| We are all disappointed. Obviously. On election day, Chris Bell and Democratic Decoy Stephanie Simmons combined for 53.2% of the vote. Most of us think, probably rightly, that if Simmons was not on that ballot, we would be calling Chris Bell a Senator-elect. Instead, he found himself going to a runoff near Christmas, and sadly, the day of the runoff might have had only minimal effect on the outcome. For practical reasons, I might be changing my voter registration to an Austin address soon, but I stayed with my permanent address for the 2008 elections. This may have been my last vote in SD17 in a significant period of time, and here are my first thoughts.
1. This may be just another race after Election Day that shows one thing: many Democratic voters became complacent with Mr. Obama's victory. This, in part, is a compliment to Barack Obama. His supporters have that much confidence in him. But this also says a lot about the presidency and a lot about Democratic voters. We had control of Congress, and now we won control of the Presidency, what more can we do?
Or so, many probably thought. In Georgia, while Jim Martin might not have stood much of a chance, he still fared significantly worse in his runoff than on election day. This is despite Obama organizers from across the nation flying in to help. The Travis County Democratic Party sent weekend busses to help Chris Bell, but Democrats fared worse tonight, too. I know some people who probably would not have voted tonight had I not given them a call to ask them personally. That says nothing of the campaign Chris ran -- they had been inundated with reminders about the election. The fact is, they thought they had done enough.
2. We may find ourself with a Senator in SD17 who is more conservative than her Republican predecessor. Considering Democrats' gains in the district, that will be a sad thought. I sincerely hope that she doesn't become like John Culberson, because then a lot of Democrats could become doubly screwed.
3. Tom Delay may have had some failures in rewriting state house district lines -- that is, Democrats have been gaining in the House A LOT. But he sure did a good job with the state Senate. It looks like the Democrats' only REAL shot to pick this seat up would have been the lack of a Stephanie Simmons on an election day with Barack Obama. Wendy Davis ran a great campaign, but won without a majority despite the presence of Obama and a non-Democratic decoy. It is looking THAT HARD to make these seats competitive. That's not how democracy is supposed to work, is it?
4. Chris Bell ran a good campaign, but this might be the end of his political career. No, he's still not the best campaigner out there. Some people, pointing to his other losses in his career, will say that he's just a bad candidate. That's not true. He ran well this time around, and I sincerely appreciate it.
Unfortunately, I don't know where he would go from here. It's his second political loss in a row, and voters might want to try someone else if he runs again. But I really hope he finds one way or another to stay involved. He was always a good public servant, and I would like it to stay that way, if possible.
5. Will Democrats contest this race hard in 2010? This election was only to finish two years of a term, and Joan Huffman will have to defend her seat pretty soon. One of the largest questions on my mind, concerning this district, is how tough will Democrats pursue it? Will big-name Democrats looking to move up a spot take their chances, or will they wait until the next time around, when a potentially more favorable district map will be in place? If you have any thoughts, feel free to comment.
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Once again, tonight was a disappointment for all of us. But the campaign was one where I was happy to see Chris Bell fighting for us some more. Thanks, Chris. |
