Twas interesting to note the two quite different perspectives on the Trump Presidency that was from our colleague Tom H in the previous post and from my old friend dpf over at Kiwiblog https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2020/11/clownish_coup_collapses.html.
I have little respect for Trump but can I suggest that if he had displayed even a modicum of leadership over Covid and right now he would be gearing up for a second term in the White House. As it is Biden will inherit a fractured presidency and a deeply divided nation with a goodly proportion of the 73,882,763 ‘deplorables’ who voted for Trump (we won’t talk about the 80,046,494 who voted for Biden) believing that somehow the Democrats stole the election. That doesn’t bode well for the future.
Now I don’t have any real skin in the game but I have to say the result of the House vote will add fuel to the fire for those who choose to believe that somehow the election was ‘rigged’. The Democrats went into the election holding 232 seats to the Republicans 197. They were widely projected to increase their majority and you might have expected them to do so having polled 6 million plus votes more than the Republicans. But as it happened they lost seats and, as it stands right now (with the results from four seats still to be declared), they hold just 222 seats to the Republican’s 209. Of the four seats still to be declared it is predicted the Republicans will pick up two and possibly three of those seats leaving the Democrats with a very small majority and their more radical members sidelined.
Would be interested hearing from those with a greater knowledge of US politics than I how/why this might have happened.
No Minister 
A couple of possible explanations.
First, GOP voters focused on the downballot races and either voted for Biden or did not cast a vote in the Presidential ticket because they could not stand Trump. However, this does not jive with his 93% support among GOP voters.
Second, Democrat voters focused on the Presidential race and ignored the down-ballot races even in key House races OR voted GOP in those races, which frankly I find hard to believe.
American election forms are complex because the elections are complex. At any given time your election could involve:
– President
– House rep
– Senator
– Governor
– State Senate Rep
– State House Rep
– State Attorney General
– Mayor
– County DA
– Judges
– Sheriff
– Dogcatcher. 🙂
I knew few Americans who knew all or even most of the choices for each of these races. Some older folk would simply go by what the local newspaper recommended. Others just punched the classic “Straight Party Ticket”.
So it’s possible that in the key swing states there were people just voting the top of the ballot. In the same way that there were Republicans who could not stand voting for Trump there may have been many Democrats who could not stand voting for the Democrat Senators or House Reps they were presented with even as they voted against Trump.
It happened because when the Democrats stole the election they didn’t fill out the downstream races on the stuffed ballots they had to create when Trump turnout was bigger than they had expected – Duh
How strange! Anti-Trumpers don’t want to see that which stares them in the face.
Were the ballots stuffed by the same guys who set the explosive charges in the World Trade Center? Or was it the ones who are using the 5G towers to spread Covid?
Gaslighting those who disagree with you by tarnishing them with the conspiracy theory brush is just tiresome Milt
FYI A Pennsyvania Judge has blocked the certification of the Pennsyvania results until it can come to court
Also the Pennsylvannia legislaure is holding an enquiry into the malefeasance in the election in their State wwith sworn witness statements including some from credentialed Democrat Party Observers who were appalled by the skulduggery they witnessed
And one of the things testified to is that Philadelphia actually processed more postal ballots than were sent out.
Another is multiple people turning up to vote only to be informed they had already voted by post, when they hadn’t even received a postal ballot
What’s tiresome is asserting as fact that serious crimes have been committed, with no basis for the assertion other than your fervent belief that they must have happened. Carry on like that and of course people are going to link your claims with other baseless conspiracy theories.
No – there is plenty of evidence, testimony at that enquiry by the PA legisature earlier today is pretty damning
To be sure it has all but been ignored by the media and the chairman, A state senator deplatformed by Twitter which is beyond sinister, Stalinist behaviour in fact but it is what it is.
Whatever happens next we are in for a rough ride
Hard evidence Andrei, hard evidence …. meaning the stuff that would cause the judiciary to intervene. Duh doesn’t cut the mustard. In the absence of that evidence I’ll go with TH.
You don’t know that the judiciary wont intervene yet Veteran
I’m not holding my breath you understand – I think Biden will get the gig but the stench surrounding this election is stronger than a dead whores er um
This will make Tom happy.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/11/12/in-the-popular-vote-why-wasnt-bidens-victory-bigger/
Do you think – for once – you could shift off your butt a little bit and at least copy and paste a teaser paragraph from that article so that people can know what the hell your link is about and decide whether they want to click on the whole thing?
Looking from my back yard, I suspect that there were several factors at play.
Republicans who hated Trump, but wanted to gain control over a Democrat President.
Democrat voters who just wanted to be rid of Trump and damn the consequences.
But we will never know.
I am pleased that my state voted for Biden, and that there was also a win on Prop 208, an income tax increase for higher earners to provide more money for education. Now, we just have to find a way to ensure that the Republicans don’t find a way to boondoggle it straight to their business supporters.
Martha McSally has also lost her Senate seat to Mark Kelly. Although, here in Redneck country, McSally still scooped up 66% of the vote. But the change is coming.
I assume the 66% for McSally is in a county? It’s 52 to 48 statewide, or thereabouts. Kelly is no lefty – it’ll be interesting to see how he votes. He (or perhaps Mrs Kelly) is a friend of Robert Reich so we’ll see just where this goes. Prop 208 might be good politics (soak the rich) but bad economics. And where will it stop? Special taxes are likely to have long term consequences which will disadvantage Arizona.
Yes Max, the 66% was in La Paz, the county I spend half the year in. Serious Redneck country.
Special taxes are likely to have long term consequences which will disadvantage Arizona.
I live here. You don’t. Expanding public education is a public good, and that will have long term benefits for Arizona. We may even begin breeding fewer Rednecks. 🙂
3.5% on 250,000 is not going to make much difference to those paying, and is hardly “soaking the rich”. ($500k for joint filing).
For someone who comments regularly on a NZ blog “I live here, you don’t”is a bit rich. Expanding education whether public or private is indeed good, most of the time. But simply adding taxes is not a solution to funding services or the public good, and this has all the hallmarks of envy. Why $250,000? Why not $200,000? Or $150,000? Why stop at 3.5%? Another 1% on $150,000 and above would hardly be noticed. Why stop at education? Why not another tax for health? Police? Fire brigade? Culture? Water? Helping the poor? But eventually the goose hisses. Then Arizona (or wherever) is disadvantaged. BTW I have close connections (family, education, military service) with the USA. I have skin in this game.