God Has Abandoned Us: U.S. Politics November 2023

Looks pretty good in Ohio

people have been panicking about 2024 polls lately so this is definitely welcome news

I've seen enough: in a victory for the pro-choice side, Ohio Issue 1, a measure to establish a right to an abortion in the state constitution, passes.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) November 8, 2023

👍🏽

Yeah, I'm willing to stop stress-eating now. 79% reporting, and Beshear's up by more than 78K. That'll hold.

good job America

Cautious optimism here in VA. Every individual candidate I'm watching is comfortably ahead, and the overall trend looks promising. Ds will hold the Senate and (fingers crossed) have a good shot at flipping House control.

Happy about Beshear! And based on Ohio I feel like Dems in '24 need to just basically be "ABORTION and WEED! Any questions?"

In my blue-dot Southern Appalachian city, a leftist Black woman incumbent appears set to win reelection to City Council over a white male Republican developer who literally outspent her 10:1. (This despite her being the biggest thorn in the side of our center-left mayor, who I don't think would have been sad to see her go. Tho the mayor was also just easily reelected, so I think a lot of people voted for both of them.)

Interesting times.

One thing I got to wonder about these polling on how Trump is 'winning' over Biden is who the flack is answering these things. As a registered Democrat in KY who votes every election, I got absolutely bombarded with home calls for polls and mailers. I told more than a handful of these clowns calling to f'k off, it's none of their bizness. I got to think in a cell phone info. crush world, this is more the default than answering their BS.

Tiny American flags for some, abortion on demand for all!

I hope with the legal weed in Ohio they start selling it in those old style state liquor stores they used to have up there that used to look like license branches.

I'm sure somewhere on WLW- Bill Cunningham is probably going apoplectic on weed becoming recreational. I'm sure the crazy rightwingers in Ohio will try to f'k it up somehow. They got some serious right wing Aholes in that state.

Decision Desk HQ projects Democrats win control in the Virginia House of Delegates.#DecisionMade: 11:05pm EST

Follow more results here: https://t.co/8sug2Xq9ic pic.twitter.com/3nODVnFGZO

— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 8, 2023

Rashida Tlaib has been officially censured with the help of 22 democrats. It's pretty despicable they'd jump on board with this nonsense.

In other news, a democrat (fwiw, a former Republican) flipped one deep-red NJ General Assembly seat for the first time in decades. Further perspective: it was also a Trump +35 (!) district.

Great Ohio neww

https://thelakewoodscoop.com/news/breaking-rabbi-avi-schnall-projected-to-win-30th-district-race-in-huge-upset/

Great news for America tonight, it seems the only time we lost our minds was in the year 2016.

Rashida Tlaib has been officially censured with the help of 22 democrats.

Fuck this and them

Which 22 Democrats?

Suzy, they’re here. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4298890-22-democrats-censure-tlaib-over-israel-criticism/amp/

What’s the deal with Ken Buck

I think he cashed in his chips when he got death threats for not supporting Jim Jordan's bid for Speaker.

Face eating tigers, etc.

Dems maintain control and make small pick ups in the assembly and senate here in NJ.Moms for Liberty school board candidates for the most part lost their bids.

Sad that NJ ppl hate liberty and moms

Moms for Liberty school board candidates for the most part lost their bids.

Good.

I don't think people understand the massacre Republicans suffered down-ballot in PA tonight.

Obviously, PA SC was the focus and Allegheny had specific local factors, but Dems swept almost everything in winnable races from school boards, commissioners, etc. Especially in SEPA.

— Joshua Smithley (@blockedfreq) November 8, 2023

Shout out to my mom in SEPA

Josh’s mom OTM

I keep thinking about what is behind the concerns about Biden's age. Yes, all things being equal, I would prefer a president who was younger, and I think the elderliness of Congress is to blame for many of its failures. But as I've said before, in a general election, I'm usually voting for the policies of the Democratic Party vis a vis the policies of the Republican Party, so Biden's personal flaws don't play much of a role for me. So why does his age seem to be such a factor for so many?

I'm guessing a lot of people see all the problems facing the country and look at Biden and don't see someone who is dealing with them in a visibly energetic or forceful fashion. He's not angry, he's concerned. He doesn't yell, he whispers. He stumbles over his words. He can be charming at times but mostly in a leisurely, old-fashioned (grandfatherly?) way.

If you want as president someone who will project a strong image and inspire people, as Obama and Trump did for those who voted for them, then Biden is bound to disappoint. I get that. But it seems a mistake to put so much stock in personality over platform and policies.

Also, it annoys me that the conversation around Biden's age is so often framed around whether he is physically and mentally capable of doing the job. Not that those concerns are without merit, but it seems to me like that's not really what it's about.

First Somali-American mayor!

Nadia Mohamed elected in St Louis Park MN, a first-ring Minneapolis suburb which I am especially proud to call my home town on days like these.

If you look at the results, the American people love abortion, drugs, transpeople and, possibly, porn. It's a fundamental decent country despite a rancid elite.

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) November 8, 2023

Josh's mom loves abortion, drugs, transpeople and, possibly, porn

Josh’s mom OTM

― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, November 8, 2023 9:23 AM (twenty-nine minutes ago)

Most people I know who won’t vote for Biden have little to say about how old he is, but a lot to say that’s pretty in line with the Nolan piece that J0rdan posted above.

In 2020, I was going to vote early a few days after a young man in a mental health crisis was shot and killed by cops mere blocks from my house. There were police helicopters circling protests that entire week, and neither Biden nor Harris had anything to say except hedging bullshit, toothless comments about police accountability. I was going to vote for him, and then decided not to based on what I was seeing that day and what I had seen over the summer.

Images of dead children, of children who have pissed their pants and are covered in rubble dust and are shaking in fear involuntarily and are bleeding from their heads— these images stay with people. And Biden’s refusal to do anything to shift course and to simply “voice concern” about a second Nakba approaching genocidal proportions, will rightly keep many people I know from voting for him. Fuck him, and fuck all the politicians who are aiding and abetting this slaughter.

xpost Moms For Libertine

I keep thinking about what is behind the concerns about Biden's age. Yes, all things being equal, I would prefer a president who was younger, and I think the elderliness of Congress is to blame for many of its failures. But as I've said before, in a general election, I'm usually voting for the policies of the Democratic Party vis a vis the policies of the Republican Party, so Biden's personal flaws don't play much of a role for me. So why does his age seem to be such a factor for so many?

I am coming to the conclusion that the polls indicating that All Americans are Very Concerned about Joe Biden's age are a bunch of horseshit carefully crafted by news organizations in need of content. Election results are what matter, and last night's election results (sure, sure, "Biden wasn't on the ballot") make a much stronger argument than the New York Times or CNN calling a thousand people who still have — and pick up — land lines. Honestly, the HBO documentary Telemarketers should cause people to permanently discount any political poll. Because you know who's answering poll questions? The same idiots who sign their Social Security checks over to "Tony" from the PBA because he sounds so nice and honest on the phone.

Last night's results are def a shot in the arm after the polling misery, tho I guess those elections are harder to game than the general, and don't involve the skewed electoral college.

sorry, i know I'm harshing the mellow

ILX slogan

An interesting result from Montana; a 28-year-old was just elected mayor of Bozeman, though he won't take office till 2026 because of that city's bizarre rules. Bozeman is, I believe, the most expensive city in Montana to live in; it's about $2000 for a two-bedroom apartment in a faceless housing development.

Big takeaway from yesterday for the GOP is not a need for self-reflection but “we need to get better at cheating”. And I’m sure they will.

I saw a clip of Santorum on Newsmax saying a democracy is no way to run a country.

An all-time "quiet part out loud" moment in American politics

Rick Santorum is upset that Americans had an opportunity to vote on the things they actually care about. @atrupar.pic.twitter.com/3EiLJUNHtr

— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) November 8, 2023

Moms For Libertine

lol

Sign me up!

Dems should find out how sexy universal healthcare is.

depends how you feel about latex