The 2018 Midterms

[Runnin]

I really really hope that you are right. I don't know what I'm going to do this mid term. Usually I've split my vote between the GoP and the Libertarians that I really like. Almost 50/50. But I can't stomach voting for the Trumpian GoP and I have exactly one race in my state with a Libertarian candidate. The problem is that you are probably more open to voting Dem than I am. They have moved far too left for me to give most of them my vote, even though I could see myself possibly voting for David Baria. Not a fan of his economics, but I think I could stomach a vote for him.

This might seriously be the first major election night where I stay home

Could you be more specific about this? I haven't lived in the States for quite a while so I'm not as informed. Are you talking about gay marriage (social/culture stuff) or specific economic policy?

 

[BeanieAntics]

Could you be more specific about this? I haven't lived in the States for quite a while so I'm not as informed. Are you talking about gay marriage (social/culture stuff) or specific economic policy?

I'm a libertarian leaning guy. The social stuff I appreciate. I agree with the left on probably 95% of those types of issues. Except stuff like guns and free speech. But for the most part it is economics. Since the Trump election they have made a concerted effort to go more radical on economics and really overall temperment. Guys like Cory Booker, who used to present himself as a centrist, is now presenting himself like a radical. The left's platform has shifted too far away from my core. At one point, I found several Democrats who were close enough to my guiding principles that a vote for them didn't seem unreasonable. But now it is basically just Joe Manchin. Everyone else looks like a lunatic to me.

Its also a cultural thing. The left has a substantial subsection that has moved so far into a radical postmodern corner that they are dragging the rest of the party with them. It is happening mostly on college campuses and in movements like Atheism+, but its just not something I can get down with. It is very similar to what has happened with the Republicans and white separatist or white nationalist movements. Its not that they are endorsing those movements, but their simple existence is dragging the party to a place where it doesn't belong. I'm hoping that eventually both sides hit an extreme and sort of rubberband themselves back towards something that looks like reasonable politics, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Jaw]

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/03/6540...-battle-democratic-enthusiasm-edge-evaporates

Just over a month away from critical elections across the country, the wide Democratic enthusiasm advantage that has defined the 2018 campaign up to this point has disappeared, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

In July, there was a 10-point gap between the number of Democrats and Republicans saying the November elections were "very important." Now, that is down to 2 points, a statistical tie.

Democrats' advantage on which party's candidate they are more likely to support has also been cut in half since last month. Democrats still retain a 6-point edge on that question, but it was 12 points after a Marist poll conducted in mid-September.
...
With Democrats already fired up for this election, the Kavanaugh confirmation fight has apparently had the effect of rousing a dormant GOP base.

 

[57Brave]

“Today The Fresno Bee takes a step it has not made since before 2002: It is recommending a candidate for the 22nd congressional district who is not Devin Nunes,” the editorial board wrote in a fiery editorial on Saturday.

The Bee announced its support for Nunes’ Democratic challenger, political newcomer Andrew Janz. According to the paper’s editorial board, Janz, who is a Fresno prosecutor, “offers the best chance” for representing the district and for bringing bipartisanship to Washington, D.C.

The Bee praised Janz’s status as an underdog operating outside the Democratic establishment, noting the 34-year-old moderate “can act with a degree of independence from party politics and do what he thinks is best for the 22nd District.” Janz has raised more money than any of Nunes’ previous Democratic challengers, KQED and Mother Jones reported.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entr...mbent-devin-nunes_us_5bba5d59e4b0876eda9f213b

 

[57Brave]

Max Boot:

"As I look back with the clarity of hindsight, I am convinced that

coded racial appeals had at least as much, if not more, to do with the

electoral success of the modern GOP than all of the policy proposals

crafted by well-intentioned analysts like me."

 

[57Brave]

“They get a confusing letter saying there’s something wrong with their registration,” she said on Sunday.

“And more than likely they will sit out this election. The miasma of fear that is created through

voter suppression is as much about terrifying people about trying to vote

as it is about actually blocking their ability to do so.”

- Stacey Abrams

 

[cajunrevenge]

Should only require state ID and valid social security number to vote. Republicans know exactly what they arr doing regarding voter suppression.

 

[cajunrevenge]

Shots fired in West Virginia race......

This guy won his state senate seat by 18 points in a district Trump won by 59 points. This is literally the perfect candidate to run against Trump. I called Obama winning the Presidency back when he gave the state of the union rebuttal speech and I will say it now about this guy, if he wants it this guy is a President. Hardest part for him will be winning the nomination because he might lack appeal to the SJW base of the democrat party. He actually vote for Trump in 2016 hoping for a change which he now regrets saying Trump is helping the people he was supposed to get rid of. Trump called him a "wacko" and "stone cold crazy". So much for supporting our veterans. Lets see that play out on a national scale and see what happens.

 

[57Brave]

Harold Pollack
‏Verified account @haroldpollack
Replying to @bdhumbert @yeselson @joshtpm

North Carolina's stated reason for shutting down Sunday voting

was that counties with heavy Sunday voting were

disproportionately African-American, and that African-Americans

tended to be Democrats.
http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj/7-29-16 4th Circuit NAACP v NC.pdf …

 

[Julio3000]

This is what happened in the wake of the Shelby decision which gutted the VRA, and it’s a direct rebuke to the reasoning used in that case.

 

[goldfly]

Should only require state ID and valid social security number to vote. Republicans know exactly what they arr doing regarding voter suppression.

republicans can't win without cheating or gerrymandering

it's their way

it will only get worse too

 

[cajunrevenge]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomang...na-for-democratic-house-in-2019/#59b0bd553aaf



Democrat Earl Blumenauer sends Democratic leadership a step by step guide on how to end federal marijuana prohibition by the end of 2019.


Republicans have blocked everything marijuana related from reaching the floor in 2017 and 2018.

 

[57Brave]

republicans can't win without cheating or gerrymandering

it's their way

it will only get worse too

Because their policies (or lack there of) dont work. The voters know this

They see power as nothing more than a piggy bank for themselves.
The voters know this too

 

[57Brave]

Ari Berman
‏Verified account @AriBerman
2h2 hours ago

Ari Berman Retweeted Donald J. Trump

Remember when you lied about 3 mil voting illegally & shut down "election integrity"

commission b/c no widespread voter fraud to find? 31 cases of voter impersonation from

2000-2014 out of 1 billion votes. Real scandal is voter suppression by

GOP officials like Kemp & Kobach

Ari Berman added,
Donald J. Trump
Verified account @realDonaldTrump

All levels of government and Law Enforcement are watching

carefully for VOTER FRAUD, including during EARLY VOTING.

Cheat at your own peril.

Violators will be subject to maximum penalties, both civil and criminal!

 

[57Brave]

AJ+
‏Verified account @ajplus

Georgia Sec. of State Brian Kemp's office improperly purged 340,134

people from voter rolls by claiming that they moved, even though they still live

at their registered addresses, says a Palast Investigative Fund analysis.

 

[Julio3000]

I’m fatalistically intrigued by the whole “mob” line—being as it’s a coordinated attack across conservative media, including now the president.

There are shades of Nixon’s “Law and Order,” though in contrast, in the 60s and early 70s there was massive and destructive (and completely justified IMO) civil unrest going on.

This is a pretty ballsy line from the party who has lost the popular vote in 6 of the last 7 presidential elections and, in the last few election cycles, routinely garners milions fewer votes nationwide in Congressional elections. They’re led by an unpopular president and lack a popular mandate. No wonder they conflate “mob rule” with democracy. No wonder they want to limit the franchise as much as possible.

 

[Jaw]

I’m fatalistically intrigued by the whole “mob” line—being as it’s a coordinated attack across conservative media, including now the president.

There are shades of Nixon’s “Law and Order,” though in contrast, in the 60s and early 70s there was massive and destructive (and completely justified IMO) civil unrest going on.

This is a pretty ballsy line from the party who has lost the popular vote in 6 of the last 7 presidential elections and, in the last few election cycles, routinely garners milions fewer votes nationwide in Congressional elections. They’re led by an unpopular president and lack a popular mandate. No wonder they conflate “mob rule” with democracy. No wonder they want to limit the franchise as much as possible.

I think it stems mostly from Democrats repeatedly and predictably doing things like

scream at the sky day after losing election
riot and burn stuff down after losing election
scream and rant from gallery in a confirmation hearing
heckle politicians at restaurants

So not really so much ballsy as just taking what they're given. One tip I would give my Democrat friends is, if you don't want to be called a mob, don't act like/condone your side acting like, a mob.

 

[57Brave]

I think it stems mostly from Democrats repeatedly and predictably doing things like

scream at the sky day after losing election - they have out polled (R) 6 of past 7. The one (R) won outright is subject to question as well
riot and burn stuff down after losing election -link please ?
scream and rant from gallery in a confirmation hearing -- do you remember the Brooks Brothers Riots of 2000 ? Or even, "YOU LIE !!! "
heckle politicians at restaurants -- yep. But was that a "mob" ?

So not really so much ballsy as just taking what they're given. One tip I would give my Democrat friends is, if you don't want to be called a mob, don't act like/condone your side acting like, a mob.

This is a week after the Proud Boys Riots in NYC. Or were they merely displays/demonstrations upholding the sanctity of white male privilege.

I am also reminded how our forum theologian and his tribe took to calling anything related to Obama or Chicago thug circa 2009-10.
That dog whistle was subtle as a fog horn
Good times

As far as mob ---
///////////////////////////

As a lifelong (D) let me give you my (R) friend a "tip"
Quit nominating people like Trump, quit suppressing vote and stand up to polluters

Just a "tip"

 

[57Brave]

heckle politicians at restaurants --

McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer referred to the confrontations as “left-wing tantrums” in a statement to the Courier-Journal.

And what brand of "tantrum" would Mr Steurer use to categorize McConnell's stance on SS and Medicare cuts ?
Seems like those people could have addressed their feelings at the Majority Leaders Town Hall

 

[VirginiaBrave]

Shots fired in West Virginia race......

This guy won his state senate seat by 18 points in a district Trump won by 59 points. This is literally the perfect candidate to run against Trump. I called Obama winning the Presidency back when he gave the state of the union rebuttal speech and I will say it now about this guy, if he wants it this guy is a President. Hardest part for him will be winning the nomination because he might lack appeal to the SJW base of the democrat party. He actually vote for Trump in 2016 hoping for a change which he now regrets saying Trump is helping the people he was supposed to get rid of. Trump called him a "wacko" and "stone cold crazy". So much for supporting our veterans. Lets see that play out on a national scale and see what happens.

3 pionts down last poll I saw last week.