In my post last night I suggested as much.
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/11/even-syrian-refugee-fear-mongering-cant.html
I'm happy to see that Josh Marhsall also has this take.
If nothing else this seems to show that there are limits to how potent an issue it is. If Vitter had won it would seem to testify that it is extremely potent.
"As I wrote Friday, the race had become a potential bellwether for Syrian refugee hysteria and politics. Perhaps even the fear of terrorism or hatred for the desperate and forlorn was not enough to overcome the state's building revulsion for the man-child senator. But if it had, it would have been rightly seen as a harbinger of the power of anti-Middle East refugee politics and a darkening mood entering the 2016 election cycle."
"And yet, it didn't. Not only did Vitter not make a comeback. The final election results (almost a 10 point win) suggest the last minute immigrant-terror bashing had no effect at all."
"You might say that Democrats were being a bit paranoid. But even the paranoid can have real enemies. And in the South, in political terms, Democrats very much do. Democrat Jack Conway had a steady lead in the Kentucky governor's race. Only to see tea party favorite Matt Bevin comeback and win it - perhaps with a late push identifying Conway with President Obama."
"We're still seeing how this all plays out. I don't mean to tell you that Syrian refugee hysteria politics is nothing. But in this case it wasn't enough. Indeed, it does not appear to have helped Vitter at all - not even to partially close the gap. And that is worth noting."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-pleasing-end-to-a-despicable-story
Another angle is that this sort of makes up for the Kentucky victory of Matt Bevin who wasn't supposed to win according to polling and consensus. Bevin ran on cutting people's healthcare-by saying no to Obmaacare,
In Louisiana, the result is that a quarter of a million people healthcare.
"Republican Sen. David Vitter lost his bid to be the next governor of Louisiana on Saturday, and it wasn't even close. The two-term senator lost the runoff election to Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards by double digits, setting the stage for the state to potentially become the first in the Deep South to accept a pivotal part of Obamacare."
"Vitter was dogged by a decade-old prostitution scandal, and a bizarre spying incident at a coffee shop. Desperate to make up ground, he warned voters in one ad that President Obama would release "thugs" from prison onto Louisiana streets. Vitter also sought to turn the tide by warning voters of a terrorist threat posed by the state's 14 Syrian refugees. He went as far as to allege (falsely, it turned out) that one of the refugees had gone missing. It didn't work."
"Edwards, an anti-abortion, pro-gun, West Point grad, became the first Democratic candidate to win a statewide election in Louisiana since 2008, and benefited from support from Republicans who were dissatisfied with Vitter's personal troubles and who were disappointed by the state's financial woes under outgoing Gov. Bobby Jindal. (By the time Jindal dropped out of the presidential race on Wednesday, the one-time rising star's approval ratings had dropped to 20-percent.)"
"Jindal also rejected federal funding to expand Medicaid. Edwards has pledged to sign an executive order authorizing the expansion of the program on his first day in office. That's a really big deal. Such a move would provide coverage to about 225,000 residents in one of the poorest states in the nation."
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/11/david-vitter-louisiana-governor-john-bel-edwards
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/11/even-syrian-refugee-fear-mongering-cant.html
I'm happy to see that Josh Marhsall also has this take.
If nothing else this seems to show that there are limits to how potent an issue it is. If Vitter had won it would seem to testify that it is extremely potent.
"As I wrote Friday, the race had become a potential bellwether for Syrian refugee hysteria and politics. Perhaps even the fear of terrorism or hatred for the desperate and forlorn was not enough to overcome the state's building revulsion for the man-child senator. But if it had, it would have been rightly seen as a harbinger of the power of anti-Middle East refugee politics and a darkening mood entering the 2016 election cycle."
"And yet, it didn't. Not only did Vitter not make a comeback. The final election results (almost a 10 point win) suggest the last minute immigrant-terror bashing had no effect at all."
"You might say that Democrats were being a bit paranoid. But even the paranoid can have real enemies. And in the South, in political terms, Democrats very much do. Democrat Jack Conway had a steady lead in the Kentucky governor's race. Only to see tea party favorite Matt Bevin comeback and win it - perhaps with a late push identifying Conway with President Obama."
"We're still seeing how this all plays out. I don't mean to tell you that Syrian refugee hysteria politics is nothing. But in this case it wasn't enough. Indeed, it does not appear to have helped Vitter at all - not even to partially close the gap. And that is worth noting."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-pleasing-end-to-a-despicable-story
Another angle is that this sort of makes up for the Kentucky victory of Matt Bevin who wasn't supposed to win according to polling and consensus. Bevin ran on cutting people's healthcare-by saying no to Obmaacare,
In Louisiana, the result is that a quarter of a million people healthcare.
"Republican Sen. David Vitter lost his bid to be the next governor of Louisiana on Saturday, and it wasn't even close. The two-term senator lost the runoff election to Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards by double digits, setting the stage for the state to potentially become the first in the Deep South to accept a pivotal part of Obamacare."
"Vitter was dogged by a decade-old prostitution scandal, and a bizarre spying incident at a coffee shop. Desperate to make up ground, he warned voters in one ad that President Obama would release "thugs" from prison onto Louisiana streets. Vitter also sought to turn the tide by warning voters of a terrorist threat posed by the state's 14 Syrian refugees. He went as far as to allege (falsely, it turned out) that one of the refugees had gone missing. It didn't work."
"Edwards, an anti-abortion, pro-gun, West Point grad, became the first Democratic candidate to win a statewide election in Louisiana since 2008, and benefited from support from Republicans who were dissatisfied with Vitter's personal troubles and who were disappointed by the state's financial woes under outgoing Gov. Bobby Jindal. (By the time Jindal dropped out of the presidential race on Wednesday, the one-time rising star's approval ratings had dropped to 20-percent.)"
"Jindal also rejected federal funding to expand Medicaid. Edwards has pledged to sign an executive order authorizing the expansion of the program on his first day in office. That's a really big deal. Such a move would provide coverage to about 225,000 residents in one of the poorest states in the nation."
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/11/david-vitter-louisiana-governor-john-bel-edwards
So fear-mongering didn't work and Obamacare comes to the Deep South. Overall, Vitter's loss was the best news liberals have seen since Paris.
We're hardly out of the woods yet, but this gives you reason to think that maybe even after Paris, sanity hasn't totally gone out the window.
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