MI Governor 2018

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Abdul did not even vote in the primary so why are Bernie people lining up behind him?

"fight teh evulz establishMENTAL"

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Abdul did not even vote in the primary so why are Bernie people lining up behind him?

"fight teh evulz establishMENTAL"

Maybe, just maybe, it's not about Bernie, but instead the ideals and policies Bernie supported?

That's why so many of you guys like Tulsi Gabbard, right? 

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Abdul did not even vote in the primary so why are Bernie people lining up behind him?

"fight teh evulz establishMENTAL"

Maybe, just maybe, it's not about Bernie, but instead the ideals and policies Bernie supported?

That's why so many of you guys like Tulsi Gabbard, right?  

1) $*&(@ Tulsi Gabbard.

2) I caucused for Hillary, so I don't know who your "you" is referring to.

Sorry, I seem to have misinterpreted your post.  I thought you were saying Sanders supporters are only concerned about ideals and policies.  Many Sanders supporters are (myself among them), but there are definitely some who are basically personality cultists who support people like Gabbard just b/c they endorsed Sanders in 2016.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

‘Racist Attack’ Stirs Democratic Feud In Michigan Governor’s Race

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Peters passed.

Good

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

What's so infuriating about this race is that Abdul El-Sayed is so almost-to-the-point-of-absurdity amazing, yet Shri Thanedar is also apparently Extremely Good as evidenced by his call for a blanket ban on charter schools. Neither will win, though, so it's irrelevant in practice.

A blanket ban would be a big mistake and I say that as someone who is generally not a fan of charter schools (it also suggests that Thanedar is far more interested in tossing red meat to the base than actually governing which is never a good sign).  There are a lot of bad charter schools and the industry needs to be much more heavily regulated, but there some which really do help folks who wouldn’t get the individualized attention they need in the public school system and we shouldn’t punish them for the sins of the bad charter schools.  For example, there is one in Franklin County, OH that has been doing really great work with special needs kids and managed to take some kids who couldn’t even function in public and get them to the point where they can go to decent colleges.

As for El-Sayed, I gotta say I’m not exactly impressed given that he apparently failed to make sure he met the residency requirements before getting in the race.  Imagine if he was nominated and then found ineligible after overseas ballots had already gone out?  It’d be a disaster and he should drop out just to avoid that risk, tbh. 

Whitmer has been a solid fundraiser, has a base outside of Detroit, seems to be running a solid campaign, and is the only Democrat running who can beat Schuette.  Not only would Schuette be a right-wing Governor (and quite possibly even more anti-union than Snyder), but this will be a really important race for the next round of redistricting.  Winning the governorship is our best chance to force a fair map in a Democratic-leaning state whose current congressional map is among the worst Republican gerrymanders in the country (along with OH, the old PA map, NC, although WI and TX are also pretty bad).  Given that if El-Sayed or Thaneder got nominated, we’d be looking at a 2010-sized win for Schuette, I’d think progressives would be rallying around Whitmer. 

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Wasn't sure where else to put this and I wasn't sure a state AG race merited a new topic, but Dana Nessel has beaten Pat Miles for the AG nomination at the Michigan Dem convention. Seems like a bit of an upset, since Miles was backed by the UAW and the party establishment.

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/04/michigan_democratic_party_endo.html

Congrats, MI Dems.  Y’all just threw away a winnable race.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Bernie is very popular in...Ohio.

Lol totally false. Take a look at the 2016 primary map sometime; Ohioans from almost all counties across the state, from Appalachia, from the big cities, from the Mahoning Valley all joined together to vote against him (and it's not like Hillary is very well liked.) Anecdotally, almost no older adults I know like him, and even many young people are like "too liberal" or "he's a socialist" (and these aren't Republicans.) Populism works here, but it's gotta be the right kinda populism. His policies were less an issue than his image/branding (although being anti-fracking doesn't play well in Ohio at all if we're being honest.)

Thank you for saying this. This is why I never bought the idea that he would somehow easily win the industrial midwest in the general election just because both he and Trump are "anti-establishment populists."

(Former) Democrats were switching parties to vote for Trump in the Republican primary. If Bernie was so dang appealing they wouldn't have done that. I'm pretty populist myself and I didn't like him much; he seemed out of touch with Ohio values. I will say 2018 Bernie is much better than 2016 Bernie, but he still doesn't really "get it" even though he has good intentions and is in many ways a positive influence on the party.

Sherrod Brown has fairly similar policies to Bernie but is well liked by a broad variety of people, including many Trump voters. He focuses on jobs instead of free college and he seems like a regular Midwestern guy instead of a coastal elite. People are also convinced he's a moderate even though he's one of the most liberal senators. He strikes the perfect balance between being willing to compromise and work bipartisanly to get stuff done and standing up for his values.
.
Now Michigan, idk about them. We're similar in some ways but not exactly the same; they seem a bit less staid and conservative. My wild guess is that Bernie would've done slightly better with white voters there, but that black voter turnout would be so low that he loses there anyway. I could be wrong though. He definitely would've lost Pennsylvania regardless so it's a moot point.

At this point, and contrary to what I felt several months ago, debating over whether Bernie would have won is moot point. It's like debating whether Reagan would have won had he been the nominee in 1976. With that said, polling does suggest that Bernie Sanders is the most popular major politician in the country (although Joe Biden polls better - he doesn't really constitute as a politician anymore at least he jumps in the 2020 race), and with the right conditions, is well suited to win the Midwest that Obama won twice, once with little difficulty, so to act like he's a fringe candidate lives in a bubble. 

Back on subject somewhat, is Whitmer's candidacy a dumpster fire or has she just not hit the airways yet? We can't afford to lose this race.

Whitmer hasn’t hit the airwaves yet, she’ll be fine barring Russian meddling.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Considering how Dana Nessel implied that "all men are sexual predators", and "women are never sexual predators" in one of the dumbest campaign advertisements ever, both of which are completely false statements with numerous counterexamples, I am really annoyed that she was nominated.

This, plus Pat Miles was a solid candidate.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Watching the Michigan Democrats throw away the AG race is fun.

Kinda like watching the Republican Party throw away both houses of Congress?

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Thanedar’s latest ad is one of the worst I’ve ever seen:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=IEw1q1Tgy2s

Wow, that guy's ugliness actually scared me after the balloon pop. Also, what the hell with that hair!?

Thanywise!

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Apparently El-Sayed's rallies with Ocasio-Cortez in Grand Rapids and Flint attracted large crowds.




Is this a sign of late-stage momentum for El-Sayed? Seems like Whitmer's been getting too comfortable lately and as we saw in 2016, Michigan has room for surprises.

Nope.  Also, you do realize El-Sayed would very likely be thrown off the ballot if nominated, right?

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Apparently El-Sayed's rallies with Ocasio-Cortez in Grand Rapids and Flint attracted large crowds.




Is this a sign of late-stage momentum for El-Sayed? Seems like Whitmer's been getting too comfortable lately and as we saw in 2016, Michigan has room for surprises.

Nope.  Also, you do realize El-Sayed would very likely be thrown off the ballot if nominated, right?

Why would that be? It cant be because hes illegible to run, cause he was already challenged, and won.

It was only a decision by the SOS, Republicans would likely appeal it and try to get the case decided by the state Supreme Court which has a 5-2 GOP majority.

https://twitter.com/DanaHoule/status/1013837681867059201

But it was Thanedar that brought these charges up, and he could just dismiss them. Of course, he is an opportunistic jerk, so he could always keep it up.
Also, if this is appealed, especially to the SC, I can see them re-granting the rights for Abdul to run.
And this assumes that the judges on the MISC would do this, considering many are running for reelection, and this would easily be used against them.

They would definitely do this and Thanedar isn’t the only one with standing here.