Blue Wave? Democratic Cabinet nominees up in new Florida Chamber poll

A new poll from the Florida Chamber of Commerce brought good news for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, but the three other statewide candidates joining them on the November ballot are also in prime position to topple GOP hegemony.

In addition to the U.S. Senate Race and Governor’s, Floridians will be replacing term-limited Attorney General Pam Bondi and term-limited Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in the fall. Also on the ballot is sitting CFO Jimmy Patronis, who is running for a full term after being appointed to the seat by Gov. Rick Scott last year.

In the AG race Tampa Democratic Rep. Sean Shaw, also the state’s former insurance consumer advocate, leads Republican nominee Ashley Moody, a former prosecutor and circuit court judge, by 2 percentage points, 35-33 percent. Another 20 percent of voters said they were undecided, while 9 percent favor unaffiliated candidate Jeffrey Siskind of Wellington.

The Florida Chamber measure is one of the first post-primary polls of the AG race to show Shaw with a lead. Moody scored a double-digit win over Pensacola state Rep. Frank White and Shaw trounced Odessa attorney Ryan Torrens. A prior poll of the race, conducted by Public Policy Polling showed Moody with a 3-point edge, 44-41 percent, while a St. Pete Polls survey showed her up 46-44 percent.


http://floridapolitics.com/archives/276115-blue-wave-democratic-cabinet-nominees-up-in-new-florida-chamber-poll

VA-10: Dem super PAC pulls ads from Virginia as hopes of defeating Comstock grow

An influential Democratic House super PAC is cancelling nearly $1 million in ad buys in Virginia's 10th district, signaling that Democrats are increasingly bright eyed about their chances of ousting Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.).

A source familiar with the buys said that House Majority PAC (HMP) pulled the plug on a roughly $470,000 reservation the week of Oct. 9 and cut about $510,000 from a reservation the week of Oct. 23.

The move by HMP suggests that Democrats are optimistic about Virginia state Sen. Jennifer Wexton's chances of defeating Comstock in November and may be looking to shift resources to other areas.

Comstock's northern Virginia district has been represented by Republicans for more than three decades.

But Democrats are bullish about their chances of flipping the district in November, energized by shifting demographics, President Trump's unpopularity and the fact that Hillary Clinton won there by 10 points in 2016.


https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/408859-dem-super-pac-pulls-ads-from-virginia-as-hopes-of-defeating-comstock-grow


JENNIFER WEXTON





https://jenniferwexton.com/

VA-07: Hey Brett, try sneaking up on Abby Spanberger

KS-03: Wouldn't you love to see what happens to the guy who puts his hands on Sharice?

You know what else struck me about Kavanaugh's testimony?

The way he took every opportunity to talk about the trappings of his wealthy upbringing.Yale, Georgetown Prep, beach houses. He couldn’t stop.

Bonus Tweet of the Day

'The bible says it's not rape if the woman doesn't scream'

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If you want to read some of the most disgusting takes in far-right Trumplandia today, a good source would be barbwire.com, owned by Matt Barber, who RationalWiki describes as a “right-wing hack who spends an enormous amount of time spreading hatred towards gay people.”

Op-eds published on Barber’s site almost read like satire, but they’re very real. Earlier this month, right-wing Christian activist Linda Harvey published a piece attacking comprehensive sex education for kids, saying that the curriculums are responsible for the spread the sexually transmitted diseases. Attacking sex ed is nothing new for the religious right, but it was Harvey’s characterization of sex that made the piece so worthy of mockery.

“And let’s not forget the deadly contribution of ‘LGBTQ’ advocates who demand ‘inclusive’ sex ed —i.e., lessons that outline in detail how kids can engage in anal and oral sex, the sex practices of homosexuals,” Harvey wrote. “These lessons often encourage masturbation and pornography use.”

Oral sex was invented by the gays? Okay.

Which brings us to another regular columnist on barbwire.com, Dr. Don Boys.

In an op-ed published this Tuesday, Boys tackled the “sad, sickening saga” surrounding the sexual assault allegations against SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Needless to say, Boys is *skeptical* about Christine Blasey Ford’s allegation that Kavanaugh held her down on a bed and grinded against while trying to take off her clothes.

“Everyone must keep in mind that there is a miniscule (sic) possibility that her accusations are true just as there is small chance that there are little green men on Mars,” Boys wrote.

Boys claims that he truly wants “justice to prevail” and that he’s “not interested in some leftwing or rightwing agenda.”
But later in the piece, he refers to feminists as ” female fascist progressives” who “don’t care about justice, truth, honesty, and fairness.” So much for his alleged impartiality.

Then there’s this:

According to Boys, some “common sense definitions are necessary” when it come to the accusations against Kavanaugh.

Chris Coons proved something today

You cannot judge a senator or candidate for office just on the ability to get up and make a loud speech or stake out some grand position.

21,000 Milwaukee residents will get their voter registrations reinstated before the election

MADISON - About 21,000 Milwaukee residents who were cut from the voter rolls last year will regain their voter registration before the Nov. 6 election.

The state Elections Commission on Tuesday unanimously agreed to allow local clerks to reinstate the voter registration for thousands of people who were taken off the voter rolls last year.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said he planned to reinstate the registrations of about 21,000 people. The Milwaukee Elections Commission will work with the state agency on the issue.

"These are people who never should have been dropped from the rolls in the first place," Barrett said.

At issue is an effort the state used to try to identify people who had moved.

In 2017, officials sent postcards to about 340,000 Wisconsinites who were thought to have possibly moved. The state removed people from the rolls if they did not did not hear back from them.

Election officials have determined many voters got the postcards who shouldn't have because of faulty data. They are now seeking ways to help people who didn't move get back on the voter rolls.



https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/09/25/21-000-milwaukee-voters-go-back-rolls/1420715002/

GOP-appointed Michigan justice says she was intimidated, shunned for anti-gerrymandering decision

One of the Republican-appointed Michigan Supreme Court justices who voted in favor allowing the anti-gerrymandering Proposal 2 on the Nov. 6 ballot says she was bullied by "outside interests" before her decision and shunned by the GOP afterward. The court was split on a 4-3 vote.

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Clement made the revelations to The Detroit News in an article published Monday, saying there has "absolutely been an effort at bullying and intimidation" to influence her decision. (Somewhat ominously, she declined to identify exactly what these "outside interests" were.) Justice David Viviano, another Republican-appointed justice who also sided with Clement on the anti-gerrymandering decision, said it was a breach of legal protocol to use such tactics on a member of the court while a case was being decided.

"I would hope that people would look at me as an example and have faith in the judicial system that we stand up to it," Clement told the paper. "I swore an oath to the people, not to special interests to do their will. ... People expect that we won’t be swayed or intimidated by outside groups."

This is significant because gerrymandering in Michigan — or the undemocratic rigging of legislative districts by redrawing maps in such a way so as to pick winners and losers — is owned by Republicans, who redrew the maps in 2010. Emails obtained by Bridge Magazine indicate Republicans actively re-drew the maps to favor their party and disadvantage "Dem garbage."



https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2018/09/25/republican-appointed-michigan-justice-says-she-was-intimidated-shunned-by-gop-for-anti-gerrymandering-decision