Here is some good news -- why Republicans' Senate Majority could be very short lived

[Samantha]

From MSNBC:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/11/07/why-republicans-senate-majority-could-be-very-short-lived/

Republicans will have to defend 24 seats as compared to just 10 for Democrats in 2016. And, the raw numbers don't even tell the whole story. Seven seats currently held by Republican incumbents -- Florida, Illinois, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- were all carried by President Obama in 2008 and 2012. And there is chatter about potential Republican retirements in Arizona and Iowa; if either John McCain or Chuck Grassley decided to call it a career, each of those races would be major Democratic targets.

On the other side of the coin, Republican takeover opportunities are few and far between. By far the most endangered Democrat is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who survived in 2010 but could be facing Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R), who won a second term with more than 70 percent of the vote on Tuesday, in 2016. Reid has said he will run again although his demotion from Majority Leader to Minority Leader might make him rethink those plans. The only other Democrat who starts the 2016 cycle in serious jeopardy is freshman Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who, like Reid, was a surprise winner in 2010. Sen.-elect Cory Gardner's (R) convincing win over Sen. Mark Udall (D) on Tuesday in the Rocky Mountain State will undoubtedly energize Republicans although it's less clear what the GOP bench looks like for a race against Bennet.

A little more commentary at the the link above. What this article does not really flush out though is that the words uttered by Christie to the effect the GOP must gain control over the voting mechanism in 2016 is more of a real threat today than it was the day he uttered those words. Not only swing states but other key states important to a Democratic win as of the mid-term elections will be controlled by Republican governors.

There is no limit to which Republicans will stoop to purloin an election. As they said in 2000, "win at all costs" -- and that they will.

We need to start developing a plan.

Sam

[shenmue]

1. Whew!

[okieinpain]

2. what i don't understand is repugs are always filing lawsuits about this or that

were are our lawsuits.

[Maedhros]

11. As has been obvious to even the most casual observer, electronic voting machines

have been rife with errors and demonstrably insecure.

Yet, deafening silence from Democratic politicians. Why have none of our elected leaders taken even the most cursory steps toward correcting the problem?

[Bluenorthwest]

19. Not a single electronic voting machine in my State. Elections are run by States. What are you doing

in your State to get rid of those machines? It has to be done by the State. Several States have made sweeping changes. Clearly not your own.
The OP uses a phrase that is inaccurate 'the voting mechanism'. There are in fact 50 of them.

[Maedhros]

45. Oregon. Vote by mail.

So you think that elected officials have no responsibility to address the security issues surrounding electronic voting machines?

[Samantha]

35. That is a mystery to me

Maybe we should start asking them that question.

Thanks for posting on my thread.

Sam

[Samantha]

24. Sometimes I think these Republicans find people in the party willing to be plaintiffs in a suit

and through a backdoor somehow float the funds to finance the suit. This is just a theory I have had for a long time -- no links, no proof.

Democrats on the hand historically have not had the funds Republicans have had. So I just think they would rather funnel their funds to the campaigns. Dems need to get some donors as wealthy as the Koch Brothers backing us up. There is that one person who is very interested change that contributed to candidates this election. He has a foundation and is very wealthy -- I should look his name up but it has been a long day....

Thanks for posting on my thread.

Sam

[BrotherIvan]

3. They should be coming up with a strategy right now

Reid's successor should be running NOW. As should the others. We already knew the Senate would flip because of the open seats in red states. Hopefully there is a plan for 2016. There is a plan, isn't there?

[Samantha]

5. There is a plan to make a plan....

I am sorry for the sarcasm above, but it is great to see you on this thread. Personally, I don't think 2016 is going to be as easy as many seem to think, regardless of who runs. So my hope is Democratic strategists hit the ground running yesterday to start brainstorming how to overcome some of this obstacles the GOP has already put in place.

Is there any question they will try to steal it?

Personally, I am sure we will see all the maneuvers other governors have implemented to block the vote playing out in states which have recently acquired GOP governors. My state -- Maryland -- is one place I will be keeping my eyes wide open for the appearance of any of the maneuvers Wisconsin and Ohio, not to mention Florida, have already endured.

Thanks for posting on my thread, and once again, great to see you.

Sam

[Scarsdale]

12. Ballots

In Rockford, Illinois they ran out of ballots!! Went to get copies and it took so long, some people got tired of waiting and left. We HAVE to have a drive to get EVERYONE a photo I.D. Make sure all have rides to their polling places. There has to be a better system than Diebold, which seem easy to tamper with. I still do not understand how so many dems., who were ahead, lost.

[Bluenorthwest]

20. Rockford should have the sense to vote by mail.

I have my ballot two weeks before election day. No photo ID needed. It's much better than your system.

[Samantha]

34. I don't understand that either -- there were too many races too close to be a coincidence

Especially in Florida -- Christ opened up a 7 point lead about 2 days before the election. That is beyond the margin of error. And funny thing happened -- he did not get the votes he had expected from 3 Florida counties. Surprise, surprise -- where have we heard this before?

I think that Uncle Sam should commission Post Offices to issue government id's to citizens at no cost. In some areas, especially rural ones, this would facilitate voters who have no driver's license or birth certificate, to retain their right to vote. But then the question arises, what should be the criteria to prove one's identity if they have no driver's license or birth certificate. There would have to be a list of acceptable documents, but some thought would have be given as to what those documents should be.

Thanks for posting on my thread.

Sam

[BrotherIvan]

28. Hi Samantha!

I don't know why I didn't realize it was you! So good to hear from you and please say hi to Cheyenne, Nikita and the kids for me. I hope everyone is doing well.

I totally agree with your posts and glad that you are introducing real strategy now. I am probably moving out of the country before 2016, but will still try to keep my eye on it. No, I'm not running from the law. We are planning to live all over the world for a while, starting with Europe. I am looking forward to leaving the conservative mentality here for a while, though I rarely encounter it in real life in California. I hope Maryland doesn't turn into some Wisconsin nightmare!

[Samantha]

36. Could you possibly take me with you?

I do have four domestic cats, 1 feral cat, and 1 blind twelve-year old cock-a-poo but they are all very lovable and do not take up much room.

I sure hope you can keep in touch. You are a valuable member here, and I would really miss not hearing from you.

Sam

[BrotherIvan]

38. You are invited!

We are moving our cats, which is the biggest stressor as they are not good with change. But once I figure it out, you are welcome any time! Barcelona will be first, but then probably into France and then some Germany and Bulgaria. It's been a long while coming and we are really looking forward to it. Since all my work is done on the computer, it won't be too much of a stretch. But I'm pushing for Asian countries such as Japan and Korea. I'll keep you posted and really do mean the invite. It would be a great way to see a country for the price of a ticket!

[Samantha]

40. Wow, just wow! I was only kidding but what an itinerary!

Not to derail my own thread here, but how does one ship cats overseas?

Sam

[BrotherIvan]

43. Oh no, don't want to get off the subject

Your thread is great and important! It is the most sense I've heard since the election.

But to answer your questions, we are taking the cats into the passenger cabin which takes a reservation and communication with the airline. We also have to get a "health passport" which states their shots. We are not planning to go to any countries or islands with quarantine, so that is a relief. But they will probably need some kind of sedative because two cats screaming on a ten hour flight will not win us any friends. I also worry about their own health because they don't have the ability to calm themselves. I have a lot of sleepless nights thinking about it! But once we are on the continent, we will move them by car or train, so that will be less stressful. But if you'd like to visit, we will likely have an extra room so come and check it out!

[juajen]

46. My vote was flipped

I voted in Louisiana, and when I pushed the button for Mary Landreiu (sp.), it just posted a vote for her opposition at the bottom. I asked a young man who was outside the booth, to correct it, and he flipped something and told me to vote again. Weird, because before when I have voted, there were little ole ladies manning the booths. Yep, he certainly looked like a Republican. I believe there was a lot of vote flipping in this election.

[kentuck]

4. Karl Rove is already developing a strategy....

Hit 'em where they think they are strong.

[Samantha]

7. and the Koch Brothers are already opening up their checkbooks

I am really upset about our new Republican governor in Maryland, kentuck, and I am sure we will have the same problems we have witnessed in Wisconsin.

I believe we need to stand up and start being more aggressive when the Republicans start stepping out and implementing their strategies. We just play too nice.

Thanks for posting on my thread.

Sam

[Euphoria]

6. Kudos on your last sentence. The opposition is playing chess while

we keep playing pick-up sticks.

[Scootaloo]

30. Fuck chess. I want the Democrats to start playing Rugby

Open the floor of congress with a fucking haka, even.

[progressoid]

8. Grassley will be 83 in 2016

Lets hope we don't get a repeat of what happened this week in IA.

[kardonb]

10. retire

Old McGrumpy will NEVER retire . His ego just won't let him ; and his absolute bitterness of losing to Pres. Obama . Hate is a strong motivator , and he has nourished that for a long time .

[Scarsdale]

14. Lumpy little Johnny

He is afraid to retire, in case someone decides to open his military and medical files. He has to stay in office to protect his shameful secrets. Some "hero".

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. This is why I didn't freak out....

The Republicans already FAILED to undo the Obama Legacy when he won reelection and their wacky members are going to jump up and down and wave their arms for two years making America reject the idea of them winning the White House.

We could flip the House too if we demand the gerrymandered districts get redrawn at the local level.

[Maineman]

13. The gerrymandered districts are a very big problem. I would like to know what can be done. And...

there are voter suppression tactics of all types. I still am not sure I trust voting machines that are in Republican hands.

[hopemountain]

22. and there has to be a way

to offer truth seekers an alternative to mainstream media - online, in print, radio, and tv. sheesh.

[Samantha]

37. To overcome the gerrymandering problem, Dems would have to win races with a 7 percent margin

or wait until 2020....

I believe that is when the next census will be taken and the districts will be redrawn again.

Sam

[Orsino]

17. They'll do more damage in the next two years...

...than a decade of Dem majorities could hope to undo.

Unless we elect Demmier Dems.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

25. I don't expect Republicans to do ANYTHING....

They're going to go on vacation a lot and block all of Obama's appointees and do pointless votes to bills to be vetoed and they won't have the votes to override the veto.

Then they'll scream that Obama is a dictator for vetoing their bills and claim the cure is to elect a rubber stamp in the White House and some of their members could even show up on the floor drunker than usual.

Expect a few sex scandals too possibly involving piglets, goats or dogs.

Maybe a mule or two as well.

[Samantha]

39. I think they will try to do a lot in the next 2 years

because they will probably lose seats in 2016.

At the very least, I think the newly-elected Republican governors will try to implement new voting restrictions to suppress the vote. I also think they will try to privatize Social Security, change Medicare with a voucher program, and make some sort of changes to the ACA -- but of course the Supreme Court might help them with the latter. The only thing we have got going for us there is that Roberts has a pre-existing condition so he might want to salvage the program.

Sam

[Spitfire of ATJ]

41. Nope. They don't DARE mess with SS or Medicare because that's their Base....

Remember, Bill O'Reilly's audience is 70+.

[C Moon]

15. Do you think we'll ever get close to getting back Congress?

[yeoman6987]

31. We currently have 184 seats. They have 244 seats

We would need to get to 218 to take over. I fear in January we may have a few leave our party for GOP which tends to happen.

[ffr]

16. As far as Reid goes, he's Nevada's only candidate

We've been stripped of every other good candidate. Sandoval's downfall is that he can be bought. I know that for a fact.

So who'd you rather have in there, senator Harry Reid or Mr. Corrupt Sandoval?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

26. All right, all right!!! You talked me into it!!!

Oh wait,...I threated that once before....

.....damn....

[Blue_In_AK]

18. Well, my prediction is that Don Young will be dead by 2016

and Lisa Murkowski will have pissed off enough of her former allies that she will be quite vulnerable. She seems to forget that she was elected with the help of Democrats and Independents. Her endorsement of Dan Sullivan and Sean Parnell this time was a very unpopular move. Meanwhile, the Republicans think she votes too often with the Democrats.

[BlindTiresias]

21. Heh

The only plan I have seen from Dem orthodoxy is this:

1. Carry on as usual, this election is meaningless, HOWEVER...

2. Fuck the youth and other "non-voters" they are to blame for this disaster and we don't need em

[BrotherIvan]

32. Tiresias, though blind, could see the truth

Living up to your moniker, I see. The scolding from the authoritarians isn't surprising, but infuriating at best. We KNOW how to engage young voters and energize the base. Because Obama. His campaign won the advertising of the year award. And advertising it was.

[hopemountain]

23. several good thoughts on this thread

y'all work on 2016 and i will be focusing on increasing funding for sustainable green energy sources, rebuilding our infrastracuture; stopping cuts to social security and medicare, stopping the xl, eradicating the tpp and gmo's. actually, i trust others will work on getting us someone who hasn't been in bed with wallstreet or monsanto to run on the dem ticket.

[BrotherIvan]

33. Excellent

Because gamesmanship won't change those things, and changing those things is what we need. More than anything. I'd add in single payer, but your list is grand. Good on ya.

[TxVietVet]

27. I think the system is now rigged.

The conservanazis control the electronic voting machines and have gerrymandered themselves into districts that they can't possibly lose in.

[Samantha]

47. Two distinct problems difficult to overcome

The gerrymandering problem can be addressed when the 2020 census is taken. Until then, in order to win in those districts heavily compromised by Republicans against Democrats, Dems must strive to achieve at least a 7-point win.

The voting machine problem has a myriad of disadvantages, including the ability for someone to change the vote totals by remote access. I do not know how this can be changed nationally unless we get someone like Bernie Sanders to start addressing it and thinking about the appropriate fix. I am not at all confident we will have success but I do think we should try.

Thanks for posting on my thread.

Sam

[rwheeler31]

29. Keep a close eye on Missouri.

The Ferguson disaster will be in the news for sometime, and the Kansas economic mess is not going to change soon. There may be a chance for some house pickups. Although Nixon looks bad for Senate now that could turn quickly, and we have several Gov. possibilities.

[geek tragedy]

42. Meh. The era of Congress making policy is over.

Only Presidents make policy. Congress can try to interfere, and it controls the spending.

But the Preisident and the Preident alone deals with problems.

Climate change, immigration, health care, business regulation, etc--Congress is irrelevant to all of these issues.

They are there to sign checks, confirm nominees, and pose for cameras. Nothing else.

[bhikkhu]

44. Back to basics, back to issues, is a good start

I think its been clear that the democratic message has been a bit garbled, and a confused electorate doesn't feel that compelled to vote.

Unfortunately, we're in a position of waiting for the other side to screw up. There is always a possibility that they will actually govern well, which neither side has been able to do for some time. We'll see...they're wrong on the issues generally, so it doesn't seem likely. I hope it doesn't wind up with another couple years of blaming everything government does or doesn't do on the president, in any case.