Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Let there be snark.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

I really should read my own blog.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

The revolution will be supervised.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Biden-Harris 2020 / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Go Day

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Go Day

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Put our ballots in the drop box behind City Hall half an hour before it was locked down at midnight, so we don’t have to vote in person after all. Okay, it’s Massachusetts, but: Civic duty accomplished!

Because this is America, Goddess bless us all!

Reader Interactions

264Comments

  3. 3.

    Sab

    Friend of ours just called. He went to vote at 6 am (polls open at 6:30.) Already 1000 people in line. Usually there are maybe a dozen. Suburban/ exurban site.

  4. 4.

    Cermet

    If it is a Biden land slide; we will certainly know after 11:00 EST when Florida and NC both report their initial results. If Biden gets either NC & AZ or Fl, game over and Freedom wins.

  6. 6.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    My newly political 19 year old niece in Texas voted for Biden along with all of her friends. She even said she convinced her asshole dad, uncle, and grandpa to vote for Biden, too. They have been reliable republican voters in the past. My nephew came out this past year so my niece read them the riot act that if they care so much for him, want him to marry and have a family one day, they have to Fucking vote for Biden. I guess I wouldnt be surprised bif they lied to her, though.

  12. 12.

    FlyingToaster

    In more stupid-ass moves, Barr has deployed DOJ “Election Protection” teams to Massachusetts, specifically Boston, Lowell, Quincy, Springfield and…Malden.

    A) We were running elections before there was a USA. We’re really fucking good at it.
    B) Good Luck getting into a polling place; local pols and cops do NOT like federal anything. Expect everything you do to be either filmed or documented by everyone.
    C) If you’re looking for fraud, there are thousands of hours of video of pre-processing ballots in our 300+ municipalities. Be my guest.

    D) Malden is a bedroom community. It has 2 T stops and a Commuter Rail Stop (north end of the Orange Line/Haverhill Line). That’s where Ed Markey has a condo (and where he grew up).

    WTF?

  16. 16.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Sab: A friend here  in Illinois just texted me she drove by small town Sheridan, IL ( my home town) polling place, big line, most not wearing masks. That tells me the R’s there are voting today

    Eta: i admit that made me mildly nervous, but not Goku level nervous.

  17. 17.

    MomSense

    Lacing up and heading to the polls.  Saw a cool Kamala video this morning that inspired an election morning haiku.

    She’s a bad ass boss

    Strides confident to that dream

    Shares grace fire and hope

  19. 19.

    waratah

    I am watching Morning Joe for the first time in years and it has started with a very solemn Joe. He generally has this show in a crowded coffee shop so this kind of has a funeral feel to me.

    I have been following Beto in Texas and I have been excited over what I saw happening. I love all the mentions of Texas this morning even tho it is this late coming. Reminds me of the surprise that Beto came so close in his senate run.

    I am excited with what I am hearing is happening over the country.

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    sign #3,483 that trump has run out of money?

    Julie Tsirkin
    @JulieNBCNews

    Hours after the President departed for Florida, this was the scene in Georgia as people were left for hours waiting for buses to take them to their cars:

    TheCthultist | Black Lives Matter
    @TheCthultist

    How many times is this now?

    Nancy Cat Lover
    @NancyCatLover
    ·
    Nov 2
    Third time in just this week…

    Bernadette
    @berreand

    They must be oblivious, so clearly FOX and OANN aren’t showing it. Four times in a week, same thing!

    He pays to have people bused to his rallies but not to have them bused back to their cars?

  23. 23.

    lowtechcyclist

    The Day of the Dread.

    The weird thing is, I’m actually feeling pretty good about it.

    That was definitely NOT the case on the morning of Election Day 2016.

    Don’t know if that means anything or not.

  24. 24.

    Immanentize

    @FlyingToaster: Historically, DOJ election protection teams were the good guys.  They went to places with previous problems of voter intimidation or vote chicanery.  They are usually young lawyers who are less than one year in DOJ, with a state wise supervisor.  Lowell qualifies for that standard.  They are usually young lawyers who are less than one year in DOJ, with a state-wide supervisor.

    Just because they work for the DOJ (tens of thousands of employees) doesn’t mean Bil Barr personally sent them.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    Republicans publicly silent, privately disgusted by Trump’s election threats (Politico)

    In other words, supportive of his threats.

  28. 28.

    Eric S.

    I voted but mail weeks ago but decided to walk by my polling place. The polls have been open for 40 minutes and no visible line. Assuming social distancing they can’t fit more than 10 people inside. This doesn’t surprise me my Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago: predominantly affluent, white liberals most of who have been working from home for 7 months. Most have voted early. Being Chicago we could’ve also voted often. ?? (I kid, I kid.)

  30. 30.

    Tim C.

    Yeah,  today I’m calling my “Day of Gratitude” no matter the results.   This community has helped a lot in the last four years (and ten before that!;  I’ve been lurking around since the Great Orange Satan announced that a thoughtful conservative blogger was switching sides based on the Teri Schiavo nonsense.)     I’m blessed with good family and good friends and this place has been a refuge of sanity in the long night, which we pray will come to an end soon.

    Keep being awesome people.

  32. 32.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud: In other words, supportive of his threats.

    Bingo.  They can be ‘privately disgusted’ all they want, but if they don’t have the guts to speak out against it, they’re still cowards and traitors, not just to America but to the very notion of democracy.

  33. 33.

    evap

    Second what Baud said, I wouldn’t have survived these past four years without BJ.  Thanks, everyone!  Here’s hoping we can have a meet-up in (ABOUT TO TURN BLUE????) GA someday….

  35. 35.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I’m much tenser than I thought I’d be this morning. Part of that is that I woke up knowing why part of my current draft feels weak and I don’t know how to fix what ails it (yet). But mostly it’s because this election! Holy cow. So are the long lines of people waiting to vote wearing masks or not? I’ll bet that’s almost as good as an exit poll.

  42. 42.

    beth

    @MomSense: We’ve been so focused on getting rid of Trump that I feel like enough attention hasn’t been made about possibly  getting our first woman vice-president! As someone once said – it’s a big fucking deal!

  43. 43.

    Kathleen

    @debbie: Thirded. I will probably hang at BJ tonight.  I refuse to suffer the chattering sock puppets in the political propatainment complex.

    On another note heard this morning that 90% of absentee ballots have been returned so far and Ohio processes the ballots as they come in and all they have to is press a button to tally the votes.

  44. 44.

    evap

    @Immanentize:  I live in a deep blue part of Atlanta, so it’s hard to tell.  I just discovered the LeanTossup site and had fun this morning looking at their county-level data.  They have several counties that they are predicting will switch to blue and none that will switch to red.

  50. 50.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: So are the long lines of people waiting to vote wearing masks or not? I’ll bet that’s almost as good as an exit poll.

    Not around here. While there are still a significant # not wearing masks, they are far outnumbered by those who do, quite a few of whom are proudly sporting MAGA hats and masks. They know they are in danger but they still can’t tell from which direction it comes.

  54. 54.

    Immanentize

    @evap: I know it is a feel good site, but I enjoy reading leantossup, if only because they aren’t huge privet hedges.  And they mock people worthy of mockery. They are confident in their approach.  We’ll see.

  55. 55.

    FlyingToaster

    @Immanentize: Lowell, like Boston, is less election fraud or intimidation and more indicted politicians.

    But Malden?  Seriously?  Everyone I know from there is either a med student, nursing student, academic, or middle management.  It’s not a hotbed of anything.

  56. 56.

    Bobby Thomson

    I’m concerned about Pennsylvania.  Chester County officials are expecting 90%+ turnout.  If that happens across the entire state, Trump wins because no one is suppressing or stealing votes in Altoona.

  58. 58.

    mrmoshpotato

    @NotMax: Of course you’d come through with something like that!

    (That Halloween song shook some skeletons around here – well – one.)

  60. 60.

    Tony Jay

    Looking in from the outside I can understand the nerves, but every single indicator seems to be pointing unerringly towards a repeat of 2008*, when an unpopular Republican President’s gross mishandling of a global scale crisis tanked the GOP’s chances of retaining the White House and opened the way for a huge Blue Wave that not only propelled a ton of Democratic candidates into office, including a charming new President whose campaign hadn’t really put a foot wrong, but also gave the wider world hope that things were about to change in a big way.

    I know whose shoes I’d rather be in now, and not just because the Q Tang Klan tend to have tiny wee trotters.

    *Only with 2018 levels of GOTV and a burning sense of injustice to juice the soul.

  62. 62.

    Immanentize

    @FlyingToaster: Malden is not all that happy — it is really diverse (only just over 50% white) — yet the politicians and police are almost all white.  Usually the DOJ voting folks go to places that have had problems or have requested their presence.

  64. 64.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    The differences in how easy it is to vote were driven home to me in the contrast between my experiences 1976 and 1980. In 1976, I lived in Detroit and waited in a church basement for at least 90 minutes, probably longer. In 1980, I lived in an upscale suburb. I walked in and out of nearby high school voting site with no wait at all.

  66. 66.

    geg6

    Cold but beautiful, sunny day with the kind of clear blue skies you only get around here in the fall.  Drinking my coffee before heading out to hand out sample ballots.  Will bundle up in layers as it is supposed to get to 50 later.  I feel optimistic and the weather seems a good omen.

  70. 70.

    Brachiator

    The cheesy but sincere lyrics of the Star Trek Voyager theme song come to mind right now.

    It’s been a long road,
    To get from there to here.
    It’s been a long time,
    But my time is finally here.

    Balloon Juice has been a special place for a while now.

    We’ve been fuming, fussing and planning and fighting here especially since the 2016 election and the improbable, miserable, largely illegitimate rise of the Orange Beast. But we have also provided comfort, friendship, support in these hard times.

    So here we are. And soon, maybe we will know whether the nation has decided to send Trump scurrying back into his hold.

    I voted early, so I can relax and don’t have to worry about long lines or making sure my vote gets counted. In 2016 I voted after work, and had to scurry to my polling place.

    I mentioned before that I am going to try to avoid this evening’s election coverage, and instead try to relax and watch a few movies. We will see what tomorrow brings.

    See you all on the other side.

  73. 73.

    TinRoofRusted

    In line to vote here in the NYC suburbs. Mondaire Jones who is running to replace Nita Lowey stopped by. I got a selfie with him for my daughter who is in college and voted absentee.  She loves him.   20 minutes so far and will be worth it no matter how long it takes.

  74. 74.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Eric S.: Snowball I voted for Sideshow Bob.

    Being Chicago we could’ve also voted often. ??

    Who would want to vote often with those damn ovals on the ballot?  I had to take a break before I started voting for the judges.  (Hooray for mail-in ballots!)

  76. 76.

    Baud

    @PsiFighter37:

    Even in rural areas, I wonder if some of the higher turnout is from Dems who never felt incentivized to vote before.   The most Republican House district in the country is still ⅓ Dem.  We have people everywhere. Anyway, I hope that’s the case.

  77. 77.

    JMG

    @Bobby Thomson: Chester County went for Clinton by a lot. High turnout there is great for Biden. It’s mostly affluent suburbs, with industrial Chester and some exurbs where people keep horses.

  78. 78.

    Gin & Tonic

    @raven: That ‘Stang in the video brought back memories. Motorhead buddy of mine in HS had one like it, Bullitt green, with a goddamn 427. Scary fast.

  79. 79.

    Kathleen

    Eric Holder on Rickey Smiley Morning Show now. Nonstop Get Out The Vote efforts on his show daily. Staff asking him variety of questions. Good stuff.

  80. 80.

    mrmoshpotato

    So – what stupidly-long movies are on the slate tonight?

    I think it’s a good night to finally watch my 14-year-old copy of Seven Samurai.

  81. 81.

    lamh36

    Good morning BJ

    While everyone else is awake and worried cause of election. I’m awake cause I’ve been battling sinus congestion all night and now throat is itching and I’m hoarse. It’s not COVID, but anytime you call in sick nowadays ya gotta go through so many “I ain’t got COVID” hoops??‍♀️ glad I’m off til Mon. Shit better clear up before my birthday??

    I had to call into the new job and it’s inky been a month.  But I feel bad and the thought of having to keep a mask on all day when I’m having to breathe through my mouth cause of the congestion would have been too much ??‍♀️

    Anyway, I’ve got me some non drowsy decongestant and hopefully I can nip this thing in before my birthday on Thursday

  82. 82.

    H.E.Wolf

    I made bread yesterday. The last few times I made this recipe, it took forever to rise and the loaves were flattish even then.

    This time I kneaded the dough until I had remembered and recited the names of all 50 states – it took me a while; my apologies, Kansas – and the dough rose beautifully, and the loaves came out well.

    I’m hoping the good bread is a good omen. :)

  83. 83.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Bobby Thomson: High turnout is generally good for DEMs. That’s why the GOP tries so hard to suppress it. It may or may not be true in PA at this particular moment, but reminding myself of that fact eases my worries.

  86. 86.

    satby

    Every (3x!!) time I went to early vote the lines were two to three hours long and because it was after work I didn’t have much more than an hour to spare before I had to get home to let dogs out. So I got up, had my coffee, waited for enough light to walk the three blocks to my local school polling place, and was in and out in 15 minutes. They’re having what looks like a good turnout to this former election judge’s eyes. People were streaming in and out the entire time. Best part was that the majority of poll workers were college age kids, many POC ?. That was great to see. Made me a bit verklempt.

  88. 88.

    Baud

    Although turnout will be through the roof, I also am curious whether some of the long lines are because of fewer polling stations due to COVID.

  90. 90.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Climate crisis breaks open generational rifts in US families

    The climate crisis lingers in the back of Gemma Gutierrez’s mind, a gnawing anxiety that blossoms fully when she reads about wildfires, flooding or other climate-related disasters. It’s a nagging concern that clouds how the 16-year-old sees her future.

    “I have a sense of dread,” says Gutierrez, who lives with her parents in Milwaukee. “I dread that in my lifetime the clean water I have now or the parks I’m lucky enough to be able to go to won’t be there any more. It weighs on my mind.”

    Like a growing number of young people in the US, Gutierrez sees climate change casting a long shadow over her adult years. She has been inspired by Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate activist, and has contacted her local elected representatives to raise her concerns.

    The looming US presidential election has only sharpened her fears, as well as underlining a generational rift in her family. In a scenario playing out in many American families, a sense of despair and outrage among young people over global heating is being met with indifference and even dismissal among some of their older relatives.

    “The climate has always changed and what’s the bad part of it getting a bit warmer? I like warm days,” says Dennis Miller, Gutierrez’s maternal grandfather, who describes himself as a conservative and credits Donald Trump for building a strong economy before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

    Miller, a former Exxon employee who lives in North Carolina, believes that his granddaughter has been misled over climate change. (Scientists are unequivocal that the climate is changing with human activity the primary cause.) “Youngsters are youngsters,” Miller says. “Kids go with the crowd and everyone is talking about climate change. They have to get a bit older and learn a little more.”

    Gutierrez plans to write a letter to her grandparents to explain her distress, although she is mindful that previous conversations about climate change have become fractious. “I would try to speak to my grandmother but the conversation automatically gets very heated,” she says. “She will get very defensive and say hurtful things. What the president says is very authoritative to her. I feel [older people] are voting against the better interests of our climate and I want them to see a different perspective. I think I would be doing the world a disservice by not trying.”

  93. 93.

    germy

    Yesterday I kept seeing Brock Pierce commercials.  “Brock For President!”

    First time I saw him, my reaction was “I thought they locked up Keith Raniere. ..”

    My wife and I voted this morning.  6am.  And there was a line.  It took us about 45 minutes to get inside the tiny senior center polling place.  It felt good to finally vote.

    While we waited on line, a truck flying a big TRUMP flag drove by very slowly.  He didn’t honk or yell, but he drove slowly and stared.

    While on line, I tried to play a mental game:  Which of these people are voting for Trump?  Who’s voting for Biden?  It’s not easy nowadays, because lots of Trump supporters have long beards and ponytails, but there was one dude I was able to figure out:  He wore a STAND FOR THE FLAG, KNEEL FOR THE CROSS sweatshirt.

    The poll workers inside were wonderful.  All older women, very nice and helpful.

    What a day.  Thanks to everyone here, a great support community.

  94. 94.

    Gin & Tonic

    @raven:

    ah, Fastback!

    One time he had a bunch of guys in the car. Middle of the back seat was uncomfortable anyway, and the guy there was kind of an asshole, so my buddy would blip the throttle once in a while and slam the guy’s head into that back window (if you were ever in one, you know there wasn’t much headroom.)

  99. 99.

    Bobby Thomson

    @OzarkHillbilly: it is generally good, yes, but this is the first US election where I have very serious misgivings about election integrity – like, third world misgivings.  Also, too, I spend a fair amount of time in the interior.  Biden has to not just win SEPA’s collar counties, but dominate in them to win this year.

  100. 100.

    Zzyzx

    If you’re mentioning voting conditions, can you please also say where you live? That’s the only way to get useful information out of that. Thanks!

  101. 101.

    Karen S.

    We dropped off our ballots at an early voting place a few weeks ago and have received noticed that the ballots were accepted and counted. Cool. I’m going out for a walk a bit later to see if there’s a line at the usual polling place in our neighborhood. It’s less than a 5-minute walk away from where my wife and I live, but we thought going to the polls to possibly stand in a line and wait to vote might not be safe health-wise given the Covid situation. I’m quite fortunate that I live in a place (Illinois) where voting has become easy.

    Also, like many others have already said, I’m grateful for this blog and how it’s made the last four years tolerable. Actually, I’ve been grateful for this blog since I stumbled upon back during the Bush the Younger era. Thank you, Mr. Cole.

  102. 102.

    frosty

    @Gin & Tonic: @Immanentize: @raven: I presume you all know that both the Mustangs used in Bullitt were found. One in a scrapyard in Mexico and one that had been in a barn for years  Car and Driver had a good story on it and it was featured on Jay Leno’s Garage. My favorite bit: the one that ran was bought from a classified ad and the purchaser’s wife used it as a daily driver to her job as an elementary school teacher!

  103. 103.

    germy

    While my wife and I stood on line this morning, a guy in front of me kept coughing.  Loud, wet cough.  Sounded like a real smoker’s cough.  He smelled like smoke.  He wore a mask, but kept yanking it down so he could take frequent pulls from his 12 oz coffee.   I couldn’t guess his affiliation.

  105. 105.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Immanentize: Just because they work for the DOJ (tens of thousands of employees) doesn’t mean Bil Barr personally sent them.

     

    True.  But the fact they went to Massachusetts cities probably does.

  108. 108.

    Bill

    @Baud: As someone who has been lurking for, oh, about 10 years now, 100% this.  This blog has been critical to keeping a sense of sanity over the past 4.  Thank you all – and let’s hope today goes well.  *crosses fingers

  109. 109.

    Mary G

    Agree with Baud and everybody that this place has saved my sanity and provided comfort, a refuge, and assurance that there are still good people in the world. I don’t have anyone in meatspace that gets me the way you jackals do.

  111. 111.

    NotMax

    @OzarkHillbilly

    Related.

    Eta strengthened Monday to become a Category 4 hurricane, expected to bring “catastrophic” wind and flooding to parts of Central America, the National Hurricane Center said.

    The 12th hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic season had maximum sustained winds of 150 mph and was “nearing the coast” of northeastern Nicaragua at 1 a.m. Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said.
    [snip]
    It is extremely rare for a Category 4 storm to strike land at this time of year. There have been only three Category 4 hurricanes on record during November, the most recent being Hurricane Paloma in 2008.
    [snip]
    Both 2005 and 2020 have required meteorologists to name storms using the Greek alphabet, after exhausting the traditional list of names. This is the first time Eta has been used.… Source

  114. 114.

    Skepticat

    I awoke thinking this truly is one of the most important days in our lives.

    I’m in Virginia with friends, and they’re just going to vote, though they’re worried about the integrity of the election. I miss voting in person, but usually I’m out of the country and so already have voted online. Whatever it takes!

    My Canadian and German friends have been bombarding me with emails full of angst and hope, which is what most of us seem to be feeling. Onward!

  115. 115.

    Cermet

    @Bobby Thomson: No; you are missing that the number of white males living in rural area’s that had supported that asswipe has decreased by 10% (that is significant loss). Also, there are a lot of dems in those areas. Woman in rural areas have turned against that fart even in greater numbers. Turn out in rural PA isn’t all bad considering the already large dem vote there.

  116. 116.

    Bruuuuce

    Voted early, as did the entire family except my daughter, who voted by mail. If we had thought about it, we would have had her register to vote at her school address in Allentown, PA, rather than here in Queens, NY, so that her vote could have a larger impact. But it’s her first election, and she was all kinds of excited to vote for the Dems.

    Local reports are that there are lines at our usual polling place, which there almost never are, This is going to be historic.

  121. 121.

    Woodrow/asim

    @Brachiator: Forgive the nit-pick — that’s the theme to STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE you’re quoting there. :)

    It stands out because it’s the 1st (and so far only) Trek show to have lyrics sung as part of the opening credits.

  125. 125.

    Mary G

    Axios has an interesting  piece about Biden’s plans to make a speech tonight as president-elect if he’s ahead and has a whole team ready to get to setting up his government no matter what Twitler does. He thinks Al Gore was too passive in 2000.

  126. 126.

    cmorenc

    @Baud:

    The big surprise outcome tonight isn’t a trump repeat upset, but rather that despite all the public agonizing about the election here at.Bj, privately so many of us voted write-in for Baud for president that you won – and tonight pundits will be asking “who the hell is this baud person?”

  128. 128.

    frosty

    @Mary G: I got here around 2010?, don’t recall the link that sent me here. This has become my go-to blog first thing in the morning, all day, and last thing at night. I don’t know what I’d do without it.

    @raven: Absolutely! I love how a thread on Election Day ends up with comments on hot rods and muscle cars! Although a motorhead myself, it was British sports cars for me. HS ride was a Bugeye Sprite needing an engine rebuild: 0-60 in 45 seconds!

  132. 132.

    Betty Cracker

    I’m offering a sort-of comic relief story:

    In 2016, my sister, who is a much nicer person than I am in every conceivable way, was so distraught about the election outcome that she uprooted and destroyed a neighbor’s Trump sign in the pre-dawn darkness on her morning walk. Just yanked it out of the yard, ripped it in half and threw it down.

    If you knew her, you’d be astonished that she was capable of such a thing! Anyway, when she got home, she confessed the crime to her wife, who freaked out about it because she was afraid Sis’s property destruction might have been caught on someone’s security camera and that Sis would be arrested. They stewed about it all week, cringing at the sound of every passing car. But nothing happened. Whew!

    Due to that scare, SIL was determined to get Sis out of the country for the next presidential election. They are world travelers who’ve visited every continent, so she figured she’d whisk Sis away to some remote island with limited media coverage to prevent a freak-out in the event of another bad election result. But for months, our passports have been garbage, so that avenue was foreclosed to them.

    Instead, SIL booked a sailing trip for two on a private vessel leaving out of Key West. It was supposed to sail yesterday, stopping at the Dry Tortugas and sailing around that area. But when they arrived, they were told they were welcome to occupy their stateroom, but the boat couldn’t leave until Thursday at the earliest because of the hurricane in the Caribbean.

    The kicker? A boat across the way in their marina is occupied by Trump assholes flying their obnoxious Trump flags. So, there SIL and Sis are on Election Day, in a marina in hotly contested Florida, across from repugnant Trump jerks, with no escape from the election. I recommended mimosas at brunch followed by bourbon. Lots and lots of bourbon.

  134. 134.

    frosty

    @Mary G: He thinks Al Gore was too passive in 2000.

    One more time: a great candidate, a great campaign, not putting a foot wrong!

  135. 135.

    Ken

    @cmorenc: tonight pundits will be asking “who the hell is this baud person?”

    Naw. Pundits will be talking about how they expected this all along, and had their eye on this obscure candidate since 2016.

  136. 136.

    Geminid

    The Fayetteville Observer reports that spending in the NC Senate race between Cunningham and Tillis has reached $287 million. If the race is close, Tillis may have a 3rd party problem, as the Libertarian and the Constitution Party both have candidates on the ballot.  In South Carolina, the Constitution Party Senate candidate dropped out too late to have his name removed from the ballot. He asked his supporters to vote for Graham, but that did not stop Jaime Harrison from running an ad slamming the Constitution Party candidate for his hard-line positions on gun rights and abortion.  “…too conservative for South Carolina,” the ad says. A tactic out of the Claire McCaskill playbook.

  137. 137.

    MJS

    @Bobby Thomson: PA has a Democratic Governor, a Democratic Attorney General (who is 6-0 in voting cases against Republicans), and a Democratic Secretary of State. PA’s votes will be counted, and Biden will win the state.

  138. 138.

    Haroldo

    @NotMax:

    The phrase “hot diggity dog!” dates to at least 1928, when Al Jolson was recorded saying “Hot diggity dog! Hot kitty! Hot pussycat! Didn’t I tell you you’d love it?” after a performance of the tune “There’s a Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder”.

    Didn’t know Al was such an influence on FZ. (viz. ‘Willie The Pimp)

  142. 142.

    Isua

    Another lurker chiming in to say thank you for the daily doses of sanity here for the last four years, and the general awesome for years before that. I started reading the week John brought Lily home (talk about readership capture) and have learned an extraordinary amount from you all.

  143. 143.

    Marie

    I, too, want to thank the BJ community. I’ve been a lurker for many years, but I’m especially thankful for all your thoughtful comments and insights these last four years. It made it a little more bearable to know I was not alone. Thank you to the front pagers and a special thanks to John Cole for bringing this wonderful community together.

  144. 144.

    germy

    Joe Biden takes all 5 votes in tiny township that is one of the first to announce results on Election Day

    Former Vice President Joe Biden took all five of the votes cast for president in Dixville Notch, a tiny New Hampshire township along the US-Canada border that is among the first places in the country to make its presidential preference known.

    The ballots were cast in the minutes after midnight, becoming some of the first cast and counted on Election Day.

    By tradition, all eligible voters gather in the storied “Ballot Room” at The Balsams resort in Dixville Notch to cast their secret ballots once polls open at midnight. Once every ballot is cast, votes are tallied and results announced — hours before anywhere else, making it a favored spot for reporters and observers eager for any hints of what is to come on Election Day.

  145. 145.

    Ken

    @Betty Cracker: Do let us know the sequel.  Sounds like we might expect “Police still have not identified the scuba diver who cut the hole in the bottom of the Trump boat.”

  148. 148.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @OzarkHillbilly: Are they allowed to wear MAGA hats in a polling place? I thought electioneeing wasn’t allowed. The Pod Save America guys had to consult with their lawyer to say that a Vote Save American shirt was probably legal because it didn’t advocate for a candidate.

  149. 149.

    Bruuuuce

    @Benno: It’s cheesy, but the sentiment is in the right place. And the video montage behind it is excellent. (Possibly the best thing about that series, despite a moment or two.)

  153. 153.

    Haroldo

    @raven:

    Stone, Woods and Cook

    Thanks for this. TIL this was the 2008 NHRA’s National Dragster Favorite Race Car!

    (Deservedly so – those Willys were so gorgeous.)

  154. 154.

    Anya

    @germy: I never understood this township. Do they have only 5-residents? Well, this time, at least no one hid behind voting for someone who was not on the ballet.

  155. 155.

    Gin & Tonic

    And our man Rudy, not missing a trick, shows up on RT today.

    Too bad your Derkach stuff didn’t work out, Rudes.

  159. 159.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mary G:

    MJ had a compendium of clips from every concession speech 1960-2016. It was a moving collection of emotional moments, and it occurs to me now that I watched/heard every single one of them in real time and couldn’t help feeling a little sad even for the candidates I had strenuously worked against.

    Will Trump even give a concession speech? I can’t in my wildest dreams imagine feeling sorry for him.

  160. 160.

    germy

    @Baud:

    That’s exactly what Trump would have done.

    Someone on twitter made this joke:

    BREAKING NEWS: after a unanimous victory in Dixville Notch, @joebiden issues statement: “with a shutout in the battleground town and barometer of the nation, Dixville Notch, I declare victory and await my opponent’s concession” https://t.co/9I1woU8IOo

    — Jonathan Tasini (@jonathantasini) November 3, 2020

  164. 164.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Probably not. I’m wearing my “Make Racism Wrong Again” hat. I dare someone to say it’s political. Chances are nobody will even notice, I don’t think anyone did at the primary or the 2018 elections.

  166. 166.

    FelonyGovt

    I didn’t sleep well. Hoping people in the key states do the right thing. I’m so grateful for this place.

  168. 168.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    I have a documentary to recommend.

    Don’t know if it will make you feel better, or angrier, or both. So I don’t know whether it fits better today or after the dust settles and Trump is trying to get to a non-extradition country.

    It’s called All In: The Fight for Democracy. It’s about vote suppression and centers on Stacy Abrams, and I think she was central in the production of it. I heard her being interviewed about it. She was approached about doing a documentary about her gubernatorial run, and she turned it down because she was there and didn’t need to relive it.

    Nevertheless, a fair amount of time is spent reliving that painful and criminal episode.

    It’s good to watch that and think about all the early votes that were not suppressed this time around. These assholes have managed to radicalize everybody, like Betty’s sister at #132, and have sowed the seeds of their own destruction.

  169. 169.

    Ken

    @Anya: @germy: They only have five voters because someone moved there in 2019 to keep up the tradition.  Otherwise they wouldn’t have had enough people to staff the precinct as required by NH election law.  Which, IIUC, means that all five voters in Dixville Notch are also election judges.

  170. 170.

    JMS

    We are holding down the fort in Pa. My husband and I are in the Philly suburbs, my 19 year old daughter is in Pittsburgh and my mother-in-law recruited in sister-in-law and niece to vote for the first time in Columbia county.

    80% of mail in ballots are received in Montgomery county so I do hope people who didn’t get their ballots in make it to the polls. Montco expects to report most results by 1 am

  171. 171.

    Steeplejack

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I thought Romney’s quote sounded egocentric and condescending. (Looked up the transcript.) “I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader. And so Ann and I join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation.”

  173. 173.

    trnc

    @Cermet: Turn out in rural PA isn’t all bad considering the already large dem vote there.

    Overall, I’m cautiously optimistic, but this is actually the one unaccounted for data point that still makes me a bit nervous – did the gigantic early vote clear the polling lines for republicans to swoop in today and vote easily, given that they apparently tend to vote more on election day than in early voting?

  175. 175.

    Jager

    @raven: I went to the Nationals in Indy one year in the 70s, a guy had a 55 Chevy 210, Power Pack with 3 in the tree. He’d started racing it when it was new and at that point, it had moved from A Stock to, if I remember correctly, G Stock over the years. Never driven on the street, only dragged. It still had the window sticker on it, Had only a few thousand miles on the odometer.

  177. 177.

    mali muso

    Holding down the fort today at the office as my colleague wanted the day off to volunteer as a poll worker (yay!).  Am going to attempt to get SOME minimal work done, lol, but likely will just be spending my day here with all of you excellent people to keep my sanity in check.

  178. 178.

    Jimmm

    @Tim C.:

    Lurkers of the World, Unite!

    It’s strange to think about exactly how much time I’ve spent here over the last 15 years or so, and just how much of an outlet it has provided through all of the ups and downs in between.  My mental health is vastly better for having found this place when I did.

    Thanks to John, all of the front pagers, and to the jackaltariat for reminding me that sanity abounds even when the world seems to be at its craziest.

  179. 179.

    Bruuuuce

    @Benno: The cable station H&I runs it nightly, and they’re in Season 3, The Disaster Called The Xindi Arc. Ugh. Then again, what did we expect from a series that did decontam with clothing on? (Okay, there was that one time in Doctor Who in the elevators, but that was as much for laughs as anything.)

  183. 183.

    Baud

    @trnc: Given the geographic divisions in this country, I’m not sure mail in voting had much of an impact on the in person voting today.

  184. 184.

    trnc

    @Steeplejack: I thought Romney’s quote sounded egocentric and condescending. (Looked up the transcript.) “I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader. And so Ann and I join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation.”

    Yes, Mitt, if only we had escaped the tripling of the stock market, the 80 consecutive months of adding jobs and the wipeout of 4 disease outbreaks.

  187. 187.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    I would too. But he may be physically incapable of shedding tears. I mean, if staring straight into the sun won’t do it…

  192. 192.

    Ken

    @SiubhanDuinne: Wears heavy makeup and a wig, stares into the sun, unable to cry – are we sure Trump’s not a reptiloid in disguise?  Or maybe a robot, considering how he dances?

  194. 194.

    mad citizen

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Re: MAGA hats at a polling place, I saw a news article about this somewhere (Cali?) and it was deemed fine because no candidate name was on it.  Of course that’s a sack of horseshit, but whatever.

    Romney is such a tool.

    I came here in December 2016, after putting in a google search for something like “most liberal blog”, because I wanted to stay sane.  I got here from the blogroll of another one, like LGM or one of the others.  Being alphabetical BJ was near the top as I started clicking on the list, and I was captured here.  Wow, wonder what the letters “C” through “Z” hold for liberal blogs?

    Needless to say, BJ is an oasis of sanity, information, and good people.

  195. 195.

    LurkerNoLonger

    @Baud: Tears would ruin his make up and make him look like Tammy Faye Baker. Also it would require human emotion, which he doesn’t have.

  196. 196.

    Immanentize

    @raven: lucas electric system.  Biggest pike of crap every invented.  I had a Volvo P-1800 with a B-12 engine with double carbs.  Great!  Friggin’ Lucas electrical system.

    ETA. I could never get my legs into a MG midget….

  197. 197.

    Ken

    @mad citizen: I came here in December 2016, after putting in a google search for something like “most liberal blog”

    “naked mopping willow mustard” gets you here faster.  It is also a fairly strong password.

    I don’t remember how I originally found BJ, other than that it was a link from another blog. Possibly LGM.

  200. 200.

    sdhays

    @LurkerNoLonger: Oh, he feels human emotion alright. He’s almost nothing but emotion and uncontrolled impulse. He simply doesn’t give a shit about other people and their emotions.

  206. 206.

    Barbara

    @Betty Cracker: Too funny. I hope this turns out to be nature’s way of giving her the healing, day after euphoria of being able to witness the grief of a disappointed MAGAite.

  207. 207.

    Other Suzanne

    Y’all, I woke up a bundle of nerves, ready to burst into tears! I was #45 (ha!) to vote. Stood in line about 30 minutes. Have the day off, and don’t know what to do with myself.

    What does one drink for an election like this?? Moonshine?? (If only!) I’m too stressed to think we got this in the bag, cause YOU know…..Let’s just hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.

    Thanks for (and to) Balloon Juice, where all the cool folks hang out. Don’t know how I got here, but I’m glad I came.

  209. 209.

    frosty

    @NotMax: @Immanentize: @raven: Ah, Lucas (the Prince of Darkness). I put four generators in a TR-3 in four years. Try googling “Lucas electric jokes”. My favorite:

    Q Why do the British drink their beer warm?

    A Lucas made all the refrigerators.

  217. 217.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: I’ll lie and tell NYT “I live in rural Ohio and I support him.” Then I’ll pose as a former Trump supporter. You will be golden with the NYT Baud. You’re welcome.

  218. 218.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I got here around 2012 by following a link from another blog. I don’t remember which one now. I liked the front page posts, but I also liked the comments, which is really rare. And I liked (like) the commenters. Usually.

  219. 219.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Bruuuuce: Trump is biggest argument against totalitarianism; the whole reason for having a dictator is some emergency situation were we don’t have time for consensus and something has to be done ASAP. Well here is the damn emergency – the Pandemic, and there is Pentumilate Leader Trump vacillating and eating cheese like a Torie when trying to face down Hitler.

  222. 222.

    Kathleen

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: A coworker voted early in Kentuvky and was upset to see guy in a MAGA hat inside of the polling station. She’s a Republican who hates Trump and it angered her that he got away with breaking rule about campaign flair

  223. 223.

    mrmoshpotato

    @NotMax: Storming away from the mic, Dump could be heard shouting, “I’m gonna tell my Daddy Vladdy!  You are all haters and losers!  SAD!”

  224. 224.

    Immanentize

    @frosty: And that was what the Brits used for DECADES!  How did it get into the Volvo P-1800?  Italian design, built in Sweden with a swedish transmission, but a damn lucas electric system.

  225. 225.

    Sab

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I had a my age (oldish)  black guy in a very worn MAGA hat right in front of me in line early voting. They asked him to put on a mask, but said nothing about his hat. He wouldn’t mask. They did challenge his signature, but he had i.d. so was allowed to vote ( with hat.)

  228. 228.

    germy

    We switched from signing a big book to signing electronically.

    My electronic signature came out a mess.  I told the poll lady it didn’t look good and she said it wasn’t a problem.

    Back in the days of the regular old paper book, my signature remained consistent.

    I hope this isn’t a problem next time I vote.  This morning’s electronic signature came out like a scribble.

    Anyone know anything about this?

  230. 230.

    Dirk Reinecke

    I got here from Sadly, No!  Way, way back in the day, I don’t have a lot to say, but fingers crossed today has a good result.

  232. 232.

    Another Scott

    @NotMax: One story I remember is that cars with Lucas Electrics relays would often have them mounted with the connectors up, so that the plastic relay cover would be down.  Perfect for collecting rainwater…

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (“Who often wonders if his Robert Bosch sunroof switch on his VW was designed by ex-Lucas engineers.”)

  237. 237.

    Miss Bianca

    @Sab:

    Friend of ours just called. He went to vote at 6 am (polls open at 6:30.) Already 1000 people in line. Usually there are maybe a dozen. Suburban/ exurban site.

    Can I just say…Dayum.

  239. 239.

    NotMax

    @raven

    Had an Audi with an automatic transmission designed such that the car could be started only when put into Neutral. Never grokked the leap of illogic behind that.

  243. 243.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    I voted for Biden / Harris!  It probably won’t change the outcome in my red state, but it felt REALLY good.  Plus, the tighter the margins, the more I make the GOP squirm.  Where it does make the clearest difference is in the local races and ballot intitiatives.  I’ve done my part and I am proud.

  246. 246.

    Steeplejack

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Running up the popular vote even in “safe” states heightens any variance with the electoral vote and increases the pressure to reform or get rid of the latter.

  247. 247.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steeplejack: Yep.  And the principle matters.  As dumb and naive as it may sound, blood was spilled for that right.  We have an obligation to respect that.  I will now revert to my normal snarkiness.

  249. 249.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Other Suzanne: What does one drink for an election like this?? Moonshine??

    What effect are you going for? Celebration? Going into a coma? For how long?

    I’m still debating how and when to celebrate.

    As for the how, I’m not a big drinker but I’ve kept a bottle or two of red wine in the house since I figured out the Pennsylvania rules on wine delivery back around April. I sip maybe 2 oz per week. If there’s cause for celebration I think I’ll pour out a full glass.

    As for the when, I guess I’ll take that hour by hour. I’ll try to avoid looking at any results until at least 9 pm I think, and I’ll keep telling myself not to hope for a Democratic lead tonight (though I’m starting to actually kind of expect one). But if celebration is justified tonight…

    Philosophical question that just occurred to me. If I stay up most of the night and have my wine at 4 am, that’s just late night. No problem. So how come if I fall asleep, wake up and then have it at 4 am that would be morning drinking and a Bad Thing?

  250. 250.

    mad citizen

    @germy: I have no knowledge but had the same experience with the electronic box signing thingy.  If signatures are ever used that’s a big problem.  Though Indiana implemented the ID check a few years ago so maybe that’s the main confirmation of who you are.

  252. 252.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Philosophical question that just occurred to me. If I stay up most of the night and have my wine at 4 am, that’s just late night. No problem. So how come if I fall asleep, wake up and then have it at 4 am that would be morning drinking and a Bad Thing?

    If what you woke up from at 4 am was a nap, I don’t think there is an issue.  If you woke up at 4 am from a night’s sleep, you perhaps have bigger issues than day drinking.  Does that help, from a philosophical point of view?

  253. 253.

    Aziz, light!

    Had a 1970 BSA Lightning motorcycle, last of the British twins. Lucas electrics. On two occasions, turned the key and smoke started pouring out from under the seat as the whole wiring harness went up.

    Ho hum. No drama here in Oregon with all mail-in voting.

  257. 257.

    J R in WV

    @lamh36:

    Sorry you’re feeling crummy! Hope you get well quickly, in time for your Birthday later this week.

    Believe it or not, eventually birthdays become way less important… we’re just glad to have made it another year at this point. Mine is the end of next month, may make it to 70…

    Take care!

  259. 259.

    J R in WV

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I got here around 2012 by following a link from another blog. I don’t remember which one now. I liked the front page posts, but I also liked the comments, which is really rare. And I liked (like) the commenters. Usually.

     

    You just be that way, Big D!!

    We like some of the commenters too!

    ETA: IIRC, I came here from Daily Kos, back when the Kos Blog thought other liberal blogs were cool. Around the time of the Terri Schiavo scandal, which was horrible for Mr. Schiavo…

  260. 260.

    J R in WV

     

    I have to say, the front page posters AND most of the commenters have really helped me keep my shit together over the past 4 years exactly as of today.

    I worked my tail off calling into Ohio for Hillary, who I think is a wonderful person, who would have been a superior President, and who deserved way better treatment from the Mass Hysteria Media. But her Emails! Give me a break!

    She used exactly the same eMail policy and tools as the Republican SoSs that preceded her in that office working for Bush the Shrub…

    Anyway, I felt like the phone banking was helping the first several weeks… And there were several of us calling from the Dem HQ office in town. Then suddenly there was just me and a volunteer HQ manager, who had keys to the front door. And I wasn’t getting through to many supporters any more.

    By the weekend before the 2016 election I gave it up. I was really stressed out, and quit leaving the farm, except to vote on election day and hit Kroger’s. Election evening I drank some bourbon and went to bed early, but I already knew the Trumpoid monster had won, and that we were screwed.

    Today I feel much better about things than I did 4 years ago. I don’t know if that feeling is based upon reality or not. My money is 400+ EV for Biden. And a take away in the US Senate, and in several state houses.

    I hope but do not expect Democratic candidates to win state wide races here in Bright Red and eaten up with political stupidity West Virginia. My poor state, when I grew up, WV was as blue a state as you could ever hope for. The downside was that the Democratic machine had been in place so long and so strong that it was plenty corrupt in many places. That is no longer true, and as much of the corruption was Republican (Arch A Moore Jr and his daughter, Shelly Moore Capito, who learned about politics at Daddy’s knee) as it was Democratic.

    But people learned to distrust the Democratic party, and Republican propaganda hasn’t helped that out a bit. They can get away with lying about the crooked Demonrats all they want, and their supporters eat that BS with a spoon.

    I hope to avoid the MSM all day. It is beautiful here today, bright colors on the few remaining leaves, bright sunshine. I’m going to attempt to fire up the leaf blower and clear leaves off the paths and steps and bridges and rooftops. Making stroganoff tonight, with noodles and green veggies and much wine. Grilled Tuna salad sandwiches for lunch.

    Everyone stay calm, we’ve got this~!

  261. 261.

    Johnnybuck

    Been here daily since ‘09. Mostly lurk, but read comments several times a day. So many come and go, but I feel lke many commenters here are people I know.

  262. 262.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    How about instead of freaking out over last-minute polls/early turnout data, everyone take a moment before Tuesday to thank our nation’s election workers, who are making in a heroic effort this year amid record-shattering turnout and unprecedented circumstances.

    Dude! NO! How about *IN ADDITION* to freaking out, etc..
    Because you’re right, our election workers deserve our thanks, but we also deserve to be able to freak out, without someone scolding us, as if we can’t freak out, and be grateful, at the same time.
    Look, I might be wrong, and I’d love to be wrong, but I truly don’t think there’s much the Republican Party wouldn’t stoop to, to win this election. They’ve let thousands of Americans die, just to avoid criticizing their President; what makes you think any crime, for which they *probably* won’t be blamed, is beyond them at that point?

  263. 263.

    Brachiator

    @Woodrow/asim:

    Forgive the nit-pick — that’s the theme to STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE you’re quoting there. :)

    It’s funny. I absolutely knew that, but still made the error!

    I have been trying to be cool as we head into voting day, but this is a sign that the tension is getting to me, too.

Comments are closed.