Nov. 24 Open Thread: The Centrists Cannot Hold

Filed in National, Open Thread by on November 24, 2018

Surrender-happy centrist Democrats continue to believe the country can’t run without their wisdom, so let’s look at a prime example of how wrong they are: Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, the +8 R district that Jon Ossoff almost won in a much-watched 2017 special election. The winner of that election, Karen Handel, lost on Nov. 6 to Lucy McBath, who came from far back to win a three-way primary (this story from May gives you a good idea of how little chance she was given), then ignored conventional wisdom and ran an unapologetically progressive campaign.

Here’s another positive sign centrism is on the ropes: the Five White Guys campaign to Dump Pelosi looks to be um, petering out. Even better, it’s a sign that the power in the party is shifting to Pelosi’s left, not her right.

Rumors of the GOP’s death are not being exaggerated. In New York, the party crashed and burned at the state level, to the point where one insider said, “Someday the Republican Party might come back. But, of course, someday we’ll also have flying cars and personal jet packs.”

Well, maybe not. We might not be around that long. The White House tried its best to bury it, but the National Climate Assessment released on Black Friday provides all the evidence anyone should need that climate change is not a future challenge but a present one.

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  1. bamboozer says:

    “Unapologetic progressives” can win, several have and I’m hoping for more in the future. The key is unapologetic, be proud of what you are and what you want to do, truth is progressive ideas sell a lot better than the party elite like to admit. Unfortunately Mark Twain would judge the demise of the Republicans in New York as highly exaggerated, talk about a bummer.

    • puck says:

      An Election Day holiday will become the anchor of a four-day getaway weekend. Anybody who can afford to will go on vacation instead of staying home to vote.

  2. Jason330 says:

    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Wants to Replace Columbus Day With Holiday for Election Day

    While I would disagree with your complaint that Americans get too much vacation time (we work some of the longest hours of any dev country & have no Fed required paid leave),

    I am willing to compromise by eliminating Columbus Day to give Election Day off.

    See? I can be pliant.

    Makes so much sense it is a wonder nobody has every thought of it.

    • Joshua W says:

      People have thought about it though: it’s a public holiday here in Delaware. The problem is, no one is required to have time off work for holidays except public employees and people who work at banks, which renders making it a holiday pretty much meaningless.

  3. delacrat says:

    “… the Five White Guys campaign to Dump Pelosi looks to be um, petering out. “ – alby

    It’s “petering out” because the campaign is superfluous, considering Pelosi is either onboard with or to the right of the five white guys as evidenced by the linked article.

    “…Pelosi was considering a pledge to not raise taxes on the bottom 80 percent—a promise that would make a number of progressive policy proposals virtually impossible to enact.” – The New Republic

  4. RE Vanella says:

    Amazon reportedly left police in Spain ‘dumbfounded’ by asking them to intervene in a mass warehouse strike and patrol worker productivity

    https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-asked-police-in-spain-to-intervene-warehouse-strike-2018-11

    Pinkertons were unavailable.

  5. Alby says:

    Um, no. All the signers of the document but one are to the right of Pelosi. You’re being purposely obtuse. The articles on this point are thick on the ground; if I don’t link to them, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. You’re just being argumentative and ignoring facts again. That’s not going to make for fruitful discussion. And if you don’t want fruitful discussion, go away.

    And yes, those to her left are going to stop her terrible idea.

    Stop being a dick or you’ll go bye-bye again.

  6. mouse says:

    Am I a progressive, a liberal or a damn radical dammit?