The Dems also picked up 6 governorships (including 5 in the North). That probably means higher taxes on the Yankees and the start of a new Caravan heading south toward Texas.
The fact that the disgusting pervert who the FBI proved used the services of underage prostitutes is still a sitting Senator thanks to the lever pullers in NJ.
Yet these same voters will tell you Trump and his treatment of women affected their vote. But hey, as long as they’re underage girls it’s OK, right?
So every Dem Senator in a competitive race who voted against Kavanaugh lost (Donnelly, Heitkamp, McCaskill, and almost certainly Nelson), and the one who voted for Kavanaugh survived (Manchin). Coincidence?
Does anyone else see the moral similarities between Trump and Menendez? They are Yankees from opposite sides of the Hudson and Trump is taller. Otherwise they look like twins: completely immoral and dishonest in all business and personal behavior.
Well I see from last nights thread that the Pythagoreans won and Ricky has claimed his prize. We will probably go up to Gatlinburg not this weekend but next. Ricky, I know you posted the name of the place, but remind me again if you will. I’ll let you know when it’s in the mail. There will be plenty since I know you have promised to spread the winnings around. If it looks as good as you say, I may have to get my own box and share here. :–)
I was glad to hear Cruz kept his seat and the senate increased it’s majority. Now we see what happens. :–)
I saw that Stefanowski made Lamont work for it in CT. I was half expecting an upset there. Most of the 20 years we lived in CT we had Republican governors, but it was not to be this time.
I had not mentioned it before, but there were many Bredesen signs up in Chattanooga—far more than for Blackburn, so I was wondering if Chatt would go with the Dem, but the county only flirted with blue then flipped to red as expected.
I’m disappointed the House was lost, but losing the Senate would have been disastrous for court appointments. I don’t always agree with the Republican leaning court decisions, but they almost never just make it up as they go along like the Dems do. So there is some comfort to be had there.
I have no idea what this all will mean for the Trump agenda. It may mean that the circus just got bigger and moved to a more visible tent. Assuming that’s even possible. :–/
I read the article @6:42. Sooooo, NTers are cheering the Democrat takeover. No surprise there. But I was wondering just who was actually elected, and found there were some remarkable firsts in this election. The first female Muslim refugee from Somali was elected to the House in Keith Ellison’s vacated seat. As a young progressive she ” has forged a progressive political identity. She supports free college education, housing for all, and criminal justice reform….” [Still cheering NTers?] “…She opposes Trump’s restrictive immigration policies, supports a universal health care system, and wants to abolish US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has conducted deportation raids.” [you can resume cheering here]
I know nothing else about her. But on the upside, she is young and quite lovely, and really rocks the turban; I just hope I don’t need to mute the sound to enjoy the sight. :–)
9:43 AJ, Who is your governor? Who was elected to the Senate from your state yesterday? Who is the governor of Texas? Who did Texas elect to the Senate yesterday?
As my wife says, Texas Mexicans are more conservative than white Yankees.
When you have actual evidence like the FBI did on Menendez, you can try again. But baseless slime ain’t happening. Do better, or continue to be moderated.
Silencing techniques like that won’t work anymore. Just as NTers feel freed to say anything, do anything or vote any way they want, so are others. Anyone who wants to stake out a moral equivalency is free do do so, but others are just as free to reject it. I reject it. I don’t see why any thinking person should have to accept someone else’s description of an event, then defend.
(whispering) AJ, I have been a donkey more than a few times myself, and if I live much longer, may well be so again. @9:40 is a tad over the top doncha think (in expression if not in spirit) . :–)
“Prior to the election, there was speculation that President Trump wanted Republicans to lose the House in order to ensure his 2020 re-election by running against the crazy House Dems, led by Nancy Pelosi, whose verbal inartfulness is already legendary. On the campaign trail, he warned his supporters about the dangers of a Pelosi speakership, but I am pretty sure he recognizes in her the possibilities for deal-making. Support for that hypothesis comes from the congratulatory call he made to her last night, and from his tweet this morning endorsing her for Speaker.
In all fairness, Nancy Pelosi deserves to be chosen Speaker of the House by the Democrats. If they give her a hard time, perhaps we will add some Republican votes. She has earned this great honor!
While there is certainly an element of trolling here, Trump is also likely to want to deal with another experienced deal-maker. Pelosi is a lot smarter than she sounds, and knows how to strike a bargain. She also understands that impeaching Trump (or Justice Kavanaugh) would be suicidal for the Democrats. Last night, she told PBS that impeachment “is not what our caucus is about”:”
I’m sure Texas Mexicans are a nice bunch in general. The Mexicans who live a couple of doors down from us are very industrious. And, just as important, their dog (a Boston Terrier) seems to love them—especially the man (he is definitely a man’s dog). But that has nothing to do with illegal voting. There does seem to be a bit of a problem, which will probably continue until borders are taken seriously.
Ha. I’m not concerned for Ricky, since donkeys can suck it up (and I would know). Just a little concerned that some curious soul might wander over from the Prayer thread….. No problem for me. :–)
Ricky, what was the name of that candy shop? Or are you going to make me go door to door down the streets of Gatlinburg searching for it? AND have you figured out how to mail brisket? If it cannot be mailed (and only a real globalist could find trade with China easier than trade between the states) we can make alternative arrangements that involve you serving brisket to Trumpkins closer to home. And eating crow over the newly increased Senate majority. :–)
Debra – I would have thought that since so many people here in Connecticut seemed to hate Governor Malloy (D), even many Democrats, we would swing back to a Republican governor. But alas, it was not meant to be.
Thanks. I can pm the address to you on Facebook or send it to AJ who can send it on to you. I don’t have an address I can publish publicly….though I’m sure it’s findable on the internet as are most things, unfortunately. :–/
Make sure you tell them to stomp on the box a few times, that way it’ll be in bite size pieces when it arrives at Ricky’s house. It’ll be easier for him to eat that way. 🙂
Michigan’s a bit schizophrenic. We had a blue wave for statewide offices. No surprise that the governor flipped – no governor has been succeeded by a governor in the same party since 1969. The Secretaries of State and Attorneys General have been red for a long time, though, and they flipped this time. Meanwhile both houses of the legislature remain red.
I’d hoped we might unseat our long-time Democratic US senator Debbie Stabenow, but she had a solid win.
I’m puzzled about something. Why would the House and the state governors go one direction and the Senate go the other direction? Is it that more red state Senate seats happened to be up for grabs this year?
And because with more House seats up, the Dems used their densely populated urban areas and coastal areas to max effect.
Check out the maps at 6:43AM, they tell the story. The country is largely red, except for those population centers I mentioned, and the occupied territories in certain SW and S states.
It’s also why I expect things to flip back come 2020. Democrats can’t help themselves. Their Reps are largely liberal and far left with the majority being on the liberal east and west coasts. While that’s great for libs now, 2 years of them should be about all the rest of the country needs to see them for what they are. Again.
What’s surprised me most was how well the people Trump campaigned for in the last month did, which was pretty good. That bodes well for his re-election chances. Because in the Presidential election year, and with the Electoral College being what it is, those urban and coastal areas are kept in check, which is why Hillary still lost even though she won the popular vote. Thankfully, that’s not how it works with Presidents. There House plan won’t work in 2020. 🙂
Funny you mentioned weed. I read something earlier about how it was successful in all but one state that wanted to legalize it. They also say it drove turnout as well.
“The proposal to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use was on its way to victory early Wednesday morning, making Michigan the first state in the Midwest to approve legal weed.
With 71 percent of the vote counted, the measure had a comfortable double-digit margin statewide and even bigger margins in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.
“The Proposal 1 campaign boiled down into one of fact versus fear,” said Josh Hovey, spokesman for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which spearheaded the legalization campaign. “The data from the nine other states to have legalized marijuana made clear that regulation and taxation are a better solution. Legalization of marijuana will end the unnecessary waste of law enforcement resources used to enforce the failed policy of prohibition while generating hundreds of millions of dollars each year for Michigan’s most important needs.”
Michigan will become the 10th state in the nation and the first in the Midwest to legalize marijuana for recreational use, joining California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and Washington, D.C. A total of 30 states, including Michigan, have legalized marijuana for medical use. In Nebraska, voters rejected a marijuana legalization proposal and Missouri voters approved legalizing pot for medical purposes.
————————–
“But Katie Gritzinger, 27, said voting to legalize marijuana was one of the reasons she headed to the polls for the first time in a midterm election.
“I really wanted to vote for legal weed,” she said. “I think Prop 1 is getting a lot more people my age out this year.””
Kevin, The Senate was a fluke, based on the specific third of the seats that were up for re-election. Every two years, only a third of the seats are up. This year it just happened that there were many more incumbent Democrats in red states up for re-election (in places like North Dakota, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, West Virginia, etc) than Republican incumbents up in blue states. It will even up in 2020 and 2022.
Other than the Senate it was a blue night. The Dems won the overall Congressional vote by over 7%. That is why you had all those Democrat wins in the Northern governors’ races.
The Democrats could play it this way or Pelosi and Trump could work together on new boondoggles ( infrastructure or single payer healthcare or something else) and Pelosi could insist that Trump ram them through the Senate.
Menendez denied all claims but there is a Republican politician who has admitted to walking into the dressing room of Miss Teen USA contestants to check out naked teens.
Democrats won 55 percent of the overall senatorial vote. A rural vote continues to outweigh an urban vote.
The Democrats needed to have at least a 7% edge in the house vote to flip the 20 something seats. In 2010, Republicans only needed about 6% to flip 63 seats. Gerrymandering was crucial. The new democrat governors will need to change it.
Georgia’s Republican candidate wiped out over 300 000 registered voters and is now only about 80 000 votes ahead. Now he’s in charge of whether provisional votes should be counted.
Florida has voted to allow excons/felons to vote. This adds 1.5 million voters to the register. The Republicans only won by 100k.
“SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ WAS not improperly investigated and indicted for accepting a “long-running stream of bribes,” federal prosecutors said Monday.
And in a court filing rebuffing the New Jersey Democrat’s bid to overturn charges against him, prosecutors revisit uncharged allegations of underage prostitution that kicked off the federal probe.
The filing, curiously, does not explicitly say the underage prostitution investigation came up empty. In fact, the probe is described as having turned up “corroborating evidence.”
The prostitution claims, first reported by The Daily Caller in 2012, suggested Menendez and his co-defendant on bribery charges, eye doctor and businessman Salomon Melgen, traveled to the Dominican Republic to have sex with prostitutes.
“While those allegations have not resulted in any criminal charges, there can be no question that the Government has an obligation to take such allegations regarding potential harm to minors very seriously, regardless of who the alleged perpetrators may be,” the filing says.
“Presented with specific, corroborated allegations that defendants Menendez and Melgen had sex with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic, the Government responsibly and dutifully investigated those serious allegations,” the filing says. “The indictment here, of course, charges only corruption and does not include any allegations of soliciting underage prostitution.”
Prosecutors twice say there was “corroborating evidence” to support the initial sex crime allegations, for which Menendez and Melgen face no charges. In the first instance, they write:
“The defendants present their case as exceptional because the allegations of underage prostitution are ‘such easily disprovable allegations about something that would hardly be a federal crime even had it been true.’ Id. As an initial matter, it is most certainly a federal crime to leave the country for the purpose of engaging in a commercial sex act with a minor, and the defendants’ suggestion to the contrary is unsettling. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1952, 1591(a)(1), & 2421. Furthermore, the defendants’ dismissive treatment of these allegations is troubling. Allegations of human trafficking and underage prostitution must be taken seriously and cannot be dismissed merely because the alleged perpetrator is a United States Senator. Given the nature and seriousness of the allegations, in addition to the corroborating evidence, it would have been irresponsible not to investigate.”
Then, recounting the initial stages of the investigation and apparently corroborating evidence, prosecutors write:
ELECTIONS
The Hollowing Out of American Political Parties
By JONAH GOLDBERG
November 7, 2018 6:30 AM
~ Reforms, outside groups, and technology are siphoning power away from the parties. ~
It is perhaps the central irony of our politics today: We live in an incredibly polarized and partisan moment, but our political parties have never been weaker.
As odd as it sounds, political parties in democracies have an important anti-democratic function. Traditionally, the parties shaped the choices put to voters. Long before voters decided anything in the primary or general elections, party bosses worked to groom good candidates, weed out bad ones, organize interests, and frame issues.
In the modern era, the story of party decline usually begins in the aftermath of the 1968 presidential election. The move toward primaries and the democratic selection of delegates took power away from the bosses.
After Watergate, there were more reforms, curbing the ability of the parties to raise and spend money freely. This led to the rise of political-action committees, which raise cash independent of the formal party structure. …
… The Internet and cable TV have accelerated the eclipsing of parties. Opinion websites and TV and radio hosts now do more to shape issues and select candidates than the parties do. …
The weird thing is that the American people didn’t seem to notice. The largest voting bloc in America today call themselves independents, but most of them tend to be as partisan as everybody else, while “pure independents” are less likely to vote at all. …
… There are other, larger forces at work. The decline of strong independent institutions — religious, civic, and familial — has people searching for other outlets to find a sense of meaning and belonging. Identity politics, populism, and nationalism are filling that void. …
__________________________________
Wandering Views 
Paul Harvey once said, “Free people always get the government they disserve.’
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This libertarian article sums up my feelings about yesterday the best.
The Dems also picked up 6 governorships (including 5 in the North). That probably means higher taxes on the Yankees and the start of a new Caravan heading south toward Texas.
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Yeah. We’re a dysfunctional bunch.
The results are much as expected. R’s expand control in the Senate….
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fullpage/midterm-election-map-2018-live-results-58723598?whichMap=SenateMap
———————–
And Dems regain control of the House.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fullpage/midterm-election-map-2018-live-results-58723598?whichMap=HouseMap
————————
Let the gridlock and return of do nothing government begin!
Again!
😦
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Kizzie, I would like to agree with you that our society is still not quite as bad as the one in Idiocracy, but this guy has a point.
Scott Walker is still my favorite Yankee governor. He is the one person I felt sorry for last night.
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The thing that most disgusts me about last night?
The fact that the disgusting pervert who the FBI proved used the services of underage prostitutes is still a sitting Senator thanks to the lever pullers in NJ.
Yet these same voters will tell you Trump and his treatment of women affected their vote. But hey, as long as they’re underage girls it’s OK, right?
Morons. There’s no other way to say it.
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Interesting….
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Graham notes this as well.
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Does anyone else see the moral similarities between Trump and Menendez? They are Yankees from opposite sides of the Hudson and Trump is taller. Otherwise they look like twins: completely immoral and dishonest in all business and personal behavior.
Does Menendez also have a cult?
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Well I see from last nights thread that the Pythagoreans won and Ricky has claimed his prize. We will probably go up to Gatlinburg not this weekend but next. Ricky, I know you posted the name of the place, but remind me again if you will. I’ll let you know when it’s in the mail. There will be plenty since I know you have promised to spread the winnings around. If it looks as good as you say, I may have to get my own box and share here. :–)
I was glad to hear Cruz kept his seat and the senate increased it’s majority. Now we see what happens. :–)
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I saw that Stefanowski made Lamont work for it in CT. I was half expecting an upset there. Most of the 20 years we lived in CT we had Republican governors, but it was not to be this time.
I had not mentioned it before, but there were many Bredesen signs up in Chattanooga—far more than for Blackburn, so I was wondering if Chatt would go with the Dem, but the county only flirted with blue then flipped to red as expected.
I’m disappointed the House was lost, but losing the Senate would have been disastrous for court appointments. I don’t always agree with the Republican leaning court decisions, but they almost never just make it up as they go along like the Dems do. So there is some comfort to be had there.
I have no idea what this all will mean for the Trump agenda. It may mean that the circus just got bigger and moved to a more visible tent. Assuming that’s even possible. :–/
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Ricky @7:50 No. Not at all.
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Ricky,
Trump doesn’t have sex with minors. Don’t be an animal related to a horse that the Dems use as a mascot.
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Ricky,
And what’s up with the illegals voting in your state? First you let ’em over run your borders, now you let them vote illegally too?
“Tons.”
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I read the article @6:42. Sooooo, NTers are cheering the Democrat takeover. No surprise there. But I was wondering just who was actually elected, and found there were some remarkable firsts in this election. The first female Muslim refugee from Somali was elected to the House in Keith Ellison’s vacated seat. As a young progressive she ” has forged a progressive political identity. She supports free college education, housing for all, and criminal justice reform….” [Still cheering NTers?] “…She opposes Trump’s restrictive immigration policies, supports a universal health care system, and wants to abolish US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has conducted deportation raids.” [you can resume cheering here]
I know nothing else about her. But on the upside, she is young and quite lovely, and really rocks the turban; I just hope I don’t need to mute the sound to enjoy the sight. :–)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-6361601/Ilhan-Omar-Rashida-Tlaib-Muslim-women-US-Congress.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ito=1490&ns_campaign=1490
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And your moderated.
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9:43 AJ, Who is your governor? Who was elected to the Senate from your state yesterday? Who is the governor of Texas? Who did Texas elect to the Senate yesterday?
As my wife says, Texas Mexicans are more conservative than white Yankees.
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Not havin’ it Ricky.
When you have actual evidence like the FBI did on Menendez, you can try again. But baseless slime ain’t happening. Do better, or continue to be moderated.
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” Trump Cultists have no room to talk”
Silencing techniques like that won’t work anymore. Just as NTers feel freed to say anything, do anything or vote any way they want, so are others. Anyone who wants to stake out a moral equivalency is free do do so, but others are just as free to reject it. I reject it. I don’t see why any thinking person should have to accept someone else’s description of an event, then defend.
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I’m surrounded by morons. I know this, and I’ve told you that. This is a blue state. Not much I can do about it.
Plus some of the illegals you guys let in are probably voting here as well. 😜
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So be fair and “moderate” yourself.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/us/politics/menendez-hugin-prostitutes-fact-check.amp.html
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(whispering) AJ, I have been a donkey more than a few times myself, and if I live much longer, may well be so again. @9:40 is a tad over the top doncha think (in expression if not in spirit) . :–)
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Trump will make the best of it. 🙂
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/11/trump_exulting_in_having_nancy_pelosi_as_his_foil.html
“Prior to the election, there was speculation that President Trump wanted Republicans to lose the House in order to ensure his 2020 re-election by running against the crazy House Dems, led by Nancy Pelosi, whose verbal inartfulness is already legendary. On the campaign trail, he warned his supporters about the dangers of a Pelosi speakership, but I am pretty sure he recognizes in her the possibilities for deal-making. Support for that hypothesis comes from the congratulatory call he made to her last night, and from his tweet this morning endorsing her for Speaker.
While there is certainly an element of trolling here, Trump is also likely to want to deal with another experienced deal-maker. Pelosi is a lot smarter than she sounds, and knows how to strike a bargain. She also understands that impeaching Trump (or Justice Kavanaugh) would be suicidal for the Democrats. Last night, she told PBS that impeachment “is not what our caucus is about”:”
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I’m sure Texas Mexicans are a nice bunch in general. The Mexicans who live a couple of doors down from us are very industrious. And, just as important, their dog (a Boston Terrier) seems to love them—especially the man (he is definitely a man’s dog). But that has nothing to do with illegal voting. There does seem to be a bit of a problem, which will probably continue until borders are taken seriously.
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Debra,
No, I don’t think it was over the top. I think it was an accurate assessment.
But folks can complain to the moderator if they like. 🙂
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Ha. I’m not concerned for Ricky, since donkeys can suck it up (and I would know). Just a little concerned that some curious soul might wander over from the Prayer thread….. No problem for me. :–)
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There.
Better? 🤐
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Why would I be offended when he calls me the same species as his idol?
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Ricky, what was the name of that candy shop? Or are you going to make me go door to door down the streets of Gatlinburg searching for it? AND have you figured out how to mail brisket? If it cannot be mailed (and only a real globalist could find trade with China easier than trade between the states) we can make alternative arrangements that involve you serving brisket to Trumpkins closer to home. And eating crow over the newly increased Senate majority. :–)
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AJ @10:46 LOL Love it! :–)
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https://www.olesmokycandykitchen.com/v/vspfiles/mobiletemplate/mobiledefault.htm
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We are in luck. They ship nationwide.
https://hardeightbbq.com
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Debra – I would have thought that since so many people here in Connecticut seemed to hate Governor Malloy (D), even many Democrats, we would swing back to a Republican governor. But alas, it was not meant to be.
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Thanks. I can pm the address to you on Facebook or send it to AJ who can send it on to you. I don’t have an address I can publish publicly….though I’m sure it’s findable on the internet as are most things, unfortunately. :–/
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Debra,
Make sure you tell them to stomp on the box a few times, that way it’ll be in bite size pieces when it arrives at Ricky’s house. It’ll be easier for him to eat that way. 🙂
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So HRW and Ricky say that the intro to Idiocracy was the important part.
So now they tell me.
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If it’s OK with you both I’ll send you each others email that you use here, to speed delivery.
🙂
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Debra, a “bigger circus” lol.
Who can even fathom ….
Results weren’t all bad or all good for either side. No massive wave last night, but it won’t be boring. Onward. Let the circus begin.
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Michigan’s a bit schizophrenic. We had a blue wave for statewide offices. No surprise that the governor flipped – no governor has been succeeded by a governor in the same party since 1969. The Secretaries of State and Attorneys General have been red for a long time, though, and they flipped this time. Meanwhile both houses of the legislature remain red.
I’d hoped we might unseat our long-time Democratic US senator Debbie Stabenow, but she had a solid win.
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I’m puzzled about something. Why would the House and the state governors go one direction and the Senate go the other direction? Is it that more red state Senate seats happened to be up for grabs this year?
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Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention my worst disappointment for Michigan. We are legalizing recreational marijuana. Grrr.
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Kevin,
Because we’re dysfunctional.
And because with more House seats up, the Dems used their densely populated urban areas and coastal areas to max effect.
Check out the maps at 6:43AM, they tell the story. The country is largely red, except for those population centers I mentioned, and the occupied territories in certain SW and S states.
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It’s also why I expect things to flip back come 2020. Democrats can’t help themselves. Their Reps are largely liberal and far left with the majority being on the liberal east and west coasts. While that’s great for libs now, 2 years of them should be about all the rest of the country needs to see them for what they are. Again.
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What’s surprised me most was how well the people Trump campaigned for in the last month did, which was pretty good. That bodes well for his re-election chances. Because in the Presidential election year, and with the Electoral College being what it is, those urban and coastal areas are kept in check, which is why Hillary still lost even though she won the popular vote. Thankfully, that’s not how it works with Presidents. There House plan won’t work in 2020. 🙂
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I love how spell check gives you choices, you pick the right one, and it still spells it wrong.
Their, not there. 🙂
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Kevin,
Funny you mentioned weed. I read something earlier about how it was successful in all but one state that wanted to legalize it. They also say it drove turnout as well.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/marijuana/2018/11/06/legalization-ballot-live-marijuana-election-results-nationwide/1guqzEaHjMWkeZ5m7HoABK/story.html
———————-
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/11/06/marijuana-legal-michigan-results/1835274002/
“The proposal to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use was on its way to victory early Wednesday morning, making Michigan the first state in the Midwest to approve legal weed.
With 71 percent of the vote counted, the measure had a comfortable double-digit margin statewide and even bigger margins in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.
“The Proposal 1 campaign boiled down into one of fact versus fear,” said Josh Hovey, spokesman for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which spearheaded the legalization campaign. “The data from the nine other states to have legalized marijuana made clear that regulation and taxation are a better solution. Legalization of marijuana will end the unnecessary waste of law enforcement resources used to enforce the failed policy of prohibition while generating hundreds of millions of dollars each year for Michigan’s most important needs.”
Michigan will become the 10th state in the nation and the first in the Midwest to legalize marijuana for recreational use, joining California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and Washington, D.C. A total of 30 states, including Michigan, have legalized marijuana for medical use. In Nebraska, voters rejected a marijuana legalization proposal and Missouri voters approved legalizing pot for medical purposes.
————————–
“But Katie Gritzinger, 27, said voting to legalize marijuana was one of the reasons she headed to the polls for the first time in a midterm election.
“I really wanted to vote for legal weed,” she said. “I think Prop 1 is getting a lot more people my age out this year.””
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Kevin, The Senate was a fluke, based on the specific third of the seats that were up for re-election. Every two years, only a third of the seats are up. This year it just happened that there were many more incumbent Democrats in red states up for re-election (in places like North Dakota, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, West Virginia, etc) than Republican incumbents up in blue states. It will even up in 2020 and 2022.
Other than the Senate it was a blue night. The Dems won the overall Congressional vote by over 7%. That is why you had all those Democrat wins in the Northern governors’ races.
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The Democrats could play it this way or Pelosi and Trump could work together on new boondoggles ( infrastructure or single payer healthcare or something else) and Pelosi could insist that Trump ram them through the Senate.
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See. Good news already. 🙂
Sorry, he was ineffectual at best, out of his league at worst.
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It. Is. On.
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Let the pearl clutching commence. 🙂
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Sessions had to know this was coming.
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Impeachment?
For what?
And is there a bigger waste of time?
It will never happen. The Senate won’t allow it, regardless of what the House would like.
Trump won. Move on already children.
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Aj, I was curious when you claimed the NJ senator was sexually involved with minors. A quick google search showed it wasn’t a credible charge.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/dominican-police-3-women-paid-to-make-false-claims-about-menendez/2013/03/18/f2ff253c-8fe7-11e2-9abd-e4c5c9dc5e90_story.html
Menendez denied all claims but there is a Republican politician who has admitted to walking into the dressing room of Miss Teen USA contestants to check out naked teens.
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Interesting facts;
Democrats won 55 percent of the overall senatorial vote. A rural vote continues to outweigh an urban vote.
The Democrats needed to have at least a 7% edge in the house vote to flip the 20 something seats. In 2010, Republicans only needed about 6% to flip 63 seats. Gerrymandering was crucial. The new democrat governors will need to change it.
Georgia’s Republican candidate wiped out over 300 000 registered voters and is now only about 80 000 votes ahead. Now he’s in charge of whether provisional votes should be counted.
Florida has voted to allow excons/felons to vote. This adds 1.5 million voters to the register. The Republicans only won by 100k.
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Sessions resignation has sparked intense discussions and conspiracy theories on the left side of the internet.
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57. (Yeah, I know, this isn’t the usual place for it.)
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HRW,
Strange.
Yet the authorities thought it credible enough, but didn’t try him on it but did other related instances of criminal behavior.
You seem to need a refresher, and should ignore the WaPo’s revisionist history. From 2015.
https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/08/24/feds-say-corroborating-evidence-backed-menendez-prostitution-claims
“SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ WAS not improperly investigated and indicted for accepting a “long-running stream of bribes,” federal prosecutors said Monday.
And in a court filing rebuffing the New Jersey Democrat’s bid to overturn charges against him, prosecutors revisit uncharged allegations of underage prostitution that kicked off the federal probe.
The filing, curiously, does not explicitly say the underage prostitution investigation came up empty. In fact, the probe is described as having turned up “corroborating evidence.”
The prostitution claims, first reported by The Daily Caller in 2012, suggested Menendez and his co-defendant on bribery charges, eye doctor and businessman Salomon Melgen, traveled to the Dominican Republic to have sex with prostitutes.
“While those allegations have not resulted in any criminal charges, there can be no question that the Government has an obligation to take such allegations regarding potential harm to minors very seriously, regardless of who the alleged perpetrators may be,” the filing says.
“Presented with specific, corroborated allegations that defendants Menendez and Melgen had sex with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic, the Government responsibly and dutifully investigated those serious allegations,” the filing says. “The indictment here, of course, charges only corruption and does not include any allegations of soliciting underage prostitution.”
Prosecutors twice say there was “corroborating evidence” to support the initial sex crime allegations, for which Menendez and Melgen face no charges. In the first instance, they write:
“The defendants present their case as exceptional because the allegations of underage prostitution are ‘such easily disprovable allegations about something that would hardly be a federal crime even had it been true.’ Id. As an initial matter, it is most certainly a federal crime to leave the country for the purpose of engaging in a commercial sex act with a minor, and the defendants’ suggestion to the contrary is unsettling. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1952, 1591(a)(1), & 2421. Furthermore, the defendants’ dismissive treatment of these allegations is troubling. Allegations of human trafficking and underage prostitution must be taken seriously and cannot be dismissed merely because the alleged perpetrator is a United States Senator. Given the nature and seriousness of the allegations, in addition to the corroborating evidence, it would have been irresponsible not to investigate.”
Then, recounting the initial stages of the investigation and apparently corroborating evidence, prosecutors write:
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Then it gets into the more sordid detail.
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Like I said earlier, these are known, proven facts, not some whisper down the alley BS from some creepy porn lawyer.
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From the above link:
_______________________________
ELECTIONS
The Hollowing Out of American Political Parties
By JONAH GOLDBERG
November 7, 2018 6:30 AM
~ Reforms, outside groups, and technology are siphoning power away from the parties. ~
It is perhaps the central irony of our politics today: We live in an incredibly polarized and partisan moment, but our political parties have never been weaker.
As odd as it sounds, political parties in democracies have an important anti-democratic function. Traditionally, the parties shaped the choices put to voters. Long before voters decided anything in the primary or general elections, party bosses worked to groom good candidates, weed out bad ones, organize interests, and frame issues.
In the modern era, the story of party decline usually begins in the aftermath of the 1968 presidential election. The move toward primaries and the democratic selection of delegates took power away from the bosses.
After Watergate, there were more reforms, curbing the ability of the parties to raise and spend money freely. This led to the rise of political-action committees, which raise cash independent of the formal party structure. …
… The Internet and cable TV have accelerated the eclipsing of parties. Opinion websites and TV and radio hosts now do more to shape issues and select candidates than the parties do. …
The weird thing is that the American people didn’t seem to notice. The largest voting bloc in America today call themselves independents, but most of them tend to be as partisan as everybody else, while “pure independents” are less likely to vote at all. …
… There are other, larger forces at work. The decline of strong independent institutions — religious, civic, and familial — has people searching for other outlets to find a sense of meaning and belonging. Identity politics, populism, and nationalism are filling that void. …
__________________________________
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https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/11/modern-political-parties-weak-and-ineffective/
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