Run against Obamacare—that’s the only lesson Republicans will draw from their bitter losses in Va

[DonViejo]

The Cuccinelli Collapse

Run against Obamacare—that’s the only lesson Republicans will draw from their bitter losses in Virginia.

By David Weigel

RICHMOND, Va.—Shortly after 7 p.m., when the polls had just closed, I entered the saddest room in Virginia politics. A small dining room in the basement of the Berkeley Hotel, described by a Republican friend as “the third or fourth nicest hotel in the city,” had been set aside for the victory party of lieutenant governor nominee E.W. Jackson. Posters of Jackson—half of them bearing his signature, all of them with gigantic pictures of Jackson’s face—hung over copious selections of sweet and savory snacks. A projector screen alternated between election results and a slideshow of the candidate posing with voters on the trail.

That was all happening a solid 10-minute stroll away from the actual Republican Party of Virginia bash—a reminder of the circumstances that gave the deeply flawed Jackson the nomination, and wrecked 2013 for the GOP here. Larnie Algood, an elderly Republican who’d worked the polls that day, chatted with the three other Republicans who’d gotten in early. “We definitely turned out the vote in Mechanicsville,” he said, referring to a Republican city nearby. “That was strong. But wouldn’t shock me, if [Attorney General candidate Mark] Obenshain was the only one who won. It’d be a shame if that happened.”

That was at 7 p.m. An hour later, Republicans at the downtown Marriott were whooping as the early exit polls, with GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli down by 7, were replaced by exit polls showing him down only 2. For two more hours, they milled around and congratulated each other and remarked on how close they’d made this thing—hey, they even won those House of Delegates races the media told them they’d lose!

Asking the 2013 elections to be a referendum on something big was always a stretch. There were statewide elections in New Jersey and Virginia; there were races for mayor in New York and Houston and Detroit and Seattle; there was a special Republican primary for the House seat in Mobile, Ala. This Election Day was less a map of America, more a map of one of those scammy cellphone coverage plans that Verizon tells you not to buy.

But it did not humiliate conservatives. In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie was re-elected by 22 points—just what the polling predicted—with no coattails. Oh, sure, he became the first Republican candidate since 1998 or so to win the Hispanic vote, but he cut ads and stumped for four state senate candidates, all of whom were losing at the end of the night. In Alabama it was Dean Young, a social conservative who remade himself as a Tea Partier, who lost to an experienced, Chamber of Commerce–backed candidate named Bradley Byrne. Conservatives were largely fine with this, as Young was a know-nothing who couldn’t even name the House minority leader when pop-quizzed. “Thank goodness,” emailed conservative columnist Quin Hillyer (who’d run in the first round of this primary) after the vote.

full article
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/11/ken_cuccinelli_loses_to_terry_mcauliffe_republicans_believe_obamacare_almost.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content

[EC]

1. They're pretty stupid

by 2014 many of their redneck haters will be signed up for insurance, because they will take advantage of anything that benefits them and they won't bother voting against it. They'll also know that the repubs are lying to them. The normal ones will not vote repub then.

[Heather MC]

4. Most of their Redneck Supporters are on Food stamps, Medicare

And Welfare, They will support them no matter what, because their pastors will tell them Democrats will bring about Armageddon because they support gays and Abortion

[Rosa Luxemburg]

9. they vote against themselves

morans!

[change_dont_complain]

2. Why isn't the media focusing on insurance companies too?

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/11/05/insurance-companies-obamacare-scam/

[gopiscrap]

3. welcome to DU

[karadax]

5. Be thankful for the gov shutdown

I'm convinced that had the government stayed open, the extra few weeks of hammering ACA would have resulted in a different outcome.

VA proved that the bash "obamacare"strategy is sound. A 10 point lead was whittled away to 3 points.

It also validated the war on women strategy will always work on the Tea Party dopes.

I would argue that Cuccinelli simply ran out of time.

[dionysus]

7. no thanks. 24B down the toilet. nt

[Proud Liberal Dem]

6. Running against Obamacare/Obama

seems to be about the ONLY thing they know how to do. They have no policies or ideas or achievements of their own to run ON. I know that that's enough for *some* people but it shouldn't be IMHO.

[FSogol]

8. One of the funniest aspects of Republicanism is that they don't learn from their mistakes.