NJ is emblematic of our cynical times beyond the crooked D at the top of the ticket.
Take Rodney Frelinghuysen’s district, my district, reliably R for 24 years.
A Navy pilot swoops in from Montclair of all places & without pause proceeds to invade enemy airspace—Fox News—daily—hiding her hard-left culture-warrior extremism with poll-tested, narrowly-focused slick ads targeting the NJ-11 moderate R woman.
I don't think they will buy what's she's selling. Women are especially good at sniffing out a phony.
Example: She says she's a leader for gun control, & yet her second biggest donor is the NRA's go-to law firm.
She presents herself as female flying ace, prosecutor, pro-woman, and—despite evidence to the contrary, anti-Pelosi, a moderate, a non-politician—as she caricatures her opponent, a 46-y-o Harvard Law grad (as is his wife) & NJ Assemblyman—a young Jimmy Stewart who evokes the Capra DC flick—as a regressive anti-woman troglodyte, which is absurd on its face.
Crazy hyperbole, the Democrats’ post-2016 MO, is a losing proposition: Desensitization requires ever increasing absurdity.
My prediction: Mr. Smith goes to Washington.
1
Indifference and ignorance of the electorate is the enemy. Everything and everyone are effective only because we demand so little.
The reporter in your video failed to mention the issue most on voters minds that Beto O'Rourke is proud to tout - healthcare for all. Too bad. Good other than that.
To me, it appears that America has gotten to the point where there are enough undereducated white guys voting for a self described nationalist, otherwise known as a fascist, that the end to democracy is at hand.
4
The US is on the cusp of throwing away most of what it has stood for since inception. In Nov 2016, it was a shock to see a person of such low character rise to the office of president. It is still more of a shock to see the number of people that still support him, despite the lying, cheating and stealing. The next two weeks will see whether the country has a chance, or will sink under authoritarian rule like so many other failing countries. Even if the House flips, those supporters of Trump and the GOP will still be around, and they'll be around long after the demise of Trump.
I do not live in the US, and while I am not happy with my own government, it is no match for the assault on democracy occurring in the US.
3
Since when does the FBI do sting operations right before the elections along party lines? Florida.
Well now Trump has come out to show his colors. He has renamed the GOP as “Nationalists”. We all know what he means.
1
Ted Cruz and Donald Trump were made for each other. Sometimes it's hard to tell them apart in their capacity to lie, distort, slither, flipflop, and generally reveal themselves to be willing to go to any lengths to grab support.
Heaven help us if we can't overcome the poison these kinds of candidates spread in our elections.
4
@dutchiris From one Proud Berkeley Liberal to another, we have to double down on making sure everyone who is eligible to vote is able to vote. The suppression of voters in places like (but not only) Georgia is killing our democracy at the moment. It actually has been that way for most of our history. We also have to overcome the self-suppression practiced by a lot of people who are so discouraged that they have voluntarily opted out of voting.
Sadly, I don't think heaven is going to help us with either of these jobs. We better help ourselves.
The billionaire fascists are coming for your Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And they’re openly bragging about it.
And this week, Mitch McConnell confirmed it....using the huge deficits created by Trump’s billionaire tax cuts as an excuse to destroy “entitlement” programs.
It is very clear, Republicans are hard at work dismantling the last remnants of the New Deal and the Great Society. In earlier times, we had a word for this takeover of democracy by the morbidly rich and the corporations: FASCISM.
In 1944, FDR's VP Wallace said about American fascists, "They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective, toward which all their deceit is directed, is to capture political power so that using the power of the State and the power of the market simultaneously they may keep the common man in eternal subjection".
If Trump and the billionaire fascists who bankroll the Republicans succeed in destroying the last supports for America’s enfeebled middle class, including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—and succeed in blocking any possibility of Medicare for All or free college and trade school—not only will the bottom 90 percent of Americans suffer, but what little democracy we have left in this republic will evaporate.
We must turn out to vote in huge numbers on November 6....
we MUST!
12
@Abbey Road That is a fantastic quote from Mr. Wallace. I was not familiar with it, but I'd say it is dead on.
Maybe if we begin to support our schools again - by taxing ourselves and those billionaire fascists a bit more, and then spending the money on more and better-trained teachers working in better appointed schools - we will all have a deeper understanding of our history. Then we might know why we have some of the social programs we have, and why we regulate corporate and private wealth. But we have to get past, at a minimum, the talking point propaganda that the rich are all somehow "deserving," while the poor are all somehow not. If only the world were quite so simple. It's not.
2
This is just sick. I feel sick.
4
You be fine
1
With every passing day, I keep hoping and praying that this is all part of our version of The Truman Show and we are all Truman.
1
As an unaffiliated voter who has been hoping that control of the House would have a beneficial impact on the out of control Republican Congressmen, after some reflection I now believe it would be best that the House remain in Republican hands until 2020. Let the Reps reduce Social Security payouts, and reduce medical coverage of both Medicare and Medicaid, as Mitch McConnell says he wants, so as to cover the unsustainable budget deficit and national debt increases.
By 2020, it should be clear to all, even to Trump's base who might actually wise up, that today's Republican Party is not only incapable of governing, but whose only interest is to keep its political power by falsely blaming the Dems for all of their misbehavior.
2
The democrats need to re-establish that they have backbone. Sometimes it is necessary to fight fire with fire.
2
I have the feeling the US is going down and down. It is clear that a large percentage of this country praise the Trump's behaviour: cursing his opponents, saying that women victim of sex assault are lying, himself lying about nearly everything, etc.... The American democracy is at its lowest point and a large number of Americans like it!
4
My guess?
Whomever sinks the lowest, screams the loudest, tells the biggest lies, hates the most, professes the most violence, is the most unhinged, gets the angriest, is the most polarizing, expresses the most rage, instills the most fear, is the biggest criminal, and indulges in the greatest moral depravity will win.
After all, that's how Donald Trump won.
Caring, compassion, empathy, logic, reason, stability, humanity, moral integrity, leadership ability, depth of understanding, telling the truth? These are weaknesses, right? The hallmarks of a real "loser". Isn't that where we're at right now in this country?
I'm moving to Canada. A place where reasonable people work together to make a country that gets progressively better and better for all it's citizens. A place where insanity and moral penury aren't considered "ideals".
6
Entering Post Secondary education I was required to read "College Thinking". It was about thinking independently . . . was I one of few to read this and then, really get the message . . . thinking independently???
1
Firstly, voting day should be a national holiday. Secondly, if there is any race that I am desperately hoping for a win is in Texas where Beto O'Rourke is running against Ted Cruz. Cruz is a horrible person in every respect and despite his popularity in Texas I can only hope and pray that he is defeated.
Finally, Stacey Abrams should win but too many voters may have been taken off the rolls.
8
The only good thing to come out of this is that people of both parties should be energized to get out and vote. It's a shame that, as a nation, we have been so lax about exercising our right and responsibility to choose.
If Trump has done one thing right, it's to make people sit up and pay attention to the fact that their vote was important in 2016 and even more so now!
3
What Trump did to Cruz is what he did to the Republican Party and what he is doing to Republican voters. A man like that cannot be trusted, but we already knew that didn't we.
2
No matter what Democrats say or do, it will be used against them. That's how dirty fighters play, but game is about the America we will get if we vote Republican. Think people, don't be conned by those that want to take away your social security and medicare to pay for tax cut to the rich.
6
Republicans sow fear and hate through their divisive strategies and policies wether it is their white supremacist underbelly, their extremist religious views that discriminate against LGBTQ and others, their backwards leaning insistence that women stay silent and meek in the exercise of power. If they think that this is going to take them to the "promised land" then they are sorely misguided, Love is the highest frequency and it is with Love in our hearts that we will solve problems. "Shutting down the border, sending the army" is a two way street, not only will we be keeping people out but people will find themselves in a country to which they have been enslaved once again. It is imperative that we establish a check on power by overturning the unwillingness by Republicans to be a check on executive power and corruption. REFORM your party, Republicans, vote Democrat this November. Take back your party because you have become the party of hate, intolerance and bigotry!
4
Lies are on the airwaves, imaginative efforts are being made to disenfranchise voters, old photos and quotes are being dredged up out of context to inflame and get people to the polls.
Yawwwwwwn!
This one's easy. Get out and vote for every Democrat you can find.
10
Remember when the Times had that box on the front page everyday for the last Presidential election with Hilary in the lead with an 85% chance of winning. Guess you won't do that again.
After 2016, I don't trust ANY polls. I was so certain ( and so happy) of Hillary's win, that I was wondering what outfit she would wear for the inauguration! Took me a week to finally come to grips with the nightmare that had occurred.
1
So was Mr. Trump lying to America when he called him Lying Ted Cruz, or is he lying to America now? We know he is a liar, so why does anyone trust him and his party with political power?
7
I find it really disturbing that you did not cover the fact that we have a nationalist for a president and he admitted that last night. We should go over some of the other 20th & 21st century leaders in history who were nationalist. Like Hitler, Mussolini, Kim Jong-un, Duterte. So sad that so many Americans & others have died fighting Nationalism & fascism & we elect one as president.
6
I wish Stacey Abrams well. But white women will not vote for a black woman in Georgia (never mind white men), and democrats (other than black women) are unlikely to vote in Georgia (i.e., college students seem singularly disengaged).
The large Hispanic population in Atlanta and elsewhere is divided and turned on to republicans with their heady appeal of overturning Roe-v-Wade. That, and they don't want people from "those" Latin American countries who are getting in illegally - any more than any other American wants people overwhelming the border.
I wonder whether Democrats, in two weeks, are capable of bringing a gun to a gunfight. Trump, with his Nazi supporters, shown on TV - with the appeal: "we are Americans, we are better than this" might hold traction. Whining about lost voter registrations and weakly whimpering about Trump's lies relegates democrats to losers, and no one in America takes to a whining loser.
Democrats, you still have 2 weeks in which to paint Trump for what he is: a white supremacist Nazi, intent on producing a white Aryan nation (decent one at that) patterned after Mussolini. Do you have the spine to do this; to speak truth to authority? If not, quit sending me emails asking for money.
I am a liberal, but I fear associating with democrats - lest I become you. I.e., weak, whimpering, disorganized, boutique radicals with a smug sense of entitlement who love poverty and victim porn with a morbid fear and disdain of winning at any cost.
1
Cruz is just a spineless weasel. What Trump did to him and then call his wife names a real man would have knocked Trump on his backside. But Cruz comes groveling back tail between his legs. I don't know how he can look his family in the eye.
14
What the party of Trump is proving is that lies, hate and greed work very well with too large a segment of Americans. Many of them claiming some level of moral superiority. I guess moral is now defined as lies, hate and greed. I don't remember Jesus preaching that but I'm sure the party of Trump will rewrite the bible just in time for the 2020 election. I think things will get very very bad before most of the cult of Trump wakes up. By then, of course, it will be too late. It appears they are determined to make hell Earth.
7
Whether enabling, complacency, aiding and abetting, treason, or all of the above, the GOP is milking the Trump base of voters for everything it can. Therein lies the problem. We are not dealing with the norm, rather, we are dealing with a cult. The supporters of Trump will not listen to truth or fact. The GOP knows better but will never come to the aid of the country and will just reinforce the lies of Trump. Maybe the DNC should treat Trump's base of voters just like the cultists they are and treat the GOP as the criminals and cowards they are for upending our democracy and undermining the election process. Millenials, please come out and vote as if your lives depend on it.
12
Out here in the Wild West we'd appreciate a little more coverage of the historic numbers coming in on the race for Oregon's Congressional District 2. The Republican incumbent hasn't had anyone this close to beating him in twenty+ years. What's especially notable is that his opponent isn't accepting big corporate funding/PAC money.
People here are fed up with Trump-toadying Greg Walden. They're moved by the impressive, grassroots-only campaign of Jamie McLeod-Skinner, a progressive rural Democrat who wanders the geographically huge district in a little teardrop trailer with her dog, talking and—this is key—LISTENING to the people.
See this small-town newspaper Op Ed for more on McLeod-Skinner: https://tinyurl.com/nugget-mcleod
Or learn more and donate at her campaign site: https://jamiefororegon.com
6
@Grassfed Beef. Thanks for that. I live in that district and Greg Walden doesn't represent the people here unless they are rich ranchers. He was listed as in the top three in congress for accepting oil and pharmaceutical money from corporate donors. Here's to hoping Jamie wins.
1
the sliminess of this say-anything president, "friend of the LGBT community", continues to astound.
3
If Republicans retain House and Senate majority to say it will embolden Donald Trump would be understatement.
How did this come to pass? A man who lies with impunity, who just makes things up as he goes along (witness the ever growing number of jobs the Saudis create in America with their defense contract purchases), will see a Red Wave as an affirmation of him.
What is wrong with this country? Where if 50% of the electorate turn out to vote on November 6th it will be considered a high water mark. Fifty percent.
You get the government you deserve. And if Trump triumphs on November 6th we can thank the millions of people who stayed home because they just could not bring themselves to get involved.
6
Here in Washington State the new line for Republicans is "works well with Democrats". One has to look hard for Party affiliation on the pamphlets and letters. It's deceiving many voters who do not read between the lines.
6
The key is whether Trump maintains or gains approval from the voters. The people running are almost incidental.
2
My Fellow Democrats; No one ever won a fight with dignified reservation.
7
I consider it an honor to be able to vote for Ms. Abrams on November 6th. The Georgia flag was an ongoing embarrassment, especially considering the fact that out of all the U.S states and territories, Georgia has the fifth highest percentage of African American residents. I grew up in South Carolina, and almost every home displayed the palmetto state flag with pride on or in their homes in some way, shape, or form. But even with the confederate symbols removed from the Georgia flag, I don't see it anywhere now that I've moved here. It's like that sense of pride for the state as a whole has been lost or is too deeply divided. (Or has been replaced with a bulldog, I honestly don't know.) At any rate, I don't blame her for burning it then, and I wouldn't blame her now. My neighborhood in Augusta is over 50% African American, and I just think its past time for my fellow Georgians to see themselves represented in the Governor's office.
12
@River Stow I'm not voting for anyone based on physical characteristics like race and gender. I am concerned about candidates like Ms Abrams who change their speeches according to audience and who become coy about aligning themselves with national figures.
Why wouldn't Abrams say she agrees with Michelle Obama on a Sunday morning national political show? We could see the calculations going on in her mind and frankly, it's not what I want.
Living in Atlanta, I'm seeing a lot of political attack ads meant to support Abrams. The emotionally manipulative ad, showing a woman who had a breast cancer diagnosis 12 years ago saying the other candidate for Governor would have taken away her insurance, simply reeks of desperation.
Abrams has been following Hilary Clintons routine of promising everything to everyone - and treating undocumented immigrants as equal to citizens - as a way getting votes.
@Margo
And what about Trump? He doesn't change his speeches according to who he's talking?
Urgent: Double check your ballot before finalizing your votes. A Rabbi in North Carolina ( using early voting) has reported that when he rechecked his ballot on the voting machine, 5 of his votes had been changed. After he reported this, the machine was taken out of service. All the votes were changed from Democrat to Republican, and he urges all voters to double- check everything before pushing the final button.
18
@4Katydid Can you post a source?
2
@4Katydid Also: Be sure to vote in December.
OK look.
The Flag thing. We all did dumb things as teens, her mistake was getting caught in a picture. If you really think this can be swept under the rug, you do not know American Politics.
Some one said she could see Russia from Missoula. I was in Missoula, no you cannot see Russia from there. Some one wanted to be president in the 80’s, during a campaign stop with some football players he was thrown a ball, he bumbled with it and dropped it on live TV, that was it for him. Some one yeehawed on TV, that was that. Some one called the ones who would not vote for her a basket of deplorables, end of story.
Some one burned a flag and got caught … Get my drift. That’s that.
If the GOP feels like it, they should throw her in the same acid wash as the judge, and at the end nothing will be done about it. Except she will be distracted, off message and anything she says will be quoted with that picture for the rest of her career.
And good luck attracting a lot of white votes now.
It’s done.
Run some one else next time, some one with out a flag burning picture.
1
Here are two action items we can do to help get out the vote, especially in close races, up and down the ballot:
1) Mail hand-written post cards to folks in swing precincts in closely contested congressional elections, urging them to support Dems. See https://postcardstovoters.org/ and/or https://votefwd.org/ And, BTW, kids and grandkids really like to help write, decorate, stamp and mail cards. That way, you can introduce them to candidates, issues, and the political system. Some people hold card parties. That too can be enjoyable and productive. Someone has already sent 800 cards.Wow!
2) Contact elder friends and neighbors. Check with them that they have necessary voting documentation and even help get them get absentee ballots if they need them. Then urge them to vote Dem and explain why. My grandmother used to do this, and I honor her for it.
5
It's not that the Republicans "might have an outside chance" of cementing the unitarian government and killing off checks and balances completely and permanently. They absolutely WILL unless EVERY voter shows up at the polls. That's the way we must look at it, and it's why I'm trying in my little way to get out the vote - www.votethisyear.com - and hoping that Mr. Trump's calculated, slow drift toward the public consensus on the issue of the Khashoggi murder won't lull people into forgetting that he and his enablers are decimating liberties, the environment, the country's standing and its long-term sustainability in order to satiate an ultra-narrow constituency of oligarchs. I'd trade the MegaMillions jackpot to get every eligible voter to the polls on November 6. It will mean long waits - in cold weather, for many voters - and very tiring days for poll workers. The alternative is to sit still and let the vile autocracy wash over us like an ice bath. There's NO reason to treat the "conventional wisdom" about turnout for midterms like some sort of natural law. VOTE.
8
Whether we agree with Senator Cruz’s positions or not, it should be mind boggling to all of us the lack of self-respect and dignity Cruz has. Trump insulted Cruz’s wife, accused Cruz’s father of being involved in JFK’s assasination, and called him “ly’in Ted” 100+ times. Yesterday Trump said he had no regrets calling Cruz ly’in Ted because it all worked out fine. Trump’s behavior is despicable and Cruz’s response is, “THANK YOU SIR MAY I PLEASE HAVE ANOTHER!”
4
Nobody can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like the democrats. They refuse to believe the painfully obvious: men don't care about women. White people don't care about people of color. Straight people don't care about gay/transgender people. As long as the economy is strong, I'm sorry my liberal friends, Trump and his crew will be successful. And when it fails, they'll blame Obama.
8
Democrats and indépendants need to start to clear the fog and bring lucid facts. The Georgian flag was an in-your-face intentional message against equality for African-Americans, period.
Burning a hateful symbol may not be the best action to bring a broader movement of minds but it is an action that allows the deeply offended to show anger and path to heal. The horror of the torture, murder, brutal, and hateful treatment of slaves and minorities absolutely merits anger and deep hurt. Especially, when white people feel the power to reminisce about this illegal, immoral, unethical - and, yes, unGodly - behavior and laws.
Let's focus on the change that the talented and force-of-nature Stacey Adams is fighting for AND on why her election matters so much in the context of slavery, pervasive discrimination, and lack of justice historically and still daily in the US.
She had the right to be mad - yes, an angry, fighting-for-justice woman has that right. And, she has turned any hurt or anger into power - working hard through impressive colleges and universities through government work and public service.
It is 2018, the year of the woman, the underdog, and the hope for justice - Stacey Abrams hold your head high, speak the truth loudly - we, Americans, are proud of you!
15
@KiKi You know the Georgia flag has been changed, don't you?
@Margo yes, but, her protest was before - and many would say such protests pushed the change to occur. It is very regretful that I see much racism in GA and many other states too - just shocking that, as a Southerner btw, people are still so misguided and lack the education to know that we are all equal in this world - only some of us get a much greater lot in life and, thus, more reason to be fair and kind. Not sure what you misunderstood but some of my comment referred to the present in that big problems, mostly generational, remain across the US - very bold with trump in the South and it breaks may heart. I do not feel as part of this South of today - under trump - not what it means to those of us who get that is was the melting pot that made the South special ironically. I hope the South one day will redeem itself for those of us whom it has shocked and saddened into exile.
I don't understand; if America can forgive a Supreme Court nominee for being party to a sexual assault in high school, how is it so hard for it to move past a 20 year old black woman, at a historically black university, burning a symbol of those who oppressed her ancestors not too long ago? A symbol, I might add, that legislators even agreed to remove from the state flag for the same reasons that she had burned it? someone help me figure it out, i'm really confused
61
@Aaron
I think the unfortunate answer is because he's a white man, and she's a black woman running in a Republican state.
@Aaron Your confusion is understandable because much like our President you have ignored the facts. You are entitled to your opinion ( i.e. that Kavanaugh may have been part of some assault in high school) but the fact is Kavanaugh was accused without collaboration, Ms Abrams actions are not in dispute. Like most liberals, you mimic are President exactly, making up facts when it best suits your outcome, leaving moderates with a hard choice of liberal or conservative..ok not hard which is why Trump won.
1
@Aaron
There was no PROOF that Kavanaugh assaulted Dr. Ford. I, like millions of others, believe Dr. Ford, but without proof there was no case. Democrats need to get over the Kavanaugh debacle. It is holding us back.
3
The fact that Trump’s approval ratings are rising fills me with fear and infinite sadness.
He has ramped up his promotion of male entitlement, of white privilege, his denigration of women, his marginalization of LGBT citizens and even the frequency and magnitude of his lies. He has made clear beyond cavil to America and to the world that neither human life nor a free press has any meaning when the prospect—however remote—of a few almighty dollars is at stake. And apparently the fact he does it all without the merest glimmer of shame just makes him more “authentic” in the eyes of his supporters—especially when in the process he stokes their fears of lawlessness, angry mobs and ruthless gangs, of criminals and terrorists flooding our borders, all, as he tells it, with the full imprimatur of Democrats.
For the first time in my seventy-plus years on the planet, I am truly terrified of the results of an election. If the Democrats are unable to take the House there will be no check whatsoever on this president’s assault on truth, the rule of law or the free press, no check on the GOP’s further weighing of the scales in their favor with vote-suppression efforts, no check on the loss of the humanity, compassion and integrity our country once projected to the world, on the dimming of the once shining light on the hill.
Vote now. Vote for the America we still have a chance to be.
49
Focus, focus, focus.
To my fellow readers who are aghast at the failure of the GOP, focus on the House where the potential is real. In NJ, there are several seats likely to flip. Despite all the noise, it sure looks to me like all the House races will be decided at the local level. All politics is local. And vote.
Remember, the Dems were never favorites to retake the Senate given the map. That being said, I hope Beto, Jacky and Kim surprise us, and that Senators Tester, McCaskill, Nelson, Donnely and Heitkamp hold on.
24
Hopefully Stacey embraces that moment of Flag burning. It was the right move, a brave move, and people all over this country support that. We are the United States of America because of the Civil War, and because of the sacrifices of that war. She honors those that fought by dismissing that flag that honors a country that we are not. We need the brave to take up positions of power in this country, to remove fearful, ignorant, and mean spirited people that we have in place now.
36
@M
A college protest is no big deal for Stacey Abrams - even though she wasn't a Georgia resident but of Mississippi, attending an elite private Atlanta black college. Unfortunately, Abrams has done what many Democrat candidates do just prior to an election: egotistically believe they're bulletproof and run their mouth to reveal new, often negative issues for voters. The rule just prior to an election is keep it simple, stay on message.
For 2 weeks, Abrams has openly tried to gin up votes by courting the latino vote, advocating for illegal immigration and more welfare to legal immigrants. That's significant in Georgia due to 3 decades of massive illegal immigration. She is clueless how this resonates with all poor Georgians who've lost jobs and with the middle class who are tired of being taxed to pay for illegals - Democrats and Republicans.
The Democratic Party's playbook for 50 years has been "Social Engineering: Fun With Numbers". It panned out twice: in 1992, when Clinton won many centrist whites, and in 2008, when Obama won a lot of centrist whites along with all black voters, who'll vote for any black candidate. Abrams will be lucky to keep centrist voters she had just 2 weeks ago. Worse, she seems clueless that more latinos are voting GOP (30% in the 2016 election) due to Catholic views that put them square in the Republican social conservative camp. She just branded herself a fringe left progressive out of step with the majority everywhere but California.
1
@M I agree. She wasn't the only one out there burning the Georgia State flag. It was a huge issue here in Georgia, right up until the flag was changed. Then the issue disappeared fairly quickly. It would be difficult for Kemp to defend the old flag and probably a dumb political tactic.
4
@Margot
Abrams never advocated for illegal immigration. Being against a state crackdown on undocumented aliens such as Georgia House Bill 87 was the smart move since that bill, and the crackdown on labor, harmed the Georgia economy.
The “glory” of the south was built on the backs of the slaves. A symbol of that “glory” was incorporated into the state flag. She burned that symbol as part of the protest to change the flag and it worked. Good for her!
43
@Sue M.
The history of the U.S., as is the case with the history of every corner of the world has been built on the backs of low cost labor. That's what slavery was to the Egyptians, to the Romans, to the Chinese, to the Arabs, to the Europeans and to the Africans today. The New World "glory" was on the backs of European indentured servants - most of them female - before the 1st Africans were brought here from the Caribbean and South America by many of those same European trading and shipping corporations.
@Margot
That is utterly clueless. Dismissing slavery as "low cost labor" ignores the particularly horrid nature of the former. It is also obtuse to deny that the South built much of its wealth on cotton which was produced with slave labor.
I don't know how the election will turn out, but I have been writing feverishly about the injustices of the Jolly Roger flag flying party for years now and have yet to see any national Democrats brave enough to speak the hard truths like I write. Had they, I would have guessed they would win with a wind at their stronger backbones. But alas, they choose to be the lame skinny guy party getting sand kicked at them by the bullies.
6
Remember folks, a fortnight was two weeks before it was a mindless shooting game.
@ubique Ok, but the game is Fortnite.
Its funny how things fall into Mr. Trumps and the conservatives lap isnt it? The brutal treatment of Mr. Kavanaugh by the Judiciary Committee galvanized the Republicans, the net of which turned the Senate into a net gain instead of likely loss. The march of the thousands of people attempting to enter our country from Central America and Trumps stand against them will further galvanize his base and indeed perhaps many independent voters against the idea of open borders. The rise of Democratic Socialism which regardless of its real meaning is a visceral affront to many Americans only enables the Republicans to portray the Democrats as dangerous extremeists at a time when they should be reaching out to moderates and centrists. Instead of the show of elite liberalism, there should be an actual attempt at centrism, even just a little would go a long way.
13
@NYer I guess all of that is true, if you buy the hype. The thing is, the Trump base is more rabid and ever shrinking. To a Trump supporter, even a moderate Democrat is a hair on fire liberal. Nobody is calling for open borders. The fear on the right is self-generated. Informed voters know that.
3
@NYer agreed on your central point yet at the same time, I can’t help but think that the GOP’s reframing of moderate views on health care, immigration etc into radical socialist fringe agenda is the main issue here. The GOP has always been more effective in getting their message across. It appears that once again they are ahead of the Dems when it comes to messaging.
4
@NYer 1.) The Senate was never a "likely loss" for Republicans: Democrats are defending 26 of the 35 seats up for election; their chances of taking the Senate were always slim to none. 2.) "Centrism" is what has reduced the Democratic Party to its weakest position since before FDR's first term. The Democrats have been feverishly pursuing centrism since the Bill Clinton era. The result is a party with no discernible core principles that now controls very little above the municipal level. I humbly suggest that pursuing more of the same strategy is not a good idea. Polling consistently shows that liberal policies are extremely popular. Perhaps the Democrats should try campaigning as liberals who actually stand for ordinary people instead of always seeking the mushy middle.
As a terrified Canadian, all I can say is "build the wall!"
No, not the Mexican border wall, the other one, at your northern border. You guys have our sympathies but friendship only goes so far.
53
@Jean Good idea. That wall will keep Canadians from trying to flood into the US to escape socialism! Then we'll march our caravan in from Yukon to Alaska because Trump doesn't know about that border!
@Harpo Funny, but there is no influx of Canadians seeking to "escape socialism" even without a wall. If I didn't know better, I'd think that Canadians actually like living free of the fear that a medical emergency will bankrupt them, but what do I know?
"As L.G.B.T. activists and allies protest the Trump administration’s proposal ... some Christian conservatives see continued confirmation of why they support Mr. Trump’s agenda ...."
"The proposal is “well-timed” ...."
Quite a coincidence, don't you think?
Harriet
23
@Harriet The evangelicals who love and support Trump, a false idol, have made a Faustian bargain with the Devil himself. They have sold out their souls, beliefs, and religion for a narcissistic, lying, hateful, bigoted, misogynistic, avowed sexual predator who is anything but spiritual or religious, unless money & votes are on the table. Is it any wonder that people, especially millennials, are staying away from religion in droves? They see through all this, and are way more tolerant than the older generations. These lovers of Trump will remember that "His Judgement Cometh and That Right Soon'...and they will not be judged well for violating the Second Commandment.
19
@Harriet Yes it is well timed, an obvious political maneuver. And probably a winning one. Where Oh Where are the Democrats and their strategies? Their strategy of Kavenaugh backfired, they are silent on the thousands of immigrants heading to our border while the Republicans are using it to galvanize their base, and indeed independents are watching, they are pushing Democratic Socialism at a time when many voters have a visceral reaction to the very term. I do not see a Democratic strategy other than collecting money and running TV ads which in the day of Twitter and Facebook are much less effective than ever before. The leaders of the party respectfully need to either lead effectively or step aside. For all their efforts and insults Trumps positive ratings are at an all time high just ahead of midterm elections. Quite a coincidence, dont you think?
8
@NYer, I wonder about the Democratic strategy when it is conveniently provided by Senator O’Connell about Medicare and Social Security being the deficit problem. Trump is the result not the cause. Run against the corruption and radical beliefs of the Republican Party.
Burning confederate symbols is an ironic metaphor for this election in GA. Go ahead, bring that up, and promote it out of context. It can only help her.
On the other hand, Kemp has openly endeavored to deny and suppress votes. I say openly. Whether or not he loses, a federal lawsuit will be forthcoming.
24
@matty
Details from the bottom of the Times's long article about this so-called controversy:
"...[the flag] had been vehemently opposed by African Americans and other Georgians who noted that battle flag design element had been introduced by a state legislature in 1956 that was intent on flaunting its contempt for pressure from the federal government to integrate after the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Eventually, however, Atlanta city officials refused to fly the flag over municipal buildings, and many in the Atlanta corporate community considered it to be an embarrassment."
The Ledger-Inquirer, in Columbus GA, put it more succinctly in 2015:
"The history of the Georgia flag begins in antebellum times and reached a fiery crescendo in 1956, when a staunchly segregationist General Assembly installed the Confederate battle flag, the St. Andrew's cross, on the official banner."
In other words, the confederate battle flag element was added in order to insult and intimidate African American residents of Georgia, to insult the goals of equality and justice. Those students were performing a public service to burn that flag.
13
@matty Kemp has left the realm of voter suppression. He has entered the world of outright cheating.
4
I voted yesterday, I placed signs, supported the candidates with donations, went to rallies. That's all I can do, if the republicans take over and force us all to bend to their will, good luck with that, I'm not about to change at my age. I'm pretty much done with the drama....
23
A recent column was correct: if Republicans get back the Senate AND House, Trump will be unleashed and God help us all. It will be for all intents and purposes an Autocracy. And hate will become a national disease.
51
@MARCSHANK
If Trump is unleashed any further, I will join the caravan of emigrants leaving the country in search of a more sane world.
2
I attended a Beto's rally on Sunday night in Sugarland Texas. Almost 1700 showed up that is more than three times the expected crowd exhibited enthusiasm & eagerness to vote replacing the current senator. This is a very diverse community with middle class families. If the middle class supports Democratic candidates this time, it says a lot about Trump's policy and pettiness failed to help the middle class. My prediction of this mid term election is that Democrat will win big.
40
@Usok
‘I attended a Beto's rally on Sunday night in Sugarland Texas. Almost 1700 showed up’
1700? Oh that’s cute. No really, how quaint.
Ted Cruz had 18K attend, but the RSVP was 100K for his event, same weekend.
To me it sounds like a whole lot more people, by a factor of 10+ (as in 1700 x 10+) went to a Cruz rally, 10 fans for each for O’Rourke’s. That does not count the 82K that could not get a seat.
Just looking at that, I get to wonder why people seem to think O’Rourke has any kind of a chance.
2
@Usok
Beto is running a great campaign, and he has the charisma necessary to lead. I wish some of our lackluster Democratic candidates could learn (and quickly!) from his campaign and ability to connect with voters.
1
@Usok
Your mouth to God’s ears!
Opinion polls don't matter in Georgia, where tens of thousands of likely (Democratic) voters are being denied the right to vote by the Republican candidate for governor.
65
Can you please back this statement up with something resembling proof? Or perhaps you meant "tens of hundreds".
Vote suppression can make a small difference but it's pure Democratic myth that they are swinging elections by the double-digit percentages that Republicans usually win by in the South. The biggest issue with the midterms is low participation by Democrats who simply choose not to vote.
9
@Paul
Can you please some of the articles published about Kemp over the past few months?
The "South" has a long, sordid, disgraceful tradition of voter suppression.
@matty Even my Republican friends concede Kemp is taking cheating to a new level not seen in this state since reconstruction.