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[PhoenixDark]

What six races (five if Scott Brown swoops in and takes Kerry's seat as the GOP planned) could Republicans easily win - while holding onto Kentucky and Georgia? Louisiana, Alaska, North Carolina, West Virginia, maybe South Dakota or Oregon? I somehow doubt the GOP would manage to pick up all of these seats. I think the Democrats learned after 2010 the importance of midterms.

For the record, though, I think it's likely Democrats will lose seats in 2014, but I can't see how they lose control in the Senate (mostly thanks to the seats saved/won in 2012). And then there's 2016 where Democrats will almost assuredly gain seats in places like IL, MO, PA, and WI.

The problem is that they could win all those seats (minus the MA one) under the right conditions. I agree the senate is will probably remain in dem hands due to how surprisingly well 2012 went, but if the economy stalls due to more republican fuckery and self inflicted wounds? All bets are off. Likewise what if nothing gets done (again, due to republican fuckery) and the "ascendant" dem voters decide to stay home because "Obama didn't do anything."

I've often said 2010 was such a blowout because unemployment was so high, mixed with grassroots republican momentum/excitement; people tend to solely blame health care but unemployment was fucking 10%. IF unemployment continues to fall as it is now, theoretically we could be looking at 7% unemployment in 2014, perhaps slightly under. IMO that's the best case scenario. So even if the electorate is whiter it's unlikely more moderate/independent voters will be siding with the GOP in record numbers, as they did in 2010.

I will say I like how Obama is actively splitting the GOP between its more traditional members and the extremists. It's working, even the media is noticing (although Politico is currently running stories about how much disarray the democrat party is in right now...lol) and is forced to actively report on some of the ridiculous shit going on. But that has to continue over the next two years, alongside some clear victories. If dems can get immigration through...

 

[wsoxfan1214]

First blog post:

New Gallup Poll and America's Love of Term Limits


Also, I connected our Twitter, so it should automatically post it to twitter with a nice preview and everything whenever anyone posts anything.

I made a post a while back about this saying I was interested. Have you sent PMs out yet?

 

[Rocket Scientist]

Why can't democrats just ignore the whole debt ceiling debate and talk about other bills? If someone asks about the debt ceiling you just say you're voting to raise it and that there are important other bills to be passed right now too. When the deadline comes up what are republicans going to do... Not raise it, lol? Just focus your airtime on other bills and look like the adult in the room.

 

[sonicmj1]

What if, for example, a guy who legally owns a gun breaks into your house for malicious reasons. At that point should you just let the guy steal or injure and instead rely on civil services that can't respond instantly? Isn't taking matters into your own hands by following the rules set in the constitution (protection of life and property) better? I'm not saying when you have the gun to level the playing field that anyone has to die, but that at that point anything less than a gun brings you to a disadvantage.

Perhaps this is too principled and impractical, but the whole point of having civil services that respond in an emergency is that you can count on them to help you. That's what we pay them for. If society doesn't believe that the police are on their side and are able to protect their home, that's a real problem. No matter what the criminal is armed with, you have the entire force of society on your side.

I guess the alternative to what I said is thinking of it more like having a defibrillator. Heart attacks are an emergency where every second counts, so you want something that can respond immediately while you wait for the EMTs. But since crime is committed by other people (while heart attacks will happen no matter what people believe), I think the philosophical distinction matters to some degree.

 

[adamsappel]

In addition, her school (a middle school) is trying to phase out books. They no longer have books in social studies & her English textbooks are over a decade old and they've hinted that they are going to slowly try and phase them out entirely. She currently has only enough textbooks to keep in the classroom; there aren't enough English textbooks so that kids can take them home to actually read.

In addition, there are no math teachers in her school who have degrees in any math-related field. The school district hunts for "long term substitutes" instead of hiring full-time teachers. With long term subs they can hire anyone with a bachelor's degree in anything to permanently fill any position without having to actually look for qualified people. They also pay these long term subs substantially less and they receive no benefits.

The amount of apathy from parents doesn't help, either. When they have parent/teacher conferences; of the 80 students she has, only 3-4 of their parents actually show up to speak with her.

Our education system is really heartbreaking.

I grew up in West Virginia. It's always been like this. My history books in 7th grade talked about how there was a war starting in Vietnam and we were going to liberate them from communism. This was in 1978.

Watched it twice =(

But PoliGaf doesn't have women!

Dax is pregnant?



Congrats, Cat.

Limited range and cartridge size, plus they aren't very reliable. There is no true non-lethal substitute for guns as of now.

What's the availability/efficacy of non-lethal ammunition?

Where is this image from? "These cAps are on..."?

 

[Tim-E]

My first post is up!

Team of Obstructionists

Recently I began reading Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s biography of President Abraham Lincoln and key members of his cabinet. Besides being a fantastic portrait of a wonderful President, one of the most striking things I’ve taken from the book is just how radically different today’s Republican Party is from that in 1860. Over the last four years we’ve seen a Republican Party that has literally opposed everything President Obama has supported, from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s massive infrastructure investments and tax cuts, to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, a free-market approach to expanding health care insurance that was initially proposed by the Heritage Foundation more than twenty years ago. It was even enacted in the state of Massachusetts by a certain former Republican Presidential candidate. The last Congress was the least productive on record, fighting over things that Congress shouldn’t even fight over. In addition, the Republican Party has spent years opposed to improving our immigration laws. Having followed these events made the days of Team of Rivals all the more striking to me, because it shows that the Republican Party has not always been this way. Throughout its history it has been a party that’s not adamantly opposed to absolutely everything involving the government.

Upon reviewing the 1860 Republican Party platform, you’ll see a fairly progressive platform for the time. They were opposed to an expansion of slavery, they supported open immigration policy that grants full rights to all who migrate to the United States, and they supported focusing the government’s efforts on modernizing our infrastructure. Republican President Dwight Eisenhower began “the greatest public works project in history” when he presided over the creation of the 41,000 mile-long Interstate Highway System. Eisenhower also created NASA and supported the creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency, the agency that ultimately created the Internet through government-funded research. The Environmental Protection Agency was created under President Nixon. Today, many Republicans act as if the current head of the EPA is a cartoon villain, targeting her for actually enforcing environmental laws.

I genuinely don’t believe that President Ronald Reagan, an idol to the modern day GOP, would even be able to survive a primary challenge against this current crop of elected officials. Ronald Reagan supported amnesty for illegal immigrants, the 1994 ban on assault weapons, raising taxes, raising the debt ceiling 18 times, and efforts to invest tax dollars in infrastructure to create jobs.

Am I being too optimistic in hoping for a two party system in which both sides engage in a reasonable debate and a system in which lawmakers are willing to compromise to accomplish something? Despite how thick-headed our last Congress was, history shows that compromise and bipartisanship is possible. Will it be the 113th Congress that accomplishes this? Probably not, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to believe that this stonewalling will eventually end.

http://deadheatpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/team-of-obstructionists/

 

[lednerg]

http://deadheatpolitics.wordpress.com

ronpaulitshappening.gif

I need the emails of those who want to be contributors so I can invite.

Just an idea for your consideration. Last year, a bunch of GAFers from the gaming side made a not-for-profit, community-driven site in which anyone is free to submit gaming articles through e-mail. These articles, after approval, initially show up in a section called Portal, where users can read them and vote for them to show up on the front page. I think this could be a good model for DHP as well, and it would attract non-GAFer talent in the process.

EDIT: Good job on the site so far, btw.

 

[RDreamer]

There's also a Facebook now, guys: http://www.facebook.com/DeadHeatPolitics

Like it, share it, etc.

Unfortunately I can't set it up to automatically post our articles like twitter, though I might set it up so it automatically posts twitter things. We'll see.

Also, once you get in make sure to make a short little bio on the Contributors page.

Just an idea for your consideration. Last year, a bunch of GAFers from the gaming side made a not-for-profit, community-driven site in which anyone is free to submit gaming articles through e-mail. These articles, after approval, initially show up in a section called Portal, where users can read them and vote for them to show up on the front page. I think this could be a good model for DHP as well, and it would attract non-GAFer talent in the process.

EDIT: Good job on the site so far, btw.

Sounds like an interesting idea. I think we'll try this way for a little while and see how it goes. I don't think it'll be a problem, though I might have to pare back who's actually an editor and make a few of you guys just authors.

I made a post a while back about this saying I was interested. Have you sent PMs out yet?

Send me a PM with your Email, so I can invite you.

 

[Arrowgigantic]

It may take a cycle or two, but eventually they'll see the writing on the wall and change in order to stay relevant, no matter how much the base fights about it.

Sort of like how Ron Paul changed so he could get the 2012 nomination, right?

 

[Baraka in the White House]

Got some potentially interesting topics for the blog but I'm running back and forth on whether or not I'd have the time to do the legwork necessary to write good articles. If I did they'd be rather infrequent as I work a rotating shift schedule with a good bit of overtime here and there. I don't want to have my name on the site then barely contribute, though.

 

[Tim-E]

Sort of like how Ron Paul changed so he could get the 2012 nomination, right?

Ron Paul is a special kind of lunatic.

Got some potentially interesting topics for the blog but I'm running back and forth on whether or not I'd have the time to do the legwork necessary to write good articles. If I did they'd be rather infrequent as I work a rotating shift schedule with a good bit of overtime here and there. I don't want to have my name on the site then barely contribute, though.

No one is required to post on any sort of schedule. Just write when you're able to. I say you go for it.

 

[Oblivion]

I like how I've had my blog for over a year and yet RDreamer's is already 10 times more organized and professional looking. (I don't even have a FB page yet!)

 

[Baraka in the White House]

Sort of like how Ron Paul changed so he could get the 2012 nomination, right?

Ron Paul is a unique case in that - for better or worse - he doesn't compromise his beliefs. He's the real Tea Party.

 

[RDreamer]

I like how I've had my blog for over a year and yet RDreamer's is already 10 times more organized and professional looking. (I don't even have a FB page yet!)

Being a marketing guy will do that to ya

This is one part I really want to do this thing well, because I think it's a good idea in and of itself and another part purely that I want to experiment with my own marketing skills from the bottom up and work in these platforms in another area.

Are you going to contribute any Oblivion, or are we just going to have to link to your blog once in a while?

 

[Tim-E]

Being a marketing guy will do that to ya

This is one part I really want to do this thing well, because I think it's a good idea in and of itself and another part purely that I want to experiment with my own marketing skills from the bottom up and work in these platforms in another area.

Are you going to contribute any Oblivion, or are we just going to have to link to your blog once in a while?

He's One of Us, so I think he could cross-post his writing if he wanted.

 

[Rocket Scientist]

Damn, those articles look legit. Much better than most posts on many high profile sites. Nice work ladies.

 

[Oblivion]

Are you going to contribute any Oblivion, or are we just going to have to link to your blog once in a while?

I was just about to send you my e-mail, good sir!

 

[Arrowgigantic]

All right, so what the fuck are they going to moderate? Are they going to ditch big oil? Stop playing racial politics? Take one boot off the neck of the middle class? Stop trying to legislate fundamentalist morality?

Come on, guys. The GOP has gone off in a direction that you don't come back from.

 

[Baraka in the White House]

Seeing the Facebook campaign claiming that the second amendment is "under attack" has me thinking about writing up something on freedom and rights; specifically, what some people seem to think those terms entail versus the reality of their meaning. That sound like a good topic to anyone? It just seems to me that in the past few years in particular some folks have taken a very simplistic, almost selfish approach to liberty and MAH RIGHTS without considering the dozens of ways our inalienable rights are restricted every day for the sake of a functioning society.

 

[The Librarian]

Damn, those articles look legit. Much better than most posts on many high profile sites. Nice work ladies.

LOL

I think my first article is going to be about one side thought I've been having from reading The Passage of Power. Basically I'm just going to show the world how much of a fangirl I am of Johnson and the Famous 89th.

Or it'll be a short, side article about term limits based on rdreamer's post. I'll do both eventually.

 

[Rocket Scientist]

All right, so what the fuck are they going to moderate? Are they going to ditch big oil? Stop playing racial politics? Take one boot off the neck of the middle class? Stop trying to legislate fundamentalist morality?

Come on, guys. The GOP has gone off in a direction that you don't come back from.

True. That's why they're talking about changing voting. They're not going to try and appeal to other demographics, they're going to make their demographics worth more.

 

[RDreamer]

All right, so what the fuck are they going to moderate? Are they going to ditch big oil? Stop playing racial politics? Take one boot off the neck of the middle class? Stop trying to legislate fundamentalist morality?

Come on, guys. The GOP has gone off in a direction that you don't come back from.

Well I'd expect things like Big Oil to be the last to go, if ever. That's not even something their base cares that much about (compared to other things). That's just how they get their money to campaign, so until they get money elsewhere, I wouldn't hold my breath on that leaving at all.

As for racial politics, some will probably go further into just using dog whistles and hoping no one notices. Others will try and soften things up, as they have been doing. They can't really ditch racial politics because that riles up their base so well.

Seeing the Facebook campaign claiming that the second amendment is "under attack" has me thinking about writing up something on freedom and rights; specifically, what some people seem to think those terms entail versus the reality of their meaning. That sound like a good topic to anyone? It just seems to me that in the past few years in particular some folks have taken a very simplistic, almost selfish approach to liberty and MAH RIGHTS without considering the dozens of ways our inalienable rights are restricted every day for the sake of a functioning society.

Sounds like a good post to me.

That's one thing this blog will be good for, I think. You guys do a pretty good job debunking and retorting a lot of the silly no-thought politics that go on nowadays. It'll be nice having a central place to go to both to read up on those thoughts and to link others to.

 

[gcubed]

If they extend the debt ceiling now there will be no fight again. The same risk applies.if they balk now why wouldnt they balk in 3 months?

Its not about the fight, it's about the news cycle, attention grabbing and hand wringing.

I mean, this is still the GOP. They're going to try to block all that stuff anyway. I don't think the debt ceiling helps them much there, because it's an unpopular vote both ways.

The longer it's continually in the news the faster the gun debate fades away, the longer people don't care about immigration... It's another thing the GOP could hold over him again and again. It's pretty clear the GOP doesn't care about popularity. Unless Obama can hire another gunman to keep the debate lively...

If love to contribute to the blog but you don't want my writing shitting up the blog. If I can help in any other way, let me know.

Also, I'm not confident Toomey keeps his seat in PA. Especially if Corbett continues screwing the pooch

 

[Tim-E]

Seeing the Facebook campaign claiming that the second amendment is "under attack" has me thinking about writing up something on freedom and rights; specifically, what some people seem to think those terms entail versus the reality of their meaning. That sound like a good topic to anyone? It just seems to me that in the past few years in particular some folks have taken a very simplistic, almost selfish approach to liberty and MAH RIGHTS without considering the dozens of ways our inalienable rights are restricted every day for the sake of a functioning society.

LOL

I think my first article is going to be about one side thought I've been having from reading The Passage of Power. Basically I'm just going to show the world how much of a fangirl I am of Johnson and the Famous 89th.

Or it'll be a short, side article about term limits based on rdreamer's post. I'll do both eventually.

These both sound like great ideas.

All right, so what the fuck are they going to moderate? Are they going to ditch big oil? Stop playing racial politics? Take one boot off the neck of the middle class? Stop trying to legislate fundamentalist morality?

Come on, guys. The GOP has gone off in a direction that you don't come back from.

I first expect them to slowly come around to better immigration policies (if nothing else for electoral reasons), and gay marriage. It's not going to be some massive sea change, but the party will eventually try to do something to help them win on a national scale.

 

[kingkitty]

So late at night I tried typing something up about how well the Green Party did but I ended up writing non-erotic Jill Stein fan fiction, hrm.

 

[RustyNails]

I'll definitely contribute..

Let me see if I can get a nice domain name instead of using wordpress.

 

[RDreamer]

So late at night I tried typing something up about how well the Green Party did but I ended up writing non-erotic Jill Stein fan fiction, hrm.

Well, that's one way to get hits.

Would probably get more if it was erotic, though.

I'll definitely contribute..

Let me see if I can get a nice domain name instead of using wordpress.

If we could get hosting and a domain name, that'd be cool, because then I could tweak the css of our theme a bit more.

I already have a web host for my own portfolio, but I'm not exactly sure how to host a completely separate site there with a separate blog (I have my own on there already).

 

[Oblivion]

So late at night I tried typing something up about how well the Green Party did but I ended up writing non-erotic Jill Stein fan fiction, hrm.

You disappoint me, greatly.

 

[RustyNails]

I already have a web host for my own portfolio, but I'm not exactly sure how to host a completely separate site there with a separate blog (I have my own on there already).

Sounds great. I'll PM you when I have the deets.

 

[Rocket Scientist]

I doubt the base would accept the GOP giving up on things like immigration and gay marriage. Things would get real ugly real fast. I wouldn't rule out physical violence spiking.

 

[RDreamer]

Sounds great. I'll PM you when I have the deets.

Just a domain would probably be decent as of now. I kind of like the things the actual wordpress network provides over my hosted wordpress thing. And I suppose the theme isn't too terrible right now. I'm also not sure I want to intermingle this with my portfolio site anyway. Probably best to do it separate.

I could probably throw in a couple bucks for a domain, since they're usually pretty cheap.

Also, I'll be working in a little bit until about 9pm central tonight. I might be able to answer things and send out invites (depending on how the admin side of wordpress works on my phone... haven't tried it yet), but I won't fully be around until then.

 

[Tim-E]

I doubt the base would accept the GOP giving up on things like immigration and gay marriage. Things would get real ugly real fast. I wouldn't rule out physical violence spiking.

Oh, it'll be an absolute mess. But the establishment Republicans are not going to sit by and let one party dominate American politics for the rest of time.

Just a domain would probably be decent as of now. I kind of like the things the actual wordpress network provides over my hosted wordpress thing. And I suppose the theme isn't too terrible right now. I'm also not sure I want to intermingle this with my portfolio site anyway. Probably best to do it separate.

I could probably throw in a couple bucks for a domain, since they're usually pretty cheap.

Also, I'll be working in a little bit until about 9pm central tonight. I might be able to answer things and send out invites (depending on how the admin side of wordpress works on my phone... haven't tried it yet), but I won't fully be around until then.

Yeah I think just a domain would be good for now. Wordpress hosting should suit our needs while we're starting out.

 

[Amir0x]

Aw I was hoping you guys just went with DeadHeat, such a succinct name.

 

[Tim-E]

Aw I was hoping you guys just went with DeadHeat, such a succinct name.

The 'Politics' on the end has grown on me. I like it.

 

[B-Dubs]

Well, that's one way to get hits.

Would probably get more if it was erotic, though.




If we could get hosting and a domain name, that'd be cool, because then I could tweak the css of our theme a bit more.

I already have a web host for my own portfolio, but I'm not exactly sure how to host a completely separate site there with a separate blog (I have my own on there already).

Hey, I'm working on a post about the filibuster it's not being done already right?

 

[Tim-E]

Hey, I'm working on a post about the filibuster it's not being done already right?

Go for it! I don't think so, and even if there was, there's nothing wrong with multiple perspectives on a similar issue.

 

[RDreamer]

Aw I was hoping you guys just went with DeadHeat, such a succinct name.

It was taken. And the Politics part of the name grew on me.

Hey, I'm working on a post about the filibuster it's not being done already right?

Don't think so. Go for it.

We can double up on topics, too. Don't be afraid of that, just try and make sure you have something at least a bit different to say.

And perhaps we should name any add-on posts in the title with something like "In Addition - POST NAME" and make reference to the original post in your post. That way we can get more diversity of opinion.

 

[Amir0x]

Ah I thought I read someone say it wasn't taken.

 

[ZeroRay]

I'd like to contribute as well...just need to find my area of expertise.

Either that, or be the blog's resident click whore writing articles with inflammatory headlines.

 

[Rocket Scientist]

Ah I thought I read someone say it wasn't taken.

That might have been deadheat.com. It is more catchy without politics, but this is just fine too.

Oh, it'll be an absolute mess. But the establishment Republicans are not going to sit by and let one party dominate American politics for the rest of time.

Perhaps, though this midterm seems too soon. Just look at the backlash against completely reasonable gun laws, the crazies have a lot of support still. Maybe 2016, but even that seems quite early.

 

[RDreamer]

Doing a Saturday Morning Cartoon post!

That might have been deadheat.com. It is more catchy without politics, but this is just fine too.

I know the .wordpress was taken, but I'm also pretty sure it told me the .com was taken, too.

 

[Rocket Scientist]

I know the .wordpress was taken, but I'm also pretty sure it told me the .com was taken, too.

Too bad. The logo for dHP looks good though.

 

[Tim-E]

That might have been deadheat.com. It is more catchy without politics, but this is just fine too.

Perhaps, though this midterm seems too soon. Just look at the backlash against completely reasonable gun laws, the crazies have a lot of support still. Maybe 2016, but even that seems quite early.

I don't think it'll be this soon, either. But we are beginning to see the struggles between the side of the party that wants Purity and the side that wants to be viable and electable. This will be something that occurs over the next several election cycles.

 

[Rocket Scientist]

I don't think it'll be this soon, either. But we are beginning to see the struggles between the side of the party that wants Purity and the side that wants to be viable and electable. This will be something that occurs over the next several election cycles.

True, I agree. Hopefully it will take quite a few cycles.

 

[Sirpopopop]

Tim & Trevor are doing work.

 

[Piecake]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/19/us/19land.html?hp&_r=0

But the event’s central organizer, Ennis Tait, a local pastor, stood his ground. Some of the guns might be old rifles traded in by hunters looking to upgrade, or ancient .22s tucked away in sock drawers, he conceded. But every gun collected — and turned over to the police to be destroyed — is a gun not found by a curious child, not reached for in a fit of anger over a slight on the street.

Its always a nice reminder that not all religious people arent right wing crazy gun nuts, which is sort of the impression I get from the news sometimes

 

[RDreamer]

New Post: Saturday Morning Cartoon

Too bad. The logo for dHP looks good though.

Thanks! Considering the design stuff I did was done in such a complete rush, that's pretty great to hear. I kind of like the simple look now, too.

 

[The Librarian]

I was about to say there should be an "about me" section, but it's there!

 

[RDreamer]

I was about to say there should be an "about me" section, but it's there!

Yep, if you're approved head over there and make a short little bio. It'd be great if you could do this before a first post, just so that people can see a bit about who the hell's opinion they're reading.

If you don't know how to do this, hit pages and then go to contributors and edit that. Copy and paste either my bio or Tim's and just write yours over it.

Also, paste that into your wordpress profile, too.

Unless you're talking about the literal About section, Dax. In which case you guys can edit that too if you feel like it. I just put up something quick.

 

[Tim-E]

Just noticed that there's a mobile layout, as well. Niceeee.