2017 Off Off Year Election Night

[Travis]

And if the Dems had done badly, they would be downplaying this.
Politicians of all stripes have been doing this forever, probably since Ancient Greece.
As much as I dislike what the GOP has become,this is SOP for political parties:if you win it is a great important victory,if you lose,it is not that important.

I don't know. In past elections it seems like the Democrats freak out when they lose wondering how it happened then dissecting it.

 

[Stacko]

I don't know. In past elections it seems like the Democrats freak out when they lose wondering how it happened then dissecting it.

It was interesting watching Fox coverage go from "LALALA THIS ISN"T HAPPENING!" last night to "Trump can't fail; he can only be failed" today.

 

[EventHorizon]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but might the Virginia House of Delegates elections be the most telling? The polls I was looking at showed the Democrats gaining maybe 5 or 6 seats but (if the results on the races that are still close hold) they'll have gained 16. That seems like a big swing. Looking back on the history of the HoD, there has never been a swing that big. So is that telling or am I looking too much into it?

 

[BStrong]

I love that they dumped Marshall for Roem.

Sweetest Win Evah!

 

[Trebuchet]

Here in Western Washington, there was a state senate seat open due to the death of the Republican incumbent. It was important because a Dem win would give them control of the senate, instead of the previous tie. That resulted in an unusual amount of TV advertising.

The Dem candidate, Manka Dhingra has been running against Trump from the outset, mentioning her opponent only to say that she had expressed admiration for Trump. She appears to have won by a healthy margin in a formerly Republican district.

 

[Spindrift]

Here in Western Washington, there was a state senate seat open due to the death of the Republican incumbent. It was important because a Dem win would give them control of the senate, instead of the previous tie. That resulted in an unusual amount of TV advertising.

The Dem candidate, Manka Dhingra has been running against Trump from the outset, mentioning her opponent only to say that she had expressed admiration for Trump. She appears to have won by a healthy margin in a formerly Republican district.

I think running against Trump regardless of the opponent will be quite effective in many places in 2018 for Democrats. There could be some stunning upsets.

 

[bruto]

In other news of the night, it appears that the state of Maine has voted by referendum to extend medicaid eligibility, an end run around the Republican governor's refusal to do so. He is still holding out, resolving not to do it unless it can be done without raising taxes (a condition not contained in the referendum), and it looks like an interesting legal battle ahead since it would appear that the State's choice, not the Governor's, is binding.

 

[phiwum]

I don't know. In past elections it seems like the Democrats freak out when they lose wondering how it happened then dissecting it.

Now, I'm just speculating here, but I do wonder whether it is just conceivable that maybe, just maybe, you have a bias in your interpretation of events. Crazy as it sounds, sometimes it happens.

No, never mind. Would be totally awesome if next election was about punishing Trump voters. Looking forward to that.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Here in Western Washington, there was a state senate seat open due to the death of the Republican incumbent. It was important because a Dem win would give them control of the senate, instead of the previous tie. That resulted in an unusual amount of TV advertising.

The Dem candidate, Manka Dhingra has been running against Trump from the outset, mentioning her opponent only to say that she had expressed admiration for Trump. She appears to have won by a healthy margin in a formerly Republican district.

Considering the money from out of state that poured into her opponent's coffers, I'm especially glad she won. The ads against Manka were something else.

They tried the Willie Horton tactic, tried to make Manka look like she supported heroin addicts, and called her too liberal for "the Eastside". Interestingly the ads against the opponent not only said she was proud of Trump but that she didn't "share our values".

But the worst one of all tried to pit Seattle against the suburbs. It had a goofy looking woman saying 'we love free stuff' and another actor implying Seattle looked down on the soccer moms on the Eastside.

It was encouraging to find out those Seattle liberals ads didn't work.

 

[dudalb]

I think running against Trump regardless of the opponent will be quite effective in many places in 2018 for Democrats. There could be some stunning upsets.

If the Dems did attract a number of Moderate Republicans,that is good news.

 

[Stacko]

I think running against Trump regardless of the opponent will be quite effective in many places in 2018 for Democrats. There could be some stunning upsets.

Especially with pro-Trump media, Fox News, Breitbat, etc., pushing for more candidates to embrace Trumpism. They don't seem to understand that he has a ~38% approval and needed 11th hour intervention from the FBI director to win on his own.

 

[Puppycow]

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/08/what-the-hell-just-happened-in-virginia-215805

Over at Breitbart, the front page declared, “Republican Swamp Thing Gillespie Rejected,” only two days after Steve Bannon, Breitbart’s chairman, predicted in an interview that Gillespie would win because he had embraced Trump’s agenda.

Well he was a K Street lobbyist. But it's amusing how quickly he went from hero to zero.

 

[dudalb]

One big think is the margin of victory for Northam. It was not even close.

 

[Puppycow]

One of the less-covered stories:

http://www.ajc.com/news/state--regi...ats-special-elections/9KdkpqNX1CrVKyfal4qj7N/

Georgia Democrats have gained three legislative seats in Tuesday’s special elections.

 

[NoahFence]

Yes, another representative with a mental disorder, oh joy!

You're not really saying the trans woman has a mental disorder are you?

 

[bruto]

You're not really saying the trans woman has a mental disorder are you?

It would not be a surprise, but as I recall he's suggested that liberalism is a mental disorder, so if it mattered either way it could be that too.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Another interesting King County (Seattle) race was for sheriff:

Mitzi Johanknecht Leading King County Sheriff John Urquhart After First Ballot Drop

There were accusations Urquhart quashed a sexual assault claim against himself. Whether the accusations were true or not, they were poorly handled.

"I am out of patience for accused harassers questioning the credibility of their accusers, and if true these latest reports are a particularly egregious example of that," state legislator Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Burien) told The Stranger.

Last Friday, Urquhart removed the list of his endorsers from his website and claimed that Johanknecht's campaign team was "harassing our endorsers." Johanknecht's team did not respond to The Stranger's request for comment, but last week, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington sent letters to all King County Council members asking them to rescind their endorsements, and asked all local leaders to "take a stand against rape culture."

Urquhart came back and levied charges against his opponent that employees didn't like Johanknecht and had filed complaints against her. I'm not surprised given police culture. Hopefully she can overcome that challenge.

 

[TellyKNeasuss]

Northam won by more than the opinion polls predicted. Where are all the complaints about "fake polls" and "fake news"?

 

[Craig4]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but might the Virginia House of Delegates elections be the most telling? The polls I was looking at showed the Democrats gaining maybe 5 or 6 seats but (if the results on the races that are still close hold) they'll have gained 16. That seems like a big swing. Looking back on the history of the HoD, there has never been a swing that big. So is that telling or am I looking too much into it?

This! The two gubernatorial races were kind of no brainers. But when you look at the House of Delegates districts, Trump lost a lot of ground. Areas that were solidly red last year went blue.

The polling data on key concerns is also telling and has lessons for both parties. The Confederate monuments and NFL kneeling issues didn't seem to drive voters. Dems won in areas where 60 percent thought the statues should be left in places. The issues Trump is jumping on are not ones deciding elections.

 

[Foolmewunz]

In other news of the night, it appears that the state of Maine has voted by referendum to extend medicaid eligibility, an end run around the Republican governor's refusal to do so. He is still holding out, resolving not to do it unless it can be done without raising taxes (a condition not contained in the referendum), and it looks like an interesting legal battle ahead since it would appear that the State's choice, not the Governor's, is binding.

On behalf of the members of MIAT (Moderation in All Things), I'd like to congratulate you. I don't think I've ever seen a post about the current Governor of Maine that hasn't used one or the other expression, "batcrap crazy", "notorious bigot", "populist dimwit" or "idiot in over his head".