(11-05-2013 10:51 PM)The Turk Wrote:  Have any of the GOP/Libertarian leaning folks here in swing states/counties tried to join your local committees and influence the state party where you live? From NY to AL to CO, i've found it nearly impossible to break into the party hierarchy.

I'm sure it's a damn near private club - none of which wants to give up/share any power or money. It really is all about money/power on both sides - and those currently with the power and money want to keep it that way.

John/Mach - keep up the gloating, eventually it will turn.......it always does. Just look at history, no party stays in power too long - they always get power hungry, more corrupt, and over reach. Just watch.

(11-05-2013 11:16 PM)Crebman Wrote:  

(11-05-2013 10:51 PM)The Turk Wrote:  Have any of the GOP/Libertarian leaning folks here in swing states/counties tried to join your local committees and influence the state party where you live? From NY to AL to CO, i've found it nearly impossible to break into the party hierarchy.

I'm sure it's a damn near private club - none of which wants to give up/share any power or money. It really is all about money/power on both sides - and those currently with the power and money want to keep it that way.

John/Mach - keep up the gloating, eventually it will turn.......it always does. Just look at history, no party stays in power too long - they always get power hungry, more corrupt, and over reach. Just watch.

it's power grabbing in some places, it's political entrenchment in others. There's generally this groupthink that occurs which is impossible to beak into. And the places we have been able to break through/into, it's not "us" or what I would consider to be us, it's where there's such a groundswell of popular discontent with the party that *anyone* can break through. See Delaware, Nevada, etc senate races. I wasn't a fan of the incumbents/establishment folks there, but we need to be a lot smarter about who we're running.

Choose your battles

(11-05-2013 10:51 PM)The Turk Wrote:  Have any of the GOP/Libertarian leaning folks here in swing states/counties tried to join your local committees and influence the state party where you live? From NY to AL to CO, i've found it nearly impossible to break into the party hierarchy.

Technically I am but mostly because of my job. It would be near impossible to be more than a block captain in today's structure, even more so when you deal with these ass holes on a day to day basis.

I'm glad I can say that more or less anonymously.

Congrats Governor elect McAuliffe and Lt Governor elect Ralph Northam! Even a deeply flawed Dem candidate, in an off-off year election, beats Republicans like Cuccinelli. The only question left is whether the Dems can pull off the clean sweep by taking the AG race. Dems control the State Senate in Virginia.

The Dems retained the Mayorship of Houston in a landslide. The Dems took the Mayoralty of NYC for the first time in 20+ years. The Dems took the Mayoralty of Charlotte for the first time in years. The only win for the GOP tonight was in NJ, where a moderate who works with President Obama at-times won re-election.

Meanwhile, Illinois passed marriage equality today! Hawai'i will do so late tonight or early tomorrow.

But there was better news for the GOP in Mobile. A certifiable idiot, Dean Young, lost his bid to become the latest embarrassment to the GOP, losing to a very conservative, but not insane, Bradley Byrne for Alabama's 1st CD

And the tea party seccession initiative in Colorado? Failing miserably even in cherry picked counties.

(11-05-2013 11:35 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  Congrats Governor elect McAuliffe and Lt Governor elect Ralph Northam! Even a deeply flawed Dem candidate, in an off-off year election, beats Republicans like Cuccinelli. The only question left is whether the Dems can pull off the clean sweep by taking the AG race. Dems control the State Senate in Virginia.

The Dems retained the Mayorship of Houston in a landslide. The Dems took the Mayoralty of NYC for the first time in 20+ years. The Dems took the Mayoralty of Charlotte for the first time in years. The only win for the GOP tonight was in NJ, where a moderate who works with President Obama at-times won re-election.

Meanwhile, Illinois passed marriage equality today! Hawai'i will do so late tonight or early tomorrow.

But there was better news for the GOP in Mobile. A certifiable idiot, Dean Young, lost his bid to become the latest embarrassment to the GOP, losing to a very conservative, but not insane, Bradley Byrne for Alabama's 1st CD

And the tea party seccession initiative in Colorado? Failing miserably even in cherry picked counties.

Congrats, Tom, on your crushing wins tonight. When the GOP gets its act together, we'll start competing.

(11-05-2013 11:53 PM)The Turk Wrote:  

(11-05-2013 11:35 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  Congrats Governor elect McAuliffe and Lt Governor elect Ralph Northam! Even a deeply flawed Dem candidate, in an off-off year election, beats Republicans like Cuccinelli. The only question left is whether the Dems can pull off the clean sweep by taking the AG race. Dems control the State Senate in Virginia.

The Dems retained the Mayorship of Houston in a landslide. The Dems took the Mayoralty of NYC for the first time in 20+ years. The Dems took the Mayoralty of Charlotte for the first time in years. The only win for the GOP tonight was in NJ, where a moderate who works with President Obama at-times won re-election.

Meanwhile, Illinois passed marriage equality today! Hawai'i will do so late tonight or early tomorrow.

But there was better news for the GOP in Mobile. A certifiable idiot, Dean Young, lost his bid to become the latest embarrassment to the GOP, losing to a very conservative, but not insane, Bradley Byrne for Alabama's 1st CD

And the tea party seccession initiative in Colorado? Failing miserably even in cherry picked counties.

Congrats, Tom, on your crushing wins tonight. When the GOP gets its act together, we'll start competing.

Yet the GOP shows little sign of getting its act together. Way too much Amash, Yolo, and Cuccinelli. Way too little Kirk and Collins.

Quote:The Dems retained the Mayorship of Houston in a landslide.

No surprise... Houston is a "Democrat Urban" stronghold. The only thing that would have made news was if the Dem lost that one.

Quote: The Dems took the Mayoralty of NYC for the first time in 20+ years.

LOL.. Is that really that impressive? There have been exactly TWO mayors in NYC in the past 20 years. Giuliani and Bloomberg. If they had multiple mayors in those 20 years, I'd say this was more of an "dem/rep" argument. This just tells me that NYC doesn't like making changes to their mayors until they really have to (whether by term limits or complete meltdown/embarassments - (see Dinkins)

Quote:And the tea party seccession initiative in Colorado? Failing miserably even in cherry picked counties.

When was that a "tea party initiative"?

(11-05-2013 11:58 PM)DaSaintFan Wrote:  

Quote:The Dems retained the Mayorship of Houston in a landslide.

No surprise... Houston is a "Democrat Urban" stronghold. The only thing that would have made news was if the Dem lost that one.

Quote: The Dems took the Mayoralty of NYC for the first time in 20+ years.

LOL.. Is that really that impressive? There have been exactly TWO mayors in NYC in the past 20 years. Giuliani and Bloomberg. If they had multiple mayors in those 20 years, I'd say this was more of an "dem/rep" argument. This just tells me that NYC doesn't like making changes to their mayors until they really have to (whether by term limits or complete meltdown/embarassments - (see Dinkins)

Quote:And the tea party seccession initiative in Colorado? Failing miserably even in cherry picked counties.

When was that a "tea party initiative"?

the idea that Bloomberg is anything but a moderate to lib dem is a joke. He changed his party ID in 2000/2001 to be able to run as a Republican in NYC, which is very different than anywhere else in the country. He did it to capitalize upon Rudy's success; the election was actually postponed due to 9/11 and then Bloomy pretended to be a Rudy-lite Republican. He's proved that false over the years. And now NYC will get what they deserve with this POS

I was gonna mention Bloomberg's Nanny State policies, but I didn't want anyone to accuse me of being partisan, Turk. That's one of the reasons why I don't get so much of Tom's "excitement" over these local elections.

(11-05-2013 11:35 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  Congrats Governor elect McAuliffe and Lt Governor elect Ralph Northam! Even a deeply flawed Dem candidate, in an off-off year election, beats Republicans like Cuccinelli. The only question left is whether the Dems can pull off the clean sweep by taking the AG race. Dems control the State Senate in Virginia.

The Dems retained the Mayorship of Houston in a landslide. The Dems took the Mayoralty of NYC for the first time in 20+ years. The Dems took the Mayoralty of Charlotte for the first time in years. The only win for the GOP tonight was in NJ, where a moderate who works with President Obama at-times won re-election.

Meanwhile, Illinois passed marriage equality today! Hawai'i will do so late tonight or early tomorrow.

But there was better news for the GOP in Mobile. A certifiable idiot, Dean Young, lost his bid to become the latest embarrassment to the GOP, losing to a very conservative, but not insane, Bradley Byrne for Alabama's 1st CD

And the tea party seccession initiative in Colorado? Failing miserably even in cherry picked counties.

Polygamy passed in Illinois? SWEET!

(11-06-2013 12:09 AM)DaSaintFan Wrote:  I was gonna mention Bloomberg's Nanny State policies, but I didn't want anyone to accuse me of being partisan, Turk. That's one of the reasons why I don't get so much of Tom's "excitement" over these local elections.

to me it's not even his nanny state tendencies; there's lot's of Republicans falling into that camp (on different issues). Bloomy is at least as lib on economics and certainly on guns as, say, Clinton. in other words, a moderate dem at best.

(11-05-2013 10:51 PM)The Turk Wrote:  Have any of the GOP/Libertarian leaning folks here in swing states/counties tried to join your local committees and influence the state party where you live? From NY to AL to CO, i've found it nearly impossible to break into the party hierarchy.

I am a standing GOP Precinct Committeeman in SC. And a member of the Libertarian Party. Bet you don't see that every day. I can tell you every single country convention ... every single congressional district convention ... every single state convention ... has been one big orchestrated railroad job. An endless conga line of beige, vague, and meaningless platitudes from elected officials and top ranking GOP officials. Nothing meaningful is ever done. At the state level they drop a several-hundred-page "platform" in front of you with little to no availability to the public beforehand and expect you to yes man approve it. Motions from the floor are highly orchestrated and the rules are ignored if you try to bring business from the floor. I have tried to censure Lindsey Graham at the county and state level conventions. To consider such a motion from the floor you must suspend the rules (2/3 vote with quorum present) to consider the motion in order. A motion to suspend the rules is ALWAYS in order. And yet each time I've been told a motion to suspend the rules was not in order and they just railroad on like nobody is talking to them. If you put up a fight they cut your mic. If you continue to put up a fight, they'll have security force you out of the building. The only way to win is to show up IN ADVANCE with an large outright majority highly prepared and organized. You have to thwart the election of temporary officers to the convention and fill those positions with your own people. Then YOU run the show. Just be prepared for them to burn the whole thing down if they don't get their way. When Ron Paul people managed to take over conventions like this, the establishment people would declare the convention closed without even opening it properly and call in local police and even SWAT teams to clear the building. If you leave the place the convention has been advertised to be at, whatever business you carry out can be easily dismissed higher up the party chain as not have been consistent with party rules (must be in a location advertised x hours in advance through y media methods, etc). So their goal in burning the place to the ground if you are about to win is to force you to move locations ... then they win by default as no changes are made.

(11-05-2013 11:35 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  And the tea party seccession initiative in Colorado? Failing miserably even in cherry picked counties.

Cherry picked counties? What you don't get about Colorado is that most of eastern Colorado is ranching and farming territory. Naturally more conservative. But it is sparsely populated and gets overwhelmed by the city votes. The fact that they got voted down today is not really important. What is, is that they finally got the attention of the mostly liberal idiots at the state capitol. The ag interests are tired of not being heard and word is that the legislature may give them additional representation of some kind.

Nice to see somebody else around here that gets Colorado. Stick around, Turk. Unless you live in CO it is hard to get a feel for the politics here.

(11-06-2013 02:46 AM)MileHighBronco Wrote:  

(11-05-2013 11:35 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  And the tea party seccession initiative in Colorado? Failing miserably even in cherry picked counties.

Cherry picked counties? What you don't get about Colorado is that most of eastern Colorado is ranching and farming territory. Naturally more conservative. But it is sparsely populated and gets overwhelmed by the city votes. The fact that they got voted down today is not really important. What is, is that they finally got the attention of the mostly liberal idiots at the state capitol. The ag interests are tired of not being heard and word is that the legislature may give them additional representation of some kind.

Nice to see somebody else around here that gets Colorado. Stick around, Turk. Unless you live in CO it is hard to get a feel for the politics here.

Tom's got a jaded view, certainly of what he knows to be conservatives. That's fine in that we'll never be able to win him over, but by the same token, we won't win over the people we need to if we're not accepting of his need to live his life in the manner he chooses. There's too much judging and too little loving the sinner hating the sin going on.

CO politics are screwed up, MileHigh....I worked with one of the more prominent Republicans in the state a few years back; I continue to work with some of the big money people who live down in Cherry Hills...there's just such a disconnect between the folks I know up in the foothills, or out on the plains...the rank and file types and those people I know who are part of the establishment....and we've lost several elections in a row. The recalls a couple of months back were our big win, and everyone I know in Denver and the burbs who is part of the system (as part of party leadership or funding) thought it was a bad idea.

(11-05-2013 11:35 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  Congrats Governor elect McAuliffe and Lt Governor elect Ralph Northam! Even a deeply flawed Dem candidate, in an off-off year election, beats Republicans like Cuccinelli.

So now they have a deeply flawed governor.

Congratulations, Virginia.

From Thomas Jefferson to Terry McAuliffe.

If that doesn't scream out "rock bottom" then I don't know what will.

The only silver lining is McAuliffe won't be able to get anything done. He will be like Tim Kaine and have absolutely nothing to show for his term. Maybe for the best. Bob McDonnell, for instance, was able to do a lot of damage.

(11-06-2013 07:45 AM)Smaug Wrote:  

(11-05-2013 11:35 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  Congrats Governor elect McAuliffe and Lt Governor elect Ralph Northam! Even a deeply flawed Dem candidate, in an off-off year election, beats Republicans like Cuccinelli.

So now they have a deeply flawed governor.

Congratulations, Virginia.

Well, it can't be worse that having a guy that approves of having women legally sexually assaulted by doctors.


Why do the RepubliKKKLan Taliban hate women so much?

(11-06-2013 07:59 AM)Murray007 Wrote:  From Thomas Jefferson to Terry McAuliffe.

If that doesn't scream out "rock bottom" then I don't know what will.

Well, I suppose if YOU had won...

(11-06-2013 07:59 AM)Murray007 Wrote:  From Thomas Jefferson to Terry McAuliffe.

If that doesn't scream out "rock bottom" then I don't know what will.

From Jefferson to either one of those clowns. We can do much better