I've seen enough: in a huge victory for the pro-choice side, the Kansas constitutional amendment to remove protections of abortion rights fails.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) August 3, 2022
It's possible the margin for "No" in red Kansas will be a resounding double digits, a sign of just how unpopular overturning Roe v. Wade is nationally.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) August 3, 2022
Mowgli
Hallelujah! A bright spot once again
Mowgli
What’s with me and being first and second lately? Am I the only sane liberal left?
Rocks
Good! Let it be a sign of things to come all over the United States in November.
bbleh
Significantly exceeding expectations. Thank you Kansans!
bbleh
@Mowgli: um … how to say this in a constructive way …
Jackie
Wonderful news! And, hopefully a harbinger of how the General Election will go!
Ohio Mom
I am imagining every Republican official either reaching for an antacid pill or pouring themself a stiff drink as they digest this news and contemplate what comes next.
May this be the first of many such moments of despair for them.
SiubhanDuinne
Such good news! I just realised that, without really being conscious of it, I’ve had a little smile on my face since the news broke about half an hour ago.
oldster
This helps Kansans, and everyone within driving distance of Kansas, too. People from Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas now have a better shot at getting an abortion when they need one.
piratedan
think Dave was on MSNBC last night w/Kornacki indicating that he felt, based on polling, that the Dems were in trouble, sounds to me that restoring abortion rights is something that Dems should run on. The GOP picked Roe v Wade as a wedge issue, seems to me that we should return the favor and stick that wedge right up their ass.
Glidwrith
@Mowgli: {Side-eye} What makes you think you are?
After all, you are here in the asylum with the rest of us…..
Villago Delenda Est
I’m sure the vermin of the Village will assure us that this means nothing in regards to the 2022 midterms.
FelonyGovt
These fuckers really are the dog that caught the car and doesn’t know what to do with it. I hope the Republicans suffer immensely in November.
RaflW
Next door in MO, the FTF NYT says Eric won.
Oh. Yeah, uh they said Schmitt over Greitens. I’m not well enough versed to know if that’s bad, or terrible.
bbleh
@Villago Delenda Est: Ooo, “the vermin of the Village.” Nice alliteration, nice rhythm …
HeleninEire
Oh and the most horrible Eric (Greitens) lost in MO. The second most horrible Eric (Schmitt) won. Looks like that will be a Dem win in Nov.
Watch Trump claim credit tomorrow.
Albatrossity
I was cautiously optimistic, but yes, it is looking very good for abortion rights in this reddest of states
dmsilev
Huh. So not everything is the matter with Kansas.
sab
My husband watches a lot of 1960s and 1970s TV reruns, mostly old police and detective shows, like Mannix, and Emergency and Quincy.
He has been noticed that minor characters go off for abortions routinely, and nobody cares. Invariably the women are floozies, but back then nobody seemed to care.
It was illegal in Ohio at the time, but every city in the state had a doctor who would perform them quietly, within parameters. Parameters were mostly married women wanting early term abortions.
geg6
@Villago Delenda Est:
Though I’m sure it won’t make any dents in the media’s CW about the forced birthers, it must be screamed in their faces: THIS HAPPENED IN FUCKING KANSAS. FUCKING KANSAS, MOTHERFUCKERS!
Poe Larity
@FelonyGovt: Rooting for injuries.
Kay
Free Kansas
bbleh
@Villago Delenda Est: @geg6: And interestingly, such (very limited) commentary as I’ve seen has featured an “if not in Kansas then probably not anywhere” theme. And while I don’t necessarily agree entirely, a blowout in Kansas would be News that I think even the Villagers would have a tough time ignoring.
TaMara
Just tuned in to Kornacki and it sounds like turn out was record numbers (like Obama numbers). Be interesting to hear the deets once the dust settles.
This is great news. Do. Not. Fuck. With. Our. Body. Autonomy.
stinger
Best news I’ve heard in ages. I lived in Kansas for a couple of years; it got redder and redder after I left, and this result surprises me. In a great way!
bbleh
@Ohio Mom: And may their drinks be watered and their antacids expired.
Geminid
@HeleninEire: Eric Schmitt will be tough to beat in November. It’s doable, but polling last week showed him up by six points against Trudy Busch Valentine 36%-30%, and beating Lucas Kunce by about 38%-28%. Tonight’s Kansas result is a promising sign, though.
phdesmond
@dmsilev:
my very thought.
Geminid
@Albatrossity: This is also a good sign regarding Laura Kelly’s reelection as Governor, and for Sharice Davids in the 3rd CD, I think.
Suzanne
This is great.
The margins are embarrassing for the other side. Fantastic.
RaflW
Wasserman dug into Hayes KS and noted the swing on protecting abortion v. Trump’s vote in 2020.
I just picked Phillips County KS, up by the Nebraska state line. Of course they voted yes to restrict abortion. But by 20% less than they voted for Orangemandias.
A 27 point swing in Greeley County, KS – out by the CO border. This should send shockwaves.
Not to mention that of course Johnson County is just running away on the NO side. Massive.
ruemara
Going to claim credit for the win due to my 10 postcards sent out.
sdhays
It was ridiculously cynical that they scheduled a vote on a Constitutional amendment in a primary election, let alone in a mid-term year. To me, that’s just fundamentally illegitimate. And I thought it just might pass due to Kansas + very low turnout, which Kansas Republicans clearly also thought.
Very pleased Kansas Republicans were very wrong.
Barbara
@Suzanne: I think it will tighten somewhat, maybe in the range of 60/40. Still a great result and hard to argue any longer that “the people” of Kansas support restrictions on abortion.
p.a.
NO. 293,600 votes. 62.8%
YES. 169,887 votes. 37.3%
10:28 PM
AP estimates
82.4% of votes counted
Albatrossity
The dog caught the car. The dog lost.
Elizabelle
Access to abortion and healthcare, and protecting children against guns in schools. And all of us, everywhere, against gun violence.
Winning issues for Democrats this fall.
I hope that it works in the statehouses, too.
jnfr
I am cheering.
bbleh
It can’t be done at this point. NYTimes estimates are more conservative than AP, but even there, “yes” would have to win MORE THAN ALL THE REMAINING VOTES.
Not clear why they haven’t called it yet, but maybe they’re gun-shy.
bbleh
@Albatrossity: Yeah, this is one of those horrible videos where the dog gets caught up in the wheel.
Fortunately, it was a Very Bad Dog.
Elizabelle
@Albatrossity: Exactly.
Dogs are better people than authoritarian Republicans, though.
If we have a Democratic blowout this fall, maybe we can informally call it “the Alito Congress.”
p.a.
Waiting on Kansas legislature’s attempt to nullify the vote. They NEVER give up.
FDRLincoln
I live in Kansas, albeit in very blue liberal Lawrence.
Polling showed No and Yes within the margin of error, so this overall result is a big surprise.
Elizabelle
@bbleh: Again, that is some terrible imagery to be introducing. Who wants to think of a dog being crushed under a car?
Could you edit the comment?
I am really not trying to pick on you, but it’s an awful comment, and lots of us have dogs that met terrible fates. Please take it down.
Another Scott
@piratedan: As of about 2 weeks ago he seemed to be saying that the numbers were such that the GQP would be expected to flip the House.
I assume that they’ll be revising that table.
But the point is, success breeds success. It changes the narrative and helps Democrats get their message out. We need to run up the score everywhere we can.
Forward!! No, not Four Word!!
Cheers,
Scott.
Raoul Paste
@ruemara: Congratulations
HumboldtBlue
@piratedan:
Yup.
Almost Retired
So, Republicans, put abortion rights on the ballot in Texas, assholes. And see what happens.
Elizabelle
@FDRLincoln: Not tracking with the polling. That is very interesting.
I would guess a lot of polling is just mind games, at this point.
Like, how unpopular Biden is.
Go, Dark Brandon.
Ken B
Wasn’t this vote scheduled during the primaries because they were expected to have low turnout except among the hard core wingnuts?
Because if they stacked the deck like that and still got buried… it’s even worse for the freaks.
Mostly lurker, and it doesn’t list my Nym since the merging. I think this is the one I was using here.
Elizabelle
@Almost Retired: Yeah. I was thinking about Texas, too.
And thinking about how Democratic voters are fired up and ready to vote this fall. Lots of work to be done, but don’t believe all the conventional wisdom naysayers.
Almost Retired
@Ken B: They were expecting a low turnout. And this morning, my Mom (who lives in Wichita) called me to say she was waiting in a long line to vote. And everyone she spoke to in line was a very motivated “no.” Talk about an epic miscalculation by Republicans.
bbleh
@Elizabelle: Sorry. Alas, I can’t remove it. if @WaterGirl or somebody wants to do so, by all means go ahead.
Another Scott
@Ken B: +1
They know their policies are unpopular. They know they can’t win fair elections any more. That’s why they try so very hard to stack the deck and tilt the playing field and bribe the refs. But they still lost hugely tonight.
This result in Kansas is a very good sign, but we have to keep pushing and not take anything for granted. We have to fight for every seat.
Cheers,
Scott.
DaBunny42
This is great. Especially because it came in the face of Republican dirty tricks. They phoned people and lied about which way to vote (claimed a “Yes” vote was for choice) and deliberately held the vote in the primary rather than the general election, hoping only their motivated voters would care enough to turn out. And they *STILL* got spanked.
Elizabelle
@Another Scott: I wish gerrymandering and voter suppression were not such threats.
Not to mention the Senate’s over-representation of cows and empty acreage.
Geoduck
Everyone’s talking about how blood-red Kansas is, but they’ve got a Democratic governor right now. They got a taste of hard-core GOP “governance” under Brownback, and I don’t think they liked it very much.
But of course it’s wonderful news.
feebog
The analysis of voting patterns for this is going to be interesting. Looks like the college towns overwhelmingly voted no. If those same young voters come out in November, goodbye red wave.
stinger
@ruemara: Thank you, ruemara!
Albatrossity
Yes.
Elizabelle
If this gets our witless pundits to stop assuring us the Republicans will take control of the House or Senate this fall, that would be minty.
We do not live in normal times. Stop pretending we do, or that this is a “normal” Republican party. They wouldn’t even vote for civil rights any more.
I speak to our pundit betters, and MSM. Not to those here.
jnfr
@p.a.:
This is what we need to learn from the right wing – never stop.
They never stop. We can’t either.
Soprano2
@HeleninEire: No, probably not. Schmitt is atty general, he can probably win. The reason a Dem could have won against Greitens was that he would be repulsive to soccer moms in the suburbs. Schmitt doesn’t have that problem, although he’s repulsive to me. He’ll tell them he protected their kids from the horror of CRT, and it’ll probably work.
danielx
@Villago Delenda Est:
I am equally sure whether the margin ends up 60/40, 70/30, or whatever may be the case, the usual suspects will be shrieking FRAUD at the top of their lungs.
Nicole
I’m curious if other red states were thinking of placing abortion-related things on their November ballots and if they’re going to rethink that strategy.
It was so obvious Kansas GOP was trying to take advantage of traditionally low primary turnouts. But voters are only disengaged when they don’t think anything valuable to them is actually on the line. Bodily autonomy important for women? Who woulda thunk it?
Elizabelle
@danielx: Yeah, well, fuck ’em. Who cares?
SpaceUnit
NYT (probably) :
Kansas Vote to Uphold Abortion Rights Signals More Gloom for Dems in November.
HumboldtBlue
It’s been said over and over again, the people behind Herschel Walker do not love him.
This is sad to watch.
danielx
@Elizabelle:
Oh, agreed. Actually I’ll enjoy the shrieking.
piratedan
@Elizabelle: i think that people are turned off by polling… especially with the wording used in the polling. Living in the Old Pueblo, for the last six weeks I was getting multiple calls a day, all asking the same GOP framed bullshit talking points on the issues. My feeling about GOP candidates and the merit of their political stances, and I finally ended up telling one pollster that I wouldn’t piss on said candidate if they were on fire. My guess is that there’s lots of folks who have already decided and and given up answering the phones.
Elizabelle
@jnfr: The rightwing frightens their voters with imaginary things that could threaten them.
The Supremes frightened ours with a very concrete example of what is out there to lose.
cain
@Elizabelle:
When Biden wins – we should all chant “Let’s go Brandon” across the goddam nation! :D We’ll turn their shit anti-Biden into a rallying victory cry and it will never be used again.
HumboldtBlue
L. Louise Lucas deserves a national platform.
Betsy
@Elizabelle: Agree! I have PTSD from a horrible wreck and this kind of violent language is a trigger. I felt my cortisol level start to shoot up. Please take it down!
CaseyL
@piratedan: I rarely if ever answer my phone if I don’t recognize the number. Probably miss a lot of polling calls, along with all the fundraising calls.
The few times I have been polled (mostly for local issues and elections) not only is the caller working from a script, you can tell how long they’ve been on shift by how quickly and indistinctly they rattle off the answer options!
Betsy
@Nicole: Excellent point
danielx
@Elizabelle:
Saw a graphic earlier showing a county-level map breaking out yes/no votes. Predictably, “no” votes were concentrated around urban areas in Kansas, insofar as the state possesses urban areas. Cue the howls that amount to: “anybody who lives in a county with population of more than 15,000 isn’t a REAL Kansan!”
HumboldtBlue
Patsy Baloney has been subpoenaed by a Federal grand jury.
Sister Golden Bear
@TaMara:
Nor our religious freedoms. The whole post-Roe world is the Christo-fascists trying to impose their beliefs on everyone.
West of the Rockies
@Elizabelle:
Does “Go Dark Brandon” have a literal translation the way the original stupid NASCAR chant does? Today is the first day I’ve encountered GDB.
Tony G
Wow! Kansas! I confess that as a person who has lived his whole life in the northeast, I had a cartoonish view of Kansas, so this is not only great news but (to me) very surprising news. I wonder how a vote would go in Alabama or Mississippi or South Carolina?
Geminid
@HumboldtBlue: Senator Lucas has a national platform. She may be the best known and most retweeted state legislator in the country.
LeftCoastYankee
What’s
WrongRight With Kansas?FDRLincoln
It helped that GOP leaders were caught on tape planning a complete abortion ban if the amendment passed, and the pro-choice side was featuring that recording in radio and TV advertisements. The deliberately confusing nature of the wording was also highlighted in press coverage and pro-choice media.
There were two polls I saw. One, about a month ago, had Yes winning 46-43 with 11 percent undecided. The second poll, last week, had Yes 46, No 46, with 8 percent undecided. It looks like undecided swung to NO hard.
Sister Golden Bear
@West of the Rockies:
The next logical meme evolution is “Go Dank Brandon.” //
HumboldtBlue
@Sister Golden Bear:
Seven clergy in Florida, including Jews, Buddhists and Christians, have filed a suit against the state for its abortion ban.
H.E.Wolf
Yes it was you! Thank you!! :-)
Tony G
@CaseyL: Yup. I think that that’s true of most people for the past couple of decades. Most of the calls that I get on my cell phone and landline are spam, so ignore any call that’s not from a person who I recognize. My sons (in their early thirties) do not have a landline and probably will never get one. I’m pretty sure that telephone polling is effectively useless at this point.
Elizabelle
@West of the Rockies: It’s a meme, wherein Joe Biden is kind of a superhero, but edgy. Examples showed up in the two morning threads.
Here’s an example. There was a better one about golf … ah, here it is. Had a lot of tabs open.
Actions speak louder than golf.
Jackie
@HumboldtBlue: For who? Oct 14. Hopefully it will be aired live! (Assuming Walker doesn’t get Covid and have to regretfully bail out.)
lgerard
In mildly unpleasant Kansas news, the odious Kris Kobach has a narrow lead in the AG primary.
No matter how many times the voters reject him, he just will not go away
eclare
@HumboldtBlue: Great news!
HumboldtBlue
@Geminid:
Twitter ain’t national. I don’t see her on cable news or in prominent lecterns when Democrats are on stage. Needs more TV exposure.
David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
Vin Scully’s family is looking for a golf course
The Lodger
@Tony G: Dorothy Gale was right, There is no place like home.
H.E.Wolf
It’s too early to be certain, but if we’re all willing to work our butts off, the 2022 midterm results may look similar to the 2018 midterm results. And that would be very satisfying.
Elizabelle
Scrolling back through some Michael Beschloss tweets.
Elizabelle
@H.E.Wolf: Yes indeed. It is doable.
danielx
@lgerard:
I noted that. I hadn’t heard Kobach’s name for a while, and you’re correct – the sonofabitch is like herpes, and more unpleasant.
Geminid
@HumboldtBlue: Twitter is national. And Senator Lucas has been on cable TV, even if you missed her.
Quiltingfool
Trae Crowder, ya’ll. Good rant. https://twitter.com/stevendeknight/status/1554588381119533058?s=20&t=jqElN0a3ZoFA1RjR9dSPEQ
Kent
Things are looking good in the WA 3rd.
Democrat Marie Perez is leading the “Jungle Primary” with 31.8% of the vote
GOP Incumbent (and Trump target) Jaime Herrera Beutler is in second with 24.5%
The two MAGA challengers are trailing in 3rd and 4th with Joe Kent at 20.1% and Heidi St. John at 15.1%
If the MAGA forces had actually consolidated around a single candidate they might have beaten Jaime but divide and conquer doesn’t work in Jungle Primary.
Most of the outstanding vote to be counted is in Clark County (Vancouver) in which Marie is leading and in Cowlitz County in which Marie and Jaime are splitting the vote. So I suspect this is how it will finish up with Marie in 1st and Jaime in 2nd.
It should set up an interesting general election. If there are still enough butt hurt Republicans still pissed about Jaime’s impeachment vote then Marie might stand a good chance. The district was Trump +5 in 2020 so reachable. I think Marie will be a better candidate than the one we had in the past two elections.
It would be awesome to turn the last district on the Pacific Coast blue. The WA-3rd is the only district touching the Pacific coast (south of Alaska) that is still red.
Sister Golden Bear
@HumboldtBlue: I was thinking of them, just couldn’t remember where the suit had been filed.
Dan B
@oldster: I believe the KS leg can still ban abortion but this may scare some.
JWR
@David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: TV news just did a nice Vin Scully remembrance. ~sigh~ My dad was a hardcore Dodger fan, as was I, and listening to Scully on the radio became a sort of music of my life, (even after Zeppelin came along. ; ) Bye, Mr. Scully. : (
Poe Larity
@Tony G: Landline people still vote.
Youts that only text with their phones…
eclare
@Quiltingfool: He is always good. Thanks!
Dan B
@RaflW: Schmitt is also terrible but not super anti-LGBTQ like 2nd place Hartzler (name?) or an MF like Greitens. This is according to commenters on JoeMyGod.
lgerard
Trump nut Kari Lake getting toasted in AZ Gov race
She had already started the rigged election complaints a few days ago
Martin
Watch the polling to see how it changes, and who changes. The turnout models for the polls are all completely fucked right now. They’re still assuming this will be a normal first term midterm. That’s all the data they have to work with. Turnout will look nothing like a first term midterm. Some pollsters will adapt, others won’t. All of them will need to take some risks on their models.
HumboldtBlue
Vin Scully has died. For those that know, damn sad day. Legendary broadcaster. A storyteller extraordinaire. We listened to him as kids back east when he did football games, and of course, when the Dodgers and the Yankees battled in the World Series in the 70s.
Vin Scully was the voice of more than one generation of sports fans.
Martin
@piratedan: The problem with the polling isn’t cell/landline. It’s that you have to build an accurate model for who will actually vote, and that’s been in shambles since 2016 because the parties are getting energized in different ways at different times.
This is why Dems need to put more AOC/Fetterman-like candidates out there. They are energizing, and that’s how you win.
guachi
If the House wasn’t so tilted to Rs I’d say Democrats would have a lock on the House. Alas, Democrats will have to win by 2.5% or so nationwide to eke out a majority.
Steeplejack
OT: Josh Marshall profiles Sinema (thread):
Nora Lenderbee
Thank God. First good news I’ve seen in a while.
Jackie
@Nora Lenderbee: Other good news: The burn pit bill passed tonight 😊
Doc Sardonic
@HumboldtBlue: We’ve had three giants pass by us, on the way to their rest. When giants pass they leave behind them long shadows, and indelible memories in the hearts and minds of those that saw them.
JWR
According to NPR, the KS results as of 9:03 PM PST:
So, 60-40. Not bad at all!
LeftCoastYankee
@HumboldtBlue:
The Dodgers have had historically great announcers. Red Barber, then Vin Scully.
Despite my Nym I grew up a Mets fan with two Brooklyn Dodger fans for parents (and a NY Giants fan for a grandfather).
Scully was a treasure.
rikyrah
Yes👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
People in nearby states have somewhere to go
rikyrah
@HumboldtBlue:
RIP😪😪🙏🏾🙏🏾
HumboldtBlue
@Doc Sardonic:
Long, long shadows.
@LeftCoastYankee:
I’m a left coast Yankee too, being Philly born and Dover raised. I’m a US Grant Yankee.
Mom and grandma were Hasbrouck Heights girls in Jersey and the Dodgers were their team and Vin Scully colored some 40 years of my sports watching and listening experiences, particularly when I relocated to the LA region in the mid-80s.
Amir Khalid
@HumboldtBlue:
I know of Vin Scully only because Dana Scully of The X-Files was named after him, but I’m told he is a legend in baseball commentating on par with Murray Walker in F1 or the BBC’s John Motson in football.
Geminid
@Martin: Sharice Davids energized Democrats in Kansas’s 3rd Congressional District, and that’s how she won in 2018. Lauren Underwood did the same in her suburban Chicago district. Democrats don’t need more national “stars” to keep and expand their Congressional majority. They need more Democrats that appreciate young and capable politicians like Davids and Underwood who are not national media stars.
And I think there is a distinction to be made between Lt. Governor Fetterman and Representative Ocasio-Cortez. Mr. Fetterman is on his way to winning a Senate seat in a purple state. I don’t think Ms. Ocasio-Cortez could win a purple Congressional district, Winning purple districts like Representatives Davids, Underwood and others do is essential if the party is to expand its House majority.
HumboldtBlue
@Amir Khalid:
That’s him. The voice of generations. I first heard Motson full-time and on the regular in 2000, he’s one of the reasons I started following Liverpool.
Scully was the voice of mine and a million others’ experience as young sports fans and he provides a voice to some of the most iconic moments in baseball history.
Eljai
@Dan B: As Attorney General, Schmitt signed onto an amicus brief arguing that LGBT individuals should not be protected by workplace discrimination bans. Hartzler may very well be worse, but they’re both bad. I heard a reporter on cable earlier saying that Schmitt could be described as the more “moderate” republican candidate. That’s just false. There are no moderate republican candidates.
JWR
@HumboldtBlue:
My dad grew up in California, but was a big Brooklyn Dodgers fan, so you can imagine his joy when they moved out here, bringing Scully along for the ride. He was a true baseball legend.
H.E.Wolf
@guachi: “If the House wasn’t so tilted to Rs I’d say Democrats would have a lock on the House. Alas, Democrats will have to win by 2.5% or so nationwide to eke out a majority.”
Fortunately, you’re already volunteering for your local Democratic Party coordinated campaign, right? I sure am!
Fair Economist
@Martin:
I don’t see how they can usefully adjust their models. Turnout will be very different, but there’s no way to know how it will come out until it happens.
Geminid
@Eljai: Eric Schmitt is not more moderate than Eric Greitens. He just doesn’t have Greitens’ reprehensible personal history.
Just Some Flyover
@Tony G: You’ve lived your whole life in the northeast and had a cartoonish view of Kansas.
Because of course you did.
H.E.Wolf
One thing that will make a helpful difference in this November’s results is white men who sign up to volunteer with the Democrats.
People of color and white women are already in there swinging (as the late great Vin Scully would have said). Be good allies, and join in! It’s a great antidote to election anxiety.
Eljai
@Geminid: Exactly!
LeftCoastYankee
@HumboldtBlue:
That’s the meaning of the Nym (plus a few years in NE). Your description is spot on and succinct (so clearly I will steal it!).
I love baseball, but I’m not sure if sometimes it isn’t the comfort of tuning in nearly every summer day, finding a cool spot and listening to an old friend tell you tales of joy and disappointment. And anticipating they’d have more tales tomorrow.
Dangerman
@JWR: A sad day in LA to be sure; even non Dodgers Fans loved Scully.
He could have easily been elected Mayor anytime he wanted; thankfully, he didn’t want.
I suspect he will have asked for a small, private service; they could have filled Dodgers Stadium several times over if it was desired.
If you’re not from LA , I don’t think you can understand.
JWR
@HumboldtBlue: When attending games, everybody had a portable radio listening to Scully call the game we were all watching. They did have a basic stadium announcer who called the score and kept track of the count, but the bigger voice was always right there on thousands of transistor radios. Good times.
Geminid
@HumboldtBlue: A good time to state again the U.S. Grant quote that is pinned to the head of of Susan Vermazen’s Twitter account:
JWR
@Dangerman: Yeah, for all his fame, he was pretty low key.
RaflW
@danielx: My grandparents went to college in Pittsburg, KS (it was a teacher’s college back then, now it’s Pittsburg State Univ).
The county went Trump 60-37. But it voted NO 55-45. So it does seem that even being a city of 20,000 does impact the views on gender and the rights of women. Good
@Geminid: That quote is on my twitter header as well. My Pittsburg KS grandmother’s mother was a Grant. As in, that specific extended family. :)
ruemara
@H.E.Wolf: This is 100% accurate
karen marie
@RaflW: That Phillips County result is the only one I saw earlier. I was too discouraged to look at statewide. I am beyond delighted!
Origuy
Growing up, I was a Pirates fan, but Vin Scully was the voice of Saturday afternoons.
prostratedragon
@LeftCoastYankee:
Definitely what I appreciate about the great radio announcers, and none greater than Scully.
Chetan Murthy
Tonight, in Kansas, the voters provided the beginning of an antidote to Election Night 2021 (when the supposedly Deep Blue voters of Virginia elected that fleece-vest Nazi, and the supposedly Deep Blue voters of New Jersey almost elected a GrOPer, too).
I hope this continues, and restores my faith in my countrymen.
frosty
I was a Dodgers fan when I was living in California in the 70s and Vin Scully was the background almost every day.
My high point with my housemates was when my Dad who grew up in Long Island visited and casually dropped the observation that he used to watch them at Ebbets Field.
Gwangung
I was a kid in Arizona listening to Dodger games and Vin Scully. Can’t help but be part of my childhood….
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Hot damn, that’s terrific about Kansas.
HumboldtBlue
@LeftCoastYankee:
I think this is one of the best things about growing up with radio, it was music, it was news, it was sports, and it provided a voice, someone was telling you a story. And that was Vin Scully, or Harry Kalas, or Keith Jackson.
I listen to the Phillies every day to hear Tom McCarthy and John Kruk talk story.
@Geminid:
Damn skippy.
@Origuy:
Yes. And playoff baseball, and NFL big games as well.
trollhattan
Frickin’ Kansas?!? Did not see that coming. Well done, Kansans, well done.
Chetan Murthy
@trollhattan: I’m curious what the breakdown is by gender.
trollhattan
@Chetan Murthy:
Great question, both the vote split and percentage of participation.
Chetan Murthy
@trollhattan: In a better world, there’d be no gender gap. Somehow, I don’t expect we live in a better world, alas.
Gretchen
@Kay: the Kansas motto is Free State. That was used on many of the Vote No signs. And there were many, many Vote No signs. The Dem office couldn’t keep them in stock.
HumboldtBlue
Damn skippy — Two places where pro-life women will admit they’re pro-choice: the back entrance of a PP clinic, and the voting booth.
Dan B
@Eljai: Horrible or terrible. Not much different.
Schmidt vs. Hartzler
Bruce K in ATH-GR
As for the “Brandon” chants, my choice is “God bless Brandon and God damn Trump.”
matt
If the Devil is going to speak through the voters, they must be silenced.
AxelFoley
@Geminid:
This. All this.
Albatrossity
@Dan B: No, they cannot ban it outright. The KS Supreme Court ruled that the KS Constitution gives Kansans abortion rights. The KS Supreme Court has the final say on interpreting the KS Constitution; it cannot be appealed.
So their ONLY avenue was to amend the constitution. That’s what they tried to do. In an August primary, when folks are typically not paying attention, and nearly all of the primary races are for GOP nominations.
Then Alito and his fellow christofascists on SCOTUS ruined that plan. People were paying attention, and both Dems and Independents voted in historic numbers. In counties where the amendment got majorities, the margin was a few hundred votes. In counties where it lost, the margin was thousands of votes.
The legislature will try again of course, and jackasses like Kobach (if he gets elected) will do annoying things to make abortion less accessible or more expensive. But after a margin of this magnitude, the message has been sent.
Ad Astra Per Aspera.
cmorenc
@Almost Retired:
The lesson the GOP will take is to implement abortion restrictions legislatively, using extremely gerrymandered legislatures to insulate them from consequences or challenge.
Barbara
@cmorenc: ”Let’s just give up now and embrace the doom.”
evodevo
@sab: Yes. I was working in medical records in a small town KY hospital at the time (before Roe), and the number of D&C’s performed there was quite a bit above what should have been normal miscarriage rates. I thought at the time that it was a reflection of the “shadow” culture of quietly terminating pregnancies (or dealing with the results of an at-home abortion) that had existed for a hundred years.
Geminid
@cmorenc: Republicans can try to use gerrymandering to insulate themselves from political shift and demographic change. It won’t neccesarily work. Democrats in Texas made progress towards the end of the last decade in state legislative elections, on a Republican-drawn map. After the latest census, Republicans have regerrymandered their districts, but that may not hold up for long.
Virginia Republicans gerrymandered that state’s districts in 2011 and had a 65-35 majority House of Delegates majority going into the 2017 elections. They came out up 51-49, with one win decided on a coin toss. In 2019, Democrats gained a 55-45 majority on the same Republican map.
Demographic changes accounted for some of this shift. The Republicans’ hard right turn made a difference too. Virginia Democrats made Medicaid expansion and gun safety winning issues that helped defeat the Republican gerrymander. Texas Democrats can make these issues plus women’s health rights a means of overcoming the gerrymander in their state. That may take more than one cycle but it can be done, especially if Republicans overestimate the security their second gerrymander has given them.
Uncle Cosmo
And you’d be right, because it isn’t polling – it’s what I (who spent much of my employed career as an applied statistician) call “pushmepollyu”.
Real polling is a statistically-sound method of estimating what the electorate (or some specified part) thinks. It is absolutely dependent on responsibly randomized (sometimes within various strata) samples and neutrally-phrased questions.
“Pushmepollyu” OTOH could not care less what respondents think – its sole purpose is to sneak wolvish memes (mostly but not always lies) damaging to the opponents into the community under the sheep’s clothing of “surveys.”
When campaigns want/need to know where they stand, they hire reputable opinion-survey firms to provide an accurate evaluation. When all they want to do is stir shit up, they do “pushmepollyu.” It pisses me off to no end that the latter has replaced the former in the public’s eye.
pensive
@sab: I watched The Janes documentary about the women in Chicago making abortion accessible in the 1970’s. They had fliers up with a phone number to call, and performed thousands of abortions before someone called the police. And at first the police were like “What do you want us to do about it?” (Answer: Arrest a bunch of them who would have gotten many years in prison if they hadn’t delayed the trial until RoevWade was decided.) Indeed – times have changes.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
So today the the anti abortionists are spinning this loss as “the amendment wasn’t extreme enough” lol
So translated from consertard speak that means “not enough angry white guys came out to vote”?