Electio2018

Electio2018 https://www.dailykos.com/news/Electio2018 News Community Action Copyright 2005 - Steal what you want Sun, 26 Jan 2020 13:08:15 +0000 Sun, 26 Jan 2020 13:08:15 +0000 Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Updated: Second Poll Shows Montana's Kathleen Williams Tied Trump's "Tough Cookie", Greg Gianforte! https://www.dailykos.com/story/2018/10/30/1807562/-Breaking-Montana-s-Kathleen-Williams-Leads-Trump-s-Tough-Cookie-Greg-Gianforte-By-One <blockquote> Greg Gianforte is Trump’s favorite tough guy. Because Gianforte committed misdemeanor assault on Guardian reporter, Ben Jacobs--for trying to ask him about health care, Trump thinks Gianforte is swell. In a Missoula, Montana campaign stop, Trump recently said of Gianforte, “Any guy that can do a body slam, he’s my kind of guy.” </blockquote> However, Gianforte may be preparing to get body slammed in the Montana US Congressional race by <a href="https://kathleenformontana.com/about-kathleen/" target="_blank">Bozeman legislator Kathleen Williams</a>: Williams is leading Gianforte by 1 point in a <a href="http://www.umt.edu/bigskypoll/Methodology/UMBigSkyPoll-BackgroundMemoPoll2-Fall2018.pdf" target="_blank">University of Montana poll released on Friday</a>...(Although, the other most recent poll shows Gianforte with a 3-point lead.) So here’s an eminently winnable race with a fast-closing Democratic challenger, and you know what that means: <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/kathleenwilliams" target="_blank">It’s time to make one more CONTRIBUTION</a> to a GREAT candidate who will profoundly improve the character, capacity and demeanor of the US Congress. Since he’s the incumbent, Gianforte is better known, but Gianforte has so few endorsements, he doesn’t even have an endorsement link on his website, while Williams has already been <a href="https://kathleenformontana.com/endorsements/" target="_blank">endorsed by four of the state’s five largest newspapers</a> and, as a long-time water scientist and lands manager, Williams’ expertise in water hydrology fine-tunes her to address Montana’s most pressing problem. (With only 13 inches of rain a year, Montanans make friends over whiskey and fight over water, and battles between neighboring ranchers over water rights can go on for generations.) Williams is also a long-time Montana legislator, who is widely respected on both side of the aisle, and she’s equally at home hunting pheasants and fighting for Montana’s open lands, health care and seniors. As the <a href="https://missoulian.com/opinion/editorial/williams-is-by-far-the-better-candidate-for-us-house/article_65489984-5e18-54fe-aec3-1d4b89605cdd.html" target="_blank">Missoulian editorial endorsing her candidacy said: </a> <div style="text-align:start"> <a href="https://missoulian.com/opinion/editorial/williams-is-by-far-the-better-candidate-for-us-house/article_65489984-5e18-54fe-aec3-1d4b89605cdd.html" target="_blank">“Williams is by far the better candidate for US House</a>” <div style="text-align:start"> “Not to be too dramatic about it, but Kathleen Williams is the congressional candidate Montana has been waiting for. </div> <div style="text-align:start"> “Experienced. Knowledgeable. Thoughtful. Measured. Most remarkably, Williams exudes that unique combination of grit and camaraderie that embodies the very best traits of Montanans, and which is an essential trait of any truly great statesman. So it’s not really much a contest.” Gianforte’s (and Williams’) hometown newspaper, the <a href="https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/opinions/editorials/williams-the-moderate-montana-needs/article_0faf3196-c27c-5602-86bc-d1ad5a5aa786.html" target="_blank">Bozeman Chronicle endorsed Williams and emphasized her even-handed moderation and ability to work across the aisle</a>—talents we all recognize are sorely lacking in Congress, and particularly, in Greg Gianforte. “[Williams] is smart and thoughtful and appears to us to have the even-keeled temperament lacking from many who currently serve in Congress.” “….Williams has a long record of working in the Montana Legislature, both as a staff member and as [a] three-term representative from Bozeman. During that time, she demonstrated a willingness to work with legislators from both parties to find common ground on important issues. The list of bills she has sponsored and cosponsored is long. Her professional and educational background in water science made her instrumental in the passage of the Salish and Kootenai Tribes water compact, which was essential to preserving water rights for many Montana farmers.” </div> <a href="https://missoulian.com/content/tncms/live/#">S</a>Not to be too dramatic about it, but Kathleen Williams is the congressional candidate Montana has been waiting forExperienced. Knowledgeable. Thoughtful. Measured. Most remarkably, Williams exudes that unique combination of grit and camaraderie that embodies the very best traits of Montanans, and which is an essential trait of any truly great statesman. </div> In fact, it’s looking very possible that Williams’ victory may be the election surprise that <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/election-update-an-upset-that-nobody-sees-coming-could-determine-control-of-the-house/" target="_blank">Nate Silver wrote about last week</a>. And, given that the election is in not-so-Red Montana, that may not be as surprising as it seems. After all, Montana is very likely going to elect <a href="https://www.farmaid.org/blog/farmer-heroes/jon-tester/" target="_blank">organic farmer and Farm Aid hero Jon Tester</a> to <a href="https://www.jontester.com/" target="_blank">his third Senate term</a> in ten days. We also elected the longest-serving US Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, and ACA architect Max Baucus, and Teapot Dome revelator Thomas Walsh, and, in 1918, Jeanette Rankin, the first woman ever elected to the US Congress. So it wouldn’t be that big a surprise to see Montana put Greg Gianforte out to pasture, while striking a blow for decency, by delivering an electoral victory for <a href="https://kathleenformontana.com/about-kathleen/" target="_blank" title="">the tough, decent, bipartisan, scientist and arbiter, Kathleen Williams</a>. UPDATED: Kathleen is rallying big time...and now <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/docs/Gravis_Montana_October_27_2018.pdf" target="_blank" title="">a second poll, by Right-leaning Gravis Marketing</a>, shows Kathleen Williams tied with Greg Gianforte at 48% to 48% AND, as previously noted in the footnotes, the New York Times ran a great article on how Democrats should run a campaign and not lose—and the example was Kathleen William’s Campaign: <div> <div> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/opinion/egan-montana-gianforte-williams-governor.html" target="_blank" title="">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/opinion/egan-montana-gianforte-williams-governor.html</a> “A winning strategy is to go directly to the self-interest of a majority that is being hurt by Republican policies. The two biggest political thrusts of the Party of Trump — a tax cut for the rich that opened a tsunami of debt, and trying to take away health care from millions — are widely unpopular. This election should be no more complicated than that. “That’s exactly what Williams, who says she will not support Nancy Pelosi as House party leader, has figured out. While still a teenager, she lost her mother. And she later lost her husband, a Vietnam veteran, to early death as well. That gave her a sense of how life can throw a random punch to the gut. ““The millionaires have lots of people helping them,” she says. “I’m running for Congress because we need someone who will fight for us.”” “In a state that Trump won by 20 points, she’s polling about even with Gianforte.” </div> <div></div> </div> <div> <div> <div></div> </div> </div> [And you can play your part in that victory! <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/kathleenwilliams" target="_blank" title="">CONTRIBUTE here</a>.] rss@dailykos.com (Hoomai29) Assault BenJacobs Democraticcongress DonaldTrump Electio2018 GregGianforte Guardian hydrologist Hydrology KathleenWilliams KathleenWillliamsRallying LandManagment misdemeanor Recommended Scientist SecondPoll USCongress WilliamsGianforteTied _1807562 Tue, 30 Oct 2018 13:16:19 +0000 Fight for Democracy, Part 23: Don’t Vote Your Conscience https://www.dailykos.com/story/2018/10/22/1806408/-Fight-for-Democracy-Part-23-Don-t-Vote-Your-Conscience Public request: Please don’t vote your conscience. Your conscience means nothing to the rest of the world. Your actions - and their consequences - are what matter. True morality is concerned with others, and it is the results of your choices that affect them, not the motivations. I’m not telling anyone how to vote (OK, I kind of am ;) ), I’m just telling you why to vote (or not). You make your choice based up a realistic expectation of what you think will bring about the most good and the least harm for society as a whole (if you vote solely in self-interest you are being selfish, by definition). It takes a fair amount of understanding of the political system to do make a good choice and ‘gut’ judgments, doing what ‘feels’ right, don’t cut it. It takes a careful analysis of the past and real knowledge of not only what positions different candidates take, but what their possibilities of implementation are. There isn’t always a good answer. There definitely isn’t a quick and easy answer. If your only goal is to feel morally comfortable with your choice, chances are you’re not looking hard enough. Politics is ugly but it does make a difference in people’s lives – more so for those who have the least ability to influence it. Ask yourself some tough questions and be honest in the answers. If you want to send a message, will anyone hear it? Is it realistic to expect your message to make a change in the world? What's likely to happen in the meantime? A quick look at history suggests that any messages sent by ballot have gotten lost - the only thing people remember in an election is who won and who lost. The policy positions, the moral character, and the good intentions of the loser don't amount to anything. Voting for who you think will make the best representative only matters if that person has a realistic chance to win. If you value voting for the best person, chances are we could all come up with someone we think is better than any candidate on the ballot, but we don't vote for our intelligent and kind cousin because even though she might make a perfect president, we know such a vote is wasted. It's the moral equivalent of not voting, which simply lets others decide who gets to run things. The same can be said for most third-party candidates. Speaking of third parties, does your vote support a party or group you want to benefit? Again, in our system, especially at the Congressional level, winning is the only benefit of an election. Voting for a candidate sure to lose does little to support their party. Donating money or time, voicing your support in public forums, expanding their reach and exposure all are good ways to help a party, but a throwaway vote does little. If your goal in voting is to allow yourself to sleep well at night, to feel comfortable that you stayed above the fray and avoided the messy and imperfect choices that democracy delivers, you are being selfish. On the other hand, if you think your actions, however imperfect or undesirable, have a realistic chance at creating even a slightly better, more just world, then you need to do the right thing. Accepting reality is the first step in being able to improve it. rss@dailykos.com (BryantB) 2018 Democracy Electio2018 _1806408 Mon, 22 Oct 2018 23:31:58 +0000