This is pretty amazing: the night before the Virginia Governor’s election in 2017, everyone on “Morning Joe” thought that the Republican candidate (Gillespie) would win or that it was a toss-up. The Democrat, Ralph Northam, won by 9 points. The panel spent the entire segment talking about how Democrats were in trouble because they didn’t talk tough enough on immigration.
Happy birthday to this clip of every “Morning Joe” panelist blowing their #VAGov prediction. https://t.co/5sYuDdV7Bc
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) November 6, 2018
burnspbesq
Shit is happening in VA again. A friend of mine posted that he waited in line for an hour at his polling place, double the previous record. He is in the 7th Congressional district, in suburban Richmond.
catclub
who watches Morning Joe voluntarily? I lasted almost two minutes, but I hate myself for it.
Smiling Mortician
Oh my god they’re just insufferably sure of their baseless opinions.
It’s been Tuesday for me for 20 hours now. I’m going nuts waiting for returns.
dmsilev
@burnspbesq: Very crowded, or was there something wrong with the machines etc.?
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Shit, shit, shit, I hope we pull this off. I’m hopeful here. We’ve done all we can. It’s in the hands of the voters now, which is where it should be.
Kenneth Kohl
I don’t remember Doug! – was there panel hand-wringing involved?
bluehill
Trying to distinguish between increased number of voters causing lines vs intentionally trying to discourage voters in certain areas. Sporadic reports from GA sound like the latter.
TaMara (HFG)
Kraux Pas
Remember kids, tone is more important than substance. So what if your plan addresses the problem of undocumented immigration more thoroughly, makes the immigration process more orderly, and treats all people with dignity and respect. How many guns and bricks are you sending to the border? That’s what Real America (a trademark of the Republican Party) wants to hear about.
Mai Naem mobile
I just got my final notice Robo text from the GOP to go vote. I am tempted to text back to tell Trumpov to go eat shit but I won’t because I want them to waste resources on me.
guachi
Still going with a 50/50 prediction for the federal elections.
+50 House seats, 50 Senate seats. Both are at the upper end of possible but not overly optimistic.
oatler.
“Matt Gorman of the National Republican Congressional Committee joins Morning Joe to discuss where the GOP is on Election Day for the midterms.”
Platonailedit
Paging Kay
rikyrah
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
People have done what they could. We have had some damn good candidates who have worked their azzes off.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@guachi:
I’ll grant you maybe 50 House seats, but the Senate was always a long shot. Now, if we had 2020’s Senate map we’d probably win Congress outright.
rikyrah
@Platonailedit:
this is ridiculous. It’s absolutely on purpose. 3 machines?
Phuck outta here.
rikyrah
@TaMara (HFG):
I saw her….she was so sweet
Brachiator
Every political and news show should show cartoons on election day, let people vote, and let the vote be counted. Punditry is often empty, but it’s a black hole of emptiness on election day.
Barbara
@Kenneth Kohl: What it shows, as if we needed more proof, is that they only listen to white media types, mostly male. They literally cannot hear other people or acknowledge their concerns. All things being equal I would rather that they acknowledge they don’t really know the outcome than the false certainty of a segment like this, but really, they don’t know and at least some of their ignorance is totally self-inflicted because they don’t want to listen to people who aren’t like them.
Kraux Pas
@guachi:
I’m sure Mike Pence will be glad to become a regular voting participant in the Senate.
Shakti
@Mai Naem mobile: I got so many texts from the GOP I feel like I’ve ghosted an asshole ex I’ve never dated. I also feel like my brother ghosted someone and gave them my cell phone number because some of them use his entire first name. Nobody calls my brother his entire first name, not even my mom.
Another Scott
All of the major media people only talk to each other. Or other white guys. The other 75+% of the population doesn’t exist.
One of the NPR Morning Edition people (David Greene) was on the most recent It’s Been A Minute. The bit of the segment I heard was him going on and on (and on) about how “Democrats think a winning strategy is to talk about How Scary Donald Trump is” when they really should be talking about x,y,z.
:-/
It’s infuriating. They don’t know what Democrats campaign on because they have no interest in hearing what real Democrats have to say.
Grrr…
I mostly get my news from Reuters and the BBC, and as someone pointed out here earlier today, one really has to throw out about 90% of the BBC’s reporting on US politics…
Cheers,
Scott.
Smiling Mortician
Just when I thought I’d done everything I’m gonna do for this election, I got a text from a Dem in Missouri, asking me if I have the time/energy to put a couple more hours into texting voters who need to get out and get Claire McCaskill re-elected. I said Sure, why not? I voted absentee in my home of WA weeks ago, did some GOTV stuff in the past week or so, and because I am now living in Spain, it’s nearly my bedtime — but yeah. Gimme a task, boss. Put me in.
Platonailedit
@Brachiator:
Punditry is
oftenall empty.??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Brachiator:
Yeah, but then how would we know of voter suppression going on places like GA, so we could crowd source resources to stop it by filing a lawsuit (or is it injunction?) in federal court?
Kraux Pas
@rikyrah:
That’s fucked up. My polling place had 6 machines, but they were to read paper ballots. This allowed a dozen people to vote simultaneously in each precinct and made for a very orderly process, AKA a Republican nightmare.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
You do have to hand it to whoever produced that show, they figured out a way to make those two smarmy dopes seem likable was drag Mike Barnacle out of mothballs. Do they still have that douchebag Ed Rendell on to concern-troll Democrats?
Oy, and as I type that I turn on MSNBC and they’ve got fucking Carville. At least I’ve never seen his hate-wraith of a wife, at least not since Monsignor Russert went offf to pompously lecture God on the importance of FAITH.
Chris
It’s always bad news for Democrats, no matter what. Quite a few of these people were absolutely shocked by Obama’s win in 2012.
MattF
@Platonailedit: Talking heads have to show their masters that they are earning their keep. It’s part of the job. You may as well complain about the weather.
FlipYrWhig
The people who went COMPLETELY insane about Northam-Gillespie were the Internet “left.” He said something about sanctuary cites and was thus, I mean, obviously, some sort of terrible racist as well as a milquetoast neoliberal and blah blah blah, this is why we’re all so demoralized all the time, blah blah blah. But in addition there was definitely some kind of perversely strong feedback loop by which “left” carping was getting looped back into mainstream-media carping and coming back out as proof. And when Northam won bigger than any Democrat had won in many decades none of them apologized for a fucking thing. This year I ain’t got time to bleed.
catclub
@rikyrah:
the last gasp of separate but equal policies.
rikyrah
This is for Yarrow for KeithP:
This is from the Harris County Elections Department:
Special Circumstances
You may submit an application for a late ballot because of sickness or disability after the last day of early voting and before 5:00pm on election day. In order to qualify the sickness or disability must originate on or after the 12th day before election day. (Secs. 102.001; 102.003).
You may submit an application to vote due to a death in the immediate family that occurred on or after the 5th day before election day and will be absent from the county on election day. (Secs. 103.001; 103.003b).
Voters are required to submit an application for these specific instances. Please contact the Elections Division at 713-755-3150 for questions.
https://www.harrisvotes.com/VotingInfo?lang=en-US#VoteByMail
catclub
@Shakti: William? Bartholemew? Mortimer?
Chyron HR
@Kraux Pas:
At least both Collins and Murkowski would be forced to vote for whatever bullshit the GOP wants to pass.
Kraux Pas
@Chyron HR:
You mean in that rare 5% of cases where their morals take hold just enough to convince them to make a frowny face at their party?
LuciaMia
Last night was having some panicky flashbcks to 2016. Today Im more cautiously optimistic. Staying away from cablenews till this evening; right now theyre just chewing over the same cud to kill time.
Are there any reports from FoxNews on Black Panthers intimidating voters?
Kraux Pas
@LuciaMia:
God forbid they break away from the horserace coverage to report on anything relevant, like demonstrable ongoing voter suppression.
Chetan Murthy
@Kraux Pas:
What morals?
ETA: obvs. agreeing with you. they’re whited sepulchres.
Mnemosyne
There was a nervous kid in line with me at the polling place who looked like he had only just turned 18. He was so adorable that I wanted to pinch his cheek and tell him that his mother would be proud of him, but I refrained. ?
Butter Emails!!!
@Kraux Pas:
You probably wouldn’t like how they covered it.
Media Talking Head One: There’s some massive voter suppression going on. People can’t vote because the machines aren’t working in heavily democratic voting precincts or there are only three machines for lines of hundreds of people.
Media Talking Head Two: It’s a daring strategy by Kemp. Let’s see if it pays off for him.
Kraux Pas
@Butter Emails!!!:
If it does, next time you’ll see citizens in urban districts forced to assemble their own voting machine before voting.
Jay C
@Another Scott:
Still an improvement over FOX, where you have to throw out 99+% of it……
zhena gogolia
We just voted. I guess there were a few more people than usual for 2:30 in the afternoon, but there were no lines. One guy asked the person handing out ballots to lend him a pen, so I guess he was a first-timer. I couldn’t gauge his level of liberalism — he could have been either a Trumpanzee or a fervent Chris Murphy supporter.
I have a bad feeling, but I had a good feeling in 2016 so I have no faith in my instincts.
BC in Illinois
What I haven’t heard mentioned today, because in many ways it’s already made its effect, is the gun control / gun sense / Moms Demand Action effect. Candidates happy to display their “Gun Sense” endorsements. Candidates [ Claire McCaskill, for one ] not getting a Gun Sense endorsement, but happy to pose for Moms Demand Action pictures. Other candidates not really putting their NRA “A” rating at the top of their campaign. Voters who have already chosen candidates at the primary level on the gun issue.
And, in local news, this item:
I voted today at the H_____ Middle School.
There was a sign on the door:
Sort of a reminder of what’s on the ballot.
JoyceH
Reporting from the red part of Virginia. I’m just back from voting. No lines, but the way it’s set up there wouldn’t be. We vote paper ballot, with lots of stations to fill out your ballot, and then a tabulating machine that accepts the ballot.
Turnout is heavy. The machine tells you the vote count when it accepts your ballot. I always vote mid-afternoon, and remember that last year i was somewhere in the 180s. Can’t remember exactly what my 2016 number was, but think it was in the 200-300 range. Today I was 1040. (!) There were a lot more people coming and going than I’m used to seeing.
After I’d voted, I stopped by the Democratic tent and talked to the fellow there. He said there were 25 people waiting when the doors opened at 6 am. Said he was seeing a lot of young people and people of color. So that sounds promising.
All that said, this is VA 1, which the pundits don’t even talk about because it’s considered such a safe Republican seat. I’d love it if we could surprise them, though. My Republican rep doesn’t seem to have even campaigned at all. I don’t think I got a single piece of mail from him.
For that matter, Corey Stewart doesn’t seem to be campaigning either. I see some yard signs, and got a couple really generic robocalls, but no tv commercials, no flyers in the mail. I get the feeling that Stewart thinks he’s already lost, and Wittman thinks he’s already won. I soooo hope Wittman is wrong!
burnspbesq
@dmsilev:
Very, very crowded.
Barb 2
For years now I have been saying – the GOP can only win by cheating. I am not alone in this opinion.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/if-the-republicans-win-tuesday-the-reason-will-be-simple-they-cheated
As the Democrats slowly gain ground the first thing that needs attention is vote by mail. This means a paper ballot !
I’m reading about long lines and voting machines switching votes. How about voting machines locked in a closet?
When the House goes Democratic one committee needs to focus on making voting as easy as possible. Paper ballots are vital to democracy. Everyone needs to start lobbying their local representatives to enact legislation requiring paper ballots. It would seem easier to work for standardized federal ballots which would strongly encourage local and state voting to switch to paper ballots and ultimately vote by mail.
GOP cheats.
TomatoQueen
@JoyceH: Horrible racist Corey Stewart tv ads rec’d lots of airplay here in Alexandria, where we love Tim Kaine and are otherwise bluer than a blue thing on National Blue Thing Day, which I hope today will prove to be. Corey Stewart needs to die in a pile of poisonous mushrooms.
gvg
Washington Post reports at the end of the article about current voter suppression, that the Border Patrol exercise was cancelled.
Gelfling 545
@Kraux Pas: The possibility does exist that one or two Republicans would be scared enough by a big Democratic win in the House to be slightly less rabid.
Shakti
@Shakti: @catclub: Not even close. But at least it was spelled correctly. I’ve seen some hilarious misspellings of his nickname from mailing lists that just couldn’t be bothered. It’s two syllables.
Granted my nickname is two syllables, but that doesn’t stop my local Starbucks from fucking it up or just calling out my drink order instead. :-p
Immanentize
@Barb 2:
And they should call the bill the “Let America Vote Again Act”
Immanentize
@Barb 2:
And they should call the bill the “Let America Vote Again Act”
catclub
@JoyceH:
oy.
the people being told at my polling place that they registered on October 8, and had to be registered 30 days, so that was not good enough – were young people. (or at least young at my polling place’s crowd.)
terry chay
Check out this twitter meme.