So, who wins what prizes this year? Feel free to suggest other prizes or candidates for any prize!
Nominees below the fold.
Most Interesting Name:
Barack Obama (D-Pres)
Theodore Terbolizard (R-CA-04)
Pro-Life (R-ID-Sen)
Charlie Brown (D-CA-04)
Carl Mumpower (R-NC-11)
Elwyn Tinklenberg (D-MN-06)
(and Bill Sally?)
Most undeserving win:
Michelle Bachmann (R-MN-06)
Don Young (R-AK-AL)
Aaron Schock (R-IL-18)
Dollar Bill (D-LA-02)
Mean Jean (R-OH-02)
Most undeserving loss:
Nick Lampson (D-TX-22)
Nancy Boyda (D-KS-02)
Don Cazayoux (D-LA-06)
Most deserving loss:
Andy Harris (R-MD-01)
Tim Mahoney ( D WTF-FL-16)
Robin Hayes (R-NC-08)
Randy Kuhl (R-NY-29)
Virgil Goode (R-VA-05)
Tom Feeney (R-FL-24)
Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO-04)
Best campaign:
Walt Minnick (D-ID-01)
Barack Obama & Joe Biden (D-Pres & VP)
Tom Perriello (D-VA-05)
Harry Teague (D-NM-02)
Alan Grayson (D-FL-08)
Jeff Merkley (D-OR-Sen)
Kay Hagan (D-NC-Sen)
Travis Childers (D-MS-01)
Worst campaign:
Bill Sali (R-ID-01)
Paul Kanjorski (D-PA-11) (but he won, so maybe he shouldn’t be here)
Mike Arcuri (D-NY-24) (well, he won anyway, but with a very underwhelming win)
Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH-15)
David Boswell (D-KY-02)
Linda Stender (D-NJ-07)
Kay Barnes (D-MO-06)
John McCain (R-Pres)
Rudy Giuliani (R-Pres)
Fred Thompson (R-Pres)
Bob Straniere (R-NY-13)
Carl Mumpower (R-NC-11) (YOU CAN’T STOP THE MUMPOWER)
“What happened to the” Liddy Dole “I knew?” (R-NC-Sen)
Stupidest event on the D side:
Michael “Bad” Jackson
Mahoney’s getting sucked into the FL-16 sex scandal swamp (or his sheer existence, after retroactively failing the ChadInFL Jim Webb Smell Test)
John Edwards’s also getting sucked into a sex scandal swamp
John Murtha’s rednecks comment
Mark Penn ignores caucuses
Boyda rejects the D-trip
Hillary attacks liberal elitism
Jon Powers vs. Jack Davis
Stupidest event on the R side:
McCain’s choice of running mate
the Club for Shrinkage primarying Wayne Gilchrest
NY-13 (enough said)
McCain’s suspended campaign (yea, right)
Dole’s “Godless” ad
Jim Gilmore’s convention
Bill Sali (he’s his own event)
Joe the Plumber debacle
Giuliani skips the early primaries
Wilson vs. Pearce (NM-Sen)
Cheney endorses McCain
Big Bad John Cornyn (granted, though, he didn’t lose)
Best-looking men:
Martin Heinrich (D-NM-01)
Mark Warner (D-VA-Sen)
Aaron Schock (R-IL-18)
Scott Kleeb (D-NE-Sen)
Patrick Murphy (D-PA-08)
Jon Powers (D-??)
Best-looking women:
Gabby Giffords (D-AZ-08)
Sarah Palin (R-VP)
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY-20)
Debbie Cook (D-CA-46)
Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D-SD-AL)
Closest federal race: well, this still has yet to be decided. But it looks like MN-Sen, OH-15, or CA-04 might win that prize, with VA-05 having an outside chance. (“Landslide Joe” Courtney won by a real landslide this time.)
Why? There are a lot of campaigns that actually won who I’d place higher than LaRocco (Kay Hagan, Harry Teague, heck, why not Alan Grayson?)
I mean, I get that he worked hard, but a lot of other campaigns were a lot more successful in both results on election day and influencing the media narrative to their advantage.
I hate to be part of this topic, and he did have an undeserving win, but Aaron Schock does deserve a best-looking vote.
Stupidest events R Side
McCain picking Palin
Club for Growth primarying Wayne Gilchrest in MD-01
Anything relating to NY-13
Stupidest events D Side
Michael Jackson running as an independent in LA-06
Tim Mahoney’s issues
John Edwards’ issues
Most deserving loss
Virgil Goode (VA-05)
Robin Hayes (NC-08)
Randy Kuhl (NY-29)
Also, most interesting name:
Elwyn Tinkleburg. Very Lord of the Rings.
Easily, Don Cazayoux. Lampson and Boyda both voted a ways left of their district and recieved stiff challenges. Boyda refused DCCC assistance. She had it coming. Lampson fought hard, so while his loss wasn’t exactly deserved, Don Cazayoux would have won if it weren’t for Jackson.
Worst campaign is Sali. Did any D’s lose a D+19 district or any R’s lose an R+19 district? No. They couldn’t even file their FEC report on time.
Worst Campaign BY FAR:
Tom Feeney (R-FL-24)
Seriously, Suzanne Kosmas was a top-tier recruit and ran a fantastic campaign, but Feeney just handed her the race with his TV ad “apology.” Easily the worst campaign of the cycle.
Debbie Cook is right up there near the top.
I’d have to add a few Dems who had no excuse losing to the list.
OH-15 – Kilroy – She may still win, but there was no excuse for this race being this close.
NJ-07 – Stender – She ran a great campaign in 2006 without a ton of money and lost a very close one. This year she raises and spend ungodly sums and gets crushed in an open seat race. WTF?
KY-02 – Boswell – I never understood this guy’s campaign. He’s a conservative dem with almost universal name recognition and very respected in his district. Yet his campaign seemed half-hearted at best with little fundraising and he was practically invisible until the last few months of the campaign.
MO-06 – Barnes – Seriously, I didn’t expect her to win, but there is no excuse for losing by the margin she lost by.
Worst Campaign – gotta add in John “Creepy Smirk” McCain here. What a disaster.
Stupidest R event: The “Joe the Plumber” debate debacle, Giuliani skips the early primaries, Wilson vs. Pearce (NM-Sen), Cheney endorses McCain, the Big Bad John ad for Cornyn (TX-Sen), all of Dick Morris’s predictions
Most Deserving Loss: Marilyn “gay-hatin'” Musgrave (R-CO-04), Debra “BMW Scam” Honeycutt (R-GA-13), Tim Walberg (R-MI-07)
Most undeserving win: Bill Jefferson (D-LA-02), Jean Schmidt (R-OH-02)
Best Campaign: Travis Childers (D-MS-01)
Stupidest D event: Nancy Boyda rejects DCCC money, Mark Penn ignores the caucuses, Hillary Clinton attacks liberal elitism
Worst Campaign: Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Bob Straniere (R-NY-13), Carl Mumpower
My picks:
Interesting name: Pro-Life still makes me laugh every time I hear it; it’s the Ocho Cinco of politics
Most underserving win: the deranged Bachmann, I’d also nominate Mean Jean Schmidt
Undeserving loss: Boyda by far, the other two were way conservative
Most deserving loss: Mahoney, clearly; he and Carney have long been my least favorite Dems, I’d never cast a ballot for either, even before Mahoney’s sex scandal. 2nd place is Andy Harris–everytime COG costs the Republicans a ruby-red seat, my faith in humanity grows!
Best campaign: Clearly Obama–won by 8.5 million votes, dominated in West, mid-atlantic and Midwest. The first 21st century presidential campaign. On the Congress-side, I’d pick Perriello. Like Obama, he ran a real grassroots effort, and faced long odds. I think Merkley ran the best Senate campaign and will be a great Senator
Worst campaign: Sali, Sali, Sali. Honorable mention to Feeney and Liddy Dole.
Stupidest Dem event: Mahoney all around. Also, the Jon Powers debacle
Stupidest Rep event: I’d say nominating Gilmore at the VA convention; embodies everything that’s wrong with the Rep party these days. They turn down a reasonable, intelligent conservative in the growth area of the state for a deranged moron. There are dozens of other examples though!
Best-looking men: I’d do Scott Kleeb five ways from Sunday.
Best-looking women: Sorry, but I’d have to pick Palin.
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin makes the best looking women group. She’s dumped the super red hair routine from 2006 and should get seriuous consideration.
I’d never really looked at Aaron Schock.. Is it just me, or does he look like Doogie Howser? Not NPH nowadays… But NPH when he was actually on that show like 15 years ago at like age 15. lol