stringer bell

Such an eneven season! Shellacked by the likes of Illinois, Nebraska, and Maryland (and Iowa), but then good wins against Purdue, Fresno and Wisconsin. A really young team who lost too many of their proven veterans, but still competed at the end. With so many young guys returning, they could/should take a step forward.

It’s been said that Democrats group themselves so that it is much more difficult to gerrymander. While I’d love to see Republicans “get theirs”, I detest the results of gerrymandering too much to wish it on our country. Draw fair lines and let each election be a real referendum of whose policies should be followed.

My point was actually that the two factors can cancel each other out. The smaller population states favor Republicans and Trump filled an inside straight to win enough larger states by small margins to win the Electoral College comfortably. I think Democrats can win enough purple middle-sized states to neutralize Republican rural states.

538 mentioned the two inequities of the Electoral College—first is overrepresentation of small population states and the second is the winner take all portion. Democrats are at a disadvantage because of the many red states with low populations, but they can overcome that by being competitive in growing states, such as Nevada, Arizona, Georgia. It has already happened in Virginia. North Carolina could be next.

One thing about Florida is that if convicted felons who served their terms had the right to vote, both Gillum and Nelson would have won.

I’d say the Democrats are very likely to lose Alabama, but add to your list Iowa and North Carolina. Obama won NC in ‘08 and came close in ‘12. He carried IA twice and they currently have 3 of 4 Reps as Democrats (in January). Tilllis has so-so popularity and Ernst is a lightweight in Iowa. Incidentally, Virginia is more blue than purple these days. I doubt that an incumbent Democrat would have trouble getting re-elected there.

Democrats will probably win the four undecided races in California, with a 50-50 race in Utah and a long-shot in Georgia. I believe it will end up 233-202 for the Donkeys over the Elephants.

As I understand it, the Secretary of State would succeed Ducey if he left office and the Democrat just took a narrow lead. If Ducey left to become a Senator, then the governorship would go to the Democrats (assuming the small margin holds).

I am not an expert, but I have more than a passing interest in election, vote counting and tabulation. I know that elections are up to the states, but can we get some minimum standards? States are all over the board in how they register voters and several (including Minnesota) permit same-day registration. Some states require a Photo ID, some don’t. What ID can be used varies widely. Absentee and provisional ballot administration are different from state to state. Worst of all, states have different ballots within their states! I think conformity and minimum standards should be mandated.

If Ducey is going to defy the Donald, he has my attention. Republicans never ending push to suppress the vote is Reason #1 that I doubt I’ll ever vote for one of them again.

Agree about Feehan. I suspect Hagedorn doesn't have a long shelf life and if Feehan wants to try again next time, I believe he has a great shot to unseat him. Rural voters are probably socially more conservative and vote Republican because of "God, guns and gays". I'm generalizing of course, but I mostly find that to be true. If you are in a district where both parties have a chance, it's great to have a good candidate. I don't think it was emphasized enough that Democrats recruited extremely well this year and brought in a lot of candidates who could win in +5R districts.

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.

Cynical, but spot on.

Good article and it does highlight how much of a mountain there is to climb. To get an agenda passed, you have to win elections. The House is a beach head.

Yeah, Lewis is my Congressman and I'm glad he's gone. Minnesota rejected Trumpist Republicanism as I had hoped the entire country would. They won all the Constitutional offices, reclaimed the state legislature and realigned their Congresscritters. IMHO, on the national level, the better candidate won all but the 1st district for Congress. Stauber fits the 8th pretty well. Hagedorn might be a single term rep, and in the 2022 cycle, Minnesota will almost certainly lose one Congressional seat. The coming years look to be pretty fascinating. I think it will take dramatic events to level the playing field. Republicans have a huge structural advantage in the Senate, and with so many states so predisposed to elect Republicans, finding the way to 50 votes in the Senate for Democrats any time in the next decade is iffy at best. Fairer lines in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan, along with the changes in Pennsylvania should keep Democrats alive for House control in that same time frame. The Republican platform doesn't reflect the views of the majority in this country, but yet they have gamed the system (and gotten lucky) so that winning elections isn't fair--Democrats won the Congressional vote by about the same margin as Republicans did in 2010, Republicans netted over 60 seats, Democrats in the mid-30s. More people voted for a Democrat for Senator in 2018, but Republicans will increase their lead by three or four. seats. I expect the economy will be a much bigger topic in two years. I would expect the growth to cool and health care to still be on the front burner. Trump would be the favorite right now to win another term, but there are pitfalls.

This is a mildly disappointing result. I was hoping for 51-49 Democratic deficit or better than that, now it looks like 55-45. Even more disappointing to me is the governors’ races. Florida, Ohio, Iowa, and probably Wisconsin get away. I’m watching the local race with Feehan vs. Hagedorn, which is a barn burner.

Just wait until the two Republican Secretaries of State (Kansas and Georgia) win their elections by <1%.

I’ve not been a member of either party, although I’ve always voted for more Democrats than Republicans. I will not vote for anyone that enables Donald Trump, which is basically the entire Republican Party. Trump’s policies are not good for this country and deny science and logic. His behavior is reprehensible and encourages the worst in his followers. We must limit this man starting today and then reject him in 2020.

There are four really close House elections in Minnesota. The current chalk is that the two incumbent Republicans lose while the two vacant Democratic seats flip to the GOP. Overachieving for either party would be a 3-1 advantage in those four races. 4-0 would mean something really connected with the voters. I think Feehan edges Hagedorn on the way to a very good day for Democrats. I think the best they can hope for nationally is a 50-50 split in the Senate and control of the House. The key elections are for state legislatures and governorships. Fair lines in future elections are at stake.

According to mlbtraderumors.com, Drake and Field are both gone. I guess Reed is a better fit as a backup outfielder and while Drake had fairly good numbers with the Twins, he was nothing special, and most of his appearances were low leverage.

In my book, Rodriguez is not a former Twin anyway, same with Palka and Anibal Sanchez. They never played a game for the Twins. If you want to go that far, World Series MVP Steve Pearce is also a former Twin.

Regarding the Supreme Court, Thomas and Alito are pretty extreme right wingers. I do doubt that Roberts would go for this, but I wouldn’t be surprised by a 5-4 decision.

I responded doubting this would happen. I have now found the news report. I guess I shouldn’t doubt the lengths that Trump will go.

There's an election in eight days which could and should recast some of the political balance in this country. I've gone from believing that a total repudiation of Trump Republicanism was possible to hoping that at least the Democrats could have a beachhead in the House and in the last couple of days I am starting to believe that there will be some substantial victories for those opposed to Trump. Minnesota has four hot Congressional races, a warm Senate race and a so-so gubernatorial battle. It should be fun to watch on Election Night. The odds appear to favor Democrats in the US House and Republicans in the Senate, about the same odds for the underdogs as Donald Trump was facing two years ago. I'd love to see the election mark the high point of tribalism and partisan rancor, but with the man in the White House, I can't see much much civility any time soon. In my opinion, the Republicans have failed to govern and enabled the uninformed, uncaring, narcissist in the White House. It is time to show them the door.

I hope you’re wrong Brock. The independents and a portion of what is the Republican Party should vote to harness Trump. Anyone paying attention should know what the president is and why we can’t risk having Republicans remain in charge, with Trump in the White House.