[andi*pandi]

Sounds like democrats got off their butts and campaigned and won a lot of local positions. Will they carry through to 2018?

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/poli...TTM/story.html

[subego]

My brother was running for Park Board. He lost.

[reader50]

In my area, there were apparently no contested offices. So no election was held. Whoever filed for a seat got it. Unfilled seats will get filled by appointment.

... and I missed my once-in-a-lifetime chance at the gravy train. File for an uncontested office, get a cushy government job. Further work optional.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by subego 

My brother was running for Park Board. He lost.

Under what party?

[Waragainstsleep]

I've been meaning to ask who the next Dem nominee is likely to be and perhaps more importantly whether it is a help or hinderance to know by now.
Do we think an established name like Bernie will try again? Elizabeth Warren? Someone out of left field? And whoever it might be, would they be better off starting to campaign where they can right now, or waiting until late on? As most here know I strongly feel that Hillary suffered a great deal because the GOP knew so far in advance about her ambitions, and set about destroying her name among the voting public long in advance. Obama on the other hand seemed to come out of nowhere a bit, at least to a foreigner like me. One minute I'd never heard of him and the next he was pushing Hillary down the pecking order. Thoughts?

[OldManMac]

American democracy got hijacked during the last campaign, by fake Russian trolls, who feed the uneducated and those who seek simple solutions to complex world problems. It also didn't help that about 50% of the registered electorate stayed home. The U S is mostly a slightly left of center country; people love their government programs, like Social Security, which today's far right mostly successfully painted as a handout, despite the fact that it's self sustaining, and has enough funds to go another twenty years. They also like programs like Medicaid and Medicare, and the dozens of programs that helped make the middle class grow, and which our Dooffus-In-Chief wants to eliminate, only because his goal, other than to enrich himself personally, not caring whether he screws the country or not, is to eliminate every single program that has anything to do with Barack Obama; whether it's good or bad doesn't matter in his sick and twisted mind. Cheetohead has been a Democrat most of his life, but there's one thing he can't stand, and it drives every action he takes, and that is criticism, no matter how slight. Trumplethinskin is a severe case of malignant narcissism, which is driven by an insatiable ego, caused by equally unquenchable insecurity. He never forgave Obama for roasting him publicly in May of last year.

Sadly, there are still those who support trump, and it is mostly the ones who will be hurt if the Republican extremists manage to repeal the ACA, and gut Social Security, among many other things. They actually seem to believe that simplistic slogans are the answer to extremely complex issues, and want to go back to a time they believe were the "good old days," and most of us can surmise what that means to them. They actually believe that building a stupid wall will keep out illegal immigrants, never mind that over 40% of them come in by plane and simply overstay their visa, or never mind the fact that illegal immigration peaked ten years ago, and more are now leaving than coming in! That's too much for them to process. They don't want to hear about food rotting in the fields because even legal immigrants are afraid to show up, for fear of being deported. Or they don't want to hear about the fact that Mexico is now looking to buy much of it's food stuffs from South American countries, and that includes many millions of dollars in prime beef from Texas ranchers, and corn from the Midwest. All they want to do is stand on the street corner with a sign, chanting "trump, trump, trump," while he screws them badly. 

He lied to them about bringing jobs back, that can't be brought back because the've been replaced by automation (which is just getting started and will affect many more too soon), yet they boldly proclaim he's already created a million jobs. He and his daughter have their own overpriced crap made in sweat shops overseas, so they can profit more, while he talks out of the other side of his mouth, telling everyone else to hire Americans (who he said were overpaid during the campaign, and which caught little media attention). He gets work visa exemptions, so he can hire lower paid FOREIGN workers for his properties, but he demands everyone else play by different rules.

Books are being written, and more will be, about the tremendous grifter named donald j trump, who, like many despots before him, managed to convince millions of people that he cares about them, simply because he says so!

One of my favorite quotes ever, from Robert F. Kennedy, in 1964. and it definitely applies to his supporters;

"There are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present, and invoke the security of the comfortable past which, in fact, never existed."

Or, the Cliffs Notes version for the Faux News set: "The 1900s called; they want you back."

[subego]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Under what party?

Democrat, but all the people running were Democrats (there was one Independent).

He's in Minneapolis, which I gather is like Chicago in that most Republicans pretend to be Democrats (though he’s a turbo-progressive).

The board has multiple seats, so no primary. Everyone goes into a pile and the top three win the seats. Ranked-choice voting, too.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by subego 

Democrat, but all the people running were Democrats (there was one Independent).

He's in Minneapolis, which I gather is like Chicago in that most Republicans pretend to be Democrats (though he’s a turbo-progressive).

The board has multiple seats, so no primary. Everyone goes into a pile and the top three win the seats. Ranked-choice voting, too.

Minneapolis? Well that's less corrupt.

[subego]

And seeing ranked choice in the wild is nifty.

[Chongo]

Democrats win in Democrat states that Democrats won in 2016.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Chongo 

Democrats win in Democrat states that Democrats won in 2016.

Sean Hannity has spoken!

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by subego 

And seeing ranked choice in the wild is nifty.

Minnesota seems to do voting right. I wonder what factors into them having the best turn out in the nation

[andi*pandi]

Originally Posted by Chongo 

Democrats win in Democrat states that Democrats won in 2016.

Doesn't take away from the fact they won.

- In Virginia, 14 state house seats flipped from Republican to Democrat, making it the biggest Democratic pick up in that commonwealth since 1899. The story.

- The most important legislative seat on the ballot yesterday was a state senate contest in Washington state. The Democrat won, meaning that now Democrats control the governor’s office, and the House and Senate. Before the election, Republicans controlled the Senate by a seat. The story.

[The Final Dakar]

My biggest question, and this is a bit of a derail so I apologize if it takes off, is how much of our politics is just the ****ing pendulum swinging back and forth?

[The Final Dakar]

Here's what wild: The VA House of Delegates went from a GOP supermajority to a scare of. Democratic majority.

Look at this:



14 men got replaced by 11 women! That includes the fate cruelly replacing the author of a bathroom bill with a transgender woman.

This is anything but 'business as usual '

[Chongo]

We’re Back!™

[The Final Dakar]

VA Dems got a 50th seat in their senate BY ONE VOTE 11,608 to 11,607

Mother****in' wow