why the R lost the senate ...

[MeDeMax]

(consequences of their own actions)

1. Macaca (impacted VA)
2. Allen staff Manhandling stark (hotel lobby incident) (impacted VA)
3. Rush Limbaugh's impersonation of Michael J Fox (impacted MO)
4. Talent on rec. talking about flag burning on senate floor but unwilling to discuss stem cell research (impacted MO)
5. Burns & Abramoff (impacted MT)
6. Most importantly -> * and his ridiculous rhetoric. (impacted - MO, MT, OH, PA, VA)

[Hoosier Dem]

1. I somewhat agree with you...

Here are my thoughts on the Republican shift in order:

1. Rhode Island -- Lincoln Chafee is a decent man and was a good senator. Unfortunately, he got caught on the red side of a blue wave and was swamped. I'm glad that we have Whitehouse in office instead, but the party trend decided this race. The party of the Toxic Texan killed Lincoln Chafee.


2. Pennsylvania -- Santoru7m was just too far-out for this blue state. Had this idiot been a Senator from Utah, he would have been re-elected. The DNSC was very smart in running Casey, a moderate D who could attract cross-over votes. Casey ran a smart, cautious campaign and it showed. Little Ricky got buried in a landslide.

3. Ohio -- With just about every Ohio Republican officeholder either in prison, indicted,or under suspicion, DeWine was probably toast from the outset. Then his being abandoned by the RNC in early Octopber took him off the air in large parts of the state. The Ohio Dems really got it together and Governor-elect Strickland's huge coattails helped Brown. DeWines idiotic 9/11 ads seem to have turned off more folks than they turned on.

4. Missouri -- Talent is another victim of Toxic Texan Poisoning. This guy had tied himself so closely to Bush he couldn't get away fast enough. Claire McKaskill was also an A+ Democratic recruit. The stem cell issue also came back to haunt Talent and Rush Limbaugh getting involved definitely helped McKaskill. I'm sure the last-minute appearance in MO by Bush also hurt Talent. McKaskill went from dead-even to a three-point win after the Bush appearance.

5. Montana -- It wasn't Bush who cost Burns his seat, it was Jack Abramoff. Once Burns was exposed as a pathetic, corrupt old bastard, it was over. The fact that it became so close at the end was due to the HUGE amount of mud the GOP slubng at Tester in the closing weeks of the race. I persoanlly LOVE John tester and I think he' going to become a Democratic star. He's a regular guy and we need more of those in high places.

6. Virginia -- For me, the sweetest victory. This was supposed to be an Allen coronation and a precursor to the Allen presidential run. Then, the Dems recruited Jim Webb, a man so unlike the usual image of a Democrat: war hero, Regan appointee, former Republican. That alone didn't decide the race. The trace turned once Allen stepped in the macaca. He never recovered from it, as it suddenly called attention to ALL of his racist and anti-Semitic tendencies. Webb's courting of military voters helped him immesurably. While I am SO HAPPY to have Jim Webb, the real reason for the pick-up is that Allen just showed himself to be a racist idiot.

[MeDeMax]

2. I agree you with 110% ... excellent analysis

one small point I would add to your Ohio analysis, the minimum wage issue 2
on the ballot really energized the dem leaners to show up and vote.

It should be an important lesson to dem candidates :

- when THEY put gay-marriage or abortion or guns or some other wedge issue on the ballot...

- Let us fight back by offering a real solution to a real problem.

[calimary]

3. Makes a lot of sense to me.

I tell ya, that Virginia victory is SWEETEST of all. And it's a nice counterbalance to what happened in Tennessee. Racism doesn't work EVERYWHERE, and it's important that this was shown, clearly to all of America. There's a price to pay. Some people can get away with exploiting it, but that doesn't work everywhere. And THAT was EXTREMELY nice to see. There wasn't a price to be paid for this revolting shit in Tennessee ("Call me!!!"), but there WAS, INDEED, in Virginia. I think that may prove to be instructional at least to a few, and a good cautionary tale for republi-CONS in the future - that playing the racism card to exploit and manipulate old, deep-down shit, doesn't always work for ya. That's a lesson they REALLY need to learn.

[MeDeMax]

4. Oh Oh I FORGOT #7 ... BUSH announcing rummy's departure ...

Had that come on Monday, instead of Wednesday, Allen would have scraped past Webb, I think