Probably the biggest election on Tuesday was the special election to replace disgraced former Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham. It pitted Democratic nominee Francine Busby and Republican nominee Brian Bilbray. The results were a four-point victory by Bilbray over Busby.
In 2004, Busby lost to Cunningham by 22 points; the Democrat gained 18 points in the Republican-dominated San Diego district. It also proved that the "Culture of Corruption" banner alone is not enough to win elections. Maybe if someone were actually implicated in a corruption case, it would be useful, but not in this case.
Busby tried to win by heading towards the middle, and that did not encourage all Democrats to come out.
The Democratic spin on the issue is how much money the election cost the Republicans. The NRCC spent $4.5 million on the race. Republicans spent twice that and could only pull out a single-digit victory in a district composed of 44% Republicans and 30% Democrats. In other words, every million dollars bought them a percentage point among Independants. Or if you look at it another way, every million dollars by the NRCC bought four percentage points on Independants; this isn't a manageable number for November.
It was a moral victory, the type of victory that does little for the big scheme of things, but may help in November. Yes, winning would have been much better, but losing by four points is not the end of the world. If Busby would have come in and lost by 15 points with the NRCC only donating minimal campaign contributions -- that would be bad.
The cost of victory for Republicans has become expensive. Here's to hoping it's too expensive.
