Dems Lose Five For Five Open Seats

[rogue06]

And speaking of polling, the polls had Ossoff winning easily. I don't believe the presidential approval polls are any more credible.

For the most part. Nate I've-been-wrong-in-every-single-recent-election Silver declared that "there's a 70% chance Ossoff wins and a 30% chance that MATH IS DEAD AND DATA IS BROKEN" (emphasis in the original) while CNN had it 51% for Ossoff and 44% for Handel (who won 52 to 48). The only poll that I'm aware of that didn't have Ossoff up by at least a couple points was one conducted by the local Fox affiliate, WAGA (which was very anti-Trump in their coverage of the 2016 race), who had it at 49.7% for Ossoff and 49.4% for Handel.

[Mountain Man]

Calm yourself MM, its a reliable republican district and has been for decades. Had Ossoff won, it would have been huge for that reason. Don't forget, there were 3 special elections after Obama was elected as well and democrats won them all, and then they got massacred across the country in the next elections. Republicans should be more concerned about their smaller margins of victory than they should be celebrating the win.

I get the impression you didn't even read my post. Handel improved Trump's numbers despite Ossoff significantly outspending her and despite the polls predicting that Ossoff would win by a comfortable lead. Things are moving in the wrong direction for Democrats, and the chaos and infighting within the Democrat party suggests they don't know what to do about it.

[rogue06]

I get the impression you didn't even read my post. Handel improved Trump's numbers despite Ossoff significantly outspending her and despite the polls predicting that Ossoff would win by a comfortable lead. Things are moving in the wrong direction for Democrats, and the chaos and infighting within the Democrat party suggests they don't know what to do about it.

The 6th isn't nearly as red as it once was since redistricting in 2010. It was just that Price is very popular and well liked (in spite of national Democrats trying to paint him as some sort of wild extremist during his confirmation hearings). Of the counties that make up the district, DeKalb is staunchly Democrat, Fulton is Democrat and Cobb is Republican (although the county went for Hillary in 2016 and Trump barely won in the 6th district). This was why the Democrats and liberals focused on this election and poured tens of millions into the race only to see an incredibly uncharismatic candidate nearly triple Trump's margin of victory defeating their hand picked candidate.

[JimL]

So you acknowledge that your claim that the Republican Party spent nearly twice as much as the Democrats was full of hot air?

No, I don't agree, the numbers seem to be all over the place right now, but the point I made is the same, according to your own post #52, the Republican party spent more on the campaign than the DNC did.

And while the Democrat Party itself didn't spend six times as much on Ossoff, their donors sure did. They poured money into the race at record levels -- 97% of Ossoff's money came from outside of Georgia with the majority coming from California (primarily the Bay Area -- Pelosi's stomping grounds) and New York.

Further Handel nearly tripled the margin of victory of what Trump took the district by in spite of being outspent 6 to 1.

Sure, but thats not the claim I was refuting. Most of Ossoffs money came via small private donations, not from the Democratic party.

[JimL]

I get the impression you didn't even read my post. Handel improved Trump's numbers despite Ossoff significantly outspending her and despite the polls predicting that Ossoff would win by a comfortable lead. Things are moving in the wrong direction for Democrats, and the chaos and infighting within the Democrat party suggests they don't know what to do about it.

Handel improved on Trumps numbers because the republicans in that district, though republican, they don't care for Trump. Ex Rep. Sen. Price won the district by 20%, Handel by 4%.

[Mountain Man]

You're spinning like a top, Jimmy.

[Bill the Cat]

Handel improved on Trumps numbers because the republicans in that district, though republican, they don't care for Trump. Ex Rep. Sen. Price won the district by 20%, Handel by 4%.

Price ran against a ghost candidate.

[One Bad Pig]

No, I don't agree, the numbers seem to be all over the place right now, but the point I made is the same, according to your own post #52, the Republican party spent more on the campaign than the DNC did.

You don't agree that $6 M is not nearly twice $5 M?

You're a special kind of stubborn, aren't you? Sheesh - just admit you goofed and move on; you'll be more respected for it.

[JimL]

You don't agree that $6 M is not nearly twice $5 M?

You're a special kind of stubborn, aren't you? Sheesh - just admit you goofed and move on; you'll be more respected for it.

Not something I ever claimed, stay focused or move on.

[Zymologist]

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[One Bad Pig]

Not something I ever claimed, stay focused or move on.

True. You compared $12 M which Republicans spent TOTAL with the $6 M contributed by the DNC, which is no less stupid.

[One Bad Pig]

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He's smiling inside.

[Teallaura]

And speaking of polling, the polls had Ossoff winning easily. I don't believe the presidential approval polls are any more credible.

Depends on who does them - but most media outlets seem to be buying their polls from the lowest bidder...

[Teallaura]

Out of curiosity, Jim, what point are you trying to make? Seriously, I don't think I follow you - are you arguing that that many losses are no issue at all or just not that big of an issue?

[JimL]

Out of curiosity, Jim, what point are you trying to make? Seriously, I don't think I follow you - are you arguing that that many losses are no issue at all or just not that big of an issue?

What I'm saying is that the losses are not as big a deal as MM and others are making them out to be. They were all long time republican districts, and Dems from the get go were never expected to win. It started to look, according to the polls, as though Ossoff had a good chance to pull off a big upset in Georgia 6th. It would have been a big deal if he did win it, which means that its not a big deal that the Republicans held on, they were supposed to win. Just like they were supposed to win, and did so, in Montana, S. Carolina, and Kansas, all strong republican districts. The good sign for the Democrats is that the Republican margin of victory in all of those states have dropped dramatically. My other point was that what happens in special elections doesn't necessarily reflect what will happen in the 2018 elections. The Democrats won 3 special elections when Obama was elected in 2008, and then got crushed in the 2010 elections.