2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumDemocrats Run the Table in Last Night's Primaries
By Josh Kraushaar
August 8, 2012 | 7:12 a.m.
Last night's primaries in Michigan, Missouri, Washington state and Kansas couldn't have gone much better for Democrats.
The party saw Republicans nominate their weakest candidate against Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, who spent her own campaign money in order to affect the outcome of the primary. They saw Republicans tap a reindeer-farming Santa Claus with controversial views to run for the suburban Detroit seat recently held by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich. And in a promising gubernatorial pickup opportunity for the GOP in Washington state, the first round of balloting showed Democrats still hold some fundamental advantages in a traditionally Democratic state.
The biggest news came out of Missouri, where GOP Rep. Todd Akin came from behind against self-funded businessman John Brunner and former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, two candidates who Republican party officials viewed as more formidable challengers against McCaskill. Akin, as a longtime member of Congress and ardent social conservative, holds vulnerabilities that McCaskill is hoping to exploit. With the self-funding Brunner as the nominee, Republicans likely wouldn't have had to spend money to pick up the seat. With Akin, Republicans are very confident about their prospects - a recent poll showed him leading McCaskill by five points -- but they'll need to expend resources against the freshman senator.
In Michigan, the news was even grimmer. After McCotter failed to get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, Republicans were left without a credible candidate in a Republican-friendly district in the Detroit suburbs. The only candidate who qualified for the primary ballot was Kerry Bentivolio, a Ron Paul acolyte and reindeer rancher who acted in a low-budget, Michigan-made film that blamed a George W. Bush-like character for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
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http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2012/08/democrats-run-t.php
Denninmi
(6,581 posts)Against this fruitcake Bentivolio. I hope we can pull it off, I'm in this newly redistricted area. Gary Peters is my current congressman, he beat out Hansen Clark, the freshman incumbent from Detroit, after they were forced together by the redistricting. I really like Hansen Clark, I hope he can come back, sure he will.
DetroitDem
(24 posts)Last edited Wed Aug 8, 2012, 05:57 PM - Edit history (3)
what I want to know who were the idiot Dems that voted for the Lydon Larouche nut. Did any of them bother checking his website? It says he wants to impeach the President right on it.
http://billrobertsforcongress.com/
Taj , Syed Dem 21,730 59%
Roberts , William Dem 15,094 41%
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120807/POLITICS0106/120730002#ixzz22zApAfnM
ellisonz
(27,711 posts)Denninmi
(6,581 posts)The first is just lack of knowledge. I haven't heard much at all about this race (although I admit to being pretty out of the loop in general lately).
I honestly wonder if the second thing isn't more sinister, and I wonder if there were people who wouldn't vote for Taj because his name isn't of a WASP European origin. Don't know, but I sure hope NOT!
Anyway, I think we have a chance to maybe win this one! God I hope so.