GOP defeats Obama-endorsed candidate in deep blue city that Biden won handily in 2020
By: Tyler Olson
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Endorsements from former President Obama and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn in reliably blue Columbia, South Carolina , were not enough to push the city’s Democratic mayoral candidate over the finish line.
Republican Daniel Rickenmann, a businessman and Columbia city council member, defeated Democrat Tameika Isaac Devine 52% to 48% on Tuesday night in Columbia, which sits in a county that President Biden carried by almost 40 points in 2020.
Obama, according to Washington Free Beacon, released an audio message in support of Devine. The former president carried the city’s county by 29 points in 2008 and 33 points in 2012.
Clyburn, one of the most prominent Democrats in both the South and the Black community, who many believe saved President Biden’s flailing 2020 campaign with his endorsement, also endorsed Devine.
Columbia has been so reliably blue over the last several years that Republicans didn’t put forth a challenger to Rickenmann’s Democratic predecessor, Mayor Stephen Benjamin.
Republicans are likening Rickenmann’s victory to the GOP’s successful push in Virginia weeks ago that elected businessman Glenn Youngkin as the commonwealth’s next governor despite Virginians voting reliably blue for several cycles.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, celebrated Rickenmann’s victory as part of a “red wave.”
The Democrat losses in South Carolina and Virginia come as Biden’s poll numbers continue to slump and a USA Today/Suffolk University poll earlier this week painted a grim picture of the party’s chances in the 2022 midterms.
The survey, which was taken after the Virginia elections but before House Democrats passed the popular infrastructure bill shortly after, showed Biden with nearly rock-bottom approval ratings, Vice President Kamala Harris with numbers that are even worse, and Democrats trailing by a wide margin on the generic congressional ballot.
Among the topline numbers, according to USA Today/Suffolk University, are a 37.8% approval rating for Biden with a 59% disapproval – more than 21 points underwater. Forty-six percent of those included in the survey said Biden has done a worse job than expected, and 64% said they don’t want Biden to run for reelection.
Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, may face an uphill battle to preserve their razor-thin majorities unless something significant changes before Election Day on Nov. 8, 2022. The USA Today/Suffolk University poll gives Republicans a 46%-38% advantage on a generic congressional ballot.
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Chalk up another victory for the American people.
Mark Zuckerberg didn't buy this one? It's too bad he forgot to take over Virginia and South Carolina elections.
This is indeed good news!
The people are staring to see the toxic leadership of the Democrats and are removing them.
I have a feeling that people can't wait for the midterms
Mid Terms is the best way to ensure a change. There are other options (i.e. recalls, special sessions, etc.) but they are time consuming.
Biden won't be able to advance any more legislation. He won't be able to make radical appointments. Republicans will be performing oversight, holding hearings and conducting investigations. It will be a major change.
The problem is that the Biden administration hasn't pushed much legislation. For the most part it's all been via EO and none of it beneficial to the country as a whole. You're correct about the oversight for appointments of any kind. I think the biggest difference when it comes to the appointments is that resistance won't be based on 30 year old claims like we saw with Justice Kavanaugh. They will be on ensuring the right person is appointed that will work FOR the contry and not against it.
They got slowed down. They did pass two massive spending bills and those EO's, some of which are being contested, did undo a lot of the good things that Trump did for this nation.
The sad thing is a lot of the EOs were to undo what Trump had done. On the flip side, what they undid is hurting the country more than helping it.
Yes and Yes. He took office with that angry look on his face and a stack of EO's on the table. They convinced a lot of independents to vote for him. Their jaws must have dropped on day 1.
That many EO's indicates that he's being directed. I don't think he has or ever had the mental capacity to do that much in that short of time. Those are from his handlers. I think angry face was more a mask. He's going through the motions as best he can. That look now is one of complete and utter confusion.
As far as the independents, that I chalk up to the noise. Reality of it is, the democrats had nothing to run on. No accomplishments. Even their attempts to take the previous administration down failed before they really started. It was all a show. But in order to make the noise stop, there was only one choice to vote for. And how many are wishing they didn't vote they way they did.
I agree with everything you said.
As far as the independents, that I chalk up to the noise. Reality of it is, the democrats had nothing to run on. No accomplishments. Even their attempts to take the previous administration down failed before they really started. It was all a show. But in order to make the noise stop, there was only one choice to vote for. And how many are wishing they didn't vote they way they did.
Alot when into that 2020 election. I doubt the dems could pull it off again and this time they have that horrible record. People will vote against them for the next few cycles and the democrats will start sounding rational again and then maybe a decade from now we might have another crisis, people will forget what they did and we might see them in office again