November 8, 2006

Post Election open thread

Post your thoughts on what happened yesterday. What are the ramifications?
What's the best thing that will come about now that the Dems have the House and possibly the Senate?

What surprised you the most?

Add any thoughts on the elections here.

28 Comments:

At 11/08/2006 6:16 PM, Blogger Mac said...

It's a great day to be an American.

I was at Phil Hare's party last night, and I can say it was one of the most memerable days of my life. I will always remember November 7th as the end of the Reagan Revolution and the beginning of a new, brighter, era for America.

 
At 11/08/2006 6:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is good to see that more than money matters in an election. Although it realy helps a campaign. Good job Vicki Wright and Mike Huff on that note. Good job all Dems. Huff and Wright show that when you run on good morals and have a high standard for your position, being outspent ten to one doesn't matter. All of Powers' special interest money and Schwigen's big money and DOG the bounty hunter couldn't even get them close.

 
At 11/08/2006 7:35 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

I think the best thing that will happen is that there will finally be some oversight and accountability. I think that one of the reasons for Rummy’s resignation is that he will now be the whipping boy for everything that comes out about Iraq when hearings are held in the house.

I was surprised by the Iowa races more than the Illinois ones. Culver and Braley’s margins of victory were surprising to me. I was also surprised by Mike Huff’s margin of victory.

I was most disappointed in Harold Ford’s loss. I still believe that guy is a star. It will be interesting to see how he comes back.

 
At 11/08/2006 10:06 PM, Blogger The Inside Dope said...

Nico. Excellent stuff... hahahaha! Nice work indeed.

 
At 11/09/2006 8:32 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Scott,

Chill brother, this was the highlight of your life - Phil Hare getting elected!?

Seriously, is there anything that makes you think that he will distinguish himself in any way - or provide any noticeable benefit to the area?

 
At 11/09/2006 10:36 AM, Blogger The Inside Dope said...

anon above...

I humbly suggest you chill as well. ;-)

Scott was obviously talking about a very peak emotional experience. If you're a young person (I'm assuming Scott is young) who's worked 12 hour days on a campaign or who has been emotionally involved in one and you're able to be in a room with hundreds of absolutely elated and jubilant people and have experienced that energy level, then yeah, it leaves an impression.

I don't think it's fair to try to then pee on someone's leg for it, do you?

Scott's comment was obviously sincere and I'm personally glad he chose to share the jubilant mood that was in the room election night.

I'm glad to hear that someone has gotten to experience the thrill of victory and the payoff at the end of a long period of very hard work and worry.

I salute everyone who worked hard on campaigns from both parties.

And to those who's candidates won, (which, safe to say, are Democrats) congratulations, and enjoy every moment. If you are lucky enough to experience that elation, savor it and good for you.

To those whose candidates lost, my condolences. But feel pride that you participated in trying to help a cause you believe in.

 
At 11/09/2006 11:47 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was happy to see Mike Boland win, especially after all the negative campaigning that went on against him. The one ad with the other Democrats' quotes against him was the worst. I don't care how much they don't like him there's just something sleazy about a Democrat knocking another Democrat during an election. It might be Democrat vs Democrat in the Primary, but once that candidate is chosen the rest of the party needs to, if not support the winner, at least keep their mouths shut and say nothing bad.

 
At 11/09/2006 11:52 AM, Blogger The Inside Dope said...

To the above comment I'd quickly add some facts.

The quotes from Democrats used in ads and mailers against Boland were quotes from some time ago.

It's very important to know as well that the ads and fliers using these quotes were paid for and put out by Republicans and the Haring campaign.

Denny Jacobs, Brunsvold, and the Dem county board members whose negative comments against Boland appeared in the ads and mailers didn't have control over how their words were used by Boland's opponents.

The Repubs simply dug them up and used them against Boland.

 
At 11/09/2006 12:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And there were no negatives ads coming from the Democrats in the Haring-Boland race? How about the inference that Haring was opposed to increased funding for breast cancer treatment based on his comment that he would not have voted for a bill that contained millions of dollars in funding for a variety of programs with no identified funding source? And how about the horribly done statewide ad (it was used around the state with different Republican candidates' names inserted) that featured residents of foreign countries saying they would vote for Haring because he would ship jobs overseas? On what basis was this conclusion reached? These ads were not negative? At least the quotes were accurate and attributed.

 
At 11/09/2006 12:29 PM, Blogger The Inside Dope said...

Yeah, that was bad that Boland took so long to respond to the negative attack ads that Haring and the Republicans ran FROM THE VERY START AND ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE CAMPAIGN against him.

I agree that it was a shame that Boland didn't respond in kind until very very late in the game.

As to the national commercial, I'm afraid that's a pretty poor comparison to the literally dozens of negative and deceptive ads run by Republicans who seem to have made negative campaigns their stock in trade.

Even conservative media critic Howard Kurtz has acknowledged that while there are a few negative ads from Dems, the vast majority, and by far the most objectionable came from the Republican side of campaigns.

 
At 11/09/2006 3:19 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm sorry that you and so many members of both parties feel negative attack ads are ever justified. I have a lot more respect for any candidate that sticks to the issues. I don't watch a lot of network TV, but I do watch the local news and the first negative ads I saw in this race were anti-Haring. What was the content of the early anti-Boland ads?

 
At 11/09/2006 5:05 PM, Blogger The Inside Dope said...

The Haring commercial which went up at the beginning of the campaign had Boland as a Monty Python-esque cartoon character floating in the air while it ran a series of negative allegations about him with disturbing music in the background... then for the last few seconds, it cut to Haring and the music switches to light and airy patriotic tunes.

It was run thousands of times and was up for several days before Boland had anything on the air at all.

Anyone else remember any of the specifics in the ad?

 
At 11/09/2006 8:09 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

After speding "$500,000 on a safe Democrat seat," labor and "the Speaker" are said to be ready to replace Boland. In your opinion, which of the "young guns" do you think has the ability to defeat Boland in the upcoming Democrat Primary?

A) Ahern, Dennis
B) Hutton, Mike
C) McNeil, Porter
C) Lack, Jerry
D) Rumler, Paul
E) DeGreave, Tory
F) Thodos, John
G) Someone else

Have at it!

 
At 11/09/2006 8:14 PM, Blogger The Inside Dope said...

First of all, why are we to believe that the speaker and "labor" are ready to replace Boland?

What's your source? More info please.

 
At 11/09/2006 10:38 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey senator, would you give it a rest, we are tired.. and the answer is none of them for at least another election cycle. your hatred for boland is just nuts.

 
At 11/10/2006 6:29 AM, Blogger Mike Huntoon said...

#1. I'd probably be the last to hear, but I certainly can't confirm any rumors about the Speaker being ready to drop Boland.

#2. The name is Mike Huntoon, and I'm not a potential candidate to replace anyone. I once considered a run at R.I. County Board, back when I was in Walt Tiller's district. But, when the map was redrawn in 2002, I ended up on Donald Jacob's Board District. I respect Don and wouldn't even consider running against him. I'm really not a potential candidate for anything at this time.

#3. I heard Paul Rumler was back working in D.C. in some capacity, though I really don't know any specifics. Last I heard Paul lived in Rock Island, so he'd need to move to get into the 71st.

#4. I DO NOT think anyone's going to be replacing Mike Boland any time soon.

Since folks like to throw around names of potential candidates, there are a great number of individuals who are qualified and have the knowledge to emerge from a primary in the 71st with a couple of breaks.

I'd think that Tom Nicholson, Chairman of the Henry County Board would be an excellent candidate, although I do not know if he'd be interested. I do know the Henry County Dems have done some really great work organizing. I had the pleasure of watching election returns with a group of the Henry County Democrats this Tuesday, and I can say I was quite impressed by what they've accomplished.

Gerald Bork of Carroll County would also be a great candidate. Gerry and his wife Doris are awesome people and are very hard campaigners. If multiple candidates from R.I. county split the primary vote here, someone like Gerry or Tom would be well positioned to walk away with the nomination by running strong in the 3 rural counties of the 71st.

Like I said, barring Mike Boland getting disgusted with the politics of politics, I believe he's earned his position and will remain in his seat for at least another 4 years.

 
At 11/10/2006 12:17 PM, Blogger UMRBlog said...

Note to Scott:

Suck up all the joy of this time and take lots of pictures. The bad nights (Like 80, 94, 90-Hartigan, 82 Senate 78-stephenson recount) hurt so bad that you must consume and embrace the good ones.

 
At 11/10/2006 9:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anon, 9/11/06 22:38, I wish that I were the Senator but I am not. I do think the Senator is doing a fine job though. I will say that Rumler is in DC but he can run wherever he wants. The rules are very vague. He ran here when he didn't live here before. As to the reason that you think that I am Todd Seiben is beyond me. Seiben did support Haring and Beals but I assure you that I am not him. I am not a senator of anykind so your guess is off the mark. I would like to know your guess as to which young gun will run against Boland and which would be able to beat him.
If you want to guess my identity that is fine also.

 
At 11/11/2006 12:38 AM, Blogger The Inside Dope said...

Can I take a guess at who you are? (Like that's real tough)

I think you're a pretty disturbing person who is laboring under the delusions that you're both clever and effective in playing your little games around here, and that it's not embarassingly obvious to everyone who pays even casual attention exactly who you are.

What do I win?

 
At 11/11/2006 2:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who exactly am I supposed to be now that we have Ruled out Seiben or any other Senator.

 
At 11/11/2006 4:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe you've ruled those out. No one else has.

 
At 11/11/2006 5:04 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've rule them out. That is enough for me.

 
At 11/11/2006 7:17 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

goodie for you. Just decide to ignore all the clear evidence if you want.

 
At 11/11/2006 10:44 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What are you losers saying. You all smear with inuendo and creepy codes that are suposed to be clear but I know that you are all clueless. You can call me X if you must. I must know what clear evadence that you are talking about. I think that the only clear evidence is about your Identity Dope. If you want to get into a contest we can because I know who you are and you are so far off from who I am that it is not even funny.

Remember that I will allow you to call me X if you want.

 
At 11/12/2006 11:03 AM, Blogger The Inside Dope said...

I don't know why I'm dragged into this absolutely stupid little game you're playing.

If people have a good idea who leaves all these comments bashing Boland and praising Jacobs, while dropping tid-bits that only an insider with access to campaign data would know, I'm not sure why that should come as a huge surprise.

You can believe whatever you want about who I am, but I'm not worried that you're correct.

If you think I have no clue who you are, you're mistaken as well. I have general info which only further leads to a conclusion about where so many of the more vile comments originate, but to make it public isn't necessary.

As I say, people can draw their own conclusions, as I'm sure they have long ago. It's not that tough, after all.

More than one reader disgusted with your attacks has written in to reveal what they know.

And gee thanks for "allowing" me to call you "X". Thanks anyway, but I don't think I want to contribute to your little secret agent fantasies.

 
At 11/13/2006 2:17 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is X here and I wanted to say that you have an anon. blogger that says that they have information. Oh no!! Lions and tigers and bears oh My!!!

From your own site!!!

"Absolutely, positively, beyond a doubt, yes. There is no possible way I could ever find out who leaves comments even if I had the desire to. Your comments are sent directly to Blogger.com and are posted to the site from there. I see what you see and nothing more."

Are you lying to us all or do you also have my voting record, my police record. Come on Dope!!! You can't have it both ways. I know who you are and you don't have a clue who I are. SO, I suggest you call me X. Or I will allow Dr. X.

By the way I am so scared can you tell. You are going to try and tell the paper who you anon. bloggers are again!!!

I am shaking in my boots. I am a private individual and I can say whatever I want. You on the otherhand are a personality that opens themself up to public scrutiny. You are a corporate blogger and a professional that makes money from it.

Suck it up and Grow up!!!

 
At 11/13/2006 4:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

ahern and all the democrats screwed up by coming out and supporting boland to answer those negative ads. they finally could have exorcised boland from the party, and taken out haring in the next general, but now they have to keep him. dumb move

 
At 11/14/2006 12:13 PM, Blogger The Inside Dope said...

I prefer to call you Inspector Cleuseau.

Seriously, just take off. No kidding.

I've had it with your little cloak and dagger games. It's idiotic and it's a waste of your time and mine.

You're delusional, have no clue what you're talking about, and are really quite twisted.

I've tried to warn you that you're way off base many times. This is the last.

Now run along. I've got my program set to automatically delete all further messages from your IP address.

 

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