Senate The US Politics discussion

He should've replied in an ad of his own and said, "It's true. All of it."

 

That was one of the lighter ones. The bad ones did things like slander all Syrian immigrants as potential terrorists, and said that Ossoff was therefore supportive of terrorism, etc. etc. Truly ridiculous crap like that.

But yeah, lots of people just scratched their heads at the Han Solo one. It's from a video taken at a Halloween party in college, where Ossoff is Han Solo and his friend is Chewbacca, and they're just sitting on a couch.

 

There was another that showed him playing beer pong in college. So yeah...he went to college and drank at a frat party like 99% of the American population who goes to college (barring ones who don't drink for religious reasons like Mormons). ...So?

 

It must have been the Russians....

 

I know you're not intending to be statistically accurate, but I'm certain that there are plenty of college-age students who either don't drink much or at all. I was one of them and I'm not alone in that.

 

No, the Russians drink quite a lot.

 

Getting ****faced at college is as all-American as apple pies run over by monster trucks. It's practically a rite of passage. One nation, under the influence, with beer bongs and spring break for all!

 

What is with all the air incidents over the Baltic?

On June 6th, a Russian Su-27 intercepted a US B-52 bomber: Russian fighter intercepts U.S. bomber over Baltic Sea | Reuters

And, just yesterday, another, fully armed, 27 intercepted a US RC-135 recon jet, in a "provocative" manner, coming within 5 feet of the American plane
Russian fighter jet flies five feet from US aircraft - CNNPolitics.com
Russian jet 'flies 5ft from US spy plane' over Baltic Sea - BBC News

And, finally, today, , hours ago, an F-16 of NATO (US, probably) approaches the Russian defense minister General Sergey Shoigu's personal jet, as he was flying to Kaliningrad; one of the Su-27s escorting the minister than confronts and drives back the American plane

Russian defense minister's plane buzzed by NATO jet: agencies | Reuters

That's the second such encounter involving Shoigu's jet, since March last year: NATO jet fighters shadow Shoigu's plane to Kaliningrad over Baltic Sea | Russia Beyond The Headlines

 

I can't agree with KnightWriter strongly enough.

No-one's talking about South Carolina, where the Democrat lost by 3% in a district Trump carried by 19. That's an enormous warning sign for Republicans next year. 20 seats up next year are held by Republicans in districts Clinton won. If all of them flip (and the odds are in their favor), that leaves only four seats to swing the House. It will be a heavy lift, no question, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. I do think, however, that the Democrats needs to focus on an economic message that appeals to the middle class whilst simultaneously pointing out that President Trump (and the billionaires he's packed his administration with) can't possibly feel their pain because they've never had to. That will be a far more potent line of attack than all Russia, all the time. Let the investigations happen, sure, but don't just be about the hacking. It's a losing strategy.

In terms of a wave, I don't think we'll see one in 2018. Waves generally occur when something bad happens, like anger over the Iraq War in 2006 or the economic collapse in 2008. Democrats don't need a wave to win next year, and they probably won't get one. What they do need is turnout, and an energized base. They have that now; the challenge will be to hold on to that enthusiasm and build on it moving forward. I do think in 2018 we'll see if blue districts staying blue, red districts staying red, and purple districts swinging to the Dems. The question then becomes "will the ratio be strong enough to flip the House". I think "yes". My main reason will be that Republicans will now declare themselves invulnerable and push through their wish list, beginning with the AHCA and tax cuts, and ending with conservative social legislation.

Over the longer term (ie the next 10-20 years), the Republican Party has a major problem, which can be distilled down to a single sentence: whenever a district becomes less white, Democrats do well. GA-6 was 90% white when Tom Price won his seat (I think back in 2012). As of yesterday, it was 70% white--and falling. That is a trend which is repeating across the United States. If it continues, the GOP is going to contract. The biggest headwind to that happening is the Democrats forming a circular firing squad, not the Republicans changing into something less dangerous. If anything, last night's results will lead Trump to scream about a mandate.

On a final note, polls are dead. A lot of them got both GA and SC's margins wrong. I no longer trust them. Nate Silver gives good analysis of data, and Josh Marshall good analysis period, but that's about it.

 

*cough cough* I wouldn't say no one is talking about South Carolina, since I just posted about it (and Georgia) this morning.

 

NATO says didn't know who was on board the jet:

Russia says NATO jet buzzed defence minister’s plane over Baltic Sea

Yeah, right... After last year's incident, they still didn't know that's Shoigu's plane? lol Give me a break...

 

Good point. If it was blue as recently as 2011 then having the democrat barely lose last night is not a big warning sign for the GOP as Vaderize just mentioned. It was a democratic seat a six years ago. Now it is GOP. Might flip back and forth over the next several years. The big watch was the GA06 as it was GOP for decades. It was also a district Trump won by 1%. Handel won by a larger margin.

 

I stopped trusting organic life.

 

Ah thank you for the background on the democrat who held that seat. Spratt sounds like an old blue dog democrat. That makes sense now.

edit:

Rahm was just at the National Press Club. During the Q&A he was asked what the democratic party needs to do to win back Congress and the WH. He said, paraphrasing, "we are about 1,000 local and state seats behind the GOP" doing that.

The party really needs to rebuild and go back to their message and even outreach to various groups.

 

You guys are missing the subtext of that ad. It's not that he played beer pong. The slam is that he went to college.

 

Yep elite vs working class. "While I was working, this young man was off partying at school." It's a play on his privilege. They also played up his carpetbagger image.

 

And as you know, colleges are places where people play Dungeons and Dragons which is a gateway drug to sin.

 

Well Karen Hendel went to two post secondary schools, though it looks like she never completed a degree: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Handel

 

Yes but personal experience has never stopped a politician from playing to their base by using their opponents experiences against them, even if they too shared those experiences. They play to their base.