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M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#192776: Jun 11th 2017 at 1:36:32 PM

[up][up] She represents San Francisco, which is basically Mordor to Red State reactionaries. And as [up] pointed out, she's been doing it for a long time, all the while sporting a pair of ovaries.

edited 11th Jun '17 1:37:58 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#192777: Jun 11th 2017 at 1:37:51 PM

And she was House Speaker.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#192778: Jun 11th 2017 at 1:39:36 PM

[up][up]Huh, I thought there would at least be a few non-scandals driving it, a la Hilary.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#192779: Jun 11th 2017 at 1:42:23 PM

Nope. Being Speaker was enough.

And probably because she like Hillary was more a policy wonk and less an effective campaigner.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#192780: Jun 11th 2017 at 2:01:51 PM

What has Handel hope to accomplish by running for office?

Do not obey in advance.
IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#192781: Jun 11th 2017 at 2:11:55 PM

Puerto Rico voted for Statehood. In a fucking landslide.

edited 11th Jun '17 2:12:27 PM by IFwanderer

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#192782: Jun 11th 2017 at 2:15:14 PM

What has Handel hope to accomplish by running for office?
She doesn't commit to much beyond the traditional talking points:
Karen Handel promised to cut spending, repeal Obamacare and reduce regulations when she announced her candidacy in the 6th Congressional District special election.

“I have a record of standing up and fighting the status quo to get things done,” Handel said, “and I will take that fight to Washington.”

She definitely wants an elected office and she definitely opposes planned parenthood. Handel often runs on being "someone who'll shake things up," but she doesn't stand out among the GOP. She's currently talking like a Trump shill, but kept quiet about him during the first round. My conclusion is that she'll just be an unremarkable member of the GOP in Congress and fall in lockstep with the party line. She'd be satisfied enough with having the office. But you'll have to glean her history for any sort of guess:

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#192783: Jun 11th 2017 at 2:22:35 PM

[up][up]As expected. There are probably going to be some issues with how to proceed though.

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#192784: Jun 11th 2017 at 2:26:02 PM

@wanderer Oh dang. I hope they make it in.

TheAirman Brightness from The vicinity of an area adjacent to a location Since: Feb, 2011 Relationship Status: Historians will say we were good friends.
Brightness
#192785: Jun 11th 2017 at 2:35:35 PM

Damn. Well, assuming Congress doesn't dismiss this based on the boycott (seriously, why would the pro-Commonwealth organize a boycott instead of voting to stay Commonwealth?), I believe the next step is drafting a State Constitution. Is that correct?

edited 11th Jun '17 2:37:07 PM by TheAirman

PSN ID: FateSeraph | Switch friendcode: SW-0145-8835-0610 Congratulations! She/They
Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#192786: Jun 11th 2017 at 2:37:41 PM

Dang. 97%. Landslide is an understatement.

Though apparently the turnout was really shitty because the people in favour of the status quo boycotted for some reason.

Still. The people of Puerto Rico has made their will known.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#192787: Jun 11th 2017 at 2:38:37 PM

Yes, and avoid mistakes such as unconstitutional provisions. The American Virgin Islands submitted a bid for statehood that was rejected for that reasons.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#192788: Jun 11th 2017 at 2:40:29 PM

[up][up]Boycotting a referendum is exactly the same as simply abstaining, except people get to act smug about it.

But seriously, why would anybody vote to stay a territory? Why would anyone want to be part of a democratic nation without any real representation of their own?

edited 11th Jun '17 2:40:44 PM by Kayeka

IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#192789: Jun 11th 2017 at 2:48:31 PM

AFAIK, it was boycotted because they knew they'd loose and wanted a way to muddy the decision.

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#192790: Jun 11th 2017 at 2:56:18 PM

As far as I heard, statehood was going to win either way and the boycott is just to make it look less legitimate than it really is.

edited 11th Jun '17 3:17:06 PM by LSBK

TheAirman Brightness from The vicinity of an area adjacent to a location Since: Feb, 2011 Relationship Status: Historians will say we were good friends.
Brightness
#192791: Jun 11th 2017 at 3:00:50 PM

Going by that logic a lot of elections are lacking in legitimacy.

PSN ID: FateSeraph | Switch friendcode: SW-0145-8835-0610 Congratulations! She/They
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#192792: Jun 11th 2017 at 3:13:16 PM

A bit on a different note, I wonder if the recent British election says something about the chances of a left wing populist candidate in the US. Assuming that they get past a Democratic primary (for which they'll need much sounder race politics than what Sanders had), Krugman was arguing that they can't win a general election anyway because right-wing populism is really a form of white identity politics and thus such voters can't be won over with an economic policy.

He did argue so in part on the basis of a Vox article that argued the same thing with respect to Corbyn (who is in large part an English Sanders) ... except that in this election, the right-wing populist UKIP collapsed and Corbyn picked up a substantial (50% if memory serves) share of their voters. So we might underestimate the appeal such a candidate might have outside of what we consider a traditional left wing populist electorate.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#192793: Jun 11th 2017 at 3:28:05 PM

[up] Another X-factor is whether candidates that wouldn't normally win public support will do so because of backlash to right wing populism.

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#192794: Jun 11th 2017 at 3:28:41 PM

But seriously, why would anybody vote to stay a territory? Why would anyone want to be part of a democratic nation without any real representation of their own?

My knowledge of the subject is admittedly pretty limited, but the way I've heard it is that while a lot of Puerto Ricans are aware they can't survive on their own, they also cherish being Puerto Rican as being distinct as being American and apart of the United States and would rather not give that up.

Of course, it seems like pragmatism for the most part wins out there, which why true independence is hardly supported on the island, and why statehood did so much better here than in all the other referendums: the situation has become much worse than it's ever been for them.

[up][up][up]It makes a bit of sense, though, you can decry this landslide of like 97% is bogus if turnout is bad. You can't do the same thing if the boycotters vote and statehood still gets like 60-70% of the vote like was predicted.

edited 11th Jun '17 3:31:08 PM by LSBK

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#192795: Jun 11th 2017 at 3:36:30 PM

@Septimus Heap: I think Krugman may be overestimating how big the hardcore racists are, in regards to the whole white identity politics thing. Not to say it's not a substantial problem, because hoo boy is it, but I think he's overestimating it just a little. Plus, I don't know that another Sanders "like" figure would try to play that sort of game. Get someone like him, not a carbon copy, who understands the race issues a hell of a lot better, and we'd have a good chance.

The thing to remember about the special election though is that it was just that; a special election that happened while emotions were still running high about the whole Brexit mess. We've got quite a bit more time on our particular political roller coaster and no idea what's going to happen in that time.

HextarVigar That guy from The Big House Since: Feb, 2015
That guy
#192796: Jun 11th 2017 at 4:23:22 PM

Okay, so maybe no bully for the UK.

Actually, in this case the bully would be going to the UK.

Your momma's so dumb she thinks oral sex means talking dirty.
IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#192797: Jun 11th 2017 at 4:40:18 PM

Before we start re-litigating the primaries again, I want to remind people two things (one "in favor" of the "Bernie would've won" and one against):

  • All of the bad stuff about Sanders that Hillary didn't bring up in the primaries (rape essays, NIMB Yism about nuclear waste) may not have had a big effect on the general population, either being brushed off by the rabid parts of his base as propaganda, or being ignored by the general population the same way they ignored Trump's "pussy-grab" comments.
  • While Sanders might have kept the Rust Belt, his lower appeal among minorities may have hurt turnout enough for some states that go Democrat because of POC to go red (like this, for example), or, you know, while the things that I mentioned wouldn't hurt his appeal among the general population, they might still hurt it among some specific demographics (hispanics with the NIMBY thing or women with the rape essays), enough to cause a map like the one I showed.

edited 11th Jun '17 4:40:40 PM by IFwanderer

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#192798: Jun 11th 2017 at 4:52:17 PM

Puerto Rican turnout lowest in history. So, yeah, the boycotts were a coordinated tactic.

I still don't really get what the people coordinating things think they get out of doing this though, or why so many people went along with it, but, eh.

Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#192799: Jun 11th 2017 at 5:20:27 PM

Preet Bharara Says Trump Tried to Build Relationship With Him Before Firing

Preet Bharara, the former United States attorney in Manhattan, said on Sunday that President Trump tried to cultivate a relationship with him in the months before he was abruptly fired in March.

Mr. Bharara said the contacts with Mr. Trump made him increasingly uncomfortable because they broke with longstanding Justice Department rules on communicating with the White House. Mr. Bharara, who first publicly disclosed the contacts and his concerns about them after he was fired, said Mr. Trump’s communications were strikingly similar to those between the president and those described by the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, who was fired last month.

“When I’ve been reading the stories of how the president has been contacting Jim Comey over time, felt a little bit like déjà vu,” Mr. Bharara said Sunday on “This Week” on ABC.

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#192800: Jun 11th 2017 at 5:38:17 PM

[up][up]To delegitimize the referendum because they likely knew they weren't going to win.

edited 11th Jun '17 5:38:28 PM by Fourthspartan56

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang

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