should have recruited a better candidate- one who would have actually tried to fund raise (ONLY $85k????).

The RNC cannot waste assets on races where the campaign doesn't even appear to be trying. They apparently have to use the contributions we send them for hookers and shit.

 

144 It is not just the Jewish seniors, it is all seniors.

Millions of seniors who rely on SS will hold their nose and vote the party that keeps talking about printing money.

In a way, I do not really blame them.  They paid in after all, but then they just kept voting in people that stole it. 

Bread and Circuses!

Posted by: Rickshaw Jack at April 14, 2010 02:23 AM (b9f4x)

Rickshaw, I am a senior. As is my wife. And a large number of my friends and family. None, repeat, none of us, will hold our nose and vote for a Dem. Granted, this is Texas, but many of us recognize there is no good way to pick up a turd. Most of us here are going to vote for conservative candidates. We are sick of the progressives wasting our money and especially sick of Obamacare.

It is odd to me, though, and you have a good point about it, that so many Jewish seniors vote Dem every time. I have  a good friend who is a Jewish senior, and he is Obama nuts. I keep asking him why he thinks Obama is any type of friend to Israel, and get nothing back. Very weird.

145

#164, that was me. Glad you liked.

 

146 For whomever asked above -

As of last night, in the Broward County part of the district, 23.5% of the votes were cast by absentee, 11.8% in early voting and 64.7% on election day.  The Broward early votes went 57-41 Dem, absentees 56-40 Dem and election day votes 53-44 Dem.

I don't have the stats for the Palm Beach portion of the district, but I suspect they were similar.

147 Clarification - When I said I suspect the Palm Beach numbers were similar, I mean the absentee, early vote and election day percentages, not the actual results. 

The Palm Beach part of the district ran about 10 points more Democratic than Broward, which is unusual - they usually run more closely.  Plus, turnout as a percentage of 2008 was a lot higher in Palm Beach than Broward.  I'm still baffled by the disconnect, though the fact that the counties are in different TV markets might explain some of it.

148 " I may be short on details, but it seems like it is a win for us.

If we are going to have big government, big spending, big taxes, marxist-progressives ruling us, I want them to have (D_ after their names.

A (R- hurts us.
Posted by: Larry Sheldon"

I can accept this.

but this if Florida.  Every inch of that state should receive some level of effort.  I'm not asking the GOP to pour millions.  I'm asking for an every district approach, though.  This is a massive swing state, and if we can boost the GOP slightly in places like this, that will lead to thousands of votes in the statewide election.

The democrats fought us in red districts, in races they had no chance of winning.  they lost most of those races while drawing up enough votes to win bigger prizes.  Guess what, there are volunteers and donors in every little blue district who want to help the GOP.  It's not that expensive.  This nuts and bolts stuff is what Steele really ought to be focused on, even though it's technical and doesn't boost his name or wallet.

149 designer handbags

150 sex shop