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Related: About this forumDid gun control cost McAuliffe and Democrats the Virginia election?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/did-gun-control-cost-mcauliffe-and-democrats-the-virginia-election/2015/11/04/fa5dfdfa-830d-11e5-9afb-0c971f713d0c_story.htmlSturtevant beat Democrat Daniel A. Gecker after GOP supporters ran ads blasting Gecker for trying to win the seat with $700,000 of outside help from pro-gun-control TV advertisements paid for by a group linked to former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“The gun thing, I would have done it differently,” Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) said. “It’s speculation at this point, but I feel the Gecker seat was one we thought we were going to win. . . . [The gun issue] was one variable that was thrown in at the last minute.”
Other observers were blunter in ascribing blame. A Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial said Gecker “made a massive mistake” by accepting the ads from Bloomberg. “A campaign focused on guns redounded to Gecker’s despair,” it said.
Virginia governors can’t be reelected, so the GOP’s continued control of both chambers of the General Assembly means McAuliffe has little to no chance of fulfilling his dreams of expanding Medicaid or passing new gun-control laws.
“The gun thing, I would have done it differently,” Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) said. “It’s speculation at this point, but I feel the Gecker seat was one we thought we were going to win. . . . [The gun issue] was one variable that was thrown in at the last minute.”
Other observers were blunter in ascribing blame. A Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial said Gecker “made a massive mistake” by accepting the ads from Bloomberg. “A campaign focused on guns redounded to Gecker’s despair,” it said.
Virginia governors can’t be reelected, so the GOP’s continued control of both chambers of the General Assembly means McAuliffe has little to no chance of fulfilling his dreams of expanding Medicaid or passing new gun-control laws.
I hope we learned something from this past election. If you peddle gun control in a purple state, it will backfire. Bloomberg would have been better off to just send his check to the Republicans directly. A gun control ad in a purple state is a direct endorsement of the opposition candidate. The consequences of this are real and painful...people are going to loose out on the benefits of expanded Medicaid. I hope the controllers can sleep well over this.
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Did gun control cost McAuliffe and Democrats the Virginia election? (Original Post)
Kang Colby
Nov 2015
OP
virginia mountainman
(5,046 posts)1. Yes, and the controllers will sleep well tonight..
Because they will blame everything, and everyone but themselves for the loss..
Sturtevant’s victory margin in Powhatan also raised questions about whether a big gun-control advertising push for Gecker by a national group backed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg backfired by turning out gun-rights advocates at the polls. Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund spent $700,000 on advertising on behalf of Gecker.
“Amazing Powhatan turnout. Definitely Bloomberg backlash,” longtime Democratic political operative Paul Goldman said in a text message.
Interesting read from a Democratic operative...The Repukes should publicly thank Bloomberg for all the support he gave them. Also, in Virginia, 92% of NRA backed candidates won their election....
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/article_c9cfd8ac-8392-55f4-9924-af3684df8a77.html
SecularMotion
(7,981 posts)2. Do we reallly need another thread on this?
Bloomturd flushes money down the toilet in Va..costs Democrats state senate...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1172180079
I wonder, will they get it now?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1172180127
Gun control and the election results
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1172155448
Kang Colby
(1,941 posts)3. Yes.
All different takes on the same issue.
virginia mountainman
(5,046 posts)4. I know it makes you uncomfortable..
But this is important. And here, we are free to discuss things.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)8. Then post it in GD. I won't object...
It's Big Newz. It's gun policy. My dog, WaPo is talking about it.
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)11. That's funny coming from you
ileus
(15,396 posts)5. Terry needs to stick to bringing jobs to Virginia and not trying to bring bloomies desires
for us to fruition.
SecularMotion
(7,981 posts)6. Further analysis
McSweeney said the gun rights issue was already churning in Powhatan before Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, a gun-control group backed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, bought $700,000 worth of ads, but “that just ginned it up another notch.”
Others, such as Democratic political strategist Paul Goldman, insist that the Powhatan vote represented backlash against the Bloomberg spending, but neither campaign considered the gun-control issue decisive in the race.
“I don’t see the gun issue as one motivating a lot of people to come out,” Gecker said. “I think that’s a misread.”
Others, such as Democratic political strategist Paul Goldman, insist that the Powhatan vote represented backlash against the Bloomberg spending, but neither campaign considered the gun-control issue decisive in the race.
“I don’t see the gun issue as one motivating a lot of people to come out,” Gecker said. “I think that’s a misread.”
Sean Houlihan, a Washington political consultant who is close to the Everytown group, said Powhatan actually contributed a smaller proportion of votes to the district total than in 2011 and Watkins won a higher percentage of the vote there than Sturtevant.
Houlihan said the ads may have helped turnout in Richmond and with Republican-leaning women in the Chesterfield suburbs. “Who can say $700,000 in a Republican district didn’t make the race a lot closer than it would have been?” he said.
However, Holsworth said, the Bloomberg spending, accompanied by outside advertising by the National Rifle Association for Sturtevant and Americans for Responsible Solutions for Gecker, “put an edge on it that was unmistakable.”
Sturtevant’s campaign regarded the Bloomberg ad buy as a temporary distraction. The campaign responded quickly to the initial Everytown ads, but then returned to the bread-and-butter issues Sturtevant emphasized — the economy and jobs; government spending and taxes; education and reform.
Houlihan said the ads may have helped turnout in Richmond and with Republican-leaning women in the Chesterfield suburbs. “Who can say $700,000 in a Republican district didn’t make the race a lot closer than it would have been?” he said.
However, Holsworth said, the Bloomberg spending, accompanied by outside advertising by the National Rifle Association for Sturtevant and Americans for Responsible Solutions for Gecker, “put an edge on it that was unmistakable.”
Sturtevant’s campaign regarded the Bloomberg ad buy as a temporary distraction. The campaign responded quickly to the initial Everytown ads, but then returned to the bread-and-butter issues Sturtevant emphasized — the economy and jobs; government spending and taxes; education and reform.
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/article_71d5eace-3cd0-55fa-8d05-76f4bda2032b.html
DonP
(6,185 posts)7. "Those grapes are probably sour anyway, said the fox" - Aesop
Aesop has so much to teach us, even today.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)9. "Too many Republicans make horse's urine frothy" - Euripides
virginia mountainman
(5,046 posts)12. Lol
None are so blind as those that refuse too see.
benEzra
(12,148 posts)10. If you personally threaten people, you motivate them to get to the polls and vote against you.
That is true whether the issue is Santorum threatening GLBT rights or contraception, Cuccinelli equating oral sex with bestiality, or Bloomberg/McAuliffe promising to outlaw the most popular guns in Virginia homes.
I and hundreds of thousands of others have been saying this exact thing since fricking 2004, and yet the Third Way still can't keep its fingers out of that light socket. Heck, they're still trotting out the "B-b-but we support hunting!!!" mantra from the '90s, as if that were relevant in a society where 80% of gun owners are nonhunters.
Keep your fingers out of people's gun safes, people. Messing around in people's bedrooms and in their gun safes are surefire recipes for a backlash.