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News & ArtsTuesday, May 24, 2011
2012 / Politics / Election Democrat Hochul Wins NY-26, Spelling Doom for Republican Plans to Kill Medicare
Posted by Goldy on Tue, May 24, 2011 at 7:32 PM
In a special congressional election that had turned into a referendum on Republican plans to dismantle Medicare, Democrat Kathy Hochul has defeated Republican Jane Corwin in New York's 26th Congressional District. With 87 percent of precincts reporting, Hochul leads Corwin 48-42 in a traditionally Republican district in which John McCain beat Barack Obama 52-46.
And no, I'm not reading too much into these results. This was a campaign that focused almost entirely on Rep. Paul Ryan's proposal to end Medicare and replace it with a voucher program. Corwin endorsed the Ryan plan, and Hochul beat her mercilessly with it. Meanwhile, Tea Party candidate Jack Davis is trailing badly, in single digits.
Fair warning to GOPers: Your Big Red Wave of 2010 wasn't a referendum on anything except voters' frustration with a crappy economy. So continue to overreach at your own risk.
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The typical pattern in American politics is Democrats get thrown out of office for compromising to much, then Republicans get voted out for compromising to little.
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@1. maybe, but political writers like Goldy need lots of numbers and first and last names and to write the words republican, tea party, gop, big red wave, and other filler crap to make a simple point.
4
@2 Um actually they could have done it without them.
90% of Davis' votes would have had to have gone to the Republican, which is unlikely. Without him, the vote would have probably been 51- 49% for the Democrat.
90% of Davis' votes would have had to have gone to the Republican, which is unlikely. Without him, the vote would have probably been 51- 49% for the Democrat.
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@5
that's cool, it's my attitude toward a lot of writers anyway, filler filler. but then there's Mudede who gets all serious and compact, and it comes off sounding foolish. What was that not-so-famous book William Burroughs read in his teens?
that's cool, it's my attitude toward a lot of writers anyway, filler filler. but then there's Mudede who gets all serious and compact, and it comes off sounding foolish. What was that not-so-famous book William Burroughs read in his teens?
8
Interesting development. I'm thinking Newt probably regrets apologizing for his "right wing social engineering" quip.
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@7: Red tides are caused by blooms of phytoplankton which cause local anoxia and often release toxins into the water, messing things up for anything else trying to live there. It's a startlingly good metaphor for the relentless corporatism of the Republican Party.
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The ironic thing is that as far as sex scandals go, on a scale of one to ten the "scandal" that prompted Lee to resign would be a one. The guy should have taken it on the chin and finished his term. This whole thing is so stupid, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless.
11
I'll believe the "spells doom" when I see it. Let's not forget there was a third party tea bagger in this one. Yeah, Davis appears to have drawn poorly but let's not forget the Democrats proclivity for fucking up everything. I'm hopeful, but not convinced.
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Democrats don't start patting yourselves on the back. I am a republican who voted for Hochul just because of the terrible politics of the western new york republican party and the dirty tricks of corwin. We want candidates who care for the people. Unfortunatly Hochul was the best of three evils.
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At this rate that old lady who called Obama "an Arab" during the '08 campaign will be doing commercials for him by Christmas.
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Wait until they've certified it before popping the champagne. Republicans are great at stealing elections through "found" votes.
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I would have lost sleep (BUT im not tonight, on ambien BIACHES)
few takeaways here
1) after the final tally, Dem's had 49% of the vote, essentially minimizing any third party effect
2) This is a HUGE wins for dems. validating thair integrity with stances like medicare.
3) I think the hawk in my refrigerator needs to be eaten. ASAP. Did I mention I was on ambien? Oh look! a
real leprechaun
few takeaways here
1) after the final tally, Dem's had 49% of the vote, essentially minimizing any third party effect
2) This is a HUGE wins for dems. validating thair integrity with stances like medicare.
3) I think the hawk in my refrigerator needs to be eaten. ASAP. Did I mention I was on ambien? Oh look! a
real leprechaun
19
The Republicans overplayed their hand in their rush to loot Medicare the way they looted the Savings and Loans, the homes and 401Ks of working people.
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@4 Um actually they could have done it without them.
Um no. Tea Party (Jack Davis) was the 3rd person in that race, had he not run, majority of those votes would have gone to Corwin, who would have won the election.
Um no. Tea Party (Jack Davis) was the 3rd person in that race, had he not run, majority of those votes would have gone to Corwin, who would have won the election.
21
Is this like how publications like the Stranger said in 2008 that the GOP would be out of power for a generation?
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@21, my thoughts exactly. I'm sick of people saying how "this election means the end for XX Party". People who say that always seem to forget that Americans have the memory and attention span of fruit flies. They expect instant solutions to every problem, which is partly the fault of the politicians who promise instant solutions to every problems but most the the fault of the voters who are dumb enough to expect them to be able to deliver on those promises.
.
Next election Republicans are likely to get their asses handed to them. It's not a guarantee but it's likely. Democrats will take power and fail to fix everything immediately so they'll likely lose in the following election. Now if only the Democrats had half the balls of the Republicans and actually used that time to push through the agenda we hired them for.
.
Next election Republicans are likely to get their asses handed to them. It's not a guarantee but it's likely. Democrats will take power and fail to fix everything immediately so they'll likely lose in the following election. Now if only the Democrats had half the balls of the Republicans and actually used that time to push through the agenda we hired them for.
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@22, that's easy. Just repeal the Bush tax cuts and shut down the war in Iraq. You want to fix the rest of our budget problems? Add 2% more to taxes for the rich. There you go, problem solved and the rich won't even notice. Shit, Obama lowered taxes on virtually everyone and half of them think they're paying more. People are stupid and bad at math. Whether their taxes go up or down they're going to believe what Fox tells them. If you're going to be accused of raising taxes then you might as well get the revenue from it.
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@22
Here's the President's plan, though I doubt you have taken the time to read or understand it:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-offi…
Here's the President's plan, though I doubt you have taken the time to read or understand it:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-offi…
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@23 There is never one election that means the end of a party. And there hasn't been a party that fell a part so completely since the Whigs and the Democrats did it prior to the Civil War. That's the effect of our two party system.
There are elections though that change the over riding philosophy of a party, like "Nixon's Southern strategy" that eventually overwhelmingly wiped out the Democrats in the South (at least on the national level) and the election of 1980, which brought the fundamentalists into power in the GOP.
That said, over all long term trends look better for the Democrats than for the Republicans, as our electorate becomes less white, more secular, more urban and less likely to be swayed by "culture war" arguments.
http://people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/312.pdf">http://people-press.org/http://people-pr…
There are elections though that change the over riding philosophy of a party, like "Nixon's Southern strategy" that eventually overwhelmingly wiped out the Democrats in the South (at least on the national level) and the election of 1980, which brought the fundamentalists into power in the GOP.
That said, over all long term trends look better for the Democrats than for the Republicans, as our electorate becomes less white, more secular, more urban and less likely to be swayed by "culture war" arguments.
http://people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/312.pdf">http://people-press.org/http://people-pr…
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http://people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/312.pdf">http://people-press.org/http://people-pr…
29
Let me help you out, passionate_jus...
The link being fumbled above (twice) leads to a PDF from the Pew Research Center, pointing out how demographic trends in the US are Democrat-friendly.
You're welcome.
The link being fumbled above (twice) leads to a PDF from the Pew Research Center, pointing out how demographic trends in the US are Democrat-friendly.
You're welcome.
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