General Discussion

DonRedwood

(4,359 posts) Wed Aug 8, 2012, 01:57 PM Aug 2012

Hey y'all! Some good news for a change: "Democrats Run the Table in Last Night's Primaries"

This was a good read and gave me some reasons to feel good about stuff. :0) I thought I'd share...

Last night's primaries in Michigan, Missouri, Washington state and Kansas couldn't have gone much better for Democrats.

The party saw Republicans nominate their weakest candidate against Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, who spent her own campaign money in order to affect the outcome of the primary. They saw Republicans tap a reindeer-farming Santa Claus with controversial views to run for the suburban Detroit seat recently held by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich. And in a promising gubernatorial pickup opportunity for the GOP in Washington state, the first round of balloting showed Democrats still hold some fundamental advantages in a traditionally Democratic state.

The biggest news came out of Missouri, where GOP Rep. Todd Akin came from behind against self-funded businessman John Brunner and former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, two candidates who Republican party officials viewed as more formidable challengers against McCaskill. Akin, as a longtime member of Congress and ardent social conservative, holds vulnerabilities that McCaskill is hoping to exploit. With the self-funding Brunner as the nominee, Republicans likely wouldn't have had to spend money to pick up the seat. With Akin, Republicans are very confident about their prospects - a recent poll showed him leading McCaskill by five points -- but they'll need to expend resources against the freshman senator.

In Michigan, the news was even grimmer. After McCotter failed to get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, Republicans were left without a credible candidate in a Republican-friendly district in the Detroit suburbs. The only candidate who qualified for the primary ballot was Kerry Bentivolio, a Ron Paul acolyte and reindeer rancher who acted in a low-budget, Michigan-made film that blamed a George W. Bush-like character for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2012/08/democrats-run-t.php

Any other good stories coming out of the recent primaries?

10 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Hey y'all! Some good news for a change: "Democrats Run the Table in Last Night's Primaries" (Original Post) DonRedwood Aug 2012 OP

All good news indeed! Lone_Star_Dem Aug 2012 #1

I took your idea DonRedwood Aug 2012 #2

I don't mind in the least. Lone_Star_Dem Aug 2012 #3

I always feel like I'm stealing other people's work DonRedwood Aug 2012 #4

There's always the issue of copyright violation to be careful of as well. Lone_Star_Dem Aug 2012 #7

Yeah--when I signed up and read that DonRedwood Aug 2012 #8

Wasn't Steelman Palin's candidate? sadbear Aug 2012 #5

farther right than a palin pick? That IS scary! nt DonRedwood Aug 2012 #6

Those shoes are terrible!!! (link) DonRedwood Aug 2012 #9

We were happy out here, as detailed from your link: freshwest Aug 2012 #10

Lone_Star_Dem

(28,158 posts)

1. All good news indeed!

Reply to DonRedwood (Original post)

Wed Aug 8, 2012, 02:03 PM

Aug 2012

From the linked article:

Last night's primaries in Michigan, Missouri, Washington state and Kansas couldn't have gone much better for Democrats.

The party saw Republicans nominate their weakest candidate against Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, who spent her own campaign money in order to affect the outcome of the primary. They saw Republicans tap a reindeer-farming Santa Claus with controversial views to run for the suburban Detroit seat recently held by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich. And in a promising gubernatorial pickup opportunity for the GOP in Washington state, the first round of balloting showed Democrats still hold some fundamental advantages in a traditionally Democratic state.

The biggest news came out of Missouri, where GOP Rep. Todd Akin came from behind against self-funded businessman John Brunner and former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, two candidates who Republican party officials viewed as more formidable challengers against McCaskill. Akin, as a longtime member of Congress and ardent social conservative, holds vulnerabilities that McCaskill is hoping to exploit. With the self-funding Brunner as the nominee, Republicans likely wouldn't have had to spend money to pick up the seat. With Akin, Republicans are very confident about their prospects - a recent poll showed him leading McCaskill by five points -- but they'll need to expend resources against the freshman senator.

In Michigan, the news was even grimmer. After McCotter failed to get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, Republicans were left without a credible candidate in a Republican-friendly district in the Detroit suburbs. The only candidate who qualified for the primary ballot was Kerry Bentivolio, a Ron Paul acolyte and reindeer rancher who acted in a low-budget, Michigan-made film that blamed a George W. Bush-like character for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

DonRedwood

(4,359 posts)

2. I took your idea

Reply to Lone_Star_Dem (Reply #1)

Wed Aug 8, 2012, 02:21 PM

Aug 2012

and posted the excerpts in the original post. I hadn't thought to do that. :0) much easier for the reader. Hope you don't mind.

Lone_Star_Dem

(28,158 posts)

3. I don't mind in the least.

Reply to DonRedwood (Reply #2)

Wed Aug 8, 2012, 02:22 PM

Aug 2012

Sometimes people don't bother to open a link w/o an excerpt. I'm glad you added it to the OP.

DonRedwood

(4,359 posts)

4. I always feel like I'm stealing other people's work

Reply to Lone_Star_Dem (Reply #3)

Wed Aug 8, 2012, 02:26 PM

Aug 2012

So I usually just share the link. But I think I've been looking at it wrong--as long as they are getting the credit and the link to get more people to the article--then it is merely widening their audience.

I was a journalism major many moons ago and guess I am used to quotes, and notations and bibliographies.

Lone_Star_Dem

(28,158 posts)

7. There's always the issue of copyright violation to be careful of as well.

Reply to DonRedwood (Reply #4)

Wed Aug 8, 2012, 02:31 PM

Aug 2012

Don't willfully and habitually infringe on others' copyrights.

To simplify compliance and enforcement of copyrights here on Democratic Underground, we ask that excerpts from other sources posted on Democratic Underground be limited to a maximum of four paragraphs, and we ask that the source of the content be clearly identified. Those who make a good-faith effort to respect the rights of copyright holders are unlikely to have any problems. But individuals who willfully and habitually infringe on others' copyrights risk being in violation of our Terms of Service.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=termsofservice

DonRedwood

(4,359 posts)

8. Yeah--when I signed up and read that

Reply to Lone_Star_Dem (Reply #7)

Wed Aug 8, 2012, 02:34 PM

Aug 2012

is when I decided to just share a link and write my own blurb or an intro.

I am constantly amazed at how easily we can now share information.

sadbear

(4,340 posts)

5. Wasn't Steelman Palin's candidate?

Reply to DonRedwood (Original post)

Wed Aug 8, 2012, 02:26 PM

Aug 2012

There's a thread about Sarah's shoes somewhere, with a picture of her campaigning for Steelman. Is Akin even more teabaggey than that?

DonRedwood

(4,359 posts)

6. farther right than a palin pick? That IS scary! nt

Reply to sadbear (Reply #5)

Wed Aug 8, 2012, 02:30 PM

Aug 2012

DonRedwood

(4,359 posts)

9. Those shoes are terrible!!! (link)

Reply to sadbear (Reply #5)

Wed Aug 8, 2012, 02:36 PM

Aug 2012

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1089216

There is the link to the post about Palin. Those shoes!!! They are so terrible I forgot what we were talking about....

freshwest

(53,661 posts)

10. We were happy out here, as detailed from your link:

Reply to DonRedwood (Original post)

Wed Aug 8, 2012, 02:46 PM

Aug 2012

And on the left coast, Washington state voters delivered an unwelcome surprise to the highly-touted Republican gubernatorial nominee, state Attorney General Rob McKenna. Washington state has a unique primary system, where voters can pick between every candidate on the ballot, instead of being limited to a single party's slate. It serves as a useful benchmark as to where the candidates stand politically, just three months before the November election.

The results were very encouraging for the Democratic nominee, Rep. Jay Inslee, who led McKenna by a 46.7 percent to 42.9 percent margin. Another Democratic candidate took 4 percent, while three other Republicans split 3.7 percent of the vote. McKenna won just 35.4 percent in King County (Seattle); as Hotline's Reid Wilson points out, Republicans need about 40 percent of the vote there to be competitive. Inslee had trailed McKenna in public polling all year; the results suggest that the lesser-known Inslee has been coming on strong, and that Democrats are in good position to hold a gubernatorial seat that has been in their hands since 1980.

That's not all: In two lesser-publicized House races, things went the Democrats' way. The party got its favored candidate in Inslee's open House seat, the more-moderate businesswoman Suzan DelBene. Based on last night's results, she starts as a favorite against Republican John Koster, even though the newly-drawn district is closely divided between Democrats and Republicans.

Thanks for posting this!

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