Election Night Results Thread
Once again, here is our chart of all the relevant races up and down the state, with my predictions.
Use this thread for posting what results you are hearing. Delaware’s polls close at 8 pm.
Of all the fines levied against him, how much will Donald Trump actually pay?
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Who won?
When I voted in Dover, Kim Warfield was there, a Paradee supporter, several people for Jason Mollohan, and a couple others. There weren’t too many people actually voting though, but that was at 3pm.
It is not as poetic as “the night, they drove ole Dixie down”, but I am nicknaming tonight
“the night we cut the socialist in chief’s nuts off”
The plutocrats.
Gannett covers Iowa politics as shoddily as Delaware, only the stakes are greater:
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120118/joni-ernst-capitalized-broken-media-landscape-iowa
Just voted at Linden Hill Elementary. Busy but not packed. WTF, Janet Kilpatrick is unopposed? Where’s Bill Dunn when you need him?
Mitch McCoonell projected to win
Early votes by county in Fla as reported on Daily Kos show cause for optimism for Charlie Crist. Doing better than expected in Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Counties. Scott losing where he won in 2010.
Last minute Sussex predictions —
Mayor will win.
Briggs King will win.
Atkins will win.
Lopez will win.
Simpson will win.
Gooch will win.
Results coming:
http://elections.delaware.gov/results/html/election.shtml
Coons projected to win, per NBC.
Delaware polls closed. New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and North Carolina looking great for the Dems so far. Corbett gone in PA, so Dems pick up that. Indeed, the Dems should do very well in the governorships tonight.
No surprise on Coons.
Jesus was a Socialist, Rusty… Of course, if he ever came back to Earth, pretty sure the GOP would turn on him pretty quick
NBC projects D Tom Wolf to win Pa. governor’s race.
Still nothing on the state site.
Just now, 1 District (40) reported.
Early returns are from downstate. 7 ED’s in. Richardson with an early lead on Venables, Lopez with an early lead, but only one ED in each SD reporting.
why are there 433 districts for us office and only 430 for all other statewides?
Trey Paradee down early. Emphasis on early.
Ruth Briggs King and Richard Collins up, only one ED per district in.
Bushweller and Bennett up in Dover races.
Rappa’s numbers not looking good at all.
I know it’s early, but I find it interesting that in the districts reporting, Coons is losing to Wade but Carney is winning over Izzo.
Neither Barney nor Mayrack are selling downstate. Not really a surprise, but they’ll need big margins in NCC.
Ruth Briggs King is a sure winner. Better than a 2-1 margin with 3 ED’s left.
Still nothing in from NCC.
Sam Chick leading a close battle w/Sean Lynn.
Kramer up 6% on after 5 of 13…trey up 30 votes after 7 of 13
Shaheen wins in NH
Former Senator Scott Brown stays a former senator.
I worked the 11th and we had nearly 40% voter turnout! Looking like Simpler, Wagner, and Spiegelman took their spots in my Townsend area. Couldn’t tell you the rest, because pollsters in the face distracting me from mental math—after 15 hours!!! Time to go home…..read the rest on the door!!!
Does anyone know why there are no posted results on the DOE site from New Castle County?
Remember El Som–it is about a 10 member election slate, and cartridges are being returned at various sites.
Remember, there are 13 Dems and 8 Rep in the Senate. GOP will need a net gain of 3 seats for a majority of 11-10. In the House, there are 27 Dems and 14 Reps. GOP will need a net gain of 7 seats to get a majority of 21-20.
WDEL is pretty entertaining. Not sure who is talking.
Trey Paradee stretching out his lead to close to 300 votes w/ 4 more ED’s to report.
Gotcha, JC. But the slates are about as big downstate, and that vote is at least coming in…
How is Matt Denn losing by nearly 2000 votes?
Well maybe they didn’t set their clocks back this weekend 🙂 ! We’re dense districts and traffic around here!
3.3% for Damavandi the green party candidate in the A.G. race! That ain’t a bad showing for 3rd party candidate, and the best of all the Greens so far.
Man, the D’s are getting skunked downstate. I doubt that Barney or Mayrack can recover from those deficits. Smyk and Spiegelman up early. It’s not just Sussex, but the D’s are under-performing in Kent as well.
This system (Sussex first) is a bit of a cruel prank to pull on Wade supporters.
Exceptional Delaware: No NCC votes have been counted. Won’t even be close.
Chick and Kramer are holding on much better than I expected. I predict Paradee for the 29th but Chick will beat Lynn for the 31st.
Looking as the early results so far, the fundamental differences between the political ideology of the “North of the Canal” and the “South of the Canal” citizens are pretty apparent.
I think that Atkins has lost. Good riddance. So the GOP is +1 in the House so far. 26 Dems, 15 GOP.
Atkins down by 218 w/2 ED’s to report. Still not over.
Kim Williams wins 64-36.
If that holds, I called that Atkins result.
Maybe Pete S can recruit the guy who is beating Atkins? There are no standards afterall.
Kevin Hensley won in the 9th
Sussex County is not gonna elect a black sheriff tonight. Dunno what the Sheriff of Nuttingham is doing, but Gooch trails Lee by about 2-1.
Maybe Pete S can recruit Kevin Hensley?
I keep getting “error” page at DOE, so I’m really countin’ on you guys not to lie to me!
Down goes Atkins! Down goes Atkins!
One more ED, Atkins now down by more than 400.
JC -McGovern beat Nixon.
Venables looks like a loser.
Venables struggling. Down by 300, 6 ED’s left.
Paradee wins.
Paradee wins and Lynn gets closer. I think Venables goes down. So that will be +1 for the GOP in the Senate. 12 Dem, 9 GOP.
I’m glad Atkins is out! I know many believe collins to be a maniacal bastard, but I have worked with him and found him to be respectful and thoughtful in his disagreements with me. And we disagree on everything. Despite that, he’s a decent human being. I think it will be good for him to represent a larger constituency, it might broaden his perspective. And while he is broadening his perspectives, the Dems can find a NEW candidate for that district, then beat the hell out of collins next time. Bye bye Atkins.
Lynn takes the lead
The count is going a good deal more slowly than in most recent elections.
4 out of 10 precincts reporting: Smyk up 20%, 500 votes.
Lynn up by 200, 2 ED’s to go.
Spiegelman up 900 votes with 50% in.
NCC vote is in!
Damn, talk about a massive dump
This all-downstate-results gives a good idea of relative strength of the candidates in LSD. Wagner is up 21K, Simpler 20, Wade 6, Kittila 3, Izzo -2. Or, to flip that, Carney is up 2, Denn down 3, Coons down 6. Of course, Carney’s opponent makes that race a special case.
Ok, some help? The DOE page says:
125 of 433 Districts Reporting = 29%
Absentee Votes Reported
********************
New Castle : N
Kent : Y
Sussex : Y
Does this mean that Absentee votes have been reported, and that machine votes are coming in for Kent and Sussex but not NCCo? Or, does it mean that absentee votes have been reported for K&S, but not Ncco?
Its a little unclear….. And I want to know if my absentee ballot has been counted!!
Looks like BH-L will hold on.
Keesler loses in the 4th RD. Looks like Simpler and Wagner are going to win.
Sean Matthews ahead in the 10th. Hensely ahead in the 9th. Hensley would be pickup # 2 for the GOP in the House.
Brady, Heffernan, Q. Johnson, Hortiz, Matthews(!), Spiegelman, Hudson, Longhurst, Johnson, K. Williams, Miro, Outten, Bennett, Peterman, Briggs King, win competitive races.
Wow, Lynn beat Chick.
Sean Lynn wins.
Well that is disappointing. The pin heads in the 22nd District had a fantastic choice this year and they still sent Miro back to Dover. DRAT!
holy shit look at Gunn-Mckenna, 2 votes!
Atkins, Rebecca Walker, and Dennis E. Williams supported the Schwartzkopf/Longhurst ticket. Should make for an interesting House Majority Caucus meeting…
Bennett was a win from the get-go. McVay didn’t even campaign (as he did as the Libertarian candidate perviously) and got no support from the GOP.
Hell, even Bennett didn’t do much – all of the literature I got for her came from DSEA.
jason–I still love you like a kid brother, and am not regretting my Green votes. Guess I’ll have to count on El Som and Del Dem to share the truth.
Pat Paulssen beat Ralph Nader.
And McGovern beat himself.
Nixon stole it.
Looks like Simpler will take the Treasurer race. And Wagner will keep his job too.
That Richard Korn did better against Tom Wagner than Brenda Mayrack will be an enduring mystery.
Carney the leading vote getter among Dems in the state. Does he run for Governor in two years?
Do we know for sure that Hensley won? The DOE site still shows a close race w/2 ED’s left.
DelDem, that is the plan. For Carney to run for Gov. Markell runs for Congress.
Green Party AG. 4.7%? Impressive.
“That Richard Korn did better against Tom Wagner than Brenda Mayrack will be an enduring mystery.”
Korn had more name recognition.
Really? I didn’t think so then. I think he was just the beneficiary of the anti-COD wave.
Fuck Carney and Coons.
I voted for the Green Party candidates (don’t know who they are or what they stand for, just know they have to be better than Coons, Wade, Carney, et al.)
SussexAnon— the plan was for Beau to run for Governor, and then Plan B was for Gordon after Beau dropped out and Denn decided to go for AG. If Carney is now Plan C, then my prediction about Beau not running in 16 was correct.
2 Votes.
DEMOCRATIC PARTY
BETTY LOU MCKENNA 18445 800 19245 50 . 0 %
REPUBLICAN PARTY
LAMAR GUNN 18558 689 19247 50 . 0 %
What is with the delay in the 14th RD and the 6th SD?
Andrew Groff is a nice guy. I met him on his last run. Wish the Green Party would get more traction.
Amazing. Sussex getting trounced again. 60/40 in most cases. Venables and Atkins gone? Collins is a type-1 a-hole. It will be fascinating to see if he can handle the constituent services/stupid questions side of the job. Remember, Atkins lost before and his replacement hated talking to constituents about stop signs and potholes and Atkins came back.
DD-Korn benefited from the backlash against O’Donnell, as did Flowers.
I was disappointed in Brenda’s campaign, but there’ll be plenty of time to talk about that later.
Carney and Gordon are headed for a primary. Gordon intends to win it by turning out city voters in the mayoral primary.
Plans change DD, the new rumor in Dover is Beau has health probs* he needs to deal with and Carney really wants to come back to the state and be gov. because he doesn’t enjoy the toxic environment in DC and the amount of money he has to beg for every 2 yrs.
The Matt Denn for AG was throwing him a bone to get him off the trail to run for Gov.
I haven’t sourced it, but that’s whats out there in political circles. I do know from talking to Carney that he does find it “difficult” to get anything done in DC because of the venom being spewed. I have also heard he dreads how much time he has to spend on the phone asking for money.
*yeah, I know. the health part of the rumor is not new.
On the GOP side, Lavelle for Governor? Simpler Lt. Gov?
Carney really wants to come back to the state and be gov. because he doesn’t enjoy the toxic environment in DC
If this is true Carney has a flair for irony.
and the amount of money he has to beg for every 2 yrs.
He just won with 60% of the vote… how much pressure was he feeling?
Beau’s health has turned for the worse. He apparently is living with his parents.
On the GOP side, anyone with half a chance should go for it, because Gordon would be beatable in the general. Carney will be favored in the primary, and if he wins it the Republican will get buried, but Gordon has a real chance.
Lavelle for Gov? Are you kidding me?
NO EFFING WAY.
I’m not a fan of the Bidens, largely because Joe Biden is a piece of shit.
That said, it’s sad to hear that Beau is (again) ill. He’s a relatively young guy.
What are Beau’s health issues? Has he been active in the AG office lately?
Hey, Bonini’s not up in 2016. Why not him?
Four more years of Tom Wagner, God help us what a disaster. Even the 35% of voters who showed up were just not paying attention to this one.
El, I think we’ll see that. If you’ve noticed his pattern, he never runs for any other office when his Senate seat is up for vote, but in the 2 elections between, he usually throws his hat in to something else.
Given Carney’s showing downstate, I can’t imagine Gordon’s NCC credentials carrying him in a statewide primary.
I was actually pleasantly surprised at how well Beau looked today.
Man… When I’m wrong, I’m wrong. The people of Delaware really love the shit out of John carney. All the compromise and across the isle friendship building is the bomb.
Yes Hensley won the last ED up in Port Penn that hasn’t reported on the state site yet.
Far be it for me to brag (he lied), but I went 40-3, not counting those with only third party opposition. All the statewides right, one legislative race wrong (I predicted Newlin over Spiegelman, what was I drinking?) and two row office races, one loss by two votes.
BTW, I’m drinking a lovely WillaKenzie Estate pinot gris we picked up in Oregon. Makes the national returns more tolerable…
Simpler and Wagner got more votes than Denn. Odd.
So, who’s done the math?
Is it now a net +2 Republican seats in the Senate for a 11-10 split and the House will stay exactly the same?
The real moment of irony will come when the “Children of the Carney” come to urge R’s to change their registration to D to vote in the primary for him.
Western Sussex loves them some John Carney. Its a mystery.
Trollin’
https://twitter.com/TreasFlowers/status/529840606970126336
Don Ayotte got more votes than Steve Newton. Can we stop pretending he has anything important to say about politics now?
I only see a net one-seat pickup for the R’s in the Senate, Terry. Venables lost. That’s it, isn’t it?
As for Carney, he WAS running against Rose Izzo. I actually thought he’d do better…
As for Steve Newton, he has plenty of important things to say. He just ran in a district where both the R’s and D’s had viable alternatives. Otherwise, he likely would have done as well as David McCorquodale.
I don’t get the urge to shout someone down based on election returns. Steve Newton brings a lot of interesting ideas to the table. That’s one voice we need to hear.
El, you’re right – it was Adkins that lost 41. So +1 for House and Senate for Republicans.
Plus-2 in the House for the R’s. Hensley over Hortiz was the second, as Hensley takes the seat previously held by D Rebecca Walker, who screwed the D’s big time.
Gotcha.
CNN is now calling 50 Seats for the GOP in US Senate with 5 or 6 still up for grabs.
Looks like 53-54 for the R’s. D’s might not take back the Senate in 2016 now. On nights like this, you end up losing virtually every close contest. I’ve BEEN there a few times. Better days are ahead.
First prediction: Tomorrow, Tom Carper says that we need to work more on a bipartisan basis. Then, he’ll probably balk at moving Obama’s appointments during the lame-duck session.
Anyone care to disagree?
So… Did Carper’s taint really hurt Barney ? With Carneys 60% I’m thinking that it wasn’t the taint but something else.
No. I think Barney’s lack of experience hurt Barney.
You have to give the electorate a little bit of credit here.
One more prediction: I put the over/under for Sean Barney signing up as a lobbyist for some financial services behemoth at two weeks.
I’m taking the under.
El som. The Dems post mortem
Will reveal that they were not bipartisan enough.
As a candidate, Barney was as close to inarticulate as anyone with a clutch of Ivy League degrees could possibly be. But, yes, the fact that Carper tried to give him the rub and failed is a warning shot at what’s left of Carper’s political future.
While I don’t like Simpler, Barney was nothing but an invention of Carper and The Third Way. The D’s are best rid of him.
Jason: Carney ran against fuckin’ ROSE IZZO. Don’t forget that. He’s not invincible against someone with…a pulse.
John StewRt to Rince Prebis “Were you surprised by the Democrats strategy to curl up in a ball on the ground and hope to not get kicked in the face?”
Crist conceded to Scott in Florida.
If we can’t beat Scott Walker and Rick Scott we SUCK. This party is a bloody mess.
Thanks for the pit stop, Cory.
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/2014/11/01/new-jerseys-booker-rallies-delaware-ground-troops/18355047/
Well, Jason, I DO think that we’ll find out that a lot of Koch Bros $$’s, etc, was invested in the close races at the last minute.
Elizabeth Warren’s right: The game is rigged.
Mostly, but not exclusively, thanks to the most political Supreme Court in this nation’s history.
Wow, GOP Governor win in Illinois over Obama’s buddy Quinn.
Like I said, on nights like this, you lose all the close ones.
Isn’t this similar to 2006 when Ds came back into power?
2nd term fatigue.
Looking at the results, fairly quickly, this morning, it looks like the Republicans outperformed the pre-election polling results. Kay Hagan was supposed to win, Pat Roberts was supposed to lose, and Scott Walker was supposed to have a much closer race.
With the exception of Maine, which loves “moderate” Republican Susan Collins, the Democrats only lost three swing states and they were close; that includes North Carolina, which wasn’t even a swing state pre-Obama. It is not freak-out time. Most of the losses were in red states where the Democrats were lucky to have a Senator anyway. The results only really serve to reinforce the fact that in the current era, the presidential election will hinge on a few select states where the electorate is evenly divided. Progressive initiatives such as marijuana legalization and minimum wage increases won at the ballot, including in states where Republicans won otherwise. Again, it is NOT freak out time for Democrats, nor is this a “mandate” for Republicans as Fox News will declare it.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen! 🙂
“The results only really serve to reinforce the fact that in the current era, the presidential election will hinge on a few select states where the electorate is evenly divided.”
Yes. I see it now. If we can only water down our message enough to appeal to that one “undecided” in Polk County Ohio, everything will be okay.
This is what happens when Democrats make themselves indistinguishable from Republicans.
Yep, and you can bet that Carperite D’s will be braying the exact opposite message.
When virtually nobody on the ballot excites you enough to want to help them out, that’s the very definition of an enthusiasm gap.
“Yes. I see it now. If we can only water down our message enough to appeal to that one “undecided” in Polk County Ohio, everything will be okay.”
Losers don’t govern; instead, we end up with policies like we saw in the Bush era. The reality is that we have a portion of the country that lives in an alternate reality in which Republicanism makes sense. They are wrong. We know that. However, the only way to defeat them and continue progress is to get the mushy middle onboard. Realistically, these are the people who vote based on the person and the messaging and not on the ideas. Does this mean that we need to be more “centrist”? Not necessarily – it means we need to sell it better or put it in a better package.
MikeM2784 – Do me a favor… Look in a mirror. Are you doing that? Good. You are looking at what is wrong with the Democratic Party.
Those willing to sacrafice the good for the perfect will end up with neither. I live in Sussex County, surrounded by people who believe the crap the Republicans spew. Its strong, it is out there, and there are a lot of them. It is a horrible, dilluted vision of reality. But again, a good chunk of America beleives it and will not be convinced otherwise. Positive change is only going to come from the Democrats, but they must win to do anything. Losers don’t govern. Ask Al Gore. Nader’s ideas were better, but the outcome was Bush. We have to operate within the realm of the real world wherein there are people who think and vote differently that we do.
@MikeM2784–“means we need to sell it better or put it in a better package.” ?????@#@^$*! Oh priceless.
Because the auditory Prozac has worn off ? Seriously, I know this is America, but not all of us respond to the hard sell of a one week timeshare, and the gift of a beach towel for encouragement.
Please. Your cliches are not real thought. If you are saying that in view of these election results, the Democrats need to be more centrists, you have identified yourself as an idiot. Yes. It is that simple.
@Joanne, I think you overestimate the intelligence of the swing voter. How can a majority vote for George W. one year and Obama the next? It is not about ideology, that’s for damn sure.
Jason, I never said be more centrist. I said we have to win elections to make a difference. That is basic fact.
Jason, unfortunately for you (and most on this forum), the fact is that you don’t represent a majority of the electorate. The majority of voters would rather see a centrist Congress and Administration versus one that swings heavily left or right.
The post-Clinton polarization of the parties will keep the “pendulum swing” political game constant until one party or the other re-adopts a centrist platform.
I love me some Jason – I really do (you know that, J). And if it were just Jason we were dealing with I’d be fine – because I know and love him.
Raising the minimum wage won in 4 red states. There’s the disconnect, and one that Dems squandered.
As far as centrist… until we raise a boatload of progressives kids we need to recognize the centrists and try and move them left. Immigration is a prime example… unless you think the centrist and D voting public is 100% (or even 60%) on board with immigration reform. They aren’t. So how do we woo them? Because that needs to happen. My parents are Dems, but when I speak with them about immigration you’d swear they were Rs. Tell me how we reach this group.
Terry, Clinton didn’t polarize the parties – other than Rs will impeach any D President. He was THE centrist, and we’re dealing with a lot of his compromises and views.
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!! For the millionth time – I don’t give a fuck about a “a centrist Congress” or Administration. GOVERN as centrists as you like. I’m talking about what Democrats can do to win. That is articulate an affirmative brand message that excites the base.
MikeM2784 is a fucking moron who can’t see the plain truth in font of his goddam face, so he favors a losing strategy that has lost time and again.
The Democratic brand has to make sense to “swing” voters and every body -fucking else – OR ELSE DEMOCRATS HAVE NO CHANCE.
I’m sick of you morons not getting it – or pretending to not get it. That’s just as bad.
Exactly Pandora – “Raising the minimum wage won in 4 red states. There’s the disconnect, and one that Dems squandered.”
thank you.
Pandora, I said “post-Clinton” polarization – meaning the polarization that occurred after he left office.
MM–that’s the point. The swing voter does hold the power, but in this state you can’t execute that power until Election Day. Our party declaration to be eligible to vote in the primaries is ridiculous, and gives a real false sense of victory or victim in the future.
On another note, and would appreciate the feedback or enlightenment of those “who know”…..working the polls yesterday for DOE, we always hear and or document the “troubles” voters encounter……parking, lighting, etc. Of course, front and center is always “they keep changing my polling place, and I’ve lived in the same house 32 years….”
One item came up a MULTITUDE of times, seriously right behind the #1 complaint of “changing my polling place…”. Apparently, voters received a mailer (no robocall complaints believe it or not) that read along the lines…”your neighbors voted twice as often as you have….or “you have voted 67% of the times you were eligible to vote…..”.
Livid, if the DOE was “telling them” how they voted, and how would they know……Hated on a postcard, how much they did or did not vote in comparison to their neighbor “for all the world to see” etc.. ANGER. They reported at the polls thinking DOE “told their vote”. It was explained, no vote is known, but voting record attendance can be public knowledge. I would say some backfire may have come from that mailing—but don’t know where it was targeted, the demographic or issuance. But definitely, the #2 complaint in my lil’ ol’ corner of the world. Anybody?
Good Jason, keeping being “pure” and losing “pure.” Not going to help. Screaming louder isn’t going to help. Winning, that will help. I’m just as Progressive as the rest of you ideologically….I want the same things, the same outcomes. I hate the purchase of elections by corporations, I hate the centrist compromise bullshit, I really, truly do….but losers don’t make laws, plain and simple. A Democrat from 15 years ago would look at what has been accomplished and think we were in an age of tremendous liberal progress. Don’t lose sight of how far we have come. Change takes time….liberal ideas will win out, as they always have, because we are correct. But we must work within the system to make it so.
Work within the system? Like President Gore… oh wait! How did that work out?
Yeah, I’m over purity. You want change? Win big and give cover.
“Winning, that will help.” Good luck with that. Your strategy seems like it just needs a little more time until it starts paying off.
How far did heath care advance under President Bush? What about gay rights? Minimum wage? Glad those purist in Florida got to vote for Nader. That worked out. He was funded in part by Republican donors because they KNEW what would happen!
Pandora is right; win big, with some moderates as necessary. The moderates will generally support the progressive agenda if they know it has a chance of passing.
It isn’t about purity stupid – it is about salesmanship. You don’t see because you don’t want to see it.
Just think about it. How do Republicans win? How have they moved the overton window so far to the right? By being moderate? Jesus, you are dumb.
I think what Jason is saying is that RUNNING as a centrist is not a winning strategy. Sure, the Delaware Democrats at the top won — yet against incredibly weak opposition, not a single one could crack 60%.
This is the eternal problem of listening to what people say instead of watching what they do. People in Delaware SAY they want the parties to work together, so idiots like Carney and Coons slavishly work at bipartisanship. But the people who SAY they want bipartisanship clearly don’t VOTE that way, or each one would have cracked the 60% barrier.
People vote when they are motivated. In 2008 they were motivated by the Carney-Markell primary. In 2010 they were motivated to vote against Christine O’Donnell. In each case, they were not voting FOR something so much as voting AGAINST something (in Carney’s case, against a continuation of the Minner disaster). I’ve sung Kumbaya plenty of times — but only in church, where it was either sing or make a scene by leaving. Nobody sings Kumbaya because they enjoy it, and nobody is going to the voting booth because they love the sound of Kumbaya.
“How far did heath care advance under President Bush?”
The Republican-led Congress passed Medicare Part D — not because expanding Medicare is a Republican idea, but because the Democrats in Congress had their own, more liberal, plan ready to go. Acting as liberals eventually got us half a loaf.
“What about gay rights?”
The gains of the Obama years have been almost entirely in the states, and the groundwork for that was laid during the Bush years.
If you’re trying to illustrate that acting like frightened appeasers is good strategy for Democrats, you’re failing.
what was the groundwork laid during the Bush years regarding gay rights?
As I’ve said repeatedly, I’m not advocated an overall centrist shift and I actually agree that the key is the marketing of it. I’m just saying that if we have a center left candidate who can and is winning, we should support them. My main point is that we must WIN to do ANYTHING.
Sure, go ahead and pretend that there were as many liberal accomplishments during the Bush years. He ran on the premise of banning gay marriage Constitutionally. Obama publicly supported it (with some nudging from Biden) and it has continued to tumble forward since then. He pushed the military to end don’t ask don’t tell. He’s backed down the DEA from going after states experimenting with legalization. The list goes on. It is not “frightened appeasement,” it is governance in the real world wherein a lot of people live in a Fox-induced hallucination.
“I actually agree that the key is the marketing of it.”
I’ll take it.
How about this. Let’s do a bit of a reality check. Members of Congress run offices of staffers. They organize committee meetings. They tinker with legistlation that hardly ever gets passed. They spend something like 50-75% of their time asking for money and campaigning for the next one of these freak shows. They make speeches about “getting the economy going” and “addressing the Ebola problem.”
They don’t do anything really and lately they’ve done less. Actually I think I heard they’ve done literally the least. I see no reason this won’t continue. So for all the gnashing of teeth and post mortem and analysis of bad messaging… the difference will be genrally undetectable.
And then, most get reelected either unopposed or with only nominal opposition. Don’t forget that part.
The difference will be messaging. Rs will roll out “democrat obstructionism” like is a new thing.
And sell it. Perpetually. Did your milk spoil in your fridge? Yeah, that’s Obama and the Ds fault because they are obstructionist. It will be a lot of that.
The only groundwork laid down during the Bush years I can think of came from the gay community – a group we could learn a lot from. They worked hard and kept chipping away, state by state. They could have said, “Federal law legalizing gay marriage or nothing!” But they didn’t.
They followed the suffrage model from earlier…and I think will ultimate have the same result of national approval. If gays can marry in Kansas, it can happen anywhere.
Minimum wage and pot legalization is progressing state by state. On issues, the nation is progressing. Gay marriage has happened and continues to spread and the world didn’t end.
The gay community was highly focused, funded and organized.
Its hard to be any of those when you are offering half-assed healthcare reform when your base wants single payer. And our elected delegation kills it in committee. State attempts at that have not done very well. Even here in Delaware.