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'17 Specials & '18 Midterms Thread

myDeaconmyhand said:
It's not comparable. At all. De-regulatory pseudo-libertarian Tea Party efforts are fronts for corporate and big money influence. Just how in the hell do you think Occupy Wall St is going to use the same tactics as Exxon, DuPont, or Bank of America? 1/4 of the voters in this country, from both sides of the aisle, condemn socialist programs as tax burdens upon the working class, while conveniently ignoring the tax cost of the military industrial complex and corporate subsidization. It's that 1/4 of voters who spread the bullshit disinformation that socialized government programs are the "extreme liberal version of tea party politics" on some bullshit one dimensional political scale which doesn't even fucking exist.
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At the risk of getting into a situation where we're talking past each other, please note that I am not saying that the two situations are identical, nor am I trying to debate some poli sci question about the right left continuum. I am simply pointing out how the US political system works. Unlike a lot of other rich nations, where new parties can be formed relatively easily - even major movements can be formed in one year - we have an ossified two party system where the existing duopoly has the legal power to snuff out any upstarts. They use this power ruthlessly. Given that state of affairs, the general model of recruiting progressive primary candidates and attacking Democrats from the left inside the party is the only realistic way to get progressive ideas back on the front burner. The "de-regulatory pseudo-libertarian" bent of the modern GOP is exactly what I'm talking about - the people pushing that agenda recruited and financed candidates to challenge the GOP orthodoxy and boy has the orthodoxy changed in a relatively short period of time. Progressives don't have the Exxons of the world on their side so they're obviously going to have to finance it some other way.
 
Expecting the progressive wing of the Dems to competitively finance their campaigns with the moderate establishment is setting them up for failure from the get-go. That classic campaign finance framework is designed to filter out grassroots candidates and movements. The localized Democratic parties have to become more flexible in how they adopt individual donor driven campaigns. $5000 plate dinners, rolodex tests, and rich families aren't cranking out socialist candidates.
 
Newenglanddeac said:
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That's one hell of a read, IMO. : "As a former Republican who is still a Reagan conservative, I believe we need more Conor Lambs as an antidote to Trump's poison. This is no time to obsess over party labels. Electing candidates of either party who will stand up to Trump is the first step in restoring a normal, decent, civilized America."
 
Newenglanddeac said:
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LOL. Kristol tweeted it because they guy basically said he should run for President.

By the way, no staunch Republican could win as an Independent. Republicans are too loyal to the party for that to happen.
 
PhDeac said:
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Just joking, man.
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damn, just spent two hours with my old plug-in external hard drive trying to find the photo from his office. I was skinny then :/ I also ironically didn't give a shit about politics then.
 
Marie Newman lost a close race to incumbent Dan Lipinski, demonstrating how hard it can be to beat incumbent candidates. Hopefully the groundwork has been done to beat him in the future.

In echos of Virginia, Dem turnout greatly exceeded Republican turnout, and the expected Republican winner (this time an incumbent) narrowly beat a challenger that ran to the right of him.

 
myDeaconmyhand said:
It's not comparable. At all. De-regulatory pseudo-libertarian Tea Party efforts are fronts for corporate and big money influence. Just how in the hell do you think Occupy Wall St is going to use the same tactics as Exxon, DuPont, or Bank of America? 1/4 of the voters in this country, from both sides of the aisle, condemn socialist programs as tax burdens upon the working class, while conveniently ignoring the tax cost of the military industrial complex and corporate subsidization. It's that 1/4 of voters who spread the bullshit disinformation that socialized government programs are the "extreme liberal version of tea party politics" on some bullshit one dimensional political scale which doesn't even fucking exist.
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This is the best post I've seen you make in a while. Agree on all counts.
 
More from Illinois, looks like at least one, maybe two, Cook County Board incumbents lost to union-backed challengers:

Cook County Commissioner Fritchey loses, while Boykin lags in tight race

Fritchey, a two-term Democratic incumbent, garnered about 45 percent of the vote with about 89 percent of precincts reporting, with attorney Bridget Degnen getting about 55 percent.
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Another incumbent, Commissioner Richard Boykin, D-Oak Park, was facing a tough challenge as well. With 92 percent of the precincts reporting in the 1st District, he was running behind his opponent, Chicago Teacher’s union organizer Brandon Johnson, by a few hundred votes. Johnson had 50.4 percent of the votes to 49.6 percent for Boykin. Johnson had heavy support from organized labor and was also endorsed by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
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pretty pumped for Johnson, should he be the winner. race stands at ~400 vote difference out of 50,000 votes with a few precincts left.
 
What the Dan Lipinski-Marie Newman Democratic Primary in Illinois Means

So a more precise question might be: Is there still room in a solidly Democratic district for a Blue Dog who opposes abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants’ rights, a $15 minimum wage, and who voted against the Affordable Care Act?

And the answer, at least in Illinois’s 3rd District, is barely — for now.

The race also answered a different question, one that is perhaps more relevant to the future of the party: Can the progressive Democrats mount a powerful enough challenge to entrenched, well-funded incumbents that they can threaten the status quo?

The answer to that question, clearly, is yes. Lipinski held on, but he got the kind of political scare that no incumbent wants.
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Judge orders Gov. Scott Walker to hold special elections for open legislative seats in Eric Holder suit

The case hinged on a state law that says Walker must promptly call a special election to fill any legislative seat that becomes vacant "before the second Tuesday in May in the year in which a regular election is held."

Walker aides contended Walker didn't need to hold special elections because the vacancies occurred not in 2018 — the election year — but in 2017.

The judge called that interpretation absurd because a seat that becomes vacant in 2017 remains empty longer than one that begins in 2018.

The judge took a shot at Walker for contending he didn't have to hold the election when the statutes are clear and he so often talks about the need for judges and others to follow the plain meaning of laws.

"I cannot reconcile the incongruity between Gov. Walker's administration's very vocal and consistent policy advocating for strict constructionism and the position taken by the attorney general in this case involving the most basic constitutional guarantee," Reynolds said.
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I think you meant to type "Satanic deep state democrats" instead of "democracy." Trumpublicanism is the only moral path to American greatness.
 
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