'17 Specials & '18 Midterms Thread

[Highland Deac]

Rick Scott is campaigning on bringing federal money back to FL after he turned down federal money for high speed rail. I think DeSantis said he supported Scott not taking money to expand Medicare under Obama but he would expand Medicare under Trump.

Democratic candidates opposing these guys really need to hit back hard on this - they can't wait or expect the media to do it for them. The reluctance or inability of some Democrats to fight hard and hit back quickly on GOP attacks and false statements like this one never fails to amaze me. CNN had a depressing article recently about how Sinema's campaign in Arizona is really losing momentum under a harsh, no-holds-barred attack strategy from McSally. McSally just ran a TV commercial that apparently has everyone talking out there - it shows her in her Air Force pilot suit and talks about her combat service after 9/11, and shows Sinema dressed in a bright pink tutu at an antiwar rally during the Iraq conflict, and claims that Sinema was "attacking" brave patriots like her who were serving their country. The claims in the ad have been debunked as "mostly false" (while she did wear the outfit, politifact states that Sinema never "denigrated" the troops as McSally claims.) Yet McSally now slightly leads Sinema in most recent polls. Thus far Sinema seems to have no effective or hard-hitting response to these attacks. If she thinks she can just ignore them and somehow ride them out, she's toast, imo. She did agree to a series of debates with McSally today, so maybe she can regain some of her momentum then.

Link to article on McSally attack ad: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opi...tu-attack-kyrsten-sinema-debunked/1261076002/

 

[PhDeac]

McSally’s line about “I did 100 missions. She has 100 pairs of shoes.” was pretty good.

 

[Tobacco Road]

It's actually hard to understand how a group of 7,000 failed (at what?), when people didn't even know who the fuck we were. If you want to say we failed, cool i guess. I don't care because it's not at all instructive.

Oh shit we’re arguing with a representative of a group of 7000 I thought this was a real movement not a glorified PTA

I would guess there are counties in the US that have more than 7000 PTA members.

Pretty impressive they are making this much noise nationally, then. Seems like they are very effective at influencing the discourse. I don't think I would be so quick to mock their methods.

 

[Highland Deac]

McSally’s line about “I did 100 missions. She has 100 pairs of shoes.” was pretty good.

Yeah, it was. That commercial alone may be enough to sink Sinema in a close race, and then we'll have another Trump clone in the Senate. The Dems desperately need to win that AZ race to have any chance at taking the Senate, and as of now Sinema seems to have moved from the favorite to the underdog position. If McSally keeps up this line of attack, and Sinema can't (or won't) find a way to counteract it, McSally will be on her way to Washington in November, and Sinema will join the long, recent line of dazed Democrats wondering what bus ran over them on their way to the election.

 

[PhDeac]

The thing is Dems like Amy McGrath are using similar tactics as McSally to gain ground as well.

 

[PhDeac]

Rasmussen has Gillum with a 6 point lead over DeSantis, the largest lead yet for Gillum.
Election 2018: Florida Governor - Rasmussen Reports - www.rasmussenreports.comhttp://www....n_2018/florida/election_2018_florida_governor

Scott-Nelson is a virtual tie.

 

[Biff Tannen]

Does she really have 100 pairs of shoes or that a baseless attack ?

 

[Highland Deac]

The thing is Dems like Amy McGrath are using similar tactics as McSally to gain ground as well.

Good. My problem is not so much with McSally's tactics and strategy - of course it's largely dishonest, divisive, and ruthless - but politicians have been doing that forever. The issue is why some Democrats seem to have so much trouble fighting back and countering it. It's good to know that some Dems like McGrath are at least hitting back. If a bully goes after you, not fighting back with everything you have seems like political suicide, imo, especially in this political climate.

 

[PhDeac]

I’m talking about pointing to military service more than the dishonest tactics.

 

[RJKarl]

Yeah, it was. That commercial alone may be enough to sink Sinema in a close race, and then we'll have another Trump clone in the Senate. The Dems desperately need to win that AZ race to have any chance at taking the Senate, and as of now Sinema seems to have moved from the favorite to the underdog position. If McSally keeps up this line of attack, and Sinema can't (or won't) find a way to counteract it, McSally will be on her way to Washington in November, and Sinema will join the long, recent line of dazed Democrats wondering what bus ran over them on their way to the election.

I think AZ is #3 on Dems hit list. It looks like NV and TN would be ahead of them. But AZ is REALLY important.

It would be huge if the Dems could convince Janet Napolitano to run in 2020 for McCain's seat.

 

[WakeForestRanger]

 

[Biff Tannen]

Dumb.

 

[Highland Deac]

I’m talking about pointing to military service more than the dishonest tactics.

Ah. There's a number of Democrats running around the country this year with military service backgrounds, which is great. I don't think that Democrats need to be dishonest, but just at least hit back hard at dishonest attacks and hit the weak spots of Republican candidates very hard.

 

[cville deac]

Rasmussen has Gillum with a 6 point lead over DeSantis, the largest lead yet for Gillum.
Election 2018: Florida Governor - Rasmussen Reports - www.rasmussenreports.comhttp://www....n_2018/florida/election_2018_florida_governor

Scott-Nelson is a virtual tie.

The polling in FL, NV, AZ, MO, TN and ND have all been a point up here, two up there. Your initial take after the primary that Nelson should kiss up to Gillum might be correct. Also saw a story that W is out campaigning for GOP senators but not Cruz. And Cruz's lead is down to the 3-4% range.

 

[Biff Tannen]

 

[avalon]

A Grassroots Uprising in Amish Country Begins to Find Meaning in Politics

But eventually, they felt the pull of home. “I have my values because I grew up here, and because my parents chose to raise me in a Mennonite church, and because I learned about inequality both in the U.S. and the world from growing up here. And when I left, a lot of people told me the place that I’m from could never be progressive, would always be conservative. And I let myself believe that a little bit. And then as I learned how to organize and what it meant to organize working people and make political change, I realized just how much deep potential there is here,” Rast said.

So they moved back to Lancaster in 2016 to prove them wrong. “I just really, deeply believe that the Democratic Party and progressive movements have written off places like this in the country and it’s a huge mistake, and that urban, small cities like Lancaster, Harrisburg have the potential to transform this country if we actually do organizing across class, race, and geographical lines.”

 

[cville deac]

A Grassroots Uprising in Amish Country Begins to Find Meaning in Politics

Those Sojourner types make up such a small percentage of white evangelical/religious sect types, though. The overwhelming number of those type of folks are voting for Trump in yuge numbers.

 

[myDeaconmyhand]

Those Sojourner types make up such a small percentage of white evangelical/religious sect types, though. The overwhelming number of those type of folks are voting for Trump in yuge numbers.

The Amish aren't evangelical, which is a very important distinction. They mind their own business. Evangelical christians, as a social and political force, are really a poison in this country. Of course there are plenty of exceptions, but the rule stands.

 

[cville deac]

The Amish aren't evangelical, which is a very important distinction. They mind their own business. Evangelical christians, as a social and political force, are really a poison in this country. Of course there are plenty of exceptions, but the rule stands.

Which is why I added religious sect types. Traditional Amish in Southern PA don't always make their way to the polls and tend to be separatists. But there are a lot of Menonites and Amish in the Shenandoah Valley in Shenandoah, Rockingham and Augusta counties, and near as I can tell, they vote overwhelmingly Pub. And they're not separatists, like the traditional PA Amish are. They do business with the outside world, have lots of religious booklets and stuff at their businesses, drive cars and trucks and participate in local goings on. I had 1 family owned Menonite business from the Harrisonburg area do my kitchen cabinets and counters - they do good work and for a better price than you'd otherwise get in Cville. And I'd also say that, traveling through those counties in the last 2-3 years, I see a lot more support for Trump in terms of signage than there seemed to be for Romney or McCain.

 

[avalon]

The CLF's latest attack ad is for Paul Ryan's district which.... should not be in play.

September Governors Overview

GEORGIA (R – Open) Lean Republican → Toss Up: If there is any gubernatorial contest that excites national Democrats it’s this contest between former state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams and Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp. The contest is already fully engaged with Republicans taking aim at Abrams’ personal finances (and personal debt) and Democrats portraying Kemp as beholden to his campaign donors (i.e., overlooking reports of sexual assault by massage therapists who are licensed by Kemp’s office). Both parties acknowledge that the contest is in the low- to mid- single digits, but disagree on which candidate is in the lead.

It is worth remembering that Georgia still holds general election run-offs. If no candidate gets 50 percent of the vote, then the top two will proceed to a run-off on December 4. There is a Libertarian candidate on the ballot, so a run-off is not entirely out of the realm of possibility.