Election Day 2021 Open Thread

61
  by: Colorado Pols November 2, 2021 at 6:48 AM MDT

“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.”

–Theodore Roosevelt

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61 Community Comments, Facebook Comments

    • Phoenix Rising says:
      November 2, 2021 at 8:10 AM MDT

      The deficit projection, from early March, is the Republican plan. And thank you oh so much for supporting it.

    • MichaelBowman says:
      November 2, 2021 at 8:28 AM MDT

      Pfruit did a bang-up job representin’ the movement in the closing moments of this video.  This is some of the best six minutes of comedy you’ll find. 

    • MattC says:
      November 2, 2021 at 9:29 AM MDT

      I used to register and vote R.  I helped Reagan win the Illinois primary in 1980. Bob Dole knew me by name. 

       

      I know your tricks. Have a good election day, loser. 

      • Voyageur says:
        November 2, 2021 at 9:42 AM MDT

        I was also a Republican who knew Bob Dole.

        And Lloyd George knew my father!

      • MichaelBowman says:
        November 2, 2021 at 10:04 AM MDT

        I had the opportunity to meet Dole in a small DC reception setting after his presidential run. He was an absolute delight, had a great sense of humor. His old confidante on ag policy from K-State, Dr Barry Flinchbaugh (RIP), had some rip-roaring stories about Bob from the campaign trails over the years. 

    • BoulderPatentGuy says:
      November 2, 2021 at 12:14 PM MDT

      Time to stop believing deficit bull****:  https://ritholtz.com/2021/09/deficit-bullshit/

      • MichaelBowman says:
        November 2, 2021 at 1:51 PM MDT

        Fantastic article BPG.  Thanks for sharing. We had a 125% debt:GDP post WWII and a top marginal tax rate of 90% and still went on to create the most robust economy ever known and an American middle class that was the envy of the world. 

        • MattC says:
          November 2, 2021 at 6:21 PM MDT

          agree- thanks BPG.

          The economists who won a Nobel prize or are renowned in the area of growth will tell you that aligns with the models.

          The debt/GDP > 1 is only a real problem when the debt is not used for anything productive.  The data is not definitive if the debt is used only  to narrow an income disparity. At extreme disparity, it helps improve growth – "pays for itself" in lay terms. (In a way that tax reductions almost never does if the net tax burden is less than 50-60%.)
           

          The nation felt unified. "Look for the union label" was still widely acceptable. Practically all retail workers were union, so as retail recovered and grew workers recovered too.  Health care was not as near accessible, but it was mostly public. (After 1965 was when hospitals started to get privatized and a real profit motive got going. And did not really start to drag the GDP growth until the 80's and all the deregulation fraud.)

           

           

  2. JohnInDenver says:
    November 2, 2021 at 7:26 AM MDT

    Secretary of State's daily update of ballots in by 11:30 pm, October 31:

    • ………………votes……% of votes… % of active registrations
    • 2021 UAF 261,171 (34.56%)  – 43.51%
    • 2021 DEM 238,267 (31.53%) – 28.95%
    • 2021 REP 249,009 (32.95%) – 25.7%
    • 2021 LBR…. 4,798 (0.63%) – 1.11%

    Looks as if the UnAFfiliated and DEMocratic voters are going to follow the historical trends and be less enthusiastic about this off-year election. By contrast, REPublicans are over-represented by 7%.

  3. Powerful Pear says:
    November 2, 2021 at 7:35 AM MDT

    Well it’s been illustrative that nothing has changed with the PoleCats. The same 16 people who hate America, hate Fox, hate your neighbor. Except for the contributions from, Gillian, Gulag, Gandorf or what ever he/she identifies as today. Now that was an experience into the tortured physic of modern day Democrats.

    Happy Election Day. May all your dreams come true.

    Until the next time I have a few hours to waste in my life.

    Pear

    • Phoenix Rising says:
      November 2, 2021 at 8:24 AM MDT

      Why is it that if we’re not reactionary right-wing shills we “hate America”? We like Lincoln’s side in the Civil War, not the joy of celebrating “southern heritage”. We like the plaque that adorns the Statue of Liberty – give us your tired, you poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. We like the original motto on our money – “e pluribus unum”: out of many, one. We like “one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” – as it was written and spoken before fear of “communism” caused reactionaries to rewrite it. We like George Washington’s view that mankind moves ever toward liberal thought and that equal treatment for all will spread as it does.

      That is the backbone of America. You want to ascribe hate and fear to us because that is what you are fed daily; we would hope for you to exit that stained realm some day.

    • Diogenesdemar says:
      November 2, 2021 at 8:47 AM MDT

      You ran out of having anything new or interesting to say years ago. You’re now a waste of hours here for everyone . . .

      . . . but only because you spend 99.7% of your time here repeating the same two milliseconds of shallow insight . . .

      . . . better for everyone if you’d just choke on your intolerant cheese in silence by yourself (or with your tube BFFs Carlson and Hannity).

       

    • spaceman2021 says:
      November 2, 2021 at 9:40 AM MDT

      Okay, Qaren.  Perhaps loosen the tinfoil hat and let a little more oxygen flow into that admittedly small cerebral cortex. 

    • Genghis says:
      November 2, 2021 at 11:14 AM MDT

      Happy trails, cupcake, and good luck with your next sure-to-fail effort at latching onto the public teat. *waves*

    • rice says:
      November 2, 2021 at 12:55 PM MDT

      Even knowing that PP here is a political antagonist, he is right on this (assuming he meant tortured "psyche").  This IS a very repulsive forum, despite its excellent aggregation of news stories.  

      It doesn't look like playful banter when the same folks who were asking 9 years ago, like V did, what the board could do in anticipation of growth are today slinging homophobic, sexist, and baseless accusations to derail a new topic of discussion. 

      What will it look like 9 years from now? Largely the same, but only the "power users" who survive the pandemic. When my dog started to get stiff and had trouble with stairs, I knew it would be good for him, and me, and another pupper if I adopted the second soon enough he could pass on his better traits.  The old boy crossed the bridge last year and many of the mannerisms and ways of communicating he passed on to his new sister have made her sharp as a tack, and super polite for her age.

      It would have been a lot harder to have to start over with a scared pupper who didn't have a kind, big floof to show her how to play fight, but communicate when she isn't having fun anymore, and how to read other dogs at the playground to tell what's what.

      I've run the metaphor deeper into the ground than my old boy's resting spot, but the point stands.  This isn't a dog park and you aren't leading by good example. This forum is more of a basement dog fighting ring.

      Happy voting day!

      • Duke Cox says:
        November 2, 2021 at 4:57 PM MDT

        1. I recommend a different metaphor. It is bad form to discuss your opponent in the context of dog behavior. It is seldom appreciated. You are right…This isn’t a dog park.

        2. You continue to visit a very repulsive political site, though that must be at great personal sacrifice. Or is an expression of masochism? If not, you must be getting paid or you are a crazy-eyed zealot.

        3. Thank you for the continued insults. It is sort of an assurance  that you will not be taken seriously.

        TTFN.

         

        • rice says:
          November 2, 2021 at 5:15 PM MDT

          What insults? And why the hostility? Dio should back me up, if only I were so lucky to be compared to such loyalty and goodness incarnate.  Dogs are awesome, and if you don’t like the metaphor, that’s on you.

          What I wrote was sincere.  Weird that this opportunity for y’all to exercise a little restraint and you and kwtree jump to bullying antics again.

          No need for name calling, Duke.  All I ask is for a little decorum, but I guess this is simply a spot for schoolyard antics. Really? Accusing me of being a shill for wanting to participate equally?

  4. jimmay says:
    November 2, 2021 at 8:17 AM MDT

    Awwww Powerful Pear is done leaving inane  Dad jokes? Whatever will we do without your bad-faith debating and inane attempts at humor?

  5. davebarnes says:
    November 2, 2021 at 9:04 AM MDT

    November 2, 1920 – In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the result of the 1920 United States presidential election.

  6. Duke Cox says:
    November 2, 2021 at 10:46 AM MDT

    I could use a bit of help, if someone can help me, to find more information about a decision made by SCOTUS on Friday. I have been unable to find it, though I have searched diligently…” damn you, ignorance!”

    It regards the relationship between the federal government and states and the Feds ability to administer the rules of law. Perhaps I really misunderstood, but what caught my eye was a comment by the stories’ author that this was a pet project of Steve Bannon, which can never be a good thing.

    Anyone have any idea what I am talking about?

  7. ParkHill says:
    November 2, 2021 at 11:27 AM MDT

    New York is voting on the "Right to Clean Air, Clean Water and Healthful Environment". This would allow you to sue polluters.

    You would think we already have this right. There are exceptions such as sewer plants that are not required to completely clean their effluent before dumping it into streams.

    The right to Clean Air, Water and a Healthy environment would have problems in Colorado, where pollution mining and oil & gas production has lax enforcement. Not to mention agricultural methods that allow animal waste and fertilizer to run into the water.

  8. JohnInDenver says:
    November 2, 2021 at 12:34 PM MDT

    What’s changed in a year? 

    Active Registrations….DEM…….LIB………REP……….UAF….Active Total

    11/01/21 ………….1,125,285…43,181…998,848…1,691,182……3,887,073

    % of reg……………..28.95%….1.11%….25.70%……43.51%………100.00%

    month’s change……..1,501……….84…..2,054……12,890……………9,665

    6 month change…… -1,635……. 355……5,975…… 82,139……… 75,932

    Since 11/1/2020……. -4,448….. 1,378… -29,391….. 149,983……. 119,837

    • ParkHill says:
      November 2, 2021 at 12:55 PM MDT

      It’s important to remember that the 43.5% of Unaffiliateds:

       – 10 pts true UNFs, mostly who don’t vote
       – 20 pts REP sympathisers who always vote REP.
       – 20 pts DEM sympathisers who always vote DEM.

      Party loyalty and nationalization of the Party brands pretty much dominates anything else. The Democratic Party suffers from poor brand strategy and ineffective marketing. The Republican Party benefits from extremist news sources and heavy investment from billionaire oil executives.

      One  gleam of hope is that educated voters are moving to the Dems. Which show how ridiculous PP’s comments are.

      The other gleam of hope is that young people tend Democrat. Old, White people tend to vote Republican, which is exactly the demographic dying off from Covid and, well, old age. Colorado will remain solid Democrat due to in-migration of educated younger voters, although this growth is concentrated in Urban and Suburban areas.

      • ParkHill says:
        November 2, 2021 at 12:57 PM MDT

        Also, voting registration numbers are a lagging indicator. Republican voters get pissed off that the Party has been taken over by the Trump and Qanon faction, but that doesn't mean that they immediately run out and change their affiliation.

        See for example some of our friends, here.

  9. davebarnes says:
    November 2, 2021 at 1:16 PM MDT

    Go to your local election office and use the powers of your Bill Gates' microchips to change the vote totals in the Dominion machines.

  10. Genghis says:
    November 2, 2021 at 7:01 PM MDT

    Not bad thus far. All three of those state questions are getting the ass kicking they so richly deserve. In my little corner of the world, the good guys are looking like winners in the mayoral and city council races. Looks like we're going to get ranked choice voting in future mayor and council elections. The good guys are also winning he Boulder Valley School District races.

  11. kwtree says:
    November 2, 2021 at 7:58 PM MDT

    The Jeffco Kids Slate is winning the school board race so far. 
     

    In Douglas County, the conservative slate of school board candidates is winning. Sucks for you, DougCo.

    In Denver, the union-backed candidates are leading. Cheers!

    In Aurora, two of Coffman’s cronies ( Sundberg and Zvonek) have comfortable leads in their City Council races. Sorry, Aurora.

    In Lakewood, all the candidates that Ed Perlmutter endorsed are leading in their City Council races. Ed declined to endorse the candidate for Lakewood Ward 4, Christopher Arlen.
    That lack, plus a massive smear campaign by the partisan rag the Lakewood Watchdog, has given the victory to Ed’s biking buddy and COVID misinformation
    spreader, political gadfly Rich Olver. We can hope that the early returns will turn around, but….
    Sorry, Ward 4. Just another “moderate” white male for you. 

     

     

  12. JeffcoDemo says:
    November 2, 2021 at 8:24 PM MDT

    Golden Recreational Pot Retail Stores

    Yes 2,387

    No 2,377

    Voting counts.

  13. RepealAndReplace says:
    November 2, 2021 at 9:24 PM MDT

    Here we go again.

    In 1992, we elected a centrist Democrat who promptly embraced a single-payer health care system. After being bombarded with the Harry and Louise commercials in 1994, we got 12 years of Newt Gingrich, Denny Hastert, Bob Dole and Trent Lott.

    In 2008, Obama ran as a non-ideologue bringing us hope and change. We got the ACA which begot us the Tea Party and eight years of John Boner, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.

    In 2020, Biden ran on competency and compassion which made for a nice contrast with the grifter pushing UV lightbulbs and bleach as a cure for the virus. In 2021, we were told we needed a large, transformational human infrastructure bill and come hell or high water, we're going to enact it.

    If NJ and VA are a sign of the future, 2022 is gonna be bad.

    Sadly, the dogs aren't eating the dog food we are offering. 

     

    • MattC says:
      November 3, 2021 at 6:06 AM MDT

      The House midterms are going to suck.

      The Senate (and the federal judiciary) and the governors and state houses are where gains will be made and lost.

      AZ – Senator Kelly must be re-elected. It is looking good so far. Not one R of the eight or nine announced or rumored in the primary have any name rec.

      GA – Senator Warnock appears to have a tougher hill to slog. (Of course, he lives in Georgia.)  If AZ keeps going like it is, I plan to move to GA in the spring and volunteer.

      • Phoenix Rising says:
        November 3, 2021 at 11:24 AM MDT

        Positive movement on the BBB bill over the past two days could reverse this. Yesterday we got Medicare drug pricing back, and today it sounds like a reduced 4-week paid leave was added back in.

        Warnock knows his chances ride on progressive results from BBB.

        And we'll have Supreme Court rulings on abortion to use as a lens. Even if the Court leaves Roe and Casey intact, we get a boost – or, rather, R voters will be demoralized by the ruling with their clear majority betraying them. A bad ruling for abortion should be the wake-up call too many have been snoozing.

      • RepealAndReplace says:
        November 3, 2021 at 2:25 PM MDT

        Kelly probably could still win this, especially if some nut job is his opponent.

        I'm afraid Warnock will have a much tougher time. The MAGA-voters will vote for him even if they have in video beating the crap out of his ex-wife.

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