Too Late To Start Thinking About 2018?

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 9:46 am

Exodor wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 9:38 am Voted last week when I stopped at the ballot drop box at the library on my way home.

The only downside to vote-by-mail is I don't get a sticker anymore.

Couldn't you keep using the same one?

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 9:54 am

Jeff V wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 9:15 am
Holman wrote: ↑Fri Oct 26, 2018 3:13 pm
What tactic would work? Just cultivating the Koch Brothers of the world?
Well, before there was email, there was postal mail and the frequency was maybe once per quarter (for the begging...the post cards for each candidate would ramp up near election time). A dozen emails a day bearing apocalyptic headlines? I don't even want to waste the effort to delete them, much less open them.

Yes. Things were different in the Before Time.

But you see that they're not just doing it to annoy you, right? The side that bows out of the funding arms race loses.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 11:42 am

Why is Izzy posting a pic of Matt Damon's heavier, bearded twin brother in this thread?

Also looks a LOT like Kirk Nieuwenhuis (NY Mets)

Edit: Bloody hell, can't just do this halfway...gotta do the comparo

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 11:55 am

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:08 pm

I certainly saw a striking resemblance in the eyes with Matt Damon.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:02 pm

Young People Might Actually Turn Out for the Midterms

A Harvard poll suggests that midterm turnout among Millennial and Generation Z voters could be historically high (...) The survey, from the university’s Institute of Politics (IOP), found that 40 percent of young people ages 18 to 29 said they would “definitely vote” in the upcoming midterm elections. Historically, the biannual poll is off by high single digits from actual youth turnout. But if just 22 percent of this group votes, it would be the highest midterm turnout for young voters in at least 32 years.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:10 pm

Defiant wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:02 pm Young People Might Actually Turn Out for the Midterms

A Harvard poll suggests that midterm turnout among Millennial and Generation Z voters could be historically high (...) The survey, from the university’s Institute of Politics (IOP), found that 40 percent of young people ages 18 to 29 said they would “definitely vote” in the upcoming midterm elections. Historically, the biannual poll is off by high single digits from actual youth turnout. But if just 22 percent of this group votes, it would be the highest midterm turnout for young voters in at least 32 years.

That could turn the blue ripple back into a blue wave. It's really up to them.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:16 pm

Kraken wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:10 pm

That could turn the blue ripple back into a blue wave. It's really up to them.

Signs have already strongly suggested that it's a blue wave and not a blue ripple. This would make the wave larger.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:18 pm

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:42 pm

Defiant wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:16 pm Signs have already strongly suggested that it's a blue wave and not a blue ripple. This would make the wave larger.

As someone who takes disappointment poorly, I tend to lower my expectations in all things. In 2016 I didn't lower my expectations enough. I will not make that mistake this time.

Also, I don't understand the Emily Singer tweet. What is it saying?

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:46 pm

National Republican Congressional Committee is throwing support at districts that went for Trump decisively, indicating that they think the races are competitive.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:51 pm

GreenGoo wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:42 pm
Defiant wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:16 pm Signs have already strongly suggested that it's a blue wave and not a blue ripple. This would make the wave larger.
As someone who takes disappointment poorly, I tend to lower my expectations in all things. In 2016 I didn't lower my expectations enough. I will not make that mistake this time.

Also, I don't understand the Emily Singer tweet. What is it saying?

Basically that the Republican congressional committee is investing money to defend incumbents in districts that Trump won by a *lot* (in the districts referenced, by 13 percentage points and 17 percentage points, respectively). The point is that if districts like that are potentially in play (even if the Republicans in them are still likely favored) then that suggests that districts that are merely somewhat or very Republican are probably reasonably competitive. And there are a *lot* of districts like that (that are anywhere from very Democratic to very Republican).

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:54 pm

Thank you both.

TheMix · Post by **TheMix** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 5:31 pm

Indeed. I also was lost with that tweet.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 5:43 pm

GreenGoo wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:42 pmIn 2016 I didn't lower my expectations enough. I will not make that mistake this time.

Same.

In fact, I remember loudly proclaiming multiple times, to my ever worried wife, that there was no way in hell we would elect someone like Trump. He's a joke! Flash in the pan! People like the celebrity, but when it comes to actual voters wanting a serious person in office...just no way! Plus, he's overtly and conspicuously an asshole!

Apparently we love orange assholes, and the vile excrement that they produce.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 6:38 pm

Been hearing a propaganda ad against Prop 2. Went down the rabbit hole to find out who it is I need to boycott for being such big sack of shit liars. Turns out the ad was almost entirely funded by a group that was almost entirely funded by a group was almost entirely funded by a DeVos family. Fuck them. Z Corn, can you get them out of our state already?

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 6:40 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 5:43 pm
GreenGoo wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:42 pmIn 2016 I didn't lower my expectations enough. I will not make that mistake this time.
Same.

In fact, I remember loudly proclaiming multiple times, to my ever worried wife, that there was no way in hell we would elect someone like Trump. He's a joke! Flash in the pan! People like the celebrity, but when it comes to actual voters wanting a serious person in office...just no way! Plus, he's overtly and conspicuously an asshole!

I, OTOH, had a bad feeling going into election day (although I was still stunned when our fears were realized).

I'm getting some of that same vibe now. Calling up the army to repel invading caravans is going to ensure heavy turnout among Trump's minions. I am much less confident about Democratic turnout, especially in the face of robust repression. So the report about Millennials is especially encouraging. They could swing a lot of seats if they really do show up in big numbers.

I predict that the Democrats will squeak out a small House majority but lose ground in the Senate. Go ahead, America, prove me wrong!

Z-Corn · Post by **Z-Corn** » Tue Oct 30, 2018 8:07 am

LordMortis wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 6:38 pm Been hearing a propaganda ad against Prop 2. Went down the rabbit hole to find out who it is I need to boycott for being such big sack of shit liars. Turns out the ad was almost entirely funded by a group that was almost entirely funded by a group was almost entirely funded by a DeVos family. Fuck them. Z Corn, can you get them out of our state already?

Eh, let 'em spend their money, it's not going to matter because all three props are going to pass!

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Oct 30, 2018 9:40 am

This thread has some polling in under-polled House races that are were heavily pro-Trump in 2016 (R+16 or better). Most of them are still very to heavily Republican in these polls, but a few stand out as competitive / tossups. This one in particular caught my eye:

Holy shit it would be great if we could toss Steve King out of office.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue Oct 30, 2018 9:49 am

Z-Corn wrote: ↑Tue Oct 30, 2018 8:07 am
LordMortis wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 6:38 pm Been hearing a propaganda ad against Prop 2. Went down the rabbit hole to find out who it is I need to boycott for being such big sack of shit liars. Turns out the ad was almost entirely funded by a group that was almost entirely funded by a group was almost entirely funded by a DeVos family. Fuck them. Z Corn, can you get them out of our state already?
Eh, let 'em spend their money, it's not going to matter because all three props are going to pass!

I don't trust my state anymore, especially when it comes to Republican ability to use their existing power and wealth to concentrate more power and wealth and our voters to bitch about things like medicare, social security while voting the for the very people who want to reduce and tax benefits to cover short falls. The wall between reality and too many voter's belief systems that informs their ablity to make decisions blows my mind.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:17 am

El Guapo wrote: ↑Tue Oct 30, 2018 9:40 am Holy shit it would be great if we could toss Steve King out of office.

Interstellar Space Turtle 2018!

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:29 am

El Guapo wrote: ↑Tue Oct 30, 2018 9:40 am Holy shit it would be great if we could toss Steve King out of office.

QFT.

Steve King is a truly vile human being.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:32 am

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:29 amSteve King is a truly vile human being.

I couldn't believe this headline on The Hill yesterday, but there you go.

GOP Rep. Steve King (Iowa) on Saturday defended his association with a Nazi-linked group in Austria, telling The Washington Post that the group is “far right.”

He made the comments about Austria’s Freedom Party, a group founded by a former Nazi SS officer and whose current leader was active in neo-Nazi circles, according to the paper.

“If they were in America pushing the platform that they push, they would be Republicans,” King, who is known for his inflammatory statements about immigration, told the Post.

King made comments lamenting the “decline” of Western civilization due to immigration in an August interview with Austria’s Freedom Party, according to the Post, asking: “What does this diversity bring that we don’t already have?”

This is campaign material? People actually vote for this guy? What in the actual hell is happening in Iowa?

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:42 am

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:32 am
Skinypupy wrote: ↑Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:29 amSteve King is a truly vile human being.
I couldn't believe this [url=https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4136 ... publicans-

That didn't surprise me one bit.

Aligning with, retweeting, and generally supporting Nazis seems to be a primary plank in King's campaign these days. He's at it all the damn time.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:50 am

“If they were in America pushing the platform that they push, they would be Republicans,” King, who is known for his inflammatory statements about immigration, told the Post.

What's amazing is that he means for this comment to be exculpatory.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:05 am

El Guapo wrote: ↑Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:50 am What's amazing is that he means for this comment to be exculpatory.

What's worse is that in the current climate, it sort of is.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:25 am

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:42 am

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:49 am

Nice to see Richard Dreyfuss out and about.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:19 pm

Apparently voting machines in Texas are so old and slow that they can only vote Republican.

I kid, sort of. According to the article the machines are just so slow that people aren't able to use them correctly and a couple dozen (out of 55,000 voters) voters have noticed their "straight ticket" votes are flipping the opposite way before they finish. Who knows how many didn't notice?

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:24 pm

Sounds like people should just keep taunting President Trump over the next week that he can't write an executive order to revoke citizenship. Seems to be playing well.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is facing a surprisingly competitive challenge from Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), also voiced support for eliminating birthright citizenship.

Cruz told The Dallas Morning News that birthright citizenship encourages people to break the law.

“Indeed, there’s a practice known as birth tourism, where women who are in their eighth or ninth month of pregnancy come to America on a tourist visa specifically to give birth in the United States,” he said.

Very strange coming from a man born to an American woman on Canadian soil.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:36 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:24 pm Sounds like people should just keep taunting President Trump over the next week that he can't write an executive order to revoke citizenship. Seems to be playing well.

But they're telling him he can. They're never wrong. (or more realistically, no one is stopping him. If no one stops him, then nothing else matters)

I am amused at how the article juxtaposes Trump with people who think he's hurting the GOP, as if he gives a flying fuck about the GOP.

What's weird to me is if Trump (and the GOP) express the problem as a problem with birth tourism, I think there would have been less backlash, but he's in it for "the base" for the "they're" who tell him what to do, presumably because "they" promise him more power and wealth... and I'm guessing a more white man America the he can personally feel better about.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:50 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:24 pm
Very strange coming from a man born to an American woman on Canadian soil.

FWIW that's not a contradiction. People who want to eliminate birthright citizenship want to limit automatic citizenship to kids born to at least one citizen parent. So Cruz would qualify under that standard.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 2:01 pm

Oh, I'm well aware that pieces of shit like Cruz can come up with all kinds of convoluted arguments to justify their stance. I'm just astounded that he's taking point on this. Like, if his ancestors came over on the Mayflower, maybe I could at least understand (though still disagree) with his reasoning. The fact that of all people Ted Cruz is jumping into the citizenship arena is insane (to me).

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 2:01 pm

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:49 am Nice to see Richard Dreyfuss out and about.

The 80's called. They want their track suit back.

I originally wanted Raven's sarcastic laugh but couldn't find it anywhere.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:18 pm

Well-known RINO Steve Stivers does not approve of Steve King.

Spoiler:

gbasden · Post by **gbasden** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 3:07 am

El Guapo wrote: ↑Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:50 pm
Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:24 pm
Very strange coming from a man born to an American woman on Canadian soil.
FWIW that's not a contradiction. People who want to eliminate birthright citizenship want to limit automatic citizenship to kids born to at least one citizen parent. So Cruz would qualify under that standard.

The problem with that for Cruz is that currently birthright citizenship applies to humans, not lizard people pretending to be human.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 8:44 am

El Guapo wrote: ↑Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:50 pm
Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:24 pm
Very strange coming from a man born to an American woman on Canadian soil.
FWIW that's not a contradiction. People who want to eliminate birthright citizenship want to limit automatic citizenship to kids born to at least one citizen parent. So Cruz would qualify under that standard.

Of course they do. I mean how many women in the US will admit to being knocked up the by the President? Marriage and pregnancy tourism is AOK. Bringing home a subservient bride from overseas is as American as it gets. (Wow that looks a lot more scathing when I type it out. It was meant to be cynicism toward a narrow focus, not an attack on people finding their happiness with someone from a different culture)

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:26 am

Dallas Morning News

Sen. Ted Cruz said Wednesday he is disappointed that his ally, Iowa Congressman Steve King, used divisive rhetoric that their own party's campaign arm called racist, but he declined to specifically condemn King himself.
...
King endorsed Cruz in the 2016 GOP primaries -- a key endorsement in Iowa, whose voters are the first to narrow the presidential field. Cruz later named him national co-chair of his presidential bid.
...
Asked specifically about those actions, Cruz said: "I don't know everything he's done and said. I don't think we should be saying things that are divisive."

Hours after The News published those comments, King said the senator called him to express support. Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier told Bloomberg that it was "a personal call, and Senator Cruz told him the same thing he said to reporters today."

Stumping in Amarillo on Wednesday night, Cruz ignored a question about whether he had in fact reassured King about his ongoing support in their call. Cruz aides have not disputed King's claim.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:57 am

I did my part and voted early today. The RINO Charlie Baker is probably going to win big but as a protest vote I picked the Dem candidate because let's face it, the GOP is the party that has enabled the Asshat In Chief and I'm just rather vexed with them at the moment. I'm sure that Baker will do just fine though governing MA and I don't mind if he wins.