Virginia Governor's Race and US Election 2017 - America Fights Back?

I dunno. I was thrilled by last night’s results, and I agree that a great deal of it was repudiation of Trump. But that also makes me think that last year’s terrible results also included a healthy dose of “I just can’t bring myself to vote for Clinton.” I’ve read all of the other narratives, and analyses, that claim she wasn’t a problem, but I just can’t agree. I think a hell of a lot of people either didn’t show up, or voted elsewise, in direct response to her being at the top of the ballot.

So yeah, having a great slate of up-and-coming youngsters on the ballots down the road is a great idea, but just as important is the DNC opening their eyes and doing objective analysis of their party leaders and candidates. Don’t just drink your own Kool-Aid.

In talking with people before and after the election last year, it was clear that many people where I live were thinking “Anyone but Hillary” with the main talking points being all the stuff the Russians were doing to drag her name through the mud on Facebook/Twitter and then spreading into the news. There was a belief that she was corrupt and somehow Trump was not. The insanity of all that is something I still can’t comprehend.

I think she has her heart in the right place and would have made a fine President. She was not the right choice to run against Donald Trump. She was exactly the wrong one.

The fact that someone like DJT won partially by repeatedly calling someone else (ANYONE else) crooked is staggering. But it worked.

Another hero from last night, Jason Kander (swoon, please run for something sometime soon).

Kander’s Let America Vote group actively campaigned for 12 candidates, typically at the delegate level (especially at that level in Virginia, but also in NH and NJ).

Those delegate flips in Virginia? Kander and his group knocked 200,000 doors in The Commonwealth in the last two weeks.

They went 12 for 12 last night.

(This was Monday morning.)

Kander is the first person in the political world I’ve believed in for decades, mainly because of his work at the grassroots level. Also, working to fight voter suppression should be a bi-partisan issue, but it’s not, for some reason…

Another hero in Virginia last night: Terry McAuliffe.

McAuliffe signed an executive order granting a blanket restoration of voting rights to former felons who were fully paroled and maintained clean records. The Virginia legislature sued him, and a state supreme court said McAuliffe couldn’t grant that restoration with a single stroke of his pen.

So. Terry McAuliffe, Hillary apologist in 2008, political functionary without a conscience (allegedly), a party-line factotum if ever there was one…Terry Fucking McAuliffe signed 67,000 individual orders – one at a time – restoring voting rights to individuals in the state.

Wait, what, he personally signed 67,000 documents? That’s an epic in and of itself.

He was probably able to use an auto-pen or something like it to run through 100-200 in an hour, but still, just the preparation of those documents to process is boggling.

Stories yesterday peg the number at 168K now, which is just mindblowing.

Yeah, just saw that the 67,000 was in time to vote in 2016. So he’s been busy since then. :)

Wasn’t much going on in Maryland yesterday, but in Annapolis, Gavin Buckley (D - also an Australian immigrant) beat incumbent Mike Pantelides ( R) for mayor.

This guy is a real piece of work:

Carman said the meme was “a bad choice,” but that the women in his life were “strong and confident” enough to not be offended by his joke. He apologized a few days later, saying it was an error in judgment.

So if a woman was offended by his complete disregard for the reasons behind the march or found the joke completely inappropriate she is not strong or confident? Good for her for beating this POS.

Ooooooof course,

I believe that Jason Kander is probably who the Dems should run in 2020… although maybe he needs some time in congress as a Senator.

Regarding trig’s capper last night.

I disagree about the competent and functional leaders bit. I think this is more about motivation, and Democratic voters having a villain to vote against, just as the Republican voters had a villain in Hillary to vote against to drive turnout.

I expect the Voter ID commission to start going full steam ahead in advance of the 2018 elections to do whatever is possible to limit these kind of losses next year, and a whole slew of voter id laws locally in red states. I think it will work to keep the GOP House majority, but the Senate will definitely be in play in 2018, and I don’t think there’s any way Trump even runs in 2020 - he’ll quit before losing.

God Damn it, that is epic!

For some reason, I found this exchange particularly poignant:

https://twitter.com/Carter_PE/status/928245246064054272