Giron is out too! I didn’t honestly think to get champagne. Bitter and I decided just to open a cheap, crappy bottle of white and mix it with some Pellegrino to improvise. It’s kind of bubbly. I was feeling pretty good this morning that we’d get at least one of the bastards, but felt that hoping for two was getting a bit greedy.
It actually turns out we beat Giron by a wider margin than Morse. I think we ought to dub this the recall heard round the world. Gun control is a losing issue. That can’t be any more clear than it has been tonight. Giron was in a Democratic district, but it was a working class, blue collar Democratic district, and those folks can be motivated to cross party lines when the gun issue is pushed.
I will have more about this later, but if you contributed anything to the recall, even if you were like us and just contributed the cost of a dinner out, pat yourself on the back. If you were part of the on-the-ground recall effort in any of these two districts, go buy yourself a nice steak dinner. You deserve it! You have done the rest of us in this country a huge favor. We owe a tremendous debt to you, especially to those of us in other purple come blue states, like Pennsylvania. This effort will need some serious study. This should become a playbook on how to accomplish great things in the gun rights movement.
Yyeeeessssssssss!!!!!!!!
Not bad, not bad at all considering our side was outspent 6 to 1!
Maybe the other side will begin to realize this issue is about principle, not money.
2014, here we come.
I also thought that this recall, no matter which way it went, would have reverberations over in PA for Democrats.
So … so happy about this. Although I’m not in either district and couldn’t vote (well, at least not without making some shady statements) I can tell you they pulled out all the stops. War against women, you’re going to lose your birth control, vote with your lady parts, etc. And of course we also had to overcome the standard 5% advantage that all Democrats get from dead and multiple voters.
But dammit … we won! If I didn’t have to work I’d break out my bubbly, though it would be a nice hefe-weissen rather than champagne …
I just wish this happened before Maryland passed its laws.
Will Jerry Brown learn from this before he starts signing bills?
I don’t know if California residents have it in them like Colorado did. Gun control has been around a lot longer in California and the big population areas like San Francisco, LA, and San Diego are a lot friendlier to gun control.
Amazing. I was trying to lower my expectations, so this made my evening.
OH HOSANNA! Both of the evils are gone.
How long will they remember the message?
Yes! Where’s your “90%” now Morse and Giron! Onward to 2014 and kick a few more of them out!
Giron’s recall is a bigger shock than Morse’s not just because of the margin but because Pueblo is such a normally rock slid Democrat bastion. Thousands of blue collar Democrats voted to recall her and voted for a GOP replacement. It also saw twice the turnout of Colorado Springs. Morse’s recall showed gun control did not motivate yuppie Democrats much. Giron’s recall showed that gun control angers blue collar Democrats.
You know, I thought the same about Giron’s district at first. Then, as we were talking about it last night, I realized that for unsatisfied Democrats, that would be the safest vote for a Republican they could ever make. It’s very temporary. The Democrats will still be in charge in the state, though it sends a clear message to step away from the gun issue. And this gives opportunity for someone more likely to really represent them to step up to the plate and run on the Democratic ticket in 2014.
Perhaps. That assumes the pro-recall voters were thinking that strategically. No doubt some were, but I bet more were not. Most voters vote with their gut and not their brain.
OMG. First electon campaign I’ve contributed to that actually won since Santorum 1994. I went to bed thinking Giron was a lost cause and Morse was too close to call….
Sebastian and Bitter – thanks for keeping us informed on this issue.
This is wonderful! We need to keep telling the message that gun control is a loser, and gun rights are grassroots. This is proof. Anytime people talk about 90%, refer to this recall.
Important quotes from the NYT to use against the inevitable claims of outsized NRA influence in this election.
“…gun-control advocates far outspent their opponents. A range of philanthropists, liberal political groups, unions and activists raised a total of $3 million to defend Mr. Morse and Ms. Giron. Mr. Bloomberg personally gave $350,000.”
“The National Rifle Association spent nearly $362,000 to oust the two Democrats…”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/us/colorado-lawmaker-concedes-defeat-in-recall-over-gun-law.html?hp&_r=1&
Important in that the numbers come from a liberal, gun control supporting rag so you won’t have legitimate complaints that the numbers are biased in our favor.
– bsd
As I recall there were petitions for four lawmakers in CO. only two got enough sigs. so you could count it at two out of four got the boot. It’s still a good shot across the bow to gun grabbers.
Shot across the bow? No…we may not have crossed their “T” just yet, but this was a hit amidship….