US Politics Thread |OT| SAD TRUMP

[Himu]

https://twitter.com/texastribune/status/1059986963200016384

[Propagandhim]

Wow, Beto.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

[Madrun Badrun]

https://www.thecut.com/2018/11/denver-riggleman-wins-his-congressional-race-virginia-midterms.html

[counterhit]

[archie4208]

Fox just called the House for D's. 

I mean that was as much as I was hoping for so that's a bit of good news.

[Nola]

Honestly, the downside to Beto pulling the upset(if he manages it) is it makes it really hard to justify a 2020 run and he is probably one of the better young candidates out there right now.

[Madrun Badrun]

But then he can run in 6 or 10 years, which given his age is more likely. 

[Great Rumbler]

Fox just called the House for D's. 

I mean that was as much as I was hoping for so that's a bit of good news.

*Insert video of Newt Gingrich freaking out over Fox calling the 2012 election for Obama*

[agrajag]

Well, the good news is now people can shut the fuck about Nancy Pelosi? Maybe?

[Great Rumbler]

Well, the good news is now people can shut the fuck about Nancy Pelosi? Maybe?

Nah, Republicans will still hold her up as liberal boogieman [err...boogiewoman] and Democrats will still complain that she's a limp-wristed moderate who won't stand up for liberals.

[Madrun Badrun]

As would be done with any Speaker. 

[Himu]

Currently 19 to 17. Democrats need 17 seats to take the house.

Tennessee senate race goes red as Taylor Swift effect doesn’t work.

[Great Rumbler]

Dems are managing to grind out the House wins they need to gain control, but it's definitely not a wave. A good economy and constant stumping by Trump to energize Republicans [along with a constant drum beat from conservative media] are the likely culprits.

[Himu]

Crenshaw takes Texas district 2.

[Nola]

But then he can run in 6 or 10 years, which given his age is more likely.

Unless Trump wins, 10 years seems like the realistic path, which of course I don't exactly rule out(Trump winning again that is).

[TVC15]

Cindi, any chance you can get out there and suck a couple hundred thousand dicks for Beto votes? It’s what Willie would want.

[Himu]

Democrats need to flip 3 more republican seats.

[Himu]

Cindi, any chance you can get out there and suck a couple hundred thousand dicks for Beto votes? It’s what Willie would want.

I can get on my knees and slobber on some frenulums for ye’

*spits*

[Nola]

Dems are managing to grind out the House wins they need to gain control, but it's definitely not a wave. A good economy and constant stumping by Trump to energize Republicans [along with a constant drum beat from conservative media] are the likely culprits.

I'm going to be curious to dig into what the general breakdown in the popular vote is and just how well the Republicans held off more losses thanks to widespread gerrymandering and voter suppression techniques.

I think coming in the Dems needed to win above 10 percent in the popular vote to correlate to taking the House, which is fucking nuts when you think about that.

[Mandark]

SUCK IT KRIS KOBACH

[agrajag]

Republicans gaining in the senate does not paint a pretty picture for the future though.

[Great Rumbler]

Definitely looking like the Dems have the House on lock. 10 pickups so far with only 13 more to get the majority [California could provide as many as 6 pickups on its own].

[Himu]

Dems get Penn, Kansas, Minnesota.

Democrats are mopping up.

[CatsCatsCats]

Dropped my ballot surely identical to the majority of voters in my state off

[CatsCatsCats]

You guys hear Kim Davis got got?

[Himu]

You guys hear Kim Davis got got?

[Great Rumbler]

SUCK IT KRIS KOBACH

You guys hear Kim Davis got got?

[Madrun Badrun]

It's not really a landslide though, which would have gone a long way in showing that American's are not Ok with Trump's America.  Seems far too many are and I suspect we will be seeing Trump style politics for a long time. 

[Mandark]

edit: I read a tweet but I think I got got by some Fake News.

[Himu]

It's not really a landslide though, which would have gone a long way in showing that American's are not Ok with Trump's America.  Seems far too many are and I suspect we will be seeing Trump style politics for a long time.

Many voters flat out don’t vote. The amount of votes you’d want was never going to happen.

[Madrun Badrun]

Those damn nonvoting voters! :fight

But its not really about that.  Democrats have had 2 years to win hearts and minds and failed to do so. 

[agrajag]

It's not really a landslide though, which would have gone a long way in showing that American's are not Ok with Trump's America.  Seems far too many are and I suspect we will be seeing Trump style politics for a long time.

That's my read on it too.

I wonder where does O'Rourke go from here. He strongly denied running for president, but he definitely has the charisma.

[Himu]

Cruz 51% Beto 48%

The blow jobs aren’t working but Beto going full on progressive certainly didn’t help.

[TVC15]

Cruz 51% Beto 48%

The blow jobs aren’t working but Beto going full on progressive certainly didn’t help.

You’re going to have to go full anal.

[Nola]

It's not really a landslide though, which would have gone a long way in showing that American's are not Ok with Trump's America.  Seems far too many are and I suspect we will be seeing Trump style politics for a long time.

Toughest Senate map for Democrats in 100 years and arguably the most sophisticated and strongest wall of gerrymandering and voter suppression aimed at one party that I am aware of in my lifetime.

Speaking more generally, I honestly hate how there is this weird presumption of validity, legitimacy, and relative equality when we analyze national elections that pays no mind to that sort of context.

In a world where you equal out gerrymandering, voter suppression, and have less ridiculous senate map, this would be shaping up to be a fairly historical victory. But the narrative we are going to get is that the Dems barely won the House, The wave was defeated, Trumpism isn't being rejected, and the Republicans won the Senate. When that is not really a fair assessment of the reality.

[Mandark]

By the time everyone (cough cough California) is done counting their votes the total margin could be pretty damn big, if not landslide-y, but the way things are certain votes count more than others.

Dems have to find a way to make inroads among rural and exurban whites while not alienating their base and I'm glad it's not my job to figure that shit out.

[agrajag]

Trumpism is being rejected?

[curly]

It's not really a landslide though, which would have gone a long way in showing that American's are not Ok with Trump's America.  Seems far too many are and I suspect we will be seeing Trump style politics for a long time.

In a world where you equal out gerrymandering, voter suppression, and have less ridiculous senate map, this would be shaping up to be a fairly historical victory. But the narrative we are going to get is that the Dems barely won the House, The wave was defeated, Trumpism isn't being rejected, and the Republicans won the Senate. When that is not really a fair assessment of the reality.

ok but two out of three of those aren't going away anytime soon

[Himu]

Those damn nonvoting voters! :fight

But its not really about that.  Democrats have had 2 years to win hearts and minds and failed to do so.

They don’t have an answer have played a game of pin the tail on the donkey.

But unlike republicans they aren’t exclusively about owning the other party. Democrats haven’t made much of an attempt to woo voters, but conservatives haven’t made much of an argument as to why their policies are ethical or even right. They’ve been trying to own the libs for two years and that’s it. A lot of Republicans just want to throw shit at others.

For all of the democrats’ flaws at least they have a vision for the country. Conservatives however? So no, I don’t think there’s excuse here. That said, democrats have been relying on wedge issues that divide people and could have picked up even more votes if they kept their mouths shut.

[Nola]

It's not really a landslide though, which would have gone a long way in showing that American's are not Ok with Trump's America.  Seems far too many are and I suspect we will be seeing Trump style politics for a long time.

In a world where you equal out gerrymandering, voter suppression, and have less ridiculous senate map, this would be shaping up to be a fairly historical victory. But the narrative we are going to get is that the Dems barely won the House, The wave was defeated, Trumpism isn't being rejected, and the Republicans won the Senate. When that is not really a fair assessment of the reality.

ok but two out of three of those aren't going away anytime soon

No, but it would be a bit more helpful to not pretend like they don't exist and have major influencing power.

Which is basically the way it is talked about on literally every single news channel right now and will be in the coming days.

[Great Rumbler]

If anything, this shows that just being "not Trump" is not enough. Dems can notch some wins with that, but not enough to radically alter the current landscape. They're going to have to commit to fighting and fighting hard, pretty much everywhere, to regain control. The House results show it can happen, but the Senate results show that it's not a guarantee by any means. If you're looking for something good out of this [outside of taking control of the House], it's that Dems probably won't be resting on their laurels come 2020.

[Himu]

Cruz 51% Beto 48%

The blow jobs aren’t working but Beto going full on progressive certainly didn’t help.

You’re going to have to go full anal.

But it’s too late to prep!

[TVC15]

By the time everyone (cough cough California) is done counting their votes the total margin could be pretty damn big, if not landslide-y, but the way things are certain votes count more than others.

Dems have to find a way to make inroads among rural and exurban whites while not alienating their base and I'm glad it's not my job to figure that shit out.

For a start, I think Dems need to drop gun control as an issue for a while. It’s a wedge issue that I think can be sacrificed, especially since I think guns are so ubiquitous legally and illegally in the US that effective gun control is impossible anyway.

[zepblackstar]

Cruz projected to win
Gillium losing and getting less votes than Nelson

Taylor Swift lost in Tennessee
Braun wins in Indiana

Trumps tweets gonna be lit tomorrow morning.

[CatsCatsCats]

I definitely felt my privilege tonight listening to all these stories of the various voter suppression plays going on throughout the country on my way to casually park in front of a ballot box and drop both my wife’s ballot and mine in without waiting in a single line or even seeing another human

[Madrun Badrun]

I think the point is, in a healthy democratic environment those things shouldn't matter when you, as a country, face an extraordinary situation with Trump.   If this was Jeb, these would be good gains in a hard situation.  With Trump, it just showcases how sick America actually is right now. 

[Himu]

I told you for months that gun control would lose democrats votes against moderates and you like TVC’s post? If Beto didn’t say shit like,”AR-15’s were designed to kill!” he would have won. Instead he decided to play a progressive Bay Area campaign in fucking Texas.

When you play with wedge issues like that instead of catering to the locals you are playing with fire. This is why Lamb won. He played to his district. Beto didn’t campagin for the state of Texas.

[Cauliflower Of Love]

If anything, this shows that just being "not Trump" is not enough. Dems can notch some wins with that, but not enough to radically alter the current landscape. They're going to have to commit to fighting and fighting hard, pretty much everywhere, to regain control. The House results show it can happen, but the Senate results show that it's not a guarantee by any means. If you're looking for something good out of this [outside of taking control of the House], it's that Dems probably won't be resting on their laurels come 2020.

After hill dawgs dumb ass "not trump" campaign, I'm surprised people ran with that. Shut the fuck up and put up.

[Mandark]

By the time everyone (cough cough California) is done counting their votes the total margin could be pretty damn big, if not landslide-y, but the way things are certain votes count more than others.

Dems have to find a way to make inroads among rural and exurban whites while not alienating their base and I'm glad it's not my job to figure that shit out.

For a start, I think Dems need to drop gun control as an issue for a while. It’s a wedge issue that I think can be sacrificed, especially since I think guns are so ubiquitous legally and illegally in the US that effective gun control is impossible anyway.

My two big worries are that environmental issues, which the party shouldn't and probably can't move back to the right on, are a huge barrier in some areas (mostly Appalachia and Wyoming) and in the age of Trump it's harder to pander culturally without going full racist. Back in the day when Mark Warner wanted to win rural Virginians he hired a country band to write his campaign theme song, now he'd have to paint his bus like the General Lee and promise to execute MS-13 members personally.

[TVC15]

On a federal level, it would take a near supermajority of Democrats to enact potentially effective gun control, and if dems ever have a near supermajority that they want to spend on a wedge issue, socialized health care and strengthening women’s rights come first. Gun control is probably never going to be important enough to waste political capital on in our lifetimes.

[Nola]

I think the point is, in a healthy democratic environment those things shouldn't matter when you, as a country, face an extraordinary situation with Trump.   If this was Jeb, these would be good gains in a hard situation.  With Trump, it just showcases how sick America actually is right now.

Sure, but again, there is no good reason we should just casually ignore all the powerful background stuff that is playing a major role in our voting system. Either in the way we talk about the results or in how we talk about winning in spite of that, especially when reporting on the elections.

[curly]

beto's campaign carried multiple house seats for the dems because of the money and energy it brought, in part because he was a progressive

it was always very unlikely any democrat would win in texas

[Himu]

By the time everyone (cough cough California) is done counting their votes the total margin could be pretty damn big, if not landslide-y, but the way things are certain votes count more than others.

Dems have to find a way to make inroads among rural and exurban whites while not alienating their base and I'm glad it's not my job to figure that shit out.

For a start, I think Dems need to drop gun control as an issue for a while. It’s a wedge issue that I think can be sacrificed, especially since I think guns are so ubiquitous legally and illegally in the US that effective gun control is impossible anyway.

My two big worries are that environmental issues, which the party shouldn't and probably can't move back to the right on, are a huge barrier in some areas (mostly Appalachia and Wyoming) and in the age of Trump it's harder to pander culturally without going full racist. Back in the day when Mark Warner wanted to win rural Virginians he hired a country band to write his campaign theme song, now he'd have to paint his bus like the General Lee and promise to execute MS-13 members personally.

I don’t see why it’s hard. Democrats should use a per district/state strategy rather than create ideological party lines. Not every strategy is going to work for every state or district and democrats should be playing the game that way and allow leeway for moderation than call for purity tests.

[agrajag]

By the time everyone (cough cough California) is done counting their votes the total margin could be pretty damn big, if not landslide-y, but the way things are certain votes count more than others.

Dems have to find a way to make inroads among rural and exurban whites while not alienating their base and I'm glad it's not my job to figure that shit out.

For a start, I think Dems need to drop gun control as an issue for a while. It’s a wedge issue that I think can be sacrificed, especially since I think guns are so ubiquitous legally and illegally in the US that effective gun control is impossible anyway.

My two big worries are that environmental issues, which the party shouldn't and probably can't move back to the right on, are a huge barrier in some areas (mostly Appalachia and Wyoming) and in the age of Trump it's harder to pander culturally without going full racist. Back in the day when Mark Warner wanted to win rural Virginians he hired a country band to write his campaign theme song, now he'd have to paint his bus like the General Lee and promise to execute MS-13 members personally.

Yes, and this is a symptom of the disease US and other countries have caught lately.

[Himu]

beto's campaign carried multiple house seats for the dems because of the money and energy it brought, in part because he was a progressive

it was always very unlikely any democrat would win in texas

Cruz is unliked and Beto ran like he belongs in California. Beto could have won if he were more...centrist.

If he won as a centrist he still would have carried. That’s how unpopular Cruz is.

[shosta]

Stfu Cindi. For comparison, Cruz's 2012 race was 56-40 against a wet noodle "proper Texan" Dem. This was way closer, and like curly said, it brought in a bunch of other seats for the Dems.

[Nola]

I don’t see why it’s hard. Democrats should use a per district/state strategy rather than create ideological party lines. Not every strategy is going to work for every state or district and democrats should be playing the game that way and allow leeway for moderation than call for purity tests.

They just did that this election.

[Cauliflower Of Love]

Dems can take votes from red states on environmental issues by tying them to money making propositions.

You know what a bunch of corn farmers right now are gritting their teeth while chasing checks after being bailed out. If dems can convince them to use those lands for energy production and make money, that's the gateway. It worked during the ARRA.

[zepblackstar]

Beto talking gun banning didn't help him outside of the metro areas. Dumb move.

[Himu]

Stfu Cindi. For comparison, Cruz's 2012 race was 56-40 against a wet noodle "proper Texan" Dem. This was way closer, and like curly said, it brought in a bunch of other seats for the Dems.

You aren’t even Texan. You aren’t Texan.

He only got that far because Cruz is that unpopular. If he had minimized the rhetoric a bit he would have managed to get moderates to vote for him. If democrats need a progressive to vote when they need power, that’s on them for being idealists.

Saying,”it’s hard to hard to win Democrat in Texas” is an excuse. Play to your base. You do not talk about assault rifle bans, and talk like a Californian in Texas simply because it’s hard to win Democrat in Texas.