{"id":985,"date":"2009-11-04T21:05:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-05T01:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?p=985"},"modified":"2015-10-19T22:35:04","modified_gmt":"2015-10-20T02:35:04","slug":"thoughts-on-off-year-races","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?p=985","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on the off-year races"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sarah Palin called last night\u2019s elections \u201cA Victory for Common Sense and Fiscal Sanity\u201d<\/a>, and on the whole, I\u2019m inclined to agree with her:<\/p>\n

Congratulations to the new Governors-Elect of Virginia and New Jersey! I\u2019d also like to offer a special word of support to the new Lieutenant Governor-Elect of New Jersey, Kim Guadagno, the first woman to hold that office.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, the real victors in this election are the ordinary men and women who voted for positive change and a return to fiscal sanity. Your voices have been heard.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The race for New York\u2019s 23rd District is not over, just postponed until 2010. The issues of this election have always centered on the economy\u2014on the need for fiscal restraint, smaller government, and policies that encourage jobs. In 2010, these issues will be even more crucial to the electorate. I commend Doug Hoffman and all the other under-dog candidates who have the courage to put themselves out there and run against the odds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To the tireless grassroots patriots who worked so hard in that race and to future citizen-candidates like Doug, please remember Reagan\u2019s words of encouragement after his defeat in 1976:<\/p>\n

The cause goes on. Don\u2019t get cynical because look at yourselves and what you were willing to do, and recognize that there are millions and millions of Americans out there that want what you want, that want it to be that way, that want it to be a shining city on a hill.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The cause goes on.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014Sarah Palin<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In retrospect, it\u2019s nothing short of amazing that Hoffman came within two points of winning in NY-23; from a conservative point of view, he was clearly the best candidate in the race, but that doesn\u2019t mean he was a particularly effective<\/i> candidate. Certainly, having the GOP machine working against him and spending close on a million dollars to the ultimate benefit of Democrat Bill Owens didn\u2019t help, but an even bigger issue is that he ran a poor campaign, while Owens ran a far better one<\/a>. That he came that close despite the weakness of his campaign and Scozzafava\u2019s endorsement of Owens (which packed considerable punch, given her far greater name recognition and the Hoffman campaign\u2019s low profile in much of the district) shows the appeal of conservative ideas. Michelle Malkin is right to say<\/a>,<\/p>\n

NY-23 is a victory for conservatives who refuse to be marginalized in the public square by either the unhinged left or the establishment right. A humble accountant from upstate New York exposed the hypocrisy of GOP leaders trying to solicit funds from conservatives by lambasting Pelosi and the Dems\u2019 support for high taxes, Big Labor, and bigger government\u2014while using conservatives\u2019 money to subsidize a high-taxing, Big Labor-pandering, bigger government radical. The repercussions will be felt well beyond NY-23\u2019s borders. Conservatives\u2019 disgust with the status quo has been heard and felt. They have been silent too long. They will be silent no more.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The GOP leadership knows it cannot afford to rest on its laurels, continue business as usual, and bask in yesterday\u2019s electoral victories<\/a> without confronting its abysmal abdication of principled conservative leadership in NY-23.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As Hoffman said in his concession speech, \u201cThis is only one fight in the battle.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Onward. Upward. Right<\/a><\/i>ward.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The truth is, while it\u2019s definitely a downer that Hoffman\u2019s half-court shot rimmed out at the buzzer, he was a JV player called up as a fill-in; had the varsity been doing its job, someone with a better shot would have been out there. His defeat is an indictment of the GOP establishment in New York, not of the principles\u00a0Hoffman espoused\u2014and compared to what the varsity did in New Jersey and Virginia, it\u2019s ultimately far less significant.<\/p>\n

As C. Edmund Wright says, the fact that the NY GOP screwed up the playcalling in their race only changes the dimensions of the overall rout, not the fact that the Democrats got routed<\/a>. Bob McDonnell blew out Creigh Deeds for the governor’s office in supposedly-blue Virginia (perhaps scaring three Democratic first-termers in the House in the process), and Chris Christie won his gubernatorial race in true-blue New Jersey by an unexpectedly comfortable margin, despite the presence of an independent candidate. While these races weren\u2019t referenda on the President, Michael Barone points out<\/a> that they\u2019ve served as useful indicators of national political trends before, and the voting patterns in these races suggest that they may do so again<\/a>. Along with that, Maine(!) voted down same-sex marriage<\/a> by a solid (though not overwhelming) margin, making defenders of the traditional definition of marriage a perfect 31 for 31 in state referenda.<\/p>\n

Jay Cost makes an important point<\/a> when he says one must be careful not to over-interpret electoral results, but the conclusions he does<\/i> draw seem to jibe with the results of Gallup\u2019s latest polling<\/a>: having swung to the left in reaction to George W. Bush\u2019s second term, giving the Democrats their big victories of 2006 and 2008, the electorate now appears to be swinging back to the right in reaction to the opening of Barack Obama\u2019s time in office. Will this add up to a big year for the Republicans in 2010? Who knows? It could, though. If it does, I just hope those who profit from the swing are true Republicans, conservatives with integrity, not more of the same elite\/establishment types who led the party to the debacle of the last two election cycles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sarah Palin called last night\u2019s elections \u201cA Victory for Common Sense and Fiscal Sanity\u201d, and on the whole, I\u2019m inclined to agree with her: Congratulations to the new Governors-Elect of Virginia and New Jersey! I\u2019d also like to offer a special word of support to the new Lieutenant Governor-Elect of New Jersey, Kim Guadagno, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[63,72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-sarah-palin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6R3Ax-fT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1277,"url":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?p=1277","url_meta":{"origin":985,"position":0},"title":"The campaign continues, and so do the hatchets","author":"Rob Harrison","date":"6 June 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest attempt on Sarah Palin's political career is a campaign to get people to believe that she's not a fiscal conservative. \u00a0I have a post shredding that argument up on Conservatives4Palin. \u00a0If you want to oppose Gov. Palin, fine, go ahead\u2014if your opposition is based on what she's actually\u00a0done\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Media"","block_context":{"text":"Media","link":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?cat=92"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1260,"url":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?p=1260","url_meta":{"origin":985,"position":1},"title":"Support citizen government; support Sarah Palin","author":"Rob Harrison","date":"14 June 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"It's no secret, of course, that I'm a supporter of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Even if I weren't, though\u2014even if I were one of the Beltway types pulling for Mitt Romney or Jeb Bush, let's say\u2014I would be angry at the way in which Gov. Palin's opponents in Alaska have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture and society"","block_context":{"text":"Culture and society","link":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?cat=62"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1228,"url":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?p=1228","url_meta":{"origin":985,"position":2},"title":"Sarah Palin’s resignation: a calculated political act","author":"Rob Harrison","date":"4 July 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been flat on my back with an unpleasant bug, but the news yesterday of Sarah Palin's resignation knocked me even flatter than I already was. My first thought was, \"She's finally decided that the price was too high, and she's giving it all up\"; my reaction was one of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?cat=63"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":860,"url":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?p=860","url_meta":{"origin":985,"position":3},"title":"Identity politics and the liberal fear of Sarah Palin","author":"Rob Harrison","date":"30 April 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Contempt and disdain for Sarah Palin, sometimes hysterical and violent, is practically a commonplace on the Left in this country right now. There are those on the Right who believe that contempt to be faked, a matter of political calculation, but I don't think so; I tend to believe it's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Barack Obama"","block_context":{"text":"Barack Obama","link":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?cat=74"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":773,"url":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?p=773","url_meta":{"origin":985,"position":4},"title":"Resisting the politics of character assassination","author":"Rob Harrison","date":"8 July 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I've had a bit of an issue getting this up, but near the top of the sidebar, you'll notice a link to the Sarah Palin Legal Defense Fund. This being a congressional election year, there are a lot of demands for money out there, and a lot of worthy candidates;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture and society"","block_context":{"text":"Culture and society","link":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?cat=62"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1674,"url":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?p=1674","url_meta":{"origin":985,"position":5},"title":"Palin-bashers discover the Law of Unintended Consequences","author":"Rob Harrison","date":"11 November 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I took note last Friday of the dishonorable cowards in the McCain campaign who started trashing Sarah Palin before the election had even been held, presumably to try to shift the blame for the loss away from their own performance.It didn't work. It didn't work because Gov. Palin made an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/?cat=63"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=985"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4876,"href":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions\/4876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjaharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}