The 2018 Midterms Game Day Thread of Angst, Worry, (and maybe some hope?)

Politics and religion
1670

From Google News this morning:

“The rule of law is foundational to our society and it must be followed. As governor, I will work diligently with our legislative leaders to make sure that all Floridians have continued confidence in our election system and that we address the potential deficiencies that have caused this situation in a few counties,” DeSantis said. “A crisis of faith in our election system should not be allowed to fester based on the actions of a few supervisors and I will work to right this situation for future elections.”

Good for DeSantis, I guess. If that actually happens consider my faith in America’s voting system restored.

1671

DeSantis has a healthier lead, so I think he feels he can afford to be more statesman. I have a feeling if his race were as tight as the Senator race, he’d be just as Trump.

1672

Not unexpected, but Bruce Poliquin is suing to prevent Maine from using ranked choice in the congressional election there.

He may have decently strong standing to challenge, too.

1673

OTOH, Nate S. thinks Poliquin’s claim has weak merit:

1674

(This could be a pretty big case for setting precedent for those of you wanting to dump first-past-the-post voting.)

1675

Surely all those Republican advocates of states rights on the supreme court will reject this clearly self-serving argument as an unjust imposition of federal power and as judicial activism…

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

1676

There’s not a chance in hell that DeSantis does something that results in anything but an advantage for the Republicans in Florida.

1677

It seems that if you throw out ranked choice after the fact you have to throw out the whole election. All the ballots were invalid.

1678

Logically, you would think that.

But this is why they fight so hard to get an ideologue on the Supreme Court.

1679

Yep. a judge would either be inclined to say “Yep, that’s fine” or even to say that they won’t hear the case because it is being brought after the fact, and not before the election and ballots and ballot instructions went out. And even past that, a wise judge would also recognize the intent and will of voters – that many would cast ballots in a certain way, understanding that their second- or third-choices might be important and have influenced voting behavior.

But…

1680

Ben McAdams (D) now leads Mia Love (R-inc) by a little more than 1,000 votes in the UT-04.

(These ballots all came from Utah County, which is deep red and favorable to Love. Salt Lake County, which may be friendlier to McAdams, will drop later this afternoon.)

1681

The ruling by the judge in Georgia may not be enough for Stacey Abrams…but it sure does make the GA-07 one to watch. Bourdeaux (D) trails Woodall (R-inc) by 901 votes, and the judge’s ruling applies directly to Gwinnett County votes in that district.

1682

Hopefully it’s a good batch coming from Salt Lake County, where McAdams gets the bulk of his votes from. Hopefully it’s enough to offset the 4 or 5 voters that live in Juab county. ;)

I was saying on election night this race would tighten, but eek! This is coming down to the wire.

1683

This is one way to say hi!

1684

I feel like Cortez is going to be the left’s version of a tea partier.

1686

I’m all for pragmatic, but I’m also all for advocating ideas. Especially when the stakes on things are so high.

If you’re going to be stubborn and make a fuss about an issue, the environment is infinitely more worthy than tax cuts for the rich.

We need someone to yank that Overton Window back.

1687
1688

Speaking of AOC, this showed up on my social media yesterday:

1689

The Republican establishment has no idea how to handle someone like her. It’s going to be amazing, and sad, to watch them try.

1690

Haha, what a loser! First she has to wait for her paycheck to afford rent in D.C. and now instant Mac? Hah-hah!

– Fox and Friends, probably this morning.