2024 Elections

[O Really]

The population of Alaska is about a fourth of San Diego County. They live in mostly their own world. Why do they even get a vote?

[Vrede too]

The population of Alaska is about a fourth of San Diego County. They live in mostly their own world. Why do they even get a vote?

San Diegans need oil and crab legs?

[O Really]

The population of Alaska is about a fourth of San Diego County. They live in mostly their own world. Why do they even get a vote?

San Diegans need oil and crab legs?

Nice response but the answer might be no. California gets only a dribble of Alaskan oil now compared to 25 years ago and not much real Alaskan crab. A lot of people would probably find trading the rest of those product for 2 fewer repug senators a good deal.

[Vrede too]

NC is supposedly purple in 2024 with Biden actively targeting it.

Local ABC says we're purple, too. Unless FL magically becomes purple again I will be BRD's sole purple stater. You are welcome for my efforts, and I take Venmo or PayPal Do it for Joe

[GoCubsGo]

This is a very good reminder primer and a very good read.

'Dismay and disbelief': What US allies are saying about the chance of another Trump presidency

[Vrede too]

This is a very good reminder primer and a very good read.

'Dismay and disbelief': What US allies are saying about the chance of another Trump presidency

This is a tragic reminder and could be a biography for America in the 2020s. How good a read varies.

'Distress and dyspepsia' : What BRDistas have been saying about the chance of another Trump presidency

[GoCubsGo]

This is a very good reminder primer and a very good read.

'Dismay and disbelief': What US allies are saying about the chance of another Trump presidency

This is a tragic reminder and could be a biography for America in the 2020s. How good a read varies.

'Distress and dyspepsia' : What BRDistas have been saying about the chance of another Trump presidency

That's fucking depressing.

[Vrede too]

3 1/2 years ago:

Trump campaign Contact Us

Actually sent:

It's awful that the election was stolen from you. Please please please plan on running again in 2024. The country will need you more than ever.

(real name and email address given, just in case there's a direct reply. I can always unsubscribe if all I get are fundraising pitches)

Fwiw: I could not think of any "better things to do" with my time.

Goddamn, hominy, you've given them sustenance....you should have written "please please please run again in 24 because I love seeing you lose" and sign it "hates a loser." I'd also ask how many lies they're gonna throw in with that.....you have to anticipate at all times that the trump clan will without fail ask "do you want lies with that?" It's probably in the fine print of their fundraising racket.

Opps, sorry

IMO he would not win, but would wreck the GOP.

TBD

[O Really]

Katie, Katie, Katie...

You're probably a nice person and maybe competent, but you ran for a statewide office as a two-term SoCal congresscritter that nobody north of LA had heard of. You ran on issues most people didn't care about, and you managed to attract some enemies with deep pockets. And you've got the nerve to use the term "rig"? C'mon. You should have kept your safe OC seat.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... bf2f&ei=51

[GoCubsGo]

Another reminder primer.

[Vrede too]

Katie, Katie, Katie...

You're probably a nice person and maybe competent, but you ran for a statewide office as a two-term SoCal congresscritter that nobody north of LA had heard of. You ran on issues most people didn't care about, and you managed to attract some enemies with deep pockets. And you've got the nerve to use the term "rig"? C'mon. You should have kept your safe OC seat.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... r-BB1jtiQr

O Really, O Really, O Really...

Score one for Shifty.

Yeah, but with that margin, Katie was going down anyway. Her issues just didn't resonate with many people and a lot of people north of LA probably never heard of her until the campaign.

"Katie was going down anyway."

I believe someone here said that Schiffty was unnecessarily generating animosity within his own Party with dirty tricks in a race he had won the day he announced.

Democrats Turn on Their Own Campaign Strategy After California Primary

... Although the strategy paid off and ultimately helped Schiff defeat his two progressive opponents, Representatives Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, in California's "Top 2" primary, some are warning that the tactic could hurt Democrats down the ballot later this year.

"Adam Schiff will win in November but his strategy of boosting Garvey will make it that much harder for CA Dems in competitive House seats," Oakland-based activist and strategist Tracey Corder said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "That is short sighted, selfish, privileged behavior."

... But while Schiff's ad strategy appeared to upset members of his own party, it is not a new one. In the 2022 midterms, Democrats across the nation spent more than $43 million on ad campaigns to help boost election deniers in the Republican primaries in hopes that it would improve their odds in the general election. The line-of-thinking was that supporting far-right candidates would give Democrats an easier opponent to face in a head-to-head matchup.

That was done to more "moderate" Repugs who would have been reliable partisan votes if elected. It's different doing it to a fellow Dem.

... The Schiff-Garvey matchup means California will not have a woman senator for the first time in more than three decades. If Schiff wins, as he is expected to do in solid blue California, he will be the first white man to represent the state in the Senate in 32 years.

"Boosting Garvey did wonders for Schiff," podcast host Ben Yelin posted on X. "Hurts Democrats downballot, potentially, as Republicans have more of a reason to show up."

OPPS!

"I lost all respect for Adam Schiff who put himself over the party or the country by propping up Steve Garvey because Schiff was afraid to run against another democrat in November and it's going to hurt democrats down the ticket," another X user wrote....

Dems should run on positivity and principle, it's one of the things that separates them from Repugs and is better for the nation in the long run. Being sleazy and manipulative always comes back to bite Dems on the ass. I believe someone said that when this tangent was first broached by Schiffty lauding O Really

To cite a minor and likely irrelevant example. I like Katie, but had nothing against Schiff until O Really started cheering his craftiness, nothing. Now, I do. He needs to do some mega fence-mending.

Also, some pol strategies are above any pay grade I ever achieved. Depending on her future ambitions, Katie MAY have gained more from a losing campaign and even this nationally covered griping than she would have by staying in The O.C.

[Vrede too]

Another reminder primer.

https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/ ... 3145953791

Brilliant . . . and "That's fucking depressing."

[Vrede too]

Ted Cruz Gets Bad News on Super Tuesday

Fingers crossed. Beto O'Rourke came SO close in 2018, just over 2.6 points.

[O Really]

Ted Cruz Gets Bad News on Super Tuesday

Fingers crossed. Beto O'Rourke came SO close in 2018, just over 2.6 points.

Yeah but O'Rourke didn't have to give up points for being a Black guy who played for the Titans and went to law school at Berkeley. But the pre-election polls do look good so far, don't they?

[O Really]

"Katie was going down anyway."

I believe someone here said that Schiffty was unnecessarily generating animosity within his own Party with dirty tricks in a race he had won the day he announced.

And "someone" was right to a point. He didn't have to run ads designed to increase repug turnout and boost Garvey. I don't think that's such an unusual thing that the animosity will last very long, but in any case politics makes strange bedfellows.

However, my comment that "Katie was going down anyway" was from the perspective of the actual margin in the vote. She apparently thought she had a better chance and maybe Schiff's campaign thought so too.

Still, claiming the election was "rigged" no matter how she tries to weasel around what she said is such a repug thing to do. I really would have expected better from her.

[Vrede too]

Ted Cruz Gets Bad News on Super Tuesday

Fingers crossed. Beto O'Rourke came SO close in 2018, just over 2.6 points.

Yeah but O'Rourke didn't have to give up points for being a Black guy who played for the Titans and went to law school at Berkeley. But the pre-election polls do look good so far, don't they?

That's what the article says about SOME polls. The RCP Average 1/13 - 2/12 is still Cruz +8.0, but that was before the primary.

I know you were being partially flip, but the comparisons between Ted Cruz and Colin Allred are interesting. Points awarded from an average Texas voter perspective, where football is a religion:

Birth
Teddy - Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Allred - Dallas, Texas, U.S.
2 points Allred (1 for U.S.,1 for Texas)

Race
Teddy - half Cuban
Allred - Black
1/2 point Teddy?

High school
Teddy - two private high schools in Texas, participated in the Free Market Education Foundation
Allred - Hillcrest High School in Dallas, where he played baseball, basketball and football
3 points Allred

College
Teddy - Princeton, debater
Allred - Baylor Bears linebacker
2 points Allred

Law School
Teddy - Harvard
Allred - UC Berkeley
Push

Sports Career
Teddy -
Allred - 4 seasons as NFL linebacker. It's not like undrafted free agents can pick their teams and even Texans understand that. Also, the Tennessee Titans used to be the Houston Oilers. Maybe there's some residual fondness. Plus, NO ONE will be insulting his wife and father, no one.
4 to 1000 points Allred

Total, IMO:
Teddy - 1/2 point
Allred 10 to 1006 points

I think Allred is a pretty good matchup, PERHAPS better than Beto was.

[Vrede too]

And "someone" was right to a point. He didn't have to run ads designed to increase repug turnout and boost Garvey. I don't think that's such an unusual thing that the animosity will last very long, but in any case politics makes strange bedfellows.

It's very unusual to do it to a fellow Dem. Our animosity duration is speculative.

However, my comment that "Katie was going down anyway" was from the perspective of the actual margin in the vote. She apparently thought she had a better chance and maybe Schiff's campaign thought so too.

I think almost everyone including us predicted that it would be Schiffty-Garvey all along. Paranoid Schiffty was just covering his bases and didn't care what damage he did to other Dems and himself.

Still, claiming the election was "rigged" no matter how she tries to weasel around what she said is such a repug thing to do. I really would have expected better from her.

Meh, depends on how broad the definition of "rigged" is. IMO a system where fat cats can do whatever the fuck they want is certainly "rigged".

"expected better" from the guy who created this tangent in order to brag about Schiffty's RepuQ-supporting dirty trick? C'mon.

[O Really]

"Partially flip" sure, but only partially. I think he loses significant pointage for being Black, but he may make up a lot of that for not being the asshole Cruz is.

So out of 1,100 or so people who have served as senator, 11 have been black or blackish. Currently 5 out of the 100 in office, one of whom had the job gifted to him and one of whom ran against Herschel Walker. I'd love to be wrong and have to eat my words, which are "Texas aingonna elect no Black senator if they have a white one running."

[Vrede too]

"Partially flip" sure, but only partially. I think he loses significant pointage for being Black, but he may make up a lot of that for not being the asshole Cruz is.

So out of 1,100 or so people who have served as senator, 11 have been black or blackish. Currently 5 out of the 100 in office, one of whom had the job gifted to him and one of whom ran against Herschel Walker. I'd love to be wrong and have to eat my words, which are "Texas aingonna elect no Black senator if they have a white one running."

All sadly true, but how many US Senators have been Cuban-Canadians?

[Vrede too]

https://www.blueridgedebate.com/viewtop ... 57#p196557

Superintendent of Public Instruction
Michele Morrow, another christofascist. They're more out of the closet these days

N.C. Superintendent of Education (Rep)
91% OF PRECINCTS REPORTING

Michele Morrow (R) 455,295 52%
Catherine Truitt (R) 418,575 48%

Not over yet. I influenced a squeaker for better or worse.

North Carolina schools chief loses primary to home-schooling parent critical of 'radical agendas'

North Carolina's public schools superintendent and some state legislators won't be returning to their positions in 2025 after primary defeats by challengers who questioned their rivals' commitment to social conservatism or a Democratic agenda.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt lost Tuesday's Republican primary to Michele Morrow, a home-schooling parent and conservative activist who has accused public schools of indoctrinating students with left-leaning views on race and gender.

Also on Tuesday, six-term Democratic Sen. Mike Woodard from Durham County, who voted to overturn a few of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's vetoes, lost his primary to a self-proclaimed progressive.

Buh-bye, DINO.

Truitt, in her first term as schools' chief, led the Department of Public Instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic and later recovery, and implemented a new legislature-backed plan to improve reading skills in early grades. She had reelection support from dozens of General Assembly members and North Carolina Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis.

But Morrow, a nurse and former Christian missionary who ran unsuccessfully for the Wake County school board in 2022, accused Truitt of not being conservative enough. Morrow collected support from rural education leaders....

In November, Morrow will take on Democrat Maurice “Mo” Green, a former Guilford County schools superintendent and previous head of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. Green won Tuesday’s Democratic primary over two rivals.

Sounds qualified. GOMoGO, beat Morrow!

... Republican and unaffiliated voters who picked Morrow “are tired of their taxpayer funds going to push radical agendas in the classroom instead of proven pedagogies," she said Wednesday in an emailed statement.

Ahem, THIS unaffiliated voter picked Morrow in order to see a christofascist demagogue go down in flames in Nov.

While the state superintendent is head of the Department of Public Instruction, statewide school policy is left to the State Board of Education, for which the governor makes the most appointments.

Do not fluster homeschool moms with your damn facts!

... Morrow participated in the march on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to protest Joe Biden as the 2020 presidential winner, but she said she left the area when ordered by authorities and didn’t enter the building, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported.

Of course she was there, MAGAt crybaby.

Republican primaries for two other statewide elected positions were poised to head to May 14 runoffs because the first-place finisher in each failed to receive more than 30% of the vote total.

That's what I thought. Idk how I feel about that. Most jurisdictions demand 50% to avoid a runoff. In theory, we could elect someone in a 31-30-30 race.

In the 11-candidate GOP primary for lieutenant governor, Hal Weatherman, a former chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, came in first, followed by Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill. The primary winner will take on Democratic nominee and state Sen. Rachel Hunt.

Both Repuqs sound qualified, darn it. I voted for the "Gays for Trump" organizer.

And Jack Clark and Dave Boliek finished first and second, respectively, in the Republican primary for state auditor. The winner will face Democratic incumbent Jessica Holmes.

My lazy pick didn't make it. I called both of the RepuQs "uber-qualified" in my notes. Ut-oh.

... In the state legislature, Woodard lost his Democratic primary to Sophia Chitlik, who received the endorsements of influential Durham political committees. Woodard has been in the Senate since 2013 and ran unsuccessfully for Durham mayor last fall.

“Durham deserves a Senator who will have the back of our next Democratic Governor, and not work against their colleagues to overturn his vetoes,” a statement on Chitlik's campaign website says.

Did progressive Chitlik just hand the seat to a Repuq?

Chitlik faces a Libertarian Party candidate in November....

Bazinga! Progressive > DINO, an asset for future Gov Josh Stein.

Btw, this will be an historic Gov election for NC. We will either elect our first Black, christofascist wingnut Mark Robinson (R), or our first Jew, Stein (D). Mazel Tov!