2018 Midterm Election Thread

[Judge Jude]

Lewis is one of the few writers who makes me jealous, honestly.
it's highly amusing to see how the different cultures operate - but also very instructive.

[cardboardbox]

Based on all of that, yes, this lifelong deficit hawk would rather keep my $1900/yr for the future than throw it into the federal spending black hole, even if it adds another $X Trillion to the deficit.

This is pretty close to where I'm at as well. I dont trust our government to do anything right so just let me keep my money please.

[revo]

Last primaries of the season tonight in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri & Washington, but the focus is on Ohio's 12th District, which has been ruby red for decades but now Republican candidate Troy Balderson has only a 1pt lead over challenger Danny O'Connor.

[revo]

Balderson apparently wins by 0.9% over O'Connor in a district held by Republicans for the last 36 years, thanks to a Super PAC pouring money in to avoid embarrassment.

[B-Fly]

Balderson apparently wins by 0.9% over O'Connor in a district held by Republicans for the last 36 years, thanks to a Super PAC pouring money in to avoid embarrassment.

And the two candidates will be squaring off again in November, presumably with higher voter turnout than for a special election in August. It will be interesting to see how that turns out, but as a government auditor I can't help but feel that holding a special election in August only to run the same race for the same seat in November is kind of wasteful.

[B-Fly]

Good point by conservative pundit Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire for us liberals (and the media) to be thoughtful about:

If you want to see identity politics on display in all of its deranged glory, check out this tweet from The Hill:

"Openly gay Dem wins House primary, would be first Native American woman elected to Congress."

The Washington Post had something similar for its headline:

"Democrats pick gay, Native American nominee in Kansas 3rd."

The congressional candidate — Sharice Davids is her name, by the way — has been reduced to a collection of classifications. She is not a human being named Sharice Davids. She is merely a mascot for the rather obscure Gay Native American Woman team. Her victory is a victory for the team, not for herself as an individual. Her particular characteristics and talents are of secondary importance to her membership in her victim group. Her achievements are absorbed into the group, as if the group, and not she, had won the race.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/34228/walsh-tweet-illustrates-everything-wrong-identity-matt-walsh

[Sour Masher]

Good point by conservative pundit Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire for us liberals (and the media) to be thoughtful about:



https://www.dailywire.com/news/34228...ity-matt-walsh

Yeah, I chalk that up to how far down clickbait journalism has sunk. What should get a passing mention, at best, becomes the headline. It would infuriate me a if all my accomplishments and positions took a back seat to whatever one or two aspects of my identity the media wanted to label me as.

[Judge Jude]

well, I like how B-Fly put it.

it IS a big deal for many that someone who is gay - or Native American - can win a House primary. and that holds for many who are not gay nor Native American, too.

but he does make a fair point.

wait, I think we are not permitted to be so moderate in our discussion

[revo]

Chris Collins becomes the latest GOPer to bail out of a re-election bid, pushing that number to a staggering 45.

[Teenwolf]

well, I like how B-Fly put it.

it IS a big deal for many that someone who is gay - or Native American - can win a House primary. and that holds for many who are not gay nor Native American, too.

but he does make a fair point.

wait, I think we are not permitted to be so moderate in our discussion

Happy to see Judge Jude and B-Fly in agreement with me that the Dems should have supported Welder instead of the identity politics candidate with very little specifics given on her platform... hopefully she doesn't push too far to the middle and lose the race. Apparently she supports funding the existing Obamacare format... real inspirational there. Never underestimate the Dems ability to shoot themselves in the foot.

[Teenwolf]

Sen. Kamala Harris accused critics of “identity politics” of weaponizing the term to diminish issues of race, gender and sexual orientation, pressing Democrats on Friday to address those issues head on.

“I have a problem, guys, with that phrase, ‘identity politics,’” Harris told the progressive gathering Netroots Nation, wading into a messaging debate roiling Democrats ahead of the midterm elections. “Because let’s be clear, when people say that, it’s a pejorative. That phrase is used to divide, and it is used to distract. Its purpose is to minimize and marginalize issues that impact all of us. It is used to try and shut us up.”

She's got it backwards. Identity politics themselves are used as a distraction. #I'mWithHer failed because it had nothing behind it. Being a woman isn't a platform. Electing a woman isn't progressive, unless that woman herself is in fact progressive... so yeah, it's a distraction.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...olitics-762254

[B-Fly]

Happy to see Judge Jude and B-Fly in agreement with me that the Dems should have supported Welder instead of the identity politics candidate with very little specifics given on her platform... hopefully she doesn't push too far to the middle and lose the race. Apparently she supports funding the existing Obamacare format... real inspirational there. Never underestimate the Dems ability to shoot themselves in the foot.

Cute, but of course we were only opining on the headline writing, not on whether Davids was/is the best candidate for the Democrats.

[B-Fly]

She's got it backwards. Identity politics themselves are used as a distraction. #I'mWithHer failed because it had nothing behind it. Being a woman isn't a platform. Electing a woman isn't progressive, unless that woman herself is in fact progressive... so yeah, it's a distraction.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...olitics-762254

I guess I viewed #I'mWithHer as a shorthand statement of support, not as a platform or as the reason to vote for her. I think Hillary Clinton's message was that she had the experience and policy knowledge to advance the Democratic Party's positions in a "realist" way. It resonated with some, but didn't inspire enough. I didn't view her as saying "vote for me because I'm a woman" or "woman = progressive". Against both Sanders and Trump she emphasized her readiness to handle the complexities and nuances of politics and policy. And yeah, she lost in the electoral college, but she won the popular vote pretty handily and probably would have won but for tactical mistakes such as which states to invest more heavily in.

I say all that without ill will toward candidates who skew more heavily progressive. Again, I view the moderate-to-progressive spread within the Democratic Party as healthy and want the Party to acknowledge and nurture that full spectrum, as well as appealing to self-described independents and even self-described "fiscal conservatives". Because ultimately I think the more seats the party wins the better the policy results will be.

[Teenwolf]

I guess I viewed #I'mWithHer as a shorthand statement of support, not as a platform or as the reason to vote for her. I think Hillary Clinton's message was that she had the experience and policy knowledge to advance the Democratic Party's positions in a "realist" way. It resonated with some, but didn't inspire enough. I didn't view her as saying "vote for me because I'm a woman" or "woman = progressive". Against both Sanders and Trump she emphasized her readiness to handle the complexities and nuances of politics and policy. And yeah, she lost in the electoral college, but she won the popular vote pretty handily and probably would have one but for tactical mistakes such as which states to invest more heavily in.

I say all that without ill will toward candidates who skew more heavily progressive. Again, I view the moderate-to-progressive spread within the Democratic Party as healthy and want the Party to acknowledge and nurture that full spectrum, as well as appealing to self-described independents and even self-described "fiscal conservatives". Because ultimately I think the more seats the party wins the better the policy results will be.

Did you forget about the "special place in hell for anybody who doesn't support Hillary" recurring campaign rhetoric? I think the public perception was largely that #ImWithHer inferred you should support Hillary specifically because shes a woman. If that wasn't the message, they didn't push back strongly enough against that perception. Just my recollections, no need to re-litigate.

[B-Fly]

Did you forget about the "special place in hell for anybody who doesn't support Hillary" recurring campaign rhetoric? I think the public perception was largely that #ImWithHer inferred you should support Hillary specifically because shes a woman. If that wasn't the message, they didn't push back strongly enough against that perception. Just my recollections, no need to re-litigate.

I thought that quote was a one time Albright ad lib, not recurring campaign rhetoric, but there was definitely an aspect of the campaign that sought to inspire woman of all ages to turn out for Hillary Clinton the way that African Americans did for Barack Obama. Ultimately, however, there is far more socio-political-ideological dispersion among women than there is among African Americans.