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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Stamina! (And Tactical Thinking)

Stamina! (And Tactical Thinking)

by Tom Levenson|  November 4, 201610:11 am| 285 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Hail to the Hairpiece, Hillary Clinton 2016, I Can No Longer Rationally Discuss The Clinton Campaign

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I’ve reached the point where my sleep patterns and the kindness I’m able to show my family both demand that I step away from the election noise machine — staying off Twitter as near totally as possible, for example — but I haven’t yet given up one habit: checking the official campaign schedule pages for both Trump and Clinton.

At this stage of the race, the only absolutely equal resource the two sides have is time, and without having any deep insight into how professionals think about deploying their stock of hours and minutes, I still find it interesting to see what each side is doing.  Right now, there’s quite a contrast.

The Republican ticket lists only its two principals’ travels.  On a quick glance Donald Trump and Mike Pence have eighteen events on their docket between now and Monday evening.  That’s deceptive, however, as the schedule includes two events at which both appear.   So that’s sixteen headlined campaign rallies over the next four days.*

william_hogarth_032

The Clinton/Kaine campaign is doing it differently.  Hillary’s campaign lists not just the ticket’s events, but those of her top surrogates.  Including those gives Clinton/Kaine sixteen events just today.  Two by the candidate (compared to four Trump rallies today, btw), one Kaine-led farrago — to which add appearances by Obama, Biden, Bernie Sanders, Bill C., Chelsea C., and a Cleveland, OH concert headlined by Jay Z. (Props to Bernie, doing four events today, three in IA and one in Nebraska, and then  two more tomorrow, in IA and CO.  Not leaving it on the table is our Senator from VT.)  Twelve tomorrow, without POTUS and Bill, but adding Katy Perry, Stevie Wonder and Jon Bon Jovi appearing in two concerts in PA (Perry and Wonder) and FL (Bon Jovi).  Sunday and Monday see fewer events, but with similar star power — Obama back on the trail, with Michelle joining him and Clinton, Bill and Chelsea for an election-eve rally in Philadelphia.

In all, and not counting some Cher-led fundraisers, the Democratic campaign has thirty eight events between now and election day.

In terms of geography, the two campaigns basically agree on what’s left to fight about.  Both show up in all the usual suspects: FL, NC, OH, PA, MI, IA, CO, and NH.  Trump, somewhat oddly, heads to NV for the rally that is half his Saturday schedule. (Odd, because early voting ends today in NV, so he’s missing a chance to give a boost to that  process, which will finish with half, perhaps as much of 70% of all ballots cast.)

Clinton, Kaine and their surrogates will skip Nevada but add stops in  Nebraska’s one gettable electoral vote (with a Sanders visit), in Colorado on (four rallies on two different days — three led by Bill Clinton, one by Sanders), and one Joe Biden visit to Wisconsin.

So there you have it:  broad agreement on where this election will be settled (if it isn’t already), and very different deployment of publicly visible resources to fight those battles.  None of this speaks to the ground game or any of the secret sauce which we believe (and I deeply hope) favors the more organized and technically skilled Democratic operation.

Make of it what you will.  For me, this kind of thing helps me detox from election madness. YMMV.  The effect won’t last that long, but I’ll get myself some help by heading to NH to GOTV on Sunday, and probably again on election day.

Open thread!

*An bit of strangeness:  while Trump is indeed making good on his promise to fill a heavy campaign schedule, Pence only has three solo appearances slated.  I’m not sure what that means, if anything — could be Trump doesn’t see the point of spending money on his number two; could be that Pence is dialing it back; could be what the goat’s entrails told someone.

Image:  William Hogarth, Canvassing for Votes, from the Humours of an Election series, 1754-55.

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285Comments

  1. 1.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 4, 2016 at 10:17 am

    Unemployment rate ticks down. Thanks Obama!!
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/04/u-s-economy-added-161000-jobs-in-october-as-unemployment-rate-dipped-to-4-9-percent/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_jobs-835a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

  2. 2.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 10:18 am

    I’m not sure what that means, if anything — could be Trump doesn’t see the point of spending money on his number two; could be that Pence is dialing it back; could be what the goat’s entrails told someone.

    All of them Katie.
    I think Trump knows he is the big draw, they are voting for him, and he wants to save as much money as he can for future expenditures on Trump enterprises, and his sore loser tour.

  3. 3.

    Kylroy

    November 4, 2016 at 10:19 am

    The $64,000 question on election day is “How much will Trump’s near-total absence of a ground game hurt his turnout?” We don’t have any idea, because no other candidate has so wholly neglected the unglamorous door-knocking portion of campaigning since…the 19th century, or possibly ever.

  4. 4.

    David Fud

    November 4, 2016 at 10:21 am

    @Patricia Kayden: Looking forward to the day that we can say THANKS HILLARY! Or, THANKS CLINTON! The waiting will be over soon. We will be shoveling the excrement out of the American barn for some time to come. Let it start sooner than later.

  5. 5.

    NotMax

    November 4, 2016 at 10:22 am

    Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy weekend.

  6. 6.

    Mike in NC

    November 4, 2016 at 10:23 am

    I don’t think anybody could be in the same room with the likes of Pence for 5 minutes and remain awake.

  7. 7.

    RSR

    November 4, 2016 at 10:25 am

    That ‘Avengers assemble’ event here in Philly on Monday evening has a lot of people wondering if PA is more in play than polls indicate. But an answer I’ve seen a few times, and one with which I concur, is that there is no early voting here in PA and even absentee ballots are somewhat difficult to obtain. It’s all about Tuesday’s GOTV, and saturating the Philadelphia media market is crucial.

  8. 8.

    Eural Joiner

    November 4, 2016 at 10:26 am

    Just interesting anecdotal aside – everyone I’ve talked to/work with has already voted early which is way more than I remember from last time around. Be interesting to see the national numbers when it’s all said and done.

  9. 9.

    artem1s

    November 4, 2016 at 10:30 am

    I hadn’t heard anything about Nebraska being in play. I assuming its because of the split ECV? That would be a YOOGE coup for the Dems if they can demonstrate competitiveness in a district in a deeply red state. I predict the GOP’s next gerrymandering move is going to be getting more states to split their EC like Maine and Nebraska. The Golden Ticket would be to split up CA so that mass of ECVs don’t go directly to the Dems every year. If they see that would put a raft of ‘safe’ states in play, they may decide that is not a good strategy going forward.

  10. 10.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 4, 2016 at 10:31 am

    More good news. Steven Seagal belongs to Russia now. Thanks Obama!

  11. 11.

    Lee

    November 4, 2016 at 10:32 am

    Does Donald have any ‘top’ surrogates that warrant mentioning?

    @Eural Joiner: Same here at work. Every single person here at work voted early. Most (if not all) voted for Hillary. One hard core R couldn’t do it the first time he went to the polling place so he went a second time (why yes he is a big WATB).

  12. 12.

    Latino J

    November 4, 2016 at 10:32 am

    A few things keep me sane.
    1. Obama’s favorabilty rating. Since the GOP primaries, he’s lived at over 50%.
    2. The national trend line. Hill trailed for a few days during the RNC but never at any other time.
    3. My people don’t answer calls from phone numbers we don’t recognize. ?
    4. Univision is covering a completely different campaign than the one on English language TV.

  13. 13.

    Juju

    November 4, 2016 at 10:33 am

    I went to the Hillary event yesterday in Winterville NC. Hillary was great and didn’t seem tired at all. She then went to Raliegh. She didn’t seem to lack stamina to me, but I wish she had stayed just a bit longer. She left just as I was getting close enough to have her sign a picture of her holding my niece taken when she ran for her first term in the senate. My niece is now in her second year in college. It would have been nice. I hope I get another chance for an autograph on that picture.

  14. 14.

    PaminBB

    November 4, 2016 at 10:33 am

    @RSR: Yes to Philadelphia being key, and we are in the midst of a transit strike that could persist into next week. So people will need to be highly motivated to get to the polls despite possible obstacles.

  15. 15.

    divF

    November 4, 2016 at 10:33 am

    @artem1s: The GOP strategy is to try to get unilateral disarmament – district-by-district in California, but not in Texas. Not gonna happen, though.

  16. 16.

    Latino J

    November 4, 2016 at 10:33 am

    4. Univision is covering a completely different campaign than the one on English language TV.

  17. 17.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 10:33 am

    @RSR:

    It’s all about Tuesday’s GOTV, and saturating the Philadelphia media market is crucial.

    In 2012 the Philly vote was aprox 600k for Obama, 98k for Romney, Obama won the state by something like 280k, Obama got 2,907,448 M. Romney got 2,619,583.
    And I believe Obama also held a big GOTV rally the day before. If they drive up the turnout in Philly Trump can’t win period. Ed Rendell said basically if gets close to a 500k lead out of Philly she’s won the state.

  18. 18.

    Jeffro

    November 4, 2016 at 10:35 am

    @Eural Joiner:

    Just interesting anecdotal aside – everyone I’ve talked to/work with has already voted early which is way more than I remember from last time around. Be interesting to see the national numbers when it’s all said and done.

    That’s a great point and I’d like to see those numbers too. It looks like as of today, over 30M early votes have already been cast. Wow.

  19. 19.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 10:36 am

    @artem1s:
    Nebraska like Maine splits up their EV votes by district, Hillary is trying for the Omaha EV, which Obama won in 2008.

    ETA: I believe they tried or considered trying to eliminate the by district allocation in NE, but there was an outcry. The allocation is determined by the states, so the GOP would need to take the legislature

  20. 20.

    Tom Levenson

    November 4, 2016 at 10:36 am

    Anyone got any insight on NH? Two late polls showing a once secure race tied. Any sense of whether that’s polling noise or signs of a very white state flowing towards the racist candidate? Seems unlikely to me — but I’ve only GOTV’d in the southern tier of the state, which ain’t like what you get as you go every mile further north.

  21. 21.

    Starfish

    November 4, 2016 at 10:37 am

    I kept looking at your Twitter and wondering why you were expending so much energy on people who were dumb.

  22. 22.

    GrandJury

    November 4, 2016 at 10:37 am

    @Kylroy: The grass roots ground game works. That’s why they do it. That’s what arguably gave Obama a landslide in 2012 when the polls up until a week before showed it to be a closer race.

    I’m kind of surprised Republicans haven’t tried to suppress it.

  23. 23.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 10:38 am

    @Kylroy: Sam Wang thinks it won’t matter, that it’s already reflected by pollsters’ likely voter calculations. It is, after all, their job to be accurate about such things. But we shall see.

    ETA: what it might very well do is create a disconnect between Election Day polling and final results due to early voting. If the early NV votes were banked during a more pro-Hillary time then they would be more pro Hillary. If the campaign is doing its job then they’re only getting supporters to the polls anyway though.

  24. 24.

    catclub

    November 4, 2016 at 10:39 am

    @hovercraft: So what is up with the SEPTA strike and tuesday voting?

  25. 25.

    Hal

    November 4, 2016 at 10:39 am

    @RSR:

    Pretty much.

    Steve Singiser – ‏@stevesingiser

    Legit stunned how many REALLY SMART political reporters don’t see how many of HRC’s late stops are in places with little/no early voting.
    6:31 PM – 3 Nov 2016 from El Segundo, CA

  26. 26.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 10:40 am

    I agree, it’s Ryan’s best play. He can organize intellectual opposition to Clinton admin from outside, run in 2020.

    Guffaw.

  27. 27.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 10:41 am

    @Hal:

    REALLY SMART political reporters

    Ah, there’s their problem.

  28. 28.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    November 4, 2016 at 10:42 am

    Those missing white voters for Trump aren’t just missing – they don’t exist.

  29. 29.

    catclub

    November 4, 2016 at 10:42 am

    @hovercraft: I am still a little surprised that more states that lean or are GOP in their state gov, but Democratic for President, did not convert to Congressional district electors.
    This could have been: VA, PA, MI, WI, FL, OH, IA(?). I wonder what the calculus was to not do that.

  30. 30.

    raven

    November 4, 2016 at 10:43 am

    WGN is showing wall-to-wall CUBBIES PARADE!!!

  31. 31.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 10:43 am

    @catclub:
    I have no idea, how or if it will affect the election.

  32. 32.

    catclub

    November 4, 2016 at 10:44 am

    @Kay: Yeah, right.
    Intellectual opposition, but all the people doing it wearing Red Dawn costumes.

  33. 33.

    Percysowner

    November 4, 2016 at 10:45 am

    If she wins, I suspect @David Fud:

    Looking forward to the day that we can say THANKS HILLARY! Or, THANKS CLINTON!

    I think it will be Hillary, or HRC. We ended up talking about George W or Bush 42 to distinguish him from his father. I’m hoping that we will be forced to think of a way to keep an HRC presidency separate from Bill’s, but until we win, I’m not counting my chickens.

  34. 34.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 10:45 am

    @Kay: If the media treated Ryan the way they treat Hillary, you would have 24×7 coverage of marathonghazi.

  35. 35.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 10:46 am

    @raven: MLB network as well.

  36. 36.

    catclub

    November 4, 2016 at 10:46 am

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    Perhaps most surprising, the missing white voters who skipped the 2012 election have turned out to be far less supportive of Mr. Trump than those who voted in 2012.

    From the article. But not surprising at all. Trump supporters are hard core GOP voters.

  37. 37.

    Juice Box

    November 4, 2016 at 10:46 am

    @Latino J: I’ve switched to Univision because even MSNBC is too repellant.

  38. 38.

    catclub

    November 4, 2016 at 10:47 am

    @Percysowner: And HRC has a nice Human Rights Campaign association.

  39. 39.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 10:48 am

    @Kay:
    It’s like how the people on my TV keep telling me Kellyanne is a great pollster who knows her shit and is a great person. Great people do not try to foist monsters onto the world, and smart people do not need to lie incessantly to get through a conversation. Okay maybe you need to be smart enough to keep track of you and your candidates lies.

  40. 40.

    Mom Says I'm Handsome

    November 4, 2016 at 10:49 am

    Tom, thanks for using principals correctly. i admire that proper grammar is one of your guiding principles.

  41. 41.

    catclub

    November 4, 2016 at 10:51 am

    @Jeffro:

    over 30M early votes have already been cast. Wow.

    I think there is a secular trend of increasing early voting, so comparisons with previous years always make the present seem to be record breaking.
    For instance, Louisiana. OTOH: Mississippi Sec. of State thinks turnout will be low. There is effectively no early voting allowed in MS.

  42. 42.

    catclub

    November 4, 2016 at 10:55 am

    @hovercraft:

    and smart people do not need to lie incessantly to get through a conversation.

    I was just reading somewhere that smart people are much more creative in explaining (either to others or to themselves)
    why they did something stupid. This is why they can be MORE persistent in doing stupid things. Cognitive dissonance is not just a river in Egypt.
    Or a dyslexic mountain in Alsaka.

  43. 43.

    Quinerly

    November 4, 2016 at 10:56 am

    @Juju:
    I so loved hearing about the Winterville event. I’m originally from Grifton, NC and my mother grew up in nearby Ayden. She died suddenly a little over a year at age 92. She was so looking forward to voting for Hillary and I know for sure had she been alive she would have been in Winterville yesterday cheering our gal on. A big thrill for both my parents was in 1992 when they both met Bill when he was at a rally in nearby Kinston, NC. Just the other day I found the flyer that my mother had saved from that rally. ❤ Of course, I, too, have saved it.

  44. 44.

    Latino J

    November 4, 2016 at 10:57 am

    @Tom Levenson:

    Nate Silver has smaller poll from Ipsos during the same time period that gives HRC a 6 point lead. The Survey Monkey poll from that time period on his site has her up by 10. A pulse opinion research poll during those days has her up by 1.

    That ARG poll that had him up by 5 really changed the narrative. It isn’t fair to exclude one outlier, so here are all the polls during Comey letter gate…

    Trump +5
    Trump +1
    Tie
    Tie
    HRC +1
    HRC + 6
    HRC + 10

    The caveat being that the polls showing Clinton way up are part of huge polls by Ipsos and Survey Monkey.

  45. 45.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 4, 2016 at 10:57 am

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: Wow. Who knew that a completely bizarre bigoted campaign couldn’t flush out all of the White non-voters? What a surprise.

  46. 46.

    raven

    November 4, 2016 at 10:57 am

    @Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: The WGN coverage is awful!!! Go Cubbies!

  47. 47.

    JMG

    November 4, 2016 at 10:57 am

    Massachusetts is always a high turnout (relatively) state, and has early voting for the first time this year. Over 700,000 have used it, almost 25 percent, so far (today’s the last day). I did. If I get hit by a bus today, my vote’s counting, damn it.

  48. 48.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    November 4, 2016 at 10:59 am

    @catclub: Many stories of people walking miles to work. I imagine if people are motivated they’ll walk the (hopefully shorter) distances to the polls.

  49. 49.

    Mary G

    November 4, 2016 at 10:59 am

    I saw somewhere that Beyonce is going to join Jay-Z in Cleveland. I read the comments in People Magazine about her number with the Dixie Chicks at the country music awards and the racism and vitriol against her were appalling. WND or Freeper appalling. I hope she’s going to use that to goose the African-American vote.

  50. 50.

    Tom Levenson

    November 4, 2016 at 11:00 am

    @Latino J: Thanks. Will def. be going up for GOTV at least twice. I think my last visit moved one vote from Stein to Clinton. Every one counts…

  51. 51.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 4, 2016 at 11:01 am

    @hovercraft: How is Ms. Conway a “great person”? Every time I see her, she’s lying for Trump. If she was a great person, she wouldn’t have agreed to stump for someone who is so patently unfit to be President for so many different reasons.

  52. 52.

    Chris

    November 4, 2016 at 11:01 am

    @Patricia Kayden:

    More good news. Steven Seagal belongs to Russia now. Thanks Obama!

    He can join Gérard Depardieu. That fucking asshole.

  53. 53.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 11:01 am

    @Latino J: so it’s roughly tied. Still not a great place to be, but NH is not indicative of a broader trend.

  54. 54.

    Tom Levenson

    November 4, 2016 at 11:02 am

    @JMG: Yeah. My spouse and I voted on Tuesday. It felt kind of an anti-climax if I’m being honest. Probably will vote on election day going forward, but that’s easy for me to say, as my precinct votes in the nearby elementary school, and there are, even with heavy turnout elections, never any serious lines. (Max wait I’ve experienced is maybe ten minutes. Probably not even.)

  55. 55.

    Lounger

    November 4, 2016 at 11:04 am

    @catclub:Totally doubt that timing of strike is coincidental. On the one hand public employee unions tend to support the Democratic party, on the other hand they know they have more leverage over Democratic administrations. My son’s girlfriend is a police dispatcher in Philly, her union squeezed a substantial bonus out of the city by threatening to strike just before the DNC. Would really suck if low turnout in Philly costs us a Senate seat.

  56. 56.

    Chris

    November 4, 2016 at 11:04 am

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    Those missing white voters for Trump aren’t just missing – they don’t exist.

    Of course not. The kind of white people who turn out for Trump are exactly the same ones who’ve been turning out for Republicans for fifty years.

    They keep thinking that there are somehow more stashes of silent majority white conservative voters out there and that unlocking them will power them to yet more 1972/1984 type victories. It still hasn’t sunk in that after fifty years of this shit, all the racist white votes that can be harvested have already been harvested, and you need something new.

  57. 57.

    Calouste

    November 4, 2016 at 11:04 am

    Just some more proof that Trump voters are suckers:

    Over the past year, the Macedonian town of Veles (population 45,000) has experienced a digital gold rush as locals launched at least 140 US politics websites. These sites have American-sounding domain names such as WorldPoliticus.com, TrumpVision365.com, USConservativeToday.com, DonaldTrumpNews.co, and USADailyPolitics.com. They almost all publish aggressively pro-Trump content aimed at conservatives and Trump supporters in the US.

    The young Macedonians who run these sites say they don’t care about Donald Trump. They are responding to straightforward economic incentives: As Facebook regularly reveals in earnings reports, a US Facebook user is worth about four times a user outside the US. The fraction-of-a-penny-per-click of US display advertising — a declining market for American publishers — goes a long way in Veles. Several teens and young men who run these sites told BuzzFeed News that they learned the best way to generate traffic is to get their politics stories to spread on Facebook — and the best way to generate shares on Facebook is to publish sensationalist and often false content that caters to Trump supporters.

    Earlier in the year, some in Veles experimented with left-leaning or pro–Bernie Sanders content, but nothing performed as well on Facebook as Trump content.

  58. 58.

    Latino J

    November 4, 2016 at 11:05 am

    @hovercraft:

    People act as if Kellyanne was a defense lawyer and she was just fulfilling Trump’s constitutional right to be a POS candidate, Ultimately, it is the consulting/press class self preservation rationalization machine.

  59. 59.

    Fair Economist

    November 4, 2016 at 11:05 am

    @RSR:

    That ‘Avengers assemble’ event here in Philly on Monday evening has a lot of people wondering if PA is more in play than polls indicate.

    PA has a lot of Republican-leaning swing House seats – 5 by the usual standards, plus one more that could get picked up in a big wave.

    Edit: oh, and a critical Senate seat which is absolutely in play

  60. 60.

    Fair Economist

    November 4, 2016 at 11:07 am

    @Calouste:

    Just some more proof that Trump voters are suckers:

    The young Macedonians who run these sites say they don’t care about Donald Trump. They are responding to straightforward economic incentives

    I find that concerning because if there are financial incentives to the bullshit we’re going to continue to get swamped by it.

  61. 61.

    Elmo

    November 4, 2016 at 11:08 am

    As it happens, I am going to be in Cleveland on business next week. All week. (I will early vote in my home state of Maryland before I leave, don’t worry.) *NOT* looking forward to it.

  62. 62.

    Chris

    November 4, 2016 at 11:08 am

    @Percysowner:

    I think it will be Hillary, or HRC. We ended up talking about George W or Bush 42 to distinguish him from his father. I’m hoping that we will be forced to think of a way to keep an HRC presidency separate from Bill’s, but until we win, I’m not counting my chickens.

    I read a hilarious critique of the movie “Three Kings” on IMDb a few years back, where a professional right winger said the movie was despicably liberally biased, because the movie was constantly slamming “Bush,” but the movie is set in 1991 the stupid liberals are too stupid to realize Bush wasn’t even president until 2000! He thought this was a horrifying case of Bush Derangement Syndrome.

  63. 63.

    Jeffro

    November 4, 2016 at 11:09 am

    @RSR:

    That ‘Avengers assemble’ event here in Philly on Monday evening has a lot of people wondering if PA is more in play than polls indicate.

    Would be nice if Thor or Vision could bop down here to NoVA and smite Barbara Comstock right out of her House seat. Ugh, every time I see here grinning face on TV pretending to be a lovely, moderate person it drives me nuts.

  64. 64.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 11:09 am

    @Lounger: or, you know, the presidency.

  65. 65.

    Enhanced Voting Techinques

    November 4, 2016 at 11:10 am

    I was glancing at the Russia Today video on Assange and the comments were amusing – so many obvious paid Russian Trolls, or something. They certainly weren’t Americans in the comment section – their English was way to good, they were denouncing “government corruption”, not Hillary as corrupt and didn’t get no self respecting American cares what a foreigner thinks. If that’s how out of touch the Russian Intelligence Service really is then I don’t think we have much to worry about with the election being hacked but this does beg the question – does Putin stand in front of a mirror an practice saying “Fools, I will crush you all”? I expect Putin to be petting a cat in proper Bond villain style soon.

    On the other hand one does wonder what kind of tantrum Moscow will have after the election…

  66. 66.

    Latino J

    November 4, 2016 at 11:11 am

    Rasmussen went from +3 Trump yesterday to tied today.
    Comey letter enthusiasm suppression keeps righting itself.
    ?

    Lord knows what’s going to drop this afternoon?

  67. 67.

    Lounger

    November 4, 2016 at 11:11 am

    @Elmo: Hate to tell you this, but I live in MD too and was going to early vote this morning only to find out it ended yesterday :-(. At least none of the statewide elections here will be even close to close.

  68. 68.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 11:16 am

    @catclub:
    Back in 2013 several of them wanted to switch to congressional disrtict allocation, with the backing of Rinse and the RNC, Virginia was the first to try, before shelving the plan.
    Republicans in Virginia, other states seeking electoral college changes
    When they lose next week, I would not be shocked to see them revive the efforts. I think maybe they decided to ‘rig’ the election through voter ID laws for 2016, if that doesn’t work they’ll go to plan B, changing how electoral votes are allocated.

  69. 69.

    Chris

    November 4, 2016 at 11:16 am

    @Lounger:

    I’m worse than you: as a canvasser and caller I’ve been telling people for weeks what the dates for early voting are… and yet only realized yesterday evening that, oh, right, crap.

    Ah, well. 7 in the morning on Tuesday it is.

  70. 70.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 11:16 am

    @Fair Economist: I don’t know if anybody’s demonstrated it does anything other than sucker idiots out of their money.

    @Latino J: yes! This is what it feels like! Thanks for the analogy.

  71. 71.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 11:20 am

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:
    It’s shocking isn’t it how people who don’t vote, don’t vote. And parties that are dependent on older white voters, have a constituency that is slowly dying off, and the younger people replacing those voters have different attitudes and priorities than them. It’s almost like you need to adapt to a changing environment or something. Oh dear I forgot, these are people who do not believe in evolution.
    SAD!

  72. 72.

    Jeffro

    November 4, 2016 at 11:21 am

    @hovercraft:

    When they lose next week, I would not be shocked to see them revive the efforts. I think maybe they decided to ‘rig’ the election through voter ID laws for 2016, if that doesn’t work they’ll go to plan B, changing how electoral votes are allocated.

    I agree. It’ll be more important than ever that Dems work on GOTV in midterms and off-year elections. We’ve got to win these statehouses back or the GOP will use them to change EV allocations (but only in blue states, of course).

  73. 73.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 11:21 am

    @JMG:
    Why must democrats always rely on dead people to get them over the top?

  74. 74.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 11:23 am

    @Mary G:
    Someone said that her performance at the CMA’s was taken offline because of the racist vitriol it was attracting.

  75. 75.

    Larkspur

    November 4, 2016 at 11:23 am

    @Quinerly: Oh, I lost a friend earlier this year, a man named Ted who was 92, lived a full and happy life, and died at home after a short final illness, with his wife and their dog beside him. He was an enthusiastic Obama supporter and was planning to vote for Hillary, too.

    After his wife did some furniture re-arranging to turn the study into a guest bedroom, she gave me his fine leather chair, and I’m sitting in the Ted chair now, thinking about him and how I’m going to vote on Tuesday. (I know early voting is good, but I like to go to my precinct and also it took me a while to get through the California ballot.)

    I’m a non-theist, but I still kind of hope that your mom and my friend Ted are chatting up in the great sky place somewhere.

  76. 76.

    Amir Khalid

    November 4, 2016 at 11:26 am

    @Percysowner:
    Ahem. Bill Clinton is POTUS #42. George Herbert Walker Bush is Bush 41, George Walker is Bush 43. That said, I don’t think people will be referring to Hillary as Clinton 45; Bill will be Bill, and Hillary will be Hillary. HRC only if someone is running out of space for their headline.

  77. 77.

    WaterGirl

    November 4, 2016 at 11:26 am

    @Mary G: I saw something about that earlier, but I don’t know how to make sense of the negative response. Maybe it’s because I don’t particularly follow the music scene. Do you understand what’s going on with that?

  78. 78.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 11:28 am

    @hovercraft: truthy, but not true

    ETA: @WaterGirl: for you too

  79. 79.

    p.a.

    November 4, 2016 at 11:28 am

    One more in the bank for Hilz, not that there’s any worry here in the ‘biggest little’.

  80. 80.

    Calouste

    November 4, 2016 at 11:28 am

    @Fair Economist: What’s happening there in Macedonia is just a cottage industry compared to what’s happening in evangelical churches every day of the week (and twice on Sundays).

  81. 81.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 4, 2016 at 11:29 am

    @WaterGirl: I didn’t follow the story either but I presume it’s residual resentment from the BlackLivesMatter-ish Super Bowl performance crossed with WHY DO ENTERTAINERS POLITICIZE EVERYTHING JUST SHUT UP AND SING

  82. 82.

    jacy

    November 4, 2016 at 11:29 am

    @Jeffro:

    Early voting was over this week in Louisiana — they reported a 44% increase in early voting over 2012, with over a half a million votes. Not that it makes a difference in this very red state, but the parish containing Baton Rouge went for Obama twice.

  83. 83.

    JMG

    November 4, 2016 at 11:31 am

    @Mary G: It’d be awesome if the Dixie Chicks went up on stage with her.

  84. 84.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 11:32 am

    Seth Myers takes a Closer Look at the coming GOP obstruction.

  85. 85.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 4, 2016 at 11:32 am

    @Latino J: If you’d like to, please write up exactly how Univision’s coverage is different and send it to me using the contact info for front pagers over at the top right and I’ll put it up as a guest post.

  86. 86.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    November 4, 2016 at 11:34 am

    ABC7NY NewsDesk
    ‏@ABC7NYNewsDesk
    #BREAKING: Baroni & Kelly GUILTY on ALL counts in #Bridgegate.

    lol.

  87. 87.

    WaterGirl

    November 4, 2016 at 11:34 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Thanks. I guess it’s time for my daily “What the fuck is wrong with these people?”

  88. 88.

    Calouste

    November 4, 2016 at 11:35 am

    TPM reports that the jury has reached a verdict in the Bridgegate trial.

  89. 89.

    buck2202

    November 4, 2016 at 11:35 am

    new 538 hedging even as their fainting-couch and fainting-couch plus models show a Clinton uptick:

    Still, Clinton’s lead is small enough that it wouldn’t take more than a normal amount of polling error to wipe the lead out and leave Trump the winner of the national popular vote. If Clinton wins by 3 percentage points, she’s very likely to win the White House. But that’s still a medium-sized “if.”

  90. 90.

    WaterGirl

    November 4, 2016 at 11:36 am

    @FlipYrWhig: Sounds like that to me, with an added maybe she has the wrong color skin for their tastes, too.

  91. 91.

    Eric U.

    November 4, 2016 at 11:36 am

    @Fair Economist:

    I find that concerning because if there are financial incentives to the bullshit we’re going to continue to get swamped by it

    and just think, all that money is from FBI agents looking to screw the Clintons.

  92. 92.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 11:36 am

    From the Reuters/IPSOS poll

    In the automaking state of Michigan, which has voted reliably for Democratic candidates in recent presidential elections but which Trump has fought hard to win, some 40 percent of likely voters believed Clinton would be better equipped to address trade, compared with 36 percent for Trump.

    In Ohio, known for its aerospace, steel and rubber industries, 45 percent said Clinton would be better on trade, compared with 38 percent for Trump. In Pennsylvania, long a steel and heavy manufacturing center, 45 percent favored Clinton on trade, compared with 38 percent for Trump, according to the polling, conducted in mid-October.

  93. 93.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2016 at 11:37 am

    Twitter tells me the Bridgegate trial ended with guilty verdicts on all charges.

  94. 94.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 11:37 am

    @WaterGirl: well, in the racists’ defense, Beyoncé is part black.

  95. 95.

    jk

    November 4, 2016 at 11:38 am

    The verdict: Baroni and Kelly guilty on all counts

    h/t nj.com

  96. 96.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2016 at 11:38 am

    I should read comments before posting.

  97. 97.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 11:40 am

    @Gin & Tonic: where’s the fun in that?

  98. 98.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 11:40 am

    @Major Major Major Major:
    Good.

  99. 99.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 4, 2016 at 11:40 am

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: Can Christie be far behind? Things that make you go “hmmmm”.

  100. 100.

    WaterGirl

    November 4, 2016 at 11:41 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Yeah, that’s part of it too. I thought music was one place where people were more open and more open-minded. I guess that’s no longer true, at least not this year.

  101. 101.

    WaterGirl

    November 4, 2016 at 11:41 am

    @Patricia Kayden: I had the same though, but you expressed it better than I would have.

  102. 102.

    Quinerly

    November 4, 2016 at 11:43 am

    @Larkspur:
    Thank you for piping in. I’m a bit weepy today. Your sweet story added to it. But that’s ok. I cried yesterday when I saw the mention of Winterville. We gotta win this damn thing for the Teds and Lindas (my mom) of the country!

  103. 103.

    p.a.

    November 4, 2016 at 11:43 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Yes. Part of their ‘Traditional Values’ schtick is the one-drop rule. Also a reason why genealogical studies aren’t very popular in certain quarters.

  104. 104.

    Bostondreams

    November 4, 2016 at 11:43 am

    My gosh this ad by Whedon makes me cry every dang time.

    “Papi, can we stay?” :( :(

  105. 105.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 11:43 am

    @Major Major Major Major:
    Pretty sure she’s all black. But not from New Zealand.

  106. 106.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    November 4, 2016 at 11:44 am

    @Patricia Kayden:

    He’s supposed to be campaigning for the fuehrer in NH this weekend. We’ll see how that goes.

  107. 107.

    Elmo

    November 4, 2016 at 11:45 am

    @Lounger: WHAT.

  108. 108.

    Applejinx

    November 4, 2016 at 11:45 am

    Props to Bernie, doing four events today, three in IA and one in Nebraska, and then two more tomorrow, in IA and CO. Not leaving it on the table is our Senator from VT.

    I’m proud of him. And, told ya so ;) in spite of a noisy facebook-post-freeping crowd slamming him 24/7 ever since he conceded the primary, Bernie has Hillary’s back and is not messing around. I, too, am with her <3

    And very encouraged, too. I happen to think Hillary doesn't take that kind of loyalty lightly. They're going to make a great fucking team, now let's give them the Senate and the House if possible :)

  109. 109.

    Taylor

    November 4, 2016 at 11:46 am

    @Chris:

    I read a hilarious critique of the movie “Three Kings” on IMDb a few years back, where a professional right winger said the movie was despicably liberally biased, because the movie was constantly slamming “Bush,”

    The critique of the movie is that Bush the Elder encouraged the Shiites to rise up against Saddam, and then left them to twist in the wind. This is exemplified by the US military bureaucracy’s attitude of Not My Problem as refugees are slaughtered.

    It does have the Shiite refugees at the end finding refuge in Iran.

  110. 110.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 11:47 am

    Looking forward to the guilty verdicts for Trump, Kallstrom, Guiliani, and Chaffetz.

  111. 111.

    Smiling Mortician

    November 4, 2016 at 11:49 am

    @Adam L Silverman: I strongly second this motion. I’d really like to hear about the differences in coverage.

  112. 112.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 4, 2016 at 11:49 am

    Deleted because everyone already knew.

  113. 113.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 4, 2016 at 11:51 am

    @Patricia Kayden: @WaterGirl: Only if the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York brings charges. That’s Preet Bharara. The US Attorney running the stuff on the NJ side isn’t as assertive as Bharara is and has shown no signs of wanting to widen the scope of either investigation or prosecution. But because this falls under the Port Authority of NY and NJ, and because Bharara has been circling Andrew Cuomo like a very, very hungry predator just looking for an opening, and because there’s now testimony that 1) Christie knew what was going on and 2) Cuomo covered for Christie on this, Bharara may have the opening to go for both of them. That’s the only way something else happens here.

  114. 114.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 4, 2016 at 11:51 am

    @hovercraft: Someone print that out, roll it up, and jam it up Chris Matthews’s rectum.

  115. 115.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 11:51 am

    @hovercraft:

    [beyonce’s father] is African American, while Tina [her mother] is of Louisiana Creole descent (African, Native American, and French).[22][24][25][26] Through her mother, Beyoncé is a descendant of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard.[24]

  116. 116.

    PPCLI

    November 4, 2016 at 11:52 am

    @catclub: There was a lot of talk about doing just that a few years ago. My sense is that they focus grouped it, consulted, polled, etc. and decided it would be too evidently cynical if all Republican states that went Democratic in Federal Elections suddenly switched to going by district, and all Republican states that go Federal didn’t. But no doubt they will try if they think they can get away with it. Better to do things that don’t make more than a blip on the radar screens now. Like state police raids on African American voter registration organizations.

  117. 117.

    raven

    November 4, 2016 at 11:52 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: The busses are leaving Wrigley!

  118. 118.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    November 4, 2016 at 11:52 am

    @hovercraft:

    I suspect that with the aggressive gerrymandering, there was a concern that you’d have excessively lopsided EV – popular vote splits which would genuinely delegitimize American presidential winners.

    Imagine a result where somebody can win 55+% of the vote of a state, but the EV allocation is 60% to the loser. Hell, in that scenario, I could easily see how the “winner” of the EC tally could have 5-10 million fewer votes than the opponent in the popular vote. How do you maintain a valid foreign trade, diplomatic and defense policy position if you gained office that way?

  119. 119.

    Elmo

    November 4, 2016 at 11:52 am

    @Elmo: Okay working on absentee ballot request now.

  120. 120.

    Mark B

    November 4, 2016 at 11:53 am

    I would like to announce that I am probably history’s greatest monster. In 2002, I deleted about 900,000 emails addressed to me.*

    *They were created by a runaway script that went into an infinite error loop over a weekend, but it’s still a terrible thing, right? Back in 2002, I didn’t constantly monitor email like I do now. Luckily, I didn’t bring down the email server, but even with a script to delete the bad emails it took about a week to remove them.

  121. 121.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 4, 2016 at 11:54 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Twitter tells me the Bridgegate trial ended with guilty verdicts on all charges.

    Baroni and Kelly, right? Waldstein is still a fairly mysterious quantity*? And if I remember my legal studies of watching various television shows based on lawyers, anything they still have they might well be willing to trade for lighter sentences?

    (*I deleted “wild card”)

  122. 122.

    O. Felix Culpa

    November 4, 2016 at 11:55 am

    Just got off a campaign call with an HRC GOTV leader in Brooklyn. Hillary’s got this. And, be sure to vote if you haven’t already!

    ETA: I know, preaching to the choir, but still….

  123. 123.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    November 4, 2016 at 11:56 am

    @Chris:

    My recollection of “Three Kings” (which I really liked) was that it was supposed to be the long-promised “”A-Team” movie in the initial conception, but as they got into it, they realized “oh, shit, we have a real movie, lets retool”.

    If you rewatch it, the “A-Team” elements tend to run in the background.

  124. 124.

    Chris

    November 4, 2016 at 11:56 am

    @Taylor:

    I know. Good movie, and true to life there. I also really appreciated that it was one of the few modern war movies that reveled in portraying the absurdities of war and military service – as used to be common in M*A*S*H, Hogan’s Heroes, Bill Mauldin cartoons, etc. As opposed to the hagiographies, gritty action movies, and gritty hagiographies that are nearly all of military entertainment these days.

  125. 125.

    Full Metal Wingnut

    November 4, 2016 at 11:56 am

    @Major Major Major Major: NH is a very white state isn’t it?

  126. 126.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 11:57 am

    @raven: Finally !

  127. 127.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 4, 2016 at 11:57 am

    don’t know how reliable PPP has been in this cycle, but….

    Daniel ‏@ Taniel 26m26 minutes ago
    PPP (finally) releases wave of state polling:
    —NH: Clinton 48-43
    —NV: Clinton 48-45
    —WI: Clinton 48-41
    —PA: Clinton 48-44
    —NC: Clinton 49-47

    I’ve been confused over the focus on WI by a lot of the media. I think Larry Sabato has it in “lean Dem”, and I’ve seen it listed as a toss up in the last couple weeks.

  128. 128.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2016 at 11:58 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: IANAL, but I’ve watched a lot of L&O, so I’m going to be assuming that Kelly and Baroni are already warming up their vocal cords.

  129. 129.

    Full Metal Wingnut

    November 4, 2016 at 11:58 am

    @Lounger: I doubt it’ll be a problem. Worst case scenario Obama/Clinton or one of their higher ups can lean on the Dem Governor Wolf “Your name is mud to the party if you don’t resolve this…” etc

  130. 130.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 11:58 am

    @Mark B: but did you bleach them? Crooked Hillary bleached them.

    @Full Metal Wingnut: yes. NH is also weird.

  131. 131.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    November 4, 2016 at 11:58 am

    @Mark B:

    I could probably delete that many now, what with the spam for certain male enhancement products in a couple of old unused boxes.

  132. 132.

    Barbara

    November 4, 2016 at 11:59 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Wildstein pleaded guilty. Sentencing is still pending. I am surprised Bridget and Bill put it to a jury. What they did is so obnoxious and offensive to normal people trying to commute to work that they probably didn’t get much benefit of the doubt. Christie’s career as a politician is over. No way can he walk back from all the people who said that he knew what was going on.

  133. 133.

    Full Metal Wingnut

    November 4, 2016 at 12:00 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Prof Wang is a smart dude. Do the polls account for 2008 and especially 2012 when Obama outperformed the polls by about a couple points (almost certainly due to ground game). Because if that’s not being into consideration I think we’ll be surprised by a higher margin.

  134. 134.

    dmsilev

    November 4, 2016 at 12:00 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: They apparently really like the number 48.

  135. 135.

    Chris

    November 4, 2016 at 12:01 pm

    @Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class:

    Ha!

    I didn’t know that. I thought it was just a remake of Kelly’s Heroes.

    I did like the A-Team movie when it finally came out. Sorry they left it at that – if Expendables and Fast/Furious deserved all these sequels, that movie definitely did too.

  136. 136.

    raven

    November 4, 2016 at 12:01 pm

    @Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: Wait till they get near the Loop!

  137. 137.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 4, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    If Trump does worse than Romney did, will pundits stop breathlessly commenting on ANTIESTABLISHMENT WHITE WORKING CLASS RAGE and all the rest of it?

    Hahasob, of course not.

  138. 138.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 4, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    @Barbara: Joseph Of The Morning had a tantrum this morning about people pointing out his Trump-fluffing, I hope someone provokes a bigger one about he and his sidekick desperately trying to save the presidential prospects of Mrs Christie’s Bully Boy for so long.

  139. 139.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    @Full Metal Wingnut: I believe Wang has tended to get the margins right in his analysis, but much as I act like a Wangologist around here I don’t actually have an encyclopedic knowledge of his blog.

  140. 140.

    Bobby Thomson

    November 4, 2016 at 12:04 pm

    @RSR: also, too, there’s concern that the SEPTA strike will hurt turnout.

  141. 141.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 4, 2016 at 12:05 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: you think Rob Portman is self-aware enough to chuckle into his Baccarat snifter of Armagnac whenever he hears about anti-Establishment, anti-Trade WWC frustration?

  142. 142.

    Barbara

    November 4, 2016 at 12:05 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Wisconsin looks like Ohio and Iowa in some respects — trending R at the state level, high percentage of white voters. States can change their political orientation. When I moved to Virginia, there was no chance that statewide federal elections could be won by “new” Democrats (as opposed to relics of the Bird machine). So here we are, now looking at the last 12 or however many statewide federal elections that have been won by Democrats.

  143. 143.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 12:07 pm

    Is this new ?

    Rudy Giuliani Confirms The FBI Leaked Information To The Trump Campaign
    “Did I hear about it? You’re darn right I heard about it.”

  144. 144.

    p.a.

    November 4, 2016 at 12:07 pm

    Hmmmm… CNN just dropped Hillary to 268ev. Good thing I’m dehydrated from the gym or I’d wet myself ;-) 268-204 with 66 ‘battleground’. I’ve just had 2 beers and I’m nowhere near drunk enough to worry about Lord Stubbydigits running the table.

    (New Belgium Citradelic and Loose Cannon Hop^3 IPA if u r interested.)

  145. 145.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 4, 2016 at 12:09 pm

    @raven:

    Wish I could watch. I’ll catch highlights later.

    Had to rearrange my poll-watching schedule, as my elderly cousin has taken a turn for the worse and I am heading over to sit with her for a while and say my goodbyes. Hospice people are saying it might be as long as a few days, but more likely within 24-48 hours. She can’t speak but can hear and respond with smiles. And she voted for Hillary a week or so ago. Would love it if she could hang in until we can tell her about a Clinton victory!

    Anyhow, Raven, I appoint you my proxy for CUBBIES cheering from Georgia!

  146. 146.

    Full Metal Wingnut

    November 4, 2016 at 12:09 pm

    @p.a.: Meh. Keep calm and GOTV.

  147. 147.

    Origuy

    November 4, 2016 at 12:10 pm

    @WaterGirl: There were a lot of right-wing comments, some of them racist, about Beyonce’s appearance on the CMAs because of her support for Black Lives Matter. However, according to Jezebel, the video was pulled because Beyonce or her people hadn’t approved it. There’s a picture of her with the Dixie Chicks prominently on the CMA page.

  148. 148.

    O. Felix Culpa

    November 4, 2016 at 12:11 pm

    @p.a.:

    Hmmmm… CNN

    There’s your first mistake. Stay away from cable teevee…and network news too. Your mental health and liver will thank you.

  149. 149.

    Calouste

    November 4, 2016 at 12:11 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: On TPM someone pointed out that Kelly has 4 youngish kids and divorced from her husband a few years back. Going to the slammer would most likely mean she loses custody of her kids.

  150. 150.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    November 4, 2016 at 12:11 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    The video on twitter of Brian Williams lobbing the “show your work of Trump’s path to victory, you Trump fluffing hack” grenade to Halperin on his show last night is awesome. Halperin’s face melted like the nazi at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

  151. 151.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    @p.a.: I like that Citradelic, but not in November.

  152. 152.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 4, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    Simon Maloy ‏@ SimonMaloy 23m23 minutes ago
    TRUMP: Christie?
    MANAFORT: too corrupt, don’t wanna be near him [phone rings] да, подождите одну минуту [cups receiver] I have to take this

    Dave Weigel ‏@ daveweigel 34m34 minutes ago
    At this time four years ago, Christie was touring Sandy damage w Obama and seen as a 2016 presidential contender.

  153. 153.

    Anoniminous

    November 4, 2016 at 12:14 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    I read that as

    Baroni & Kelly GUILTY on #Bridegate

    (need more coffee)

  154. 154.

    Peale

    November 4, 2016 at 12:14 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: And let’s remember that all this started because a Democratic Mayor refused to endorse Christie for governor, which is, well, completely NORMAL for a Democrat to do in an election. This was payback for a normal election endorsement.

  155. 155.

    JPL

    November 4, 2016 at 12:14 pm

    @Latino J: My stomach is in knots. Hopefully, it will only be the arrest of Chris Christie, and then we can breathe easier.

  156. 156.

    Calouste

    November 4, 2016 at 12:16 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I like Wang, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets things wrong this year. There are significantly fewer polls than 4 years ago, about 1/3 to 1/2, and quite a few of them are by pollsters no one had heard of before this cycle. However sophisticated his model is, it could still get beaten by the old saying “garbage in is garbage out”. I think though that will mean that Clinton does better than expected, not worse.

  157. 157.

    Aimai

    November 4, 2016 at 12:16 pm

    @JMG: me too already voted. Kids in a kindergarten class “voted” today (i was observing) 19 for hillary and one for trump. The things they ssid were amazing.!

  158. 158.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 4, 2016 at 12:17 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    but much as I act like a Wangologist around here

    Maybe you want to rephrase? Its a little early for this type of language don’t you think?// ?

  159. 159.

    Anoniminous

    November 4, 2016 at 12:18 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    PPP was the most accurate polling company in 2012

  160. 160.

    JPL

    November 4, 2016 at 12:20 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Hugs! Saying goodbye is never easy.

  161. 161.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 12:21 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:
    Creole in the black community is still black, they just tend to more visibly mixed than the rest of us, Valrie Jarrett is the perfect example. But I have no beef if she or anyone else wants to describe herself as mixed or half black or anything else. Lemonade is a celebration of her blackness, her southerness, her Creoleness, and her womanhood.

  162. 162.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2016 at 12:21 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Funny. The Russian is Manafort saying “yes, wait a minute.”

  163. 163.

    Big Picture Pathologist

    November 4, 2016 at 12:22 pm

    @Chris:

    Um, Bush the Elder was prez in 1991.

  164. 164.

    Anoniminous

    November 4, 2016 at 12:23 pm

    @Full Metal Wingnut:

    Sam Wang uses polling and Statistics. You can find his methodology here.

    (Corrected link)

  165. 165.

    Elizabelle

    November 4, 2016 at 12:23 pm

    @Elmo:
    @Lounger and Chris:

    Info from vote.org:

    You might be able to do an emergency ballot in Maryland, and you might need to request it, in person, today. Or tomorrow, if office is open. Call them. Sounds like you could send your wife or another person to pick up the ballot. The original link has links to Board of Election offices.

    I need a Maryland emergency absentee ballot. Help!
    Mailed or faxed absentee ballot applications are due the Tuesday before the election. After this date, you may request an emergency absentee ballot if one of the following conditions arises:
    Your job will prevent you from voting in person
    [Bingo!]
    You suffer a suddent illness or accident that prevents you from voting in person
    An immediate member of your family passes away or suffers a serious illness
    Requests for emergency absentee ballots must be made in person at your County Board of Elections. You may designate an agent to pickup and, if necessary, return the voted ballot. If you have any questions about obtaining an emergency absentee ballot, please contact your County Board of Elections.in person

  166. 166.

    bmoak

    November 4, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    @RSR: Isn’t there a transit strike going on in Philadelphia? Downturn in voting there could well lose the state.

  167. 167.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 4, 2016 at 12:27 pm

    @Bobby Thomson: The union leadership has already announced they’ll go back on the job for one day – election day – as they don’t want to negatively impact the election. They know if Trump is elected he’ll let the GOP Congress gut NLRB so that the folks they’re negotiating with can just run the clock out through 2017.

  168. 168.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 4, 2016 at 12:28 pm

    @Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: Him confirming it, sort of. He’s been intimating it for months. Barrett reported this out yesterday in the Daily Beast.

  169. 169.

    Elizabelle

    November 4, 2016 at 12:28 pm

    @bmoak: If there is a transit strike, I think a judge should order the workers back to their job, to protect the integrity of Election Day.

    Keep us posted.

    ETA: Ah. Adam says they will work on Election Day. Yea!

  170. 170.

    Anoniminous

    November 4, 2016 at 12:30 pm

    comment in moderation because raw link

  171. 171.

    Elizabelle

    November 4, 2016 at 12:31 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Best to you. Hope your cousin has a peaceful and painless passing. A few days from now.

  172. 172.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 12:31 pm

    @Calouste: His model isn’t sophisticated at all, which is what makes it appealing. But we’ll see.

    @Adam L Silverman: No!

  173. 173.

    Miss Bianca

    November 4, 2016 at 12:31 pm

    @Latino J: Thanks for the updates!

  174. 174.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 4, 2016 at 12:33 pm

    @Big Picture Pathologist: Right, that’s the point — the guy reacting to Three Kings thought the screenwriters had altered the timeline to take gratuitous potshots at George W. Bush.

  175. 175.

    Miss Bianca

    November 4, 2016 at 12:34 pm

    @Jeffro: Cast my vote on Tuesday. Phone-banking Sunday to reach folks who didn’t vote early and get ’em to the polls! And yeah, kudos to Sen. Sanders for campaigning in CO! CO lerrrvves them some Bernie, hoping he can talk sense into any die-hard Bernie-or-Busters out there.

    (Actually, I can just hear him saying, “look, even *I’m* not a Bernie-or–Buster, people!”)

  176. 176.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 12:36 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Thanks.

  177. 177.

    Applejinx

    November 4, 2016 at 12:37 pm

    FRED labor share is up :)

  178. 178.

    MisterForkbeard

    November 4, 2016 at 12:38 pm

    Two more votes for Hillary in yesterday: Me and MissusForkbeard in Sunny California.

    I’m going to take a moment to cheer the long lines at the early voting place. As well as the decency of the folks there who let my wife go to the head of the line, since she’s at 41 weeks pregnant.

  179. 179.

    blackcatsrule

    November 4, 2016 at 12:41 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: Thirded.

  180. 180.

    catclub

    November 4, 2016 at 12:41 pm

    @Applejinx: I think that is Labor share of GDP, right? And the long downward trend over the past 50 years is not really happy-making, even if it is up the past few years – from its dismal lows in 2009.

  181. 181.

    p.a.

    November 4, 2016 at 12:44 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I guess it would be ok in summer, but I found it ‘meh’ as an IPA and ‘meh’ as a shandy. Maybe it’s in the nature of the beast, trying to be both. My go-to shandy is Harpoon UFO Big Squeeze (grapefruit); IPA is Dogfishhead 90. Harpoon’s is good. Smuttynose waaayyyyy too hoppy for me.
    The bartender today had a great description of Narragansett’s Del’s Shandy: “It tastes like Lemon Pledge.” It really is bad.

  182. 182.

    Miss Bianca

    November 4, 2016 at 12:44 pm

    @Mary G: It is so depressing to note that country music people are still losing their fucking shit over black people performing country music! Even worse than pot-smoking white hippies playing country music! Nothing seems to have changed since Porter Wagoner had James Brown come on the Grand Ol’ Opry.

    Jesus, this country. I mean, it’s not like African-Americans aren’t integral to the development of *all* American music. and Jesus Chicken-Fried Christ, people, it’s JUST MUSIC.

  183. 183.

    Bobby Thomson

    November 4, 2016 at 12:45 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Whew. They should have started November 10 to avoid this dilemma, but I think they’re making the right choice.

  184. 184.

    Ruckus

    November 4, 2016 at 12:47 pm

    @Tom Levenson:
    Voted in a blueish precinct, in a suburb of Columbus, OH in 2004 and the wait, in the rain, was over 2 hrs. I didn’t see anyone leave except after voting. We lost of course but it still felt good to give it a try. This yr I voted by mail in CA. Much more pleasant.

  185. 185.

    Applejinx

    November 4, 2016 at 12:48 pm

    @catclub: Indeed it is, and the long downward trend is exactly what people have been talking about and the same thing that caused Brexit and this is hard evidence that Democratic governance will NOT perpetuate that.

    I’ve seen direct ties between that figure, and my ability to earn money as a small business entrepreneur guy. It seems to exactly mirror ‘whether people even have money at all’.

    And it’s persistently up. And I am convinced Hillary is capable of keeping it going up, with policies that progressives will like.

    Damn right I’m happy! The nasty dip in recent years is not exactly a secret to me. “economic insecurity”? That’s it right there. And it’s getting better.

  186. 186.

    Peale

    November 4, 2016 at 12:49 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Look. Country Music developed in the South. And we all no that there weren’t any black people in the South who might listen to it or even play it from time to time.

  187. 187.

    Stan

    November 4, 2016 at 12:49 pm

    @artem1s:

    The Golden Ticket would be to split up CA so that mass of ECVs don’t go directly to the Dems every year.

    Yes, but with the California GOP pretty much toast, who would organize that effort?

  188. 188.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 4, 2016 at 12:49 pm

    Remember Christie back in his heyday giving speeches about jailing Secretary Clinton? LOL.

  189. 189.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    November 4, 2016 at 12:50 pm

    This is at least close to being in the mainstream press, only because it’s Matthew Yglesias who at least some people outside the liberal blogosphere AKA the Unintentional Cone of Silence have actually heard of.

    The real Clinton email scandal is that a bullshit story has dominated the campaign

    For most people in the great mass of undecideds it would be absolutely shocking to even consider the idea that it really was all just made up.

    One of the points he makes was one I was thinking also just earlier this morning: When you’re dealing with charges from Republicans, never, ever apologize. They don’t.

  190. 190.

    Peale

    November 4, 2016 at 12:52 pm

    @Stan: Well, California Democrats seemed to be signing onto that covenant in which their electoral votes would all go to whoever won the popular vote nationally, if I recall. And you can never count out some billionaire putting out an initiative to change the distribution.

  191. 191.

    Stan

    November 4, 2016 at 12:52 pm

    @Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: LOL, everyone I run with knows that story and has NOT forgotten it.

  192. 192.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 4, 2016 at 12:53 pm

    @Peale: Or sing Country Music. Remember Charley Pride? He was a staple in my house back in the 70s/80s. The only Black Country Artist that I am aware of.

  193. 193.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 12:53 pm

    @Stan: National GOP astroturfing as good-government types.

    We should all be supporting the national popular vote interstate compact.

  194. 194.

    Miss Bianca

    November 4, 2016 at 12:55 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: good for them. (I mean it – funny how “good for them” or “good for you” has started to sound always sarcastic in my ears these days).

  195. 195.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    November 4, 2016 at 12:57 pm

    @Miss Bianca: You could try “Bless their hearts”.

    Oh wait no that’s worse.

  196. 196.

    Hal

    November 4, 2016 at 12:57 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Dave Weigel ‏@ daveweigel 34m34 minutes ago
    At this time four years ago, Christie was touring Sandy damage w Obama and seen as a 2016 presidential contender.

    I remember of all the 2016 possibilities, Christie worried me the most because man, was he fluffed by the media. Yelling at teachers and veterans was as a sign of a brave politician speaking his mind. And hey, sure he spent millions of dollars on Sandy ads featuring his family, but so so brave.

  197. 197.

    Miss Bianca

    November 4, 2016 at 12:58 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Ray Charles!!

  198. 198.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 1:03 pm

    Hope fully this is a portend of things to come.
    Trump Tower In Toronto Goes Bust

    Ha, ha ,ha,

  199. 199.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    November 4, 2016 at 1:05 pm

    @Peale: Oh sweet babby cheeses, not that shitpile called National Popular Vote.

    When Georgia, Tennessee, Arizona and Texas do it, then maybe I’ll listen to the folks pimping it. Until then it’s textbook beltway inbred “compromise”: Something bad for Dems and good for the GOP.

  200. 200.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 4, 2016 at 1:07 pm

    @Miss Bianca:
    Statistical analysis showed that the most popular country music has ceased to be an art form, and is almost entirely a cultural identifier. The degree of repetition of identical phrases beloved by white conservative males is truly ridiculous. For the artists still trying to make actual music, that must be frustrating.

  201. 201.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 1:08 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Oh yeah, I remember reading that.

  202. 202.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 4, 2016 at 1:10 pm

    @Bobby Thomson: They started when they did as the run up to election day places maximal pressure on the municipal leadership they have to negotiate with.

  203. 203.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 1:12 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Classy.

  204. 204.

    Miss Bianca

    November 4, 2016 at 1:12 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Just caught some of that Beyonce/Dixie Chicks clip and it is SMOKING HOT. Any fool who can’t appreciate it is…well, a fool. Whether they’re racists or not, they’re just fools.

  205. 205.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 4, 2016 at 1:12 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Never really thought of Ray Charles as a Country Singer but I guess he may have been considered as one by many people.

  206. 206.

    RobertB

    November 4, 2016 at 1:16 pm

    @Ruckus: IIRC, Ken Blackwell was playing games with the distribution of voting machines in ’04. My experience with waiting times in Columbus was that I had to wait 10 minutes in my heavily-Republican district, and my brother had to wait 2 hours in his.

  207. 207.

    I'll be Frank

    November 4, 2016 at 1:16 pm

    Goat entrails? No wonder he is stiffing his polling guys. A really sophisticated organization would be using pigeon entrails, especially for 3/4’s of a million dollars. How can you poll without thousands of local pigeons? It would be nuts, but you have to admire the gross margin in using goat entrails.

  208. 208.

    Miss Bianca

    November 4, 2016 at 1:16 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Ray Charles transcended boundaries. And apparently he loved country music. He certainly recorded at least one pretty darn fine album of country songs!

  209. 209.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 4, 2016 at 1:19 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Thank you, I’m wearing my smoking jacket as I type comments today.

  210. 210.

    Cacti

    November 4, 2016 at 1:19 pm

    Bunch of good swing state polls from PPP for Hillary:

    NV: +3
    NH: +5
    NC: +2
    PA: +4
    WI: +7

  211. 211.

    Tenar Darell

    November 4, 2016 at 1:21 pm

    @JMG: Yep. Early vote rocks. I got my sticker & a Hershey’s Kiss at town hall (candy is one of the benefits of small towns). I realized that even if I prefer to vote on Election Day, with the way my father has been having more emergencies, better to get it off my plate so I don’t have to run around on Tuesday.

  212. 212.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 1:22 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I’m wearing this amazing/disgusting 90’s-era imitation 70’s-era beige, vertical-striped, semi-paisley short-sleeved collared shirt I got at Goodwill. And a t-shirt from the Saga Museum in Reykjavik.

  213. 213.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 4, 2016 at 1:24 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I’ll update the Balloon Juice files!

  214. 214.

    Tenar Darell

    November 4, 2016 at 1:25 pm

    @Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: Um, isn’t that proof of a Hatch Act violation? He was a prosecutor, right? Why would he go on the record about this?

  215. 215.

    Jeffro

    November 4, 2016 at 1:27 pm

    @PPCLI:

    But no doubt they will try if they think they can get away with it.

    That’s pretty much the GOP’s only principle from here on out…

  216. 216.

    geg6

    November 4, 2016 at 1:30 pm

    @Calouste:

    Maybe she should have thought about those kids before committing crimes. Ya think?

    She gets no sympathy from me. Her little game could have cost people lives. Fuck her.

  217. 217.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 1:31 pm

    @Tenar Darell: Rudy’s not a government employee so I don’t he can be prosecuted under that Hatch act, however any FBI agents that are involved most certainly could be.

  218. 218.

    Jeffro

    November 4, 2016 at 1:31 pm

    @Hal:

    I remember of all the 2016 possibilities, Christie worried me the most because man, was he fluffed by the media. Yelling at teachers and veterans was as a sign of a brave politician speaking his mind. And hey, sure he spent millions of dollars on Sandy ads featuring his family, but so so brave.

    Yet another thing to thank Obama for: hugging Christie and making Jon Huntsman his ambassador to China. Kiss of death for anyone hoping to succeed in today’s GOP.

    Y’all watch: Hillz’ first order of business after the inauguration would almost have to be finding places in her administration for Sasse, Sandoval, and Martinez.

  219. 219.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 1:34 pm

    Latino Early Vote Surges From Florida to Nevada
    From TPM

    On a call with reporters Friday, Latino Decisions– a polling group focused on Hispanic voting patters– said that Latino turnout is on track to make history next week.

    On the call, Gabriel Sanchez, a principal at Latino Decisions, pointed to early voting trends that show Latino early voting is up 100 percent in Florida, 60 percent in North Carolina and up 25 percent in Colorado and Nevada.

    Sanchez said at this point, Latino Decisions is projecting that between 13.1 million and 14.7 million Latinos will vote on or before Tuesday– a major increase from 2012 numbers when the group estimated 11.2 million voted.

    The numbers are a good sign for Hillary Clinton who has seen the race tighten in recent days. Latino Decisions is estimating– using their own turnout predictor– that Clinton is on track to capture 79 percent of the Latino vote. Trump, on the other hand, is expected to garner only 18 percent (almost 10 points down from Romney’s 27 percent performance.)

    “Her lead over Donald Trump was larger than Obama’s over Romney for the entire year,” Sanchez said.

  220. 220.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 1:35 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: You may have seen these but related to your comment and very funny.

    Country music all songs the same 2013

    Country music all songs still the same 2014

  221. 221.

    Divf

    November 4, 2016 at 1:36 pm

    @Tenar Darell: This puzzles me as well. Political operatives don’t have the First Amendment protections that journalists have. He can be compelled to testify by giving him immunity.

  222. 222.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 1:41 pm

    @Jeffro: I’ve always thought the Huntsman move was brilliant.

    @Adam L Silverman: Yeah, right. You guys haven’t changed that since I wore those red pants.

  223. 223.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 4, 2016 at 1:42 pm

    @Cacti: YAY!! Looks like Trump is going to lose bigly on Tuesday. Believe me!! Sad!

  224. 224.

    Cacti

    November 4, 2016 at 1:43 pm

    As for early voting, I’ve lived in states with vote by mail or vote by mail + in person early voting for 11 years now.

    It’s so much easier and more efficient than trying to shoehorn everyone into a single Tuesday.

    Every state should have it.

  225. 225.

    Miss Bianca

    November 4, 2016 at 1:51 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: But are you smoking a pipe?

    @Major Major Major Major: Wow. That’s beyond the planet of the valley of awesomely awful. My eyes are hurting just from the description.

  226. 226.

    sukabi

    November 4, 2016 at 1:52 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: have to be a very hard jam to get past his head….but worth a shot anyway.

  227. 227.

    Chris

    November 4, 2016 at 1:55 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Nate Silver had Trump’s chances rising and Hillary’s falling for the last couple days . It’s now trending the other way again. And at no point did it look like Trump would beat Hillary.

    Fingers crossed, wood knocked on, God willing and the creek don’t rise, etc.

  228. 228.

    MisterForkbeard

    November 4, 2016 at 1:56 pm

    @Tenar Darell: He’s “clarified” that he’s very careful not to talk to active agents who could put themselves in a bad position. Sure he is.

  229. 229.

    sukabi

    November 4, 2016 at 1:59 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’d be thrilled if, since the Chandra Levy -Gary Condit mess is reentering tv land, that there would be a reexamination of the concurrent episode that was wildly unreported involving Joe and his dead assistant.

  230. 230.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 4, 2016 at 2:04 pm

    @hovercraft: Just yesterday it dawned on me:

    1. Hillary is going to win by more than expected.
    2. Observers are going to credit the Hispanic/Latino vote.
    3. Conspiratorial nutballs, by which I mean Republicans, are going to ascribe that to “illegals,” and say it proves the extent of “rigging.”

  231. 231.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2016 at 2:04 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Yeah, but you know he can pull that look off a lot better than us straight guys.

  232. 232.

    Miss Bianca

    November 4, 2016 at 2:04 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim: On a related note, thought this was interesting highlight from the Newsweek article on the Trump/Russian hacker connection:

    The Russian penetration in the United States is far more extensive than previously revealed publicly, although most of it has been targeted either at government departments or nongovernment organizations connected to the Democratic Party. Russian hackers penetrated the White House, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the State Department. The State Department cyberattack, which began in 2014 and lasted more than a year, was particularly severe, with Russian hackers gaining entry into its unclassified system, including emails. (Hillary Clinton left the State Department in 2013, which means that if she had used its unclassified email system rather than her private server—a decision that has dogged her throughout the campaign—any of her emails on the government system could have been obtained by Russian hackers.)

    Not that it’s going to matter to any of the screaming flying monkeys who are going to be flying around screaming “EMAILS!!” but I’d like to see someone else start hammering this point – that HRC’s email server was, in fact, never hacked, and would not have been hacked.

  233. 233.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2016 at 2:04 pm

    From Twitter:

    Imagine going to prison covering for Chris Christie as you watch him campaign with Trump yelling about locking up Hillary

  234. 234.

    waysel

    November 4, 2016 at 2:06 pm

    @Chris: Can we please just stick to Sam Wang ’til this is over? I’m skittish enough already, thank you very much. Anybody gotta Nate Silver blocker? Cleek?

  235. 235.

    GrandJury

    November 4, 2016 at 2:09 pm

    @Miss Bianca: The facts don’t matter. The fact that they can scream “emails” and get away with it being some kind of controversy but we can scream pu$$y grabbing and sexual assault and have the story disappear after a week tells you all you need to know about how much anyone cares about reality and facts.

    As far as controversies go….’emails’ is about as mundane and boring and nothingburger sounding of a ‘controversy’ that you can possibly have. If it wasn’t this it would be something else. So they are just playing the hand they were dealt when picking controversies. Bullghazi ran out of steam so they went with this.

  236. 236.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 2:12 pm

    @Miss Bianca: The saga museum’s not that bad.

    @waysel: Here, I made you a chrome extension.


    window.setTimeout(function() {
    if (document.documentURI.includes('fivethirtyeight.com')) {
    window.location = 'https://balloon-juice.com';
    }
    }, 1500);

    Well, you need to figure out how to package it.

  237. 237.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 2:19 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:
    Well duh, he’s been telling us for months that Hillary was going to win, I mean steal the election by having ‘illegals’ rig it for her. We’ve had millions and millions of illegals illegally become citizens this year so that they could do this. The only surprise is that she didn’t with the collusion of the Kenyan, legalize all 30 million illegals in this country illegally. Those are illegal votes so she is illegal, so she didn’t win, ipso facto, Trump won and is now our 45 th president.

  238. 238.

    Peale

    November 4, 2016 at 2:19 pm

    @hovercraft: I really do hope that that holds. I really want them to vote their god damned hearts out this election. There is absolutely no reason why they should put up with election after election with a central issue of building the wall, or feeling that there was a national “mistake” made 50 years ago when immigration laws were changed to make it easier for their families to come here. I really hope to see the participation rate of registered voters reach into the 60s and 70s. Republicans aren’t going to stop using them to whip up support until they get slapped around some more.

  239. 239.

    Ed in NJ

    November 4, 2016 at 2:20 pm

    @Peale: Well, not exactly. Christie was burnishing his bipartisan bona fides by pressuring endorsements from Democrat mayors throughout the state. So these were not “normal political endorsements”. He was cruising in his re-election bid and decided to use it as a springboard to his presidential campaign. When the mayors of Fort Lee and Jersey City didn’t give in to his blackmail, Bridgegate was the response. I’ve always felt that if you put the screws to Wildstein, Kelly, et. al. you could uncover a lot more planned “disruptions” if others didn’t go along.

  240. 240.

    Elie

    November 4, 2016 at 2:22 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:
    I agree but will add that she is gonna win more white people than Obama and maybe the most of any Democrat for a long time. White WOMEN are going to throw it down

  241. 241.

    waysel

    November 4, 2016 at 2:22 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Thank you.

  242. 242.

    Peale

    November 4, 2016 at 2:22 pm

    @Ed in NJ: Yeah. But again, I really, really, doubt that when the press started looking into Christie for a presidential run, they would have said “well, he had bi-partisan support. Except for that all important Fort Lee Mayoral endorsement. Let’s here what he has to say.” He could have just let it go. But NOOOooooo. What a vindictive little swine.

  243. 243.

    Chet Murthy

    November 4, 2016 at 2:23 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I wouldn’t mind if it was called the Rodham Presidency. Has a nice ring to it.

  244. 244.

    WaterGirl

    November 4, 2016 at 2:24 pm

    @Origuy: Thanks. Glad to know that the country music association didn’t behave badly. But there’s no excuse for the people that behaved badly. (Not suggesting that you are defending them.) Those are the assholes I was referring to in my earlier comment.

  245. 245.

    WaterGirl

    November 4, 2016 at 2:25 pm

    @Calouste: Maybe she should have thought of all the kids on those school buses. Oh, but those were other people’s kids.

  246. 246.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 2:30 pm

    @Peale:

    stuart stevens ‏@stuartpstevens 5h5 hours ago

    stuart stevens Retweeted Benjamin Adams

    The post-2012 analysis, so called autopsy. set 31% as goal for non-white vote. (Romney got 19%) Trump looks closer to 15%.

    stuart stevens added,
    Benjamin Adams @BenAdamsEsq
    @KrisHammond @stuartpstevens got it. Prediction: DJTs historically low totals w/ AAs will b discounted as sui generis & GOP makes no changes
    0 replies 114 retweets 176 likes

    I hope they are dumb enough to believe that this is all Trump, and continue f**king that chicken.

  247. 247.

    PPCLI

    November 4, 2016 at 2:33 pm

    Christie is the head of Trump’s White House transition team. Two top aides have been convicted of a felony for corruption, and they named him in their testimony. I do hope that our “liberal media” notice.

    They were discussing the Bridgegate convictions on some NPR talking heads show a few hours ago, and the Trump connection didn’t get a mention.
    Nor did the fact that during the primaries Trump said that it was obvious that Christie was involved in the bridge closings, but he named Christie as transition chief anyway. But Clinton is the corrupt one…

  248. 248.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 2:38 pm

    @Peale:
    According to Stuart Stevens, the 2012 autopsy said the GOP nominee in 2016 needed to get 31% of the non-white vote, Romney got 19%, right now Trump is on pace to get around 15%.
    Someone named Benjamin Adams on twitter responded with this prediction: the GOP will say that Trumps low performance with AA’s is sui generis, and will change nothing.
    I hope they are both correct.

    I tried to c&p the tweets, but WP kept eating my comments, so here’s one last try.

  249. 249.

    CindyH

    November 4, 2016 at 2:40 pm

    @catclub: I’m a lurker, but I was wondering the same and my brother in low pointed out that in Philly, there are 66 wards with almost 1700 divisions. Each division has its own polling place. Most should be able to walk about 2 blocks at most to their polling place. Hope this helps!

  250. 250.

    henqiguai

    November 4, 2016 at 2:41 pm

    @WaterGirl(#100):

    I guess that’s no longer true, at least not this year.

    Oh please. I recall white dudes sneering and figuratively spitting at that ‘jungle music’ of disco, especially when some white music icon like the Bee Gees crossed over and put just a *touch* of rhythm into their music.

  251. 251.

    henqiguai

    November 4, 2016 at 2:44 pm

    @hovercraft(#105):

    Pretty sure she’s all black. But not from New Zealand.

    I believe her mother’s Mexican.

  252. 252.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 2:45 pm

    @henqiguai: She can be mixed-race and black, just like Obama.

  253. 253.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 2:50 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: Don’t forget the gender gap. I think Hillary will out perform as well.

  254. 254.

    LurkerExtraordinaire

    November 4, 2016 at 2:52 pm

    Breaking my own vow of avoiding anything politics until after Election Day to update: voted Hillz and straight ticket Dem here in Ohio this morning. Hope it helps.

  255. 255.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 2:58 pm

    @henqiguai:

    Knowles was born Célestine Bootylicker Beyincé in Galveston, Texas, on January 4, 1765, the daughter of Lumis Albert Beyincé and Agnes Derouen.[1][3] Her ancestry is Louisiana Creole. Her family roots are from Iberia Parish, Louisiana.[2][4] She is a descendant of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard.[5

    Mixed-race Creoles of color became identified as a distinct ethnic group, Gens de couleur libres (free persons of color), prior to the 19th century. During Louisiana’s colonial period, Créole referred to people born in Louisiana who had ancestors from elsewhere; i.e., all natives other than Native Americans. The term Créole was first used by French colonists to distinguish themselves from foreign-born settlers, and later as distinct from Anglo-American settlers. Colonial documents show that the term Créole was used variously at different times to refer to white people, mixed-race people, and black people, including slaves.[1

  256. 256.

    henqiguai

    November 4, 2016 at 3:00 pm

    @Major Major Major Major(#251):

    She can be mixed-race and black, just like Obama.

    In these United States, some variation of the one-drop rule is always in effect; unless someone white wants to claim someone for doing/being exceptional (that played a lot early on in Obama’s term in office). So no, unless they claim otherwise, they’re black. Damned near all AAs are mixed race.

    And thanks for the info (pre-correction to my comment) on Beyonce’s ethnicity. Had always heard that her mother was Mexican (no, I really don’t pay attention to celebrity affairs of any strip, that ‘factoid’ happened to penetrate while passing by the television some time back).

  257. 257.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 3:04 pm

    @henqiguai: Obama discusses his ‘white’ upbringing (ETA: in Hawaii no less, a place that also blurs racial lines) as part of his biography–remember the 2008 speech he gave on race after the Rev. Wright thing? But yes, the one-drop rule is in effect; that doesn’t mean it’s not more complicated, though.

  258. 258.

    gogol's wife

    November 4, 2016 at 3:24 pm

    Just got screamed at (for the second day in a row) by a man calling Hillary Clinton a “criminal” (yesterday) and a “felon” (today). Today it was a stranger in the grocery store who butted in on my conversation with two employees (women of color). I end up responding so weakly, because the truth never sounds as convincing as a firmly shouted lie. The one today then said, “The FBI is going to get her! I mean the CIA!” I walked away, saying, “I think you do mean the FBI.” And I am in a Democratic state. This is depressing the hell out of me, even though I know it has no statistical significance. But I’ve never had this experience before.

  259. 259.

    Jeffro

    November 4, 2016 at 3:31 pm

    @gogol’s wife: The walls are closing in for Trump supporters…their guy is not gonna get what he wants, and neither are they, and they’re furious, and fuck them.

    It’s easy to say this, but remember: you’re a citizen too, and if people threaten you, call the cops. Even if it’s just yelling. Make them pay for acting out like this. It seems to be the only language they understand.

  260. 260.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 4, 2016 at 3:32 pm

    @LurkerExtraordinaire: You saw our email responses to you the other night?

  261. 261.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 4, 2016 at 3:33 pm

    @hovercraft:

    Knowles was born Célestine Bootylicker Beyincé in Galveston, Texas, on January 4, 1765

    She looks damn good for 251!

  262. 262.

    Betty Cracker

    November 4, 2016 at 3:36 pm

    @gogol’s wife: The supporters reflect the candidate — rude assholes. Hang in there.

  263. 263.

    Betty Cracker

    November 4, 2016 at 3:38 pm

    @hovercraft:

    Célestine Bootylicker Beyincé

    Nuh-UH! I can’t believe someone would be sadistic enough to saddle a child with the name “Bootylicker.” Please tell me it’s not so!

  264. 264.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 3:38 pm

    Ok, now the Podesta emails supposedly talk about Clinton’s inner circle practicing black magic. This is being touted by the usual suspects, Drudge, Laura Ingram, etc. I don’t even want to go look. WT Ever loving F

  265. 265.

    Peale

    November 4, 2016 at 3:45 pm

    @hovercraft: Yeah. That Trump would under perform Romney in percentage points was a given. But if participation rates jump from 40% of eligible voters to 55-60% of eligible voters, I’m going to be absolutely ecstatic.

  266. 266.

    Peale

    November 4, 2016 at 3:46 pm

    @Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: LOL. Even if they do, I’m fine with it. The vast vast vast majority of voters who might be swayed to vote against witchcraft are already within the GOP.

  267. 267.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 4, 2016 at 3:49 pm

    Don’t know if this means the emails are starting to leak out, but I suspect this will be one of the biggest stories to come out of this whole folderol, imbroglio, rodomontade and…. sturm und drang? mishegas? steaming pile of crap?

    Byron Tau ‏@ ByronTau 8m8 minutes ago Washington, DC
    Clinton asked Huma to print three copies of a George Packer story in the New Yorker praising secrecy.

  268. 268.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 3:53 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah if the Comey letter didn’t put a dent in her, then they just go all out and start selectivtely leaking the emails themselves. But as I’ve said before, so easy to fake and forge emails, at this point I wouldn’t believe the FBI if they showed me my own emails.

  269. 269.

    J R in WV

    November 4, 2016 at 3:57 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    The performance was great, featured the progressive/liberal Dixie Chicks with Beyonce, more beautiful than eveh !! But a higher proportion of CMA fans are unabashed racist shitstains than of the TV watching population at large. So more racist fuqwits were available to protest a successful beautiful BLACK performer on stage with other LIBERAL progressive WOMYN singing.

    The combination of Liberal, Progressive, and Black all on stage being so successful was explosive for racist POS TV watchers. I keep saying I’m not gonna be shocked by the number of stone racist haters around us, and then they get me again.

    I’m old, too, so probably I won’t get to see the last of them die and go to hell, but at least they won’t be so important a voter segment going forward.

    And I could be totally wrong about Queen Bey, but she is working to elect Hillary, so that brings out the haters too.

  270. 270.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 4, 2016 at 4:00 pm

    @Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: Towhnall, of all places, has already debunked it. We are off the map!!!!

  271. 271.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 4:01 pm

    @Peale: Here’s the explanation over at Huffpo Apparently the emails involve a famous performance artist. RWNJ don’t seem to be able to type G-o-o-g-l-e.

  272. 272.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 4, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: @Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: They’re claiming they haven’t even started yet because they have to get custom software or special code written. Hence the delay. This has already been debunked that they can just use the software they already have that they used to do the emails they analyzed in 2015. So…

  273. 273.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 4, 2016 at 4:03 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I suspect WP autocorrected “Bootylicious”?

  274. 274.

    Ruckus

    November 4, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    @gogol’s wife:
    Everyone has an asshole. Some people wear theirs on top of their shoulders. It’s ugly, no one likes it but still, that’s how it is. When you run into someone who matches the description of asshole on shoulders, it’s best to walk away if you don’t have a perfectly timed snarky comeback, that you can walk away after, because someone with this affliction can not be helped. They are loud and proud assholes and probably have been for a long time. It is possibly that one day they will wake up, look in the mirror and wonder how their asshole got on top of their shoulders. But the waiting period for that to happen can be decades, if ever.

  275. 275.

    divF

    November 4, 2016 at 4:14 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    folderol, imbroglio, rodomontade

    Channeling your inner S. J. Perlman ?

  276. 276.

    Ruckus

    November 4, 2016 at 4:17 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Sounds like some lower level agents are putting in purchase orders/permission to buy/use software they have no access to, to read emails that they have no authorization to “investigate.” Wonder how that will work out when Comey gets replaced with someone with at least an arms length familiarity with morals and proper legality.

  277. 277.

    MisterForkbeard

    November 4, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Can you clarify a bit here? Do you mean that their need for special software has been debunked, or that they can use the existed software is a claim that’s been debunked?

    Frankly, I don’t trust anything I see out of the FBI regarding Hillary, especially given that even Fox News had to retract their latest stories. Yikes.

  278. 278.

    Aleta

    November 4, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    From a district court opinion and order today in Ohio

    UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO

    Court GRANTS Plaintiff Ohio Democratic Party’s motion for a TRO with respect to Defendants Trump, Stone, and Stop the Steal. The Court denies the request for a TRO as against the Ohio Republican Party.
    It is hereby ordered that, effective immediately and extending until 11:59 p.m., November 8, 2016, or until voting in the 2016 Presidential Election is complete, Defendants Trump, Stone, and Stop the Steal—as well as their officers, agents, servants, and employees— and other individuals or groups, including groups associated with the Clinton for Presidency campaign, are restrained and enjoined from engaging in voter intimidation activity, including but not limited to:
    a. Hindering or delaying a voter or prospective voter from reaching or leaving the polling place fixed for casting the voter’s ballot; b. Engaging in any unauthorized “poll watching” activities inside of polling places, within one hundred feet of polling places (“the buffer zone”)11, or within ten feet of a voter standing in a line extending beyond the buffer zone.12 Unauthorized “poll watching” includes challenging or questioning voters or prospective voters about their eligibility to vote, or training, organizing, or directing others to do the same;
    c. Interrogating, admonishing, interfering with, or verbally harassing voters or prospective voters inside polling places, in the buffer zone, or within ten feet of a voter standing in line outside the buffer zone, or training, organizing, or directing others to do the same;
    d. Distributing literature and/or stating to individuals at polling places, in the buffer zone, or within ten feet of a voter standing in line outside the buffer zone, that voter fraud is a crime, or describing the penalties under any Ohio or Federal statute for impermissibly casting a ballot, or training, organizing, or directing individuals to do the same; e. Gathering or loitering, or otherwise being present without the intention to vote, at polling places, in the buffer zone, or within ten feet of a voter standing in line outside the buffer zone; f. Following, taking photos of, or otherwise recording voters or prospective voters, those assisting voters or prospective voters, or their vehicles at or around a polling place, or training, organizing, or directing others to do the same;
    g. Questioning, and training, organizing, or deputizing any persons to question voters at Ohio polling places, in the buffer zone, or within ten feet of a voter standing in line outside the buffer zone, under the guise of the purported “exit polling” or “citizen journalist” operations organized and encouraged by Defendants Stone and Stop the Steal.
    This Order does not apply to any activity explicitly authorized by Ohio law with respect to poll observers officially credentialed by a board of elections to be present at the polling place or the right under Ohio law for others to enter a polling place solely for purposes of reviewing the list of voters.

  279. 279.

    J R in WV

    November 4, 2016 at 4:37 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Remember Charley Pride? He was a staple in my house back in the 70s/80s. The only Black Country Artist that I am aware of.

    What about Ray Charles? Pretty close to Country, wasn’t he? Good in either event.

  280. 280.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 4, 2016 at 5:25 pm

    @divF: Elaine’s boss from Seinfeld?

  281. 281.

    J R in WV

    November 4, 2016 at 5:25 pm

    @Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap:

    It IS working! Because she’s winning. I’m converted!

    I knew there was a reason many of my best friends keep goats! For those midnight bonfire ceremonies~!!!

  282. 282.

    divF

    November 4, 2016 at 5:33 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: No, this
    S. J. Perelman
    (I misspelled it the first time).

  283. 283.

    Lurker Extraordinaire

    November 4, 2016 at 5:40 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: yes, and I thank all of you for the kind words and encouragement.

  284. 284.

    Groucho48

    November 4, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    1) Christie knew what was going on and 2) Cuomo covered for Christie on this, Bharara may have the opening to go for both of them. That’s the only way something else happens here.

    As a NYS resident, that works for me.

  285. 285.

    No One You Know

    November 4, 2016 at 10:05 pm

    @PaminBB: My home town was pretty good at polling places every few blocks when I lived there, and Spousal NOYK says it still is.

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