Tuco

Do you remember Iraq's first election, with all of the purple-dyed fingers? The commentary was on how great it was that Democracy was taking hold in the region and how awesome it was that Iraqis participated at a high rate, in contrast to our paltry rate. My take was a little different. In Iraq, if your guy didn't get elected, it meant folks in your clan/family/religion were in danger of persecution. You were less likely to get equal access to business permits, or a fair justice system, or even a job. Electrical service was going to be prioritized to the other side. You might even have a heightened risk of dying or having family members die in a some sectarian violence, as it was less likely you would be protected by the police. They participated at a high rate, because in an unstable, dangerous place, it mattered personally to them. It's the luxury of wealth and stability that Americans did not participate in the political system at a similar rate. It is a sign of the times that Americans have lost that complacency. I agree with you. I do. Because even as many Americans did not feel the need to participate, things in this country slowly went to shit. I do hope that this is a political revolution, not only characterized by broader voting participation, but also by regular fucking people deciding they need to devote themselves to being involved, either directly running for government, or working in the campaigns of those who do, or just becoming active in grassroots organizing. We have seen that already, and hopefully it is sustained. But for fucks sake, I hope it is of less dire consequence in the future. America will not permanently become a one-party system. And, as a life-long Democrat, I can recognize that competition is critical for keeping shit in check. Republicans (or whatever replaces them) will win elections in the future; there will be R Houses, and Senates, and White Houses. My sincere hope is that when that happens, there is little reason to take to the street. I hope I can look at the prospect of a R-led government, and not feel sick to my stomach. But, will the revolution continue when that is gone? I doubt it.

Drain the Swamp.

Didn't Florida's system accidentally crash on the last day of registrations as well?

I started this. And you left out "...as a deterrent." I put that in there, because I have run into enough disingenuous fucktards who will "but-Obama" this topic, using the same stale bullshit you are using. It's neither insightful nor original. It's just the standard attempt to muddy the water, so you don't have to address the fact that the political party (or political faction) you support is morally bankrupt. I'm sure you consider yourself as some sort of free thinker, but the reality is you are just regurgitating the same bullshit that every other Trump apologist does without actually researching it or examining it under the light of critical thought.

I imagine there would be a difference in results for a script that said "Do you plan on voting for Peters or James" vs. a script that says "Do you plan on voting for Peters, the Democrat, or James, the Republican." Name recognition is something that can actually be addressed with heavy advertising. Although, the fact that both names sound like first names of British origin doesn't help distinguishing them.

I'm going to go ahead and neg you (Wulaw) because I don't think you are actually this stupid. Maybe I'm giving you too much credit. But that just came across as way more dishonest than ignorant.

Something I wish the Democrats would do better is putting Trump's nativist movement in historical context. Italian immigrants had massive nativist backlash against them when they immigrated to America. The KKK had Catholics right there with Jews and Blacks on their to-kill list. (My Irish-Catholic grandma grew up in a house in rural Kansas with a hidden door to a cellar, in case the Klan showed up.) The nativist movements throughout our history have been shitty to Irish, Italians, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and many other groups I'm sure I'm forgetting. Currently it's focused on people from Latin America and Africa. But it's the same regurgitated, ugly, stupid, mindset.

You may want to give it a month before defending America's honor. If it hadn't been for a fucking global pandemic, there is a solid chance that America would have re-elected the fucking criminal who put brown kids in cages, as a deterrent.

That's one that should be normalized for age. Young people are more likely to still live in the state they were born. They are also more likely to vote Dem. That is likely a stronger correlation than where someone was born.

I think the plea for her to open things up was over the line. When you regurgitate the talking points of the nutcases that we’re out to kill her, that’s severely fucked up.

"I don't feel tardy." He had also pled guilty to felony bribery of New York State pension officials, to get them to invest in his funds. He later paid a big enough fine to reduce it to a misdemeanor, which just seems ironic as fuck. It was AFTER that the RNC decided he would make a good finance co-chair, serving along side current felon Michael Cohen. Because the RNC wanted felons running their money collecting operations. At first I thought his "ums" were unusually poor public speaking. Nope. He wasn't allowing any fucking space for interruptions. He filibustered the hosts on their own show. It's spelled "heil" First openly gay Secretary of Defense?

For all the angst about Bernie Bros, let’s talk about fuckhead moderates. NE-2. The first or sixth most flippable districts on those lists. 2014 Brad Ashford (D ish) defeats Lee Terry ® after R defection to a T party spoiler. 2016 Ashford loses to Don Bacon ® 2018 Ashford loses to Kara Eastman in the D primary; Eastman loses to Bacon ® 2020 Brad Ashford’s wife (Ann) registers as a Dem and runs in the primary. Ann loses to Eastman by 30 points in the primary. Today, shortly before the first debate, Brad endorses Bacon.

CNN list of seats most likely to flip: CNN Similar for Roll Call: Roll Call

I don't really think that matters in the least. Putin kills people on the reg with a whole world watching. My biggest sense of comfort is that Trump and his merry band of idiots are incompetent as fuck. The shitty people who are fairly competent are working for the Lincoln Project. That doesn't mean Trump won't try something. My biggest concern are the "poll watchers" who will try to jam up voting in Dem heavy neighborhoods, and the cops who will side against anything that could lead to meaningful reform.

I just Googled it, but apparently it was from August, but has been getting play laterly. I just hadn't seen it prior. I don't know how to link Youtubes, so google Lincoln Project Adultery.

They have a quick team. The "adultery" one is good, too.

Lincoln Project ain’t fucking around. Adultery was aimed at Pence.

When I was younger, I considered that to be important mainly for moral reasons...justice, equality, and shit like that. But man, during the Trump era, it's an absolute life line of sanity and practicality. If only white males could vote, Trump would be emperor for life.

Maybe he is in a battle with the RNC over campaign funding allocation. He's short in money. He wants a bail out. And he will burn it all down if he doesn't get it.

I don't think Biden is taking a shit on anyone. I do think there are plenty of moderate Democrats who talk a lot about party unity, but whine like entitled pricks when a more progressive candidate wins primaries. (I'm talking Congressional candidates.) But, for now, the focus is on winning as many positions as possible in the general elections, particularly for President, in the Senate, and in the House. After the election is over, I'll worry about the interparty squabbling.

I freakin love coal plants. I know: it's nerdy weirdness. It was what I was interested in working on coming out of college in '94. I didn't find anything at that point, but seven years later I was able to get a job in the industry. I think I've done work in every coal plant in a 100 mile radius, and even did some preliminary design for a Peabody plant that never went. Sure, there were always environmental concerns, but they were all concerns that could be addressed with more investments and better engineering. The back end systems (air quality control systems) grew to the point that they were roughly the size of the main part of the plant. But, better engineering meant less pollution, so I did not have a problem working on them. Now, I can't. There is really no way to get away from the fundamental chemistry that dictates the ratio between a BTU of energy released and the CO2 that gets released with it. Carbon capture on the scale needed for one of these plants? It's possible, but certainly less realistic than alternative energy options. It's too bad. They are beautiful dinosaurs.

But Biden has this ability to actually understand something without it personally experiencing it. I think they call it "empathy.' Weird, I know.

I get the feeling with NoVA, there is has to be some effect of Trump attacking DC on a regular basis. It's one thing to use rhetoric about working to change the dysfunctional culture of "Washington", referencing the government. It's another thing to be actively working to relocate jobs out of DC, regularly attacking the Washington/DC governments, and generally just attacking the city itself.

I believe that Silver runs models based off of different demographic turn-outs and polling, but not necessarily on the state polling. Or maybe the demographics are used to adjust state polling. Oregon is 75% Non-Hispanic White. Mississippi is 56.4% Non-Hispanic White. Non-Hispanic Whites, in general, are for Republicans. If you push demographic turnouts to their edge of reasonability, I could see why it might give results that aren't that reasonable.

Yeah, but Trump (and the Republicans) won white women in 2016. I don't get how women work, but I have seen enough to know they don't all work like many of the women I respect. I wish it were different. As we get closer to the election, I am hopeful with many of the signs of enthusiasm (or anger). But until the votes are counted, I have to admit there is a lot of uncertainty with how shit will play out.