Thread: IT BEGINS: REPUBLICAN WINS FL CONGRESSIONAL SEAT Race Dems Can't Afford to Lose...

Conservative Daily

Big win for Florida tonight!

A Cuban-American from Miami is congratulating you Congressman! Fight and fight hard for Florida

OMG, this is the best news I have heard for us Floridians and America! There is a God!

Your Welcome America.... You'll Thank us Later

The Race Democrats Can’t Afford to Lose

By Stuart Rothenberg
Posted at 5 a.m. on Jan. 9
394

Israel is chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

It’s rare in politics that anything other than a presidential contest is viewed as a “must win” — but the special election in Florida’s 13th District falls into that category for Democrats.
A loss in the competitive March 11 contest would almost certainly be regarded by dispassionate observers as a sign that President Barack Obama could constitute an albatross around the neck of his party’s nominees in November. And that could make it more difficult for Democratic candidates, campaign committees and interest groups to raise money and energize the grass roots.
Fundamentally, the district, left vacant by the death of longtime Republican Rep. C.W. Bill Young, looks competitive but has a slight Democratic tinge. Barack Obama carried it 52 percent to 48 percent in 2008, but he had a more narrow victory four years later, when he won 50 percent to 49 percent.
But fundamentals are only a small part of the Democratic advantage in the district this year. Campaign-related factors should strongly benefit the Democrats, as well.
Alex Sink is certain to win the Democratic nomination in the Jan. 14 primary. Sink, whose late husband, Bill McBride, was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for governor in 2002, was elected Florida’s chief financial officer in 2006.
Four years later, she was her party’s gubernatorial nominee. In that toxic political environment for Democrats, Sink lost to multimillionaire GOP businessman Rick Scott by a mere 61,550 votes out of more than 5.3 million cast – a margin of just more than 1 point. In that contest, Scott spent $73 million of his own money (including money from his wife’s revocable trust), according to the Orlando Sentinel. But Sink carried the 13th District by 2 points in that race.
Democrats have rallied behind Sink’s congressional bid so completely that 2012 Democratic nominee Jessica Ehrlich, who wanted to run in the special election, was forced out of the contest.
Republicans, on the other hand, won’t choose their nominee until next week. The GOP primary seems to boil down to David Jolly, a longtime aide to Young who left his staff to become a Washington, D.C., lobbyist in 2007, and state Rep. Kathleen Peters, who is serving her first term in the Florida Legislature.
The Republican primary has not been without rancor (it has even divided members of the late congressman’s family), and the eventual nominee will have to unite his or her party quickly, raise funds for the special election and immediately start to engage Sink.
Money could be a significant problem for the GOP.
In her Dec. 25 online fundraising report, Sink showed total contributions of $1.43 million, with just more than $1 million in the bank. In his late December report, Jolly showed just under$142,000 on hand, while Peters reported less than $18,000 in the bank.
The calendar also favors the former Florida CFO, who is clearly more prepared to launch a top-tier campaign after the polls close next week than her eventual Republican opponent will be. While a mere eight weeks separate the special primary and the special election, the window is even narrower than that, because absentee ballots for domestic voters are tentatively scheduled to be mailed on Feb. 4 and early voting begins March 1, according to the website of the Pinellas County supervisor of elections.
Given all of the advantages that Sink has — the district, her experience and proven electoral success, her money in the bank and her united party — and the problems the GOP nominee will face, shouldn’t the likely Democratic nominee be a clear favorite to win the special election, getting her party one seat closer to the majority in November?
The answer is “yes,” and if this seat had become open in 2006 or 2007, there is little doubt that Democrats would have been solid favorites to win.
But the president’s weak poll numbers nationally and the problems associated with the launch of the health care law could undermine Sink’s obvious advantages, particularly in this Central Florida district, where 22 percent of residents are 65 or older. (Republican strategists believe that voters 65 and older could constitute close to 30 percent of the special-election electorate.)
If swing voters decide to use the special election as an opportunity to register their displeasure with the president or punish Sink because she is a member of Obama’s party, the eventual Republican nominee’s prospects could rise.
And Democrats are worried that the composition of the special-election electorate will make the contest more challenging for their nominee than it would be in a regularly scheduled election.
Still, all things being equal, Sink has enough advantages to produce a narrow but clear victory. So, while a victory would constitute a takeover and give her party’s talking heads an opportunity to demonize the Republicans in Congress once again, it would not be surprising.
On the other hand, since most nonpartisan handicappers and analysts have for years expected this seat to go Democratic when it became open, a Republican victory in March would likely say something about the national political environment and the inclination of district voters to send a message of dissatisfaction about the president. And that possibility should worry the White House.
The National Republican Congressional Committee would love to keep this Florida seat in the special election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee cannot afford to lose it. Those are two very different perspectives that reflect the relative importance of this election to the two parties.

394 comments

http://blogs.rollcall.com/rothenblog...fford-to-lose/

Michelle Malkin

‘Underperforming’ Debbie Wasserman Schultz makes hacktastic attempt to spin Florida election loss

==>http://twitchy.com/2014/03/12/underp...election-loss/

The Democrats lost the special election in Florida which they were ballyhooing as a way to "humiliate" Boehner. So what does ugly libtard Debbie Wasserman Schultz say about it? She calls this loss a victory. You see, to a liberal, losing is winning.

http://twitchy.com/2014/03/12/underp...election-loss/

Eat your own words on Obamacare, Debbie Wasserman Schultz

BY MICHELLE MALKIN | MARCH 7, 2014 AT 10:16 AM

TOPICS: BARACK OBAMA OBAMACARE HEALTH CARE EXCHANGES DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

At the end of 2013, Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz had some nasty words for yours...At the end of 2013, Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz had some nasty words for yours truly. Irked that I used my Twitter feed to criticize her Obamacare propaganda efforts, Wasserman Schultzsnarked back at me:
"Thanks for spreading the word! You'll be eating them next year. #GetCovered."
Classy as always. And completely wrong-headed as usual. Less than three months into 2014, how's dutiful Debbie and her Dear Leader's pet government takeover program doing? The most recent retreat measures -- call it the Obamacare Endangered 2014 Midterm Democrats' Rescue Plan -- include:
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-- Allowing insurers for two extra years to continue selling plans that otherwise would have been banned by Obamacare. Last fall, Americans across the country and from all parts of the political spectrum raised an uproar in the wake of millions of Obamacare-induced cancellation notices on their individual market health plans. President Obama trotted out a "keep your plan" Band-Aid effective through this year. Now, the "transitional period" will extend through October 2016 and cover policyholders until the following September, after Obama is safely out of office.
— Extending the open enrollment period for 2015 from November 2014 to February 2015, a month longer than originally scheduled. (It will no doubt be extended again as the midterm elections get closer.)
— Relaxing eligibility requirements for insurers to qualify for financial help under a three-year program intended to cushion insurers' costs of complying with Obamacare mandates.
— Exempting labor unions, universities and other self-insured employers from paying a fee that creates the above-noted fund.
In addition, the White House last month allowed medium-sized employers an extra year to comply with the Obamacare mandate to offer insurance to all full-time workers and reduced the percentage of workers that large companies are required to cover. These latest regulatory walk-backs by administrative fiat all come on the heels of dozens of administrative delays and rollbacks.
While Democrats complain about Republican Obamacare repeal efforts, we may be nearing a special inflection point at which the White House will have reneged on more Obamacare regulations than it's actually enforcing!
Remember: In November 2010, the White House began issuing thousands of waivers to unions, cronies, businesses and organizations that offered affordable health insurance or prescription drug coverage with limited benefits outlawed by Obamacare. The federalized health care architects had sought to eliminate those low-cost plans under the guise of controlling insurer spending on executive salaries and marketing. Despite the waivers, the mandate has led to untold disruptions in the marketplace and has prompted businesses to cancel the beneficial plans altogether and/or slash wages and work hours.
In April 2011, Obama signed a bipartisan-backed law repealing his own onerous $22 billion Obamacare 1099 tax-compliance mandate that would have destroyed small businesses inundated with pointless paperwork.
Last March, with the support of several key Democrats, the Senate voted to repeal the Obamacare medical device tax. But the vote has not been enforced. Device makers have cut back on research and development. And according to the medical device manufacturers industry group AdvaMed, the punitive tax has forced companies to lay off or avoid hiring at least 33,000 workers over the past year.
In December and January, when Wasserman Schultz was busy acting like a 2-year-old in response to Obamacare critics, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was busy:
— Delaying premium payment deadlines.
— Delaying high-risk insurance pool cancellations.
— Delaying equal coverage mandates that force companies to drop health benefits rewards for top executives.
— Delaying onerous "meaningful use" mandates on health providers grappling with Obamacare's disastrous top-down electronic medical records rules.
While Wasserman Schultz defiantly claims all Democrats will proudly run on health care in 2014 and 2016, endangered Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina was caught on camera just last week literally running away from a journalist who dared to ask her about the 24 times she falsely promised that if you liked your plan, you could keep it under Obama.
It's not just Hagan; every vulnerable Senate Democrat who rammed Obamacare down America's throat is now running for the hills. When the White House now talks about the "Get Covered" campaign, it's not about ordinary Americans getting health care. It's about covering the backsides of the Obama water-carriers who may very well lose their jobs. They're not just eating their words. They're choking on Obamacare's massive, inevitable, job-killing, life-threatening failures.
I'd like to tell bratty Wasserman Schultz that Obamacare critics will have the last laugh. But we're too busy weeping at the senseless government-induced wreckage around us.
MICHELLE MALKIN, a Washington Examiner columnist, is nationally syndicated by Creators Syndicate.

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http://washingtonexaminer.com/eat-yo...rticle/2545263

National Rifle Association

Congratulations to NRA-PVF endorsed David Jolly who defeated Alex Sink in Tuesday's special election in Florida Congressional District 13.

Our Second Amendment rights are under attack in Florida and we need you to take action. Alex Sink, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Barack Obama support dangerous legislation that punishes law-abiding gun owners. If elected, Alex Sink will to go to Washington and help her anti-Second Amendment friends pass legislation that will curtail our freedom. We cannot let this happen.

To stop Alex Sink vote for the NRA-PVF endorsed candidate David Jolly in Florida’s 13th Congressional District Special Election on Tuesday, March 11

Or early vote March 1- March 9. For more information on voting locations or to request a ballot by mail please visit www.votepinellas.com/or call (727) 464-VOTE (8683).

• Received a “F” rating from the NRA-PVF.
• Supports “universal” background checks that would require some family members and lifelong friends to get government approval before legally transferring a firearm.
• Supports additional restrictions at gun shows that would effectively eliminate gun shows all together.
• Refuses to answer some of the most basic questions regarding the Second Amendment and our fundamental right of self defense.

• Endorsed by NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF)
• Completed a perfect 2014 Federal Candidate Questionnaire and is committed to protecting your gun rights!
• Supports the “National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act.” This bill would ensure that law-abiding Americans with valid concealed handgun permits would be able to carry a concealed handgun in any other state that does not prohibit concealed carry.
• Supports Heller and McDonald- David Jolly believes that the Second Amendment guarantees our fundamental, individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms of all Americans.
• Opposes expanding federal background checks between family members and lifelong friends.

• ABOUT PVF|

• CONTACT US|

• PRIVACY POLICY

Conservative Daily

That's alright, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, you just say whatever makes you feel good.

As for the Florida election, it was worse for Democrats than she pretends...

Wasserman Schultz Spins Florida Election Defeat: This Just Proves Obamacare is Popular & GOP is Weak

By Mike Miller
6 hours ago



Florida Republican David Jolly won the special election on Tuesday to fill the 13th district House seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Bill Young (R). With nearly all of the votes counted, Jolly had 48.5 percent of the vote vs. Democrat Alex Sink’s 46.7 percent.
Not even the Libertarian in the race, Lucas Overby, taking 4.8 percent was enough to stop Jolly. The GOP candidate fell $1.5 million short of the Democratic Sink in fundraising, and was outspent in negative campaigns ads via outside sources, which tallied a whopping $9 million total.
Yet the Democratic National Committee head Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) said Jolly’s victory — the Democrat candidate’s loss — proved how weak the GOP is. Or something.

“Republican special interest groups poured in millions to hold onto a Republican congressional district that they’ve comfortably held for nearly 60 years. Tonight, Republicans fell short of their normal margin in this district because the agenda they are offering voters has a singular focus – that a majority of voters oppose – repealing the Affordable Care Act that would return us to the same old broken health care system.”

Okay, wait. Wasserman Schultz is saying that because Republicans didn’t win by a greater margin, they lost? Au contraire, Debbie. Not only did Barack Obama win the 13th district in both 2008 and 2012, Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report, saw this special election as a must-win for Democrats.

“Since most nonpartisan handicappers and analysts have for years expected this seat to go Democratic when it became open, a Republican victory would likely say something about the national political environment and the inclination of district voters to send a message of dissatisfaction about the president. And that possibility should worry the White House.”

Setting aside Wasserman Schultz (who continues to insist that Democrats will run on ObamaCare in this year’s midterms), this election was a clear indication that Barack Obama and his policies do not bode well for Democrats in November. Not only do Democrats running for reelection know that very well –even more so now — it’s a fair assumption that the White House does as well.
Oh, and Debbie? That old saying about how you can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig? Yeah, you lost a seat you were expected to win. Nice spin.

BREAKING: In Early Obamacare Battle, Republican Jolly Defeats Alex Sink – Despite Being Outspent by Millions

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/03/1207...oves-weak-gop/

http://www.alipac.us/f9/pollster-sch...1/#post1399510

Jolly Pulls Off Squeaker Win in Florida Special Election

Tuesday, 11 Mar 2014 08:00 PM
By Jason Devaney and Todd Beamon

Republican David Jolly has scored a surprise victory in Florida’s special election to fill the seat held by the late Rep. Bill Young.

According to official figures, Jolly edged Democratic candidate Alex Sink by less than 3,500 votes — 88,294 to 84,877. Libertarian candidate Lucas Overby finished a distant third with 8,799 votes.

Jolly's share of the vote was 48.52 percent, with Sink capturing 46.64 percent and Overby 4.84 percent.

The most recent opinion polls had Sink leading the race by between 7 and 9 percent. Sink, 65, conceded defeat shortly before 8 p.m., less than an hour after the polls had closed.

The race had become almost a referendum on Obamacare, political observers believe, although after the result was announced Jolly insisted it was more than that.

"Yes, Obamacare was an issue," he told Fox News' Megyn Kelly. "The voters made it an issue. But at the end of the day, Obamacare represents just a view of government that has been put forward by this president that I think many people reject."

He said people believe that there is too much government interference in ordinary citizens' lives and Obamacare is emblematic of that. "It cripples the economy. It hurts our employment," he said.

But Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement to The Hill, "Tonight, one of Nancy Pelosi’s most prized candidates was ultimately brought down because of her unwavering support for Obamacare, and that should be a loud warning for other Democrats running coast to coast."

And House Speaker John Boehner tweeted:

John Boehner ✔ @johnboehner
Follow
RT @TeamBoehner: The Left outspent our candidate in #FL13 more than $1 million, but they still couldn’t overcome the #ObamaCare disaster
8:01 PM - 11 Mar 2014


The result is a huge disappointment for Democrats who believed that Sink was the right choice in a marginal seat, political analyst and pollster Doug Schoen told Newsmax immediately after the results were announced.

"Obama won the district when he ran for president," Schoen said in an exclusive interview. "Sink won the district when she ran for governor.

"It says to me that the Democratic brand is in trouble. Maybe not big trouble, but certainly in serious trouble.

"The Sink campaign did everything they possibly could to win and, bottom line, the sentiment against the Democrats and President Obama was the difference on the night."

Democratic strategist Joe Trippi told Greta Van Susteren on Fox News he thought that Sink would win. "But it's not that surprising," he added. "Obamacare definitely was a factor."

Trippi called Jolly's victory "a big win for the Republicans," adding, "but don't read too much into it."

And Ezekiel Emanuel, one of the architects of Obamacare told Megyn Kelly he did not think the result was a "bellwether' on the Affordable Care Act. "This is a razor-thin election. It was a very close election on both sides," he said.

Young, who died in October after nearly 42 years in the House, was also a Republican. The election to replace him in the 13th District, located in the St. Petersburg and Clearwater area drew national attention as it became focused on healthcare instead of local issues as both parties tested their campaign strategies ahead of the midterm elections in November.

The Sunlight Foundation, which keeps tabs on government information, reports that more than $11 million was spent on the race.

With Barack Obama in the final three years of his presidency, this year’s elections are expected to be tight, particularly in the Senate, where Republicans are hoping to regain control. The GOP needs six seats to take over the majority.

The Florida election served as an audition for how the campaigns could play out this year. Healthcare will be the main topic of conversation and debate.

Jolly, 41, worked as general counsel to Young before becoming a lobbyist. He ran under the premise of getting rid of the healthcare law. Sink labeled him an extremist, saying he wants to bring the nation back to the time when insurance companies would deny citizens with pre-existing conditions.

In a speech at his Clearwater Beach campaign headquarters in which he was introduced by former “Price is Right” host Bob Barker via video, Jolly thanked his supporters and looked forward to his new job in the House.

"This race is not about defending a broken agenda in Washington or advancing a broken agenda in Washington," he said. "This race is about serving the people in our own community. Let’s dispense with the rancor and vitriol of the last five months."

He also tweeted:

David Jolly @DavidJollyCD13
Follow
"I ran for Congress not to advance Washington but to advance #Pinellas County." #CD13 #FL13
8:24 PM - 11 Mar 2014



Sink addressed her supporters, who cast a somber tone in a half-empty ballroom, at her St. Petersburg headquarters after conceding defeat.

"We know that life brings many challenges. It brings many opportunities. My values have always been to do good for my family and for my community," said Sink, the former CFO of the state of Florida and the Democratic nominee in the 2010 governor’s race. "We don't know what the future holds, but I'll do what I've always done and continue to serve my community.”

Both Democrats and Republicans used the race to audition national campaign strategies for the fall elections.

In the final days, the Sink campaign called in former President Bill Clinton to rally support, while the Jolly campaign hosted a telephone conference call with House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican and 2012 vice presidential nominee.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related stories:

• Dems, GOP Test Fall Strategy in Florida House Race
• David Jolly Gets GOP Ad Boost in Key Fla. House Race

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Jol.../11/id/558981/