"Florida Republican wins House seat by whisker" by Lizette Alvarez | New York Times March 12, 2014
CLEARWATER, Fla. — In a major victory for Republicans in the battle for control of Congress, David Jolly, a former lobbyist, narrowly won a special election for a House seat Tuesday in a hotly contested swing district, giving the party an expensive triumph in its fight against President Obama’s health care plan.
Told that fight over.
After months of diligent courting by the three candidates and a $9 million barrage of ads by outside groups, voters in Pinellas County chose Jolly over Alex Sink, a Democrat and his main rival. Jolly won 48.5 percent of the vote and Sink received 46.6 percent. A third candidate, Lucas Overby, a Libertarian, won 4.8 percent.
Could have been rigged, but no one in the system can make a stink lest their election be called into question..
For Republicans, the victory will serve to bolster their message that the nation disapproves of the Affordable Care Act and Obama’s leadership.
We do, but that doesn't mean we approve of yours.
For Democrats, Sink’s loss is a significant blow to morale. A moderate who lost her race for governor in 2010, Sink is well known and ran a well-organized campaign awash in donations and buoyed by millions of dollars of outside spending.
Not a good $ign for Democrats.
Before the loss, Democrats played down a possible defeat, saying the mostly white Republican-leaning district, packed with many older voters, was going to be a tough challenge for them. One Democratic official called it “daunting territory.”
It is the first time in more than 40 years that the congressional district will be overseen by someone other than Representative C.W. Bill Young, a Republican who died in October, setting off the scramble for the job. But, for some voters, Jolly was the closest thing to Young: For years he served as Young’s general counsel and one of his senior aides.
A tossup until the end, the race was largely commandeered by national political organizations waging a proxy battle over issues like the Affordable Care Act and Social Security. In countless advertisements, Republicans trumpeted Sink’s support of the health care plan and linked her to Obama and Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader. Democrats repeatedly accused Jolly of wanting to privatize Social Security.
Republican and Democratic groups poured record-setting sums into the race, raising its profile and importance.
Outside groups like the US Chamber of Commerce and the House Majority PAC, a Democratic group, spent more than $9 million on mostly negative television ads, robocalls, and mailings devoid of nuance. Taking into account money raised by the candidates, total spending in the race hit $12 million, a staggering amount for a House seat in a special election.
Is it just me, or is all the political spending offen$ive when so many Americans are in misery?
Despite Tuesday’s outcome, political analysts have said that the results of one House special election, regardless of how close, seldom transcend state boundaries.
Sink, who was the pick of the national Democratic Party, raised far more than Jolly, a former lobbyist and senior aide to Young. Jolly faced a January primary and struggled to bring in donations. But outside Republican groups stepped in to level the playing field, spending considerably more in political advertisements than Democrats.
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Also see: Fla. race offers hints of midterm strategies
The House stays Republican and the Senate swings that way.
"The hourlong meeting between the political adversaries came even as the leadership in both parties in Washington have largely resigned themselves to the fact that almost no legislation will break through the election-year partisan gridlock."
Got everything they want, Pentagon funded, Wall Street happy, Israel aid flowing, no threat of shutdown, debt ceiling lifted and removed, austerity budget in place. No more need to do anything unless a $pecial intere$t phones in $omething.
"This week was Congress’s first opportunity for action since lawmakers took a series of urgent votes to raise the debt ceiling and stave off a fiscal calamity, but the mood is decidedly fatalistic and partisan. A CBS News/New York Times poll released this week found only 13 percent of respondents approve of Congress’s performance — a slight improvement from the November poll showing only 9 percent approval.
Any way you cut it that is an ABYSMAL rating; however, it is the approximate ratio of those in society benefiting from their policies!
Just 41 percent approve of President Obama’s job performance, compared with 51 percent who disapprove.
Meaning he is probably really in the 20s.
Many lawmakers say they are dismayed that they are showing up to work only to find their opponents choreographing symbolic votes tailored for the next election. The theater is especially hollow in a divided Congress because most such bills, passed in the Republican-run House or the Democratic-run Senate, have little chance of even being considered in the opposing chamber. Democrats tried to spin the vote to their advantage."
Yeah, this is nothing new. We get it every other year and have for decades!
Also see:
Dingell, longest-serving member of Congress, to retire
Debbie Dingell will run for husband’s seat
House ding-a-lings.
