US Senate Elections thread, 2014 Edition!

[United States of Natan]

How can anyone rationally have any HIGHER expectations?!?

I can't even think that the current state of the GOP is anything but akin to omnishambles: from bing to cup, they fuck up.

Heh, Akin. thats funny. remember him?

[Soldati Senza Confini]

I can't even think that the current state of the GOP is anything but akin to omnishambles: from bing to cup, they fuck up.

Heh, Akin. thats funny. remember him?

Who can not remember him?

[Rhodesia]

I'd vote for a 'blue Republican' or a 'red Democrat'. I dislike the extremes of both parties. Overall, I think American politics is very distorted. Give me Westminster style parliamentary politics any time.

[United States of Natan]

I'd vote for a 'blue Republican' or a 'red Democrat'. I dislike the extremes of both parties. Overall, I think American politics is very distorted. Give me Westminster style parliamentary politics any time.

And forsake the American Congressional System?! Never!

Heh, Akin. thats funny. remember him?

Who can not remember him?

Remember the day of his comments? it still feels like yesterday! The day the whole country, democrats and republicans alike, rallied together against him!

[ControlHQ]

I'd vote for a 'blue Republican' or a 'red Democrat'. I dislike the extremes of both parties. Overall, I think American politics is very distorted. Give me Westminster style parliamentary politics any time.

I wouldn't mind having a Dennis Skinner to liven up our House of Representatives here in the States.

[United States of Natan]

I'd vote for a 'blue Republican' or a 'red Democrat'. I dislike the extremes of both parties. Overall, I think American politics is very distorted. Give me Westminster style parliamentary politics any time.

I wouldn't mind having a Dennis Skinner to liven up our House of Representatives here in the States.

I probably wouldn't be too upset if Chris Christie won the presidency.

[Alien Space Bats]

Basically, I think they at least have the common political sense to not attach said ACA repeal onto said Defense Appropriations Bill thereby repealing the healthcare of said 8 million ACA beneficiaries.

If that is a higher expectation of the GOP, it's a mild one.

No, I figure they'll try to force a "repeal with mandatory refund" option that would effectively threaten tens of millions of Americans with immediate bankruptcy so as to be able to run ads telling those people that Obama and the Democrats alone are solely responsible for their financial ruin.

If the GOP could order people shot and then blame the Democrats for the shootings, I swear they'd do that. They're immoral, shameless demagogues whose fanatical evil knows no bounds. If ISIS didn't exist, there'd be nobody worse.

[United States of Natan]

Basically, I think they at least have the common political sense to not attach said ACA repeal onto said Defense Appropriations Bill thereby repealing the healthcare of said 8 million ACA beneficiaries.

If that is a higher expectation of the GOP, it's a mild one.

No, I figure they'll try to force a "repeal with mandatory refund" option that would effectively threaten tens of millions of Americans with immediate bankruptcy so as to be able to run ads telling those people that Obama and the Democrats alone are solely responsible for their financial ruin.

If the GOP could order people shot and then blame the Democrats for the shootings, I swear they'd do that. They're immoral, shameless demagogues whose fanatical evil knows no bounds. If ISIS didn't exist, there'd be nobody worse.

Now, can we really be completely sure they aren't worse than ISIS?

[ControlHQ]

No, I figure they'll try to force a "repeal with mandatory refund" option that would effectively threaten tens of millions of Americans with immediate bankruptcy so as to be able to run ads telling those people that Obama and the Democrats alone are solely responsible for their financial ruin.

If the GOP could order people shot and then blame the Democrats for the shootings, I swear they'd do that. They're immoral, shameless demagogues whose fanatical evil knows no bounds. If ISIS didn't exist, there'd be nobody worse.

Now, can we really be completely sure they aren't worse than ISIS?

Well the GOP has done more damage to the United States

[Jinwoy]

Now, can we really be completely sure they aren't worse than ISIS?

Well the GOP has done more damage to the United States

Be careful what you wish for.

[United States of Natan]

Now, can we really be completely sure they aren't worse than ISIS?

Well the GOP has done more damage to the United States

remember last decade, the huge deficit they put us in, "Bush Wars" they dropped on us, and pretty much the whole decade-worth of their actions?

[ControlHQ]

Well the GOP has done more damage to the United States

remember last decade, the huge deficit they put us in, "Bush Wars" they dropped on us, and pretty much the whole decade-worth of their actions?

My point exactly.

[Miss Defied]

Well it would appear that all those voting machines that were rigged to change GOP votes to Democrat votes was nothing to worry about huh?

[ControlHQ]

Well it would appear that all those voting machines that were rigged to change GOP votes to Democrat votes was nothing to worry about huh?

I'm more worried about voter suppression and gerrymandering myself.

[United States of Natan]

remember last decade, the huge deficit they put us in, "Bush Wars" they dropped on us, and pretty much the whole decade-worth of their actions?

My point exactly.

nice flag, by the way.

Well it would appear that all those voting machines that were rigged to change GOP votes to Democrat votes was nothing to worry about huh?

What about the many more that were rigged to change democrat votes to GOP?

[Herskerstad]

So worlds evils as a list goes.

1 - IS
2 - GOP
3 - And bellow you'd yet North Korea, Boko Haram, Jingoistic Russia, Communist China, Islamic factions in south Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, ect, ect in no particular order.

Seems legit.

[Jinwoy]

So worlds evils as a list goes.

1 - IS
2 - GOP
3 - And bellow you'd yet North Korea, Boko Haram, Jingoistic Russia, Communist China, Islamic factions in south Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, ect, ect in no particular order.

Seems legit.

Technically, the GOP has killed more people than IS.

[Dracoria]

So worlds evils as a list goes.

1 - IS
2 - GOP
3 - And bellow you'd yet North Korea, Boko Haram, Jingoistic Russia, Communist China, Islamic factions in south Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, ect, ect in no particular order.

Seems legit.

Well yes, to progressives. They don't mind some of the groups in 3 at all.

[ControlHQ]

So worlds evils as a list goes.

1 - IS
2 - GOP
3 - And bellow you'd yet North Korea, Boko Haram, Jingoistic Russia, Communist China, Islamic factions in south Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, ect, ect in no particular order.

Seems legit.

Well at least Putin permits his people universal healthcare.

I know, I know. I'm being unreasonable. Gimme a break, it's been a rough night for us progressives.

[United States of Natan]

So worlds evils as a list goes.

1 - IS
2 - GOP
3 - And bellow you'd yet North Korea, Boko Haram, Jingoistic Russia, Communist China, Islamic factions in south Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, ect, ect in no particular order.

Seems legit.

Well yes, to progressives. They don't mind some of the groups in 3 at all.

I hate all of the groups in 3, and I'm a liberal.

[Miss Defied]

Well it would appear that all those voting machines that were rigged to change GOP votes to Democrat votes was nothing to worry about huh?

I'm more worried about voter suppression and gerrymandering myself.

It's absolutely ridiculous. The entire election process is so completely broken.

[ControlHQ]

So worlds evils as a list goes.

1 - IS
2 - GOP
3 - And bellow you'd yet North Korea, Boko Haram, Jingoistic Russia, Communist China, Islamic factions in south Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, ect, ect in no particular order.

Seems legit.

Well yes, to progressives. They don't mind some of the groups in 3 at all.

I have serious problems with all of them actually. I just abhor the GOP because it's a regressive force within my country.

[Alien Space Bats]

I'd vote for a 'blue Republican' or a 'red Democrat'. I dislike the extremes of both parties. Overall, I think American politics is very distorted. Give me Westminster style parliamentary politics any time.

Westminster-style politics is what we currently have, Bucky.

Back when I was a kid in the 60's, both Parties were big tents; there were moderate-to-liberal Republicans and moderate-to-conservative Democrats, which meant that there were always opportunities for groups of committed legislators to find common ground with like-minded legislators from across the aisle.

Then, starting in the late 1970's, Republican conservatives began the project of purging their Party of everyone who wasn't a True Believer. Over the next 25-35 years, the liberal and moderate wings of the GOP ceased to exist; today, the most "liberal" Republicans are people who were consider hard-core conservatives just a couple of decades ago (eg., Bob Dole).

The Democratic Party's response was to move to the center, starting with Clinton's victory in 1992; unfortunately, in the last 5-10 years the GOP has been knocking off Democratic centrists and conservatives, as those are the most vulnerable Democrats. This has pushed the Democratic Party to the left, albeit not by design, but through attrition.

This cycle probably marks the end of the process. The "Tea Party" has effectively become the Republican mainstream; at the same time, the Democratic strategy of trying to reach across the aisle and find common ground with the GOP has essentially failed, as it has left the Democratic Party unable to draw sharp differences with the GOP just as the GOP has taken to lying openly about its willingness to "work with" Democrats (in Republicanese, "working with" Democrats means demanding that Democrats basically abandon their position completely and meekly rubber-stamp the GOP platform in full; anything less than abject surrender by Democrats is labeled "obstructionism", and the national press just goes along and parrots that line out of utter cowardice).

The Democratic Party just can't continue to try and compromise with the GOP any more; it gets them nowhere but second place, and in second place they can neither advance their future goals nor defend their past accomplishments from repeal. Thus we have, in the end, arrived at the very essence of Westminster-style Party politics: Both Parties have well-defined positions, from which their members can deviate only at great political risk to themselves. This leaves the American voter with no real option short of straight-ticket voting, which effectively means that our political system as evolved across the last 238 years has essentially broken down completely.

Not that embracing Parliamentary politics would be any better, Imagine the fresh Hell we'd face if the GOP held the same kind of absolute power that Ruling Parties hold under your typical Parliamentary system: No Democrat would ever have the right to speak, write, or vote for the rest of their remaining lives — all in the name of "saving America", mind you.

[Southern Hampshire]

HOORAY

I may consider moving back to the US now.

[Dracoria]

So worlds evils as a list goes.

1 - IS
2 - GOP
3 - And bellow you'd yet North Korea, Boko Haram, Jingoistic Russia, Communist China, Islamic factions in south Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, ect, ect in no particular order.

Seems legit.

Technically, the GOP has killed more people than IS.

So have the Dems, to be honest. ISIS has never ordered a nuclear weapon dropped on an enemy city that I know of.