Republican Jason Smith Wins Special Election Contest to Become Congressman From Rural Missouri District

And the Election Demonstrates That Democrats Who Try to be Republicans Are Neither

The special election in Missouri to replace a member of Congress who left for greener pastures resulted in a resounding win for the Republican Jason Smith.  This was not unexpected.

The Republican entered Tuesday’s election as the strong favorite, benefiting from running in a conservative district that broke for Mitt Romney by nearly 34 percentage points in November. Smith out-fundraised Hodges more than 2-to-1, raising $509,000 to the Democrat’s $228,000.

No, the race was not close, despite this characterization of the Democrat in the race.

Jason Smith - Real Republican Beat Faux Republican in Republican District

National Democratic groups, viewing the 32-year-old Smith as the front-runner, provided Hodges with minimal assistance. Hodges billed himself as a conservative Democrat, promoting his anti-abortion and anti-gun control views.

The point, why would anyone vote for a Democrat with these views?  If a voter wants a conservative, why not vote for the real thing, and if a voter wants a Democrat, why vote for one that is trying to look like a Republican. 

It could be said that a regular Democrat would not have won the race, which is almost certainly true.  But it is hard to see how a real Democrat could have done worse than this.

With 66 percent of precincts reporting, Smith, a state representative, held a decisive 68 percent to 26 percent lead over Democratic state Rep. Steve Hodges.

Wonder if Democrats got the message?