One of the things I have been worried about in terms of Democratic success in federal/state-wide elections is independents that actually do swing their votes. There's probably not a lot of them but in close elections they are a key demographic. The evidence I see seems to show that those swing voters are swinging more toward Republicans in the last few months. If so, my bet is that it is largely the result of general uncertainty about the economy, Democrats fighting each other AND that the Republicans are developing a political narrative in their favor that is appealing to swing voters.

I'm afraid that is going to happen in Virginia tomorrow - that narrow swing voter demographic swinging enough toward the Republican narrative for McAuliffe to lose.

I'm not that great at prognostication, though, so I still have hope that McAuliffe will win.

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e pluribus unum



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/01/2021 05:37PM by Ted King.

This Virginia vote being a referendum on national policy is a media creation. McAuliffe, a former governor, is a known quantity to voters. Any failure to win will be his. Why Virginia Dems decided they had to bring on a retread is the question.

Charlie Crist in Florida fits the same profile, a professional politician who lacks appeal to voters looking for new ideas and leadership.

I share your foreboding and suspect Dems will find they have been done in by themselves. Their motto may become:

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RgrF
This Virginia vote being a referendum on national policy is a media creation. McAuliffe, a former governor, is a known quantity to voters. Any failure to win will be his. Why Virginia Dems decided they had to bring on a retread is the question.

Virginia dems are doing their part.

It is a referendum, but not one the dems. It's on the republicans' continuing ability to skew public perception.

Someone's put hundreds of millions into the election of a millionaire twit who has never done a solid day's work in his life and who was screwing up his early campaign in every way such a creature can do. These private entities took over his team, created a whole new persona for him and staged a massive disinformation campaign. They want a gullible puppet in office and from here it looks like they're gonna get it.

---

It would have helped if he hadn't told parents that they should not have a say in their child's education.

Nothing helps your campaign more than pissing off the electorate.

---

“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

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Ombligo
It would have helped if he hadn't told parents that they should not have a say in their child's education.

There's a thinly-veiled racist call-out for a boycott on Toni Morrison and Ralph Ellison and other black novelists, which is a front for parents campaigning against civil rights education.

If he let those people dictate the curriculum, kids in Virginia wouldn't know who Martin Luther King, Jr. was or that slavery existed in the United States. (No kidding: They're trying to get the word "slave" replaced with "servant" and "indentured worker" in textbooks.)

---

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Sarcany

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RgrF
This Virginia vote being a referendum on national policy is a media creation. McAuliffe, a former governor, is a known quantity to voters. Any failure to win will be his. Why Virginia Dems decided they had to bring on a retread is the question.

Virginia dems are doing their part.

It is a referendum, but not one the dems. It's on the republicans' continuing ability to skew public perception.

Someone's put hundreds of millions into the election of a millionaire twit who has never done a solid day's work in his life and who was screwing up his early campaign in every way such a creature can do. These private entities took over his team, created a whole new persona for him and staged a massive disinformation campaign. They want a gullible puppet in office and from here it looks like they're gonna get it.

This is more accurate.

MAGA's are growing their base nationwide with disaffected swing voters. Dems have to turn out.

I don't trust those polls though.

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Ombligo
It would have helped if he hadn't told parents that they should not have a say in their child's education.

Nothing helps your campaign more than pissing off the electorate.

In context, that's utter fiction. Any parent that's upset willfully swallowed the lie and prefers to be self-victimized. Persecution is a weird hobby for many people.

McAuliffe opposes crazy people storming school board meetings demanding little Johhny not be made to wear a mask or be subjected to whatever various phantom issues (CRT, trans) get flung about.

I have no doubt many independents will go for Youngkin, but that doesn't make them valuable long-term voters. They are never reliable because they want nothing except whatever bauble meets their eye at the time.

Democrats --- people capable of seeing a big picture --- need to turn out. Same as it ever was.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/01/2021 07:48PM by deckeda.

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deckeda

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Ombligo
It would have helped if he hadn't told parents that they should not have a say in their child's education.

Nothing helps your campaign more than pissing off the electorate.

In context, that's utter fiction. Any parent that's upset willfully swallowed the lie and prefers to be self-victimized. Persecution is a weird hobby for many people.

McAuliffe opposes crazy people storming school board meetings demanding little Johhny not be made to wear a mask or be subjected to whatever various phantom issues (CRT, trans) get flung about.

I have no doubt many independents will go for Youngkin, but that doesn't make them valuable long-term voters. They are never reliable because they want nothing except whatever bauble meets their eye at the time.

Democrats --- people capable of seeing a big picture --- need to turn out. Same as it ever was.

I want some baubles too.

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vision63

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deckeda

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Ombligo
It would have helped if he hadn't told parents that they should not have a say in their child's education.

Nothing helps your campaign more than pissing off the electorate.

In context, that's utter fiction. Any parent that's upset willfully swallowed the lie and prefers to be self-victimized. Persecution is a weird hobby for many people.

McAuliffe opposes crazy people storming school board meetings demanding little Johhny not be made to wear a mask or be subjected to whatever various phantom issues (CRT, trans) get flung about.

I have no doubt many independents will go for Youngkin, but that doesn't make them valuable long-term voters. They are never reliable because they want nothing except whatever bauble meets their eye at the time.

Democrats --- people capable of seeing a big picture --- need to turn out. Same as it ever was.

I want some baubles too.

Like that Braves player who wears the pearls?

---

Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

I really don't know what to do with stories of independents being sways toward the GQP. I don't have room mentally or emotionally.

"Democrats didn't instantly deliver on their promises so maybe we should try the opposite"

just don't get it.

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rgG

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vision63

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deckeda

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Ombligo
It would have helped if he hadn't told parents that they should not have a say in their child's education.

Nothing helps your campaign more than pissing off the electorate.

In context, that's utter fiction. Any parent that's upset willfully swallowed the lie and prefers to be self-victimized. Persecution is a weird hobby for many people.

McAuliffe opposes crazy people storming school board meetings demanding little Johhny not be made to wear a mask or be subjected to whatever various phantom issues (CRT, trans) get flung about.

I have no doubt many independents will go for Youngkin, but that doesn't make them valuable long-term voters. They are never reliable because they want nothing except whatever bauble meets their eye at the time.

Democrats --- people capable of seeing a big picture --- need to turn out. Same as it ever was.

I want some baubles too.

Like that Braves player who wears the pearls?

Joc Pederson was on my team, the Dodgers last year. He's a current Champion. I was sad when he left. Joctober!

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rgG
Like that Braves player who wears the pearls?

Last time I checked into a game a player was racing from first to third with hid bling necklace firmly planted in his mouth - looked like he might have ben chewing on it between hits.

Braves trivia: Do you know they were the Red Socks before the Red Soxs were the Red Sox? (what kind of Yankee names their team Braves - a New York Yankee)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/01/2021 11:33PM by RgrF.

Tiny baubles?

IF McAuliffe wins, it'll be interesting to see how long it takes before cries of 'fraud' and 'audit' fill the innerwebs.

'The only way dems could win is if they cheated!"

---

I am that Masked Man.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

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RAMd®d
IF McAuliffe wins, it'll be interesting to see how long it takes before cries of 'fraud' and 'audit' fill the innerwebs.

'The only way dems could win is if they cheated!"

I wish that I could find the article, but I read that is the game plan, they actually have a stop the steal campaign ready.

---

The arts are not luxuries but assets that give way more than they cost.
--Ronald Tucker on YouTube

A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open.
--Frank Zappa

I voted.

So, don't blame me.

---

A house in my subdivision has a "Stop One Party Rule" sign next to their Youngkin sign (lots of them here, as this is the red part of VA).

I assume this is about VA being blue now. It's just not fair that republicans don't have control now, right?

Imagine the mocking that democrats would get if they made the same argument.

WaPo is reporting polls saying few are worried about “abortion” or “taxes” but that a slight majority want employers to mandate vaccines.

On the other hand, HALF of them want to ensure “parents” decide how schools are run. I don’t know how the questions were worded but if it’s something generic like, “should parents have a say in how schools should run” everyone might say sure. Or the question itself could be a type of dog whistle if the only people that responded are conservatives thinking parents don’t have a voice.

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Sarcany
I voted.

So, don't blame me.

IT'S YOUR FAULT!!!

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vision63

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Sarcany
I voted.

So, don't blame me.

IT'S YOUR FAULT!!!