2022 Congressional & State Elections

[Bact PhD]

Aug 23, 2022 13:06:53 GMT Bact PhD said:

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.

Crist trounced Fried; she conceded less than an hour after the polls closed in Pensacola.

The AG and Ag Commissioner races are set.

Alas, although the Supreme Emperor-endorsed candidate clearly lost here (roughly 60/40), his minions did very well elsewhere in the state, eg 3/3 in deep red Sarasota County:

www.politico.com/news/2022/08/23/desantis-school-board-candidates-wins-00053440

The majority of local school board candidates backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis — at least 21 out of 30 — won their elections Tuesday, results that underscore how the Republican governor’s stance on education has gained support throughout Florida.

Conservative candidates backed by DeSantis won at least four of the seven head-to-head elections against opponents supported by Democrats, decisions that could spur new school board dynamics in several counties. On top of the victories by DeSantis, four other races featuring candidates with his support are slated to square off in runoff elections.

The concerning area is heretofore reliably blue Miami-Dade; the shift in spots that occurred in 2020 does not appear to be a one-off:

DeSantis-backed candidates also scored big wins in Miami-Dade County, another school board that went against Republicans on masking students.

In one race, Monica Colucci, an educator with GOP support, defeated Marta Perez, a 24-year school board member despite raising about $70,000 less than her opponent. Colucci scored more than $42,000 in donations from political committees tied to conservatives, including state lawmakers from all over Florida, like former state House Speaker Chris Sprowls and incoming Speaker Paul Renner, both Republicans.

[snip]

Also in Miami, Roberto Alonso beat Maribel Balbin — a Democrat candidate — by more than 8,300 votes.

[LFC]

TPM coverage on the elections (plus some other stuff). Nice to see two blatant racists go down in flames.

Good For Everyone

Carl Paladino, the glowering racist with a soft spot for Adolph Hitler, lost in the GOP primary in the NY-23.


Loomer Loses

The extreme right wing candidate Laura Loomer lost in the FL-11 GOP primary. As Mother Jones noted, Loomer would have been a top contender for most racist member of Congress.

Loomer, almost predictably, is now challenging the results and screeching about voter fraud. At this point it's just a Republican reflex to losing any election.

[indy]

Lots of talk about NY-19, where Dem Pat Ryan won by 4 after having trailed in all 4 of the polls that were done. 4 isn't many to go on but if we see another systematic error in polls, it may favor Dems this time around which would most likely actually result in a gain in the House rather than defeat.

[LFC]

A quick analysis of Oz's campaign. I read a comment that Oz is now demanding 5 debates between now and Election Day. Interesting as the GOP have been trashing debates lately. I guess he knows how to be a huckster on TV and views it as an advantageous battlefield. I doubt Fetterman will even give him one. Why should he when he can just let Oz keep shooting himself in the foot?

[LFC]

Aug 24, 2022 14:49:10 GMT indy said:

Lots of talk about NY-19, where Dem Pat Ryan won by 4 after having trailed in all 4 of the polls that were done. 4 isn't many to go on but if we see another systematic error in polls, it may favor Dems this time around which would most likely actually result in a gain in the House rather than defeat.

This is DailyKos so left-left for sure but it's pretty obvious that the polling data missed by a lot. I also read a comment that said with redistricting it did go to R+1 but that doesn't make the polling data any better.

insert quote here


These polls add up to an average of R 7.6. Pat Ryan has won by about four. That is a, gasp, 11.6 miss. Take a look at the DCCC poll. Even that poll had it by 3 for Molinaro, although it showed the race within reach. If we assess this as the most accurate poll, it still missed by 7 points. Point of fact, were we to win seats Trump won by less than five, we would gain 30 in the House. By 7?

Seven is a Blue Tsunami. Now, this was a Biden plus 1.5 district, and an R PVI of 2 overall according to Cook Political Report. But this would still suggest the environment is 6 points more favorable to Democrats than neutral.

[indy]

Aug 24, 2022 14:58:33 GMT LFC said:

Aug 24, 2022 14:49:10 GMT indy said:

Lots of talk about NY-19, where Dem Pat Ryan won by 4 after having trailed in all 4 of the polls that were done. 4 isn't many to go on but if we see another systematic error in polls, it may favor Dems this time around which would most likely actually result in a gain in the House rather than defeat.

This is DailyKos so left-left for sure but it's pretty obvious that the polling data missed by a lot. I also read a comment that said with redistricting it did go to R+1 but that doesn't make the polling data any better.

insert quote here


These polls add up to an average of R 7.6. Pat Ryan has won by about four. That is a, gasp, 11.6 miss. Take a look at the DCCC poll. Even that poll had it by 3 for Molinaro, although it showed the race within reach. If we assess this as the most accurate poll, it still missed by 7 points. Point of fact, were we to win seats Trump won by less than five, we would gain 30 in the House. By 7?

Seven is a Blue Tsunami. Now, this was a Biden plus 1.5 district, and an R PVI of 2 overall according to Cook Political Report. But this would still suggest the environment is 6 points more favorable to Democrats than neutral.

Hope springs eternal I guess, but that's a lot to read into one special election and a few polls. It is always a question mark as to what will animate voters though but given the turnout on the abortion referendum in Kansas and the fact that Ryan made it front and center in his campaign, maybe...

[goldenvalley]

Aug 24, 2022 15:31:17 GMT indy said:

Aug 24, 2022 14:58:33 GMT LFC said:

This is DailyKos so left-left for sure but it's pretty obvious that the polling data missed by a lot. I also read a comment that said with redistricting it did go to R+1 but that doesn't make the polling data any better.

Hope springs eternal I guess, but that's a lot to read into one special election and a few polls. It is always a question mark as to what will animate voters though but given the turnout on the abortion referendum in Kansas and the fact that Ryan made it front and center in his campaign, maybe...

It depends on what the hot topic is in October.  Back in June it was all about inflation.  As the summer wears on and we read more and more about the impact of Dobbs on women and medical providers abortion is front and center.  Each week brings something different on the Trump front. Who knows what will be next...natural disaster, a mass, mass shooting, some economic upheaval, Ukraine, an indictment...

[Bact PhD]

Aug 24, 2022 15:37:49 GMT goldenvalley said:

Aug 24, 2022 15:31:17 GMT indy said:

Hope springs eternal I guess, but that's a lot to read into one special election and a few polls. It is always a question mark as to what will animate voters though but given the turnout on the abortion referendum in Kansas and the fact that Ryan made it front and center in his campaign, maybe...

It depends on what the hot topic is in October.  Back in June it was all about inflation.  As the summer wears on and we read more and more about the impact of Dobbs on women and medical providers abortion is front and center.  Each week brings something different on the Trump front. Who knows what will be next...natural disaster, a mass, mass shooting, some economic upheaval, Ukraine, an indictment...

Agreed. They don’t refer to an “October Surprise” for nuthin’.

In that vein, an analysis ran in my local rag today regarding the chances of Supreme Emperor getting another term. Bearing in mind this went to bed before yesterday’s results were known it’s still an interesting read. Heavily excerpted due to paywall; link won’t paste right owing to website issues.

Joey Mackey voted for Ron DeSantis in 2018, but is wavering on whether to support him again.

Mackey is a 28-year-old attorney from Jacksonville who is registered as a no-party affiliation voter and has supported both Republicans and Democrats, once casting a ballot for former President Barack Obama.

He believes DeSantis has done a "pretty decent job" as governor, but is concerned that not enough is being done to address the state's growing affordability problems, which Mackey felt recently when his rent went up "substantially."

Mackey’s views are reflected in recent polling conducted by the University of North Florida on behalf of the USA TODAY Network – Florida, which found the governor may be vulnerable on the question of whether he has adequately addressed cost-of-living concerns in a state where everything from home prices to rent, property insurance and utility rates are spiking.

However, DeSantis critics who accuse him of failing to address pocketbook issues because he is spending too much time on culture war concerns may have trouble making that argument stick, according to the poll, which found a majority of voters approve of the governor's focus on social issues.

The poll offers further evidence that the GOP’s culture battles may be shifting its appeal, pulling in more working-class voters, including Hispanics, even as some higher educated voters are turned off.

Democrats have hammered DeSantis on the affordability issue, saying he is too focused on how race, gender identity and sexual orientation are discussed in schools and not enough on helping people who are struggling financially.

At least part of that message could be effective in swaying voters

The UNF/USA TODAY Network — Florida survey found that 50% of voters disapprove of how DeSantis has handled the growing cost-of-living problems in Florida, compared to 48% who approve.

That's close to a "wash," noted UNF Public Opinion Research Lab Faculty Director Michael Binder, who oversaw the poll. But digging deeper into the numbers reveals more potential vulnerability for DeSantis. 

Independents such as Mackey who are more likely to be swing voters take a dimmer view of how DeSantis has handled the state's affordability problems, with 56% saying they disapprove.

[snip]

Binder noted that even among Republicans, support for the governor's approach to Florida's affordability problem is "soft," with only 45% saying they "strongly approve" of DeSantis' record on this issue, compared to 81% of Republicans who strongly approve of his culture war battles.

[snip]

DeSantis is in a strong position heading into his reelection bid. He has an enormous fundraising advantage and a 50% overall approval rating according to other UNF polling. The broader political climate also plays to his advantage, with Democrats facing headwinds nationally and in Florida, which has been trending more Republican.

[large snip]

Blue collar voters and Hispanic voters are particularly enthusiastic about DeSantis’ focus on cultural issues. The UNF/USA TODAY Network – Florida survey found that 54% of voters without a college degree support how the governor has approached cultural issues, and 60% of Hispanic voters.

Reynaldo Cortez isn’t one of them, but he’s not surprised that many of his fellow Hispanic voters in Florida view the governor’s approach positively.

Cortez, 67, is a Miami resident who is retired from his job in transportation engineering. He originally is from New Mexico. Many of the Hispanic voters in Miami-Dade County come from countries such as Cuba and Venezuela with authoritarian socialist regimes.

“It’s all about communism and that’s where Trump hit the nail right on the head,” Cortez said of the concerns of many South Florida Hispanic voters. “And that’s where Democrats are making a huge mistake… it’s just totally pissing off at least this portion of the Hispanic population.”

Binder noted that many Hispanic voters are religious and may be conservative on social issues.

“It makes sense if you’re going to pitch your campaign on culture issues that’s an avenue into the very, very diverse Hispanic vote in Florida," Binder said.

[snip]

Voters such as Cortez with a college degree generally view DeSantis unfavorably on both cultural and affordability issues, according to the UNF/USA TODAY Network – Florida survey.

The poll offers further evidence that the GOP’s culture battles may be shifting its appeal, pulling in more working-class voters, even as some higher educated voters such as Cortez and Mackey are turned off.

TLDR version: Christofascism not only plays well with the White Evangelical Protestants in North Flori-DUH, it plays a LOT better among the Latino Catholics in South Flori-DUH than many of the experts who were predicting the “demographic shift favoring Democrats” anticipated. Those experts had better change that thought pattern ASAP and figure out what WILL draw those voters.

[LFC]

Aug 23, 2022 20:43:09 GMT LFC said:

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

And the internet continues to produce.

[LFC]

Interesting how some primaries played out at more local levels in Florida.

With the fight over abortion rights looming large over the midterm elections, voters in Florida ousted two prominent anti-abortion elected officials in separate races on Tuesday.

Florida Rep. James Bush lost his reelection bid, a notable defeat for the sole Democrat in the state legislature who voted on a 15-week abortion ban and the anti-LGBTQ "Don't Say Gay" bill.

His opponent, 37-year-old lawyer Ashley Gantt, ran on a platform focused on affordable housing, public education, and criminal justice reform. Gantt, an attorney and former public school teacher, has criticized Bush for siding with Republicans on the abortion ban and the "Don't Say Gay" bill, which bars "classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity."

Florida voters also ousted Jared Smith, an incumbent circuit judge for Hillsborough County who gained notoriety for rejecting a teenager's request for an abortion because her grades were low.

The race between Smith and his opponent, Nancy Jacobs, was relatively contentious for a typically low-key nonpartisan judgeship election, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Smith had denied a 17-year-old seeking an abortion without parental consent in January this year on the basis that her grades were low and that she lacked "intelligence or credibility," and was therefore not mature enough to get an abortion. An appeals court later overturned his ruling.

Jacobs did not directly criticize Smith over his decision (Florida bars judicial candidates from making public statements on legal issues), but she has shared posts on Facebook regarding the ruling.

In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Jacobs said she looked forward to taking the bench in January and "ensuring that the people of Hillsborough County who enter my courtroom are treated with respect, dignity, and integrity every day."

She said that Smith's decision in the abortion case was possibly "one factor among many in voters’ decisions on whom to cast their ballots for in this race" given that it made national headlines.

Smith had made his Christian faith central to his reelection campaign. His wife, Suzette Smith, once told supporters that Jacobs, who is Jewish, "needs Jesus."

"We pray for her. She needs Jesus," Suzette Smith said. "To deny God and to deny the Bible is a person that’s — the heart is very hard toward God.”

Jacobs called the comments "troubling" and accused the couple of "using their religion to insult and disparage the faith of an opposing candidate."

[LFC]

Poor RonJohn. I can't think of anything more Republican than playing the victim rather than taking responsibility.

How Are Things Going For Ron Johnson?

He’s just a victim, y’all.

I’m up against massive amounts of spending. I’m up against the media. They’re very good. They are very good at assassinating people’s character, playing class envy, distorting things beyond any reasonable recognition of things I say.

Please stop persecuting Sen. Johnson.

Hey, RonJohn. What's been going on has been definition of character, not defamation. I know you're not very bright but try to look it up in a thesaurus. Do you know what a thesaurus is? No, it's not a dinosaur.

[LFC]

There are a lot of people who don't like Oz for a whole variety of reasons and as Election Day comes closer they're beating the crap out of him. He's gotta' be feeling this. Hannity is certainly in a panic to get at Fetterman. This is from an Armenian group who, as you can imagine, are none too pleased with his deep ties to Turkey.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has called for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, amid growing alarm over Oz’s links to Turkey’s dictator Recep Erdogan, his dual Turkey – U.S. citizenship, and open association with Armenian Genocide deniers. With the hotly contested May 17 Republican primary just days away, the ANC of Pennsylvania is expanding its grassroots campaign to ensure voters make informed choices at the ballot box.

It's also out that he was all in on hydroxychloroquine.

Mehmet Oz petitioned top White House officials to green light the use of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in March of 2020, newly released emails show.

The drug, which never showed any success at fighting Covid-19 in spite of multiple trials, was presented by Oz as a “potential pandemic solution” in emails to Dr. Deborah Birx and others.

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post obtained emails, text messages, and other correspondence from a congressional panel probing the response to the pandemic.

During the initial days of the spread of Covid, on March 23, 2020, Jared Kushner responded to an email from Oz with a subject that read, “Oz French Study Game Plan.” The email was about a European trial regarding how Covid-infected patients reacted to hydroxychloroquine.

Kushner wrote, “What do u recommend to speed it up?”

Oz responded by portraying the drug, which was at that point being invoked by former President Donald Trump in media briefings, as a “potential pandemic solution.”



Kushner responded, “I believe the clinical trials are starting this week.”

Oz responded with a lengthy message about the trial, and the need for one in the U.S. He also sent Kushner a video link to a segment from his show.

In a separate email to Birx, Oz asked to recruit patients for a trial.

“I will personally recruit patients and pay for trial,” Oz wrote on March 22, 2020. “We have manpower since elective surgery is canceled. We just need drugs.”

Two points. First, anybody want to bet against Oz having a way to profit from this? Second, by a show of hands, who here would trust Oz to run a legitimate medical trial of any kind?

[goldenvalley]

Aug 25, 2022 15:45:58 GMT LFC said:

There are a lot of people who don't like Oz for a whole variety of reasons and as Election Day comes closer they're beating the crap out of him. He's gotta' be feeling this. Hannity is certainly in a panic to get at Fetterman. This is from an Armenian group who, as you can imagine, are none too pleased with his deep ties to Turkey.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has called for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, amid growing alarm over Oz’s links to Turkey’s dictator Recep Erdogan, his dual Turkey – U.S. citizenship, and open association with Armenian Genocide deniers. With the hotly contested May 17 Republican primary just days away, the ANC of Pennsylvania is expanding its grassroots campaign to ensure voters make informed choices at the ballot box.

It's also out that he was all in on hydroxychloroquine.

Mehmet Oz petitioned top White House officials to green light the use of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in March of 2020, newly released emails show.

The drug, which never showed any success at fighting Covid-19 in spite of multiple trials, was presented by Oz as a “potential pandemic solution” in emails to Dr. Deborah Birx and others.

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post obtained emails, text messages, and other correspondence from a congressional panel probing the response to the pandemic.

During the initial days of the spread of Covid, on March 23, 2020, Jared Kushner responded to an email from Oz with a subject that read, “Oz French Study Game Plan.” The email was about a European trial regarding how Covid-infected patients reacted to hydroxychloroquine.

Kushner wrote, “What do u recommend to speed it up?”

Oz responded by portraying the drug, which was at that point being invoked by former President Donald Trump in media briefings, as a “potential pandemic solution.”



Kushner responded, “I believe the clinical trials are starting this week.”

Oz responded with a lengthy message about the trial, and the need for one in the U.S. He also sent Kushner a video link to a segment from his show.

In a separate email to Birx, Oz asked to recruit patients for a trial.

“I will personally recruit patients and pay for trial,” Oz wrote on March 22, 2020. “We have manpower since elective surgery is canceled. We just need drugs.”

Two points. First, anybody want to bet against Oz having a way to profit from this? Second, by a show of hands, who here would trust Oz to run a legitimate medical trial of any kind?

I've always wondered why Oz wants to be a senator.  He's rolling in money and he's pretty much not accountable for the things he says on his tv show (though Congress called him on the carpet over diet pills). Don't know what the deal is with Erdogan if any or if it has motivated him somehow.  He doesn't strike me as ideological...just greedy and egotistical.

[LFC]

Fetterman continues to dig in the spurs, this time going after Oz's medical advice directly.

[LFC]

A new poll showed Doug Mastriano with his first lead over Josh Shapiro and the campaign crowed about it on social media. The only problem is that the source of the info was a high school kid making a prank call. (Wayback link due to paywall) Actually the kid wanted to test how Republicans treated polling organizations and so he made up a fake one to test what they'd do with the favorable news. Mastriano was his first test case and they fell for it, hook, line, sinker, rod, reel, and boat.

Clout understands why State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, touted on social media the results of a new “poll” that for the first time showed him with a narrow lead over the Democratic nominee, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

What we don’t get: Why did Mastriano and campaign advisor Jenna Ellis leave up those social media posts for five days — as it soon became clear it was a hoax and the “pollster” had pranked him?

Curious call for a cantankerous candidate who dismisses any media reporting that does not exalt him as “fake news.”

The “pollster” — who would only identify himself as “a high school student from southwestern Connecticut who likes politics” — told Clout in a Twitter message exchange that he created the Twitter account Carleton Polling this month to test a theory about a “double standard” for polling and political parties.
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His hypothesis: Republicans attack the credibility of established polling firms that release surveys with results they don’t like but take seriously and push polls even if they “don’t seem legitimate.”

Mastriano was his first test.

He posted it on Twitter Saturday afternoon with an all-caps siren headline — New #PAGOV POLL SHOWS MASTRIANO LEAD.” It claimed Mastriano led Shapiro 47.4% to 45.3% in a survey of 2,800 likely voters.

Mastriano, whose Twitter account was tagged in that tweet, quickly retweeted it and retweeted supporters who also retweeted it.

“The Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania literally retweeted a joke poll from some high schooler without questioning anything,” the student said in a follow-up email to Clout. “I’ll admit, I expected some random Twitter accounts to share it, but not Doug Mastriano himself.”

Mastriano also retweeted a Carleton Polling post Sunday that said, “It has become abundantly clear” that he “is going to win the Pennsylvania governor’s race. All the data we are analyzing right now shows him ahead.”

Ellis, a senior legal advisor to Mastriano’s campaign and one-time lawyer for former President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, also retweeted the poll Saturday. And then she retweeted a Carleton Polling post Sunday that said: “It’s ironic how everybody on Twitter is mad at us because we’re the only ones not putting out fake Democratic propaganda polls.”

Breitbart, a right-wing web site, included the Carleton Polling tweet in a story Monday about Mastriano’s chances but then cut it, posting an editor’s note that the story would “focus only on established pollsters.”
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Carleton Polling responded with a tweet, accusing Breitbart of selling out “to the liberal media.”

[LFC]

Here in PA Oz has been the main target of mockery but Mastriano is now taking his turn in the barrel.

[LFC]

This is going to be an interesting race. It's custom made for headlines even if it won't be competitive, and the Dem knows it.

Voters in Florida’s panhandle will choose this November between two of the most polarizing political figures in the state.

On the one side is Matt Gaetz, the Republican congressman and Trump wannabe who is reportedly under federal investigation for potential sex crimes. On the other is Democrat Rebekah Jones, a former state geographer and Gov. Ron DeSantis antagonist who is currently facing a state criminal charge after alleging that she came under pressure from superiors to fudge COVID-19 data.

Florida’s First Congressional District is blood red, all but ensuring Gaetz’ victory. But Jones is a high-profile critic of the DeSantis administration and the Republican Party more generally, and her race against Gaetz will offer a megaphone for her to make her case.

“This is good versus Gaetz, and nothing’s going to stop us now,” Jones said in a victory message after Tuesday’s results were clear.

Gaetz won with nearly 70% of the vote in his primary, despite the reported federal sex trafficking investigation, beating a challenger who suggested he’d been an informant for the FBI raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and resort. (Gaetz denied the charge.)

[LFC]

Loomer is having a meltdown and it's directed at the Republican Party. You'll have this when you cater to these kinds of people.

The far-right, conspiracy-trafficking, anti-Muslim internet personality Laura Loomer lost to incumbent Rep. Dan Webster in the FL-11 this week, and it wasn’t even particularly close. Webster won 51-44. But Loomer, in fitting Trumpian fashion, is refusing to concede in increasingly unhinged ways.

Loomer declared Thursday in a rambling and vaguely threatening statement: “I actually am the Congresswoman in Florida’s 11th District, and everyone knows it.”

[AnBr]

Might be indicative of the midterms. Biden's polling numbers coming up after August's big wins. This is in large parts due to independents.

www.businessinsider.com/biden-approval-is-on-an-upswing-after-a-productive-august-2022-8

August was a remarkable month for Biden.

On the second day of the month, his administration announced it had successfully killed the leader of al-Qaeda in a drone strike. On August 7, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a long-awaited climate and health care bill that looked dead in the water as recently as July. And just this past week, the administration announced a student loan forgiveness executive order that will see qualifying borrowers see $10,000 in loan forgiveness, $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients.

Indeed, if the polling swing is related to the successful IRA legislative package that was actually signed by the president on August 16, only about a third of Gallup's sample responded after that signature. This might just be the start of the upswing.

...

Perhaps most encouraging for the Democrats is where this support is coming from. There's a world in which this bump is merely the result of Biden-skeptical Democrats who would never have otherwise considered backing Republicans in November and are merely coming home after a successful month for the party's priorities.

This isn't the case. It's from Independents.

[AnBr]

Democrats see the once unthinkable: A narrow path to keeping the House

Democrats are voicing growing confidence about limiting losses in the House and potentially even salvaging their majority in the midterm elections, with candidates and allied groups making moves to capitalize on a backlash to abortion restrictions, signs of improvements in the economy and opposition to Donald Trump.

After months of gloomy predictions, Democrats are investing anew in flipping Republican seats. They are also directing more money to protect a roster of their own endangered incumbents — a list party officials said noticeably shrank since the spring. And they are trying to frame contests around abortion rights, putting Republicans on the defensive for strict opposition to the procedure in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Democratic fundraisers have reported an uptick in donations over the last month, and at least one of the party’s biggest donors is considering pouring more money into House races, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is privately voicing more confidence about the House landscape and opportunities to go on offense, people familiar with the conversations said, while President Biden’s White House has grown more optimistic in its outlook. One Biden adviser reacted with umbrage at a private meeting with reporters this month to the suggestion that Republicans were likely to win back control of Congress.

[LFC]

Videos have popped up of Doug Mastriano livestreaming him talking to people defending a Robert E. Lee statue at Gettysburg. His praise for a half American - half Confederate Pro-Slavery flag is disgusting. This man is not a real American and I just hope enough Pennsylvanians see that.

[LFC]

Republicans practicing Trumpism continue to bring us the "best people" as candidates.

As bad as things are for the party — Mehmet “crudité” Oz and Blake “everybody go read the Unabomber” Masters are trailing their Democratic foes significantly in purple states — Republicans are poised to add yet another deeply flawed candidate to the team.

Retired Army Brigadier General Don Bolduc appears to be leading the Republican pack in New Hampshire, based on what few polls have been done. A recent St. Anselm College one shows him doubling the support for Chuck Morse, the bland but establishment-preferred president of the state Senate.

Alas, Bolduc is a conspiracy theorist without a filter, someone who pals around with Michael Flynn and calls the state’s popular Republican governor a “Chinese communist sympathizer” whose family business “supports terrorism.” And just wait until you hear his thoughts on the 17th Amendment.

For Republicans, nominating a kook in this state is no small embarrassment. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) has been considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents since primary season started, approximately 100 years ago. She barely eked out her first win in 2016 and is still putting up lackluster approval numbers in the state.

While McConnell’s ding on his potential future colleagues was notably lacking in accountability, he may come to regret his failure to recruit New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) to run (Sununu said that McConnell’s strategy of comprehensive opposition made the idea of working at the Senate repellent) as one of the greatest lost opportunities of the cycle.

Here are five things to know about Bolduc before the New Hampshire primary on Sept. 13, the last competitive one of the year.

They hit some of the major points first and then finish up with this grab bag of nonsense.

5. He plays the hits.

Bolduc makes waves with his foreign policy stances too. In the last year, he called for the United States military to “get in there on the ground” in Ukraine. He’s also fully embraced the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic is “China’s fault,” because they developed it in a lab and let it escape.

Back stateside, he called Black Lives Matter protesters “domestic terrorists” and accused Bill Gates and George Soros of funding “domestic terrorist organizations” during the 2020 protests.

He’s also been an avid anti-vaxxer, again crediting Gates with unmatched supervillainy. The billionaire, Bolduc posits, wants to use the COVID-19 vaccine as an excuse to implant computer chips in an unwitting populace.

“The only bracelets anyone is going to put on me are handcuffs, because I’m fighting for my individual rights, my constitutional rights,” Bolduc said in a May 2020 YouTube video. “And the only chip that’s going in me is a Dorito.”

[LFC]

The cast of Republican crazies are spinning up this election season. Here we have an actual Confederate activist traitor to America telling his followers (a 4 of them?) to show up to Doug Mastriano's rallies in Confederate garb as a show of support. Personally I say go for it. Confederate symbols have clearer become more toxic over the pat decade.

Wannabe Senator from AZ Blake Masters thinks tying diversity on the Federal Reserve board to the economy is pretty funny. It's all a part of his Republican "charm", I guess.

Trump-backed GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in Arizona, Blake Masters, tried to dunk on the Federal Reserve over the weekend in a tweet that sparked a quick backlash of angry condemnation.

Masters sparked the fury by replying to a tweet from the Associated Press, which read:

Leadership at the Federal Reserve has become its most diverse ever. There are more female, Black and gay officials contributing to the central bank’s interest-rate decisions than at any time in its 109-year history.

The Arizona Republican thought to make a wisecrack regarding the AP’s pro-diversity framing of the story and shared the tweet with the comment, “Finally a compelling explanation for why our economy is doing so well.”

Masters has been a lightning rod of controversy since announcing his bid for the senate as old posts and comments he has made resurfaced.

Masters, who is now running as a hard-right “America First” candidate, once “called for ‘unrestricted’ immigration while praising drug smugglers as ‘heroes,’” reported Jewish Insider after delving through old posts online from when Masters was a libertarian.

In more recent comments, Masters has suggested the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol was a false flag attack coordinated by the FBI and blamed “Black people” for gun violence in the U.S.

Masters’s latest remark whipped up a bevy of accusations of racism and white supremacy by critics online, while many in the media noted Masters is clearly not pivoting to a softer message for the general election.

Axios’s Josh Kraushaar commented, “Masters still on primary message mode.” Former NPR reporter Pam Fessler responded, “He might want to reconsider this tweet, unless he doesn’t care about more than half the AZ electorate.” Masters’s tweet came a day after news broke that his campaign website had been scrubbed of his pro-life positions, including support for a “federal personhood law,” which effectively would ban abortion nationwide.

And then there's Herschel. Poor, poor brain damaged Herschel. As one commenter noted this is basically a "junior sheriff's badge" that they hand out to children but he doesn't seem to understand that anymore. It's actually pretty sad.

[goldenvalley]

Aug 30, 2022 15:37:38 GMT LFC said:

And then there's Herschel. Poor, poor brain damaged Herschel. As one commenter noted this is basically a "junior sheriff's badge" that they hand out to children but he doesn't seem to understand that anymore. It's actually pretty sad.

I agree with you on this. He's being used by people (again) who are trading on his football hero status. Lots of people made money off of his talents back in the day but at least he got money for that. This time around he's just on display as a trophy.

[LFC]

Oz just admitted that he has no control over his campaign staff. WTF? That's an "I'm not competent to lead a staff" argument!