U.S. Politics, November 2022: “I don’t know, you hear the same things I do”

of all of the things in America that are sad, that is way down the list

that doesn’t even make top 10 of “sad” things

If Warnock wins and Dems get to 51-49 that will be even better for a number of reasons

Three huge differences between a 50-50 and 51-49 D majority:

1) Having a majority on each Committee versus power sharing/deadlocks requiring discharge petitions;

2) No single D Senator can hijack/block nominations; and

3) Ds can have *two* members absent and still hold votes.

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) November 13, 2022

Also good because many of them are a billion years old and likely to drop dead any day.

true for both sides, as well, which reminds me that Grassley, 89, coasted to an easy victory

Personally I wouldn't be surprised if Feinstein steps down after the GA election is over. Newsom can just appoint someone, keep it steady.

She won’t

She might *fall* down

is it rude to make fake "pushing" motions when a senator is nearby? probably rude. could also be confusing when grassley and feinstein are in the same room and all the aides and handlers and media people are all making fake pushing motions

feinstein and grassley plan joint strategy session by niagara falls

*fake pushing whoosh noises*

Seems like one of their problems was that they ran a bunch of absolute freaks

I don’t know how ppl watch pro sports, major corporations spreading woke propaganda while convincing men that the masculine thing to do is watch other men compete in a silly game.

Bread & circuses designed to dilute our awareness.

— Joe Kent for WA-3 (@joekent16jan19) February 14, 2022

When you're obsessed with bottoming, there is no bottom.

I was just reading about that race. Michelle Goldberg wrote a long piece about it ahead of the election, describing the eventual winner, auto shop owner Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, as a "34-year-old rural working-class Democrat who is emphasizing abortion rights": https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/24/opinion/house-republican-elections.html

Also, Kent captured the Republican nomination by primarying Jaime Herrera Beutler, who was one of the few GOP House members to vote for impeachment.

I agree with Kent but for completely different reasons— I am a lunatic who wholeheartedly believes that professional sports, particularly American football, should be banned.

But my opinions on that are well known from the football death spiral thread

"lol sporpsball" commentary is weirdly common on the right, especially with gun nuts. Some minor leeway for individual bloodsport (MMA) but in the end why are you eating Dorito's on the couch watching the Cowboys when you could be practicing your quickdraw skills while tanning your balls like a real man?

NGL this might be a clock is right twice a day sitch for me

pro sports are still far too male dominated but otherwise i say, play on

idc i just mute the shit out of it on socials, it's almost like it doesn't exist for me. only see it when i go out, everywhere still seems to have tvs all over the place, i wonder if that will ever not be the case.

sometimes feel like the basis for being politically conservative just comes down to deep sexual insecurity or trauma

that last sentence re: koe jent and diluting awareness whatever that means

whatever that means

football is just a circus that distracts everyone from their duty as (white) citizens to TAKE BACK THEIR COUNTRY

"Stay woke"--Joe Kent

Sure...Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder the face of WOKE corporate America.

so wtf happened to florida its just a deep red state now howd that get that way

highest percentage of elderly people
Latinx voting pattern differs from elsewhere
internal migration from blue states
Evangelicals have found the new Jerusalem and it's a malarial swamp
If you deny climate change hard enough you won't be drowning in 20 years

idk many if not all of those things were true when florida was purple, now you have statewide offices going 20% r, something happened

Old people redden with age.

There are more alive old people (proportionally speaking).

Oldsters have money (because they designed an economy that benefits them) and therefore they can move to The Villages instead of dying in poverty or aging in place.

Hence Florida reddening.

dont think that nearly can explain the shift weve witnessed, and i might take issue with the basics of that argument

I think the increasing numbers of/influence of white evangelicals in the last few decades can't be overstated.

People are leaving mainstream Christianity in droves either to be secular or batshit evangelical. Evangelicals also make more kids.

but is this phenomena particular to florida, cause we havent seen this political shift other places, and if so why

its no doubt a combination of things but im thinking prob a lot of the famously heterodox florida latinos went from vaguely middle of the road to full maga, prob some dem party incompetence, and then some unfavorable demographic shifts, im sure someone can look at the data and figure it out pretty easily, tho the more important question is not what happened but why

The nation has been telling Florida how much it hates Florida since 2000 so maybe the feeling got mutual.

many if not all of those things were true

It always had a lot of old people but as of a couple of years ago they were growing at twice the rate of any other age group

imo let them have Florida and get to work on Texas

the bad news is that more and more states are going to have Florida-esque populations of grouchy old assholes over time

i dont think people are really appreciating how far right florida has gone its off the map baby dem barely won the bluest parts of the state this cycle

Missouri's rightward shift mystifies me more than Florida's, frankly.

I was born in Missouri and spent sizable chunks of my life there. Its politics seemed comprehensible to me from 1975 to 2002.

Then it went full Greitens/Hawley and I can't quite figure out why.

does seem to be a thing that happens states lose their minds now and then, i suspect a lot of it has to do with politics

healthcare is too good for rich old people, we need the death panels

i watched the documentary about the villages it very well done but i had to turn off that shit was depressing as shit

I know Trump just makes shit up sometimes but this is one of those unusually specific claims that definitely seems like it oughta be looked into

Uh... you did what now? pic.twitter.com/CeFXbS9m34

— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) November 11, 2022

A lot of people moving someplace can, and probably should, change its character.

If we were to suddenly import 50,000 Whitesnake fans into South Dakota, we would not be surprised when the legislature declares that September 22 (David Coverdale's birthday) shall henceforth be called Whitesnakemas.

It would be more interesting if 50,000 of the existing South Dakotans suddenly became very interested in Whitesnake.

Florida is not static; it is dynamic. People move to Florida quite often. Hence its political character is subject to change.

Missouri's population is more static, so its shift is more dramatic, and therefore more troublesome: Missouri is not importing Republicans. There is not a big influx of Republican transplants. Missouri is actively engaged in creating Republicans from scratch.

Extant Missourians are choosing to become Republican. That's different from Florida, which is (to a greater extent) attracting Republicans from elsewhere. I think. I could be wrong. But that is my reading.

im sure those numbers could be easily run but it would take a fuckin lot of republicans moving there

Ohio shifted deep red only in relatively recent years, iirc. Missouri, yeah, for sure. Wisconsin has been teetering on the brink for a while. I saw someone quip that Florida is the new Georgia and Georgia is becoming the new Florida, in terms of voting trends, though honestly I don't have much faith in the staying power of even the deepest blue states these days.

Florida has pockets like any state. I live in a blue area.

Florida still has a lot of transplants so we get the countries racists when they move here to retire

Is this old news?

Extremely tough to see how Kari Lake (R) wins now. #AZGOV

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) November 14, 2022

I for one know what has happened in Florida

nothing matters to me until wasserman sees enough. keep looking, wasserman!