@Ksali alerted me to this hidden gem running against Sarah Huckabee Sanders for Arkansas Governor. Democrat@JonesForAR's ad is inspiring to watch: https://t.co/SevdVC9j1U
Trump's WH Spokesperson Huckabee-Sanders made lying a thing. If the Arkansas voters are allowed to vote, then Jones has a great chance to lead that state.
@kksali alerted me to this hidden gem running against Sarah Huckabee Sanders for Arkansas Governor. Democrat@JonesForAR's ad is inspiring to watch: https://t.co/SevdVC9j1U
Trump's WH Spokesperson Huckabee-Sanders made lying a thing. If the Arkansas voters are allowed to vote, then Jones has a great chance to lead that state.
The Virginia Governor’s race is coming up on November 2 of this year. And I’m nervous about it.
Gov. Ralph Northam is not allowed to run for a second consecutive term, so former governor Terry McAuliffe is running again for the Democrats. The Republican candidate, Glenn Youngkin, is the former CEO of a huge private equity corporation and has no political baggage like McAuliffe. Youngkin is a bazillionaire plus he’s generating significant Rep backing. On the stump and in TV ads, Youngkin looks and sounds good, generally presenting himself as an upbeat, Ronald Reagan-style Republican who wants to make Virginia a better place to raise a family and run a business. He's also made “election integrity” a top issue in his campaign. (We know what that means.) He’s trying to sound like Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, except Hogan is quite moderate and has been outspoken and consistently critical of the former President. Youngkin is none of those things. He is fundamentally right-wing and has been endorsed by the 45th, although he tried to distance himself somewhat from T’s endorsement. Youngkin has a polished yet friendly and approachable public speaking style, and unless people educate themselves to his history and platform, he might fool some Independents and moderate Democrats.
I'd be curious to know if anyone gets a read on the Virginia race.
Does anyone have a vibe on Gavin Newsom's future in the Recall Election?
@theungamer Why yes, I do. I think Newsom will survive the recall attempt. I picked that up about a week ago.
@bluebelle Oh thank you for picking up on that. Have been a little unnerved lately about where this was headed.
@theungamer I can’t even explain it, but that’s my gut feeling. And it just came to me recently that Newsom will get through this. I can be wrong, but I’m not a resident of California and don’t think about California politics in general, so it was surprising to get that insight. When I’m surprised by my intuition, I tend to pay attention.
@bluebelle I have faith in your gut feelings. Several of those helped me sleep through the night during the Nov election. Our governor has done some dumb stuff, but nothing that merits a recall.
@deetoo Thanks for laying out the race. I get good cards for the democrat, MaCauliffe. :-)
People can help disenfranchised voters get to the polls in Virginia using Vote Forward.org. where you sign up to write letters and they show you how and give you the voters names and tell you what to write. You adopt a voter to guide through the election so they can get absentee ballots or get registered and vote on time and in the right place.
The Virginia election is their current campaign. https://votefwd.org/campaigns
You can become an organizer and get your friends to help you write letters, even have writing parties. Or you can find someone local who is organizing people. Or just write letters by yourself or with a partner.
I wrote about 150 postcards for a woman in our town who I found via the town Democratic committee. She got about 20,000 postcards sent for the last presidential election as well as some of the Senate races. It was fun! I did it while watching tv. Like knitting.
I read a news blurb a week ago about the Virginia race, and it said a number of the same things about Youngkin. But when I was reading that piece plus your description, I got the distinct sense that these “strengths” will actually be to his disadvantage come November.
I’m increasingly trying to cut through the mental noise and channel clairaudient whispers that have always accompanied me, and when I was reading your comment, I heard a voice saying “watch out for the twists.” I take that to mean the GOP situation in general in a few months will be a stumbling block for Youngkin. My analytical mind also says that while pro-business bonafides, solid party backing, and Reagan-style charisma may have been helpful pre-2016, we’re not in normal times anymore.
Quick take: McAuliffe will prevail, but the results may be closer than in 2017.
I also think Newsome will win, and we shouldn’t be surprised if the margin is more than 10 percentage points. The pro-recall camp seems to be a small but loud minority.
My vibe on Whitmer (Michigan) is that she wins, but the margin will depend on who is running against her. Most of the people who have declared intent to run at the moment fall somewhere on the Trump spectrum. A Ryan Kelly will probably be a landslide for Big Gretch. A Mike Shirkey will probably be closer. Either way right now my spider sense isn't warning me to worry. It's a lot like Newsome in California - the crazies have bought up all the megaphones so they seem louder than they actually are.
What plans our independent redistricting commission have for legislative seats will finally (hopefully) correct a longstanding injustice done to minority communities in the state designed to dilute the vote and keep the legislature red via Gerrymandering. I am hopeful given a couple of the districts that flipped blue in the last election (Our senate is red by a razor thin majority) that with redistricting we can finally turn back the tide.
When I read of all these political battles, I am constantly reminded of the last episodes of the cartoon "Avatar: The Last Airbender" (the original TV show, not the garbage that Shayamalan threw up on the movie screen!) When I envision the outcome of all of this, I am always shown the last scene of the last epic battle of that series. I'll link to the part I see here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXShLPXfWZA&t=691s
The narration of this part is a reminder to me that the D's must follow the law and not engage in the same tactics as the other side no matter how hard it gets:
"To bend another's energy, your own spirit must be unbendable, or you will be corrupted and destroyed."
That's probably way more dramatic than reality will be, but that's what I see. ;-)
(If you want to see the entire battle, just scroll back to the beginning of the video. It's absolutely epic and completely worth the almost 14 minutes of your day. And yes, you should watch the whole series because it's freakin' amazing!)
@tgraf66 Okay, before we meet in the Circle of Light again, everyone needs to watch this video ending and then we can practice it on the Repubs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXShLPXfWZA&t=691s
The Governor race to watch is NY. We have Zeldin who is a Trump supporter and Giuliani’s son trying to run for the spot. Everyone knows why. Someone needs his problems to go away.
Hello everyone. I have been taking a break from politics for a while, I'm trying to keep my garden in check and I am failing miserably! I thought I'd hop on and point out that Charles Booker is running against RandPaul and his tin hat in Kentucky. Mr. Booker ran in the Dem primary against Amy McGraft and used the slogan "from the hood to the holler". He did a good job of connecting with the poorer counties in Eastern and Western Ky. Unfortunately no one can beat the Turtle man and his money. Moscow Mitch has "fiends in high places" in Ky that he pays regulary. Rand Paul not so much and Mitch isn't a big fan of his, not that he would speak out against him. Does anyone with intuitive powers get a read on Mr. Booker? I would be interested in ya'lls perspective. Have a good day.
It's been over a month since this reply, so I'm curious if you or anyone else is picking up on anything regarding the Gov. Gavin Newsom recall election 9/14? I got my ballot in the mail today and am feeling a lot of anxiety and uneasiness these last few weeks. I'm also very concerned about the potential of the balance of the Senate shifting if the recall is successful and a Republican is selected to replace him. Senator Feinstein is 88 and the CA Governor appointments replacement Senators.
@dlarel I’ve been following the recall election since I had that premonition about Newsom a while back. I don’t tend to follow California politics, so it was unusual for me to pick up something about that intuitively. I still feel that Gov. Newsom will remain in office. We will know soon.
@dlarel @bluebelle Thank you for checking in on this. It's good to release a little anxiety around the recall. Newsom needs to stay put and Feinstein needs to go. We need someone younger and more progressive.