Election 2018

[D. Hocking]

I am curious to see if the hoard of invaders in the caravan will suddenly stop being a big talking point of the GOP similar to how the Ebola threat kind of disappeared once that election cycle was over.   

[Mike Sixel]

https://www.craigcalcaterra.com/blog/thoughts-on-the-midterm-elections

 

I meant to post this here, not the general one....now you get it in your face twice. Craig is a good writer on many topics.....I recommend reading some of his other stuff also!

[Squirrel]

What the Dems need to do as much as anything is really get after these voter suppression tactics at play almost everywhere. What happened in Georgia is sickening and appalling and that’s an election that not only should be challenged but redone.

[stringer bell]

 

I am curious to see if the hoard of invaders in the caravan will suddenly stop being a big talking point of the GOP similar to how the Ebola threat kind of disappeared once that election cycle was over.   

Cynical, but spot on.

[stringer bell]

 

What the Dems need to do as much as anything is really get after these voter suppression tactics at play almost everywhere. What happened in Georgia is sickening and appalling and that’s an election that not only should be challenged but redone.

Voter suppression is one of the GOP's main tools. Unfortunately, those of us on the left side of the spectrum have aided this by not voting on our own. I know too many people who say "my vote doesn't matter" or "they're both terrible" and don't exercise their franchise. 

 

There was healthy turnout across the board yesterday and it rendered a split decision despite the hurdles the Democrats faced. 

[USAFChief]

Feel free to not speculate if you're not comfortable with it, but could they have possibly been winter-only "snowbirds" who were expecting absentee ballots from their 'up north' state of official residence?

 

That wouldn't make it acceptable, but if they were from differing northern states it would make it less likely a matter of selective vote suppression than some other, more benign explanation.

I’m the other person Ash mentioned. Neither Mrs Chief nor I received our Arizona early vote by mail ballots this year, first time ever.

 

We’re both registered Democrats.

 

I’m a bit suspicious.

[Squirrel]

I’m the other person Ash mentioned. Neither Mrs Chief nor I received our Arizona early vote by mail ballots this year, first time ever.

We’re both registered Democrats.

I’m a bit suspicious.

With the voter suppression tactics in place all over, its very difficult not to be. I mentioned Georgia, and there’s what happened in North Dakota, Florida once again removed voters from the registration list ... and this is being done in many places to solidify Republican control. Kemp in Georgia said it ... if we allow all these registered voters to vote, they will take over. Okay, not an exact quote, but pretty close. Republicans claim fraud, yet very little is every found when investigated. But voter suppression is real and massive and needs to stop.

[gunnarthor]

 

Polls slightly underestimated Republican chances again. They must be missing these Trump supporters somehow. Maybe it is the old generation in nursing homes? They seem to be a significant portion of Trump's base.
 

In politics, there is this phenomenon where minorities poll better but their results tended to be lower and political scientists reasoned that it was because some people didn't want to say they wouldn't vote for the person of color or woman or religious minority b/c the pollster would think they were racist. That's probably a part of it. 

[Mr. Brooks]

I think the other part of it is that there is a fair amount of people that vote Trump, but are embarrassed enough by his behavior that they don't want to admit it to pollsters or family/friends.

[Mr. Brooks]

Some really good things happened when people were able to voice their positions on issues directly though.

Three deep red states voted to expand Medicaid, that's huge.

Florida restored voting rights to 1.4 million non violent felons.

Michigan voted to legalize recreational marijuana, and Missouri and Utah voted to legalize medicinal marijuana.

Might be a couple more positive referendums that I'm forgetting.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Pelosi is angling for the speaker chair again.

 

This is why you can’t have nice things, Democrats.

[Squirrel]

Pelosi is angling for the speaker chair again.

This is why you can’t have nice things, Democrats.

I saw the press conference ... well, about 5-10 mins of it. I didn’t like her answers to that question. She should have just answered, ‘That has yet to be decided’ and left it at that and not mentioned anything about wanting to be Speaker again. I also hate the questions about ‘women’s issues.’ As far as I’m concerned there are no such things. Every issue is a woman’s issue. And every issue is a mans’s issue, too. Let’s stop with this genderizing crap; it’s only done to lessen significance on certain issues.

[Craig Arko]

Sessions out.

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-resigns-following-midterms-n933626

[Badsmerf]

The democrats would be fools to elect Pelosi to be speaker again... so I'm sure that is exactly what they'll do. They need to reach the older white voters again, and Pelosi isn't the person for it. She's been attacked and turned into the bogeyman by the gop and gop donors. They can't allow her to drag down their message. Elect someone else that can't be so easily taken advantage of.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

The democrats would be fools to elect Pelosi to be speaker again... so I'm sure that is exactly what they'll do. They need to reach the older white voters again, and Pelosi isn't the person for it. She's been attacked and turned into the bogeyman by the gop and gop donors. They can't allow her to drag down their message. Elect someone else that can't be so easily taken advantage of.

Exactly. She's obviously skilled and qualified but she is too much of a lightening rod, and that's an understatement.

[D. Hocking]

So the speculation that Sessions would be done sometime after the midterms did not take long to become fact.

 

(I suppose further discussion of this would be for another thread).

[Squirrel]

So the speculation that Sessions would be done sometime after the midterms did not take long to become fact.

 

(I suppose further discussion of this would be for another thread).

Maybe in the general politics thread.

 

That said, this was done quickly because the Dems took the House and they are afraid of investigations and want to control and limit the Mueller investigation. But I also think this was inevitable. They knew the Dems were going to and this has been in the works.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Walker concedes.

[Craig Arko]

 

Walker concedes.

And requests a recount.

 

Oh, wait...

[TheLeviathan]

 

Walker concedes.

 

I wanted Cruz gone, but I'll take this as a consolation prize.

[Mike Sixel]

 

I wanted Cruz gone, but I'll take this as a consolation prize.

 

It's a quandary....governors have so much power and influence, I'm almost willing to trade 4 senators for 7 or so governors.....

[TheLeviathan]

 

It's a quandary....governors have so much power and influence, I'm almost willing to trade 4 senators for 7 or so governors.....

 

Six state legislatures too.  I am willing to make that trade.

[Mike Sixel]

Nevada will have the first state legislature with more women than men....

[ashbury]

Nevada will have the first state legislature with more women than men....

Interesting, but not shorthand for anything really. An acquaintance of mine lost in a two-woman race for a seat there. The winner is all about making life easier for those already well off.

[LaBombo]

 

Nevada will have the first state legislature with more women than men....

 

Well done, Nevada. Not content to celebrate just gender diversity, though, Nevada also embraced the mortality-challenged by electing more dead pimps (1) to their assembly than any other state in the union.

 

Free thinkers, those Nevadans. If AZ adopts "Meth lab of democracy" as its state motto, maybe Nevada can designate itself 'Democracy's opium den'.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Interesting, but not shorthand for anything really. An acquaintance of mine lost in a two-woman race for a seat there. The winner is all about making life easier for those already well off.

 

In a nation w/o a female president, where many states have not had a female governor, where the US House and Senate are filled with men.....well, we'll disagree that it isn't a big deal. 

[Squirrel]

Exactly. She's obviously skilled and qualified but she is too much of a lightening rod, and that's an understatement.

That sentence I’d say is a good summary of this article but with a bit more to think about. I’m not posting this in support of Pelosi, nor am I posting this to oppose those who oppose her. Just posting it because I do think there is some truth to it. And that’s not me saying she should be Speaker, nor am I saying those here who are opposed have issues with women in power because I know better. Still, her vilification has been in part an ongoing and long running propaganda campaign and there are many who have been swayed by it.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/04/the-nancy-pelosi-problem/554048/?fbclid=IwAR0yGaOeCgxFPcwea4BXxtWXA2Q18d5SwROR5XUHezc0m7geA84fgd2oebc&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=5be3ed0b4b73850001c3a857_ta&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

[Badsmerf]

Like the article says, despite her skill and success, she is a liability. Make her majority whip. I'm sure Republican attacks are successful partly because gender. They're also successful because Obama was black, and she was aligned with him. It reminds the gop base they oppose "those" people. They coastal liberal elites. Her time has passed as a leader in the party.

[gunnarthor]

Not sure if this had been posted but I think this is genuinely frightening. The Trump administration is releasing doctored video of the altercation between a CNN reporter and a Trump staffer. They speed up his arm speed and edited out his “Pardon me, ma’am” to make the incident look different from what really happened.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/sarah-sanders-promotes-an-altered-video-of-cnn-reporter-sparking-allegations-of-visual-propaganda/2018/11/08/33210126-e375-11e8-b759-3d88a5ce9e19_story.html?utm_term=.0ad51702b159

[biggentleben]

 

Not sure if this had been posted but I think this is genuinely frightening. The Trump administration is releasing doctored video of the altercation between a CNN reporter and a Trump staffer. They speed up his arm speed and edited out his “Pardon me, ma’am” to make the incident look different from what really happened.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/sarah-sanders-promotes-an-altered-video-of-cnn-reporter-sparking-allegations-of-visual-propaganda/2018/11/08/33210126-e375-11e8-b759-3d88a5ce9e19_story.html?utm_term=.0ad51702b159

 

WaPo put out a side by side that went viral....thankfully.