I guess God really exists........ Michele Bachmann says she will not run for Sen. Al Franken’s vacated Senate seat because God told her not to run. The Republican ex-congresswoman had previously expressed interest in running for the seat after Franken resigned amid multiple sexual-misconduct allegations leveled against him.. “I considered it for quite a long time,” Bachmann said during an interview this weekend. “From the very first day when Al Franken had announced his resignation from the U.S. Senate, I went before the Lord and it became very clear to me that I wasn’t hearing any call from God to do this.”
The money game, this is why Democrats can not turn their back on business and wall street, it would be political suicide. But... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...mentum-in-money-race-fueling-midterm-contests
Republican back bencher circulates a memo seeking co-sponsors for a bill to impeach the 5 Justices that voted the gerrymander was unconstitutional... Along with other info about the SCOTUS decision, the original ruling, and Republican response.. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/s...new-congressional-map-20180205.html?mobi=true
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/apos-law-order-svu-apos-005003409.html If you look at the article you may recognize the actress who is running for congress in New York. She plays a prosecuting attorney on Law & Order: SVU. She’s a Democrat.
Hey, that's where I live. There are already 6 or 7 qualified candidates running so I'd rather not vote for an actress from some dumb TV show. On the other hand, IMPEACH!!!
I know her a little bit from way back in the day when I worked at Gersh. Smart, energetic lady. That said... I hope she doesn't make it out of the primary.
This (green segment in the chart, NOT Green party) is where the Dems should be looking to gain ground.
Very good results for the D's in Missouri. The swing in the numbers is revealing and should scare the beejesus of the Republicans. In rural Missouri district tonight, Dem *almost* wins by moving margin 53 pts (!!!) from Trump's 59 point win. And, oh yeah, the suburban district Trump won by 31 points? Dems won that one tonight. Cheers! pic.twitter.com/Z2EDybUurS— Daniel Donner @donnermaps.bsky.social (@donnermaps) February 7, 2018
And this happened while Trump is enjoying a mini surge in the polls. What that tells me is that approval of Trump doesn't necessarily correlate to enthusiasm for generic GOP candidates. Trump does more for Democrats because it galvanizes various factions to vote in unison. On the other hand the fact that the GOP has unchecked power everywhere means that they've taken to fight themselves. And it's not just the Jeff Flakes of the world that get bloodied up. Even an obedient soldier like McConnell is more hated in the far right than the mainstream. And it goes both ways. When the radicals get their candidate like Roy Moore, even his fellow GOP Alabama senator ends up coming out against him. And moderate GOP women stay home. Another thing to note is that Democrats seem to be consistently exceeding their polls. Those early close special election results in Kansas and South Carolina came out of nowhere. Ralph Northam's win was way easier than any poll predicted. Even going into the Moore/Jones election night, the numbers suggested Jones was a slight underdog. Polls as usual rely on historical models. But the present times we're living through have turned history on its head. New voters are coming out of the woodwork in places that nobody even knew they existed. I mean Democrats are winning in rural Missouri and rural Wisconsin. That's not normal.
I doubt that even 25% of the green actually now give a shit. But winning most of that segment 925% of the green) could lead to victory in 2018, and depending on what states they live, maybe 2020
More evidence to your points from Mn last night. Minneapolis Star Tribune: “For Republicans, the night offered a clear warning: Low turnout showed the risk of an enthusiasm gap — a potential complacency born of the party’s control of the White House and Congress. With all precincts reporting, almost 11,000 Republicans had participated in the caucus, barely more than half the 20,000 who showed up 2010 and well less than the 14,000 in 2014.” “On the DFL side, turnout was on its way to 30,000, more than the 22,500 who turned out in 2010, the last time there was an open governor’s race.”
To be fair, the "I don't give a shit" share is pretty high in all races. Sometimes it's hard to for people like us who spend our free time on a politics message board to understand that. Some people live pretty full lives where politics just doesn't show up on the daily radar. Some people work two jobs and rush home to pick the kids up, make dinner, clean the kitchen and get two hours of sleep before the next shift. Some people spend their free time going out and getting laid every night. Other people spend their free time smoking meth. Others watch sitcoms and gameshows on TV for 16 hours per day. Some people live so rural that they don't even have cable or internet to inform them of the daily schadenfreude.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I'm not gonna deny all that, but I will say this: Representative democracy requires a certain level of self-education and involvement on the part of the populace. If someone doesn't want to invest that level of self-education and involvement, that's fine, but that also puts a lot of trust in other people that things won't go too badly for them and that their wants and needs will be largely taken care of and that their rights will be respected. If you are a cis hetero white male in the United States with some money, things are gonna be pretty good for you. If you are not male, things'll be incrementally worse for you. If you are not white, things'll be quite a bit worse for you. And if a number of things are not true for you, then things'll be a LOT worse for you. So whenever I see and hear white progressives say that there is no real difference between the two parties and it doesn't really matter to them who wins or loses, I guess that they're right. When they don't vote, when they don't get involved with lobbying or protesting or knocking on doors, or anything else, I understand why. They'll be more or less as OK no matter who's in charge. I'm a 46-year-old hetero American white male that's worked in the tech industry since he graduated from college 20-25 years ago. I'm doing OK, and I'm doing more or less as OK under Trump as I did under Obama and Bush and Clinton. I don't really have very many existential fears related to my race, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin. But I know that other people's mileage may vary. I can't speak for people of color who are part of that green slice. But I do know why a lot of white folks who are in that slice don't prioritize their duties as citizens of a representative democracy to educate themselves and to involve themselves in the running of this representative democracy. They don't have the same sort of existential concerns as other folks do. Why bother when you'll be more or less as OK tomorrow as you are today?
^^^Im going to be fina as well, but I worry about my Kids and how the hell they are ever going to be able to afford to buy house or start a family. I don’t know how other college aged kids get by without their parents support.
Not sure where to put this, but it seems that the Senate has agreed on a 2 year funding bill. raises the spending limits cap, so it may not pass the house. https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/07/politics/senate-announces-deal-budget-caps-agreement/index.html
Let's expand the map....This is what I am talking about!! House Democrats are stepping on the gas, with plans to target 101 Republican-held congressional districts in the midterm elections, NBC News reports. “The DCCC’s own polling of key districts has been more promising than national trends, showing President Donald Trump underwater not just in the 23 GOP-held districts Clinton won, but also in the more than 60 districts Trump won, and the 11 where retirements have left the seat open.” “Democrats are now fielding candidates in all but 12 of the 238 districts held by Republicans… The idea is to expand the map as much as possible and hope to ride the potential wave.”
Good fundraising numbers for the Senate D's! Senate Democrats have crushed their Republican rivals in campaign fundraising once again, the latest sign of a huge enthusiasm advantage as Democrats look to defend a tough map and widen their narrow path to the majority in the 2018 midterms. Every Senate Democratic incumbent facing a tough reelection this year out-raised their opponent in the last three months of 2017, most by lopsided margins, according to recently filed Senate finance reports. Nine of the ten Democrats who are up for reelection next year in states President Donald Trump carried raised at least $1 million in fundraising, and more than doubled the total brought in by their top opponent. Six of those ten Democrats have at least five times as much cash in the bank as their nearest GOP opponent. No Republican running for a Democratic-held seat topped $1 million from donors in the last three months, the normal benchmark for a strong Senate fundraising quarter. Democrats also posted impressive fundraising numbers in the two states where they have the best pickup opportunities. Rep. Jackie Rosen (D-NV) nearly doubled Sen. Dean Heller’s (R-NV) numbers, with a $1.6 million quarter to Heller’s $820,000 (Heller still has $4.2 million in the bank to Rosen’s $1.8 million, however). Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) posted a similarly impressive $1.6 million, while Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) raised $1.1 million. Sinema has $5.2 million in the bank to McSally’s $1.8 million — a differential that will likely grow, as McSally faces a tough primary while Sinema has a clear field.
I have this weird feeling in my gut that Ted Cruz is also going down. I see Beto O'Rourke getting a ton of traction on social media and he seems to be running a sharp campaign. Speaking of Texas, here's an article about a former NFL player running for Republican Pete Session's seat in suburban Dallas. http://inthesetimes.com/article/20892/colin-allred-nfl-pete-sessions-texas-32-primary-progressive
If Beto can unseat Tez Cruz, it will be a major electoral event. It may also be significant in moving Tx from red to purple state.
I donated $ to Beto. Not particularly because he's a favorite of mine necessarily. I just find Cruz to be one of the most disgusting creatures in the GOP swamp.
I think it would prompt a turnout-based red backlash there in 2020 & 2022 at the very least. But yeah... I'd trade that to be rid of Lyin' Ted.