I know many of us are disappointed about two old guys (no offense to any old guys) looking to be the final two standing in the Democratic primary. I’m hoping Elizabeth stays in for as long as she can, so we can continue to hear her important plans and ideas. Stay and make sure she has a seat at the table.
In the words of the indomitable Shirley Chisholm,
“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”
Meanwhile, polls are giving some good news. I know in Colorado, Gardner is for sure in trouble. And I suspect Mark Kelly’s chances are pretty good.
You can donate to all four here:https://t.co/djoZYtDLVl https://t.co/1FVaf1l9nx
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) March 5, 2020
The Senate is in play. We need to fight like hell for that…
I will have a respite thread later today, probably ducks and kitties. Maybe handsome Bixby after his bath.
Open thread
Turgidson
And Moscow Mitch has tiny leads in most polls I’ve seen (though I’m scarred by 2014 when it looked like Grimes had a shot and then got massacred by like 18 points). And the Georgia seats are potentially competitive, as are Iowa and maybe Texas. And I’m hearing Bullock will run for the Montana senate seat after all, which could be huge.
Avalune
Totally unrelated but it’s an open thread. We’re going to be in Boston a few days later this month. Anyone have any must sees/must eat recommendations for us? We’re going specifically to an open house at a school Leto’s interested in but I’m on spring break so I figured we could stay a few days and tourist around.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
She’s a long shot, but I’m think of setting up a $5/month donation for Barbara Bollier in KS
and if you have spare change, spare some for Gary Peters in MI. That race makes me nervous
MattF
Republican Senators facing a vote seek Trump’s approval, but he only approves of the most craven lickspittles. Via Rick Wilson:
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/trump-complains-about-fox-news-on-hannity-i-think-theyre-trying-to-be-very-politically-correct/
ALurkSupreme
@Avalune: Try the Fox and the Knife. Very good “new” restaurant — I think it opened last year. The only criticism I had was that our waiter clearly wanted to get us out and turn the table over.
Avalune
@ALurkSupreme: The MILANESE DI MAIALE looks pretty delish. Thanks for the recommendation!
A Ghost To Most
Cory is toast. The militant moderate will destroy him.
I will miss sending my love notes to Cory.
Cacti
Not confirmed as yet, but it also sounds like Steve Bullock may be jumping into the MT Senate race.
Rumors started swirling yesterday.
dmsilev
@Avalune: If you want to get out of the city itself for a bit, consider going to Salem for a day trip. The whole witch thing is a waste of time IMO, but there’s a lot of great history to be seen there from its time as a mercantile center in the late colonial/early Federal period. Centerpiece is the Peabody Essex museum, which has among other things a wonderful collection of Chinese and Japanese artwork brought back by the clipper-ship traders.
Kay (not the front-pager)
Cal Cunningham won his primary in NC. He is favored to win against Tom Tillis. I’ll go look for a link to his donation page and be back.
TheronWare
Yay Bixby!
Orange Is The New White
The polls are looking decent, not great but enough to allow me some hope that this could happen. And flipping the Senate is more important than flipping the presidency (one of the two must happen) although less likely than flipping the presidency. If we don’t flip the Senate and win the presidency, President Biden goes down as a one-term guy who saved the country from Trump (not the worst of legacies), but plunged the country into yet more gridlock.
If we flip the Senate and Trump wins re-election, no more judges, no more fuckery with CBP, no more bullshit tax cuts – a lot of the bad shit stops even in spite of who is president. And we start having weekly impeachment trials until he folds, goes insane, or dies.
If we get both we can and will get shit done. Biden genuinely wants to see the country do well. Start getting him some decent legislation he can sign and he will help do that.
AM in NC
We are soooooooooo ready to get rid of Thom Tillis here in NC. Biden wasn’t my first choice (I voted for Warren), but he will help with the down ballot races here, whereas Bernie will be a disaster for them. I’ve met Cal Cunningham a few times, and while he is not as progressive as I would like, he’s light years ahead of Tillis.
One bit of anecdata that has made me feel somewhat better about Biden likely becoming our nominee: my father-in-law who lives in South Carolina has been a Republican all his life. In 2016 he didn’t vote for President because he does not support Trump, but couldn’t vote for HER. This year, he registered as a Democrat so he could vote for Biden in the primary because he wants to be able to vote for him against Trump in the general. He has also soured on fellow South Carolinians Lindsey Graham and Niki Haley after seeing them crawl up His Orangeness’s posterior and lodge there. He and my mother-in-law both used to like Lindsey and Niki, but no longer (mother in law generally votes Dem in Presidential race but splits tickets for down ballot, depending on candidate). I hope there are a lot more people like that out there.
H.E.Wolf
Hooray! Senate and House (and state legislative seats) are as big a deal as Executive branch positions.
My favorite part: It’s easier than electing a president. Legislative races are won district- and/or state-wide, which means it isn’t necessary to persuade a majority of the entire voting population of the USA, in Electoral College order of importance, in order to win a seat.
Let’s flip (and retain) a bunch of ’em. And let’s continue making our side of the legislative aisles look like the whole USA, not just a tiny part of it.
Signed, an E pluribus unum Democrat. :)
Kay (not the front-pager)
@Kay (not the front-pager): OK here’s Cal Cunningham’s campaign homepage and his ActBlue account. He’s running against Thom Tillis in NC.
TaMara (HFG)
Damn. I hope this is wrong/premature
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Turgidson:
Amy McGrath’s latest ads really don’t focus on her – they focus on McConnell and how he’s failed Kentuckians for decades. Her campaign keeps asking a slogan – and I think it a great one – about what use there is in having a powerful Senator if he’s not using it for us.
Mr. Mack
Warren out.
Lofgren
The oldest people I know, people in their ’70s who are still active and mentally aware, thought Warren was too old to be president, and electing Sanders or Biden was just nuts. Of course they do. They’ve been going to a funeral a month for old friends for a couple of years now. I doubt you offended any old men, unless they are still in denial about their own aging process.
SiubhanDuinne
Sounds like Warren is dropping out.
Fuck.
rp
Really bummed about Warren, but also really excited to see the reactions of the BernieBros when the first post-Warren polls come out and they realize most of her supporters went to Biden.
Crashman06
@Avalune: Stop by the Marliave for oyster specials and cocktails, then head up the street to the Common and walk the Freedom Trail.
David Anderson
Okay, so right now the Cook Political Reporting race ratings as of 2/5 have the following:
-1 Dem (Alabama)
3 GOP in toss-up seats (Arizona, Colorado, Maine) and 3 more in lean GOP (Kansas, Georgia-1, North Carolina)
Assuming other polling backs up PPP, North Carolina probably moves to Toss-up and if Montana has Bullock enter, it is at least moving from Solid GOP to Lean GOP. All of those steps will open up the Democratic margin of error where a majority might need to only draw 2 high pairs instead of a gut shot straight in November.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@TaMara (HFG):
Now, if she just endorses Biden, I can go have a cigarette.
ByRookorbyCrook
There is energy in the Dem community to get this done. With the dropout of all the non OWG candidates ,save SPW, I keep witnessing a new acknowledgement that he President doesn’t need to be anything other than a name next to the D on the ballot. It is quite a shift for us, but the Rethugs have been operating this way since at least GWB. Legislation that passes into law is a lot more resilient than Executive orders. Congress has ceded too much of our power to the Executive. We can come together and create a more perfect union with the House and Senate, because the likely nominee, either flavor Maudlin OWG or Shouty OWG are not going to drive any policy we want, either due to malaise or ego.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
The DJIA is taking another shit today, undoubtedly reacting to the Idiot-in-Chief’s musings on the coronavirus.
What are the odds that he vetoes a compromise bipartisan package on COVID-19 preparedness?
Another Scott
TheHill –
And Uncle Joe was dead man walking less than a week ago… ;-)
I think we’ll take the White House and flip the Senate by a big margin. People are angry and aren’t going to just sit home and let things continue as they are. It’s going to be a big wave, and smart politicians better get on board.
At least it can be, if we do the work. Eyes on the prizes.
Cheers,
Scott.
sdhays
@AM in NC: This fits with recent polls putting Lindsey’s Democratic opponent within the margin of error with large numbers of undecideds. With the surge in Democratic turnout, it’s not impossible that Dump’s sock puppet could lose his seat too. I wouldn’t bet on it, but Lindsey should be sweating a bit.
japa21
Bloomberg drops out and endorses Biden. Probably 90% of his supporters will go Biden and the rest nowhere. Warren drops out and even if it is 60/40 for Bernie (best estimate for Bernie) he still loses big time.
Another Scott
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: The traders must love, love, love these wild swings. I don’t pay much attention to them, myself. The DJIA isn’t the economy.
YMMV.
Cheers,
Scott.
PenAndKey
So it’s now officially Biden v Sanders. Disappointing, but not surprising. I’ll be curious to see how Warren plays this, but I guess I know where my vote’s going when WI finally gets around to our primary.
Another Scott
@PenAndKey: TULSI 2020
!!!1
Cheers,
Scott.
The Thin Black Duke
@Avalune: I like this cafe very much: http://www.sweetlifelowermills.com/
David Anderson
@Another Scott:
BAUD 2020
Avalune
@The Thin Black Duke: MMm they do brunch and a nice variety of eggs bene! All aboard!
Avalune
@Crashman06: Not much on sea snots but the walk sounds nice and they prob have some other foods worth looking into. Thank you!
PenAndKey
@David Anderson: Well, he does have the catchiest bumper stickers.
Crashman06
@Avalune: Enjoy yourselves; it’s a really fun city. Came up here 15 years ago for what I thought would be a short stint and never left.
I also think it’s worth crossing to the north side of the river and visiting Harvard.
Duke of Clay
@Lofgren: Old guy here — 72 this month. I’m not offended, and I’m disappointed that it has come down to two old guys. I was really hoping our nominee would be in their forties or fifties.
Geminid
I think Raphael Warnock will be a strong candidate in the Georgia race for Johnny Isaacson’s Senate seat. I read that Stacey Abrams helped persuade him to run, and I’m sure she will work hard to elect him. Good preparation for her 2022 grudge rematch with Brian Kemp, the asshole who in 2018 cheated cheated her out of the Georgia governorship with voters suppression. The Republicans face a divisive race between Kelly Loeffler and the idiotic Doug Collins. Under current rules the will be a jungle primary on November and a runoff a month or so later
Anonymous at Work
I thought I saw confirmation that Bullock
out aside his egodecided to run for a third term in statewide office.randy khan
@dmsilev: Big second for the Peabody Essex.
chopper
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
you mean the “corona flu”, right?