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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#260101: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:04:47 PM

Did my part, little as it probably will be, as both my representative and senator are Democrats who are expected to be re-elected easily. (I swear, I honest to God didn’t even know Gillibrand was up for re-election until last night, that’s how certain it is and how little attention it has gotten.) Even gave Cuomo a vote, whereas in 2014 I left the spot blank rather than give him any endorsement.

For those waiting for results, the very earliest any polls will close is around 6PM eastern time, about 3 hours from now. If you want to try to get an idea of which way things are going, some early closing races that may have a big effect or serve as a signal for how the night will go include:

  • Indiana Senate race

  • Florida Senate race (This, the Florida governor race, and Ohio governor race are probably the biggest individual prizes of the night.)

  • Georgia’s 6th House district (This is the one John Ossoff tried to win in a special election last year and came up just short)

  • Virginia’s 7th House district (The incumbent, Dave Brat, was one of Steve Bannon’s first big political successes, if not the first, and has been a major pain in the ass since. All indications are that the race is very close, and the challenger, Abigail Spanberger, was one of the various candidates around the country I donated to.)

  • Kentucky’s 6th district (This one should be a sure thing for the Republicans, but Democrats recruited a very strong candidate. It’s one of the earliest districts to close voting polls, and if Democrats win there [or manage to make it really close] the rest of the night is going to be extremely rough for Republicans.)

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#260103: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:13:09 PM

Well, good luck today.

I won't be watching things live, because the last time I did that on an American election I went on a midweek booze bender the same night.tongue

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#260104: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:13:12 PM

[up][up]They deserve a medal for their service to the democratic process, or something. Maybe in a wedge-design with a red-gold-and-buff ribbon. wink

Edited by Euodiachloris on Nov 6th 2018 at 8:13:38 PM

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#260105: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:14:44 PM

Colorado's Amendment 74 sounds like something that would make Congressional Republicans go "Damn, why didn't I think of that?"

It's also pretty devious because it doesn't really talk about corporate benefits. Instead, it focuses on homeowner benefits, which is why it's so popular.

Amendment 74's popularity is driven by fear of eminent domain and infrastructure development. The big selling point is, "The government might build a highway through your lawn AND THEN YOUR HOME IS DEVALUED!!!"

I pretty much saw it as a big ugly mess that would cripple the state's ability to even perform infrastructure development for fear of the payouts, but my friends who want to become homeowners bought it hook, line, and sinker.

Unfortunately, it's probably going to pass because there's been a big advertising push for it and unlike defending 112 against the anti-112 ad push, it's actually really hard to phrase an argument against 74 that your average voter will care about.

  • PROS: The government can't steal your land or ruin it.
  • CONS: Like, the government needs to do stuff? Stuff that you, personally, don't give a shit about?

Edited by TobiasDrake on Nov 6th 2018 at 1:18:22 PM

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#260107: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:28:35 PM

Well, I think I will turn early and sleep for a few hours. Hopefully the world will look brighter when I wake up.

AzurePaladin She/Her Pronouns from Forest of Magic Since: Apr, 2018 Relationship Status: Mu
She/Her Pronouns
#260108: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:29:22 PM

~The Wanderer I'm fairly certain New York has Fusion Voting, so if you don't like Cuomo but need to vote for him you can do so on the Working Families or Women's Equality lines.

Its why he shows up as at least those parties candidates despite being a Democrat.

Edited by AzurePaladin on Nov 6th 2018 at 3:30:39 PM

The awful things he says and does are burned into our cultural consciousness like a CRT display left on the same picture too long. -Fighteer
Imca (Veteran)
#260109: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:33:39 PM

I have a question about Amercian voting, partly brought up by the last time this stuff happened and one of the canidates was decided by an illegiable ballot.

Why does the US take and assign the illegable ballots to a specific person any way, one that that person might not of wanted?

Our voting system took any ballot that couldn't be determined and split them amongst the posible canidates it could be fore proportionatly to the determinable votes.... which while also not perfect seems a lot better then "I THINK this is who they wanted..... maybe"

Spinosegnosaurus77 Ramen Fairy from Ontario, Canada Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: All I Want for Christmas is a Girlfriend
Ramen Fairy
#260110: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:44:06 PM

Canadian here. If the Dems win the House, do they impeach Trump, throw out his cabinet & put Clinton (or another Dem) in his place?

Peace is the only battle worth waging.
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#260111: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:45:23 PM

You can't just "throw out" a Cabinet.

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#260112: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:46:31 PM

[up][up]If the Democrats come to power in the lower house, investigations continue. Going straight into impeachment is immensely risky — after what Gingrich did to the practice, there's an additional burden of proof in establishing that said impeachment isn't just court intrigue designed to unseat a disfavored president. Also, Cabinet officials need to be individually impeached — they can be asked to step down by the next incoming president, but they can't just be thrown out en bloc.

Edited by CrimsonZephyr on Nov 6th 2018 at 3:49:12 PM

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Spinosegnosaurus77 Ramen Fairy from Ontario, Canada Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: All I Want for Christmas is a Girlfriend
Ramen Fairy
#260113: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:49:10 PM

[up][up] I thought you would do so by removing the Republicans (in this case) & replacing them with their Democratic opponents from their native states. Is that incorrect?

[up] Impeachment isn’t automatic in this case?

Peace is the only battle worth waging.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#260114: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:50:43 PM

Impeachment requires 2/3rds of the Senate to vote for conviction, that's not happening. And even if it did, you'd have to directly implicate Pence and impeach him as well, and that might look like a political coup.

—-

Apparently Sean Hannity is taking a lot of flack from his coworkers after he appeared at a Trump rally as a speaker.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/06/media/fox-news-sean-hannity-jeanine-pirro-trump-rally/index.html

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#260115: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:50:48 PM

[up][up]Where did you get that idea? Impeached officials are replaced by members of the order of succession: President, VP, Speaker, President pro tempore of the Senate, then Cabinet secretaries starting with State, based on order of precedence. You would need a massive legal undertaking to work your way through enough Republicans for a Democrat to be installed.

Edited by CrimsonZephyr on Nov 6th 2018 at 3:52:25 PM

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#260116: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:52:38 PM

What do you think "impeachment" is? Keep in mind, Bill Clinton was impeached.

The cabinet will be thrown out whenever the President wants to throw out the cabinet. So if Trump gets booted from office, Pence can clear out the cabinet. Or keep it. A Democratic successor will clear the cabinet.

Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
Spinosegnosaurus77 Ramen Fairy from Ontario, Canada Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: All I Want for Christmas is a Girlfriend
Ramen Fairy
#260117: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:53:23 PM

[up][up] I’ve seen people online saying to vote to “kick out the Republicans” (for example), so I thought that winning a majority (in either the House or the Senate) automatically flips the whole cabinet.

[up] I was too young at the time to pay attention to the Clinton scandal, but thanks for clarifying.

Edited by Spinosegnosaurus77 on Nov 6th 2018 at 3:55:14 PM

Peace is the only battle worth waging.
Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#260118: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:54:20 PM

The cabinet is chosen by the president. It's just whom he chooses to surround himself with.

And we're not getting a Democratic president until either 2020 or if somehow the 2016 election is considered so invalid that it's thrown out entirely. Which... isn't happening.

Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
SciFiSlasher from Absolutely none of your business. Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#260119: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:54:55 PM

It disturbs me to my core': Fox News staffers express outrage over Hannity's rally appearance.

Oh, now they're mad.

"Somehow the hated have to walk a tightrope, while those who hate do not."
Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#260120: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:55:46 PM

Impeachment is almost certainly impractical here, in any case- for impeachment, you need a majority in the House and two thirds of the Senate. A Democratic Majority is feasible, but them getting two thirds of the senate is quite literally impossible.

They might try anyway, but I don't see them getting a double digit number of Republican Senators to help them, which is what they'd need to succeed.

nombretomado (Season 1) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#260121: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:56:07 PM

Someone has been going around dropping off food for long lines and poll workers in San Diego county too, so that's nice to see. Small logistics go a long way to encouraging voter turnout/"stay out".

Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#260122: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:57:33 PM

@Spinosegnosaurus: Yeah, kick out the Republicans by voting them out of the house and senate. Lord help us if the president's cabinet kept being replaced every time the midterms came around, to the whims of voters.

Edited by Grafite on Nov 6th 2018 at 8:58:22 PM

Life is unfair...
Spinosegnosaurus77 Ramen Fairy from Ontario, Canada Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: All I Want for Christmas is a Girlfriend
Ramen Fairy
#260123: Nov 6th 2018 at 12:57:54 PM

[up][up][up] We’re assuming the Senate stays red, correct?

Edited by Spinosegnosaurus77 on Nov 6th 2018 at 3:58:23 PM

Peace is the only battle worth waging.
Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#260124: Nov 6th 2018 at 1:02:54 PM

I mean, that's the most likely outcome, yes, but even if it doesn't, the Democrats gaining a two thirds majority simply isn't on the table- there are only 8 Republican Senators up for re-election today, so even if they win in literally every state, they'd only get a 56-44 Majority in the Senate.

Cris_Meyers reluctant author, willing misanthrope from Chicagoland (Fifth Year at Tropey's) Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
reluctant author, willing misanthrope
#260125: Nov 6th 2018 at 1:04:20 PM

It is the most likely outcome, yes.

2020 is a different story.


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