2018 Midterms: Gerrymandering to Victory b/w Blue Wave, Red Pill

[zoobernut]

There is also a huge disparity in this country with regards to where people live based on their demographics. It is overwhelmingly true that socially liberal leaning people concentrate in cities and along the coasts. This further dilutes their voting power and enables the ultra conservatives who are happy to spread out amongst the most rural parts of this country to increase their effective vote. This isn't just a matter of gerrymandering or voter suppression and it isn't only going to take a shift in voting habits to cause a huge turnout. In order for our country to shift away from shitsville politically it is going to take a fundamental change on how we calculate representation with respect to population or a massive change in how and where people decide to live in connection with their politics.

Liberals need to spread out across the country and have tons of liberal babies.

[arus2001]

There is also a huge disparity in this country with regards to where people live based on their demographics. It is overwhelmingly true that socially liberal leaning people concentrate in cities and along the coasts. This further dilutes their voting power and enables the ultra conservatives who are happy to spread out amongst the most rural parts of this country to increase their effective vote. This isn't just a matter of gerrymandering or voter suppression and it isn't only going to take a shift in voting habits to cause a huge turnout. In order for our country to shift away from shitsville politically it is going to take a fundamental change on how we calculate representation with respect to population or a massive change in how and where people decide to live in connection with their politics.

Liberals need to spread out across the country and have tons of liberal babies.

That just shifts back to the problem of youths moving out of dead/decaying regions at the first opportunity (usually college) because who the fuck wants to start a family in an area where you have nothing to do if you're not stuck working 2-3 jobs anyway? Not everywhere can be a Kansas and just have a Google randomly take root.

Which is kind of the whole catch 22 of the "SEE ALL THE RED ON THE MAP!" people because all those blue urban clusters draw people, in part, because they got the fucking memo. They grew. They evolved. Maybe not gracefully or painlessly, and in some cases by sheer historical luck (SF and the gold rush, as an example), but with the flailing about how the flyover states matter too, and irksomely get equal representation in some areas of government despite exponentially smaller populations, the question really boils down to what are they offering? Not everyone wants to be a farmer. Coal is dying no matter how much West Virginians and the like stubbornly cling to it. Corn would be fucked without subsidies. Steel mills aren't coming back. So on and so forth.

I reluctantly joke that the part of Ohio I'm in is about 10 years behind the rest of the world. In some aspects it may be even more than that, with rare exception to being closer to up to date. This town has 5 bars, 3 gas stations, 4 mechanics, 2 pizza places, 4 banks, a Dairy Queen, 1 grocery store, 1 carry-out, and 1 convenience store on top of elementary, middle, and high schools. We've got a hospice at the far end of town, then what used to be low-rent apartments for elderly until so many died that they had to open up to younger tenants. There isn't really anywhere for kids of any age to hang out. There's nowhere for adults to really hang out if you're not into drinking or being around smokers. There are a couple other incidental businesses I didn't mention, in part because they're mostly family-run or don't hire more than 2-3 people. I see no reason why anyone should want to stay here unless you really, really, really fucking like country music and going to Jamboree in the Hills every summer. I blew my chance to get out by picking two shitty schools, accruing debt relative to that, then being trapped into the care of my own aging family starting with my now-deceased grandparents, my ailing and steadily deteriorating parents, an aunt, and frequently my eldest sister that got brain cancer (and still curses Obama despite the ACA saving her life) because me helping them all saved them money compared to hiring outside help. So in some respects, my altruism has fucked me, too, but that's not really the point.

What would save this no stoplight town? There's been rumor of some plant being built where an old one was taken down maybe a decade back, but until construction actually begins, that's fucking nothing as far as I'm concerned. There was a point where I tried to educate some on picking up municipal internet to counteract the FCC's bumblings, but I was pretty much met with a mix of ignorance, indifference, and those that bought into the GOP spin about how net neutrality was stifling innovation. Nonetheless, I still view the net as an important facet of our future and something younger people are more likely to care about with our current options being both shitty and overpriced. There's actually a good spot in town I feel would make a prime location for a PC/Net Cafe of sorts that could help solve the hang out issue (I'd have other twists in mind, too), but the building itself needs a lot of renovation (or even total demolition/rebuilding) and there's other startup capital needs (PCs, furniture, business tier net, etc.). Selling other adults on this idea is a nightmare, though, because they're either not geekily inclined like I am or can't correlate the technological benefit to youth appeal. So, yeah, we just get a big empty building for years on end. And this is just the town I live in. Some are better off, usually the closer you get to Pittsburgh, while others just get more rural and that much more disconnected.

In the end, I suspect there are lots of other people out there like me that would have ideas to help out their own towns, but just don't have the means to act on them while also meeting ignorance/resistance if they did try to vocalize. One good spark could potentially set off a chain reaction, sure, but nah, we gotta MAGA this bitch.

[Byrthnoth]

thank you for repeating my point though.

We're not disagreeing on why they voted, who they voted for, or whether that person was bad. We're disagreeing on whether that makes them terrible people whose "serious positions" are actually a farce.

I'm firmly in the "it does" camp.

[kuronosan]

You joke about Kansas but everyone here knows Western Kansas literally decides every election. Eastern Kansas is fabulously liberal with few pockets of red voters who are party liners through and through.

Religion runs the game in Kansas.

[Starby]

My ballot has been cast. Was 4th in line. By the time I left the line was about 70 people deep.

[Patriarch]

Voted early in rural Indiana and the line was right at an hour long

[Mertron]

i have never had to wait more than like 5 minutes to vote, i can’t go until like 2pm, im gonna be mad if people are going america all over their asses

[Zetanio]

GF just called me from the polls a few blocks away. MASSIVE lines. Not that it really matters here because Dems are going to sweep everything and our only national position (Senate) is barely being contested.

[Gryffes]

Nothing like a Border Patrol exercise in texas on election day between a hispanic neighbourhood and polling locations.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.981d31c72735

Good old voter supression.

[archibaldcrane]

31M early voters this year. 41M in 2016, 19M in 2014.

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[archibaldcrane]

My cousin has been canvassing in Republican stronghold Milwaukee suburb Waukesha County (for Evers, Baldwin and Ironstache) and having a great time.

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[Gredival]

We're not disagreeing on why they voted, who they voted for, or whether that person was bad. We're disagreeing on whether that makes them terrible people whose "serious positions" are actually a farce.

I'm firmly in the "it does" camp.

Case in point is that the Dems may work together out of common interest but they will draw the line when necessary like how they tossed out Franken.

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[arus2001]

You joke about Kansas but everyone here knows Western Kansas literally decides every election. Eastern Kansas is fabulously liberal with few pockets of red voters who are party liners through and through.

Religion runs the game in Kansas.

Yeah, the Kansas thing was the most immediate example that jumped to mind of some rural/flyover state taking steps to keep up with the times.

The choke hold of religion is another matter, but something I don't really see going away within a generation or two if we're lucky.

[6souls]

https://twitter.com/laura_yuen/statu...33404336848896

614k+ voted early in MN. Less than the 2016 election, but more than any midterm election in the state.

[Dimmauk]

[Jaybar]

Holy shit the Lion Ted chant was amazing.

[Tyrath]

Triumph fucking buried Cruz, goddamn.

[Cail]

Lady working the polls here in CT said she'd never seen turnout so high, especially for a midterm. 15 booths set up, 2 in line when I got there. When I left, line was up to 10 with more coming in the door

[zoobernut]

I know it is a long shot but man I really hope Beto takes it over Cruz in Texas. That would be the sweetest win. There are just some politicians right now that I want to see fucking crash and burn and Cruz is one of them.

[Boyiee]

Taking my wife to vote after she gets home from work around 7pm.

NJ question 1 is pretty stupid, but we just drove through New England and I saw the Massachusetts question about nurse patient ratios and with her being a nurse we couldn't believe that made it to a state ballot.

Good luck MA nurses.