Some Election Stuff
To the surprise of no one, Prop. 2, banning gay marriage in Texas, is on the way to passage by a wide margin…
The New Jersey Governor’s race was, in my view, a foregone conclusion, but I had harbored hopes the GOP might hang on in Virginia…alas, those hopes appear to have been misplaced…
More later as events warrant…
UPDATE 8:14 p.m.: Kaine has now been declared the winner in Virginia…there’s no need to be a Chicken Little and scream that the sky is falling, but clearly not a good sign of the GOP’s current clout…we need to right this ship in the next few months to come out of 2006 in good shape. Now is the time to get to work, start selling our agenda, and for God’s sake, get off the defensive…
Voting in California – specifically in Berkeley – more specifically in *South* Berkeley – was fun.
The Mrs. and I may well have been the only people to vote the way we did at our polling station.
I haven’t seen any CA returns yet…I guess it’s a bit early, eh?…
New Jersey was expected.
Too bad for Virginia, but it could be good for us long-term. The outgoing Va. gov may start getting some love on the national stage now.
Anything to muddle the Dem race for 2K8.
Check out this creative headline:
http://ryanjames.tv/ryanvox/?p=166
Too early for CA, voting’s still going on.
The VA thing isn’t that big a deal, is it? Outgoing Dem. governor, incoming Dem. governor. I mean, it’s not a *good* sign, but …
Knemon, I guess what makes VA a bit of tough one to swallow is that not that long ago, Kilgore had a HUGE lead…a really blown opportunity…
I agree, Mark. My (admittedly fuzzy) understanding of that race is that Kilgore was seen as a pretty solid favorite just a few months ago. So it’s hard not to think the current unpopularity of Bush and the Republicans at the national level may have played some role.
On the other hand, four years ago Democrats not only won Virginia and New Jersey, but they took them away from the Republicans. And still the GOP did well in 2002 and 2004, so it’s wise not to get too excited one way or the other about this stuff. Living in New Jersey, with our oddball odd-year elections, I can tell you that every four years, the national press discovers us and tries to divine deep meaning in what our elections say about the country as a whole. And every time they ignore the local issues that almost always drive the actual results here.
And now we’ve elected a governor who last year gave his girlfriend a $470,000 loan to buy a house, and after he broke up with her, forgave the loan, making it essentially a gift. His ex? She heads one of the state’s biggest public-employee unions.
Sigh. the Democratic machine is hard to stop here. And I’m sure in the next four years, he’ll hire more state workers to pad his vote totals, and tax private businesses to pay for it. And the businesses will continue to flee what was once the low-cost alternative to New York, and in the politicians will sit around trying to figure out why economic growth is not happening here.
Hey, Dennis, soon enough I’ll be a VA resident too! We’re finally getting out of this crazy, crazy town they call Berkeley … of course, we’re moving to Charlottesville, which is presumably the Berkeley of Virginia.
Can’t wait to be (residentially) Southron again …
http://vote2005.ss.ca.gov/Returns/prop/01.htm
Okay, so we weren’t the *only* ones …
Actually, Knemon, I guess I wasn’t clear. I’m a New Jerseyan. But we still will share this every-four-years business of oddball elections, which makes New Jerseyans and Virginians deep spiritual brothers. Or something like that.
So, to bring this all back to the nominal topic of the blog, I’ve been reading a few things speculating this Virginia race will help Warner in his pursuit of the Democratic nomination. I’m a bit more curious about the impact on Allen for the GOP. I’ve got to think that this can’t help him in the whole not-Rudy, not-McCain stakes. So who benefits from this election tonight? Romney? Huckabee? Or maybe all the social conservatives get a black eye and Rudy and McCain look that much stronger?
Aw, MAN. All propositions going down in flames. The one I cared about most, 75 (paycheck protection), just slipped under the 50% mark with 57% of the precints in …
Surprisingly, the two propositions which got the lowest % of “yes” votes are the two “progressive” ones, 79 (mandatory discount-drug programs) and 80 (re-regulation of energy industry). Which is surprising, for California.
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Dennis, sorry for the misunderstanding …
As for the horse race, maybe it actually helps Allen? If VA is wobbly, Republicans might want to reinforce their hold on it with a favorite-son candidate? I think that’d be foolish, but I’m hardly typical of most Republicans.
Dennis, I agree Warner is a benificiary…on the GOP side – hmmm….have to think about that one…
Do Any Of You Remember The Sharon Statement?
The Republicans are losing because they don’t preach a conservative message any more. They have become the party of “everybody”…
It’s pretty bad… they preached a strong conservative message to get in power, then abandoned that when they got the power.
Here’s the Sharon Statement. This proceedec Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, etc…. we need to get back to our roots:
“Adopted in Conference, at Sharon, Connecticut, on September 11, 1960.”
IN THIS TIME of moral and political crises, it is the responsibility of the youth of America to affirm certain eternal truths.
WE, as young conservatives believe:
THAT foremost among the transcendent values is the individual’s use of his God-given free will, whence derives his right to be free from the restrictions of arbitrary force;
THAT liberty is indivisible, and that political freedom cannot long exist without economic freedom;
THAT the purpose of government is to protect those freedoms through the preservation of internal order, the provision of national defense, and the administration of justice;
THAT when government ventures beyond these rightful functions, it accumulates power, which tends to diminish order and liberty;
THAT the Constitution of the United States is the best arrangement yet devised for empowering government to fulfill its proper role, while restraining it from the concentration and abuse of power;
THAT the genius of the Constitution – the division of powers – is summed up in the clause that reserves primacy to the several states, or to the people in those spheres not specifically delegated to the Federal government;
THAT the market economy, allocating resources by the free play of supply and demand, is the single economic system compatible with the requirements of personal freedom and constitutional government, and that it is at the same time the most productive supplier of human needs;
THAT when government interferes with the work of the market economy, it tends to reduce the moral and physical strength of the nation, that when it takes from one to bestow on another, it diminishes the incentive of the first, the integrity of the second, and the moral autonomy of both;
THAT we will be free only so long as the national sovereignty of the United States is secure; that history shows periods of freedom are rare, and can exist only when free citizens concertedly defend their rights against all enemies…
THAT the forces of international Communism are, at present, the greatest single threat to these liberties;
THAT the United States should stress victory over, rather than coexistence with this menace; and
THAT American foreign policy must be judged by this criterion: does it serve the just interests of the United States?
Sam, I was not aware of the Sharon statement…but I like it!…
New Jersey should have been closer–if the R’s can’t make significant progress with Dem scandals in the air and a milquetoast candidate like Corzine as the competitionm, they’re probably headed the way of the Illinois GOP.
Mark Warner becoming a serious contender for the 2008 nomination isn’t a good thing for Republicans. Put him on a ticket with someone like Wes Clark, and you’ve got a very credible threat to the WH–much more so than John Forbes Kerry was.
“Do Any Of You Remember The Sharon Statement?”
Got it up on my wall. (Along with the preamble to the Port Huron Statement. Fair and Balanced, that’s me).
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Geek, that’s twice in twelve hours you’ve made sense … a pale rider approacheth …
“Adopted in Conference, at Sharon, Connecticut, on September 11, 1960.”
sept. 11……….creepy.
“Mark Warner becoming a serious contender for the 2008 nomination isn’t a good thing for Republicans.”
Actually, Geek, I take it back – you’re partly wrong here. It might not be good for them qua Republicans, but for a centrist’s chances – in either party – to be boosted is good for us all.
Wouldn’t it be great to have two good candidates to choose from, rather than always going with the lesser evil?