This made me roll on the floor. Happy Turkey Day to everyone!


https://goo.gl/images/tFhFi9

Though GOP leadership came out this morning claiming victory in the 4 close vote seats, we're likely looking at recounts before a final determination is made. None of these races have been conceded to date.

Again from Ballotpedia:

Election updates

November 9, 11:00 AM ET: According to Virginia law, recounts can take place if the official result of a race shows a difference of one percent or less between two candidates.[2] Official results will be determined by the State Board of Elections (SBE) later in November. Republicans still lead all four races that have not been called or conceded. The apparent loser of a race must ask the SBE for a recount.

November 8, 5:56 PM ET: Virginia House Republican leader says his party won a 51-49 majority in the chamber. Republican Speaker-designee Kirk Cox said the November 8 vote canvass showed that Republican candidates won seats in District 40 and District 94, meaning his party would retain control of the chamber.[3][4]

From Ballotpedia:

Election updates

November 8, 5:02 PM ET: An additional 83 votes for Delegate Tim Hugo (R) in the District 40 race were found in a vote canvass, increasing Hugo's lead over challenger Donte Tanner (D) to 115 votes.[2]

November 8, 1:30 PM ET: According to the Washington Post, the reported vote count for Delegate Tim Hugo (R) in the District 40 race was 100 votes lower than it should have been. With this 100-vote swing, Hugo took a narrow lead over Donte Tanner (D), who had previously led by 68 votes. Republicans now have leads in all four uncalled races that could go to recounts.[3] If Republicans win all four seats, they will have a 51-49 majority in the chamber.

This will be a squeaker. But the confirmed wins are still amazing. Stay tuned on those recounts!

I would assume this applies to other Republican/Conservative sites but Redstate was pointed out as a discussion point on last night's Democratic wins--Never Trumpers. Yes, that's right. It's the small but vocal band of Republican anti-Trump people who doomed Gillespie and other fellow GOP candidates. According to the spin, Rick Wilson, Jennifer Rubin, David Frum et al are secret, rabid wolves within the pack, quasi-Democrats who deliberately sabotaged the elections that swept Dems to victory.

Really?

I suppose we should be applauding this craziness; it works for us. But I think it also underscores the recalcitrant nature of people like Laura Ingram who holds fast to the notion that Republicans lost because they did not embrace Trump and his odious message hard enough. As I read online this morning, this argument is analogous to claiming a two-pack smoking habit will prevent cancer.

It won't. It doesn't. Because evidence and . . .

Everything Trump Touches Dies.

Someone had a clever headline this morning: Grab 'em by the mid-terms.

LOL. But it rings with truth. We ride this wave--and that's what it is--right into the mid-terms. We allow the far-right whackos set themselves on fire, rather than our lives, our futures. If the Trumpsters want to believe the foolish message that Trump and his God awful agenda is blameless, we let them, while rousing are own electorate and underscoring our message:

We Stand With All Americans.

And then, we win!

It was a good, good night, a night to reignite hope and renew a vision for the future, sans Trump and his enablers. Because make no mistake, Republicans lost last night because the stink of Trump's Administration has permeated the entire country, coast to coast. That and the hard work of Democratic loyalists, volunteers and voters of all demographics.

The doom and gloom of the last few months, weeks, days were kicked to the curb, so the incessant criticisms of all things Democratic should cease and crawl back under the rocks from which they came. Just yesterday I read a specious poll on how unpopular the Democratic Party was with average voters.

Ahem.

Meanwhile, the favorability of a generic Dem candidate to a Rep. candidate is in the range of 8-10 pts. This is tsunami territory and points to massive wins in the future, not simply for Dems but the country at large. That's what we're talking about, repairing the damage that's been done across the country and recharting a course for the positive change we expect and want for ourselves and our fellow citizens.

So what did we learn?

HEALTH CARE, people. This was the number 1 concern for the voters who came out yesterday. The referendum in Maine? Expand Medicaid for Maine citizens, a 60-40 split pro-vote. So, while the GOP lashes the wedge issues of Confederate statues and monuments et al, we now know people are paying attention to the issues that affect their lives in the most personal way--their health and their ability to access care.

Healthcare is but one takeaway (although a big one). Perhaps the most important is this: we win when we vote, when we don't give up, when we hold fast to what we believe. And cut the crap that Dems don't stand for anything. We stand for healthcare, voting rights, civil rights, workers rights, human rights, climate change, fair tax and trade policy, etc., etc., etc. We stand for and with all Americans.

We take that into 2018? We'll win again and again and again.

Tonight proves that Democratic candidates can win when Dem voters turn out en masse. The New York Times estimates that Northam will outperform the predictions in the end. With 1 million+ votes left, they estimate that Northam's margin will be 10 pts up.

And CNN just called it. Northam wins!!!! Murphy wins!!!

Go Blue.

let them by buying into these stupid memes on the right and the left. Today it's how Hillary Clinton rigged the 2016 primary by fundraising and spreading the money around to the DNC as well as state & local races, micromanaging the party apparatus with a witch's spell thereby ensuring her 3 million vote win and nomination.

Lame. Overdone. Stick a fork in it.

Previous right-wing pundits are all aghast about the Uranium One deal and the Steele dossier and . . . whatever flies into their imaginations and fever dreams.

Hooey. All of it. A diversion for nth time.

Those of us who are Democrats need to focus on one thing: elections coming up and the 2018 midterms, taking the 8-10 generic margin favoring Democrats and running the ball over the line with big fat wins.

Not for the mere thrill of winning. But to save the House from burning down.

Let's be clear. This is not simply the Democratic house. This is the Nation's House engulfed in flames, a fire deliberately set by arsonists who gleefully fan the flames with propaganda and diversionary tactics. If the House burns down all these sideshow arguments and debates about purity et al are irrelevant. Because the House will be in ashes. And so will everything we value as citizens of a Democratic Republic. Right now we have a fucking psychopath sitting in the WH, enabled by sycophants extraordinarie in their deceit and corruption.

When your house is on fire, you call the fire company. Not an interior decorator to measure for drapes.

I'll suggest what I suggested this morning over at TPM. We should remember the words of Rick Wilson and Josh Marshall:

Everything Trump Touches Dies

The Man Is Poison

Repeat these words 5x daily. Maybe then, the smoke will finally clear in some people's brains.