Ladies Night
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on June 9th, 2010 4:39 am by HL
Ladies Night
Mark McKinnon: “Voters in 12 states expressed their anger with Washington and special interests Tuesday night by defeating a $10 million union campaign to unseat a senator who had the courage to stand up against their special interest legislation, promoting women outsiders who have run public companies but never held office, and supporting candidates aligned with Tea Party values. And as clear evidence of voter desire to the shake up the good old boy network in politics, women ruled the night.”
Jonathan Alter: “We already know that this is the year of outsiders, but it may be that the most successful outsiders aren’t Tea Party Foxulists but women of all stripes. With only six women governors, 16 women senators, and 74 women in the House, female candidates are fresher for voters looking for change. The problem for Republicans is that the wacky ones might hamstring the serious ones.”
Crist Holds Small Lead in Florida
A new Quinnipiac poll in Florida shows Gov. Charlie Crist (I) edging Marco Rubio (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 37% to 33%, with Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) in third at 17%.
If Jeff Greene (D) gets the Democratic nomination, Crist beats Rubio, 40% to 33%, with Greene at 14%.
Said pollster Peter Brown: “Obviously there is a long time until November, but the Governor is doing very well among independent voters, almost as well among Democrats as Meek, and better among Democrats than Greene. With Rubio getting two-thirds of the Republican vote, the fate of Gov. Crist, who switched from a Republican to independent six weeks ago, depends heavily on his ability to appeal to Democratic voters.”
Good News, Bad News for Republicans
Peter Beinhart: “For the Republican Party, Tuesday’s primaries contain good news and bad news. The good news: Republicans are angry — angry at Barack Obama, angry at the national debt, even angry at some of the leaders of their own party. Anger is a good motivator, and in midterm elections, where turnout is small, a little motivation goes a long way. The bad news: Republicans are not hungry. They’re not willing to submerge their anger for the sake of winning elections. They either don’t think they need to compromise their ideological purity to beat Democrats this fall or they don’t care. In either case, they may be blowing their shot at a midterm landslide.”
Whitman, Fiorina Secure Easy Victories
California Republicans “reached for history in Tuesday’s primary elections, as Meg Whitman (R) claimed the party’s nomination for governor and Carly Fiorina (R) won the GOP race for the U.S. Senate, results that gave women the Republican nominations for the two most powerful statewide political offices for the first time,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“The two wealthy businesswomen, who powered their first electoral bids with millions of dollars of their own money, swept into election day as the front-runners and rode the momentum of an angry electorate that spurned the appeals of veteran politicians competing against them on the ballot.”
