The 6 women in this focus group are all from swing states and all voted for Trump. Most would do it again... although half say they are disappointed. They all say they want to use the midterms to "send a message." Take a look. One thing for sure, this sure doesn't sound like part of any wave. But, keep in mind they were all Trump voters in 2016.This morning Axios launched an idea for how they plan to measure the upcoming wave.
This is what the Republican Culture of Corruption Looks Like In 2018With future Speaker Nancy Pelosi's connivance, Denny Hastert-- then Speaker, currently in prison for raping underage boys-- protected alcoholic Florida Congressman Mark Foley (a "nice guy") from ever having to face charges from dozens of young men-- congressional pages-- that he had sex or tried to have sex with them.
Do you remember the leaked DCCC memo instructing the corporate shills they were recruiting as candidates to try to avoid any specifics about what to do about healthcare other than "fix" ObamaCare and to never talk about Medicare-For-All or single payer? The DCCC had some phony-baloney polling they were able to twist into meaning that people don't like Medicare-For-All. Classic DCCC bullshit.
A Washington Post headline-- The Deficit Hawks Are Dead-- And Few In Washington Muster Any Outrage-- points a finger at Washington's most dedicated Ayn Rand disciple, Speaker Ryan and his GOP zombies "who had, wrote Paul Kane, railed against deficits in the first years of the Obama administration pushed through a massive tax cut despite CBO projections of a surge in federal borrowing." But what the Post isn't counting
Trump loves it that the midterms are all about him and seems oblivious-- at least most of the time-- that he's going tp get the blame for the Republican apocalypse... and probably get impeached too boot. He'll finally get to truthfully boast that he's starring in a TV show with high ratings.
It's not easy getting Jess King on the phone. It's not easy getting her campaign manager on the phone either. Every time I try-- morning, midday, evening-- they're out working their sprawling Pennsylvania district. The newly created 11th district, which no longer has Adams County or the nice blue parts of Harrisburg and Reading it once had is going to take the kind of work that few campaigns want to undertake.
Mutiny by Nancy OhanianEarly in the cycle, I noticed that a reasonable theme to cover would be Trump as an albatross whose reverse coattails would pull down Republican candidates across the country-- particularly in districts with large numbers of independent covers. I asked Nancy Ohanian, the best of the political artists, what she thought about it.
MI-08 is an iffy seat for a Democrat to win without a wave. But this cycle there is a wave. The R+4 district includes Democratic Ingraham County (Lansing), Republican Livingston County and then red parts of Oakland County. in the suburbs north of Detroit. Although Obama won the district in 2008, Romney took it in 2012 and Trump beat Hillary 50.6% to 43.9%. The incumbent, Mike Bishop, was majority leader of the Michigan state Senate but has been a hapless, anonymous backbencher in Congress, a Trump rubber-stamp and enabler.
My friend Samir Selmanović put most of this together to help Democratic candidates who have sizable evangelic communities in their districts. Neither of us, nor any of our VoteCommonGood colleagues think these communities should just be ceded to Republicans-- especially not when the head Republican is Donald Trump, anathema in too many ways to count to the people who are actual followers of Jesus.
Chris PappasOne more little look at last night's primaries from New Hampshire. Because Carol Shea-Porter decided to retire, there was a lot of action in the first district. The Democrats nominated Chris Pappas, a slightly left-of-center candidate favored by the entire New Hampshire political establishment, and the Republicans nominated a mainstream conservative, Eddie Edwards, instead of the far right Trump character, Andy Sanborn.
