The news last night from Ohio’s special election for a seat in the House of Representatives is that the Republicans lost significant ground in a district that they regard as their GOP Party property. In the 2nd district, Republicans are used to winning with 70 percent to 30 percent. Last night, radical right wing Republican Jean Schmidt scraped past Democrat Paul Hackett with a gap less than 4 percent. Schmidt’s pathetic performance came in even with the full support of the National Republican infrastructure and with the wealth of her inherited estate.
The news is clear – even in what have been thought of as solid Republican districts, seats in Congress are up for grabs. The American people are sick and tired of the extremism and corruption of the Republicans in Congress, and in less than a year and a half, the whole nation will have the opportunity to kick the Republicans out and replace them with more honest, and more responsible progressive leaders.
Yeah, but a win’s a win. Losing sucks. And now we have another radical in Congress thanks to the idiots in Ohio. Way to go OHIO. At this rate, the Democrats don’t stand a chance in Congress. i still don’t hear any outrage over the media, or see people marching on Washington (or even to the county courthouse) to protest the radical Republican agenda. Maybe people WANT it this way. i just don’t get it . . .
Sorry Tom, but you don’t get it.
The Republican National Committee was expecting to coast through this race without spending any money. Bush opened up this seat because he thought it wouldn’t be at risk.
Paul Hackett proved the Republicans wrong, and forced the RNC to fight a fight that they didn’t expect. The Republicans had to spend millions of dollars, and Jean Schmidt depleted her inheritance money. There is now no campaign war chest for Jean Schmidt to spend in the 2006 election, which will start in just 5 months. That means that there will be yet another close contest that will drain Republican campaign funds once again, in a district that is supposed to be easy for Republicans.
This whole deal is a big loss for the Republicans, even with an extremist like Jean Schmidt in office for a little under a year and a half.
But you’re saying,
1- voters had the chance now, and didn’t take it.
2- Schmidt is a nutjob, and still
won
This is an indication of a shift????
Sorry, but it looks weak (and bleak)
If Hackett is so great, why can’t he win against a true nutjob?
Answer: Average person is stupid, for one. This is unlikely to change by the next election, or even by the next century. If anything, the population is growing dumber and more apathetic each year. Changing the direction is tougher than you think. More challenge and structure at the school level would at least help.
Icey Master, the percentage voting Republican for Congress in this district shfited around 20 percentage points. That’s a huge change, an immense positive trend.
The doom and gloom philosophy is: 1) Self-fulfilling; 2) Wrong
Ok, I see alot of comments so I’ll give you the perspective of a republican family member who now resides in the district and did vote.
Talked to my cousin today. She is a republican who voted for Hackett so, naturally, I asked her why. She confirmed that Schmidt is a nut job and it had nothing to do with the president’s approval or lack there of…Schmidt has just rubbed alot of people the wrong way to the point it almost cost her the election. Secondly, Hackett picked up alot of votes for simply being a veteran…that’s it. My cousin was puzzeled because one of Hackett’s 1st commercials was one that pictured Bush with the audio that said he was right. but after that, the commercials changed???
This leads me to the obvious conclusion that this race had little to do with liberal vs conservative ideology…except for the fact that as bad as Schmidt tried to screw things up, she still won because she was a republican. My cousin also said that the republican party is already looking for someone to replace her because of the campaign she did run. You draw your own conclusions though.
Junga,
All you’ve shown is that a really bad candidate, even in a Republican-dominated district, still has the power to win. Obviously many people were disgusted with this person, so they voted to show that. It does not automatically mean that they have shifted party alliance. That’s a very poor assumption. Put a more “normal” Republican candidate back into that district, one that will have curb appeal to them, and you’ll be back to something more like the 70/30 split.
Calling it a “trend” is simply wishing for something that isn’t there. This is analagous to Kerry being unable to upset Bush in the last election. He was such a poor performer (and really dull), that given the poor economy and the unpopular war, Bush was still able to hold on. And the country does not have a Democratic/Republican breakdown anything like this region in Ohio we’re talking about here. It has far more “swinging” voters.
If you think this is about a shift instead of more about Schmidt being a nutjob, well… Let’s see in the next election, assuming the Republicans run someone more normal.