
 |
|
May 13, 2013
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
April 22, 2013
US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer
April 19, 2013
Caroline B. Glick: Why Obama's visit to Israel had no impact on public opinion or government policy
Morgan Housel: Gold collapse: The start of something big?
Pete Spotts: Livable super-Earths? Two candidates among Kepler's latest finds
April 17, 2013
Shira Rubin: Too much of a good thing? 'Palestinians' realize downside of foreign aid boom
Morgan Housel: BAD NEWS: EVERYONE IS RIGHT!
April 15, 2013
Kristen Chick: Egyptian Christians respond with harsh words to attack -- rocks, Molotov cocktails, and gunfire -- against main cathedral
Marcy Darnovsky and Karuna Jaggar: High Court to decide if you should own your DNA
Howard LaFranchi: US bracing for more Russian blowback after taking action against 18 more human rights violators
April 12, 2013
Mark Clayton: New cybersecurity bill: Privacy threat or crucial band-aid?
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jackie Robinson's Friend, Hank Greenberg; CNN's Jake Tapper; Texas County in the News is named for 19thC. Jewish soldier and Congressman
The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: FRUITY QUINOA STUFFED PEPPERS: A flavorful, colorful and edible vessel of delicately fluffy, mildly nutty filling combined with chewy apricots, tangy cherries, and crunchy pistachios
April 10, 2013
Peter Grier: North Korean missiles: Could US shoot them down?
Morgan Housel: Warning: Don't waste your capital being fooled by profit prophets
Donald Hensrud, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Take vitamin supplements with caution --- even approved, they may actually do damage
Eryn Brown: 74 DNA discoveries move cure closer for three cancers
April 8, 2013
Jonathan Tobin: What Part of No Preconditions Do American Jews Not Get?
Fred Weir: Is Putin finally trading his own party for a new power base?
|
| |
Jewish World Review
May 24, 2010
/ 11 Sivan 5770
Dems: No reason to celebrate
By
Jack Kelly
| >
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The spin is in. Here's how the webzine Politico expressed the conventional wisdom about the outcome of the special election for what had been Jack Murtha's seat in Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district:
"In the only House race that really mattered to both parties … Republicans failed spectacularly, losing on a level playing field where, in this favorable environment, they should have run roughshod over the opposition," wrote Jonathan Martin and Charles Mahtesian.
If this is widely believed, it may turn out to be a good thing for Republicans that Democrat Mark Critz, a former Murtha aide, defeated Republican Tim Burns in PA 12.
First, there'll be no more smugness among Republicans about coasting to a takeover of the House in November.
Second, Democrats in swing districts may now underestimate how much trouble they could be in.
Mr. Martin and Mr. Mahtesian have a curious notion of what constitutes a "level playing field." Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1 in Pennsylvania's 12th district and Democratic turnout was goosed by competitive primaries for U.S. senator and governor, while the GOP statewide primaries were yawners.
The surge for Rep. Joe Sestak against Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic Senate primary is mainly what did in Mr. Burns, an analyst for the National Republican Congressional Committee told Jim Geraghty of National Review.
"Sestak's surge … drove a sudden interest in voting among the Democratic base. This analyst thinks these Sestak-driven voters amounted to 8,000-10,000 voters, roughly the size of Critz's margin of victory," Mr. Geraghty said.
Mr. Burns wanted to make the election a referendum on Obamacare and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but Mr. Critz wouldn't play ball. He presented himself as a pro-life, pro-gun moderate who opposed Obamacare and carbon taxes.
This approach should serve Mr. Critz well in the general election. But it will be difficult for Democrats who voted for the stimulus bill, cap and trade and Obamacare to emulate it.
And, noted Sean Trende of RealClear Politics, more than 60 seats held by Democrats are more favorable to Republicans than is Pennsylvania's 12th.
Though he must be considered the favorite, Mr. Critz is by no means a shoe-in in the fall. There were 82,710 votes cast in the simultaneous Democratic primary in the 12th district, but Mr. Critz got just 70,710 in the special election (with 99.83% of precincts reporting). That means 14.5 percent of those who voted in the Democratic primary didn't vote for Mr. Critz in the special election.
There were only 45,809 votes cast in the Republican primary, but Mr. Burns got 60,587 votes in the special election. Mr. Burns got 32.3 percent more votes than were cast in the Republican primary.
Republican optimism for November has been based mostly on opinion polls indicating independents are leaning heavily toward the GOP. But little of Mr. Burns' support in the special election came from independents. Only 6,295 votes more were cast in the special election -- 4.7 percent of the total -- than were cast in the Democratic and Republican primaries combined.
Pennsylvania's primaries are closed. Independents can't vote in them. Consequently, Pennsylvania has a smaller proportion of unaffiliated voters -- 11.6 percent -- than do most states. That's more than twice the proportion of unaffiliated voters who voted in the special election in the 12th district. Independents can vote in November.
What this means is that virtually all of Mr. Burns' additional votes came from Democrats. How many other Democratic candidates in swing districts could suffer that high a proportion of defections and survive?
Two who probably can't are Reps. Kathy Dahlkemper in Pennsylvania's 3rd district, and Paul Kanjorski in the 11th district.
Just 47,183 votes were cast in the Democratic primary in Ms. Dahlkemper's district, of which she got 34,534. In the Republican primary, 54,055 votes were cast, despite no statewide races to draw GOP voters to the polls.
There were also more votes in the Republican primaries than in the Democratic primaries in the districts represented by Democrats Patrick Murphy, Chris Carney and Tim Holden, and in the district currently held by Rep. Sestak.
Rep. Kanjorski could muster just 49.3 percent of the vote against two opponents in his primary. For an incumbent, that's a recipe for toast come November.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration.
Jack Kelly Archives
include "/home/jwreview/public_html/t-ssi/jwr_squaread_300x250.php"; ?>
© 2009, Jack Kelly
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|