Nov. 2 Open Thread: Signs of the Blue Wave

Filed in National, Open Thread by on November 2, 2018

If you’ve read enough election stories over the years you know that the congressional district in Pennsylvania Dutch country around Lancaster has never elected a Democrat. Ever. Before Republicans existed they elected Whigs. Before Whigs, they elected Federalists. This year, even this district is in play. The Democrat, Jess King, trails incumbent Lloyd Smucker by only 50-46 — especially impressive because the residents of the newly redrawn, post-gerrymandered district went for Trump by more than 25 points two years ago.

Iowa Rep. Steve King, he of the cantaloupe-calved Mexican drug mule children and the blatant admiration for open racists, is losing corporate donors left and right, and it’s emboldened (or frightened) the GOP to leave him to twist in the wind. He’s not expected to lose, but he has to run hard for the first time.

Some people worry Democrats don’t know how to fight dirty. Please. They rolled out the old anonymous mailer gambit in both Montana and Missouri to voice support for libertarians, hoping to peel off a Nader-like 5% who find the Republican insufficiently freedom-loving. GOPers quickly followed the mailers back to the source, so neither side has a monopoly on ineptitude. Of course, this only counters the many states where Republicans in charge of elections are mailing Democratic voters the wrong instructions.

In a somewhat related story, the editors at HuffPo got all, well, huffy that someone hired a click farm to move its expose about a shady Democratic operation called End Citizens United off Page 1 of the Google results. The scoundrels!

This week’s Tom the Dancing Bug cartoon, mocking the GOP’s “soft” voter suppression messaging to millennials, tickled me more than usual.

And with that, kids, I’m gone until Thanksgiving, so pitch in to keep the Open Threads full.

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  1. RE Vanella says:

    Make sure to go to the Panthéon and pay respects to Voltaire.

    Then get an ice cream and stroll the Seine.

    These are a few of my favorite things

  2. jason330 says:

    “Signs of the Blue Wave”

    Remember – Trump had a 10% chance of winning.

  3. RE Vanella says:

    I’m cautiously pessimistic.

  4. mouse says:

    If all the paranoid haters, bigots, reality show fans, cult members
    and pussy grabbers come out, it could be disaster

  5. bamboozer says:

    Expecting the cult to be out in force, but only in some areas and with limited effectiveness, also expect them to be swamped, in some areas, by angry independents and even the odd Republican. Expecting this to be a very different mid term featuring both victories and the odd stinging defeat.

  6. Arthur says:

    who is more against immigrants – trump or carney? with carneys division of health shutting down all these restaurants?

    • Anonlib says:

      Yah, enforcing public health laws and comparing asylum seekers to foreign invaders are totally the same thing with no distinction to be drawn at all.

  7. jason330 says:

    Art is a performance artist ..I think

  8. RE Vanella says:

    How many “bad apples” have been counted so far?*

    https://www.propublica.org/article/elkhart-indiana-police-officers-charged-after-video-shows-beating-handcuffed-man

    ……..

    (Trick question. They’re all bad. Please note the police chief’s first response. Cops are either scum or permissive/protective of scum.)

    Black Lives Matter. Fuck the Police.