berlinerbaer

Those dudes in Montana aren't knee-jerk Republicans. Tester is going to get reelected and Gianforte is vulnerable.

There's also the whole indicting a sitting president thing on which BK, and only BK, has stated his opinion. I recall Flake grilling him on this specifically during the hearing, as well as the broader Russia investigation. I don't recall Flake signaling he was satisfied with what BK had said. Sexual assault is one thing, but we've all heard a multitude of other reasons why this dude shouldn't be on the supreme court, particularly propping up a president under criminal investigation. Strange that sexual assault still matters at all to the GOP, when all of those other red flags didn't mean shit (except maybe to Flake).

What about Flake? I thought he was still on the fence, with the added bonus that he happens to serve on the committee.

I agree Beto needs to come up with some more one-liners. "True to form" was a hell of a start.

His district is as red as it gets, but wow...

Ted has the numbers advantage, so his strategy is to play it safe. Considering who is registered and who generally shows up to vote, he gets to be his usual, shitty self. The base is all that counts and everyone else can fuck right off. Beto knows he only wins by appealing to as many different types of people as possible. Mission accomplished, although his task is still daunting. Overall, I give Beto the nod, since he gains name recognition just by being on the tube or the radio, and name recognition is what he's still lacking.

Clearly this one flew under the radar. Then again, I don't live in SD19. This should be a wake up call for anyone who thinks TX23 will be anything other than a nail biter. The territory of SD19 and TX23 largely overlap.

There are 5.5 million names in the Democratic Party VAN. That's the number of voters the GOTV campaign is going to attempt to reach in the month before the election. Likely voters might constitute only about half of that number. So if total turnout is ~5 million as you say, Beto wins this thing going away if even a small fraction of the intended GOTV targets wind up at the polls. Realistic turnout will be in the 7 million range, approaching 2008 numbers, including more Republican voters than normal. https://betofortexas.com/plan/?source=texting So, no, 200,000 libertarians are not the focus, nor should they be. I was on a organizing conference call this past Saturday (I think by mistake) with a couple hundred new volunteers, mostly from out of state. About half planned on flying to Texas in the few weeks before the election to block walk (no shit) and much of the rest planned on phone banking. Maybe most of them don't show up, but we could be in the midst of a historic GOTV effort starting in October. If the Quinnipiac poll tomorrow shows a tie or a small Beto lead for the first time then the sharks will smell blood in the water.

There are lots of LSU fans in the greater Houston area, and that isn't because of aggy.

Oregon improved almost immediately when he started as OC back in 2007 and was in the national title game by 2010. In his first season with the Eagles they went 10-6 after going 4-12 the year before. Even in the NFL, he had early success. It took a few seasons for any problems to surface at both gigs, including recruiting violations at Oregon. There really isn't precedent for this kind of start at any of his stops except for his lone season with the 9'ers. I'll resist going down the rabbit hole that is Tedford at Cal except to note that his health problems were stress related. He should be able to sustain his success at an institution that is overall more friendly toward football.

I see no need to change the rankings from week 2 to week 3. Next week will be fun. Furd plays in Eugene, Washington hosts the Herm, and bottom feeders Zona and OSU have their pillow fight.

Q: What do you call someone of European heritage from a Spanish speaking country who no longer speaks Spanish? A: A white dude.

You fuckers took Tre from us. Y'all better keep feeding him the ball.

I'm happy to see that Tedford has landed back on his feet and is turning a program around. It's reminiscent of Cal back in 2002 - 2004. As far as Chip and UCLA goes, I don't get it.

This has been my major bitch about living here. There are asshole drivers in California but everyone seems to at least know which lane they should be in. That is not the case here. I see three main causes for Houston road insanity. 1) Industry. The country's 2nd largest port and all the industry in town needs to be connected with the rest of the state and country somehow. Enter the fleet of semis on the city's highways and the armada of smaller trucks carrying God-knows-what with hardly a bungee cord to strap it all down. 2) Decentralization. People don't just have to get downtown. They're also heading to the Med center, the Energy Corridor, the Galeria, or the Port. I guess it's good that everyone isn't converging onto only one location in the morning, but that probably means that many people have to literally drive all the way across town to get to work. I haven't decided if the feeder roads make things better or worse compared to areas that don't have them. 3) People. A good explanation for the driving behavior in the GH area doesn't exist. I think a significant number of new/recent drivers could be an explanation. Lots of people who move here are forced to drive a lot more than they used to, and some may have never driven before. There are also a number of absolute beaters on the roads out here, unsurprisingly being driven at 50 mph. I think Texas cities would benefit from a vehicle replacement incentive program. AirCheck Texas only gives money in exchange for vehicles less than 5 years old that fail smog checks. Those cars aren't the problem.

Week 2 rankings. The Pac 12 South still gargles everyone's balls. 1) Washington - Can't fault them much for losing to Auburn. 2) Stanford - A case could be made that they're #1 3) Oregon - Winning the beauty contests against weak teams. 4) Colorado - Best road win of the season for the conference so far 5) USC - True frosh QB needs to find his feet, then they'll move up 6) ASU - How much longer will Herm be underestimated? 7) WSU - No glaring deficiencies, but we'll see when conference play starts 8 ) Cal - Decent road win and making strides on offense 9) Utah - Workmanlike victories over middling opponents 10) UCLA - His players don't fit Chip's system, so be patient 11) OSU - They seem to have some fight in them compared to last year 12) Arizona - Rich Rod would probably be 2-0 right now...

The Nebraska front 7 on D is confusing the fuck out of CU's line. That's like the 4th sack I've seen, and I'm not really paying attention.

They don't seem to realize that supreme court justices can be impeached. Just sayin...

Zona losing to BYU may not be a surprise to many of you on this board who know the aggy hasn't yet rubbed off of Sumlin, but it is to me. They made Tate look like a chump, which sucks because Cal has to travel to Provo next week...

Nice to see realignment talk not going away.

I gave $250 last week in my first ever political donation. 39.986

Maybe Gillum on the ballot will help push Bill Nelson across the finish line. God, I wish there was a decent Dem candidate running for governor to pair with Beto here in Texas.

SC has upped its academic game considerably over the last 2+ decades. Aside from the social upper crust, the rest of the student body and younger alumni resemble those at any one of the UC's more than ever before. It's the older alumni who have worked hard over the years to maintain the school's reputation of entitlement and relaxed standards. On a more positive note for them, it is also these people who will ultimately be responsible for their supposed return to national prominence following the Bush fallout and the Kiffin/Sark debacles. Priorities.

Oregon is the easiest recruiting sell in the Pac 12, except maybe SC. No surprise at all that the Ducks are doing well. As for the team, Justin Herbert is the best QB in the conference, aside from possibly... Kahlil Tate is the real deal. If Sumlin can field a decent defense then Zona will be scary good and recruiting will work itself out. Cal has only one WR commit so far. That's not good for a position of need, but it's early. OTOH, the team seems to be loading up on TEs after going several years without any. I'm not buying the CU hype, yet. It is odd that Stanford has apparently become the team with the one phenom player (McCaffery then, now Love) followed by everyone else. They used to have several standouts at a time.

Nice. Maybe the only good thing about Fox News is their polling. 'A' rating from 538.