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November 05, 2008 09:30 AM UTC

Tonight's winners and losers

  • 54 Comments
  • by: DavidThi808

Ok, let’s get your list of tonight’s winners and losers. Colorado perspective but national too.

Tonight’s winners:

  1. The American people & the country.
  2. The National Democratic party – President, more Senate/House seats.
  3. Betsy Markey (and team) – a gigantic win.
  4. “Boulder Liberals” (and their standard-bearer Mark Udall) – preferred over Republicans by 10% of the voters
  5. Mike Coffman – as the only strong Republican winner tonight he is now the leader of the state party.
  6. Our state constitution – vote on almost every question was no.
  7. The Internet – Second only to TV for impact on the election.
  8. Tom Lucerno, Casino owners – the only 2 people to get an initiative passed.

Tonight’s losers:

  1. The Republican brand.
  2. Dick Wadhams – lost the last 2 elections, both due to poor strategy.
  3. Bob Schaffer – horribly self-destructive race.
  4. Citizen Initiatives – you can put them on the ballot, but the voters will not pass them.
  5. Marilyn Musgrave – the TV crews didn’t even go to her party.
  6. The state Democratic party – it was this good of a year, Obama, Udall, & Markey rocked – and yet at the state legislature level – nada.
  7. Ward Connerly, Jonathan Coors, Kristi Burton, Jon Caldera, Josh Penry, Andrew Romanoff, Bill Ritter – All of their initiatives lost.
  8. Ali Hasan – he did prove you can’t buy an election.

Comments

54 thoughts on “Tonight’s winners and losers

  1. Mike Coffman – as the only strong Republican winner tonight…

    Lamborn won by a larger margin against a stronger candidate. He’s now dean of the Republican party in Colorado. I don’t really care if you like Lamborn, but it’s idiotic to say that Coffman was the “only strong Republican winner”.  

      1. It’s true, they both fended off strong primary challenges, but crediting either Coffman or Lamborn for winning in the 5th and 6th … let me savor this expression .. the last remaining Republican congressional districts in the state …

        Half is right — if Lamborn is the face of the Colorado Republican Party, they can look forward to a long time in the wilderness. And Coffman has so damaged his brand with registration and voting screw-ups, not to mention whupping Bill Armstrong’s boy, he can ride out his days inoffensively representing Douglas County, but he’s got no reach and no future beyond that.

        Like it or not, warts and all, Schaffer is the face of the state GOP, and he knows it. And he’s got the war chest to throw his ideological weight around in a huge vacuum.

        The fact that the face of the state party is a two-time loser is only fitting, as the state party can’t seem to catch a win either.

      1. …why wouldn’t Mike Coffman and him lead the charge on a new Colorado Repub Party?

        Lamborn the GOP ‘tard is only in his seat because El Paso county would never elect a Dem of any caliber. F*ckiin’ A, Doug is a shitstain on Hal Bidlack’s drawers in terms of experience, qualifications and sheer brainpower, but repubs in El Paso will vote their Party even if it meant electing a corpse.

        Both Coffman and McGinnis have flipped the bird repeatedly to the Colo GOP, and in hindsight, they not only were right, but they seem like the kind of politicians that both Repubs and Indys can support on a variety of issues.

        This is Colorado – as last  night demonstrated, if you don’t do the job, you get fired and replaced by the other guys. How long with mainstream repubs put up with things the way they are?

  2. He personally selected Markey to take out Musgrave—and she succeeded in a big way.  Four years ago he convinced his older brother to run for, and win, McInnis’ seat.

    He’s positioned himself as the leader of the party in Colorado with this move and with Ritter’s loss on 58, he is pretty much at the top of the Democratic heap right now.  

    McInnis is another big winner.  He came out an ripped Wadhams and Schaffer BEFORE they lost.  Looked like bad form at the time, but now he looks like a “straight shooter”.  Could help him with a comeback.

    1. Sen. Salazar has truly led the cause of making Colorado a renewable energy hub, and certainly has promoted jobs and growth. I’ve thought for some time that he’s most effective and powerful Democrat in Colorado.

      Rep.DeGettte has also done a remarkable job in representing Colorado in a House leadership position in a relatively short amount of time.  

      1. Sen. Salazar – major winner. And he does it quietly, which generally means he can be very very effective and continue to do so.

        DeGette is doing a good job but I don’t think she was really on the line for anything this election.

          1. I’m running against her next cycle.  I’m not going to make a single call asking anyone for money, and she’ll use some of her millions to trounce me, but hopefully I’ll get her in one debate.

            I’m a pro-gay marriage Republican with a ton of community service under my belt.  She’s a millionaire that happens to live in Pat Schroeder’s old district.  Hopefully I can make her sweat a little and waste a lot of money.

            Maybe I’ll ask that all contributions to my campaign go to the Food Bank or something.  Hehehe.

            1. Everyone knows my loathing of the Health Care Industry’s #1 Pimp….and I’m not alone. She’s safe because no one in the Denver Dems thinks they can challenge her in a primary, fearing the wrath of the State Party.

              But Chris Gates is gone…and Pat Waak has made it clear that if there’s a real candidate who wants to run against her, she’s ok with it. Probably because DeGette has pissed off the State party enough times over early endorsements, and trying to wedge herself in with the National Dems at the expense of the State.

              Between her non-action on the War, and the fact she’s cashed every check the Health Care Industry has sent her, there was a a chance for someone to run against her this year, esp with her following Hillary around the country during the Primaries.

              Now, depending on how the Dems do the next two years, that seat may not be as safe as it seems. And if she takes an appointment (HHS) then that seat is up for grabs to any decent Dem in Denver.

      2. …will she be able to get stem cell research funding through.  That’s her pet project.  

        As someone who would benefit greatly from it, I sure hope she gets it done this go-round.  

  3. The Internet – Second only to TV for impact on the election.

    That’s like saying Coffman is second only to Lamborn as a state GOP leader. Maybe technically correct, but ignores so, so much of the equation.

    1. I think it was the internet that amplified all of Schaffer’s disasters. I think it was the internet where Jared Polis won. And the internet is clearly the engine of Obama’s success.

      And moving forward it will become even more powerful. I think for the next couple of elections we will continue to see it used in more and more ways and it will become the key ground where races are won or lost.

  4. Winners:

    * What David said in #1, 2, and 7.

    * The Colorado Democratic Party, not for election results, but rather because the Obama campaign has nearly completed the work of building the party across the state.

    * New Mexico Democrats, who managed a clean sweep.  They were 2-1 Republican in the House and 1-1 in the Senate, but are sending a 3-0 Democratic House delegation and a second Democratic Senator to D.C. next year.

    * Voting ‘No’ on on too many initiatives – mostly.

    Losers:

    * The Club For Growth, who lost many of their targeted House elections this year.

    * Negative campaigning.  The People will only take so much of it.

    * The State of Colorado, who will be litigating Amendment 54 for years.

    * Dick Wadhams and Bob Schaffer, who jointly ran a horrible campaign.

    * Abortion Ban measures – both the idiotic Amendment 48 attempt here and the South Dakota Attempt #2 failed.

    * Constitutional reform and sane state budgeting.

    1. winner of not one, but two, fine malt beverages from RSB and Phoenix both for correctly calling Georgia for the repubs.  I will go with a dogfish head or a delerium thank you.  Just kidding.

      AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, I woke up today with such a great feeling of enthusiasm and energy.  I haven’t felt this good in a long time.  

      What happened last night is something we can tell our kids and grandkids about.  We not only witnessed history, we participated in it.

      God bless America.

        1. The AP was holding out, but apparently they think it’s in the bag for McCain now.

          (Thankfully, Chambliss/Martin is going to a runoff…)

          BTW, WTF are you, Fidel?  Tell me I don’t have to drive up to Dinosaur to buy you a drink! 🙂

  5. Winners:

    1-Voter turnout, the more people that vote, the better.

    2-Independents, they showed that they are the real muscle in the state

    3-Hard work, nuff said

    Losers:

    1-Mike Coffman’s Secretary of State Website, “how many clicks does it take to find election results?  The world may never know”.

    2-Dougie, first he lost his seat, then his propostions go down in flames after the no campaign turns the election into a referendum on Doug Bruce.

    3-All night celebrations, (at least for Republicans).  We were out of Mr. Biggs by 10:30.

    1. The fact that 1A failed. A full one percent tax increase when most people are struggling to pay their rent, failed.

      It would have been even better if the illegal Stormwater Tax rebuke passed, but hey, I’ll take what I can get.

    2. .

      How “independent” is a person who settles for the lesser of 2 evils,

      especially when there were 14 other candidates for President ?  

      Regardless of where a voter stands, chances are over 85% that a 3rd party candidate represents their views better than either Tweedledee or Tweedledum.  

      These folks may not suffer the blind tribal loyalty that characterizes a straight-ticket partisan,

      but they are not independent of the duopoly.  

      .

    1. I brought you up on the issue of buying an election generically, not you specifically. I should have worded it better.

      Anyways, I do hope you start lower and work your way up – it’s nice to have those in office participate here.

      1. .

        Logical fallacy.  It cannot be proved that one cannot buy an election.  Proving a negative and all that.

        Besides, CD-2 this cycle, in the Democratic Primary, is an example that demonstrates that your assertion is incorrect.  

        You can reject the facts, but they’re still the facts.

        Looking at how much Mr. Hasan spent of his own money, versus how much your local favorite spent, you just look silly trying to make this case, David.

        .  

        1. They both spent roughly equal percentages of what a race for that type of seat normally costs. So I think it is a fair comparison.

          As to Jared, as I have said all along, it was his work up to now, his connections, etc that won him that seat. Getting Pat Schroder to cut a commercial was much more valuable than any amount of money.

          Jared’s money helped, but not that much. And Ali is the proof that money alone does not do it.

  6. Major Congrats to the biggest winner – Barack Obama!

    It is wonderful to see a person of color be voted in as President – the doors this will open for me and everyone of a diverse background are immense

    Congrats and thank you to Obama!

  7. All of us.  Equal rights had a bad night.  Prop 8 is still “too close to call,” but in three other states…

    Even without the wait, gay rights activists had a rough day Tuesday. Ban-gay-marriage amendments were approved in Arizona and Florida, and gay rights forces suffered a loss in Arkansas, where voters approved a measure banning unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents. Supporters made clear that gays and lesbians were their main target.

    It’s nice that we still have a group to target.

    http://www.abcnews.go.com/Poli

  8. Coffman is off to DC which means we will get a Secretary of State appointed that will finally perform his duties with honor. An ethical Secretary of State would be a lovely change for our state. The last two have both been disgraces to their office.

  9. for being a standup guy and making a big effort to enfranchise the voters of Florida, OR ALTERNATIVELY, for being savvy enough to realize the McCain campaign was a sinking ship, and to distance himself from it.

  10. The trolls are back under their bridges and the shills are (mostly) staying offline. Even most of the graceless ‘pubs (won’t name names but you know who I mean) are staying away when they could try to throw a wet blanket on the party.

    Their absence makes me very happy.

  11. The trolls are back under their bridges and the shills are (mostly) staying offline. Even most of the graceless ‘pubs (won’t name names but you know who I mean) are staying away when they could try to throw a wet blanket on the party.

    Their absence makes me very happy.

  12. What are we going to do now that SAFE went down?

    I have some opinions on the failure, but they need to coalesce in my head.

    People hated the length of the ballot, but voted against O.

    Long ballots suck

    54 passes because people like the title, but don’t understand the language–reminds me of A41.

    1. There were enough debates where the opponents said that the problem was allocating the money to an education only fund.  Next year we’ll call their bluff?  These types of plans do better in off years, particularly if the economy is in a better place.

    2. I don’t get it. Folks voted no on all the amendments, which I, in some way, can appreciate. But then voted against O. It would have been nice to see that one pass.

      And in regards to Yes on 59, I would have liked to see that pass given our ridiculous lack of state education budget, but the campaign never quite developed a message that stuck with the voters. Hopefully Romanoff and Kennedy find themselves a decent consulting firm next time around.

    3. And quit dumping money into our schools until they show some type of sign (ala Bruce Randolph) of wanting to succeed in their mission.

      And get Mike Merrifield away from my fucking children.  He could care less about their success.

  13. …was a loser for me.  It was like the 4th of July in my neighborhood–fireworks going off, people in the street yelling and cheering.  And, of course, the excitement of the results.  All of these things kept me up.

    I’ve never been happier to lose a few hours of sleep.

  14. My efforts. Spent a day canvassing for Joe Whitcomb – he lost. Spent yesterday handing out lit for A-58 – it lost. On the flip side, put in a lot of time for Jared Polis and Barak Obama and they both won.

    And I worked for the defeat of 2-B in Boulder and it got hammered. So all in all, not bad.

  15. Hickenlooper pulled off a safe and spectacular site for the DNC…and the art of it was not visible..

    I was so wrong on all my predictions and so glad to be so wrong…

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