mtutiger

A couple of things: this was a war of choice, and the choice was made by one person and one person alone. Vladimir Putin. The United States, Ukraine, or anyone else did not make that choice. He did. I find it odd that you are not directing any of your ire toward him. Secondly, basically none of Russia's stated objectives at the beginning of the war have come to pass. They did not decapitate the Ukrainian government, they did not install a "de-nazified", pro-Russian government. They basically haven't been able to hold any land on the west side of the Dnieper River and, when it is all said and done, will have send over 100,000 of their troops into the meat grinder to die for, what, exactly? They have achieved very little, and have watched their military get wiped out by a country who, as you put has, has a GDP the size of Nebraska. Given that, I don't know how one can objectively look at that report card based on the objectives that the Russian government laid out at the beginning of the invasion that they chose to embark on and declare that they are "NOT losing" this war.

lol The fact that I think Hutchinson is relatively decent compared to an average Republican these days suggests he's not going to have much of a constituency in a primary.

Trump is also orders of magnitude less coherent than Biden, mostly because he doesn't understand anything about policy. But the fact that he flings so much feces around kinda distracts from that basic fact imo

Nah, one presumes he knew what he was getting into with this thing and that he's being well compensated for it.

For the amount of attention it garnered before the election, I expected a bigger swing.

Huh, I have been reliably told for years that only the libs live in echo chambers 🤔

Yep, you lie in bed with the dogs and you get fleas. I remember telling OMF that a long time ago on the old board and that reality is still there today. I actually would love to be wrong on this, I really would... but when you drive around and still see people flying Donald Trump flags two years after an election, or billboards of businesses using "Lets Go Brandon", or "FJB" flags marketed by the Trump folks, that tells you that there are folks out there who not only support Donald Trump but have their identities centered around that support. That's not going to be easy to break, and I don't think Ron DeSantis is the guy to do it.

Worth monitoring, but OTOH, he's still pulling over 30% in all of these places after being one of the main factors in their Midterm disappointment. In the midst of arguably the worst news cycle he's had since January 6th. And those 30-37%, are they easily transferrable to a DeSantis or someone else should they win the nomination? Or does Trump sabatoge anyone who beats him?

If she doesn't like it, why doesn't she leave? That's what I've been told at times by the Rs in my state lol

Manchin will never switch parties... just because he can have a difficult relationship with his own party doesn't mean he likes the Rs at all.

In case anyone was wondering how the votes are lining up for Kevin

This is like giving Al Avila another four year contract lol

Reps in disarray

And again, it comes down to the actual voters. I kind of agree that the GOP elite is done with him at the moment. And certainly elite messaging against him can have an impact to a degree as well. But until the actual voters drop him, you really can't declare him done IMO. I'm curious to see some polling in the next couple of weeks to see if the voters match where the elites are, because something tells me they won't. Which in turn will mean that we are likely in another post-Jan 6 interregnum period where the GOP is floating trial balloons versus taking actual concrete steps away.

Probably a mixed bag. As Fife suggests, you lose control of the committees and that will change things like oversight (ie. expect a lot of teeth gnashing about Hunter Biden in the 118th Congress), but OTOH, legislatively the margin is likely going to be close enough where Congress would be capable to get some broadly popular items done on a bipartisan basis. Particularly through the use of discharge petitions. I think it takes away a lot of the leverage that the GOP has to weaponize things like the debt limit as well... Just on pure politics, it does make McCarthy's life hell. As much as "Dems in disarray" and divisions within the Democratic Party are a frequent meme and talking point, there is a pretty wide gulf between the two ends of the spectrum in the GOP as well. Having to manage the MTG, Gosar, Massie, etc. class while managing the more moderate wing, particular some of the incoming freshman from New York, isn't going to be easy.

There's a lot of truth to this. The places the Dems outkicked the coverage in this Midterm are the states that are considered competitive. In places like New York and California, it has felt a lot more mailed in

Wow

I actually like the current format, but the clock should just be off.

I wonder if that makes teams reevaluate what to do in that situation. Shotgun and rolling out makes more sense on retrospect, and then stepping out and taking the safety on 4th if you don't gain yardage

Do we get a call on Arizona Gov tonight?

They can start by nominating candidates who can actually win in Lake County versus doing fan service downstate. (Spoiler alert: not gonna happen)

No doubt. A lot of how I look at this comes from growing up in one of the most conservative parts of Michigan, one with lack of diversity and relatively low-income as well. You don't know what you don't know... For me, it took going to college and having internships and co-ops in places like Los Angeles and Chicago to actually meet people who didn't look like me or were culturally different for me. And that's a tough learning curve... Not everyone can leave and get other experiences because they are simply working to make ends meet and put food on the table. Again, some things are too irredeemable to be forgiven. But we would all be better off (and the Dem Party would have more success) if supporters would acknowledge and recognize this and seek to educate before ostracizing/outcasting.

Lauren's bringing in the mules! 🤣

My problem with how we handle these issues is the lack of grace that is accompanied by it. Obviously there are extreme cases which are irredeemable, but I don't think this day and age allows for people to learn and correct. One mistake and you're at risk of being out.