Uhh. Yeah. Blue Majority's endorsement looks

More like a gaffe.  

I know WoodyNYC, me and another person all thought it was stupid.  No offense to you guys, we just feel the bloggers who comment often deserve a say in it instead of just the higher ups if you know what I mean.  We didn't really get any say on this one.  And unless these poll numbers are off or very soft, our feelings were unfortunately vindicated.  

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by: JeremiahTheMessiah @ Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 21:39:56 PM CDT

My main regret

Mostly I regretted this nomination to the Blue Majority because there were others -- others even in Virginia, but also out in Flyover Land -- who need our help, and where our help could make a big difference. Our impact in this race, for better or worse, will not be much.

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by: WoodyNYC @ Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 22:38:19 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I know. To list a few...

VA-02.  Thelma Drake is weak, and the guy just jumped into the race recently.  Glen Nye I believe his name is.  

CA-50.  Weak Incumbent, Nick Leibham is our only guy.  If he picked up some momentum, he could make it a race.  

MN-03.  Not yet, but assuming Ashwin Madia upsets the "Establishment" Candidate Terri Bonoff, he will need some money to catch up with the Repub vying for that seat.  

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by: JeremiahTheMessiah @ Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 22:43:22 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

In CA-50, there's also...

the progressive Cheryl Ede running, though as I wrote earlier, Leibham is probably a better fit for the district.  This goes back to my thing about how we would be incredibly stupid to try and run 435 Bernie Sanders-type lefitsts all over the country.  And for a district which STILL went for the Republican even when the previous one (Duke Cunningham) got sent to federal prison for bribery, that tells me it ain't exactly a place where a real progressive would fare well.

IOW, go Leibham!  :-)

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by: BruinKid @ Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 23:08:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Add me to the list

I have nothing against Leslie, she seems like a good candidate, but I'm disappointed blue majority endorsed her because it is a competitive primary that has been ongoing for sometime. It's not the candidate, its that the rules for nomination seem to have been violated.

In fact, the rules seem be very lenient this cycle in regards to those who have low tier races where we can really help out. A lot of our guys and gals are in the upper tier this year.

Just, seems odd to me.

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by: trowaman @ Thu Apr 10, 2008 at 03:32:58 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Ugh.

Not good news. Tom Davis. Yes the Republican. Is helping Connolly out in private. We can do far better then him.

Let's hope Leslie can make up the gap.

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by: Populista @ Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 22:05:37 PM CDT

Byrne

is a horrible candidate.  I don't understand why the blogosphere is behind her so strongly.

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by: Politicalhack @ Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 22:09:00 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

What makes you say that?

She has already represented the district and if she had won a few thousand votes in 2005 she would probably be the front-runner Virgina's governors race.  

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by: Populista @ Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 22:35:18 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

represented

a more liberal incarnation of the district and lost.  And then she lost another election.  Nominating her is good way to lose in November.

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by: Politicalhack @ Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 22:40:34 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Losing is the best way to hurt your

approval ratings.  Losing a presidential campaign does you in for good.  Kerry and Gore both hold 40%+ negative ratings nationwide.  same thing probably happens within a state if you lose a governor's race.  

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by: JeremiahTheMessiah @ Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 22:44:55 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

2005

In 2005, Byrne won the 11th district by almost 9.5 points.  

http://www2.sbe.virginia.gov/w...

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

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by: TheUnknown285 @ Thu Apr 10, 2008 at 11:35:51 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I'm pretty sure it's more anti-Connolly than pro-Byrne per se.

Or rather, anti-TheConnollyTypeOfPolitican and pro-TheByrneTypeOfPolitician.

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by: texas dem @ Thu Apr 10, 2008 at 04:23:21 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Exactly.

Leslie Byrne may have her flaws, I don't know.  Everyone who criticizes her on this board may be right.  But from what I can tell, Gerry Connolly is the very worst kind of Democrat, the kind that the netroots exist to oppose.  The press calls it "pro-developer", but what that means is giving sweetheart deals to hugely rich investors to gain the exclusive right to develop (print money in) various tracts of land, and that process is everywhere and always as crooked as it gets.  The closer one is to that side of the political process, the more likely one is to be a standard, corrupt, powerbroker hack with no ideology other than accumulation.

Certain kinds of politicians should not be promoted into Congress.  The more on the policy/legislative side you are, the better, and the more on the patronage/contracting side, the worse.  Rush Holt is a good model, Rob Andrews (aka George Norcross) is a bad one.  And from what I know of Gerry Connolly, he's as deep into the more typically crooked side of politics as it gets.

Obviously someone needs to do that stuff, and it doesn't make Connolly inherently awful, exactly, but it doesn't mean that putting him in the House is a good idea either.  I'd rather send someone whose core competencies and experiences are other than "deciding" who gets the sweetest contracts.

Disclaimer: my conclusions here are basically drawn by reading between the lines of press accounts.  While my arguments are correct as generalities, I think, they might not apply to Connolly in particular.

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by: texas dem @ Thu Apr 10, 2008 at 04:21:02 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Connolly is also a raging egomaniac

who has to have his name in the Washington Post every day. I don't know why he wants to be one powerless freshman out of 435.

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by: Johnny Longtorso @ Thu Apr 10, 2008 at 07:15:29 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

good democratic candidates come in different stripes

it's possible that democrats in the area just like and trust connolly - based on this poll or on the fact that they've been electing him for years.  and they may just not like byrne based on this poll and other elections.  and for netroots people who don't really know either candidate to come in and trash one and support the other based on the fact that byrne supported jim webb (didn't most democrats support jim webb for senate) is silly.

since 1992, byrne is 1-1 for VA-11, never winning more than 50% of the vote, got demolished in a convention against mark warner for us senate (with less than 10% of the votes), barely won a state senate seat (with 45% in a 3 way), and barely lost for lt gov (the same year mark warner won for gov).  she is a very dicey candidate, that since 1992 has never won more than 50% in a general election for any office - and she has run for a lot of offices. she's a fine person and a good democrat but by no means a safe bet.

connolly is a popular county supervisor who has never lost a general election in virginia and is also against the war.  his only fault appears to be that he has "made deals with developers," leaving open the question of who ms. byrne would make deals with if she was a county supervisor:)

i hope the primary voters make a good choice, but i wish the purists had invested in a better race.  

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by: st paul sage @ Thu Apr 10, 2008 at 15:15:41 PM CDT

See my comment above

Byrne won this district when running for Lt. Governor.

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

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by: TheUnknown285 @ Thu Apr 10, 2008 at 16:26:00 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

raging egomaniacs are always welcome in politics

i don't know anyone who has run for any office who doesn't have a more than healthy ego.

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by: st paul sage @ Thu Apr 10, 2008 at 15:18:09 PM CDT