

Same election results evoke many interpretations

5:41 PM, Nov. 8, 2013  |  Comments
Elections results are interpreted differently by everyone. What is the most significant point you took from Tuesday's results?
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2013 marks turnaround in voter message to politicians

There is great significance in the election results of Tuesday.

Pragmatism won a big victory, as did the idea of compromise and working together as Republicans and Democrats to solve the nation's problems.

The crushing blow of the elections was to the insanity of the right-wing zealots like Ken Cuccinelli and Ted Cruz. Here on the Shore, this includes our local Republican party chairman and such letter writers as we hear from our Worcester County Tea Party types who constantly decry our president, clutching the flag and their own interpretations of Christianity as well as the dictates of the National Rifle Association to try to intimidate reasonable politicians.

Rep. Andy Harris lost as well. His nutty actions such as voting against aid to the Lower Shore during hurricane Sandy and his votes to defund Obamacare, as well as his ranting to reduce Social Security and Medicare, pleased his small but vocal group of tea partiers but in this election, it was shown that we no longer subscribe to his kind of politics - unless you are one of those who is part of the problem.

This was a great turnaround election in which even conservatives like Chris Christie showed that people want Democrats and Republicans to get along and work together instead of acting like the tea party types and our congressman.

Geoff Smoot


Small margins of victory highlight importance of every vote

Tuesday's election results are significant for many reasons. Whether it's a county election or a national election, it makes a difference.

This particular election cycle, I spent a lot of time in beautiful Frederick, Md., and Annapolis. Both cities worked hard, organized and kept their eyes on the prize. For Republicans, those efforts paid off as Mayor Randy McClement was re-elected. My fingers are still crossed, but as of this writing, it looks like Annapolis mayoral candidate Mike Pantelides will also be elected.

The reason these races are critical is because they can be decided by a relatively small margin. Every door that is knocked on and every phone call that is made makes a difference. For someone who enjoys working on campaigns, such as myself, a smaller race is an opportunity to get a feel for what it takes to be successful.

The thing I find most troublesome is the sense of apathy that is rampant regarding politics and elections. I get it - it can be incredibly frustrating, but at a city and county level, you have a genuine opportunity to have a voice and influence how your home community is governed. To forgo that opportunity is something I just can't fathom.

While Ken Cuccinelli wasn't victorious in our neighboring state of Virginia, many feel that the fact the race was as close as it was is still indeed a referendum on Obamacare.

Don't settle. Use your voice, get involved and make a difference.

Jackie Wellfonder


At last, relative unity among voters' desires, intentions

It seems the bright, rising tea party star is growing dim and descending.

In Virginia, Terry McAuliffe won the governorship. For the first time in 36 years in that state, the candidate who won is in the same political party as the elected U.S. president.

McAuliffe and President Barack Obama are both Democrats. Sen. Ted Cruz duplicate and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli lost.

In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie presented himself as a moderate Republican. Elected by a wide margin for a second time in that Democrat-dominated state, Christie is the first Republican to win a statewide election with more than 50 percent of the vote since 1988, when George H.W. Bush did it.

Alabama's First Congressional District, full of God-and-guns tea party folks, is most instructive.

The Republican primary there ended with establishment, pro-business candidate Bradley Byrne beating tea party candidate Dean Young. If there is any place the tea party should be winning, it is here - and it didn't.

Both parties can learn from this election.

In Virginia, Cuccinelli cut an 11-point difference to 2.5 points by attacking Obamacare. Democrats need to get it fixed before the 2014 elections.

Republicans need to do a lot of work. Depending on Obamacare faults to win in 2014 will lead to disappointment. Most likely, by that time Obamacare will be running better, not worse.

They also need to understand that Americans want no more brainless threats or losing shutdowns.

We want our government to work and we want our economy healed.

George T. Mason


Change is in the air and election results confirm this

There's something intangible about walking outside on a crisp October day and thinking, "Wow, I can smell the change in the air after that hot, muggy, stormy summer." That's the feeling in the political atmosphere after the Virginia, New York City, Alabama and New Jersey elections.

Virginia rejected wildly unpopular and weird cultural ideas, as well as Cuccinelli's embrace of the extreme right. He refuses to even call and congratulate his opponent. The NewYork City mayoral race was important because of its rejection of oligarchs who have overtaken the city and have changed it into a citadel of wealth where most of the population can't afford to live.

I was a teacher for 30 years in an inner city of one of New Jersey's most troubled areas and am still upset with Chris Christie's attitude toward teachers' rights. But he cooperates with both parties in doing what is right for his state. When castigated for actually embracing the man they consider a monster, Christy hugged Obama a bit more tightly and challenged those tea-partiers with a glint in his eye and some well-chosen words. Nonpartisanship works for the people.

Alabama's GOP primary loss of a tea party candidate to a mainstream Republican has not been reported widely, but is pivotal in showing how the fear of being "primaried" out by the tea party is lessening. That tea party candidate, Dean Young, is a birther who seems oddly out of step with the modern world.

Americans, by and large, want cooperation and want to see government govern.

Barbara Doyle Schmid

Ocean Pines

Elections confirmed that it's still mostly about money

Tuesday's results reinforced the old saw: "money talks, everything else walks."

In Virginia, Terry McAuliffe outspent Ken Cuccenelli 3-to-1, $15 million to $5 million. Outside Democratic sources poured in huge sums in their efforts to regain Virginia as a Democratic governorship. Democrats also heavily funded Robert Sarvis, the Independent Libertarian Party candidate. The final vote saw Cuccenelli losing by 55,000 votes, while the third-party candidate garnered a little more than 145,00 votes in a losing effort that was a winner for Democrats.

In New Jersey, the Democratic candidate for governor was extremely distressed that the Democratic Party leadership "underfunded/nonfunded" her campaign, and clearly stated that was why she lost by more than 20 percentage points. Barbara Buono never spoke of philosophical differences, only the lack of finances.

In Washington state, a referendum for outlawing genetically modified organisms was extremely popular in every poll held up to within two weeks of Election Day. GMOs are laboratory-engineered strains of fruits and vegetables which have come under greater scrutiny regarding safety. In California last year, Proposition 37 was defeated by a rush of last-minute heavy advertising by both the chemical and food processing lobbies.

This year, Washington state proponents of Prop 522 were sure to have GMO's banned, but a late campaign donation of several million dollars led to last-minute defeat by the chemical producers and the food processors.

In Colorado, 11 counties had referendums on whether to continue secession efforts, much like in Western Maryland. In six counties, efforts failed.

Arie Klapholz

Ocean Pines

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