Why is the media so unhappy? Is a Republican winning an election somewhere that might signal bigger things?...Tweet by John Nolte
- In the past, I've been critical of Republicans. In short, I've referred to them as spineless and feckless. In many respects, I still hold most Republicans in very low regard. I've also made it clear that if Republicans want to win future elections, they need to embrace conservative principles. No where has that been more evident than in Wisconsin where Gov. Scott Walker keeps winning doing just that.
- But something interesting occurred in yesterday's Florida's 13th District special election. Republican David Jolly defeated Democrat Alex Sink. In fact, Sink had better name recognition than Jolly. In addition, Jolly is a former lobbyist for the oil industry. Obama also won that district in the past two presidential elections. The belief among Republicans is that Jolly won because Obamacare is so unpopular. While there's some truth to that claim, his victory actually went beyond Obamacare.
- I'll alert you to the most recent Gallup Poll (results above). While it found that health care is an important issue to most Americans, it also found that climate change is not. I raise the issue of climate change because it was one of the main issues thrown at David Jolly. He's a global warming skeptic. In fact, prior to the election, his opponent and other Democrats were running ads alerting voters to Jolly's stand on the issue. Yet, both Obamacare advocacy and climate change failed to be major issues for voters in that district. To be fair, Sink did spend a lot of her time at arm's length from Obamacare. On the other hand, Jolly embraced hammering the law.
- I believe Obamacare failed as an issue for Democrats because of all the recent horrific news regarding the law. Add to that, the lies about the law perpetuated by the administration and Democrats had an negative impact.
- So the lesson in this election: David Jolly was able to win by not only having soft support from the Republican establishment but by pushing back on Obamacare and global warming, key Democrat and progressive principles and issues. More importantly, he embraced many conservative principles.
