Democrats Capture Kentucky Governorship, Dontchaknow

[SantaCBear]

what little i've read on him he is gay friendly

 

[Centexfarmer]

^ He oughta be, Mitch McConnell is the Senior Senator from Kentucky!

 

[seven_sins]

Homophobe Pat Boone was enlisted to stir up the gay card in the election, but it apparently failed.

 

[chance1]

a dem beat a republican crook

not such a tough thing to do

u wouldn't think so anyway

 

[jackoroe]

Pugs pickup LA
Dims pickup KY
Pugs keep MS

It was a wash for the evening.

 

[star-warrior]

Great, he can appoint a senator if one dies or resigns....

 

[NickCole]

Pugs pickup LA
Dims pickup KY
Pugs keep MS

It was a wash for the evening.

Not for those who look at the bigger picture.

First of all Beshear not only won Democratic control of the Governorship of Kentucky, he crushed Fletcher. And Luallen won so handily I bet he makes a run for McConnell's Senate seat in '08, which a year ago nobody thought could possibly be up for grabs.

Also, in VA it looks like Republicans lost control of the State Senate.

Those events bode very well for Democratic position as we go into the '08 campaign season. And for further context this is relevant:

If Democrats' hopes are realized in 2008 and they win Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, they pick off a total of 24 electoral votes -- more than Ohio, more than Pennsylvania.

That may have seemed a pipe dream a few years ago. But Democratic gains in the Inner Mountain states have party strategists drooling. In 2000, these eight states had not one Democratic governor among them. Today there are five.

If a Democratic presidential candidate can tap into what Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano have tapped into, the race would clearly not just come down to Ohio or Florida as it did in 2004 and 2000.

At the root of the problem for the GOP are voters such as Bob Elderkin, a hunting guide in Rifle, Colo.

A lifelong Republican, Elderkin said the party has become inflexible and plans to support Democrats in the upcoming election. ...

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Vote2008/story?id=3826860&page=1

 

[lancelva]

Last night was a great night for Democrats. Steve Beshear won in a landslide election in a state that had been trending Republican (Bush won it in 2000 and 2004, whereas Clinton won in 1992 and 1996). It's not just his margin of victory statewide--it's the distribution of his vote totals. He won 92 of the state's 120 counties--even winning in the Republican stronghold of Northern Kentucky (greater Cincinnati). In 2003, Fletcher won this area by 33%. Last night, Beshear won it by 7.5%. That's a whopping 40.5% turn-around. Fletcher's only support came from the Republican areas of the "old Fifth" and even there his margin of victory was significantly reduced from 2003:

The rest of the Democratic ticket also did very well in the state--sweeping all but two of the Constitutional offices. And keep your eye on Crit Luallen--this election proved her popularity and puts her in a good position to challenge McConnell next year.

I'm also proud of my home state for turning a 23-17 Republican majority in the State Senate to a 21-18 Democratic majority (one race is still too-close-to-call). In the State House, the 56-41 Republican majority was reduced to 52-43 with two independents and three seats too-close-to-call. And lest we forget the blow to Rep. Tom Davis, who saw his wife lose her senate seat. He might as well kiss his chances of becoming U.S. Senator goodbye. Virginia will be in play in 2008--the first time in four decades.

New York's elections proved that illegal immigration is not the key issue Republicans (and some anti-Hillary Democrats) hoped it would be:

Democrats declared yesterday that Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants had not proved to be the electoral boon Republicans had hoped for in local elections, despite the Republicans' aggressive efforts to exploit overwhelming public opposition to the proposal.
Though Democrats appeared to expand their majority in the Legislature in Suffolk County, Republicans were not ready to concede a pivotal Nassau County legislative race, and pointed to significant victories in several county races upstate as evidence of a Republican resurgence in the state.
...

In many parts of the state, turnout appeared to be even lower than usual for an off-year election, despite Republican hopes that the licensing issue would drive Republican voters to the polls.

Though anger clearly existed over Mr. Spitzer's proposal - as well as his bout with scandal and his battles with Albany Republicans - many local races appeared to hinge, as they traditionally do, on local issues like property taxes and municipal services, or on the specific strengths and weaknesses of the candidates themselves.
...

In Monroe County, Democrats won one hard-fought legislative seat despite a late effort to blanket the area with mailers that charged local Democrats with aiding terrorists because of their support for Mr. Spitzer's licensing plan.

Though the seat will not by itself swing control of the County Legislature, Democrats hope it will presage a strong effort next year against two Rochester-area Republicans in the State Senate.

And in Mississippi, although Republicans held on to the governor's office, Democrats reclaimed control of the State Senate after picking up three seats.

The wave of 2006 is still moving strong...

 

[letme]

In Mississippi, Republican Gov. Haley Barbour defeated Democrat John Eaves, an attorney and evangelical Christian, by a 58 percent to 42 percent margin. Barbour rode a wave of support following his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The same storm led Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco to bow out of this year’s race in her state. The Democrat was criticized for her handling of devastation in New Orleans.

Instead, voters cast ballots Oct. 20 for Republican Bobby Jindal. The U.S. representative from Louisiana garnered 54 percent of the vote – more than the 51 percent needed to win outright under state law.

Jindal is the nation’s first politician of Indian descent to be elected governor. He also will become the youngest sitting governor at 36.

So the Dims getting 1 state is a landslide,while the Pugs controled 2 ? Me thinks your mud needs repacked !

and the correct number is...The Election Day results allow Democrats to hold a 28-22 margin in gubernatorial suites.

Also did you know it snowed in Hawaii yesterday ?

 

[lancelva]

Local/state politics seem to be a different beast than the leviathan that is national politics.

As any political scientists will tell you, local and state politics can serve as a very important indicator of voting trends in key areas.

For example:

A generation ago, in 1967, a lawyer from southern Kentucky named Louie B. Nunn became the first Republican since World War II to be elected governor of the state. A year later Richard Nixon won the White House. The new president always regarded Nunn's victory in the border state of Kentucky as a harbinger of his own.

More important, Nunn and his brother, Lee, became kingpins of a new kind of Republican Party—not the "Lincoln Republicans" of old, but the post-Goldwater Nixon Republicans, who won the hearts of white voters in the South. Nixon's men called it the "Southern Strategy," and it remains to this day a pillar of the modern GOP.

If anything, the results in Kentucky--especially the geographic distribution of the vote--confirm a blue trend in the state, which began in 2006 John Yarmuth's defeat of McConnell protege GOP Rep. Anne Northup in the 3rd CD and the Democrats gaining a supermajority in the State House.

In Virginia, the blue trend began in 2005 with the election of Governor Kaine and continued in 2006 with the election of Jim Webb. Seeing the defeat of the wife of one of the state's top Republicans and the Democrats reclaiming control of the State Senate were also pretty good signs last night for Democrats. Look for Virginia to actually be a battleground state next year--something that has not happened in my lifetime.

 

[NW007]

So the Dims getting 1 state is a landslide,while the Pugs controled 2 ? Me thinks your mud needs repacked !

and the correct number is...The Election Day results allow Democrats to hold a 28-22 margin in gubernatorial suites.

Also did you know it snowed in Hawaii yesterday ?

It is interesting how the Dems on here gloss over their loss of the governorship in Louisiana due to the poor handling of the whole Katrina situation by the previously elected Democratic leadership in that state and city of New Orleans.

 

[chance1]

the spinmeister has returned

gonna need a lot of shovels

 

[RandomAccess]

the spinmeister has returned

gonna need a lot of shovels

Do you type these posts with a straight face, my friend? Here you are, presentinig your opinion as gospel, while Lance posts quotes, statistics, facts of all sorts. . . and you have the audacity to imply that he's the "spinmeister?"

Right wingers are right wingers are right wingers. . .

 

[chance1]

Do you type these posts with a straight face, my friend? Here you are, presentinig your opinion as gospel, while Lance posts quotes, statistics, facts of all sorts. . . and you have the audacity to imply that he's the "spinmeister?"

Right wingers are right wingers are right wingers. . .

lance's facts are bought and paid for by the "committee to elect Hillary Clinton"

we got fax machines
copy machines
interns
dirty dealers
lotsa money

creating these facts

come on random - don't be so freakin naive

or is it just so damn convenient

 

[RandomAccess]

lance's facts are bought and paid for by the "committee to elect Hillary Clinton"

we got fax machines
copy machines
interns
dirty dealers
lotsa money

creating these facts

come on random - don't be so freakin naive

or is it just so damn convenient

Right. . . quoted and cited sources are "bought and paid for. . ." hogwash. Yeah, Hillary owns all these pollsters, right.

 

[lancelva]

Facts have a well-known "liberal bias," according to Stephen Colbert, ya know. So, like, ya know, the "fact" that 130 counties in Kentucky went to the polls and "elected" a Democrat is probably a biased fact: do we "know" that 130 counties voted -- maybe it was 128, or 127 counties -- BUT THE LIBERAL MEDIA WON'T TELL YOU THAT! And it's OLD NEWS!

Actually, there are 120 counties in Kentucky.

Since I'm sure some will claim that this is "spin" here's a link: http://www.uky.edu/KentuckyAtlas/kentucky-counties.html

 

[chance1]

Actually, there are 120 counties in Kentucky.

Since I'm sure some will claim that this is "spin" here's a link: http://www.uky.edu/KentuckyAtlas/kentucky-counties.html

who gave u that info lance?

how many people on the payroll?

what is the operating budget of the committe to elect hillary clinton?

facts are bought and paid for

doesn't make u smart

doesn't make u right

have a nice day