GOP: Not Such a Bad Night

Before your correspondent slipped out the door and left the Republicans to absorb the ramifications of Election ‘08, I wandered around to collect the impressions of some of the folks at the GOP’s post-election party in Bloomington.

It was a night that KARE-11political analyst Dave Schultz, just after midnight,suggested might prove, "on balance, not a bad night for the Republicans." And that was the feeling that was detectable on the ballroom floor at the Sheraton Hotel.

Yes, the party’s candidate for president went down in a defeat of historic magnitude. Incumbent U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman was destined to have a long night ahead of him. He might lose; he might win. (There were even hints that there might be an automatic recount in that race.)

But things were looking up for 3rd District candidate Eric Paulsen, and even better for 6th District incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, whose lead over El Tinklenberg was widening. (DFLer Tinklenberg finally conceded at 12:33 p.m.) Second District U.S. Rep. John Kline had already won. Bottom line, the Minnesota GOP might not lose any of its House seats.

Not exactly a bullet dodged. But hardly a mortal wound.

Not that you could have used that logic to console the drunk lady sitting on center stage with the big blue Bachmann sign on her lap. She was too busy thinking about the prospects of that funny Obama fellow taking over the country. "You better be parking your money under your mattress," she shouted to anyone who would listen — and a few did. "Take your money out of your 401(k), absolutely. Here we go."

Barry Marchant, an Edina lawyer and party member, had a rather more thoughtful take on what election night means to his party. His feelings, he said, were mixed. "I think on the one hand it was kind of expected that the Democrat was going to win the presidency this year, and Obama didn’t really trip up," Marchant said. "McCain was a fairly strong candidate, given the time."

On the other hand, it was looking good for Kline, Bachmann and Paulsen, while Coleman still had a solid shot. "As Republicans, if the Democrats don’t have 60 votes in the [U.S.] Senate, then Obama is not going to be able to railroad everything through," he said. "A lot of that stuff can be stopped."

Lance Story, a St. Paul collection agency manager, was simply taking it all in. "Right now, it’s a damper," he admitted, referring to McCain’s defeat. "It’s kind of shock and awe right now. I think all the momentum is lost, it’s gone downhill."

Leon Robinette, 18, a student from Woodbury, was experiencing his first election as a voter, and it was a disappointment. He says he worked long and hard to campaign for McCain, and his efforts didn’t pan out. Nonetheless, he took the loss philosophically.

"As long as it wasn’t anything shady or stolen, and with that amount of electoral vote totals, I would say it’s not," he said, "I can accept it."

Nonetheless, he didn’t mind saying that he thinks America blew it. "I personally think it’s going to mean an increase in the problems that we’ve seen in the economy," he said. "I think America is going to get what they voted for."

No Responses to “GOP: Not Such a Bad Night”

1. Anonymous Says:
   February 18th, 2009 at 6:08 pm

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   THANK YOU FOR THE TIME.
   RUSSELL OF COON RAPIDS MN.
   CONTACT RF260@AOL.COM