So apparently there were some elections last week.
By rights it should have been a blowout for the Republicans. That's what always happens during midterms, right? Sure... abortion rights drove some of the younger crowd to show up. But inflation drove a lot of the red team to show up.
I really believe the final straw was just how absolutely garbage the candidates were in some of the contested races. Tying themselves to the election lie and a dedication to destroy governance for real.
That said... I still have no idea how the fuck Ron Johnson (WI) won again though.
Tagged:
Comments
All of the Trump-backed election denyers lost... It has to be a motivating factor. In the states, where it mattered, the abortion rights issue seemed to drive people to vote. All of the ballot initiatives associated with abortion fell to the pro-abortion side.
The vote was close enough to indicate that the red voters turned up.
If the only thing you cared about was the economy, I can see the swing voters going red; but I don't know if there were enough middle/swing voters that would forsake all of the other concerns (democracy, abortion, etc.) just for the economy issue.
I hate the way the economy issue is handled. The government's ability to steer the economy (in the short term) is so limited; and involves so many factors that the government has absolutely no influence over. The government takes too much credit for when it's going good, and catches too much blame for when it's in the toilet. Unless you can point at one specific factor or group of factors... (for example, the Bush administration killed the regulations that would have prevented the debt-swap disaster that triggered the 2008 crash).
The inflation crisis was always going to happen... COVID, supply chain crash and the Ukraine war. It was unavoidable... but somehow the Democrats fault. The causes were all sewn during the Trump administration, and were global... but it's Biden's fault that inflation in the UK was over 11%. Let's vote for the party more likely to exacerbate the problem. American politics are so full of bullshit, it's sickening.
The loudest absolute garbage is definitely in the U.S.... but its definitely not limited here.
They're importing a lot of the worst garbage from other countries that went full authoritarian. (Thanks Steve Bannon!). Then we're exporting the worst of our own shit to other countries ourselves. Its a vicious circle of trying to put out dumpster fires with larger dumpster fires.
Enter the right's new favourite: Viktor Orbán
So... Nancy Pelosi is leaving the Democratic leadership... I think this is a good thing. The right has weaponized their hate for her, to the point that Pelosi is a motivation for them.
Someone fresh, without the baggage, will take that rallying cry away from the 'publicans. At least until they get to know (and hate) the next person.
Whoever is in that position is going to be hated (especially if they're a woman). But yeah... there has been time for this hate to FESTER. But that said, I think its a good thing because I believe she has been in charge of things for too long.
She has built one hell of a fundraising engine that the Dems definitely benefit from, and it would be great if she can shift responsibility and knowledge to others.
But she has also been waaaay too moderate in her positions on many topics (in my opinion). She has demonstrated that when something motivates her she can pull all the punches to get the votes lined up. But the stuff that doesn't motivate her is fucking aggravating.
Still, she beats the HELL out of fucking Chuck Schumer in the Senate, who should have retired 6 years ago. These fucks always seem to stay in the head position for one or two terms longer than they should.