Reed Goes Down In Flames....

Well Hallelujah.  

Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed conceded defeat about 9:50 p.m. in Georgia's Republican primary for lieutenant governor.

So sweeeeeeet when one of these pigs gets the ass-kicking they all deserve:

With 43 percent of precincts reporting, the Georgia Secretary of State's office showed Cagle with 55.2 percent of the vote, compared with 44.8 percent for Reed.

•  Faith restored

  Ironical, ain't it?   :)

  by Jeff Boatright on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:24:39 AM PDT

  •  Exactly

    Faith based

    I believe in the intelligence of the electorate again, a bit.

    by Eiron on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:27:24 AM PDT

    •  not quite

      Georgia is still a very red state. The red voters didn't want to have to run Reed for Lt Gov. Cagle just played better to pro-business interests without all that Abramoff baggage Reed carried.

      by PanzerMensch on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:33:34 AM PDT

      •  How strong is the Dem for November?

        Do the Democrats have a reasonably strong candidate to run against Cagle in November?

        by SallyCat on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:39:39 AM PDT

        •  I wrote a diary about the two Dem contenders...

          ...awhile back. Last I heard, the Dem primary results were up in the air; but here's what I could find out about each of them.

          by boofdah on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:48:20 AM PDT

          •  Its a run-oof between Hecht and Martin.

            I think the point of your diary is correct, both are good, qualified candidates. I have been volunteering when I can for the Hecht campaign for many reasons. One reason is that Martin promos himself as someone who can work with the GOoPers who control our state House and Senate. Greg says he'll be the brake on their scheming and step on toes whenever needed. I like that attitude.

            by aggressiveprogressive on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 05:26:18 AM PDT

            •  I do, too--go Greg! :)

              He sounds like our Rod Smith here in FL, a state Senator who doesn't take crap from our own GOoP majority. (Incidentally, Smith is also running for governor of our state, now that Jeb is termed out--I think he has a huge chance of smacking some Crist ass.)

              On a much more shallow note, Hecht has the good-looks appeal for voters who miss that "pretty-boy" Ralph appeal.

              (dodges possible flames)

              Just sayin'. ;)

              by boofdah on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 05:58:32 AM PDT

        •  not very

          Cagle won the GOP LT Gov primary with nearly 200,000 votes. Among Dems, Jim Martin won with 155,000 votes.

          As far as the state's top job, Perdue won his primary with little effort [and a few baby pictures]. Mark Taylor won for the Dems with 192,000 votes.

          The campaign season on television was dominated by the Taylor/Cox Dem Gov primary, and the Reed/Cagle GOP Lt Gov primary. Not a huge amount of airtime for Jim Martin, but that may have been due to a relatively low amount of mud to be slung, or just letting Reed and Cagle tear each other apart.

          by PanzerMensch on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 05:56:23 AM PDT

      •  I agree

        but it sort of signals a split in the republican edifice.  Internal dissent within the party.  The pragmatist professionals vs the theocratic idealogues.  

        by Eiron on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:40:27 AM PDT

•  Great news

  they were projecting a much closer race.  11% is indeed an ass kicking!

  Good for Georgia!

  I wonder if Ralph intends to speak at the big pro-Israel Christian convention in DC this week  

  by Eiron on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:25:38 AM PDT

  •  surely a landslide loss

    A landslide loss is when you wake up the next morning picking gravel out of your ass. Ralphie should be able to keep the whole family busy for a couple of days.

    by Lawdog on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 06:11:41 AM PDT

•  Meh

  He didn't go down on theocratic principle, he went down by corruption "accident" because of Abramoff.  

  by RequestedUsername on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:25:54 AM PDT

  •  either works for me

    it's a good thing.

    by sodalis on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:28:42 AM PDT

    •  Slightly better than nothing

      Still, de facto theocracy isn't much better than de jure.

      by RequestedUsername on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:38:18 AM PDT

  •  You are right

    but it seems the theocratic credential was an inadequate counterweight to the corruption.  This gives me hope for other races.

    by Eiron on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:30:07 AM PDT

•  good news/bad news

  The good news is that Reed is out this election cycle.

  The bad news is that the candidate that beat him,
  Casey Cagle, is nearly as every bit as conservative as Reed, only more along the pro-business lines, not that he lacks fire-and-brimstone credentials.

  The slightly lesser of two evils won.

  by PanzerMensch on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:30:07 AM PDT

  •  Yup, true

    Cagle is no gem.  He was an acceptable alternative to Reed, but if Reed won, it would have signalled to me that no amount of corruption would shake the base.  It certainly isn't a test of theocon vs moderate democrat, but hey, let me relish this for a bit.

    I wonder if Giuliani helped or hurt-that was a strange move in that race.

    by Eiron on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:36:20 AM PDT

    •  trying to remember...

      ...where I heard that Zell also campaigned for Reed.

      by PanzerMensch on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 05:46:13 AM PDT

  •  Go over to Digby

    and read about Reed's past. This was a defeat of one of the motive forces in the rat fucking strategy of the GOP. Cagle is just another go-along-get-along pol. Reed was a cynical manipulator of the electoral process.

    It is a very good thing that he went down in flames. Why? Because it makes him look weak and makes him a LOSER. The associated stench will hopefully keep him out of elected position for a good, long time.

    by Jeff Boatright on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:46:21 AM PDT

•  Whatever the reason - let's celebrate

  Whatever the reason the good people of GA voted against Reed - it's a good thing! A 10-11% loss is one big ass kicking!

  Happy dancing in the hallway at home this morning!

  by SallyCat on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:32:55 AM PDT

  •  Happy dance

    yay!!!!!

    by Eiron on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:41:18 AM PDT

    •  Or...

      ...quoting the Waitresses by way of Stephanie Miller:

      "Nayh, nayh, nayh, nayh, nayh/Nayh, nayh, nayh, nayh, nayh..."

      by RoIn on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 05:23:29 AM PDT

•  Some Democrats actually wanted him to win

  to knock off in November.

  You can't always get what you want...

  by john07801 on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:33:56 AM PDT

•  In Georgia

  You can vote in either primary and still vote for whomever you want in the general election.

  There were plenty of Dems and independents crawling over hot coals to vote against Reed.

  Damn hypocrite!

  He got what he deserved!

  by TDW on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:39:46 AM PDT

  •  Data?

    I've been seeing around the web, but I have no idea how people know this. Could you provide a link or tell me how to access the data that support this? I'm not saying you're wrong.

    by Jeff Boatright on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:48:24 AM PDT

    •  It was a...

      ...a very successful underground whisper campaign.  

      by Caldonia on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:55:35 AM PDT

      •  Whisper? Hardly.

        I got one of those campaign robo-calls from an unidentified group asking me to vote for Cagle in the Repug primary as the way to stop Ralphie from becoming President. The young lady on the recorded message said she had never voted in a Repug primary before, but would do so now to stop Reed.

        I really wish the call had contained some sort of info on the group behind the call.

        by aggressiveprogressive on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 05:23:10 AM PDT

        •  That's what I meant...

          by "whisper."  A group of activists, but not formally associated with "official" organizations.

          by Caldonia on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 10:34:10 AM PDT

    •  Yep, that's right

      Much of what we do down here, in red-state hell, is done by word of mouth, quietly and effectively. Judging by how badly Reed got his ass kicked down here in Crusading-crackpot land, it worked for the primaries.

      No, I don't have a link or any supporting data and if I did, I wouldn't post it. We are behind enemy lines down here.

      I've already had the back window of my car shot, just for having a bumper sticker for non-violence.

      I plan on getting out of this hell-hole as soon as I can. In the meantime, I will participate in every action to screw up the Rethugs plan for one party rule.

      by TDW on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 05:22:37 AM PDT

•  Tomoto juice won't take the Abramoff stench

  off him.  Let's hope his drubbing is permanent.

  by john07801 on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 04:41:57 AM PDT

•  What is really scary

  Is that even with all the issues surrounding him, he still got almost 50% of the Republican vote. Very scary.

  by tln41 on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 06:16:24 AM PDT

•  I am Georgia Democrat who voted Republican.

  and I persuaded other staunch Democrats to do the same. Ralphie was too scary and needed to be stopped. Stopped in Georgia before he could go national.

  by demway on Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 06:35:37 AM PDT