The GTP Unofficial 2020 US Elections Thread

[UKMikey]

Err ... why is there an American Patriot woman with an English accent directing operations?

Maybe he thinks posh English accents are sexy because he wants the US to be a monarchy again.

 

[TexRex]

Newsmax says it will refer to Biden as president-elect

Startup conservative network Newsmax confirmed Tuesday its reporters and anchors will refer to Joe Biden as president-elect during news coverage going forward.

"As a result of the Electoral College vote Joe Biden is the president-elect and will be referred to as such on Newsmax," a spokesperson for the media company told The Hill. "We also recognize President Trump continues to contest the results and we will cover aspects of that news story."

The new statement from the pro-Trump media outlet comes less than a day after an anchor on the network called Biden “president-elect” twice during a segment.

Newsmax is one of the few media outlets which did not project Biden as the winner of the presidential election in the days following Nov. 3.

State electors in several key battleground states which Biden won and President Trump is contesting the result in awarded their electoral votes to Biden on Monday, bringing him one step closer to official victory in the 2020 election.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) acknowledged Biden's win for the first time during floor remarks on Tuesday.

Newsmax has come under criticism for giving credence to unfounded claims of voter fraud peddled by the president, his legal representatives and allies on Capitol Hill.

The network was sued this month after a guest on one of the outlet's programs called for a former top intelligence official in the Trump administration to be shot for throwing cold water on Trump's claims of voter fraud.

In a recent interview with The Hill, Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy said the company is looking to capitalize on Trump's displeasure with rival Fox News and grow its brand tailored for a pro-Trump audience.

“People have become increasingly dissatisfied with Fox and we’ll eventually beat them,” Ruddy said. “We haven’t even launched a prime-time lineup yet.”

Fox dominates the conservative media and cable news landscape each month, notching millions of viewers on a nightly basis, and has said it's not concerned about being outdone by Newsmax.

Nielsen ratings show Newsmax's premier prime-time program has yet to earn 1 million viewers on a given night.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Newsmax says it will refer to Biden as president-elect

The radical left must be pulling the strings. /s

 

[UKMikey]

I always knew those OANN commies were Never Trumpers and pinko soyboys:

 

[TexRex]

That'd fit well in the media bias thread.

Edit: Which isn't to say it belongs there.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Don Jr rants


Edit: oh jeebus, he talks like him

 

[Keef]

I always knew those OANN commies were Never Trumpers and pinko soyboys:

View attachment 978572

Allegedly.

 

[TexRex]

Trump lashes out at McConnell for acknowledging election reality

Evidently, in Republican circles, Monday's electoral college vote was something of a tipping point. The number of GOP lawmakers acknowledging Joe Biden as the president-elect jumped, at least a little, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), six weeks after Election Day, grudgingly spoke on his chamber's floor, congratulating the winner of the 2020 election.

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have been an especially provocative step, but in the waning weeks of Donald Trump's presidency, nothing is normal. With this in mind, McConnell took great care yesterday, alerting the White House to his intentions in advance. Politico reported, "What might have been a pro forma congratulatory speech had morphed into an exceedingly delicate issue in GOP politics: finally admitting that Biden won."

The efforts apparently went unappreciated in the Oval Office.

After Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) finally acknowledged on Tuesday that Joe Biden is the president-elect, President Trump publicly pleaded with him to support his continued efforts to upend the election with baseless claims of mass electoral fraud. "Mitch, 75,000,000 VOTES, a record for a sitting President (by a lot). Too soon to give up," the president tweeted at nearly 1 a.m. Wednesday. "Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry!"

The individual elements are notable in their own right. For example, if some people are "angry" about the election results, it's because Trump has spent a ridiculous amount of time lying to them. What's more, the outgoing president may be impressed by the 74.2 million votes he received, but the tally would be more impressive if Joe Biden hadn't earned 81.2 million votes.

But stepping back, it's the bigger picture that's more notable.

First, it was on Thanksgiving when a reporter asked Trump whether he'd prepare to exit the White House if members of the electoral college backed Biden. "Certainly, I will," the Republican replied. "Certainly, I will. And you know that." The outgoing president's perspective has clearly changed: "Too soon to give up" suggests Trump intends to keep his crusade going, through efforts unknown, on a timetable only he's aware of.

Second, while McConnell probably isn't pleased to be on the receiving end of another Trump tantrum, the Senate Republican leader needs to know he's partially responsible for helping create this mess. The GOP leader spent six weeks indulging the outgoing president's fantasy, playing along with the dangerous charade, refusing to honor the will of his own country's voters.

Maybe McConnell saw a fundraising opportunity for his party. Perhaps he thought agitating far-right voters would help give Republicans a better chance in Georgia's Senate runoff elections. Maybe he simply lacked the courage to do the right thing.

Whatever the motivation, McConnell had ample opportunity to steer the GOP away from its anti-democracy campaign, and he chose not to. He shouldn't be too surprised when Trump, in effect, demands that the Kentuckian keep playing the same game McConnell willingly embraced for six weeks.

As for the road ahead, Senate Republican leaders, including McConnell, urged their members yesterday not to object to the election results in early January, when lawmakers formally ratify the election results. GOP leaders were not, however, principally concerned with propriety: the argument was, Republican members shouldn't object because it would force GOP senators into casting an anti-Trump vote that would only further divide the party.

It's against this backdrop that the outgoing president is telling McConnell, "Republican Party must finally learn to fight." Watch this space.

Update: Greg Sargent had a good piece along these lines, explaining, "McConnell is trying to prevent any and all Senate Republicans from endorsing the idea that Trump actually won the election, but not because he thinks GOP voters deserve the basic respect of being told the truth. With some notable exceptions, most Republicans, McConnell included, treated it as simply unthinkable that they would tell their voters the truth about Trump’s loss until they absolutely had to. After cynically feeding the lie that Biden wasn’t the clear winner for as long as he personally could, McConnell is only trying to get fellow Republicans to refrain from further feeding that beast because the alternative will give birth to a beast that’s even worse. Their contempt for their own voters is bottomless."

You hate to see it.

 

[McLaren]

McConnell will likely remain quiet, but I wonder if his acknowledgement of President-Elect Biden means more of the GOP will do the same. They usually always fall in line behind McConnell.

 

[TexRex]

Mitch is on his shell, waiting for someone to flip him over. Once he's back on his feet, we'll be reminded that he has claws and a sharp beak with lots of clamping force. He's no friend to democracy even if he's presently playing ball.

 

[Biggles]

It seems like the key thing, going forward, is the Georgia senate races. I was somewhat surprised to learn that, according to recent polls, it is neck-&-neck, suggesting that there is a reasonable possibility that the Democrats could win control of the Senate. IMO this is the only thing that may jolt Republicans out of the craziness spiral they embarked on in 2015.

I just spoke to a friend - a mechanical engineer & teacher at Rochester Institute of Technology in his early 60's - for the first time this year. I was surprised to hear him say that he had been a "life-long" Republican. He is appalled at the behaviour of Trump & the Republican party & voted for Biden. I guess it comes down to how many Republicans share this point of view, compared to the number of dedicated Trump cult followers. Even if Trump continues to hold sway with a large number of American voters, if independents & centrist Republicans reject him, there is no way he will ever win an election again.

 

[Touring Mars]

It seems like the key thing, going forward, is the Georgia senate races.

Well, quite. And I think that the penny has finally dropped for the GOP that they have misjudged their approach to Trump.

The logic was that they would not rock the boat until after the runoffs, but Trump's disgraceful behaviour and his utter disdain for, well, everything except himself has made the GOP realise that they are into a damage limitation exercise, and the options are massive damage or catastrophic damage.

By leaving it this long to acknowledge Joe Biden's victory, the GOP have shamed themselves personally and collectively... and, guess what, this alone is having an effect on the runoff votes. But Trump's disgusting behaviour has shocked even those who previously backed him, and that is also having a disastrous effect... cue the Youtube videos about how Trump and the GOP "must" win... sorry folks, but if one side "must" prevail, then the very procedure by which the winner is decided becomes the enemy. Trump is a wannabe dictator and is a self-proclaimed enemy of democracy... and by extension, the GOP are now tainted by this utterly un-American concept - but it has taken them too long to assert their support for these fundamental principles and denounce Trump.

If the GOP lose the Senate, they will only have themselves to blame.

 

[TexRex]

It might help if the acceptance of defeat by those few came off as even remotely sincere, but it's blindingly obvious that this is just damage control.

 

[TenEightyOne]

it's blindingly obvious that this is just damage control.

That can pretty much sum up the entire incumbency. I still think that Republicans are well aware that Trump can still destroy them from beyond the Presidential grave.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Anything Mitch does is an extremely calculated decision based on what is good for the GOP. He's basically a GOP power consolidating algorithm. He literally doesn't care about anything else.

"I believe the women" Translation: Roy Moore is bad for the Republican party
"Congratulations Joe Biden" Translation: GOP control of the Senate is far more important than placating Donald Trump

 

[ryzno]

It might help if the acceptance of defeat by those few came off as even remotely sincere, but it's blindingly obvious that this is just damage control.

Where was this in 2016? Oh yeah. Dems: I'm moving to Canada!
Don't recall seeing a lot of that this election.

 

[McLaren]

Where was this in 2016? Oh yeah. Dems: I'm moving to Canada!
Don't recall seeing a lot of that this election.

You're right.

However, "If you don't like it, leave" isn't aging well.

 

[TexRex]

That can pretty much sum up the entire incumbency. I still think that Republicans are well aware that Trump can still destroy them from beyond the Presidential grave.

You're absolutely right normal. They've spent four years courting the unstable to aid them in their power grab and now leopards are eating their faces.

I giggled like a schoolgirl watching the bechinned head of the RNC 'Rona McDaniel trying to rein in Trumpkins accusing Republicans of impropriety. And of course McConnell's wife's Chinese ancestry has been brought into attacks on him. Who knew loose rectums cannons could make such a mess?

Where was this in 2016?

Oh, you're back. Where was what, peanut?

Oh yeah. Dems: I'm moving to Canada!
Don't recall seeing a lot of that this election.

Instead we've been getting ****-eating Republicans saying they're leaving the country and taking their state with them. Some of them even occupy representative roles in government, which is a far cry from stupid people on social media.

Do you even think these inane arguments through before you offer them up? I've set the bar crazy low for you and you still couldn't reach it waving a broom above your head.

You still haven't offered anything from 2016 that's even remotely comparable to the legal* actions of ****-eating Republicans during this election cycle as you previously hinted at in a limp-wristed attempt to point out hypocrisy up-thread.

*As previously indicated, I mean this in the very broadest of senses referring to action taken in a court of law.

 

[Danoff]

Instead we've been getting ****-eating Republicans saying they're leaving the country and taking their state with them. Some of them even occupy representative roles in government, which is a far cry from stupid people on social media.

 

[Biggles]

Where was this in 2016? Oh yeah. Dems: I'm moving to Canada!
Don't recall seeing a lot of that this election.

Do you really not see a difference?

In 2016 Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a significant margin, but lost the EC vote with a narrow loss in key states. Democrats grumbled about the undemocratic nature of the EC, but I don't recall them claiming the vote was fraudulent. No ... the person who did that was Trump - to explain why he lost the popular vote. An investigation of his claim of "millions" of fraudulent votes led precisely nowhere. Hillary Clinton called Trump to concede at 2.30 am on the day following the election.

Fast forward to 2020. Biden won the popular vote by over 7 million votes & won the EC with larger numbers of deciding votes in the key states than Trump did in 2016. Trump immediately called the results fraudulent & 6 weeks later has still not officially conceded, in spite of being completely unable to provide any evidence of substantial voter fraud.

As far as "moving to Canada" is concerned, Canada would be a somewhat logical place for disgruntled Democrats to move ... it would make no sense for disgruntled Trump supporters, as Canada is already way more "socialist" than the US is likely to become under a Biden/Harris administration. Where are Trumpists going to go? What is the "freedom" loving/authoritarian state that would meet their needs? A better strategy for them is "succession", which we're hearing a fair amount of chatter about.

 

[TexRex]

Do you really not see a difference?

I'd wager he can, but he sees criticism of his bronzer daddy and those enabling his bronzer daddy and he's compelled to defend them. Of course, he can't reasonably defend their words and actions because their words and actions are indefensible, so he tries to point the finger at those he sees as being on the same side as the critics, attempting to allege hypocrisy by comparing apples to acts of sedition.

It's Trumpy and it's sad.

 

[ryzno]

I'd wager he can, but he sees criticism of his bronzer daddy and those enabling his bronzer daddy and he's compelled to defend them. Of course, he can't reasonably defend their words and actions because their words and actions are indefensible, so he tries to point the finger at those he sees as being on the same side as the critics, attempting to allege hypocrisy by comparing apples to acts of sedition.

It's Trumpy and it's sad.

He ain't my ****ing bronzer daddy. You wonder why I don't like answering you.
Byrd was part of a group that killed thousands of black people for fun and games. He said he turned a new leaf and changed his ways. That's all fine and dandy but it doesn't bring back the thousands of people senselessly killed. To celebrate a person like him is disrespectful to all that died at the hands of the KKK.
More like TDSism, that's your favorite go to insult right? Trumpism man, heh.
If you respond to me as a Trumper again you'll gladly be put back on my keep scrolling list. I'm not gonna tell you again I don't support him anymore.

 

[Liquid]

Where are Trumpists going to go? What is the "freedom" loving/authoritarian state that would meet their needs?

Russia.

But Vladimir Putin has already congratulated President-elect Biden so I guess he's another deep state, never Trumper libcuck.

 

[TexRex]

He ain't my ****ing bronzer daddy. You wonder why I don't like answering you.
Byrd was part of a group that killed thousands of black people for fun and games. He said he turned a new leaf and changed his ways. That's all fine and dandy but it doesn't bring back the thousands of people senselessly killed. To celebrate a person like him is disrespectful to all that died at the hands of the KKK.

You're back on Robert Byrd?

I was responding to someone else on the topic of you equating the events following the 2016 presidential election with the events following the 2020 presidential election. In equating these two things, you accosted users on this forum, calling them hypocrites, and you still haven't made any attempt to substantiate the claims you made as a basis for your attacks on users on this forum.

You engaged in this attack because people were levying totally appropriate criticism of the measures Trump and the GOP are taking with the aim of retaining power...and you expect people to believe you don't support them? You said you were voting for Tulsi instead of Trump, except Tulsi didn't even get beyond the Democratic primary, didn't get as far as selecting a running mate for the general election, endorsed Biden for the general election and didn't even appear on ballots for the general election. It seems like this was an empty sentiment intended to appease those critical of Trump who didn't expect appeasement. It seems like an outright lie. It wouldn't be the first outright lie, as you've previously lied in an attempt to attack Democrats, alleging supposed impropriety by supposed party members operating a supposed polling location that supposedly wouldn't permit your father to vote on the basis that he was going to vote Republican, except I was able to suss out that no such attempt to vote was made because of lack of a valid identification card that the Georgia Secretary of State (the one overseeing the election in which he was running for Governor) wasn't necessary if other forms of identification could be provided, then it was acknowledged that the reason no attempt to vote was made because the voting precinct in which he's registered is too far away from his current residence and you couldn't justify driving him, and a formal change of address requires a copy of a birth certificate that is too expensive to acquire. I seem to recall this attack was made in an attempt to allege hypocrisy on the part of those critical of the aforementioned Georgia Secretary of State attempting to have ballots cast in favor of his opponent ignored, but I acknowledge I may be misremembering and one may have been tangential to the other.

As I've said previously, sometimes all people have is allegations of hypocrisy.

You still haven't cited any event from the period surrounding the 2016 presidential election that's even remotely comparable to Trump and the GOP attempting to strip the public of its voting power, because that power was successfully utilized to remove Trump from office, by taking action against the process in a court of law, and failing miserably to do so. You can't cite any comparable event because there is no comparable event. The best you've got is people saying they're moving to Canada. It's a pathetic comparison.

But for the time being you are back on Robert Byrd, the subject of a discussion you previously abandoned in favor of again alleging hypocrisy over the events following the 2016 and 2020 elections without meaningful substantiation, and you're on the attack, asserting celebration of the subject when nobody here is doing such a thing. Rather than celebrate, people here are acknowledging a change in political position seemingly undergone in an effort to redeem actions earlier in his life. You would deny redemption based on associations and would completely disregard his later efforts.

I don't think much of Robert Byrd. He's dead. He didn't have much of an impact on my life that I'm aware. I know that his early views don't correspond with mine (though I don't know what he actually did during that time and I'd wager you don't either) and I have an extreme dislike of his efforts, early in his service as a member of Congress, to deny an arbitrarily determined (a determination founded on skin color) group of people the right to equal treatment under law. I'm not in a position to say whether his efforts later in life redeem him for his efforts earlier in life and I'd posit that you're not either, and yet you aim to do so, seemingly because of association he had with others you've repeatedly expressed you dislike, namely Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama.

More like TDSism, that's your favorite go to insult right? Trumpism man, heh.

"TDSism" isn't a thing. It's not even not a thing in the way that "TDS" isn't a thing. "TDS" is a pejorative--one that you've used repeatedly despite claiming to not be a Trump supporter--used to shut down criticism of Trump rather than engage that criticism in a meaningful manner, and it does so by alleging that criticism is the result of hatred of Trump. It's an attack on the critic in lieu of addressing the criticism. It's not even original, given that it was adapted from "BDS," or "Bush Derangement Syndrome," by the very same political pundit who came up with the latter.

I use "Trumpism" in a broadly similar manner, inspired by invocations of "TDS," to suggest that the stupid things Trumpkins say are the result of the detriment caused by mental gymnastics necessary for those Trumpkins to continue to support him. "Trumpism" itself is a real thing, though the manner in which I use it likely is not. I add "man" to the invocation to convey exaspiration akin to something along the lines of "Trumpism, it's a hell of a drug."

"Heh" is something else entirely. It's an interjection I use to convey my mirth. It's like "LOL" but not to the same degree; it conveys mild amusement. I can't fathom why it irks you as much as it seems to.

If you respond to me as a Trumper again you'll gladly be put back on my keep scrolling list.

So you'll go from quoting me and making no effort to engage in meaningful discussion, repeatedly dodging solicitations and deflecting from the topic of discussion, and even accosting me...to not quoting me at all? I--I'm not sure how that's supposed to dissuade me.

I'm not gonna tell you again I don't support him anymore.

Great! It's not particularly compelling in the light of other things you say.

 

[Famine]

Byrd was part of a group that killed thousands of black people for fun and games. He said he turned a new leaf and changed his ways. That's all fine and dandy but it doesn't bring back the thousands of people senselessly killed. To celebrate a person like him is disrespectful to all that died at the hands of the KKK.

From my understanding of it, he was a young guy in his 20s who, partially indoctrinated by his adopted father who participated in KKK marches, fell into the Klan and eventually set up a chapter. When he got a little older he moved away from it, perhaps through getting smarter, perhaps because he was running for Congress, perhaps both. I understand his Congress voting record on the subject of race was a little mixed at first, but he eventually became someone praised by NAACP for his support of civil rights.

I'm not sure who he killed, or who anyone in his chapter killed, and I don't recall hearing of any court cases or convictions, though I may be wrong. However, I'm sure we agree that a convicted felon who has reformed and served his time should be given the same chance as anyone else.

The chap seems to have gone from an impressionable moron growing up in a racist environment to someone lauded for their position on racial equality and civil rights.

Though I'm no expert on the matter, why is what he did before, when he was a nobhead, more important than who he became when he stopped being a nobhead? Or is personal growth not a thing that happens now? Is redemption impossible? Are we all to be judged by unwise, unintelligent, or criminal acts we performed in our 20s and not anything we've done since?

 

[TenEightyOne]

Byrd was part of a group that killed thousands of black people for fun and games. He said he turned a new leaf and changed his ways. That's all fine and dandy but it doesn't bring back the thousands of people senselessly killed. To celebrate a person like him is disrespectful to all that died at the hands of the KKK.

I think we should celebrate people who say that what the KKK stand for is wrong. That what they do is wrong. That the things they have done are appalling. Let's celebrate those people, even those who were on the inside and saw how wrong it was.

I think that a person who has served their time for society through incarceration or subsequent good deeds deserves to be respected when they genuinely demonstrate that they have moved on.

 

[UKMikey]

I think that a person who has served their time for society through incarceration or subsequent good deeds deserves to be respected when they genuinely demonstrate that they have moved on.

Even if they're George Floyd.

 

[TexRex]

Is a Civil War Brewing Within the GOP?
Some Republicans are denouncing a “surrender caucus” within their party that has the temerity to accept the results of a democratic election.

The Signal: A civil war is now percolating within the Republican Party.

The Electoral College has met and confirmed Joe Biden’s victory, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has finally agreed to call Biden the president-elect, Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Biden on his victory… and yet, stateside, the Trump cultists continue to scheme and foment ever-more-fantastical assaults on democracy.

On Monday, when the Electoral College met, Stephen Miller went on Fox News to say the Trump campaign would somehow submit “an alternate slate of electors” and fight to overturn the election results all the way up to January 20.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted, “This Fake Election can no longer stand.” As if, simply by saying so, he somehow had the power to make his wish come true. Later that day, he retweeted claims that he, Donald J. Trump, had won the election in a landslide and Biden was simply “pretending” to have won.

This would all be nothing more than the pathetic delusions of a beaten, broken man increasingly divorced from reality, if it weren’t for the fact that so many senior Republicans are willing to play this madman’s game. That they are playing his game is, however, a seriously dangerous phenomenon.

On Wednesday, conservative House Republicans denounced what they called a “surrender caucus”within their party that had the temerity to accept the results of a democratic election.

Trump also angrily denounced McConnell for acknowledging Biden’s win, tweeting, “Mitch, 75,000,000 VOTES, a record for a sitting President (by a lot). Too soon to give up. Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry!” No matter that Biden’s more than 81 million votes was a record that roundly eclipsed Trump’s own performance; in the Trumpian universe, his vote count must, by definition, be the biggest and the best ever recorded.

Trump’s ire isn’t just directed at GOP senators who have now urged him to accept defeat. He’s lashing out at pretty much everyone who didn’t bend the law to meet his political desires. He’s firing or forcing the resignation of anyone who is standing in his way—from Bill Barr on down. Early this week, Trump retweeted a call for the imprisonment of Georgia’s governor and secretary of state—presumably for the high crime of not altering their state’s election tallies to spin a Trump win out of the straw of defeat.

Talking of Georgia, beleaguered GOP Senator Kelly Loeffler pointedly refused to rule out challenging the Electoral College results when Congress meets to confirm Biden’s win on January 6, one day after her runoff election in Georgia.

Not to be outdone in the crazy sweepstakes, Sidney Powell, the Trump campaign’s recently departed attorney, retweeted a racist diatribe against McConnell’s Taiwanese American wife.

It’s tempting to dismiss all of this as simply the Noisy, irrational coda to a brutal election season. But it’s more complex than that. Trump is desperately fighting for his personal survival, but McConnell has abandoned him; ergo, Trump must now turn his rhetorical guns against the Senate leader. For his part, McConnell has clearly concluded that it’s in his political interest to cut his losses now and endure Trump’s rants and his supporters’ threats for the next few weeks, in order to maintain his political power into the Biden presidency.

Given Trump’s despotic ambitions, and his clear intent to maintain an iron grip on the GOP and its base in the coming years, and given the moral black hole so many GOP elected officials have managed to sink themselves into over the past four years, it’s hard to see how this confrontation doesn’t end up tearing the party apart.

I had hoped Trump’s candidacy in 2016 would perform that vital role—that it would break a rotten party wide open for all to see the vacuum at its core. It didn’t happen then. In these final weeks of 2020 and of Trump’s rancid regime, it seems to be happening now.

 

[McLaren]

I'm beginning to worry if the Dems somehow win Georgia & take full control, Trump will not only triple-double down on rigged elections, but many of the GOPers will as well & actually consider trying taking action beyond lawsuits.

 

[Biggles]

Is a Civil War Brewing Within the GOP?
Some Republicans are denouncing a “surrender caucus” within their party that has the temerity to accept the results of a democratic election.

This is what I have been saying since Trump won the GOP nomination: the contradictions in the Republican camp would become impossible to reconcile. I actually thought Trump would lose the 2016 election & that would cause the disintegration into different factions, but in reality it's taken a lot longer. I will be "interesting" to see what happens.

On another front I just became aware of this:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/po...ion-results-could-spell-trouble-another-iowan

A House race in Iowa was apparently decided by a 6 vote margin. What this suggest to me is that it's essential to have a less confrontational, partisan divide in US politics. You can't have either of the two parties claiming a strong mandate if they only have a statistically negligible difference in votes.