mtutiger

I understand, although I think the picture is more of a mixed bag at this point.... consumer confidence levels have actually risen over the past month or two, probably on the back of gas prices subsiding some. Not to mention that GOP insiders themselves have started to acknowledge that inflation alone isn't going to maximize their gains in the midterms. Bad headlines undoubtedly shape coverage though, and that is a risk for sure. No argument here.

The other part is the special elections.... we talk about polls a lot, but Democratic candidates generally have outperformed their polls in specials since the summer began, in places like NE01, MN01, NY19, AK-AL (granted this one is a bit unique). The composition in the electorate will be different in November, no doubt, but generally at this point in the cycle, the party in power isn't winning these races.

I think this is true, but even with the better polling numbers for the Dems over the past couple of months, those repercussions may still be a factor in those numbers. Put another way, perhaps inflation is actually holding their numbers back from being higher than they currently are right now. I would buy that to the extent that the GOP has very little to go on offense about aside from it, and the fact that unlike a standard midterm, the out party is on the wrong side of the issue with the largest thermostatic backlash in the cycle (ie. Dobbs)

Encouraging more illegal immigration to pwn the libs

Such compassion from Governor DeSantis... truly a man of the Lord

You don't have to be below the poverty line to be concerned about inflation. Or impacted by it.

My vote is contingent in part on Dobbs, so it kinda helps unravel your stereotype of who cares and doesn't care about that issue perhaps.

We don't have any extra "stimmy money" and aren't wealthy, yet still are able to care about other issues as well, fwiw.

Inflation had previously been going down a bit as an issue nationally because of gas prices, although it's still very salient. The CPI numbers in and of themselves really matter more to shape the coverage of inflation in the media. I don't think the average American, who is already going out and shopping (and paying more for milk, eggs, meat, etc.) is making their determination one way or another on inflation by those numbers specifically, they are doing it when they go to Kroger and notice paying more.

I suspect that is already a calculation in people's decisions... I don't know that the average American hangs specifically on CPI numbers coming out, I suspect they just notice it when they go to the store.

Engaging in human trafficking to own the libs.... https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/15/ron-desantis-migrants-marthas-vineyard-fox-news/

Even supposing this is entirely right (I suspect that it's more case-by-case than you make it), how does this make engaging in human trafficking for the purposes of political grandstanding excusable?

The politics are what they are, the Governor is doing this because it works. But the lectures about how this is all has a patina of good faith is rich... deep down, we all know he doesn't care about any of these people and sees them as pawns to his Presidential ambitions.

As the only person on the board who lives in a border state run by the GOP, maybe if our Governor were concerned with providing care to migrants (he isn't), he'd honest and communicate that to other jurisdictions. But he's not an honest man, and that isn't what this is about. It's not about the human beings,he doesn't care about the, they are just pawns. Its about throwing out red meat for the base. Very "Christian" of him.

In the context, it's because these jurisdictions are limiting their cooperation with ICE. That's it.. setting aside that there are legitimate, pragmatic reasons for doing so, chief among them not chilling those here illegally from cooperating with law enforcement on criminal behavior, in essence helping local police departments. Greg Abbott having a policy disagreement with other jurisdictions on degrees of cooperation with ICE is not a defense of him engaging in human trafficking. Full stop.

This isn't about thinking that the border is an issue, this is about policy differences. And those migrants that my Governor and the Florida Governor are trafficking are just pawns in all of this. It's pretty shameful, there is no defense Of course, Abbott hasn't been communicating one iota with any of the jurisdictions he's sending these busses to, which I'm guessing isn't the case up in Chicago, which to my understanding is about trying to find the necessary resources to care for human beings. Pretty shameful behavior by Abbott... it's basically Twitter ****posting masquerading as policy

Seems more like a "human trafficking program" to me.

Hardee's is this seasons "Four Seasons Total Landscaping" lol

One thing that I saw mentioned was that Barnes had the airwaves all to himself around the last poll, which isn't the case now; Johnson has caught up on advertising. It's not all good news for Johnson though; his unfavorables are just about as bad as the last poll. Barnes needs to do more to define himself and get his name recognition up, similar to Ryan and Fetterman.

Joey Wentz pretty good today considering...

The party is really fractured on this issue... you have politicians like the ones in my state, but also in states like Arizona and Wisconsin arguing in favor of bans from the 19th Century. As we speak. The conditions aren't there for consistent messaging. Proposing a 15 week ban in the US Senate (which polls underwater as it is) while GOP politicians at the state level continue to push the extremes, including in competitive states this cycle, color me skeptical that is 4d Chess