The US Mid-Term Elections 2022

[Stavros]

This link to Kari Lake points out how she has flipped from being a Democrat to a Republican, from calling for an amnesty for undocumented migrants to the 'Race Replacement theory', from attending the performances of her Drag Queen friend, to endorsing the ads from a 'Pastor' who vilifies Drag Queens as a 'threat to children'. Ironically, also this -for someone who used to read the news on Fox News in Arizona -

"“I found myself reading news copy that I didn’t believe was fully truthful,” she said in March 2021, announcing that she was quitting. “I’ve decided the time is right to do something else.”
-- like telling lies?

But perhaps the key is that her Democrat challenger, Katie Hobbs, seems to be so ineffective, lacking the aggression and brazen lies that Lake tells. One wonders how anyone can fall for this stuff, but there again, one wonders why the Democrats have not been able to demolish their Republican opponents with the Truth.

‘A really dangerous candidate’: Kari Lake, the new face of Maga Republicanism | US midterm elections 2022 | The Guardian

[KnightHawk 2.0]

This link to Kari Lake points out how she has flipped from being a Democrat to a Republican, from calling for an amnesty for undocumented migrants to the 'Race Replacement theory', from attending the performances of her Drag Queen friend, to endorsing the ads from a 'Pastor' who vilifies Drag Queens as a 'threat to children'. Ironically, also this -for someone who used to read the news on Fox News in Arizona -

"“I found myself reading news copy that I didn’t believe was fully truthful,” she said in March 2021, announcing that she was quitting. “I’ve decided the time is right to do something else.”
-- like telling lies?

But perhaps the key is that her Democrat challenger, Katie Hobbs, seems to be so ineffective, lacking the aggression and brazen lies that Lake tells. One wonders how anyone can fall for this stuff, but there again, one wonders why the Democrats have not been able to demolish their Republican opponents with the Truth.

‘A really dangerous candidate’: Kari Lake, the new face of Maga Republicanism | US midterm elections 2022 | The Guardian

I think it because the Democrats are afraid to fight dirty,and don't want to stoop to their Republican Opponents level,The MAGA Party doesn't have a problem fighting dirty and using underhanded tactics to trash their Democratic Opponents. And agree Kari Lake is a dangerous candidate. And the 2022 US Midterms is in five days,where the MAGA Party will be making false claims about election fraud.

[filghy2]

One wonders how anyone can fall for this stuff, but there again, one wonders why the Democrats have not been able to demolish their Republican opponents with the Truth

Why would you expect truth to prevail over lies when it so often hasn't over the past 7 years or so? Republican voters no longer care about what is true; only what it suits their purposes to believe.

Most swinging voters focus on their own circumstances, without much consideration of causes or policy solutions. Unfortunately, Democrat rule coincided with an upsurge in global inflation, which has made it very hard to prevent the normal mid-term backlash.

Ordinarily, there would be a good chance the pendulum will swing back, as occured in the 1990s, given the likely Republican congress has no plan other than maximizing chaos. The big question is whether this will be allowed to happen.

WB Yeats summed it up well in his famous poem:
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

[Stavros]

Ordinarily, there would be a good chance the pendulum will swing back, as occured in the 1990s, given the likely Republican congress has no plan other than maximizing chaos. The big question is whether this will be allowed to happen.

This is the big concern, as a candidate in Wisconsin said if they win, there will be a permanent Republican Congress in the State making the Governor a political irrelevance.

On the other hand, if Republican voters who are conflicted over Abortion rights and the economy -and other than inflation the US economy is in better shape than the UK- and if more young voters turn out than expected, the results could prove pollsters predicting a Republican surge are wrong. I think turn out has been high, but also that this may make the results close, and this is where challenges to the result could mean we don't know the final tally for some weeks after election day.

The electoral process in the US may be in need of an overhaul, but the last people given the task should be a partisan party which these days seems to sneer at and dismiss democracy if the result doesn't go their way.

[blackchubby38]

How do you read the campaigns in New York? The impression I get from the UK press is that the Democrats don't appear to be good at it, or, some candidates might be, but others seem ineffective in projecting themselves and their party. It may be that in the UK we are being 'set up' for a Republican take-over of the House, not sure about the Senate, or it may be the press can't get a handle on what is actually happening, and that a surprise might be coming.

I know it's not New York, but I saw a report about a woman called Kari Lake and I can't believe someone so aggressive and foul-mouthed is allowed to run. It is the way she gestured toward the Media pool during a rally speech and referred to the media as 'Bastards', not the kind of language one expects from someone seeking high office. I guess that is the measure of how low the bar is set these days.

The only race that I have been really paying attention to here in New York State is the one for Governor. Back in the summer, Governor Hochul (D) had a double digit lead over her opponent, Lee Zeldin (R).

Now:

Why a Pro-Trump Conservative Might Win the New York Governor’s Race

http://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/31/op...-governor.html

Why NYC Democrats are supporting Republican Lee Zeldin for governor

//nypost.com/2022/10/31/why-nyc-democrats-are-backing-republican-lee-zeldin-for-governor/


I think Hochul falls into the category of the Democrat that doesn't seem to be good at it. I also get the feeling that she thought could do the bare minimum when it came to campaigning and cruise to an easy victory. But I don't think she realized until it was too late how fed up people are with the direction NYC and the overall state is going in.

[blackchubby38]

How easy is it to vote early in person in the US? In Australia we now have more than 40% of the votes being cast before election day. I've never made a postal vote because it's much easier to go to one of the early voting stations.

Apparently pretty easy.

Early Vote Totals Point Toward Record-Breaking Turnout for Midterm Elections

www.usnews.com/news/articles/2022-11-04/early-vote-totals-point-toward-record-breaking-turnout-for-midterm-elections

[filghy2]

Apparently pretty easy.

Early Vote Totals Point Toward Record-Breaking Turnout for Midterm Elections

www.usnews.com/news/articles/2022-11-04/early-vote-totals-point-toward-record-breaking-turnout-for-midterm-elections

The question I was getting at is why do people bother with mail-in voting if early in-person voting is easy. According to that article, 57% of early votes have been by mail, so it's not just people who can't get to a voting place. (In Australia, only about one-fifth of early votes are by mail these days.) It sounds like there is a greater risk that mail-in votes may not be counted; eg because the post was slow or the date stamp was unclear.

[filghy2]

I think Hochul falls into the category of the Democrat that doesn't seem to be good at it.

Why do they seem to have trouble finding effective candidates? Where are the future FDRs going to come from, or even just the Bill Clintons or Obamas? It was hardly a good sign that they had to turn to a man who has clearly past his best in 2020, and it'll be even worse next time.

One of the big problems with politics these days is that good people don't want to go into it because it's such an unpleasant business. As a result, we are left mostly with careerist hacks, egomaniacs and zealots.

[Fitzcarraldo]

The question I was getting at is why do people bother with mail-in voting if early in-person voting is easy. According to that article, 57% of early votes have been by mail, so it's not just people who can't get to a voting place. (In Australia, only about one-fifth of early votes are by mail these days.) It sounds like there is a greater risk that mail-in votes may not be counted; eg because the post was slow or the date stamp was unclear.

Because mail-in voting is even easier than early in-person voting. You don't have to leave home. Never underestimate the power of laziness.

[Fitzcarraldo]

Why do they seem to have trouble finding effective candidates? Where are the future FDRs going to come from, or even just the Bill Clintons or Obamas? It was hardly a good sign that they had to turn to a man who has clearly past his best in 2020, and it'll be even worse next time.

One of the big problems with politics these days is that good people don't want to go into it because it's such an unpleasant business. As a result, we are left mostly with careerist hacks, egomaniacs and zealots.

Biden was the right candidate to beat Trump. He is absolutely a centrist (no matter what the Republicans claim). He didn't alienate nonpartisan moderates, which make up the deciding portion of voters. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders were too far left and too obnoxious to court anyone but the left.