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ti-amie United States of America
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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1276

Post by ti-amie »

“Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.” Albert Einstein
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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1277

Post by ti-amie »

Finger-pointing after a far-right candidate prevails

By Blake Hounshell
Editor, On Politics

The aftershocks of Tuesday’s big primaries are still rumbling across Pennsylvania, but one impact is already clear: Republican voters’ choice of Doug Mastriano in the governor’s race is giving the G.O.P. fits.

Conversations with Republican strategists, donors and lobbyists in and outside of Pennsylvania in recent days reveal a party seething with anxiety, dissension and score-settling over Mastriano’s nomination.

In the run-up to Tuesday night, Republicans openly used words and phrases like “suicide mission,” “disaster” and “voyage of the Titanic” to convey just what a catastrophe they believed his candidacy will be for their party.

An adviser to several Republican governors, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there was wide displeasure with the outcome, calling him unelectable. The Mastriano campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Some in Pennsylvania blame Jeff Yass, a billionaire options trader and the state’s most powerful donor, for sticking with Bill McSwain for governor despite Donald Trump’s blistering anti-endorsement; others point the finger at Lawrence Tabas, the state party chairman, for failing to clear the field; still others say that Trump should have stayed out of the race altogether instead of endorsing Mastriano. Tabas did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

An 11th-hour effort to stop Mastriano failed when both McSwain and Dave White, a self-funding candidate who spent at least $5 million of his own money, refused to drop out and support former Representative Lou Barletta, whose supporters insisted he was the more viable option.

Many Republicans thought that idea was futile and far too late; several said a serious effort to prevent Mastriano from winning should have begun last summer, while others said that Yass and his allies could have dropped McSwain sooner.

“Had they kept their powder dry, they could have seen the lay of the land, when Mastriano’s lead was 8-10, and backed Barletta,” said Sam Katz, a former Republican candidate for governor who now backs Josh Shapiro, the Democratic nominee.

“Had they spent $5 million in three weeks, they might have forced Trump to make a different choice and changed everything,” Katz added.

Mastriano had amassed nearly 45 percent of the vote as of Wednesday afternoon.

Matthew Brouillette, head of Commonwealth Partners, which bankrolled McSwain’s campaign, noted that his organization also backed Carrie DelRosso, who won the lieutenant governor’s race. He said the criticism was coming largely from “consultants and rent-seekers who don’t like us as we disrupt their gravy trains.”

Ties to Jan. 6 and QAnon
Mastriano’s vulnerabilities are legion, G.O.P. operatives lament.

The state senator and retired U.S. Army colonel has taken a hard line on abortion, which he has said should be illegal under all circumstances. He organized buses to Washington for the Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington and can be seen on video crossing police lines at the Capitol as the rally became a riot. He has also been a leading advocate of the baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

Mastriano’s name has appeared in documents released by the committee investigating the Capitol riot, and he claims to have been in close personal contact with Trump about their shared drive to overturn President Biden’s victory. In February, the committee demanded “documents and information that are relevant to the select committee’s investigation” in a letter to Mastriano. He has refused to say whom he would appoint as secretary of state, a critical position overseeing election infrastructure and voting.

Mastriano has appeared at events linked to QAnon, the amorphous conspiracy theory that alleges there is a secret cabal of elite pedophiles running the federal government and other major U.S. institutions. He also has made statements that veer into Islamophobia.

He is likely to be an especially weak candidate in the crowded suburbs around Philadelphia, the state’s most important political battleground. On the other side of the state, the editorial page of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has already all but officially endorsed Shapiro as “the only statewide candidate who did everything the Pennsylvania way.”

Operatives in both parties expect Shapiro to blitz Mastriano with advertising portraying him as a dangerous extremist while Mastriano’s shoestring organization struggles to raise money.

Even before Mastriano clinched the nomination, Shapiro’s campaign aired an ad highlighting his views on abortion and the 2020 election as well as his ties to Trump, who lost the state to Biden by 80,000 votes.

Mastriano gave scant indication during Tuesday’s victory speech that he was ready to shift toward a more palatable general election message. Listing his early priorities as governor, he said, “mandates are gone,” “any jab for job requirements are gone,” critical race theory is “over,” “only biological females can play on biological female teams” and “you can only use the bathroom that your biological anatomy says.”

The Mastriano matchup also plays to Shapiro’s carefully cultivated image as a fighter for democracy, though his campaign plans to focus primarily on bread-and-butter economic issues such as jobs, taxes and inflation.

As attorney general, Shapiro was directly involved in the Pennsylvania government’s litigation after the 2020 election, and oversaw at least 40 cases of alleged voter fraud — winning every single one.

Wait-and-see mode
Will national Republicans help Mastriano or shun him? Right now, the major players in governor’s races appear to be waiting to see how the race develops before making that determination.

Some Republicans believe the national “tailwinds” blowing in their favor might help Mastriano win despite all of his weaknesses, but for now, Democrats are thrilled to be facing him in November. They note that Shapiro performed better than Biden did in Pennsylvania during his re-election race as state attorney general, and expect Shapiro to be flooded with donations from in and outside the state.

On Tuesday night, the Republican Governors Association issued a lukewarm statement acknowledging Mastriano’s victory, but suggesting he was on his own for now.

“Republican voters in Pennsylvania have chosen Doug Mastriano as their nominee for governor,” Executive Director Dave Rexrode said. “The R.G.A. remains committed to engaging in competitive gubernatorial contests where our support can have an impact.”

The statement left room for the possibility that the G.O.P. governors might help Mastriano should the Pennsylvania race be close in the fall.

“We make those decisions based on where we think we can be effective,” Gov. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, the co-chairman of the governors’ group, said on CNN on Sunday. “Our policy has long been we get involved in races where we think we can win. So, that candidate, whoever gets elected in Pennsylvania, will have to show that they’re going to make it a good race.”

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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1278

Post by ponchi101 »

But, this IS the Republican party. This is what they stand for: a time machine to go back to 1905.
Why not choose a candidate that truly represents their platform?
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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1279

Post by dryrunguy »

Just an observation of the part of PA where I live. The Mastriano signs in yards around here have been there for several months. But they didn't increase in recent weeks as the primary approached. And no other Republican governor candidate signs started popping up. Mastriano won my county by the second largest margin (77%) in Commonwealth of PA voting results.

The only county in PA that he won by a larger margin was Fulton County, which neighbors us to the south (80%).

Meanwhile, Oz appears to have won my county by a narrow margin over Barnette (!!!!!!!). I don't get it. It's more than just a Trump thing here.
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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1280

Post by ti-amie »



“Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.” Albert Einstein
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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1281

Post by JazzNU »

The GOPs in PA are delusional about that governor race. Lou Barletta, who they are mad other candidates didn't drop out and endorse, got his hat handed to him he last time PA elected a senator. He's aggressively racist, did all kinds of ish to weed out immigrants in Hazelton when he was the mayor there. That they think that he was the key to winning against a very likable and well known Democratic candidate with overwhelming support in the most populous part of the state is a joke. Lou couldn't beat the solid, but very boring Bob Casey Jr.. Bill McSwain was the guy they needed to rally around as the most palatable to independents, but will they admit that? I assume doing so would draw the ire of TFG since he blames Bill for not doing something (which he didn't have the power to do) to overturn the PA results.

And it's truly laughable that they started panicking in the last 3 weeks, when this has been in the cards for months. Even the people they convinced to drop out of the race were convinced to do so so late in the game they were still on the ballot. They really didn't think much through, it's rather bizarre how they were caught unaware about any of this.
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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1282

Post by ti-amie »

There was a map last night that showed all the counties Fetterman won. The opted to use purple. It reminded me the children's book about the purple crayon.
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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1283

Post by ponchi101 »

ti-amie wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 2:13 am

They vote against laws to fight domestic terrorism because that is what they themselves do.
By that I mean: the GOP has two positions. Vote for us and lets us be the government, which implies all the lunatic policies or lack of real policies to govern, or don't vote for us and we will block all legislation that would make the country better.
It is basically holding the country hostage.
But... her e-mails and Hunter Biden's laptop.
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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1284

Post by ti-amie »

“Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.” Albert Einstein
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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1285

Post by ti-amie »

“Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.” Albert Einstein
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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1286

Post by ponchi101 »

If this is not a call for arms and violence, I don't know what is.
The USA is basically in a cold-civil war. This is a schism of society. Perhaps the sole good thing will be that the GOP will be fractured and will melt for a while.
But of course, none of that will work unless people start looking at this administration properly, and see what they have done. Which is not insignificant.
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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1287

Post by ti-amie »

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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1288

Post by ponchi101 »

And, excuse be, why should the Saudis or for that matter, anybody else that produces oil, start pumping more oil to DROP the prices? In 2020, when the price of oil went into negative, the reply from all consumer countries was "that's the way of the market". And in 2015, when the price first dropped below $100, crashing all the way to $25, the consumers said "that's the way of the market". Producers had to fend for themselves.
Well, with a war going on in Ukraine, this is the way of the market too.
People have to ask themselves: why is it that in 2022, with the price at $110, gas in the USA is at $4.50, but in 2014, with the price at $135, the price of gas was at $3.25. How is that the fault of MBS and all the other bastard producers?
Don't get me wrong. MBS is a despicable human being, as is the entire Saudi regime. But, who is he going to talk with about cheap oil? The countries of Europe and the USA, constantly talking about cutting consumption, or with fellow criminal climate change deniers?
I can't be objective here; my last job was in Dec 2019, and in Feb this year, 4 projects were proposed to me. NONE came through. Why? Because oil companies have decided not to invest anything else on exploration or development of fields, anywhere in the world. Colombia's production is down to 600K BB/Day (from 1MM). Argentina's last exploration project was the one I was in, in Dec 2019. The main exploration company there is in Chapter 11, bankrupt due to lack of work. Bolivia is running out of gas; no projects are planned.
Yes, it is political. But the world is still consuming 100MM BB/day, and the producers are recouping their "losses" from the last two years. Because that is the way of the market. The USA decided not to invest anymore on land. The EU has not done more in the North Sea. S. America simply is a place where you can't do business. It is not so simple as "Tiny et al are criminals". It goes deeper than that statement (which is true).
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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1289

Post by patrick »

ti-amie wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 12:43 am
The Saudi refusal, I think, go back when Russia, Saudi Arabia and 45's administration made an agreement to slow or stop production as oil prices were going down due to people staying home during the heights of the pandemic.
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Re: Politics Random, Random

#1290

Post by ti-amie »

irony is truly dead.

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