Comments on: Sen. Hanger defeats Sayre in primary.

By: Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:16:11 +0000

Carl Kilo is very upset that I’d assume that just because a comment was left using his IP address and e-mail address I’d assume that it was he who did it. So I’ve changed his comment to be authored by “Carl Kilo’s Computer,” on the off chance that he has a politically-interested burglar.

By: Jack

Jack — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:29:57 +0000

David,

Every so often people talk about what would happen if a bunch of Democrats decided to screw with a Republican primary or vice versa by showing up and voting for the candidate least likely to win in the general election. However, in practice, I have never seen nor heard of this happening in numbers that are remotely significant. It’s an interesting idea that gets kicked around a lot but at the end of the day, Republicans would just feel uncomfortably weird showing up at a Democratic primary and vice versa.

By: phriendlyjaime

phriendlyjaime — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 14:06:58 +0000

I know, Ben C., that was pretty funny.

By: UVA08

UVA08 — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 14:03:39 +0000

Ben C…. LOL

By: Ben C.

Ben C. — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 13:21:14 +0000

democRATS

Oh man, that stings. It’s almost as bad as the time in kindergarten when someone called me a doody-head. Let me guess, when you talk about the 2008 Democratic front-runner, you spell it “Hitlary” too?

This is the height of debate right here. Lincoln would be put to shame.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 02:03:30 +0000

“You can talk about the SWAC all you want, but the fact is they took a unknown and came very close to beating a incumbent.”

What’s that old expression about horseshoes and hand grenades?

By: Judge Smails

Judge Smails — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:14:52 +0000

Or perhaps there are strange, strange goings on here of which I know nothing.

By: Bubby

Bubby — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:33:21 +0000

“Play on your own Whacky blog, not mine.” Carl Kilo, 6/13/07

Hey Muy Kilo, is hypocrisy your intent, or your nature.

By: Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:20:10 +0000

Carl, I’ve taken the liberty of changing the name that you entered (”Teddy’s Turds”) to your real name. How embarrassing for you to have mistyped your name so severely. But, hey, mistakes happen, so I’ve got you covered.

By: Carl Kilo's Computer

Carl Kilo's Computer — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 23:35:07 +0000

Hanger will destroy Cox. That is what matters. You happy democRATS?
You can talk about the SWAC all you want, but the fact is they took a unknown and came very close to beating a incumbent. The big losers are RK and NLS….Their candidates struck out. Why dont you talk about that? LOL!

By: Judge Smails

Judge Smails — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 23:31:41 +0000

This is an excellent start to the whole “Republicans are out of touch with Virginia’s voters” strategy. I read about it in the Post this morning. I’m curious though, did you think this up on your own or did you get the talking points from Democrat ;) HQ?

By: UVA08

UVA08 — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:53:49 +0000

I would describe the “game” of getting votes as similar to two magnets on either side of metal shavings. Each magnet represents a political party trying to pull the most shavings (the voters) on their side. In Virginia close to a majority of those shavings fall right in the middle with slightly more to the right of the center then there are to the left. In the past the Republican magnet was situated closer to a majority of the metal shavings than the Democrats. However, as time has passed and more people have moved in a few more metal shavings have been sprinkled in the center and to the left of the center. In addition to the newcomers you have members of the Republican Party trying (and succeeding) to move their party (their magnet) further to the right. As their “magnet” has moved further out to the right they have begun to pick up less (percentage wise) of the shaving (votes) than what they use to get. The magnetic pull of the Democratic magnet is not becoming seemingly stronger just because of improvement within the party but also because the Republicans have pushed theirs so far right that it is no longer capable of picking up many shavings still left in the center. Yesterday the members of the Republican Party shifted their magnet even further right and even further from the metal (voters) in the middle. So long as this shift continues, the pull of the Democrats will continue to grow as the Republicans move further away values and beliefs of the average voter.

By: F.T. Rea

F.T. Rea — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:21:39 +0000

Waldo,

Well said. The unraveling of the Republican Party in Virginia is becoming quite a show.

By: Bubby

Bubby — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:16:50 +0000

We don’t have party registration because until Nixon’s Southern Strategy to bring racist southerners over to the Republican Party, you had to be a Democrat (google Harry F. Byrd) to win statewide elected office in Virginia. Nixon fixed that by saying to Southern Democrats, come on into the Republican Party, and feel free to bring your Jim Crow.

Virginia allows registered voters to remain free of party affiliation to protect them from bias and retribution in hiring and opportunity. It also lets Virginians pick the best man for elected office. And as you can see by the low voter turnout, we can use all the incentives we can find.

By: Jim E-H

Jim E-H — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:14:39 +0000

It’s a pity more of the Republican insurgents didn’t win, since it always seems to make it easier for us. I have fond memories of Chris Craddock delivering Gary Reese’s seat to us practically gift-wrapped the last time around. But hopefully the infighting will help even if they didn’t win in the primaries.