'17 Specials & '18 Midterms Thread

[deactherunner]

Both Hillary and Bernie need to fade into the sunset, but of the 2, she's behaving worse at this moment. The Clintons' egos are limitless. If she becomes a distracting sideshow, I hope they deny both Clintons the opportunity to speak at the 2020 convention. And I get that there was a certain amount of Obama/Trump voters out there, who probably voted Bernie in the primary. There are a large number of folks in both parties right now who just want to blow the whole thing up. Given that environment, last year was not the right time for the ultra establishment Hillary, not that any time would necessarily have been. Had Uncle Joe run, I really think all of this would be academic because he would have won by 5+%. But it is what it is, and Hillary needs to go the fuck away.

This. She does not get to play the "we need what's good for the party card" anymore. Bernie may have taken things too far, but those are the kind of things that can happen in a primary.

Of course, this is a lesson that should have been learned in 2008.

Arguably, as early as 2000.

 

[PhDeac]

This. She does not get to play the "we need what's good for the party card" anymore. Bernie may have taken things too far, but those are the kind of things that can happen in a primary.



Arguably, as early as 2000.

True. Al Gore was an early warning of distaste for establishment candidates, if not full blown Clinton fatigue.

In my lifetime, the President has been the incumbent or the newer option except for 1980 and 1988. And one could argue that Bush 1 wouldn't have won if Dukakis wasn't such a weak candidate. Bush certainly had a short leash within his own party which fueled the rise of Ross Perot (an early harbinger of Trump in some ways) and opened the door for the Clintons.

 

[cville deac]

True. Al Gore was an early warning of distaste for establishment candidates, if not full blown Clinton fatigue.

In my lifetime, the President has been the incumbent or the newer option except for 1980 and 1988. And one could argue that Bush 1 wouldn't have won if Dukakis wasn't such a weak candidate. Bush certainly had a short leash within his own party which fueled the rise of Ross Perot (an early harbinger of Trump in some ways) and opened the door for the Clintons.

Dukakis' campaign staff deserved to be executed for putting him in that tank photo op. But yeah, he was a weak candidate when you looked a little closer - just couldn't pass the presidential smell test. And Bush the Elder would have won in 1992 if it weren't for Perot and the recession. His approval numbers were very high after Desert Storm. But almost all of Perot's support came from what would have been Bush voters in a 2 person race.

 

[avalon]

GOP moderate Charlie Dent won't seek reelection to House in 2018

This one's not necessarily good news for Dems because Dent had no problem opposing the crazies. There's a good chance Dent gets replaced by a Trumplican.

 

[avalon]

Rep. Dave Trott is retiring from U.S. House

Trott, a 56-year-old attorney serving his second term, is the latest in a string of GOP House members to announce they won’t seek re-election in 2018, joining several other Republicans retiring from competitive districts, including Reps. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, Dave Reichert of Washington and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida.

 

[dot com]

The good days of sticking it to the black guy every day are gone. May as well go home.

 

[avalon]

Exclusive: Mitt Romney planning to run for Senate if Orrin Hatch retires

Worth a re-read:

Secretary of State Romney

 

[avalon]

Conservative activist Andy Ogles launches U.S. Senate bid for seat held by Bob Corker

“We will not change what we are seeing in Washington until we send new, strong conservative representatives to Washington. Our problem isn’t the shortage of Republicans in the Senate, it is the shortage of the right Republicans in the Senate,” Ogles said in the news release.

Although former GOP state Rep. Joe Carr is also weighing a run for the U.S. Senate seat, Ogles said there was only room for one "conservative" to challenge Corker.

"At the end of the day a lot of people are thinking about it. I'm doing it," he said.

Ogle’s announcement came as a surprise to Carr, who said he is still mulling a bid despite Ogles’ entry.

Carr, who has lost GOP primary bids against U.S. Rep. Diane Black last year and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander in 2014, called Ogles’ timing “funny,” noting that it came the morning of Carr’s “T-Bones and Politics,” an annual fundraiser for state races that is scheduled for Thursday night in Murfreesboro.

 

[avalon]

Virginia Republican’s ad ties opponent to MS-13. Democrats compare it to ‘Willie Horton’

"MS-13 is a menace, yet Ralph Northam voted in favor of sanctuary cities that let dangerous illegal immigrants back on the street, increasing the threat of MS-13," a narrator says. "Ralph Northam's policies are dangerous."

The 30-second spot intersperses photos of Northam with the tattooed faces of men who, as it turns out, were photographed in a prison in El Salvador. Gillespie spokesman David Abrams said he would inquire about the provenance of the photo.

"Ralph Northam: Increasing the threat of MS-13," reads text across the screen.

The violent gang has made a comeback in recent years around the United States, including Virginia. But Virginia does not have any sanctuary cities, which are generally defined as localities that limit or ban cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

 

[Demonwolverine]

Alabama Democrat Doug Jones purchases domain from misspelled Roy Moore bus ad

 

[DEACisGO]

Alabama Democrat Doug Jones purchases domain from misspelled Roy Moore bus ad

that's the most innovative thing to come out of alabama ... ever

 

[avalon]

ha

 

[Demonwolverine]

It's widely suspected that Moore is too much of a wildcard, even for Trump. He's against the border wall, and apparently wouldn't support simply anything that comes across his desk with Trump's name on it, unlike Strange. Which is why McConnell's super pac is backing Strange, and Trump is in Hunstville today supporting Big Suit Strange.

That said, if the lawyer who finally prosecuted KKK members for the Birmingham bombings doesn't win this race, then...well then I guess Alabama is who we thought they were.

And in case you were thinking "Hey, maybe Moore isn't such an idiot after all.":

Roy Moore Doesn't Know What DACA Is (9/1/2017)

Or if you've forgotten how terrible of a human being he is:

In 2005, Roy Moore: "Homosexual conduct should be illegal."

 

[avalon]

 

[PhDeac]

Now that's Strange.

 

[PhDeac]

Bob Corker not seeking reelection in 2018.

 

[cville deac]

Virginia Republican’s ad ties opponent to MS-13. Democrats compare it to ‘Willie Horton’

Yeah, the Pub ads for Gov and AG thus far have been very Trumpian, attacking Dems on immigration issues. The interesting thing is the Trump candidate for Gov, Corey Stewart, lost to the establishment Pub, Gillispie, and Trump lost last year's primary in VA to I think Rubio. VA is more of an establishment state for both parties and not a populist state. Yet the focus of the Pub attacks thus far has been on populist immigration grounds. Not sure if Gillispie & Co. feel they need to sure up the Pub base, but it seems odd they'd do that rather than tack toward the center for the general.

 

[cville deac]

Bob Corker not seeking reelection in 2018.

He was going to be primaried anyway, and it wasn't sounding like he was going to win said primary.

 

[avalon]

Dems flip a state senate seat in Florida in a district that voted for Hillary / Rubio / Republican incumbent state senator in 2016.

Trump drags down GOP ‘Apprentice’ in special Miami state Senate race won by Democrat

Trump is deeply unpopular in Florida's 40th Senate District, which he lost to Democrat Hillary Clinton by about 16 percentage points in November. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, however, carried the district by about 3 percentage points and the prior state senator, Republican Frank Artiles, won by about 10 points.

 

[Newenglanddeac]

Dems flip a state senate seat in Florida in a district that voted for Hillary / Rubio / Republican incumbent state senator in 2016.

Trump drags down GOP ‘Apprentice’ in special Miami state Senate race won by Democrat

Dems are mounting a quiet Vietcong style comeback downballot right now. It's actually hilarious watching the Steve Bannon wing of the GOP claim there is room to move further right. Have fun with that in general elections outside of Alabama and a few other ass backward states.



Democrats just keep winning Republican seats they shouldn't be winning

"Those twin wins make it eight Republican-controlled state legislative seats that Democrats have flipped in 2017 alone. (Republicans flipped a Democratic state House seat in Louisiana earlier this year although Democrats didn't even field a candidate in that race.)

That means that of the 27 Republican-held state legislative seats that have come open in 2017 to date, Democrats have now flipped almost 30% of them -- a remarkable number in any circumstance but especially so when you consider the average Trump margin in these seats in 2016 was 19 points."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/28/polit...lections-annette-tadeo-kari-lerner/index.html