Well, Well

Now that the victory is secure and the dust is settling, what do the opponents of Senator-elect Rupp have to say?

Democrats - "But Jack Cardetti, spokesman for the Missouri Democratic Party, said the results show chinks in Rupp's armor considering how much money Rupp spent to win in what has traditionally been staunch Republican turf." St. Charles Journal, 4/9/06

Let's see - they must be referring to the Dolan/Schieffer race in 2002. Dolan received 59% of the vote compared to Rupp's 53.7%. My, that does seem to be chipping away at the margin. Oh wait - there were 13 other senate races going on in 2002. Neither party spent a boat load of money on the 2nd district. President Bush was on his way to winning re-election in a big way over the no-show democrat candidate. Schieffer was from St. Charles County and by some accounts not well liked by many.

Fast forward to 2006 - Rupp was targeted by the democrat party by innuendo, lies and tons of money. The former, albeit losing, democrat VP candidate came to town for Henke (liberal John for allegedgly conservative Wayne?????). Henke was FROM Lincoln County. Henke was a well known teacher in St. Charles County. Henke is a member of the St. Charles County Amatuer Hall of Fame. Henke's wife was from St. Charles County and has lots of relatives here. Henke loaned himself $80,000.

John Hancock captured it pretty well in the Journal piece, "It would take someone with a Ph.D. in rhetoric to spin this into anything other than a resounding Republican victory," Hancock said. "The Democrats didn't run that campaign in order to claim victory with 46 percent of the vote. They ran that campaign to win. They bussed in people to help. They played dirty tricks. They did everything in their play book and they lost."

Yeah, there does seem to be a lot of similarities between the two races.

Yep - the democrats can sure crow about their "resounding" victory in lowering the margin. Actually all they can really do is eat crow.

St. Charles RINO's - ""You know what? For spending $300,000 ($249,770 for those interested in the truth) to $100,000 ($127,526 for those interested in the truth), the spread was not that great," Brazil said." St. Charles Journal, 4/9/06

"For several reasons he should have won by a much larger majority than he did (53.7%). First, his backers put up a lot of money. Estimates are they raised nearly twice as much money as his Democrat opposition. Second, western St Charles County is overwhelmingly Republican and populated by recently settled conservative young families. This fact alone should have given the Republican a huge margin. Still, the voter turnout for such a "blitzed" and "hot" election was relatively small (34,078) and the Republican win not overwhelming. The Party literally pulled out all the stops to keep the seat and they managed to do that. For certain, the "spin" will put a big upbeat face on Rupp's victory. However, we would bet that GOP Party professionals are "concerned" about the numbers when, in considering all factors, they reflect on how much money was spent on the race. The main factor for pro-Rupp forces to consider now is the presence of a knowledgeable, experienced and determined primary opponent who, by the location and nature of his constituency, will pose a considerable challenge." rongoneverything.org (you know who I mean)

Let's see - they must be referring to the Dolan/Schieffer race in 2002. Dolan received 59% of the vote compared to Rupp's 53.7%. My, that does seem to be chipping away at the margin. Oh wait - there were 13 other senate races going on in 2002. Neither party spent a boat load of money on the 2nd district. President Bush was on his way to winning re-election in a big way over the no-show democrat candidate. Schieffer was from St. Charles County and by some accounts not well liked by many.

Fast forward to 2006 - Rupp was targeted by the democrat party by innuendo, lies and tons of money. The former, albeit losing, democrat VP candidate came to town for Henke (liberal John for allegedgly conservative Wayne?????). Henke was FROM Lincoln County. Henke was a well known teacher in St. Charles County. Henke is a member of the St. Charles County Amatuer Hall of Fame. Henke's wife was from St. Charles County and has lots of relatives here. Henke loaned himself $80,000.

John Hancock captured it pretty well in the Journal piece, "It would take someone with a Ph.D. in rhetoric to spin this into anything other than a resounding Republican victory," Hancock said. "The Democrats didn't run that campaign in order to claim victory with 46 percent of the vote. They ran that campaign to win. They bussed in people to help. They played dirty tricks. They did everything in their play book and they lost."

Yeah, there does seem to be a lot of similarities between the two races.

Yep - the democrats can sure crow about their "resounding" victory in lowering the margin. Actually all they can really do is eat crow.

Oops - I've already said that. Sorry I couldn't tell the difference between the two camps.