Oprah Beats Trump!

/114 Comments/in /by

Among the factors that helped John Fetterman to pull off a win over Mehmet Oz was a late endorsement from Oprah Winfrey. The endorsement mattered not just because of who she is, but because Oz came to national attention on her show. Which means that in the highest profile Senate race of the night, Oprah’s endorsement proved more valuable than Trump’s.

That was, remarkably, even true of Liz Cheney. Both Democrats she endorsed — Abigail Spanberger and Elissa Slotkin — are projected to win reelection in swing districts. Cheney endorsed far fewer people than Trump, but both endorsees won.

Trump’s record was more mixed — but only JD Vance has yet won a high profile race, beating Tim Ryan in Ohio. Reportedly, Vance did not mention Trump in his victory speech. Ouch.

We won’t know who will win the Senate until at least the results of the Nevada race. The state changed its mail deadline this year, so it’s unclear how many votes will come in from Clark County; on update, Catherine Cortez Masto is behind Adam Laxalt but may make that up in mail-in votes. If CCM does not win, it’ll come down to a December run-off in Georgia.

And as of now, a number of outlets won’t call the House until more races come in. As of 12PM IST, the GOP has 199 seats to Dems’ 178. It’s even still possible Dems will retain control. Even Lauren Boebert’s seat is still too close to call, but it looks increasingly likely Adam Frisch will unseat her.

Except for perhaps Pennsylvania, Democrats had their best results in Michigan. Along with Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson all winning reelection, it appears Dems have flipped both houses of the legislature. And in addition to Slotkin, Hillary Scholten, a former DOJ immigration lawyer, beat John Gibbs in my own district, MI-3. Dems were helped mightily by the abortion referendum on the ballot, which handily won. This result was also made possible by a neutral redistricting measure passed in 2018. What has happened in MI in recent years may be a model for democratic renewal. And it certainly positions “Big Gretch” well going into 2024.

Florida and New York have been (thus far) the bright spots for Republicans, with Ron DeSantis and Mario Rubio winning by comfortable margins and Republicans flipping Dem seats in a New York after Dems totally botched redistricting.

There were other key Trump candidates who also lost, including (if AZ results hold), all the election-denying Secretary of State candidates in swing states.

So where does that leave us? A 50-50 Senate and House. If Dems win one or both, their superior discipline and the advantage of the Presidency will make it possible to get things done. If Republicans win the House, I expect endless chaos. No Republican — and certainly not Kevin McCarthy — has the leadership to manage a virtually tied House. (Mitch McConnell could undoubtedly make the most of a 51-49 Senate, however.

The more important factor is within the Republican Party. Republicans may finally have to face what an electoral disaster Trump is for them. He has never won a majority, and under his leadership, the Republicans have lost the House, the Senate, the Presidency, and a mid-term election in which they should have flooded Dems. The GOP lost this time by running a bunch of MAGAt candidates who were far easier for Democrats to defeat And DeSantis’ strong win will set up a natural conflict between the two men in Florida.

The tension between those two — as well as the tension between Trump and McCarthy or McConnell (Trump has, perhaps cynically, endorsed both continuing on as leaders) — may shift the internecine war from one that pits Trumpist Republicans against the country to one that pits Trumpist Republicans against those who would like to move on. It is possible that by setting up a war (or wars) within the GOP, this result will have the effect of suffocating the MAGAt flame.

It’s never a good idea to rule Trump out. But this election gives the Republicans an opportunity to rip the bandaid of Trumpism off. DeSantis is no better as a person (he’s the competent authoritarian everyone has warned about, but he is nowhere nearly as charismatic as Trump). But tensions between the two of them may serve to give Democrats time to maneuver.

This post was updated at 12:00 IT/7AM ET.

image_print
114 replies
  2. jeco says:

    Feeling ill contemplating McCarthy and Gym Jordan conducting clown car shows for 2 years. Not sure if Mac has enough energy to start impeaching Biden over Hunter’s laptop or whatever nutzo justification Mac runs with.

    People who voted for Herschel should have their voter registrations revoked and be put in rehab.

    If GOP has only razor thin majority in congress they are less likely to cut the legs off our support for Ukraine and aiding Putin’s invasion of Ukr has always been near and dear to trump since putin began assisting trumps political efforts 7 years ago.

    • smf88011 says:

      There will be nothing coming out of the House that is going to help the American people over the next 2 years if the GQP takes control. They will vote on impeaching Biden pretty much weekly and do political attack investigations just like they did with Benghazi. What is truly sad is that Trey Gowdy even admitted that there was nothing with Benghazi – it “is politics”. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/10/trey-gowdy-stops-pretending-admits-this-is-politics.html

        • klynn says:

          It was my understanding it is the shorthand for the QAnon supporting GOP side of the party. Not cute. Just shorthand.

        • iamevets says:

          I like this site because it stays away from the silly gratuitous names. It’s juvenile. I’m with bmaz. this is an uber intelligent place to be until the silly names come out. Please honor this site by refraining from descending into what every other comments section descends into.

        • Dave says:

          That’s for the GOP that are also QANON. There are lots of them. Yes, it feels good to properly label people.

          [Welcome to emptywheel. Please choose and use a unique username with a minimum of 8 letters. We are moving to a new minimum standard username length to support community security; we also have many “Dave” and “David” members. Thanks. /~Rayne]

        • smf88011 says:

          What is truly sad is that there is so many Q-Anon people in the GOP that they are taking control of the party.

        • B ruff says:

          Does it make you feel better to pretend you don’t know?
           
           
          [Don’t poke at moderators. It’s not helping discussion here and it’s an annoying time suck to me to have to deal with it. /~Rayne]

    • Frank Anon says:

      There is zero chance the Republicans can achieve any of their crazy in the House with a 2 or 3 seat majority. They are too factionalized to think that lockstep votes will be possible as the Democrats did the last two years. That takes iron leadership, words I could not ascribe to Kevin McCarthy. They might coalesce over a Hunter Biden extravaganza, but too much crazy could theoretically move a few R’s in the few moderate districts into informal coalition with the Dems to, at least, not let crazy go over to the Senate. Truth is, when everyone is a king and 1-3 votes are the difference between success and failure, not much will happen.

  3. jeco says:

    If a number of high profile races are swung to Dem wins by late counts of mails, absentee etc ballots the GOP will go messhuganah, even though vote counting sequences are dictated by state laws and often established by GOP statehouse majorities. I hope Dems have plenty of dough and good lawyers to challenge any and all questionable GOP leads.

    I expect gasoline & oil prices to drop post election, Big Oil, Saudis & putin have done their best to help GOP allies in their War of the Pumps.

  4. Zirc says:

    While a close GOP majority in the House is a disaster, it will put a number of GOP congresscritters in a bind. In the minority they could keep their mouths shut about a lot of the causes Trumpers support and limit themselves to tossing bombs in the direction of Biden and the democrats. Regardless of which party reigns in the Senate, in the majority, GOP members will be required to go on record about a number of issues they’d just soon leave alone, support of Ukraine and the impeachment of Biden being two of the more obvious.

    And you’re right about McCarthy: feckless, spineless, amoral . . . I can’t see him lasting as Speaker, if he even gets elected to the position in the first place. When sharks get really hungry, the start eating each other.

    Zirc

  5. Aroundight says:

    Republicans have had plenty of chances to rip that band-aid off, and they never take them. They’ve started to pull on it a couple of times, but they always whimper and back down as soon as it starts to hurt. At some point we have to accept that it’s not a band-aid, it’s a skin graft, and this is who they are now.

    • Ruthie2the says:

      I think this is right. I fear it’ll have to get a whole lot worse before it gets better, because the inmates are running the asylum. As long as the base remains in thrall to the cult of Trump, the Republican party will too.

      • bbleh says:

        It ain’t just fear; it’s greed. The Rep ruling class are confident they can continue to transfer wealth upward while not suffering any consequences from the Crazy.

        But one problem at a time. The vaunted “wave” seems not to have materialized — or arguably even was blue. That alone counts as a significant victory for Dems.

        • David F. Snyder says:

          Spot on. This will be a very lame GOP majority. And in two years, having had no clue how to solve the problems facing the nation, the wrath of the masses will lay heavily upon the GOP.

  6. RMD says:

    I am grateful for the tireless, fact-based analyses that Dr. Wheeler contributes to public awareness.
    They are so sorely needed….Thank you.

  8. Peterr says:

    Poor Donald.

    Yes, he’s happy that JD Vance won. But oh, those losses.

    Dr Oz lost, and so did Doug Mastriano. Ouch. Ouch.

    Tudor Dixon lost. Ouch ouch ouch.

    Lauren Bobert lost (it looks like).

    Hershel Walker lost (it looks like but it also may go to a runoff). Trump bet on Hershell to get him into the NFL Owners Club, and lost that one too. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, double shame on you.”

    Kari Lake lost. (OK, maybe that one doesn’t hurt quite so bad, because she was trying to set herself up as Trump-but-cute, and Trump can’t have that.) Blake Masters lost too, meaning Trump will have to work harder to steal the election in AZ in 2024 that he might have had to do had Masters won.

    Charlie Crist lost, and so did a bunch of other Floridians running against minions of DeSanctimonious. That’s pour-lemon-juice-on-a-paper-cut-Ouch! (Trump probably thinks that Crist threw the race, just to make Trump angry)

    There were other losses, too. But there were two losses that really hurt, though. They were the losses that forced the Mar-a-Lago cleaning staff to get out the ladders this morning because the ketchup was not only on the walls but the ceiling.

    First, Letitia James beat Michael Henry for NY AG. That uppity woman who doesn’t know her place and came for him anyway is gonna keep coming for him.

    Then, to twist the knife completely, Kathy Hochul beat Lee Zeldin for NY governor. That means Trump will not get a pardon for his NY state crimes.

    My thanks to the folks across this country — especially the women, the people of color, and the young voters — who made this a terrible horrible no good very bad night for Donald Trump.

    • Peterr says:

      And to complete the misery for Trump, soon-to-be Hurricane Nicole is looking to come ashore very close to Mar-a-Lago in about 12 hours or so.

    • bmaz says:

      Yeah, there is still 1/3 of the vote out in AZ. So far, so good but not sure there are clean wins yet, especially as to Hobbs over Lake. Keep fingers crossed.

    • Sloth Sloman says:

      Where are you seeing that Kari Lake lost? WaPo and NYT (I admit I should probably look elsewhere) have her slightly favored as of this morning despite Hobbs leading with around 65% of the vote in.

      • bmaz says:

        Yeah, not sure Lake losing is at all a fact. It is sunrise here and Hobbs still surprisingly in the lead. But it is close and a full 1/3 of the vote still out. Nobody here is saying it is over for the Governor’s seat. A lot of what remains is Maricopa County, but Maricopa is huge and a lot of the outer parts are very GOP, as opposed to Phoenix proper, which is fairly liberal. We shall get a better look tonight when Maricopa intends to update.

        • Peterr says:

          Should have included a “looks like” as I did with Bobert. Still, the fact that Hobbs is leading will no doubt not sit well with Trump.

        • Yorkville Kangaroo says:

          Unfortunately, Lake is EXACTLY the sort of pretty troll garbage that The Donald likes to adorn himself with.

          The current ticket looks like:

          Trump
          Lake
          2024

        • Rugger_9 says:

          I do not know how absentees and early voting break in AZ for party affiliation. Those classes are usually what is counted later. I also don’t recall whether AZ had the same early voting wave as much of the rest of the country.

          I do think that the cautious optimism for Hobbs is justified given what we’ve see elsewhere, but this is also AZ and that goes its own way.

          I’m more interested in the WI Senate race. In spite of all sorts of obstacles put up by the entrenched legislature, this is damn close and if my theory is correct on late counting, Barnes will win.

          And, Fetterman won. Herschel is probably going to get another month’s worth of inconvenient truths leaking out and I see Warnock beating him too. If that holds (Barnes beating RoJo), there are two Senate flips which will put an end to Sinemanchin hostage-taking.

        • Yorkville Kangaroo says:

          Also hard to know how to factor in are changes to voting and counting rules which fundamentally effect what comes in and when. Lake, for example, is claiming that she had all her people vote absentee but hand their votes in at the polling booths on election day and she believes she’s going to get the lion;s share of absentee votes when they get counted even though Maricopa tracditionally splits about 65/35 of 60/40 according to one site I read.

    • Badger Robert says:

      No comment other than I enjoyed your comment. You can have my proxy for the rest of this topic.

  9. Just Some Guy says:

    One of the bright spots in this otherwise-gerrymandered-and-quartered state is that Franklin County Circuit Judge Phil Shepherd beat challenger Joe Bilby, who was backed by major McConnell money. Why was this an important election? Kentucky’s capital Frankfort is in Franklin County, and the circuit court there hears many (most) of the legal challenges to state government. If Bilby, a MAGA lunatic, had won, it would mean that basically any suit that Daniel Cameron brought against the Beshear administration would likely win in court.

    Interestingly enough, the county where the abortion amendment lost by the highest percentage was also Franklin, where the no votes won something like 72%. Franklin Countians also overwhelmingly rejected amendment question #1, which would have allowed the Kentucky General Assembly to call itself into session whenever it wanted, as opposed to now where special sessions have to be called in by the Governor. I guess residents of Frankfort already are sick of Kentucky’s legislators being there two months out of the year, they didn’t want them there more often!

    • John B. says:

      As a KY native very interested in your comment: so, you’re saying the “no” vote in Franklin county was 72% which means this vote was pro woman’s rights and healthcare?

      • Just Some Guy says:

        An earlier reply seems to have been eaten or maybe it’s still just awaiting moderation. Yes, Franklin County voted against Amendment 2, which would have amended the Kentucky Constitution so there would be no right to abortion. I was wrong on my percentage, though, as it ended up around 66%. Still pretty dang healthy!

  11. Bay State Librul says:

    Pick your pleasure:

    The Red Dribble (Keith O)
    Pyrrhic Victory (Go Greek)
    It’s always sunny in Philadelphia (Paddy’s Pub)

    • Rayne says:

      Cracks me up, the total lack of self awareness among conservatives like Thiessen. He had some really obnoxious op-eds this last month in WaPo and yet he thinks this mid-term’s results are just an indictment of the GOP. As if these bits didn’t tell voters conservatism is racist, misogynist, and ableist:

      Gretchen Whitmer must think she’s the governor of Florida October 28, 2022

      Has Fetterman been tested for cognitive impairment? Voters have a right to know. November 1, 2022

      Is Obama the closer his party needs — or Democratic kryptonite? November 2, 2022

      Nope, these mid-terms are an indictment of buttheads like Thiessen as well as the party he supports. If only gerrymandering had been dealt with uniformly across the U.S. as it was in Michigan back in 2018.

      • Rugger_9 says:

        Please don’t refer to the weasels like Thiessen as buttheads. That’s a wholly different class of annoying people, and according to my beloved I am their King.

      • Alan Charbonneau says:

        On the Meidas Touch last night, the conclusion of one of the guys was that Rs flooded the zone with fake polls and then started to believe their own bullshit based on those polls.

        Interestingly, on FOX, Judge Jeanine said that voters were more interested in abortion and “the threat to democracy”. I didn’t expect her to acknowledge the threat to democracy as an issue.

        Laura Ingraham saying we need candidates in 2024 who are “focused on winning, not just making a point or settling a score” and “the populist movement is about ideas, it is not about any one person” while the chyron reads “FOCUS ON EGO AND GRIEVANCE TURNING OFF VOTERS”

        Rupert has had enough of the ego of Trump.

    • emptywheel says:

      She’s got two years of undivided govt to make her case.
      And since choice will be a big issue in 2024, she will be really well-positioned there too.

      The first political event I went to after Hillary’s loss was an event for the local women’s PAC in Grand Rapids, where she lived for a time growing up. It was a packed house, and clear then that she was well-positions for the moment and very consciously planning out a future.

      • smf88011 says:

        It sounds like you are an early supporter of hers. I am going to have to do more research on her. Thanks!

    • Willis Warren says:

      She”ll need to run ASAP, before the GOP introduce her to the nation. Hillary’s baggage probably isn’t possible, but they did it to Warren, who was probably as competent a candidate that I’ve seen in my lifetime.

      • Ginevra diBenci says:

        The GOP’s puppet master already introduced her to the nation, in 2020. Whitmer survived Trump’s attempts to “liberate Michigan” from her competent management, along with his relentlessly misogynist attacks that arguably goaded a bunch of militia idiots into planning to kidnap her.

        For those who don’t know Michigan, those guys represent a mostly unseen but sizable minority where the fingers extend. The days of Democratic Michigan are long over; Trump changed the map. Whitmer triumphing over his crap means young people, women, and POC might be changing it back.

    • Rugger_9 says:

      Whitmer is a good choice, and if she can solve the Flint water issue (a mess left by Snyder) she’d be a frontrunner. Whitehouse is OK too, and we still have dark horse opportunities (remember Obama pretty much came from nowhere in 2008). I have no doubt Newsom will toss his hat in as well.

      This is when the bench needs to get playing and TV time, so Biden Schumer and Pelosi have someone to receive the passed torch.

      • smf88011 says:

        Pete Buttigieg, Newsom, Whitmer, and Whitehouse are all good possibilities for 2024. I hope that we don’t do Biden or Harris in 2024. If we do, the Democrats are going to lose.

        • tmooretxk says:

          Talk about facts not in evidence! Neither is a JFK or Obama, but who are the Repubs going to find to run against them? Giant negatives for every well-known R, especially the ones in pure red states, who have no concept of how they are loathed and derided by the rest of the country.

        • Yorkville Kangaroo says:

          I wouldn’t touch a ‘coastal and big city elite’ candidate if I were the Democrats. They are tainted by association no matter how good a candidate they are. That would leave out Newsom and anyone from NYC, SFO, CHI especially. Anyone viewed as ‘establishment’ like Warren is also fraught and Harris is toxic from many standpoints. Progressives also are on the outer so no Beto or Stacey.

          Buttigieg has recognition now though his sexual orientation will not play well in the heartland no matter how many LGBTQI+ candidates got elected this cycle.

          Most people in the Presidential races need to have administrative chops so a governor is usually seen as a safe pair of hands as ling as their state is doing well.

          That would leave people like:

          Jared Polis – Interesting brief especially coming from CO and with libertarian leanings but both gay and Jewish. 47 years old so generational change.

          Laura Kelly – US heartland candidate who brough KS back from the financial brink imposed on Kansans by Brownback

          Andy Beshear – Another generational change candidate coming stright from the guts of KY R heartland. Used to difficult and nasty fights during elections.

          Jay Inslee – WA governor who has won three elections in a row, increasing his margin each time. Progressive but also not too much.

          Not sure many have a national profile big enough to capture the hearts and minds so it’s gong to be tricky.

  14. viget says:

    Given the amount of gerrymandering, the fact that the house is as close as it is should spell disaster for the GOP. They had all the structural advantages this election, and the bad inflation which supposedly was issue #1, and looks like they blew it by going full MAGAt.

    Not saying they won’t end up winning the house in the end, buuut even if they do, it will be razor thin. Perhaps even 1 or 2 seats. Deals may still be had with those margins, especially on the national debt.

    • Rugger_9 says:

      The gerrymandering imposed by the GOP legislatures after the 2020 census (also ‘tweaked’ by Wilburrrr to lean to GOP goals) was reported but SCOTUS chose to do nothing about it even though they had inserted themselves into political gerrymandering before (the ‘surgical precision’ decision). After all, SCOTUS majority saw it was their party that was benefiting.

      This was the factor that delivered the House to the GOP (and it’s not finished yet) and as you note it should be a larger majority than we will see.

      • Epicurus says:

        Jordan Ellenberg has a book “Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy,Democracy, and Everything Else”. It is terrific in its own right but it has a wonderful chapter about gerrymandering called “How Math Broke Democracy (And Might Save It). I would recommend the book and chapter! to anyone. He is a math professor at UW-Madison.

        Rugger_9’s comment that some of the Supremes – conservative side – may have seen their party was benefiting may be correct but Ellenberg’s take, if I have it right, is those Supremes are mathematically challenged. A mathematics group wrote an amicus for the court in a gerrymandering case explaining the problem and the available solution. They ignored it. Ellenberg has a truly funny and priceless imagined conversation among some of the Supremes about tuna melts, math, and gerrymandering. It is worth the price of the book all by itself.

  15. Yargelsnogger says:

    It’s hard to imagine Trump taking being ousted by DeSantis well. I expect much sniping and undermining. Trump will be too old for a term starting in 2028, so if he views this as his last chance to regain his rightful throne, er the presidency, he won’t have much reason tobe supportive of other Republicans. It would be poetic justice if Trump sabotages one more election, even one that he isn’t running in, by tearing into DeSantis.

    • Rugger_9 says:

      What was interesting to me is how some of the pretenders (IIRC, Hawley was one) had decided to sit 2024 out to retrench for 2028. Of course, fear of MAGA primary voters (assuming the GOP has primaries) is not part of their calculations, nope, no way, nuh-uh and how could you think that way? (/s)

    • missinggeorgecarlin says:

      DJT has a massive ego and it would be nearly impossible for him to swallow his pride and support DeSantis. The only way I can see that happening is with a large, under the table, payment from GOP supporters (say $1B) and some promises of protection.

      He can be bought and I think extortion is one of his biggest talents. He may even use the extortion $ to extort more $ later (“I’ll out you unless you pay again!”).

    • Molly Pitcher says:

      Biden just said in his presser that it would be fun to watch Trump and De Santis take each other on.

    • Yorkville Kangaroo says:

      Make no mistake. The GOP have placed themselves between a rock and a hard place now. Nominate The Donald and they ought to be laughed out of 2024 all over the ticket. Nominate ANYONE but The Donald and he will simply run as a spolier candidate and will demolish the party up and down the ticket. He may even stand MAGA candidates all over the country to make the point.

      Heat up the popper kids!

  16. bawiggans says:

    The GOP acquired a lot of bad habits under Trump’s influence and it has internalized corruption so deeply that it is hard to see how it can convincingly reform even with his active influence diminished or eliminated. He sowed the dragon’s teeth on fertile ground.

  17. Willis Warren says:

    Again we’re gonna have a lot of hand wringing over how the polls were “wrong” but it’s pretty obvious that polls of “Likely voters” don’t weigh in new voters who are highly motivated. in 2016, it was the Trump new voters, while this time it was the Roe new voters. Exit polls are pretty much worthless, as they are voluntary and not random. It was obvious the GOP internal polls in AZ showed them losing, as they panicked all day about that state in particular.

    • Rugger_9 says:

      I’m sure I was part of the undercount, since my beloved and I routinely hung up on ‘research’ callers. Maybe I’ll do better next time.

      • P J Evans says:

        I hang up on those, also (not that I get many). The last one mumbled the name of the poller, so I hung up just because of that. I have done some (mostly local) online polls, though.

  18. Jeff Landale says:

    I got to wait nearly 5 hours in line with U-M students for day-of registration – hardly anyone bailed despite missing classes and exams and everything else they had planned for the day.

  19. TooLoose LeTruck says:

    Well, I, for one, am feeling quite a sense of relief this morning that the so-called ‘red wave’ wasn’t nearly the overwhelming tsunami the GOP had been hoping for and crowing about…

    I live in a very blue area and when I went into my local post office yesterday to drop off my absentee ballot, I was pleasantly surprised to see just how many others were there to do the same thing – VOTE! – and how upbeat and smiling they were about it. The moment almost had a party-like vibe to it.

    Admittedly, it’s a small sample set, but somehow that bodes well for democracy…

  20. Frank Anon says:

    I’m very pleased and impressed that no candidate apart from maybe Kari Lake is trying to say their election was stolen. It seems clear that it is not a potent weapon right now. No question this election was a referendum on Trumpism, and its been laid low. Who snuffs it out?

  21. Rugger_9 says:

    Also very entertaining is the blame game as it develops, such as unconfirmed reports that the GOP is furious with Individual-1, who is blaming Melania for backing Oz, along with MTG blaming losers in the GOP for the fiasco. The otherwise odious Massie has pledged to be a ‘caucus of one’ to add to McCarthy’s fear and loathing as Speaker (assuming the chamber flips, not yet guaranteed as of this writing). All of those ‘Dems in disarray’ columns by the pundits seem to have been projected away from the GOP even though the writers were well aware of the unbounded egos that run rampant in the GOP.

    • Just Some Guy says:

      Much like the rest of Kentucky GOP elected officials, I wish Tom Massie had some better Democratic opponents. He’s so terrible.

      That said, most Kentucky GOP elected these days don’t have ANY Democratic opponents. Kentucky Democratic Party is basically just a shell, a fundraising lever for Andy Beshear (don’t get me wrong, I like Andy), and not really a party anymore, definitely not even close to competitive throughout the state…And don’t get me started on the whackjob who ran against Andy Barr on the Democratic Party ticket even though he’s a bigger shill for Putin than Randy Paul is.

      • tinao says:

        Excuse me, that’s where the old man was born. We took his 91 year old uncle from there to his mom’s 84th surprise birthday party down in floridia. OMG he told us stories we both lol’d from the belly. Character runs in his family! Such a lovable and practical person.

  23. rosalind says:

    in WA State we are all vote-by-mail, and have same day registration. when i dropped off my ballot inside the County building i was pleasantly surprised to see a huge line of 20-something women and men patiently waiting. local news photos show the line remained until closing.

    may this election be a marker for this demographic continuing to build its power.

      • TooLoose LeTruck says:

        I agree w/ your comment completely.

        Small ‘d’ democracy isn’t on life support as of today but it’s still ailing…

        Not that my opinion matters…

        But I do care…

      • Yorkville Kangaroo says:

        Until you re-assume the predication of the Founding Fathers that the three branches of government are independent and equal to one another it will ALWAYS be in danger.

  24. harpie says:

    TRUMP complained about OPRAH! on 1/6/21:

    https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/02/08/in-his-impeachment-defense-trump-spends-five-times-as-long-not-addressing-the-mike-pence-allegations/#comment-882296

    TRUMP’s 1/6/21 SPEECH – [Cliff’s notes]
    12:00 PM Ranting about the media […]
    12:29 PM Bashing weak Republicans [Kemp]
    Ranting about Stacey Abrams and Michelle and Barack Obama [added: and Oprah!] […]

    12:29 PM https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1346871991916257280
    12:31 PM · Jan 6, 2021

    Trump attacks four Black people within 30 seconds [VIDEO]

    [TRUMP: And then I had to beat Stacey Abrams with this guy, Brian Kemp. I had to beat Stacey Abrams. And I had to beat Oprah, used to be a friend of mine. [SIRENS IN BACKGROUND] You know, I was on her last show, her last week, she picked the five outstanding people. I don’t think she thinks that any more. Once I ran for president, I didn’t notice there were too many calls coming in from Oprah. Believe it or not, she used to like me. But I was one of the five outstanding people. And I had a campaign against Michelle Obama and Barack Hussein Obama, against Stacey. And I had Brian Kemp, who weighs 130 pounds. He said he played offensive line in football. I’m trying to figure that out. (laugher)]

  25. Molly Pitcher says:

    In the presser going on right now, Biden just said, in response to a question, that the relationship between Elon Musk and foreign countries he is involved in business ventures with is worth an examination.

    • cmarlowe says:

      It is interesting that SpaceX does things like launching US spy satellites. Apparently Musk does have a security clearance at some level, though I would guess that he is walled off from details he does not need to know with respect to these types of payloads.

      I have seen corporate officers often not having clearances to programs that are in a sense under their direction. This is probably not uncommon. But still for Musk – I would not want him near any NDI.

  26. Klaatu Something says:

    as a writer, I must ask why the headline is not “Oprah Trumps Trump”

    sometimes the words write themselves

  27. KP says:

    ‘GQP’ is as acceptable as ‘GOP’ — which itself was a self-name by a very much older, non-existent Republican Party. I will use GQP, as I have been, and I also have capitalized ‘Christofascist,’ since it does, absolutely, identify a very specific subset of people, combining, of course, several only slightly differing, though collectively incoherent and nasty, ideas — which take the worst of their Bible and conflate with the essence of fascist ideologies. Language, especially the messy English language, evolves … so do our ‘initialisms.’ Similarly, the new-Babel language of textspeak is evolving, developing its own grammar and uses, and it is driven from the kids, the users, to suit and fit THEIR new ways of communicating. So, old fart I am, not that I’d agree that I am, of course, I say bravo to the younger people, keep fighting the good fight … and Antifa are the GOOD ones … and remember the words of the late great standup philosopher George Carlin, commenting on the rounding up of our Japanese-American citizens in 1942 and locking them into concentration camps … despite their Constitutional rights as guaranteed by the Bill of RIghts … as George said, they’re NOT rights if someone can take them away (and with NO regard to law, courts, or anything remotely moral or ethical — and besides being illegally imprisoned in the camps, many lost their property, farms, livelihoods, shops, stores …. all the while, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed almost entirely of Japanese-Americans, became the most highly decorated unit in USA military history. I also prefer Drumpf, the original family name lol and the grandfather was a draft-dodging Bavarian. SO, go fuck yerself. Always willing to chat :)

    • bmaz says:

      GQP is asinine. Also, too, paragraph breaks are everybody’s friend, you might learn that lesson. And if you are telling me to “go fuck myself”, right back at you jackass. Run along now.

  28. Fl Resister says:

    I could not be more disgusted with Florida and no happier with Michigan and Pennsylvania. It was so important that Fetterman win. And Shapiro of course.
    Last I heard Mastriano had not done the gentlemanly thing even though it is clear he has lost the election.

Comments are closed.