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Montana US House Special Election Thread [GOP Hold]

Lo-Volt

Member
Sometimes I wish this were Britain and not just because I'm an occasional Anglophile. Because the real story here is swing, or defection level. If local Republican seats where Democrats don't usually win are collapsing because formerly-discouraged blue voters are basically going for broke, that's a serious story. If Montana at-large, a seat far beyond the left's grasp in the past, goes down to the wire at great expense, that's a serious story for the GOP.

Republicans doing badly in their own seats is a serious story for the next election, if the opposition can keep the momentum going (see also local electoral cycles in the U.K. from 1992 to 1997, with Conservative voters showing exhaustion and discouragement and Labour taking the map by storm at the end of that term). The map becomes a lot harder for the Republicans to defend if safe seats are actually not safe, or are seeing 20 point shifts in one cycle.
 
Sometimes I wish this were Britain and not just because I'm an occasional Anglophile. Because the real story here is swing, or defection level. If local Republican seats where Democrats don't usually win are collapsing because formerly-discouraged blue voters are basically going for broke, that's a serious story. If Montana at-large, a seat far beyond the left's grasp in the past, goes down to the wire at great expense, that's a serious story. Republicans doing badly in their own seats is a serious story for the next election, if the opposition can keep the momentum going. The map becomes a lot harder for the Republicans to defend if safe seats are no longer safe, or are seeing 20 point shifts in one cycle.

And we're two weeks out from the Georgia 6th special election. If Ossoff takes that, the GOP starts panicking.
 

Kilau

Member
Would be better in the long run for the republicans if they lose this one since it doesn't change the balance of power.

A few weeks of battling the turning tide narrative versus 1 1/2 years of trying to defend this jerk.
 

GusBus

Member
I'm probably a little biased because I grew up near Bozeman (Belgrade), but Gaz is right.

Though Missoula is still pretty great.

Why Bozeman over Missoula? Both are great little college towns but Missoula is a bit larger with more going on, imho.
 
Why Bozeman over Missoula? Both are great little college towns but Missoula is a bit larger with more going on, imho.
Like I said, I'm a bit biased because I grew up there :p. But if you're into skiing, Bozeman is close to Bridger Bowl and Big Sky. I also prefer the hiking that's around Bozeman (I'm an avid outdoorsman).

But if you're more of a city person you can't go wrong with Missoula. And it does have some pretty great hiking as well.
 

Neoweee

Member
You have it backwards. Early voting favors Democrats, day of favors GOP

Generally, yes, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. I'm mostly commenting on how much the voting can be swung by the late breaking news. Substantial early voting mitigates the effect of late-breaking swings.
 

Jakeh111

Member
I suppose that this is the right thread to ask.

What politics podcasts do you people listen to? I'm aware of that many. All I have are NPR politics, fivethirtyeight. Those two don't really cover enough.
The Majority Report, funny, daily and informative.
 
I'm going to be very disappointed if Greg The Body wins today. If a dude with a lot of money, Russia ties, and no decorum can assault a journalist and still be elected, the GOP voters are far dumber than I expected. The whole "where's our jobs?" is one thing, but this ignorant shit is entirely something else. Physically hurting people you don't agree with is not something anyone should do, let alone an elected official.

I'm preparing to be very disappointed.

This. He's the perfect combo of what the current GOP loves and masturbates to daily.

Rich. Assaults filthy liberal media. Supports creationism causes. Russian ties that are just "fake news".

He's got it all, and will still win because the right wing is so poisoned, nothing short of a civil war will break that devotion to that mindset.

I hate to be defeatist, but it's our reality, and I don't see it changing anytime soon. How can it change, truly?
 

Ogodei

Member
You can do your job while you're in jail.

You can't, actually, since Congress has no provisions for proxy voting. Getting jailed for a crime pretty much means expulsion from the body because otherwise your district/state is going without representation while you sit in jail.

According to toadies in the GOP caucus, though, Gianforte is welcome to sit with them if he doesn't go to jail.
 
So will everyone just say the election wasn't really that important when the republican wins anyways,after doing a WWE move on a reporter less than 24 hours before the election?
 

Wilsongt

Member
So will everyone just say the election wasn't really that important when the republican wins anyways,after doing a WWE move on a reporter less than 24 hours before the election?

People following this election never expected a Democrat win. Quist wasn't a good candidate and had his own baggage. The takeaway was Republicans winning the seat by 1 - 5 points as opposed fo R+20.
 
So will everyone just say the election wasn't really that important when the republican wins anyways,after doing a WWE move on a reporter less than 24 hours before the election?

This election is important no matter the outcome, and it has nothing to do with actually getting a body in a seat in Congress.

These special elections before a midterm serve to show us a picture of where the electorate is going towards in 2018.
 

Neoweee

Member
So will everyone just say the election wasn't really that important when the republican wins anyways,after doing a WWE move on a reporter less than 24 hours before the election?

Nobody except complete political novices were expecting a Democratic win here. The reason for the interest in the race is that people can potentially use swing from Trump+20 to R+?? to start estimating what the overall swing in the country's lean, and what house seats could potentially be in play for 2018.
 

Ithil

Member
So will everyone just say the election wasn't really that important when the republican wins anyways,after doing a WWE move on a reporter less than 24 hours before the election?

It's the Georgia election people believe is an actual tossup, there's never been any polling that had the Democrats winning this one, the notable thing was it going from +20 to only +5 or so. If Quist wins it will be a big surprise, even with this assault from the Republican.
 

MisterR

Member
So will everyone just say the election wasn't really that important when the republican wins anyways,after doing a WWE move on a reporter less than 24 hours before the election?

This is a state that went for Trump by +20 points, it would be a shock if the Repubs lost. The fact that they've had to spend millions of dollars defending a seat this red is already a win.
 

Zolo

Member
This is a state that went for Trump by +20 points, it would be a shock if the Repubs lost. The fact that they've had to spend millions of dollars defending a seat this red is already a win.

And the fact they have to now defend a member who assaulted a pressmember which is another thing that adds on to show about the party is a plus.
 

chekhonte

Member
my rotation right now consists of Pod Save America, NPR Politics, FiveThirtyEight, NYT's The Daily, and Left Right & Center.

i hope Montanans show up today after what happened last night.

Wow, really like The Daily. Really good reporting. Especially for a podcast.
 

wildfire

Banned
I read a little bit about Quist and he hits a lot of the right notes on being an appealing Democratic candidate in general and sounds nothing like a blue dog. I still would like to hear more about this guy if he wins but it would be a very big deal if this guy won in a traditionally red district, regardless of what minor deviations he could have with mainstream Democratic ideology.
 
Not to be a negative Nancy, but the current environment makes me suspect people will come out of the woodwork to vote for someone strong and bold enough to bodyslam filthy lying fake news media types, even if it was Fox. This is the strength we need in Congress to start throwing libs in camps.
 

Mr. RPG

Member
I might be at the theater watching the new Pirates film when the race is finally called. :p

The key county to look out for is Yellowstone. As long as Quist makes it close, he'll likely win the election. Lake county is another swing county that almost always votes for the winner of the race.
 

Allard

Member
The cynical side of me says even with the body slam, he'll win.

2/3rds of the votes have already been cast, if it was close leading into that it could sway things one way or the other (what's sad is there is an equal chance him attacking a reporter could drive out support from previously tepid individuals as there are from people turned off from the behavior) but the larger population it might be too late for it to even matter. Quist likely will lose, but I will be jumping with joy if he does win and will settle with this getting into the single digits in difference.
 
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