Politico calls Boucher “formidable”
Rep. Rick Boucher
A story today on Politco.com cites Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, as one of a number of rural Democrats who have proven “formidable” in the face of Republican challenges.
The overall gist of the piece is that Democrats’ hopes are improving, though, as the story puts it, “the cautious optimism is largely due to the view that the impending political hurricane could be downgraded from category 5 to category 4.”
October 4, 2010 - 2:35 PM
Just what serious Republican challneges has Boucher faced?
Anyone who has been elected 14 times has obviously entrenched himself with voters.
Griffith will probably lose this election. I suspect it will be closer than is being projected.
Dwayne, I wonder how much of this might be due to the normal ebb & flow of a campaign as well.
Voters this year seemed to start with a tremendous dislike for the incumbents, most of whom are Democrats.
At this point in the campaign, however, I get the sense that voters start to grow a little weary of the constant barrage of ads, especially the negative ones.
And there’s that saying: “Familiarity breeds contempt.” I wonder how much of this comes from voters getting to know the challengers and starting to realize that at the end of the day, they’re still just politicians?
These thoughts aren’t directed at specific campaigns or even dynamics this year, but generally how elections tend to go in most years. I’ve seen it time and time again, whether the incumbent has a D or R next to his or her name, and regardless of who’s on the offensive in that particular year.
There’s often a tendency of big projected spreads tightening up a bit the closer one gets to election day as the losing side’s base decides to “come home.” It’s no secret that Republicans have been more energized this time around, and the Democratic base pretty lethargic — so if there’s some movement toward the Democrats nationwide, that might be what we’re seeing — the Democratic base awakening and getting involved. That’s pretty much the gist of the Politico report. Still, I was taken by the description of Boucher as “formidable.”
Hey remember the Seinfeld episode where Elaine got excited because a guy called her “breathtaking”..them later he called a baby the same thing..that burst her bubble.The Boucher comment reminds me of that.
I guess Hurt is even more “formidable”,if you go by the polls.
Any incumbent who has been active and contributed to their district would be “formidable” and anyone in office that long has a long list of people they can call a “machine” to get things done. Boucher has that kind of support and gravitas. No one can credibly say he has not worked tirelessly for his district or that he has had no impact for the good of it. The complaints about his support for his party and big legislation that has been denigrated and lied about is really all they have. And a “carpet bagging” candidate in an area where such a thing will matter. Throwing away an effective career politician for another lesser known in the district career politician is just not that good a bet. I will be somewhat surprised if the bitter divide topples Boucher, but in this climate, you can only be so surprised when you see the lies, vitriol, mockery and SOSO being packaged as “change”.
I find it surprising that anyone is taken aback by Boucher being labeled formidable. You’d have to be incredibly naive or willfully myopic to NOT consider a Democrat who has served 28 years in an incredibly conservative district as a formidable candidate. The tiniest shred of common sense would enlighten one as to the fact that he must be doing something that pleases this conservative district. Especially since he has not gotten less than 60% of the vote in about 16 years. Sounds pretty formidable to me, why wouldn’t it to EVERY unbiased observer?
Boucher will win. Perriello is an underdog in a very tough race. Republicans take the House, but not the Senate, which means this will not be as good a year for them as 1994 was. Think about that — in an age of right-wing blogs, Fox News, Tea Party hype and innumerable conservative outlets, Republicans will not do as well as they did when all they had was Rush.
Of course Boucher will win this time. Even Morgan Griffith knows that. The question is how much Griffith and his cronies can gerrymander the district to eliminate Boucher in the next elections. That’s what this is all about. That’s why I continue to say I fully expect Abingdon to be gerrymandered out of the 9th district, because it’s the spot that skews most Democratic.
It’s never been about serving the district, anybody except a blind elephant could see that Boucher has helped the 9th district all that he can. The whole point is to re-arrange the district to eliminate the spots where Boucher is strongest. After all, you’ve got a Democrat pulling in over 60% of the vote every time in a district that skews hugely Republican. We just can’t allow that, can we? It doesn’t matter if the Democrat is helping the district, we just want the Republican lemming in there. Who really cares about all the area south of the New River Valley, anyway?
The important thing is that we’ve got a Representative close to home here in the Roanoke Valley, where we can access him, even if he ignores us. Right, guys? Isn’t that the sentiment? Isn’t that the reason for the shock that somebody might see through the rhetoric? That somebody might actually find Boucher to be formidable?
Republicans will do well enough to accomplish the main goal..Stop the Obama socialist juggernaut!
As more casual voters take a look at some of the extreme candidates the Republicans have nominated, margins are going to narrow. Some of these people just can not be taken seriously as potential legislators. When Christine O’Donnell starts her new commercial with “I am not a witch”, her candidacy has become a joke. She’s the most extreme example, but not the only one.
boucher disciple, you can’t be serious about getting abingdon gerrymandered out of the district.
Bouchers a hack, a hack who may win because the republicans are running a very unlikable candidate who just may be more shallow and fake than Boucher.
Why you bring into the conversation this abington conspiracy theory is paranoid at best.
#8 I don’t see how the Rethugs could gerrymander Abingdon out of the 9th but they’ll certainly make sure to include the most Republican areas in the Roanoke Valley while keeping Democrat areas out.