You Win Some, You Lose Some

http://www.roanoke.com/politics/wb/300876

Yesterday's election was bittersweet for this blogger.  In the Franklin County Sheriff's race, the county replaced what seemed to be one of the worst PR blunders for the county in Ewell Hunt.  The former Sheriff has been a ticking time bomb of gaffs since I have been here, and apparently it started before my time in the fair county.  The race was in question the entire time with two Independent candidates running against an incumbent Republican.  Many felt as though the two would run against each other and drive a wedge between those voters who wanted (for lack of a better term) a new Sheriff in town.  Thankfully the voters of Franklin County proved wise enough to see the need for better leadership behind the badge and voted Hunt off the force.

While the vote was a success at the immediate level, it was (I my opinion) less so on the state level.  Republicans won a 20-20 tie in the State Senate.  In the House of Delegates there were several upsets and Republican victories due to jerrymadnering of district lines.  None more obvious than the race between Poindexter and Armstrong.  For every tense and purpose Armstrong simply out classed, smarted, campaigned, and issued Poindexter.  Armstrong won nearly every battle but was not able to prevail. 

What gets me was that Poindexter is literally not smart enough to notice his own blunders and stupidity. Yes, Armstrong ran on a fairly narrow platform, but in what world was Poindexter's broad.  Poindexter was attempting to put Armstrong at the "Obama Democrat" table, which could not be further from the truth.  My bias notwithstanding, Armstrong was as grounded, moderate a Democrat as you are going to find, and certainly not an "Obama Democrat" (as if that would have been a bad thing) Besides, was this not a House of Delegates race? What real contact would a Delegate from the new 9th District of Virginia really have with President Obama.  Doubtful there is a little red phone in the office in Richmond that has a direct line to a little red phone in the Oval Office.  This just goes to show that sometimes, even the people in government do not fully understand the government as much as they should. 

There is more that could be said, but I will not.  I guess we can say, Congratulation Mr. Poindexter, you got lucky, and if you ever..ever...ever have your picture taken with a Republican President, you'd better not go waving it around. You might just become a "Cain (or worse) Republican"