Posted by Stacey, a resident of the Amberwood/Wood Meadows neighborhood, on Nov 4, 2009 at 7:31 am
Stacey is a member (registered user) of Pleasanton Weekly

Sure, they should be wary. It shows that independent voters want the country to just run somewhere in the middle. They rebel by voting in "the other guy" only to overturn again later when partisanship takes over.

Posted by tyu, a resident of the Birdland neighborhood, on Nov 4, 2009 at 7:53 am

And local republicans are once again frustrated and feel impotent losing another local election to Garamendi. They were sure they would win that one and got reminded that they live in California. Time to pack up and move to Middle America.

Posted by Bobby, a resident of the Del Prado neighborhood, on Nov 4, 2009 at 8:04 am

CONGRESS BEWARE ... "WE THE PEOPLE" ARE WATCHING.

WE'LL SEE YOU AT THE NEXT ELECTION.

For those who need a picture,

To the Congress:

The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775 - you have had 234 years to get it right; it is broke.

Social Security was established in 1935 - you have had 74 years to get it right; it is broke.

Fannie Mae was established in 1938 - you have had 71 years to get it right; it is broke.

The "War on Poverty" started in 1964 - you have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor"; it hasn't worked and our entire country is broke.

Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 - you've had 44 years to get it right; they are broke.

Freddie Mac was established in 1970 - you have had 39 years to get it right; it is broke.

Trillions of dollars were spent in the massive political payoffs called TARP, the "Stimulus", the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009... none show any signs of working, although ACORN appears to have found a new source: the American taxpayer.

And finally, to set a new record:

"Cash for Clunkers" was established in 2009 and went broke in 2009! It took cars (that were the best some people could afford) and replaced them with high-priced and less-affordable cars, mostly Japanese. A good percentage of the profits went out of the country. And the American taxpayers take the hit for Congress' generosity in burning three billion more of our dollars on failed experiments.

So with a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves that "services" you shove down our throats are failing faster and faster, you want Americans to believe you can be trusted with a government-run health care system?

20% of our entire economy?

With all due respect,

Are you crazy?

Posted by Resident, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 4, 2009 at 10:02 am

Yes, democrats should be aware. This could be a repeat of 1994, when the Clinton's awful health care plan had an impact during elections.

But the republicans also need to pay attention. It looks like the extreme right is not as popular as they think. The republicans are now split: the moderates and the extreme right.

"A battle for a vacant Republican U.S. House seat worked against the GOP in upstate New York. The contest to fill the seat sparked a vicious internal fight between GOP conservatives and moderates.

The struggle was viewed as a proxy for a national struggle between activists arguing the GOP slipped by betraying conservative values and officials warning a rightward move would further alienate an increasingly independent-minded electorate.

The split resulted in the election of Bill Owens -- the first Democratic congressman from that region since the late 1800s."

Full article: Web Link

Posted by Barb, a resident of the Country Fair neighborhood, on Nov 4, 2009 at 11:16 am

what the current Repub activists need to understand is that if EVERY registered Repub voted Rep (in any race) there are still not enough for victory. Victory can ONLY be won with centrist, non-partisan, registered DECLINE-TO-STATES...added to the registered Repub numbers. It's a NUMBERS GAME. Repubs....ALONE.... cannot win ANY election. So they try to push out social moderates. ALL Repubs today are ECONOMIC consrvatives....the problem comes with some recent religious zealots, who wrongly bring their religion into any political party. I like Reagan's idea of limited government staying OUT of private lives...and his idea if you agree on 80% of issues, you UNITED behind a candidate...not be driven out of the party.

Posted by Barb, a resident of the Country Fair neighborhood, on Nov 4, 2009 at 11:16 am

what the current Repub activists need to understand is that if EVERY registered Repub voted Rep (in any race) there are still not enough for victory. Victory can ONLY be won with centrist, non-partisan, registered DECLINE-TO-STATES...added to the registered Repub numbers. It's a NUMBERS GAME. Repubs....ALONE.... cannot win ANY election. So they try to push out social moderates. ALL Repubs today are ECONOMIC consrvatives....the problem comes with some recent religious zealots, who wrongly bring their religion into any political party. I like Reagan's idea of limited government staying OUT of private lives...and his idea if you agree on 80% of issues, you UNITED behind a candidate...not be driven out of the party.

Posted by Barb, a resident of the Country Fair neighborhood, on Nov 4, 2009 at 11:25 am

I'm glad Owens, the first Dem since 1800s won in New York 23. Should teach the Repubs to not play games. Put up an ELECTABLE candidate that is agreeable to most people, on today's economic issues. Throw in a sneeky, secret social creep and defeat is guaranteed.

Posted by My 2/100, a resident of the Avignon neighborhood, on Nov 4, 2009 at 12:11 pm

Winning the governorship in VA is not really that impressive. It's a red state one year after the opposite party won the White House. New Jersey has a long history of electing Republican governors.

NY-23, however, is a different animal. The GOP held this seat for a century, and coulnd't win due to doctrine orthodoxy battles within the Republican Party. Not a good sign for Republicans.

Posted by Stacey, a resident of the Amberwood/Wood Meadows neighborhood, on Nov 4, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Stacey is a member (registered user) of Pleasanton Weekly

Republicans should be wary that their wins are based upon disgruntlement with the other party, not because of some superior aspect of the Republican platform.

Posted by Stay Cool, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 4, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Stay Cool is a member (registered user) of Pleasanton Weekly

They should also be wary of Palin's Midas Touch - and so far, it ain't the touch of gold! I'm not even sure how this is being spun as an issue - did people actually think that after the election of Obama, everyone was supposed to vote Democrat for always and forever? Why so much emphasis on the governorships and not the 23rd or Garamendi?