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who found out it was the GOP there were others completely ticked off and not voting for the Dems because of those calls. I talked to people before and after and one was thought the call was still from our campaign. The trouble in GOP stacked regions is that we HAD to a lot of phone calling ourselves and that was a lot of stress on a certain segment of the electorate, unfortunately. The robocalls were deliberately left to the end so that there was no time to undo the immediate effects, especially in districts like mine(NY-29). Eric was phone banking right behind me, noting every time he was a live person. He was fuming and rightly so. In a heavy GOP district the dirt also worked to discourage our voters and arouse the feverish prejudices or fears of certain segments. But we came close and that should fuel determination for a repeat with the cheat schemes quashed and Kuhl making everyone miserable for another long two years of nothing.
In one district they went too far too early in lunging for supposed Arcuri scandal that did not exist. they paid most for direct dirt, but less for absurd social security scare ads and the like. I don't know how the Foley thing disappeared so swiftly for Reynolds, with new negative revelations coming out up to the last week, but it seems the same thing. One negative slur works for the GOP unless it locally blows up right in their faces. I think, despite the discouraging results it leaves their margin of victory vulnerable to a fair election AND their support extremely thin for what they stooped to to fool the people in the short term. And in their gerrymandered enclaves the natives are getting restless, with more dissatisfied honest GOPers fed up being serfs for DC appointed princes and the defections on issues, especially when pushed to the wall by DC extremists continues almost daily. This is the opposite intended result of creating these districts because Cheney screwed up and abused the locals for his own purposes entirely.
We didn't have suppression or e-voting or a host of other dangers, just the old fashioned money and outreach barrier. Thanks to Dean and increased party support we drained the GOP stronghold from which this bankroll was supposed to flow to other races, breaking the back of the GOP congressional plan. They have perhaps a temporary Pyrrhic victory only in the now useless GOP minority that falls with Bush into lame status.
In military terms they have entered a siege state status and breaking down these three districts could obliterate the GOP in NY and perhaps the Northeast. Which should make them more amenable for long term redistricting reforms which the Dems will make fairer- if the GOP has anything left by then.
Campaign and election laws have to have teeth. I know no profession likes to make rules and accountability for its own, but this is the most crying need and almost all the people are for an end to the tactics, the money, the fraud and the unfairness.
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