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Montana US House Special Election Thread [GOP Hold]

yami4ct

Member
Feels inevitable when you see outperforming here, but it's premature to think so and it is a different situation. Just caught up in the moment, I guess

If world wide right wing nationalism has taught us anything, polling errors aren't predictive in that way. Polling errors in one direction don't predict more in the same direction.
 
T

thepotatoman

Unconfirmed Member
Feels inevitable when you see outperforming here, but it's premature to think so and it is a different situation. Just caught up in the moment, I guess

How is he outperforming?

Only thing he is out performing as far as I know is Google Consumer Surveys, which was never a reliable poll.
 
They're already sweating and it will only get worse if Georgia is at all close.

No, if they win, even by small margins, they'll know there won't be much concern outside the predicted competitive seats. Even if they will win by slim margins, they'll still win, even if they have to spend a little more than usual.
 
Yeah, I expect a lot of stories tomorrow saying something around that idea. And it's looking like the percentage drop is going to be pretty miniscule, too. Georgia is probably the last hope for any kind of pre-wave sentiment building.

Reading 538, one of the things they say is that Dems didn't win any of the special elections in before their 2006 wave, either. They outperformed in them, but didn't in anything outright.

Now to me, the interesting question is whether you think this was close enough to attempt to run Quist again in 2018,or do you try to find a better Democrat to run for the seat?
 

KHarvey16

Member
No, if they win, even by small margins, they'll know there won't be much concern outside the predicted competitive seats. Even if they will win by slim margins, they'll still win, even if they have to spend a little more than usual.

I don't know why you're so committed to being cynical without reason.

If a very comfortable R seat becomes close, that's good. It's still good even if the R wins. The all or nothing view is silly. The number of seats more competitive than this one in Montana or that one in Georgia is substantial.
 
Reading 538, one of the things they say is that Dems didn't win any of the special elections in before their 2006 wave, either. They outperformed in them, but didn't in anything outright.

Now to me, the interesting question is whether you think this was close enough to attempt to run Quist again in 2018,or do you try to find a better Democrat to run for the seat?

What was the gerrymandering situation now vs then I wonder, though. At this point, I don't know if it matters who you run, doesn't look like a Dem is getting this seat. I mean, maybe the assault thing will make this guy damaged goods, but who knows anymore.
 

DirtyCase

Member
If Dems lose in Georgia, there won't be much sweating in the GOP.

Well if they had any good sense they'd be sweating about Mueller's investigation, Trumps conduct, the health care bill the senate will send back to the house...etc.

Then again im not so sure they have any sense of whats going on around them, or maybe thats what they want people to think.

I call it playing Gowdy.
 

UraMallas

Member
They're already sweating and it will only get worse if Georgia is at all close.

I'll give you Montana and Kansas but GA-06 is much closer to a swing district than those two. Ossoff is a much better candidate and there is a ton of money being pumped into that district. If there is truly a wave coming, GA-06 needs to be a win. That one can't be a moral victory.

Reading 538, one of the things they say is that Dems didn't win any of the special elections in before their 2006 wave, either. They outperformed in them, but didn't in anything outright.

Now to me, the interesting question is whether you think this was close enough to attempt to run Quist again in 2018,or do you try to find a better Democrat to run for the seat?

You definitely try to find a better candidate. This was partially a candidate problem. According to 538, Quist underperformed his benchmarks by about 5 to 10 points across the board in the early vote.
 

SSPssp

Member
What was the gerrymandering situation now vs then I wonder, though. At this point, I don't know if it matters who you run, doesn't look like a Dem is getting this seat. I mean, maybe the assault thing will make this guy damaged goods, but who knows anymore.

There is only 1 seat, so gerrymandering doesn't matter. Anyhow, pretty disappointing that this crap is now acceptable behavior.

Edit: Unless that 538 means ALL special elections in red states I guess?
 

ruxtpin

Banned
While I feel the sentiment, it's Montana. Beautiful state, stupid people.

Pretty much. A bunch of stupid fucks. I can't even anymore. It fucking disgusts me that this guy assaults someone and his voters applaud it. The GOP can go fuck itself. God damn they are some stupid self-righteous cunts.
 
I don't know why you're so committed to being cynical without reason.

If a very comfortable R seat becomes close, that's good. It's still good even if the R wins. The all or nothing view is silly. The number of seats more competitive than this one in Montana or that one in Georgia is substantial.

A win is a win. If they only win by slim margins in 2018 and 2020, they still win. Good for the future sure, but what the future looks like by the time they lose is another thing entirely
 

Mr. RPG

Member
I think Gianforte has a party going on tonight to celebrate.

He was an awful candidate, even before yesterday. He is going to be very vulnerable in 2018.
 
There is only 1 seat, so gerrymandering doesn't matter. Anyhow, pretty disappointing that this crap is now acceptable behavior.

Edit: Unless that 538 means ALL special elections in red states I guess?

I was referring to every House seat in 2006 vs 2017.
 
I'll give you Montana and Kansas but GA-06 is much closer to a swing district than those two. Ossoff is a much better candidate and there is a ton of money being pumped into that district. If there is truly a wave coming, GA-06 needs to be a win. That one can't be a moral victory.

Yeah, the Kansas and Montana districts went to Trump by double digits. GA-06 was much closer than that, which should mean a much better shot at winning, especially since they actually have a good candidate there.

You definitely try to find a better candidate. This was partially a candidate problem. According to 538, Quist underperformed his benchmarks by about 5 to 10 points across the board in the early vote.

I agree, just thought I throw it out there for discussion. I do think the whole incident damages Gianforte in 2018, but I don't think it's enough that it's 8 points worth of damage. A better candidate by itself makes up half, if not more of the deficit, and this plus whatever BS Trump pulls gives you the opportunity to make up the other half. If nothing else, this forces Repblicans in 2018 to stretch their money even thinner.
 

NetMapel

Guilty White Male Mods Gave Me This Tag
Yes, and be carefull too. Last time I told one of them to fuck off I ate a 14 day ban, and then they got banned to. Because by some strange logic it's fine to suggest we punch Nazi's as happens in tons of threads, but heaven forbid we offend them.

The results of this race make Georgia much more important. Sadly I think the media will take this with what I'd imagine the Republican PR angle that clearly the anti-Trump fervor is a result of a false media narrative and not a reflection of the mood in the nation.
Is there truly an anti trump mood though? We have had two special elections which one is in a run off and this one plainly lost. I personally see a growing divide between urban and rural ideologies. I'm getting pretty tired of all these polls underestimating republican voters over and over.
 
No use trying to spin this as a positive.

Justice was denied. Justice means nothing anymore. It never will again. This was just further proof that we have fucked society beyond repair.
 

Spladam

Member
Big Nuts Mc Ass Kicker won!!! That will teach those miserable liberal elite lefty types be careful who they mess with.

No use trying to spin this as a positive.

Justice was denied. Justice means nothing anymore. It never will again. This was just further proof that we have fucked society beyond repair.

Wow, defeatist much? This is a country that used to own humans as property, I don't think this is the bench mark for beyond repair and no justice. You're talking about a place that is four generations removed from the Wild West.
 

RC0101

Member
You can take this as a positive though. This same seat went R 15+ six months ago and will now most likely go R +6.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
I wouldn't be surprised if admiration went up for him after the incident with many people instead of going down. The fact is a lot of people in this country have a very negative opinion toward the media, and I bet a large contingent of people were happy he did what he did.
 

NYR

Member
America really is two different countries within one. Incredible times that likely can best be compared to the 1860s in terms of partisanship.
 
Yeah, the Kansas and Montana districts went to Trump by double digits. GA-06 was much closer than that, which should mean a much better shot at winning, especially since they actually have a good candidate there.

I actually think Hillary won that district by a small margin, which is the main reason a lot of hope surrounds it. If Dems lose there, it's going to possibly signal a very tight midterm for the House.
 

Kevinroc

Member
I actually think Hillary won that district by a small margin, which is the main reason a lot of hope surrounds it. If Dems lose there, it's going to possibly signal a very tight midterm for the House.

No, Trump won Georgia 6th by a small margin.

Tom Price won the seat by a significant margin.
 
The pattern seems to be the GOP losing 5% to 8% from the other special election and tonight's results. We will see if this pattern holds in the GA one. At that point, we will have three data points from three very different district geographically speaking. That's trouble for the GOP.
 

FyreWulff

Member
sweet jesus

DAudosOUQAEMb1q.jpg:large


on a +20 seat
 

KHarvey16

Member
I'll give you Montana and Kansas but GA-06 is much closer to a swing district than those two. Ossoff is a much better candidate and there is a ton of money being pumped into that district. If there is truly a wave coming, GA-06 needs to be a win. That one can't be a moral victory.

Yeah, the Kansas and Montana districts went to Trump by double digits. GA-06 was much closer than that, which should mean a much better shot at winning, especially since they actually have a good candidate there.

That's not really true. According to 538:

"According to the weighted average of the past two presidential elections, there are 48 House districts that were won by GOP candidates in 2016 that are bluer than Georgia 6. The district’s Round 1 results suggest Republicans could lose a good portion of those 48 seats. And Democrats need to win just 24 Republican-held seats for control of the House."

Using Hillary's performance as an indicator is a bad idea because she overpwrformed there by quite a bit.

Georgia 6 shouldn't be close, and if it is, Republicans are in trouble.

A win is a win. If they only win by slim margins in 2018 and 2020, they still win. Good for the future sure, but what the future looks like by the time they lose is another thing entirely

The races we're discussing aren't taking place in 2018 or 2020. This result is informing our expectations for those elections.

I don't know that you're understanding the reasoning here. These results are great because if dark red seats are consistently close, that is compelling evidence for democrats performing much better than they have in recent elections. Which means dozens of seats are competitive in 2018.
 
sweet jesus

DAudosOUQAEMb1q.jpg:large


on a +20 seat

That graph doesn't tell the whole story, its just what the SuperPACs spent. Quist raised and spent over $5m and Quist spent more than Gianforte.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powe...134a1c-4152-11e7-8c25-44d09ff5a4a8_story.html
In the first months of the race, Quist raised just $900,000 and appeared to be written off by Washington Democrats. Republicans attempted to define the candidate before he could go on the air, with the opposition research group America Rising paying a tracker to follow Quist, and the Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC hiring a researcher to dig up damaging stories about the musician-turned-politician's tax problems. More than $5 million was spent by outside groups against Quist; Democrats responded with less than $1 million in positive spots.

”We knew that because Rob Quist was an unknown quantity with voters, we had the ability to define him negatively out of the gates," said America Rising chief executive Colin Reed.

But after the March failure of the first version of the AHCA, Quist's fundraising surged, adding up to more than $5 million by the final pre-election report — outmatching Gianforte, whom Republicans had hoped would self-fund his campaign.
 

Mrbob

Member
I wouldn't be too mad about this loss. Not a big victory and chance of Democratic victory was small. I think it goes to show 2018 and beyond will be tough for Republicans.
 
This just makes me more pissed at the Dems. The party needs to adopt a 50-state strategy and stop focusing only on national elections.

why? the antiQuist ads would include a lot of superPACs that do nothing but focus on attacking the opponents.

That graph doesn't tell the whole story, its just what the SuperPACs spent. Quist raised and spent over $5m and Quist spent more than Gianforte.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powe...134a1c-4152-11e7-8c25-44d09ff5a4a8_story.html
In the first months of the race, Quist raised just $900,000 and appeared to be written off by Washington Democrats. Republicans attempted to define the candidate before he could go on the air, with the opposition research group America Rising paying a tracker to follow Quist, and the Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC hiring a researcher to dig up damaging stories about the musician-turned-politician's tax problems. More than $5 million was spent by outside groups against Quist; Democrats responded with less than $1 million in positive spots.

”We knew that because Rob Quist was an unknown quantity with voters, we had the ability to define him negatively out of the gates," said America Rising chief executive Colin Reed.

But after the March failure of the first version of the AHCA, Quist's fundraising surged, adding up to more than $5 million by the final pre-election report — outmatching Gianforte, whom Republicans had hoped would self-fund his campaign.

Boom there it is. Gianforte was boosted by SuperPACs that Dems had no hopes of outspending.
 
The races we're discussing aren't taking place in 2018 or 2020. This result is informing our expectations for those elections.

Yes, I am aware I don't live in the future

I don't know that you're understanding the reasoning here. These results are great because if dark red seats are consistently close, that is compelling evidence for democrats performing much better than they have in recent elections. Which means dozens of seats are competitive in 2018.

I 100% understand the reasoning here, and I hope they translate to wins when those times come for sure. I'm just saying, if it just continues to translate to slim wins, it's still their win. Good for the future, but tomorrow needs to come today
 
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