Tag: 2018 elections

The Daily 202: 10 midterm takeaways

THE BIG IDEA: The 2018 midterm elections were a referendum on Donald Trump. Two-thirds of voters said the president was a factor in how they voted, according to network exit polls. That allowed Democrats to win control of the House, and Republicans to expand their majority in the Senate. Here are 10 takeaways from the results:

1. Backlash to Trump materialized in the suburbs.

Nancy Pelosi looks poised to get her speaker’s gavel back after eight years as minority leader, and it’s thanks to college-educated suburban women. From Denver to Dallas and Detroit, the Democratic path ran through the suburbs. Republican incumbents went down in the ‘burbs outside Chicago (Peter Roskam), Minneapolis (Erik Paulsen), St. Paul (Jason Lewis), Houston (John Culberson) and even, unexpectedly, Oklahoma City (Steve Russell).

To underscore just how much of a drag Trump was in the suburbs of Kansas City, an openly lesbian Native American who used to be a professional kickboxer named Sharice Davids toppled Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.).

View the complete November 7 article by James Hohmann with Joanie Greve on the Washington Post website here.

Obama calls midterm votes urgent in rebuke of Trump: ‘Our democracy depends on it’

The following article by Peter Sullivan was posted on the Hill website September 7, 2018:

ormer President Obama on Friday urged Americans to vote because “our democracy depends on it,” saying the stakes are higher than any other election in his lifetime.

“I’m here to deliver a simple message: You need to vote because our democracy depends on it,” Obama said at a speech at the University of Illinois, as he wades back into the political fray.

“But just a glance at recent headlines should tell you that this moment really is different,” he said. “The stakes really are higher. The consequences of any of us sitting on the sidelines are more dire.”

Campaign messages meant to inspire fear: We’re better than this

The following commentary by Donna Greenberg Koren was posted on the MinnPost website August 28, 2018:

Credit: Alan Clark, Creative Commons via Flickr

I received a political survey call last week that I can’t shake. The focus quickly turned to the attorney general’s race, and the messages that the Republican candidate, Doug Wardlow, is apparently testing. I hadn’t known anything about Wardlow, except his party; but now, I do.

His campaign, or one working on his behalf, appears to be testing messages against Muslims; immigrants; and a decades-old past association between the Democratic candidate, Keith Ellison, a Muslim, and a fringe group that Ellison disavowed years ago. These campaign messages don’t say who Wardlow is, or what he can do to serve Minnesota. They are designed to stir fear and hatred of the stranger, because of the way they dress, the color of their skin, the particulars of how they pray. They play on fear of the other, and they turned my stomach cold.

The next time that you or a loved one is in a hospital, look at who is serving you — the phlebotomist in the hijab who carefully places the needle in a vein that’s been threaded many times before. The nurse with skin the color of a shiny coffee bean, who smiles at you and says that he will pray for you, and means it, as he shows you how to empty your ileostomy appliance. The oncologist who came to America from India as a boy, who now holds your life in his hands. And your strikingly blunt but powerfully effective radiologist from China who saved you from a painful, invasive surgery.

View the complete post here.

Want to Know More About: Primaries and the Mid-Term Elections

Steve Kornacki: “Arizona, Look Its Been 30 Years Since They Elected A Democrat To The Us Senate. The Most Recent Polling Has Kyrsten Sinema Up Four Points Over McSally. So Walking In To The General Election There, Certainly The Best Position A Democrat’s Been In 30 Years.” STEVE KORNACKI: “Talk about the trump and volatility factor, too, in looks like, and it is, mcsally won resoundingly. Show the numbers again and add up the other votes, close to 50%. We’ll tally and see how close they come. Mystery around the question, why wa Joe arpaio in his race in the first place? 86 years old. Just pardoned last year. 47%, add it up, still a considerable amount to come in. Some indications arpaio might have gotten in the race, folks around him who were on that trump side of the party who were disgruntled with Kelly ward. So what you basically did was, you saw a perfect split almost right down the middle of the trump wing of the party there that allows mcsally to come up and win. It is. 24-point margin over ward. Trump wing versus non-trump, almost at 50/50. The biggest factor in the race for mcsally, arpaio got in the race, split the vote well. Looking ahead to the general election, Arizona, look its been 30 years since they elected a Democrat to the US Senate. The most recent polling, Kyrsten Sinema up four points over mcsally. So walking in to the general election there, certainly the best position a Democrat’s been in 30 years.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 8/29/18; VIDEO]

Michael Steele: “So There Are A Lot Of Dynamics On The Ground Here That Are Going To Be Taking Shape And Forming This Race Between DeSantis And Gillum Which Could Have A Ripple Effect On A Bunch Of Other Races As Well.” MICHAEL STEELE: “Yes. Absolutely. Gillum could have the effect of pulling out a lot more of that democratic vote. In fact, if you peel back a little of the numbers and Steve has done a phenomenal job doing that over the last 18 hours or so, you’ll see that the young vote turned out. That there was a youth vote, if you will, that really coalesced around Gillum. With that along with other energies that are currently on the ground there in Florida, the anti-Trump feel and all of that, it could be a nice setup where you could have Gillum actually pulling and creating coattails for the Democrats up and down the line. Here’s the other side of that conversation, I think, you need to take into account as well. We don’t yet know fully what the full measure of the trump vote is in Florida two years later. And so I think that’s going to be something very interesting to watch, too. You’ll also have the overlay of race playing out in Florida along with the sort of the philosophical differences, if you will. So there are a lot of dynamics on the ground here that are going to be taking shape and forming this race between Desantis and Gillum which could have a ripple effect on a bunch of other races as well.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 8/29/18; VIDEO] Continue reading “Want to Know More About: Primaries and the Mid-Term Elections”

Donald Trump’s Toughest Adversary? That Would Be Donald Trump

The following commentary by Stuart Rothenberg was posted on the Roll Call website August 7, 2018:

The president’s desire to hog the midterm spotlight guarantees a nationalization of the election

OPINION — While President Trump complains about the national media, Democrats, Robert S. Mueller’s Russian “witch hunt” and the political establishment, none of those things is why the November House elections are a major headache for the Republican Party. Donald Trump’s biggest problem is Donald Trump.

Trump has turned what could have been a challenging midterm election environment into a potentially disastrous one. Through his tweets and statements, the president continues to make the 2018 midterm elections a referendum on his first two years in office.

Of course, that could be a good thing, since unemployment is down, economic growth is up and ISIS is in retreat.

View the complete post here.

CD3 Coon Rapids Office Needs

Our Coon Rapids Office is coming online and could use your help in fleshing out their office:

Furniture

  • Folding tables
  • Folding chairs
  • Office chairs or couches
  • Shelving units
  • Rugs
  • Stepladders
  • Room dividers
  • Trash cans

Office supplies

  • Whiteboards
  • Extension cords
  • Printer paper
  • Printer ink (cartridges size 720, 750, or 780)
  • Markers
  • Paper clips/binder clips
  • Legal pads
  • Tape
  • clipboards

Appliances/Equipment

  • A projector
  • A coffee pot
  • A hot water heater
  • Water cooler

Basic supplies

  • Paper towels
  • Hand Soap
  • Duct tape
  • Command strips
  • Magnets
  • Paper cups and plates
  • Desk organizers

Decorations

  • Christmas lights
  • Plants
  • Posters
  • Curtains

Want to Know More About … OH13 and the Midterm Elections

John Berman: “The Marquee Race Is In Ohio In What Should Be A Strong Republican District. Republican Troy Balderson Is Clinging To A Razor-Thin Lead Over Democrat Danny O’Connor. President Trump Won This District By 11 Points Back In 2016.”

JOHN BERMAN: “New election results coming in, too close to call and way, way too close for comfort for Republicans this morning. A big, flashing, glaring, major warning sign for the midterm elections. The marquee race is in Ohio in what should be a strong Republican district. Republican Troy Balderson is clinging to a razor-thin lead over Democrat Danny O’Connor. President Trump won this district by 11 points back in 2016. But as you can see there it is very very close.” [New Day, CNN, 8/8//18; Video]

Ryan Nobles: “Make No Doubt, President Trump Went All In On This Race In Ohio.”

RYAN NOBLES: “And Make no doubt, president Trump went all in on this race in Ohio. He held a rally here, over the weekend, he tweeted his support of Troy Balderson yesterday morning, and he is already starting to spin his influence on this race, claiming in a series of tweets overnight that if he hadn’t come in to help out Troy Balderson he likely would not have been victorious. And make no mistake the president is claiming victory already.” [New Day, CNN, 8/8//18; Video]      Continue reading “Want to Know More About … OH13 and the Midterm Elections”

Obama: ‘You are right to be concerned’

The following article by Edward-Isaac Dovere was posted on the Politico.com website June 29, 2018:

In his first public comments in months, the former president talks about anger, regrets — and what the Republicans are doing right.

“All these people that are out here kvetching and wringing their hands and stressed and anxious and constantly watching cable TV and howling at the moon, ‘What are we going to do?,’ their hair’s falling out, they can’t sleep,” former President Barack Obama said Thursday. “The majority of the American people prefer a story of hope.” Credit: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Barack Obama’s message to Democrats: Stop dreaming of him.

Speaking at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser Thursday here in the lush backyard of two party megadonors, Obama warned of a country and world on the brink — “you are right to be concerned,” he told the crowd — but said they’d flub their chance to change that if they kept pining for a magical savior.

“Do not wait for the perfect message, don’t wait to feel a tingle in your spine because you’re expecting politicians to be so inspiring and poetic and moving that somehow, ‘OK, I’ll get off my couch after all and go spend the 15-20 minutes it takes for me to vote,’” Obama said in his first public comments in months, which only a few reporters and no cameras were allowed in for. “Because that’s part of what happened in the last election. I heard that too much.”

“Boil it down,” Obama said, reiterating an argument he made on the campaign trail for Ralph Northam in 2017 about the existential challenge Trump poses to America. “If we don’t vote, then this democracy doesn’t work.”

He almost accepted some of the blame for the state of the party, though he framed it less as the DNC atrophying from years of benign neglect while he was in the White House and being saddled with his reelection campaign debt and more as people making the mistake of falling too much in love with him. Continue reading “Obama: ‘You are right to be concerned’”