RNC Chairman: GOP Senator’s Reelection In Deep Red State Proves Obama Mandate ‘Nothing But Hot Air’
RNC Chairman: GOP Senator’s Reelection In Deep Red State Proves Obama Mandate ‘Nothing But Hot Air’
Correction: The original post incorrectly stated that Georgia had not voted for a Democratic president since Jimmy Carter. In fact, Georgia voted for Bill Clinton in 1992.
In a Politico op-ed published today, RNC Chairman Mike Duncan tried to squeeze the maximum propaganda benefit from Tuesday’s reelection of Saxby Chambliss (R-GA). He claimed that the (very predictable) Republican victory “proved” that the 2008 election had not given progressives a mandate, and that the country remained fundamentally conservative:
Georgians refuted any notion that the ideology of the country has shifted to the left. They supported the candidate who believes that people should keep their hard-earned dollars; that every American resource should be leveraged to address our energy crisis; that the role of judges is to interpret the Constitution; and that America must be vigilant against the very real threats to our nation and its citizens.
Notably, Chambliss won in spite of strong support by President-elect Obama and Democrat organizations for Jim Martin. Georgian’s [sic] clearly sent a message that any rhetoric about a liberal mandate is nothing but hot air.
The reelection of a sitting Republican senator in a deeply red state came as surprise to no one; in fact, the competitiveness of Chambliss’s Democratic challenger was far more unexpected. Georgia has not voted for a Democratic president since Jimmy Carter ran, and polls consistently showed Chambliss with a lead both before and after Nov. 4.
However, Fox Business host Neil Cavuto suggested yesterday that Chambliss’s win was “a sign that voters are already reconsidering the Democratic victory they gave the country last month.” Yet when pressed by Phil Singer, the former head of communications for Hillary Clinton, even Cavuto had to admit the Republican victory was not “a rejection of anything bigger here.” Watch it:
As staunch conservative Charles Krauthammer noted yesterday on Fox News, “If the Republicans can’t win a straight up Senate race in Georgia, they ought to disband and join a country club.”
Transcript:
CAVUTO: Welcome back. Republican Saxby Chambliss preventing the Democrats from getting that filibuster-proof 60-seat supermajority. The senator not only won reelection in the runoff race, but he won by a lot. So could this be a sign that voters are already reconsidering the Democratic victory they gave the country last month? Phil Singer says, no way, not so fast. He, by the way, is Senator Hillary Clinton’s deputy communications director during the campaign. So you’re not buying that talk that people are stepping back and saying, go slow?
SINGER: Well, I think the premise is totally false. Number one, you look at the Gallup poll today, 78 percent of the public approves of the transition, approves of the positions, of the appointments that Senator Obama — or President-elect Obama has made since he got elected. And, you know, putting that aside for a second, I just think, you know, Georgia was not on anyone’s radar screen until really October. Nobody in their right mind thought that we were going to win a red state like Georgia. Saxby Chambliss was not on the list of Democratic targets.
CAVUTO: Well, you’re right about that, Phil. But I don’t think it’s indictment or a rejection of anything bigger here. I agree with that. I will say there is a clear distinction between the pragmatic approach the president-elect has been taking, which is reasonable, assured, confident–
SINGER: Right.
CAVUTO: –very focused, and some of the lunacy we’re getting out of the House and Senate where it is bailouts upon bailouts. And by the way, on both parties’ part. But since they’re in the majority, the Democrats are the ones that people are focusing on saying, you know, I didn’t vote for this, and I sure hope that Barack Obama doesn’t continue this?
SINGER: Well, I think, first, you have to look at the actual fundamentals of the Senate race that took place in Georgia. Clearly, in November, having Obama at the top of the ticket drove turnout up significantly in that Senate race. It ended up being a huge benefit to Jim Martin and helping his candidacy. Obama wasn’t on the ticket this time around and it is a red state. I mean, that is the basic reality. So I think — you know, I would argue that you’ve got to separate the result in Georgia from whatever people are saying.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: Well, I know, but then you would — then you would — Indiana was a red state that went blue. North Carolina, a red state that went blue. Virginia, red state that went blue. So my point is, it’s not out of the range of argument to say.
SINGER: But not all of those states are.
CAVUTO: I know, I know, I know, but you — my point is, it’s not that Georgia.
SINGER: There are various shades of red.
CAVUTO: . hasn’t had a couple of famous Democrats, right? I mean, Jimmy Carter comes to mind.
SINGER: Not in recent memory.
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48 Responses to “RNC Chairman: GOP Senator’s Reelection In Deep Red State Proves Obama Mandate ‘Nothing But Hot Air’”
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This was GEORGIA for frick sake !!
¶ AIO
December 4th, 2008 at 12:42 pmDelusional much...?
December 4th, 2008 at 12:43 pmRight. Because nothing says "no mandate" more that an incumbent senator winning re-election in a blood red state.
That Martin was competitive in such a state does speak volumes about Obama's mandate.
But nice try, wingnut!
PEACE
December 4th, 2008 at 12:43 pmI look forward to seeing fox continue to cram so much crap on the screen at the same time that their talking heads become so tiny you can't tell what they look like.
December 4th, 2008 at 12:47 pmand, and, and, you know it SNOWED in Buffalo NY this week!!!
December 4th, 2008 at 12:50 pmIt brought them out in numbers out of fear......they should be afraid, they are a dying breed.
December 4th, 2008 at 12:52 pmHow come the country didn't elect the center-right presidential candidate?
December 4th, 2008 at 12:52 pmWhen Republican open mouth, hot air come out: old American folklore...
December 4th, 2008 at 12:53 pmWe've always known that Georgia was a bellweather state, right? As Georgia goes, so goes the nation!
December 4th, 2008 at 12:54 pmHe claimed that the (very predictable) Republican victory “proved” that the 2008 election had not given progressives a mandate, and that the country remained fundamentally conservative...
_____________________________________________________
Um...HOW, exactly does the re-election of an incumbent Republican in a red state "prove" all that? I think that the fact a run-off was even required is a mark of progress.
Chambliss' reelection shows me that there are still places in this country where the race card can still be played successfully. But just because the "us vs. them" meme works in Georgia doesn't mean it works for the entire country.
December 4th, 2008 at 12:56 pmThis moran [sic] basically shot down his own argument. Obama wasn't on a ticket, in a blood red redstate, so the reich-wingers were able to win a race.
December 4th, 2008 at 12:56 pmBy a margin of 58-42% (of a radically diminished electorate, after the General Election, and which I--ahem, ahem-- predicted), a vast majority of the redneck/peckerwood/single-pair-of-grandparents set in Georgia, USofA, voted to return a lying, devious, pedophiliac dickweed to the Senate where he joins colleagues of similar attributes.
December 4th, 2008 at 12:57 pmIt used to be...a SUCKER is born every minute...in Gorgia ...it's every half second with the other half second occupied by the Repugs.
Get real you idiots. Do you honestly believe your crap you spew???? WE DON'T .
December 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pmThe only people who will believe this are Repuppetcan's.
It's still Georgia, one of the bastions of racial intolerance. Idiots.
RIP
December 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pmSGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
Do these bloviating idiots ever bother to go back and read their own words?
The GOOP just got its collective Cheney handed to it on a platter and Duncan thinks ONE... count 'em... ONE election in a state like Georgia (GEORGIA???) is somehow proof that people are already tired of Obama?
Please... carry on Duncan, and Neil... please... keep marching... right off that cliff over there... hup hup hup... time's a-wasting!!!
December 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pm"Georgians refuted any notion that..." they have collective brain one through the whole Red (Neck) part of the State.
December 4th, 2008 at 12:59 pmThey already did join country clubs... all-white ones...
December 4th, 2008 at 1:00 pmGeorgian’s [sic] clearly sent a message that any rhetoric about a liberal mandate is nothing but hot air.
- - Flip California, New York, Illinois and Oregon to red states, Mr. Duncan, and you'll have the equivalent of what President-elect Obama did. Otherwise, respectfully, STFU.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:02 pmYeah, clearly this country is center-right.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:03 pmThe Republican party is an interesting example of what can happen when you get a whole bunch of people bunched together who have no respect for the truth.
'nothing but hot air' - they know ALL about that!
December 4th, 2008 at 1:05 pmgosh yur smart.....I didn't see this coming at all.../snark.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:06 pmNewsflash! Georgia is full of knuckle dragging, bottom feeding, bigoted, rascist, troglodytes. How was this earth moving? The GOP is dead and doesn't want to admit it.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:06 pm(very predictable) Republican victory.....
Of course, it's Crackerstan. What is interesting is a candidate without a snowball's chance in hell still pulls 40% of the vote.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:07 pmThere are progressives in Georgia. They're just outnumbered by the terminally dumb ass.
For all you morons who get your news from talk radio and the Fixed Nuse Channel: This was a manadate against all the failed policies of a rethuglican majority. Look at gains in 2006 and the azz whipping in 2008 and try to get a grip. You failed. It is over.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:08 pmFolks, for Lord's sake, this is Georgia!
You know, purveyor of terminology such as the "War of Northern Aggression" and popular slogans like "…and the South shall rise again."
Sure, portions of the state are locked in a decades old battle over civil rights. But, it's more than that. Some 'native' Georgians have long felt threatened primarily by the change about the that they cannot control. A comfortable, almost mythic and larger than life 'plantation' mentality is shifting away beneath their feet. And, they are deeply afraid. Sure, it seems silly to us, but in their twisted and narrow view, it's the end of civilization as they know it.
Recent substantial influxes of minority workers have left even more fearful than when fear of the 'black man' alone drove them. The pace of change is shocking to those who harken back to the days of Southern gentility. Of course, it was nothing like that for the black and poor white populace, but for wealthy, landed whites, life seemed idyllic.
Remember: it's Georgia. And, it's dying, at least in terms of the 'old ways' championed by the like of Senator Chambliss and 'his people.' Albeit slowly, change is going to come. And, keep on coming. This is, after all, the state that elevated former Governor and peanut farmer Jimmy Carter to the White House. There is hope…
December 4th, 2008 at 1:13 pmIf not for lies and propaganda, these reich-wingers would have nothing to say. I'm sick of hearing their trash.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:13 pmtokin librul Says:
By a margin of 58-42% (of a radically diminished electorate, after the General Election, and which I–ahem, ahem– predicted)
Yes, yes you did.
I remember hoping you were wrong, but yes, you did predict correctly.
¶ AIO
December 4th, 2008 at 1:17 pmWell it's just simple math. According to the Maverick John McCain, we are now ALL Georgians. Georgia re-elected a right wing loon. Therefore I would say we are a far right nation, right? All kidding aside, this idiot being re-elected just adds another fun twist to the Republican dynamic in the Senate. The GOP seems to feel that it's problem is in not being far right wing to a large enough extreme. This joker will help them delude themselves further and cause more derision within their ranks. I say welcome back Senator Wingnut, now get to work destroying your party like a good little chickenhawk gooper!
December 4th, 2008 at 1:18 pmROFLMAO
Ros-L. (R-FL) hangs up on Obama and Emanuel after reelection
ccokzblog
wtf?
December 4th, 2008 at 1:21 pmDICK MORRIS
I’m glad we [the GOP] didn’t win [the 2008 election] because what’s been set in motion is so bad, were going 2 need someone else 2 take responsibility
Grasping
December 4th, 2008 at 1:21 pmat
straws
Nah. It only proves there's lots of redneck racists left in Georgia ... you know, the kind that worry about "the other folks" getting out and voting.
Cheers,
December 4th, 2008 at 1:27 pmGeorgia: Land of them "Real American", you betcha!
December 4th, 2008 at 1:34 pmMike Duncan: "Georgian’s clearly sent a message that any rhetoric about a liberal mandate is nothing but hot air."
"... and I wonder where can one find a drug that could make one so delusional?" --- Lewis Black
December 4th, 2008 at 1:47 pmJohn McCain awoke from his nap yesterday mumbling "We're all Georgians now, we're all Georgians now."
PEACE
December 4th, 2008 at 1:51 pmMike Duncan does not need to worry. Obama has already surrounded himself with clintonites and neocons. Imagine if the War Criminal Gates will be doing something progressive! 'CHANGE' is a slogan in North American politics, not a reallity. I still have hopes with Obama, but I'm not so confident with the choices of Sec. of State and Sc. of defense...
December 4th, 2008 at 2:01 pmIf the US wants real change, and restore its international image, it has to prossecute it own War Criminals and actually SHOW real change!
Denial is a river in Egypt.
December 4th, 2008 at 2:26 pmIs this projection or a Viagra erection? Either way, it's lasted more than four hours and these guys should see their doctors pronto.
December 4th, 2008 at 2:33 pmGeorgians are idiots and bigots, so why should we care what the hell they think.
December 4th, 2008 at 3:07 pmThat is a very narrow and selective view of the results of the Senate race here in Georgia. There was a lot of turnout for the General Election, but as is usually the case the runoff election drew only a small amount of voters.
Chambliss' win in the runoff was not a repudiation of Obama's victory nor was it a sign that the nation wants to step back towards the far-right. Chambliss won because the GOP managed to get more of their voters to the poll than did the Democrats. Georgia is a very "red" state, our electoral votes went to McCain and electing a Democrat here (outside of Atlanta at least) is difficult.
I'd like to point out to people that not all Georgians are "idiots and bigots". We're fighting hard against the conservatives here, but we're not giving up. Please don't give up on us.
December 4th, 2008 at 3:13 pmi am surprised they took the time off from banging their sisters to vote.
December 4th, 2008 at 3:24 pmJoin a country club, huh?! Preferably one that is all white, I would suppose?! What losers!
December 4th, 2008 at 3:32 pmThat inbreeding has begun to affect their mentality..
December 4th, 2008 at 3:48 pmYou know, I might buy their argument if the special election had been a national election. But all what happened in Georgia told the world is that Georgia is still a very red and very conservative state. How the Republicans can extrapolate from that to apply it to the national election is beyond me. They are making a total laughingstock out of their party.
December 4th, 2008 at 4:03 pmi would venture to say the fact georgia even had to have a runoff in which the republican incumbent was defending his position proves the exact opposite of what they're claiming.
December 4th, 2008 at 4:14 pmYeah, because 58/59 Senators and a MULTI-MILLION vote lead doesn't mean mandate for Democrats, even though a FAR LESSER victory by Republicans in 2000 DID? ROTFL, Republicans are COMPLETELY PSYCHOTIC LYING MORONS!
December 4th, 2008 at 4:17 pmSo Chambliss winning now nulls the 53% Obama vs the 46% McCain vote, is that it? The GOP is nothing by fools. They are so very boring.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:54 pmMy momma always said, Republicans are like a box of chocolate. They come in pretty packaging and look all sweet and desirable; but, eat enough of them and they make you fat and eventually kill you.
December 5th, 2008 at 2:13 amI dying of laughter here, momentum, OH MY HECK, that's rich.
Georgians that voted for Chambliss proved only one thing that America already knew. There are still plenty of predomantly white racist small "c" christians voters in Georgia, (my sentiments to Georgians that voted otherwise).
Chambliss winning didn't prove anyting else but that, bigotry is alive and well in the south.
Democrats have been given a gift horse in the Georgian election. This bigot of a senator ("more of them than us") is surely not going to stay quiet. Everytime this caricature of a American opens his mouth, his foot will surely be in it; rest assured that neither he or his supporting voters will even realize their ineptitude. This is a gift that keeps on giving.
He now has befriended that other well spoken and equally intelligent Sarah Palin. Well, I don't speak Palinese and don't claim to understand her runoff sentences; but, together with Chambliss, these two are going give us quiet a bit of entertainment and amusement. SNL must be salivating, just thinking of all the free material about to come their way. As for 2012, Palin/Chambliss; please, please, please. I'm dying hear, from laughter. Those damn chocolate Republicans.
The claim is actually that before Obama won the Presidency (Nov. 4th election) Georgia's senate race was very close. But now after Dec. 2nd we see that margin of victory for the Republicans increased substantially from something like 51%-49% to 57-43%.
December 9th, 2008 at 6:27 pm