If I can update this, I will, but the upshot is that Northam (D) has won the Governor’s race in VA. The Dems have swept the statewide offices and may exceed expectations in the House of Delegates, where there is now an outside chance of gaining a majority for the first time in a good while (Dems have netted 10 seats so far and leaning toward winning in 7 others, which would grab them a bare majority).
How much of this is a harbinger of things to come in 2018 is difficult to say. I would err on the side of caution this far out from November next year. But right now, we have seen that the on-going trend of Dems outperforming GOP candidates in various elections is continuing. There is reason for continued cautious optimism that a Blue wave is building.
Five Thirty Eight does a good live blog on election nights, and right now it is pretty lively.
Update [2017-11-8 3:1:5 by Don Durito]:
It was a blowout practically all over the US. Fellow Democratic Party members and allies could not have asked for a much better outcome. We’ll be undoubtedly analyzing and overanalyzing the results for a while. But hopefully we also take some time to celebrate.
Northam did very will apparently with voters under 45. Gillespie managed a small majority of voters over 45. Just perusing the MSNBC data as it comes on screen.
Danica Roem, Virginia’s first openly transgender candidate for elected office, won her race. She was running against a person who was explicitly anti-LGBT.
http://www.metroweekly.com/2017/08/metal-head-journalist-politician-danica-roem-is-blazing-her-own-a
wesome-trail/
looking at county/city results. Gillespie won 2 to 1 or 3 to one in rural counties. As expected. Northam won Democratic areas as expected but won by large enough margins in NoVa and Richmond + suburbs and Norfolk areas to overcome the rural counties, where voting populations are smaller.
R
Va Dept of Elections site with by jurisdiction results.
http://results.elections.virginia.gov/vaelections/2017%20November%20General/Site/Locality/Index.html
It is a comeback; that’s all. Until the Democrats have the power in the Assembly to show the public what their policies will are in fact, the political debate is all theoretical and the talk about the Dems are — at least they’re are not whichever brand of GOP predominates in an area that flipped Dem last night. Without control of both houses of the assembly, there is no power for the party unless you see a more flexible attitude among the GOP.
But in the South, we do a lot of symbol–several instances of it last night in Charlotte, Durham, and some other Southern cities.
The best part is that it wasn’t even close. If it was close, yeah we’d have won but these asshole Republicans are all too eager to grab the fascist mantle top to bottom. Too many Republicans who don’t approve of Trump who nonetheless voted for Gillespie because he “didn’t really mean that stuff and so what he wins lol”. They needed their asses good and spanked so they’d understand how toxic it is.
I’m just thankful it wasn’t enough. Vindicates my own thinking of 2016 though in that yes Trump’s core base is the racist underbelly, but they didn’t put him over.
Check that overconfidence — remember Democrats won in 2001.
That Richmond Times-Dispatch article from October is very interesting.
seriously
.
Both sides do it, but the democrat party is more neoliberalcon.
Never miss an opportunity to shit on the Democratic Party
Like chocolate and peanut butter.
.
You like losing and losers with unprincipled candidates and a political party?
Why are you dumping on one principled candidate that rejected the neo-lib loser way and won? Would you prefer a Republican or Trumpster to a social-democrat?
Not even close to being responsive to my comment.
Typical for those that refuse to acknowledge reality. That still believe Obama ushered in a generation of Democratic majority control at the federal and state level.
Republicans always play the victim. Little delicate snow flakes.
.
Yes, that’s why your most awesome evah, presidential nominee remains on her pity tour a year after the election.
(And you and your buddies throw tantrums like two year old by hitting that troll rating button on reality based comments.)
Too bad your comment was based on a lie, you sad little propaganda victim.
“…your most awesome evah, presidential nominee…”, wrote the woman who came to this blog to organize against Clinton throughout the general election cycle.
The 2016 election fully broke her. She’s become a bitter, consistently unpleasant parody of herself, quite literally a Trump enabler. It’s too bad she has become incapable of displaying self-reflection or healthy community behavior.
So, Nixonian and you and Martin probably don’t even know that:
At a personal level, I developed a thick skin during those years from being called a pinko commie and DFH for opposing the Vietnam War and Nixon and supporting equal rights for minorities and women. I and others worked to hard to excise the establishment propaganda from our brains ever to fall back into accepting their bs again. So, all you spewing this same type of garbage now are only outing yourselves.
I refuse to fall for that crass mass-market propaganda!
I prefer the small-batch artisanal misinformation I can only get from Glenn Greenwald.
Lol, Glenn!
LOL!
Do you EVER tire of self aggrandizement? EVER?
You and Trump, not to mention Greenwald, certainly share that character trait. Another you all share is personal animosity towards successful women.
.
Posting lies retweeted from Glenn Greenwald in order to attack the Democratic party. Classy.
What part is a lie? Just calling something a lie doesn’t make it so.
(Grow up and control your juvenile, itchy troll rating button finger.)
Was the link too difficult for you to read? The Democrats bankrolled 100K out of the total 240K he reported. The claim that he got no support from Dems is a 100% bald-faced lie.
What link? Here’s the link included in my first comment (did you click and read it?)
Richmond Times-Dispatch: After pledging an aggressive race against GOP Del. Jackson Miller, state Democratic Party abandons populist challenger
Weird definition of support you have there bud.
Forward Majority Action PAC (appears quite mainstream and is a super-PAC devoted to electing Democratic Candidates) really came through.
Establishment Dems don’t like Carter’s winning message, which is the same message Sanders kept repeating. In the past when the Dems promoted these policies they won big. I think there are other Lee Carters out there.
“I’m to the left of them on economic policy,” Carter said of his party. “I am unabashedly pro-union, pro-worker. I’m openly fighting against the large corporate interests. That’s something that you don’t see a lot of politicians in either party do very much of, and that’s something that Virginia frankly has not seen very much of since the days of Henry Howell.”
“establishment dems” supported his candidacy. The linked article is peddling falsehoods.
The Forward Majority super-PAC appeared to be fairly establishment, based on the folks running it. Carter got plenty of needed support and turns out to be on heck of a candidate.
Yes — and the thoughtless party loyalists here didn’t even bother to check out who Carter is before dumping on my comment.
Indicates that they don’t know why Democrats won in 2006 and lost in 2010, 2014, and 2016. No wonder they appear to think that they’ll win if they sufficiently demonize Trump.
You’re getting dumped on because your comment is based on a lie. That has nothing to do with Carter, who is perfectly fine.
That’s pretty typical of this particular poster. Get caught in a falsehood, and then make false accusations to cover it up.
.
Via 538’s election liveblog:
Suck on that, you filthy nazi scum.
The question is…which Dems won? The centrist Dems or the real ones?
We shall see…
If the centrists won, what we have here is a continuing pendulum swing, nothing more. On every level of government, at least since Bush I, what we are seeing is layers of bipartisan illusion. This inevitably leads to voter disillusionment, which then leads to voting for the only other game in town, the other illusion. On the largest…and thus slowest…scale, Bush I led to the Clinton I illusion, which then led to Bush II. The Bush II illusion led to Obama, and and then the Obama illusion led to Trump.
The only difference now? The pace is picking up. Why? How? Because the strength of the bipartisan, centrist duopoly illusion is fraying. As Bush II…a man whose mind in closer in its weakness to the average voter’s than any other president we have had for a very long time…famously said:
Even the most innocent, slow-witted marks eventually wise up to a con game, especially when the con man overplays his hand as seriously as Trump has overplayed it.
Trickle-down economics?
No, trickle-down wising up.
But how deep is that wising up?
Like I said…we’ll see.
Won’t we.
If the left wing of the Dem party can maintain some real traction through 2018/2019…not the best bet in the world, especially if Trump is impeached, resigns or is at least somehow rendered totally powerless, because if that happens the TweedleDeeDems will crow “See??? We won!!!”…but if they do maintain some traction up into the real primary season, maybe I’ll start to believe that things are getting better.
Until then? It’s “TweedleDeeDem and TweedleDeeRatPub,” that long-running situation comedy where the bad guys regularly morph into the good guys and vice-versa.
WWF politics at its best.
Or worst, depending on how you look at it.
AG
Lol “real dems.” Two words next to each other that mean nothing. “Real dems” is shorthand for “dems I deem sufficiently pure.” And bullshit. I have two goals when voting: 1. More Democrats 2. Better Democrats. I’m not going to let pursuit of the latter distract from the former.
So far, the non-pursuit of “sufficiently pure” Dems…in fact, the active DNC discouragement of their success as evidenced by so many sources over the last year or two…has led to the failure of your two professed goals.
You also write:
Great.
Joe Biden…the former Senator from the great state of MBNA…thanks you.
And he’s not alone.
When the DNC’s anti-progressive hustle starts again in earnest with whatever non-centrist Dems dare to raise their heads in search of 2020…if the recent housecleaning of the DNC by getting rid of all Sanders reps with any clout isn’t earnest enough…go ahead.
Vote your conscience.
AG
P.S. The word “conscience” has nothing whatsoever to do with the word “consciousness.”
WTFU.
WTF does Biden have to do with anything?
Not in the Senate, never my senator.
My conscience is clean, mother fucker. Always vote D, NEVER R. NEVER third party.
What did you do in 2016? Sit out and snipe?
GTFU
Biden is being run as a 2020 possibility by the neocentrist Dems.
What?
You didn’t notice?
You gonna vote Biden?
Feel free.
Never ever vote third party?
Enjoy the swamp.
After the swamp?
The tarpits.
Enjoy.
AG
Which “neocentrist” Dems? I dare you to name one. I double dare you. Name one, goddamn “neocentrist” Dem pushing Biden in 2020.
In the most unlikely event that Biden runs, in the even more unlikely event that he makes it to my primary (based on his performances in 88 and 08), I will not vote for him. For he is too old, and stupid, as he was in 88 (stupid anyway) and 08.
However, in the “no fucking way in hell” he becomes the nominee, of course I will vote for him because the republican alternative will be much, much worse, and I am not a child.
Which ‘neocentrist’ Dems?
Brazile’s latest diatribe talks about how she wanted to substitute Biden for HRC during the primaries/election.
She is presently in a very high profile position…media-wise… in the suddenly unbalanced Dem Party.
Is the a double hustle?
I think so, myself.
We’ll see.
AG
Wow
.
Donna Brazile? Tell you what I think of her. Evidence would indicate that she’s not very smart, and more than a little dishonest. First, she gets popped feeding a debate question to HRC. Now this nonsense. I don’t believe her. I don’t believe she seriously considered engaging the mechanism (if one actually exists) to replace HRC/Kaine. And I DAMN sure don’t believe that if she did consider engaging the process, she was going to replace HRC/Kaine with two MEN who didn’t even run for the office.
If she did, she’s dumber than you think I think she is.
When either Tom Perez or Keith Ellison start talking up Biden, then I’ll worry.
We’ll see about Perez. Biden appears to have been a powerful influence in Perez getting the DNC chair.
WAPO, early February 2017:
Tit for tat. It’s the political way.
AG
P.S. I personally think that Biden would have beaten Trump 1n 2016, and I also think that he would beat him again (if Trump lasts that long) in 2020. Pence too. This is not so much an appreciation for Biden’s history or positions as it is a cold look at what wins presidencies. Trump would not have been able to be seen as in any way “pushing around” Biden. Biden is smart; he speaks very well…very witty yet never harsh…and most importantly, he is a big, strong-looking, good looking “man’s man” with real, working class roots. He speaks directly and from personal experience to the so-called “deplorables” who put Trump into power. He also looks about 15 or 20 years younger than his real age. I am in no way saying that a woman cannot win the presidency, but I am saying that in a contest with a testosterone-poisoned freak like Trump, a strong man who looks quite capable of smacking Trump in the mouth if he overstepped his boundaries would have a better chance than did HRC.
The presidency has been a beauty contest since JFK/Nixon debates.
Nothing has changed in that department.
With the exception of Carter/Bush I and (incumbent) Nixon/(shot-himself-in-the-foot-by-ctying)Muskie, the better-looking candidate has won every time. And that includes Nixon/Humphrey.
Do not entirely underestimate the practical political understanding of long-time pros like Brazile. She may be a snake, but she is a smart snake. A survivor snake.
Watch.
AG
Say what? Carter ran against Jerry Ford and Ronnie, not Bush 1. And (incumbent) Nixon ran against (shot-himself-in-the-foot-by-not-vetting Eagleton) McGovern, not Muskie, the early front-runner in 72.
And Nixon v Humphrey had little or nothing to do with looks. Otherwise, with the beauty contest thesis, I’m seeing a correlation proves causation error in your analysis.
And don’t get me started on the JFK v Nixon situation, except to note more women voted for Tricky that year than voted for the handsome JFK.
Re Biden, he likely would have been a far better candidate, largely sounding the same issue themes, as Hillary, provided he avoided the awful gaffes and also if the oppo didn’t play up his embarrassing, bizarre 1988 bio theft from Kinnock.
But last time I saw him speak, he looked and sounded a few years older — thought I detected some definite signs of slower speech along with an old man look in a thinned-out face. And he’ll not be younger in 2020 — 78 y.o. to be exact. I’m skeptical about his chances, though they’re not worse than the Obama Lite twins, Booker and Harris.
Re Brazile, though I’m hardly a big backer, in her defense she seems to have been taken slightly out of context in the WaPo excerpted piece, according to Green Glennwald at the Intercept (cited in this blog a few times already) and also probably overstated things in the wording of the portion excerpted.
Her book apparently notes that the DNC would have had to engage in an elaborate process to choose a replacement, and so implicitly it was not her sole decision to make.
As for lack of smarts, I’d describe her as more aggressively opportunistic, someone looking to curry favor with HRC (re leaking the debate Q) with the goal of landing a nice admin position with the presumed next president.
She does seem rather badly damaged these days, and so probably is better off looking for other work, or concentrating on more local office seekers.
There appears to be some “Run Biden Up the Flagpole and See If Anybody Salutes” action going on from the neocentrist Dems.
ABC News
I particularly note the phrase “In the final month of last year’s presidential campaign, Biden remarked that he wished he “could take Trump behind the gym,” insinuating he wanted to fight the real estate mogul over then-recently revealed comments from 2005 in which he boasted of sexually assaulting women.”
The pros know what works. The good ones do, anyway.
As I wrote above:
I think he’s running in 2020
Watch..
AG
“There appears to be some “Run Biden Up the Flagpole and See If Anybody Salutes” action going on from the neocentrist Dems.”, claims this blog’s resident Ron Paul acolyte.
And then he shares a story which has exactly zero Democrats of any ideology supporting the idea of a 2020 run by Biden.
What a pathetic, sad lie.
All, ideology does not seem to have played a factor. Northam who voted for W twice and was considered by Republicans as a ripe candidate for switching parties won. So did Sanders-type Carter.
We will get numbers soon enough to make guesses about how much of this is high D turnout, low R turnout, and/or people changing affiliations (and of course individual candidate personalities), but dont trust whatever the usual snake oil salesman are claiming today.
Not only did the Democratic Party perform very well in elections across the country, but quite a number of those victories were historic. That Huffpo list is quite impressive. And once more with feeling, it’s a reminder that we need to contest every seat and deliver on turnout. Also, those so-called downballot elections are crucial. In the case of Virginia, the potential to undo a lot of the gerrymandering after the last census is now within reach. Those local and state legislative positions are the very position through which a party develops its “bench” for higher offices. More of what we saw last night in 2018, and we’ll be in better shape heading into 2020 and beyond.