Rush: Media, Democratic Party 'destroyed today'

Karen Handel

The verdict is in, following the special election for Georgia's 6th congressional district seat, and President Donald Trump has won.

Not the seat, but in the politics. And it's much more than that, according to talk-radio behemoth Rush Limbaugh.

"You have no idea the degree to which the media and the Democratic Party are destroyed today. I'm talking about how they feel ... which is complete and utter defeat, frustration and devastation, and they have no answers," he said Wednesday, hours after Republican Karen Handel was a multiple percentage point winner over defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff.

"The dirty little secret is the media and the Democratic Party is turning off average Americans. They are not persuading, they are not convincing people Trump is a reprobate," he continued. "They do not know how to beat Donald Trump. They are depressed and despondent.

"It is funereal. The look on their faces. Utter despondency," he said. "They're empty. They literally have nothing that is new or relevant to our times. They're so far out of the zeitgeist, they've got nothing to do but chase this mythical Russians stole the election from them. That Hillary should be in the White House. That they should be controlling the House. And this why the people that vote for them are so despondent and now engaging in continuing unbalanced, insane behavior."

The Georgia election was to fill the seat vacated by Tom Price, who was named the president's health and human services secretary.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich cut immediately to the bottom line, writing at FoxNews.com: "For the left this race had been portrayed as a referendum on Trump. After Trump's tweets and robocalls, there was a verdict. Trump won."

Gingrich said it will be "interesting to watch the elite media and left-wing activists try to deal with losing four straight elections."

"It will be equally interesting to watch them try to comfort themselves while they attempt to explain away Karen Handel's victory," he said.

He was citing special elections since January in Kansas, Montana, South Carolina and Georgia.

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Jonah Goldberg wrote in National Review that had the Democrat won, the left-wing party would have been able to tell donors: "We bought a seat in a Republican district with a hipster dufus candidate, who got trolled into getting engaged. If we do it 23 more times, we get a Democratic House, a Speaker Pelosi and maybe impeachment."

Longtime Democratic consultant Douglas Schoen wrote for FoxNews.com, "It is clear the Democratic Party needs to do some soul searching before it can return to power in Washington."

But he noted the margins of losses are getting narrower.

"Coupled with President Trump's flagging approval ratings, which have recently begun to fall consistently below 40 percent in the latest polling aggregates, put Democrats in a prime position for future electoral success statistically speaking," he wrote.

An NBC News commentary said Democrats "have little to show for their anti-Trump resistance."

"Democrats threw everything they had into GA-6, and Republicans still won. This is only going to embolden Trump – and perhaps also Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on health care, as well as with the NRCC on retirements."

NBC said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi "remains a big drag on Democrats."

"Democrats have to admit they have a Pelosi problem, especially in (GOP) states and districts. Yes, she brings money and legislative savvy to the party. But if Democratic candidates like Ossoff are going to campaign on change, Republicans can quickly undercut that message by simply showing Pelosi."

Even CNN, which has been labeled "fake news" by Trump, asked: "Democrats just went 0-4. When will they win?"

"Democrats tried an inoffensive moderate message in Georgia. They ran a banjo-strumming populist in Montana. They called in the cavalry in South Carolina and tried to catch their foe sleeping through a long-shot in Kansas.

"None of it worked."

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The network reported the conclusion of Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., an "emerging Democratic leader," that the Georgia race, in which Democrats spend more than $30 million in the most expensive congressional race in history, "better be a wake-up call for Democrats."

"We need a genuinely new message, a serious jobs plan that reaches all Americans, and a bigger tent, not an (sic) smaller one. Focus on the future."

CNN continued to encourage the Democrat: "The losses aren't all doom and gloom for Democrats. The party got closer than it has in decades to winning some of the four seats – a sign they've closed their gaps with Republicans in both suburban and rural areas and in 2018 will have a broad playing field with dozens of more competitive districts."

And it charged that Republicans "were spiking the football."

"In a memo, National Republican Congressional Committee communications director Matt Gorman said Democrats have a 'competence problem' and said there were no moral victories to be had," the network said.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Joe Crowley of New York said in a statement the party's resistance to President Trump will continue.

But CNN conceded: "With Handel's win, Republicans on Capitol Hill are likely to feel they are on the right track – helping the GOP's push for health care and tax reform legislation. It could also show House incumbents that they can separate themselves from Trump effectively on the campaign trail, and stave off a potential wave of retirements."

The results Tuesday also could be another indicator the Democratic Party is moving so far to the left it is abandoning some of its supporters.

The party, in recent years, has required all of its candidates to be pro-abortion, alienating a large swath of the population.

"We congratulate pro-life champion Karen Handel on her historic victory," wrote Majorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List.

The group contacted more than 65,000 voters in the district ahead of Handel's victory.

"Although America's largest abortion business, Planned Parenthood, spent six figures in support of her opponent Jon Ossoff, Karen's record of courageous leadership won the day," Dannenfelser said. "In the weeks before the election, SBA List contacted tens of thousands of inconsistent voters in Georgia's sixth district to impress upon them the importance of this race. We are encouraged that the voters rejected Ossoff's extreme pro-abortion agenda and are sending Karen Handel to Washington to stand up for women and children and get taxpayers out of the abortion business."

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The National Right to Life organization also congratulated Handel.

"Jon Ossoff supported abortion on demand and lost," said Carol Tobias, National Right to Life president. "Karen Handel's position on life reflects the true values of Georgia's voters. Karen Handel is pro-life and opposes using tax dollars to pay for abortions. She will help us continue to pass pro-life laws and save babies' lives."

RTL pointed that that just weeks ago, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez "decided that the DNC would only support candidates who support an extreme abortion agenda calling for unrestricted abortion for any reason – including late abortions after 20 weeks and taxpayer funding of abortion. In many areas of the country, Democratic candidates must have pro-life votes in order to win, however they also must appease the pro-abortion masters of the Democratic Party, including Planned Parenthood, NARAL and EMILY's List."

Twitchy noted Ossoff's apparent disconnect from reality regarding finances.

He told NPR: "The role of money in politics is a major problem. And particularly the role of unchecked anonymous money. There have been super PACs in Washington who have been putting up tens of millions of dollars in attack ads for months now."

Twitchy said, "Though his campaign spent tens of millions of dollars in an attempt to defeat Republican Karen Handel, in an NPR interview that aired the morning of the election, Democrat Jon Ossoff lamented money in politics."

Among the social media responses?

"Looking up the word 'chutzpah' right now," wrote Ed Morrissey.

Morning Education said, "Democrat Jon Ossoff on the reportedly $40 million spent in the Georgia election: 'We need campaign finance reform.'"

Charles Cooke tweeted, "Remind me who had more money and where it came from."

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The Washington Examiner reported Neera Tanden, a "longtime confidante of Hillary Clinton," turned foul on social media at Ossoff's loss.

"One important lesson is that when they go low, going high doesn't f---ing work," was Tanden's message.

It was a reference to Clinton's claim during the 2016 campaign that, "When they go low, we go high."

Michele Goldberg wrote at Slate that she was "gutted" by the result.

"Some liberals are putting an optimistic spin on things; It's a good sign for Dems, they argue, that Ossoff got as close as he did to victory in a district that hasn't voted [Democrat] since Jimmy Carter was president. This isn't wrong, but it doesn't make the loss less painful."