Right candidates in the wrong year
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  Right candidates in the wrong year
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Author Topic: Right candidates in the wrong year  (Read 1991 times)
IceSpear
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« on: September 19, 2014, 02:07:18 PM »

What are some candidates that were very strong, but simply could not win due to the partisan tide of the specific year? For the purposes of this thread, try not to include incumbents (ex: no Lincoln Chafee in 2006 or Russ Feingold in 2010).

Here's some I can think of:

FL-Sen (2004): Betty Castor (D)
UT-Gov (2004): Scott Matheson (D)

MD-Sen (2006): Michael Steele (R)
NJ-Sen (2006): Tom Kean, Jr. (R)
IL-Gov (2006): Judy Baar Topinka (R)
LA-Sen (2008): John Kennedy (R)
NC-Gov (2008): Pat McCrory (R)

IN-Sen (2010): Brad Ellsworth (D)
MO-Sen (2010): Robin Carnahan (D)
PA-Sen (2010): Joe Sestak (D)
AZ-Gov (2010): Terry Goddard (D)
TX-Gov (2010): Bill White (D)

HI-Sen (2012): Linda Lingle (R)
MO-Sen (2012): Todd Akin (R) (had to)
NM-Sen (2012): Heather Wilson (R)
WI-Sen (2012): Tommy Thompson (R)


If 2014 turns out to be a decent Republican year, Grimes and Nunn would certainly qualify for this list, along with potentially Ross, Carter, and Burke.
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2014, 02:09:54 PM »

Allison Lundergan F**king Grimes. She could have utterly crushed the Turtle in 2008.
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IceSpear
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« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2014, 02:12:22 PM »

Oh, I should probably add McCain for president in 2008. While he ran a horrible campaign, a lot of that was due to desperation from his lagging poll numbers. The guy used to be super popular across the entire political spectrum.
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Atlas Has Shrugged
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« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2014, 02:32:39 PM »

Allison Lundergan F**king Grimes. She could have utterly crushed the Turtle in 2008.
Agreed. Was she even eligable to be a Senator in 2008? She has to be among the top ten youngest candidates for Senate in our nations history.
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King
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« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2014, 03:04:46 PM »

Heather Wilson was never very popular and mostly faced bad candidates. IIRC she won re-election in both 04 and 06 with underwater approval ratings because the opposition was really that much of a joke.
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King
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« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2014, 03:09:00 PM »

Ah, found a great old video of the kind of "competition" Wilson faced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DQ8WDjK-lc

Which again, explains why I am aligned Republican in New Mexico.
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Chancellor Tanterterg
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« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2014, 03:14:01 PM »

Ah, found a great old video of the kind of "competition" Wilson faced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DQ8WDjK-lc

Which again, explains why I am aligned Republican in New Mexico.

Oh dear...
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bedstuy
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« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2014, 03:20:47 PM »

Sam Coppersmith in the 1994 Arizona Senate race against Jon Kyl.  


No.  Tommy Thompson was decrepit and at least partially senile in 2012.  Or maybe he was that bad of a politician in the 1990s, I don't know.  He certainly wasn't a good candidate in 2008 or 2012.
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Chancellor Tanterterg
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« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2014, 03:34:46 PM »

Steele wasn't a very good candidate, IIRC.  I'd add Chris John to this list, btw.
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IceSpear
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« Reply #9 on: September 19, 2014, 03:34:54 PM »

Ah, found a great old video of the kind of "competition" Wilson faced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DQ8WDjK-lc

Which again, explains why I am aligned Republican in New Mexico.

wat

That lady was the attorney general of the state?! It seems like she can barely speak English.
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Maxwell
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« Reply #10 on: September 19, 2014, 03:38:19 PM »

Ah, found a great old video of the kind of "competition" Wilson faced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DQ8WDjK-lc

Which again, explains why I am aligned Republican in New Mexico.

wat

That lady was the attorney general of the state?! It seems like she can barely speak English.

I found another great clip from that debate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJsaswfowY0
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IceSpear
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« Reply #11 on: September 19, 2014, 03:49:27 PM »

Ah, found a great old video of the kind of "competition" Wilson faced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DQ8WDjK-lc

Which again, explains why I am aligned Republican in New Mexico.

wat

That lady was the attorney general of the state?! It seems like she can barely speak English.

I found another great clip from that debate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJsaswfowY0

Wow, talk about cringeworthy. I'm surprised the actual election was even close. That's the power of a wave I guess.
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Miles
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« Reply #12 on: September 19, 2014, 03:55:53 PM »

In addition to the list in the OP:

WA Gov '12- McKenna
AZ Gov '10 - Goddard
OH Gov '06- Blackwell (or least I've heard that from Republicans)
AK Sen '04- Knowles
OK Sen '04- Carson

John Kennedy wasn't considered an A-List challenge to Landrieu in 2008.
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IceSpear
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« Reply #13 on: September 19, 2014, 04:24:28 PM »

In addition to the list in the OP:

WA Gov '12- McKenna
AZ Gov '10 - Goddard
OH Gov '06- Blackwell (or least I've heard that from Republicans)
AK Sen '04- Knowles
OK Sen '04- Carson

John Kennedy wasn't considered an A-List challenge to Landrieu in 2008.

Goddard was actually on my list. Tongue Good calls on McKenna/Knowles/Carson. Blackwell probably got crushed a little too badly in a purple state to qualify for this even though it was a Dem wave.

You probably know far more about this than I do, but I remember hearing that Kennedy was personally recruited by Karl Rove to switch parties and run against Landrieu. IIRC he also outperformed the polls.
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jfern
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« Reply #14 on: September 19, 2014, 06:34:08 PM »

NY-Gov 2002 Carl McCall (D)
NY-Sen 1980 Elizabeth Holtzman (D) (or any of D'Amato's other opponents)
KY-Sen 2004 Daniel Mongiardo (D)
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CapoteMonster
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« Reply #15 on: September 19, 2014, 07:57:50 PM »

Tom Campell against Feinstein in 2000. He may have beat Boxer had he gotten the nomination in 2010.
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Chancellor Tanterterg
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« Reply #16 on: September 19, 2014, 08:10:57 PM »

In addition to the list in the OP:

WA Gov '12- McKenna
AZ Gov '10 - Goddard
OH Gov '06- Blackwell (or least I've heard that from Republicans)
AK Sen '04- Knowles
OK Sen '04- Carson

John Kennedy wasn't considered an A-List challenge to Landrieu in 2008.

Blackwell was a C-list candidate.
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Joe Republic
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« Reply #17 on: September 19, 2014, 10:27:00 PM »

Christine O'Donnell could have been perfect in 1692.
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IceSpear
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« Reply #18 on: September 19, 2014, 10:54:50 PM »

Christine O'Donnell could have been perfect in 1692.

Only if she doesn't get burned at the stake first.
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moderatevoter
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« Reply #19 on: September 19, 2014, 11:12:10 PM »
« Edited: September 19, 2014, 11:14:34 PM by ModerateVAVoter »

Tom Campell against Feinstein in 2000. He may have beat Boxer had he gotten the nomination in 2010.

Could he really have won? I never thought the GOP would win that seat (no matter who they ran).


The Washington GOP seems to have a surprisingly decent bench, but the fact that their Gubernatorial elections are held in the same year as presidential ones make it hard for them to win.
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pendragon
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« Reply #20 on: September 19, 2014, 11:17:08 PM »

In my own state of Massachusetts (all Republicans and independents, since a Democrat almost by definition has to be a bad candidate to lose here in any year):

2012 Sen: Scott Brown
2012 MA-6: Richard Tisei
2010 Gov: Tim Cahill (the right year, in fact the only good year for him, but he should've either challenged Patrick in the Democratic primary or switched parties and run as a Republican)
1996 Sen: Bill Weld
1978 AG: Bill Weld (The swing to Weld from this race to his 1994 gubernatorial reelection has got to be one of the greatest for a statewide candidate in history)
1962 Sen-Special and Sen-General: George C. Lodge
1952 Sen: Henry C. Lodge Jr. (a good year for Republicans of course but JFK was obviously an excellent politician and his father spent millions in 1952 dollars to ensure his very narrow election)
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Small Business Owner of Any Repute
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« Reply #21 on: September 20, 2014, 01:54:06 AM »

Tom Kean Jr. was a terrible candidate. He had the right name and the right family connection, but that's literally all his campaign had.
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they don't love you like i love you
BRTD
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« Reply #22 on: September 20, 2014, 05:00:57 PM »

Ah, found a great old video of the kind of "competition" Wilson faced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DQ8WDjK-lc

Which again, explains why I am aligned Republican in New Mexico.

wat

That lady was the attorney general of the state?! It seems like she can barely speak English.

I found another great clip from that debate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJsaswfowY0

While we're on the subject of New Mexico Democrats, here's another good one. While it's probably more gaffe than incompetence, Denish also ran an ad featuring a woman slamming Martinez. Turns out Martinez had previously gotten that lady's husband thrown in prison for 23 years. Ouch.

It wasn't Denish, it was some teachers union PAC. And that woman was long separated from her husband and had no connection to him when he committed the kidnapping he was tried and convicted of. But yeah bad background research on that PAC regardless.

Ah, found a great old video of the kind of "competition" Wilson faced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DQ8WDjK-lc

Which again, explains why I am aligned Republican in New Mexico.

wat

That lady was the attorney general of the state?! It seems like she can barely speak English.

I found another great clip from that debate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJsaswfowY0

Well at least that's not quite as bad as Rick Perry.
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Mr. Smith
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« Reply #23 on: September 20, 2014, 06:43:53 PM »

Yeah Tom Campbell could have had that seat,and I gladly would cross party lines for one like him.

But the year would've had to have been 1994 or 2010 and he faces Boxer.

Anyway I'd go with Kathleen Brown for CA-GOV '94, Jerry Brown for CA-SEN in '82, Tom Bradley for CA-GOV in '82 (but not '86), Dianne Feinstein for CA-GOV in '90,  Joe Sestak for PA-SEN in 2010, Martha Coakley for MA-SEN in 2010, Charlie Crist for FL-SEN in 2010, Alex Sink for FL-GOV in 2010, John McCain for President in '08, Hubert Humphrey for President in '68, Richard Nixon for CA-GOV in 1962, Wendell Wilkie for President in 1940, Tom Dewey for President in 1948, James M. Cox for President in 1920....to start things off.
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Small Business Owner of Any Repute
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« Reply #24 on: September 20, 2014, 11:21:52 PM »

Oh, come on, Kathleen Brown's campaign's commercials went off-the-air for the last two weeks of the campaign. Instead, it spent millions to print a 62-page booklet full of policy positions sent to voters. There is nothing about her as a candidate that was "right." And come on, Coakley in Massachusetts in 2010?

You're just trolling us all, right?
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