Welcome, one and all to the most intense nightly read anywhere on the sphere… The BitsBlog Nightly Ramble
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- EXPANDING ON NY23: Yes, I put up an extended commentary on the NY23 lessons this morning. Michelle Malkin, today, expands on this [2].
Conservatives owe NY-23 candidate Doug Hoffman immeasurable gratitude. He overcame impossible odds (single digits just a month ago) to come within two points of defeating Democrat Bill Owens. Hoffman had zero name recognition. National Republican Party officials dumped [3] nearly $1 million into the race on behalf of radical leftist GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava, who then turned around, endorsed Owens and siphoned off 5 percent of the vote with her name still on the ballot after she dropped out.
It is, as I have been saying ; the Republicans got burned specifically because they backed a liberal. Again.
Hoffman’s candidacy illuminated the stark difference between GOP political opportunists willing to pimp out their endorsements to any old ACORN-embracing, Working Families Party-consorting, Big Labor crony [4] who puts an “R” by her name — and movement conservatives who refuse to “mooooderate” for the politically expedient sake of mooooderation as dictated by out-of-touch Beltway party leaders. The NRCC/RNC’s $1 million debacle will cost much more than that.
[5]Michelle goes on to extensively last the long-term costs involved with the Republican Establishment backing liberals. Donations are down, anger is higher than it ever has been in the history of the party, and this is only the beginning. The still-open question is, will the Republican estalishment get the message? (A nod to Michelle for the caps of the rejected donation forms… and for fighting the good fight on this. I note Roger Simon weighs in on all this [6] with pretty much the same angle I went with this morning. So does Stacy McCain.
[7]Stacy McCain
If the Republican bosses think they’re going to pick another candidate in NY23 for 2010, they’d better think again. The grassroots conservatives — the Tea Party people, the pro-lifers, the Club for Growth, Fred and Jeri Thompson, Sarah Palin — who backed Doug Hoffman aren’t going to forget his courageous example.
Ace, too: [8]
Although we lost, I repeat my previous statement that this was (a) cost-free and therefore helpful move. It’s “teaching the GOP a lesson” in a smart way, in a single election (for a term that will last only one year), that will send a short sharp shock that while we may accept RINOs where we absolutely have to, we damn sure won’t be accepting them where we can win with a conservative candidate. We’re not just going to support liberals just to win; what is the point of “winning” then?
[9]This is EXACTLY what I’ve been saying for years. The confirmation’s nice. I will add the observation that despite running up against both of the Republican and the Democrat parties, and the massive funding both of them brought to the table, (in the Democrats case, it 95% of which came from outside the state as I indicated this morning ) Doug Hoffmann managed to pull within three points of taking that seat. So don’t be telling me from here on out that 3rd parties are not viable. Certainly, don’t be telling me that real conservatives with the proper backing can’t win. Don’t be telling me about how Sarah Palin doesn’t bring any political gravitas to the table. Last night exposes all those arguments as pure crap.And I repeat, and the question still remains, will the GOP establishment get the message this time? - OTHER INDICATORS: Homosexual “Marriage” lost bigtime in Maine, yesterday. [10] This kind of loss is exactly why so many states won’t let such measures come to an actual vote. I have forgotten whether not I actually made any mention of it here on the site, but I made note recently of an article in [11]The Hill [11] about how the GOP chair Michael Steele was defending Olympia Snowe for being such a liberal, saying “well, she works in Maine, after all.” the vote in Maine last night turning down that referendum strikes me as laying that argument just a little bare. Ask yourself; would Olympia Snowe have voted against homosexual marriage in Maine? If not , there seems a disconnect between the Senator and the people she supposedly represents in that state. There also seems a bit of a disconnect between the observations of Michael Steele, and what’s really happening in that state. Given that, it seems logical to question his conclusions in other states, as well. My patience with Mr. Steele has come very close indeed to running out altogether.
- OBAMA: OVER… There’s no doubt in my mind that the president making several appearances in both New Jersey and Virginia, and yet being unable to swing the vote to the leftist in each case, is significant. It’s my read that Obama is now over, in terms of his image being untarnished. In reality, the polls have been telling us that for some time, now. But certainly the results of Obama’s efforts are making a lot of people sit up and take notice. Even the traditionally liberal press is beginning to wonder aloud if Obama as efforts in those states want part of the reason that the candidates lost so badly. That alone is a situation that I wouldn’t even have predicted a couple of months ago. If last night as a prologue to the midterm elections in 2010, Democrats are in for an even worse bloodbath than I’ve been predicting here. Glenn Reynolds is certainly of the opinion that the Obama magic has faded away, and says so in his NY POST article today:
But these local angles weren’t enough to keep the Obama administration out of the races. President Obama barnstormed Virginia and New Jersey — and pumped money and Joe Biden into NY-23 in support of Democratic candidate Bill Owens. (One suspects Owens would have preferred more money and less Biden.)
Now, of course, the leftist press such as CNN, for example, are all about spending this is being nothing about Obama. Bob Beckel was on fox news as early as 10:00 last evening mumbling words to that effect , already. The fact of the matter is, the biggest thorn in the side of the American people right now is the economy. The weed that the thorn, is Obama, and everybody in the country sees it.Everybody thinks this isn’t going to play a large and 2010, raise your hand. No? Nobody? Well, I didn’t think so. Here’s the thing; Jon Corzine outspent Christie at a rate of about 5 to 1. That kind of money and plus repeated visits by the Chosen One, and Corzine still couldn’t get the job done?
- BYE BYE OBAMACARE: Yep… I mean it. I’m going to tell you that the kind of result we had last night probably killed off any hope of the government takeover of health care actually becoming law. Lawmakers were already talking about putting it off until next year, and last night confirmed that situation. But consider it from their standpoint; They’re worried about getting elected. Not only do they have the left carping at them because they’re not pushing the thing hard enough, but there is no denying that the government takeover of health care is the single most unpopular measure to come forward in many years. You can understand why anyone seeking reelection would be reluctant to sign on for such an expenditure. During a non-election year, they might have gotten away with it. With the election brewing in November, and with approval ratings for both Obama and Congressional Dems being at all-time lows… and I mean we’ve not seen such ratings since we started taking such polls n the 1950’s… the likelihood of such a vote being run successfully by the Democrats in June is as close to zero as no matter. They’ve already got a hard enough time in front of them keeping their campaigns afloat, without the Healthcare boat anchor. Anyone putting for such a measure, is likely ending their political career. Sure, you’ll get a number of Democrats who are idealist enough to do it anyway, but not enough to get it passed.
- CARLY FIORINA: She’ll be running for Senate. I’ll be interested to see how this develops. [12]
- BITSBLOG BUMPER STICKER OF THE DAY: comes from Give Us Liberty [13]
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