Well, that's gotta hurt... ( Election season fails )

[lizkat]

the freezing of that smile was beautiful

Spend enough time in DC you can forget Iowa's not just about corn? To be off by half the unit price on any crop grown in Iowa is pretty damning.

Only spin on that moment in that debate for Joni Ernst's side was "well at least you know she wasn't getting info from her staff through wireless earbuds."

Side bet: Veggie potstickers w/ edamame inside will now most certainly never appear on a plate at Ernst's house, if ever before that debate they might have done.

Republicans do often have trouble with prices of ordinary grocery items and of course journalists love to trip them up on it. Rudy Giuliani was off by fully half the cost of a gallon of milk down in Alabama when he was campaigning there in 2007 during the run-up to the 2008 primaries. Not to say that's why he dropped out so early.

But for a candidate like Senator Ernst in a re-election campaign not to know this morning's price of soybeans is a whole other issue, and might just be enough to tip the election to that other "farm girl" Theresa Greenfield...

 

[SuperMatt]

Spend enough time in DC you can forget Iowa's not just about corn? To be off by half the unit price on any crop grown in Iowa is pretty damning.

Only spin on that moment in that debate for Joni Ernst's side was "well at least you know she wasn't getting info from her staff through wireless earbuds."

Side bet: Veggie potstickers w/ edamame inside will now most certainly never appear on a plate at Ernst's house, if ever before that debate they might have done.

Republicans do often have trouble with prices of ordinary grocery items and of course journalists love to trip them up on it. Rudy Giuliani was off by fully half the cost of a gallon of milk down in Alabama when he was campaigning there in 2007 during the run-up to the 2008 primaries. Not to say that's why he dropped out so early.

But for a candidate like Senator Ernst in a re-election campaign not to know this morning's price of soybeans is a whole other issue, and might just be enough to tip the election to that other "farm girl" Theresa Greenfield...

I truly hope so. I am seeing massive energy when it comes to getting out the vote among Democrats. It seems like Republicans are planning to vote on Nov 3 in person? I have a feeling they will get completely trounced.

One thing to expect from state legislatures controlled by Republicans after this will be elimination of early voting. If you were to look at this without any ethics, and only wanting to win, you’d see the massive lines of people of color out for early voting, and you’d reason: “there’s no way they could all cast a vote in one day. Let’s further limit the polling places in minority neighborhoods and make sure they only get one day.”

I predict it will take another constitutional amendment to truly protect voting rights. The 15th amendment may as well not even exist.

An aside on the 15th amendment - considering that felons are forced to work for pennies an hour, couldn’t a felon disallowed from voting be able to challenge it based on the 15th amendment? Although meant to target slavery, such imprisonment could be considered a “previous condition of servitude” as mentioned in the amendment.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I truly hope so. I am seeing massive energy when it comes to getting out the vote among Democrats. It seems like Republicans are planning to vote on Nov 3 in person? I have a feeling they will get completely trounced.

One thing to expect from state legislatures controlled by Republicans after this will be elimination of early voting. If you were to look at this without any ethics, and only wanting to win, you’d see the massive lines of people of color out for early voting, and you’d reason: “there’s no way they could all cast a vote in one day. Let’s further limit the polling places in minority neighborhoods and make sure they only get one day.”

I predict it will take another constitutional amendment to truly protect voting rights. The 15th amendment may as well not even exist.

An aside on the 15th amendment - considering that felons are forced to work for pennies an hour, couldn’t a felon disallowed from voting be able to challenge it based on the 15th amendment? Although meant to target slavery, such imprisonment could be considered a “previous condition of servitude” as mentioned in the amendment.

As an international election observer, and an election specialist, (and also as someone who has worked in capacity building and democratisation projects internationally), I am astonished that this (felons challenging the fact that their right to vote as citizens has been removed as a consequence of having been found guilty of a felony), hasn't yet happened, as it implies that the rights attendant upon citizenship are conditional, ominously flexible, rather than absolute, or "inalienable".

Yes, in much of Europe, prisoners don't - or cannot - vote, simply because you rarely find polling stations, or precincts, in prisons. However, their actual right to vote (as a citizen) is not legally removed, - it is just that while they are behind bars, they are not usually in a position to exercise it.

And, upon their release, they are able to exercise all of their rights as citizens, including casting a ballot.

As for felons working for pennies while prisoners, this is an outrage, but probably one that merits a separate thread.