What Gillespie Proved

gillespie

In an election which could objectively be termed a tidal wave if not a tsunami for the Republican party, how ironic it is that a race lost by the GOP (pending a possible recount) may have served as the best indicator of the nation’s latest mood swing.

Starting almost 30 points behind, hitting the fall some 20 points in arrears and trailing by several  points in the average of polls one day before the election, Ed Gillespie came within an eyelash of shocking the political world to a degree not witnessed since – well, since Dave Brat suddenly became a household name in June.

Think about all Gillespie was up against.  Unlike his defeated senate colleagues in North Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas, Colorado, Alaska and (probably) Louisiana, Mark Warner enjoyed continued high levels of personal popularity, which was thought to be a firewall protecting him from the generic Republican cry of the year, Senator (fill in the blank) voted with Barack Obama (fill in number between 90% and 99%) of the time.  Warner had virtually unlimited money, and Gillespie was not only outspent by a large margin, and got no help from the national party, but was unfamiliar to much of the electorate, campaigning in a state with a Democratic governor and two Democratic senators that had voted for Barack Obama twice, and was representing a party reeling from the multiple-count conviction of the last GOP Governor which limited his ability to capitalize on Warner’s problem/scandal regarding the state senate.

And yet, Gillespie came out of nowhere to lead until the very end on election night.  And while some of the GOP senate pick-ups were certainly impressive, one could well argue that none was more impressive than Gillespie providing Sen. Warner’s near-death experience.

The question is why.  Obviously, Gillespie benefitted from the GOP wave, but he was also unwilling to stop at simply opposing Obama and attacking Warner for consistently supporting the president.  Instead, he delivered something well beyond the vague “patient-centered” health care reform included in the talking points of most Republicans – a concrete alternative which gave voters a chance to direct their anger more productively by contemplating a specific way to eventually get out from under Obamacare.  Instead of just grousing about the problems with the economy, he articulated a specific plan for economic growth.  And rather than simply attacking the administration’s energy policies, he advanced specific proposals on unleashing pent-up supplies of energy.

Cynics will say he did this only because he was a huge underdog written off by the political pundits from the beginning,  That may be part of it, but in the end, his two-track strategy seemed to be successful in providing a large number of voters with a positive vision of what he might actually try to do in Washington.  Almost enough voters to break the tape at the finish line.

The Gillespie campaign agenda now becomes the GOP’s governing agenda.  Facing the prospect of a senate landscape that favors the Democrats as much in 2016 as it did Republicans this year, the party knows it must actually put forward its own ideas and accomplish some things in the next two years in order to successfully re-brand themselves, hold their senate majority and win the White House.

Сейчас уже никто не берёт классический кредит, приходя в отделение банка. Это уже в далёком прошлом. Одним из главных достижений прогресса является возможность получать кредиты онлайн, что очень удобно и практично, а также выгодно кредиторам, так как теперь они могут ссудить деньги даже тем, у кого рядом нет филиала их организации, но есть интернет. http://credit-n.ru/zaymyi.html - это один из сайтов, где заёмщики могут заполнить заявку на получение кредита или микрозайма онлайн. Посетите его и оцените удобство взаимодействия с банками и мфо через сеть.