All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Mister Mets]

WV itself is weird mix of Democrat and Republican. Manchin was a Democrat governor for a couple terms. He then became a Senator. Manchin is very loved in WV. He's more a Republican on things but Democrat on others. Remember it was him who helped crack Mitch McConnell on TV last March to get the 1st virus package done. Jim Justice ran as a Democrat and switched parties which ticked a lot of people off. (After Justice is done its more than likely the next Governor will be a Democrat again)

Jim Justice was reelected with 64%. The Democrat got less than half that.

That's not a good sign for Democrats hoping to get the governorship next time.

The statewide officeholders and three members of the House are all Republicans.

https://ballotpedia.org/West_Virgini...cutive_offices

Republicans also outnumber Democrats two to one in the state senate and three to one in the House of Delegates.

It's possible Democrats will win the next gubernatorial race, but they're certainly not the favorites.

Defections and betrayals are always sore.

Still we got Georgia and Arizona, both states have blue senators and Georgia's two incoming senators (Ossoff and Warnock) are progressive. Someone pointed out Georgia has more progressive senators than California where you have Diane Feinstein who's moved quite a bit to the right from when she started, albeit the newcomer Alex Padilla is a Green New Deal backer.

Has Feinstein moved to the right, or have Democrats in general moved to the left? Is she voting against things she would have supported twenty years ago.

It is also a bit early to say that Warnock and Ossoff are more progressive, as neither has much of a voting record yet.

Yeah but with the filibuster in place, that won't matter right? You only get one shot at budget reconciliation every year and since there's no way that the Dems are ever going to get 10 GOP senators to side with them on anything, pretty much nothing else will get passed.



WV was only a blue state to begin with because it was part of FDR's New Deal coalition, demographically it's largely rural, white, poor, and uneducated, not exactly ripe territory to push progressive politics. Most people there are single issue voters for coal, so ever since the GOP positioned itself as the pro-coal party they've pretty much dominated. Manchin still is able to win just based on his personal reputation and connections within the state, which means he's pretty much safe from any type of primary challenge since no other Democrat could possibly win there. But if he's going to just side with the Republicans on everything anyway, what difference does it really make?

But he doesn't side with Republicans on everything.

If he did, Mitch McConnell would still be Majority Leader.

[worstblogever]

I don't think it's about evidence or facts, if it was the last senate trial would have been a slam dunk for the Democrats.

Most of the evidence wasn't allowed in the Senate trial because McConnell refused to allow witnesses. That gave the GOP Senators the excuse they needed to vote to acquit in lockstep. If it had actually proceeded like a real trial and not been closed ASAP by the Grim Reaper, we would have had days if not weeks of embarrassing hearings and testimony like we did in the House hearings.

[CaptainEurope]

How this Manchin guy who’s been in the politics game for so long is being this naive and unrealistic about the Republicans is beyond me....

Sounds to me like he is giving himself an "out" for when he votes for abolishing the filibuster once West Virginia got a new rocket base, 20 new highways, a few bridges and a new university.
"I thought Republicans would be adults so we could keep the filibuster. This is on them. PS: Please enjoy the new biosphere named after me."

[CaptainEurope]

I did not have "Kellyanne Conway posting revenge porn of her 16 year old daughter online" on my 2021 bingo card, mein Gott.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I did not have "Kellyanne Conway posting revenge porn of her 16 year old daughter online" on my 2021 bingo card, mein Gott.

Wait, what? Are you joking?

Just googled it. God in Heaven...

[Tendrin]

Wait, what? Are you joking?

Just googled it. God in Heaven...

Yes, this apparently happened.
https://variety.com/2021/digital/new...er-1234892220/

[The Cool Thatguy]

Yes, this apparently happened.
https://variety.com/2021/digital/new...er-1234892220/

Not to go too deep down the rabbit hole, but could it be the daughter looking to slander her mom? Wouldn't be too hard, all things considered

[Revolutionary_Jack]

If/when the Dems can’t find 17 Republicans to help convict Trump and he is acquitted, what happens then?

What happens is that the Senate GOP are on record as a pack of cowards who dodged a major and severe moral issue. And they go on record as evil collaborators who licensed all attempts at coup d'etat and takeover. And then Trump will primary them anyway for not being sufficiently obstructionist.

Trump is back in the spotlight that he so loves and he is deified even more by his cult and the new GOP.

Trump being back in the spotlight will only happen if Social Media lifts its ban. FB might but twitter won't I think. The deification of Trump by his cult isn't going to be undone by the trial.

He’ll solidify his control over the Republican Party, could kick start his run in 2024, and show that he can get away with everything including trying to destroy our democracy.

The latter is worrying but look it's the GOP that will have to face that, not the Dems.

The evidence needs to be damning enough that everyday the Democrats show he was engineering a coup. And everyday to peel away at Trump's support and force the GOP to read those tea leaves and know only the crazies are going to stick by him and he's not worth it.

Hell, Rand Paul is intimating they'll "boycott" which doesn't actually help. Sure, it might make it look like only Democrats are voting him out... but the GOP won't be voting to save him either.

Agreed. Schumer and the Dems need to make this a political spectacle and bring their A-game to this. Make the GOP squirm.

[CaptainEurope]

Not to go too deep down the rabbit hole, but could it be the daughter looking to slander her mom? Wouldn't be too hard, all things considered

Wait, are you blaming the victim when we know her mom is a horrible person?

[CJStriker]

Return of the Honeymoon: Biden Ridin’ High with 63 Percent Approval in New Poll After Trump Started at 45

https://www.mediaite.com/news/return...started-at-45/

President Joe Biden has ushered the historical presidential honeymoon period back in by scoring a 63 percent approval rating in a recent poll, after his predecessor Donald Trump began his own presidency with a record low 45 percent approval in 2017.

President Biden can take a measure of pride in the latest Hill/HarrisX poll, which shows that 63 percent of Americans approve of the job he’s doing in his young presidency, versus 3 percent who disapprove. It’s a jump of more than twenty points above Trump’s final average approval rating, and also eclipses Trump’s first approval polls by eighteen points.

The result is also consistent with an earlier Reuters/Ipsos poll that found 57 percent of registered voters approve of Biden, while 32 percent disapprove, and another 11 percent aren’t sure. That poll also found that only 4 percent of registered Democrats disapprove of Biden, and 67 percent of registered Republicans saying the same.

But Biden’s rating isn’t that unusual from a historical perspective. According to Gallup, the lowest opening approval rating, prior to Trump, was President Ronald Reagan’s 51 percent in 1981, and most presidents have enjoyed a significant head start with voters. George W. Bush began his presidency at 57 percent, and President Barack Obama enjoyed a 67 percent approval rating in his first Gallup tracking poll.

Trump finished his presidency with the lowest average approval rating in Gallup’s history, and was also the only president never to reach 50 percent in the survey — but he also finished tied for the all-time high approval among Republicans. That polarization, in addition to events on the ground, could have an impact on the durability of Biden’s honeymoon period.

[DrNewGod]

I did not have "Kellyanne Conway posting revenge porn of her 16 year old daughter online" on my 2021 bingo card, mein Gott.

What the bloody blue ****?

That is beyond anything I would have expected. Hope the day comes when an elderly KC is dependent on her daughter's good will.

[Amadeus Arkham]

Jesus Christ. Gross.

[Amadeus Arkham]

[WestPhillyPunisher]

What the bloody blue ****?

That is beyond anything I would have expected. Hope the day comes when an elderly KC is dependent on her daughter's good will.

Reminds me of that old bumper sticker joke: “Be kind to your kids, they’ll pick your nursing home.”

But, seriously, this is absolutely disgusting. Revenge porn? Against her own daughter? Did Trump mean THAT much to Kellyanne? And where the hell is George Conway in this revolting drama?

[Joker]

Something is very wrong in the Conway home. I hope the proper authorities look into it.