Random Politics Thread

[ceecee]

I am curious, why on local levels US always generally seems much more conservative than on federal level ? I just don't understand how same area can vote so differently in some cases. Are federal and local politics really that different ?

Oh yeah. Mostly it's due to not voting in local/state elections and voting in federal elections. I can't tell you how many people have told me they do exactly that. I have not found it to be party related. It's more about the voting process - which the GOP wants to be harder than it already is and is seeing to that in many states.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Oh yeah. Mostly it's due to not voting in local/state elections and voting in federal elections. I can't tell you how many people have told me they do exactly that. I have not found it to be party related. It's more about the voting process - which the GOP wants to be harder than it already is and is seeing to that in many states.

I mean in some areas the differences can be so large (over 15 points) that this really begs the question of how this is possible. Area/state votes for Joe and than on the local level there is sold red result 2 years after. I presumed that people not voting is probably the most obvious reason.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Oh yeah. Mostly it's due to not voting in local/state elections and voting in federal elections. I can't tell you how many people have told me they do exactly that. I have not found it to be party related. It's more about the voting process - which the GOP wants to be harder than it already is and is seeing to that in many states.

I assume you would probably have a better idea of this than I, so if you say it's not party related, that's probably the case,

 

[ceecee]

I assume you would probably have a better idea of this than I, so if you say it's not party related, that's probably the case,

No not that I have found but it's from face to face conversations and canvassing, not polling. Not voting doesn't mean not being swayed by messaging or disinformation. Something like this is actually pretty prevalent. They have views but they don't feel there a reason for that to translate into casting a ballot.

They stormed the Capitol to overturn the results of an election they didn't vote in | CNN

They were there to "stop the steal" and to keep the president they revered in office, yet records show that some of the rioters who stormed the US Capitol did not vote in the very election they were protesting.

www.cnn.com

Just that most of the time there isn't an extreme event non-voters can attach themselves to like Jan 6. The non-voting bloc in the US is by far the most significant group when it comes to politics. And that group will grow in this years election and 2024 for certain if Democrats don't start making huge changes to policy and messaging.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

No not that I have found but it's from face to face conversations and canvassing, not polling. Not voting doesn't mean not being swayed by messaging or disinformation. Something like this is actually pretty prevalent. They have views but they don't feel there a reason for that to translate into casting a ballot.

They stormed the Capitol to overturn the results of an election they didn't vote in | CNN

They were there to "stop the steal" and to keep the president they revered in office, yet records show that some of the rioters who stormed the US Capitol did not vote in the very election they were protesting.

www.cnn.com

Just that most of the time there isn't an extreme event non-voters can attach themselves to like Jan 6. The non-voting bloc in the US is by far the most significant group when it comes to politics. And that group will grow in this years election and 2024 for certain if Democrats don't start making huge changes to policy and messaging.

There is one political scientist who said that the idea of "swing voters" as they are traditionally conceived of is a myth and that independents gravitate in one direction or another and don't usually flip between them.

That matches much better what I've observed anecdotally.

 

[Red Herring]

Shortly before falling asleep my seven-year-old asked me if Putin could cut off our electricity supply.

(I told her that our country mainly imports Russian gas and oil but those are used for heating including industrial production, not for electricity, and that the worst thing that could happen was severe economic problems, things would get more expensive and people might loose jobs, but we would still have light and water and enough to eat. In case of cyber attack we might be cut off the grid temporarily but that too wouldn't be the end of the world. I told her we were living in one of the most prosperous, peaceful and safe places on the planet. She seemed to be relieved and quickly fell asleep)

 

[Virtual ghost]

There is one political scientist who said that the idea of "swing voters" as they are traditionally conceived of is a myth and that independents gravitate in one direction or another and don't usually flip between them.

That matches much better what I've observed anecdotally.

Those that actually flip are probably the ones that in the very center. Therefore on the most years they and the people that kinda randomly showed up decide the close races.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Biden’s been consumed by Ukraine. His team wants to bring the focus back home.


They will try to save the midterms but I have real doubts about that actually happening.

 

[ceecee]

There is one political scientist who said that the idea of "swing voters" as they are traditionally conceived of is a myth and that independents gravitate in one direction or another and don't usually flip between them.

That matches much better what I've observed anecdotally.

I think that's very true. Pew agrees.

Political Independents: Who They Are, What They Think

Most independents are not all that “independent” politically. And the small share of Americans who are truly independent stand out for their low level of interest in politics.

www.pewresearch.org

 

[Virtual ghost]

Forecast 2022 Politico


Complete forecast for the midterms.

 

[Red Herring]

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

From NBC: Florida Senate passes bill to strip Disney's special self-governing status

The left doesn't show mercy or take prisoners neither should we.

Up until now all the incentives for corps have been to lean into wokeness as the left will extract a toll for not doing so.

Simultaneously the right has been largely toothless in any attempts to levy a toll on their end.

We have a habit of being loveable losers, feigning outrage at issues while not being willing to put teeth to our sentiments. This applies mostly to the beltway GOP types who sadly wield an inordinate amount of our parties power.

Taking real action here in Florida signals two things.

First to Republicans that it is possible for us to "win" on something and that there is no unbearable cost in choosing to do so.

Second to woke corps, "if they can do this to disney, imagine what they can do to us".

Corporate America has chosen a political side, long an unimaginable practice in business circles.

We must now educate them in the folly of choosing to become political entities.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Corporate America has chosen a political side, long an unimaginable practice in business circles.

lol.

i know I have like never heard of corporations getting involved in politics until now. Especially not Disney. I can foresee some dark future where something is not done where Disney does something like have copyright law changed so they can hold on to their IP. I shudder at the thought of those days; somebody better do something.

We'd better have the government interfere with free enterprise to stop the wokeness... what could be more conservative than that? i guess being pro-free market means dictating what policies companies can have.

But go ahead on ranting about socialism. It's your move. Conservative principles on full display here.

I'm taking a mental snapshot of all of this. You're supporting heavier intervention in the economy than me and I'm a card-carrying socialist. It really is too funny. I'd never support passing a law to control what Disney does in some stupid princess movie. I guess I'm not enough of a real man to take woke Disney princesses as a serious threat.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

lol.

i know I have like never heard of corporations getting involved in politics until now. Especially not Disney. I can foresee some dark future where something is not done where Disney does something like have copyright law changed so they can hold on to their IP. I shudder at the thought of those days; somebody better do something.

We'd better have the government interfere with free enterprise to stop the wokeness... what could be more conservative than that? i guess being pro-free market means dictating what policies companies can have.

But go ahead on ranting about socialism. It's your move. Conservative principles on full display here.

I'm taking a mental snapshot of all of this. You're supporting heavier intervention in the economy than me and I'm a card-carrying socialist. It really is too funny. I'd never support passing a law to control what Disney does in some stupid princess movie. I guess I'm not enough of a real man to take woke Disney princesses as a serious threat.

Companies have been lobbying since the beginning of companies.

What companies haven't done, especially large multinational ones attempting to sell to the entire American public, is wade into our culture wars.

At least not until recently.

I'd like to act like you didn't understand this very simple gist of what I was getting at, but my capacity for sarcasm is sadly finite.

If you think Free market maximalism is where conservatives are these days then, I don't know what to tell ya. The times they are a changin'.

Why deny ourselves the weapon of gov't when it has been so usefully used by our foes for decades?

Those espousing such a self neutering notion, our loveable loser beltway GOP types, have been relegated to "conservative" columns in legacy cathedral media and talking head posts on CNN etc.

Which is, I suspect, why you intone that I'm "No True Scotsman" unless I hew to their view.

How better to combat my preference for a level playing field, than to suggest I'm not a real football player unless I side with a team that accepts they're not allowed to bring a quarterback on the field.

A state of affairs that has benefitted the left mightily these last 100 years.

So no I wont shackle myself to a system designed to defeat me because you would prefer I do so.

I, and my cohorts, will use every weapon at our disposal to win. And we wont care about what you have to say about it. No matter how vehemently you think your values make you right and us evil.

So enjoy the game, because it's always fun to be in the stands.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Companies have been lobbying since the beginning of companies.

What companies haven't done, especially large multinational ones attempting to sell to the entire American public, is wade into our culture wars.

At least not until recently.

I'd like to act like you didn't understand this very simple gist of what I was getting at, but my capacity for sarcasm is sadly finite.

If you think Free market maximalism is where conservatives are these days then, I don't know what to tell ya. The times they are a changin'.
[

I'm just going by the kind of bullshit I've heard you and your ilk spout for years, that's all. It's nice to finally have it confirmed that it was all bullshit.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I'm just going by the kind of bullshit I've heard you and your ilk spout for years, that's all. It's nice to finally have it confirmed that it was all bullshit.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I'm just going by the kind of bullshit I've heard you and your ilk spout for years, that's all. It's nice to finally have it confirmed that it was all bullshit.

To take a page out of the book you just used....

What a good leftist you are caring about the giant soulless international megacorp.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

To take a page out of the book you just used....

What a good leftist you are caring about the giant soulless international megacorp.

The bottom line is that conservatives have ushered in a 20+ year period of national decline and they seem delighted at the prospect of taking it further and continuing the trend because they get to own libs or prove that they aren't cucks or whatever and that's pretty much the only thing they care about. They'd have me believe that they are patriots, though.

I think that's really the only other thing I feel I need to add here.

 

[Virtual ghost]

This hate between blue and red America has to stop. This really can't accomplish much more than creating even more poverty and dysfunction. Especially since it only makes it easier for China and their allies to expand around the globe at your expense. At this point civil war in US is downright suicidal path to take (even a cultural one could be too much). Plus if you have to dump some corporations for being traitors you are free to do so. In most of the world that isn't some grand controversy.


On the most days I am not even sure about what this grand division is actually about in the bottom line. Since most of it sounds like a PR stunt or talking under stress.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

This hate between blue and red America has to stop. This really can't accomplish much more than creating even more poverty and dysfunction. Especially since it only makes it easier for China and their allies to expand around the globe at your expense. At this point civil war in US is downright suicidal path to take (even a cultural one could be too much). Plus if you have to dump some corporations for being traitors you are free to do so. In most of the world that isn't some grand controversy.


On the most days I am not even sure about what this grand division is actually about in the bottom line. Since most of it sounds like a PR stunt or talking under stress.

You'll have to talk to Disco about that...he's been downright giddy about the prospect of another civil war. I guess he hopes his side will win this time. Ask him what's up and what exactly he wants to start a civil war over. It's not clear to me why 20 years of the national decline he wanted isn't enough for him, either.