...And Another County Heard From
I thought I'd write the ultimate elections "process story" today -- a story about the process of the process, as it were. Mostly this is because, once again, it's hard to concentrate on anything else in the lead-up to another election night, where millions (well, at least thousands) of political wonks breathlessly wait to hear from Outer Podunk County to see who they voted for.
My point today, and it will be a brief one, is that things have gotten a lot easier for those of us inclined to do so. Anyone can sit with one browser page open and see all the results stream in, in real-time. The data that used to be filtered through mainstream news organizations is now readily available to all -- without the filter, if you so choose. You don't have to listen to some talking head reading numbers off a piece of paper, you can just read the same numbers yourself as they come in.
Now, this isn't the first election where this is true, of course. It's been a gradual shift over the past 20 years or so. A quick history of election night coverage would show growing from the dark ages -- where radio and television would have rooms full of people frantically working phones and writing numbers on chalkboards -- up to where we are now. First there came the wall-to-wall coverage from cable television and then the internet opened the raw numbers up to all.
Even online, there has been a lot of improvement. At first, it was rather difficult to see returns in real-time, especially for individual states (in a general presidential election) or for the minor primaries and caucuses. Often the only source was a state board of elections site that was clunky and didn't update itself (or would even die from the surge in visitors). But things have gotten better, over time. The media realized that their new job was to present the returns as they were posted -- in as great detail as they could manage. Getting people to use the cnn.com or washingtonpost.com elections return pages meant putting up the most information possible in the easiest-possible format to understand. We're now at the point where you can view a state map divided into counties, and see each precinct's numbers as they come in. Data is updated automatically every 30 seconds, so you don't even have to refresh the page on your browser.
The only real "voice of authority" job the media has left is to call the state for the winner. Some media organizations are more timid than others (some call states extremely early, even when it's close), but they all at some point reach a level of confidence in who the winner will be and share that with the viewers. But there's not much of a race to get this scoop -- it ultimately doesn't matter which station calls a state first anymore.
One other change worth mentioning is that the mainstream media has reined itself in from providing data too early. Due in part to the 2000 presidential election fiasco, and also due to calling a few states spectacularly wrong here and there, major networks now all refuse to provide any exit polling data before the polls in the state actually close. This is a beneficial change, because releasing early numbers can indeed influence the late turnout -- if you wait until the end of the day to vote but then hear "Candidate Smith has already won the state" on the radio, then you're not as likely to make the effort to vote, especially if you were going to vote for Jones instead.
In any case, I (rather obviously) didn't have much to say or any major point to make with all of this. I'm just glad that political wonks have reached the current golden age of election-watching, that's all. Traditionalists can continue watching the major networks' condensed reports, more modern traditionalists (if that's not an outright oxymoron) can watch cable news anchors flail about in the effort to fill the airwaves with words while they wait for the numbers to come in, and the online community can get numbers broken down into great detail without having to listen to any of the "expert commentary" at all.
I've already spent quite a number of nights this year in front of a computer screen myself, and I'll again be doing so tonight. This will all lead up to the big event in November, where an absolute flood of information will be available. However you watch the returns coming in tonight, I guess what I'm trying to say is be thankful there are so many options, with or without commentary from pundits. We've come a long way from waiting for Walter Cronkite to tell us who won, that's for sure.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
This is a throwback to an earlier discussion here in the comments, but I thought I'd post it here instead.
Civil asset forfeiture ( = highway robbery)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/04/25/how-oklahoma-cops-took-53000-from-a-burmese-christian-band-a-church-in-omaha-and-an-orphanage-in-thailand/
Then a strange thing happened... the national media reported it, and within hours, the local DA dropped the case completely:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/04/26/why-oklahoma-cops-are-returning-53000-to-a-christian-band-an-orphanage-and-a-church/
We need a whole lot more of this type of media attention, because this sort of thing happens DAILY in certain states.
-CW
Today's anecdote: white, 40-ish man with his family (early-teen boy and 2 younger kids and wife) in line at Subway.
What does he think of the election season so far?
At that point teenaged son pipes in: "he's a political guy! He likes to talk about politics!"
"A mess. Everything seems crooked. I don't know who I'm going to vote for. I don't really like anyone from either side. I've never felt like that before. The stuff that's going on with the Republican convention, that it might be contested, it just seems like they're trying to take the vote out of people's hands..I don't know…it seems like things are getting out of hand."
Polls have just closed in all five primary states today states (except for a few locations in Maryland where voting was extended an hour), and already there are three calls: Donald Trump has been declared the winner by multiple media outlets in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Connecticut.
Mopshell -
They've only called MD on the Dem side so far (for Hillary).
Bernie up in RI, but very few votes have been counted.
Trump's on TV calling for Cruz and Kasich to drop out!
:-)
-CW
CBS just called RI for Trump...
-CW
Clinton up in CT, but it's a lot closer than I thought it would be...
-CW
Chris [4] -
Trump's on TV calling for Cruz and Kasich to drop out!
Bwahhahahahahahahaha!!!!
Big dump of DE numbers, looks good for Hillary and Trump...
-CW
Mopshell -
Yeah, I had exactly the same reaction!
[Whoops... CBS just called DE for Trump and Clinton...]
-CW
Early exits have Trump crushing in PA, beating Ted Cruz 59-22, with John Kasich at 18.
(Pennsylvania also has a Senate primary, but strangely, exit pollster don’t appear to have asked about it.)
Trump has massive exit poll leads in CT (Trump 57, Kasich 25, Cruz 16) and MD (Trump 52, Kasich 25, Cruz 21) as well.
No sense of the magnitude of Trump's win in RI yet because there are no exit polls there, but odds are, it’ll be yuuuge!
Maryland’s exit polls show an absolute blowout for Clinton, 65-33. Wow! I didn't see that one coming!
Sanders pulls into the lead in CT!
-CW
I plotted out a primary tracker for myself before this primary took place:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/04/26/1519104/-UPDATE-Delegate-Tracker-State-of-Play-Pre-Primary-April-26
These wins today are going to make a yuuuge difference!
I'm looking forward to updating this for tomorrow.
Surprised by the CT results coming in... I didn't think Sanders would have a chance anywhere except Rhode Island.
With 28% reporting in Delaware (they count fast in the First State, evidently), Trump's up 61-21 on John Kasich, with Cruz at 16.
ABC and NBC have also declared Clinton the winner in DE. She’s up 59-40.
Just checked in with HuffPo's delegate counter -- only 140 votes separating Bernie and HRC with 19% reporting! That's soooooooo close!
Even though he'll lose in the end it is horrifying to me that Trump is winning on the repub side.
Mopshell [12] -
That's pretty cool! I think I'm going to bookmark it for later reference...
:-)
-CW
What's the deal with MD? No results at all yet...
Bernie up by almost 1,100 votes in CT...
-CW
Some districts in MD closed an hour later than everywhere else so all vote-counters in MD had to wait. Should be getting results through any minute now...
I'll post the URL to the updated primary tracker as soon as I have it. :)
Oh, OK. That makes sense...
Looks like McGinty's going to win in PA Sen race. I'll be interested to see the MD Sen results, though...
-CW
Washington Post just called RI for Bernie. Woo hoo!
-CW
Looks like Van Hollen is winning in MD... I'll check for the latest... okay, CNN has just called it for Van Hollen who's leading 54-39.
Everyone is now calling RI for Bernie! Think how dull today would have been had Bernie not stayed in the race.
Mopshell -
Yeah, looks like McGinty won, too.
Bernie still up in CT, but the counties left to count (a lot of them) are right next to NYC. Hillary did very well in these areas in NY, so she could still win it.
Vote difference was up to almost 3,000, but right now Bernie's up less than 2K.
-CW
And Clinton takes the lead in CT...
Going to be a close one, folks...
-CW
I've been watching the CT race too in between updating my primary tracker.
Another interesting figure for you: Clinton is currently up by 71 pledged delegates on Bernie today. That's a big haul! Her major win is Pennsylvania where they haven't finished allocating all the delegates yet.
Latest in CT - AP and HuffPo say Clinton now has a narrow lead...
@paula,
it is horrifying to many republicans too, including my in-laws. they are dyed in the wool GOP with plaques on the wall and everything, but we share a consensus on what trump is and what his candidacy means (for both the US and Israel).
JL
Trump has (so far) picked up 105 delegates tonight, which should put him at 950. And there are still something like 30 left to assign (this doesn't count the PA unpledged ones, this is just pledged).
He's on his way to 1,237, it seems...
-CW
CT just called for Hillary.
That makes me 10-for-10 today... not bad!
:-)
-CW
[29] -
Whoops, misread. Trump 105, Kasich 5, but only 8 pledged dels left to be assigned.
-CW
[28] Joshua: are your in-laws horrified enough to vote Hillary (or anyone but Trump?)
@paula,
yes.
There's only 4 delegates left to assign for the Republicans, all of them are in Rhode island. This is because 54 of Pennsylvania's 71 delegates are unbound and will be decided at their state convention (I think).
By the way, Cruz picked up one whole delegate - in Rhode Island. Bwahahahahaha!
CW [30] -
Congratulations, Chris! That was a very good result!
It must be bedtime for you guys and it's nap time for me. Good night everyone.
Even though he'll lose in the end it is horrifying to me that Trump is winning on the repub side.
Just think how yer gonna feel when Trump wins the General.. :D
Michale
it is horrifying to many republicans too, including my in-laws. they are dyed in the wool GOP with plaques on the wall and everything, but we share a consensus on what trump is and what his candidacy means (for both the US and Israel).
Which proves why Trump is such a perfect candidate..
He is the Independents/NPAs dream candidate.. And with absolutely NO LOYALTY to anyone but the voters who will put him in office..
Seriously, ya'all should be SWOONING... Trump is the candidate ya'all have been clamoring about for a decade!!
Michale
Interesting article..
http://spectator.org/articles/66124/ted-cruz%E2%80%99s-kasich-problem
A VP Cruz would have all but eliminated the Democrat Party thirst for impeaching President Trump.. :D
Michale
JL & Paula,
Given your current fears of President Trump, would you say it's logical for the Democrat Party to do everything in their power to make sure that Trump is a one-term POTUS??
:D
Michale
JL & Paula,
Given your current fears of President Trump, would you say it's logical for the Democrat Party to do everything in their power to make sure that Trump is a one-term POTUS??
:D
Michale
McGinty beat Sestak???
I don't know how, but for some reason I got on Joe Sestak's mailing list..
I get 2-4 emails from his campaign daily..
Maybe now they will stop.... :D
Michale
Anyone know the Van Hollen/Edwards results??
That election epitomizes everything that is wrong with the Democrat Party...
On the one hand you have a proven leader, a man who has done great things and will likely continue to do great things..
But, let's toss this successful guy aside and vote with our vaginas based on race and race alone...
Maybe it takes an outside to point this out, but how whacked is that!???
Michale
Maybe it takes an outside to point this out, but how whacked is that!???
r
:D
Michale
Michale [40/41]
I'd say it would be best for them to do everything in their power to ensure America makes it through a Trump presidency as intact as possible. I've got enough faith in the American public to believe that the majority wouldn't vote for Trump in the general, so it's not a real concern for me. Even if by some absurd twist of fate, Trump got elected, if he proves to be the kind of president I expect him to be, I could not imagine the American people falling for his act a second time. The democrats won't need to do anything to ensure that he'd be a one-term president, he'd do that all on his own. All the democrats would need to do would be to mitigate the damage he does in those 4 years. Considering the dislike the republican party in general has for Trump, they might even work together with the democrats to some extent.
All the politicians are required to do their job and what is best for America. If a Trump presidency with a democratic Senate and balanced house can solve real problems from 2016-2020 then we win. Good luck to Trump if he turns out to be a good president and gets DC back to work. I'll be on the case of any politician that I vote for if their attitude is "we are putting ourselves before our country".
Can you say the same thing Michale? Do you have a Republican senator? Are you berating him/her for not getting work done "because they don't like the current occupant of the White House"? How about your congress representative?
Michale:
Trump's problem in November in three words:
Mary Pat Christie
And remember, this is a lady who puts up with Chris Christie, who is meant to be the bad boy of Republican politics.
Trump is the dream candidate for authoritarian white males, trouble is that there are other voting groups in this country. Remind me, what percentage of the voting population isn't authoritarian white male? 65%, 70%, 80%?
Cartman - that is the description of Trump supporters.
"Respect my authoritah!"
Trump wins the Cartman voters.
Republican vote turnout plummeting:
"Whereas 25.6 percent of the voting-eligible population cast a Republican ballot in Wisconsin, according to Michael McDonald’s estimates, an average of only 9.9 percent of eligible voters have in the six northeastern states to vote over the past eight days."
Maybe the Trump entertainment channel is getting boring?
Source: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/its-trumps-nomination-to-lose/
I'd say it would be best for them to do everything in their power to ensure America makes it through a Trump presidency as intact as possible. I've got enough faith in the American public to believe that the majority wouldn't vote for Trump in the general, so it's not a real concern for me. Even if by some absurd twist of fate, Trump got elected, if he proves to be the kind of president I expect him to be, I could not imagine the American people falling for his act a second time. The democrats won't need to do anything to ensure that he'd be a one-term president, he'd do that all on his own. All the democrats would need to do would be to mitigate the damage he does in those 4 years. Considering the dislike the republican party in general has for Trump, they might even work together with the democrats to some extent.
You have been wrong about Trump in the past...
You could be wrong and Trump would make a GREAT POTUS...
Michale
I've got enough faith in the American public to believe that the majority wouldn't vote for Trump in the general, so it's not a real concern for me.
You think the American public is going to choose an indicted felon over a man with a PROVEN record of business success???
Michale
[33] Joshua: good! May there be many, many like them. May they even give some consideration to joining up over here! The cool waters of sanity versus the steamy radioactive pools where Michale and his ilk are becoming ever more damaged.
The cool waters of sanity versus the steamy radioactive pools where Michale and his ilk are becoming ever more damaged.
Let's ask the black community how those "cool waters" feel...
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Black+people+under+Obama
Michale
The cool waters of sanity versus the steamy radioactive pools where Michale and his ilk are becoming ever more damaged.
Let's ask the black community how those "cool waters" feel...
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Black+people+under+Obama
Michale
Bashi,
Yes.. THAT time I used a Google Search Link.. :D
Michale
On a previous topic:
Obamacare critics have spent a lot of energy trying to pretend that premiums on the exchanges have skyrocketed, but that's never been true. What is true is that premiums started below projections and have since risen moderately as insurers get a better grasp on their customer base. This is how competitive markets work: players enter the market with prices designed to attract market share; customers pick winners and losers; prices adjust over time; and some companies are successful while others drop out. Eventually you reach a rough equilibrium, which we're getting close to with Obamacare.
It's ironic (or something) that the problems conservatives are making such a fuss about are the result of precisely what they say they want: competitive insurance markets. Apparently Obamacare has produced a little more competition than they're comfortable with.
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/04/obamacares-competitive-markets-are-starting-work-pretty-well
Obama & the Black Community:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/aug/02/donald-trump/donald-trump-black-income-unemployment-worse-now-j/
As usual, Donald is shooting from the hip, calling it like it is, and getting it completely wrong.
Trump gets it wrong, as usual:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/aug/02/donald-trump/donald-trump-black-income-unemployment-worse-now-j/
Sorry about the double taps.. I guess my trigger finger is twitchy this morning. :D
Michale
Trump making it to the White House is definitely a long shot. Go re-watch Comedy Central's roast of Trump as a reminder for why that is if you don't believe me. That said, if Donald were to be elected, I think he would be the first President to "actively care" about his popularity numbers. By "actively care", I mean that he will try to find ways to raise his numbers for the sake of raising his numbers. The Trump brand is everything to him, and I believe will have the biggest influence on how he presides over the country. That could be a good thing, OR it could have horrible repercussions for our country! Can't you just imagine the "Trump Presidential Library/Casino" on the Vegas strip?
At least your posts are getting thru. I've got three stuck in the nannybot due to a link to politicfact that seems to be upsetting it.
Neil,
. I'll be on the case of any politician that I vote for if their attitude is "we are putting ourselves before our country".
Despite ALL the evidence to the contrary... :D
Can you say the same thing Michale? Do you have a Republican senator?
Nope.. A Democrat. Who I have voted for and will continue to vote for as long as he acts like he is an American first and a Democrat second..
Are you berating him/her for not getting work done "because they don't like the current occupant of the White House"?
Talking Representatives here... Nope, because they are doing what I hired them to do. Oppose Obama's policies that are bad for this country...
Michale
At least your posts are getting thru. I've got three stuck in the nannybot due to a link to politicfact that seems to be upsetting it.
I feel for ya... :D
Michale
On a previous topic:
Obamacare critics have spent a lot of energy trying to pretend that premiums on the exchanges have skyrocketed, but that's never been true. What is true is that premiums started below projections and have since risen moderately as insurers get a better grasp on their customer base. This is how competitive markets work: players enter the market with prices designed to attract market share; customers pick winners and losers; prices adjust over time; and some companies are successful while others drop out. Eventually you reach a rough equilibrium, which we're getting close to with Obamacare.
It's ironic (or something) that the problems conservatives are making such a fuss about are the result of precisely what they say they want: competitive insurance markets. Apparently Obamacare has produced a little more competition than they're comfortable with.
That's one opinion....
But then again, there is the reality...
Obamacare disaster will be Obama’s enduring domestic legacy
Domestically, Ronald Reagan told the American people: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’ ” Obama wanted to convince Americans that they were not terrifying. And the way he was going to do it was through the only great liberal legislative achievement of his presidency: Obamacare.
He failed. Even before he leaves office, Obamacare has begun unraveling.
The law was passed over the objections of a majority of Americans, it is still opposed by a majority of Americans — and their opposition has been vindicated. Last week, UnitedHealth Group announced that, after estimated losses of more than $1 billion for 2015 and 2016 under Obamacare, the company was pulling out of most of its ill-fated exchanges.
Remember when HealthCare.gov didn’t work? So does Obama
In fact, commercial insurers across the country are hemorrhaging money on Obamacare at alarming rates. Health Care Service Corp. (which owns Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliates in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas) has lost “well north of $2 billion” in its first two years — twice as much as UnitedHealth. Highmark, the nation’s fourth-largest Blue Cross plan, lost nearly $600 million in 2015. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has projected it will lose more than $400 million in the first two years, and the company has said it may leave the exchanges entirely next year.
The president promised these insurers taxpayer bailouts if they lost money, but Congress in its wisdom passed legislation barring the use of taxpayer dollars to prop up the insurers. Without the bailouts, commercial insurers are being forced to eat their losses — while more than half of the Obamacare nonprofit insurance cooperatives created under the law failed.
So what happens now? Because commercial insurers are not going to keep bleeding cash to prop up Obamacare, they have three choices: 1) scale back coverage, 2) raise prices or 3) get out of the exchanges entirely. More and more are going to choose option 3.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamacare-disaster-will-be-obamas-enduring-domestic-legacy/2016/04/25/a8c09b38-0ae4-11e6-8ab8-9ad050f76d7d_story.html
Obamacare is a train wreck that will not survive....
It's THAT simple...
And it all could have been avoided if Obama would have been a POTUS with integrity and more concerned about the American people and less concerned about his legacy and the Democrat Party...
Michale
Trump is the dream candidate for authoritarian white males,
Do you mean authoritarian as in forcing Americans to purchase something they don't want and possibly will never need??
Is THAT what you mean by "authoritarian"???
Michale
The majority of the Democratic Party does not believe there is an ongoing FBI criminal investigation regarding Hillary Clinton’s emails. They believe, as the former Secretary of State has told them, that your work is merely a “security review,” or as one Democratic strategist call it, “another BS scandal.” Your work, thus far, has been relegated to yet another “witch hunt.” In fact, Clinton and her campaign have managed to convince millions that former secretaries of state did the same thing, which of course isn’t true.
Also, an interesting brand of logic has been used to rationalize ignoring your email investigation. While the number of agents working on this case is said to have been around 100, some voters have actually taken solace in the fact recent reports only list dozens. Only a dozen FBI agents, say loyal supporters, isn’t that big of a deal.
Since your investigation has taken so long, many people believe that nothing has been found, or simply that Clinton is too powerful to face any serious repercussions. Any attempt to warn people that Hillary Clinton could realistically face criminal indictments is either viewed as a Republican scare tactic, or lunacy. Even many Bernie Sanders supporters, a group that would benefit the most from the FBI recommending indictment of Clinton, feel it’s either disloyal, or pointless to bring up the email controversy. The massive group think within the Democratic Party, fostered by years of circumventing political scandals, has literally altered the mindset of normally rational individuals, and voters.
To a great many people, there is simply nothing Hillary Clinton can do wrong; even FBI investigations are merged with Republican Benghazi hearings.
Ultimately, your hard work, and your investigation into Clinton’s email server and correspondence, is viewed as a big, fat “nothingberger.” As Esquire’s Charles Pierce writes, “The great Hillary email nothingburger is still on the grill, and it’s certainly overcooked.” Sadly, the FBI has become part of a satirical narrative centered upon Clinton being the victim of never-ending Republican attacks.
It’s important for everyone at the FBI to know that your investigation, and I say this with all due respect, is viewed as a source of amusement for many writers, pundits, and observers loyal to Clinton. The 22 Top Secret emails on a private server (something that should disqualify anyone running for president) are either completely ignored by party faithful, or rationalized by twisted logic. Nothing is taken seriously anymore; everything is viewed through the belief that Republicans are worse, therefore Clinton’s indiscretions are meaningless.
http://tinyurl.com/hj7ywsl
Michale
Looks like the NNL filter snagged one of mine as well...
You can read the article here:
http://tinyurl.com/hj7ywsl
Michale
[63]: I think Goodman is a Rand Paul guy. I've wondered if a lot of the berniebros are actually righty infiltrators -- the ones busily chasing people towards Hillary.
They dream of indictments coz they got nothin' else.
Yay Hillary!
Also, Yay ACA!
"America First" - Trump latest slogan.
Won't last. His team haven't done their homework, and of course Trump is clueless about everything (he get's his advice on foreign policy from himself, you know).
It is Charles Lindbergh's slogan of his movement to imply Jewish hawks were forcing America into the Second World War, and that we should leave the Japanese and that nice Mr. Hitler alone.
Michale reminded us last week that appeasement never works.
I give it one week before Trump finally listens to an adult and drops it.
Do you mean authoritarian as in forcing Americans to purchase something they don't want and possibly will never need??
Is THAT what you mean by "authoritarian"???
No, I mean the type of people that love rules and love, even more, enforcing those rules on other people. This is usually driven by a combination of overconfidence that they are right coupled with a binary black/white viewpoint.
Paula,
"I think Goodman is a Rand Paul guy."
I don't know if that's true or not, but according to his HuffBook profile, he is "widely acclaimed" for his fantasy novels.
Chris,
Did my posting from earlier today get caught in the filter, because I don't see it? Thanks,
Russ
[68] John: Nothing against fantasy novel writers -- one of my favorite writers is the late, great Terry Pratchett!
But this guy…a quick search brought this piece up: 5 Reasons Liberals Tired of War Should Vote for Rand Paul Over Hillary Clinton on huffpost.
And more like that.
@paula [68],
unlikely. they're very conservative and religious, and probably wouldn't enjoy some aspects of our discourse.
@michale [40/41],
i'd say it's in the interest of GOP, dems, third parties, independents and essentially everyone else to prevent trump from serving a first term, much less a second.
if the unthinkable were to happen and trump were elected potus, i tend to agree with bleyd that no particular action would be necessary to avoid a second term; the results would speak for themselves. it's the type of eventuality where i would love to be proven wrong, but probably won't, both because trump will probably lose, and because if he does win he'll probably do a worse job than bush (or obama).
JL
Bleyd [45] -
Yeah, that's what we all thought out here in CA when Arnie got elected... the first time. I'm just sayin'...
neilm [48] -
Cartman for President! At this point, it almost makes perfect sense...
Heh.
You will respect my authori-tay!
:-)
neilm [61] -
Sorry about that. I've been trying to un-nannybot comments at a better rate...
I know this is annoying for everyone, but if you saw the comments that DIDN'T get through (that SHOULDN'T have gotten through), you'd be thankful the filter works so well. It's a little overenthusiastic, but we've still never had a single spam comment make it live here, so....
Michale [62] -
Interesting. You have a Dem House member? What do you think of the race to replace Rubio? Haven't really paid attention to the FL race, but still interested to hear your views....
[64] -
Yeah, George Will really went off the deep end on that column. Failed to mention the 20 million-plus with insurance that didn't have it before, I noticed...
[66] -
OK, I gotta say on a purely technical level, the use of all-bold for such long articles is kinda distracting. I guess all-italics would also be annoying, so I dunno what the answer is. Maybe put the title of the article in all-bold, and then just normal text? Not trying to squelch your creativity, but like I said, it's kinda annoying.
-CW
JL,
if the unthinkable were to happen and trump were elected potus, i tend to agree with bleyd that no particular action would be necessary to avoid a second term; the results would speak for themselves. it's the type of eventuality where i would love to be proven wrong, but probably won't, both because trump will probably lose, and because if he does win he'll probably do a worse job than bush (or obama).
You may be right..
But consider this..
We all thought (yes, I put myself in that) that Obama was going to be the second coming.. A transformational POTUS who was going to calm the seas and raise the dead...
We were utterly and completely and unequivocally wrong about that..
Ya'all could be utterly and completely and unequivocally wrong about what kind of POTUS Trump would be...
But all of that dodges the question..
Do you think Democrats will take steps to ensure that Trump is a one term President, even if he is a GOOD president??
THAT's the question..
Michale
Michale reminded us last week that appeasement never works.
But, apparently, ya only believe it when it suits yer agenda.. :D
Michale
No, I mean the type of people that love rules and love, even more, enforcing those rules on other people.
Yea.. That sounds like Obama...
. This is usually driven by a combination of overconfidence that they are right coupled with a binary black/white viewpoint.
Obama.....
You nailed it! :D
Michale
CW,
Interesting. You have a Dem House member? What do you think of the race to replace Rubio? Haven't really paid attention to the FL race, but still interested to hear your views....
Haven't really paid much attention it it. Local politics bore me.. :D
Yeah, George Will really went off the deep end on that column. Failed to mention the 20 million-plus with insurance that didn't have it before, I noticed...
That have CRAPPY insurance that they can't afford.. Let's be accurate here. :D
And what's going to happen to those people when the exchanges and co-ops they belong to start failing???
OK, I gotta say on a purely technical level, the use of all-bold for such long articles is kinda distracting. I guess all-italics would also be annoying, so I dunno what the answer is. Maybe put the title of the article in all-bold, and then just normal text? Not trying to squelch your creativity, but like I said, it's kinda annoying.
Fair enough. That was an excessive amount of bold, I do concede..
I'll watch that in the future...
Michale
Paula,
Yay Hillary!
Also, Yay ACA!
Mindless cheerleading is so beneath you....
You sound like a Rush Limbaugh ditto-head...
:^/
I'm just sayin'.....
Michale
It's funny..
Ya'all go on and on about Trump building his wall..
Secret Service Plans to Raise White House Fence by 5 Feet
Secret Service: 'Current fence simply is not adequate for a modern era'
http://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/Secret-Service-Plans-to-Raise-White-House-Fence-by-5-Feet-377329721.html
Yet don't say BOO when Obama is building HIS wall...
The funny thing is, Obama is building his wall to keep out AMERICANS...
Trump is building his wall to keep out CRIMINALS...
Funny, iddn't it.. :^/
Michale
https://newrepublic.com/article/133050/hillary-clinton-fear-donald-trump
This is exactly why Trump will win and Hillary will lose..
Michale
Neil,
Trump's problem in November in three words:
Mary Pat Christie
Who??? :D
Michale