yall know their's

a special election going uncovered in Fairfax county right? Come on people, catch up to the ball, lol.

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

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by: ArkDem the Ragin Cajin @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 01:01:58 AM UTC

Looks like the Democrat won

albeit narrowly.

Still, a win's a win.

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by: skaje @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 02:18:02 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

What race is that?

And is it a hold or pickup?

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by: ChadInFL @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 03:04:51 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hold

Was Rep. Gerry Connoly's (sp?) job.

26, Male, Democrat, TX-26

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by: trowaman @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 03:05:36 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yikes

And we only held it by 1,200 votes?  Or is it just an unfavorable district?

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by: ChadInFL @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 03:08:40 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Not at all

Obama carried Fairfax with 60% of the vote.

I sort of have this theory that a lot of rank and file Dems feel like their hard work (i.e. voting) is all done now that Obama's been elected.

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by: James L. @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 03:11:55 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

yeah, and there are also

a lot of local politics involved, including some unhapiness with some of the boards moves. Not to mention Bulgova ran a terrible campaign according the local obervers. I also agree with you, and its evident here, Democrats just aren't turning out for many of these special elections, they feel their job is done.  

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

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by: ArkDem the Ragin Cajin @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 03:16:48 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Special elections tend to favor the opposition party

Republicans are more motivated to make gains now that they're completely shut out of power.

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by: Johnny Longtorso @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 12:47:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

...How many guys in the GOP have names like this? Pfff Hahahaha

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by: JeremiahTheMessiah @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 01:16:43 AM UTC

This one's worse

Jo Bonner.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.

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by: TheUnknown285 @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 02:56:58 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Curious

what is the GOP field looking like for AL-Gov?  I know the Dem field, but besides Bonner I hadn't heard of any Republican taking a look at it.  

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by: skaje @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 01:31:05 AM UTC

Doc's Political Parlor

has a pretty extensive list of the potential contenders.

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by: James L. @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 01:38:17 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Oooh . . .

Roy Moore. There's a guy I had forgotten about. Somehow, I think even Rep. Davis could beat him.

26, Male, Democrat, TX-26

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by: trowaman @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 03:03:33 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Possible

That's about the only guy divisive enough that Davis could conceivably defeat.  Moore got destroyed by about a 2-1 margin against Governor Riley in the 2006 primary, so he isn't all that popular to begin with.

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by: ChadInFL @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 03:06:29 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

not true

The biggest 3 other contenders are extraordinarily weak.  Kay Ivey is pretty unimpressive, Bradley Byrne isn't going to excite Republicans, and Tim James ($2 million in the bank) is a nut.  There's a rumor around that Sessions will run and then appoint Riley to his seat.  That would be bad.

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by: jpo227 @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 03:45:41 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Any idea how Riley got so popular?

The guy was left for dead halfway through his first term with pathetic approvals after he tried to push through a big tax increase.  Then he cruises to re-election in 2006 and maintains approvals near 70% even today.  What the heck did he do to turn things around?  I know the people in his state liked the job he did during and after Katrina, but that's all I can think of.

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by: ChadInFL @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 04:21:13 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

he cut the budget and the state grew economically

Riley tried to scare everyone into the tax increase, argued that we'd have to get rid of high school football b/c the shortfall was so big.  But after the rejection he cut programs to make up the shortfall.  Then over the course of his term, the automobile industry really picked up.  That wasn't particularly Riley's doing but he benefited.  And when I say it picked up, I think the state's budget has grown by something like $800 million in 5 years without raising taxes.  

And Riley hasn't done anything embarrassing like get indicted or call out the national guard or buy a huge monument to the 10 commandments and put it in the supreme court building.  

Riley is actually a great example of what Davis will argue.  He'll claim that he's a conservative Alabamians can trust not to try to change them, that he'll keep the economy going strong, and that he's the most ethical politician around.  The only thing people hate more than having their money wasted is having a politician claim he's spending it wisely when he secretly knows he's wasting it.  

When democrats can get the ethics part right in Alabama, they can get people to buy into government programs that make for a better economy for everyone.  People in Alabama aren't anti-government per se, in fact, Alabama relies on government (universities, the military, nasa) more than a lot of other states.  People are just tired of having politicians steal from them so it's easier to be anti-government republicans.  

And we also have a lot of racists--that's another good reason to be a republican...

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by: jpo227 @ Wed Feb 04, 2009 at 06:52:20 AM UTC

[ Parent ]