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An old stats colleague of mine who does political polling consulting (yes, i give him lots of friendly grief about that, but it does keep his refrigerator full), likes to point out how obviously biased, (“almost push polling”) the poll efforts are on social media. These are often discounted, waved aside, by saying they aren’t serious polls, “they’re just for fun” etc, but to his horror they do often get sucked into “serious” aggregator reports. So he sent me the current poll on TMZ* (yes, that’s a nicely ‘superficial’ site, but it’s very popular). And there’s at least two items worth gritting teeth over; as in classical “push polling” (e.g. no sane options given) form:
The ones to note are “Harris woulda [sic] Won IF” and “Democrats Will Learn From Their Loss”, setups which permit no sensible choices and clearly imply that Democrats have (much) to learn, whereas republicans clearly don’t? -sigh- (and no, i don’t know if one should be on Martha Stewart’s “side” or her ex’s)
*if you go and place your vote you can view the numbers the vox populi are selecting among dubious options
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- We have to fight every fight in Congress. We won’t always win, but we can slow or sometimes limit Trump’s destruction. With every fight, we can build political power to put more checks on his administration and build the foundation for future wins.
The rest of Warren's strategy pep talk
During the Trump years, Congress stepped up its oversight of his unprecedented corruption and abuses of power.
In the Senate, Democrats gave no quarter to radical Trump nominees; we asked tough questions and held the Senate floor for hours to slow down confirmation and expose Republican extremism.
These tactics doomed some nominations entirely, laid the groundwork for other cabinet officials to later resign in disgrace, and brought scrutiny that somewhat constrained Trump’s efforts.
Remember the GOP’s attempts to repeal the ACA? Dems did not have the votes to stop them. Nevertheless, patients kept up a relentless rotation of meetings in Congress, activists in wheelchairs performed civil disobedience, and lawmakers used every tactic possible. The GOP lost.
Democrats should also acknowledge that seeking a middle ground with a man who calls immigrants “animals” and says he will “protect” women “whether the women like it or not” is unlikely to land in a good place.
Uniting against Trump’s legislative agenda is good politics because it is good policy. Democratic opposition to Trump’s tax bill drove Trump’s approval ratings to what was then the lowest levels of his administration, helping spark one of the largest blue waves in recent history.
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We must fight Trump in the courts. Yes, extremist courts, including a Supreme Court stocked with MAGA loyalists, are poised to rubber-stamp Trump’s lawlessness. But litigation can slow Trump down, give us time to prepare and help the vulnerable, and deliver some victories.
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I understand my assignment in the Senate, and we must focus on what each of us can do. Whether it’s running for office, supporting a neighbor’s campaign, or getting involved in an organization taking action, we all have to continue to make investments in our democracy.
Our work must include states that are passed over as “too red.” The political position we’re in is not permanent, and we have the power to make change if we fight for it.
- While still in charge of the Senate and the White House, we must work with urgency and do all we can to safeguard our democracy.
To resist Trump’s threats to abuse state power against what he calls “the enemy within,” Pentagon leaders should issue a directive now reiterating that the military’s oath is to the Constitution.
And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must use every minute of the end-of-year legislative session to confirm federal judges and key regulators—none of whom can be removed by the next President.
To those feeling despair: remember, every step toward progress in American history came after the darkness of defeat. Abolitionists, suffragettes, Dreamers, and marchers for civil rights and marriage equality all faced impossible odds, but they persisted. Now it is our turn.
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Am I misremembering? I thought Harris did do Rogan’s podcast.
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i believe there was a ‘last minute’ “it’s not going to happen” because the Harris camp stipulated some changes in the infamous Rogan setup… maybe.
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T**** has hit his number from 2020, and we can expect about 1-2 million more votes for him from California and Arizona combined. Harris is still 11M votes short of Biden’s 2020 numbers, and there’s less 3rd party voting than in 2020. Maybe 3 million more votes expected for her.
Something is seriously wrong with these numbers.
I keep going back to what T**** said in one of his later rallies:
“We gotta get the congressmen elected and we gotta get the senators elected because we can take the Senate pretty easily, and I think with our little secret we’re going to do really well with the House, right?” Trump said while looking at Johnson. “Our little secret is having a big impact.”
“He and I have a secret,” Trump added. “We’ll tell you what it is when the race is over.”
Sure, it could be typical T**** blathering, but it almost seemed like he was having a senior moment and nearly revealing something he wasn’t supposed to.
With Thiel and Musk so much more hands-on this election, it makes me think they cooked up something in exchange for putting (T****-hating) Vance on the ticket.
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I don’t think if there was chicanery, but if there is, there has got to be evidence of it… we’ve talked about some anecdotes here, but if there was a bigger plot, there is no way to hide that in the long term. Actual conspiracies tend to come out over time. It’s why we know about Watergate, for example and why we know that Fred Hampton was targeted for assassination, etc… If that will help us, I don’t know.
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Considering what they did before, I feel absolutely certain there was chicanery. I don’t know that it was successful enough to turn the election however.
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No idea… I just believe that if there was, it will come out, no matter how they try to squash it. But at this point, it’s speculation. We do know that there was a spike in registrations to vote after Harris entered the race, record numbers, and that doesn’t seem to square with the number of votes… So… I don’t know.
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Yeah, and eventually more info came out about the Brooks Brothers riots, who funded/supported it, and that Gore should have won, as I recall.
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i’d like there to be a revealed plot. Consequently, i really appreciate your updated reports - please keep posting on them! and there were guidelines i admit first hearing on a Colombo episode (about a thousand years ago) about “motive, opportunity and means” which really suggests that something could be up. Yet my infernal sense of “too many separate systems to hack” plus “they aren’t particularly cunning” plus it wasn’t just the ‘swing states’ plus my natural pessimism, tells me it’s …unlikely; and probably the @#$!er won.
Here’s one gormless thought process, we’ve had three ‘experimental trials’ involving the orange blob. The first against a very good alternative, who is a woman: he won(-ish). The second against an very good alternative man: the blob lost. The third against a very very good alternative, who is a woman: he (likely) won. …notice the depressing pattern? (don’t get too many clear trials in the political world) @#$!
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Very true… I guess that’s the thing about conspiracies, that the real ones are hard to keep a lid on, while the fake ones never have facts behind it, because… of course, they’re fake. The best they can do is make up fake “evidence” that just doesn’t withstand scrutiny.
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Neo-Nazi Pulls Off Surprise Victory In Long-Held KKK District | Onion News Network
This video has nailed it.
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I’m happy about having Ilhan Omar continue to represent us in Congress, with 75% of the vote this time.
I especially like her because I think she supports vulnerable people all over, not just us here in Minnesota’s 5th District.
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I’ll never forget how quickly he conceded. Now Harris (and Biden) have done thr same thing. At least wait until all the votes are counted! Neoliberal Dems are fucking whimps.
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As a west-coaster, i always thought “ok so it won’t apparently change the outcome, but how about a little patience as a nod to the (true blue) citizens still counting off west?”
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