Amidst all the masturbating over O’Donnell’s victory, don’t forget that New York’s Republicans picked Carl Paladino to run for governor against Andrew Cuomo. Carl’s the guy who sent around hardcore pornographic and racist emails on a teabagger mailing list.
And while we’re examining the meltdown of the New York Republican Party, teabagger Doug Hoffman, who was the reason that a Democrat won NY-23 for the first time since the Civil War, lost his primary, but he’s not conceding. That means he’s probably going to run on the Conservative Party line, allowing Republicans to split their votes and guaranteeing another Democratic victory in that district.
frustrated mama (formerly demo woman)
C. O’Donnell is making the rounds on TV talk shows.
John McCain must be smiling. His nomination of Sarah Palin unleashed a slew of candidates who are kooks.
This is good news for John McCain.
WereBear (itouch)
He’s lost but he’s not conceding. That’s Teabagger values, all right.
Yesterday I ran an errand down a back street of hardcore fans. LOTS of Hoffman yard signs. But they aren’t feelin’ down today, nossir. He hasn’t admitted defeat, so he hasn’t really lost!
MikeJ
And still when BBC covers the story they refer to “Democrat strategists.” You would think the English would know how to speak English.
Thunderlizard
Last night makes me almost believe in the FSM…
Nick
Headline at Politico
“Bad Day for Andrew Cuomo”
I shit you not
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0910/A_bad_night_for_Andrew_Cuomo.html
Bob L
@frustrated mama (formerly demo woman): Kind of wonder if this is McCain’s FU to the GOP for 2000. He lost the Republican primary because of this kind of stuff and when he finally gets his chance at the prez it was screwed from the get go by the teatards fucking everything up. Hack the leash off of Rove’s monster and sit back and laugh.
gypsy howell
I gotta tell ya, I think O’Donnell’s got a shot in DE. It’s a very small state, she can go door to door and spread whatever lies she wants about Coons and no one will even know, and she’s going to have big, big money behind her. She’s like Sarah Palin if Sarah Palin could speak in complete sentences.
The Democratic Party is going to sit back and laugh all through the campaign season, and then wake up on Nov 3 with a Scott Brown scenario on their hands. Except Scott Brown is going to look like a far left Rhodes Scholar compared to O’Donnell.
harlana
Ugh, but then look at these numbers for the House:
I want to feel encouraged but can’t. I cannot for the life of me believe that some Dems will stay home this November, however, with so much at stake.
Somebody reassure me, pls
Skepticat
@gypsy howell: That’s my fear. We dismiss these strange people at our peril.
Anya
@Nick: I see what they’re doing there. They are advancing the new meme, dems are divided and demoralized, republicans are energized and their lunatics can kick butt even in dark blue New York.
I must tell you that the thought of people more who out-cary Demint fills me with despair.
Peter J
The losses in the House could be regained in 2012.
Major losses in the Senate on the other hand…
Bobbski
@harlana: “… dems staying home…”
That’s what some dems do. They stay home because they are willing to sacrifice the good in their quest for the perfect. It is also known as cutting off their nose to spite their face.
thomas Levenson
@gypsy howell: You are right to raise this fear, but remember a couple of things. Two words, in fact: Martha Coakley. She is the luckiest person alive now, as she has company — Mike Castle apparently ran a similarly annointed campaign (can’t have been as bad as Martha’s, but still) — but it should be remembered that she essentially chose not to run in the general. The Dem in Delaware, from what I hear, actually has a pulse.
Also, as long as folks still masturbate in Delaware, it will be a long pull for Ms. O’Donnell.
No complacency is the order of the day — but this ain’t Massachusetts.
Alex S.
@harlana:
The picture will improve, the question is by how much. The enthusiasm gap will close by a little and some independents will be turned off by the republican extremists. There’s no reason to think that approval ratings for Democrats and Obama in particular decline even more. Yet, they probably won’t improve much either since the economy is basically stagnant at the moment. The easiest way to unite and motivate the different democratic factions is to present them with the alternative, and yesterday’s elections helped a lot. 538 has got the Democrats losing 45 seats in the House. They’ve got to bring it down to 30-35 to have a working majority. I think that this is very much possible – while it still is a very bad result if you forget the narrative. I’m looking at a 55-45 majority in the Senate and a 10 seat majority in the House. That will not be enough to enact fundamental reforms, but it should be enough to fund many important programs and maybe pass something incremental via reconciliation.
thomas Levenson
@harlana: I think it is time to start doing some serious crazy mining on as many house races as possible. I believe the gap will narrow over the next weeks, and if (and yes, I know we are talking Democrats here) we can get some exemplary votes out of Congress, we may be able to start delineating the reasons why friends don’t let friends vote GOP.
But even looking at Silver’s numbers, note that his odds of the Dems retaining control of the house are up to one in three. That’s a lot better than the nadir, so we have something to build on. Let’s enter panic mode, as nothing else so closes the “enthusiasm gap” as some major fear and trembling.
ChrisS
Paladino has about zero shot at winning the gubernatorial race in NY – plus if he pulls a miracle and tallies 75% of the upstate vote and does win, he actually has to govern, something that firebrand conservative assholes typically have trouble doing.
I’m really surprised that Hoffman lost his primary. The north country is pretty blood red and Hoffman’s tea party rhetoric should have played well. Looks Owens will probably keep his seat for another two years if there is a three-way race.
Nick
@gypsy howell:
She would if the primary was in June or July and she was an unknown, but there are six weeks and she has sky high unfavorables and her party is abandoning her.
Nick
@ChrisS:
North Country is pretty blue/red. It’s the only part of the state other than NYC/Long Island were Lazio won anything.
the bearded crank
The idiots over at Politico think Paladino has a chance. Here is my rebuttal of them: http://www.thebeardedcrank.com/2010/09/ben-smith-crappiest-reporter-at.html
Glad to see that others such as yourself acknowledge that this loon hasn’t a chance.
-Crank
bago
Post election O’Donnel ads on this site are amusing.
RalfW
On the wingnut theme, a major figure in Minnesota’s outdoor sports world is Ron Schara. He has a genteel Sunday night show about ducks, fish, guns and boats, and the Boundary Waters, and all that. And he has an adorable Black Lab as his co-host.
He has always struck me as the sort of hunter-outdoors-man who votes mostly Republican — in fact he endorsed McCain/Palin in ’08.
All that said, news today is that Schara is taking nutcase Michele Bachmann to task for now claiming she opposed the state sales tax increase that is funding arts and, importantly to Schara and tons of other gun-n-rod guys, the tax supports parks and game, fish and wildlife.
She may have pulled a Kerry: She was for it, at county fair events that attract hunters, before being against it, on TeeVee ads attacking her opponent.
Jacquie
I’m trying to start something by getting people to associate “Paladino” with “horse porn.” Every time I see one of his commercials, “Hey, it’s the horse porn guy!” Every time I see a Paladino yard sign, “Ooh, bold. ‘I support the horse porn guy!'”
I think it’s catching on.
JRon
I love the idea that Doug Hoffman is the gift that keeps on giving.
Everybody got election day on their calendars? Should be obvious that it’s Nov. 2, but in the past I’ve had business trips on that day. Got it marked as ‘busy’ now.
Linda Featheringill
@harlana:
Somewhere [I don’t remember where] a few days ago I saw an analysis that included 33 or so hotly contested seats. If those are still up for grabs, things might no go so badly.
I still wonder if Nate has gone over to the Dark Side.
Lihtox
@12: I’ve never been involved in a campaign before, but this is my guess:
The Dems who stay home aren’t just the political wonks you see on blogs. They are also the poor people who have to take off work, arrange for childcare, and stand in long lines at poorly staffed election stations in order to cast a vote. If a Democratic candidate wants to motivate the base, it’s not simply a matter of overcoming apathy; it means giving people a reason to hire a babysitter or call in sick or spend a precious free hour at the polling booth.
pseudonymous in nc
I don’t see it. Dave Weigel makes a valid point that there are two parties in Delaware: the party of the banks and DuPont, and the losers. If there’s any inclination outside of a fraction of the registered GOP in the state to depart from a history of electing corporate-friendly pols (including Biden) then it hasn’t shown itself yet. O’Donnell will be running on teabagger money alone, and she’ll have to do the Full Teabag in the media glare of the general campaign to show that she’s earned it.
Coakley’s defeat also served as a lesson against complacency. I’m sure it won’t be learned everywhere, but Coons has gone overnight from running against a Delaware institution to running against someone who should be in a Delaware institution. He’s surely not going to pass that one up.
Chris
I’d love to see Bestiality Man and Masturbation Lady in the same room and talking about it….
Hayden Winters
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