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| Winners and losers of the 2014 election, early edition | Winners and losers of the 2014 election, early edition |
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| Elections are all about winning and losing. But, I like to go beyond the obvious "w's" and "l's" to find some of the less apparent bests and worsts of the night that was. This is my first crack at doing just that. It's early so I will keep updating it as we go. | Elections are all about winning and losing. But, I like to go beyond the obvious "w's" and "l's" to find some of the less apparent bests and worsts of the night that was. This is my first crack at doing just that. It's early so I will keep updating it as we go. |
| * Mitch McConnell: All the guy does is win. In a race that was supposed to be the closest of his life, McConnell was named the winner moments after the polls closed in Kentucky. And, given the developments in other parts of the country, McConnell looks very likely to take over as Senate Majority Leader when the 114th Congress convenes in January. | * Mitch McConnell: All the guy does is win. In a race that was supposed to be the closest of his life, McConnell was named the winner moments after the polls closed in Kentucky. And, given the developments in other parts of the country, McConnell looks very likely to take over as Senate Majority Leader when the 114th Congress convenes in January. |
| * National Republican Senatorial Committee: Yes, they had a terrific map. And, yes, it got better when Democrats like Max Baucus, Jay Rockefeller and Tim Johnson decided to retire. But, they still had to go out and win it. And, after struggling to beat virtually any Senate Democrats in the past few cycles, they ousted Mark Pryor and Mark Udall and might beat Kay Hagan in North Carolina and Mark Warner in Virginia. And, they managed to save Sen. Pat Roberts from himself in Kansas. | * National Republican Senatorial Committee: Yes, they had a terrific map. And, yes, it got better when Democrats like Max Baucus, Jay Rockefeller and Tim Johnson decided to retire. But, they still had to go out and win it. And, after struggling to beat virtually any Senate Democrats in the past few cycles, they ousted Mark Pryor and Mark Udall and might beat Kay Hagan in North Carolina and Mark Warner in Virginia. And, they managed to save Sen. Pat Roberts from himself in Kansas. |
| * John Kasich: The Ohio governor, as expected, won a crushing victory over Ed FitzGerald who may well have been the worst heavily-hyped candidate of the election. Winning so big in a state that is at the center of every electoral vote calculation made by 2016 strategists in both parties. Kasich has been mostly mute on his interest in running for president in 2016 but tonight solidified his resume should he decide to do just that. | * John Kasich: The Ohio governor, as expected, won a crushing victory over Ed FitzGerald who may well have been the worst heavily-hyped candidate of the election. Winning so big in a state that is at the center of every electoral vote calculation made by 2016 strategists in both parties. Kasich has been mostly mute on his interest in running for president in 2016 but tonight solidified his resume should he decide to do just that. |
| * Ed Gillespie: Win or (narrowly) lose, Gillespie drastically overperformed expectations in his challenge to Virginia Sen. Mark Warner (D). And, even if he winds up losing, Gillespie will be very well positioned to run for governor next year in 2017 in a relatively weak field that could include former state Attorney General Mark Obenshain and former lieutenant governor Bill Bolling. | * Ed Gillespie: Win or (narrowly) lose, Gillespie drastically overperformed expectations in his challenge to Virginia Sen. Mark Warner (D). And, even if he winds up losing, Gillespie will be very well positioned to run for governor next year in 2017 in a relatively weak field that could include former state Attorney General Mark Obenshain and former lieutenant governor Bill Bolling. |
| * Shelley Moore Capito: Quietly, the West Virginia Congresswoman ran one of the best campaigns in the country. She easily won the race to replace retiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller (R) and will be an interesting moderate voice in the Senate. | * Shelley Moore Capito: Quietly, the West Virginia Congresswoman ran one of the best campaigns in the country. She easily won the race to replace retiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller (R) and will be an interesting moderate voice in the Senate. |
| * Al Franken: The Minnesota Senator won the closest race in the country six years ago and many Republicans promised to make him a one-termer. Franken made no news -- on purpose -- and played down his former celebrity status. It worked brilliantly. | * Al Franken: The Minnesota Senator won the closest race in the country six years ago and many Republicans promised to make him a one-termer. Franken made no news -- on purpose -- and played down his former celebrity status. It worked brilliantly. |
| * Florida vote counting: Giant state. Fast count. Kudos for a place that has seen its share of criticism of the way it conducts its elections. | * Florida vote counting: Giant state. Fast count. Kudos for a place that has seen its share of criticism of the way it conducts its elections. |
| * Southern Democrats: Both Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky and Sen. Mark Pryor in Arkansas did everything they could to run away from President Obama and insist they were their own independent voices. Ditto Michelle Nunn in Georgia. Didn't work. Grimes lost minutes after polls closed in Kentucky. Same for Pryor in Arkansas. Nunn wasn't able to push David Perdue (R) to a runoff. And even Sen. Mark Warner, long considered to be impregnable, found himself in a tight race with former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie. The results affirmed just how difficult it is for Democrats to win federal races in the South -- particularly in an election cycle like this one where a Democratic President is decidedly unpopular in the region. (And NBC/Marist poll released on Sunday showed Obama with a 32 percent approval rating in Kentucky.) | * Southern Democrats: Both Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky and Sen. Mark Pryor in Arkansas did everything they could to run away from President Obama and insist they were their own independent voices. Ditto Michelle Nunn in Georgia. Didn't work. Grimes lost minutes after polls closed in Kentucky. Same for Pryor in Arkansas. Nunn wasn't able to push David Perdue (R) to a runoff. And even Sen. Mark Warner, long considered to be impregnable, found himself in a tight race with former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie. The results affirmed just how difficult it is for Democrats to win federal races in the South -- particularly in an election cycle like this one where a Democratic President is decidedly unpopular in the region. (And NBC/Marist poll released on Sunday showed Obama with a 32 percent approval rating in Kentucky.) |
| * Charlie Crist: Crist, as recently as five years ago, was the most popular politician in Florida by a mile. Today he is a two-time losing party switcher with no political future. Crist's abandonment of the Republican party backfired on him in the 2010 Senate race and he couldn't overcome Gov. Rick Scott (R), who was deeply unpopular in the state, as a Democrat. | * Charlie Crist: Crist, as recently as five years ago, was the most popular politician in Florida by a mile. Today he is a two-time losing party switcher with no political future. Crist's abandonment of the Republican party backfired on him in the 2010 Senate race and he couldn't overcome Gov. Rick Scott (R), who was deeply unpopular in the state, as a Democrat. |
| * Mark Udall: Ask any Democrat what happened to Colorado Sen. Mark Udall and they all tell you the same thing: He got caught napping. Sen-elect Cory Gardner (R) initially said "no" to the race but reversed course as the political environment faded for President Obama. Udall's strict focus on reproductive rights -- which Democrats were convinced was a silver bullet against Gardner -- didn't work. At all. | * Mark Udall: Ask any Democrat what happened to Colorado Sen. Mark Udall and they all tell you the same thing: He got caught napping. Sen-elect Cory Gardner (R) initially said "no" to the race but reversed course as the political environment faded for President Obama. Udall's strict focus on reproductive rights -- which Democrats were convinced was a silver bullet against Gardner -- didn't work. At all. |
| * Turnout operations: In a neutral political environment, the superior ground game can matter for a point or so. But in a year in which the national playing field is so clearly tilted to Republicans, the much-touted Bannock Street Project, Democrats much-discussed turnout operation, couldn't make the difference. | * Turnout operations: In a neutral political environment, the superior ground game can matter for a point or so. But in a year in which the national playing field is so clearly tilted to Republicans, the much-touted Bannock Street Project, Democrats much-discussed turnout operation, couldn't make the difference. |
| * Wendy Davis: No one thought Davis was going to be the next governor of Texas. But, few thought she would lose as badly as she did. Davis was on track to underperform not only Bill White' 42 percent in 2010 but also, potentially, Tony Sanchez's 40 percent in 2002. For a candidate that many saw as the leading edge of the Democratic resurgence in Texas, that is really, really bad. | * Wendy Davis: No one thought Davis was going to be the next governor of Texas. But, few thought she would lose as badly as she did. Davis was on track to underperform not only Bill White' 42 percent in 2010 but also, potentially, Tony Sanchez's 40 percent in 2002. For a candidate that many saw as the leading edge of the Democratic resurgence in Texas, that is really, really bad. |