He’s wrong about that, it’s not staunchly Republican. Clinton won this district. Why Pete Sessions continues to win, I don’t know. There weren’t viable Dem candidates in the past.
Know hope? Maybe? Just a little?
I am hopelessly naive. The reason the GOP are all standing behind and supporting trump is because they can get away with it. Look at trump’s approval in these states - 54% in OH and near 50 in PA, WI, MI and FL. FFS. Short of a recession happening prior to the mid-terms, there’s not going to be any blue wave.
Yep! Everyone keeps forgetting Trump is what America wants. Congress’s approval rating has been like 10% forever and those fucks keep getting re-elected. America doesn’t disapprove of Trump because he’s evil, they disapprove because he’s not evil enough. He promised to do lots of evil shit and hasn’t done it all yet, so they disapprove. But they will vote for him again, because we need that wall and we need to throw out the brown people.
We’re a fucked up county full of terrible people.
Not quite, really. We have an electoral system that is fundamentally anti-democratic in that it allows a (edit:)minority to control all the levers of power. And that minority is dedicated to preserving their power above all else, including the health and safety of the nation and/or their own supporters.
Trump 62,984,828 46.09%
Clinton 65,853,514 48.18%
Well I tried. OK, back to quiet despair it is then.
Also, to your point:
As an Ohio resident who lives and works among some of those 54% approval people every day, I can confirm that Trump bumper stickers are still alive and well here, as is misguided hope that he will somehow turn things around.
It is very telling though, that unlike pre-election 2016, most of the well educated, professional people I know, including everyone in my previously staunchly Republican office, pretty much hates Trump at this point. The see through the bullshit, see what a mess he’s making, see that the GOP has not only no control over him, but is descending into their own madness, and they are quietly despairing right along side those of us who are more left-leaning. I doubt it’s enough to push them to vote Democrat, but it IS enough to make them stay home if the only option is more Trump in 2020.
On the other hand, Trump support still burns bright among the less well educated folks I know. Many small business owners and tradespeople still seem to think he’s going to get around to making their lives great again real soon…but can’t really explain how that might happen. Others are still stuck on that whole “Washington outsider” thing, explaining that “his first year has been rough, but it’s only because he didn’t have the political support system that normal candidates have to tap into when they win”. These people don’t seem to understand just how ridiculous the situation is, that Trump isn’t just making rookie mistakes, he’s actively undermining Democracy with his special form of half-dictator/half-idiot leadership. And still others just want to see it all burn and love that Washington is in chaos and “libtards are freaking out”. Unsurprisingly, many of these morons are also not-so-subtly racist and/or misogynist as well. The best people.
Bottom line, I have to agree that, from my vantage point, America still has more stupid people than intelligent ones, and as long as that imbalance persists, it’s going to be hard to mount a Blue Wave at the polls.
The reason Beto O’Rourke underperformed in the Democratic Primary in Texas was because of his last name. In the “deep” majority Hispanic areas of Texas, they just vote for the candidate with the Hispanic last name without understanding who they are, and have been doing this for decades. Candidates that spend virtually no money and have no campaign will win, just because of their last name. Which points to a big problem in reaching mutual understanding with these majority Spanish-speaking voters.
I other news, the PA special election for the 14th district is shaping up to very close.
As Trigger already pointed out, the PA18 election literally does not matter.
It’s gonna be up for election in a few months anyway, and the districts aren’t even going to be the same.
On top of all that, I doubt Lamb can win it. But hey, if he does, it’ll piss off Trump, so that’ll be cool.
The Obamas return, in Netflix form. Probably.
Best case: their nice if bland televised material can knit a shattered nation back together. And they can make a boatload of money they can disburse into other worthy causes.
It’ll get better ratings than The Apprentice, which will really rile ol’ Donny.
Have politicans ever gotten into TV and done anything interesting? I admit I never watched a microsecond of Al Gore’s channel, Current.
I imagine whatever the Obamas will make will be conscientious and well-meaning and maybe a bit like Frontline.
Fuck it, in today’s mad world I guess we need more of that stuff.
Joe Scarborough was a Congressman.
A fact that he’s not shy about frequently reminding anyone within earshot.
Jesse Ventura’s Conspiracy Theory show was entertaining.
RCP polling average has Lamb +2 in PA-18.
I mentioned in the other thread, I saw some Trump supporters interviewed down there, and basically none of them like Saccone.
Some folks didnt’ like what Trump was doing and bailed… But other folks were like, “I still love trump! But I don’t like this Saccone guy.”
Some of them were voting for Saccone anyway… but others were voting for Lamb.
Lamb is the kind of Democrat who can win in that region… but still, I doubt he can pull it off. But the RNC poured 10 million bucks into a campaign that was supposed to be a gimme, and ultimately doesn’t even matter.
The best thing about Lamb winning would be how Trump would be devastated by it.
I love how to have any chance as a D in a reddish district you need to be some kind of lantern jawed badass Marine who dragged five people out of a burning building in Fallujah or something. Meanwhile, of course, the guy the red staters REALLY love is …