Midterm Elections 2018

[dudog84]

Virginia Senate candidate Corey Stewart aide in the news today:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/01/polit...ter/index.html



Incumbent Tim Kaine is ahead double digits in polls I saw so this article makes Stewart's uphill battle longer and steeper.

https://www.richmond.com/news/virgin...bb5ec4b17.html

I doubt he ever had much of a chance against Kaine. I think the danger for Rs is the 'wide brush', that this kind of thing can taint all of their candidates, and not just in Virginia. Maybe not a huge factor, but there are going to be a lot of tight races and every little bit hurts. Or helps.

[OldPhiKap]

Virginia Senate candidate Corey Stewart aide in the news today:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/01/polit...ter/index.html

"Rick Shaftan made the comments in tweets newly uncovered by CNN's KFile. The previously unreported tweets come on the heels of a report from the Daily Beast that he described majority-black cities as 'sh**holes' and told his followers not to open businesses in black neighborhoods."

Although there is really no "good" place to make such comments obviously, making them in the state where the Charlottesville tragedy occurred a little less than a year ago is especially troublesome.

Really -- does no one vet anymore?

[PackMan97]

I wasn't really saying you forgot, it's a manner of speaking/writing. Sloppy of me.

Well, in your defense, I really did forget.

If a poll was taken 12 days before the election and something big happens 11 days before the election, it makes that poll worthless, not wrong. I was calling the poll wrong, when in fact it was worthless thanks to Comey's actions.

As a result of 2016, will national polls stop being discussed?

No, because everyone loves to know the score and the electoral college is simply too complicated for our TV news personalities

[CrazyNotCrazie]

"Rick Shaftan made the comments in tweets newly uncovered by CNN's KFile. The previously unreported tweets come on the heels of a report from the Daily Beast that he described majority-black cities as 'sh**holes' and told his followers not to open businesses in black neighborhoods."

Although there is really no "good" place to make such comments obviously, making them in the state where the Charlottesville tragedy occurred a little less than a year ago is especially troublesome.

Really -- does no one vet anymore?

I think/hope we all agree that comments like this are inappropriate, regardless of how one feels about other issues. That being said, unfortunately there still remains a significant portion of the population for whom a comment like that makes a candidate more attractive, not less. But I think that for a state-wide office, that population is a very small minority.

[Bob Green]

Although there is really no "good" place to make such comments obviously, making them in the state where the Charlottesville tragedy occurred a little less than a year ago is especially troublesome.

Stewart is connected to the Charlottesville tragedy from his run for governor:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/u...-virginia.html

Mr. Stewart was also endorsed last year by the white nationalist Jason Kessler, who later organized the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. In February 2017, Mr. Stewart appeared with Mr. Kessler at an event sponsored by Mr. Kessler’s group Unity and Security for America, whose mission statement called for “defending Western civilization, including its history, culture and peoples, while utterly dismantling cultural Marxism.”

I've voted Republican forever and a day but I swear the GOP is becoming the "Party of the Uneducated." While Tim Kaine is going to be hard to beat, I'm unsure how the GOP primary voters thought Stewart was a viable candidate.

[cato]

Really -- does no one vet anymore?

I don’t know how easy or hard it is to vet people’s comments on Twitter, but with so many recently uncovered tweets, I have to wonder if they did vet, how they could fill out a staff.

[OldPhiKap]

Stewart is connected to the Charlottesville tragedy from his run for governor:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/u...-virginia.html

What are his views on Bigfoot?

Asking, y'know -- for a friend.

[BigWayne]

I've voted Republican forever and a day but I swear the GOP is becoming the "Party of the Uneducated."

The Democrats are certainly putting up some stiff competition in this contest. Sadly, with the current 24 hour news cycle, there is a non stop supply of stupid moves and comments from both sides.

[dudog84]

Since I've been posting on the situation in Florida, here's some short video of the rally in Tampa yesterday. Things are getting ugly. And we've still got about 90 days 'til the election.

https://twitter.com/AshleyRParker/st...ner%3Dmsft_msn

[Troublemaker]

Since I've been posting on the situation in Florida, here's some short video of the rally in Tampa yesterday. Things are getting ugly. And we've still got about 90 days 'til the election.

https://twitter.com/AshleyRParker/st...ner%3Dmsft_msn

This is unrelated to the midterms and to the proximity to November, imo. Trump rally attendees chanting negatively at the media has been going on since 2015. Whether the behavior is grotesque, fair, or awesome (or somewhere in between), it seems outside the scope of the thread and could lead to unnecessary PPB. At least with the posts about the Presidential race in 2020, many were couched in terms of what the effect of November's midterm outcomes would be on the race.

[dudog84]

This is unrelated to the midterms and to the proximity to November, imo. Trump rally attendees chanting negatively at the media has been going on since 2015. Whether the behavior is grotesque, fair, or awesome (or somewhere in between), it seems outside the scope of the thread and could lead to unnecessary PPB. At least with the posts about the Presidential race in 2020, many were couched in terms of what the effect of November's midterm outcomes would be on the race.

Then ask the mods to delete it. I posted it without comment on whether it was grotesque, fair, or awesome. I do think it is worse than it has been, will continue to get worse, and is doing so because of the upcoming election.

It's meant to excite a base and increase turnout. Whether it will do that or have the opposite effect, we'll see.

But if it's gong to cause a problem, by all means delete it. I posted because it's happening in my state and so others could see it.

[JasonEvans]

Ill leave it up for now as it is an interesting way of rallying the GOP base.

That said, I do agree that any prolonged conversation about Trump supporters vs the mainstream media is probably going to get PPB and should be avoided in this thread.

[Troublemaker]

Then ask the mods to delete it. I posted it without comment on whether it was grotesque, fair, or awesome. I do think it is worse than it has been, will continue to get worse, and is doing so because of the upcoming election.

It's meant to excite a base and increase turnout. Whether it will do that or have the opposite effect, we'll see.

But if it's gong to cause a problem, by all means delete it. I posted because it's happening in my state and so others could see it.

I don't want it deleted. I wanted to give a friendly nudge of, "Hey, we all know that discussion of this could lead to animosity, right?"

And I do think it's a stretch to connect it to the midterms. If someone wants to make it worth my while -- a pie bet or something -- I'm fairly certain I can find previous video of Trump's base chanting negatively at the media just as vociferously.

[dudog84]

I don't want it deleted. I wanted to give a friendly nudge of, "Hey, we all know that discussion of this could lead to animosity, right?"

And I do think it's a stretch to connect it to the midterms. If someone wants to make it worth my while -- a pie bet or something -- I'm fairly certain I can find previous video of Trump's base chanting negatively at the media just as vociferously.

I guess I didn't see it as something that would cause disagreement on the board. As strongly as I may disagree with someone, I don't scream at them, I don't curse at them, I don't give them the finger. I thought it was newsy. I had originally seen the clip as part of an article with opinion on it, and deliberately sought out the clip to post it alone.

I'd take you up on your offer but I don't gamble/bet. At least not with stakes as high as a pie.

[PackMan97]

https://www.politico.com/blogs/media...ublican-188053

Only 7% of Journalists identify as Republican. Is it any surprise the Republicans who participate actively in the party might think the other 93% are really out to get them?

[Wander]

I guess I didn't see it as something that would cause disagreement on the board. As strongly as I may disagree with someone, I don't scream at them, I don't curse at them, I don't give them the finger. I thought it was newsy. I had originally seen the clip as part of an article with opinion on it, and deliberately sought out the clip to post it alone.

Well, there are a lot of people who don't see anything "ugly" about chanting the media is fake. That's where Trump supporters would disagree with your post.

But the real answer is these things are impossible to moderate for the DBR mods. There were many times in the presidential election that you couldn't meaningfully talk about major political stories, no matter how neutral or non-partisan or "I'm only talking about horse race stuff" your intentions, simply because Trump's quotes themselves weren't allowable by DBR's guidelines and sometimes literally couldn't even get past the automatic DBR filter. We'll probably see similar difficulties here as the election gets closer.

[dudog84]

Well, there are a lot of people who don't see anything "ugly" about chanting the media is fake. That's where Trump supporters would disagree with your post.

But the real answer is these things are impossible to moderate for the DBR mods. There were many times in the presidential election that you couldn't meaningfully talk about major political stories, no matter how neutral or non-partisan or "I'm only talking about horse race stuff" your intentions, simply because Trump's quotes themselves weren't allowable by DBR's guidelines and sometimes literally couldn't even get past the automatic DBR filter. We'll probably see similar difficulties here as the election gets closer.

In my defense, there was a lot more in that clip than a "fake news" chant.

[dudog84]

https://www.politico.com/blogs/media...ublican-188053

Only 7% of Journalists identify as Republican. Is it any surprise the Republicans who participate actively in the party might think the other 93% are really out to get them?

From the article:

"The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza notes two caveats to those numbers: The first, is that the study is among all reporters, not just political reporters whose party identification may be a lot different. Second, “the movement toward independent status among reporters is in keeping with a similar move in the broader electorate as they find the two parties increasingly rigid and, therefore, less welcoming.”" (emphasis mine)

So those "reporting" on the Kardashian's are lumped in here too.

[luvdahops]

Well, there are a lot of people who don't see anything "ugly" about chanting the media is fake. That's where Trump supporters would disagree with your post.

But the real answer is these things are impossible to moderate for the DBR mods. There were many times in the presidential election that you couldn't meaningfully talk about major political stories, no matter how neutral or non-partisan or "I'm only talking about horse race stuff" your intentions, simply because Trump's quotes themselves weren't allowable by DBR's guidelines and sometimes literally couldn't even get past the automatic DBR filter. We'll probably see similar difficulties here as the election gets closer.

True enough, as the alleged bias and demonization of the mainstream media has been a major right-wing rallying cry since the advent of popular conservative talk radio and news shows in the 90s, if not earlier. But that rallying cry has grown far more intense with the Trump campaign and Presidency so far, given Trump's constant attacks on the MSM. To the point where his most ardent supporters are skeptical, or worse, around even the most basic fact reporting by outlets like the WSJ and Wa Post.

[gus]

https://www.politico.com/blogs/media...ublican-188053

Only 7% of Journalists identify as Republican. Is it any surprise the Republicans who participate actively in the party might think the other 93% are really out to get them?

Based on that survey (2013), you could just as accurately say "72% of journalists identify as 'not a Democrat'".