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

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#268801: Jan 26th 2019 at 12:24:23 PM

The real question is whether or not Mitch McConnel cares. He doesnt have to, his seat is likely safe enough no matter what happens to Trump, the Senate or the economy. I wouldnt put it past him to be deliberately sabotaging his own party in order to solidify his hold on the survivors. This would work as long as he doesnt get blamed for the loss, and with Donald Trump to take the fall, he wont be.

McConnell's already been blamed for the shutdown by at least one person in his in own party.

Edited by sgamer82 on Jan 26th 2019 at 1:25:11 PM

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#268802: Jan 26th 2019 at 12:26:30 PM

Mitch's seat is not as safe as the term "red state" might imply. In the 2014 red wave, he got 4% less votes than Romney two years earlier, and if it had been a blue wave like 2018 he'd have squeaked by with only 4% margin. That "America's least popular senator" title has teeth. Besides, he likes that Senate majority, and people like Cory Gardner, Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, Joni Ernst and Martha McSally have even less safe seats.

Edited by SeptimusHeap on Jan 26th 2019 at 11:00:56 AM

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#268803: Jan 26th 2019 at 12:30:15 PM

The Electoral System is something I've argued about not being the Albatross people think it is.

(I changed my mind but even then I think it's entirely possible to win it on democracy because, well, plenty of president have. It's just we have two narrow victories by Presidents who CHEATED and didn't get called on it)

I'm not going to argue that again but will simply point out that Trump will almost certainly lose because the idea it's all about a vast legion of rednecks voting for him while the sane city-dwellers don't is a myth.

Obama and Original Clinton won with extensive mandates. It is not an issue of pure divide along red and blue lines. Plenty of states are swing states too or have voters who vote according to their beliefs.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jan 26th 2019 at 12:31:25 PM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Shaoken (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Dating Catwoman
#268804: Jan 26th 2019 at 12:33:12 PM

If the Republicans lose the Senate majority that could be the death knell for Mitch's leadership. Even if Trump took the lion's share of blame for the loss he was enabled by Mitch's leadership, and there has to be at least one Republican in the Senate who wants the top spot enough to knife him when he's down.

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#268805: Jan 26th 2019 at 12:33:43 PM

The Electoral Collage is only a problem when the popular vote is very close. Get a larger majority on your side, and even the EC cant stop the inevitable.

I hope you all are right about Mitch not being as safe as he seems to think he is. That would be a very significant victory.

Edited by DeMarquis on Jan 26th 2019 at 3:34:31 PM

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#268806: Jan 26th 2019 at 12:35:51 PM

It's absolutely an albatross when Republican candidates can win the presidency on five separate occasions with less votes, or that a Republican president has been in office for ten years of the eighteen completed years of the 21st Century while winning the popular vote only once in the past five.

And the rural GOP redneck vs the urban Democrat is reflected time and again in most states. Some states such as Virginia only went blue because of the cities. The only reason you keep going on about this is because you're from the area, and while I'm sure it would sting to see shade thrown on your home all the time, that's just the truth.

"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."
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#268807: Jan 26th 2019 at 12:43:44 PM

I am a little less sanguine than Shaoken considering that Mitch didn't get the boot after his unimpressive performance during the 2012 Senate elections. So if folks want to get rid of Evil Turtle for good - which would be the biggest or second-biggest prize of 2020, but veery hard to get to - it has to be through Kentucky. Merely removing his majority would at best be a temporary setback for that man.

To be fair to Charles Phipps, back in 2012 we were discussing in this very thread that Obama might win the Electoral College and lose the popular vote.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
thok That's Dr. Title, thank you! (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Non-Canon
That's Dr. Title, thank you!
#268808: Jan 26th 2019 at 12:45:09 PM

I know I'm late to this discussion, but I've already started to make jokes about the ground-Trump (Trump-hog?) seeing its shadow and giving us 4 more weeks of government shutdown.

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#268809: Jan 26th 2019 at 12:46:11 PM

Mitch is up for re-election in 2020 and kentucky democrats are well aware that they have to start getting ready NOW if they want to beat him, otherwise they will lose.

I still expect him to win unfortunately but getting rid of him would be splendid.

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#268810: Jan 26th 2019 at 12:46:49 PM

@Thok: OMG [lol]

Edited by DeMarquis on Jan 26th 2019 at 3:47:08 PM

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#268811: Jan 26th 2019 at 1:18:10 PM

Even if they can't beat Mitch, they might be able to give the GOP a scare. Any dollar devoted to keeping Mitch safe isn't being spent in Colorado, Maine, et all.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#268812: Jan 26th 2019 at 1:36:03 PM

I'm hoping this latest defeat shakes Trump's confidence enough that he lacks the revolve for another big shutdown,though he could end up being like the proverbial donkey in being especially stubborn

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#268813: Jan 26th 2019 at 1:45:33 PM

First the presidency now our donkeys? Is there nothing Trump won't steal from Democrats?

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#268815: Jan 26th 2019 at 1:57:23 PM

Shooter is white (so there's possibility of racist/political motive) and killed his parents before going on his killing spree. Yikes.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#268816: Jan 26th 2019 at 2:02:26 PM

Only odd thing about this is that these kinds of killings usually end with the shooter either charging the cops or turning their weapons on themselves.

That said, I'm apparently incorrect about him being detained, I assumed that the picture was a mugshot. Police are currently tracking him.

Edited by Rationalinsanity on Jan 26th 2019 at 6:03:51 AM

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#268817: Jan 26th 2019 at 2:07:05 PM

What was it Trump said at his inauguration? Something about ending American carnage?

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#268818: Jan 26th 2019 at 2:54:20 PM

Senator Michael Bennet from Colorado completely destroyed Ted Cruise yesterday in an off the cuff speech, and it’s glorious.

The full speech is about 25 minutes, but here’s the first part.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#268819: Jan 26th 2019 at 2:55:21 PM

Normally I like facial hair, and I'd like it to make a comeback in professional and political circles, but damn does Cruz's beard suck.tongue

Edited by Rationalinsanity on Jan 26th 2019 at 6:55:51 AM

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
NickTheSwing Since: Aug, 2009
#268820: Jan 26th 2019 at 3:01:08 PM

Ted Cruz's thought process probably went "I am no longer the most eminently hateable man in America, I should do something to change that. Why not really bad facial hair?"

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#268821: Jan 26th 2019 at 3:10:39 PM

Ted Cruz rocking the Eminem BET Cypher beard.

i'm tired, my friend
RainingMetal (Handed A Sword) Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#268822: Jan 26th 2019 at 3:28:41 PM

Or maybe facial hair from the 19th century.

ASAB: All Sponsors Are Bad.
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#268823: Jan 26th 2019 at 3:28:57 PM

And yet, somehow it's still an improvement.

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#268824: Jan 26th 2019 at 3:32:46 PM

Yeah, I don't know how but the new Cruz is slightly less punchable then the older one.

Which admittedly just means he's 78% more punchable then most people instead of 80%.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#268825: Jan 26th 2019 at 5:27:20 PM

Honestly, I consider the facial hair an improvement for Cruz. Before, he had one of the most punchable faces in the US, right up there with Shkreli in terms of the Smug Snake look. Now he looks a bit more approachable and has a defined jawline courtesy of the trimmed beard.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"

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