2022 Congressional & State Elections

[LFC]

Aug 18, 2022 18:55:47 GMT pnwguy said:

Lying is a pre-requisite candidate condition for the GOP.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/18/liz-cheney-concession-call-trump-harriet-hageman

They really just can't help it. Constant lying is necessary to usher in the post-truth society, even if there's no specific reason to lie. It just as to be done.

[LFC]

Oz (I can't bear to call this huckster a doctor) blamed his pathetic "everyman" visit to a grocery store on "exhaustion." Huh, maybe he just needs to take some of the pills and supplements he's been shilling for.

The Hill reports:

Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz said in a new interview that he was “exhausted” when he made a video that later went viral showing the celebrity doctor shopping for ingredients for “crudité” while mispronouncing the name of the grocery store.

“I was exhausted. When you’re campaigning 18 hours a day you, listen, I’ve gotten my kids’ names wrong as well. I don’t think that’s a measure of someone’s ability to lead the commonwealth,” Oz told Newsmax on Wednesday when asked about why he said “Wegners,” a cross between the Redner’s and Wegmans chains.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report on Thursday shifted its rating of the Pennsylvania Senate seat from “toss up” to “lean Democrat.”

This piece is entitled The Humiliation of Dr. Oz Is Nearly Complete. Ouch, but accurate.

Dr. Oz should be better at this. Sure, there was always something oleaginous about the daytime television doctor turned politician’s approach to medicine, in which “magical” pills were touted as miracle cures to problems like obesity and bad skin. But Oz was a daytime television fixture in large part because he had a penchant for selling quick fixes to complex, sometimes intractable problems. Worried about your weight? Just take this pill and watch the pounds fall away. He was a huckster, but he was also telegenic and seemingly down-to-earth. In an era that elevated another TV conman to the highest political heights—and in a political moment in which Republicans have seemed heading toward a wave election—why couldn’t Mehmet Oz be Pennsylvania’s next senator?

In the months since Oz won Donald Trump’s endorsement—which propelled him to victory in a competitive primary—very little has gone according to plan. In late July, Politico reported that “the National Republican Senatorial Committee raised concerns about Oz’s lackluster polling and fundraising on at least three separate occasions in recent weeks,” with one source noting that his high unfavorable numbers were “really freaking everybody out.” From April to the start of July, his Democratic opponent, Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, raised nearly nine times more money than Oz managed—and half of the $3.8 million Oz brought in was money he loaned his own campaign.

But the biggest problem with Oz’s candidacy is that he is an utter phony with a comical inability to conceal this fact from the public view. And this is surprising since hiding his obvious insincerity has hitherto been an important part of his skill set. Yes, Oz is an actual medical doctor—a cardiothoracic surgeon, at that. But his TV persona has always had a loose relationship with actual medicine. He has pushed quack pills and salves for years and been called out for it repeatedly; pressed by NBC News about criticisms he’s received he pointed out that his namesake television show was “not a medical show” and observed that in its logo the word “Dr.” was much smaller than “Oz.”

But hey, it's Steve Bannon to the rescue. The thought of Bannon mocking anybody's looks is comical. Dude, you look like a drunken pedophile priest between parishes!

[goldenvalley]

Bannon asking if someone looks Satanic on a post with that photo of Bannon on it?? 

[LFC]

Aug 18, 2022 22:44:42 GMT goldenvalley said:

Bannon asking if someone looks Satanic on a post with that photo of Bannon on it?? 

When Bannon smiles a puppy or kitten dies.

[LFC]

Uh, oh. Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos may have spoken up about the bogus election "investigation" he himself continued a bit too early. The MAGAts may yet have their revenge.

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) fended off his Trump-endorsed primary challenger by the slimmest of margins – and now said challenger’s taking another shot at Vos’ seat.

Adam Steen, a 2020 election denier who lost his race against Vos by a mere 260 votes, announced during a press conference in Burlington on Thursday that he would be running as a write-in candidate in November’s general election.

“I want the people to be able to choose their election representatives,” he said, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I want them to know the truth about the people that are going to represent them.

Steen signaled that he thinks he would’ve been more likely to win if more people had known about ex-President Donald Trump’s endorsement, which came only a week before the Wisconsin primaries on Aug. 9.

“I was endorsed by [former] President Donald Trump on Aug. 2, 2022,” Steen said, per Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin. “Approximately 2,500 people in this district did not know that endorsement had happened when they had voted on Aug. 9.”

Trump’s endorsement of Steen was largely an attack against Vos, who had enraged the ex-president by not magically de-certifying Wisconsin’s 2020 election results – a legal impossibility (the fact that Vos did launch a nakedly partisan election “audit” at Trump’s behest clearly wasn’t enough for the former president).

[LFC]

Doug Mastriano wants to govern PA the same way DeSatanist governs FL.

[LFC]

Oz just answered a question about his PA residency by saying, "I own property in here." That's so weird. It's not like he hasn't made a career of lying. Why's it so hard to just lie about it now?

[LFC]

Meanwhile Oz suffers from repeatedly being the object of mockery.

[Bact PhD]

Aug 19, 2022 18:06:46 GMT LFC said:

Doug Mastriano wants to govern PA the same way DeSatanist governs FL.

On the basis of that nominee’s mouthings, I’d say he’s trying to one-up the Supreme Emperor by openly rambling about the Jesus angle; Supreme Emperor tends to refrain from the outright use of Xtian vocabulary and buzzwords, sticking with straight culture war wharrgarbl.

[goldenvalley]

Here's more about the Republican Senate Campaign Committee cutting back and backing out of their ad buys. This bolded bit made me laugh:

The NRSC invested heavily in expanding its digital fundraising and building up its database of small-dollar donors. But online giving to Republicans, not just the NRSC, sagged earlier this year from what consultants said was a combination of inflation, changes to Facebook advertising policies, concerns about emails caught in spam filters, and complacency with an anticipated Republican wave. Some Republicans also suspect former president Donald Trump’s relentless fundraising pitches and cash hoarding has exhausted the party’s online donor base.

Probably people are sending fundraising emails to spam/junk folders or unsubscribed from the lists but this makes it sound more nefarious. And Trump's incessant fundraising, ya think?  The ones who respond to that don't care about Senators, only about Trump.

And the below bolsters my beliefs that political campaigns are not much more than an industry funded by a bunch of suckers' money.

The NRSC’s retreat came after months of touting record fundraising, topping $173 million so far this election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission disclosures. But the committee has burned through nearly all of it, with the NRSC’s cash on hand dwindling to $28.4 million by the end of June.

As of that month, the committee disclosed spending just $23 million on ads, with more than $21 million going into text messages and more than $12 million to American Express credit card payments, whose ultimate purpose isn’t clear from the filings. The committee also spent at least $13 million on consultants, $9 million on debt payments and more than $7.9 million renting mailing lists, campaign finance data show.

[Bact PhD]

Aug 19, 2022 21:36:56 GMT Bact PhD said:

Aug 19, 2022 18:06:46 GMT LFC said:

Doug Mastriano wants to govern PA the same way DeSatanist governs FL.

On the basis of that nominee’s mouthings, I’d say he’s trying to one-up the Supreme Emperor by openly rambling about the Jesus angle; Supreme Emperor tends to refrain from the outright use of Xtian vocabulary and buzzwords, sticking with straight culture war wharrgarbl.

Given Supreme Emperor’s speech at the Vance rally in Ohio (covered in the Christian Politics thread), I stand corrected.

[LFC]

Herschel Walker's campaign has to keep him from talking.

[goldenvalley]

Aug 22, 2022 17:19:03 GMT LFC said:

Herschel Walker's campaign has to keep him from talking.

Maybe folks in parts of Georgia look around and say "plenty of trees here" so they agree with him and cheer him on.  

[LFC]

RonJohn is floundering and has no idea what to do.

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson -- one of former President Donald Trump’s most servile sycophants in the U.S. Senate -- has decided to distance himself from the boss now that he’s facing a tough reelection fight.

Johnson trailed Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes by seven points in a recent Marquette Law School poll on the Senate race. Progressives have rallied around Barnes since he outlasted a tough primary field, terming Johnson an “insurrectionist.”

Johnson has pivoted to trying to reinvent himself, according to a report at Milwaukee’s ABC-TV affiliate WISN-12. On a local political talk show, Johnson didn’t sound at all like the guy who carried water for Trump during the 2019 Ukraine scandal.

“First of all, my election’s about me running as a U.S. Senator dealing with issues that are impacting Wisconsinites," Johnson said. “I don’t personally think Trump should have any impact whatsoever on this election, November 2022. What he does in the future, that’s a decision he’s going to make."

Johnson’s “Donald who?” strategy was also on display in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” in which he “sidestepped” a question about whether he would invite Trump to campaign for him this fall.

“To me, this election is about Wisconsin and about 2022. And so from my standpoint, I’ve never asked for anybody’s endorsement. I’m happy to have people’s endorsement, obviously I want as much support as possible,” Johnson told reporters after an immigration event, not referring to Trump by name. “But I’m running as the candidate and I’m trying to appeal to as many Wisconsin voters as possible, so we recognize that under Democrat [sic] control, this has been a disaster.”

Johnson has made a special attempt at recreationist history as to his chief of staff having attempted to convey the names of fake electors to Vice President Mike Pence on the morning of January 6. As CNN reported June 29, Johnson has continually changed his explanation for a last-ditch effort by his office (and almost certainly him) to stop certification of the vote on January 6.

Johnson had called it “a complete non-story.” But on June 21, the House Select Committee on January 6, “showed evidence that Johnson attempted to deliver slates of "fake" Trump electors from Wisconsin and Michigan to Pence ahead of Jan. 6,” ABC news reported.

Text messages between Johnson staffer Sean Riley and Pence aide Chris Hodgson were displayed on-screen in which Riley wrote that Johnson wanted to hand over fake electors from the two states. Riley wrote that Johnson "needs to hand something to VPOTUS,"

"Do not give that to him," the Pence aide replied.

Barnes called for Johnson to resign from the race after that news had broken. And one of his Democratic primary opponents at the time, Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry labeled Johnson a "seditious traitor."

[Bact PhD]

Primary Day here in Flori-DUH. The headline race is the Dem primary for Governor pitting one-time Republican former Governor Charlie Crist against current Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried.

However, what may be more indicative of the mood of the statewide electorate is how the various “non-partisan” races (county school boards, judges) pan out. Supreme Emperor has been far, FAR more involved in School Board races (i.e., endorsing particular candidates) than ANY Governor here I can remember, and that goes back to the mid-1980s. If too many of his candidates go down to defeat, it would suggest that voters are souring on the culture war crap. Conversely, if they win convincingly, Supreme Emperor can get the champagne chilling for November.

I haven’t seen any analysis attempting to predict turnout for today; the historical is in the 15-20% range. *ETA 1: In 2018, the last time a gubernatorial primary was on the ballot, turnout was 28.6%.* Moreover, I’m uncertain which side a high turnout would benefit. Voters here are Mad As Hell over a couple of very local issues, and city races (allegedly non-partisan) for Mayor and Commission, which we don’t vote in, are also on some local ballots.

ETA 2: From what I just saw in the paper, turnout may be more brisk than usual:

…nearly 29,000 people — or 16% of registered voters — have already voted in several key races that are up for grabs on the primary ballot, which could significantly reshape elected bodies in local government.

[snip]

Data shows that roughly 17,900 Democrats have voted, topping the near 8,000 Republican and 2,900 non-party ballots that have been submitted. Approximately 18,000 ballots were mailed in, while about 10,900 people voted early in person.

We’ll head to the precinct in a little while.

[pnwguy]

I'm glad I have no precinct to go to, other than a drop box or mailbox. But I live in Oregon, where every vote is therefore illegal.

"See what happens when we can't intimidate voters in person? The Dems steal the elections"

[LFC]

TPM called this "the cringiest thing you'll see today" and "If you married Dukakis in the tank and George W. Bush in his “Mission Accomplished” flight suit, you get this comedic disaster." I apologize in advance to BactPhD since she has to live with this assclown as her governor.

[goldenvalley]

Aug 23, 2022 14:59:10 GMT pnwguy said:

I'm glad I have no precinct to go to, other than a drop box or mailbox. But I live in Oregon, where every vote is therefore illegal.

"See what happens when we can't intimidate voters in person? The Dems steal the elections"

Especially if you use a drop box.  They are being characterized as the ultimate fraud vehicle.

But in CA drop boxes are most often used, certainly much more than the mailboxes. People like the idea of their ballots in a box that goes straight to the elections office instead wending through the USPS sorting etc.   My local drop box is in the neighborhood supermarket...people all around there and a little postal station right next to it.  Last election I watched people look between the mail and the drop boxes with their ballot return envelopes in hand. I didn't see a single person use the mail box.

[pnwguy]

Aug 23, 2022 16:34:38 GMT goldenvalley said:

Aug 23, 2022 14:59:10 GMT pnwguy said:

I'm glad I have no precinct to go to, other than a drop box or mailbox. But I live in Oregon, where every vote is therefore illegal.

"See what happens when we can't intimidate voters in person? The Dems steal the elections"

Especially if you use a drop box.  They are being characterized as the ultimate fraud vehicle.

But in CA drop boxes are most often used, certainly much more than the mailboxes. People like the idea of their ballots in a box that goes straight to the elections office instead wending through the USPS sorting etc.   My local drop box is in the neighborhood supermarket...people all around there and a little postal station right next to it.  Last election I watched people look between the mail and the drop boxes with their ballot return envelopes in hand. I didn't see a single person use the mail box.

In my county, every public library has a drop box.  At my local branch, they convert one of the two after hours book drops to a ballot drop box.  That way those 2000 mules can rig the election on the way to convert their bribe money into meth 

[goldenvalley]

Aug 23, 2022 16:58:56 GMT pnwguy said:

Aug 23, 2022 16:34:38 GMT goldenvalley said:

Especially if you use a drop box.  They are being characterized as the ultimate fraud vehicle.

But in CA drop boxes are most often used, certainly much more than the mailboxes. People like the idea of their ballots in a box that goes straight to the elections office instead wending through the USPS sorting etc.   My local drop box is in the neighborhood supermarket...people all around there and a little postal station right next to it.  Last election I watched people look between the mail and the drop boxes with their ballot return envelopes in hand. I didn't see a single person use the mail box.

In my county, every public library has a drop box.  At my local branch, they convert one of the two after hours book drops to a ballot drop box.  That way those 2000 mules can rig the election on the way to convert their bribe money into meth 

Hmm I think ours convert the bribe money into pedophile stuff.  

[Bact PhD]

Aug 23, 2022 15:48:37 GMT LFC said:

TPM called this "the cringiest thing you'll see today" and "If you married Dukakis in the tank and George W. Bush in his “Mission Accomplished” flight suit, you get this comedic disaster." I apologize in advance to BactPhD since she has to live with this assclown as her governor.

UGH!!

Tom Cruise Character Is Crossed with a Two-Bit Mob Boss

I gotta get outta this place
It may be the last thing I ever do…

[LFC]

Aug 23, 2022 19:40:42 GMT Bact PhD said:

UGH!!

Tom Cruise Character Is Crossed with a Two-Bit Mob Boss

I think I may have only heard him when he's throwing some temper tantrum or another. I didn't realize just how whimpy he sounds. It makes me wonder if he's one of those people who were picked on as a child and is ready to take it out on everybody he can for the rest of his life.

[LFC]

Once again what passes for humor and cleverness on the right is just adolescent meanness and petty nastiness. This is what you get when an entire major political party has no actual policies.

Oh, wait! Here's a policy! "Dr." Oz wants to privatize healthcare for vets because, you know, the American private health insurance market is the envy of the rest of the world.

[LFC]

This is to make up to BactPhD for that horrible DeSatanist "Top Gun" vid.

[Bact PhD]

"Thanks, I Needed That."

Polls close in my burg in about a half-hour; those in the western Panhandle in about 90 minutes. If our local officials are as efficient as they usually are, we should know most of the outcomes of the local races by the time the 11 PM newscast goes on the air. I doubt we'll know about the statewide ones before morning, unless they're blowouts.