Quote (said_aouita @ 3 Nov 2021 16:39)

Virginia has always voted opposite of who's in the White House.

Nothing to see here, move along.

Quote (Black XistenZ @ Nov 3 2021 11:33am)

It did not in 2013, when a certain Democrat going by the name Terry McAuliffe won Virginia's gubernatorial race while Obama was president.

And even if we took Virginia's contrarian streak for granted, this does not explain why the governor's race in New Jersey is still tied with 85% reporting; in a state that Biden carried by 16 points last year.

Quote (bioshocker @ 3 Nov 2021 00:05)

First thing Youngkin does when elected

how predictable....

USA USA USA!!!1111!

https://i.imgur.com/CQgyWMQ.png

Quote (sirthom @ 3 Nov 2021 02:17)

Every

single

time.

Quote ("538 pundit")

If Democrats want to have a fighting chance at bucking history in the 2022 midterms, the biggest lesson they can take from Virginia might be that they need a positive, cohesive message of their own to run on next year. McAuliffe spent far more time trying to tie Youngkin to Trump than he did talking about his own record as governor or any of the accomplishments of the unified Democratic state government over the last two years (of which there were many!). That’s a strategic decision that will likely come under a lot of scrutiny in the coming weeks, especially given the contrast with Youngkin, who was relentlessly on-message in the closing weeks of the race. Right now, Democrats don’t look like they’re for anything, only against Trump. That may have been an effective message in 2018 and 2020 when Trump was a presence in everyone’s life, but he’s not now.

Quote (Black XistenZ @ 30 Oct 2021 14:18)

If going back to Trump is still [Democrats] most promising pitch in November 20-fucking-21, what does that tell us about the quality of their own gubernatorial candidate, or the popularity of their president and their policy platform? [...]
Reminds me of the way Democrats tried to still run against GWB in 2009 and 2010 and how that turned out.

Quote (Black XistenZ @ 30 Oct 2021 17:54)

the main focus of VA Dems is not their candidate, his Republican opponent, their president or their agenda - it's Trump.

Quote (Black XistenZ @ Nov 3 2021 01:04pm)

Oh, look what Jacob Rubashkin, a pundit from fivethirtyeight had to say about the Virginia race:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/2021-elections-live-updates-and-results/

Hmmm, sounds familiar. Oh right, that's basically the argument I posted 3 days before the election, to the chagrin of the usual suspects:

Quote (NetflixAdaptationWidow @ 3 Nov 2021 17:35)

Biden aint done shit to whip Manchin and Sinema.

They deserve the country to be Republican leaning right now.

That's what happens when you don't play hard ball. Biden should be going to Manchin and saying "Hey, if you vote for this, we'll give you whatever you want in your state as part of the bill. And if you don't, well, your daughter's going to jail and you will never stop being investigated. Pick one, because this either ends very badly for your family, or very good for your state".

Same with Sinema and her taking millions from pharma to kill drug prices.

Quote (Black XistenZ @ Nov 3 2021 01:10pm)

Fact of the matter is that the bipartisan bill has majority support in the Senate and would pass the House too if Pelosi brought it up for a vote. It is the House progressives which are holding legislation with majority support hostage to try to force through another bill which does not have majority support. If Biden should have whipped a faction, it's the loony leftists in the House.

Also revealing to see your idea of "democracy" on full display. Stalin and Xi would be proud of the mafia tactics you support to make elected officials fall in line with The Party. :rofl: :ph34r:

Quote (NetflixAdaptationWidow @ 3 Nov 2021 19:13)

Are you implying politics in liberal democracies is anything but ruthless? What's it like being 12?

Manchin's daughter is involved in an extremely illegal scandal that Manchin facilitated. Sinema has received nearly a million dollars from pharma to kill negotiation on prescription drug prices.

We should be sending them to jail, straight up. Corruption should carry a capitol offense. But that's not currently the law, so we should leverage it.

Quote (NetflixAdaptationWidow @ Nov 3 2021 09:35am)

That's what happens when you don't play hard ball. Biden should be going to Manchin and saying "Hey, if you vote for this, we'll give you whatever you want in your state as part of the bill. And if you don't, well, your daughter's going to jail and you will never stop being investigated. Pick one, because this either ends very badly for your family, or very good for your state".

Quote (Black XistenZ @ Nov 3 2021 01:17pm)

If this type of corruption would be prosecuted, the halls of Capitol would be very empty.
Anyway, you've clearly lost your damn mind if you think this type of "hardball" is, or should be, the norm.

Just sit back for a moment and imagine a scenario in which president Trump threatened to send the feds after the family of McCain because McCain was holding up the ACA repeal - you would have gone apeshit over that, and rightfully so!

Quote (JessiWan @ Nov 3 2021 01:28pm)

But stuff like that shouldn't be used as a bargaining chip though. I don't know exactly what his daughter did, but if she did do something illegal, she needs to face legal consequences.