There is always an XKCD, always….
And here is the one for tonight’s election results from Georgia’s 6th District:
Open thread
by David Anderson| 122 Comments
This post is in: Election 2017, Open Threads, Politics
There is always an XKCD, always….
And here is the one for tonight’s election results from Georgia’s 6th District:
Open thread
Comments are closed.
Yutsano
Have you heard anything? I don’t even know if they’re counting the early votes until everything closes.
Face
I have zero faith in the dipshits of GA to actually make a sensible choice, because reasons and leftist terrorists and both sides.
But then again, Im always a cynic.
O. Felix Culpa
I’m off to the county Democratic Party Hispanic Caucus meeting. Not Hispanic myself, but the caucus is open to all and Hispanics make up nearly half of New Mexico’s population. So as Ward Chair, I want to understand what’s important to them.
raven
Here’s the NBC affiliate in the ATL
Miss Bianca
@O. Felix Culpa: good on ya, and hope it’s productive!
lamh36
Ugh…I’ll be trying my best to ignore the coverage tonight. I don’t want to hear nothing until I already know if Osoff won or lost.
The realist/pessimist in me already feels he likely loses. But I’ll take a lost if it’s REALLY close.
Hal
If Trump’s cabinet was really honest.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@raven: I was late to the thread yesterday, condolences on your BIL’s passing.
JPL
If you want to know where the heavy rains today were, look at the blue sections. Ossoff according to polls won early voting by six to eight points. Handel is expected to win the votes today by a lot.
ThePandemoniac
Why is anyone even thinking about outcomes here? This is the district that spawned Gingrich. It has been solidly red through 4 republican recessions, through the criminality of Iran-Contra, and 2 failed Bush presidencies. It went +37 during the Great Recession. +37! Are we to believe that these same people suddenly care about anything other than the R next to their candidate’s name? 2 years ago the GOP won this district by +24. What do you people call it around here– Cleek’s Law? It still applies.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
The worst thing that can happen is a win by Neo-Liberal, globalist Ossoff.
As Susan Sarandon says, Karen Handel is more likely to usher in “the revolution”.
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
@Hal: If we’re being real, I think Trump would have gone into a psychotic rage and killed them all if they were honest. That’s why they all had to praise him like toadies the other day in public. They’re afraid of him.
raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Thanks, it’s a little strange that neither my brother or I have heard a peep from her and her girls since Sunday. I don’t intend to intrude and speculation is useless so I’ll just wait to make any plans.
Major Major Major Major
@raven: @?BillinGlendaleCA: I didn’t hear about this. Condolences indeed.
eric
@Major Major Major Major: likewise. very sorry to hear. wishing you and yours peace.
debbie
@JPL:
Weather’s never stopped me from voting. Wusses.
Mike J
Keep the pressure up.
raven
@Major Major Major Major: I appreciate it. It was a long long road for him. He had a brain condition that prevented him from working for the last 20 years and developed cancer over the last 5. Not a great thing for anyone but a Harley riding, 18 wheel driver especially. Whatever is out there has got to be better than what he went through.
MisterForkbeard
@lamh36: Yep. I’m in meetings for another hour or so, and then I’ve got a 90 minute drive home in which I’ll be listening to horrible fantasy audiobooks.
By the time I get home, the whole thing should be done and I can either have a happy evening celebrating here and elsewhere, or just read the result and go try the bottle of local gin I bought yesterday. I’m pessimistic enough that I think the 2nd option is more likely, but a man can dream. :)
rikyrah
@raven:sorry for your loss?
MisterForkbeard
@Mike J: I don’t particularly believe that, but it’s interesting that it’s got some hardliners AND some “moderates” in that list. Seeing Cruz/Lee/Murkowski/Collins in the same list is a little weird.
Turgidson
@Mike J:
Guessing it’s kabuki. There are a couple pre-agreed poison pills that are currently generating those No votes, but the No votes have (minus Collins and Murkowski who aren’t needed) already been assured that they’ll be gone before the vote. Voila, 50+VP Dense. And we’ll be so happy that we are freer to die sick and broke than we were before.
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
@Mike J: Portman undecided? Maybe I’ll give his office a call tommorow. Any tips? Would be the first time I’ve ever called a gooper office.
JPL
Truthfully, I’ll be glad when it’s over. The ad attacking Ossoff for not living in the district was hilarious, because Price only had phone town halls. All his meetings were with the Chamber of Commerce or Rotary. Of course, since I live locally I’ve seen them around the area.
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
@Turgidson: How many times in history has the VP needed to break a tie? That doesn’t bode well for the popularity your party’s agenda
Betty Cracker
@O. Felix Culpa: Dog bless you for taking on a role in local politics. So few bother. And it’s so important!
khead
Steam pipe explosion reported in Baltimore.
The older US cities have serious infrastructure issues. I am more than a wee bit skeptical about the US coming up with the political will to actually fix them.
Major Major Major Major
@raven: sounds pretty rough, yeah. For everybody tbh.
Mike J
@? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?:
Sarah Schmidt
Health Care Legislative Assistant
[email protected]
202-224-3353
Be polite. Tell them you’ve heard that Portman may be undecided, and you applaud that he isn’t blindly letting trump destroy the Republican party. Let them know how taking $800 billion from medicaid will destroy the American economy. Bankruptcies have been cut in half since Ocare passed.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo fka Edmund Dantes
I have a 5 to 6 week old kitten curled against me while the dog paces outside this door.
japa21
OK, polls have closed. Has it been called yet?
T S
@Face: zero faith….that’s kind of a hedging statement. Zero faith just means you have zero amounts of unwavering certainty…but you could always say, yeah I thought it could go either way, I just wasn’t full of absolute unquestioning certainty. :-P
raven
@japa21: 2 precincts are open till 7:30
Cheryl Rofer
The New York Times has one of those needle thingies to follow the Georgia results. Trigger warning: May induce PTSD if you supported HRC last November.
OldDave
@japa21: I believe two polling sites have extended the closing to 7:30 because of registration record SNAFUs…
ETA: raven beats me to the punch.
japa21
@raven: Damn, now I have to put my demand for immediate gratification on hold.
Peale
@MisterForkbeard: lee and Cruz are “freedom caucus” leaders so I’m sure their objection is that only 23 not 28 million lose coverage.
raven
@OldDave: I live in GA and it’s been on the news all day here.
Origuy
As usual, the hover text on the XKCD cartoon is the best part: Luckily for my interpretation, no precincts were won by the Green Party.
PhoenixRising
@? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?: Look for your city/county Indivisible online and find their talking points if you don’t anticipate ever needing medical care in Ohio.
If you’re not a demigod…lower rates of uninsured Ohioans have raised lifespans for all Ohioans in just 5 years. Why? Because our biggest health care facilities that specialize in complex diseases have invested in equipment and training. My mom just finished a treatment for pancreatic cancer at the Cleveland Clinic that was not available outside of Johns Hopkins when she was diagnosed 24 months ago. She is alive because the ACA drove investment in health care infrastructure that cannot be withheld from uninsured patients, and therefore aren’t made when more residents of a region are uninsured.
It’s complex, so make it simpler: Killing the funding streams for healthcare will make voters die faster; many of those affected are reliable Republican votes, so look to your own interests.
Steeplejack (phone)
@debbie:
Get back to us the next time you have to take a bus and then walk 15 blocks to your polling place.
PhoenixRising
@Mike J: Or let Mike wrap it up and put a bow on it.
JPL
@debbie: lol Most of them probably don’t own knee high boots. There were flash flood warnings.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Sorry to hear about that.
Kathleen
@? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?: If you call his Washington office you will get voicemail automatically. His staffers answer the phones in his local offices (most of the time). I call about every week (sometimes twice).
Before I called today I went to his web site to see what his position is on DeathCare2.0. Supposedly he does not want to reduce Medicaid even gradually over a several year period (or so he says). He’s pulling his, “Golly, I don’t know any more than you about what’s in his bill” feet shuffling shit. His big concern is opioid addiction programs. Indivisible organized a group who is demanding he host Town Hall in Cleveland to hear their concerns.
All that being said, the message I left was that I was asking him to do 3 things. 1) Tell Senate leadership to open review of the bill to Democratic input (added that Republican’s process of secrecy was egregious.) 2) Hold Town Hall for his constituents. 3) Vote No on the bill because if Republicans don’t want us to see it you know it’s nothing but bad.
I have to try to stay focused on “B-Comm Process 101” or I will be reduced to a screaming maniac spewing imprecations and epithets. When I give myself a cookie for my restraint I remember how Civil Rights workers maintained while dogs were attacking them, water hoses were aimed on them, and they were being beaten by police. ETA Their focus and discipline are my North Star.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@khead: Not just older cities, LA’s had a bunch of water main breaks.
Major Major Major Major
@Cheryl Rofer: Ugh, I remember that page that night.
SFAW
@raven:
My deepest condolences to you and your family. Sounds like your brother-in-law had a rough go of it for a long time.
Kathleen
@khead: Who needs political will when we have agreements with private companies and Russia!!!!! In Putin’s Amerussia infra structures you!
raven
@SFAW: He got to see two of his three daughters get married and have kids and I think that was really good.
MisterForkbeard
@Major Major Major Major: I actually don’t have any bad memories of that page – I basically stopped paying attention around 4pm PST. The wife went into labor and then I had more immediate things to worry about.
That said, it was positively eerie listening to the nurses start crying as the results came in. THAT was a mind-job, let me tell you.
Yoda Dog
If he wins, it’s fucking huge.
If he loses, no big deal, carry on.
SFAW
@raven:
I agree.
JPL
@raven: That’s pretty special.
Major Major Major Major
@MisterForkbeard: My only good memory of that page is when the bouncing needle made my friend so nuts that he went into the page inspector and found out that there was a built-in random jitter in the javascript to keep you staring at it, it wasn’t reflecting any new data, and we all had a good laugh.
Cheryl Rofer
This is what I was talking about.
raven
@JPL: Yea, the oldest is gay and, even though she’s in a long time relationship, they haven’t gotten married.
Uncle Cosmo
@raven: I missed this in the earlier threads as well. Grotesque. My most sincere condolences. Fuck cancer!
MisterForkbeard
@Major Major Major Major: Don’t you love being a coder? I live for stories like that – it’s hilarious.
@Yoda Dog: This strikes me as the proper attitude to have. It’s great if Ossoff wins, but if he loses it’s not a huge deal – Republicans SHOULD be favored to win this by a lot.
O. Felix Culpa
@Miss Bianca: @Betty Cracker: Thanks! There’s a lot of distrust between the Hispanic and Anglo communities here. I hope we can make some headway in establishing coalition. We need each other, especially in the 2018 gubernatorial (and other) elections.
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
@Mike J: @PhoenixRising: @Kathleen: Thanks! I’ll keep this all in mind
raven
@Uncle Cosmo: He did well under the circumstances. My sis and her 3 girls really took care of him.
Major Major Major Major
@MisterForkbeard: I sometimes wonder what it’s like to look at the Internet and not mutter “you’ve got to be fucking kidding me”. Or, at least, to do so in only the way everybody else does.
Hal
@Yoda Dog:
But no one is saying that. Handel should win easily.
MisterForkbeard
@Major Major Major Major: I have a particular fondness for doing that on webstores. Whenever I shop on the interwebs, I alternately get more amused and more despairing.
Uncle Cosmo
@khead: As a Baltimore City resident I pay 3x what those in the surrounding counties pay for metropolitan water & sewer services, because the Feds are forcing the City to renovate its part of the system. And my property taxes are double that for comparable homes beyond the city line.
People outside MD don’t understand the peculiar circumstances Baltimore struggles with. We are a county-level jurisdiction, i.e., the next higher jurisdiction is the state itself. We have 12% of MD’s population & probably less than that in taxable income along with at least 50% of the State’s social problems. The neighboring counties tell us to go fuck ourselves – many of their citizens moved out of the city specifically so they wouldn’t have to support it. (But they’re happy to make use of our cultural attractions, restaurants, sporting events, etc. etc. etc.) The farther away counties, specifically the DC suburbs (Montgomery, Prince Georges etc.) don’t much care but won’t spend a dime to help either.
raven
@Hal: How the fuck do you know what “no one” is saying?
Mnemosyne
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo fka Edmund Dantes:
Kittens are awesome.
And don’t let anyone tell you that adult cats are not also awesome. Anyone who complains that their adult cat is aloof and doesn’t want to spend time with them is doing it wrong. Even our semi-feral likes to keep us within eyesight.
JPL
@raven: My phone calls this evening
Older son.. OMG if she wins he going to tweet about his great victory
Younger son.. We got this, don’t be a pessimist.
Me…. I’m going to bed, cuz we did what we could.
Me… What I wanted to say… fkfkfkfk the rain. lol
Major Major Major Major
@MisterForkbeard: for me it’s ad scripts, I don’t know why, that do that to me. My god, people.
MisterForkbeard
@Mnemosyne: Yep! My adult 15-year-old that I got as a 6 months old feral IS kind of aloof – but she follows us around and likes to keep us in view. And she’ll cuddle with the best of them if you invite her.
If your cats are too aloof, you probably didn’t raise them right.
MisterForkbeard
@Major Major Major Major: I find ads (especially badly coded ads, or ones that are incredibly badly positioned) to be infuriating. Like, getting me angry at your ad is exactly the WRONG way to get me to pay attention to you. Not all attention is good attention.
And with that – I’m off on my way home. Will check in again in 3+ hours after the kiddos are asleep. Crossing fingers for Ossoff.
Steve in the ATL
My wife had to cast a provisional ballot. They said she wasn’t in the system even though (1) she has voted in that same place for years and (2) two weeks ago when she renewed her drivers license got confirmation that she was registered.
I would call shenanigans but we live in a very republican area. Not sure what to make of it. Maybe Putin is mad at her?
JPL
The precincts near me post results on their door, but since they are located in a conservative area, it didn’t seem like a good idea to check.
The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion
@raven: condolences.
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: @Cheryl Rofer: Your warning was no joke – watching that page on election night was awful, and just being reminded of it brought tears to my eyes. We are living in a nightmare.
Hoping for a win tonight and better days ahead.
??? Martin
I don’t have a good feeling about this.
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: Okay, that story made me smile.
guachi
Oh, well. I’m prepared to be disappointed in the results. I think Clinton lost by two points or so in this district.
Ossof got 49% in round one. He might get 49.5% here. If this is a referendum on Trump it doesn’t seem like much of a negative one.
JPL
@Steve in the ATL: Whoa! That makes no sense at all.
Hal
@raven: I have approximate knowledge of many things.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steve in the ATL: Probably the union thugs.
Major Major Major Major
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Not the new black panthers?
Steve in the ATL
@?BillinGlendaleCA: damn karma!
JMG
So far Handel is about one percent ahead of what she needs to win. That’s not much, but it’s probably enough.
JPL
If early voting is split, Jon could have a short night. That might be why Handel is already at her party.
Quinerly
Not feeling good about this.
Major Major Major Major
“No Election Day votes have been counted, our forecast is still highly uncertain,” the Times says.
JMG
@JPL: It’s a little more complicated than that. Ossoff really stressed getting absentee mail-in ballots in this round and they haven’t been counted yet and won’t be till late. I don’t think he’ll win, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be close.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: Nope, with Steve it’s definitely union thugs. Remember he’s a management enforcer.
JPL
@JMG: Wouldn’t the absentee votes be counted with the early votes?
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
FTFNYT.
chopper
@JMG:
same here. it’ll be close, and look on the bright side, i’m sure handel will lose her seat in 2018. assuming trumpcare passes it’s going to be brutal for goopers in purple districts in the next election, at least lightweights like her.
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule: you got a better real-time vote analyst than Nate Cohn, I’m all ears.
JPL
@Major Major Major Major: She wins same day voting, easily.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major: I’ve got better things to do then waste worry on a vote result that can’t be changed no matter what breathless hour by hour update occurs. Like mixing myself a stiff drink. We can all find out tomorrow anyway.
ETA: I apologize if I come off as unintentionally harsh, but handwringing isn’t going to change anything.
Major Major Major Major
@JPL: yea, and it depends on how much she wins them by, hence, uncertain.
frosty
@Uncle Cosmo: And Baltimore City, unlike the rest of the state, owns and maintains every road,in its jurisdiction, from the alleys to the interstates. Unlike every other County there are no state highways, with a massive State Highway Administration paving, reconstructing, and plowing them. That’s an expense that should be shared statewide, too.
p.a.
Sooo… Rethugs increasingly relying on a base they are simultaneously trying to kill. Seems non optimal.
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule: I wasn’t handwringing, I was saying that the votes have barely been counted to the people declaring defeat. Then you attacked my source.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major: @Major Major Major Major: I apologize then. So much shit has come from the Times that I appear to have misread your posting.
TenguPhule
@p.a.:
The trick to it is they have to make sure that we get the blame for it. And that we are killed in proportionally larger numbers to keep their majorities going.
Burnspbesq
AJC reporting Ossoff up a little less than 1,200 with 6% counted.
Quinerly
OT: A couple minute reading diversion. Pete Seeger’s old sloop sailing to DC. Love you and miss you, Pete! RIP: http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7834063/pete-seeger-clearwater-cargo-of-concern-trump-festival
JMG
All politics is not local, but all of it is conducted in localities. To me, the story of this election is how metropolitan Atlanta is changing in that what was once a dependably red district of affluent Republican suburbs has become highly competitive due to a host of factors, Trump being probably the biggest one, but not the only one.
Steve in the ATL
@JMG: I hope like hell that the country club republicans are finally realizing that they are not the essence of the party, trump is. Not holding my breath, however.
Cheryl Rofer
@WaterGirl: I can’t bear to watch that needle thing.
D58826
Watching Tweetie and they were talking about Trumpcare. Sen Cassidy(la) said that one problem with Obamacare is the mandate. Americans don’t like to be told what to do. His plan will sol;ve that by making enrollment automatic. Ah I’m confused, other than the fine under Obamacare, either way you are forced to enroll by the government.
raven
@Cheryl Rofer: No shit, I wouldn’t like it even if I understood it.
SiubhanDuinne
Spent the day poll-watching at two different Fulton County (Roswell) locations. No real issues at either place. Traffic was steady but light — no lines at all; there were always plenty of available machines. The biggest structural problem was that several folks had been sent to the wrong precinct, but since three or four polling places are literally within a five-minute drive of each other, it wasn’t a big deal — they just shrugged and took off for the right location.
At the second place I worked, I walked into a kerfuffle. There’s no electioneering of any kind allowed with 150 feet of the corners of any building used as a polling place, and that includes wearing campaign t-shirts, buttons, caps, etc. Anyhow, apparently RIGHT before I arrived, there was a woman with a kid and a dog, all three of them wearing Ossoff gear, and the kid carrying a sign, promenading right in front of the building. The poll manager started to confront them, the woman said very snottily “We’re just walking the dog!” and they all took off.
But Both Sides: Karen Handel’s people put out a shitload of yard signs in the grassy verge beyond the parking area, well within the 150-foot Forbidden Region, and they all* ended up in the trash right smartish.
*(The signs, not Handel’s people. Unfortunately.)
SiubhanDuinne
@Cheryl Rofer:
I am phobic about needles. Don’t even like to take blood tests, and have never had my ears pierced.
?
JR in WV
@? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?:
Quote Matthew to them, be specific about it. “Whatsoever you have done to the least of these, you have also done to me.” I’m thinking it’s Matthew 25 but you might want to look it up before calling. They won’t like it for Christians to be calling about health care, it might upset them.
Another Scott
@SiubhanDuinne: Thanks for your work and the report. Fingers crossed…
Cheers,
Scott.
Major Major Major Major
Not looking awesome, NYT tightening their prediction to Handel +2.4 median.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
It’s about 50-50 right now. Most of the outstanding vote is in Cobb County, which is the Republican part of the district. I fear the Democrats may be pissing away two races today. They should have dumped money into South Carolina. It’s only about 3% between the Democrat and the Republican, but the Democrats didn’t do anything to help the candidate. You can’t win if you don’t fight. We won in 2006 and 2008 because we ran all over the place. Then we just kind of gave up since 2010. In Georgia, I’m pissed off that Ossoff couldn’t be bothered to rent a fucking apartment in the district. Yes, it’s a stupid “issue”. Yes, I know his girlfriend is in medical school, and he didn’t want to move before she graduated. Still, dude, you’re running for Congress. Rent a place in the district. Don’t hand the Republicans a reason to hit you, even if it is a dumb reason. Jesus…
Another Scott
The big guy put up a new Elections thread. Guess he’s Not Reading His Own Blog™ again.
Cheers,
Scott.
D58826
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Well if this was horseshoes the D’s would be 4 for 4. On MSNBC the first read is that inspite of the supposed D enthusiasm, the early voting turn out for Ossoff was less than they had hoped for.
chris
NYT has called the race in SC.
The Republican wins by about 4% in a gerrymandered district that tRump took 57-39. Onward to 2018.
raven
@D58826: And he said that about 20 minutes after the polls closed.
clay
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
There’s a solid argument that says that the only reason SC-5 is close is because the Dems didn’t make a big deal over it. GA-6 shows that when the national Dems push into a race, the Repubs can and will push into five times as hard, which will amp up their tribal impulses.
SiubhanDuinne
@Another Scott:
This is, I think the 6th election where I’ve worked Voter Protection. I now have a statewide primary, statewide general (2014 midterm), presidential primary, presidential general (2016), local special and local special runoff (GA-6, 2017) under my belt. My knees are no longer up to doing the walking and door-knocking I did a lot in 2008 and a little in 2012, so this is a way I can be both useful and sedentary.
As for the reporting, I’d much prefer to file freestyle reports with BJ than the character-limited boiler-plate forms the Democratic Party provides :-)
Jinchi
@clay:
There’s a solid argument that if the Dem’s contested everywhere, instead of cherry-picking races, they would have better odds of picking up seats. All their lecturing about the importance of supporting candidates only in winnable races falls flat if they lose those, too.