Too Late To Start Thinking About 2018?

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El Guapo
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by El Guapo »

Blackhawk wrote: Mon Aug 27, 2018 11:14 pm Unless they lock at 4-4, in which case NC's decision stands.
Yeah, I forgot that they're at 8 justices at the moment, which raises the odds that the decision will stand. Although it also gives McConnell another push to get Kavanaugh confirmed ASAP.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by noxiousdog »

Well, Beto saying he's not debating Friday isn't going to help his chances. I assume there is shenanigans from Cruz, but the reality is it looks terrible for O'Rourke. Beto used the challenge early and often and Cruz finally agreed. Now, it appears Beto is avoiding it.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by noxiousdog »

noxiousdog wrote: Tue Aug 28, 2018 2:58 pm Well, Beto saying he's not debating Friday isn't going to help his chances. I assume there is shenanigans from Cruz, but the reality is it looks terrible for O'Rourke. Beto used the challenge early and often and Cruz finally agreed. Now, it appears Beto is avoiding it.
After digging, it's because details haven't been finalized.

Still looks bad as the message isn't being broadcast well.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by msteelers »

Florida primaries tonight. Andrew Gillum winning the democratic primary for governor was a huge shock. Gwen Graham is the daughter of the relatively popular Bob Graham, a former governor and senator. She had been in the lead the entire time. Gillum got the endorsement from the progressive wing of the party, including Bernie Sanders and the Indivisible folks. He'll be going up against Ron DeSantis. You know, the guy that reads Trumps autobiography to his kids as a bedtime story.

That's going to be a really interesting race. I don't think Gillum can pull it off. I feel like Florida is going to keep getting redder for the next couple of election cycles, and Gillum's proposals are far enough to the left to scare away business-minded independents. I ultimately cast my vote for Philip Levine, largely because I thought he would have a better chance to win in November.

But the most surprising result of the night was a local city commissioner. The city of Stuart has had a lot of scandals the past year. One City Commissioner (who also happened to be mayor at the time) called a cop a pig to his face. She had to step down as mayor, but was able to stay on as commissioner. Then a few months later the new mayor had to resign after he threatened the city manager. Then the city manager had to resign because he had completely eroded moral at City Hall and was just generally a bad fit.

Through it all, there was one City Commissioner that was able to keep things from completely falling apart. He had been around for a long time, everyone liked him, and people turned to him to get things back on track. He actually had his eyes set on running for an open County Commission seat, but was talked into running for City Commission one last time. The argument was that the city would have a couple of new commissioners, and they needed his senior leadership. Well.... he lost today. So now the longest serving City Commissioner is the one that called an officer a pig. Somehow she's still there. :doh:
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by GungHo »

Captain Caveman wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:45 am
coopasonic wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:33 am
Holman wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 8:09 am It's astonishing that this kind of candidate exists and that Texas will still re-elect Ted Cruz.
I know a LOT of Texans that are excited about Beto and I see more Beto bumper stickers and yard signs than I'd have expected. I don't know if it will amount to anything though as my neighborhood is not exactly typical Texas. I dare to have a smidgen of hope.
I'm a bit skeptical too, but one huge benefit his campaign will have-- even if he loses-- is to energize the vote enough to make a difference in a number of swing districts for House seats. I'm in one of those districts. My rep is Pete Sessions, who is a pretty high ranking House GOP member, but our district is rapidly changing and Hillary actually won it in 2016. We also have a pretty strong Democratic challenger, so the race will be close. What could make a big difference is the huge wave of Beto excitment around here that might drive turnout to the polls. Easily 10 Beto signs for every Cruz sign, but of course this can be misleading. It's obviously a lot cooler to be publicly for Beto than Cruz.

It's almost a shame Beto has to be competing in Texas where he faces such a difficult climb. He's got the magic sauce that excites Democratic voters and certainly would be a huge national figure for the Democrats if he could get to the Senate. All the more so if he knocked off Cruz in Texas to do it. I give him about a 25% shot to do it.

You must live really close to me. 😁

We were at a Walk for Beto thing 2 weeks ago at the Starbucks in Murphy. The poster child of WASPy suburban bedroom communities. But there was a lot of energy at the Walk. Lots of (Probably) stay at home moms pushing babies in strollers. Course I was doing the same since my wife was at work.

He's only 1 point down in the latest poll with 21% undecided. I mean the possibility does exist for sure. But then I remember Oh yeah, we're Texas and I have another beer. Would be really cool if it happened
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by El Guapo »

GungHo wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 2:26 am
Captain Caveman wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:45 am
coopasonic wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:33 am
Holman wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 8:09 am It's astonishing that this kind of candidate exists and that Texas will still re-elect Ted Cruz.
I know a LOT of Texans that are excited about Beto and I see more Beto bumper stickers and yard signs than I'd have expected. I don't know if it will amount to anything though as my neighborhood is not exactly typical Texas. I dare to have a smidgen of hope.
I'm a bit skeptical too, but one huge benefit his campaign will have-- even if he loses-- is to energize the vote enough to make a difference in a number of swing districts for House seats. I'm in one of those districts. My rep is Pete Sessions, who is a pretty high ranking House GOP member, but our district is rapidly changing and Hillary actually won it in 2016. We also have a pretty strong Democratic challenger, so the race will be close. What could make a big difference is the huge wave of Beto excitment around here that might drive turnout to the polls. Easily 10 Beto signs for every Cruz sign, but of course this can be misleading. It's obviously a lot cooler to be publicly for Beto than Cruz.

It's almost a shame Beto has to be competing in Texas where he faces such a difficult climb. He's got the magic sauce that excites Democratic voters and certainly would be a huge national figure for the Democrats if he could get to the Senate. All the more so if he knocked off Cruz in Texas to do it. I give him about a 25% shot to do it.

You must live really close to me. 😁

We were at a Walk for Beto thing 2 weeks ago at the Starbucks in Murphy. The poster child of WASPy suburban bedroom communities. But there was a lot of energy at the Walk. Lots of (Probably) stay at home moms pushing babies in strollers. Course I was doing the same since my wife was at work.

He's only 1 point down in the latest poll with 21% undecided. I mean the possibility does exist for sure. But then I remember Oh yeah, we're Texas and I have another beer. Would be really cool if it happened
Altogether his odds are probably around 20%, I would ballpark. The polling average seems to be somewhere around a 5 point Cruz lead. It's a democratic year, so late breakers might go his way, but it's still a decidedly uphill battle.

Altogether last night probably wasn't a *great* night for the Democrats. In Arizona McSally won the GOP primary, who is the least obviously crazy GOP candidate. She's still running as a crazy person as is required these days (called for "building Trump's wall" in her victory speech), but since she's less visibly crazy it gives the Republicans a decent shot in the AZ senate race. I guess at least we don't need to worry about a Senator Arpaio. And the FL governor's race outcome makes it probably slightly less likely that the Democrats take the governorship there.

On the plus side the strongest Democratic candidates won in the governor primaries in AZ and OK, so Democrats probably have a decent shot in those races.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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El Guapo wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 10:20 am And the FL governor's race outcome makes it probably slightly less likely that the Democrats take the governorship there.
It's going to be interesting to watch. On one hand, I think it's likely that DeSantis wins the governor's race and Scott defeats Nelson in the Senate. Levine or Graham probably wouldn't help Nelson win his race, but I think they could have had a real chance at defeating DeSantis.

But I wouldn't be totally surprised if Gillum inspires the base and other liberal leaning independents. He's a good speaker, he has a track record of success in Tallahassee, and he's pushing very popular liberal policies in a blue wave year. If he can get voters excited enough to come out and vote for him, that would help out Nelson and other races down ballot. So in a way, Gillum could doom Florida to another decade of GOP rule... but he also could be the reason that Florida flips blue at the state level and might be the only path forward for a Nelson victory.

Of course, Gillum is wrapped up in an FBI investigation. I put the odds of his success pretty low.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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msteelers wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 10:42 am
El Guapo wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 10:20 am And the FL governor's race outcome makes it probably slightly less likely that the Democrats take the governorship there.
It's going to be interesting to watch. On one hand, I think it's likely that DeSantis wins the governor's race and Scott defeats Nelson in the Senate. Levine or Graham probably wouldn't help Nelson win his race, but I think they could have had a real chance at defeating DeSantis.

But I wouldn't be totally surprised if Gillum inspires the base and other liberal leaning independents. He's a good speaker, he has a track record of success in Tallahassee, and he's pushing very popular liberal policies in a blue wave year. If he can get voters excited enough to come out and vote for him, that would help out Nelson and other races down ballot. So in a way, Gillum could doom Florida to another decade of GOP rule... but he also could be the reason that Florida flips blue at the state level and might be the only path forward for a Nelson victory.

Of course, Gillum is wrapped up in an FBI investigation. I put the odds of his success pretty low.
I still don't understand how Scott has a shot against Nelson in a Democratic year in a purple-ish state, when Scott is clearly a corrupt and terrible person. Is Florida losing its mind more than usual?
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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El Guapo wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 10:47 amI still don't understand how Scott has a shot against Nelson in a Democratic year in a purple-ish state, when Scott is clearly a corrupt and terrible person. Is Florida losing its mind more than usual?
Scott calls himself the "Jobs" Governor. His emphasis has been on bringing low paying jobs to the state, and it's worked well for him. He's also extremely high profile. He's on TV all the time, and has been very active getting out in front of the camera at any opportunity. Senator Nelson, and this is incredibly shallow but I think it's a factor, looks like an out of touch white guy and speaks in a monotone voice. He doesn't make the news often. I play him on the radio during my newscasts, but part of that is because I think his voice is so odd that it captures peoples ears when they might otherwise tune me out.

Also, I don't think Florida is really a purple state anymore. Certainly, we have a lot of progressives in Central Florida and in South Florida. But the rest of the state is solidly red. Even the very democratic St Lucie County, where I live, isn't necessarily filled with progressive democrats. It's a lot of older people, who seem to lean more towards Trump than they do the current democratic party.

Plus, every year an army of old white people with money move into the state. What party do you think they belong to?
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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msteelers wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 11:06 am
El Guapo wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 10:47 amI still don't understand how Scott has a shot against Nelson in a Democratic year in a purple-ish state, when Scott is clearly a corrupt and terrible person. Is Florida losing its mind more than usual?
Scott calls himself the "Jobs" Governor. His emphasis has been on bringing low paying jobs to the state, and it's worked well for him. He's also extremely high profile. He's on TV all the time, and has been very active getting out in front of the camera at any opportunity. Senator Nelson, and this is incredibly shallow but I think it's a factor, looks like an out of touch white guy and speaks in a monotone voice. He doesn't make the news often. I play him on the radio during my newscasts, but part of that is because I think his voice is so odd that it captures peoples ears when they might otherwise tune me out.

Also, I don't think Florida is really a purple state anymore. Certainly, we have a lot of progressives in Central Florida and in South Florida. But the rest of the state is solidly red. Even the very democratic St Lucie County, where I live, isn't necessarily filled with progressive democrats. It's a lot of older people, who seem to lean more towards Trump than they do the current democratic party.

Plus, every year an army of old white people with money move into the state. What party do you think they belong to?
Yeah, part of it has to be that Florida is getting redder and more Trumpian. Though you'd think Nelson would still have a better shot in Florida than, say, Tester has in Montana.

Though my sense of the polls is that Nelson probably has a slight lead and is still a slight favorite, but just that it's likely to be very close.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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El Guapo wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 10:47 amI still don't understand how Scott has a shot against Nelson in a Democratic year in a purple-ish state, when Scott is clearly a corrupt and terrible person. Is Florida losing its mind more than usual?
Did you forget that this guy got elected president, or are you just repressing it?
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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Carpet_pissr wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 11:41 am
El Guapo wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 10:47 amI still don't understand how Scott has a shot against Nelson in a Democratic year in a purple-ish state, when Scott is clearly a corrupt and terrible person. Is Florida losing its mind more than usual?
Did you forget that this guy got elected president, or are you just repressing it?
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Heh. I know, but it's that, AND it's a democratic year (unlike 2016).
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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El Guapo wrote:Though my sense of the polls is that Nelson probably has a slight lead and is still a slight favorite, but just that it's likely to be very close.
The last several polls that I have seen all have Scott with a small but consistent lead. And Nelson didn’t do himself any favors when he said the Russians have compromised the state election system. He didn’t have any proof, and has been attacked by almost everybody for saying it. It was a bad look.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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Lol, Cynthia Nixon tweeting about how her mugshot wishes it looked as good as Beto's.

Funny stuff.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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I guess some Republicans can be shamed...
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by Moliere »

New Mexico Reinstates Straight-Party Voting Just in Time to Thwart Gary Johnson
In a sudden move with suspicious timing, New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, an elected Democrat, announced today that voters in November will once again be able to vote for every candidate of a political party on the ballot by filling in just one blank. The option, known as the "straight-party" device, gives obvious advantage to parties with high voter-registration totals, while erecting roadblocks to otherwise over-performing candidates from third parties.

Like, say, Libertarian Senate candidate Gary Johnson.

As of July 31, 45.9 percent of eligible New Mexico voters were registered Democrats, compared to 30.5 percent Republican, 0.7 Libertarian, and a combined 1.0 percent other (21.9 percent were unaffiliated). Johnson, in the only three-way poll conducted since he officially announced, was at 21 percent, compared to incumbent Democratic Martin Heinrich's 39 percent and Republican nominee Mick Rich's 11.

Oliver, who made the changes reportedly without so much as a single public hearing on the issue, cast her narrow-casting decision as matter of expanding choice.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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So the Libertarian argument is that having this option is bad?
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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I’m seeing on Twitter that the latest PPP poll has Gillum up 48-43. That supposedly includes a 30% lead of independent voters, but I don’t see how that could be. A huge lead in independents should translate to more than a +5 advantage.

FWIW, the same poll had Nelson +1 over Scott.

I’m pretty sure PPP is a Democratic pollster, so grain of salt and all that.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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msteelers wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 4:58 pm I’m seeing on Twitter that the latest PPP poll has Gillum up 48-43. That supposedly includes a 30% lead of independent voters, but I don’t see how that could be. A huge lead in independents should translate to more than a +5 advantage.

FWIW, the same poll had Nelson +1 over Scott.

I’m pretty sure PPP is a Democratic pollster, so grain of salt and all that.
I took a quick look at the details of the poll, and it only has 18% as independents (D's and R's each comprise 41%). Not sure if Fl is a state with less independents or not, but a 30% lead in 18% would mean 5-6% advantage, not counting the other 82%.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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Actually, took a quick look at voter registration for Florida, and it should be about 26% for independent.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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538 - How Much Trouble Is Cruz In?

Still probably going to win, but the polling is pointing towards a competitive race, at least.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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So, about eight Massholes are expected to turn out for next Tuesday's primary, and I will be one of them. Any opinions on Gonzalez vs Massie for guv? I know they're both progressives but don't know what separates them. Also, I am toying with taking an (R) ballot to vote for Lively since neither D has much of a chance against Baker. Lively is a p.o.s. who would go down in epic flames. I'd also like to give Warren the Trumpiest opponent. Other than those two races, though, the R ballot is pretty thin.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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I know embarrassingly little about state / local races. I'm going to vote for Gonzalez in the Democratic primary since most sensible people around here seem to like him fine (and a friend of mine knows him from college or something and says he's a good guy).

Other than that...I dunno. I'll probably e-mail my friend who knows about the low profile races.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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I am leaning Massie because he has better hair and a good backstory. The liver transplant gives his single-payer platform credibility. Gonzales is also for single-payer but he's too young to have experienced our nightmare healthcare system, whereas Massie has lived it, and he'll bring passion to the table. That might be weak sauce for choosing between them, but it's all I've got so far. I'll change my mind if you have a better reason than that.

Of course Baker is unbeatable, so it's an academic point.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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Holman wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 8:30 pm So the Libertarian argument is that having this option is bad?
Yes: Justin Amash: 'Straight-Ticket Voting Makes it Prohibitive to Run Outside of the Major Parties'
Libertarians, independents, and other third-party candidates face a blizzard of obstacles in getting on ballots, into polls, and onto debate stages. Straight-ticket states add the wrinkle of simplifying the voting process for their major-party competitors, particularly in down-ballot races. Registered Libertarians in New Mexico are outnumbered 66 to 44 to 1 by Democrats and Republicans, respectively, while the 22 percent of registered voters there without a party affiliation have to go through the trouble of selecting each candidate rather than voting just once for their entire team.

Amash's criticism of that set-up the past two days has been blunt.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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Moliere wrote: Sat Sep 01, 2018 6:40 pm
Holman wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 8:30 pm So the Libertarian argument is that having this option is bad?
Yes: Justin Amash: 'Straight-Ticket Voting Makes it Prohibitive to Run Outside of the Major Parties'
Libertarians, independents, and other third-party candidates face a blizzard of obstacles in getting on ballots, into polls, and onto debate stages. Straight-ticket states add the wrinkle of simplifying the voting process for their major-party competitors, particularly in down-ballot races. Registered Libertarians in New Mexico are outnumbered 66 to 44 to 1 by Democrats and Republicans, respectively, while the 22 percent of registered voters there without a party affiliation have to go through the trouble of selecting each candidate rather than voting just once for their entire team.

Amash's criticism of that set-up the past two days has been blunt.
"The trouble of selecting each candidate rather than voting just once for their entire team"? Really?

It's not "voting just once." It's using one button to register parallel votes for partisan offices where each party runs only one candidate (excluding, say, judgeships where voters might pick multiple candidates for multiple seats, which is usually most of the ballot). The voter must still then confirm all of their displayed choices before they are locked in and registered as final votes.

Where I vote, even the Libertarians and Greens get a "Straight Party" button, although it's usually a joke because these parties typically run one candidate for one office and none for the other four or five offices that would be covered by a straight-ticket choice.

I fail to see the outrage. A straight-party option in no way makes it harder to get on the ballot, and it in no way discourages voting for separate candidates in separate parties.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

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GoFundMe raises thousands to place billboard of Trump's anti-Cruz tweet in Texas
“President Donald Trump will be campaigning to help Sen. Ted Cruz win his re-election,” the page reads. “A rally is being planned, according to Trump ‘at the biggest stadium in Texas.’ We are planning to display the presidents own words about Cruz from 2016 on a mobile billboard, to remind Texans of the truth.”

The proposed sign will feature a February 2016 tweet from Trump criticizing Cruz as an “all talk, no action” politician.

“Why would the people of Texas support Ted Cruz when he has accomplished absolutely nothing for them,” Trump's tweet reads. “He is another all talk, no action pol!”
:lol:
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by Kraken »

I have the opportunity to vote for Brianna Wu over Stephen Lynch as my representative in Congress tomorrow. She has about as much chance of beating him as a giant spacecat would, but she knows about the cyber, and in an era when the Russians are flipping elections, that matters. Plus, gamer. Although Lynch has been a consistent voice against Trump, that's a no-brainer for a MA Dem, and Lynch has some conservative votes in his past. I would not be sorry to see him retired.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by Holman »

Man, I'd be delighted to vote Brianna Wu.

Not only is she a smart progressive and a game-industry veteran who spoke up visibly against Gamergate assholes, but she was raised in Mississippi and went liberal nonetheless. None of this is easy.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by Kraken »

Her name on the ballot piqued my interest in this primary for the first time. The rest of the field is "eh, whatever" (in a good way; progressives predominate all of the major races). I'll be filling in Wu's oval tomorrow.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by tjg_marantz »

Some of her views when she's on TWIT... Not sure she's the worst or best or anything like that but I know she sometimes makes me squirm.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by El Guapo »

Voted on the way in. As is my tendency I voted mainly center-left non-revolutionary.

The headline race in my district is that Michael Capuano, the long-time incumbent democratic House rep (been in office I want to say 14 years?) is facing a progressive challenger in the form of Ayanna Pressley, a Boston city council member. I voted for Capuano, as he's been pretty good and I haven't heard many substantive complaints about him beyond "he's been in office for awhile". Also if the Democrats take the House this fall, Capuano may be in line for a committee chairmanship or other position of influence, while Pressley (being new) probably wouldn't be very influential at least at first.

Beyond that, lots of other state and local races that are getting way more attention than in the past. This is the first time that I've seen ads aired in a Secretary of State race, for example. I voted for the incumbent (Bill Galvin) - I know a couple people who have worked for him, and speak well of him. He seems to have run the office reasonably well (and scandal-free).

The last big name race is for Suffolk County DA, which is an open seat (since the old DA is retiring). Five people are running - I wound up voting for Greg Henning, mainly on the basis of a long testimonial on Facebook about him from an Assistant DA friend.
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Kraken
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by Kraken »

The general narrative about the MA Dem primary, since pundits insist on making one, is young whippersnappers challenging the old guard. I generally prefer experience and influence, unless the incumbent has given me reason for pause or the challenger is compelling. But I'm old, so there's that. The primary carries more weight here because the Rs won't contest many of these seats in November, so we're filling those offices now.

Leaving to vote in about 15 minutes. I will be surprised if there is anyone else at the polls. Turnout is expected to be <8% and I'm going just before lunchtime, when only old people roam the earth. Sent Wife off this morning with printed instructions, so I've already voted once by proxy. :) (She doesn't follow politics as closely as I do and usually defers to me when I have an opinion and an explanation for it, although she does go rogue occasionally.)
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by El Guapo »

No line when I voted. Although I've never really seen a line at my polling place - the only time I've ever had a long wait was when I did early voting in 2016.
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Re: Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2018?

Post by pr0ner »

Kraken wrote: Mon Sep 03, 2018 7:05 pm I'll be filling in Wu's oval tomorrow.
Are we not doing "phrasing" anymore?
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