Mississippi State House Race Decided By Drawing Straws

[vienna]

An interesting bit of American political process:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/21/us...traw.html?_r=0

The US South has some very interesting political history and practices. Note how both candidates are part of the Old Southern "family business" style of politics...

Also note how, lately, the GOP seems to be unable to win even a straw draw...


<O>

[u crank]

We do it a little different. More democratic.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince...-tie-1.3079433

[Commander Wallace]

I think when the time comes to vote, most people will be looking for the " none of the above "

[vienna]

The truly sad thing about a an awful lot of these elections, people aren't necessarily voting for the best of the best but, rather, the best of the least; there is also the vote as a means of keeping an abysmal choice from possibly winning: I don't think a goodly proportion of the voters who cast their ballot for Obama in 2008 did so because they really liked Obama, it was because they really disliked the GOP ticket (McCain/Palin). I was all set to vote for McCain until Palin was placed on the ticket. The thought of that bonehead a heartbeat away from the Oval Office was too frightening to even consider and, I think, an awful lot of other serious voters felt the same sentiment. The option of voting for a third party only gave the chance, in a plurality election, the crippled GOP ticket might win by siphoning off votes from the only other serious choice; not voting was also a non-starter for the same reason. Maybe coin tosses, straw pulls, or other chance methods would actually be just as effective given the caliber of candidates being foisted off on the voting public...


<O>

[Buddahaid]

Originally Posted by vienna

Maybe coin tosses, straw pulls, or other chance methods would actually be just as effective given the caliber of candidates being foisted off on the voting public...
<O>

And guess who still gets the short straw, John Q. Public.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by vienna

The truly sad thing about a an awful lot of these elections, people aren't necessarily voting for the best of the best but, rather, the best of the least; there is also the vote as a means of keeping an abysmal choice from possibly winning: I don't think a goodly proportion of the voters who cast their ballot for Obama in 2008 did so because they really liked Obama, it was because they really disliked the GOP ticket (McCain/Palin). I was all set to vote for McCain until Palin was placed on the ticket. The thought of that bonehead a heartbeat away from the Oval Office was too frightening to even consider and, I think, an awful lot of other serious voters felt the same sentiment.
<O>

You can include me in your population. It has been many years since I was able to vote FOR a candidate. All I seem to do these days is vote against a candidate. That's a pretty sad situation to be in.

One of these days, one of the parties will offer me a candidate I can actually vote for. The only thing that is certain is that it won't be in 2016.

I mean Crikey! These are the best of the best that the parties can offer me? Really? These clowns are the best in the entire US? Maybe this is the end of the US empire.

[Jimbuna]

Surely an improvement on how it used to be settled

[August]

Originally Posted by vienna

Also note how, lately, the GOP seems to be unable to win even a straw draw...

Yeah I guess the increasing GoP majorities in both houses of congress and the majority of the nations governors mansions aren't the same thing.

[CaptainRamius]

When someone mentions drawing straws, I always think of people in a boat, drawing straws on who will be...yeah, you get the idea

[vienna]

Originally Posted by August

Yeah I guess the increasing GoP majorities in both houses of congress and the majority of the nations governors mansions aren't the same thing.

Yes, and those underwhelming 'majorities' have been unable to accomplish anything but make themselves look like petty, ineffective, bumbling, fools who seem to have nothing better to do while the country is facing real problems than to bring the Congress and the nation to a grinding halt. The very fact that voter dissatisfaction with the GOP-led Congress is so high is an indictment of the inability of the GOP to make any impact on the nation's problems by exhibiting any sort of cohesive, coherent, viable leadership. The disapproval rating for the DEMs in Congress is 60%; the disapproval rating for the GOP is a whopping 81%:

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/...s-dissatisfied

Add to this the fact the GOP couldn't even find a willing volunteer in their House ranks to take on the role of Speaker of the House and I think it is safe to say while the GOP may have the quantity, they are woefully deficient in quality. If you are pleased and satisfied with partisan incompetence and impotence, it says as much about you as it does about those GOP members. The majorities you tout are little more than numbers; the majority of voters appear to want at least some parity of quality to go along with those numbers and the GOP isn't delivering for the needs of the nation...

On the subject of the House Speaker, I was very pleased to see Paul Ryan really stick it to the deadheads of the Far right by forcing them to make very public concessions in order to persuade Ryan to assume the Speaker position. It was interesting how almost all of the GOP House members who even expressed some interest in running for the post immediately declared they would withdraw from the race in favor of Ryan. It speaks volumes of the respect in which the rational segment of the GOP holds Ryan. Ryan is a very interesting person, one who doesn't seem to be a partisan drone in the thrall of the Far Right and its idiocy. He was the most interesting part of the Romney ticket in 2012 and has only become even more accomplished as a leader. Ryan recently did an interview with the CBS program "60 Minutes" and, for once, the voters were able to see a GOP member who isn't a mouth-frothing loon:

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/full-i...an-november-1/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/unaired-...tes-interview/

For the GOP, Ryan is a sign there is hope for the future...

On the matter of quantity, the GOP in Congress has a woefully deficient record of legislative successes in the task of addressing the nation's problems and concerns; on the other hand, after almost seven years in office, Obama and the DEMs have had far more success in advancing their agendas. Perhaps if the GOP had spent as much or more time actually dealing with the voter's and the nation's concerns as the did the last seven years fretting and fussing over trying to stop Obama, the GOP might have accomplished something other than severely alienating a very substantial part of the electorate...

But, go ahead, keep on going along with the usual stupidity and I hoe you enjoy your four years of Hillary: you've earned it...


<O>

[August]

The Congressional disapproval rate is pretty much meaningless and you know it. For one thing it has hardly budged since the Democrats were in control showing it's no indication of party preferences and secondly however much they hate Congress as a group 85% of people still tend to reelect their own Senators and Congressmen anyways.

You also completely ignore the Republican gains in state Governorships, many in deep blue states. To me that's a far more telling sign of which party the voters are currently leaning towards.

[Schroeder]

Not that unusual that politicians have to grasp for straws....I just never thought it would be literally.

[vienna]

Originally Posted by August

The Congressional disapproval rate is pretty much meaningless and you know it. For one thing it has hardly budged since the Democrats were in control showing it's no indication of party preferences and secondly however much they hate Congress as a group 85% of people still tend to reelect their own Senators and Congressmen anyways.

You also completely ignore the Republican gains in state Governorships, many in deep blue states. To me that's a far more telling sign of which party the voters are currently leaning towards.

Funny how the disapproval rate is meaningless if the DEMs are on the receiving end; then there is no end of crowing from the FRGOP, Rush, Sean, et al while they point at the "dismal" DEM numbers. It' s not so pleasant being on the receiving end of short stick,is it?...

As previously noted, quantity does not define quality: where are all the major GOP, much less the FRGOP, accomplishments over the last seven years? Can you point out any of them? I seriously doubt it; your forte is making very broad statements, devoid of factual backup or cogent argument and, failing that, you broadly try to impugn the character or what you want others to perceive as a taint of political "bias"; all in all, the desperate flailing of someone who has no spine in the back of his ideas and declarations. Once again, as with so many, many of your arguments, there is no "there" there...

So what if the GOP has a numerical majority in Congress: they have no real power. They don't have the numbers to override almost any possible Presidential veto; they cannot muster enough votes from the DEM side to advance whatever their flavor of the week cause may be in Congress; their ineffectiveness has compelled them to try to seek recourse in the courts, where their record has been very less than stellar, particularly in SCOTUS; they are so factionalized and fractured the sane, sensible members of the party are running from assuming positions of leadership. The GOP in Congress, particularly in the House, are an ungodly mess and an embarrassment; GOP voters deserve better than this; hell, the whole country deserves better than this...

Who cares about the number of GOP or DEM or any other brand of governors? They don't make national policy; at best they function as party cheerleaders within their own states or as proxies for their parties when they want to do an end around on matters they can't advance in Congress; they are often little more than litigious stalking horses for the national parties on a more local level. Most of the governors are form states that have little impact nationally, not like, say New York, Texas, California, etc.; for most governors, unless something happens to attract national attention in the respective states, they might as well be Maytag Repairmen...

I ask of you only one favor: please try to make a solid, fact based, cogent, coherent post: I am a senior citizen and I don't think I can hold out long enough to see such a mythical occurrence; I've already seen Haley's Comet, it would be nice to see something else remarkable...


<O>

[August]

Originally Posted by vienna

I ask of you only one favor: please try to make a solid, fact based, cogent, coherent post: I am a senior citizen and I don't think I can hold out long enough to see such a mythical occurrence; I've already seen Haley's Comet, it would be nice to see something else remarkable...

Retreating to insults huh?

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Not that unusual that politicians have to grasp for straws....I just never thought it would be literally.

Hang on a minute... A German making jokes? WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DID YOU WITH THE REAL SCHROEDER!!!!