Julia Carson took a final slap at her Republican opponent and celebrated victory with fellow Democrats tonight after winning re-election in a bruising campaign.
“This is a great night for the Democrats,” Carson told her cheering supporters in a victory party that continued past 11 p.m.
“We can’t be pompous about it. We can’t be arrogant about it. We just have to be grateful about it.“We have to display humanity and gratitude. That’s what the Democratic Party is about. Don’t forget that.”
Then Carson, who won with one of her most narrow victory margins since she was elected to Congress in 1996, reflected on her campaign against former auto dealer Eric Dickerson.
“They put a car dealer in the race,” she said. “He used to sell Buicks.”
“That’s right,” someone in the crowd responded. Carson coughed several times and went on.“He used to sell them. He advertises as a successful car dealer. He doesn’t even say used-to-be. He still claims that’s what he is.
“He lies so much, I stopped listening to him.”
The crowd laughed and cheered.
Carson’s victory margin, with 82 percent of precincts reporting, was 8 points. If that margin remained the same, it would tie her closest victory, also by 8 points in 1996 against Virginia Blankenbaker when Carson first won the seat.
I've never seen a winning candidate behave so badly in victory. The 7th District deserves what it elected tonight: the absolute worst member of the U.S. Congress. Hold your head high Eric. You ran a clean, positive and respectable campaign, unlike the dirty, filthy race Carson ran against you. There will be a day of reckoning for her misdeeds. She'll have to answer to someone one of these days.
UPDATE: I've maintained throughout this election that the Indianapolis Star had always acted as Carson's enabler by failing to disclose relevant information about her. Everyone on the Star editorial board realized that Carson's mental faculties were in doubt after they met with her and she accused her opponent of "beating his wife up to a pulp", while "rambling" and offering "disjointed answers." Today, political columnist Matt Tully unloads on Carson--after it's too late to make a difference. He writes today: " . . . some of her comments to pesky reporters were confused, as they have been of late. She talked to me about returning to the Indiana General Assembly, though she last served in that body 15 years ago. And the ballot confused her, forcing officials to void it after Carson filled it out incorrectly . . . she offered voters so little . . . Too often, while on stage, it seemed she was on the verge of nodding off. In a TV appearance Sunday -- which a colleague called "the most awkward TV segment" ever -- Carson rambled and looked lost. Even her TV ads hid her . . . This city needs someone whose health isn't a constant concern." We can all thank the Indianapolis Star for re-electing a congressperson who doesn't know whether she's just been re-elected to the Indiana legislature or the U.S. Congress.
29 comments:
Sheesh. I'm glad this election cycle is over. I like your blog but I can't stand your obsessive hatred for Julia Carson.
Never seen a winning candidate behave so badly? Either you don't get out much or you were exaggerating.
You sure you didn't let Micah Clark write this post? Day of reckoning?
Your team lost. Why not do what you claim she needs to do, lose gracefully.
Julia's concession speech was a rambling contradiction in 11 or 12 paragaphs, just like most of her public pronouncements recently.
She said the campaign against her was one of the dirtiest ever. To quote Marti above, evidently she doesn't get out much. I got three negative, disgusting mail pieces that were blatantly targeting misleading domestic abuse charges.
Eric Dickerson didn't run a great campaign. Give him a C plus for effort.
But Julia is the one who ran a dirty campaign. She threw down the file on The Star's desk.
This needs to be "it" for JC. No more nonsense.
We'll get a coasting Congresswoman for two years, if she lasts that long, God love her...but she needs to take the retirement she's earned.
Julia's campaign was the dirty one, and on reflection Indy voters will recognize that.
You've never seen a winning candidate behave so badly? Didn't you see Brizzi's arrogant acceptance speech? He didn't thank his opponent, which is customary. He didn't even mention her name.
It's hard to blame Julia for her wording in her speech. He is a car dealer. And he lied and got was put on front street for doing so.
I found it interesting that even this morning Dickerson couldn't be a man and admit defeat. I haven't heard one word from him on the subject. I hardly think he would be congratulatory and pleasant in his speech.
This blogger is obviously full of Carson haters, and that is sad. Face it, it's Julia for 2 more years. I guess you'll get over it and move on to something else.
NO Eric Dickerson for Congress. The Carson naysayers lose.
Karen, I'm not a Carson naysayer. I voted for the woman every time she ran.
I was there last night. I heard her concession speech. Between wheezes, she claimed Eric Dickerson ran a dirty campaign.
Anyone who objectively looks at the facts knows she ran the dirty campaign. That is really not open for debate.
I hope she enjoys this term in Congress. She earned it. But it must be her last. Her mental capacities are clearly lacking, and she deserves a rest.
My chief regret is that we have to put up with that tie dyed Wilson for awhile longer.
One consoliation: Jocelyn didn't win a god damned thing. Maybe, just maybe, she'll fade into oblivion now.
If so, there is a God.
Yep, Joc, that Center Township ticket did fine.
I am pretty sure this will be Julia's last term. Her failing health will dictate that. However, I firmly believe she should be able to retire on top rather than lose to a car dealer with highly questionable moral character.
Indiana has spoken.
Tully's Political Junkie blog has a post where he says this has to be it for Rep. Carson. He says he doesn't dislike her or what she's done for her district over the years, but that the district needs someone who can represent their constituents more energetically.
Well at least Tully's blog recongnizes her accomplishments and doesn't bash and degrade the woman, as they tend to do in this blog.
I agree, this should be the last hurrah for Julia. I think even she realizes that. Next election, it's time to pass the baton to a candidate she feels would continue with her vision for Indiana.
On his last finance report, ED reported a $1500 expenditure at the Adams-Mark for an "election celebration". Huh?
It turns out on a pitiful $60,000 budget ED blew $1500 for his victory party instead of campaigning. At least he went down splurging!
Wilson, I had hoped you were gone, but:
Don't you know that gloating, especially over such a limp win, is not becoming?
I live in the 7th and I take issue with the the statement in this blog that we deserve her. I don't deserve Carson as my representation in Washington. She is an embarassment to Indiana in Washington. I deserve better.
So, Wilson, I see you are proud to have returned a woman to DC who thinks she's actually at the Indiana State House. Of course, I doubt she'll get to DC very much anyway. Doesn't she have the highest number of missed votes in Congress? Oh yeah, I feel well-represented. And for Tully to come out with all this stuff. Well, that's just beyond comment.
As for the idiotic complaints about Brizzi's speech: You are just an idiot. You want to know why Brizzi didn't mention his opponent? Because at the time he gave his speech, Melina had withdrawn her plans for a concession and had informed the Brizzi campaign that she would be challenging the election.
Republicans got their butts absolutely spanked yesterday. That is readily admitted by this Republican. But the behavior of Carson and Kennedy ought to be embarrasing for even the most partisan of Democrats. If that's the way you want your party represented, then I have a lot of confidence that your celebrating will be short-lived.
Put another way, most Republicans now know that they have some serious house-cleaning to do. Do the Democrats recognize their own filth? Frankly, I hope not, as that will be a nice beginning to the 2008 celebration.
So Gary has "obsessive hatred" for Carson. Who cares. It's his blog, and the last I checked, people were free to voice whatever opinion they wanted to on their blogs. Don't like it? Then delink him or stop reading the blog.
Does Gary go too far? Maybe, and again, who cares? It's not like he's the only local blogger who gets carried away sometimes.
WTHR showed Carson's speech last night...at least the part AI posted. As soon as she started going negative and really babbling, they cut away.
I would like to see the full tape or transcript to see how low she went.
She went pretty low. SHe blamed Dickerson for a stinking dirty campaign.
Funny thing is, I never heard him say one negative thing. Ever.
He had some seirous lapses ofpersonal judgment to explain for my liking, but as far as negative, he never went negative.
Miss Carson did.
She's obviously living in the same world as that little girl, Mae.
She needs to rest. A long time.
Anyone know hy the CLerk's office web poll tally went down at 11:47, and hasn't been updated yet? There are several close races that only had a few precincts to report, and I wanted ot know how they came out.
Don't you know that gloating, especially over such a limp win, is not becoming?
Are you saying that you wouldn't be gloating? I find that absolutely impossible to believe after all of the put downs and vile comments in this blog about the Democratic candidates.
You guys kill me!
>after all of the put downs and vile comments in this blog...
Like what?
Anybody notice the Rep. Carson, in her interview on WTHR, spoke of all the battles she had been in with the civil rights movement, and that "other guy" had not been in any battles?
Then she compared herself to a solider in the Army.
How odd. Especially considering Dickerson was a Marine.
How very odd.
no surprise. she shit all over her ex-husband and he was a disabled veteran.
Tully won't post my replays to him because I'm critical of him. So I'm posting it here.
Matt,
I know you won't post this but maybe you will read it. Thanks lots for letting your politics effect the outcome of the election. I saw your face on Sundays TV appearance you could hardly keep from laughing. If the Staff at the Star had reported fairly the truth would have gotten out. You and the staff can make all of the excuses, but your job is to write factual comments. The job of the reporting staff is to write factual reports. The star has covered up and sugar coated the facts on Carson for years.
You let your readers down and provided a disservice. Simply put The Indianapolis Star and its staff SUCK.
Have a nice day; I'm canceling my paper tomorrow.
Anonymous 6:67
Wrong Again:
I won Carl Brizzi and Todd Rokita' re-election.
Indyernie,
You're not the only one who can't get their comments posted by Tully. He posted one of my comments but added a smart-ass remark. So I tried responding - twice - and he won't post those.
I just had two simple questions for him (paraphrased): 1) Does he feel good having vented on the truth too late for it to matter; and 2) Can he point to one single story - just one - that he broke during this campaign.
Tully is weak. And his unwillingness to post comments (MULTIPLE comments, apparently) shows that he is also weak to even stand up for himself.
Advance:
Last report, Carson wins the 7th District with low numbers.
Cost average vote per precinct
803 precincts = 86.5 votes per precinct; Costly
Carson 69,468 or 53% of the votes
(spent $200,000.00) $2.879 per vote,with 3 negative mailings from the DCCC, and national figures to boot.
803 precincts = 74.9 votes per precinct; Good budgeting and business practice: Dickerson 60,177 46% of the votes (spent $60,000.00) $.997 per vote, no national figures, no media support, no negative mailings, nominal Party support, very cost effective campaign for a political newcomer.
No record breaking numbers in the campaign, 9,286 votes difference.
Typical Democrat spending is not cost effective.
Carson did not receive an overwhelming victory for the number of years she has been in public office versus a political newcomer.
Election are won precinct by precinct. Dickerson can win a second time around. This campaign was a learning experience. He has no need to give up.
Karen W:
Now you can call up the Democrats and get a job. You have earned it.
Matt Tully is having an awfully rough time explaining why he would write his Carson column after the election, and not before. And since it's clear that he's being selective in the comments that he posts, here's a copy of what I just submitted. I doubt that he will post or, if he does, that he will actually respond:
My post to Tully
>Tully: I didn't write the column a month ago because I wasn't feeling it a month ago.
Then, apparently, you weren't paying much attention. That's not a very good admission for a journalist.
> Tully: 1) I don't have the same ill-will toward Carson that many of you do, and, 2) my job isn't to help anyone win elections.
Oh, give me a break. You just wrote, very clearly, that the woman is incompetent. Nobody is asking you to express "ill-will." Yet, you seem to speak awfully ill, yourself, of people who have the same questions about her competence. Frankly, that just doesn't make any sense.
You want to try again at answering Beverly's question? I think a lot of us remain pretty skeptical towards your answer.
Does anyone know if Wilson Allen is listed on Julia Carson's campaign finance report as an expense or donation for photographs and services rendered?
I have noticed the Carson supporters use the term hate alot when anyone criticizes her and The Ghetto Mafia. But they can demean and smear others and it is ok. Just another double standard promoted by the Democrats.
Matt Tully and the Star did the greatest disservice by waiting until after the election to write the truth about their concerns for Julia's health and mental well being. What a disgrace that they wait until after it is too late to write a (for them) scathing story about her fitness to serve. And shame on the state and national GOP for not taking advantage of that opportunity as well. Dickerson is certainly to be commended for running such a close and above-board race!
Anyone else notice that on election day, in his blog, Tully kept referring to Julia's ballot mishaps as "a small snafu", yet in his column the next day, he sites it as one of the many reasons Julia should retire after this eletion - "And the ballot confused her, forcing officials to void it after Carson filled it out incorrectly."
At the time when his comments could actually mean something - the morning of the election - he keeps telling people that it was only a "little mistake" at "6 in the morning."
How I long for the days when a journalist believed in their duty of reporting the facts, and a political reporter in particular wasn't afraid of making a statement or upsetting a politician! So what if his opinions could have swayed some better informed voters -- isn't that his job?!?!
Shameful!!!
anon 6:22, I was the one who raised that question to Tully about it being called a "small mistake". His response to me at the time was completely disengenuous.
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