Hi Charlie, to echo my own comment from yesterday and A.B.'s note today that "this isn't hard", I think it's critical for the Democrats to take a page from the GOP playbook and have some scorched earth ads that highlight the real threat to election integrity, namely today's GOP itself. If you want secure elections, who are you going to t…
Hi Charlie, to echo my own comment from yesterday and A.B.'s note today that "this isn't hard", I think it's critical for the Democrats to take a page from the GOP playbook and have some scorched earth ads that highlight the real threat to election integrity, namely today's GOP itself. If you want secure elections, who are you going to trust? Republican Mark Meadows? He was registered to vote in three states at once. Republican Tina Peters? She had security cameras turned off and then brought in a conspiracy theorist to make copies of voting machine hard drives. Republican Steven Hotze? He was just indicted on two felony charges for hiring a private investigator who held an innocent AC repair man at gunpoint. You want election integrity? Vote Democrat.
The biggest issue on the average voter's mind right now is inflation, not democracy. Talk about democracy until November and watch how many seats Dems lose.
"Vote democrat" Why? when I would get something equally obnoxious from the left. That is kinda the choice in a lot of places where the wing nuts have taken over the election machinery.
And who are the wing nuts who you are referring to? And what has the left done that you don't like? Staged a coup? Stripped minorities of their voting rights? Failed to acknowledge who won last election, squarely and fairly? There simply is no equivalent on the left to the disastrous right wing shenanigans.
Except the Democrats have only a small percentage of leftwing activists who are not being given any leeway. The entire Republican Party is corrupt and they honestly want to take over the government to prevent further elections. Do you want to live in a fascist country and be part of dismantling our nearly 250 year Democracy in order to prevent a few far left wing politicians from getting elected?
No, you would not get something equally obnoxious as the full-on fascism the Republican Party is currently trying if you vote for a Democratic candidate.
I'm sorry, but that view is incredibly myopic and will help the Trumpists accomplish their goal of eliminating participatory democracy in the United States.
But I would from my pov, there is not a choice, and leftist lecturing isn't going to change the problem.
If you are Democrat and you want my vote then you need to get somebody on the ballot worth voting for. And that "somebody on the ballot worth voting for" is from my pov. If you are not taking my pov intoconsideration then you may not get my vote.
It always comes down to this. If you want my vote, get out and earn it
I feel like a hypocrite for suggesting this, since I'm not sure I can manage this myself anymore with the other responsibilities I have right now, but...
Suppose some of us are too disgusted to vote for either major party. Maybe we live somewhere that swings so little (even in local races) that it's extra-discouraging. Elections don't just need voters. They also need poll workers and poll watchers — and where rules say there must be a minimum number of Republicans present for balance, specifically Republican poll workers and watchers who aren't going to go crazy and gum up the works. Sane people volunteering for these positions displaces potential craziness. Helping others vote in peace is in its own way a "vote against crazy".
And what has the GoP actually done to earn your vote? Was it the corruption (which makes Hunter Biden look like amateur hour)? The cruelty? The ethno-nationalism? The fake populism? The servile lying and obstruction of justice? The political performance art that is supposed to punish the woke libruls or illegal aliens (that didn't and won't) that is going to cost taxpayers billions of dollars?
What legislation did the GoP put forward that is important to your PoV?
The reality is that I don't think it actually matters to you what the Democrats do because, well, they are Democrats and you are an identity voter, you simply aren't going to vote for one because of the D beside their name.
From a post below it looks like you are from Kansas. There are three democratic candidates for Senate. From a quick look around it looks like Mark Holland has the best chance to win the Democratic primary.
Would he be an acceptable Democrat you could vote for in order to replace Jerry Moran who voted against establishing an independent Jan 6 commission, who voted to acquit Trump twice?
I think Holland is a perfect example of the Democrats problem in red and purple states. He is a former Mayor , who lost his last election, He can't even win in the Democratic county and coming from Wyandotte county has no chance anywhere else. He will be lucky to break 40%. BTW, Jerry Moran has a good enough reputation that he will carry Johnson County so that explains why no qualified Democrat is sticking his neck out. Although for the future of the Democratic party in Kansas it would help to have a suburban Democrat on the ticket. It might keep Kansas 3rd in the Democratic column, Sharice Davids in in a tough battle.
Where do you live that there isn't a better candidate than the Republican. I live in Orange county CA and Mike Levin is far from a socialist. He is a smart and honest family man who works for his constituents. The Republicans who ran in adjacent districts were both charged with felonies.
And I am an Independent because I am fiscally conservative. I vote for the best candidate regardless of party. But Republicans are hardly fiscally conservative or business friendly anymore.
Missouri, a state that has went from swing status to solid red, where the Democratic party is so pathetic that even when we pass something with the initiative petition with a solid majority the Republican legislature feels free to pass counter legislation removing or in the case of healthcare unfunding it. So we have Governor Gomer on one side and we have Cory Bush on the other. And there is the problem.
I don't. I wish I didn't live at the end of the American experiment with an electoral democracy of law. I 'm like Paul Ryan I guess, hiding in my safe zone and hoping the fire won't come for me and my family for a long time. Through some diligence and care, and a very great deal of unmerited good fortune, I am (for now anyway) pretty comfortable and the only thing I truly value that is under threat is my country... the one worth asking not what it can do for me, but the other way around.
You'd be like Paul Ryan if you were sitting on the board at Fox filling your pockets and keeping your mouth shut while Tucker Carlson spews Russian propaganda at grandma and grandpa. Don't compare yourself to that weaselly coward. He's worse than the Tuckers, in his own way, because unlike you and I, he has way more power than a single vote in an election, and he knows what's happening here.
Not to mention, in the handful of actual 2020 election fraud cases I've seen, every single one was committed by a Republican voter, except maybe one. They're cheating to compensate for imaginary cheating on the other side.
I've even heard some people say as much -- that Dems always cheat so why not do the same? The premise that "all the institutions are corrupt" is now being used on the right to justify a "by any means necessary" approach to politics.
Hi Charlie, to echo my own comment from yesterday and A.B.'s note today that "this isn't hard", I think it's critical for the Democrats to take a page from the GOP playbook and have some scorched earth ads that highlight the real threat to election integrity, namely today's GOP itself. If you want secure elections, who are you going to trust? Republican Mark Meadows? He was registered to vote in three states at once. Republican Tina Peters? She had security cameras turned off and then brought in a conspiracy theorist to make copies of voting machine hard drives. Republican Steven Hotze? He was just indicted on two felony charges for hiring a private investigator who held an innocent AC repair man at gunpoint. You want election integrity? Vote Democrat.
The biggest issue on the average voter's mind right now is inflation, not democracy. Talk about democracy until November and watch how many seats Dems lose.
I totally disagree. If you don't have a country, the price of gas loses significance
"Vote democrat" Why? when I would get something equally obnoxious from the left. That is kinda the choice in a lot of places where the wing nuts have taken over the election machinery.
And who are the wing nuts who you are referring to? And what has the left done that you don't like? Staged a coup? Stripped minorities of their voting rights? Failed to acknowledge who won last election, squarely and fairly? There simply is no equivalent on the left to the disastrous right wing shenanigans.
Except the Democrats have only a small percentage of leftwing activists who are not being given any leeway. The entire Republican Party is corrupt and they honestly want to take over the government to prevent further elections. Do you want to live in a fascist country and be part of dismantling our nearly 250 year Democracy in order to prevent a few far left wing politicians from getting elected?
The Dems conspired to overturn elections with the help of domestic terrorists when?
No, you would not get something equally obnoxious as the full-on fascism the Republican Party is currently trying if you vote for a Democratic candidate.
I'm sorry, but that view is incredibly myopic and will help the Trumpists accomplish their goal of eliminating participatory democracy in the United States.
But I would from my pov, there is not a choice, and leftist lecturing isn't going to change the problem.
If you are Democrat and you want my vote then you need to get somebody on the ballot worth voting for. And that "somebody on the ballot worth voting for" is from my pov. If you are not taking my pov intoconsideration then you may not get my vote.
It always comes down to this. If you want my vote, get out and earn it
I feel like a hypocrite for suggesting this, since I'm not sure I can manage this myself anymore with the other responsibilities I have right now, but...
Suppose some of us are too disgusted to vote for either major party. Maybe we live somewhere that swings so little (even in local races) that it's extra-discouraging. Elections don't just need voters. They also need poll workers and poll watchers — and where rules say there must be a minimum number of Republicans present for balance, specifically Republican poll workers and watchers who aren't going to go crazy and gum up the works. Sane people volunteering for these positions displaces potential craziness. Helping others vote in peace is in its own way a "vote against crazy".
Yes it is
And what has the GoP actually done to earn your vote? Was it the corruption (which makes Hunter Biden look like amateur hour)? The cruelty? The ethno-nationalism? The fake populism? The servile lying and obstruction of justice? The political performance art that is supposed to punish the woke libruls or illegal aliens (that didn't and won't) that is going to cost taxpayers billions of dollars?
What legislation did the GoP put forward that is important to your PoV?
The reality is that I don't think it actually matters to you what the Democrats do because, well, they are Democrats and you are an identity voter, you simply aren't going to vote for one because of the D beside their name.
What WOULD get your vote?
From a post below it looks like you are from Kansas. There are three democratic candidates for Senate. From a quick look around it looks like Mark Holland has the best chance to win the Democratic primary.
Here's his wiki page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Holland_(American_politician)
He supports expanding Medicaid, and other boilerplate Democratic policies.
Here's his campaign website page on the issues:
https://www.hollandforkansas.com/issues
Would he be an acceptable Democrat you could vote for in order to replace Jerry Moran who voted against establishing an independent Jan 6 commission, who voted to acquit Trump twice?
I think Holland is a perfect example of the Democrats problem in red and purple states. He is a former Mayor , who lost his last election, He can't even win in the Democratic county and coming from Wyandotte county has no chance anywhere else. He will be lucky to break 40%. BTW, Jerry Moran has a good enough reputation that he will carry Johnson County so that explains why no qualified Democrat is sticking his neck out. Although for the future of the Democratic party in Kansas it would help to have a suburban Democrat on the ticket. It might keep Kansas 3rd in the Democratic column, Sharice Davids in in a tough battle.
Where do you live that there isn't a better candidate than the Republican. I live in Orange county CA and Mike Levin is far from a socialist. He is a smart and honest family man who works for his constituents. The Republicans who ran in adjacent districts were both charged with felonies.
And I am an Independent because I am fiscally conservative. I vote for the best candidate regardless of party. But Republicans are hardly fiscally conservative or business friendly anymore.
Missouri, a state that has went from swing status to solid red, where the Democratic party is so pathetic that even when we pass something with the initiative petition with a solid majority the Republican legislature feels free to pass counter legislation removing or in the case of healthcare unfunding it. So we have Governor Gomer on one side and we have Cory Bush on the other. And there is the problem.
But they were pardoned. At least Hunter was. This proves something. Pardon me for bringing this up.
Ya it proves that they were guilty. ;)
In today's world a pardon proves they were not guilty, like Blagojevitch, and Trump.
I like what you did there!
I don't. I wish I didn't live at the end of the American experiment with an electoral democracy of law. I 'm like Paul Ryan I guess, hiding in my safe zone and hoping the fire won't come for me and my family for a long time. Through some diligence and care, and a very great deal of unmerited good fortune, I am (for now anyway) pretty comfortable and the only thing I truly value that is under threat is my country... the one worth asking not what it can do for me, but the other way around.
You'd be like Paul Ryan if you were sitting on the board at Fox filling your pockets and keeping your mouth shut while Tucker Carlson spews Russian propaganda at grandma and grandpa. Don't compare yourself to that weaselly coward. He's worse than the Tuckers, in his own way, because unlike you and I, he has way more power than a single vote in an election, and he knows what's happening here.
Not to mention, in the handful of actual 2020 election fraud cases I've seen, every single one was committed by a Republican voter, except maybe one. They're cheating to compensate for imaginary cheating on the other side.
I've even heard some people say as much -- that Dems always cheat so why not do the same? The premise that "all the institutions are corrupt" is now being used on the right to justify a "by any means necessary" approach to politics.