So I know we have some various sub-threads on this, but I wanted to maybe get a place going where we can start throwing some of our predictions and intuitions on how a change in the senate like the one we’re anticipating might play out.  I said in a different thread that a senate without Mitch McConnell leading the majority or the minority would be a vastly different sphere of influence.  It’s quite possible he’ll lose.  It’s also possible he’ll win and resign.  We’ve sort of had some visions on both fronts there.
To say that he’s unique is an understatement.  He’s had the ability for a very long time to get everyone to fall in line and follow the path he blazes - regardless of whether it’s good for them politically or not to do so. Â
A senate without McConnell is so different.  Ted Cruz is going to Ted Cruz, but he has neither the following nor the skills to fill that void.  I can’t think of a single Republican senator who isn’t up for re-election this year (or among the ones who are even) who would have the ability to right that ship.
So - as we get closer to November 3rd - and beyond — if you do any readings on the senate and how it emerges after the elections, this would be great!  I’ll throw cards this weekend and see what I read from it.
With the obstructionist gone and two people good at talking across the aisle hopefully in charge in the executive, I can see some of that progressive future we’ve got so many predictions on in the coming years coming out of this.  Not immediately obviously — but it’s a definite pathway.
I follow the Lincoln Project and someone asked them what they are going to do after the election. The reply was that they are going to deal with the republicans who enabled trump to destroy this county and refused to remove him from office when they had the chance. Their work isn’t done yet. Expect positive changes in 2022.
@lenor. I love the Lincoln Project’s mission — but I don’t trust them.  They may be atoning for it now by helping to defeat Trump but these are people that paved the road we’re driving on right now.  They hate the man and what he’s done to the office — I’m with them there. Â
@dannyboy The Devil makes strange bedfellows.. there are no atheists in a fox hole.... hold your friends close and your enemies closer.... We know who they are...at least we are united in this goal of getting rid of the orange shit scurvy. I actually see eventually the two party system fading away and a new 3rd party coming in to play.
It would be a great thing if the DNC breaks into a progressive party with AOC, Bernie, Warren etc and a moderate party with Biden, Pelosie etc, just as the GOP breaks into Trumpers, conservative moderates and conservatives aka angry old men. 4 or 5 parties is much better for democracy.
Â
I agree that the Lincoln Project people are good now, but they were part of the problem that created this mess. I think one talkshow host (Colbert?) interviewed Rick Wilson and got under his skin with those allegations. However, they are sorely needed now. Their attack adds work. Biden doesn't attack, he needs a bulldog like TLP to win.
Also I enjoy watching their Breakdown and recommend it. Yesterday they had a expert/doctor on who went through the Covid drama in the Trump administration. They've had ex-intelligence people on etc. Lots of interesting thoughts and facts. It's also hopeful to see a group fight like they do.
@lenor wrote: I follow the Lincoln Project and someone asked them what they are going to do after the election. The reply was that they are going to deal with the republicans who enabled trump to destroy this county and refused to remove him from office when they had the chance. Their work isn’t done yet. Expect positive changes in 2022.
I follow them too. In addition to your comment, they've pledged to promote bipartisanship in the hopes of rebuilding an "honorable" conservative party and a functioning Congress. The fact that they were Never Trumpers from the beginning gives me a bit of hope. However, I've also noted that they fight differently from Democrats, and I know that they'll turn that on Dems eventually. Â
I have to think the boys in the Lincoln Project, while doing a good thing now, are ultimately focused on saving the republican party, ie their own jobs and influence. Their control was taken away from them by the creamsicle in chief, mcconnell, etc; they want it back. Republicans lost control of their own party when they let the Tea Party call the shots, and now they are seeing their party slip even further away by the Q influence. They want rich, white, conservative men in charge, not nutjobs, because if the nutjobs make too much trouble, the entire party could die. I'll take the LP's help now, though, because actual conservatives are likely easier to work with that whatever is happening right now.
I follow the Lincoln Project and I don't get the feeling they will turn on Democrats. They want to burn down the current Republican Party and create a political situation where we are arguing over policy but not questioning each other's intentions for the country. They also understand they are part of the reason we are in this mess and want to atone for this.
I sense a bigger split will happen between the Democrats with a Bernie led progressive party and a more centrist party. I don't mind that because the GOP should not be allowed power anytime soon but giving one party (the Democrats) unchecked power long term isn't optimal either.
I totally agree. Definitely not the GOP of today, but I've always felt we need a strong conservative party to offset the Democrats. If we do away with the Republican party(or whatever the upcoming new version calls itself) then we give one side too much power that will eventually be fully corrupted. We also need the opposing views to restrain liberal beliefs enough to keep them from bankrupting the country. In a perfect world, the offset would keep the left from worrying about only people and not financial responsibility, and keep the right from being heartless and worrying just about money and not people. The compromised middle, in general, is the healthiest place to be.Â
@mas1581 I've seen reports that big swings were made toward Biden from independents and moderates. I would rather see a moderate middle and progressive left work together; the right is veering scarily off the edge into bizarre-o land. Look at all the Qanon people who won or almost won. Look at how solidly red some states went. Poor Montana ... they got sucked in, big time. If the Lincoln Project can help create that moderate party, that would make for a much less volatile national politic, I would think.
@saibh It would be poetic justice if Georgia flips Blue with Biden/Harris,Ossoff,Warnock.. where will that leave Impotus's QANon queen Marjorie Greene, who won the 14th district..pretty much nullified. I certainly am praying that is so!!!!
The republican party now is right wing extremist insanity(basically the US version of what ISIS is to Islam) and needs to just be put down. Im saying that a Lincoln Party conservative type group is needed. Something conservative to check the left and keep them from going off the rails but intelligent and moral with nothing extreme.
@mas1581 We have a friend that works on the Hill who implied that the "Lincoln project " Republicans must have turned out for Rump because aren't we are all staggered by the amount of Republicans who voted for the Orange cancer? Also implied that they got $ from gullible liberals to further the cause. Not sure I agree with it, the video clips were awesome. I am in the midst of a room reno so I am just popping in to say PA will be BLUE. My guess is by over 100k if they keep counting, and they WILL. Our ballots had bar codes on them, with data linking registered voters. Our ballots are super tracked with a massive paper trail. Let the A-hole and all his sad minions waste their money and time recounting so we can all revel in watching him lose TWICE. Of the early voting 2.5 million ballots so far in PA - 1.6 million were to registered Dems, and 560,000 were for Republicans. I'm not sure what that includes, but that is what they are processing now. Plus Independents sent in around 200k. Â
In Georgia, Senator Perdue has fallen below the 50% cutoff to prevent a runoff election with his opponent Ossoff. If that holds there will be two Senate runoff elections on January 5 in Georgia, and if the D's can hold those, it would put the Senate at 50/50 again. That would put Ms. Harris in the position of being the deciding vote when needed, and since there would not be a majority, would force McConnell to share the stage with the ranking D member as co-leaders of the Senate.
Per CNN numbers, as of right now and with only three percent of the vote left to count, Senator Perdue has fallen below the 50% threshold, which means that both Senate races in Georgia will be runoffs on January 5, 2021. As one analyst said there, Georgia is about to become the center of the political universe.
Mark Kelly (D) in Arizona has won the Senate! Â
48 (D) to 48 (R) is the current number of the Senate.
Hooray!
Â
   If you want to know why the polls were so off, I think the answer is going to be strategically targeted cheating by the Republicans. I believe that Donald Trump and his minions focused much of their cheating on states that had critical senate races. It's not an accident that Democrats could not win senate races in North Carolina, Iowa, South Carolina, Montana, or Maine. There was strategically arranged cheating in all of those states. Donald Trump no doubt has a nationwide network of people that will gladly co-operate in the cheating.
   One of the major cheating tactics used by the GOP was to cause the destruction or non-delivery of mail-in ballots. I believe that the GOP stole a good 4 or 5 million votes thru this method.