The Fire Bell In The Night

[Tiberius]

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/359310-dems-win-from-coast-to-coast

 

 

Democrats win big across the country. That has to have a whole lot of Republicans nervous. And it shows Trump can run but he cannot hide. The Republicans in Congress caught between the solid Trump supporting base they will face in primaries if they lift a finger to oppose the crazy man and the rest of the people they will face in generals elections must be having real headaches. 

[PastaJoe]

That's why more Republicans this week said they weren't running for reelection. They'd rather quit and take their pensions than choose between a rock and a hard head.

[row_33]

Virginia is one of the most neutral states, and it gave us Robert E. Lee.

 

Dems and GOP interchange without much diff and are effective from Virginia.

 

[Prickly Pete]

Nah.

 

http://virginiahumanities.org/2014/10/the-changing-face-of-virginia-immigration-and-the-humanities/

[B-Man]

LOL...................Democrats are coming back !!

 

  "I love the smell of desperation"

 

Ralph Northam beat Gillespie by 9 points. In areas where Gillespie did well several years ago in his Senate race, he got mashed this time around. He wanted to limit the damage in the northern Virginia suburbs, and instead, he lost bigly.

 

Republicans lost in New Jersey and New York, but that matters little. Chris Christie was a cancer in New Jersey with his 18 percent job approval and Bill de Blasio managed to polish his Sandinista image enough to win comfortably in New York City.

 

But Virginia tells the tale of the tape.  Republicans also did poorly down-ticket in Virginia as well, losing some races in the House of Delegates.

 

So what does this tell us, if anything?

 

It proves once again, Hillary Clinton was a terrible candidate. – It’s easy to ask, “What does she have to do with anything?” Well, she’s so sorry that she was likely the only one who could lose to Donald Trump. Look at the numbers. Hillary won Virginia by a bit over 5 points. Northam won by 9. Ask yourself and answer honestly? Would Joe Biden have lost to Donald Trump? Hillary could not connect with voters on a level the way Biden could do. But the Democratic Party began to lay the groundwork for Hillary’s candidacy they moment Barack Obama won re-election in 2012.

 

Her candidacy was a coronation, but they were not expecting the upstart campaign of Bernie Sanders. It should have been a warning signal that a relatively unknown socialist from Vermont almost knocked her off. But it didn’t. They went through the general campaign thinking it would be an easy win over the reality show host. People didn’t feel an urgency to get out and vote for her.

 

 

So were are still at two blue states staying blue

Edited November 8, 2017 by B-Man

[Tiberius]

11 minutes ago, B-Man said:

 

It proves once again, Hillary Clinton was a terrible candidate. –  

Good point 

 

Quote

Pundits continue to undervalue Hillary Clinton’s unpopularity in 2016. In Loudoun, Fairfax and Prince William counties, Virginia Governor-elect Ralph Northam got a higher percentage of voters than she did. One can imagine independent or #NeverHillary Republicans who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Clinton and didn’t think Donald Trump would win anyway. Those voters are now scared and stunned — and decided to send a message now that they have had it with President Trump and Trumpism. Duplicate that situation in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — where Trump won by a scant 79,000 votes combined — and you see how Clinton was perhaps uniquely incapable of winning. Wouldn’t a generic Democrat have done better? In short, Democrats will solve a good deal of their problem when Clinton is not on the ballot. Northam was as close to a “generic Democrat” as one can get. A generic Democrat can trounce a Trump Republican.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/11/08/lets-rethink-the-lessons-of-2016/?utm_term=.f1209beb90a0

[Doc Brown]

The bigger story is they voted for medicaid expansion in Maine (the governor opposed it so it won't take effect until February of next year) and is the first state to do so by referendum since the ACA passage.  This could spark activists from other GOP led states who haven't expanded medicaid (18 of them) to do the same in 2018.

[Tiberius]

6 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

The bigger story is they voted for medicaid expansion in Maine (the governor opposed it so it won't take effect until February of next year) and is the first state to do so by referendum since the ACA passage.  This could spark activists from other GOP led states who haven't expanded medicaid (18 of them) to do the same in 2018.

It's the number one issue for voters. The other big story is the turn out. Democrats are energized! And judging by this board, the Conservatives are not. Kind of disappeared 

[B-Man]

9 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

The bigger story is they voted for medicaid expansion in Maine (the governor opposed it so it won't take effect until February of next year) and is the first state to do so by referendum since the ACA passage.  This could spark activists from other GOP led states who haven't expanded medicaid (18 of them) to do the same in 2018.

 

Doc, their legislature has passed that seven years in a row, and it was vetoed by the Guv.

 

Not really a big surprise, Maine is a blue state.

 

 

 

More GREAT news.................

 

She’s so very BACK! Dem wins have Hillary Clinton re-energized 

 

 

Hahahahaha.

[Tiberius]

RICHMOND, Va. — The American suburbs appear to be in revolt against President Trump after a muscular coalition of college-educated voters and racial and ethnic minorities on Tuesday dealt the Republican Party a thumping rejection and propelled a diverse class of Democrats into office.

From the tax-obsessed suburbs of New York City to high-tech neighborhoods outside Seattle to the sprawling, polyglot developments of Fairfax and Prince William County, Va., voters shunned Republicans up and down the ballot in off-year elections. Leaders in both parties said the elections amounted to an earsplitting alarm bell for Republicans ahead of the 2018 elections, when the party’s grip on the House of Representatives may hinge on the socially moderate, multiethnic communities surrounding major cities.

 

The Democrats’ gains were deep and broad, signaling profound alienation from the Republican Party among the sort of upscale moderates who were once a pillar of their coalition.

Democrats not only swept Virginia’s statewide races but neared a majority in the House of Delegates, a legislative chamber that was gerrymandered to make the Republican majority virtually unassailable. They seized county executive offices in Westchester and Nassau County, N.Y., and captured bellwether mayoral elections in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Manchester, N.H., all races that had appeared to favor Republicans only months ago.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/us/politics/suburbs-revolt-trump-republicans-congress.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=a-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

 

Gotta win the suburbs! 

 

 

[Prickly Pete]

If it's in the NYT it must be true. "It's Happening!"

[Doc Brown]

2 hours ago, B-Man said:

 

Doc, their legislature has passed that seven years in a row, and it was vetoed by the Guv.

 

Not really a big surprise, Maine is a blue state.

The difference here is the people voted for a referendum for medicaid expansion knowing it would likely raise state taxes so the governor can't veto it under Maine's state constitution.  If he fails to implement it by sending in the paperwork to the federal government there will be a legal battle.  Groups in Utah and Idaho are keeping a close eye on this as activists will likely put medicaid expansion on next years ballot.  

2 hours ago, B-Man said:

More GREAT news.................

 

She’s so very BACK! Dem wins have Hillary Clinton re-energized 

 

 

Hahahahaha.

I think Richie Incognito could have beaten Trump.  Hillary needs to build a cabin in the woods and stay there.

[row_33]

and again, ANYONE except Hillary would have beaten Trump, and probably will in 2020, if he runs.

 

 

[DC Tom]

40 minutes ago, row_33 said:

and again, ANYONE except Hillary would have beaten Trump, and probably will in 2020, if he runs.

 

 

 

Hell, any THING could have beaten Trump.  A cucumber could have beaten Trump.  

[Wacka]

The only way to re-energize Hillary is to pump about 50,00 volts through her carcass.

[Tiberius]

13 hours ago, row_33 said:

and again, ANYONE except Hillary would have beaten Trump, and probably will in 2020, if he runs.

 

 

Elizabeth Warren? You think she is the next president? Women came out in droves to support the Democrats Tuesday, it looks like a female wave! 

 

12 hours ago, DC Tom said:

 

Hell, any THING could have beaten Trump.  A cucumber could have beaten Trump.  

With the help of the Electoral College, of course. She got way more votes than Trump 

[3rdnlng]

15 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

The difference here is the people voted for a referendum for medicaid expansion knowing it would likely raise state taxes so the governor can't veto it under Maine's state constitution.  If he fails to implement it by sending in the paperwork to the federal government there will be a legal battle.  Groups in Utah and Idaho are keeping a close eye on this as activists will likely put medicaid expansion on next years ballot.  

I think Richie Incognito could have beaten Trump.  Hillary needs to build a cabin in the woods and stay there.

Could Richie have beaten these people, who all lost to Trump?

[LeviF]

1 hour ago, Tiberius said:

Elizabeth Warren? You think she is the next president? Women came out in droves to support the Democrats Tuesday, it looks like a female wave! 

 

With the help of the Electoral College, of course. She got way more votes than Trump 

 

Oh good, we're back to whining about the Electoral College.  Get over it, losers.

 

And I've said it before and I'll say it again: if the Dems put up Warren as their nominee in 2020 against Trump it'll just prove they learned nothing from 2016 and they'll lose.  Again.

16 hours ago, OJABBA said:

If it's in the NYT it must be true. "It's Happening!"

 

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

1 minute ago, LeviF91 said:

Oh good, we're back to whining about the Electoral College.  Get over it, losers.

Dearest Donny has complained about the EC for a very long time. 

 

I'll hang up and listen to your reply. 

[Tiberius]

Just now, LeviF91 said:

 

Oh good, we're back to whining about the Electoral College.  Get over it, losers.

 

And I've said it before and I'll say it again: if the Dems put up Warren as their nominee in 2020 against Trump it'll just prove they learned nothing from 2016 and they'll lose.  Again.

I disagree. I think the right wing insanity will go back off the scale for Warren, just like with Hillary, but won't work again. Warren will be hated with an insane passion, but like Hillary will win way more votes, but also the EC. 

[LeviF]

Just now, ShadyBillsFan said:

Dearest Donny has complained about the EC for a very long time. 

 

I'll hang up and listen to your reply. 

 

And he won, loser.  Get over it and pick a decent candidate next time.

1 minute ago, Tiberius said:

I disagree. I think the right wing insanity will go back off the scale for Warren, just like with Hillary, but won't work again. Warren will be hated with an insane passion, but like Hillary will win way more votes, but also the EC. 

 

Warren is a ticking time bomb ala Joe Biden but less likable.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

1 minute ago, LeviF91 said:

And he won, loser.  Get over it and pick a decent candidate next time.

 

#SP

 

[Tiberius]

4 minutes ago, LeviF91 said:

 

And he won, loser.  Get over it and pick a decent candidate next time.

 

Warren is a ticking time bomb ala Joe Biden but less likable.

And that will be a problem running against Trump? Ya right 

[LeviF]

1 minute ago, Tiberius said:

And that will be a problem running against Trump? Ya right 

 

This is reminiscent of stuff I heard in August 2016.  Hmm... 

5 minutes ago, ShadyBillsFan said:

 

#SP

 

 

Yes, God forbid someone call the Democratic party to account for their ****ty politicking and ****ty candidates

[Tiberius]

13 minutes ago, LeviF91 said:

 

This is reminiscent of stuff I heard in August 2016.  Hmm... 

 

 

You mean before we actually saw the moron attempt to govern? Ya, I'm not surprised it reminds you of that 

[3rdnlng]

4 minutes ago, Tiberius said:

You mean before we actually saw the moron attempt to govern? Ya, I'm not surprised it reminds you of that 

You calling someone a moron is ironic.

[Tiberius]

11 minutes ago, 3rdnlng said:

You calling someone a moron is ironic.

I think you are a nice person 

[B-Man]

MICHAEL BARONE: 2016 is looking like the new normal.

 

If you wanted to predict the results of Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, you would have been wise to ignore the flurry of polls and campaign events. You would have paid no heed to the conventional wisdom that Republican Kim Guadagno was uncompetitive against Democrat Phil Murphy in New Jersey, while Republican Ed Gillespie had a solid chance to beat Ralph Northam in Virginia.

 

In fact, Northam’s 9 point victory margin in Virginia was not much different from Murphy’s 13 point margin in New Jersey. And both almost precisely mirrored the 2016 presidential results. Hillary Clinton carried New Jersey 55 to 41 percent; Murphy won it by 56 to 43 percent. Clinton carried Virginia 50 to 44 percent; Northam won it 54 to 45 percent. The two Democrats, lacking Clinton’s reputation for dishonesty, gained a few points she lost to third-party candidates; the two Republicans got almost exactly the same percentages as Trump.

 

It’s neither a catastrophe for the GOP nor a breakthrough for the Dems. Nobody should get cocky,

 

especially since voters basically hate both parties.

[row_33]

crap, took a year to end the perfect streak of off-year and off-off-year elections.

 

 

[Tiberius]

5 minutes ago, B-Man said:

MICHAEL BARONE: 2016 is looking like the new normal.

 

If you wanted to predict the results of Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, you would have been wise to ignore the flurry of polls and campaign events. You would have paid no heed to the conventional wisdom that Republican Kim Guadagno was uncompetitive against Democrat Phil Murphy in New Jersey, while Republican Ed Gillespie had a solid chance to beat Ralph Northam in Virginia.

 

In fact, Northam’s 9 point victory margin in Virginia was not much different from Murphy’s 13 point margin in New Jersey. And both almost precisely mirrored the 2016 presidential results. Hillary Clinton carried New Jersey 55 to 41 percent; Murphy won it by 56 to 43 percent. Clinton carried Virginia 50 to 44 percent; Northam won it 54 to 45 percent. The two Democrats, lacking Clinton’s reputation for dishonesty, gained a few points she lost to third-party candidates; the two Republicans got almost exactly the same percentages as Trump.

 

It’s neither a catastrophe for the GOP nor a breakthrough for the Dems. Nobody should get cocky,

 

especially since voters basically hate both parties.

Yup, nothing to see here: 

 

Quote

 

The Democratic wave in Virginia on Tuesday wiped out the Republican majority in the state House of Delegates, throwing control of the chamber in play for the first time since 2000 and putting Republicans in blue-tinged districts across the country on alert for next year’s elections.

Democrats snared at least 15 seats in an upset that stunned members of both parties and arrived with national implications.

Unofficial returns showed Democrats unseating at least a dozen Republicans and flipping three seats that had been occupied by GOP incumbents who did not seek reelection. Four other races were so close that they qualify for a recount, and the outcome will determine control of the chamber. The results marked the most sweeping shift in control of the legislature since Reconstruction.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/democrats-poised-to-make-significant-gains-in-virginia-legislature/2017/11/07/9c2f4d24-c401-11e7-aae0-cb18a8c29c65_story.html?utm_term=.f55791412bda

[DC Tom]

15 minutes ago, B-Man said:

MICHAEL BARONE: 2016 is looking like the new normal.

 

If you wanted to predict the results of Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, you would have been wise to ignore the flurry of polls and campaign events. You would have paid no heed to the conventional wisdom that Republican Kim Guadagno was uncompetitive against Democrat Phil Murphy in New Jersey, while Republican Ed Gillespie had a solid chance to beat Ralph Northam in Virginia.

 

In fact, Northam’s 9 point victory margin in Virginia was not much different from Murphy’s 13 point margin in New Jersey. And both almost precisely mirrored the 2016 presidential results. Hillary Clinton carried New Jersey 55 to 41 percent; Murphy won it by 56 to 43 percent. Clinton carried Virginia 50 to 44 percent; Northam won it 54 to 45 percent. The two Democrats, lacking Clinton’s reputation for dishonesty, gained a few points she lost to third-party candidates; the two Republicans got almost exactly the same percentages as Trump.

 

It’s neither a catastrophe for the GOP nor a breakthrough for the Dems. Nobody should get cocky,

 

especially since voters basically hate both parties.

 

I suspect that the polls are no longer accurately predicting turnout.  That's what Trump's win was based on, and Northam's.

 

Which is kind-of depressing, because we've ceased to have elections about the better candidate, and base them now on "Who can make us angrier?"

[row_33]

Nobody voting right of Chairman Mao will ever again tell a pollster their opinion except !@#$ OFF!!!

Polls should be forced to report "refused to answer" and "!@#$ OFF" on the news.

Edited November 9, 2017 by row_33

[Tiberius]

Asked by Fox News whether Republicans had a choice about sticking with Trump, Ryan said: “We already made that choice. We’re with Trump. We already made that choice. That’s a choice we made at the beginning of the year. That’s a choice we made during the campaign. We ran on a joint agenda with Donald Trump.” Now, if that doesn’t show up in an ad or two, Democrats will be throwing away a political gift.

[B-Man]

Who paid for that bell ?.............

 

 

Cecile Richards 

 

 ✔@CecileRichards

A clean sweep! The results tonight in Virginia are clear: This is a firm rejection of the Trump-Gillespie agenda of fear and division.

Together, Planned Parenthood supporters knocked over 350k doors, talked to over half a million voters, held over 850 events, and coordinated more than 1,330 volunteer shifts.

 

1/ https://twitter.com/PPAVirginia/status/928083789858951172 …

 

And who paid for that, Cecile? Can’t help but notice you didn’t say, volunteers, you said supporters.

 

And where did the money for those 850 events come from?

 

Taxpayers shouldn’t foot the bill for these things, but through magical accounting, you can claim they didn’t.

[Doc Brown]

4 hours ago, 3rdnlng said:

Could Richie have beaten these people, who all lost to Trump?

In the GOP primaries, no.  Trump would have won.

[K-9]

4 hours ago, B-Man said:

MICHAEL BARONE: 2016 is looking like the new normal.

 

If you wanted to predict the results of Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, you would have been wise to ignore the flurry of polls and campaign events. You would have paid no heed to the conventional wisdom that Republican Kim Guadagno was uncompetitive against Democrat Phil Murphy in New Jersey, while Republican Ed Gillespie had a solid chance to beat Ralph Northam in Virginia.

 

In fact, Northam’s 9 point victory margin in Virginia was not much different from Murphy’s 13 point margin in New Jersey. And both almost precisely mirrored the 2016 presidential results. Hillary Clinton carried New Jersey 55 to 41 percent; Murphy won it by 56 to 43 percent. Clinton carried Virginia 50 to 44 percent; Northam won it 54 to 45 percent. The two Democrats, lacking Clinton’s reputation for dishonesty, gained a few points she lost to third-party candidates; the two Republicans got almost exactly the same percentages as Trump.

 

It’s neither a catastrophe for the GOP nor a breakthrough for the Dems. Nobody should get cocky,

 

especially since voters basically hate both parties.

This is the main takeaway from Barrone's article and why Republican strategists are worried:

Quote

...Democrats made big gains in state House races by running well-organized and well-financed campaigns, mostly in high-education suburbs. Republicans went into Election Day with a 66-34 majority in the chamber; as this is written, Democrats might just gain the 17 seats needed to overturn that. ...

Long entrenched Republicans got trounced in districts previously thought to be impervious, much to the surprise of the punditry. 

[3rdnlng]

4 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

In the GOP primaries, no.  Trump would have won.

But Richie could have beaten the very guy that beat all of them?

[Prickly Pete]

hahaha, yeah "anyone coulda beat Trump".

 

Trump made mincemeat out of everyone they put in his path. Like him or not, he knows how to go for the jugular. I actually thought he was pretty restrained with Hillary.

[Doc Brown]

1 hour ago, 3rdnlng said:

But Richie could have beaten the very guy that beat all of them?

There's an obvious difference between competing with Trump in the Republican primaries compared to competing with him as a Democrat in the general election.  Trump won Michigan by 10,704 votes (.2 points), Wisconsin by 22,748 votes (.7 points), and Pennsylvania by 44,292 votes (.7 points).  That's 77,774 votes combined.  Hillary ran the worst campaign I've ever seen for a major party nominee and her negatives were somehow as low as Trump who was caught on tape after the Republican primaries joking he can use his power to grab women by the pink fortress.  Hillary deserved to lose, but my point is you run anybody that's just a little more popular than Hillary (Richie was a dumb example because he wouldn't qualify as he's only 34) and those three states remain blue. Democrats win the presidential election.

 

That's why I think the odds are against Trump winning in 2020 unless the Democrats manage to find somebody more unpopular than Hillary (or run Hillary again) to be their nominee.  Trump was right in saying that the electoral college is more difficult for a Republican to win.  

[Prickly Pete]

Trump won while an unknown quantity, who was under constant attack as "the next Hitler", and as a president who would usher in an era of Muslim persecution, and mass deportations,  and a police state, and so on. None of those have happened, and have proven to be media driven hysterics. Trump will have proven himself more palatable come 2020, and he will likely win. The Democrats are going to continue with their identity politics and lose. They don't have anyone worth a ****, and need to purge the party of the NeoLiberal Clintonians. Those arrogant old baby-boomer ****s, like HRC refuse to get out of the way.

 

I can only shudder at the thought of how much deeper into corruption and progressivism 8 years of Hillary could have driven us. 8 years of "diversity" appointments throughout government, and the trickle down effect of those people being in unelected positions for an entire career, doing all the hiring and firing. The tax payer money thrown at "progressive" groups and institutions....

 

Edited November 10, 2017 by OJABBA