CA-50 has 55,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats, yet

Busby lost only by 5,000 votes!



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1371991&mesg_id=1371991

Of course the right-wingers will try to construe the Bilbray win as a bellwether for the remainder of 2006. But, as you point out, the real bellwether is the fact that somebody who should have been a shoo-in in that district won by the skin of his teeth. Very encouraging sign.

Great....so when we gain seats, but still don't have control of either house come November, we can look upon it as a moral victory.

I'm sick of this losing. If the Dems don't win BIG BIG BIG in November, and they won't, then it's going to be a Loooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggg 2 years until 2008, when they can figure a way to blow the presidential election.

This country is too far gone to be saved. Enjoy the ride downhill while it lasts.

on this issue..........just damn sick and tired of lost elections, then patting ourselves on the back by saying, WOW , this had to be a morale booster for us...........it is such a RED district, when you lose, you lose...........runnerups don't count..........Dems damn well better get a clue, or we will be blown out in 06 and 08...........

Despite how much she lost by she LOST!! at some point the party is going to have to start winning elections not keep saying well we only lost by so much votes. thats starting to get old. we need to get more organized

White Republicans have some of the highest voter turnout & is why they win a lot of elections. With the immigration issues now in the forefront - more hispanics will be motivated to vote. Historically as a group - their voter turnout is low. If that can be reversed, there will be more dem victories. Anger is a great motivation to vote - look what it has done for the GOP - nothing like getting people angry about something so they will vote. That IS their strategy.

I worked on Lou Correa's state senate campaign in Orange County. He was trailing significantly behind his white opponent until we canvassed the neighborhood targeting only hispanics.

The Hispanics did come out to vote and Lou won handily.

Latinos are tired of waiting their turn. They want to become active and now is the time.

where we have almost no chance of winning. Of course, the boo-birds are out in full force to whine and moan about everything, so at least they can be somewhat satisfied. When Democrats have won special elections to state legislatures lately, even in Repub. districts, the threads have been quite short. Some people are only happy when they're mad. I'm glad I'm not one of them.

Only corrupt rethuglicans have to resign in shame and then go to jail, thus leading to open seats...

(2006 Almanac)

Hmm, Calif. loses a Rep to prison (heavy Repuke district) . . . calls a special election to fill remaining term (so the Repuke can enjoy the benefits of being an "incumbent")

Ohio loses a Rep to prison (relatively heavy Dem district - Traficant) . . . office is held vacant until the November elections . . .

Nope, nothing to see here . . .

that Republicans would really be outraged by the current events. I think we gave them a very good run for their money. This was just practice- wait for the "real" races.

which is sadly all that matters in this winner-take all government.

...I sometimes wonder if, even though this is a political website, very many people have any understanding at all about how American politics work

This is a Republican district. No doubt about that. But this is a Republican district under a dark cloud. The previous Rep is going to PRISON. There is scandal swirling around this former Rep and his party. Yet, despite all this Republican Bilbray won. Bilbray won under the worst of circumstances. Get it, this is as bad as it gets for him.

Come November, unless Bilbray rapes and murders a kid on national TV, he will have a much more easier path to victory. He will be the incumbent. He will have name recognition beyond what he has now.

This was a BIG loss. Ya, we made em' spend money, but we had to spend money too - and they have MORE of it.

Is anyone really paying attention?

Busby made a horrible mistake. That stupid slip of the tongue might just have cost her the election. How can you be a serious candidate and say something so utterly stupid as she did. You don't need papers to vote? Come on, this is San Diego! How do say something this idiotic.

So frustrating.

Because if it is, we should all realize that if there is one group that will continually vote for corrupt politicians, for meaningless issues, and against their own self interest, it's the Republican base. Why are we constantly surprised that people won't abandon the Republicans? They're stubborn and shortsighted, that's why. If they weren't, they'd be Democrats by now anyway.

People have been calling me a defeatist, but I'm not. It is the people who are complaining about this race who are the defeatists, because they had unrealistic expectations and are now blowing this out of proportion to make the argument that there is something wrong with our party. This election only proves two things: that no matter how much crap the Republicans pile on themselves, their voter base either 1) won't notice or doesn't care or 2) hates Democrats enough to justify voting for the worst of Republican politicians just to keep baby-murdering-commie-pinko-terrorist-lovers out of office.

Someone please explain to me why looking for the silver lining is being defeatist.

probably funded from ill-gotten gains, too.

I pray pray pray that the Dems have a GOTV push up their sleeves (and a bit more money) for November - when it counts.

Were the F*CK was the democratic party???

I'll be she would have won if they'd given her a couple million and some staff. That's the ONLY way to win elections nowdays, you must BUY them!

That's why you save the millions. Just look at the registration advantage and the numbers from 2004. You won't get that turnout in a midterm but much heavier than Tuesday. The more people vote in that district, the worse our chances.

Yes, incumbency would have had some advantage and maybe Busby could have distinguished herself somewhat in five months, but the bottom line is we were likely to lose this seat in November, regardless of Tuesday's outcome. That wasn't the case in Ohio last year, where Hackett would have had a year and a half to establish and certify himself, plus he was moderate enough to hold the seat for many terms.