Wednesday, November 05, 2014

 

Election Results!

Here in Minnesota, Al Franken won.  Which is interesting, because he has sent me a series of increasingly alarming emails that made it seem like he just might lose if I didn't send him $5.  Frankly, the amount seemed absurdly small, and the alarm seemed a little artificial.

Back in Waco, it looks like a Republican sweep of everything both statewide and in and around McLennon County.  I've been thinking about the problems with one-party ruleā€¦

What do you think the most important result was?

Comments:
Re: $5 donations and artificial alarm:

You were being prospected. A $5 donation barely covers the cost of processing it, but it would show that you were a likely donor and would get you on a lot of other lists for larger appeals pronto.

I'm not in politics; but used to be in university fundraising, and the principles are exactly the same. It's just marketing. Sorry to say that this is what drives politics these days.
 
Most important result?

For the Democrats, "centrism" lost.


 
glad to read that Al won reelection. Good for him. Kay Hagan sent out the $5 donation e-mails ad nauseum.

Most important result - I'll let you know when I figure it out.
 
One party rule is an interesting thing. It's unfortunately common, though. We tend to think of politics in national terms, where the aisle is clear, but many states and even more municipalities are dominated by a single party.

Here in Philly, watching Democratic primaries is fascinating. In the last mayoral election, the progressive democrat incumbent was blasted with every single epithet leveled against Mitt Romney in 2012 (and a few traditionally reserved for Stalin and Hitler).

Back in Texas, we've seen mainstream Republicans (e.g., Rick Perry, John Cornyn) move further right as an intra-party faction (the Tea Party) has emerged to challenge the status quo.

I would argue that two party jurisdictions tend to moderate both parties. In one party jurisdictions, by contrast, the members of the moving party have to move to the wings to distinguish themselves at election time. And because you Mighty Minnesotans don't get to tell us Fightin' Texans who to vote for, and vice versa (ehem...Franken?), we end up with a national standoff.
 
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