Election Day 2021

[ronntaylor]

If true, this is depressing AF. I hope Dems get it together before it's too late.

This is fantasy. Not every state is like Virginia. We have to consider candidates and the campaigns they waged. Then we have nearly a year to go before midterms. Even in states with relatively early primaries, we still have several months before Election Day. So many variables to consider and so many things that can break in so many directions.

 

[lizkat]

If true, this is depressing AF. I hope Dems get it together before it's too late.

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1456273594527277058/

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1456042161263321100/

I wouldn't get too crazed over the defeats in Virginia. There were a lot of reasons for Youngkin having won the governorship (gee I keep wanting to call him Trumpkin for some reason lol) and a raft more of reasons why a general red shift occurred in Virginia, but they don't necessarily translate to similar R wins elsewhere. Virginia is an ornery state and more purple than either party ever wants to admit.

Even if that projected map ever turned out to be on the money, there's always Revolution the Sequel (as distinct from Civil War The Sequel). The Dems, unlike some Republicans, would not call for secession, but they sure as hell won't sit still long for Republican state-by-state efforts to convert the American voting booth into a place reserved for reactionary conservatives.

And btw the DoJ just filed a lawsuit against voting restrictions established by the Texas state legislature, so it's not like the Biden administration is necessarily depending on temporarily demoralized Dems to start thinking about street-level pushback against unconstitutional behavior of state legislatures hell bent on stacking the odds against a free and fair vote in the midterms. Whether or not the Rs can keep stalling on federal legislation meant to repair the Voting Rights Act, enough of it was left in place by SCOTUS in its last visitation that some of these new state laws definitely won't pass muster in the courts.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/11/04/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-texass-new-voting-restrictions/

 

[GermanSuplex]

If Republicans were smart, they'd realize easy access to same-day voting polling places and early voting can work for them. Virginia proves it. High turnout and they still won. So maybe the problem isn't the voting laws, its their messaging and piss-poor attitude towards anyone who isn't a white male.

There are so many places split evenly between democrats and republicans, with a sizable chunk of people who vote independently. There's a lot of ways to view the Virginia results positively. This is how things used to work; you win some and celebrate, and you lose some and try to fix it in time for the next election. It's democracy working as its supposed to. It's good to know some people - rightly or wrongly - want change NOW, and have no problem voting for any candidate who they think will bring that change, the R or D after their name be damned.

That said, I do wish democrats learned to fight back harder and smarter. Trying to talk basic common sense to people doesn't work, because different people have different ideas of what common sense is. So now that Youngkin is governor, he can also be a democrat punching bag... start pressuring him to denounce the big lie. Use his victory in Virginia as proof elections in America are free and fair. And if he doesn't believe that's the case, what problems did he see in his election victory that should be rectified?

 

[Herdfan]

I wouldn't get too crazed over the defeats in Virginia.

Nope. Dems should worry like hell about NJ. How did a Republican almost unseat a sitting Governor who was around 50% approval in the polls?

 

[lizkat]

Nope. Dems should worry like hell about NJ. How did a Republican almost unseat a sitting Governor who was around 50% approval in the polls?

I dunno. New Jersey is New Jersey. Never take it for granted. And as for that truck driver guy, well...

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1456407142185979907/

 

[GermanSuplex]

Ok, so the guy who refuses to truly denounce Trump and his big lie, who campaigned on CRT and making voting in elections secure, has a 17 year old son who doesn’t know he can’t yet vote? How the hell can he be expected to help make elections more secure when he hasn’t even informed his son properly?

Now, the conspiracy theorist in me may start thinking it was a plan to see if he could cast an illegal ballot, so should Youngkin lose they would have proof of voter fraud. But he could have also just been a kid trying to vote for his dad. But he got turned away twice… so, yeah…

Glenn Youngkin's underage son was turned away from a voting precinct on Election Day, top county election official says

Glenn Youngkin's 17-year-old son was turned away from a voting precinct on Election Day, the top election official for Fairfax County, Virginia told CNN on Friday.

amp.cnn.com

 

[Alli]

Ok, so the guy who refuses to truly denounce Trump and his big lie, who campaigned on CRT and making voting in elections secure, has a 17 year old son who doesn’t know he can’t yet vote? How the hell can he be expected to help make elections more secure when he hasn’t even informed his son properly?

Now, the conspiracy theorist in me may start thinking it was a plan to see if he could cast an illegal ballot, so should Youngkin lose they would have proof of voter fraud. But he could have also just been a kid trying to vote for his dad. But he got turned away twice… so, yeah…

Glenn Youngkin's underage son was turned away from a voting precinct on Election Day, top county election official says

Glenn Youngkin's 17-year-old son was turned away from a voting precinct on Election Day, the top election official for Fairfax County, Virginia told CNN on Friday.

amp.cnn.com

The question is, will he get the same five year jail sentence as the woman who didn't know she wasn't eligible to vote?

 

[SuperMatt]

The question is, will he get the same five year jail sentence as the woman who didn't know she wasn't eligible to vote?

They will have to check the chart:

 

[Herdfan]

The question is, will he get the same five year jail sentence as the woman who didn't know she wasn't eligible to vote?

He is a minor, so probably not for that reason.

 

[Alli]

He is a minor, so probably not for that reason.

He is 17 and should be tried as an adult. He absolutely knew what he was attempting (TWICE!) was illegal.

 

[lizkat]

He is 17 and should be tried as an adult. He absolutely knew what he was attempting (TWICE!) was illegal.

I don't get why he tried to do it, really. Especially twice. It eventually only drew attention to himself as son of the candidate AND trying to vote without having been reggied (and VA does not have same-day vote for new registrants).

It's unclear to me what the kid was trying to do. Really vote for his dad, or just throw doubt on how Virginia monitors attempts to vote without proper credentials. And why would he do the latter if the kid wanted his dad to win? Whole thing becomes an infinity of smoke and mirrors...

"Look at me, I might even be a wannabe Democrat trying to vote against my Republican dad and so yeah it's true that the Dems are into fraud." ?!​

There's a reference in the cited piece to the kid having said he had a friend who was 17 and was allowed to vote, but that was anecdotal, a comment by the kid to a reporter. If that had been tracked down and found true, all it would have done was land some hapless poll worker in the soup for having let someone underage reggie AND vote on the same day, and the vote would have been tossed.

As for any supposed support there on GOP fraud claims, it would be absurd on the face of it. In fact it points up the problem the GOP had with those occasional attempts to manufacture appearance of mass fraud during the 2020 presidential elections. Drawing attention to the fake fraud caused reporters to make the effort to verify, and since the whole point of the attempt was to draw attention anyway, there were breadcrumbs the size of pancakes leading back to the fabricator.

 

[ronntaylor]

I dunno. New Jersey is New Jersey. Never take it for granted. And as for that truck driver guy, well...

Not at all surprised. Although the losing dem kinda needed to go. He's held up more progressive legislation and his replacement as Senate Prez will be better fit for Murphy's 2nd term.

 

[lizkat]

Not at all surprised. Although the losing dem kinda needed to go. He's held up more progressive legislation and his replacement as Senate Prez will be better fit for Murphy's 2nd term.

Jersey is fascinating, with distinct geographic, socioeconomic, ethnic, cultural and political differences. I've heard it called "a place that people come from, not one they go to". Catchy phrase but it's only partly true, and its politics have remained reliably rough and tumble for as long as I've been able to read a paper.

 

[GermanSuplex]

I don't get why he tried to do it, really. Especially twice. It eventually only drew attention to himself as son of the candidate AND trying to vote without having been reggied (and VA does not have same-day vote for new registrants).

It's unclear to me what the kid was trying to do. Really vote for his dad, or just throw doubt on how Virginia monitors attempts to vote without proper credentials. And why would he do the latter if the kid wanted his dad to win? Whole thing becomes an infinity of smoke and mirrors...

"Look at me, I might even be a wannabe Democrat trying to vote against my Republican dad and so yeah it's true that the Dems are into fraud." ?!​

There's a reference in the cited piece to the kid having said he had a friend who was 17 and was allowed to vote, but that was anecdotal, a comment by the kid to a reporter. If that had been tracked down and found true, all it would have done was land some hapless poll worker in the soup for having let someone underage reggie AND vote on the same day, and the vote would have been tossed.

As for any supposed support there on GOP fraud claims, it would be absurd on the face of it. In fact it points up the problem the GOP had with those occasional attempts to manufacture appearance of mass fraud during the 2020 presidential elections. Drawing attention to the fake fraud caused reporters to make the effort to verify, and since the whole point of the attempt was to draw attention anyway, there were breadcrumbs the size of pancakes leading back to the fabricator.

Dems need to run with this story. I sort of feel bad for the kid - he’s 17 and it’s not like he harmed someone. But he did try to vote illegally - twice - and it seems suspect he just “didn’t know” he wasn’t old enough to vote.

But it also shows elections are secure, and many of these boneheads are getting caught.

Time to start asking some questions about this, because it seems too coincidental to just be a mistake.

 

[ronntaylor]

Dems need to run with this story. I sort of feel bad for the kid - he’s 17 and it’s not like he harmed someone. But he did try to vote illegally - twice - and it seems suspect he just “didn’t know” he wasn’t old enough to vote.

But it also shows elections are secure, and many of these boneheads are getting caught.

Time to start asking some questions about this, because it seems too coincidental to just be a mistake.

Had this been McAuliffe's kid the right wing whiners would clutching their pearls, asking for immediate imprisonment. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a coordinate stunt to help his dad and several (supposed) adults planned this and it wouldn't even surprise me that Youngkin had of this.