Wednesday, November 7, 2018
The Day After
Wow. I had gone into the election thinking that voters nationwide would have seen through Trump's lies and bigotry. People in cities and suburbs did, but folks in rural areas just want to drink from the fire hose (with Steve King, how bigoted does one have to be to lose?). In that respect, Trump was vindicated, so we can expect more of the same in the next two years. In Ohio, Republicans cruised. No incumbents in the state legislature lost. Based on the Kansas and Wisconsin examples, the Republican party has to completely drive the state into the ground before they lose a statewide election. I personally was hoping to avoid that, but I think that is what will happen. For example, our next State Representative, like much of the rest of the legislature, wants to roll back Medicaid expansion. The only reason the state expanded Medicaid was because John Kasich did it by executive action. Now we have to depend on Mike DeWine and the health care lobby to keep it in place. If it were to be rolled back, rural areas and the people who live there will suffer, and some places may lose hospitals. I am sure we will get more useless tax cuts which strip resources from rural areas and put greater burdens on local populations, and more talk about rolling back regulations. I doubt that much on the regulatory front will actually happen, but I expect you won't see DeWine pushing to deal with algae blooms in Grand Lake St. Mary's or Lake Erie, either. Overall, rural areas will continue to decline, and they will continue to work to drag the rest of the country down with them.
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Election Day Live Blog
6:03 AM: Off to the polling place. I'm making sure my ballot gets cast. Don't worry, I won't be casting a single one for the Republican Party cult.
5:33 PM: Just got home from work and feeding the cows. Cracked a Troegs Scratch Series #342 Fest Lager. It is pretty damn good. I've got some work to do yet starting the grill and wood stove and feeding the calves. I should be settled in around 6. That's when the polls close in parts of Kentucky and Indiana (which are practically the same state).
6:01 PM: Fire is taking off and the grill is warming up. Polls are closed in most of Indiana. As is always the case, I don't expect anything good to come out of Indiana. Hopefully Joe Donnelly can eke out a win, but I am personally chalking the seat up as a loss to the GOP. Maybe I will be surprised.
6:18 PM: Just heard an interview on NPR with a FreeDumb caucus member who was repeating Jim Jordan's talking points about doing what they promise, even if it is miserably stupid. About the time I was wondering who it was, they said it was my useless Congressman, Warren Davidson. Fuck me.
6:44 PM: The first two stories on Marketplace tonight were about Foxconn and Amazon HQ2. One thing I would like to see come to an end are subsidy giveaways to multinational corporations. Maybe a Scott Walker loss will make politicians think twice about making outrageously foolish deals. Then again, lots of suckers think Donald Trump is some kind of expert negotiator. Maybe they ought to read about his negotiating prowess for The Art of the Deal.
6:53 PM: I wonder what the race will be the first one that news organizations call? Maybe Vermont governor (a Republican)?
6:59 PM: Just started on a Sam '76 out of the Sam Adams Winter Classics variety pack.
7:00 PM: CNN called Bernie and Tim Kaine as winners. How many times will we be told we are waiting on results from Lake County, Indiana (home of Gary)? Interesting side note, Crown Point is the county seat of Lake County.
7:05 PM: While we wait for results to come in, I emphasize enough how important it is that we see some results that indicate Trump's ridiculous minority and refugee scapegoating doesn't work. I'm afraid we'll see a Senate result which will cause him to double down on the crazy for the next two years. I'm not sure I could get through that with my sanity.
7:09 PM: Polls in Ohio close in about 20 minutes. Because of radical gerrymandering, we only have one (OH-12) or two (OH-1, which is doubtful) potential seat changes, barring a serious wave. The statewide races should be very interesting, though. I'm almost optimistic there.
7:15 PM: Election night distraction. Wes Goubeaux, I know you are looking forward to picking up some Reds 1939 merchandise:
7:21 PM: Also, this:
7:26 PM: No matter who wins, it may be a tough slog economically between today and the 2020 election
7:30 PM: Polls are closed in Ohio.
7:33 PM: I would expect the race is called for the Ohio 80th House district. Even though she really didn't campaign after the primary, I'm sure Jena Powell will win. That is unfortunate, because she is a truly useless right-wing nut. Her opponent, DJ Byrnes put together a couple of nice ads, but this district is ridiculously skewed to right-wing nutters.
7:39 PM: Kent State vs. Buffalo is on ESPNU.
7:44 PM: I can't believe college basketball is already here.
7:52 PM: My county's results came in. Powell beat Byrnes 68%-32%, while only repeating tripe about lowering taxes and cutting regulations that strangle business. I hate how big of suckers rural voters are.
7:57 PM: My county is so right-wing. Jim Renacci won 57% of the vote even though his campaign was a joke.
8:00 PM: Luckily, the rest of the state appears to have elected Sherrod Brown. Overall, Democrats seem to be doing well so far, nationally.
8:10 PM: I still can't believe how big the rural/urban divide is. Why do rural voters buy into the Republican bullshit about taxes when wealthier folks in cities and suburbs don't?
8:14 PM: I would like to see a Democratic sweep of Governors' races in the Midwest. It might be doable.
8:18 PM: When I was signing the election register, I saw my sister's name listed as an active voter, even though she's been out of the state for almost 20 years. She hadn't voted today. I tried checking the Ohio Secretary of State's listing of registered voters. I was there, but she wasn't. All I could figure was that she was one of the voters who got purged in recent years for not voting, but maybe her name was restored because the ACLU won a suit against the Secretary of State for removing voters from the rolls. Either that or my county is just incompetent, which is also likely.
8:24 PM: Indiana is looking bad for Donnelly, and thus, for the United States. Geez, I can't stand Hoosiers or Donald Trump.
8:34 PM: Why do rural voters, who claim they don't like how their local economies are going, keep voting for Republicans who never, ever give them any help? I just don't get it.
8:35 PM: Well, I don't get it if I don't take into account bigotry.
8:36 PM: I see the billionaire challenger in Illinois beat the nearly billionaire incumbent. Unfortunately, Illinois residents will get four more years of dysfunction. On the plus side, Rahner will probably be one of the few recent former governors of Illinois not to go to prison.
8:40 PM: Goddamn Florida.
8:42 PM: If Democrats aren't working tomorrow to register voters for 2020, they are insane. Donald Trump and his idiot base must lose.
8:44 PM: In good news, felons may have voting rights restored in Florida.
8:48 PM: Indiana is a shithole. Braun and Pence win.
8:52 PM: Things are not looking good for Democrats right now.
8:57 PM: Going to have to speed up the beer consumption.
9:03 PM: I still struggle so much with the idea that rural areas keep electing politicians who have no interest in helping out their constituents. It is just like the Brexit abortion. Rural voters are committing economic suicide electing conservatives.
9:11 PM: Trump is going to be off the hook for the foreseeable future. The United States is going to be screwed.
9:13 PM: This is insane. Who are all of these GOP voters, and why do they hate rationality?
9:17 PM: County-by-county results do not show Ohio suburbs breaking for Democrats.
9:23 PM: Donald Trump campaigned with an insane freakout about the caravan, and mountains of lies. Why on earth do people support him? Are they as big of assholes as he is?
9:29 PM: CNN is currently building up Beto O'Rourke. I dread watching his lead slip away, too, as it is one of the few bright spots on the map right now.
9:36 PM: So far it looks like Republican voters in Ohio didn't find out who the GOP was pushing for state Supreme Court. One bright spot for Democrats so far.
9:43 PM: If Democrats don't find those 1.6 million felons in Florida and get them registered to vote, they do not deserve to be called a political party.
9:52 PM: I understand why Ted Cruz is so unpopular, but how in the fuck can anybody like Donald Trump?
10:00 PM: It looks like urban and suburban voters are going to carry Democrats across the line to gain control of the House, which is a very good thing. However, rural results are so depressing that I'm chalking 2018 up as a loss. Rural areas are going to suffer miserably in the future.
10:02 PM: I see Kris Kobach is projected to lose. Thank God.
10:04 PM: Dem candidate wins Michigan, but Scott Walker is leading. WTF is wrong with Wisconsin?
10:09 PM: Warning to Ohio: Kansas has discovered how fucked up Republican governance is. Are we going to have to follow them clear to the bottom before we get some goddamn sense?
10:18 PM: Ted Cruz wins. Today sucks.
10:31 PM: How in the fuck is Mike DeWine winning? His campaign was godawful.
10:40 PM: The rural/urban split keeps getting worse, and rural voters keep getting more and more wrong. Brexit 2.0.
10:41 PM: Republican plus third party vote is 55-45 in Ohio. What the hell is going on?
10:59 PM:
Truth, and dominating in rural areas, but getting crushed outside of them.
11:26 PM: Right now, all I've got is the hope that Scott Walker loses.
11:29 PM:
11:35 PM: Oh, I also forgot about the possibility Steve King might lose.
12:01AM: There are a lot of things going on tonight. Somehow, Republicans swept all of the statewide executive offices. Oddly, I didn't really see any campaign ads for state Supreme Court justices, and they lost both seats (it appears). That is one tiny bright spot in a very depressing bunch of electoral result in Ohio. Regionally, Indiana is horrible as always. Michigan looks pretty good, as does Minnesota. Iowa could go either way, but it looks to remain with a Republican governor, but they lost at least one Congressional seat. If Scott Walker loses, I'll be smiling. Nationally, our Constitutional dysfunction gets worse. We have a popular vote loser sitting in the White House, while a minority of the population holds the Senate. It also appears the Democrats crushed Republicans nationally in the House. This will allow the Republicans to continue to stack the courts with lifetime appointments, giving them a generation of control of the only branch of government that can prevent Executive overreach. Additionally, the rural/urban split worsened. Nothing good will come of this. I dread our political (and economic) future.
12:08 AM: Also, racism won where it normally wins. That saddens me.
12:12 AM: Why in the fuck is that useless sack of shit Rick Santorum on CNN?
12:20 AM: Would Rick Santorum please shut the fuck up?
12:27 AM: How does a complete dumbass like Rick Santorum dominate the debate on CNN? Every other person at that table is smarter than him and has more useful stuff to say. This is a perfect example of what is wrong with our political discourse. I'm going over to Twitter and drinking until I have to go to sleep.
5:33 PM: Just got home from work and feeding the cows. Cracked a Troegs Scratch Series #342 Fest Lager. It is pretty damn good. I've got some work to do yet starting the grill and wood stove and feeding the calves. I should be settled in around 6. That's when the polls close in parts of Kentucky and Indiana (which are practically the same state).
6:18 PM: Just heard an interview on NPR with a FreeDumb caucus member who was repeating Jim Jordan's talking points about doing what they promise, even if it is miserably stupid. About the time I was wondering who it was, they said it was my useless Congressman, Warren Davidson. Fuck me.
6:44 PM: The first two stories on Marketplace tonight were about Foxconn and Amazon HQ2. One thing I would like to see come to an end are subsidy giveaways to multinational corporations. Maybe a Scott Walker loss will make politicians think twice about making outrageously foolish deals. Then again, lots of suckers think Donald Trump is some kind of expert negotiator. Maybe they ought to read about his negotiating prowess for The Art of the Deal.
6:53 PM: I wonder what the race will be the first one that news organizations call? Maybe Vermont governor (a Republican)?
6:59 PM: Just started on a Sam '76 out of the Sam Adams Winter Classics variety pack.
7:00 PM: CNN called Bernie and Tim Kaine as winners. How many times will we be told we are waiting on results from Lake County, Indiana (home of Gary)? Interesting side note, Crown Point is the county seat of Lake County.
7:05 PM: While we wait for results to come in, I emphasize enough how important it is that we see some results that indicate Trump's ridiculous minority and refugee scapegoating doesn't work. I'm afraid we'll see a Senate result which will cause him to double down on the crazy for the next two years. I'm not sure I could get through that with my sanity.
7:09 PM: Polls in Ohio close in about 20 minutes. Because of radical gerrymandering, we only have one (OH-12) or two (OH-1, which is doubtful) potential seat changes, barring a serious wave. The statewide races should be very interesting, though. I'm almost optimistic there.
7:15 PM: Election night distraction. Wes Goubeaux, I know you are looking forward to picking up some Reds 1939 merchandise:
1939 Home. #RedsThreads pic.twitter.com/MZfaV1Ou7F— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) November 5, 2018
7:21 PM: Also, this:
Good videoThe Reds proudly commemorate the 150th anniversary of professional baseball in Cincinnati during the 2019 season. pic.twitter.com/PO2JX4NU7G— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) November 5, 2018
7:26 PM: No matter who wins, it may be a tough slog economically between today and the 2020 election
Word to the wise. We have endured two 10% corrections in the same year for all three major averages. This has only happened in 1973, 1974, 1987, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2008. All but 1987 signalled recession, but that wasn't a pretty picture either.— David Rosenberg (@EconguyRosie) November 6, 2018
7:30 PM: Polls are closed in Ohio.
7:33 PM: I would expect the race is called for the Ohio 80th House district. Even though she really didn't campaign after the primary, I'm sure Jena Powell will win. That is unfortunate, because she is a truly useless right-wing nut. Her opponent, DJ Byrnes put together a couple of nice ads, but this district is ridiculously skewed to right-wing nutters.
7:39 PM: Kent State vs. Buffalo is on ESPNU.
7:44 PM: I can't believe college basketball is already here.
7:52 PM: My county's results came in. Powell beat Byrnes 68%-32%, while only repeating tripe about lowering taxes and cutting regulations that strangle business. I hate how big of suckers rural voters are.
7:57 PM: My county is so right-wing. Jim Renacci won 57% of the vote even though his campaign was a joke.
8:00 PM: Luckily, the rest of the state appears to have elected Sherrod Brown. Overall, Democrats seem to be doing well so far, nationally.
8:10 PM: I still can't believe how big the rural/urban divide is. Why do rural voters buy into the Republican bullshit about taxes when wealthier folks in cities and suburbs don't?
8:14 PM: I would like to see a Democratic sweep of Governors' races in the Midwest. It might be doable.
8:18 PM: When I was signing the election register, I saw my sister's name listed as an active voter, even though she's been out of the state for almost 20 years. She hadn't voted today. I tried checking the Ohio Secretary of State's listing of registered voters. I was there, but she wasn't. All I could figure was that she was one of the voters who got purged in recent years for not voting, but maybe her name was restored because the ACLU won a suit against the Secretary of State for removing voters from the rolls. Either that or my county is just incompetent, which is also likely.
8:24 PM: Indiana is looking bad for Donnelly, and thus, for the United States. Geez, I can't stand Hoosiers or Donald Trump.
8:34 PM: Why do rural voters, who claim they don't like how their local economies are going, keep voting for Republicans who never, ever give them any help? I just don't get it.
8:35 PM: Well, I don't get it if I don't take into account bigotry.
8:36 PM: I see the billionaire challenger in Illinois beat the nearly billionaire incumbent. Unfortunately, Illinois residents will get four more years of dysfunction. On the plus side, Rahner will probably be one of the few recent former governors of Illinois not to go to prison.
8:40 PM: Goddamn Florida.
8:42 PM: If Democrats aren't working tomorrow to register voters for 2020, they are insane. Donald Trump and his idiot base must lose.
8:44 PM: In good news, felons may have voting rights restored in Florida.
8:48 PM: Indiana is a shithole. Braun and Pence win.
8:52 PM: Things are not looking good for Democrats right now.
8:57 PM: Going to have to speed up the beer consumption.
9:03 PM: I still struggle so much with the idea that rural areas keep electing politicians who have no interest in helping out their constituents. It is just like the Brexit abortion. Rural voters are committing economic suicide electing conservatives.
9:11 PM: Trump is going to be off the hook for the foreseeable future. The United States is going to be screwed.
9:13 PM: This is insane. Who are all of these GOP voters, and why do they hate rationality?
9:17 PM: County-by-county results do not show Ohio suburbs breaking for Democrats.
9:23 PM: Donald Trump campaigned with an insane freakout about the caravan, and mountains of lies. Why on earth do people support him? Are they as big of assholes as he is?
9:29 PM: CNN is currently building up Beto O'Rourke. I dread watching his lead slip away, too, as it is one of the few bright spots on the map right now.
9:36 PM: So far it looks like Republican voters in Ohio didn't find out who the GOP was pushing for state Supreme Court. One bright spot for Democrats so far.
9:43 PM: If Democrats don't find those 1.6 million felons in Florida and get them registered to vote, they do not deserve to be called a political party.
9:52 PM: I understand why Ted Cruz is so unpopular, but how in the fuck can anybody like Donald Trump?
10:00 PM: It looks like urban and suburban voters are going to carry Democrats across the line to gain control of the House, which is a very good thing. However, rural results are so depressing that I'm chalking 2018 up as a loss. Rural areas are going to suffer miserably in the future.
10:02 PM: I see Kris Kobach is projected to lose. Thank God.
10:04 PM: Dem candidate wins Michigan, but Scott Walker is leading. WTF is wrong with Wisconsin?
10:09 PM: Warning to Ohio: Kansas has discovered how fucked up Republican governance is. Are we going to have to follow them clear to the bottom before we get some goddamn sense?
10:18 PM: Ted Cruz wins. Today sucks.
10:31 PM: How in the fuck is Mike DeWine winning? His campaign was godawful.
10:40 PM: The rural/urban split keeps getting worse, and rural voters keep getting more and more wrong. Brexit 2.0.
10:41 PM: Republican plus third party vote is 55-45 in Ohio. What the hell is going on?
10:59 PM:
Truth, and dominating in rural areas, but getting crushed outside of them.
11:02 PM: Ohio really feels like Indiana tonight.Republicans aren’t running on taxes anymore. They’re running on bigotry. https://t.co/vXLXhm8ZOq pic.twitter.com/QmvC7hhLSC— Slate (@Slate) November 7, 2018
11:26 PM: Right now, all I've got is the hope that Scott Walker loses.
11:29 PM:
I needed that laugh.That's what he says about all of his bankrupt enterprises https://t.co/BS7FzikZkl— Daniel Larison (@DanielLarison) November 7, 2018
11:35 PM: Oh, I also forgot about the possibility Steve King might lose.
12:01AM: There are a lot of things going on tonight. Somehow, Republicans swept all of the statewide executive offices. Oddly, I didn't really see any campaign ads for state Supreme Court justices, and they lost both seats (it appears). That is one tiny bright spot in a very depressing bunch of electoral result in Ohio. Regionally, Indiana is horrible as always. Michigan looks pretty good, as does Minnesota. Iowa could go either way, but it looks to remain with a Republican governor, but they lost at least one Congressional seat. If Scott Walker loses, I'll be smiling. Nationally, our Constitutional dysfunction gets worse. We have a popular vote loser sitting in the White House, while a minority of the population holds the Senate. It also appears the Democrats crushed Republicans nationally in the House. This will allow the Republicans to continue to stack the courts with lifetime appointments, giving them a generation of control of the only branch of government that can prevent Executive overreach. Additionally, the rural/urban split worsened. Nothing good will come of this. I dread our political (and economic) future.
12:08 AM: Also, racism won where it normally wins. That saddens me.
12:12 AM: Why in the fuck is that useless sack of shit Rick Santorum on CNN?
12:20 AM: Would Rick Santorum please shut the fuck up?
12:27 AM: How does a complete dumbass like Rick Santorum dominate the debate on CNN? Every other person at that table is smarter than him and has more useful stuff to say. This is a perfect example of what is wrong with our political discourse. I'm going over to Twitter and drinking until I have to go to sleep.
Monday, November 5, 2018
Election Eve Links
Tomorrow is the big day. It is the chance, after two long years, to give Donald Trump, and the Republican Party which foisted him on us, a giant fuck you. I'll be going in first thing in the morning to cast my straight-ticket Democratic ballot. It might make a difference for U.S. Senator and the statewide positions, but it will be meaningless for Congress and State House and Senate. But it will be cathartic. It is already raining, so after work tomorrow, I'll get the animals fed, make supper, then crack my first beer and turn on the TV and start blogging the election results. Please tune in, and feel free to comment. In the time between now and then, here are a few stories for you to enjoy:
The Southernization of the Midwest - Benjamin Studabaker. I've resisted GOP efforts to turn Ohio into Alabama for a long time.
Wisconsin's $4.1 Billion Foxconn Boondoggle - The Verge
Rural America’s Own Private Flint: Polluted Water Too Dangerous to Drink - New York Times
Trump the Revealer - The Big Picture. Excellent post by Ritholtz.
The President's Lies - The Atlantic
Something's Happening in Texas - The Atlantic
Can the Republic Strike Back? - Andrew Sullivan
Vote against all Republicans. Every single one. - Max Boot!?
What the 2018 Campaign Looks Like in Your Hometown - Bloomberg
The Southernization of the Midwest - Benjamin Studabaker. I've resisted GOP efforts to turn Ohio into Alabama for a long time.
Wisconsin's $4.1 Billion Foxconn Boondoggle - The Verge
Rural America’s Own Private Flint: Polluted Water Too Dangerous to Drink - New York Times
Trump the Revealer - The Big Picture. Excellent post by Ritholtz.
The President's Lies - The Atlantic
Something's Happening in Texas - The Atlantic
Can the Republic Strike Back? - Andrew Sullivan
Vote against all Republicans. Every single one. - Max Boot!?
What the 2018 Campaign Looks Like in Your Hometown - Bloomberg
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