Rightardia agrees with Politico.com. The GOP failed miserably in the primaries. Part of the problem was they brought out the Tea party activists too early to defeat health care, which was another GOP failure. The GOP peaked too early. they had nothing left in the primaries and willl have even less for the general elections. The Democrats are in the cat bird's seat to capitalize on this GOP blunder in November.
In the only House race that really mattered to both parties—the special election to replace the late Democratic Rep. John Murtha in Pennsylvania’s 12th District—Republicans failed spectacularly, losing on a level playing field where, in this favorable environment in which they they should have run roughshod over the opposition.
Given the resources the GOP poured into the effort to capture the seat and the decisiveness of the defeat, the outcome casts serious doubt on the idea that the Democratic House majority is in jeopardy. It offers comfort to a Democratic Party that is desperately in search of a glimmer of hope.
The district itself couldn’t have been more primed for a Republican victory. According to one recent poll, President Barack Obama’s approval rating in the 12th istrict was a dismal 35 percent, compared to 55 percent who disapproved.
His health care plan was equally unpopular—just 30 percent of those polled supported it, while 58 percent were in opposition. Some local Republicans have tried to run against Obama in the primary. This strategy did not seem to be effective.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was even more disliked in the blue-collar, western Pennsylvania-based seat: Just 23 percent viewed her favorably, compared to 63 percent who viewed her unfavorably.
Still, Democrat Mark Critz managed to pull off an eight-point victory, 53 percent to 45 percent, over Republican Tim Burns. This is a district that John McCain narrowly won in 200 and the only one in the nation that voted for John Kerry in 2004 and McCain four years later.
The race marked the third highly-contested, fair-fight special House election that the GOP has dropped in the last year.
The seat Murtha held for 36 years is precisely the sort of Rust Belt district—economically populist and culturally traditional—that Republicans must win to claim the 40 seats necessary to take back the House.
Yet the way Critz and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee won the contest offered a reminder that the prospect of a GOP majority remains a mirage. And Tuesday’s result has Democrats breathing a sigh of relief, thinking they’ve found a formula to mitigate their losses in what will still be a difficult election season.
The playbook from the Pennsylvania special election isn’t complicated: Make the election a choice between two local candidates and not a national referendum on the Democratic Party or the state of the nation; savage the Republican from the outset and don’t let up; keep the focus on jobs and core economic issues; most important, separate yourself from your national party’s policies and politicians as necessary.
We read a brief NewsMax release today suggesting the primaries were a big defeat for Obama because all of the incumbents Obama supported like Arlen Spector were defeated. Traditionally the president, whether Republican or Democrat, will support the incumbents. Rightardia is glad Admiral Joe Sestak defeated Spector. Spector is old and needed to retire. Sestak is an impressive progressive with military credentials.
All the evidence pointing to monster Republican House gains this fall—the Scott Brown upset win in Massachusetts, the scary polling numbers in once-safely Democratic districts, the ever-rising number of Democratic seats thought to be in jeopardy—was blown away Tuesday.
In the only House race that really mattered to both parties—the special election to replace the late Democratic Rep. John Murtha in Pennsylvania’s 12th District—Republicans failed spectacularly, losing on a level playing field where, in this favorable environment in which they they should have run roughshod over the opposition.
Given the resources the GOP poured into the effort to capture the seat and the decisiveness of the defeat, the outcome casts serious doubt on the idea that the Democratic House majority is in jeopardy. It offers comfort to a Democratic Party that is desperately in search of a glimmer of hope.
The district itself couldn’t have been more primed for a Republican victory. According to one recent poll, President Barack Obama’s approval rating in the 12th istrict was a dismal 35 percent, compared to 55 percent who disapproved.
His health care plan was equally unpopular—just 30 percent of those polled supported it, while 58 percent were in opposition. Some local Republicans have tried to run against Obama in the primary. This strategy did not seem to be effective.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was even more disliked in the blue-collar, western Pennsylvania-based seat: Just 23 percent viewed her favorably, compared to 63 percent who viewed her unfavorably.
Still, Democrat Mark Critz managed to pull off an eight-point victory, 53 percent to 45 percent, over Republican Tim Burns. This is a district that John McCain narrowly won in 200 and the only one in the nation that voted for John Kerry in 2004 and McCain four years later.
The race marked the third highly-contested, fair-fight special House election that the GOP has dropped in the last year.
The seat Murtha held for 36 years is precisely the sort of Rust Belt district—economically populist and culturally traditional—that Republicans must win to claim the 40 seats necessary to take back the House.
Yet the way Critz and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee won the contest offered a reminder that the prospect of a GOP majority remains a mirage. And Tuesday’s result has Democrats breathing a sigh of relief, thinking they’ve found a formula to mitigate their losses in what will still be a difficult election season.
The playbook from the Pennsylvania special election isn’t complicated: Make the election a choice between two local candidates and not a national referendum on the Democratic Party or the state of the nation; savage the Republican from the outset and don’t let up; keep the focus on jobs and core economic issues; most important, separate yourself from your national party’s policies and politicians as necessary.
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