Well today is the big day. Georgia-6th, a strong Republican district, might actually flip to Democratic in what many see as a referendum on Trump’s presidency. The truth is, whether Joel Ossoff wins today or loses, it is almost irrelevant. Polls show him barely ahead but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that a district which “split” on Trump and … Read More
When Doing Something Legal Is A Scandal
So let’s recap two of Trump’s tweets this morning: .@FoxNews from multiple sources: “There was electronic surveillance of Trump, and people close to Trump. This is unprecedented.” @FBI — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2017 Such amazing reporting on unmasking and the crooked scheme against us by @foxandfriends. “Spied on before nomination.” The real story. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) … Read More
Obama (Belatedly) Takes Action Against Russian Hackers
Moments ago, the Obama administration struck back at Russia, imposing sanctions against its intelligence apparatus and expelling 35 diplomats in retaliation for the alleged orchestration of hacking attacks designed to interfere in the presidential election. The sweeping actions outlined by the White House three weeks before the new administration takes office include: Shutting down two compounds, one in in Maryland … Read More
Why McCrory Lost
Public Policy Polling looks at why Governor McCrory lost here in North Carolina in what was obviously a banner year for Republicans: What happened in the summer of 2013 to make McCrory so permanently unpopular? He allowed himself to be associated with a bunch of unpopular legislation, and progressives hit back HARD, in a way that really caught voters’ attention … Read More
North Carolina May Finally Have An Election Result
Sitting governor Pat McCrory (R-NC) refused to concede the election for NC governor, which ended three weeks ago. By the end of election day, current NC attorney general and Democratic challenger Roy Cooper was ahead by a little over 6,000. But the results still had to be counted and certified, down to the last one. If Cooper’s margin remained below … Read More
The Best Second Draft — And Possibly The Final Draft — Of Election 2016
David Roberts at Vox goes deep into the numbers, the graphs, and what everybody says about why Clinton lost and Trump won. And he concludes….. Turns out everything mattered The most agonizing implication of the narrow loss is that everything mattered. Every decision to hype Clinton’s emails. Comey’s extraordinary violation of precedent. WikiLeaks. Clinton’s Goldman Sachs speeches. Her refusal to … Read More
What Digby Says, Part MCLVII
On Trump and Trump supporters being “sore winners”: An incident in Brooklyn this past weekend illustrates the phenomenon. Two women in a restaurant were bemoaning the election of Donald Trump when a man and his wife sat down next to them and became incensed about what the two women were saying. The manager moved the couple to a different table and gave a meal without … Read More
Trump’s Newest Odd Tweet
I don’t know. Maybe it was Castro’s death, and Trump missed being in the headlines. But for whatever reason, he tweeted this: In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016 This is extremely bizarre. Is … Read More
McCrory v. Cooper
While the nation mourns the win of Donald Trump, here in North Carolina, we have our own little Bush v. Gore drama going on. Except…. not really, because it isn’t as close as Bush v. Gore was. We actually have a governor who is willing to cheat the results in order to win. On election day, the results has Cooper … Read More
Should Hillary Challenge?
My thought has always been “no” on this question. No chance. No evidence. And she would look like a sore loser. This, however, gave me pause:(CNN) Hillary Clinton’s campaign is being urged by a number of top computer scientists to call for a recount of vote totals in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, according to a source with knowledge of the … Read More
The Last Last Word On Election 2016 And Why Hillary Lost
Kevin Drum nails it: So what did cause Hillary Clinton’s loss? This is all still tentative, but as I’ve read more preliminary analysis of county-level returns, I’d say it was three things. Two of them are probably going to piss you off:1 Millennials. This one is pretty clear cut. Relative to 2012, Hillary Clinton did worse among millennials by a … Read More
A Week Out And I’m Burnt Out By The Freakout
One week ago today, Donald J Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States. Jesus, help me. Help us all. The reaction from the left — and the center, frankly — has been stunned shock and anger and crying and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And understandably so. For me, I’ve just retreated into myself. Mostly because… I … Read More
Why Trump Won And Why The Kids Are Alright
I know, I know. It feels like Christmas morning on death row. I am sure the Interwebs contain its fair share of Wednesday morning quarterbacking about what went wrong, who’s to blame, etc. and what to do now. I’m not going to offer anything different. Probably nothing original (I haven’t read any post mortems yet). But here goes anyway. Let’s … Read More
The Eichenwald Files
Kurt Eichenwald has done excellent journalistic work this political season, investigating Trump’s financial past. It’s pretty astounding, and thankfully, he tweeted what he has found out. Enjoy: [View the story “Kurt Eichenwald on what he’s reported on about Donald Trump” on Storify]
Your Guide For Watching Election Returns
I actually hate election night. You would think, for a political junkie like me, that watching the election returns would be the Super Bowl and the Tonys all wrapped together. But it’s not. The night is long, even when it’s not. And you have to listen to pundits and (worse) campaign surrogates being used as filler until something actually happens. … Read More