US Midterm Election Megathread II: The Stretch Run Begins

[San Lumen]

The senate race in Washington is not uncontested.

So you've learned nothing.


Sigh.

I still don't see the point of voting in a election thats unopposed. The candidate will win anyway. Just once Id like to see state legislator, member of congress or mayor fail to get reelected because no one cast a ballot for them.

On the other hand I never leave any contested election on the ballot empty. I always fill in the entire ballot if I go straight ticket which I have done for the last few cycles.

[Shofercia]

So you've learned nothing.


Sigh.

I still don't see the point of voting in a election thats unopposed. The candidate will win anyway. Just once Id like to see state legislator, member of congress or mayor fail to get reelected because no one cast a ballot for them.

On the other hand I never leave any contested election on the ballot empty. I always fill in the entire ballot if I go straight ticket which I have done for the last few cycles.

I don't mean to sound iffy, or to agree with Iffy, but he's got a point. If, in a place with 10,000 registered votes, 3 dudes vote for the candidate, someone else might run in four years. If it's 3,000 dudes, that's a whole other story. 3,000 dudes might be the dude population of the city, and that means he's got the dude vote locked up, and the dudes abide.

[Ifreann]

So you've learned nothing.


Sigh.

I still don't see the point of voting in a election thats unopposed.

I've told you the point. Twice. I think you're just not listening to me.

[San Lumen]

I still don't see the point of voting in a election thats unopposed. The candidate will win anyway. Just once Id like to see state legislator, member of congress or mayor fail to get reelected because no one cast a ballot for them.

On the other hand I never leave any contested election on the ballot empty. I always fill in the entire ballot if I go straight ticket which I have done for the last few cycles.

I don't mean to sound iffy, or to agree with Iffy, but he's got a point. If, in a place with 10,000 registered votes, 3 dudes vote for the candidate, someone else might run in four years. If it's 3,000 dudes, that's a whole other story. 3,000 dudes might be the dude population of the city, and that means he's got the dude vote locked up, and the dudes abide.

Your never going to get 100 percent turnout

[Corrian]

Look, I'm going to be voting for who I prefer, even though I know Maria Cantwell will get the nomination anyway. Because not trying seems silly.

Hell, I actively looked through all 29 Senate candidates after all. There were maybe 2 Republicans who seemed okay, and about 3 or 4 Democrats I'd choose. And I think an independent.

My congressional seat, I'm not so sure on yet. Probably will vote for someone besides who I have as my official first, but in the end vote for them when they likely inevitably get the nomination as well.

[Corrian]

I find it interesting that Republicans are by no means gaining support down ticket, and in fact seem to be losing it again, yet Democrats still don't have a majority support as an option in the midterms.

This is just a good example of how little people approve of both sides right now.

[Corrian]

That is not what he said, it's not a poll tax, show me where he said anything about having to pay for an ID, it's not a poll tax. You are making shit up as always.

As I said before, although there are states where getting an ID is free, most do charge money. Here in Illinois, for example, it's $5 for a standard ID and $20 for a Driver's Licence. That can be a lot of money when you don't have very much, and I've been at that point myself in the past. Then too, many minority voters or poor voters live in areas pretty far away from their nearest DMV office, so unless they can get a way to that office, which is far from guaranteed especially in states like Alabama(remember that weird office only open of the 5th Tuesday of the month?), they won't be able to get the ID they need anyway.

Speaking of that example, my closest DMV is 45 minutes away. I can take the bus there, but it's still not the most convenient.

[Shofercia]

I don't mean to sound iffy, or to agree with Iffy, but he's got a point. If, in a place with 10,000 registered votes, 3 dudes vote for the candidate, someone else might run in four years. If it's 3,000 dudes, that's a whole other story. 3,000 dudes might be the dude population of the city, and that means he's got the dude vote locked up, and the dudes abide.

Your never going to get 100 percent turnout

You're missing the point, and at this point, I think you're doing so deliberately. Also, I used the term "might be" - because there are places with just one person, and if that person votes - that's 100% turnout.

[Page]

I find it interesting that Republicans are by no means gaining support down ticket, and in fact seem to be losing it again, yet Democrats still don't have a majority support as an option in the midterms.

This is just a good example of how little people approve of both sides right now.

Voters want to hear what a politician plans to do to improve their own lives, they want good health care, job opportunities, financial security, plans for student loan debt, assurance that social security will still be there when they reach retirement age, they want their towns and cities to have a good infrastructure.

Why is there so little approval for Republicans and Democrats? Because Republicans aren't doing anything to improve regular peoples' lives, and people have realized that. But Democrats aren't offering any substance. All the Democrats talk about is Trump being bad. The Democratic Party's strategy for the midterms? Basically:

Yo dawg I herd u don't like Trump so I put Russia in Russia so you can talk about Russia when you're talking about Russia

The independent voters who are critical to swing the vote one way or another care about their own standard of living. They want upward mobility. They don't give a shit about what Russia did in 2016 and they give even less of a shit about the DNC leaks which the Dems are still whining about.

[Valrifell]

I don't see that kind of messaging from Democrats. Granted, I don't live in an area that's exactly contestable so I'm a bit removed from campaigning in general.

[The Black Forrest]

Voters want to hear what a politician plans to do to improve their own lives, they want good health care, job opportunities, financial security, plans for student loan debt, assurance that social security will still be there when they reach retirement age, they want their towns and cities to have a good infrastructure.

They do? How did donnie get elected?

[Ifreann]

Voters want to hear what a politician plans to do to improve their own lives, they want good health care, job opportunities, financial security, plans for student loan debt, assurance that social security will still be there when they reach retirement age, they want their towns and cities to have a good infrastructure.

They do? How did donnie get elected?

Not by getting the most voters, that's for sure.

[Shofercia]

Voters want to hear what a politician plans to do to improve their own lives, they want good health care, job opportunities, financial security, plans for student loan debt, assurance that social security will still be there when they reach retirement age, they want their towns and cities to have a good infrastructure.

They do? How did donnie get elected?

"I love coal!" - Improve the lives of coal miners
"I'll improve the economy" - self-explanatory to all but the Clinton family
"Our healthcare system is terrible, I'm a great businessman" - Implication that he'll improve Healthcare

And so on. Trump knew how to campaign.

[Petrasylvania]

They do? How did donnie get elected?

"I love coal!" - Improve the lives of coal miners
"I'll improve the economy" - self-explanatory to all but the Clinton family
"Our healthcare system is terrible, I'm a great businessman" - Implication that he'll improve Healthcare

And so on. Trump knew how to campaign.

Con artists are great at drawing in marks. They just never deliver on the promises they make.

[Valrifell]

They do? How did donnie get elected?

"I love coal!" - Improve the lives of coal miners
"I'll improve the economy" - self-explanatory to all but the Clinton family
"Our healthcare system is terrible, I'm a great businessman" - Implication that he'll improve Healthcare

And so on. Trump knew how to campaign.

This kind of just reinforces the point that Americans aren't too deeply concerned with policy, they just want to be told things that make them feel good.

[Shofercia]

"I love coal!" - Improve the lives of coal miners
"I'll improve the economy" - self-explanatory to all but the Clinton family
"Our healthcare system is terrible, I'm a great businessman" - Implication that he'll improve Healthcare

And so on. Trump knew how to campaign.

Con artists are great at drawing in marks. They just never deliver on the promises they make.

So all politicians are con artists?

"I love coal!" - Improve the lives of coal miners
"I'll improve the economy" - self-explanatory to all but the Clinton family
"Our healthcare system is terrible, I'm a great businessman" - Implication that he'll improve Healthcare

And so on. Trump knew how to campaign.

This kind of just reinforces the point that Americans aren't too deeply concerned with policy, they just want to be told things that make them feel good.

With the level of K-12 education available to most Americans, it's tough to analyze concrete policy decisions. Americans are concerned with policy, but it's hard to understand the finer points of said policy, when the tax code looks like this:

And your average school looks like this:

[Petrasylvania]

Con artists are great at drawing in marks. They just never deliver on the promises they make.

So all politicians are con artists?

Don't recall any other Presidents with a mountain of lawsuits for cheating employees and small businesses out of payment owed.

[Shrillland]

The independent voters who are critical to swing the vote one way or another care about their own standard of living. They want upward mobility. They don't give a shit about what Russia did in 2016 and they give even less of a shit about the DNC leaks which the Dems are still whining about.

I wouldn't say they don't give a shit about what Russia did, a rival nation deciding to influence an election is something for everyone to be concerned about, and lots of polls have said that most voters are concerned about it. The rest is all true except for one thing: They want all those things, but they don't want to actively contribute themselves.

[Shofercia]

So all politicians are con artists?

Don't recall any other Presidents with a mountain of lawsuits for cheating employees and small businesses out of payment owed.

Because clearly, those are the only two areas where president would ever lie...

"I did not have sex with..."

[San Lumen]

Another amendment to add to plebiscite plaza. http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch ... gon-ballot

The amendment would ban state funding for abortion in the state. Given the makeup of the state and the way this cycle is shaping up I can't see how this passes.

[Freezic Vast]

Another amendment to add to plebiscite plaza. http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch ... gon-ballot

The amendment would ban state funding for abortion in the state. Given the makeup of the state and the way this cycle is shaping up I can't see how this passes.

What staggers me is this quote:

"gathered nearly 200 more signatures than the 117,578 valid signatures required to place the amendment on the ballot"

117,578 signatures to place an amendment on a state-wide ballot??? That seems A) Excessive for a state like Oregon and B) a weirdly odd and specific number.

[Farnhamia]

Another amendment to add to plebiscite plaza. http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch ... gon-ballot

The amendment would ban state funding for abortion in the state. Given the makeup of the state and the way this cycle is shaping up I can't see how this passes.

What staggers me is this quote:

"gathered nearly 200 more signatures than the 117,578 valid signatures required to place the amendment on the ballot"

117,578 signatures to place an amendment on a state-wide ballot??? That seems A) Excessive for a state like Oregon and B) a weirdly odd and specific number.

The number of signatures is probably a percentage of the turn-out in the last election, something like that.

[The South Falls]

Another amendment to add to plebiscite plaza. http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch ... gon-ballot

The amendment would ban state funding for abortion in the state. Given the makeup of the state and the way this cycle is shaping up I can't see how this passes.

This won't pass. And, daily reminder that planned parenthood does more than just provide abortion.

[San Lumen]

Another amendment to add to plebiscite plaza. http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch ... gon-ballot

The amendment would ban state funding for abortion in the state. Given the makeup of the state and the way this cycle is shaping up I can't see how this passes.

What staggers me is this quote:

"gathered nearly 200 more signatures than the 117,578 valid signatures required to place the amendment on the ballot"

117,578 signatures to place an amendment on a state-wide ballot??? That seems A) Excessive for a state like Oregon and B) a weirdly odd and specific number.

That is oddly specific. 200 signatures is just barely over the margin. You want to be over the required number by a substantial amount as signatures for all almost petitions invariably get tossed for being invalid.

[San Lumen]

Another amendment to add to plebiscite plaza. http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch ... gon-ballot

The amendment would ban state funding for abortion in the state. Given the makeup of the state and the way this cycle is shaping up I can't see how this passes.

This won't pass. And, daily reminder that planned parenthood does more than just provide abortion.

But some on the right think thats all they do