(Wes)tern democracy👨🏻🗳️🌐
@midwestache.bsky.social
Electoral Practitioner/Union Chair “Midwest nice & a Southern drawl.” 🍑 Georgia ➡️ Milwaukee 🍻 Loves: Willie, Dolly, books, tv, elections, sports (baseball is best), mustaches, beer He/Him 🏳️🌈 *personal account, opinions my own, rarely but possibly nsfw*
New episode of Ted Lasso got me good! I’m so thankful this show is back.
I have a lot of respect for Dr. AES, if for no other reason than we’re one day post-primary & I’ve only received two text messages from him.
The Dodgers could suffer their sixth straight loss today, and I would absolutely love the Braves to overtake them and force them to play in the wild card round. On the other hand, if the Dodgers lose today, it will be because the Cubs swept them.
Larry David's Indecisive 'I Don't Know' Expression
Alt: Larry David's Indecisive 'I Don't Know' Expression
static.klipy.com
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: What a race. I wanna say how grateful I am for the opportunity to participate in democracy. My family immigrated to this country from a place where there is not democracy. The ability to have our voices heard, to select our leaders, it is a gift that sometimes we take for granted
icydk: Kansas holds the longest current streak in the US Senate of being exclusively represented by one party. The Sunflower State hasn’t had a Democratic US Senator since 1939 (or elected one since 1932) — despite having had nine Democratic governors in the same timespan. 🌻
Kansas Reflector@kansasreflector.com · yesterdayU.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, United Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton to compete in November | via @anna-writes.bsky.social #ksleg
Spot on. Just as true this morning as it was after the 2020 presidential primaries.
Cooper Lund@cooperlund.online · 19h agoIt’s only 8 AM and I’m already tired of takes blaming voters for going out and stating their preferences in a primary election. Getting mad at voters, hundreds of thousands of them, for voting for who they wanted and not who you think was “savvy” is foolish.
Takes like this are very tempting but IMO go too far. The polling miss last night was historically exactly average for a primary — no evidence polls have gotten worse recently. And remember 2022 had the most accurate House and Senate polls in history! bsky.app/profile/gell...
Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social · 19h agoThere’s no actual alternative to polling but I just don’t believe they capture public sentiment in any reliable way anymore
Hate takes like this! Political science has its problems but it has figured out a bunch of things that predict whether a candidate does well, based on both their biography and ideology.
Ed Burmila@edburmila.bsky.social · 3d agoIt's "Electability" season once again so let me just remind everybody possessing this incredible power of foresight to tell us something useful like November stock prices.
Mornin’, folks! Today’s breakfast menu includes a hearty helping of reality. Elections aren’t just fun horse races; it is grueling coalition building, vote by vote, informed by tons of specific data. Polls are helpful, not determinative. Enthusiasm is helpful, not determinative. It’s. Not. Easy.
Apropos of no results in particular: Enthusiasm alone doesn’t win elections. It *can* be a crucial ingredient in a winning recipe, but unenthusiastic votes count the same as enthusiastic ones. Knowing how to turnout fragile coalitions of voters via layered tactics = votes. And votes = how you win.
I don’t say this lightly y’all but this is some good sh*t! Catching up but I’ve watched the feature on Georgia (shoutout to my home state 🍑) & the one on Texas so far. It’s rare to see folks get deeper than surface-level politics these days, especially re: the South. Check it out when you get a sec!
Mitch Landrieu@mitch-landrieu.bsky.social · 5d agoGrowing up in New Orleans gave me a front-row seat to a region that has always shaped America’s culture. We didn’t call it Long Play by accident — the South is the playbook for how our democracy is being disrupted, and how to defend it. More here: https://bit.ly/4fzc9cg
*replaced it with war, expensive fertilizer, tariffs
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2d agoBrooke Rollins: "We promised to get rid of all the crazy woke"
If we think for one second that this administration won’t hang blue states out to dry in the event of a massive terrorist attack, we’re being naive. They’re already doing with natural disasters/emergency management, research grants, etc. Transactional federalism is undemocratic & un-American.
TrumpsTaxes@trumpstaxes.com · 2d agoI know this story is a few days old, but it is worth repeating that despite serious evidence showing that Iran attacked our water utilities - Iran, the country Trump literally declared war on - Trump sought to blame Democrats instead. www.politico.com/news/2026/07...
I’m not a constitutional lawyer, but this is nonsense
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2d agoSen. Rand Paul: "I've had the debate with this administration ... they told me this isn't a war. I said, why isn't it a war? They said, 'Well, a constitutional war has to have significant casualties' ... initiation or declaration of war is *before* the casualties."
This is still one of my favourite photos, mainly because he told the government "you'll have to arrest me" and FDR went "fine" and literally told the press where and when he was going to arrest him
Reconstructionist@unavaleable.bsky.social · 4mo agoFDR literally had the president of Montgomery Ward arrested and the company seized for not negotiating with his workers
Mornin’, folks! Lotta eyes on Michigan today (shoutout to our neighbors across the lake — go vote!) but it’s Kansas that’ll quietly have my attention when results start rolling in. 🗳️
(Wes)tern democracy👨🏻🗳️🌐@midwestache.bsky.social · 2w agoAs someone with a bit of interesting state supreme court election experience, I’m keeping my eyes on this August 4th primary ballot measure in Kansas. 👀🗳️⚖️
Up past my bedtime ordering books for pickup.
Tr*mp & M*sk & M*ller should be discussed the way we discuss Mao & Stalin & Pol Pot.
World Food Programme@wfp.org · last wk.🚨 The Ebola crisis is also a hunger crisis. In eastern #DRCongo, affected families are facing conflict, displacement, and hunger. WFP continues delivering food assistance and moving health workers and supplies to hard-to-reach areas.
