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[shinra-bansho]

Congress or Electoral College?

 

[Fenderputty]

Why? Because that talking point has worked for literally everything Trump has done. "It's not illegal to do X" is kind of their thing now. It's how he's able to keep his business ties and no one gives a shit. Honestly at this point that's what I'd tell the team to lightly spread around. That way if/when it ever does come out the groundwork is laid for why it's not so bad anyway.

Collusion isn't what's going to take him down, if anything does. It should take him down, but it won't because it's not illegal and only a political bomb. The GOP party is defense mode and this talking point is a way to distance themselves somewhat. Like you said ... they're laying the groundwork for when that bomb hits. There's a reason all the finCEN data is important though, and there's a reason mueller is brining on somone who specializes in this shit. If trump goes down it will be for some racketeering shit or money laundering shit that's related to the Russia collusion. It's just amazing to watch the GOP twist themselves into pretzel trying to hadwave away collusion with Russia.

 

[B-Dubs]

Congress or Electoral College?

Yes

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

I think most of Bernie's support centered on there being an incredibly weak field of candidates, and one establishment pick that was so distasteful to so many people. Bernie was the only alternative for people who didn't like Hillary, basically. In a better field (say for instance, if Biden had run) I don't believe his campaign would have "taken off" the way it did. While I do not think Biden would have won the nomination, I fully believe he would have won the Iowa caucus, with Hillary coming in second. Bernie coming in third right out the gate would have set a narrative that would last throughout, IMO.

Personally I just don't believe the Bernie "coalition" is as focused on anti-establishment/anti Wall St/anti money/etc as advertised. I'm sure you noticed how many hardcore Bernie fans here would often say they would have voted for Biden if he ran. I think this generally boils down to people not standing Hillary Clinton and wanting alternatives - everything else is a narrative created after that fact.

We'll see this in 2020, if Bernie runs. The field will be significantly better and Bernie will trot out the exact same tired campaign and puzzling decisions (like, you know, completely ignoring the south). It won't work. I'm sure a segment of hardcore Bernie fans will be outraged if say Booker or Harris becomes the nominee, but it won't matter. The good thing about 2020 is that none of the major candidates are as flawed as Hillary Clinton.

Bernie was a warmed-over Bill Bradley who saw that Dems had largely stepped aside due to Hillary running, started what was essentially a protest campaign, and got way farther than anybody would ever have expected seemingly by pure chance, then had no idea how to get out without losing face. How he built such a mythology around himself is beyond me.

 

[neurosisxeno]

Can we just throw Tucker Carlson into a pit and be done with him? If I never have to see some bullshit interview with him ever again I would be so happy. They intentionally bring in unprepared or soft hitting figures on the left so he can try and force them to give "simple answers" to his "simple questions" on incredibly complex issues. I'd love to see the interview some top tier political minds but the last time he did that he had to switch networks...

 

[JesseEwiak]

AVR is more beneficial towards presidential elections but where mail-ballots are really incredible is midterm turnout. Colorado, Oregon, and Washington all have way higher than average turnout after adopting mail ballots and I think Colorado's jump from 2010 to 2014 was something absurd like 10 points when they adopted it.

I think if the next Democratic president creates a Green New Deal and uses a lot of that money to transform Appalachia and restore their communities that it might have a chance after that.

I don't think pursuing it until Democrats can say they've delivered results there would ever work though.

As long as that Green New Deal goes almost only to white people like the original New Deal.

West Virginia is gone, as long as we're the party that gives a shit about non-white people.

 

[RDreamer]

It's only worked for Trump's fanbase. If the story becomes more definitively about collusion, then the death by a thousand cuts just becomes deeper on Trump.

I'm just saying at this point if the story doesn't result in Trump literally being lead out in cuffs or him being voted out in 2020 then this is what they'll do and this is what the Republican party will use as cover to hand wave it. It's what they've done with everything so far.

 

[Spoiled Milk]

While I do not think Biden would have won the nomination, I fully believe he would have won the Iowa caucus, with Hillary coming in second. Bernie coming in third right out the gate would have set a narrative that would last throughout, IMO.

So why did Obama think Biden would come in third in Iowa? People talk about presidential candidate diamond joe like he's the political equivalent of the fonz but I rewatch the debates in 2007 and it's like he's got the class of Jim Webb and the grace of Lincoln Chaffee.

 

[jtb]

So why did Obama think Biden would come in third in Iowa? People talk about presidential candidate diamond joe like he's the political equivalent of the fonz but I rewatch the debates in 2007 and it's like the grace of Lincoln Chaffee meets the class of Jim Webb.

He'll always have "a noun, a verb and 9/11" though.

I also think Obama genuinely wanted to see the first woman president after the first black president. Which is defensible. He got a little sentimental, maybe.

 

[sc0la]

I'm just saying at this point if the story doesn't result in [*snip*] him being voted out in 2018

Is this retroactive momentum?

 

[Spoiled Milk]

He'll always have "a noun, a verb and 9/11" though.

Maybe the greatest political jab of all time. Which is why Scranton Joe was always destined to be the Scrappy veep.

I also think Obama genuinely wanted to see the first woman president after the first black president. Which is defensible. He got a little sentimental, maybe.

The politico article I'm referencing said he sat him down and told him he didn't want to end up third in Iowa behind Bernie Sanders. I don't think Obama lies to Joe. He's literally his best friend.

 

[RDreamer]

Is this retroactive momentum?

typo lol

 

[sc0la]

typo lol

Aw man, because I was gonna say, if you have that shit figured out let's take it all the way back to '16

 

[Wilsongt]

Was reading a local news story about a high school valedictorian who was brought her as a child by her parents illegally.

Of course the comments talked about her being illegal and having ample time to correct her status..

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" -- as long as you have proper paperwork on hand.

The new America indeed...

 

[RDreamer]

Aw man, because I was gonna say, if you have that shit figured out let's take it all the way back to '16

Why stop there? Let's take him out before he becomes a leader of the birther movement!

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Considering Trump sunk into bouts of insanity with the first 2 public Comey hearings, I can't wait to see what happens with Comey's testimony next week.

He'll give compounds belonging to other countries to the Russians!

Boehner Walks Back Criticism Of Trump Presidency As A ‘Complete Disaster’





He's not a complete disaster policy-wise, only when he tries to do stuff.

You ain't going for reelection Jon, you're headed the wrong way. Oh wait, it's the wrong way for both!

I've been thinking about this every now and then, and I'm still unsure of what the right play for them would be. Do you remove him as swiftly as possible to defuse the argument? It admits guilt and that can cost you. Do you hold firm? That can be a rallying cry for midterms with the very real statement that if the Dems take the House, impeachment happens.

All of this assumes some guilt is warranted but at this point, somebody's ass is going to jail.

They're fucked either way, it's just to the degree the country is too. And it's accelerating further away from what tenuous grasp they once had on this shitshow administration.

Collusion isn't what's going to take him down, if anything does. It should take him down, but it won't because it's not illegal and only a political bomb. The GOP party is defense mode and this talking point is a way to distance themselves somewhat. Like you said ... they're laying the groundwork for when that bomb hits. There's a reason all the finCEN data is important though, and there's a reason mueller is brining on somone who specializes in this shit. If trump goes down it will be for some racketeering shit or money laundering shit that's related to the Russia collusion. It's just amazing to watch the GOP twist themselves into pretzel trying to hadwave away collusion with Russia.

A very specific denial and on film too! Let's see how this plays out now...

 

[Basileus777]

So why did Obama think Biden would come in third in Iowa? People talk about presidential candidate diamond joe like he's the political equivalent of the fonz but I rewatch the debates in 2007 and it's like he's got the class of Jim Webb and the grace of Lincoln Chaffee.

Biden is the biggest beneficiary of post-2016 revisionism. The guy was never a good campaigner and wasn't going to tap into the same crowd Bernie did. He didn't join in because he knew he would lose badly.

 

[VendettaRed07]

I thought that was Hawaii?

I thought it was lower than Hawaii but I could be wrong.

Even if it's not it makes sense why Hawaii would be such a low %. Elections are basically already called when it gets there. WV being on the east coast it is strange their turnout is so poor

I think if the next Democratic president creates a Green New Deal and uses a lot of that money to transform Appalachia and restore their communities that it might have a chance after that.

I don't think pursuing it until Democrats can say they've delivered results there would ever work though.

Hillary basically tried to say this was what she planned to do ( but in the worst way possible). Hopefully next time we get it done.

Congress or Electoral College?

I would say both are doable

 

[Randolph Freelander]

Lawrence O'Donnell's ouster all but official at this point:

http://www.showbiz411.com/2017/05/1...onnell-the-last-word-show-despite-top-ratings



I didn't like O'Donnell's show for apparently the same reasons they're letting him go. I felt like it was a little too over-the-top and too-preaching-to-the-choir, despite the fact that I agreed with everything he was saying. He had insightful though. I think a slightly toned-down show could have been great. Hopefully his replacement will be more Rachel/Chris, not Megyn/Greta.

Update

Neil Jacobs‏ @NeilJacobs 30 minutes ago
BREAKING: It looks like @Lawrence has renewed his contract and will be staying on @MSNBC for the next couple of years! Congrats!

Lawrence O'Donnell @Lawrence 11 minutes ago
Yes I will be saying hi to Rachel @maddow at 10pm for the foreseeable future.

 

[kirblar]

Update

Neil Jacobs‏ @NeilJacobs 30 minutes ago
BREAKING: It looks like @Lawrence has renewed his contract and will be staying on @MSNBC for the next couple of years! Congrats!

Lawrence O'Donnell @Lawrence 11 minutes ago
Yes I will be saying hi to Rachel @maddow at 10pm for the foreseeable future.

Someone's boss got a stern talking to by people looking at another 3 years of no Democratic president.

 

[Owzers]

Now who's time slot will Hugh Hewitt take? :/

 

[Teggy]

Nice! Another "win" for Trump.

 

[AntraxSuicide]

Bring back Keith Olbermann!

 

[Autodidact]

In 2018 news, WaPo ran a piece about Flake's re-election prospects and challenges.

This quotation seems particularly relevant:

”If I wanted an easier path through the primary, then I would line up more with where the president is," he said. ”But I think if you're an elected official, you've got to do what you know what's right. It'll be a tougher path than I could have had, would have had, but I think I'll get there."

If you translate this Washington speech to normal English, you get, "I'm scared shitless and trying to appear centrist so the moderates will vote for me." He knows that he's provoked the far-right's ire, and he hopes that bipartisanship - or at least the appearance of it - will sway the independents and win him the election. That strategy might work in an anti-Trump year... if he hadn't drawn a batshit loony Trump-supporting challenger who plans to primary him.

My best-case scenario for this race:
1. He narrowly wins his primary.
2. Far-right loony chick decides to run third-party.
3. Republican vote split between moderates and Trump ghouls; Democrat wins.

Note that I still think the Democrat has a chance without above scenario, given Arizona's 2016 swing and likely 2018 swing. I just prefer to leave little to chance, and a spoiler candidate would almost ensure Democratic victory. In fact, I hope something similar happens in Nevada. Probably wouldn't occur in Texas, given Ted Cruz's far-right bona fides; he has an outside chance of losing the general but no chance of losing to a moderate in the primary.

 

[Box of Kittens]

I don't think we should write off any state entirely in terms of fielding candidates and investing in organization. The 50 State Strategy makes a lot of sense for many reasons. It's better to spread out resources because you hit a point of diminishing returns fairly quickly in a single state/district, the map is constantly evolving and you want to have infrastructure in place to take advantage of opportunities that arise. Of course you make tactical decisions about where to focus more resources, but we need to invest a little everywhere.

That having been said, in the near term West Virginia looks like one of the toughest nuts to crack. It went for Romney by a huge margin and still managed to swing to Trump bigly. It's very rural and very white. It's hard to come up with an economic message more appealing there than bringing the coal jobs back (yes, it's a lie, but one people desperately want to believe). Again, I think we invest everywhere, but West Virginia is still going to be very tough going.

 

[Suikoguy]

I don't think we should write off any state entirely in terms of fielding candidates and investing in organization. The 50 State Strategy makes a lot of sense for many reasons. It's better to spread out resources because you hit a point of diminishing returns fairly quickly in a single state/district, the map is constantly evolving and you want to have infrastructure in place to take advantage of opportunities that arise. Of course you make tactical decisions about where to focus more resources, but we need to invest a little everywhere.

That having been said, in the near term West Virginia looks like one of the toughest nuts to crack. It went for Romney by a huge margin and still managed to swing to Trump bigly. It's very rural and very white. It's hard to come up with an economic message more appealing there than bringing the coal jobs back (yes, it's a lie, but one people desperately want to believe). Again, I think we invest everywhere, but West Virginia is still going to be very tough going.

What's keeping you in WV?

 

[Ether_Snake]

Focussing on all districts/states in all elections is important, all the battles fuel one another. Otherwise you lose support, your supporters outright give up on politics, it turns districts or states into headquarters for the opposition and eventually they are weaponized against other districts or states one way or another.

 

[Autodidact]

IAgain, I think we invest everywhere, but West Virginia is still going to be very tough going.

Maybe not in 2018. We only have to worry about defending Manchin's seat, and according to polls, his constituents like him. If we have a blue wave, he should be okay... provided the Bernie Wing refrains from primarying him with a far-left candidate completely incompatible with WV.

 

[Emerson]

Maybe not in 2018. We only have to worry about defending Manchin's seat, and according to polls, his constituents like him. If we have a blue wave, he should be okay... provided the Bernie Wing refrains from primarying him with a far-left candidate completely incompatible with WV.

There is not going to be a far-left contingent in WV large enough to successfully primary Manchin.

 

[Spladam]

Why? This is the best HC appearance in the last 3 years. She's making sense, being honest, and looking at stuff from all angles.

I don't want her self-flagelating at every public appearance.... and if she's invited to speak; she can.

Given how the election turned out, she has the chance of becoming the most relevant loser of a presidential election in US history.

No she's divisive and turns folks away from the left. I feel the "Rich white lady" syndrome was part of the reason we had a poor voter turnout with various demographics. She gives off such a fake vibe, and makes even a rational mind think "if there is an Illuminati, she's in it."

If they can take down Sessions, that would be so good.

I would feel very comfortable with Sessions gone.

I fear he, Flynn, and Page will be isolated in a box and scapegoated, but yeah, his removal would be a pretty huge victory. Although I could only imagine what kind of nut-job Donald would replace him with, one that was willing to take the job. Not even Christy is down for it at this point I think.

You do realize that Obama is every bit as divisive as Hillary is for the base he's talking to, right?

So if your fear is him rallying the right, you should want both of them to go away.

It's not about "wanting him to go away", but you do see how he's playing it. He's not saying the shit Hillary is saying, he barely even talks about the election. He's much less divisive when it comes to this.

He's just not as divisive period. He seems genuine, she seems forced.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

I don't think we should write off any state entirely in terms of fielding candidates and investing in organization. The 50 State Strategy makes a lot of sense for many reasons. It's better to spread out resources because you hit a point of diminishing returns fairly quickly in a single state/district, the map is constantly evolving and you want to have infrastructure in place to take advantage of opportunities that arise. Of course you make tactical decisions about where to focus more resources, but we need to invest a little everywhere.

That having been said, in the near term West Virginia looks like one of the toughest nuts to crack. It went for Romney by a huge margin and still managed to swing to Trump bigly. It's very rural and very white. It's hard to come up with an economic message more appealing there than bringing the coal jobs back (yes, it's a lie, but one people desperately want to believe). Again, I think we invest everywhere, but West Virginia is still going to be very tough going.

For the record, I don't think Democrats can do anything right now to win West Virginia but rather that a real reinvestment to bring it back to life could maybe put it on the table in the future. I think doing a Green New Deal type program is good and needed anyways for all the country, not just WV, but decoupling the state from coal could change things.

Or maybe not and it's gone forever. I'm certainly not suggesting that 2020 nominee's campaign color it in as purple.

 

[Box of Kittens]

What's keeping you in WV?

Regardless of the viability of doing so, it's the only home many of its residents have ever known. It's easy to look from the outside and say someone should consider moving to somewhere they might have better prospects, but when that person's family has been living in the same place for generations, it can be hard to imagine living anywhere else.

Maybe not in 2018. We only have to worry about defending Manchin's seat, and according to polls, his constituents like him. If we have a blue wave, he should be okay... provided the Bernie Wing refrains from primarying him with a far-left candidate completely incompatible with WV.

Honestly, he's popular enough that I don't think a primary challenge would matter, especially given the composition of the WV Democratic primary electorate.

 

[Autodidact]

I wish someone other than the NY Post had this, but I still think it's worth at least bringing up here If I get a better source I will make a thread:

NY Post: The government is spying on journalists to find leakers




This seems less than ideal.

When Trump was on his trip, didn't some far-right "journalist" claim the same thing, that three leakers had been identified and would be fired upon Trump's return? At the time people poked holes in that story (if they're leakers, wouldn't it be dangerous to let them continue for another week?), and this story seems like a regurgitation of the earlier one. I'd wait for a more reliable source.

 

[The Technomancer]

The 50 state strategy I theoretically agree with, says that we don't need to win in WV right away but we need to get people there used to a political presence besides just the GOP. I'm not sure of the efficacy of that but I'd like to think it will work :/

 

[JesseEwiak]

No she's divisive and turns folks away from the left. I feel the "Rich white lady" syndrome was part of the reason we had a poor voter turnout with various demographics. She gives off such a fake vibe, and makes even a rational mind think "if there is an Illuminati, she's in it."



I fear he, Flynn, and Page will be isolated in a box and scapegoated, but yeah, his removal would be a pretty huge victory. Although I could only imagine what kind of nut-job Donald would replace him with, one that was willing to take the job. Not even Christy is down for it at this point I think.


It's not about "wanting him to go away", but you do see how he's playing it. He's not saying the shit Hillary is saying, he barely even talks about the election. He's much less divisive when it comes to this.

He's just not as divisive period. He seems genuine, she seems forced.

Yes, oddly the person who won two elections and was President is less upset about it than the person who lost the election.

But, what has Hillary said that's forced? If Hillary wasn't being honest, she wouldn't be saying things she knows the leftier-than-thou types on Twitter and over at Jacobin will whine about.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

The 50 state strategy I theoretically agree with, says that we don't need to win in WV right away but we need to get people there used to a political presence besides just the GOP. I'm not sure of the efficacy of that but I'd like to think it will work :/

As long as it's accepted we might need to throw some dollars to an anti-abortion or pro-cop Dem once in a while, I think it's a fine strategy. The 50-state strategy requires the opposite of the purity test BS.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

The 50 state strategy I theoretically agree with, says that we don't need to win in WV right away but we need to get people there used to a political presence besides just the GOP. I'm not sure of the efficacy of that but I'd like to think it will work :/

Well, West Virginia has a Democratic senator and governor. The issue is coal, the first Democratic nominee they went hard against relative to the nation was Gore. It even stuck with Carter (4.5 point victory while Reagan won by 9) and Dukakis (5 point victory while Bush won by 7) when they got blown out basically everywhere. They're still fine with Democrats who like coal, it's just that we can't really like coal anymore because the planet is going to die.

 

[RDreamer]

No she's divisive and turns folks away from the left. I feel the "Rich white lady" syndrome was part of the reason we had a poor voter turnout with various demographics. She gives off such a fake vibe, and makes even a rational mind think "if there is an Illuminati, she's in it."

Rational minds wouldn't think that. Rational minds would probably realize that she seems a bit 'fake' since she's spent decades not allowed to be herself in the public eye. “You don’t really fit the image we have created for the governor’s wife in Arkansas,” was a real thing said to her decades ago.

 

[Basileus777]

Well, West Virginia has a Democratic senator and governor. The issue is coal, the first Democratic nominee they went hard against relative to the nation was Gore. It even stuck with Carter (4.5 point victory while Reagan won by 9) and Dukakis (5 point victory while Bush won by 7) when they got blown out basically everywhere. They're still fine with Democrats who like coal, it's just that we can't really like coal anymore because the planet is going to die.

Well that history is based off it being a union state and that no longer matters. And there's no rational way to save the coal industry, Republicans can lie their asses off on that point in a way that Democrats can't.

 

[AntraxSuicide]

The 50 state strategy I theoretically agree with, says that we don't need to win in WV right away but we need to get people there used to a political presence besides just the GOP. I'm not sure of the efficacy of that but I'd like to think it will work :/

This is it for me too I think. Certain states are off the table at the presidential level, but we should still stay active everywhere to push for City Council or mayoral races.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

Well that history is based off it being a union state and that no longer matters. And there's no rational way to save the coal industry, Republicans can lie there asses off on that point in a way that Democrats can't.

Yeah, I get all that, which is why I'm saying it should be written off until coal is decoupled from the state's prosperity.

 

[JesseEwiak]

Rational minds wouldn't think that. Rational minds would probably realize that she seems a bit 'fake' since she's spent decades not allowed to be herself in the public eye. “You don’t really fit the image we have created for the governor’s wife in Arkansas,” was a real thing said to her decades ago.

See, Hillary is such a fake she tricked Bill Clinton into marrying her!

 

[royalan]

It's not about "wanting him to go away", but you do see how he's playing it. He's not saying the shit Hillary is saying, he barely even talks about the election. He's much less divisive when it comes to this.

He's just not as divisive period. He seems genuine, she seems forced.

Bull-fucking-shit

By my count, Obama's given two interviews now where he's critiqued the Clinton campaign and flat out said he would have won if he could run in 2016.

Granted, it's every bit within his right to do this. I'm not criticizing him for that. But that's a far cry from "barely even talks about the election."

Let Hillary talk about the election. It was HER race.

 

[Teggy]

There is the #marchfortruth this weekend which seems like it is a big deal but I only just started hearing about it a few days ago. Are they doing much organization for it in your areas?

Nick Short @PoliticalShort

House Intel committee has subpoenaed NSA, FBI & CIA for info on unmasking requests made by Rice, Brennan, Power

They put out 4 subpoenas for Russia and 3(!) for this nonsense.

 

[Autodidact]

Would any of the political historians here be so kind as to answer a question for me? I love to rag on the Media's Moderate Darlings (who truly aren't), but I've always been fascinated by Murkowski's win back in 2010. That year was the Bonfire of the Moderate Darlings, Democratic and Republican, but somehow she managed to win a write-in campaign against the Tea Party candidate. Was it her family connections? Her fetish for drilling? I see she lost her primary narrowly. Did the voters just realize they'd made a mistake? On paper she should've been gone and looked as though she would be until the eleventh-hour comeback.
Sorry to derail a bit, but I just love quirky elections like that one.

 

[Pixieking]

No she's divisive and turns folks away from the left. I feel the "Rich white lady" syndrome was part of the reason we had a poor voter turnout with various demographics. She gives off such a fake vibe, and makes even a rational mind think "if there is an Illuminati, she's in it."

This is madness.

If you honestly think that "if there is an Illuminati, she's in it" with Hillary, you're already against her. No rational mind thinks the Illuminati exists, not least with someone who has fought against sexism so long and so hard, both professionally and politically.

Oh, and, yeah, she gives off a "fake vibe" every now and then - perhaps if you were torn apart from the late 80s on, you'd put-up a veneer between yourself and the public.

Also,

I feel the "Rich white lady" syndrome was part of the reason we had a poor voter turnout with various demographics

People voted for a fucking multimillionaire white guy, so I'm going to question your analysis here.

Edit:

Relevant - GOP Hopes to Use Anti-Clinton Strategy to Kill Warren 2020 in the Cradle

By the time Hillary Clinton entered the 2016 race, the GOP had already tied several weights around her ankles. The right had been given two decades to paint the former First Lady as a soulless schemer whose professional ambitions were an affront to traditional families, and a threat to the republic's survival — and eight years to brand Obama's preferred successor as a corrupt self-dealer, whose illegal use of a private email server had jeopardized national security and/or killed our boys in Benghazi.

Republicans are getting a jump on Elizabeth Warren's 2020 presidential campaign. The Massachusetts Democrat is preparing to run for re-election to the Senate in 2018 and hasn't said yet whether she'll challenge President Donald Trump for the White House. But in-state and national Republican officials have decided to target the liberal icon anyway, saying they will try to inflict enough damage during the Senate race to harm any future presidential effort — and perhaps dissuade her from running altogether.

...”We learned from our experience with Secretary (Hillary) Clinton that when you start earlier, the narratives have more time to sink in and resonate with the electorate," said Colin Reed, executive director at the Republican outside group America Rising.

 

[JesseEwiak]

Would any of the political historians here be so kind as to answer a question for me? I love to rag on the Media's Moderate Darlings (who truly aren't), but I've always been fascinated by Murkowski's win back in 2010. That year was the Bonfire of the Moderate Darlings, Democratic and Republican, but somehow she managed to win a write-in campaign against the Tea Party candidate. Was it her family connections? Her fetish for drilling? I see she lost her primary narrowly. Did the voters just realize they'd made a mistake? On paper she should've been gone and looked as though she would be until the eleventh-hour comeback.
Sorry to derail a bit, but I just love quirky elections like that one.

Murkowski is a name that's been in Alaska politics since basically the state was founded and she was much more popular among the wider electorate than the candidate that beat her. It also didn't hurt that the GOP candidate was a complete yob who appealed to nobody but the fringe, even in Alaska.

 

[Suikoguy]

Regardless of the viability of doing so, it's the only home many of its residents have ever known. It's easy to look from the outside and say someone should consider moving to somewhere they might have better prospects, but when that person's family has been living in the same place for generations, it can be hard to imagine living anywhere else.

I'm not criticizing, just curious. I'm such in a somewhat rural town in FL myself due to family. My moms health is poor, and I can't see leaving her yet.

It's infuriating when you hear so much about states rights, when you have first hand knowledge that changing states is not often an option.

 

[Box of Kittens]

I'm not criticizing, just curious. I'm such in a somewhat rural town in FL myself due to family. My moms health is poor, and I can't see leaving her yet.

It's infuriating when you hear so much about states rights, when you have first hand knowledge that changing states is not often an option.

Ah, it seems like some wires got crossed somewhere. I assumed you were using "you" to refer to a hypothetical resident of WV. I live in Chicago.

 

[kirblar]

Like Warren was running in 2020. She'll gladly be the bait.