The New York political “machine” isn’t a dog-whistle for anything. It’s a term that’s been used for hundreds of years to refer to the tight organization the party has in New York. The “machine” creates, trains and puts forward candidates who toe the party line.
And is it all bad? It’s similar to the disciplined method the Republican Party uses to win nationally.
I plan to vote Nixon, and it’s not because she’s a celebrity- I’ve never heard of her before this - but because I think that Cuomo is pulling his punches against Trump due to Trump being part of the New York establishment and probably involved in dirty dealings with him.
I also think that Democrats could do with a few more very high charisma politicians. We have Hollywood. Let’s use it. The people respond to charisma over and above policy. Clinton was a superior candidate to Trump except in one regard - she had very poor charisma.
New York is one of the few places with anything like old machine politics. Most of the time it is used it is for areas that don't really have a political machine anymore or never really had one.
The New York political “machine” isn’t a dog-whistle for anything. It’s a term that’s been used for hundreds of years to refer to the tight organization the party has in New York. The “machine” creates, trains and puts forward candidates who toe the party line.
And is it all bad? It’s similar to the disciplined method the Republican Party uses to win nationally.
I plan to vote Nixon, and it’s not because she’s a celebrity- I’ve never heard of her before this - but because I think that Cuomo is pulling his punches against Trump due to Trump being part of the New York establishment and probably involved in dirty dealings with him.
I also think that Democrats could do with a few more very high charisma politicians. We have Hollywood. Let’s use it. The people respond to charisma over and above policy. Clinton was a superior candidate to Trump except in one regard - she had very poor charisma.
I'm voting for Nixon because Cuomo is corrupt as hell. Creates a anti-corruption task force and then disbands it when they start investigating his own people. Clearly the task force did not understand New York politics.
Also, anybody around Syracuse remember to vote for Rachel May as well on Thursday, because Valesky sucks and was an IDC member before remembering he's a "democrat".
While that should be an end goal for a political outsider, claiming it is the first step is fucking ludicrous.
Just totally fix your state's political system before you ever have any role in that system. Yep, sure thing hoss.
Yes, it is ludicrous - yet without doing that her job as governor is not going to go well, even if she were an experienced and connected political insider. This obstacle does not go away if we ignore it, and is a major reason why most politicians aren't challenging Cuomo on his home turf.
How do you expect her to accomplish anything when she wins without taking them out of the equation? How is she supposed to help the state with her goals while that's still intact?
This is the job she signed up for. Taking Cuomo out would merely be the beginning in cleaning up New York, not the end.
New York is one of the few places with anything like old machine politics. Most of the time it is used it is for areas that don't really have a political machine anymore or never really had one.
Well, also, Machine Politics originally relied a lot on the ability to make patronage hires. Ward bosses who could get you a couple more thousand votes also coincidentally got promoted to middle management sinecures at the Water Department or wherever. Civil service reforms helped stymie that a lot. Even in New York and Chicago. However, the new push for privatizing/contracting everything gave it another shot in the arm since you can wield contracts the same way, just with more remove from actual precinct captains and ward bosses.
I mean, one of the reasons that various unions are lined up behind Cuomo is because he just finished handing out a couple $billion to replace the Tappan Zee bridge and has a few couple more that need to be awarded for construction upgrades to LaGuardia. There's also the interconnected nature of positions that are notionally independent. The fact that the mailer which started this whole thing came from the State Party is only really possible because Cuomo has a lot of influence/control over the State Party rather than it having it's own agenda. Now also throw in the Port Authority, MTA, &c. Those officially aren't controlled by the Governor, but they are.
Yes, if she fails to take out the deeply entrenched fuckmuppet with both hands tied behind her back it’s because she just wasn’t good enough, not because he’s a corrupt man anointed by the party and groomed for the job from birth
If she can’t overcome that, it must be because she doesn’t want it bad enough to make herself into a better politician
Telling a woman that it’s her job to break the boys club before she can be considered qualified to hold political office sure is a hell of a thing
Not one I agree with, though!
No, breaking them up before hand would be the preferred strategy for an easier transition, its going to be a lot harder when they're still there when she does win.
I'm not saying this because I dislike her (on the contrary), I'm stating a fact about the political logistics of New York, which other posters in this thread have talked about already.
You're acting like beating Cuomo means the political machine slithers off into the shadows once he's gone, yet its supposed to be one of the most sophisticated and corrupt political apparatuses in the country. How do you think they'd react when she becomes governor, or anyone who is not aligned with them?
This has nothing to do with how qualified she is, either. Put anyone up against Cuomo and this would still be the status quo.
Yes, if she fails to take out the deeply entrenched fuckmuppet with both hands tied behind her back it’s because she just wasn’t good enough, not because he’s a corrupt man anointed by the party and groomed for the job from birth
Cuomo's known for being one of the most ruthless, corrupt democrats in the nation, with lots of connections to hold an entire state in his grip. That's an immensely difficult job for anyone to accomplish. What you're missing here is that I don't hold that against her at all, it's admirable for her to do so. The point is it seems like she's coming off unprepared to do this, or do you disagree with this? Do you honestly think she has what it takes to not only take Cuomo down but his machine, as well?
If she can’t overcome that, it must be because she doesn’t want it bad enough to make herself into a better politician
Of course she wants it badly enough, but that's not what this discussion has been about - it's about the logistics before and after winning the governor ship of New York. Which has been dissected thoroughly already. This isn't Rocky, it's politics. She's hinging her campaign on accomplishing this yet when I bring it up it seems to be verboten to talk about the elephant in the room which defines her entire election.
edit: I'm getting an oddly confrontational response for pointing out the obvious. And no, I don't think it's easy, that's why I'm bringing the subject up.
DeBlasio won the mayorship by running a similar insurgent campaign
DeBlasio had black support and in a not unrelated fact, fifteen years of political and campaign activity in the city from Rangel's staff to Hillary Clinton's Senate run, followed by entry level office for a few years, followed by a decade of substantial public office in the city.
Voters head to the polls in the primary on Thursday and a new Siena College survey gives Governor Andrew Cuomo a wide lead over Cynthia Nixon.
The poll of likely Democratic primary voters found 63 percent prefer Cuomo, compared to 22 percent for Nixon.
That's a 41 point lead for Cuomo, and it's up 10 points from the last Siena College poll in July.
This survey found Nixon slightly stronger upstate than she is in the city, where she has the support of only seven percent of black voters.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of the governor.
And 41 percent said they liked Nixon.
Crosstabs (Sienna) -5 favorability among black voters for Nixon, majority of Nixon voters (50-45) describe themselves as primarily against Cuomo. Cuomo's lead is smallest among conservatives.
She's a bad candidate, who never had a shot at winning the base of the party. Cuomo's unwillingness to fuck up the IDC should be disqualifying but instead he's going to walk
In my own rather downstate NY circle, I don't know anybody who likes Cuomo and would vote for him. I don't know many people who would vote for him if he ascended to national politics either. The past 8 years in Cuomo's New York have not been great, and I think Cuomo is very aware of the frustration piling up.
The thing is, it's much more palatable, and feasible, to vote the former IDC out of office. Cuomo fucks with you for crossing him. Just look at what happened to De Blasio.
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
Nixon was on PSA and although she had some smart things to say, her answer to “What do you say to people concerned about your lack of governing experience?” was “Cuomo fucking sucks,” and if she’s truly unable to make a case for herself then in that sense she is not a good candidate.
DeBlasio won the mayorship by running a similar insurgent campaign
DeBlasio had black support and in a not unrelated fact, fifteen years of political and campaign activity in the city from Rangel's staff to Hillary Clinton's Senate run, followed by entry level office for a few years, followed by a decade of substantial public office in the city.
Voters head to the polls in the primary on Thursday and a new Siena College survey gives Governor Andrew Cuomo a wide lead over Cynthia Nixon.
The poll of likely Democratic primary voters found 63 percent prefer Cuomo, compared to 22 percent for Nixon.
That's a 41 point lead for Cuomo, and it's up 10 points from the last Siena College poll in July.
This survey found Nixon slightly stronger upstate than she is in the city, where she has the support of only seven percent of black voters.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of the governor.
And 41 percent said they liked Nixon.
Crosstabs (Sienna) -5 favorability among black voters for Nixon, majority of Nixon voters (50-45) describe themselves as primarily against Cuomo. Cuomo's lead is smallest among conservatives.
She's a bad candidate, who never had a shot at winning the base of the party. Cuomo's unwillingness to fuck up the IDC should be disqualifying but instead he's going to walk
Cuomo getting a soft challenge isn't as bad as what happened here with Menedez, but it's pretty close.
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daveNYCWhy universe hate Waspinator?Registered Userregular
While that should be an end goal for a political outsider, claiming it is the first step is fucking ludicrous.
Just totally fix your state's political system before you ever have any role in that system. Yep, sure thing hoss.
Yes, it is ludicrous - yet without doing that her job as governor is not going to go well, even if she were an experienced and connected political insider. This obstacle does not go away if we ignore it, and is a major reason why most politicians aren't challenging Cuomo on his home turf.
How do you expect her to accomplish anything when she wins without taking them out of the equation? How is she supposed to help the state with her goals while that's still intact?
This is the job she signed up for. Taking Cuomo out would merely be the beginning in cleaning up New York, not the end.
So you have set what you admit is a ludicrous goal for a candidate and are complaining because she hasn't achieved said goal?
DeBlasio won the mayorship by running a similar insurgent campaign
1) New York City has slightly different voting patterns than the state as a whole.
2) He won the primary with 40% of the vote.
3) The Republican candidate was a bit of a tool, and we'd already done three terms of Bloomberg, who was about as Republican as NYC was up for those days.
4) de Blasio was the Public Advocate, which isn't exactly an outsider position.
Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
The thing is, it's much more palatable, and feasible, to vote the former IDC out of office. Cuomo fucks with you for crossing him. Just look at what happened to De Blasio.
100% this. Every member of the IDC when they dissolved, because they could no longer swing the Senate to GOP control, is facing a primary challenge this year.
Remember, these are the people who sold New Yorkers out:
Jeffrey D. Klein
David J. Valesky
Diane Savino
David Carlucci
Tony Avella
Jose Peralta
Jesse Hamilton
Marisol Alcantara
So you have set what you admit is a ludicrous goal for a candidate and are complaining because she hasn't achieved said goal?
I haven't set any goals, I'm going by the platform Nixon has said in her interviews running for governor.
I'm complaining that she seems like she is not up to to the task and so far everyone has agreed with me. Is that not a logical thing to complain about for someone whose running for governor? There has been plenty of time for any people who think she's able to handle this task to talk about her accomplishments as an activist etc which could be used to aid her cleaning up NY, yet I'm getting silence on that front. Of course I'd like her to achieve her goals, who wouldn't?
I'm quite happy with how the Florida Dem primary went.
For a long while the primary front runner for governor was Gwen Graham. She was 1. The most conservative nominee in the primary (for example, as a congresswoman she broke from Democrats to vote for an anti-refugee bill) and 2. Based on her performance in the debate I watched, I thought she was the worst speaker out of all the nominees, and had a low opinion of her chances based on that.
But luckily, thanks to an endorsement from our main man in Vermont, and some money from George Soros, the progressive and charismatic Andrew Gillum pulled ahead and is now our nominee, and may be the state's first black governor.
And for the Senate, Alan Grayson, who is accused of domestic abuse, lost to Darren Soto, which I am pretty happy about as well.
Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), a gubernatorial nominee who recently was accused of using racially tinged language, spoke four times at conferences organized by a conservative activist who has said that African Americans owe their freedom to white people and that the country’s “only serious race war” is against whites.
DeSantis, elected to represent north-central Florida in 2012, appeared at the David Horowitz Freedom Center conferences in Palm Beach, Fla., and Charleston, S.C., in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, said Michael Finch, president of the organization. At the group’s annual Restoration Weekend conferences, hundreds of people gather to hear right-wing provocateurs such as Stephen K. Bannon, Milo Yiannopoulos and Sebastian Gorka sound off on multiculturalism, radical Islam, free speech on college campuses and other issues.
Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), a gubernatorial nominee who recently was accused of using racially tinged language, spoke four times at conferences organized by a conservative activist who has said that African Americans owe their freedom to white people and that the country’s “only serious race war” is against whites.
DeSantis, elected to represent north-central Florida in 2012, appeared at the David Horowitz Freedom Center conferences in Palm Beach, Fla., and Charleston, S.C., in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, said Michael Finch, president of the organization. At the group’s annual Restoration Weekend conferences, hundreds of people gather to hear right-wing provocateurs such as Stephen K. Bannon, Milo Yiannopoulos and Sebastian Gorka sound off on multiculturalism, radical Islam, free speech on college campuses and other issues.
Note that he attended multiple times as a sitting Representative, and it's only coming to light now.
MayabirdPecking at the keyboardRegistered Userregular
Ugh. I have been trying to convince my non-voting brother in georgia to vote for Stacey Abrams because she needs all the votes she can get, every single one.
But he's a South Park nihilist who claims that because Abrams has some student loan and medical debt, she's equally as bad as Brian "super insane racist" Kemp and both sides are bad and he's above it all and refuses to vote and that makes him morally superior to lame people like myself who give a damn. He claims to be a libertarian and I try to tell him that look stupid we are not white and they will come after us and our families if we don't do something now but both sides lol.
Ugh. I have been trying to convince my non-voting brother in georgia to vote for Stacey Abrams because she needs all the votes she can get, every single one.
But he's a South Park nihilist who claims that because Abrams has some student loan and medical debt, she's equally as bad as Brian "super insane racist" Kemp and both sides are bad and he's above it all and refuses to vote and that makes him morally superior to lame people like myself who give a damn. He claims to be a libertarian and I try to tell him that look stupid we are not white and they will come after us and our families if we don't do something now but both sides lol.
Pisses me off.
I actually legitimately don't understand this.
Does your brother NOT have student loan or medical debt? Isn't that the resting state of basically every US citizen?
Ugh. I have been trying to convince my non-voting brother in georgia to vote for Stacey Abrams because she needs all the votes she can get, every single one.
But he's a South Park nihilist who claims that because Abrams has some student loan and medical debt, she's equally as bad as Brian "super insane racist" Kemp and both sides are bad and he's above it all and refuses to vote and that makes him morally superior to lame people like myself who give a damn. He claims to be a libertarian and I try to tell him that look stupid we are not white and they will come after us and our families if we don't do something now but both sides lol.
Pisses me off.
I actually legitimately don't understand this.
Does your brother NOT have student loan or medical debt? Isn't that the resting state of basically every US citizen?
Well, not the rich.
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Shortytouching the meatIntergalactic Cool CourtRegistered Userregular
people who say "both sides same" are just looking for an excuse not to give a shit
the parties have some similar structural problems but it's ludicrous to assert that the policies preferred by them generate similar outcomes
people who say "both sides same" are just looking for an excuse not to give a shit
the parties have some similar structural problems but it's ludicrous to assert that the policies preferred by them generate similar outcomes
It's also a position of extreme privilege. Usually advocated by middle class white dudes who literally worry for naught about local government doing shit to them other than maybe raise/lower their taxes.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
people who say "both sides same" are just looking for an excuse not to give a shit
the parties have some similar structural problems but it's ludicrous to assert that the policies preferred by them generate similar outcomes
Especially today. It wasn't really true in 2000, but it was much more difficult to demonstrate how wrong it was then compared to shit that has happened over the last 18 years. If you said something stupid like that in 2000 you just weren't paying attention. Now? You are taking active effort to blind yourself from the concentration camps.
I'm really hoping Georgia flips and comes into play. It will make for some interesting moves elsewhere. Plus Atlanta might actually turn MARTA into something useful.
I don't think anyone is saying Nixon is responsible for fixing New York politics or that Cuomo is something other than an ethically dubious and corrupt politician but the system is very strong and I'm not sure what "fixing" it would even mean.
As someone from California, which has it's own distorted state political mechanisms, I've always found New York Democrats to feel shockingly Republican. Sure there's some quantity of good intention by the people who sign on with the party but it always seems to come out feeling like the party of comic book villainy.
I don't think anyone is saying Nixon is responsible for fixing New York politics or that Cuomo is something other than an ethically dubious and corrupt politician but the system is very strong and I'm not sure what "fixing" it would even mean.
As someone from California, which has it's own distorted state political mechanisms I've always found New York Democrats to feel/I] shockingly Republican. Sure there's some quantity of good intention by the people who sign on with the party but it always seems to come out feeling like the party of comic book villainy.
For a long time that's because our Senate was Republican controlled. They felt GOP lite because nothing that couldn't get past GOP lite would ever be passed into law. Part of the current revolt against the state party is when their leader helped about 8 of the state senators defect to caucus with the GOP in the senate.
As for fixing the issues, a big first step is opening up the fucking voting laws. Our primaries are closed, with super early registration dates and held on half day polls on Tuesdays, or Thursdays if Cuomo is facing an unexpected challenge so they're extra confusing. Absentee ballots need signed affidavits claiming you will be out of your home county on election day and other BS. Just opening up the process would be a big step towards weakening the machine control of things.
I don't think its reasonable to separate Cuomo from the state party machine there like he isn't the one sitting at the head of it and is just as trapped in it as everyone else. They probably feel more Republican though because they're cartoonishly beholden to wealthy interests
Yeah, to be clear Cuomo enabled the IDC defection and has happily welcomed the participants back instead of supporting them getting their asses primaries to hell and back again. It's almost like the defection gave him a scapegoat to limit how progressive he'd have to be to preserve his moderate reputation for a 2020 Presidential run.
If Nixon has done nothing else she's done a good job of fucking those plans up for him which I am very happy about.
I don’t think Cuomo is loved enough to get elected President. All he’s got over Hillary Clinton is the contents of his trousers. Aside from that he’s got all the same problems: beholden to mysterious business interests and poor charisma.
I don’t think Cuomo is loved enough to get elected President. All he’s got over Hillary Clinton is the contents of his trousers. Aside from that he’s got all the same problems: beholden to mysterious business interests and poor charisma.
He's not nearly as smart as her and is actually corrupt instead of just reported to be corrupt. Fuck Cuomo so much. I think I would vote for Manchin over him.
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
I don’t think Cuomo is loved enough to get elected President. All he’s got over Hillary Clinton is the contents of his trousers. Aside from that he’s got all the same problems: beholden to mysterious business interests and poor charisma.
His ambition probably outstrips his ability. There's no world in which I'd actually vote for him, that's for sure.
New York State politics is really a beast unto itself, with some of the most regressive voting laws in the country. It's really amazing to think NYS still operates without early voting, mail-in ballots, or functional absentee ballots. The current crop of younger liberal campaigners are all talking about pushing through better voting laws. It would so much better for the state, with the city benefiting greatly, if it could happen. Which is why it hasn't happened yet.
I don't see Nixon winning, and I think some of the IDC are a bit too entrenched. If we so much as just replaced Simcha Felder I would call it a win. Anything else would be icing on top.
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And is it all bad? It’s similar to the disciplined method the Republican Party uses to win nationally.
I plan to vote Nixon, and it’s not because she’s a celebrity- I’ve never heard of her before this - but because I think that Cuomo is pulling his punches against Trump due to Trump being part of the New York establishment and probably involved in dirty dealings with him.
I also think that Democrats could do with a few more very high charisma politicians. We have Hollywood. Let’s use it. The people respond to charisma over and above policy. Clinton was a superior candidate to Trump except in one regard - she had very poor charisma.
I'm voting for Nixon because Cuomo is corrupt as hell. Creates a anti-corruption task force and then disbands it when they start investigating his own people. Clearly the task force did not understand New York politics.
Also, anybody around Syracuse remember to vote for Rachel May as well on Thursday, because Valesky sucks and was an IDC member before remembering he's a "democrat".
Not one I agree with, though!
Yes, it is ludicrous - yet without doing that her job as governor is not going to go well, even if she were an experienced and connected political insider. This obstacle does not go away if we ignore it, and is a major reason why most politicians aren't challenging Cuomo on his home turf.
How do you expect her to accomplish anything when she wins without taking them out of the equation? How is she supposed to help the state with her goals while that's still intact?
This is the job she signed up for. Taking Cuomo out would merely be the beginning in cleaning up New York, not the end.
Well, also, Machine Politics originally relied a lot on the ability to make patronage hires. Ward bosses who could get you a couple more thousand votes also coincidentally got promoted to middle management sinecures at the Water Department or wherever. Civil service reforms helped stymie that a lot. Even in New York and Chicago. However, the new push for privatizing/contracting everything gave it another shot in the arm since you can wield contracts the same way, just with more remove from actual precinct captains and ward bosses.
I mean, one of the reasons that various unions are lined up behind Cuomo is because he just finished handing out a couple $billion to replace the Tappan Zee bridge and has a few couple more that need to be awarded for construction upgrades to LaGuardia. There's also the interconnected nature of positions that are notionally independent. The fact that the mailer which started this whole thing came from the State Party is only really possible because Cuomo has a lot of influence/control over the State Party rather than it having it's own agenda. Now also throw in the Port Authority, MTA, &c. Those officially aren't controlled by the Governor, but they are.
If she can’t overcome that, it must be because she doesn’t want it bad enough to make herself into a better politician
No, breaking them up before hand would be the preferred strategy for an easier transition, its going to be a lot harder when they're still there when she does win.
I'm not saying this because I dislike her (on the contrary), I'm stating a fact about the political logistics of New York, which other posters in this thread have talked about already.
You're acting like beating Cuomo means the political machine slithers off into the shadows once he's gone, yet its supposed to be one of the most sophisticated and corrupt political apparatuses in the country. How do you think they'd react when she becomes governor, or anyone who is not aligned with them?
This has nothing to do with how qualified she is, either. Put anyone up against Cuomo and this would still be the status quo.
Easy!
Cuomo's known for being one of the most ruthless, corrupt democrats in the nation, with lots of connections to hold an entire state in his grip. That's an immensely difficult job for anyone to accomplish. What you're missing here is that I don't hold that against her at all, it's admirable for her to do so. The point is it seems like she's coming off unprepared to do this, or do you disagree with this? Do you honestly think she has what it takes to not only take Cuomo down but his machine, as well?
Of course she wants it badly enough, but that's not what this discussion has been about - it's about the logistics before and after winning the governor ship of New York. Which has been dissected thoroughly already. This isn't Rocky, it's politics. She's hinging her campaign on accomplishing this yet when I bring it up it seems to be verboten to talk about the elephant in the room which defines her entire election.
edit: I'm getting an oddly confrontational response for pointing out the obvious. And no, I don't think it's easy, that's why I'm bringing the subject up.
Edit - And right on cue a new poll
Crosstabs (Sienna) -5 favorability among black voters for Nixon, majority of Nixon voters (50-45) describe themselves as primarily against Cuomo. Cuomo's lead is smallest among conservatives.
She's a bad candidate, who never had a shot at winning the base of the party. Cuomo's unwillingness to fuck up the IDC should be disqualifying but instead he's going to walk
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
The thing is, it's much more palatable, and feasible, to vote the former IDC out of office. Cuomo fucks with you for crossing him. Just look at what happened to De Blasio.
Cuomo getting a soft challenge isn't as bad as what happened here with Menedez, but it's pretty close.
Come Overwatch with meeeee
So you have set what you admit is a ludicrous goal for a candidate and are complaining because she hasn't achieved said goal?
1) New York City has slightly different voting patterns than the state as a whole.
2) He won the primary with 40% of the vote.
3) The Republican candidate was a bit of a tool, and we'd already done three terms of Bloomberg, who was about as Republican as NYC was up for those days.
4) de Blasio was the Public Advocate, which isn't exactly an outsider position.
100% this. Every member of the IDC when they dissolved, because they could no longer swing the Senate to GOP control, is facing a primary challenge this year.
Remember, these are the people who sold New Yorkers out:
Jeffrey D. Klein
David J. Valesky
Diane Savino
David Carlucci
Tony Avella
Jose Peralta
Jesse Hamilton
Marisol Alcantara
I haven't set any goals, I'm going by the platform Nixon has said in her interviews running for governor.
I'm complaining that she seems like she is not up to to the task and so far everyone has agreed with me. Is that not a logical thing to complain about for someone whose running for governor? There has been plenty of time for any people who think she's able to handle this task to talk about her accomplishments as an activist etc which could be used to aid her cleaning up NY, yet I'm getting silence on that front. Of course I'd like her to achieve her goals, who wouldn't?
What are your expectations for her?
For anyone who is interested here's their debate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=333&v=3iQbo_T5A-Q
For a long while the primary front runner for governor was Gwen Graham. She was 1. The most conservative nominee in the primary (for example, as a congresswoman she broke from Democrats to vote for an anti-refugee bill) and 2. Based on her performance in the debate I watched, I thought she was the worst speaker out of all the nominees, and had a low opinion of her chances based on that.
But luckily, thanks to an endorsement from our main man in Vermont, and some money from George Soros, the progressive and charismatic Andrew Gillum pulled ahead and is now our nominee, and may be the state's first black governor.
And for the Senate, Alan Grayson, who is accused of domestic abuse, lost to Darren Soto, which I am pretty happy about as well.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/gop-candidate-for-fla-governor-spoke-at-racially-charged-events/2018/09/09/c6d3a63c-b114-11e8-a810-4d6b627c3d5d_story.htm
Note that he attended multiple times as a sitting Representative, and it's only coming to light now.
But he's a South Park nihilist who claims that because Abrams has some student loan and medical debt, she's equally as bad as Brian "super insane racist" Kemp and both sides are bad and he's above it all and refuses to vote and that makes him morally superior to lame people like myself who give a damn. He claims to be a libertarian and I try to tell him that look stupid we are not white and they will come after us and our families if we don't do something now but both sides lol.
Pisses me off.
I actually legitimately don't understand this.
Does your brother NOT have student loan or medical debt? Isn't that the resting state of basically every US citizen?
Well, not the rich.
the parties have some similar structural problems but it's ludicrous to assert that the policies preferred by them generate similar outcomes
It's also a position of extreme privilege. Usually advocated by middle class white dudes who literally worry for naught about local government doing shit to them other than maybe raise/lower their taxes.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Especially today. It wasn't really true in 2000, but it was much more difficult to demonstrate how wrong it was then compared to shit that has happened over the last 18 years. If you said something stupid like that in 2000 you just weren't paying attention. Now? You are taking active effort to blind yourself from the concentration camps.
I'm really hoping Georgia flips and comes into play. It will make for some interesting moves elsewhere. Plus Atlanta might actually turn MARTA into something useful.
As someone from California, which has it's own distorted state political mechanisms, I've always found New York Democrats to feel shockingly Republican. Sure there's some quantity of good intention by the people who sign on with the party but it always seems to come out feeling like the party of comic book villainy.
For a long time that's because our Senate was Republican controlled. They felt GOP lite because nothing that couldn't get past GOP lite would ever be passed into law. Part of the current revolt against the state party is when their leader helped about 8 of the state senators defect to caucus with the GOP in the senate.
As for fixing the issues, a big first step is opening up the fucking voting laws. Our primaries are closed, with super early registration dates and held on half day polls on Tuesdays, or Thursdays if Cuomo is facing an unexpected challenge so they're extra confusing. Absentee ballots need signed affidavits claiming you will be out of your home county on election day and other BS. Just opening up the process would be a big step towards weakening the machine control of things.
If Nixon has done nothing else she's done a good job of fucking those plans up for him which I am very happy about.
He's not nearly as smart as her and is actually corrupt instead of just reported to be corrupt. Fuck Cuomo so much. I think I would vote for Manchin over him.
His ambition probably outstrips his ability. There's no world in which I'd actually vote for him, that's for sure.
NO 2020 TALK
It begins!
I don't see Nixon winning, and I think some of the IDC are a bit too entrenched. If we so much as just replaced Simcha Felder I would call it a win. Anything else would be icing on top.