I’d say it’s more like further marginalization of the Republican Party more than polarization.
If your main issue is racism/misogyny, then today’s Republican Party is for you. The rest of us have better things to do than find common ground with you.
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I guess you can’t expect unreasonable people (Trump voters) to suddenly realize they got played.
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You know, I ran that by my wife the other day, replacing Biden with Bernie, you know …Bernie/Beto! I was gonna post it here but the shit storm and mass hysteria might be too much for TPM’s IBM servers.
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It won’t get better until the right wing media quits manufacturing thought bubbles.
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“Republican suburban districts rejected the president’s party in droves…Democrats failed to make much of a comeback in most of the rural areas…”
Sorry TPM, but this is not “hyper-polarization of the American electorate”.
This is the majority of voters, GOP establishment, mainstream media, and historical norms on one side.
With Trump’s base, GOP bomb-throwers, Fox, and (literal) tiki-torch-wielding Nazis on the other.
Election after election, Democratic votes far outnumber Republican ones nationally.
Yet, a political minority shamelessly exploits our system to annul the Will of the People:
- Gerrymandered districts return GOP representatives.
- Sprawling, empty red states return GOP senators.
- An archaic Electoral College renders the Popular Vote meaningless.
Rocks, trees, and empty space are ridiculously over-represented in America.
The vast majority of living, breathing human beings?
Not so much.
“Polarization” makes for a sexy headline – and a lazy narrative for Sunday-morning television.
But the overall numbers – election after election – tell a very different story.
The American electorate’s problem is one of the right’s long-term manipulation of our system.
Not polarization.
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Both NC and AZ have Senate elections in 2020.
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That could also work but Joe would be a more complementary fit…
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Yes, sorry I wasn’t clear about their timing, in order to get the Senate by 2022, one of NC or AZ has to flip. I see Lil’ Marco hanging on unless something truly untoward happens in FLA…
The early news where it looked like Tester and Sinema were going down really put a damper on things…
I just checked the results of my new congressional district here in Austin: The Democrat got 135,000 votes, which was more than ten other winners in Texas. But since my district scrapes the bottom of Austin then swoops up in a giant chunk that goes all the way up to Dallas, all our votes got drowned out by 162,000 rural Republicans.
My old house is four miles away, with a district that goes all the way down to San Antonio. The Democrat got 167,000 votes, which would be enough to win in 27 other districts. But their votes got drowned by 176,000 rural Republicans. Meanwhile, Lloyd Doggett, the only Democrat Austin is allowed to have, won with 137,000 votes, in a district with fewer than 200,000 votes total. Those lucky voters live right down the street from me.
Just between two districts, over 300,000 Democrats lost their vote due to gerrymandering and it’s not even illegal because we’re predominately white. This is bullshit. Democrats need to be pushing Voter Rights as the top of their list, including properly sized districts and polling places. Everyone talks about voter suppression, but nobody talks about us urban white professionals in Austin that get totally screwed every election. No taxation without representation, yo!
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Well said. In addition their population is aging and their children are doing their best to move away to better opportunities either through sports, college or the military. They are going to move where the jobs are and will have to function amongst the liberals and moderates.
You certainly do not see corporations moving headquarters or major operations into these areas unless you count Walmart. Migrations have in the past and will continue to happen in the US. We are a large country and it would be the height of ignorance of history and inattention to factual data to think otherwise.
Should we abandon these people? Certainly not. Neither party would grapple with globalization and the technology revolution to address what happened. Unless we have a sound Infrastructure and Human Resources policy that thinks through all of the hard issues and comes up with a 10, 25 and 50 year plans, I do not see this getting fixed. You simply can’t go home again. Believing that religion and adherence to the “original intent” of The Constitution will solve these problems is ludicrous.
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Why should Lil’ Marco be safe, given how closely divided FL statewide elections are?Party affiliation matters much more than personality now. Plus the ~1M possible new votes from felons whose right to vote has been restored. Also, why wouldn’t GA be in play too - maybe Stacey Abrams could run if she’s not Governor by then.
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The ones that got played were the suburbanites and they appear to have woken up. The rural folk and the evangelicals got exactly what they wanted…
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GA’s day will come soon. I admire your optimism, but remember Jake, this is Florida…
Exactly. “Polarization”’ does not describe a situation where one party has a 7-10 point advantage over the other. That’s a wipeout.
My brother told me—though I have yet to confirm this—that apparently overall Senate Democrats were up 15 points over Republicans! That is a sign one party is politically irrelevant—not that there is polarization.
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What is even worse is that Austinites property taxes are being used to fund schools in these rural and poorer areas. How is that for lack of representation? I am stuck with Michael McCaul in District 10 which stretches all the way past Bastrop and only includes a sliver of North Austin.
I love it how Republicans spout freedom and then do their best to deny it to those they do not like. And make no mistake, Texas Republicans do not like moderates, liberals, gays, lesbians, non-white races, and non-Evangelicals. I know I paint with a broad brush but I have lived in Texas since 1977 so I think I have some standing.
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Yup, Thom Tillis is up for reelection here in NC. How he won I’ll never know. Senator Hagan had the perfect resume - I mean perfect - to beat any challenger. During the debates Tillis kept calling Senator Hagan ‘Kay’ - and she never objected. It was sad. But he’s a predictable bore and could easily be seriously challenged by the ‘right’ candidate in 2020. Tillis, much like Burr, once elected, disappears unless forced to make public pronouncements like Burr had to do with Warner (?) during the Senate investigations. Tillis could be beat but logic doesn’t play in NC. Impossible to figure.
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And there’s my Rep., Ben Ray, head of the DCCC, following Nancy around. Good guy. He’s been eatin’ good in Washington, too. Prob’ly has a freezer full of Mom’s posole.
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The biggest concern for me is the long-term Senate prospects. Yeah maybe Dems take it back in 2020 (fingers crossed) ot 2022/2024 but what about the long term?
This article really highlights my concerns and i don’t know what to do or how this could be fixed.
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What happens when Collins and Hunter are convicted - do they have to resign? How are their replacements chosen?
I may be wrong but I think Jim Traficant ran for his old OH House turf as an Indie while in a federal penitentiary! And still got 15% of the vote. Go figure.
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It’s a two party system. By definition that’s polarization. Given their water vs oil agendas compromise is out. That’s not an evil that slipped in. It was engineered in 40 years ago during the Reagan administration when the inevitable collapse of America became evident. Now you have two parties. One that want’s to set it’s donors up to be fat when the shit hits the fan and the other trying to keep the shit out of the fan.
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