The Washington Post reports the 10th district to be a tossup but there are so many things wrong with their article I hardly know where to start. The Post believes the 10th has moved into the tossup category because so many Republicans in the district are turned off by Trump they won’t come out to vote for Comstock. WRONG. It’s the opposite, many Republicans are angry at Comstock for separating from and denouncing Trump, they won’t vote for Comstock. There are other reasons why the race in the 10th is close. We have the previously enumerated those reasons here and here.
Bennett and Comstock will face off in their second and final debate on Wednesday morning. Comstock has $2 million on hand to spend in the final weeks of the campaign. Bennett has $900,000.
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Comstock has done nothing to build a voting coalition over the past couple of years and now those chickens are coming home to roost. As stated, her denouncement of Trump has alienated part of her base and the Bennet campaign has effectively linked the two anyway, so Comstock got nothing for denouncing Trump. Comstock’s votes haven’t endeared her to Republicans either. Voting to increase Executive Branch power is anti-republican. Endorsing gross federal spending hasn’t won her many Republican friends outside the Beltway. She is staunchly pro-life, but that is easy for her to say because there is no “cost” to her in making those claims. There is no real vote that will effectively move the needle on abortion.
Trump was like my 12th choice in the primary, and I have no problem voting for him in the general.
I have much more trouble voting for Comstock. I don’t want to. She comes across as a ladder climbing opportunist with no real heart for conservative causes. But, I will vote for her. Democrats are just terrible across the board and I’d rather vote for someone who gets it right 30% of the time instead of someone who gets it right 0% of the time (Democrats).
The time to fix the Comstock problem is the primaries. That moment has passed this cycle and not voting for Comstock will do no good. Vote for Comstock and then do something about it next primary cycle.
As BF said, “we must hang together, or surely we will hang apart.” When will Republicans wise up to the fact that the infighting needs to be contained to the primaries? When they are over, defeat the Democrats.
Do you have any numbers to back up your claims in this and other articles that the reason Comstock is struggling is because of her refusal to back Trump, and not because of Trump’s unpopularity in the district?
Ask around, ask Republicans how they feel about Comstock’s renunciation of the top of the ticket.
Anecdotal evidence can be helpful sometimes, but I’m talking about actual hard numbers. Do you have any data that suggests that’s the reason? If Trump is down 11 in VA, and Washington Post has this district ranked a toss up, kind of seems to me like he’s dragging her down. If it was because Republicans are mad she won’t endorse Trump, shouldn’t she be doing worse than Trump is?
Those who are angry at her, the Republican party people, are but one element of voters who are disenchanted with Comstock. I understand what you are saying and it’s not invalid but it’s not what I’m hearing from Republican voters.
Sure there’s going to be some Tea Partiers unhappy with her (they’re going to be unhappy with anyone, really. The anger-first conservatism would oust Reagan at this point) but look, the numbers don’t lie. Trump’s support among Republicans is through the floor here in VA. “While Clinton’s support among Democrats has remained steady, Trump’s support among Republicans in Virginia has eroded 10 points, from 78 percent on Sept. 26 to 68 percent on October 16.” http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Virginia-Poll-Shows-Clintons-Lead-Extended-Over-Trump-397227651.html No way can you blame Comstock’s possible struggles in the polls on her unwillingness to endorse someone that over 1/3 of her base won’t support. If she’s running even with Bennett, clearly she’s more popular than Trump is.
Well if Comstock isn’t endorsing the party’s nominee isn’t that a hanging offense in Virginia republicanism? I mean the party threw out that other guy even after he got elected to his home district committee. How come Comstock doesn’t meet the same fate? Or maybe she will in November?
Or is it kosher for elected officials to just do whatever the hell they want, without regard to party policy?
As I said, she doesn’t have to endorse Trump but why did she go out of her way to antagonize Trump supporters? She needs every vote she can get.