It wasn’t the outcome I expected.
In some ways, it was better.
Top stories from last night:
No Tails: Lord Fauntelroy will spend his term – one, singular – holed up in the Governor’s office, facing a legislature that is not only GOP, but is focused way beyond Mark Dayton. Holed up in the office, quivering in fear and supported only by the media, will be his cronies; Mark Ritchie, whose few remaining shreds of legitimacy got double-counted in Hennepin County last night, once they finally got the ballot-counting machines to work; Lori Swanson, who is going to have a day of reckoning with Darrell Issa shortly; and Rebecca Otto, a “there” where there is truly no “there”. And he’ll have to try to enact his vapid, untested agenda against a Legislature controlled by a MNGOP…
This Is Not Your Grampa’s Minnesota GOP: …that really doesn’t give a rat’s ass how the Independent Republicans “reached across the aisle” forty years ago. The GOP caucus that stood on the stage with Tony Sutton last night was young, smart, and the product of two successive waves of rebirth in the MNGOP – the Ron Paul surge in ’08, and the Tea Party, neither of which “took control” of the party, per se, but both of which energized it, culled it of some deadwood, and gave it a focus that it has lacked at a party level for quite some time.
The West Is Red: Remember all that talk about the Third District being too blue for Erik Paulsen, and that the Third would punish the freshman Rep for being “too conservative”?
That’s all getting filed under “yesterday’s news” along with “Representative Oberstar”. Paulsen won by – adjectives fail me – 21 freaking points. I predicted 10 or 12, and “knew” I was being a point or two hyperbolic.
Twenty one points! Twenty one freaking points! Twenty one howling flag waving red-white-and-blue-waving moon-landing carpet-bombing .44-magnum-shooting tax-slashing points!
Suck it, Lori Sturdevant. The Third District is Red.
An Analyst Would Say You Have Twice As Much Glass As You Need For The Water: King Banaian won by 28 votes last night. Some call it “a razor thin margin”. I call it “impeccable economy of effort”. Put him on the budget committe, stat.
Michele, Our Belle: Point this at your whackdoodle ultralefty friends: Michele Bachmann has power power power power power today. Watch them jump with fright, and maybe wet their pants.
She’s in the majority. Better yet, she is to the new GOP majority what Mike Singletary was to the ’86 Bears defense; the face, the soul, the wit and the teeth. There it is, DFL; after four million your PAC dollars and Soros Bucks, you have helped make Michele Bachmann the Top Mama Grizzly. And she’s coming for you! BOO!
Take that, Michele Bachmann’s many whackdoodle lefty detractors. The more deranged you get, the bigger she becomes. The more clogged with hate you become, the more powerful she gets. The GOP has created the perfect conservative swing-state politician; someone who feeds and grows and becomes stronger on her opponents’ hatred!
Ritchie Stock – Strong Sell: Worst. Election. In. History.
So far.
Yes We Can: Organize from the grassroots better than the DFL? Two words: Representative Cravaack.
Note to the MNGOP: Before Cap’n Cravaack departs for DC, braindump his system. Find some former Chief Petty Officer to go through the First, Fourth, Fifth and Seventh districts to put it into place. Be ready for 2012.
…you said adjectives failed you on Paulsen’s 21-point margin and then all of a sudden they came through for you sort of like the spread between Oberstuffed and Cravaack after (I think) midnight.
…also as for Mark Macy, I’m in the Fat Lady Sings camp hoping a recount will do for Emmer what it did for Franken only without the cheating.
“…a recount will do for Emmer what it did for Franken only without the cheating…”
and for Ritchie, and Swanson and Otto…
I assume the two broken Tigers on fire in the night are Pelosi and Oberstar?
By autumn they stood with their backs to D.C.
And the shadow figures will be staggering through the winter.
Curious.
Will big government ever survive with a competent economist in the legislature?
Rediculious!
Congrats to King!
“The West Is Red: ”
Not only did Paulsen achieve Rammer type numbers, but CD3 defended all incumbents, and picked up 3 house seats and 2 senate seats.
Governor race is a dissappointment, but I see the incumbant Democrat state senator for Bloomington-Burnsville lost by 500 votes (on 5000 cast). Sooooo how’d those anti-Catholic mailings work out for you? Perhaps 251 people changed their vote to the Repubican because of that?
RE: Michele Our Belle – In future search engines when one types in “What does the saying “You got served” mean?”; there will be video of Bachmann parrying the numerous insults and misogynistic slurs against her intelligence and character from Chris Matthews on MSDNC with a smile and then at the end serving a knock out blow to “Tingles” that leaves him red faced and fuming.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-11-03/election-media-coverage-video-of-msnbcs-apocalyptic-night/
Perhaps Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will invite Brave Sir Mark to join their new support group.
hat leaves him red faced and fuming
…and denying he said what is on record that he said.
Mitch,
Love your enthusiasm as usual and THRILLED with the GOP winning the MN House and Senate, but this Gov race just doesn’t compute. Granted, I’m in the Philippines so I’m watching this from afar, but the result leads me to either 1 of 2 conclusions:
1. Widespread cheating
2. VERY ineffective campaign run by Emmer.
I suspect it’s partially both. How in the world, in a year when the MN GOP unseats Jim Oberstar AND wins the state senate for the first time in my lifetime, can Tom Emmer lose to an alcoholic headcase like Mark Dayton?
Answer: Well, I sensed there was trouble with Emmer when I talked to my mom the day before the election. She is a loyal Republican but cares deeply about the “values” issues. She was not thrilled with Emmer. Said she was tired of his almost “bullheaded” insistence that the campaign was about “jobs and the economy.”
She said “I’ll vote for him of course, but I’m not thrilled about it.” Of course, this is one piece of anecdotal evidence, but I think you need to acknowledge the obvious elephant in the room here. Emmer ran a bad campaign.
MN is a pro-life, pro-family state with lots of Christians who care much about these issues. All Emmer had to do was just acknowledge that these things were important to a lot of people and that he stood with them on these issues. It doesn’t appear that he did that sufficiently, although I’m praying for a turnaround in the recount.
The other definitive losses last night?
MPR and Minnesota Polls. Put them out to pasture. Neither can be taken seriously, and should be mentioned in the same breath as an online CNN poll. They’ll be quoted by the Strib and other DFL outlets still, but every election cycle makes them easier to ignore. Sure, the left already has its talking points about Rasmussen, but it was still more accurate than the standard others. The “cell phone gap” theory can also be shot down.
Still, that technical Dayton win reminds us that we live in the only state Mondale could carry.
RP, I’ve been pondering Minnesota elections for decades and I’ve come to this conclusion: Issues don’t matter. Names matter. Here’s why:
There are two groups of people who vote in Minnesota elections: die-hards and “moderates.” Die-hards are the people who know the issues, the players, take umbrage at insult ads and make DAMNED sure they vote.
Die-hards don’t decide elections. There are about 30% die-hard Republicans and 30% Democrats, leaving 40% in the camp of Undecided, Uncommitted, Moderate, Independent or just plain Don’t Care. These are the people who pay no attention to politics or issues until about a week before the election when they learn everything they need to know from televsion ads – the names of the candidates.
These are the people who stand in the voting booth trying to pick a Governor and say “Hmmm, Emmer, Horner, never heard of them. Hey, Dayton, that’s like the Dayton’s Department Store chain. I’ve heard of them. Those stores were a classy place to shop so he must be a classy guy. I’ll vote for him.”
I’m dead serious. It’s name recognition, pure and simple. That’s how you explain Jesse the Body the Pro Wrestler and Al Franken from Saturday Night Live and Betty McCollum from Every Election I’ve Ever Voted In. Nobody who knew anything at all about Jesse’s political stands on political issues would mistake him for a scholar. But we’ve heard of him and that’s enough.
Yes, it is pathetic.
.
“we live in the only state Mondale could carry.”
and the only state that Reagan couldn’t.