This is Steve King losing his shit because someone had the nerve to quote Steve King to him. https://t.co/RqDPjod18l pic.twitter.com/nvcAkcP6h4
— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) November 1, 2018
Of all the Republicans in R+11 PVI districts who have no one to blame but themselves for their tough re-elections (Collins, Hunter, King), King is unique in that in that he’s not running a serious campaign. He’s spent most of his $ on fundraising and only has $176k on hand.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) October 30, 2018
Anti-Defamation League, 115-year-old civil rights organization dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism, called on Paul Ryan to strip Rep. King (R-IA) of his chairmanships & formally censure him.#RacistKing #Iowa #IA04https://t.co/anpGpOjyH7
— KrisS ? Your Vote, Your Voice ? (@MplsMe) November 1, 2018
Seems like maybe Steve King is the GOP equivalent of that ratty old couch that’s been demoted from the living room to the basement tv room to the awkward angle by the garage entrance, because it’s a convenient place for dumping sports gear or taking off your muddy boots. It was the best you could find, back then, and the horseblanket plaid wasn’t too bad with the crocheted afghan thrown over it. But this year the big Thanksgiving gathering is at your house, and the more you spruce up the rest of the place, the nastier and stinkier that old hulk looks. And yet, getting the nasty thing maneuvered out and hauled away…
Steve King Is Beginning To Lose Support After Years Of Racist Statements. Republicans Still Expect Him To Win. “[I]t would take a tidal wave to knock him out.” https://t.co/SFQHQwBIKO via @alexis_levinson and @tparti
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) October 31, 2018
After making racist statements for years, Steve King is starting to lose support in the Republican Party. But Republicans still broadly expect him to win his congressional race next week, and aside from losing some financial backing, it’s not clear anything will change for him if he comes back to Congress next year.
One week before Election Day, Rep. Steve Stivers, the chair of the House Republican campaign arm, disavowed King in a tweet. “Congressman Steve King’s recent comments, actions, and retweets are completely inappropriate. We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms, and I strongly condemn this behavior.”
Three corporations — Land O’Lakes, Intel, and Purina — that had previously donated to him publicly announced they would not give him any more money in the future, putting some pressure on other donors to withdraw support…
The backlash comes in the final week of King’s most competitive reelection campaign in years. His opponent, Democrat J.D. Scholten, has outraised King dramatically, and on Tuesday, the Cook Political Report changed its rating of the race in Scholten’s favor, moving it into the Lean Republican column.
But Republicans still expect that King will win in his rural, conservative district, where both he and Trump won with 61% of the vote in 2016.“That district is just so Republican. It would take a tidal wave to knock him out,” said Cory Crowley, a Republican strategist who does work in Iowa…
And aside from Stivers’ comment, publicly, little has changed in what Republicans are willing to say about their colleague — few are willing to engage in any sort of forceful condemnation directed specifically at King. When asked for comment, AshLee Strong, a spokesperson for Speaker Paul Ryan, referred BuzzFeed News to her response from earlier in the year. “The speaker has said many times that Nazis have no place in our politics, and clearly members should not engage with anyone promoting hate.”
Spokespeople for two other members of House GOP leadership, Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, both of whom also contributed to King’s campaign through their PACs, did not respond to requests for comment.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who also contributed to King’s campaign and has attended fundraisers for him in the past, spoke out against racist and anti-Semitic comments in response to questions from local reporters, but did not specifically denounce King or say if Republicans should take any action against him. “I think every public official ought to set an example of being against any sort of racism, anti-Semitism, and that’s the standard I try to set,” Grassley said, according to an interview he gave Wednesday, the audio of which was provided by his office. When asked if King should be censured, Grassley responded: “The people of his district have a chance every two years to do that.”…
But then, to quote Stein’s Law: If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.
NEW: AT&T says its political action committee won’t make further donations to anti-immigration stalwart Rep Steve King.
‘The committee concluded that further support of Rep. King would not be consistent with one of our core values …’Stand for Equality.’
— Laura Litvan (@LauraLitvan) November 2, 2018
#IA04 Rep. Steve King (R) finally went up on the airwaves at 1:18pm today, 2.5 weeks after his opponent. The ad looked familiar to me…and yup, it's a recycled ad from his *2014* race. https://t.co/VkRF8zBspG https://t.co/6qHqYiAok1
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) November 2, 2018
I heard he uses campaign contributions to keep his family on the payroll. Nice work when you can get it.
— seearekay (@seearekay11) November 2, 2018
“Yes He Klan”
— Windsor Mann (@WindsorMann) November 1, 2018
Scott S.
Steve King’s favorite person committed suicide in a bunker at the end of World War II.
Corner Stone
Every time I see or hear the name Paul Ryan I stop for a split second and ask myself, “Who?”. That guy is like a self-ghosting master.
TaMara (HFG)
One can only hope a blue tsunami washes King out to sea, so to speak.
Corner Stone
The thing I enjoy most about companies ending their payments to King, (aside from no more grift for you), is that they admit they were previously contributing to him. He’s been a racist for years. And “recent comments” are what sealed it?
Corner Stone
I am enjoying a small cool front here in the Greater Houston Metro Area but whatever it brought down in the air is killing my sinuses.
donnah
Steve King pitched a hissy at the Q and A when a young guy pressed him to answer questions. King got absolutely red in the face and shouted back at the guy, who just kept repeating the question. King said, “I already answered you and if you keep asking, I’m outta here!” and grabbed his notes as if to storm out. He did stay a little longer, but honestly, these Republican men who can’t withstand tough questioning (I’m looking at you, Kavanaugh) and try to bluster their way out of it come across looking very stupid and weak.
A Ghost To Most
@Scott S.:
You mean besides Shit Hitler?
Highway Rob
@Corner Stone:
Bummer. Austin got the cold front but my usually sensitive breathery apparatus is fine. On the other hand we have an influx of Mountaneers today so [remembers whose blog he’s on] it’s really a great day with great people in town.
Jay
@Corner Stone:
King’s one of the many, many American Nazi’s who’s taken The Insane Clown POSus’s election as a sign the they don’t have to say the quiet parts, quietly.
sukabi
@Corner Stone: it’s not so much his comments as it is the public linking their support of him to his comments…
Can’t lose your customers($$$) over some racist nutjob that you shovel $ to.
karen marie
@donnah: Instead of walking out himself, King had his constituent removed. That he keeps getting reelected says a lot of not nice things about the people in his district.
WaterGirl
@TaMara (HFG): Maybe down the drain would be better? Less contamination to our waterways.
Origuy
We haven’t had a music thread in a while. Jezabel had an article about a young flamenco artist, Rosalía Vila Tobella. She received five Latin Grammy nominations a few days before her 25th birthday.
Malamente
Catalina
Honus
@Highway Rob: fine people on both sides (said the hillbilly with Austin connections)
J R in WV
@Origuy:
I saw that, and listened to a short piece by her. Amazed that people would hack at her because she’s not Andalusian but sings in an Andalusian style. Good is good, and she’s great!
Corner Stone
@Highway Rob: Not to worry. He doesn’t read the blog anyway.
J R in WV
@Highway Rob:
I’m looking forward to being able to watch the WVU game on live TV for a change. Saw one streaming on CBS earlier in the season, that’s it so far. We just get NBC ABC and Fox over the air, no cable available, hills and forest in the way of Direct TV without clear-cutting the south side of the forest around the house, which isn’t going to happen.
Hope they give Texas what for!
James E Powell
Gotta love that ATT PAC announcement. Because
now that we have our tax cut we don’t need himwe just found out that he is a loud & proud racist asshole.James E Powell
@Corner Stone:
We’d like to be able to nail them down on which recent comments convinced them. Then do the search to show the exact same comments years earlier.
Hungry Joe
Anecdotal, yeah, but still:
Yesterday my wife and I were at Ammar Campa-Najjar’s (CA-50) campaign HQ in Escondido (NE San Diego County), helping prepare packets (tens of thousands of door hangers, voter lists, etc.) for precinct walkers today and tomorrow. I estimated 80-100 volunteers and half a dozen staff. We were there from 1pm to 9:30pm. The GOP/Duncan Hunter Jr. headquarters is next door. Not down the street, but literally NEXT DOOR. I checked them out periodically. Mostly there was no one there; a couple of times I saw three or four people standing around next to a life-size cutout of Trump.
Our GOTV is huge, motivated. I don’t know how polls can possibly take this into account. Ammar is down by 4-5 points, they say, but I’m starting to believe we can pull this off. Could be that I’m in a bubble. But I swear I feel a very positive disturbance in the Force.
Jay
Conversation
Maggie Haberman
Maggie Haberman
@maggieNYT
Farrakhan’s words matter, too: It’s about time the left universally denounced his anti-Semitism – NY Daily News
nydailynews.com
2:00 PM · Nov 2, 2018 · Twitter for iPhone
Guess Maggie’s gonna take another twitter time out.
MazeDancer
Iowa has same-day registration.
Hoping all those people who thought there was no point in voting, now see there is a big point.
My emotional attachment to the Balloon-Juice Candidates after sending out 12,647 addresses for their PostCards is high.
Elaine Luria – down 3 in VA. Can’t bear her not winning.
Xochitl Torres Small – down 3 in NM. Can’t bear her not winning.
Lizzie Panhill Fletcher -down 1 in TX. Down 1 in Texas! Can’t bear her not winning.
Please consider making phone calls for all of them. Or one of them. You won’t have to talk to anyone, you’ll just leave messages. No one answers their phone. But what if you bring out just one vote. And that’s the winner.
They flipped a coin in Virginia to decide who got to rule the house.
Detailed phone bank Info at: PostCardPatriots.com
Dorothy A. Winsor
I’ll be pleasantly surprised if King goes down. My ex-colleagues in Ames are glum because in the 2010 redistricting they were put in his district.
In my constant efforts to do things I don’t know how to do, I’m creating an Amazon promotion for Finders Keepers (the book whose publisher went belly up so the rights reverted to me) and proposing a panel for WisCon that will make me cringe a little if it goes through and I have to talk about it. I called it “cross writing,” ie using a main character who’s a gender other than the writer’s own. Why do we do that? What challenges and risks and opportunities does it provide?
West of the Rockies
Consequences, Steve King, consequences. You’ve been a loathsome, nauseating turd for a long time.
Door, meet Ass.
Chetan Murthy
@Dorothy A. Winsor: “cross writing” strikes me as *incredibly* hard. And yet, so many female writers pull it off pretty well [b/c their male characters are convincing to us]. I don’t know whether men pull it off as well, but would be surprised.
FlipYrWhig
@MazeDancer: I don’t want to en-bubble myself either but I can’t imagine Luria losing. She has really good ads (that run CONSTANTLY) and just seems like a good human being. Taylor is a dick without ideas running against Nancy Pelosi.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Chetan Murthy: And that doesn’t count genders that aren’t defined in binary terms. I’ve always found it easier to writer YA male central characters, and I suspect that says something bad about what I think of girls, even though I am one. That is embarrassing.
Marcopolo
Just finished my canvass for a MO state house candidate running in the MO-2 congressional district. Found a few supporters but mostly NHs. And the undecideds. Undecided the weekend before the election. It must be nice to be able to be oblivious to what’s going on—with apologies to folks who are working multiple jobs with kids or other responsibilities that keep them too damn busy.
Driving by Cort VanOstran’s (MO-2) on the way home to sign up for tomorrow.
MazeDancer
@Hungry Joe:
It’s real. Whether it will overcome GOP cheating only time will tell.
But just spend a moment on Twitter and it’s full of people tweeting their canvassing pics, their standing in huge lines voting pics, their anecdotes about their formerly GOP grandmothers Dumping Trump.
Spirits are high. People who wouldn’t normally do squat are manning telephones. Canvassing in the rain, the heat, the cold, and high winds.
Said this before: If it can be won, it will be won.
And each pic brims tears in my eyes. I’m kvelling constantly. (Hey, I lived 16 Years in Manhattan, 3 in Sag Harbor, I’m Jewish Adjacent, I can use it.)
Go, Dems, go! It’s impressive.
Mike in NC
So why do all these big corporations donate to scum like Steve King? Are they that desperate for tax cuts?
Matt
Steve King puts the “fundament” in “fundamentalist”.
LuciaMia
Wonder if Alec Baldwin will be on SNL tonight?
Jay
@Mike in NC:
Buying influence on legislation.
The British Columbia Government just brought in new election rules that bars even 3rd “party” campaign funding from Unions and Corporations.
O. Felix Culpa
In the good news department, Early Voting Shatters Records in New Mexico. 53% Dems, 34% Evil, and 12% Libertarian and decline to state as of Thursday. No indication that Dems have slacked off since then. I’ve finished my garden chores for today and am off to canvass shortly.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more! We get to rest Tuesday night and – said with cautious optimism – celebrate.
Corner Stone
@Jay: It’s almost as if MAGA Habs is conveniently leaving out that Farrakhan explicitly endorsed Trump.
I’ve clicked on a few twit feeds responding to her and she is getting dragged, as she should.
Baud
@Jay:
@Corner Stone:
I didn’t know that he endorsed Trump. Even if he hadn’t, why are liberal responsible for him? Maybe if we nominate him in 2020, but that seems unlikely.
Redshift
Just finished my first canvassing packet for Tim Kaine and Don Beyer, about to head out on my second. I took the day off to do two shifts for Jennifer Wexton on Monday.
Everyone I talk to is psyched to vote, and no one is complaining about us bothering them. I’ll be interested to see what turnout is like in my precinct. Neither race is at all competitive, but I think everyone wants to not just win, but make a statement about Trump and his mini-me, Corey Stewart.
Highway Rob
@J R in WV: Given my ingrained pessimism from the last several years of Texas football, I like y’all’s chances. Sad to say I’ll be at my office trying to stream the damn thing rather than going to the game or watching on a decent tv.
Corner Stone
@Baud: Can’t embed but the link is a Yglesias twit feed with multiple screenshots of his support for Trump.
Tony Jay
@Baud:
Easy. It’s because he’s black. Says a lot about how MAGA Habs sees the racial landscape of America.
Barbara
@Redshift: I am canvassing on Election Day. They want to run the table. They still feel bad they might have been able to do more last year.
Baud
@Corner Stone: Thanks. Maggie H is an idiot.
MazeDancer
@FlipYrWhig:
Please may it be so! Elaine Luria does seem like a wonderful person. Naval Commander and all that. Knocking wood!
Problem with VA is there is no big Dem marquee race at the top. Like Beto may bring Lizzie Fletcher across the finish line.
People love Tim Kaine, but he’s not in jeopardy. (Knock wood).
So each Congressional race has to do it on their own. BJ Candidate Vangie Williams is getting trounced. BJ Candidate Jennifer Wexton is ahead 13 points because White Educated Women are angry and Barbara Comstock is on the receiving end. BJ Candidate Abigail Spanberger had her star turn in the debate and Dave Brat is a jerk. So, she’s moving ahead.
Elaine has to do it all alone. Glad her ads are good. So want her to win. (Want all the VA BJ Candidate Women to win!)
Jay
@Baud:
As people point out in slamming Maggie, in Right Wing Nutjobs “world view”, despite being a right wing theocrat who endorsed The Insane Clown POSus and called Hillary Clinton “Hitler”,
Farrakan is “black”, does good works in prisons and some inner cities, got invited to Aretha Franklin’s funeral, and was once seen as a possible “leader” of the Black Community back in 1975,
So that makes him a “leftie”.
In the wake of the Tree of Life murders, and the exposure of rabid anti-semitism in “main stream” ReThug’s, the Reich Wing minions are trying to “bothsiderist” anti-semitism, and Maggies out front and center supporting the Reich.
A Ghost To Most
@Matt: He puts the “al Social” in “Nationalist”.
James E Powell
@Chetan Murthy:
Maybe a subject for one of the blog’s book threads: best & worst cross-written characters
westyny
@Chetan Murthy: Norman Rush does a pretty good job.
reid
@O. Felix Culpa: I’m in the northern part of NM, which is pretty solidly blue. Glad to hear the numbers are encouraging. I hope that holds true for the southern part, too. Lot of yokels down there, sadly. I’m about to go early vote….
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: The New York Times is garbage.
bobbo
@Mike in NC:
Big business supported the nazis too. They are soulless monsters
Ruckus
@Mike in NC:
Yes, yes they are.
The other side is that these companies sell things that are not political, that most people want. Land O’ Lakes, Intel, Purina, ATT, these are companies that sell to everyone, not just the left or the right. The big question I’ve not seen asked is, do they also give to the left? If that’s so then they are supporting their customers and those who support them. At least in theory. I used to purchase Land O’ Lakes butter, I have Intel chips in my computer, ATT used to provide my service. I wouldn’t feed Purina to any pet. So 3 out of 4 here.
The big issue is getting corporate money out of politics. They can’t vote, why should they be able to purchase votes instead?
JPL
@bobbo: Yes they did.
cynthia ackerman
@Hungry Joe:
Ditto from OR2.
I’m in the Wasco County office right now, 1:30pm on Saturday.
Doing the same thing as you, keeping the canvassers fed and supplied.
The numbers and enthusiasm are a delight. And this type of ground game has never happened before in this district, for any candidate. No polling other than some sifting of social media, and all the projections for OR2 have not accounted for this GOTV effort.
I know first hand that many precinct targets are being met, easily.
As encouraging as all this is, my message to the troops is “be encouraged to work harder, because no one knows how this will end. GOTV!”
Schmendrick
I just finished my canvassing shift in southwest Las Vegas. When I picked up my packet I met Susie Lee (my next congresswoman) and Shannon Watts (from Moms Demand). There were more than 50 volunteers there at 9:00 am (including a couple dozen of the Moms Demand brigade). My overall impression was confirmation that a lot more people are enthusiastically engaged in this midterm election than usual. Susie Lee said she was “cautiously optimistic”, which captures my mood exactly.
bemused
I watched the young Ohio man questioning King and later appearing on one of the msnbc evening shows. The contrast between the young man’s calm and unruffled demeanor and King’s red faced freak out was striking. I laughed.
Kent
Biggest strategic mistake the GOP made was making the corporate tax cuts permanent. Now the big corporations don’t really need the likes of Steve King anymore. They used to be more smart about this. Why do you think the farm bill comes up every 5 years or so. They could make it all permanent easily. But this way the agribusiness dollars flow like a tsunami into congress every few years when the farm bill is up for reauthorization. They could have done the corporate tax cuts the same way had they been smart about it.
Hope O'Hara
I live outside the US for about 7 months a year, but own property, pay taxes, and by god, I call my rep -Steve King quite often (along with Grassley and Ernst. Anyway, back in the summer of 2009 I went to a health care town hall King was hosting. Got there early, sat in the front, and objected, contested, and argued throughout the meeting. As I was leaving, a couple of his staff approached me and said “we know where you live, and it isn’t in the US”. I replied – “then you also know I pay taxes, so bugger off”, and got the hell out of there. Freaked me right out, it did.
O. Felix Culpa
@reid: I’m in the north too. In the statewide races our votes are needed to offset the R votes in the east, south, and up by Farmington.
dm
Probably a dead thread, but if you zoom into Northwest Iowa in yesterday’s XKCD you’ll find an Easter egg appropriate to this thread.
https://xkcd.com/2067/
Probably you have to look at it with a real computer, and be patient, it takes a while to load.
The roll over text (about how to edit the map) is good, too.
Ladyraxterinok
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I lived in Ames from 68 to 89–ex was on IA State faculty and still lives there. I couldn’t believe it when I saw Ames had been put in King’s district. He had long been notorious in Ames.
Jay Noble
A curious side-effect of voting early. I drove around today grumbling to myself that there were all these candidate signs still up. “Clean up after yourselves . . . oh wait.”
Capri
This cycle I’ve been visited by 2 people at my home in a rock-ribbed red semi-rural district in Indiana – one an actual candidate and one a person trying to get out the vote for the democratic candidates. This is the first time in 15 years at that address anyone has ever canvassed. The energy is high.
Even my husband’s parents – the conservative couple who didn’t like Obama although they couldn’t quite put their finger on exactly why not – have had it with Trump and are going democratic this year,.
Plural of anecdote is not data and all that, but it makes me optimistic.
debbie
This couldn’t be happening to a more deserving guy. Hope he cries during his concession speech.
debbie
@Chetan Murthy:
Jim Harrison’s Dalva and Reynolds Price’s Kate Vaiden prove it can be done and done well.
gogiggs
I’m not going to support the Insane Clown Posse’s music, (although it’s easy enough to avoid), but they strongly and repeatedly have endorsed tolerance and acceptance for everyone. It’s really not fair to tie them to Trump.
reid
@O. Felix Culpa: Indeed, and done!
O. Felix Culpa
@reid: Yay! I’m feeling pretty good about most of our races, and hope to have that feeling confirmed on Tuesday night! Don’t know if you’re in the Santa Fe area, but the Santa Fe County Dems are having an Election Night Watch Party at 1420 Cerrillos Road starting at 7 pm. You’re most welcome to join us. We’re live streaming the results and food and drink will be served.