# 2018 Election Day Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 6, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079 "2018-11-06T15:43:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/482 "2018-11-07T14:25:58Z")
the Dems need to get rid of fossils like Pelosi in leadership roles. And don’t tell me she won this majority. It was won largely because many people hated Trump. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/483 "2018-11-07T14:33:05Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > This. Votes matter in the Senate. No matter what one thinks of their Democratic bonanfides, Heitkamp and McCaskill would have been votes to put Democrats in committee chairs, to bring Democratic bills to the floor and to oppose the Administration’s most egregious nominees. That both were replaced by unalloyed Trumpists means that Trump has carte blanche to nominate pretty much anyone he wants. And as you state, it makes the 2020 election an enormous lift for Senate Democrats. Yeah, I just don’t get the idea of “good riddance, McCaskill”. The Democrats need to win across lots of states to be a national party, and that means a big tent. Bigger than the GOP, because the GOPhas a state advantage due to our electoral system. And as much as some folks want to change the system, that’s an uphill battle. Much more realistic to accept that you need some relatively conservative Democrats to win the Senate. In fact, you need some relatively conservative Democrats to win the House. That is one thing Rom Emanuel understood. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/484 "2018-11-07T14:38:19Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > And as I think about it, this result is great news for Susan Collins. With a solid Republican majority, she can feel free to vote against a couple of nominees to show her “independence” without any real risk of stirring conservative ire for tanking the nomination. True, but at the same time she lost a lot of power. Her vote was crucial, so she had to to be deferred to. Now, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/485 "2018-11-07T14:48:20Z")
Re: Pelosi, I read that she plans to take the speakership if she can, but then look for her replacement. I don’t think she plans to stay in that position for the full two years. ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/486 "2018-11-07T14:53:34Z")
I’m pleased that the Democrats took back the House, disappointed about the losses in the Senate (especially sorry that Beto did not win, though running a very competitive race is something of a consolation). I was delighted that Tim Kaine thoroughly trounced the loathsome racist Corey Stewart. The future of the Democratic Party is in its progressive wing, IMO. Despite the losses of some progressive candidates yesterday, this election season has been instructive in terms of how to proceed in 2020. Hopefully the party will learn the right lessons. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/487 "2018-11-07T15:09:21Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > There needs to be a word for the group of subpoenas heading out. Like a “murder of subpoenas”? A bevy, flurry or a tsunami of subpoenas. Odd results here in Ohio. Dems lost all statewide offices including governor, alas, but picked up two seats on the state supreme court for the first time in years, and Sherrod Brown pretty easily won reelection to the U.S. Senate. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/488 "2018-11-07T15:11:39Z")
Maine has elected its first female governor in state history! ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/489 "2018-11-07T15:12:23Z")
> [@chaika](#): > > The future of the Democratic Party is in its progressive wing, IMO. Despite the losses of some progressive candidates yesterday, this election season has been instructive in terms of how to proceed in 2020. Hopefully the party will learn the right lessons. What lessons did it teach? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/490 "2018-11-07T15:13:33Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Filed under things I didn’t expect… > > Here in South Carolina I’ll soon be [repped by a democrat](https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/joe-cunningham-takes-sc-st-congressional-district-race-over-republican/article_bd90a97e-e203-11e8-ab11-5f406678bef9.html?fbclid=IwAR2i6C4qaQ6BOZoH0L1sqzK_HYUCcjx_jhR5Cx6C3VlEX6oAUKm23brPVTQ). I worked for Joe and know him. How 'bout that. That’s excellent! Now if only MY district would wise up and kick that idiot Norman out of his seat. \ The best part of that result in SC-1 is that Arrington knocked off “Mr. Appalachian Trail” in the primary, so it’s like win-win for the Democrats there. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/491 "2018-11-07T15:19:00Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > A bevy, flurry or a tsunami of subpoenas… Heh. A tsunami of tsubpoenas. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/492 "2018-11-07T15:39:34Z")
Perfect score at the ballot box! Every candidate and every measure I supported won, and every measure I didn’t support lost. ---
**Author:** ![UnwittingAmericans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d9b06d/32.png) [@UnwittingAmericans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwittingAmericans)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/493 "2018-11-07T15:46:40Z")
House, meh. Senate, bad. Flipping Govs. in Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin, good. You can write off Florida in 2020. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/494 "2018-11-07T15:47:48Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > True, but at the same time she lost a lot of power. Her vote was crucial, so she had to to be deferred to. Now, not so much. Theoretically, she had power. But she was spectacularly inept at using it. Her vote for the tax bill was supposed to be contingent on passing ACA stabilization legislation, but when that didn’t happen she just kind of went, “eh.” ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/495 "2018-11-07T15:59:07Z")
> [@UnwittingAmericans](#): > > House, meh. > Senate, bad. > Flipping Govs. in Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin, good. > You can write off Florida in 2020. Actually Florida just gave back voting rights to a whole lot of Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/496 "2018-11-07T16:01:08Z")
Meanwhile, in the Golden State… [GOP Reps. Rohrabacher and Knight in peril as California’s hardest-fought House races remain too close to call](http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-me-pol-california-election-house-20181106-story.html) As a former Orange County boy and current Antelope Valley resident, I’m openly salivating at the thought of these two retrograde pissants getting turfed. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/497 "2018-11-07T16:03:37Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > What lessons did it teach? The lessons I hope the Democratic Party will learn are to start campaigning early and maintain a strong momentum, to take no Democratic votes for granted but also to campaign in places that have been Republican strongholds, to energize voters with real alternatives and to address genuine issues (health care, immigration, gun control, etc.), to find candidates who represent a more progressive perspective and have the ability to communicate their ideas well. Beto O’Rourke’s campaign is very instructive IMO. He came so close to defeating a Republican incumbent with a household name (something like 200,000 votes made up the difference) in Texas of all places. Yes, he came up short this time. But now it seems very possible that similar candidates can learn from his campaign and win in 2020. That’s my hope, anyway! ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/498 "2018-11-07T16:18:47Z")
> [@chaika](#): > > The lessons I hope the Democratic Party will learn are to start campaigning early and maintain a strong momentum, to take no Democratic votes for granted but also to campaign in places that have been Republican strongholds, to energize voters with real alternatives and to address genuine issues (health care, immigration, gun control, etc.), to find candidates who represent a more progressive perspective and have the ability to communicate their ideas well. > > Beto O’Rourke’s campaign is very instructive IMO. He came so close to defeating a Republican incumbent with a household name (something like 200,000 votes made up the difference) in Texas of all places. Yes, he came up short this time. But now it seems very possible that similar candidates can learn from his campaign and win in 2020. That’s my hope, anyway! I appreciate your optimism but “one losing candidate got closer than expected” is hardly a strong lesson that you need more progressive candidates. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/499 "2018-11-07T16:24:29Z")
the Nevada dead pimp won easily so the GOP gets to pick who gets his state assembly seat. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/500 "2018-11-07T16:25:47Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > the Nevada dead pimp won easily so the GOP gets to pick who gets his state assembly seat. “I’d rather vote for a dead pimp than for a Democrat.” Yeah, there’s a message. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079/501 "2018-11-07T16:27:54Z")
there should be laws that say dead people cannot win, and a new election should be held. But I don’t think any state has that law. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-election-day-thread/824079.md?page=26)