Alex Sink running for Bill Young's old house seat

[milhouse24]

It's easy to scapegoat Alex Sink rather than address the long term issue of Democrats not turning out in elections that don't have a president on the ballot. Kind of like how the GOP thinks all they need to do to regain the presidency is change the messenger and not the message.

So all the Dems need to do is, clone Obama, and find congressional candidates that appeal to young people and minorities!  Rock the Vote!!!  Forget about appealing to white elderly voters.

[J. J.]

Because Democratic voters tend to be skew younger and consist of more disenfranchised groups (lower income, more minority groups, etc.). The Republican base mainly consists of old white men who would crawl over broken glass to vote straight ticket Republican for the local city council and dog catcher races.

It's wild, inaccurate, bigoted generalizations like that that drove this young, professional female to become a Republican.

WTF are you talking about.

No one around here cares why you joined a party that works against your interests

And it might be that type of thinking that will drive the next several cycles.

Basically, Sink's loss shows at least a modest Democratic loss in the fall, which is not unexpected.

[IceSpear]

Because Democratic voters tend to be skew younger and consist of more disenfranchised groups (lower income, more minority groups, etc.). The Republican base mainly consists of old white men who would crawl over broken glass to vote straight ticket Republican for the local city council and dog catcher races.

It's wild, inaccurate, bigoted generalizations like that that drove this young, professional female to become a Republican.

Huh? Are you saying that the Republican base ISN'T mainly old white people and the Democratic base ISN'T mainly minorities and young people?

Of course there are people that don't fit those descriptions in both parties, but nobody said there wasn't.

[Hifly]

Alex Sink should be exiled to Ukraine. Worst politician in the state of Florida.

[Joshgreen]

Alex Sink should be exiled to Ukraine. Worst politician in the state of Florida.

Nah that honor goes to Katherine Harris.

[ajc0918]

Just got a robocall from the DCCC(I'm a FL13 voter) that asked what my main issues were when deciding my vote. I wonder if they're trying to form a platform for November based on FL13? They also asked my fav/unfav for each candidate.

[Princess Nyan Cat]

Because Democratic voters tend to be skew younger and consist of more disenfranchised groups (lower income, more minority groups, etc.). The Republican base mainly consists of old white men who would crawl over broken glass to vote straight ticket Republican for the local city council and dog catcher races.

It's wild, inaccurate, bigoted generalizations like that that drove this young, professional female to become a Republican.

Huh? Are you saying that the Republican base ISN'T mainly old white people and the Democratic base ISN'T mainly minorities and young people?

Of course there are people that don't fit those descriptions in both parties, but nobody said there wasn't.

I'm saying that generalizing Republicans as "old white men who would crawl over broken glass to vote straight ticket Republican for the local city council and dog catcher races" is insulting,  bigoted, and insensitive!  Thank you for reminding me why I rejected the warped, intolerant, smugly self-confident world-view of liberals in college.

[Badger]

If we are going to talk about the national implications of the race, it is important to note that Obama only won this district by 1.5 points in 2012. Sink lost by about 2 points. This implies that the national generic vote would be about even, which is where it was in 2012. How does this tell us anything new? If it tells us that the Democrats won't be retaking the house, then I would say that everyone already knew that. Yes, Democrats need to win this sort of seat to win the house but that is not going to happen in 2014. Whether or not the Democrats hold on to the Senate is the real question this election cycle and this race doesn't give us an answer to that question.

That assumes the candidate quality was about equal. If Sink were a superior candidate vis a vis Jolly, as I assumed, then one comes to a different conclusion. It is interesting Sink did so much better with the absentees than she did with the election day voters. That suggests the Dems were far superior on the ground than the Pubs were, which is another possible factor in the mix to consider. It is rather hard to believe that higher scale SES voters tend to vote on election day rather than before, when one's intuition is precisely the opposite, and I think in 2012 Obama did in fact do a bit better with the election day voters than the absentees. Another explanation is that Sink "sank" at the end of the race, and if that if most voters were election day voters, rather than absentees, than the election would have been more of a Jolly blow out.

I think this gets it about right. Sink was an overhyped candidate to be sure, but does anyone think Obama would've won this district with Tuesday's turnout level? Not that the difference will save many Dems in November, though.

[Yank2133]

Because Democratic voters tend to be skew younger and consist of more disenfranchised groups (lower income, more minority groups, etc.). The Republican base mainly consists of old white men who would crawl over broken glass to vote straight ticket Republican for the local city council and dog catcher races.

It's wild, inaccurate, bigoted generalizations like that that drove this young, professional female to become a Republican.

Huh? Are you saying that the Republican base ISN'T mainly old white people and the Democratic base ISN'T mainly minorities and young people?

Of course there are people that don't fit those descriptions in both parties, but nobody said there wasn't.

I'm saying that generalizing Republicans as "old white men who would crawl over broken glass to vote straight ticket Republican for the local city council and dog catcher races" is insulting,  bigoted, and insensitive!  Thank you for reminding me why I rejected the warped, intolerant, smugly self-confident world-view of liberals in college.

Get off your high horse. Ice is correct that the GOP is mainly built on old white men, who will vote rain or shine while the Democrats have a more diverse, but less reliable base. Sure, not everyone falls into that category, but generally speaking it is accurate. 

[publicunofficial]

Time to bump this horror-show of a thread.


Alex Sink is still considering a rematch against Jolly.

The article also mentions that Sink's internal polling always showed the race much closer than the public polls were saying (Much like McAuliffe's internals last year) and that Sink's camp primarily blames their loss on not getting the turnout they needed.

[Flake]

Time to bump this horror-show of a thread.


Alex Sink is still considering a rematch against Jolly.

The article also mentions that Sink's internal polling always showed the race much closer than the public polls were saying (Much like McAuliffe's internals last year) and that Sink's camp primarily blames their loss on not getting the turnout they needed.

I love her, but she needs to stay out of politics.

[badgate]

Turnout may be the reason she lost the special, but it won't be the reason she'd lose again in Nov.

[free my dawg]

Time to bump this horror-show of a thread.


Alex Sink is still considering a rematch against Jolly.

The article also mentions that Sink's internal polling always showed the race much closer than the public polls were saying (Much like McAuliffe's internals last year) and that Sink's camp primarily blames their loss on not getting the turnout they needed.

GOD DAMNIT

[IceSpear]

It would pretty much take a miracle to win the House this year anyway, so why not save our good candidates for 2016?

[Donerail]

It would pretty much take a miracle to win the House this year anyway, so why not save our good candidates for 2016?

So run Sink now and run Justice in 2016? I'm good with that.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I'd love to see her humiliated again.

[DrScholl]

Sink is the only Democrat to win a constitutional office in Florida this century, so I don't see her as a bad candidate. Besides, I read that the DCCC wants her to run again and they don't usually want poor candidates to run again.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Sink is the only Democrat to win a constitutional office in Florida this century, so I don't see her as a bad candidate. Besides, I read that the DCCC wants her to run again and they don't usually want poor candidates to run again.

The "best" candidate doesn't mean they are a lock. 'She ain't goin nowhere!

[DrScholl]

Sink is the only Democrat to win a constitutional office in Florida this century, so I don't see her as a bad candidate. Besides, I read that the DCCC wants her to run again and they don't usually want poor candidates to run again.

The "best" candidate doesn't mean they are a lock. 'She ain't goin nowhere!

Who said she was a lock? I never put that in my post.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Sink is the only Democrat to win a constitutional office in Florida this century, so I don't see her as a bad candidate. Besides, I read that the DCCC wants her to run again and they don't usually want poor candidates to run again.

The "best" candidate doesn't mean they are a lock. 'She ain't goin nowhere!

She has a chance because Crist will be running as a team with her and she has the womens' vote and he has the senior vote. Crist is in a tough battle with Scott, they need each other. Hopefully, Pelosi convinces her to run again. She will have the school teacher crowd.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Sink is the only Democrat to win a constitutional office in Florida this century, so I don't see her as a bad candidate. Besides, I read that the DCCC wants her to run again and they don't usually want poor candidates to run again.

The "best" candidate doesn't mean they are a lock. 'She ain't goin nowhere!

Who said she was a lock? I never put that in my post.

That was not directed at you as much as the faint light at the end of the tunnel that you were desperately trying to scratch with the tip of your finger nail to feed your hackish fantasies. I don't even know why the DCCC is wasting money on this seat. They need to hold Murphy and Garcia. Murphy is the only hope the FL Democrats really have besides the Republican their running this year.

[Donerail]

Sink is the only Democrat to win a constitutional office in Florida this century, so I don't see her as a bad candidate. Besides, I read that the DCCC wants her to run again and they don't usually want poor candidates to run again.

She won one election eight years ago.

[free my dawg]

Sink is the only Democrat to win a constitutional office in Florida this century, so I don't see her as a bad candidate. Besides, I read that the DCCC wants her to run again and they don't usually want poor candidates to run again.

The "best" candidate doesn't mean they are a lock. 'She ain't goin nowhere!

Who said she was a lock? I never put that in my post.

That was not directed at you as much as the faint light at the end of the tunnel that you were desperately trying to scratch with the tip of your finger nail to feed your hackish fantasies. I don't even know why the DCCC is wasting money on this seat. They need to hold Murphy and Garcia. Murphy is the only hope the FL Democrats really have besides the Republican their running this year.

Gwen Graham says hello.

[DrScholl]

Sink is the only Democrat to win a constitutional office in Florida this century, so I don't see her as a bad candidate. Besides, I read that the DCCC wants her to run again and they don't usually want poor candidates to run again.

She won one election eight years ago.

Still, it's a stretch to keep calling her a horrible candidate. She over performed greatly in poor turnout conditions, I don't think any other candidate would have done as well in FL-13 as Sink, nor as well for Governor in 2010.

[Donerail]

Sink is the only Democrat to win a constitutional office in Florida this century, so I don't see her as a bad candidate. Besides, I read that the DCCC wants her to run again and they don't usually want poor candidates to run again.

She won one election eight years ago.

Still, it's a stretch to keep calling her a horrible candidate. She over performed greatly in poor turnout conditions, I don't think any other candidate would have done as well in FL-13 as Sink, nor as well for Governor in 2010.

She overperformed? When the polls are predicting you'll win, and you'll lose, that's not called overperforming. That's underperforming. Any of the other candidates who grew up in FL-13 or have actually lived in FL-13 or owned a house in FL-13 or held a job in FL-13 would've done just as well if not better.