2014 Midterm Election Catch-All

Spend smarter, not harder?

Maybe. If that's the case, it'd be an interesting precedent to show that people can get votes without injecting so much cash into the process. I'd like to see that focused on way more.

Demosthenes wrote:

While Brat may not have spent a lot of money, he had the support of a lot of talking heads for the conservative radio listener, it sounds like. Having a radio personality speak so much to him against Cantor probably didn't hurt and wouldn't have costed him a cent.

Yup. He had the public support of Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, Ann Coulter, and other darlings of the conservative media. It helps a great deal when you have folks like that giving you oodles of free publicity, doubly so when it comes in the form of someone the listener or viewer trusts implicitly saying "vote for this guy" versus an ad.

It also helps a lot that this was in a safe district. No one who voted for Brat needed to worry that a Democrat would would win in Nov. Had they had to weigh that possibility I think many people would have picked a different candidate.

I like the NPR article.

Eric Cantor's collapse what happened?

Once again, in the relatively small turnout of a primary, a determined cadre could overpower the less committed.

oh and this one is enlightening.... Just for the snippet below.

Cantor's-loss-a-bad-omen-for-moderates

One measure of the extraordinary defeat could be seen in the candidate’s finances. Since the beginning of last year, Mr. Cantor’s campaign had spent about $168,637 at steakhouses compared with the $200,000 his challenger, David Brat, had spent on his entire campaign.
JC wrote:

oh and this one is enlightening.... Just for the snippet below.

Cantor's-loss-a-bad-omen-for-moderates

One measure of the extraordinary defeat could be seen in the candidate’s finances. Since the beginning of last year, Mr. Cantor’s campaign had spent about $168,637 at steakhouses compared with the $200,000 his challenger, David Brat, had spent on his entire campaign.

So in other words Cantor is a "job creator" and Brat is a "taker".

What I find amazing is that Cantor's pollster showed him as being up 34 points before the primary. I have to think that either a ton of people stayed home thinking Cantor was a sure thing or this guy is the absolute worst pollster in history. Oh, and an unnamed source has now stated Cantor will be stepping down from his post as majority leader at the end of July. Let the power vacuum begin sucking.

Kehama wrote:

What I find amazing is that Cantor's pollster showed him as being up 34 points before the primary. I have to think that either a ton of people stayed home thinking Cantor was a sure thing or this guy is the absolute worst pollster in history. Oh, and an unnamed source has now stated Cantor will be stepping down from his post as majority leader at the end of July. Let the power vacuum begin sucking.

The question is, how soon until they start pecking away at Boehner too. You know anyone with the cajones to go after House Majority Leader is thinking it's not that big a step up from there to Speaker of the House where you are SOOOOOOOOOO much cooler.

This reminds me of the Romney failure and Karl Rove refusing to accept the facts on tv.

The greater question though is what happens now... Does the GOP continue to eat itself and implode, or do they harness this and come out stronger and more focused with an actual plan to accomplish, legislate and make themselves more appealing to a larger audience of voters for 2014 and 2016.

If the current state of affairs is any indicator, I'm thinking implosion on a grand scale of crazy that we haven't yet seen.

JC wrote:

This reminds me of the Romney failure and Karl Rove refusing to accept the facts on tv.

The greater question though is what happens now... Does the GOP continue to eat itself and implode, or do they harness this and come out stronger and more focused with an actual plan to accomplish, legislate and make themselves more appealing to a larger audience of voters for 2014 and 2016.

If the current state of affairs is any indicator, I'm thinking implosion on a grand scale of crazy that we haven't yet seen.

Yet another example of how the GOP suffers from crippling innumeracy. When the numbers don't agree with your position, get different numbers.

Didn't work out for them this time.

Some of the reporting I have heard emphized that Cantor just did not pay enough attention to the race. He was in Washington doing fundraisers and going to other's fundraisers rather than campaiging in his district.

On the Moderate issue, if Linsey Grahm can pass his primary I think moderates do not have to run in fear.

NormanTheIntern wrote:

I'm not sure I agree with the statement that we say no to everything, but it's not like we haven't been rewarded in the form of seat gains every election since 2008. Not sure why we should change, Teaper or Pub.

Because there is a country to run, and compromise is the only viable path to do that?

Demosthenes wrote:

And how has the Republican party been rewarded in terms of policy gains?

It's so cute people think either party cares about that.

Cantor knew he was in trouble, that's why he spent so much $. The poll they released was intentionally skewed to discourage Brat's voters. Didn't work.

My opinion as a life long Republican is: Cantor got too big for his britches. Nothing pisses off locals more than a politician who is spending most of his time raising his national profile and fundraising for higher office. That's what Cantor was doing. That's why he lost. No Dem spy-voting ops, no Tea Party attacks. Simple.

I don't think it means anything to the upcoming election.

Well, we could take Brat's view and chalk up his election win as "a miracle from God."

I suspect he regards trickle-down economics as "manna from Heaven" and compound interest as "a multitude of blessings."

H.P. Lovesauce wrote:

Well, we could take Brat's view and chalk up his election win as "a miracle from God."

I suspect he regards trickle-down economics as "manna from Heaven" and compound interest as "a multitude of blessings."

Damn it, keyboard. You owe me one, devilsauce!

It's true - he thanked God after winning and he's a Republican which must mean he sees socioeconomic processes as the literal hand of God instead of a complex system of causes and effects.

Alternately you can read the actual dissertation he wrote and draw some informed conclusions.

NormanTheIntern wrote:

It's true - he thanked God after winning and he's a Republican which must mean he sees socioeconomic processes as the literal hand of God instead of a complex system of causes and effects.

Alternately you can read the actual dissertation he wrote and draw some informed conclusions.

Or you could read a wikipedia page about the post in question.

NormanTheIntern wrote:

It's true - he thanked God after winning and he's a Republican which must mean he sees socioeconomic processes as the literal hand of God instead of a complex system of causes and effects.

Alternately you can read the actual dissertation he wrote and draw some informed conclusions.

Ok, first I will admit I didn't read the whole thing - I jumped to the conclusion, but did you read it at all because it seems to not do deal with socioeconomic processes at all.

In conclusion, the secondary literature relating Protestant effects to the rise of sciences is vast. The complexity of the issues itself leads authors in directions ranging from Weberian psychological theories to theories of State formation. The literature has not, however, synthesizes its conclusions on this matter in a cross-county context. The present essay has provide a context within which one may begin go make these cross-country comparisons. By focusing on the key channels in the rise of science in the nineteenth century, this essay allows us to compare apples to apples as it were.

So how do that relate?

The argument is that Protestantism's view of science leads to better economic and educational outcomes than other religions (in this case, Catholicism) - essentially the opposite of "GOD MAKES INTEREST IN MY SAVINGS ACCOUNT"

The literature has not, however, synthesizes its conclusions on this matter in a cross-county context.

Holy verb-tense and subject verb agreement issues, Batman!

Seriously, that one quoted section from Farley has me in a state of absolute refusal to read the full text. That single paragraph is all over the place both grammatically and, apparently, thematically. I don't even know what he's trying to say, but I sense he feels he made a point by the end... and... I can't even begin to imagine what it was because there's stuff about science, States, and... what?

NormanTheIntern wrote:

The argument is that Protestantism's view of science leads to better economic and educational outcomes than other religions (in this case, Catholicism) - essentially the opposite of "GOD MAKES INTEREST IN MY SAVINGS ACCOUNT"

...while I can't speak for HP... I'm pretty sure it was a joke.

H.P. Lovesauce wrote:

Well, we could take Brat's view and chalk up his election win as "a miracle from God."

I suspect he regards trickle-down economics as "manna from Heaven" and compound interest as "a multitude of blessings."

It's worse. He's president of the campus Ayn Rand fan club.

OG_slinger wrote:
H.P. Lovesauce wrote:

Well, we could take Brat's view and chalk up his election win as "a miracle from God."

I suspect he regards trickle-down economics as "manna from Heaven" and compound interest as "a multitude of blessings."

It's worse. He's president of the campus Ayn Rand fan club.

Is this guy a Christian because it seems that he is.

Could someone enlighten me how Randian thought is at all compatable with Christianity. Last time I looked Christ did not charge for healings and, according to many Protestant theologies Salvation is a free gift from God, through his grace, bestowed upon believers, and Christ died on the cross, not for his sake but for humanity's.

Perhaps your minds are more flexable than mine in being able to mash these two together.

Look everyone goes through phases in college - drugs, hazing, obectivism, ivory smuggling... we've all experimented, am I right.

Compulsive pie making . . .

I look forward to hear what he has to say about women

IMAGE(http://37.media.tumblr.com/3702639a928243eab2fdaa1ebb38362b/tumblr_n718fc80SI1rr5t33o1_500.jpg)

Everyone knows the GOP is afraid of aliens.

OG_slinger wrote:

Everyone knows the GOP is afraid of aliens.

HA! Even better than the interpretation of A Good Cartoon.