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Despite Lousy Midterm Results, the Republican Party Isn’t Dying

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There have been a plethora of pronouncements about the impending death of the Republican Party. I think the concern is misplaced. We should be talking about the impending death of representative democracy.

Keep in mind that it’s wrong to look at the 2018 midterms and the responses of Trump’s minions (who now are the party) outside the context of what’s happening in the world. Anyway you want to cut it, authoritarians are on the rise, and the United States is not immune.

The warning signs of authoritarian creep include projecting strength (“big brain”), demonizing enemies (“immigrants”), and dismantling institutions. I would argue that Republicans and their Dear Leader are busy working on electoral institutions this year.   [Read more…]

Why Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ Should Be the Democratic Woman

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By Sher Watts Spooner / Daily Kos

Each December, Time magazine announces its Person of the Year. It’s the individual (or group) who, “for better or for worse,” as the magazine puts it, had the greatest influence on the events of the year. This year, it should be no contest. The greatest influence in America this year came from Democratic women.

Time has been choosing the year’s major person of influence since 1927, when aviator Charles Lindbergh graced the magazine’s cover for the first time. It was usually a Man of the Year (Wallis Simpson broke through in 1936 as the Woman of the Year because of her romance with British King Edward VIII, prompting his abdication). In 1999, the magazine realized it had better get with the times and designated the achievement as Person of the Year.

Displaying his typical (yet undeserved) over-the-top egotism, Donald Trump announced that “I can’t imagine” anyone other than himself as Time’s Person of the Year. Timeusually picks the winner of a presidential election as Person of the Year, so he got the call in 2016, as did Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and other presidents before him.
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A Historic 2,000+ Women Will Be in Office This Coming Year—Almost Entirely From One Political Party

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When conservatives scoff at the progressive slogan “The Future is Female,” they are usually responding to the insecurity that comes with knowing, deep down inside, you are in the wrong.

The strides that women, people of color, and the LGBT community have made in organizing around the 2018 midterm elections is staggering. It’s absolutely terrifying to the Right, and you are seeing desperate and craven attempts to bully and suppress the levels of democracy they’ve inspired.

In January of the last two years, beginning on Donald Trump’s inauguration day in 2017, Women’s Marches have taken over the streets across not just the United States, but the world. These marches were not simply a public protest of our current misogynist in chief; they were a call to organize and take back our government.   [Read more…]

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who Is San Diego’s Most Popular Democrat of Them All?

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This was a very good election year for Democrats in the region. Grassroots enthusiasm was high and it showed. Turn out, once all ballots are processed, will exceed 65%.

The local party organization used considerable resources for get out the vote campaigns in support of its endorsed candidates. Exactly nobody thought those endorsements were perfect. And there are a multitude of festering questions needing to be answered in the coming year.

Now that the election has passed, the party’s shortcomings should be addressed. Chair Jessica Hayes is stepping down at the end of the year and there appear to be exciting (mostly unannounced as yet, so I’ll hold off on naming them) candidates vying to replace her.   [Read more…]

Ta-Nehisi Coates on President Donald Trump and the Midterms | Video Worth Watching

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From the MSNBC YouTube website:

The new class of Democrats in Congress is a group that’s closer to reflecting what America looks like than ever before. But is this the start of something new in American politics, or a classic midterm course correction?

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2018’s Amazing Not a Just Blue Wave Election Results

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LATE BALLOT COUNTING NEWS: Tony Thurmond has pulled into the lead in the race for Superintendent of Public Education. Escondido’s Mayor-for-life Sam Abed is within 20 votes of losing his seat. Vladimir Putin’s favorite Congressman, Dana Rohrabacher, lost his seat. Democrats Katie Porter and Gil Cisneros are within striking distance of winning key Congressional contests…

Wave, ‘smave. Call it what you want, but the 2018 election included a lot of wins worth savoring if you’re from the progressive persuasion. As additional ballots have been counted over the past week, the news has gotten better.

Reporting on the election results was shaped by time zone differences and tended to focus on higher profile races. It’s no small thing that Idaho, Nebraska and Utah voters opted to expand Medicaid, while Kansas, Maine, and Wisconsin elected pro-ACA governors.   [Read more…]

Post Election Questions for Progressives at the State, Local, and National Levels

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What many had called the election of our lifetimes is over, and while any moment for reflection was immediately stolen by Trump’s purge of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the subsequent fallout with regard to the Russia investigation, there are still big, important questions that progressives inside and outside of power will face in the coming months if we hope to present a vision that does more than say no to Trump while getting trapped in his diversions.   [Read more…]

Democrats Won Some House Seats, Diversity Won the Election | 2018 Midterms

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It’s taken taken a day or so for me to digest the results of the midterm elections. Many races are undecided, still. Contests in Florida and Georgia are plagued with accusations of foul play, missing ballots, and just plain old voter suppression. We won’t know for sure about California contests for weeks, with as many as one million votes still uncounted.

I suppose we’ll be expected to believe racism has nothing to do with Georgia’s non-functioning voting machines in black precincts, and the discovery one day after the election of 700 still-wrapped voting machines in a nearby warehouse.

And, hey, did anybody notice how the MIGRANT CARAVAN disappeared off the media’s radar yesterday? The Pentagon has now directed U.S. military commanders to stop calling the deployment of active-duty troops to the southern border “Operation Faithful Patriot.” I guess you can tell grampy to stop worrying about brown people burrowing up into the basement.   [Read more…]

An Open Letter to Our Newly Elected Leaders | Readers Write

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By Karin Brennan

First, congratulations on your achievement. All your hard work has paid off. Take a breath and enjoy the moment. Now, for those of you who beat the odds, “flipped” your seats, and maybe even “shocked the world”, I have a special message.   [Read more…]

Three November 2018 Defeats Worth Gloating About | San Diego Election Results

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As always, elections are a mixed bag. I’m not sure if we got what we need nationally, but the are local victories to be savored.

Before El Trumpo sends the nation into chaos once again, take time to savor these defeats of local deplorables..

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Fletcher Decisively Defeats Dumanis for D4 Supervisor | San Diego County 2018 Election Results

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It’s the beginning of a sea change for local politics. Democrat Nathan Fletcher has been elected to the County Board of Supervisors with a nearly 2 to 1 win over Republican Bonnie Dumanis.

As the term limits for Supervisors kick in over the four years, the days of a the GOP –representing a minority of voters in the county– ruling the roost are drawing to a close

Given the county’s control of nearly all spending for social services in the region and the Supervisors lack of willingness to fund worthwhile projects, there can now be hope for our traditionally under-served residents.

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Zapf Zapped, Cole Crushed in 2018 Council Elections | San Diego City Election Results

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He wasn’t on the ballot, but it was a bad night for San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. Two incumbent City Council members who he’d successfully worked with on issues lost to newcomers. And now Democrats have a veto-proof super-majority on the council.

The Soccer City initiative (Measure E) that emerged from back room negotiations involving the Mayor’s office went down hard, garnering less than 30% support.

District 2’s incumbent Republican Councilwoman Lorie Zapf lost by 10 points to Democrat Dr. Jen Campbell, despite being backed by several hundred thousand dollars in support from the Lincoln Club/Chamber of Commerce axis.

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