"Administrators must give these voters 15 days to "cure" the alleged defects with their registrations or ballots… North Carolina voters can check to see whether their ballots have been challenged on this site created by local activists."
If I understand correctly, the curing process will now be the decider. I hope NC’s terrific Dem Party Chair, Anderson Clayton, has everyone ready to roll. Sounds like this will be quite the competition to see which party can cure the most votes!
To paraphrase: It’s not over until the fat White House resident sings his plaintive song.
Anderson Clayton has said several times that the 15-day cure window has not gone into effect yet. It will start once all appeals are exhausted and whether the NC Supreme Court will let the NC Court of Appeals ruling go through (99% sure they will let it). But it doesn't hurt for any voter on the Griffin List (whose "incomplete" registration can be cured) to go on the website & check out the link: https://www.ncsbe.gov/information-voters-challenged-election-protest
And Justice Riggs, a voting rights attorney herself, also thinks the federal courts will have final say. Carolina Forward thinks it will go all the way to SCOTUS -- but I'm fearful if it does. Which Trump appointee will follow the rule of law and go with the progressive justices? I don't trust Gorsuch, Kavanaugh or Amy Covid Barrett to do the right thing for democracy. And everyone knows Alito and Thomas will rule in favor of Jefferson Griffin.
Griffin has targeted mostly Democratic or left-leaning independent voters in heavily Democratic counties (a few Republicans are also on his list & they're ticked off). So, if the cure period comes up short, it would advantage him.
So, just to be clear--Griffin's gotten a list of voters in Democratic counties and just challenged them based on...????? And added a few voters from Republican counties for good measure?
As the post says, I don't see how he can be sure any person voted in a way that harmed him specifically. Guilford County (Greensboro), for example, votes about 40% Republican. Or is he going by precinct which, given racial segregation, might better approximate partisanship?
Is there not an equal protection claim here? He's just assuming voters from Democratic counties have flaws in their records?
He and his attorneys have mainly targeted voters who are not only early or heavily absentee voting, but with "incomplete" registration, like if they registered to vote without including the last four digits of their SS number or their license/ID number. Another suit by Griffin is against 5000 voters who are military and overseas voters who did not submit a copy of their photo ID -- even though the NCSBE and the GOP majority legislature agreed on a rule before the election that they didn't need to do so. When that 15-day period goes into effect, those military and overseas voters will have to send a copy of their photo ID in order for their vote to count. (Griffin conveniently used the absentee option when he himself was serving overseas several years ago.)
The voters played by the rules and showed a valid photo ID at the polls, the absentee ballots that arrived on or before Election Day were all counted (the GOP legislature eliminated the 3-day grace period for late arriving ballots postmarked on or before Election Day) and provisional ballots were cured by the 10-day deadline after the election. Justice Allison Riggs won her re-election fair and square.
If it makes it to SCOTUS, it should be tossed and Riggs seated for her 8-year term on the NC Supreme Court. But with the 6 - 3 conservative majority on SCOTUS, who knows? My political predictions are awful, so I'm bracing for the worst.
If we don't have 5 votes on the Supreme Court not to annul votes that were already counted, this country is a dictatorship, and it's better for this decision to happen now than after someone on the Supreme Court who doesn't support vote annulment dies or retires and is replaced by Trump.
As much as I dislike Thomas and Alito, I'm hoping that their respective massive egos prevent them from stepping down (and being replaced by a 40- or 30-something) over the next four years.
North Carolina: As I posted last week, based on the February federal appeals court decision, US Chief District Judge Richard Myers is required to take up any federal issues remaining in the case once North Carolina courts have resolved state issues.
Let's hope he can render a reasonable decision based on the rules and regs at the time of voting. Probably just as well if he Doesn't somehow let this proceed to US Supreme Court. It would initially go to Justice Roberts who oversees Dist. 4.
If SCOTUS were to take it, Roberts would probably side with Sotomayor, KBJ and Kagan. It's the Trump appointed trio (Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett) that has me worried.
Exactly. She isn't even an Anthony Kennedy, who upholded abortion rights, but the country depends on her now to limit the damage the voters and Supreme Court themselves inflicted.
The GOP has not attracted the best former NBA players to run for office. Both Royce White, who was defeated handily in his race against Amy Klobuchar, and Willie Burton, who is now running for Minnesota's other Senate seat, had mediocre NBA careers. By contrast, both Bill Bradley and Tom McMillen were outstanding players and Democratic politicians.
Consider that Bill Bradley and Tom McMillen also served in Congress before even GW Bush entered office as POTUS. In today's environment though, it's much easier being elected as a Democrat than as a Republican if a former sports player is bright enough.
On the other hand, while not being NBA, the GOP had former Detroit Tigers pitcher Jim Bunning as Senator from 1999-2011 (Rand Paul replaced him in the Senate) and former quarterback Jack Kemp in the House, becoming Bob Dole's running mate in 1996. Compared to today's GOP, it was much easier electing former sports players as Republicans back in the 70's, 80's and 90's.
I was concentrating only on the NBA because Willie Burton, now a candidate, used to be a pro basketball player. However, if you want to widen the field, there are the disastrous Senate races of Republicans Steve Garvey (California) and Herschel Walker (Georgia).
It is now more than a month since the death of Congressman Sylvester Turner, and Governor Greg Abbott still has not called a special election to fill the vacant seat representing Texas's 18th Congressional District. Abbott is now blaming "election problems" in Harris County for his delay, though Teneshia Hudspeth, the county's chief elections officer, calls that excuse "nonsense." Abbott's true election problem is that the district will almost certainly elect a Democrat.
"Jena Griswold announces run for Colorado attorney general
Two-term secretary of state has been a leading figure in fight against election conspiracies
Griswold, who is term-limited from running for secretary of state again, immediately becomes the biggest name in the state attorney general’s race. She enters the race with endorsements from several labor unions; U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, an Aurora Democrat; and the leaders of both of Colorado’s federally recognized tribes.
So far, she’ll face fellow Democrats Michael Dougherty and Crisanta Duran in the primary in summer 2026. Dougherty is the district attorney for Boulder County, and Duran is a former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives. Both announced their bids in February."
Interesting. I guess she wants to stay relevant in CO politics without running for governor or senate (yet). I know Dougherty is pretty popular in Boulder, but Griswold has a lot more name recognition.
Democrats may get prepared in New Hampshire, as former Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said in a very cocky and complacent manner a few days ago if he runs for Senate, "I will win". Trump endorsed him last night and said he met with him in the Oval Office about running and he hasn't even jumped in yet!! 🤔😢
Given the likely national environment, a Harris state electing a potential 54th Republican vote in the Senate for this kind of agenda worsening the status quo would be the stupidiest thing anyone could do, bash him over the head with Trump at every opportunity and defeat him with Chris Pappas!! 💙🇺🇲
A Republican pollster from last month (March) called Quantus Insights had Sununu leading Pappas by 53% - 44%, at this VERY early stage probably mostly name recognition but if he actually jumped in and it was very nasty and nationalized which it would be, an advantage like that would shrink quick enough (hopefully)!! 💙🇺🇲🙏💯
If Sununu is leading by just 9% points in the Senate race vs Pappas by a GOP pollster, that doesn’t signify he’s a strong enough candidate. Maybe there’s something I’m missing.
The News & Observer just said that the NC Supreme Court has temporarily paused the order by the NC Court of Appeals regarding the pro-Griffin ruling yesterday.
A bit more information about the ruling from WRAL. The ruling was a unanimous 6-0 one, including progressive judge Anita Earls. (Riggs recused herself.)
Just as the orange regime keeps repeating catch-phrase lies until people stop doubting, we have to keep repeating Hands Off!, Elbows Up, and Remember Signalgate! Is the Pledge of Allegiance still given at the beginning of the day in public schools? This is not sarcasm, I have no children and really don't know.
Unfortunately, the Pledge of Allegiance is only to the flag and the republic for which it stands and then some good wishes about what that republic is. The constitution is not mentioned.
Also, has the term "Signalgate" caught on among the public? This is the first time I've heard it. Most voters don't have any memory of the Watergate scandal.
Yeah, I understand your point about the Constitution, but along with saying the Pledge, my elementary school teachers explained the meaning of 'allegiance' as well as basic kid-talk about symbolism. My purpose there though, was mostly the use of repetition. As to Signalgate, I saw it in many of the first accounts of this total disregard for security. Watergate was 1972, so I would think that anyone born 1957 or before would remember it from all the weeks and weeks of news (2 yrs until Nixon retired). I was 31 in 1972 so I remember it well!
I was 7 in 1972 and didn't really understand the Watergate scandal at the time. The Vietnam War was clearer to me because I heard things going boom on TV, saw targets being destroyed and saw coffins being sent home, so I knew it was bad and people were getting killed. But most voters were born after the 70s.
Also, your elementary school teachers were better than most, and it would be foolish to expect Republican teachers to explain what "republic," "liberty" and "justice" really mean. Plus the addition of "under God" during the Eisenhower Administration is offensive and anti-constitutional.
I agree completed with Eisenhower's addition. I was taught to say it the original way and I do to this day. If I'm in a group, I just pause to stay with them. Unfortunately, we're proving the old saying that what we don't learn from history, we are doomed to repeat.
Overall, I think fwiw we win Va by a wider and safer margin than NJ. And little has been said here about the real possibility two faux democrats have a real shot to the nomination, because with a six candidate field there's no guarantee a mainstream right-wing democrat swoops in for nomination a la sweeney or Gottheimer, and thus all the projected statehouse gains won't translate into any meaningful gains because primary winner just needs a plurality no run off, and we could be stuck with new jersey's pale blue version of phill scott. I have neither seen nor heard any indication any of the lower polling of the six will drop out, and it's a greater concern each day as the race stays tight and full of undecided voters.
It's worth a bit of worry but I'm encouraged that Sherrill has been at the top of every (I think) poll so far. Gottheimer and Sweeney tend to poll in the back of the pack. There's large undecideds right now so it is possible that the field consolidates in their favor. Typically though there's not as much ideological cohesiveness as you would expect from primary electorates.
There's some danger but I think we're more likely than not to end up with an OK democrat as our nominee.
Sherrill has lead every poll. But in the apparently most recent poll (MDW, March 19-20) she has just 14%. Undecided was 47%. So it really is wide open so far.
The fact you mentioned should alleviate most of your worry: Sweeney AND Gottheimer are running! There are definitely conservative Democrats (especially in New Jersey), but more like 30% of the primary vote and with 2 people running in that lane it makes it far harder for a more moderate/right leaning candidate to sneak through then if it would be if it was just one of them running instead.
I also think, as another person said, Sherrill has the most support in polls, so it’s likely she hasn’t hit her ceiling yet as more undecided primary voters make up their mind. She only needs about 30-40% of the primary vote to win a decent sized victory with so many people running. I will never say that anything in New Jersey is guaranteed, but she’s the obvious front runner and it’s her race to lose imo. I also think she’d be a great governor and the first Democratic woman, 2nd woman Governor ever in that state, so I may be biased on this.
I think Fulop and Gottheimer and Baraka and Spiller will knock each other off. There just aren’t enough votes coming out of south Jersey for Sweeney to top Sherrill
Geez Paleo. What does this "I think Fulop and Gottheimer and Baraka and Spiller will knock each other off" even mean? Those campaigns are all in possession of the polls showing Sherrill slightly ahead of the pack with a very LARGE undecided primary component. If other campaigns go after anyone it should be her. And while Sherrill is better than Gottheimer or Sweeney, she's notably less progressive than Fulop or Baraka. Progressives won't elect anyone dog catcher if we throw in the towel before the race even starts. You're usually a champion of progressives--what gives?
That Wikipedia page lists the endorsements each of the 6 candidates has received. And interestingly, several Hudson county folks' endorsements have switched to Sherrill from Gottheimer. So she may be gathering momentum.
Also, apparently Cory Booker hasn't made an endorsement so far.
The North Carolina Supreme Court temporarily paused a lower court’s ruling to disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters in the state’s Supreme Court election, unless they fix their ballots in 15 days.
As per roundup, the “fight, not surrender” tea party of the left keeps bubbling at the surface, adding more generational change young primary challengers to older entrenched Democrats in the 2026 primary. Love to see this and not all of these Democrats being challenged are used to running a hard campaign, so there’s absolutely an opening.
There is no other time riper than the 2026 elections to get more AND better Democrats elected. Will it be a tea party-like wave in primaries? Or will it be only a few victorious? Time will tell, but this definitely “feels” like a new energy to me amongst the Dem base across all factions of the party. There’s an immense amount of anger in the base right now about how the party is handling Trump (or lacking thereof).
Indiana Dem activist eyes challenge against Carson
Hornedo also attacked Democratic leadership for doing a “piss poor” job of standing up to President Donald Trump. This mirrors similar rhetoric from other Democratic primary challengers who announced campaigns against Reps. Jan Schakowski (D-Ill.) and Brad Sherman (D-Calif.).
“Right now, [Hakeem Jeffries] is acting like a manager of the caucus, as opposed to a leader of the caucus,” Hornedo said. “I’m not sure exactly what he’s waiting on, but I’d love to see a little bit more blood lust.”
And if any of these activists get elected into a House minority, they’ll learn pretty quickly they have little to no power besides being loud and causing a scene, which can be good or bad depending on who’s saying what.
With Trump as president, the likelihood of Democrats being in the minority come 2026 is the lowest it will ever be. That’s an undeniable fact. May as well take advantage of a potentially very favourable environment for the party. Or, a different question for you: If not 2026, then when do you think it should happen? 2/3rds of our base voters are dissatisfied with the elected Democrats who lead our party.
That anger/frustration is bound to materialize at some point in primaries, so why not unleash it in a Trump midterm when we have the greatest chance of electing not only a majority, but a far better majority then the old guard “try to work with GOP” holding the party back from fresher voices and newer leaders. My thought process comes from both the political train of thought as to what would be best politically as well as my personal ideology.
I said as per roundup, the link is in the digest, isn’t that enough (honestly asking, I don’t know proper etiquette)? If not I’ll add a link to it, but that just seems repetitive to me.
Sorry, I don't remember if I didn't just read the digest. The way I'd do it is just to note that it's in the digest, but definitely no harm, no foul on your part.
"Representative John James, Republican of Michigan, announced on Monday that he would run for governor, jumping into an increasingly crowded, high-profile contest.
In a post on social media, Mr. James tied himself closely to President Trump while criticizing recent Democratic leadership of Michigan as “radical” and “out-of-touch.'"
I do worry if Duggan hangs on to a good chunk of Detroit James could slip through on a far right campaign even in a decent Dem year. Flip side if there is a Dem wave an open house seat is easier to flip.
Jocelyn Benson must be pleased to have him as her likely Republican opponent. Third statewide campaign in 8 years and can't even do his current job as a Congressman voting with Trump's agenda and up the MAGA ass 100% of the time, hiding from his constituents and ducking town halls.
All she has to say is, "I don't know what you're running on, but it can't be your recent record in Congress with a voting record like this and playing hide & seek"!! 💙🇺🇲
"Administrators must give these voters 15 days to "cure" the alleged defects with their registrations or ballots… North Carolina voters can check to see whether their ballots have been challenged on this site created by local activists."
If I understand correctly, the curing process will now be the decider. I hope NC’s terrific Dem Party Chair, Anderson Clayton, has everyone ready to roll. Sounds like this will be quite the competition to see which party can cure the most votes!
To paraphrase: It’s not over until the fat White House resident sings his plaintive song.
Anderson Clayton has said several times that the 15-day cure window has not gone into effect yet. It will start once all appeals are exhausted and whether the NC Supreme Court will let the NC Court of Appeals ruling go through (99% sure they will let it). But it doesn't hurt for any voter on the Griffin List (whose "incomplete" registration can be cured) to go on the website & check out the link: https://www.ncsbe.gov/information-voters-challenged-election-protest
And Justice Riggs, a voting rights attorney herself, also thinks the federal courts will have final say. Carolina Forward thinks it will go all the way to SCOTUS -- but I'm fearful if it does. Which Trump appointee will follow the rule of law and go with the progressive justices? I don't trust Gorsuch, Kavanaugh or Amy Covid Barrett to do the right thing for democracy. And everyone knows Alito and Thomas will rule in favor of Jefferson Griffin.
But... if that 15-day curing window is triggered, who is deemed to have the advantage: Riggs or Griffin? I haven’t seen much analysis of that.
Griffin has targeted mostly Democratic or left-leaning independent voters in heavily Democratic counties (a few Republicans are also on his list & they're ticked off). So, if the cure period comes up short, it would advantage him.
So, just to be clear--Griffin's gotten a list of voters in Democratic counties and just challenged them based on...????? And added a few voters from Republican counties for good measure?
As the post says, I don't see how he can be sure any person voted in a way that harmed him specifically. Guilford County (Greensboro), for example, votes about 40% Republican. Or is he going by precinct which, given racial segregation, might better approximate partisanship?
Is there not an equal protection claim here? He's just assuming voters from Democratic counties have flaws in their records?
He and his attorneys have mainly targeted voters who are not only early or heavily absentee voting, but with "incomplete" registration, like if they registered to vote without including the last four digits of their SS number or their license/ID number. Another suit by Griffin is against 5000 voters who are military and overseas voters who did not submit a copy of their photo ID -- even though the NCSBE and the GOP majority legislature agreed on a rule before the election that they didn't need to do so. When that 15-day period goes into effect, those military and overseas voters will have to send a copy of their photo ID in order for their vote to count. (Griffin conveniently used the absentee option when he himself was serving overseas several years ago.)
The voters played by the rules and showed a valid photo ID at the polls, the absentee ballots that arrived on or before Election Day were all counted (the GOP legislature eliminated the 3-day grace period for late arriving ballots postmarked on or before Election Day) and provisional ballots were cured by the 10-day deadline after the election. Justice Allison Riggs won her re-election fair and square.
If it makes it to SCOTUS, it should be tossed and Riggs seated for her 8-year term on the NC Supreme Court. But with the 6 - 3 conservative majority on SCOTUS, who knows? My political predictions are awful, so I'm bracing for the worst.
Many thanks for the clarity. Unreal
If we don't have 5 votes on the Supreme Court not to annul votes that were already counted, this country is a dictatorship, and it's better for this decision to happen now than after someone on the Supreme Court who doesn't support vote annulment dies or retires and is replaced by Trump.
As much as I dislike Thomas and Alito, I'm hoping that their respective massive egos prevent them from stepping down (and being replaced by a 40- or 30-something) over the next four years.
Whoever replaces them could hardly be worse but they would be younger, so your point is made.
I believe the decision is 15 business days. That is three weeks (plus a day if a holiday intervenes).
I think the biggest decider should be the federal district court.
North Carolina: As I posted last week, based on the February federal appeals court decision, US Chief District Judge Richard Myers is required to take up any federal issues remaining in the case once North Carolina courts have resolved state issues.
https://www.carolinajournal.com/appellate-judges-will-not-force-nc-supreme-court-election-dispute-to-return-to-federal-court/
Let's hope he can render a reasonable decision based on the rules and regs at the time of voting. Probably just as well if he Doesn't somehow let this proceed to US Supreme Court. It would initially go to Justice Roberts who oversees Dist. 4.
If SCOTUS were to take it, Roberts would probably side with Sotomayor, KBJ and Kagan. It's the Trump appointed trio (Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett) that has me worried.
Barrett has shown signs of independence from Trump. The country's fate would lie with her for the time being.
Yes, she's no David Souter but she seems less callous than Gorsuch and Boof.
Exactly. She isn't even an Anthony Kennedy, who upholded abortion rights, but the country depends on her now to limit the damage the voters and Supreme Court themselves inflicted.
If I were Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and/or Jackson, I would be taking Justice Barrett out for a LOT of colleague lunches…
Thank you for the update. Going to re-stack this one. Great idea for anyone who knows they’re on the list to look into it now.
The GOP has not attracted the best former NBA players to run for office. Both Royce White, who was defeated handily in his race against Amy Klobuchar, and Willie Burton, who is now running for Minnesota's other Senate seat, had mediocre NBA careers. By contrast, both Bill Bradley and Tom McMillen were outstanding players and Democratic politicians.
Consider that Bill Bradley and Tom McMillen also served in Congress before even GW Bush entered office as POTUS. In today's environment though, it's much easier being elected as a Democrat than as a Republican if a former sports player is bright enough.
On the other hand, while not being NBA, the GOP had former Detroit Tigers pitcher Jim Bunning as Senator from 1999-2011 (Rand Paul replaced him in the Senate) and former quarterback Jack Kemp in the House, becoming Bob Dole's running mate in 1996. Compared to today's GOP, it was much easier electing former sports players as Republicans back in the 70's, 80's and 90's.
I was concentrating only on the NBA because Willie Burton, now a candidate, used to be a pro basketball player. However, if you want to widen the field, there are the disastrous Senate races of Republicans Steve Garvey (California) and Herschel Walker (Georgia).
Alas, the Dems must also own Kevin Johnson, who was a great NBA player but terrible politician (accused sex pest, charter school shill)
It is now more than a month since the death of Congressman Sylvester Turner, and Governor Greg Abbott still has not called a special election to fill the vacant seat representing Texas's 18th Congressional District. Abbott is now blaming "election problems" in Harris County for his delay, though Teneshia Hudspeth, the county's chief elections officer, calls that excuse "nonsense." Abbott's true election problem is that the district will almost certainly elect a Democrat.
"Jena Griswold announces run for Colorado attorney general
Two-term secretary of state has been a leading figure in fight against election conspiracies
Griswold, who is term-limited from running for secretary of state again, immediately becomes the biggest name in the state attorney general’s race. She enters the race with endorsements from several labor unions; U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, an Aurora Democrat; and the leaders of both of Colorado’s federally recognized tribes.
So far, she’ll face fellow Democrats Michael Dougherty and Crisanta Duran in the primary in summer 2026. Dougherty is the district attorney for Boulder County, and Duran is a former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives. Both announced their bids in February."
https://www.denverpost.com/2025/04/07/colorado-jena-griswold-attorney-general-candidate/
Interesting. I guess she wants to stay relevant in CO politics without running for governor or senate (yet). I know Dougherty is pretty popular in Boulder, but Griswold has a lot more name recognition.
Yeah my read is the Gubernatorial field is a little frozen with Bennett looking at jumping in and Hick seems like he wants one more term.
Jena Griswold will make a brilliant state AG in Colorado, just as she did a Secretary of State. She is the perfect choice!! 💙🇺🇲
Hopefully it will be a productive primary where good ideas are exchanged and where personal attacks are minimal to nonexistent.
Hopefully. The Salazar-Weiser race got a little ugly at the end.
Democrats may get prepared in New Hampshire, as former Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said in a very cocky and complacent manner a few days ago if he runs for Senate, "I will win". Trump endorsed him last night and said he met with him in the Oval Office about running and he hasn't even jumped in yet!! 🤔😢
Given the likely national environment, a Harris state electing a potential 54th Republican vote in the Senate for this kind of agenda worsening the status quo would be the stupidiest thing anyone could do, bash him over the head with Trump at every opportunity and defeat him with Chris Pappas!! 💙🇺🇲
He'd be a fool to run next year.
Sununu blew it in his naive understanding about DOGE and what is going on with the firings. He's not ready for a Senate run.
A Republican pollster from last month (March) called Quantus Insights had Sununu leading Pappas by 53% - 44%, at this VERY early stage probably mostly name recognition but if he actually jumped in and it was very nasty and nationalized which it would be, an advantage like that would shrink quick enough (hopefully)!! 💙🇺🇲🙏💯
If Sununu is leading by just 9% points in the Senate race vs Pappas by a GOP pollster, that doesn’t signify he’s a strong enough candidate. Maybe there’s something I’m missing.
The News & Observer just said that the NC Supreme Court has temporarily paused the order by the NC Court of Appeals regarding the pro-Griffin ruling yesterday.
https://electionlawblog.org/?p=149356
A bit more information about the ruling from WRAL. The ruling was a unanimous 6-0 one, including progressive judge Anita Earls. (Riggs recused herself.)
https://www.wral.com/story/nc-supreme-court-temporarily-blocks-court-order-to-throw-out-2024-ballots-in-riggs-griffin-race/21948689/
Just as the orange regime keeps repeating catch-phrase lies until people stop doubting, we have to keep repeating Hands Off!, Elbows Up, and Remember Signalgate! Is the Pledge of Allegiance still given at the beginning of the day in public schools? This is not sarcasm, I have no children and really don't know.
Unfortunately, the Pledge of Allegiance is only to the flag and the republic for which it stands and then some good wishes about what that republic is. The constitution is not mentioned.
Also, has the term "Signalgate" caught on among the public? This is the first time I've heard it. Most voters don't have any memory of the Watergate scandal.
Yeah, I understand your point about the Constitution, but along with saying the Pledge, my elementary school teachers explained the meaning of 'allegiance' as well as basic kid-talk about symbolism. My purpose there though, was mostly the use of repetition. As to Signalgate, I saw it in many of the first accounts of this total disregard for security. Watergate was 1972, so I would think that anyone born 1957 or before would remember it from all the weeks and weeks of news (2 yrs until Nixon retired). I was 31 in 1972 so I remember it well!
I was 7 in 1972 and didn't really understand the Watergate scandal at the time. The Vietnam War was clearer to me because I heard things going boom on TV, saw targets being destroyed and saw coffins being sent home, so I knew it was bad and people were getting killed. But most voters were born after the 70s.
Also, your elementary school teachers were better than most, and it would be foolish to expect Republican teachers to explain what "republic," "liberty" and "justice" really mean. Plus the addition of "under God" during the Eisenhower Administration is offensive and anti-constitutional.
I agree completed with Eisenhower's addition. I was taught to say it the original way and I do to this day. If I'm in a group, I just pause to stay with them. Unfortunately, we're proving the old saying that what we don't learn from history, we are doomed to repeat.
Also, stupidity and gullibility are the fatal flaws of democracy.
Overall, I think fwiw we win Va by a wider and safer margin than NJ. And little has been said here about the real possibility two faux democrats have a real shot to the nomination, because with a six candidate field there's no guarantee a mainstream right-wing democrat swoops in for nomination a la sweeney or Gottheimer, and thus all the projected statehouse gains won't translate into any meaningful gains because primary winner just needs a plurality no run off, and we could be stuck with new jersey's pale blue version of phill scott. I have neither seen nor heard any indication any of the lower polling of the six will drop out, and it's a greater concern each day as the race stays tight and full of undecided voters.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/polling/spiller-in-second-place-in-dem-governor-primary-behind-sherrill-per-njea-pacs-poll/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_New_Jersey_gubernatorial_election#Democratic_primary
It's worth a bit of worry but I'm encouraged that Sherrill has been at the top of every (I think) poll so far. Gottheimer and Sweeney tend to poll in the back of the pack. There's large undecideds right now so it is possible that the field consolidates in their favor. Typically though there's not as much ideological cohesiveness as you would expect from primary electorates.
There's some danger but I think we're more likely than not to end up with an OK democrat as our nominee.
Sherrill has lead every poll. But in the apparently most recent poll (MDW, March 19-20) she has just 14%. Undecided was 47%. So it really is wide open so far.
The fact you mentioned should alleviate most of your worry: Sweeney AND Gottheimer are running! There are definitely conservative Democrats (especially in New Jersey), but more like 30% of the primary vote and with 2 people running in that lane it makes it far harder for a more moderate/right leaning candidate to sneak through then if it would be if it was just one of them running instead.
I also think, as another person said, Sherrill has the most support in polls, so it’s likely she hasn’t hit her ceiling yet as more undecided primary voters make up their mind. She only needs about 30-40% of the primary vote to win a decent sized victory with so many people running. I will never say that anything in New Jersey is guaranteed, but she’s the obvious front runner and it’s her race to lose imo. I also think she’d be a great governor and the first Democratic woman, 2nd woman Governor ever in that state, so I may be biased on this.
I think Fulop and Gottheimer and Baraka and Spiller will knock each other off. There just aren’t enough votes coming out of south Jersey for Sweeney to top Sherrill
I think that's right. When's the last time a candidate from South Jersey won a gubernatorial election?
Jim Florio in 1989.
Geez Paleo. What does this "I think Fulop and Gottheimer and Baraka and Spiller will knock each other off" even mean? Those campaigns are all in possession of the polls showing Sherrill slightly ahead of the pack with a very LARGE undecided primary component. If other campaigns go after anyone it should be her. And while Sherrill is better than Gottheimer or Sweeney, she's notably less progressive than Fulop or Baraka. Progressives won't elect anyone dog catcher if we throw in the towel before the race even starts. You're usually a champion of progressives--what gives?
What are you talking about? Sherrill has a staunchly liberal voting record and stance on the issues.
Also, can we start calling each other liberals instead of progressives for a change?
https://www.ontheissues.org/NJ/Mikie_Sherrill.htm
Some of us are socialists rather than liberals, although speaking for myself, being illiberal is awful.
I have my political analyst hat on. And what makes Fulop more progressive than Sherrill?
That Wikipedia page lists the endorsements each of the 6 candidates has received. And interestingly, several Hudson county folks' endorsements have switched to Sherrill from Gottheimer. So she may be gathering momentum.
Also, apparently Cory Booker hasn't made an endorsement so far.
The North Carolina Supreme Court temporarily paused a lower court’s ruling to disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters in the state’s Supreme Court election, unless they fix their ballots in 15 days.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/north-carolina-supreme-court-pauses-lower-courts-ruling-to-disenfranchise-voters/
As per roundup, the “fight, not surrender” tea party of the left keeps bubbling at the surface, adding more generational change young primary challengers to older entrenched Democrats in the 2026 primary. Love to see this and not all of these Democrats being challenged are used to running a hard campaign, so there’s absolutely an opening.
There is no other time riper than the 2026 elections to get more AND better Democrats elected. Will it be a tea party-like wave in primaries? Or will it be only a few victorious? Time will tell, but this definitely “feels” like a new energy to me amongst the Dem base across all factions of the party. There’s an immense amount of anger in the base right now about how the party is handling Trump (or lacking thereof).
Indiana Dem activist eyes challenge against Carson
Hornedo also attacked Democratic leadership for doing a “piss poor” job of standing up to President Donald Trump. This mirrors similar rhetoric from other Democratic primary challengers who announced campaigns against Reps. Jan Schakowski (D-Ill.) and Brad Sherman (D-Calif.).
“Right now, [Hakeem Jeffries] is acting like a manager of the caucus, as opposed to a leader of the caucus,” Hornedo said. “I’m not sure exactly what he’s waiting on, but I’d love to see a little bit more blood lust.”
And if any of these activists get elected into a House minority, they’ll learn pretty quickly they have little to no power besides being loud and causing a scene, which can be good or bad depending on who’s saying what.
Do you think it's likely for the Democrats to be in the minority in the House come January, 2027?
With Trump as president, the likelihood of Democrats being in the minority come 2026 is the lowest it will ever be. That’s an undeniable fact. May as well take advantage of a potentially very favourable environment for the party. Or, a different question for you: If not 2026, then when do you think it should happen? 2/3rds of our base voters are dissatisfied with the elected Democrats who lead our party.
That anger/frustration is bound to materialize at some point in primaries, so why not unleash it in a Trump midterm when we have the greatest chance of electing not only a majority, but a far better majority then the old guard “try to work with GOP” holding the party back from fresher voices and newer leaders. My thought process comes from both the political train of thought as to what would be best politically as well as my personal ideology.
Thanks for that, but please credit your source.
I said as per roundup, the link is in the digest, isn’t that enough (honestly asking, I don’t know proper etiquette)? If not I’ll add a link to it, but that just seems repetitive to me.
Sorry, I don't remember if I didn't just read the digest. The way I'd do it is just to note that it's in the digest, but definitely no harm, no foul on your part.
"Representative John James, Republican of Michigan, announced on Monday that he would run for governor, jumping into an increasingly crowded, high-profile contest.
In a post on social media, Mr. James tied himself closely to President Trump while criticizing recent Democratic leadership of Michigan as “radical” and “out-of-touch.'"
I do worry if Duggan hangs on to a good chunk of Detroit James could slip through on a far right campaign even in a decent Dem year. Flip side if there is a Dem wave an open house seat is easier to flip.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/us/politics/john-james-michigan-governor.html
Jocelyn Benson must be pleased to have him as her likely Republican opponent. Third statewide campaign in 8 years and can't even do his current job as a Congressman voting with Trump's agenda and up the MAGA ass 100% of the time, hiding from his constituents and ducking town halls.
All she has to say is, "I don't know what you're running on, but it can't be your recent record in Congress with a voting record like this and playing hide & seek"!! 💙🇺🇲
Republican judges make votes harder to count like over 60;000. But when they were voted in there was no problem. See how this works.