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Comments
-- third parties are not the
-- third parties are not the answer --
Wow. If Weenietown needs a new mayor, they picked the right exact moment in history.
Big news
....for Evan.
Or maybe
The Democratic party became Evan Falchuk, The party itself doesn't have many democrats left in it.
I wonder
What seat he's going to run for?
Hmmm
Is he becoming apart of the solution or becoming apart of the problem......
Solution I think
He's someone who appears to be genuinely interested in having a good, effective government. Now, maybe he work for that goal if elected or maybe not but in comparison to hacks like Deleo, Murphy, Sciaccia, Moran and countless others, at least he's approaching it from the 'how can this work better for the people' vs. 'how can this work better for me' perspective.
Could be he's a grandstanding pointless hack like Jill Stein, but I think not based on his actions.
Third parties are for losers
What they often do is enable victory for the opposite side of their political spectrum. Until and unless we have a true democracy where the winners always get more than 50 percent of the vote, they almost always hurt the causes that their advocates stand for.
Stein took votes away from H. Clinton.Trump won with less than 50% of the vote (not to mention the anti- democracy Electoral College victory)
Nader took votes away from Gore in 2000. Neither Gore nor Bush got 50%, and Bush won the anti-democracy Electoral College)
Perot took away votes from Bush in 1992. B. Clinton won with 43 of the popular vote.
Same thing for independents with no party affiliation. In a 3 way races with no runoff, Lepage won 2 elections in Maine, each with less than 50% of the vote.
Third Parties may be a good idea if and only if we move as a country/state/city towards elections (and if necessary) runoff elections, where more than 50% of the vote is required for victory. Otherwise they just screw things up and elect someone who does not have the support of the majority.
The same principal infects our primary elections. So often we have a primary winner in a multiple candidate race who wins with 20-30 % of the vote. A runoff election would determine the candidate that the majority of the voters want.
until they replace the failed 2nd party
There are a few situations where independent candidates have successfully run, bypassing the primary to go directly to voters and then switching back. That happened in Dedham a few years ago because the candidate was so strong he did not need to bother with the primary where he would be subject to low, highly-partisan turnout.
What needs to happen on a much larger scale is replacement of the current Democratic party with new blood and effective leadership. At some point, while you might agree with a lot of the ideas of the current Democratic establishment, you gotta ask how can I continue to support a party that gave us candidates like Shannon O'Brien (Romney elected!), Martha Coakley (Scott Brown elected and Health Care Reform nearly killed), and narrowly "delivered" Massachusetts to Hillary Clinton in the primary (What would have been if Bernie had won the nomination??).
Every time people being up
Every time people being up Independents in Maine I feel obligated to come point out that LePage was elected due to a split electorate yes, but Cutler(I) had nearly double the votes of Mitchel (D) in 2010.
It was a 4 way race which an independent nearly won, not a "Independent stole votes from the Dems" race.
The 4th place candidate had enough votes to have pushed the election to Cutler.
Who cares
Baker has this thing in the bag...
True.
Healey isn't going to run.
I wouldn't be so sure
Ask Hillary Supporters how well that attitude turned out for her.....
Well
Hillary was never in such a strong position as Baker is currently during her entire campaign. (Her favorables were highest when she wasn't running.)
It's true things could change, but Hillary was never anywhere close as strong as Baker is now. Bakers only real vulnerability is if Trumps becomes so toxic that not even 51% of the state would vote for an (R) in any election, irrespective of the candidate.
Baker is not tied to Trump.
He didn't vote for him. He doesn't support any Trump policy as far as I can tell.
That is a spineless move.
That is a spineless move.
So he didn't vote for the guy. What did he do to help stop him? It was that twisted logic that has undone many a Republican from MA.
As much as we all say we want bipartisan cooperation, elections are the time that people are supposed to be partisan. You pick sides, you push, you vote. All Charlie did was step back and put his hands in the air. That is not leadership.
Words from Bizzaroland
You're putting way too much thought into this.
two things
1. We live in Bizzaroland right now, anything and everything is possible now.
2. Think of the old phrase "Don't count your chickens before they hatch". It applies here.
Great to see Falchuk agreeing with Trump on so many things
Despite the obligatory criticism of President Trump, Falchuck almost gets it. He seems to agree with Trump on a number of issues. I don't know much about him but he may be moderate enough to beat Baker, if a moderate could ever again emerge from the MA Democrat primary. Like the president, Falchuk calls for a complete overhaul of our health care system, destroyed by the Democrat party in 2010. He shares Trump's pledge to spend tax money wisely. Both also advocate for infrastructure spending and a more cautious use of our military abroad.
Sadly, where Falchuck and most Democrats fail is the view of the class war. It's not the middle class vs. billionaires, it's "the makers vs the takers."
While I usually dismiss third party candidates, 2018 may have been Falchuck's best chance as the 1,000,000+ Trump voters in MA will be looking for an option other than Baker and the likely extremist that the Dems will nominate.
I think Baker is hoping for a
I think Baker is hoping for a primary challenge so the Republicans get it out of their system. If a Trumpish candidate does an independent run then he is doomed.
How will Baker react to a Trumpish candidate running against Warren? Jeff Diehl is mentioned in the Herald today. Schilling still intends to run. Will be interesting.
You mean
Falchuck is talking about issues that Trump used to dupe his marks/suckers into voting for him, but has absolutely no interest in actually fixing beyond playing to their moronic prejudices and bigoted scapegoating impulses (that will of course produce NO CHANGES in their lives).
Enjoy that free healthcare while it lasts, fishbrain. And that vanishing pension, too.
Zero Sources...
This comment is null and void. Good day to you, madam.
Wrong-o, Dougie
Show us your sources for why she's wrong. Everything she said is either common knowledge or soon will come to pass.
Strict guidelines....
Swirly goes crazy if people post things without citing multiple reputable sources (ie has to be left wing). I never stated whether she's right or wrong, the comment is null and void until she cites her sources.
The Queen should abide by her own guidelines - I'm really just trying to prevent anarchy here.
EDIT: What sources would be suitable to back up something that "soon will come to pass?" Articles like the ones which predicted Hillary would win by a landslide?
Do you even vote?
Falchuck's campaign was all over those bread-and-butter economic issues.
Not my fault that you weren't paying attention. https://ballotpedia.org/Evan_Falchuk
As for 45, you clearly aren't paying attention to the swamp scum being installed or what he and his non-elected sith lords are actually doing versus saying.
Enjoy picking crops when you take back "your job" from immigrants, dear.
I do vote...
Wasn't saying anything was your fault - just making sure things are properly sourced. If not, things could get out of hand around here.
"How come Andrew gets to get up? If he gets up, we'll all get up! It'll be anarchy!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXnvTwRBrgc
That's nice dear
You also post BratFart stories about Boston that are 96% lies as if they were objective reality.
I'd say you should stick to your day job, but you don't appear to have one.
BratFart?
I'm guessing that's a witty way to say Breitbart - I've never actually posted something from them, ever, but if it makes you feel better to say that.....go for it.
I had to resign once Trump was elected - work became too frightening. I've been touring Sanctuary cities and college campuses partaking in protests, cry-ins, die-ins, blocking traffic, petting therapy dogs, wearing vagina hats on my head, playing with play-doh, coloring books, etc...standard stuff, really.
Want to join us? It's a real hoot.
Welcome!
As a Democrat, I welcome Mr. Falchuk to the party. I hope others will join too.
Are the elected Democrats imperfect? You bet. Let's call them out when they drop the ball, just as we call out President Trump or Governor Baker or our local mayor or city councilor or selectperson.
And let's use the entire time between elections to do that. But, come election time, let's recognize that votes matter and that for state-wide, congressional, senate, and POTUS elections, it's going to be a Repubilcan or a Democrat who wins, so show up and vote for the one of those two who you think will do the best job going forward.
Call them out how?
The current MA local system is terribly broken. Should I come to the West Rox. progressive meetings where we can all talk a good talk only to see Sen. Rush, Rep. Sanchez, Rep. Lynch and Walsh all easily re-elected without opposition? Seriously, what is the point of that? Or should I put my efforts into a voter referendum issue like pot legalization only to see corrupt hacks in the Senate block implementation through backroom procedural moves?
I remember there was a lot of interest in the open Register of Deeds office. Lots of qualified and motivated people ran and the local Democratic party ensured that their inside choice, Steve Murphy won. And then they gave him a pay raise to boot. Nice work - you must be pretty happy how that worked out for us.
I've given tons (for me) of money to Democrats who seem to represent good things for us, locally, regionally or nationally. I've yet to read or hear a good explanation why it makes any sense to work with the Democratic party at a local level in Roslindale though. I'd actually love to hear one. Do I get to do a phone bank for Mike Rush? Put a Steve Murphy sign in my yard? It's all bread and circuses while Deleo, Rosenburg and Baker work stuff out behind closed doors.