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lees1975

lees1975's Journal
lees1975's Journal
October 13, 2022

Here's everything that's on the Republican side of the midterm ballot, and it's pretty ugly

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2022/10/whats-on-republican-side-of-ballot-in.html

OK, we all know this. But as much as possible, putting it in written form and putting it out there is worth it, if it convinces one more voter to go vote against everything Republican and Trumpie.

There's not ever been a time that I can remember, since I cast my first ballot in a Presidential election in 1976, for Jimmy Carter, that so many other people and issues were on the ballot with the candidates of one of the political parties. Nor has it ever seemed that so many people were either so clueless, or so separated from reality in a world of conspiracy theories, fear and paranoia. So when voters go into the booth, or step up to the screen and cast a ballot, there will be many things lying underneath the candidate's names on the Republican side.

Election denying, which is one of the issues associated with the Trumpies, is a serious charge. In making this reckless claim, because his ego can't take defeat, he is baselessly accusing a large number of patriotic Americans of both political parties, who work hard to ensure the absolute integrity of every election from the local level to the national level, of cheating him out of a victory he clearly did not achieve. That is a serious accusation against the integrity of this country, and against the patriotism and loyalty of millions of Americans. It is also one of the most blatantly ignorant statements ever to come from a former President of the United States. It is a hard and realistic demonstration of the fact that this man is not a patriotic, loyal American, but a selfish psychopath with a fragile ego and demented intelligence.
October 13, 2022

What's trending, less than a month before the midterms?

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2022/10/whats-trending-less-than-month-before.html

For reference, in the link above, there are three polls from YouGov/The Economist which are worthy of note. All three were taken from October 8-11, so they are the most recent. They have a B rating, which isn't great, but which is equal to the other two polls on the same subject from Rasmussen and Ipsos, which put factors in place that make the data skew to the right. The poll of 1,030 "likely voters" has President Biden's job approval rating at 48%, a 5 point jump from the last similar poll, and disapproval at 51%. The poll of 1,330 registered voters has approval at 48% and disapproval at 49%, and the poll of 1,500 adults has approval at 45% and disapproval at 46%.

That's a 10% to as much as 12% swing from similar polls in mid-September, what some pollsters call "trending." I'm not a pollster, but I'd call it that. I'm not sure of the factoring they do on job approval ratings, but that much of a shift should generate some interest in finding out what it is that has caused this. The President made a major campaign speech in Philadelphia, which blasted the GOP for its extremism and which silenced a lot of the whispering and speculation about his mental sharpness. He's actually been out a lot more, because candidates seem to want him to appear with them on stage. It's pretty obvious, at least to those who aren't politically biased toward the right, that he's actively engaged in trying all of the steps economists say are necessary to curb inflation. Combined with the shock of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the revelations that Trump took top secret documents to Mar-a-Lago and there are some reasons to support the trend.
October 12, 2022

You Gov/Economist polls from Oct 11 show a one point difference in Biden job approval

I would like to see NBC cite those three polls from October 11. Two polls are at one point, the largest sample at 45-46, the next largest at 48-49 and the widest gap, 1,030 registered voters at 48-51. Down the list, on 538, is Trump, with double digit gaps in negative numbers.

And the generic ballot is trending toward Democrats.

I'll just wait until election day. There will be a lot of shrieking and lip flapping over a Democratic majority getting elected.

October 11, 2022

Poll and pundit watching: Michael Moore predicts the Democrats will win the midterms.

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2022/10/i-used-to-love-watching-polling-data.html

Don't get me wrong, I still do. But there's an element of unpredictability in polls, and it's been there since at least 2012, when President Obama won a solid, convincing re-election bid over Mitt Romney. Republicans were sincerely expecting that Romney would eke out a narrow electoral college win, based on polling data from Ohio and Florida that gave him a slight edge. But he didn't carry either state, in fact, he lost Ohio outside the margin of error of the poll, though Florida was much closer, Obama still carried the state. As it turned out, with Ohio, he didn't need it.

Democrats have a lot of reasons to be optimistic about their chances of keeping control of Congress, and expanding their control of the Senate. When I first started looking at the composites back in February or March, we were down by nine points in the generic ballot, and Pennsylvania was the only really bright spot in the senate races. But looking at the 538 polling composites today, Democrats lead the generic ballot, it's close, one point, but that's a ten point improvement since the low point last winter. The numbers in the senate races, if the election were held tomorrow, would yield a gain of three for the Democrats, with Nevada being the closest thing Republicans have to a possible flip, and I wouldn't bet on that. Beasley and Demings, in North Carolina and Florida, have moved the needle to well within the margins in their races within the past two weeks, and if they can pull it off, that's a net gain of five for the Democrats.
October 11, 2022

Running for office as an election denier nullifies the election denier argument.

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2022/10/running-for-office-as-election-denier.html

You just can't fix stupid.

Believing that the 2020 Presidential election was "stolen," especially without any evidence at all to support that claim, is about as ignorant and ridiculous a position as a politician can take. In my own opinion, believing that should disqualify anyone from running for public office. There are always glitches and places in the system where ballots can't be verified, or may have been cast in a manner not consistent with law or defined procedure, but the number is so low, compared to the number of ballots that are cast and counted accurately, that it is safe to say American elections are the most secure and accurate in the world. And 2020 falls into that same category, in spite of the ignorant rhetoric that keeps going on and on from the right.

But, making that kind of fraudulent claim goes beyond identifying those who believe it as idiots and morons. Trump wasn't the only name on those ballots. Every state had a list of senate candidates, congressional candidates, state legislative elections, judges, constitutional propositions, and all kinds of things to elect or which required casting a vote. If the Presidential election was "rigged," then so was every other election on the ballot. That means that many of those who are currently serving in Congress on the GOP side of the aisle believe their own election isn't legitimate. Right? I mean, if someone was elected and the election was rigged, then so would be their election.
October 10, 2022

Democrats need to get the working class in places like West Virginia back

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2022/10/behind-slogans-and-rhetoric-theres-big.html

West Virginia's congressional delegation, made up of individuals who are tightly connected to corporate interests, including the energy business, has no interest in helping the working poor in their state. None. Yet they keep getting elected, mainly on social issues and on the political rhetoric of right wing liars.

Job loss for rural communities in West Virginia is a regular occurrence. Coal mines run out of coal and shut down, and now, as cheaper, cleaner alternatives are being developed, even productive facilities are being shut down for lack of markets. Democrats have proposed some solutions which will create jobs in other fields, bringing in and growing different industries which would add jobs and improve the local economy. The infrastructure bill and "Build Back Better" both carried immense potential to create jobs in the state. But its politicians followed a party line and voted no.

Senator Bernie Sanders, who won the Democratic primary in West Virginia in 2016, went back with MSNBC's Chris Hayes for a town hall in Welch, in the far southern part of the state, deep in the mountains, to address the opioid crisis, prescription drug addiction and the health care issues plaguing the rural areas. It was a rare opportunity for West Virginians to be heard, and they were, by Democrats. Once Trump was gone, what the Biden administration offered to West Virginia was a hand up, and they've benefitted tremendously from the infrastructure bill. Williamson and Mingo County are not the only place that will have an operational hospital due to Biden administration assistance. Welch, where Sanders and Hayes held their town hall, also got assistance to keep their medical facility open, as did several other rural health operations across the state
October 5, 2022

A Moment of truth for the religious right Republican supporters of Herschel Walker

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2022/10/not-all-republicans-are-happy-with.html

Walker has been the ideal Trump-endorsed candidate for this position all along. With Trump, character doesn't matter, truth doesn't matter, issues don't matter. Power matters, and once it is achieved, by whatever means necessary, using it for personal benefit matters. Use it to toss a few favors in the direction of the supporters, but ultimately, using it to eliminate their necessity is the long-range goal.

Walker has lied about his background, his identity, and his character. He picked up right wing themes and spoke out against absentee fathers among the African American community without ever thinking he'd be called out because he's fathered children in whose lives he's never been involved. By the same standards that the religious right applies to Democrats, he's worse than a politician who supports abortion rights, since he actually paid for one of his girlfriends to have one. By their definition of terms, doesn't that make him a "baby killer"?

The reaction from among the religious right wing of the GOP to this news is clear evidence that they don't care one bit about abortion. If this had been a Democratic candidate for the senate, and this blatant hypocrisy on a political issue had been displayed--and I can point to multiple examples of such--lips would be flapping, voices would be shrieking holy horror and heads would be exploding with rage.

I'm going to say this, because it needs to be said. If any Evangelical Christian, or Republican for that matter, who has drawn the line on the political issue of abortion and won't vote for Democrats they call "baby killers", still supports and plans to vote for Herschel Walker after this revelation, their Christian faith is meaningless and empty, Using Matthew's analogy in his gospel account of the life of Christ, they are salt that has lost its taste.
October 4, 2022

Turnout wins elections. All hands on deck and other cliches.

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2022/10/turnout-wins-elections-all-hands-on.html

Election day is November 8. Mark the date on the calendar in red, circle it, put a reminder up on the fridge, or, better yet, get the ducks in order and send in your mail-in ballots. There is no excuse for not voting this time around because this could be the last chance Americans have to cast a ballot that counts in an election. There are people running in multiple states who, if they are elected, and they get their way, will work to do away with individuals casting ballots in elections and a new ruling class will emerge which controls politics, abolishes term limits and listens to crazy, baseless, false conspiracy theories instead of the truth.

The biggest advantage that Democrats now have on their side in this midterm election is Donald Trump. Yes, that's what I meant to say. Even though the orange headed buffoon hasn't announced his candidacy for President, and he's not running in this election, he is on the ballot in the form of every election denier, conspiracy theorist, extremist and rich one percenter who is. It's pretty clear that most Americans, a clear majority that shows up in polls as a consistent 60% who do not approve of him, can't stand him and have no desire at all to see him ever live in the White House or serve as President again. If the Department of Justice does its job, his next government residence will be federal prison.

We need to do everything we can to make sure the voter turnout on our side, and for our candidates, is an overwhelming flood of resolve that sends a clear message to the conspiracy theorists, extremists, fascists and Trumpies. We don't want you in our government! In addition to votes, I think this effort will probably also take courts and protesters to convince reticent GOP election officials that the power lies with the people of the United States, and not with a judge or a state legislature.

Let's do this!

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Gender: Male
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Current location: Chicago, Illinois
Member since: Wed Dec 25, 2019, 01:02 AM
Number of posts: 3,851
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