For those who have been loyal readers and contributors over the years, a new site has been set up and can be found here:

http://www.hhrphoenix.com/

By multiple requests as a new site gets set up, here is a new thread to work on the transition.

After more than 20 years of this website, it is time to bid a farewell to The Hedgehog Report with this final post. It’s been a long fun ride and I don’t do this lightly, but it is time to bring it to a close.

This website was my initial entry point into active involvement politics and blogs were still a new form of communication and I can proudly say I was part of that initial wave. I still remember when I had that first “Instalanche” (for those who remember when that was the biggest thing you could get as a new blogger) and thought I had “made it”. Slowly and steadily this site had grew to the point where it was mentioned in best-selling books and I was actually making a small income from it. It was an easy conduit to introduce me to local politicians and the local notoriety was probably a big reason I was elected to serve two terms on my local political Central Committee. It even got me listed on the late comedian Gallagher’s website during his run for Governor and won me a couple of self-promoted awards with the Baltimore Sun. The highlight of this site’s existence got me invited to the 2008 Republican Convention as a “News Organization” which was comical to say the least but attending that convention was probably the highlight of my political involvement, aside from local political wins, over the years.

The site evolved to mostly a national poll aggregation site which is something I enjoyed doing since I loved the horserace aspect of the politics. There are many others that did it better or more in depth, but I never strayed from the basic set up of posting a poll, compiling the data, and letting people comment on it. I had fun doing it and while the compiling the data and analyzing was fun for me personally. And if it provided a forum for others to interact with myself and others, all the better.

The truth is my interest in politics, especially at the national level and state level, has waned considerably. You can blame general life, kids, marriage, even the Trump effect as the main culprit but bottom line I always told myself this was a hobby and when it stopped being a hobby and started being a chore, I would stop doing it. As most people who have been around here since the beginning have realize, my regular input to this site started falling off during the 2018 election and I have basically been limping along since then for about five years. I was hoping to get another spark, but it is not happening and it is time to stop pretending it will.

I truly appreciate all those who stuck around here all these years even when I sort of checked out of the site for the last couple years. For a solid 15 years during my heavy involvement in politics, I loved doing this site and it was a great outlet to interact with people who shared that passion. I don’t regret any post I ever made (well maybe a few that I could have taken back in hindsight) and the site will always be a part of my life even in the diminished state that the site had become. It is a big reason for my involvement eventually in politics and have had the pleasure of meeting people all over the country who knew about the site, some of who became friends off the site both in the world of politics and outside of politics.

Maybe down the road in another format it will come back. Not sure how long this will stay active and visible because as some point the web hosting service will turn it off since I will stop paying the bills. I have downloaded the final content from the site to keep and maybe I will post it in another format somewhere so nothing is lost.

With that, thank you all for the years of enjoyment you have given me with this site. It has been a fun ride.

And for one final time, here is an open thread – talk amongst yourselves….

Here is a clean thread for now.

Sad day for America (and especially for the future of the Republican Party’s hope for future national relevance) as Larry Hogan decides not to run for President. His full statement.

The damage Donald Trump has done to the Republican Party and their electoral prospects has spread to the bright-red state of Mississippi where even their incumbent Governor might be in trouble of keeping this seat in GOP hands later this year according to a new poll from Mississippi Today and Tulchin Research.

GOVERNOR – MISSISSIPPI (Tulchin Research)
Brandon Presley (D) 47%
Tate Reeves (R-inc) 43%

This poll was done January 21-25 among 500 registered voters,

Buried in this new article from The Washington Post about a new poll they did with ABC News highlighting how it seems very few people want to see a 2020 rematch in 2024 is the actual hypothetical matchup that shows Donald Trump leading Joe Biden by 3%.

PRESIDENT – NATIONAL (ABC/WaPo)
Donald Trump (R) 48%
Joe Biden (D-inc) 45%

This poll was done January 27-February 1 among registered voters.

Something unrelated to the 2024 Presidential race for once, a new poll from Mason-Dixon Polling for the Kentucky gubernatorial race later this year where the Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear holds a solid lead over a gaggle of potential Republican challengers.

GOVERNOR – KENTUCKY (Mason-Dixon)
Andy Beshear (D-inc) 49%
Daniel Cameron (R) 40%

Andy Beshear (D-inc) 57%
Kelly Craft (R) 32%

Andy Beshear (D-inc) 52%
Ryan Quarles (R) 35%

Andy Beshear (D-inc) 53%
Mike Harmon (R) 33%

GOVERNOR – KENTUCKY – GOP PRIMARY (Mason-Dixon)
Daniel Cameron 39%
Kelly Craft 13%
Ryan Quarles 8%
Mike Harmon 5%
Alan Keck 2%
Eric Deters 2%
Bob DeVore 1%
David Cooper 1%
Robbie Smith 1%
Everyone Else <1%

This poll was done January 18-23 among 625 registered voters and additional augmented sample of 404 likely primary voters.

Polls are going to be sparse these days so for the time being, the latest tracking poll of the Republican primary race from Morning Consult shows Republicans still haven’t figured out how much damage Donald Trump has done and still prefer him to be the face of their party for 2024.

PRESIDENT – NATIONAL – GOP PRIMARY (Morning Consult)
Trump 46%
DeSantis 33%
Pence 9%
Cheney 3%
Haley 2%
Cruz 2%
Abbott 1%
Pompeo 1%
T. Scott 1%
Noem 0%
Youngkin 0%

This poll was done January 6-8 among 4470 registered primary voters.

It’ll take me a little to figure out how much longer I am going to go with this site but for now at least I’ll give you a new thread for the new year.