No, not MN-01 Republican Davis, who answered every Farmfest forum question with "Drill!" regardless of how off topic the slogan was.
Nope, the Davis that went down in flames yesterday was incumbent David Davis of Tennessee. TPM Election reports in GOPer Ousted After Aggressively Championing Offshore Drilling. The incumbent lost his primary. Why?
. . .he went down largely because his foe, in an unusual move for a fellow Republican, aggressively yoked him to "Big Oil."
This could have broader national significance, because it shows that championing offshore drilling, as Davis did with extreme enthusiasm, can't always be counted on as the sure winner the GOP thinks it is -- after all, he lost on the issue even among GOP primary voters.
Indeed, Davis was more than just your typical pro-oil industry GOPer. He aggressively championed political attacks on Dems over offshore drilling, and was a leading member of that "Republican Uprising" that has been vowing to tie Congress up in knots until it lifts the drilling ban.
Indeed, Davis was so sure that the issue was a political winner for him and the GOP that he issued a triumphant press release Wednesday about his heroic role in the initial "revolt" several days earlier, and even bragged that he'd be returning to Washington to keep pushing the issue. And indeed, according to a Dem leadership aide, Davis was on the floor yesterday pushing the drilling stuff -- on election day.
In other words, this hapless GOPer basically made drilling a big focus of his campaign. And he lost.
Congressman Walz has looked for ways for Congress to get beyond the impasse, joining the bipartisan House Energy Working Group which has introduced comprehensive energy legislation in H.R. 6709. Davis? As his OT performance at Farmfest revealed, it's all drilling, all the time--down to his campaign signs and petition on his web site.
And yet MN-01's Davis--like the incumbent Davis who'll be staying in Tennessee next January--faces a primary. At Farmfest, Day demonstrated that he has a pretty competent grasp of farm issues and a sharp homespun wit. Can Day's range trump Davis's single-issue obsession and cash advantage on September 9?
Earlier Tuesday before leaving for Farmfest, we'd joked in a post about Davis's campaign resembling a severed snapping turtle
head firmly locked on a stick, even after its body was on the way to
becoming turtle soup. We were only partially amused to see a flip
metaphor play out in front of us later that afternoon.
The attentive audience had little reaction to Davis, though it chuckled at GOP primary challenger Dick Day. But its applause and out-loud laughter was reserved for Congressman Walz, who spoke to the range of ag and energy issues Southern Minnesotans face.
May I refer you to a May 13th post entitled "Big River: one Davis down in Mississippi's First".
Looks like voters in the First District in states that border the Mississppi River do not like candidates named Davis.
Seriously though, considering that TN-01 is a Safe-Republican District, could this be more attributed to a solo challenger versus previous mulitple candidate field ? In the 2006 primary for an open seat, Davis won with just 22% of the vote over many competitors but went on to win the November election with 61% of the vote. Poe who won this time with 51% got 17% in 2006.
The real difference between this Davis and Brian Davis is that he had three terms in the Tennessee legislature.
The "Drill" mantra is working as it feeds to voter's simplistic mindset just as the "They'll raise your Taxes" mantra has worked in the past. I know --and you know as well as most editorial writers and economists -- that it's impacts are largely overstated.
Suggested reading is Kim Strassel's WSJ-Online Potomac Watch column where she blasted the Senate Republicans for participating in bi-partisian legislation (similar to Walz's) since the "Drill" issue is the only way they can win this term. Her message is clear ... this is about politics not energy independence.
Ollie replies: Great minds think alike, MC. Before I read this comment, I posted about the WSJ column in the mid-day digest. Yep, she's steamed about the point being taken off the table, rather than looking to solve the problem. She's about campaigning, not about serving people by solving problems.
Posted by: MinnesotaCentral | August 09, 2008 at 09:41 AM