Reply #14: Grayson won in 2008 and lost in 2010 because the people who were [View All]

[WCGreen]

motivated by president Obama couldn't be bothered to go to the polls in 2010.

That, my Friend, is not the fault of the party that is the fault of president Obama for the way he started off his administration by not engaging his own party but by trying to transcend party lines.

His approach left guys like Grayson swinging in the wind because they did not strengthen ties to the party.

The party is the president, whether you like it or not. People identify the person in office as the the head of the party.

And the party leader is the president but he left his people swinging in the wind many times during the health care debate which was what defined his presidency up until now.

All those people who wanted an overhaul of their health care, because that was a huge part of why people voted for candidate Obama, were left bewildered by the action of the president. Part of the reason was, as I stated above, president Obama seemed to be more interested in making a deal with the GOP than building a party consensus in the House and the Senate.

As far as Grayson goes, in 2008 he won 172,854 to 159,490 with a total turnout of 332,344.

In 2010. Grayson lost 84,167 to 123,586. The turnout dropped by 112,110 votes. If the party in the district would have been able to reach out to those 112,000 people who couldn't be bothered to come to vote just two years later, Grayson would still be in office. A lot of that has to do with president Obama not living up to the expectations of those who turned out in 2008.

So why did all those people who voted for Grayson in 2008 not even bother to show up in 2010?

Because the district is normally republican and the GOP, as a party, had worked to identify president Obama and the Party as this side of being commies.

Don't know if you are even bothering to read this, but Grayson really didn't have a chance. It took an historically high turnout, which was caused by Obama AND the tired view the people had of the GOP, for him to win. If president Obama had identified himself more as a democrat and not basically left the party on it's own, perhaps there could have been a chance to build a lasting coalition.