The Politics Thread

[Juliajms2]

Am I wrong to think that Trump is going to prison and this won't matter, even if it is true? I just don't understand why Biden isn't more popular. Sure, he's made mistakes in the past, but he has been a good president.

https://x.com/danpfeiffer/status/1721193408054870343?s=20

Edited November 6, 2023 by Juliajms2

[Vee]

Prison or not, I think it's too early to wet the bed on these polls.

[Juliajms2]

Hi @VeeI hope you are doing well.

Yeah, it's too soon to worry and we all know polls are not the be all end all. I just can't help thinking what a kick in the shins it would be if Nikki Haley ended up being the first woman President. She's not the worst of the Republicans, but she is anti choice. If the first woman president doesn't believe in a woman's right to bodily autonomy, I consider that a travesty.

Anyway, I think many people are more focused on the upcoming holidays than politics at the juncture. We'll have a better idea what's going on in the new year.

[Vee]

I don't think it's too soon to worry and do the work one can where they can, especially the administration. I do think it's too soon to catastrophize.

Nikki Haley has no chance.

[MichaelGL]

Unless Trump is  arrested (again) and then jailed immediately, I have no doubt he will be the nominee. Unfortunate but it is what it is. 

[Vee]

 

[Vee]

 

[Vee]

This one is for @DRW50:

 

[Juliajms2]

He could also die. 

It's nice to see the Democrats have so many victories tonight. Ohio is a strange state politically. J.D. Vance gets elected, then we get a huge pro-choice victory. I don't understand it, but I'll take it.

Virginia has really turned itself around since I went to college there in the 90's. That's another thing I'm happy to see, although I can hardly believe it tbh. Goes to show sometimes things do get better.

[DRW50]

The various analysts like Wasserman had been predicting Democrats would take the legislature, but I was still very happy to see it actually happen, especially after the endless media hype for Youngkin. They were especially obnoxious in insisting he had shown the way forward on abortion. The Beltway keeps doing their best to will abortion away - they will just have to spend the next year trying (already I am seeing that they are saying the results last night show Biden is the problem, not the party)

I was sorry that the woman who was subjected to vile attack ads and fliers over doing porn lost her election for state rep, although I wonder if all that time spent ended up hurting other Republican races.

Democrats also won a state supreme court seat in Pennsylvania, now having a 5-2 majority.

They also did well in New Jersey.

New Jersey Democrats notch big legislative wins after bracing for losses - POLITICO

Another positive was in a number of places, hatemonger school board candidates, again heavily pushed by the media, lost.

The fears over losing abortion access (as many voters seem to sense, no matter what the press and some Republicans tell them, that everything will be taken away) seem to still cross party lines enough to matter, even as Ohio lurches further to the right. It was interesting to see that abortion and recreational marijuana won by the same amount but with very different coalitions (the latter performed much better in rural areas).

And of course the state legislature is already announcing plans to try to throttle both vote outcomes. 

Edited November 8, 2023 by DRW50

[MichaelGL]

Dems would be better off running on the fact that if Trump is elected again, there will be a national ban on abortion. Bring the topic of a national ban on abortion to the forefront and watch potential voters easily go over to the Dems side. 

Got to hand it to conservatives they got what they wanted with the striking down of Roe v. Wade and they assumed that was the green light to go ahead and curtail abortion rights. Give that party an inch and they will take a mile; and it's playing in the Dems favor, I love it. 

 

 

[AdelaideCate007]

Is there any particular reason these southern US states seem to be fine with voting for Democrats for the Senate, Representatives, and Governors but it never translate to them voting that way for President? I know Georgia is heading towards becoming a Democrat state, but what's the deal with these other states seemingly being fine with all Democrats except for when it comes to the President?

[DramatistDreamer]

Georgia, Mississippi and Texas all have Republicans governors. The role of governor is quite significant for a state as it is much more immediate in governance, as are laws passed on the state level. I am also going to guess that most Southern states have a Republican Secretary of the State, whose office is in charge of the voting apparatus. Georgia is more on the purplish-blue side these, and perhaps in the near future, the state of Texas (other than Austin) will be but Mississippi has a long way to go (even Elvis Presley’s cousin couldn’t win as a Democratic candidate) before it can get there. Virginia and Arkansas have always had some Democrats win higher elected office (Governors Douglas Wilder and Bill Clinton being two of the most prominent governors of those states).

*Although I do wonder whether the Democratic candidate for governor of Mississippi could have won (or at least gotten close) had he not been so avowedly anti-abortion and run on a similar pro-choice platform as other winners in the Democratic party.

[Khan]

"Michael" is about as real as my Canadian girlfriend.

[Juliajms2]

I can't believe the Republicans are going to have a 4th debate? By all means keep making fools of yourselves. I can't stand to watch the debates, but I do enjoy the clips of their worst moments. Haley calling Ramaswamy scum was one for the books. Maybe since Trump saying that kind of thing is normal, but for me it just seems beneath anyone who wants to be president.