11 Lessons Learned from Yesterday’s Elections
Posted on November 6, 2013
We learned some valuable lessons about the country in yesterday’s elections. Here they are:1. Obamacare is a political loser. Ken Cuccinelli almost won yesterday based solely on the failed roll-out of the controversial law.
2. There are two Republican Parties: The Northern GOP and the Southern GOP. And ironically, the Northern version is healthier than the Southern version, as Chris Christie turned New Jersey Red, while Republicans allowed Virginia to turn blue.
3. Michael Bloomberg had a bad night. His gun control ads backfired on Terry McAuliffe and Bill DeBlasio won in New York by running against the billionaire.
4. Chris Christie is running for President. Last night’s winner’s speech made it clear to all that the big man is not just going to focus on Jersey. He is going to make a play for the White House.
5. Money matters, but it is not the only thing that matters. Christie, McAuliffe and Bradley Byrne all overwhelmed their opponents with spending and they all won, although McAuliffe just barely won. Issues like Obamacare do matter, but money helps a campaign dictate what issues the people vote on.
6. Married white women aren’t that liberal on social issues, especially in Virginia. They pretty much split their votes between Cuccinelli and McAuliffe despite the huge ad campaign Cooch on contraception and the strange presence of E.W. Jackson on the ticket.
7. The National Rifle Association is not to be trifled with. They picked the right winner in Alabama, they won in Colorado, and they almost beat the Macker in Virginia after Michael Bloomberg decided to pick a fight there.
8. Crazy still has a constituency. Dean Young based his campaign on who had a more literal interpretation of the Bible in Alabama and campaigned against Social Security and Medicare and still came within 4 points of winning the special election. E.W. Jackson almost won his race in Virginia. 11 Colorado counties voted to form a new state and break away from Denver. If this is the base of the Republican Party going into the next election, we are in big trouble.
9. The so-called Libertarian Party turned out to be the difference in Virginia. The Libertarian candidate strangely called for more taxes and more government in every place except on social issues. And it turns out that an Obama bundler was the one who helped to fund Robert Sarvis, the so-called Libertarian candidate. There ought to be a law against these kinds of shenanigans. It’s not clear that all of the Sarvis voters would have voted for Cuccinelli, but I bet you many of them would.
10. The Republican Establishment won last night. Chris Christie cruised, Bradley Byrne won, and Ken Cuccinelli almost won, but not quite, making it easy for the so-called establishment to blame the Tea Party inspired shut-down for his loss. In many ways, it was the perfect night for the Empire.
11. Republicans win easily when they go beyond a white male, Christian base. Christie won 30 percent of the black vote, a bigger percentage of the Hispanic vote, won the female vote despite running as a pro-life Republican against a liberal pro-choice woman. Chris Christie hugged Barack Obama, became pals with Corey Booker and basically showed that he liked black people. What a novel concept! It would be nice if other Republicans could learn that lesson.
