The Politics Thread

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

Yeah if she loses I'm gonna be very sad for her. That's such an embarrassment and I don't even know where to begin to understand why....is it because she's a female? Is she that bad at retail politics?

[DRW50]

Coakley seems to struggle in connecting to the public. The last time she had some bad gaffes and she ran against a handsome man who was also a media darling. This time she's kept her head down, and Charlie Baker doesn't seem all that terrific or popular (he's a perennial candidate who lost in good GOP years), so I guess it's all on her.

To be honest I still won't be surprised if she wins. I think she and Rick Scott will be the surprise wins of the night for governor. Maybe Brownback too, even though that shouldn't be a surprise, as it's Kansas.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

I think Scott is toast. I pray to God that Walker is booted. Even though if he wins seeing Ed Schultz reaction will be priceless.

KS and GA could go either way.

[Eric83]

North Carolina voters report voting machines switching their votes to GOP candidate

02 Nov 2014 at 17:32 ET

A voter in Guilfrord County, attempting to take advantage of early voting in North Carolina, told the News-Record that the voting machine he used repeatedly switched his vote for a Democrat to a vote for her Republican opponent.

Percy Bostick, 69, of Greensboro said he tried casting a vote for Democrat Kay Hagan who is locked in a tight battle with her GOP opponent however the machine, located in the Old Guilford County Courthouse assigned his vote to Republican Thom Tillis.

I called one of the poll workers over, Bostick explained. She said do it again. And again, I touched the screen at the proper place for Kay Hagan, and it again reported it for Thom Tillis.

According to Bostick, the machine finally recorded his vote for Hagan on the fourth attempt.

A poll worker then stepped in and cancelled Bosticks ballot altogether and directed him to another machine which registered his vote correctly. The problematic machine was taken out of service.

On Wednesday a voter using a machine at the Craft Recreation Center in Greensboro experienced the same problem with their vote going to Tillis.

According to Guilford County elections director, Charlie Collicut, his office has received 14 reports of voting problems since early voting started Oct. 23, including seven from people who grew concerned after they got home.

Collicut urged voters to check their vote against the paper roll next to the screen to ensure that the machine properly registered their selections. He also advised voters to report any problems to poll workers immediately.

The Hagan/Tills race is expected to be one of the most costly races for a Senate seat ever, with campaign spending expected to exceed $100 million.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/11/north-carolina-voters-report-voting-machines-switching-their-votes-to-gop-candidate/#.VFbC1EC6nDM.twitter

[Juliajms]

You're preaching to the choir there. I just wish that these very people who don't want to help the poor would also kindly stop trying to stick their noses in other people's family planning decisions. It's so annoying that the very people who want the government to stay out of their lives want to use the government to restrict other people's right to abortion and birth control. The individual is better at running their own lives than government, right? Except when they don't agree with someone else's choices. Of course, if those babies need healthcare, food or housing that's their parent's fault for having kids that can't afford.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

New Quinnipiac poll shows Iowa is a DEAD HEAT. Looks like Dems may catch a break if the turnout operation goes off without a hitch.

IF Iowa stays blue and KS and GA flip then perhaps the Senate can stay in Democratic hands.

[DRW50]

Joni Ernst proves once again that she is the new Sarah Palin (with worse hair) by feigning outrage of Tom Harkin praising her looks.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/tom-harkin-joni-ernst-taylor-swift

And Tom Harkin, between this and sitting on most of his campaign cash, proves he is an idiot who seemingly wants Braley to lose.

I think they'll win one of CO/IA and lose the other.

I don't see them winning KS or GA though.

[LeClerc]

Yesterday on Fox Lite (aka CNN) one of their "reporters" was explaining that in states where the Republicans are ahead in early voting it's a good sign for the GOP. Okay, makes sense. Then she stated that in states where the Democrats are ahead in early voting it's also a good sign for the GOP. I can't remember her reasoning. Both she and the anchor also couldn't contain their joy that the Republicans were going to take the Senate and the overall impression left for the viewer was that it's a done deal and Democrats need not bother wasting their time going to vote.

"Liberal media" my behind.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

I think they'll win both Colorado and Iowa by the narrowest of margins.....esp Iowa. For some reason I think Colorado will surprise everyone.

KS and Georgia could def be a big deal. Esp if it goes into a runoff. I know Max won't approve but at that point it will just take one word to drive up turnout in January as far as the black community is concerned....Ferguson.

Bill Kriston is convinced that Pat Roberts will lose in Kansas and he wasn't his usual blustery self so something makes me think he knows where the tide is turning there....it won't be a large margin but I do think the Independent will squeak it out by 1% or 0.5%.

[Eric83]

If the GA election goes to a run off my FB, Twitter, and Instagram feed will be flooded with calls to go vote! I hope they do use these tactics to get the minority voters to the polls. It is reality, and I shudder at the thought of four more years of that crook in office.

[DRW50]

I think the idea is that states where Democrats are ahead in early voting, they aren't as far ahead as they were in some previous years. I know that's true in some places, like Iowa, and Nevada, but I think the gap has narrowed the last few days.

This stuff works, as Democrats are fatalistic by nature. I saw some people at Daily Kos going on about how Colorado's vote by mail system handed the state to the GOP, and Democrats were the ones who wanted it, and look how they screwed themselves, and wah wah wah.

[DRW50]

Purdue is so gaga over outsourcing - it's pathetic to see Republican voters who talk about their fighting for the poor forgotten white man, and then vote for someone who takes away most of the jobs of said poor forgotten white men.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/david-perdue-outsourcing-products-dollar-general-pillowtex

[Juliajms]

I think this article makes a lot of good points about why the abortion issue works for Republicans. So sad people fall for this, imo.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-schmookler/why-the-republicans-love-the-abortion-issue_b_6087404.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

[marceline]

Idiots decide to tell the world why they aren't voting:

http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000003211589/why-im-not-voting-in-the-midterms.html?

[DRW50]

That video with the non-voters is a bad joke, surely...especially that Naderspeak loser at the end.

Anyway, doesn't look like a good night for Democrats (to say the least), although as always the media is inflaming this and spinning the GOP landslide propaganda like they're on front street, knowing this might affect the voting still going on. The media is just desperate for the GOP to win everything everywhere. They aren't even pretending to hide their bias.

I'm going to go take a nap and steel myself for all the [!@#$%^&*]. At least I don't watch cable or network news anymore and have cut back more and more on political sites.