infrastructure vote surprise...

Roger A. Shrubber said:

they had no idea it was going to pass without their votes, you can't tell me they expected 6, much less 13 republicans were going to vote for it...
the "human infrastructure" bill is important, but this was like the election...it was important to get SOMETHING done, to be seen getting something done...take what you can get at the moment and then shove the rest down their throats when you have a little more time, NOW the progressives should get in Biden's shit about the family bill, and stay there till they get what they want, but they should have never tried to hold the infrastructure bill hostage

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I think they waited till enough yes votes were in before they placed their no votes. 90% of politics is show business. I don't blame them for doing what they said they were going to do. No harm was done, and it will help keep their base happy.

CatHedral said:

Bill Clinton twangs to mind

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I love me some Slick Willie. But if we are honest with ourselves, we have to acknowledge that the end of the cold war played a big part in that.

Fogdog said:

A governor seat in Virginia was just a down payment. Thank you, Squad.

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Terry didn't do much to help himself in that one. But if the schools had been open a couple three months earlier he would have won hands down. As much as the GOP pounded CRT, it was the school closures that voters brought up most in post election surveys.

injinji said:

Terry didn't do much to help himself in that one. But if the schools had been open a couple three months earlier he would have won hands down. As much as the GOP pounded CRT, it was the school closures that voters brought up most in post election surveys.

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CRT was only the racist fog horn though. The rest of the right wing propaganda campaign was against 'masks' and the anti-science horseshit.

A few dead/sick kids might have been just as harmful if they opened too early.

That is the problem with the trolling campaigns, no matter what happens/why they are done, there is a opportunity to troll the decisions that get made.

hanimmal said:

CRT was only the racist fog horn though. The rest of the right wing propaganda campaign was against 'masks' and the anti-science horseshit.

A few dead/sick kids might have been just as harmful if they opened too early.

That is the problem with the trolling campaigns, no matter what happens/why they are done, there is a opportunity to troll the decisions that get made.

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The danger is misreading why he lost. It was more general unhappiness with the school closures than anything else. Bad luck played a big part in it. But that doesn't change the fact he was a really bland choice.

We don't need to tack too far to the middle in response to a faulty compass reading. Keep in mind that they do not have a primary in the Virginia Governor's race. Glen would have been exposed for the hack he is if there were other trumpfer's trying to out trumpf him.

injinji said:

The danger is misreading why he lost. It was more general unhappiness with the school closures than anything else. Bad luck played a big part in it. But that doesn't change the fact he was a really bland choice.

We don't need to tack too far to the middle in response to a faulty compass reading. Keep in mind that they do not have a primary in the Virginia Governor's race. Glen would have been exposed for the hack he is if there were other trumpfer's trying to out trumpf him.

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I really don't know much about them outside of the last few weeks of the election when people started to pay attention after the noise from Afghanistan and all the "Democrats can't get anything done" spam started letting up enough for these elections to start up with all the CRT/antiscience propaganda to get focused in on this race.

IMO it really comes down to the micro targeting that was going on and how it impacted people. I don't know much about the school closings, but I am sure that was something that didn't help, but again dead kids/outbreaks would have been used to troll them as being unable to govern too. That is why I said the trolling is effective no matter what happens, because shit talking is just endless, and doesn't need rationality.

I agree though that people should just run their races, especially if the Trump insurrectionist hacks show their true colors.

injinji said:

I think they waited till enough yes votes were in before they placed their no votes. 90% of politics is show business. I don't blame them for doing what they said they were going to do. No harm was done, and it will help keep their base happy.

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that would make it worse to me... the one good thing you can say about the progressives was that they stuck to their guns. if it turns out it was just more political theater, it takes away even that dubious distinction, and turns it all into hollow posturing

I would like to point out that Terry was very much a clinton/3rd way democrat, that hasn't been working for a while. Certainly very moderate in what should be a state where that plays well...but it doesn't.

injinji said:

Terry didn't do much to help himself in that one. But if the schools had been open a couple three months earlier he would have won hands down. As much as the GOP pounded CRT, it was the school closures that voters brought up most in post election surveys.

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Terry was not governor, it was Ralph Northam who oversaw Virginia's response to the epidemic. If your point is people were angry at Democrats for taking controversial emergency health measures I'd agree that was a factor in the loss. Also CRT in schools. Both of these stories are created and driven by right wing fake news outlets, FOX, OAN, Brietbart, etc. If what you say is true, right wing propaganda won the day in Virginia's election.

Getting back to the Squad and so-called Progressives, I don't understand what good came from all the division and rancor they gave mainstream Democrats this summer. I can see how it harmed Democrats in Virginia. Propaganda outlets sow division to discourage Democrats from voting. We have evidence of this tactic being used in 2016, 2018 and 2020. No reason to believe it didn't happen in '21. So, I don't think you are wrong but I don't think I am either. Propaganda won the day in Virginia.

HGCC said:

I would like to point out that Terry was very much a clinton/3rd way democrat, that hasn't been working for a while. Certainly very moderate in what should be a state where that plays well...but it doesn't.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/11/virginia-election-terry-mcauliffe-ran-like-hillary-clinton.html

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That article hinges on the belief that primaries don't matter, "the DNC picked him" or as stated in the article:

"Virginia Democrats united behind an unpopular Democrat who spent years in public life and ran on not being Trump while failing to offer voters a compelling alternative vision. That strategy didn’t work in 2016 when the candidate was HIllary Clinton, and there was no way it was going to work now."

Just look at that statement. It's basically an ad hominem attack. As in "those stupid hicks up and did something stupid again, they didn't vote for a California Democrat". So-called Progressives don't seem to understand that California and New York are not mainstream states. Most of the country is much more conservative than those states are. Democrats in Virginia held a primary, five candidates ran and the Virginia Democratic Party base chose McAuliffe over the others. He won the primary yet the author says he is unpopular? Not among Democrats. Given what happened in the election, do you really think a more left leaning candidate would have won in Virginia?



The image above shows county-level shifts in vote margins from 2020 to 2021. It show Democrats were given a thumping in every county in VA. That article asserted that McAuliffe lost because he didn't run far enough to the left. I don't see evidence to support that assertion.

"Instead of running a version of Clinton’s failed 2016 campaign, McAuliffe should have borrowed from Joe Biden, who in 2020 ran to Clinton’s left and emphasized economic issues on the campaign trail."

The line above is a quote from the article. The theory -- if only he ran farther left, he would not have lost to the far right opponent -- is wishful thinking. It gets trotted out after any mainstream Democrat loses to a Republican. Where is evidence to confirm it? So-called "Progressives" only win in safe Democratic districts. What do they know about how to win an election in Virginia? Just looking at that chart, I can't help but think Virginia is not ready to give a left-side Democrat the nod for Governor or any other statewide office.

The article also overlooks how badly Biden is doing in approval polls in Virginia right now. but tldr. I'll stop now.

injinji said:

I love me some Slick Willie. But if we are honest with ourselves, we have to acknowledge that the end of the cold war played a big part in that.

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I’m disgusted with how much credit Reaganites took for that. It was a big long effort.

cannabineer said:

I’m disgusted with how much credit Reaganites took for that. It was a big long effort.

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Right you are. Mostly it imploded from the inside.

Fogdog said:

. . . . . . . . Given what happened in the election, do you really think a more left leaning candidate would have won in Virginia? . . . . .

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No. I was saying that Youngkin not going through the primary where he would have had to answer questions was a huge advantage to him. He was able to dog whistle the MAGA base without ever having to say it out loud.

Also lets not forget that that seat has a long history of flipping to the party not in the White House. Five of the last six times, or some such.

injinji said:

Right you are. Mostly it imploded from the inside.

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The eventual fate of all Communist societies.

Three Berries said:

The eventual fate of all Communist societies.

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you called a county that trump won communist so maybe you should try shutting the fuck up for a while, or maybe suicide? just suggestions

Surprise!

schuylaar said:

Surprise!

US announces big hike in Medicare premiums

The federal government announced a large hike in Medicare premiums Friday night, blaming the pandemic but also what it called uncertainty over how much it may have to be forced to pay for a pricey and controversial new Alzheimer's drug.

www.cnn.com

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There is going to be a 5.9% COLA increase to social security that will offset that somewhat. But in a time of rapid inflation, it's never good to be poor.

injinji said:

There is going to be a 5.9% COLA increase to social security that will offset that somewhat. But in a time of rapid inflation, it's never good to be poor.

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yeah, it's almost like they planned that out....

injinji said:

I think they waited till enough yes votes were in before they placed their no votes. 90% of politics is show business. I don't blame them for doing what they said they were going to do. No harm was done, and it will help keep their base happy.

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and nothing ever happens until a drop dead date which was why Pelosi was setting goal dates and Media was in frenzy.

doesn't it feel better to breathe now? we could've always done that if Media wasn't 24/7 on SM with clickbait.