The Midterm Elections

[Cartmann99]

 

[CTRLZero]

Gads, I'd be so afraid to google Bigfoot erotica!  In other news, we waded through all the craziness that is the midterm election ballot.  Our [hopefully sane] senator was wedged between GoodSpaceGuy and the gentleman who wants to "Kick Jung's Ass with 30,000 Tomahawk Cruise Missiles" followed by "Kick Xi Jinping's Ass..."  I'm a little terrified by MissileLaunchingGuy.

Happy Voting!

[GreyhoundFan]

On 7/28/2018 at 4:26 AM, AmazonGrace said:

Says Rachel Maddow but it's Ari Melber

Ari was sitting in for St. Rachel.

[AmazonGrace]

Featuring a cute lil MAGA baby

 

[AmericanRose]

Per the MSN poll...
50% would like to see Republicans control the House, 52% would like to see Republicans control the Senate, and 71% would rate Congress as 'poor' on its job performance.

Um.

[Ali]

The Michigan primary is next week. Real life has been crazy so I have not researched yet. I will be doing my homework and voting.

I am looking for opinions on whether it is better to vote for the least crazy Republicans or the Democrats. I have to choose only one party to vote in the primary and I live in an area that is most likely only going to elect Republicans.

[GreyhoundFan]

I can't stand the Kochs, but I have to giggle that they are taking money away from Repugs who counted on them. Bonus: it's upsetting the tangerine toddler: "The Daily 202: Inside the Koch strategy to spurn squishy Republicans in key Senate races"

Spoiler

COLORADO SPRINGS — A Republican senator’s private comments during a lunch with his colleagues helped spur a significant shift in the Koch network’s strategy that now threatens to deprive several GOP candidates of significant outside support they’ve been counting on for the fall.

Word got back to billionaire industrialist Charles Koch that the lawmaker, who had received support from the groups he funds, told a meeting of the Republican conference that they could disregard the opposition of the Koch network to a piece of legislation that was coming up for a vote. “Don’t worry about the Kochs,” this senator purportedly said. “They’re going to support Republicans regardless.”

Emily Seidel, the chief executive of Americans for Prosperity, recounted that story as she explained to donors on Monday afternoon why the Koch network does not plan to spend any money helping Kevin Cramer, the Republican candidate in the North Dakota Senate race, even though that contest could determine which party controls the chamber.

For the past decade, the top priority was ensuring Republican majorities in Congress. They believed this was the only to advance the network’s agenda. That meant a lot of candidates who didn’t embrace their specific policy proposals nonetheless received a lot of help. But the leaders of the network now feel taken for granted and frustrated about the direction of the Republican Party under President Trump, especially on trade, immigration and spending.

Cramer, a three-term congressman who is challenging Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, co-sponsored legislation to renew the Export-Import Bank, voted for the farm bill and supported this year’s $1.3 trillion omnibus. He’s also declined to speak out against the Trump tariffs.

“Look, if this were 2016 or 2014, we would likely just have gone ahead and endorsed him, but we’re raising the bar,” said Tim Phillips, the president of AFP, a political arm of the network. “We established that he’s an adversary on corporate welfare, actively leading in the wrong direction. … He’s inconsistent across the board on these issues … And he’s not leading on issues where this country needs leadership the most right now.”

Speaking to more than 500 donors who have each agreed to contribute at least $100,000 annually to Koch-linked groups at the Broadmoor Hotel, Phillips suggested that they’ve offered to open the spigots if Cramer changes his position on these issues. “To be clear, we’ve met with his team, explained this and lobbied them to change their ways,” he said.

The network later announced a surprisingly small list of targeted races it is currently engaged in. There are four Senate races: Wisconsin, Missouri, Tennessee and Florida. And three governor’s races: Michigan, Nevada and Florida.

Notably absent are the Senate contests in Indiana, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Koch leaders have expressed concerns about the GOP nominees in those three states.

Officials say the network still plans to spend between $300 million to $400 million on politics and policy during the 2018 cycle, though it’s unclear how much of that may go toward electioneering versus issue-specific initiatives.

-- It was a shot across the bow for GOP congressional leaders. The goal is to put every lawmaker on notice that they cannot count on Koch largesse if they don’t cast politically difficult votes to advance the priorities of the donors who bankroll the outside groups that do so much to elect them. The show of independence adds another headache for party strategists, who are already struggling to preserve their majorities and have been banking on Koch cash.

-- If the goal was to draw Trump’s attention, it worked. The president lashed out at the “Koch brothers” on Twitter this morning:

-- Indeed, the Cramer rebuke can be interpreted as a protest against Trump’s makeover of the GOP, at least in part. When the president flew to Fargo last month for a rally, the congressman effusively thanked Trump and said he’ll stand with him “100 percent of the time” to advance North Dakota values. He won’t suffer for saying that in a state Trump carried by 36 points, but it’s another proof point for the Koch strategists that Cramer will not be an independent voice for conservatism. (To be sure, there’s also been some tension between Cramer and Trump. The congressman has complained that the president has been too kind toward his Democratic opponent, believing Heitkamp gets preferential treatment because she’s a woman.) 

The benefactors of the Koch network gather twice a year. At their January seminar outside Palm Springs, Calif., leaders treaded very carefully to avoid antagonizing Trump. The network did not support him in 2016 and wanted to preserve good relationships. But a series of moves since then have prodded them to put their frustrations on the record, including the family separation policy at the southern border, the failure to protect the “dreamers” and the trade war.

Koch told reporters on Sunday that he “regrets” supporting some members of Congress, though he declined to name any, and said the network will become much “stricter” about holding people accountable for their promises.

-- Part of the calculus behind being more selective is that the network can now invest even more in politicians who have proven records of championing their issues. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican candidate for Senate in Tennessee, was in the room as Phillips and Seidel briefed donors about cutting off Cramer. Phillips noted that Blackburn voted no on the farm bill, the Export-Import Bank and the omnibus. This garnered applause.

-- The donors at the Koch network are also coming to terms with the likelihood of divided government. The conventional wisdom at this seminar has been that Republicans are probably going to lose the House. Some donors said privately that a Democratic House might not be so terrible because a divided government could check Trump’s protectionist, nativist and isolationist impulses in ways that the current House GOP leadership does not.

-- Strategists with the network also believe that they might be able to optimize their leverage during an election year when politicians need Koch money and the grass-roots infrastructure that they’ve built across 36 states. Seidel told donors that “lawmakers are frequently given a pass” when they vote for something like the farm bill during an election year because it’s hard in a rural state like North Dakota to justify voting against it. But she argued that, “It’s especially important we do this during election years.”

“We can't keep falling into the trap of just doing what we need to do to get through November. That’s short-term thinking. It’s expediency,” Seidel said. “Why would Cramer or any other Republican feel like they need to listen to this network if they knew we’d just support them anyway?”

 

[AmazonGrace]

Putting this here because he's running for governor but it's also a sad story about Branch Trumpvidians  having to pay for their racism 

 

[fraurosena]

On 7/31/2018 at 2:01 PM, Ali said:

The Michigan primary is next week. Real life has been crazy so I have not researched yet. I will be doing my homework and voting.

I am looking for opinions on whether it is better to vote for the least crazy Republicans or the Democrats. I have to choose only one party to vote in the primary and I live in an area that is most likely only going to elect Republicans.

Look, I'm not an American, and it feels a little weird to be giving you advice here, but here's what I think you should do.
Vote with your heart. If you agree more with Democrats, then vote for them. Even though you live in an area that up until now was more Republican, that does not mean it will be in November, any gerrymandering notwithstanding. I understand the reasoning for voting for the least crazies, as it gives you the feeling of tempering the politics somewhat. However, it is quite possible that more Democratic voters have these thoughts and they all choose to vote for the least crazy Republican. If so, your area will remain Republican in perpetuity. However, if all Democratic voters were to turn out and vote for the Democrats... well, then your area might just be more Democratic than anyone thought. Who knows, your area may turn blue.

 

[AmazonGrace]

This wholesome family values candidate:

 

[AmazonGrace]

This quote from a Gym Jordan supporter trying to pressure wrestlers to recant:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/former-ohio-state-wrestling-coach-urged-rep-jim-jordan-s-n896551

“He said, 'I will defend Jimmy until I have to put my hand on a Bible and be asked to tell the truth, then Jimmy will be on his own,'”

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Cartmann99]

6 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

Please don't give up before the race is run! I recently attended a Beto event, and what I saw blew my mind. I need some time to find my external keyboard and deal with some meat world shenanigans, but I'll tell you about it later.

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Cartmann99]

The quick and dirty about the Beto event I attended:

Beto comes across as very genuine, and people are really excited him holding events in every county in Texas. If the hundreds of people I saw earlier this week are able to take the energy from that event, and use it to influence others in their families, neighborhoods, and workplaces, then Beto can win this. 

The long and rambling version:

Spoiler

First, the fact that a democratic candidate for Senator is holding events anywhere near me is downright amazing! West Texas usually gets written off as not worth the time, so folks are thrilled that someone is willing to come here and listen to our comments, questions, and concerns.

When I signed up for this event, I was really excited that almost 200 people had signed up before me. When we got to the venue, the parking lot was pretty full, so I figured that was a positive sign. A group for younger democrats was in charge of the event, and we were told that one end of the table was for signing up for the younger people's group, and the other end was for the XYZ county democrats. 

Because my middle name is smartass, I looked at the young guy manning the table while pointing at the two ends of the table, and made a remark about one end being for young people, and one end being for old people. He got flustered and said that anybody could sign up for the younger democratic group, but you had to be under forty to vote in the club. He then pointed to a middle-aged woman standing next to him ( I think it was his mom), and said that she went to meetings. 

Mr. Cartmann99 had to get in on this, so he declared that we were "seasoned" democrats, and then he decided we were just decrepit. I think the young guy was glad when we signed in and left the table. 

Anyhoo, so we found some seats near the stage and sat down. The crowd was everything from elementary school kids to senior citizens, and people kept arriving long after we had sat down. The air conditioner was struggling to keep up with the crowd, so the temps were in the mid-eighties and lots of folks were fanning themselves. Many attendees were wearing Beto shirts and there was a table with Beto merchandise for sale as well. Another table had folks at it who were registering people to vote.

Beto was running late, and we were the last event on his schedule for that day. A democratic candidate for a lower office spoke first, and I spotted Beto waiting off to the side for his turn to speak. As Beto walked over to begin speaking, thunderous applause broke out and many people stood up and cheered.

He thanked the crowd and the media for showing up to the event. He then made a joke about getting such a warm welcome to East Texas. ( He's from El Paso, and they are a few hours west of us, but we are both considered to be part of West Texas.)

As I said before, it was warm in there, and even with his shirt sleeves rolled up, he was visibly sweating and his shirt was sticking to him. He told us about his desire for a universal healthcare system, that we need to stop taking children away from their parents at the border, the importance of immigrants to Texas and our nation, how he felt our country's institutions were under attack because of Trump, the importance of women being able to make their own reproductive health choices, and other issues.

He was asked why he wasn't endorsing other democratic candidates for office, and he said that his philosophy was to always try to work with people across the aisle from him whenever possible without compromising his own beliefs. He doesn't endorse other candidates in hopes of having a good working relationship with whoever ends up in that office.

This was brought up because of Republican Will Hurd, who represents TX-23 and has a democratic challenger this year. Beto spoke about legislation that the two have worked on together, but emphasized that he won't compromise his beliefs while still trying to work with Republicans when their interests overlap.

A woman asked if he and Ted Cruz were going to have any debates, and asked that some of them be conducted in Spanish. He answered her in Spanish, and then said that Ted Cruz only wanted to debate on Friday nights this fall. After he said that, a gasp-murmur-giggle moved through the crowd as everybody realized the significance of Ted's request. 

When the event was over, people clapped and cheered like at a rock concert, and a huge line formed where you could get your picture taken with Beto. We needed to scoot, so we didn't stay to get a picture.

I checked his schedule to see where he'd recently been and was planning to go next. He's holding events in places like Muleshoe, TX!  For the non-Texans, think five people, three dogs, two cats, and a Dairy Queen. 

In short, he's got some serious fans in my part of the state. If our friends in the eastern part of the state come out in proportional numbers for him, he will be our next senator. 

 

[Cartmann99]

On 7/30/2018 at 12:23 PM, AmazonGrace said:

Featuring a cute lil MAGA baby

 

What in the hell is going on with his wife's hair? I kept expecting Porter Wagoner to come out in a sparkly outfit and sing a duet with her.

 

 

[AmazonGrace]

According to this poll it's pretty damn close 

 

[AmazonGrace]

The "porn causes shootings" House  rep Diane Black ran for governor  and got endorsed by Pence, Santorum and NRA .  Then this happened 

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

He will feast on the blood of innocents

[Cartmann99]

Keep your eyes on the prize..

 

[fraurosena]

Sweet Rufus.

 

[fraurosena]

[fraurosena]

 

[fraurosena]

I love this.