2022 Midterm Election MEGATHREAD

[Valmy]

Just read that Pelosi is seriously considering retirement after the mid terms.

Yeah it is time for the next generation of septagenarians to take over.

[Razgovory]

Just read that Pelosi is seriously considering retirement after the mid terms.

The attack on her husband rattled her.

[Razgovory]

I voted.  For all the good it will do.

[The Larch]

Considering that NY could actually get a Republican governor, I find that bewildering.  Maybe I've done too good of a job disconnecting myself from the social media craziness, but surely somebody should've been accosting me near the subway entrance or exit?

Which other media do you consult? Any local and/or regional news outlets?

I think it would be a shame, but it has to happen sometime.  On the one hand, Democrats need politicians who know how power works, but on the other hand they need someone who was born after WWI ended.

Well, if the Dems lose control of the House her relinquishing the role of Speaker makes for a good moment to take a bow and retire from the scene. I mean, she's 82, by any account she should have already retired a good while ago.

[The Larch]

Just read that Pelosi is seriously considering retirement after the mid terms.

The attack on her husband rattled her.

Apparently it was a big factor, yes. For what I read she was considering it for a while but the attack made her to finally decide for it.

[Sheilbh]

Well, if the Dems lose control of the House her relinquishing the role of Speaker makes for a good moment to take a bow and retire from the scene. I mean, she's 82, by any account she should have already retired a good while ago.

Yeah - although in a way it's sad to go like this.

[DGuller]

Which other media do you consult? Any local and/or regional news outlets?

No, maybe that's the problem.  I limit myself to Google News, and I filtered trash like Fox News out of my feed.

[Sheilbh]

State of politics in the US that I saw this and thought it was better than I expected

Steven Portnoy
@stevenportnoy
PRELIMINARY CBS NEWS EXIT POLL -- NATIONAL:

Do you think that Joe Biden legitimately won the presidency in 2020?

Yes 63%
No 34%

[Admiral Yi]

I mean I'm not the one saying democracy's a charade for the plebs and that what really matters is basically the elite level of politics in think tanks and newspapers

But yeah I think the funding networks behind think tanks/the elite thought level of politics is very important. It is also disproportionately - like all philanthropy - populated by the very rich or their legacies. I think it's telling that stating that fact is somehow class warfare.

I don't even think there's any judgement in it - as I say these are the admirable, virtuous billionaires. Like all philanthropy there's some extraordinary, in this case, intellectual legacies and tributes because of that wealth.

I was mostly talking smack, but in the style of a French police interrogation, the petulant manner in which you responded betrays your true Jacobin colors.

As a digression on talking smack, my current tenure as unpaid karaoke DJ at the local Rainbow Bar(tm) has made me reflect on the differences and similarities between talking smack (jockish, blackish) and throwing shade (gay).  Do UK gays throw shade?  It might be hard to tell in a country where taking the piss is the national sport.  Do you partake in gay culture?

So that's not quite what I'm saying, my point is the way we do politics in a democracy is through parties and activists. We can be snooty about them but they're doing a fuckton more to save American democracy than most people, if for no other reason than that they're it's bloodstream.

But for good ideas from activists - expanding the franchise, abolitionism, paid politicians so it's not a hobby for the already rich, civil rights, gay rights, paid annual leave, limits on working hours, labour rights. More or less anything on either side - the ideas aren't necessarily good but they don't happen without that engagement by everyday, normal people. I don't think Roe v Wade gets overturned without activists and people getting involved and changing their party. These were not gifts or curses bestowed by highly educated think tankers and op-ed writers.

It's also a way to engage civically, be involved in the political process without requiring you to change career and become a think tanker somehow

I suppose this points out the somewhat artificial distinction between policies on the one hand and angry slogans on the other, both of which "ideas" span.

For example suffrage and abolition, these are both causes that contain their own fix, their own requested remedy.

But there are also clear cases of a clear difference between the problem and fix.  Income inequality and BLM come to mind.  Climate change too, although climate change is interesting because the cause was led by scientists.

[mongers]

I voted.  For all the good it will do.

Still the thing to do.

[The Larch]

Which other media do you consult? Any local and/or regional news outlets?

No, maybe that's the problem.  I limit myself to Google News, and I filtered trash like Fox News out of my feed.

Well, there you have it. You've insulated yourself so much you've ended up in a bubble, but this time of ignorance of your immediate surroundings.

It somehow reminds me of my own father. He's long ago disavowed our local paper because he thinks it's not good enough to be used as fish wrap, and he never watches the local news because he finds them too parochial, so all his news sources are, at best, national, that when he's not even reading foreign newspapers (something that drives my mother nuts). Then he's absolutely surprised and flabbergasted when something happens in our city that he had not  heard about, when it had been talked about and discussed for months previously, just not in any place where he would have noticed it.

[Admiral Yi]

State of politics in the US that I saw this and thought it was better than I expected

Steven Portnoy
@stevenportnoy
PRELIMINARY CBS NEWS EXIT POLL -- NATIONAL:

Do you think that Joe Biden legitimately won the presidency in 2020?

Yes 63%
No 34%

Worse than I expected.  Last i saw a while ago was 60% of Republicans. 

It's almost as if swing voters are thinking they'll vote Republican because of inflation, and since we're voting Republican we might as well embrace their full crazyness.

[HisMajestyBOB]

My kids and I voted for Connelly in VA. He's not likely to lose but it's still good to vote. Met my state delegate there and had a nice chat. 

[DGuller]

The problem I see with local news is that it's mostly about inducing anxiety in you.  That's the real media bias, IMO.  It's much more newsworthy to talk about a schoolgirl that got kidnapped and murdered than all the schoolgirls who got home safely, but it doesn't help with giving people the right perspective.  There are a lot of people in this world, something bad is happening to someone all the time.

[Sheilbh]

As a digression on talking smack, my current tenure as unpaid karaoke DJ at the local Rainbow Bar(tm) has made me reflect on the differences and similarities between talking smack (jockish, blackish) and throwing shade (gay).  Do UK gays throw shade?  It might be hard to tell in a country where taking the piss is the national sport.  Do you partake in gay culture?

I partake

I personally think it's the jockish bit of American culture that travels least well here - it's the one that seems most alien/peculiarly American (maybe because the lack of people caring about high school or college sport?). I think Brit gays do and often have the same jokes anyway due to Drag Race etc. I think British gay culture is a little less serious/cool/glamourous and a little more camp/end-of-the-pier (but I think that might be true of all of British society v the US ). But you're right it's just another level to the general piss-taking.

I suppose this points out the somewhat artificial distinction between policies on the one hand and angry slogans on the other, both of which "ideas" span.

As, you say, I think in a democracy it's an artificial distinction. But I just think the angry slogans are actually the essential part of politics in a democratic society. If it's just policies you're in a dictatorship - possibly a terribly benign one with wonderful policies, but not a democracy.

It seems weird that the bit of politics that is most looked down on is the bit about voters.

For example suffrage and abolition, these are both causes that contain their own fix, their own requested remedy.

But there are also clear cases of a clear difference between the problem and fix.  Income inequality and BLM come to mind.  Climate change too, although climate change is interesting because the cause was led by scientists.

Sure and there have been fights about income inequality as long as there has been democratic politics and there probably will be until the end of time. But if it's something you care about - I'd recommend getting involved.

BLM and climate change both seem to me a little too soon to tell - I certainly don't think we're going back to attitudes even ten years ago about race or climate. They've not achieved all they want but I think to a large extent they're movements that are here to stay and have already made a change.