Charles P. Pierce: This Truly Is an Ominous Result for Republicans

[babylonsister]

This Truly Is an Ominous Result for Republicans
Meanwhile, the Dems showed they're covering all the bases.
By Charles P. Pierce
Aug 8, 2018


Your go-to newspaper regarding Tuesday night's elections is not The New York Times, The Washington Post, or even The Columbus Dispatch. Take a bow, Kansas City Star. Between them, Kansas and Missouri produced the most fascinating results of the evening. To wit:

Missouri voters crushed by referendum a right-to-work law passed by that state's flying-monkey state legislature. In the wake of the Supreme Court's Janus decision, this is an astounding result.

In St. Louis County, a city councilman from Ferguson named Wesley Bell stunned seven-term St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch, who infamously oversaw the grand jury that no-billed Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

In Kansas, the night's most whopping election glitch—in populous Johnson County—left both the Republican gubernatorial primary and the Democratic primary in the third congressional district hanging fire. In the former, the Republicans are trying to avoid having vote-suppressing grifto-maniac Kris Kobach as their nominee, while, in the congressional race, Sharice Davids, who got submarined in the campaign by Bernie Sanders et. al., had moved barely ahead of Brent Welder, proving once again that you can't keep a good Native American, lesbian, former MMA-fighting woman down. Both races were within 500 votes as Johnson County continued to try to fix its new voting machines. (Yes, Kris Kobach's election depends on banjaxed voting machines. Hopeless cynics assemble!) Finally, on Wednesday morning, Davids was declared the winner.

This is not to minimize the predictive value of the marquee matchup in Ohio's 12th district, in which Troy Balderson edged ahead of Denny O'Connor, but not far enough that provisional ballots might not throw the whole thing into a recount and, considering that these two have to run again in November, Balderson may well end up being an actual congressman for approximately 11 minutes.

It is just as ominous a result for Republicans as people are saying it is, despite the mendacious little cock-a-doodle-doo from the president*, who is treating Balderson at the moment as though he were a valet parking attendant at the old Taj. This is a district designed by Republican state legislators to the specifications of John Boehner—who used to be someone, as you may recall. If Balderson is still sweating death by tabulation at noon on the day after the election, something truly is up.

And, as hard as many people may try to recreate the 2016 Democratic presidential primary ad infinitum, there was something for everyone last night. The win by Davids is a defeat for Bernie Sanders and for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who went all-in for her opponent, Brent Welder. In the Michigan gubernatorial primary, Gretchen Whitmer—who, I guess, was the "establishment candidate," despite being a reasonable progressive state legislator—beat physician and Rhodes Scholar Abdul El-Sayed, who ran a terrific campaign and very likely will be heard from again. This is not a party in turmoil or disarray. This is a party covering all the bases.

more...

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22674284/ohio-special-election-result-ominous-for-republicans/

[TeamPooka]

1. K&R

[Hekate]

2. "This is not a party in turmoil or disarray. This is a party covering all the bases." Woot!

[Stuart G]

3. k and r..nt

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. "Flying-monkey state legislature"

Lol!
Describes a lot of them.