Comments on Advance Indiana™: Are Republicans Misreading 2009 Elections?

I think that they are. This election was about ch...

2009-11-05T11:24:09.373-05:00

I think that they are. This election was about changing conditions in the states. Obama did not cause NJ to be in its current state; NJ politicians, from the governor down, caused this. Obama's appearances were meant to sway but they didn't. Rather than a rejection of him the vote was more of an embracing of Christie and wanting something different.

We are in rare agreement on the results. I just p...

2009-11-05T00:17:06.952-05:00

We are in rare agreement on the results. I just posted a similar take before reading your blog post. I think you are right on target here, but I don't think it necessarily carries over to 2010 just yet.

I lost faith in the Republican party when my Repub...

2009-11-04T13:38:15.183-05:00

I lost faith in the Republican party when my Republican governor ran for office claiming to have not raised taxes when we had a 17% sales tax increase.

Roger, you must hate the local Republicans then. I...

2009-11-04T11:46:59.609-05:00

Roger, you must hate the local Republicans then. It's really hard to distinguish what Ballard is now doing from what Peterson did.

I can't stand any Republican who gets into government to "do stuff." The is half the problem, that they actually want to work. A loud minority, or maybe even a small majority, still the pot till they get things going. The smoking ban is one of them. They are not happy with the current proposal. So a few people want to control others so them, and/or their kids, can go to the more mainstream bars/clubs without smoking. They could careless about the smaller dive bars that will likely lose business, it is all about "me, myself, and I."

I know there is always something to do, but it seems more and more politicians run on things that they want to do. Instead, they should run to do the job, and tell people that when a good majority of their constitutes are saying the same thing..that is the time to act.

Instead, we have politicians taking action on silly things like smoking bans, people holding signs at intersections, etc..

I agree. The Republican in NJ appears to be a fis...

2009-11-04T11:41:56.527-05:00

I agree. The Republican in NJ appears to be a fiscal spending liberal. One who knows government can just keep heaping taxes on people, but likely has more liberal views on other issues.

I might be wrong on a few counts, but I know he favors assault weapons bans for law abiding citizens..at least I read that on-line. If that is still true, that is enough for me to call him a Democrat.

His website appears to show he is big into renewable energy...a few comments about solar power. Nothing about abortion, the death penalty, healthcare, etc..

Okay, Swan, I heard Jesse Ventura yesterday talk a...

2009-11-04T10:43:53.465-05:00

Okay, Swan, I heard Jesse Ventura yesterday talk about the "far-right" conservatives who won yesterday. He uses "far-right" whenever he mentions any Republicans. He doesn't have a lot of credibility in my book.

Roger, you must hate the local Republicans then. It's really hard to distinguish what Ballard is now doing from what Peterson did.

Exactly right, Roger. Ideas, is what Jesse Ventur...

2009-11-04T10:30:48.629-05:00

Exactly right, Roger. Ideas, is what Jesse Ventura say allowed him to win the governorship of Minnesota, although he only used $300,000 to campaign. I am eager to watch his new television show, on conspiracies, soon to air.

I lost faith in my Republican party when they star...

2009-11-04T09:08:49.925-05:00

I lost faith in my Republican party when they started acting EXACTLY like democrats.
You can no longer tell them apart without a program.
They are full of excuses, but not ideas...or IDEALS.

Politics proves the physics principle that for eve...

2009-11-04T09:08:27.881-05:00

Politics proves the physics principle that for every action there is a reaction. Obama and Ds win big in 2008, Republicans do well in the 2009 and 2010 elections. That pattern has been repeated time and time again.

If Republicans want to go beyond the natural bounce back elections they need a more coherent message than is currently the case.

I agree that the D's will maintain their majorities in Congress after the 2010 election. Those majorities are too big to overcome in one election. But the majorities will certainly be narrowed.

Yes, AI, you've reached the cold hard reality ...

2009-11-04T08:51:26.613-05:00

Yes, AI, you've reached the cold hard reality about the congressional count.
I also think that the conservative Christian in Va. who won, along with the NJ. win, sent a message that conservatism is not dead. Even the unknown Tea Party conservative in the bizarre NY district, while losing, gave notice that the Rs. too will be rejected if they don't return to founding values. Maine rejected gay marriage. There is an anti-incumbent conservative mood and it doesn't much matter what letter comes after the party.