Elections going into overtime are trend since 2000
You've spent your spring gathering petition signatures for your candidate. You go through an early-summer primary to get his name on the ballot. You work all summer and fall to get him elected. The final weeks are long and tiring but the finish line looms closer as Election Day approaches....
And then there's an election and no clear-cut winner and you go into overtime.
Since 2000 this seems to be happening more and more. Will we finally get to the point where we won't know the winner for days or weeks? Is our country that evenly divided? As a grassroots volunteer, it's something I'm wondering about....
4 comments:
I agree that our country is somewhat polarized, but at the same time, specifically with the Allen campaign, I see some major missteps.
The biggest misstep, and the one that I am most curious about, is why Allen was not tied into virginians4marriage.org or vice-versa. The marriage amendment received 160,000 plus more votes than Allen did. The total votes for the marriage amendment and the senate race were within 40,000 votes. Since Webb was opposed to the marriage amendment, how in the world did we let 160,000 plus votes swing to the other side?
Also, why wasn't Allen tied in more closely with our local representatives who easily won re-election? Example, Bob Goodlatte received 700 more votes in the city of Waynesboro than Allen did.
I think that there was a lot of complacency on behalf of Allen supporters, myself included. Not suiting up until the fourth quarter will no longer cut it in politics.
The overwhelming majority of the state localities actually favored Allen. Obviously, Northern Virginia and all of the people who migrate there from other locales, mostly northern ones, carried Webb. If the rest of Virginia can rally together and send the message that NoVa does not speak for the rest of the state, which I strongly feel it doesn't, than there will no longer be election results carried out longer than 10pm on Tuesday night each year in our wonderful Commonwealth of Virginia.
Nationally speaking, most of the races that went to the Dems went to so-called conservative Democrats that were recruited, like Webb, because our country is a conservative one. You could argue that the Representatives who lost to so-called conservative Dems like Heath Shuler paid the price for Iraq and Bush. 11 of the races that the Dems won were split evenly. Take into account that these even splits were between a Republican and a so-called conservative Democrat, and I don't see too much polarization. The Dems misrepresented themselves to the local constituents. Since seniority seems to rule in Washington, these so-called conservative Dems will never see the agendas that they ran on come to fruition. When you pit conservatism versus liberalism, conservatism wins every time. It is our job as conservatives, conservative activists, and Americans to convey our message to all people and help educate those who are not informed, and let them know how all of these items are tied in together. For instance, does anyone who voted for the marriage amendment and for Webb realize that Webb was against the marriage amendment? Since the majority of those who were adamant on passing the marriage amendment are Christians, do they realize that Webb is pro-choice, another issue near and dear to conservatives, specifically Christian Conservatives?
Political conservatives and Christian conservatives need be on the same side when it comes to elections. We all need to recognize that we may not agree 100% of the time on 100% of the issues. In George Allen, Virginians and Americans lost a Senator who has always been consistent with what he says and what he does. This is an anamoly in politics these days. He has been a public servant who has always fought to protect his constituents when it comes to taxes, crime, commerce, etc. In addition, he has always been a solid vote for the rights of the unborn and for the stabilities of our families. Due to underestimating our opponents, we not only let Virginia down, but we let our great US Senator down.
We all need to recognize SWAC girl for her efforts and leadership, and look to her as a fine example of what a solid Christian Conservative represents in the political realm. Her enthusiasm and tireless efforts have benefitted us all. If we all gave 10% of what she gives to our issues and our candidates, we could all be in bed by 9pm on Election Night!
Most of the anonymous comments I receive are negative so I thank you for the kind remarks about me.
You've raised some viable points ... this is a discussion that needs to be delved into at a deeper level. Local Republican units need to assess and reevaluate ... and it will be taken to the state level because we should never have lost George Allen as a public servant.
I agree with swac girl that most anon posts leave a bad taste in our mouths...yours was a breath of fresh air. I also argee with anon--you're a driving force in SWAC!
Thank you, Mr. Maxfield. However, I would not be able to do anything without those loyal volunteers on the team ... it took us all pulling together to make it through this election. They have my thanks and gratitude.
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