I voted for Gwen Graham in yesterday’s primary. My husband voted for Andrew Gillum, who won in an upset that, in hindsight, we should have seen coming.
Levine and Graham split what might be called the center-left vote, and two billionaire vanity candidates sucked up 14% or so of the Democratic votes. In that context, Gillum’s win isn’t that much of a shocker.
I am not a moderate, so why did I go with the more centrist candidate? Fear, to be honest. As I’ve said ad nauseum, Florida is a microcosm of America, with coastal liberal enclaves and a red interior.
Is the state ready for a proudly progressive black governor? Obama won Florida twice — and won the nation twice — not because we’re anything close to post-racial but because he was a supremely gifted politician with a compelling vision that appealed to people distributed across the sanity spectrum.
Is Gillum? I sure as hell hope so. I find Gillum’s message compelling and his delivery inspirational, but I’m not a typical Florida voter. On the other hand, Florida Democrats always field centrists for the reasons described above, and we haven’t won a gubernatorial race in this century.
I admit that’s a lazy summary of the party’s woes — I think Graham would have made a much stronger candidate than her predecessor nominees. There were unique factors in each of the contests that don’t apply in 2018. But still.
Another reason I went with Graham in the primary: there’s an FBI ethics investigation into city hall in Tallahassee, where Gillum is mayor. He’s not the subject of it, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be smeared relentlessly because of it. So, that’s a concern.
What shouldn’t be a concern is the so-called “Bernie Bro” tag sticking to Gillum and alienating Hillary Clinton Democrats. Sanders did endorse Gillum. But Gillum was a Clinton supporter in 2016 and a Clinton delegate in Philly.
He’s progressive – in favor of a $15 minimum wage, Medicare for all, legalized pot, etc. So are a lot of Democrats who don’t fall into the Sanders camp, including me.
IMO, Dems who automatically cross Sanders-endorsed candidates off their Christmas card lists give too much power to the very person they resent playing kingmaker. Gillum is a Democrat. Period.
I will knock on doors, make calls, drive people to the polls, etc., for Gillum and the entire Democratic slate. I think fellow Florida Dems will too, no matter whom they voted for in the primary.
As the data comes in on yesterday’s primary, I’m increasingly hopeful for Gillum. I voted in my heavily Republican district in the last half hour polls were open, and the staff said turnout was light. But supervisors of elections at the county level are reporting record turnout.
Gillum’s GOP opponent is an extremist whose lips are firmly suctioned to Trump’s ass. Check out this embarrassing ad that he ran during the primary — which I hope Team Gillum runs for the next 69 days:
Jesus.
As Graham said in her concession call, “Now, Andrew, win this damn thing!”
PS: If you’re so inclined, you can donate to Andrew Gillum here.
Jeffro
Oh, so DeSantis is THAT psycho from the Trumpov-gushing ad? Holy cow. GOP, my word, what have y’all done to yourselves???
Anyway, Betty, you said it all when you said
That’s all that matters now, so best wishes Florida Dems – GOTV like the future of your state depends upon it, ’cause it does! Oh, and fuck Rick Scott, too.
cope
I too voted for not-Gillum because I didn’t think he can win the state. Now I will have to do all I can to make sure he does.
Baud
I don’t view a Sanders endorsement as a positive but it’s not a deal breaker, even in a primary.
He won legitimately under the rules. Time for people who aren’t interested in enabling fascism to unite!
rikyrah
Manafort defense appears overwhelmed by challenge of second trial
Rachel Maddow shares transcripts from federal court in Washington, D.C. where Paul Manafort’s lawyers appeared to struggle to keep up with the judge’s demands and Robert Mueller’s prosecutors.
prufock
My god, that’s child abuse.
rikyrah
Republican attacks on DoJ Russia experts a boon to Russian mafia
Rachel Maddow reviews the storied history of Justice Department official Bruce Ohr in prosecuting Russian organized crime, making him only the latest DoJ Russia expert to endure Republican smears in an effort to protect Donald Trump from the Robert Mueller investigation.
rikyrah
Democrat Gillum surges to face Trump’s DeSantis for FL governor
Steve Kornacki, MSNBC politics correspondent, shows how Andrew Gillum has won a surprise victory in the Florida Democratic primary for governor to face Donald Trump’s pick of Ron DeSantis in the general election in November.
rikyrah
DoJ under duress as Congress fails as bulwark from Trump abuses
David Laufman, former chief of the DoJ’s Counterintel and Export Control Section, talks with Rachel Maddow about how the Department of Justice is weathering attacks from Donald Trump and his Republican supporters.
Aug.28.2018
Jamie Nafus
That ad – Gah! It’s making my breakfast churn! Those poor kids!
schrodingers_cat
@rikyrah: How Vichy Times spinning it?
rikyrah
DoJ wields FARA as part of national security toolset
David Laufman, former chief of the DoJ’s Counterintel and Export Control Section, talks with Rachel Maddow about the use of FARA charges within the context of national security prosecutions.
rikyrah
I’ll be blunt. I still don’t believe them. I believe the Harvard Study, which had it almost reaching 5,000.
PR adjusts Hurricane Maria death toll to 2975, surpassing Katrina
Rachel Maddow reports on a new study of the number of deaths in Puerto Rico that can be attributed to Hurricane Maria, 2,975, surpassing the number of deaths from Hurricane Katrina and undermining Donald Trump’s premature boasts about his administration’s response.
prufrock
My god, that’s child abuse.
fuddmain
I voted for Graham, for much the same reasons as you. I’ll also admit I haven’t been as focused on politics since Dolt45 was elected. I have enough stress with everything else and every time I stuck my head up to see what’s going on my anxiety skyrocketed. Trying to get out of this particular funk and see what I can do for Gillum and Nelson.
syphonblue
The “safe” choice wasn’t able to beat Rick Scott twice, so I’m not sure why so many people are still clamoring for the “safe” choice again in Florida….
schrodingers_cat
Meanwhile I am greatly disturbed by the news coming out of India. Pune’ police have arrested a bunch of writers, human rights lawyers and dalit activists on trumped up charges, for daring to question the role of the government in power in the riots that took place earlier this May. Mr Modi’s BJP rules the state of Maharashtra, where Pune’ is and its CM (like the governor here) also belongs to the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh* ( RSS) like Mr. Modi.
RSS is a fascist outfit over 90 years old, they have wrapped themselves in saffron and have pretensions of being uber patriotic but were largely missing or were active collaborators when the British ruled India. Gandhi’s assassins belonged to this outfit also.
rikyrah
Primary voters set the stage for some historic 2018 contests
08/29/18 08:40 AM—UPDATED 08/29/18 08:43 AM
By Steve Benen
For partisan officials in Florida, many of whom focused on “electability,” there were two obvious choices in the state’s gubernatorial primaries. Among Republicans, state Agriculture Secretary Adam Putnam was seen as the safe, responsible choice, who picked endorsements from many Florida officeholders. Among Democrats, the parallel was former Rep. Gwen Graham, who was in the same boat.
Primary voters, however, had different ideas.
Baud
@syphonblue: By that logic, we should never vote for any progressive candidates because they have historically done poorly outside of deep blue districts. Each election requires a new judgment call.
rikyrah
Trump tells Christian leaders he changed key tax law (but he didn’t)
08/29/18 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
One of Donald Trump’s more unnerving habits is bragging about accomplishments that don’t exist in reality. To hear the president tell it, for example, he’s already solved the North Korea nuclear crisis, begun construction on a border wall, extracted major concessions from our NATO allies, and struck history’s largest trade deal with Mexico.
None of those things have actually happened, but Trump doesn’t appear to care. The Republican routinely brags about imagined triumphs, insisting that his made-up accomplishments are real.
He did it again this week during striking remarks to a group of evangelical Christians at the White House. NBC News reported:
miroker
Problem with Andrew is he has been associated with Bernie and that “Socialist” word is not going to go over well in the general. He will get my vote, but knowing how floriduh’s population thinks tells me it is going to be wasted. Wait until they start talking about how desantis was the one who really shot bin laden.
tobie
The Sanders endorsement is not the decisive factor for me but certain campaign rhetoric is. I feel like candidates who promise “Medicare for All” are more interested in making a splash than in doing the difficult work of governing where you have to figure out how to finance and deliver healthcare. IMHO it’s as bad as Trump mouthing off about NAFTA and new trade deals. The fact that Gillum does have governing experience is, however, a major plus. I wish him well. He’s running against a loathsome cretin, and, if I can manage it, I’ll donate to his campaign. Thanks for the post and the link.
Schlemazel
Betty, I admit to not following it closely but I do not see that Gillum is not a target in the investigation. Not that it will matter for the use as a smear against him but his not being cleared will cause problems that make the mud stick a bit more.
Being a natural pessimist I take a dim view of his win but hope that the Dems get 100% behind him & the kids activated by MSD will push him over the line.
Schlemazel
@rikyrah:
In closed primary states like FLA those voters tend to be the more involved and motivated. It is not surprising that ‘establishment’ favorites are not going to do well when the motivation though passion drives more of the anti-establishment voters to the polls.
Platonailedit
Amen. Rest is all bs.
Betty Cracker
@Schlemazel: That was definitely a factor that motivated me to vote for Graham in the primary. The current governor is openly corrupt, but he’s a Republican, so it’s not an issue with his voters. Even a whiff of a possibility of corruption tends to sandbag Democrats.
Schlemazel
@Betty Cracker:
Here I was hoping you had better info about Gillum’s status and the investigation.
Well, battle on & hope for the best
syphonblue
@Baud: If something keeps failing, eventually you should probably try something else.
Roger Moore
@schrodingers_cat:
I assume you mean Mohandas Gandhi’s assassination, but you need to be more specific when talking about “Gandhi’s assassins”, given that Indira and Rajiv Gandhi were also assassinated.
gene108
@Roger Moore:
There is only one person, who is solely referred to as Gandhi.
The others go by two names
schrodingers_cat
@Roger Moore: Yes you are right, that’s who I meant. Gandhi is Mahatma Gandhi, when referencing Indira or Rajiv one uses both the first and the last name. Also, Indira and Rajiv are not related to the the Mahatma, Gandhi is a common last name in the state of Gujarat. Indira Nehru married Firoze Gandhi who was a Zoroastrian.
Timurid
@rikyrah:
Speaking of Katrina, a study done on it using similar methodology to the Harvard survey came up with a death toll of over 4,000.
satby
@rikyrah: I never believed the official statistics on deaths from Katrina either, but for comparison I was using the official totals. I think the actual deaths in both were higher, but they’re still tabulating the Maria ones.
JGabriel
Betty Cracker @ Top:
That’s understandable, but I think this is a year progressives should vote for their beliefs and hopes. Trump is one of the most despised people in the country, and while there are certainly far-right CD’s and a few states where Trump-aligned neo-fascists will do well, most states have enough patriotic anti-Trump Americans to carry even the most progressive candidates to a win this year (I think, hope, and believe).
In fact, I suspect a lot of center and center-left voters who might typically shy away from Progressives and/or Social Democrats, will find that voting for a lefty candidate this year is a stronger *fuck you* to the Trump GOP, and therefore a more compelling choice.
Platonailedit
The whole fucking party is corrupt and sleazy to the core.
Steve in the ATL
@Baud:
Objection! Self-serving.
You are trying to get in front of being endorsed by Wilmer for 2020. Poco is in a deeper hole, however, since he spent a week in a Russian dacha with Jill Stein and Devin Nunes.
Steve in the ATL
@schrodingers_cat:
I think we can all agree that killing lawyers is NOT COOL.
JGabriel
@Platonailedit:
As it has been since at least 1968. And probably longer.
schrodingers_cat
@Steve in the ATL: Mr. G was not a success as a lawyer, but yes we can agree.
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat:
You just taught me something — I didn’t realize they weren’t related. And I once lived on Indira Gandhi Square in Moscow.
Cacti
@Baud:
From a strictly pragmatic standpoint, I see a Wilmer endorsement as equaling “less likely to win the general” outside of deep blue states or districts. I hope Gillum proves me wrong.
rikyrah
@Timurid:
It was over 4,600. I believe their study.
Amir Khalid
@Platonailedit:
Jho Low is in hiding? I was wondering there hadn’t been any news about him in a while. He seems to have picked a good place to hide behind Chris Christie.
rikyrah
@rikyrah:
Wasn’t it over 4,600?
Darn, I miss the edit button
Schlemazel
@Amir Khalid: We could all hid there is we have to
Betty Cracker
@tobie: I’ve come to believe that embracing the “Medicare for All” slogan is a smart move for Dems. Sure, it oversimplifies an enormously complex issue, but people understand it. It succinctly expresses the goal of universal access to healthcare coverage. It’s not a bald-faced lie like the “Kill NAFTA herp-derp” bullshit Trump spews, which means nothing from a policy standpoint.
Procopius
@rikyrah: Anybody know how the Concord Consulting LLC prosecution is going? I haven’t been able to find anything more recent than July which evidently was reporting an earlier court session. From the fragments I’ve been able to find it seems the DoJ prosecutors assigned to the case did not expect to have any of the defendants show up in court and did not prepare their case for presentation. I’d like to find out if the judge ended up forcing them to furnish their discovery material. The fragments I’ve been able to find (none of the big media have reported on the case as far as I can tell) suggest that Mueller really did not have any evidence. They seem to be trying to shield all testimony given to the grand jury. I guess that’s OK, but they’ve got to come up with something to support the indictment.
Betty Cracker
For fuck’s sake…
Ohio Mom
I completely understand Betty’s logic. I often try to think in similar ways when deciding my primary vote. It almost always backfires on me.
tobie
@JGabriel: Was Graham a centrist? My understanding is that she was liberal but not a populist. Whatever the case, her concession was gracious and seemed heartfelt. Adam Silverman’s suggestion that she join the ticket as the Lt Gov candidate strikes me as a good one.
Schlemazel
On the topic of mud potential: We are still early enough in the cycle that campaign ads have not shown up in any real numbers but I have seen some ugly stuff on richewing web sites like powerline (who knew that Times blog of the year still even existed?) alphanews, poordonkey, trying to make the most out of Keith Ellison’s ex charging he abused her. I think this will influence the storyline in rural MN where they have a lot of sway with small market media. Not sure how big a hit he might take.
Meanwhile he is running either the most genius or stupidest campaign for AG in history. He has been making stops in rural MN and his speech is pretty much what you would expect to hear from a Congressional candidate. Themes of economic justice and rights for all , student loans, no tax cuts for the rich with no indication how an AG can improve the situation on any of them. Voters are either going to be excited by his populist rhetoric or bewildered by the disconnect with the job he now wants.
I am afraid he has made retention of the office harder than it should be but I will be working to make it happen.
schrodingers_cat
Our primaries are on next Tuesday. I am mostly planning to vote for incumbents unless I am convinced that they are truly bad in some way and need to be replaced. Among other things, change for the sake of change got us T. Any candidate that sends me a mailer with a picture of themselves and BS is immediately suspect in my eyes.
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker:
At least he left out the word “jungle.”
bemused
@Betty Cracker:
I have no doubt this is deliberate.So far only seen this on twitter but it better get reported by msm asap.
acallidryas
I grew up in SWFL, and my family and my husband’s family are still down there scattered throughout the state, although we left for someplace more sane some time ago.
I was surprised by Gillum, but was cheering for him and would have voted for him. What I like is less the progressive/centrist distinction but that Gillum is a fighter who’s willing to take things on and move forward on issues. He’s been fighting the Florida NRA, which is no mean feat, and supporting localities and local organizing around the country through the organization DefendLocal. We need that spirit in our party and in our leadership right now.
I understand making electoral choices right now, and my most important criteria is also ‘not Republican’. But Dems have lost out on safe bets in the state, so we may as well try this. I’m excited about the possibility. I’ll be chipping in.
Kelly
@Schlemazel: Running on a confusing vision of the office can be bad. I think we lost the Oregon Sec of State in 2016 to the R’s because our guy talked a lot about expanding authority of the office based on vague hand waving about it’s existing audit authority. Dem’s had held the post since 1985.
TaMara (HFG)
@Betty Cracker: Best thing the orange menace has done for us is making it seem “normal” for racists to say racist things. May that be turned into a campaign ad by this afternoon.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@JGabriel: Try 1858 with Simon Cameron, the first Republican Sec of War “a good politician is one who stays bought”
LAO
Forgive me, if this has already been covered but White House Counsel Don McGahn is leaving the WH.
Yarrow
@LAO: Hadn’t heard that. No surprise there.
schrodingers_cat
@LAO: What was the reason given?
Betty Cracker
@zhena gogolia: There’s no way that was accidental — it was probably on the fucker’s cue card.
One thing that’ll be interesting: Gillum says he wants to “abolish ICE in its current form” and replace it with an agency that focuses on safety without acting like Trump’s shock troops — a perfectly rational position, IMO. What I wonder is how hard DeSantis will hammer that point. He’ll want to because the GOP base and his lord and savior Trump love that angle. But valorizing ICE could backfire in Florida. We’ll see.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
I suspect Gillman has a good shot, the man has that Obama cool factor about him and his opponent looks like a sickly weasel with an attitude problem.
Schlemazel
@Kelly:
That is my thought also but this is the year to run on populist bullshit so hopefully the unenlightened will fall for it.
BTW – one of the things the wingnuts are trotting out is that once AG Ellison will recognize Sharia courts and start the march toward total Sharia law (DUN DUN DUUUUUUNNNNNNNN!!!!!). I know that will work on a lot of morons because I have already heard about it from some of them.
LAO
@Yarrow: @schrodingers_cat: No reason yet.
Scott
Voting Totals for all candidates (Governor)
Democratic: 1,508,984
Republican: 1,618,013
A lot of work to do.
JGabriel
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Who said, “If you can’t take their money, drink their drinks, sleep with their women, and vote against them in the morning, then you shouldn’t be in politics.”?
I think it was some 19th C. Texas Democrat, but I’m not sure.
Platonailedit
Guessing jefferson fucking beauregard is next?
zhena gogolia
@LAO:
It’s in a tweet by Twitler (which I haven’t read, I just know the WaPo version), and he links it to Kavanaugh’s confirmation. So he’s getting ready to derail Mueller once he has his guy on the SCOTUS. My interpretation.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@LAO: sounds like they want to swap McGahn out for Flood, Axios link
Yeah, I’m sure trump’s attention span will outlast the first time Flood tells him something he doesn’t want to hear
also
JPL
@Betty Cracker: You said… I’ll add fuckem
Schlemazel
@Scott:
Closed primary so they had to declare a party in advance. That means a lot of people who want to pretend to be independent can’t vote. It is sad that in a state of 14MM (I believe) bearly 3MM can pick the choices and that is considered an ‘up’ year.
Off the the Grate Minnesota Get-Together now.
Here is a friend of the blogs entry in the scarecrow competition – it is fantastic!
Platonailedit
LOL. So true.
Yarrow
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Does anyone ever leave Trumpworld? It’s like the mob.
Kay
decency and hope sounds good to me. Especially contrasted with “mean spirited, nasty assholes”
Everyone focused on the (supposedly centrist) ideology of the Democrats who have won state-wide since Trump but what if it was simply that they weren’t mean-spirited, shrieking assholes who never have anything worthwhile or interesting to say yet never shut up?
The Moar You Know
@Scott: More than those numbers indicate.
DeSantis – 908,443 votes.
Gillum – 510,450 votes.
I think Florida Dems just shot themselves in the head with this one. Pray I’m wrong.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steve in the ATL:
I’m going to have to think about this one…
cain
@Kelly:
It was a wake up calls to Dems that they don’t always get their person in office. I reflexively voted a Dem because no fucking way I would want an R in charge of my elections. In any case, it seems others disagreed with me. I hope we can kick him out in the next round because he did try to do some voter fraud bullshit that pissed off people.
We need better candidates in Oregon.
DCrefugee
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Yeah, I agree. I live in FL but really wasn’t paying attention to this race. I was getting a lot of email from Graham, but nothing from Gillum. What little I saw before the primary, I liked, since he seemed unafraid to take on the status quo and adopt progressive frames.
I wasn’t optimistic about the FL goober race until this morning. Hopefully, Gillum can bring some coattails/GOTV expertise to help boost Nelson (who needs help) in the senate race. Gonna be an interesting couple of months…
Chyron HR
@syphonblue:
Better be careful, dude/dudette/other, if Gollum loses you need to leave yourself enough room to claim that you always knew he was a neoliberal establishment shitlib.
JPL
@The Moar You Know: Get out the vote! DeSantis is far right, and hopefully that means moderate republicans stay home.
Kay
Florida politics are an utter mystery to me. Ever since 2000 I just can’t deal with it at all. Above my pay grade :)
PaulWartenberg
As a Floridian, I don’t care if Gillum is BernieBro or a HillBot.
Gillum is Democrat. THANK FUCKING GOD.
We have had almost 20 years – since Jeb in 1998 – of absolute Republican rule, during which our schools have aged into junk with not enough teachers because the pay and benefits sucks, our rivers got clogged with toxic algae because the GOP refuses to do right on ecology, our streets flooded due to overdevelopment taking away our wetlands, and our highways and interstates turned into parking lots because nobody wants to pay for high-speed rail between cities and cablecar/light rail systems inside cities.
JUST FUCKING VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRATS, FLORIDA. Gods. We vote 70 percent on our Amendment referendums on Clean Waterways and School Sizes and Medical Marijuana but then vote in Republicans who WON’T DO WHAT THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO! No wonder we have a reputation as CRAZY STATE. /cries
lamh36
I was in class so i missed the primary news…but i did catch up via twitter…the twitterati had me thinking abaoit the significance of Gilliam winning and the fact that the Dems have the chance to elect the 1st Afr Am in GA & FL.
Before going to bed, I came over to BJ and the reaction was markedly different.
It was interesting the juxtaposition.
Anyway, got me thinking bout an article i came across from a couple years ago.
It’s has always been true that a Black worker/candidate has to be at least twice as good as a white counterpart with the same credentials
anyway…
A Ghost To Most
“Monkey this up”?
Fuck DeSantis.
rikyrah
McGhan is OUT. Gone.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’m sure google searches are going like wildfire, but I’ve never heard the phrase “monkey up”. “Monkey with”, yeah, “monkey up”, never.
De Santis spokes says it’s a phrase he uses frequently. Okay, then, let those servers spin.
rikyrah
Not only did Ron DeSantis just say the first African American gubernatorial candidate in FL history would “monkey this up”
He also has an A+ from the NRA #RonDeRacist https://t.co/J9x25zgu4T
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) August 29, 2018
DCrefugee
@Scott: One of the bits that stood out for me in this morning’s coverage of Gillum is that he seems to have a very good GOTV network. From where I sit, FL Dems haven’t been able to produce a solid, statewide GOTV effort since 2012. A lot of things have changed since then.
And I’d guess Gillum knows the panhandle better than any other recent statewide Dem. Could be interesting…
Platonailedit
@lamh36: Yup. A few bj whiners about Obama, ffs.
lamh36
DCrefugee
@PaulWartenberg: Yea verily…
Kay
Ain’t that the truth. They should be so embarrassed at how much they paid Lauer and for how long.
He was worth …zero as it turns out, as an employee. Bid that a tad high.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@JGabriel:
Ah, no. That was Jesse “Big Daddy” Unruh, Speaker of the Assembly and State Treasurer here in California.
PaulWartenberg
@JPL:
I used to hope so. As an ex-Republican who views himself a moderate, I had hopes there were similar-minded folks like myself here in Florida. But being surrounded by coal roller trucks driving across Polk County waving Confederate flags off their bumpers, I’ve become disillusioned by that thought. Nearly every Republcian is a lost cause here in Florida now: too afraid to think outside the dogma and too eager to embrace trump and his sins.
No, no the solution is to get all the independent voters and to get all the Democratic voters to show up in force. Improve voter turnout with the voters who truly matter. GET THE TURNOUT UP. Get everyone you know who’s not a Republican to register NOW for the general election in November. Get them at the polling places. Early vote. Absentee mail-in vote if need be. There’s 18 million eligible voters in Florida, only 11 million registered, and barely half of them show up for midterms. No more. GET EVERYONE YOU KNOW. EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO HATES TRUMP. Just get it done. PLEASE. For the LOVE of GOD.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker:
My dog likes whistling, too. Jeez.
A Ghost To Most
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: If he uses it frequently, he should STFU, and crawl back under his rock.
PaulWartenberg
@lamh36:
he already went there?
…
Floriduh. /headdesk
tobie
@DCrefugee:
So true. My folks–lifelong Dems and members of their Florida county Democratic Club–weren’t even contacted by a single campaign going into Tuesday’s primary. They’re snow-birders, which is a large demographic in Florida, and I would have thought that some campaign would have reached out to them to ask for their vote and whether they need a ride to the polls or an absentee ballot. This is not a year when Democratic candidates can just dial it in.
trollhattan
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Yup. You may even have spotted a fine building near the Capitol named for good ol’ Jesse.
lamh36
lamh36
@lamh36: even worse
Kay
@lamh36:
You COULD look at it as southern AA Democrats kind of coming into their own since Trump. There’s more than a little evidence for that since ’16. Punching their weight as a share of Democrats (both voters and candidates) in the south. Would have started with Clinton in the primary so it isn’t strictly ideological.
If there’s any truth to that it’s really interesting. But I’m just speculating :)
There’s sometimes a blindness in the Democratic Party to AA Democrats NOT as an “interest group” but as political actors in their own right. Leading parts of the Democratic Party as an institution or organization. The blindness to that in the GOP is complete- they fundamentally do not see the AA Party leaders. It generally comes out of being mayors, too, so this fits that pattern. They missed Obama’s strength in ’08 in Ohio (Democratic Party leaders) because his political clout came from AA MAYORS in urban centers of the state.
hitchhiker
Well, more power to Gillum and may every last Republican candidate slip on a virtual banana peel every day from now until the election.
Guys, I’m celebrating because in the AZ24th legislative district, my good friend Jennifer Longdon just pulled off an upset win over an old establishment dem dude. She’s been a paraplegic for more than a decade after a random driveby shooting that left her fiance blind and brain-injured. She’s a goddamn rockstar and one of the people I’m proudest to know.
bemused
@Betty Cracker:
Even a large percentage of Republican voters say health care is a big issue for them. Fox News poll Obamacare more popular with them than GOP tax cuts.
A typical old rightwing white coot who puts out a local weekly paper surprised me with an editorial he wrote since Trump came on the scene. He thought it would be a great idea if people not old enough to get on Medicare now could buy into Medicare. He seemed to have no idea that it will be a cold day in hell when R legislators would do that or aware they want to raise eligibility age instead. He didn’t seem to know that R’s are doing their damnedest to wipe out Medicare, SS, etc.
Another guy who is an evangelical nut commented on a local blog that he’d be willing to take some cuts in Medicare/SS if it would keep the systems going.
Makes me want to scream. Dumbest, know nothing people on earth.
debit
@PaulWartenberg: What about all the people who moved there from Puerto Rico? I thought there was going to be a massive influx of new voters?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
This is George Allen all over again. “I say that all the time, it’s a very common expression”
Could you point to one example of you or someone else using it?
Well…. no
Starfish
bemused
@Schlemazel:
Love the scarecrow. Where was this?
zhena gogolia
@Starfish:
I like his style!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: Yup, took quite a few pics in front of it.
Immanentize
@The Moar You Know: I am sure someone else has pointed this out — but the numbers you point too regarding candidate votes in their primaries really don’t suggest must. DeSantis was in, effectively, a 2 person race and got 56+% of the Republican vote. Gillum was in a hot 3+ person race and got 34% of the vote. So, no surprise DeSantos got more actual votes than Gillum in their respective primaries. There is certainly lots of work to do. But it is not the dire, soul sucking way-back you are suggesting for Gillum.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Translation: “When i gave you the green light to fire the Attorney General, I didn’t mean you could just go ahead and fire anybody! You have to wait a week till I cave to that!”
A Ghost To Most
Meanwhile, in Texass:
Well done nerds’: Texas GOP’s attempts to shame Beto O’Rourke for his punk rock past hilariously backfire
Tom J Johnson
I think the blue coast-red interior construct isn’t all that relevant. Remember, Trump ran on better, cheaper healthcare for all, increasing taxes on “the hedge-fund guys”, increased infrastructure spending, and staying out of stupid foreign entanglements. In other words, on a Progressive policy platform. I work with Democratic Congressional candidates in Trump districts, and they’re getting a lot of traction with a traditional Progressive economic platform. The paradigm that Dems have to be centrists to win is shifting as people engage with the realities of modern life. We don’t have to win-over every Trump voter. A couple of percent will do, especially if we excite the Dem base and inspire a few people who don’t participate in politics to start. The way to do that is by being bold, not careful.
Domestic short hair tabby (fka vheidi)
@hitchhiker: that’s wonderful, congrats to her!
Brachiator
A wonderfully pithy summation. Good luck to Florida. It will be interesting to see what happens. Get out the freaking vote!
Leto
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m going to say that I’ve heard this used (monkey with) and that’s it’s a Southern saying. I’ve specifically heard it used in the context of when someone thought someone else messed with something. I honestly haven’t heard it used in almost 20 years but as I’ve thought about it, it’s changed from “monkied with” to “messed/fucked with”, with “f- withed” being the most prominently used version. Am I surprised that it’s racially charged? Being from the South, not at all.
zhena gogolia
@Leto:
“monkey with” is a common expression
“monkey it up” is not a common expression
Aleta
‘ ‘ Gillum had paid special attention to the 2017 Senate special election in Alabama, in which the Democrat Doug Jones had upset the Republican Roy Moore on the strength of his support from African-American women—an older bloc of voters than millennials, but radicalized, too. To think about the black vote through women first, he said, opened up progressive possibilities. “I think you can certainly hedge a lot less when you are talking with black women about issues that have traditionally been a cipher in the black community—L.G.B.T. issues, the environment,” he said. The image of the Florida environmental movement was of the Graham voter—white, older, Birkenstocks-wearing—but he’d been campaigning in black communities against the corporate pollution that had left Florida with red tide and “guacamole-thick” algae. He said, “Women know that when the season shifts and the air changes you get asthmatic babies.”
Gillum had paid special attention to the 2017 Senate special election in Alabama, in which the Democrat Doug Jones had upset the Republican Roy Moore on the strength of his support from African-American women—an older bloc of voters than millennials, but radicalized, too. To think about the black vote through women first, he said, opened up progressive possibilities. “I think you can certainly hedge a lot less when you are talking with black women about issues that have traditionally been a cipher in the black community—L.G.B.T. issues, the environment,” he said. The image of the Florida environmental movement was of the Graham voter—white, older, Birkenstocks-wearing—but he’d been campaigning in black communities against the corporate pollution that had left Florida with red tide and “guacamole-thick” algae. He said, “Women know that when the season shifts and the air changes you get asthmatic babies.” ‘ ‘
From NY er 8/26
I guess they’ll try to portray Gillum using
“left wing violence, antifa” (from Trump on Monday) ”
“can’t choose your dr., “government-run health!” ”
“no border control !” and
“be afraid of losing all your money” (if Tr is impeached).
Aleta
@hitchhiker: Congratulations! We’ll send a contribution and try to watch her progress.
The Moar You Know
@PaulWartenberg: That guy is like the guitar player who shows up at the audition with every knob on the amp all the way up. He’s gonna start off louder than shit and never turn it down no matter who asks.
The Moar You Know
@lamh36: Christ. Was he “clean” as well? Goddamn.
Kay
@The Moar You Know:
They’re assholes. It may be the key to our success. People seem to be leaning “halfway decent human being” this cycle so…
It might be kind of fun to focus there. A montage of snarling faces and mean-spirited comments on the Right.
sherparick1
@Jeffro: DeSantis decided to go full “Dog Whistle” with a foghorn on Fox this morning.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/henrygomez/ron-desantis-andrew-gillum-monkey-florida-governor
J R in WV
@prufrock:
Good to see you here… surely you know child abuse is OK if you are a Republican? Really!
Or if you are a Christian Theocrat/hypocrite!!!!
J R in WV
@JGabriel:
Pretty sure LBJ (fuck LBJ!) said this, but he may have been quoting a prior Texas pol for all I know.
J R in WV
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
One of the more sad things about this timeline is that we have come to expect Republican candidates to come as close as they can to calling out Nword!! Nword!! without actually saying the nword. So of course Monkey Up!! will be a slogan used often by DeSantis, as often as he can work it into his subject.
Sad.
PaulWartenberg
@Betty Cracker:
DAY ONE. DAY FUCKING ONE of the general election campaign, and DeSantis goes Full Racist.
Fuck my state, because there are enough Republican voters who are not even BOTHERED by DeSantis going this racist this early.
rikyrah
@A Ghost To Most:
IF the best they have on Beto is that he used to be a punk rocker…
they don’t have shyt on him, then.
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat:
How hard is the local pushback against this? I remember reading about how India’s women working hard to get the rape laws updated and enforced to a civilized nation’s level but still not having much luck with the current party in charge. How deeply entrenched are the BJP?
louc
@debit: Unfortunately not.
schrodingers_cat
@TenguPhule The Supreme Court is hearing their petition. The push back has been swift. Their record in the elections has not been consistent after the 2014 win at the national level. The hard right turn is to excite the base because they don’t have much else to run on in 2019.
TenguPhule
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Perhaps a parole where they have to retake the bar exam?
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat: How much respect are the BJP paying to the court’s orders? Are they obeying promptly or dragging it out?
schrodingers_cat
@TenguPhule: Don’t know enough to answer that question right now. I don’t follow Indian politics to that level of detail. But this case has got my attention, so I will let you know what I learn.
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat: Thanks. Most of the major papers have been clickbaiting India’s news for the last couple of years. So its hard to tell how accurate the situation is that they’re reporting.
schrodingers_cat
@TenguPhule: I follow a couple of Indian journalists on Twitter. Our media is not too accurate I am afraid. Indian politics are super complex, there are divides based on caste, religion, language and region. Its easy to misunderstand and misinterpret stuff. Plus there are many parties and shifting alliances.
JGabriel
JGabriel:
?BillinGlendaleCA:
Yep, looks like. Danke.
And it appears the actual quote is:
Aardvark Cheeselog
Add me to the list of people who voted for Graham, in the hope that I could spend the next 4 years bitching about how she’s not liberal enough.
Gillum will be easier to get excited about knocking on doors for, he has that going at least.
WarMunchkin
You know, I recall in 2008 this was very similar to what people said about voting for Hillary over Obama. Most people forget that primary, but there were a whole lot of people who ended up going (R) after she lost. But there was a subset of voters who were excited by Obama but felt like it just wasn’t worth the risk. And you know what, it’s okay.
Two years after the Trump election I’ve finally realized what I wish I did during W’s administration – that the choice of candidate only matters a couple of points during the general – the actual work has to be done continuously, through organization. Whether it was Bernie/Hillary or Obama/Edwards/Hillary or Kerry/Clark/Edwards or Gore/Bradley, it’s just on the margins, really.