# 2009 Election Results **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 4, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238 "2009-11-04T01:39:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/121 "2009-11-04T16:29:41Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Blogger David Koppel observes it was a good night for the Second Amendment: That would be interesting, I suppose, if the 2nd Amendment was under any kind of threat, which it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/122 "2009-11-04T16:46:41Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > It’s _exactly_ the same argument. But the _strength_ of the argument depends on a number of things, like the relative sizes of the bases, and how well the changes the respective party’s bases are pushing for will play with the broader electorate in the next Presidential year. Undoubtedly true. But I would note that judgments about these matters tend to be heavily influenced by wishful thinking, as well as by a kind of circular thought process that says “I’m so right that it _must_ be that I have broad support and anyone who disagrees only does so because …” ---
**Author:** ![MeDrewNotYou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@MeDrewNotYou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeDrewNotYou)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/123 "2009-11-04T17:41:23Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > (snip) > Maybe they could load up the ballots with legalized pot referendums. Liberals are mostly all for that, and it could turn out normally lackadaisical potheads. The hard part will be getting the potheads to remember to go vote. If _The Simpsons_ is a reliable guide to life, and I think we can all agree that it is, [marijuana ballot initiatives _still_ won’t get the pothead vote.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weekend_at_Burnsie%27s) > [@Marley23](#): > > Would you mind citing that? This is the first I’ve heard about it. Hoffman was still running as a Conservative, but [got the official nod](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/31/rnc-commends-scozzafava-endorses-hoffman/) after Scozzafava dropped out. I figure Michael Steele represents official GOP endorsement, but I think the story mentions the party machinery gave him the nod too. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/124 "2009-11-04T18:02:15Z")
> [@MeDrewNotYou](#): > > Hoffman was still running as a Conservative, but [got the official nod](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/31/rnc-commends-scozzafava-endorses-hoffman/) after Scozzafava dropped out. I figure Michael Steele represents official GOP endorsement, but I think the story mentions the party machinery gave him the nod too. This is getting nitpicky, but no, that’s not the same thing. We all know Hoffman got endorsements from prominent Republicans - that’s what made the race interesting. He was not the candidate chosen by the Republican party in New York, and he didn’t have the little “R” next to his name, so he should not be called “the Republican candidate.” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/125 "2009-11-04T18:02:52Z")
So, Bachmann-Palin Overdrive will rule decisions for the Pubbie party for the next cycle? Now, Universe, I know I haven’t been a very good pantheist, but if you could just give me this sign… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/126 "2009-11-04T18:11:33Z")
The guys over at _ThinkProgress_ seem to be of the opinion that the Virginia Dem lost because he wasn’t sufficiently Obamist. YMMV. [http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/04/creigh-deeds-campaign/](http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/04/creigh-deeds-campaign/) ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/127 "2009-11-04T18:37:38Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The problem is that the Democrats don’t do hate very well. They hate rich people. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/128 "2009-11-04T18:39:35Z")
Nah, they only want their money. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/129 "2009-11-04T18:48:39Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Undoubtedly true. > > But I would note that judgments about these matters tend to be heavily influenced by wishful thinking, as well as by a kind of circular thought process that says “I’m so right that it _must_ be that I have broad support and anyone who disagrees only does so because …” If only there were some objective way of discerning which parties and positions had popular support. If only there were a profession that had any expertise with coming up with representative samples of the population, and asking them questions about such things. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/130 "2009-11-04T19:27:31Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > If only there were some objective way of discerning which parties and positions had popular support. If only there were a profession that had any expertise with coming up with representative samples of the population, and asking them questions about such things. That’s not what the question is here. The question here is “what people would think about the issue under my preferred hypothetical scenario in which my suggested strategy was adopted?” Not too scientific. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/131 "2009-11-04T19:46:03Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > That’s not what the question is here. > > The question here is “what people would think about the issue under my preferred hypothetical scenario in which my suggested strategy was adopted?” Not too scientific. I didn’t realize you were asking that question. I’m not sure why you are, or what relevance it has to my position that you are at odds with. For instance, people have a pretty good idea of what the GOP stands for these days, and outside the South and parts of the inland West, [people really don’t like it very much](http://www.dailykos.com/weeklypoll/2009/10/29). That isn’t going to improve if the wingnuts get a larger say in the direction of the party. And on the Dem side, there was recently a candidate who ran nationwide on much the same things that the Dem base stands for. Tall, skinny black dude with a funny African name. How’d he do? What’s been happening to Dem support as the proposals from his campaign have gotten delayed and watered down? This isn’t rocket science. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/132 "2009-11-04T19:58:19Z")
If Virginia didn’t have the ridiculous consecutive term rule, does anyone think McDonnell would have defeated Kaine? In New Jersey, Corzine’s defeat seems to reflect on him and the economy as opposed to any great enthusiasm for Christie. Christie’s platform had little specifics; he basically told the voters: vote for me, I’m not John Corzine and when I get elected I’ll fix shit. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/133 "2009-11-04T19:59:13Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > They hate rich people. This is bullshit righty canard #18896. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/134 "2009-11-04T20:11:12Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > And on the Dem side, there was recently a candidate who ran nationwide on much the same things that the Dem base stands for. Tall, skinny black dude with a funny African name. How’d he do? He didn’t run as a progressive. He basically ran a two line campaign. 1. Bush stinks. 2. McCain = Bush. People grow tired of that after a while. (Maybe not the Dem base, but everyone else.) > [@](#): > > What’s been happening to Dem support as the proposals from his campaign have gotten delayed and watered down? We’re not discussing Dem support. We’re discussing overall support. Of course the Dems base is happier with progressive programs. The question is whether this is enough to overcome alienating moderates. You say it is (or, alternatively, that many moderates will be converted into progressives once they see the true unsullied face of progressivism). That’s a highly subjective judgment, as above. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/135 "2009-11-04T20:15:25Z")
It’s funny that anyone is still stupid enough to say that Obama didn’t run an issues based campaign. How myopic do you have to be to actually say that with conviction? Obama ran such a great campaign specifically because he DIDN’T harp on how horrible his opponent was, his opponent lost specifically because he DID run that kind of a campaign. Obama was able to differentiate himself, he didn’t need to say Bush stinks because it didn’t need to be said. Why are people so dead set on not thinking before they speak? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/136 "2009-11-04T20:15:58Z")
[National Republican Senatorial Committee Abandons the Stragglers:](http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/nrsc-wont-spend-money-in-contested-primaries.php?ref=fpblg) > [@](#): > > With Republicans grappling with the fallout of an intra-party battle that may have cost them a House seat, the head of the Senate Republican campaign effort is making a pledge that may ease some of the anger being directed at the party establishment. > > “We will not spend money in a contested primary,” Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told ABC News in a telephone interview today. > > “There’s no incentive for us to weigh in,” said Cornyn, R-Texas. “We have to look at our resources. . . . We’re not going to throw money into a [primary] race leading up to the election.” This should make it much cheaper for the radicals to dispose of any remaining moderates. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/137 "2009-11-04T20:27:44Z")
I should also add that Obama was helped by considerable personal qualities - charisma and a compelling life story, and polls have consistently showed him to be more popular than his policies. And with all that and an extremely unpopular incumbant he did not exactly win a landslide. > [@mswas](#): > > It’s funny that anyone is still stupid enough to say that Obama didn’t run an issues based campaign. How myopic do you have to be to actually say that with conviction? > > Obama ran such a great campaign specifically because he DIDN’T harp on how horrible his opponent was, his opponent lost specifically because he DID run that kind of a campaign. Obama was able to differentiate himself, he didn’t need to say Bush stinks because it didn’t need to be said. After a while I started to wonder if McCain had his first name legally changed from “John” to “Bush”. I guess you don’t see what you don’t want to see. You can call yourself “myopic” if you’d like. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/138 "2009-11-04T20:31:11Z")
Oooh! Oooh! Can you tell us the one about how America is a center-right country, and how Obama’s win doesn’t really mean anything? That’s my favorite! ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/139 "2009-11-04T20:31:16Z")
Obama won very decisively. It wasn’t a nail biter. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238/140 "2009-11-04T20:41:55Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Oooh! Oooh! Can you tell us the one about how America is a center-right country, and how Obama’s win doesn’t really mean anything? That’s my favorite! Mine is how he’s a radical socialist bent on destroying everything Americans hold dear, as illustrated by his Nobel prize. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2009-election-results/516238.md?page=8)