# Scott Walker drawing huge throngs in support of Cooch in Virginia (not) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 3, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996 "2013-11-03T17:42:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/81 "2013-11-07T13:51:41Z")
Oh. I do have to agree with you some adaher. Clearly if the GOP ran someone who was not TP, more traditional center Right, against this particular Democrat, they would have won, even being outspent. The Democrats will need to run very decent candidates in those potentially swingable districts to beat center Right Republicans in races in which they may even be outspent. It will be an uphill slog. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/82 "2013-11-07T15:03:47Z")
[RWers: Cuccinelli lost because he wasn’t conservative enough.](http://www.thenation.com/blog/177022/right-thinks-anti-gay-anti-choice-cuccinelli-wasnt-conservative-enough) > [@](#): > > . . . On the right, Cuccinelli’s loss is being interpreted the way such losses are always interpreted: as a result of insufficient conservatism. Towards the end of the campaign, when it became clear that defeat was inevitable, right-wingers started floating the idea that the Republican was suffering because he was too squishy. Writing in The Washington Post, Maggie Gallagher argued that Cuccinelli was losing because he wasn’t aggressive enough in his anti-abortion rhetoric: “Democratic charges of a Republican ‘war on women’ are predicated on the GOP’s self-imposed truce on social issues…When social subjects arise, GOP candidates go mute, retreat and change the subject.” > > Similarly, the executive director of the Richmond Tea Party told Breitbart, “[C]onservatives are highly concerned about Obamacare, immigration, and moral decline, and are looking for reassurance and leadership in those areas. Attorney General Cuccinelli has not taken a hard stand on those issues. The net effect is that he’s not exciting his base, which dampens campaign volunteer activism.” > > In the wake of Cuccinelli’s loss, a slightly new version of this argument has arisen. Rather than blaming Cuccinelli’s ideological timidity, conservatives are faulting the GOP establishment for failing to champion truly conservative candidates. “REPORT: GOP Abandoned Republican Candidate,” Drudge tweeted Wednesday morning, referring to a complaint from a Cuccinelli strategist that the national party hadn’t come through with enough money. > > \ > > All Cuccinelli’s defeat has done, then, is convince the Tea Party that it needs to redouble its efforts to wipe out impurity in the Republican ranks. Indeed, last night, Tea Party Nation tweeted, “Tomorrow the war against the #GOP establishment is on, no matter what happens tonight.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/83 "2013-11-07T15:27:22Z")
Wait, they wanted someone more conservative, and more outspoken on reproductive issues, than Cuccinelli? Seriously, I’m drawing a blank, here. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/84 "2013-11-07T15:41:19Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Oh. I do have to agree with you some adaher. Clearly if the GOP ran someone who was not TP, more traditional center Right, against this particular Democrat, they would have won, even being outspent. Yes, they definitely could have. They went out of their way not to do so and are trying to spin that as bad news for the Democrats, who won with a candidate whose main appeal was not being a draconian social conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/85 "2013-11-07T15:48:04Z")
I’m not really seeing how Cooch is a Tea Partier. Aren’t the TP always telling us they are mostly concerned with economic issues? Cooch is functionally indistinguishable from, say, Strom Thurmond. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/86 "2013-11-07T15:59:14Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yes, they definitely could have. They went out of their way not to do so and are trying to spin that as bad news for the Democrats, who won with a candidate whose main appeal was not being a draconian social conservative. Only appeal. My god man, mcauliffe had absolutely everything stacked against him this election apart from money and still won. Making a close loss of what should’ve been an easy victory can’t be spun as a positive in any way. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/87 "2013-11-07T16:00:20Z")
> [@](#): > > All Cuccinelli’s defeat has done, then, is convince the Tea Party that it needs to redouble its efforts to wipe out impurity in the Republican ranks. Indeed, last night, Tea Party Nation tweeted, “Tomorrow the war against the #GOP establishment is on, no matter what happens tonight.” Bring forth the _lirpa_. And bring forth the popcorn. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/88 "2013-11-07T16:02:12Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Aren’t the TP always telling us they are mostly concerned with economic issues? Yes. They’re not telling the truth. Notice all the abortion restrictions we’re seeing lately? ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/89 "2013-11-07T16:05:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wait, they wanted someone more conservative, and more outspoken on reproductive issues, than Cuccinelli? Seriously, I’m drawing a blank, here. Well, as far as I recall, the Cooch avoided bleating about ‘legitimate’ rape, so he’s clearly a raging liberal on the abortion issue. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/90 "2013-11-07T16:34:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yes, they definitely could have. They went out of their way not to do so and are trying to spin that as bad news for the Democrats, who won with a candidate whose main appeal was not being a draconian social conservative. Problem for some of the center Rights though is that they did vote for the shut down and did not come out against it. They closed ranks with the TP elements and they will be able to be labelled as obstructionists to at least some degree. To which degree that attempt is successful they will lose when they otherwise would have won, even against decent Democratic opposition. I’ve donated to DCCC. Have you? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/91 "2013-11-07T16:36:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wait, they wanted someone more conservative, and more outspoken on reproductive issues, than Cuccinelli? Seriously, I’m drawing a blank, here. What’s Pope Benedict XVI (ret) up to nowadays? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/92 "2013-11-08T17:05:52Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Bring forth the _lirpa_. And no, Doctor, you may not inject _anyone_ with tri-oxycontin compound. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/93 "2013-11-08T21:14:09Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Problem for some of the center Rights though is that they did vote for the shut down and did not come out against it. They closed ranks with the TP elements and they will be able to be labelled as obstructionists to at least some degree. To which degree that attempt is successful they will lose when they otherwise would have won, even against decent Democratic opposition. Lots of them voted to end the shut down, thus establishing themselves as traitors. We’ll have the Koch’s pouring money into challenges on the TP side and Rove and business pouring money into the primary fights of the nearly sane ones, and it will be fun. Not only have they not stopped digging, they appear to be bringing in the steam shovels. > [@](#): > > I’ve donated to DCCC. Have you? 🙂 Yeah. And this year I’m holding off until later, since whenever I do donate I get flooded with calls from the DNC, from the House Democrats, from the Senate Democrats, from the California Democrats, and for the Democratic Dogcatcher campaign committee. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/94 "2013-11-08T21:55:03Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Outspending a Tea partier in a swing state and winning by 2.5 points does not bode well for races in 2014 in which Democrats may not face Tea Partiers or have more money. So the new Conservative mantra is that money buys elections? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/95 "2013-11-08T22:54:50Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > What’s Pope Benedict XVI (ret) up to nowadays? Hookers and blow. Why do you think he retired? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/96 "2013-11-09T13:21:06Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > So this one was just a fluke? Maybe. Given the large support for Sarvis among the young, maybe it was the NSA scandals. Also, the MOE on the exit polls for that small slice of the electorate has to be absolutely huge. I assume we’re talking about [.copy.pdf"]this exit poll]([http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2013/images/11/05/va.gov.exit.polls.1120p.110513.v2.final](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2013/images/11/05/va.gov.exit.polls.1120p.110513.v2.final)[1), but I can’t find any sample sizes. So I’d call it not even a fluke; I’d call it a number that probably has such weak support that it’s not worth paying any attention to. > [@Chronos](#): > > Wait, they wanted someone more conservative, and more outspoken on reproductive issues, than Cuccinelli? Seriously, I’m drawing a blank, here. Well, there was that nutcase reverend that the GOP nominated for Lt Gov - he’d have qualified. But as I recall, that’s the one race of the three top races where the GOP took a genuine shellacking. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/97 "2013-11-09T14:11:18Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I’ve donated to DCCC. Have you? 🙂 As usual, I’ll probably contribute to individual candidates. But I did contribute to the D **L** CC this year - they’re the ones who support Dem candidates for state legislatures - because I knew picking good candidates at that level to contribute to isn’t something I’d ever have time to do, but what’s going on in the states demonstrates the importance of winning at that level. Not that it did much good in Virginia, though. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/98 "2013-11-09T14:57:51Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [RWers: Cuccinelli lost because he wasn’t conservative enough.](http://www.thenation.com/blog/177022/right-thinks-anti-gay-anti-choice-cuccinelli-wasnt-conservative-enough) PLEASE let them draw this conclusion. God, there’s going to be 5000 PhDs in poli sci that come from studying this period. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/99 "2013-11-09T16:53:28Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > PLEASE let them draw this conclusion. > > God, there’s going to be 5000 PhDs in poli sci that come from studying this period. And every thesis will conclude “What the FUCK?!” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996/100 "2013-11-09T17:49:15Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > McAuliffe was a worse candidate for the Dems than Cooch was for the Republicans. You are wrong. This. Cuccinelli isn’t particularly far right of the center _of the GOP_ anymore, and I can’t think of any other way that he’s all that much worse than your generic Republican running in 2014. How is he more than marginally worse than Paul Ryan or Eric Cantor or Aqua Buddha or any of those guys? But McAuliffe was an unusually bad candidate for the Dems, a faceless, soulless, unprincipled corporate hack with minimal ties to the state he was running in. In the vast majority of competitive races, the Dems will be able to come up with candidates that have substantially more appeal to both the center and their base than McAuliffe had. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-drawing-huge-throngs-in-support-of-cooch-in-virginia-not/672996.md?page=6)