Flashback: Steele Foolishly Boasted That NY Special Election Was ‘Credible Repudiation’ Of Obama
Flashback: Steele Foolishly Boasted That NY Special Election Was ‘Credible Repudiation’ Of Obama
The race in New York’s 20th congressional district was finally decided yesterday. The seat was vacated when Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed to take Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat. After a tight election contest, Republican Jim Tedisco conceded, opening the way for Democrat Scott Murphy to be seated in Congress.
Steve Benen notes, “It was, at least on paper, a race Republicans should have won. They didn’t.” Before the election, RNC Chairman Michael Steele boasted, “Our game is not up…our message still rings true with countless Americans, specifically with those in the 20th congressional district.”
The New York special election was held on March 31, 2009. Wasting absolutely no time, the very next day, Steele wrote an audacious — and foolish — op-ed in Politico, triumphantly declaring the outcome a defeat for President Obama’s agenda:
Tedisco’s victory will be a credible repudiation of the spending spree that Obama and Congress have been on since January. Even the executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee acknowledged over the weekend that the race was “a referendum on the Economic Recovery Act and Barack Obama’s policies.” Well, the DCCC is right — this likely Republican victory is a referendum on the president. [...]
Well, the voters have spoken, and while the results are still pending, Republicans are confident that the final vote tallies will show those voters have rejected the president’s approach. [...]
The ground has shifted, and is shifting, as the voters become increasingly worried about Obamanomics. [...]
Tuesday’s election was a vote of “no confidence” in the Democrats’ tax, spend and borrow approach. I hope Obama and congressional Democrats are listening.
“That’s a seat that we should be able to go in and be competitive and win,” Steele said prior to the special election. “I’m gonna put — make it a focal point, right out of the box.”
In early March, FiveThirtyEight.com’s Sean Quinn quoted former high-level RNC staffers as saying, if Tedisco loses, “Steele is done.”
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Mikey, Mikey, Mikey.
Still living on the edge, pressing the envelop and scoping out the chess board, I see.
It’s time for Mikey to get a right-wing rant-jockey gig or a TV sitcom role. This RNC Chairman thingy just isn’t working out very well for him.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:05 amWow…The Republicans were wrong again.What a surprise!
April 25th, 2009 at 9:07 amSteele’s diarrhea of the mouth is not helping him to establish credibility in the RNC — although, I really don’t want him to resign — he provides a regular reminder of the state of the repugniscum party.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:15 amtisk-tisk all you neighsayers. don’t you know this statement was
April 25th, 2009 at 9:19 amtisk-tisk you neighsayers. don’t you know this statement was carefully constructed by steele as part of his plan to “test the politcal climate” and “dtermine who were his allies”.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:24 amThat was One big mistake.
Epic Fail
Go Steele Go!
April 25th, 2009 at 9:25 amIn early March, FiveThirtyEight.com’s Sean Quinn quoted former high-level RNC staffers as saying, if Tedisco loses, “Steele is done.”
He should be done. He has no idea what he’s talking about. From his op-ed:
Kirsten Gillibrand was hardly a leftist Representative, and the district she represented had been previously represented by a moderate Republican, Benjamin Gilman, for thirty years. The Republicans should have won this race, but they couldn’t. Steele should be done. He cannot help the Republicans win the tough races.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:25 amToday’s Republican leadership is made up of idiots and has-beens. Foolish statements and old ideas. Comic relief in hard times.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:26 amConsidering this topic is about Steele no troll will defend him.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:28 amI think when discussing Steele TP should put a pic of Rush Limbaugh.
Psst… Tedisco lost. Bye Steele.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:28 amDidn’t Dubbie use the “My mistakes are all part of my brilliant scheme” approach that buried us in the muck we’re fighting to get out of now?
Yeah, it’s a proven method if you’re looking to screw the country into the ground.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:29 amMichael Steele’s new pro-Repignican motto is: “Open mouth, insert entire body.”
God I love watching these horse’s Cheney’s self destruct. I only wish they could some how speed up the process.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:39 amI love this guy! With him, Palen, Newt, and the rest of those clowns it’s like watching the Keystone Cops.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:41 amSteele Foolish? Nah! Really? Come on! He give us soooo much …. to laugh at!
Really some of the things this guy says leave me speechless. Lots ‘n’ lots of material for late night TV.
I heard about the 20th congressional district last night on Maddow or Keith O. and I gave a BIG fist pump followed by a YES! I hope to do the same with a Frankin win (sooner than later ….. sigh)
April 25th, 2009 at 9:42 amRemember, damaging the GOP label through repeated blunders is all part of Steele’s master plan. He’ll wait until the Republicans are further demoralized after the 2010 elections, and then shout into the wind “We’ve got ‘em now!”
April 25th, 2009 at 9:53 am::::
the race was tedisco’s to win.
he had a double digit lead within
weeks of the actual election date.
then the rnc went all in and began
running their extremist right wing nut
campaign against murphy. the voters gagged on it
and began to desert in droves. murphy’s
win was all but assured. the circular firing
squad that is the modern republican party
marches on.
:)
April 25th, 2009 at 10:00 amIf the two party system is to survive in this country the dumb shit republicans need to boot this guy to the curb. Having said that I must admit I am enjoying the show.
April 25th, 2009 at 10:04 amMaybe we shouldn’t ban assault weapons until the Repugs are done shooting at themselves in the circular firing squad? I mean really, wouldn’t that would be a “conservative” bi-partisan move on our part?
April 25th, 2009 at 10:04 amAll of us little people, we just don’t understand how the mind of a genius works. When Steele said Tedasco would win, he really meant he would loose, Tedasco’s loss is all part of Steele’s strategy to determine who his ally’s are and where they are on the chess board.
April 25th, 2009 at 10:07 amHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
(Yes, I know that was mean-spirited of me but I just couldn’t help myself…)
Was anyone else vaguely reminded of the infamous “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN” headline at the Chicago Tribune when they read this? Clearly, Steele never learned (or has forgotten) the age-old adage about “not counting your chickens before they hatch”!
Memo to Steele — one should make every effort to avoid putting too much faith in wishful thinking when trying to predict the future, and even more so when one has a personal investment in the outcome.
April 25th, 2009 at 10:08 amTuesday’s election was a vote of “no confidence” in the Democrats’ tax, spend and borrow approach. I hope Obama and congressional Democrats are listening.
I believe voters chose tax, spend and borrow over the Republican philosophy spend, steal, and scurry.
April 25th, 2009 at 10:17 amWhat I loved was, as the absentee ballots were being counted, and Jim Tedisco was falling behind, at one point Mr. Tedisco demanded to be declared victor.
Yeah, this from the same man who demanded that every single absentee ballot be counted.
As Socrates said, “Dems da berries!”
April 25th, 2009 at 10:25 amshoulda dragged this thing out jim! your nothing but a useless liberal in my eyes!
April 25th, 2009 at 10:29 amMike71654 Says:
All of us little people, we just don’t understand how the mind of a genius works. When Steele said Tedasco would win, he really meant he would loose, Tedasco’s loss is all part of Steele’s strategy to determine who his ally’s are and where they are on the chess board.
While Steele laments the outcome of the Murphy/Tedisco election, he still asserts that he would kick Deep Blue’s ass in a sudden death chess match.
April 25th, 2009 at 10:31 amTweedster, with his strategy, Mike Steele couldn’t defeat my VIC-20 (yes, I still have one) in a chess match.
It simply doesn’t recognize keeping checker pieces on your side of the board as a means of winning a chess match.
April 25th, 2009 at 10:34 amneoparody Says:
shoulda dragged this thing out jim! your nothing but a useless liberal in my eyes!
I second that! Without obstruction and a sense of victimization you cannot count yourself as one of the GOP.
Show some more WHINE Tedisco, pull a Coleman for crying out loud!!!
April 25th, 2009 at 10:35 amneoparody Says:
shoulda dragged this thing out jim! your nothing but a useless liberal in my eyes!
***
drill baby drill.
palin 2012.
tea baggimg.
***
yada yada yada.
***
lose another election.
:)
April 25th, 2009 at 10:36 amActually, Tweedster, regarding your post #22, taxes will increase because of these darn wars we’re in that the neocon Bush/Cheney started. The economy has been doomed since Bush took office and the wars only made it worse. Unemployment and job off-shoring have been the mainstay since 2000ish and have compounded the problems. They really dropped the ball on the economy by focusing on wars.
Now, Republican’ts usually follow Say’s Law of Markets which may work in some situations however, Democrats (Liberals) usually follow the Keynesian economics model.
The Keynesian economics base value is to spend money to create demand in a recession while the Say’s Law states that there can never be a recession because the supply “creates” demand i.e. do nothing when the economy hits the skids.
Bush said that he thought the economy would “fix its self. Well, we know that Bush applying Say’s Law was a bad idea!
Obama is applying Keynesian economics now but, it might be too late and not enough. We’ll just have to wait and see. By the way, this is why we are laughing at the teabaggers. They haven’t a clue of what’s going on.
April 25th, 2009 at 10:42 amdrill, babylon, drill!
April 25th, 2009 at 10:48 amthey must’ve hauled in a truckload of yuppies to the district to tip the results! what the liberals do is give transplants and commuters the quick vote so that the devoted residents who own property and pay taxes have the value of their votes diluted!
April 25th, 2009 at 10:51 amShh, you’re giving away our secrets.
April 25th, 2009 at 10:53 amSteele referred to the outcome of New York’s 20 congressional district as a “referendum” on Obama’s “spending spree”. He is absolutely correct, and the results of that referendum are in, NY-20 supports Obama, and according to Steele, so do Americans.
April 25th, 2009 at 10:54 amWhat? SteelyMike whiffed on yet another issue? Yawn. What else did you expect? He’s been wrong on everything else, then claims he did it to fool you into a false sense of thinking he’s an idiot. Only an idiot would do that.
April 25th, 2009 at 10:56 amPresident Steele, baby, President Steele!
April 25th, 2009 at 10:58 am35 Thanks for the mild chuckle.
Onward.
April 25th, 2009 at 11:00 amneoparody Says:
President Steele, baby, President Steele!
**
i’ve found a friend for you.
neo meet daniel.
;;;
April 25th, 2009 at 11:00 amkeep the change, you filthy liberal!
April 25th, 2009 at 11:01 amNice touch, Joe C…
April 25th, 2009 at 11:02 amliberals like craigslist and they have created a killer from within!
April 25th, 2009 at 11:03 amNeo, if you’re going to play the foil, you’ve got to be more epee than tin…
April 25th, 2009 at 11:03 amPsst, Neo, I’m done with you. Onward means I’m done. This is it, just explaining that to you. Bye bye now.
April 25th, 2009 at 11:04 amdon’t forgot to hit ‘Logout’! on the way out!
April 25th, 2009 at 11:11 amdon’t forget to hit ‘Logout’! on the way out!
April 25th, 2009 at 11:11 amSteele is the gift that keeps on giving to the Democratic Party. I don’t think the GOPers will get rid of Steele – they’re probably afraid of being labeled rascists. I wonder if Steele knows this and continues with his antics unphased about being ousted?
April 25th, 2009 at 11:27 amYEAH!!! Steele v Obama!! No match, man no mas …
April 25th, 2009 at 11:29 amSo having predicted a win, the Reoublicans are now apparently claiming that their is still a great result, because Obama won the district in 2008 so losing by only 399 votes was a really competitive showing by the GOP.
That would be a reasonable analysis–as long as one ignores certain facts and trends.
1) That’s THREE losses in a row (Obama,Gillebrand and now Murphy
2) Special elections that don’t involve some scandal always have a relatively low turnout out, so the small margin is no surprise to anyone.
3)The GOP spent more money than the Dems, and still lost
4)The GOP has 70,000 MORE registered voters than the Dems.
The GOP didn’t just lose to the Democrats, they ‘lost’ to their own traditional voters!
If just 1% of the built-in GOP voting advantage had showed-up Tedisco would have WON, by 301 votes.
April 25th, 2009 at 11:34 amI wouldn’t call the result an enthusiastic vote of confidence in Obama and Democratic governance from anyone other than the Democrats. BUT it is a massive repudiation of the GOP.
Not even 700 out of 70,000 extra registered Republicans could find the motivation to vote for their partisan interests.
The GOP voters who didn’t show up would apparently prefer to ‘live’ with Obama and Democratic representation (for the time being anyway) rather than “one of their own”.
5th – your one of those reality-based liberals aren’t you???
April 25th, 2009 at 11:54 amI guess Steeles’ urban-suburban hip-hop campaign didn’t work, baby. So sorry, baby! Maybe he can try the one-armed-midget angle next time, baby.
April 25th, 2009 at 12:03 pmAh yes, some of that strategery….did he get a direct in-flow from Chimpy or Darth??
Steele is an idiot and one of a number of great tools the republicans have gifted to dems this year…..
April 25th, 2009 at 12:05 pmGood call, Winski. He probably figures if it worked for Dubbie, it’ll work for him.
April 25th, 2009 at 12:07 pm… and why haven’t they kicked this man the hell out of the RNC? Ah well he’s fun to laugh at!
April 25th, 2009 at 12:09 pmJebus. I hear that Ringlng Brothers is looking for a new clown…
Mikey? Don’t you think you ought to apply? You’ve most *certainly* got experience!
April 25th, 2009 at 12:10 pmHow funny. It turns out the election was a credible repudiation of the Republican party, including Steele. I am sure that Murphy is a good guy and will do a good job. But I can’t help but believe the reason why he won is more a repudiation of Tedesco and the Republican party.
April 25th, 2009 at 12:10 pmThe teabaggers have created Daniel Knight Hayden. Thanks for the post, joe cantwell! Just more proof that the reichwingers are nothing more than a bunch of passive Nazis.
April 25th, 2009 at 12:10 pmneoparody Says:
liberals like craigslist and they have created a killer from within!
Except for the inconvenient truth that the Craigslist killer was a member of the Young Republicans.
April 25th, 2009 at 12:12 pmneoparody Says:
they must’ve hauled in a truckload of yuppies to the district to tip the results! what the liberals do is give transplants and commuters the quick vote so that the devoted residents who own property and pay taxes have the value of their votes diluted!
So, you are saying that the “transplants” and “commuters” don’t own property and pay taxes? Sorry, but you are wrong.
You wouldn’t know the truth if it hit you upside the head with a two-by-four.
April 25th, 2009 at 12:14 pm56 – Bilbo, by Neo’s logic, he’s a “filthy liberal”, because liberals like Think Progress too.
April 25th, 2009 at 12:27 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
neoparody Says:
liberals like craigslist and they have created a killer from within!
Except for the inconvenient truth that the Craigslist killer was a member of the Young Republicans.
***
game.
set.
match.
:)
April 25th, 2009 at 12:33 pmI have found no interest in neoparody just yet…
April 25th, 2009 at 12:45 pmTedisco’s victory will be a credible repudiation of the spending spree…
So Steele believes that Murphy’s win is a credible validation of it? Interesting.
.
08Dariana Says:
Considering this topic is about Steele no troll will defend him.
Which is odd, since he’s nowhere near the worst of the bunch. I just can’t put my finger on why the Republican party can’t seem to get behind this guy… It must be something…
April 25th, 2009 at 2:23 pmNeoparasite. Are you still here begging us to pity you? Go find some self respect for goodness sake. Stop humiliating yourself. It is so tawdry and embarassing for you to keep coming here and begging us to pity you because you are so stupid and pathetic
April 25th, 2009 at 3:28 pmNeoparasite. Notice everyone is ignoring you? The same way they ignore someone who has pissed themselves in public? They feel sorry for you. Your begging us to pity you for being so stupid and pathetic is just a sorry spectacle.
April 25th, 2009 at 3:31 pmThere we go! See that’s tasty new parody. Yeah, be more like Norm!
April 25th, 2009 at 3:56 pmI know that we all expect the GOP (and they don’t let us down) to put morons in charge . . . but WHAT a moron.
April 25th, 2009 at 4:21 pmToast
April 25th, 2009 at 5:24 pmAnother Democrat in the Senate. Yippee! Hope he’s a good one.
April 25th, 2009 at 5:40 pmrepublicans hate facts Says:
neoparody Says:
keep the change, you filthy liberal!
How about we roll it up in a sock and return it liberally to your head? OH wait, that’s a REPUBLICAN “Keep the Change”. I’ll just settle for f**k off you PERPETUAL LOSER!
LOL! I think I love you!
April 25th, 2009 at 5:43 pm#70 wiley: Correction: He won a House seat not Senate.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:43 pmSteele is a goob.
April 26th, 2009 at 8:09 amI don’t know that Saratoga, New york is a bastion of conservative ideals. 14 Democrat congressmen versus 3 Republicans? 72 years of Democrat congressman versus 18 for Republicans? Are Republicans in Saratoga REALLY conservative? This was a slam dunk for every Democrat whose ever run there. Republicans barely win, and only if they are liberal. Tidesco is no Ronald Reagan. This is troublesome for the Dems. Gillebrand won with almost 75% of the vote. Maybe the rich in Saratoga attended a few tea parties.
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