GOP Stunned By Loss in Mississippi

[babylonsister]

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/gop_stunned_by_loss_in_mississ.html

:evilgrin:

GOP Stunned By Loss in Mississippi
By Reid Wilson


In a major blow to national Republicans, a Mississippi congressional seat that once voted for President Bush by a twenty-five point margin elected a Democrat on Tuesday. Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers beat out Republican candidate Greg Davis, the mayor of Southaven, by a 54%-46% margin, a spread that several Republican strategists on Capitol Hill characterized as a startling wake-up call for a party in dire straits.

snip//

The results came despite national Republican efforts aimed at winning the seat. Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, former Senator Trent Lott and Governor Haley Barbour campaigned hard for Davis. On Monday, perhaps as an unfortunate measure of how Republican the district really is, Vice President Dick Cheney held a rally for Davis. Closing the gap in DeSoto County, said Childers pollster John Anzalone, was crucial. "All we were looking to do was to cut the margins there," he said.

The loss has already shaken establishment Republicans in Washington. After losing special elections in Illinois and Louisiana, the House GOP conference already expects a bad year for their party. But those two districts voted for President Bush by eleven and nineteen points, respectively, not by a whopping twenety five points. "People are going to want change," said a top aide to a leading House Republican. "The excuses, that {Davis} didn't have the resources or that he wasn't from the right part of the district, that's just not going to hold up."

snip//

As Childers heads to Washington in the next several days to take the oath of office, Republicans now find themselves at a 37-seat disadvantage in Congress. And with a difficult election coming in November, one in which they will likely find themselves financially and politically outgunned, national Republicans are already making plans for the future. No one, though, is likely to try to force leadership changes before November. "I don't imagine anyone running against Chairman Cole," the adviser to the endangered Republican said. "Because Who would want this job?"

[Ian David]

1. The more seats we get, the more likely Harry Reid will find a pair of balls in one of them. n/t

[madokie]

11. you reckon, once lost do they actually grow back

I'm not so sure anymore. Someone has ole harry by his balls is the only thing to me that explains his reluctance to do his job. Impeaching bushco is his job afterall, says so right there in the constitution.

[TheCowsCameHome]

13. If a starfish can re-grow an arm, maybe the Dems can get the formula

Never too late to try..............

[madokie]

25. yep, never say never

I really do wonder about all the nsa spying and dems rolling over, what the connection is.

[myrna minx]

2. K&R Just for the headline, but the article is good too. n/t

[DFW]

3. Mississippi is not at the outer edges of Antarctica

As a part of the mainland of the USA, even a place that traditionally conservative
could see that the Bush policies were doing more harm than good. It's just a shame
that things had to get as bad as they are for them to finally vote in such a way
as to show that they didn't want to lie down and play dead any more.

[DrRang]

15. I grew up in the district--I'm stunned! And delighted!

I visiting my mother in District 1 a couple of weeks ago. The TV ads for GOPper Davis were unrelenting and almost a parody, focusing on Childers as an ally of Obama, and a liberal who shared Nancy Pelosi's "San Franciso values . . . but that dog won't hunt in Mississippi." Since Childers is a classic good ole' boy and social conservative, the campaign probably struck even local Repubs as stupid.

And in case the Pubs try to spin it as a loss because of the black vote, District 1 probably has the lowest black percentage in the state, about a third of the percentage of the Delta counties. It went pretty solidly for Clinton in the primary--I think the other MS districts supported Obama.

The area is rural farming and small town, hilly and wooded. The biggest industry is furniture manufacturing. A huge Benchcraft plant in Tippah County is closing this month, which will put the local economy in a world of hurt. I think people are starting to realize they have bigger problems than "special rights for homosexuals" and "Saddam's weapons of mass destruction."

[Supersedeas]

28. wonder what KKKarl Rove thinks about this development

[nradisic]

4. Karma is a bitch...

Guess what? The Shrub re-branded the GOP and they loved him for it.They wanted Bush and Cheney so bad.....Guess what? The GOP has re-branded themselves for good. Now most Americans know what you are - total fucking scum. Karma is a bitch....Thank God.

When Republicans loose is Mississippi? The whole thing has come full circle. No one is buying the shit anymore...

[KharmaTrain]

8. No I'm Not...LOL

I'm male. But I know what you're saying...and why I chose this SN many, many years ago. My hopes were to roll over a lot of the GOOP corpses that had polluted our political system. Full speed ahead!!!

The game is not won yet...there's lot of work to do. Democrats must now seal the deal...give people reasons to vote FOR Democrats as much as against GOOPers.

Cheers...

[MADem]

5. That IS what happens when your candidate looks like Pig-boy.

They couldn't have picked a worse guy on appearance alone. There was no putting lipstick on that particular pig. The policies and the general level of dissatisfaction were simply icing on the cake.

And they HAD to know their internal polls were not looking good.

[KharmaTrain]

6. The Money Drain Is Getting Bad, Too

They dropped another 2 million on yet another losing cause...along with the money they wasted in LA and in IL-14. The RCCC is running on fumes now and I can't see how they turn this around. Even better is the money wasted by the 527s that look like those backfired as well. Oh how the worm has turned.

I remember an election in my district in '04 when the Repugnican incumbent had 5 to 1 cash advantage over the Democratic challenger...and in other districts the amounts were even higher. Now these same goons are on their own.

The real scene changer could now finally being as GOOPers see their futures fading before their eyes if they keep toeing the booosh regime line and agenda. The upcoming supplemental fight will be fun to watch. The GOOP "brand" is a loser, period...and its demise has now begun in full.

:bounce:

[ixion]

7. The GOP needs to go the way of the federalists

sooner rather than later.

[gatorboy]

23. I'll fill the bathtub if you help me hold it under. n/t

[chknltl]

9. Heard on NPR that Huckabee campaigned for Davis there too

We may be witnessing the death throes of the Republican Party... I wonder if those who are up for reelection this November will magically reinvent themselves through 'liberal' issues. Wolves taking on sheep clothing yet damned by their loyalty to the neo-con agenda! mCcain is now calling himself the "environmental candidate", promising to wean us off of foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gasses. His record from what I understand suggests that he has a history quite to the contrary.

I predict that there will be quite the surge of new Dems as We The People quite literally 'Throw The Bums Out'!!! I further predict that Senator Obama will win in a landslide against Senator mCcain.
President Obama may get the chance to enjoy a strong Dem House and a strong Dem Senate.

[malaise]

24. No wonder he looked so shell-shocked on GEM$NBC

when the results were announced last night.

Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! I'm lovin it!! :D

[madrchsod]

10. one and a half million in the illinois 14th

plus the 3 time loser milk nazi put in that much or more of his own money...this november we are doing it all over again and i think we are going to take more counties this time...

[tavalon]

12. Stunned?

I guess the vote stealing thing didn't work this time, eh?

Really, if they are stunned because they think they still stand a chance, anywhere, then they just haven't been paying attention.

[lpbk2713]

14. Trent Lott ... you suck.

... is another way to look at it.

:rofl: :rofl:

[OwnedByFerrets]

16. Although I am glad Mr Childers has a (D) behind his name...

he ran as a Pro-Gun, Pro-Life Conservative. It will be interesting to see how he votes. But, make no mistake, he is no progressive. And, I doubt a progressive could have gotten elected here.

[Juche]

18. He is still better than the alternative

I'm sure Childers will vote dem on labor, environment, tax reform, healthcare and most other issues. I will take 75% of a loaf over a GOP rubber stamper like Davis.

Personally I don't see why it matters much. My impression of the house is that a majority is all you need to get things done. We need to win seats in the senate.

[OwnedByFerrets]

22. I agree with you 100%.....but it does matter.

Only the repugs vote lockstep.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

19. I haven't been following this race and wondered if he is amongst the "new" Democrats

who seem to vote along with the Repukes, practically in lockstep on crucial matters, once in Congress. ie Landrieu, McCaskill.

[IronLionZion]

32. He's liberal for Mississippi and it's good for our party.

Just as importantly, it's very bad for their party. We're a big tent. He seems like a good liberal on many issues.

http://www.childersforcongress.com/tc_issues.html

[Bake]

34. My understand from the locals is that he was more conservative than the Puke

Bake
Exiled in Mississippi

[OwnedByFerrets]

39. It will be very interesting to see his voting record in a year from now..nt

[bdamomma]

17. ha ha

let's start at the local level to get these repigs out!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hatrack]

20. Cue the "Stump The Chumps" music from Car Talk . . .

Bwah-bwah-bwah-bwaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!

[CatWoman]

21. let me just say

[samsingh]

26. the fing gop is stunned period.

i hope that party is obliterated

[tinymontgomery]

27. Repubs want to win

Jump and scream to impeach * and Chaney (sp) tomorrow and have them out by next Friday.

[Stuart G]

29. Great Post, and I am very happy that they are.."stunned'

I really appreciate reading this post and this thread. These people need more than to be stunned. They need to be defeated so bad that they will be gone.

[Contrary1]

30. The fact that the GOP was "stunned" just goes to show

how out of touch with reality the Repubs are. Perhaps if Greg Davis and the others would extricate their heads from Junior's ass every once in a while, they would not be facing a "startling wake-up call".

So they expect a bad year? I hope they have "twenety" more. :evilgrin:

[diane in sf]

33. make that 40 more bad years, I hope I never see another Repug president or majority

in my lifetime, and I intend to live to be really old.

[LeftCoast]

31. My favorite line from the article:

"Republicans now find themselves at a 37-seat disadvantage in Congress"

:woohoo:

[chknltl]

35. kicked nt

[yellowcanine]

36. I am disappointed that there were no quotes from the 3 stooges, Cheney, Lott and Barbour.

[Perry Logan]

37. This proves there's a God.

Take THAT, atheists!

[Progressive_In_NC]

38. The guy who won was running ads that he is pro-life and pro-gun

Sounds progressive to me.