US Politics, December 2022: "They're now the working class party, man."

xp - Good god, the only political adjacent argument I ended up getting in over Thanksgiving was with my mom about that stupid fucking litter thing. She should know better, she's a Trump hater, doesn't watch FOX or CNN or really much cable news, votes blue consistently (at least since 2006ish), but good god. I immediately said, "come on, that's right wing bullshit so they can bitch and moan about trans kids" and she was all, "no, I know someone who knows someone with a kid at that district, it's true!". I kept pushing back and she eventually stormed off pouting, but I couldn't let that one alone.

There was just a long piece on the BBC by way of NPR about the coup attempt in Germany, and as soon as it was over the segue music they picked was Wilco's "Impossible Germany."

https://i.imgur.com/PxxnXoq.jpg

I got into the same argument with a cousin's wife, idk where she's at politically but again it was "no my neighbor's kid says it's true!"

John Oliver had a good point about this, if there really were kids shitting in litter boxes, the whole town would know about it the same day. do these people not know how high schools work?

The only thing I can think is that my mom spends an inordinate amount of time on FB and I'm guessing someone she "trusts" posted it so "it must be true!".

xpost haha, my dad related that one of my cousins said the catgirl/kitty litter in the bathroom thing was happening in the school she teaches in and I asked him for her phone number so I could call her and ask for details, and also get the name of the school so I could call them and ask if it was true. best possible way to get them to stop talking about it... ask for proof.

I know folks like to claim it's a race to the bottom of the IQ barrel between Ron Johnson and Tommy Tuberville, but Johnson was a corporate CEO and Tuberville was a college football coach, so in my mind it's no contest. Johnson might actually be smart-playing-dumb, like John Kennedy (the one from Louisiana). Tuberville, as his name suggests, is an ambulatory tuber.

Was annoying hearing people complaining about how the margin of victory over Herschel Walker "wasn't enough" when the race was called, since Warnock was only up 1% at the time. Like it was bad that Warnock didn't improve his vote share.

His margin is now almost a full 3%, maybe wait til they finish counting the votes, doofuses

It's time to stop talking about Herschel Walker and talk more about Raphael Warnock. Politico gets it right this morning:

“I am Georgia. I am an example and an iteration of its history. Of its pain and its promise, of the brutality and the possibility.”

And just like that, a Democratic political star was born.

Over the past 30 months, RAPHAEL WARNOCK has won a Senate primary, got the most votes in two general elections and won two runoffs. On Tuesday night, he finally won a full six-year term in the United States Senate.

A lot has been said about how flawed a candidate that Warnock’s opponent, HERSCHEL WALKER, was. (A lot.) And so much of the conversation and coverage of Georgia’s election centered on what it would mean for the power of a current and a former president.

But Warnock’s three-point win Tuesday underscored his own talents and cemented the 53-year-old pastor as one of the nation’s most compelling and effective Democratic politicians.

His five-election streak in a changing but still conservative state should be recognized as an amazing political feat. Warnock has managed to combine a compelling biography, going from Savannah’s housing projects to MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.’s pulpit, with disciplined messaging, relentless organizing and a stunning capacity for small-dollar fundraising.

He has cobbled together a Biden-esque coalition ranging from hyped-up Democrats to moderate Republicans and independents. “I want all of Georgia to know, whether you voted for me or not, that every single day I am going to keep working for you,” he said late Tuesday. “I’m proud of the bipartisan work I’ve done and I’m going to do more.”

Warnock heads back to Capitol Hill with his political stock at a new high. While Georgia’s runoff system is uniquely exhausting and historically suspect, it has redounded to Warnock’s benefit: Saturation coverage of two consecutive runoffs has made him one of the most recognizable United States senators in the country.

He had the political world’s undivided attention last night as he delivered lines like this: “[My mother] grew up in the 1950s in Waycross, Ga., picking somebody else’s cotton and somebody else’s tobacco. But tonight, she helped pick her youngest son to be a United States senator."

Maybe they are literally afraid for their lives?

I've seen this argued a few times. Possibly in some shadowier corners but I've also heard the argument that a lot of GOP elected types in DC don't actually want to go back to their home states and live among their fellow dullards, and I'm more sympathetic to that. Ergo, go with the flow to stay in office.

the whole talk about his margin of victory is stupid, they should focus on the fact that Democrats appear to be making real gains in Georgia, which is a big deal!

yeah I mean that was a solid red state my whole life, when people say "it shouldn't have been close" I'm thinking the other way!

compare to Florida, for example

the whole talk about his margin of victory is stupid, they should focus on the fact that Democrats appear to be making real gains in Georgia, which is a big deal!

― Muad'Doob (Moodles),

Listen, Warnock got more than 50% of the vote. In the South! In Georgia!

Georgia as a "solid red state" is not really accurate though

I saw someone observe a few weeks ago that Florida and Georgia have essentially swapped places.

Alllllmost got it:

In the aftermath of Republican Herschel Walker’s loss in the Georgia Senate runoff, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) offered a blunt message to GOP Senate leaders on Wednesday: “You don’t belong in our state running races anymore.”

Greene, an ally of former president Donald Trump who has generated many controversies, offered her autopsy on the race during an appearance on the podcast of former Trump White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon. Besides pointing the finger at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), she also blamed Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R) of neighboring South Carolina for Walker’s loss.

“This is especially for the campaign consultants with a 30,000-feet view, where they look down on Georgia and arrogantly think they know how to win races in our state,” Greene said. “This is for Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham and the rest of the Republican senators. You guys are the reasons why we are losing Republican races all over the country.”

“This is your third loss in my home state,” Greene said, apparently referring to the pair of Senate losses in the state two years ago that made Democrats the majority in the Senate.

Greene continued: “So let me inform you on behalf of Georgia: This is your third strike, and you’re out. You don’t belong in our state running key races anymore. No thank you. We don’t want your help.”

Greene also took aim at the Walker campaign for not using her more frequently as a surrogate. She said the campaign had only asked her two or three times to campaign with Walker when he was appearing in her district.

“They only asked me a couple of time in my own district, which I find extremely insulting,” she said. “You guys are the reason we are losing.”

"They only asked me a couple of times! It's almost as if people hated me almost as much!"

I wonder how much is sorting: bright, ambitious young people go to Atlanta for work, and elderly bigots retire to Florida.

thanks MTG, maybe you should show us how to win a Georgia senate race next

if she'd run against Warnock she probably would have won so

I’m not so sure. A statewide race would be very different for her. Her district is gerrymandered to be so die hard Republican they’d vote for anyone with an “R” after their name.

Yeah, no, she'd be an even worse candidate than Walker.

yeah, I don't think she'd do that great, I'm highly skeptical that her appeal really could extend much further than her little district

She would have lost.

We're again underestimating how seriously powerful a candidate Warnock is.

He's the pastor of the Mothership!

Wonder what happened to him pic.twitter.com/RGdYYehCPY

— Jessy Han (@hjessy_) December 7, 2022

Sen. Warnock didn’t win the runoff last night simply because of Herschel Walker’s flaws. He set out to energize liberal Georgians and swing voters with a far different approach than he used in the 2020 campaign. #gapol #gasen https://t.co/jfVwEHvn9w

— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) December 7, 2022

Johnson was a corporate CEO and Tuberville was a college football coach

Being a Power 5 footbaw coach is a far more intellectually demanding job than ‘CEO of your brother in law’s company.’

at the same time, there's a good chance that that is literally all he knows how to do, because every indication is that man is otherwise a moron.

Being a Power 5 footbaw coach is about as intellectually narrowing a job as you could ever find. Those guys can talk all day about the minutiae of whether to insert your nickel package on second down, but couldn't tell you that yogurt is made out of milk.

Play calling is like 5% of a coach’s job at that level - that’s why he has 74 assistant coaches and grad students. It’s a CEO-esque job, but with greater pressure and higher stakes than 99% of CEOs.

Tuberville is a moron but the idea that ‘CEO’/nepotism baby is indicative of any kind of higher functioning… not so much

she'd be an even worse candidate than Walker.

she is a moron through and through but she isn't schizophrenic AND brain damaged so I have a hard time believing she'd actually be a worse candidate.

less brain damage does not equal more votes

Particularly if you are off-putting to swing voters and Dems would crawl across broken glass to vote against you

She's actively repellent, which would hurt her with some voters.

xxxp She would get fewer votes than did Walker, who for all of his horrendous flaws is still a football hero in Georgia.

yup - despite his obvious flaws, he was once really good at something people care deeply about, while MTG is just a shrill troll with no redeeming qualities

I love that she's now directing her shrill trolling at McConnell and Graham. I guess that's a redeeming quality of sorts.

hmm why are we using the word "shrill"? 🤔

A 14 year old female child that lives in Texas came out last year as bisexual. Tonight she attempted suicide. This is what the hateful laws against the LGBTQ+ do to children. This child is Ted Cruz’s daughter.

— Thee Rosetta (@rosiegirl1957) December 7, 2022

https://www.advocate.com/news/2022/12/07/ted-cruzs-bi-daughter-ok-after-rushed-hospital-rep-says

i can't imagine what that child has gone through

ty caek, yeah plz don't do that (use "shrill" as a female pejorative)

No story I've read this week has made me more nauseated.

I fucking hate Ted Cruz, but we have no idea what happened or why. Having Ted Cruz as your father alone is a pretty shitty burden to bear.

you love to see it
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/07/kushner-democrats-congressional-probe-bailout/

Glad they're on that now with just a few weeks to go before congress changes leadership. We should see results ... never.

Duly noted re: "shrill," and it's not really the word I want anyway. Whatever the adjective is for blathering with no intelligence to back it up, and wanting to be seen as a tough person or bully. Like Jim Jordan.

Maybe not but annoying Jared will be good fun and that’s enough for me.

Glad they're on that now with just a few weeks to go before congress changes leadership. We should see results ... never.

I've got to assume even your average very rich person has a whole staff just to deal with legal bullshit, though I hope he is indeed annoyed beyond just having to pay more lawyers.