Is Georgia on your mind?

[lpetrich]

Democrats Hope Georgia Will Become The Next Virginia, But It Could End Up Being The Next North Carolina | FiveThirtyEight

When Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia flipped to the Democratic side in the 2008 presidential election, it seemed like the start of a long-lasting shift. A Democratic Party increasingly synonymous with people of color, college graduates and urbanites appeared destined to win in states with growing, well-educated, racially diverse metropolises like Charlotte, Denver, the Raleigh-Durham area and the northern Virginia suburbs outside Washington, D.C.

That happened reliably in CO and VA, but not in NC.

“North Carolina is still shifting from a predominantly rural, native-born state into a more urban/suburban state filled with more outsiders,” said Manzo. “There is a real undercurrent in political discussions both within the North Carolina General Assembly and in campaigns about appealing to the ‘true’ North Carolinians … Most of this election cycle the Republican message was essentially that Democrats don’t understand North Carolina and North Carolinian values, especially Democrats who have worked in DC.”

Though Obama won in 2008, he did not win a big victory. He was only 0.32% ahead of John McCain, and he had only 49.7% of the vote. He then lost in 2012 by 2.04%, Hillary lost in 2016 by 3.66%, and Biden by 1.34%.

 

[southernhybrid]

I don't have the link right now, but the Georgia legislature, which is controlled by the Republicans, is already trying to make voting more difficult next time around. They are primarily working to make it more difficult to vote absentee. Under the current rules, anyone could request an absentee ballot without a reason. The new plan is to require a reason to obtain an absentee ballot. They also plan on discontinuing drop off boxes.

Obviously this is an attempt to suppress the vote. The Republicans know that when more people vote, the Democrats have a better chance of victory. My hope is that if all of this legislation passes, I hope it will make Democrats even more determined to vote. While absentee voting was at an all time high in the recent election, it was mostly due to fear of the pandemic.

I wouldn't consider Georgia blue at this time. It's more of a swing state and unless we can put an end to voter apathy, it will probably return to more of a red state. That's just my opinion based on the many years that I tried to convince younger people and Black coworkers to vote, with very little success. That seems to be changing, but I hope people won't lose their enthusiasm when the next election comes to Georgia.

I also want to mention that Warnock was preaching in his church last Sunday. I sure hope he's going to give that up. It's bad enough that the Republicans seem to have no respect for the SCS. I don't think it's a good idea for the Democrats to follow in their footsteps, even if their version of Christianity is a less extreme one.

 

[ZiprHead]

Sohy, please express to your AA friends my thanks. They may have saved this country.

 

[Derec]

But I do think that the elected officials have the mandate to follow through on the actions they campaigned on.

Biden campaigned as a moderate. He did not campaign as somebody close to the "Squad" and to cave to them now on policy would be a colossal mistake.

If the people don't like the actions of their elected officials they are free to pick someone else in the next election. Democratic ideas are more popular than Republican ones, and have been for quite some time.

Depends on which Democratic ideas. I do not think Squad's ideas are all that popular, outside of certain safe Dem districts where Squad members won.

 

[Derec]

The answer to right wing extremism is not left wing extremism. They are both rotten!

Agreed. The reason your arguments are bullshit though is because you equate a handful of cunts throwing rocks

Sigh. First of all, the left-wing rioting since 2014 was much ore than "handful of cunts throwing rocks" and my post was not even about that, but it was about what policies Biden should be advancing. Some, like KeepTalking think he should go far left and adopt the agenda of the Squad. That would be a mistake.

 

[bilby]

The answer to right wing extremism is not left wing extremism. They are both rotten!

Agreed. The reason your arguments are bullshit though is because you equate a handful of cunts throwing rocks

Sigh. First of all, the left-wing rioting since 2014 was much ore than "handful of cunts throwing rocks" and my post was not even about that, but it was about what policies Biden should be advancing. Some, like KeepTalking think he should go far left and adopt the agenda of the Squad. That would be a mistake.

Which would be a mistake? Going far left, or adopting the centre-left policies of 'The Squad'?

There are exactly zero elected representatives in the US today whose agenda is far left; And very few whose agenda is even left.

Most of the policy platform objectives of the leftmost representatives in Congress today would have been considered right wing craziness thirty years ago.

 

[Shadowy Man]

But I do think that the elected officials have the mandate to follow through on the actions they campaigned on.

Biden campaigned as a moderate. He did not campaign as somebody close to the "Squad" and to cave to them now on policy would be a colossal mistake.

And that’s his mistake to make. If the people don’t like it they won’t vote for him again.

If the people don't like the actions of their elected officials they are free to pick someone else in the next election. Democratic ideas are more popular than Republican ones, and have been for quite some time.

Depends on which Democratic ideas. I do not think Squad's ideas are all that popular, outside of certain safe Dem districts where Squad members won.

And that’s why a majority of representatives are needed to pass laws. If it’s not popular enough then it won’t pass. If it passes and you don’t like what your rep did then don’t vote for them.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Bush Lite campaigned against nation building. How did that work out? I mean, he certainly followed through on that, amirite?

 

[Angra Mainyu]

But I do think that the elected officials have the mandate to follow through on the actions they campaigned on.

Biden campaigned as a moderate. He did not campaign as somebody close to the "Squad" and to cave to them now on policy would be a colossal mistake.

And that’s his mistake to make. If the people don’t like it they won’t vote for him again.

Perhaps, but the point is that if - as you believe - elected officials have the mandate to follow through on the actions they campaigned on, then Biden has the mandate to do, well, that, not to follow through on the actions the Squad promote and are not in line with Biden's own campaign promises.

 

[southernhybrid]

I think it's kind of amusing that people have their own definitions as to what right wing and left wing mean these days. For example, whenever I've taken one of those fun little tests that determine where one is on the political spectrum, I always come out as mid center left. But, some of the posters and former posters here have called me a conservative. So, I've decided that all of these terms are pretty meaningless these days. Some of Biden's positions would be considered centrist ands some would be considered center left. But, since Biden realizes that he's not a dictator, I tend to think that he will support most of what his Congress supports. And, the so called squad are still a minority of the Congress. My guess is that some things will pass that in the past were considered to be center left or left of center, at least in American terms. To me, compromise is the most important thing. Nothing substantial ever gets done without some compromise.

 

[lpetrich]

Georgia Was A Disaster For Republicans. It’s Not Clear Where They Can Go Next. | FiveThirtyEight

To step back a bit, the success of an electoral strategy basically comes down to four dimensions:

1. How good is it at turning out the party base?
2. How much does it turn out the other party’s base?
3. How well does it do with swing voters?
4. How efficiently is the party’s coalition configured electorally?

In Trump-era elections, Republicans have tended to do well along two of these dimensions and poorly along the other two. Namely, Trump gets very high turnout from his base. What’s just as important, rural white voters who are the core of that base have far more power in the Electoral College and U.S. Senate than their raw numbers would imply, making their coalition electorally efficient. Hence, their strategy has performed well along dimensions No. 1 and No. 4.

Conversely, Trump is extremely motivating in turning out many parts of the Democratic base (dimension No. 2). And he’s a big turn-off to swing voters, or at least he’s proven to be after four years in office (dimension No. 3). After narrowly beating Clinton among independent voters in 2016, Trump lost them to Biden by 13 points in November. Swing voters also haven’t been very happy with the GOP with or without Trump on the ballot: They backed Democratic candidates for the U.S. House by 12 points in 2018. Republicans have had especially big problems with suburban swing voters, including in places that were once GOP strongholds.

 

[Shadowy Man]

And that’s his mistake to make. If the people don’t like it they won’t vote for him again.

Perhaps, but the point is that if - as you believe - elected officials have the mandate to follow through on the actions they campaigned on, then Biden has the mandate to do, well, that, not to follow through on the actions the Squad promote and are not in line with Biden's own campaign promises.

Yes. If he has integrity he should follow through on what he campaigned on. If he does not then the voters will decide if he should remain.

I have learned over the years not to base my vote on what Presidential candidates say they would like to do legislatively, because even if they follow through it really isn’t up to them. It is up to Congress and much of what they might like to do doesn’t happen. In some cases they just simply lie about their priorities to garner votes.

I really wish more time were spent with candidates discussing their *executive* philosophies and priorities, rather than legislative, which would allow for an easier time deciding.

If you look at what Trump campaigned on much of it didn’t happen or it did happen purely through a series of executive orders that attempted to bypass congressional solutions. I don’t think that’s a good way to govern though.

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[KeepTalking]

I am right and you know it.

Nope, you are wrong again.

The answer to right wing extremism is not left wing extremism. They are both rotten!

I am not calling for left wing extremism, I am calling for actual progressive change. I am glad that you are finally able to spot right wing extremism though, it has been a blindspot of yours for quite some time.

Now is not the time for Democrats to lose their will to fix the Country with progressive change. It is time for Republicans to get the fuck out of the way, or join in and make sure the correct things are done to right the ship.

What passes for "progressive" these days, especially in the AOC wing of the Democratic Party is usually very regressive. Things like identity politics. It is the identity politics on the left that paved the way to Trumpism in the first place. It is time to reject all extremism, not try to cast out the Devil with Beelzebub!

The above proves that you have no idea what progressive change means. It means UHC, not that weak ass republican Obamacare bullshit. It means an end to qualified immunity. It means strengthening the public school system, and ending the for profit raiding of education budgets. It means actually doing things that actual progressives want to do to help this country prosper, and has nothing to do with the boogeymen hiding under your bed.

 

[KeepTalking]

Some, like KeepTalking think he should go far left and adopt the agenda of the Squad. That would be a mistake.

Wrong again. Do you ever get tired of being wrong?

I do respect AOC for her willingness to stand up for progressives. Unlike the Orange Shitstain, she actually tells it like it is, but my progressive values are not informed by AOC and the squad. I have been a progressive since long before she hit the scene, probably about as long as she has been alive, if not longer. I felt Elizabeth Warren represented my values the most in the primary, so if you must use something other than my own words to ascertain what progressive policies I would endorse, look to her primary platform.

 

[Worldtraveller]

Some, like KeepTalking think he should go far left and adopt the agenda of the Squad. That would be a mistake.

Wrong again. Do you ever get tired of being wrong?

Gotta do what it's good at.

 

[southernhybrid]

While we're still talking about Georgia, I need to mention that the nut job, Marjorie Greene has said she is going to file articles of impeachment against Joe Biden on the 21st. OMG! Georgia has a long way to go before it before it goes blue. In case anyone has forgotten Greene is the crazy woman who supports QAnon among other things. She is an embarrassment to Georgia.

Like most parts of the country, the more urban areas in Georgia are fairly progressive, while the more rural areas remain very conservative.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Marjorie Greene has said she is going to file articles of impeachment against Joe Biden on the 21st.

Well, they're already blaming his administration for the arrests being made, so it might be an entertaining list of articles. Bugfucking nuts, but funny.

 

[Shadowy Man]

While we're still talking about Georgia, I need to mention that the nut job, Marjorie Greene has said she is going to file articles of impeachment against Joe Biden on the 21st. OMG! Georgia has a long way to go before it before it goes blue. In case anyone has forgotten Greene is the crazy woman who supports QAnon among other things. She is an embarrassment to Georgia.

Like most parts of the country, the more urban areas in Georgia are fairly progressive, while the more rural areas remain very conservative.

I remember lots of whining about the Democrats wanting to impeach Trump and overturn the 2016 election from the very beginning. This u?

 

[Jarhyn]

While we're still talking about Georgia, I need to mention that the nut job, Marjorie Greene has said she is going to file articles of impeachment against Joe Biden on the 21st. OMG! Georgia has a long way to go before it before it goes blue. In case anyone has forgotten Greene is the crazy woman who supports QAnon among other things. She is an embarrassment to Georgia.

Like most parts of the country, the more urban areas in Georgia are fairly progressive, while the more rural areas remain very conservative.

I remember lots of whining about the Democrats wanting to impeach Trump and overturn the 2016 election from the very beginning. This u?

I will point out that this is because Trump solicited foreign interference, had unresolved emoluments issues (which have gotten an order of magnitude worse since), was a known tax evader, and had debts to foreign governments and repeatedly violated campaign finance laws. He was impeachable from day 1 because he was a criminal before he ever held the office, and wasn't actually qualified for a single moment of his time there.

They aren't really the same situation, especially insofar as they didn't file said articles and Biden isn't entering the presidency with several clearly impeachable offenses already under his belt. Not that I would mind having President Kamala Harris... We would definitely see more prosecutions that way against the corrupt GOP and their terrorist toadies