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M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#188151: May 10th 2017 at 12:42:00 PM

[up][up] Mello apparently lost because he focused too much on Trump instead of local issues. While running for mayor.

Disgusted, but not surprised
AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#188152: May 10th 2017 at 12:42:22 PM

For those needing something to snicker at, here's Joy Reed on Ivanka's "book". Many valley girl jokes ensue.

My main point was that it was stupid to blame Sanders for Mello's defeat: if he didn't get his endorsement, he might have lost even harder. I do agree that the Democrats do not need to follow Bernie's policies in order to create the "Blue Wave". Moving more towards the left, specially in terms of healthcare is something I would personally like to see though.

Nobody was blaming Sanders for it. We were pointing out that his recommendations for the kind of candidates who will win have been repeatedly proven false and that this is it happening again.

edited 10th May '17 12:43:45 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#188153: May 10th 2017 at 12:42:38 PM

I'd be carful with how one goes about retaliating against Russia, now cyber attacks aimed at releasing Russian state secrets is one idea, but if a future Democrat administration wants to retaliate they would need to target the economy.

How do you do that? Not direct sanctions, you target Russia's exports by targeting its export markets.

An idea for how to do that would be clean energy, you subside the export of US manufactured clean energy (solar panels, wind turbines, electric cars) to counties that are currently dependant on Russian gas and oil, they are then able to roll back said dependence and that then causes Russia to loose export earning because it can't sell as much of its natural resources as it used to.

The bonuses with such a plan is that on top of hurting the Russian economy you're helping the environment and boosting US based manufacturing.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#188154: May 10th 2017 at 12:43:23 PM

Without Sanders' Endorsement, Mallo could've gotten creamed.
That is a very strong claim to make, do we have any evidence that supports it? Because that sounds dangerously closed to moving the goalposts, "sure he lost but without Sanders he would've lost more".

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#188155: May 10th 2017 at 12:44:05 PM

[up]X6 As far as I've seen it's a mixture of both; liking what Sanders represents (YMMV on that) and just really liking the man himself for being uncompromising and an "outsider". We've already gone over why that really isn't the case, but that's how he's looked at.

In a lot of ways, Sander's base is the leftist equivalent of the Republican base, at least on how little they like compromise. Unlike other people here, I'm not going to just restrict it to young white people, because I'm pretty sure that data shows the young is more important than the white as far as his appeal goes, but the result is basically the same.

edited 10th May '17 12:44:41 PM by LSBK

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#188156: May 10th 2017 at 12:44:48 PM

@Tactical: Oh man, that is good. [lol]

Do not obey in advance.
AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#188157: May 10th 2017 at 12:44:56 PM

[up][up][up]Not to mention that if Sanders really were able to magically generate support for a candidate in that fashion, then it would make his attitude towards (more) Ossof inexcusable.

edited 10th May '17 12:45:07 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar

TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#188158: May 10th 2017 at 12:46:02 PM

[up][up][up][up][up] Interestingly enough, one of the reasons Hillary "promoted" fracking during her tenure as So S, was to weed Western Europe away from Russian energy exports...with mixed results.

edited 10th May '17 12:46:26 PM by TacticalFox88

New Survey coming this weekend!
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#188159: May 10th 2017 at 12:47:43 PM

Presumably also because natural gas produces less greenhouse gases than coal.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
NoName999 Since: May, 2011
#188160: May 10th 2017 at 12:48:16 PM

I'm hoping he lost due to the fact that his history of pro-life legislation was just simply atrocious. Thus turning off one of the Dems most reliable voting blocs: women

And it's not like the city was like super red or anything.

Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#188161: May 10th 2017 at 12:48:33 PM

[up][up][up]I like this idea but it doesn't satisfy the desire for punitive action—to see Putin given at least a metaphorical black eye. There are *probably* ways to do this without escilating dangerously or destabilizing Russia to the degree we have a larger and nuclear-armed Iraq or Syria on our hands. What those are I'm less sure.

edited 10th May '17 12:49:07 PM by Elle

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#188162: May 10th 2017 at 12:49:53 PM

[up][up]Two things, one, women aren't a single, united, voting block. And, two, women tend to be as evenly divided on the subject of abortion as men.

edited 10th May '17 12:51:35 PM by LSBK

ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#188163: May 10th 2017 at 12:52:21 PM

Welp, "Fake News" just became a Share Phrase with the Russian ambassador.

[up]

This - my mother, for example, is staunchly pro-life (with the "Big Three" exceptions), though that's at least partially due to the fact that she was adopted, and born before Roe v. Wade became law - kind of hard not to be pro-Life in a scenario like that. And recently, we've discovered that the circumstances of her birth (she was the result of spousal cheating during a rough patch), which doesn't exactly inspire confidence that she wouldn't have been aborted.

edited 10th May '17 1:01:14 PM by ironballs16

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#188164: May 10th 2017 at 12:52:42 PM

[up][up]Which doesn't change the fact that pro-choice women are a key Democratic voting bloc.

edited 10th May '17 12:52:58 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#188165: May 10th 2017 at 12:53:29 PM

[up]Which is not what he said.

But anyway, what was it about this candidate that made him a "real progressive" to Sanders, despite his apparently terrible history with abortion?

edited 10th May '17 12:54:49 PM by LSBK

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#188166: May 10th 2017 at 12:54:12 PM

What I'm hearing is that Mello and the Dems went too hard on hating Trump and not enough on policy.

THANK YOU!! I am a Mello supporter, but I almost switched my vote because of the tone of the ads and mailings. Everything I got from Stothert was positive and "this is what I did". Everything from Mello (or the democratic party) was "I am not Stothert and Trump sucks". While both are true, they had no substance at all.

Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#188167: May 10th 2017 at 12:57:24 PM

[up] I would say the Democrats need to rethink how they can get their message across in a positive way instead of focusing on what the opposition is doing wrong (which can be effective, but I would say it was done a bit too much in this past presidential election).

edited 10th May '17 12:57:43 PM by Grafite

Life is unfair...
AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#188168: May 10th 2017 at 12:58:03 PM

[up][up][up]He said Sanders was right about the economy.

edited 10th May '17 12:59:49 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar

Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#188169: May 10th 2017 at 1:01:09 PM

[up][up][up]Stuff like this is what convinced me to vote for the Republican in my state Senate race even though she admitted she would probably vote Trump over Clinton (without actually endorsing him). She actually had a record of doing fairly positive stuff and getting funds for stuff in the district. (Her challenger was also not much of a challenger.) She was the one exemption I made to my "not voting for anyone who says positive things about Trump" baseline.

Focusing on local issues is also a big part of the rhetoric of NY Republicans in state office. The Democratic representation is disproportionately Downstate, clustered around NYC.

edited 10th May '17 1:04:18 PM by Elle

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#188170: May 10th 2017 at 1:03:35 PM

I mean that seems like a terrible idea if she supports Trump. It shows she has terrible judgement. Plus people shouldn't want to vote in more support for him.

edited 10th May '17 1:04:58 PM by MadSkillz

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#188172: May 10th 2017 at 1:06:12 PM

[up] He's been hovering there for a while now.

He had only a 36 % approval rating at one point.

Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#188173: May 10th 2017 at 1:08:10 PM

"Support" was a very lose description in this case. It was obvious she wasn't happy with either candidate and I'm not sure she'd make the same choice today. (I could have said why she was wrong but I deemed it the same flaw of ignorance a lot of otherwise-moderate Trump voters made.)

The challenger was also a complete neophyte who didn't even seem to be too serious about the race. Had interesting ideas but no personal history to suggest he'd be any good at legislating them.

edited 10th May '17 1:11:09 PM by Elle

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#188174: May 10th 2017 at 1:09:19 PM

How will firing Comey affect his approval among his base? Do any of them even care about him?

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#188175: May 10th 2017 at 1:10:13 PM

I think they'll like Comey's firing.

Do not obey in advance.

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