Most ineffective state parties

[JohnnyLongtorso]

I suppose winning only 2 House seats out of 29 is a pretty valid reason to point out the NY GOP too.

And there isn't even a Democratic gerrymander!

Republicans in New York are rather like Democrats in the South. While their performance in federal elections is pathetic, they manage to hold on to state legislative seats that by all right should have flipped years ago. One of the SSP jockeys put together a chart of New York Senate districts and the Obama/McCain numbers. Obama won 22 Republican-held Senate districts, 10 of which were 10-point margins or better.

[Mr.Phips]

The Pennsylvania Democratic party.  They should, for all intents and purposes, have a solid majority in the State House and Senate.  However, they continue to throw away chances to win very winnable House and Senate seats.  A couple weeks ago, there were two special elections for state House seats that Obama narrowly carried and Republicans held them with nearly 80% of the vote.  Next week, there will be a special election in a state House seat that Obama won with 67% of the vote and Kerry took with 60% and Republicans will probably hold that one too.  

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The Pennsylvania Democratic party.  They, for all intents and purposes, have a solid majority in the State House and Senate.  However, they continue to throw away chances to win very winnable House and Senate seats.  A couple weeks ago, there were two special elections for state House seats that Obama narrowly carried and Republicans held them with nearly 80% of the vote.  Next week, there will be a special election in a state House seat that Obama won with 67% of the vote and Kerry took with 60% and Republicans will probably hold that one too. 

What? You mean in terms of Seats voting in the Presidential election?

Cause the last time I check PA SEnate had 30 Republican Senators to 20 Democratic Senators.

And the House is 105 Dem to 97 Republican or something like that.

The PA GOP is very strong.

[Mr.Phips]

The Pennsylvania Democratic party.  They, for all intents and purposes, have a solid majority in the State House and Senate.  However, they continue to throw away chances to win very winnable House and Senate seats.  A couple weeks ago, there were two special elections for state House seats that Obama narrowly carried and Republicans held them with nearly 80% of the vote.  Next week, there will be a special election in a state House seat that Obama won with 67% of the vote and Kerry took with 60% and Republicans will probably hold that one too. 

What? You mean in terms of Seats voting in the Presidential election?

Cause the last time I check PA SEnate had 30 Republican Senators to 20 Democratic Senators.

And the House is 105 Dem to 97 Republican or something like that.

The PA GOP is very strong.

I forgot to add "should" to that sentance.  My point is that Republicans are very strong here and hold many seats in the Philly suburbs that should for all intents and purposes, be held by Democrats. 

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

NY GOP is the most inept and ineffective state party in the country.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

The NY GOP (duh).

[politicalchick20]

The GOP in NY, CA, and IL are the winners to my mind, along with the GOP in MD (I can't help but wonder, however, if the MD Dems could have problems similar to MA Dems in the future, though, due to a similar lack of competition--seats don't open up very often here).

AK Dems seem to qualify for this, too (as in being a joke state party, not a party that could be in danger in resting on its laurels).

And I'm wondering if either the OK Dems or GOP could be perceived as weak, the Dems for (obviously) only having one Congressional seat (that barely counts, due to Boren being the ultimate DINO) and the Governorship (which will probably be gone next year) despite having an advantage in voter registration, and the GOP's wins in the state being made up largely by those aforementioned Dems (suggesting an inability to register their own voters, despite their party's electoral success in the state).

The MN GOP appears to be pretty weak too (care to elaborate, BRTD or Snowguy?).

Any insight on the last two states party organizations would be great!

[Brittain33]

Has anyone mentioned AZ Dems yet? The contrast between their federal successes and low ceiling in the legislature is pretty stunning, they seem to rely largely on a few strong individuals for some races and the absence of Republican voters in others.

[politicalchick20]

TX Dems should probably be on here too. For how big the state is (I know, the sheer number of small towns cancel out the city votes), the number of House seats, and even a competitive Governor's race this year, the fact is, on a statewide level, TX Dems have ZERO power, and it's been this way since 1994. It might change in the next few years (or even this year), however.

Can anyone here comment on the state party organization itself, and how strong and/or weak it is?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I wasn't even sure NY had a state level GOP. 

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I wasn't even sure NY had a state level GOP. 

At this point, New York Republicans would be better off if there wasn't one. With the possible exception of the Illinois GOP, few state parties consistently work so hard against its own best interests.

[Lunar]

I wasn't even sure NY had a state level GOP.  

WATCH: http://capitaltonight.com/2010/06/exclusive-paladino-announces-tom-ognibene-as-lg-pick/


This guy is going to spend $10m against Lazio!  He's the guy who likes to send out horse porn and with the second love child.  

[Lunar]

I wasn't even sure NY had a state level GOP.  

At this point, New York Republicans would be better off if there wasn't one. With the possible exception of the Illinois GOP, few state parties consistently work so hard against its own best interests.

The IL GOP got together with Mark Kirk this year, perhaps because of the insanely early primary calendar.  I mean, I guess you can see a ray of light or two with something like the Comptroller's race in New York, but if me, as a long-standing political junky who spends hours a day reading political blogs, only learned that comptroller was a word instead of a typo after Blagojevich nominated Burris....

The IL GOP doesn't undermine its Senatorial and Gubernatorial candidates anything like the NY GOP and NY Conservatives do.  That's not up for debate.  Alan Keyes was obviously a white flag late into the cycle in '04, and can't compare to the infighting of the NY GOP.

Remember that the guy who's the father of Kara from American Idol received the overwhelming support of the Conservative Party's nomination, and has vowed to remain on the ballot no matter who the GOP nominates [and as of now, the father of Kara isn't on the ballot, but is pledging to spend, as far as I know, $150,000 of money he does not have to get onto the ballot on the GOP line], but even then...yeah, he's said he's going to remain on the ballot in November despite no policy disagreements with whoever the GOP nominates.

They've gone from Scozzafavaing moderates/liberals to Scozzafavaing down-the-line conservative in a heavily Democratic state.

[Eraserhead]

NY GOP and I love it.

[SvenssonRS]

Going against the typical, I'll nominate some parties from this region of the country.

Wyoming Democrats(THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE A CANDIDATE THIS YEAR)
Utah Democrats(no explanation needed)
Arizona Democrats(Glassman is the best they can do? Really?)
Kansas Democrats(see Wyoming)
North Dakota Democrats(At least this year, and it is Hoeven they're up against)
Both the Nevada Democrats and GOP(All the Democrats could pull together was two Reids, and the GOP...self-explanatory)
Oregon GOP(in a year like this, I would have hoped they'd nominate someone more important than a professor to go up against Wyden)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I wasn't even sure NY had a state level GOP.  

At this point, New York Republicans would be better off if there wasn't one. With the possible exception of the Illinois GOP, few state parties consistently work so hard against its own best interests.

The IL GOP got together with Mark Kirk this year, perhaps because of the insanely early primary calendar.  I mean, I guess you can see a ray of light or two with something like the Comptroller's race in New York, but if me, as a long-standing political junky who spends hours a day reading political blogs, only learned that comptroller was a word instead of a typo after Blagojevich nominated Burris....

The IL GOP doesn't undermine its Senatorial and Gubernatorial candidates anything like the NY GOP and NY Conservatives do.  That's not up for debate.  Alan Keyes was obviously a white flag late into the cycle in '04, and can't compare to the infighting of the NY GOP.

Remember that the guy who's the father of Kara from American Idol received the overwhelming support of the Conservative Party's nomination, and has vowed to remain on the ballot no matter who the GOP nominates [and as of now, the father of Kara isn't on the ballot, but is pledging to spend, as far as I know, $150,000 of money he does not have to get onto the ballot on the GOP line], but even then...yeah, he's said he's going to remain on the ballot in November despite no policy disagreements with whoever the GOP nominates.

They've gone from Scozzafavaing moderates/liberals to Scozzafavaing down-the-line conservative in a heavily Democratic state.

As someone who doesn't watch nor give a damn about American idol, I wonder why you keep calling him "That guy who is the father of Kara from American Idol" when just typing Joe DioGaurdi is so much easier?

[Lunar]

I wasn't even sure NY had a state level GOP.  

At this point, New York Republicans would be better off if there wasn't one. With the possible exception of the Illinois GOP, few state parties consistently work so hard against its own best interests.

The IL GOP got together with Mark Kirk this year, perhaps because of the insanely early primary calendar.  I mean, I guess you can see a ray of light or two with something like the Comptroller's race in New York, but if me, as a long-standing political junky who spends hours a day reading political blogs, only learned that comptroller was a word instead of a typo after Blagojevich nominated Burris....

The IL GOP doesn't undermine its Senatorial and Gubernatorial candidates anything like the NY GOP and NY Conservatives do.  That's not up for debate.  Alan Keyes was obviously a white flag late into the cycle in '04, and can't compare to the infighting of the NY GOP.

Remember that the guy who's the father of Kara from American Idol received the overwhelming support of the Conservative Party's nomination, and has vowed to remain on the ballot no matter who the GOP nominates [and as of now, the father of Kara isn't on the ballot, but is pledging to spend, as far as I know, $150,000 of money he does not have to get onto the ballot on the GOP line], but even then...yeah, he's said he's going to remain on the ballot in November despite no policy disagreements with whoever the GOP nominates.

They've gone from Scozzafavaing moderates/liberals to Scozzafavaing down-the-line conservative in a heavily Democratic state.

As someone who doesn't watch nor give a damn about American idol, I wonder why you keep calling him "That guy who is the father of Kara from American Idol" when just typing Joe DioGaurdi is so much easier?

- Eh, I don't watch the show either, but rather than having to remember to spell his name (CA, where I grew up, doesn't have many Italian-Americans), it's easier for me to just to mock his only reason he's remotely relevant to most New Yorkers as his daughter has 1,000x the name recognition he has.  I'm also mocking the irrelevance and the doomed nature of his candidacy.   Tens of millions of people care about Kara DioGaurdi, maybe thirty or forty people care about her father.  He actually brought Kara to the Republican Convention to woo delegates, although he got creamed.

Now, unless he wins the GOP nomination by spending money that he doesn't have [afaik, I don't think he has $200k to throw around to make it onto the GOP ballot just yet], he's going to be a third party spoiler unless he can raise the money to get onto the ballot, and win the GOP nomination.  Otherwise, he may very well hilariously present a third-party challenge to someone who's not even a moderate on a single issue, let alone a liberal.

Notice that I refer to "Dobby Tarkanian" in Nevada, which has nothing to do with spelling, but more to due with contempt towards his legitimacy as a candidate.  Ocasionally I write about "Ayn Rand Paul" too since Paul started to blow up.

And, just to be bipartisan, I've referenced "Kaboom-enthal" a few times too.

It's just my way of mocking disasters.  I try not to make a habit of it, but when a certain term describes a candidate better in my mind than the candidate's actual name, I may adopt it.  Political disasters, imo, don't need some sort of biased referencing to make it clear who they are, and really, with DioGaurdi, his daughter is the most notable thing about him.  


I'm just teasing!

[JohnnyLongtorso]

Going against the typical, I'll nominate some parties from this region of the country.

Wyoming Democrats(THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE A CANDIDATE THIS YEAR)

Actually, the state party chair stepped in to run for Governor.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I wasn't even sure NY had a state level GOP.  

At this point, New York Republicans would be better off if there wasn't one. With the possible exception of the Illinois GOP, few state parties consistently work so hard against its own best interests.

The IL GOP got together with Mark Kirk this year, perhaps because of the insanely early primary calendar.  I mean, I guess you can see a ray of light or two with something like the Comptroller's race in New York, but if me, as a long-standing political junky who spends hours a day reading political blogs, only learned that comptroller was a word instead of a typo after Blagojevich nominated Burris....

The IL GOP doesn't undermine its Senatorial and Gubernatorial candidates anything like the NY GOP and NY Conservatives do.  That's not up for debate.  Alan Keyes was obviously a white flag late into the cycle in '04, and can't compare to the infighting of the NY GOP.

Remember that the guy who's the father of Kara from American Idol received the overwhelming support of the Conservative Party's nomination, and has vowed to remain on the ballot no matter who the GOP nominates [and as of now, the father of Kara isn't on the ballot, but is pledging to spend, as far as I know, $150,000 of money he does not have to get onto the ballot on the GOP line], but even then...yeah, he's said he's going to remain on the ballot in November despite no policy disagreements with whoever the GOP nominates.

They've gone from Scozzafavaing moderates/liberals to Scozzafavaing down-the-line conservative in a heavily Democratic state.

As someone who doesn't watch nor give a damn about American idol, I wonder why you keep calling him "That guy who is the father of Kara from American Idol" when just typing Joe DioGaurdi is so much easier?

- Eh, I don't watch the show either, but rather than having to remember to spell his name (CA, where I grew up, doesn't have many Italian-Americans), it's easier for me to just to mock his only reason he's remotely relevant to most New Yorkers as his daughter has 1,000x the name recognition he has.  I'm also mocking the irrelevance and the doomed nature of his candidacy.   Tens of millions of people care about Kara DioGaurdi, maybe thirty or forty people care about her father.  He actually brought Kara to the Republican Convention to woo delegates, although he got creamed.

Now, unless he wins the GOP nomination by spending money that he doesn't have [afaik, I don't think he has $200k to throw around to make it onto the GOP ballot just yet], he's going to be a third party spoiler unless he can raise the money to get onto the ballot, and win the GOP nomination.  Otherwise, he may very well hilariously present a third-party challenge to someone who's not even a moderate on a single issue, let alone a liberal.

Notice that I refer to "Dobby Tarkanian" in Nevada, which has nothing to do with spelling, but more to due with contempt towards his legitimacy as a candidate.  Ocasionally I write about "Ayn Rand Paul" too since Paul started to blow up.

And, just to be bipartisan, I've referenced "Kaboom-enthal" a few times too.

It's just my way of mocking disasters.  I try not to make a habit of it, but when a certain term describes a candidate better in my mind than the candidate's actual name, I may adopt it.  Political disasters, imo, don't need some sort of biased referencing to make it clear who they are, and really, with DioGaurdi, his daughter is the most notable thing about him.  


I'm just teasing!

This wikipedia page says he has about $900,000 COH and about 1 Mil in debt.

FEC Page: http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/cancomsrs/

both from March 31st.

What he has now I don't know. I would assume that if he had almost 1 Million he should have 200,000 now.

[Lunar]

So... he has negative $100,000?

Where do I sign up to loan him money for his third-party candidacy against liberal Malpass or Blakeman?  Sounds like a winner.

[Deldem]

TX Dems should probably be on here too. For how big the state is (I know, the sheer number of small towns cancel out the city votes), the number of House seats, and even a competitive Governor's race this year, the fact is, on a statewide level, TX Dems have ZERO power, and it's been this way since 1994. It might change in the next few years (or even this year), however.

Can anyone here comment on the state party organization itself, and how strong and/or weak it is?

It's pretty terrible from what I've seen, though to be fair, conservative affluent suburbia isn't exactly fertile soil for Democrats. It's still amazing that in a state so large, the only Democrats that are remotely viable statewide are Bill White, who's already running for governor, and John Sharp, who hasn't won a statewide race since 1994.

Take District 22, for example.

Nick Lampson, in 2006 facing an opponent who waged a write-in campaign, trying to succeed disgraced Dancing With the Stars failure Tom Delay, somehow only managed 52% of the vote.

As an incumbent in 2008, in a year where the Democrats nationwide enjoyed huge success, he only got 45%, mostly due to an awful campaign- when I volunteered there, I was amazed at the disorganization and ineptitude shown by the paid staff... in late October.

We're the same party that somehow allowed a popular governor get crushed by a guy whose only accomplishment is being a mediocre owner of a mediocre baseball team.

Sadly, it probably won't change this year- almost all the vulnerables in the legislature are Democrats, and White won't be able to get over the fact that there is a "D" next to his name. The Texas Democratic Party doesn't even try most of the time, so they've never been able to get voters to consider voting for a party that is quite a bit more conservative than the national one. They just let themselves get lumped in with the national party, so ridiculous notions develop about Texas candidates- like assumptions they would kill NASA in my area, for example.

So yeah, they're pretty bad. Pretty much the only southern state where the Democrats have lost state-level ability in addition to the national level.

But hey, we're still better than the NY GOP.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

So... he has negative $100,000?

DIOGUARDI, JOSEPH J SEN $1,063,356 $89,578 $974,223 $846,243 03/31/2010

More like Postive $128,000.

Anyway I don't think thats how it works. The first number is cash received, the second number is cash spent, the third number is Current total Cash on Hand, and the last number is debt. I think he can spend all $974,000 if he so chooses.

[politicalchick20]

Whoever said the SC Dems qualified for an ineffective state party seem to be having their assertion proven over the last few days (unless any of the plant theories prove true--no, they're still a joke state party).

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Actually it would be especially true if any of the plant stories be right.

[Lunar]

Al, I can't imagine this guy NOT being a plant.  As I alluded to either, South Carolina has really strict limits on public defenders.  This dude was charged with a felony a couple months ago, and anyone with $10k in a savings account would NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR A PUBLIC DEFENDER IN SOUTH CAROLINA.   In other parts of the country, maybe.  The best case scenario for Greene is that he actually did have some "savings" from his time in the military, and that he intentionally hid said savings from the court in his request for a public defender.  But then, why would such a penny-pincher who lied to get a public defender, invest $10,000 in a campaign he would do nothing to engage in?

So, this guy, who a couple months ago proved to a court that he did not have $10k in the bank and qualified for a public defender, and who has been unemployed and living at his parent's house for nine months, suddenly has $10,400 to spend on a filing fee for a Senate primary in which he goes to zero events for, and does zero campaigning for?

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, shakes your hand [with its wing], and hands you a signed form telling you that it's a duck....?  

This isn't "possibly fishy" this is full red sirens blaring in a corruption prosecutors' eyes.

Whoever said the SC Dems qualified for an ineffective state party seem to be having their assertion proven over the last few days (unless any of the plant theories prove true--no, they're still a joke state party).

Some political shenanigans occurred in a race no one cared about, as the winner would have no chance...

are you aware of South Carolina's history?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/governors/the-five-nastiest-south-caroli.html#more

Just saying.  Look at how NY GOP should be performing in the districts that they gerrymandered, holding 2 of 29 federal seats statewide, and zero statewide offices.


Just because some ineffective party fails at competing in a primary for a race they never really cared about, doesn't make them ineffective.