Karen Handel defeats Democratic opponent in the hotly contested Georgia special election

[Steve_S]

47 minutes ago, Running Gator said:

The base is really unimportant, the base didn't win this election.  People that had voted Dem for years voting for Trump won the election.  

I think those people need results or they will be less inclined to vote that way again. 

I wouldn't overlook the significance of that, though. There were a lot of people who had probably never pulled a lever for a republican presidential candidate who voted for trump. Republicans had not won any of three big ones that flipped since 1988, 28 years prior to the 2016 election. The most significant thing about those states is not that trump won them, though that is very significant, of course. The most significant thing is that the democrats are now going to have to focus a lot more attention on them instead of ohio and florida. If you include minnesota in this mix, which you should, because he very barely lost there, there are now six very important winnable swing states for both parties, as opposed to two, which the republicans could not have won without. The republicans can now take the approach that it is possible to lose florida or ohio, potentially both (but not likely, as they'd have to virtually sweep the other four), and still win, in theory. Elections don't tend to trend that way, but anything is possible at this point i suppose. What this mostly does is apply a lot more pressure to the democrats and relieve a lot of pressure from the republicans, in any given generic election. It is a huge deal psychologically for the republicans to not have to pin all their hopes on winning florida, ohio, nevada, and new hampshire to have any chance at the presidency.

[Running Gator]

24 minutes ago, Steve_S said:

I wouldn't overlook the significance of that, though. There were a lot of people who had probably never pulled a lever for a republican presidential candidate who voted for trump. Republicans had not won any of three big ones that flipped since 1988, 28 years prior to the 2016 election. The most significant thing about those states is not that trump won them, though that is very significant, of course. The most significant thing is that the democrats are now going to have to focus a lot more attention on them instead of ohio and florida. If you include minnesota in this mix, which you should, because he very barely lost there, there are now six very important winnable swing states for both parties, as opposed to two, which the republicans could not have won without. The republicans can now take the approach that it is possible to lose florida or ohio, potentially both (but not likely, as they'd have to virtually sweep the other four), and still win, in theory. Elections don't tend to trend that way, but anything is possible at this point i suppose. What this mostly does is apply a lot more pressure to the democrats and relieve a lot of pressure from the republicans, in any given generic election. It is a huge deal psychologically for the republicans to not have to pin all their hopes on winning florida, ohio, nevada, and new hampshire to have any chance at the presidency.

All those people that probably never pulled a lever for a republican presidential candidate who voted for trump will not do so again without some personal benefit in the next couple of years.   Unless their lives see an improvement due to them voting for Trump they will have no reason to do so again and might even feel cheated or lied to.   I voted for one Dem for president in my lifetime, that was Bill Clinton his first time.   I learned and didnt do it again.  The same thing could happen to Trump based upon his successes in the next year or two. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, wingnut- said:

 

That is priceless 

Im laughing just as hard as you are! 

[Steve_S]

39 minutes ago, Running Gator said:

All those people that probably never pulled a lever for a republican presidential candidate who voted for trump will not do so again without some personal benefit in the next couple of years.   Unless their lives see an improvement due to them voting for Trump they will have no reason to do so again and might even feel cheated or lied to.   I voted for one Dem for president in my lifetime, that was Bill Clinton his first time.   I learned and didnt do it again.  The same thing could happen to Trump based upon his successes in the next year or two. 

This is, of course, possible. However, what really matters more than the wall or any other given electoral promise would be the economy, particularly employment. Right now that is going well. The only real question is what the level will be in 2020. I believe it's possible that it will be fairly close to what it is now, perhaps on the descent. The biggest issue, locally, for these states was the outsourcing of american jobs. If that is slowed or mostly stopped, by 2020, no matter what the national unemployment rate is, he will probably get them and the republicans may well keep them. If not, it isn't is assured. A lot of those things are not really under the direct, and barely under the indirect, control of any given president. His best possible play to keep the unemployment rate lowish is progressive deregulation. That could extend the positive economic cycle past its natural lifetime simply because deregulation generally opens up capital for corporations and small businesses alike.

[Guest]

The point of this post is that republicans are still WINNING!! There is simply no other way to look at it.

 The fact of the matters is this: liberals are SUNK because they cannot be trusted, they have  debased moral character.  We see this going on with all the witch hunts in DC. If it wasnt so sad,it would be hilarious!! 

Proverbs 10:9
He who walks in integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will be found out.

[OldSchool2]

2 hours ago, shiloh357 said:

There's still over three years to go....

And he's wasting it by tweeting about investigations and witch hunts.

[Guest shiloh357]

1 minute ago, OldSchool2 said:

And he's wasting it by tweeting about investigations and witch hunts.

No, he is not wasting it at all.  Again, no substance in your criticisms.

[OldSchool2]

3 hours ago, SavedByGrace1981 said:

He's certainly at best a mixed blessing for the gop establishment.  I firmly believe that the GOPe (as I've seen it called) - since it couldn't get its favorite son Jeb Bush the 2016 nomination - didn't really care about winning the election.  In fact, I'll go out on a short limb and say they preferred Hillary over Trump....

I think they both are still the only candidates who could have elected the other.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, OldSchool2 said:

And he's wasting it by tweeting about investigations and witch hunts.

President Trump can run circles around most of us! He isnt wasting anything. He gets more done in a week than most do in a month. hence his track record of accomplishments dictate.  

Baseless accusations are kind of like spitting in the wind...... 

It just isnt working! 

[OldSchool2]

3 hours ago, Steve_S said:

My guess is that trump's influence and actions will greatly extend past the 2016 or even the 2020 race. He brought a sort of conservative populism to the republican party that will almost certainly not be going away anytime soon. It will be interesting to see if some of the younger previously more neocon-type republicans, like rubio, et. al., take a turn towards that direction.

Will Little Marco et al out-trump Trump? It's just not his style.