# Anyone else fearing a red wave? (Or at most, a blue ripple?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 28, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633 "2018-10-28T14:54:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/181 "2018-10-30T15:26:17Z")
A bit more back on track… I’ve seen a number of opinions on the SDMB as well as other places that state that maybe THIS (whatever the kludge of the day is) will get democrats or unaffiliated/moderates out to vote. Anyone else find it hard to believe that democrats won’t drag themselves to the polls? That THIS (for the THIS of the day) is finally the last straw? I really have to shake my head. The THIS was trumps election in the first place, and it’s plenty. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/182 "2018-10-30T15:42:51Z")
I am concerned that the urgency and importance of this election is simply not resonating with many (or enough) who consider themselves Democrats. Some of my Democratic colleagues are simply not interested in politics at all and therefore do not understand all the hullaballoo. The extent of their involvement is to vote in presidential elections only. Nothing else political ever pings their personal radar. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/183 "2018-10-30T15:47:57Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I am concerned that the urgency and importance of this election is simply not resonating with many (or enough) who consider themselves Democrats. I think also that calling every election the ‘MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF ALL TIME’ tends to ring hollow after about a dozen or so elections. I know I’ve been hearing that refrain ever since I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/184 "2018-10-30T16:07:35Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I am concerned that the urgency and importance of this election is simply not resonating with many (or enough) who consider themselves Democrats. Some of my Democratic colleagues are simply not interested in politics at all and therefore do not understand all the hullaballoo. The extent of their involvement is to vote in presidential elections only. Nothing else political ever pings their personal radar. Yeah, but really… you have to be exposed to some news. It’s everywhere. I really can’t wrap my mind around not being concerned about what’s happening. Of not being a bit informed. I HOPE that the lack of response to trump by democrats is simply “Vote all Republicans out, they need this lesson”. No need to rally the troops as it where, as we know that this shit must stop. Also hopping that trumps rallies will backfire. That his base will just stay home, thinking that all is in control. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/185 "2018-10-30T16:10:46Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > I think also that calling every election the ‘MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF ALL TIME’ tends to ring hollow after about a dozen or so elections. I know I’ve been hearing that refrain ever since I can remember. Are you voting? It’s easy in Colorado, I must admit. Mail in ballots. Or drop it off at a number of locations (doing that today). It would really suck to have to stand in line for perhaps hours. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/186 "2018-10-30T16:13:50Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > I think also that calling every election the ‘MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF ALL TIME’ tends to ring hollow after about a dozen or so elections. I know I’ve been hearing that refrain ever since I can remember. Yes, and I guarantee you we’ll hear it in 2020, 2022 and 2024 too. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/187 "2018-10-30T16:18:00Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Are you voting? Yes, I always vote. Like a sucker. These damn crooked politicians have never done anything to improve society, but it’s been drilled into my brainwashed mind ever since I was a kid that it’s my civic duty to vote, and I can’t shake it. I always feel like such a shmuck when I leave the polling place. I rip that “I Voted” sticker off my shirt as soon as I step out. I call it the mark of shame. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/188 "2018-10-30T16:19:10Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Yes, and I guarantee you we’ll hear it in 2020, 2022 and 2024 too. Ain’t no doubt. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/189 "2018-10-30T16:23:24Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > Yes, I always vote. Like a sucker. These damn crooked politicians have never done anything for me, but it’s been drilled into my brainwashed mind ever since I was a kid that it’s my civic duty to vote, and I can’t shake it. > > I always feel like such a shmuck when I leave the polling place. I rip that “I Voted” sticker off my shirt as soon as I step out. I call it the mark of shame. Ever hear the phrase “Perfect is the enemy of good”? You are never going to get your perfect candidate, so why not vote for the better of the two candidates…unless you think they are all equally bad, which isn’t really thinking at all. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/190 "2018-10-30T16:25:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Ever hear the phrase “Perfect is the enemy of good”? You are never going to get your perfect candidate, so why not vote for the better of the two candidates…unless you think they are all equally bad, which isn’t really thinking at all. Exactly. I think that part of the reason we have this red haired idiot in the White House is folks forgot this. IMHO a lot of folks are regretting today the fact that they didn’t vote for Hillary. I hope that those same folks have gone out and voted for all they are worth in this election, which maybe one of the most important one in their lifetimes. As will the next presidential election. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/191 "2018-10-30T16:26:48Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > I think also that calling every election the ‘MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF ALL TIME’ tends to ring hollow after about a dozen or so elections. I know I’ve been hearing that refrain ever since I can remember. Well, that makes one of us. I’ve heard it for some but not others. I didn’t hear it for 2010 or 2012 or 2014, and I only heard it for 2016 afterwards. I’m positive I didn’t hear it about any of the elections from 1982 to 2002; I might’ve heard it about 2004, 2006, and 2008, but I can’t remember for sure. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/192 "2018-10-30T16:27:22Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Ever hear the phrase “Perfect is the enemy of good”? You are never going to get your perfect candidate, so why not vote for the better of the two candidates…unless you think they are all equally bad, which isn’t really thinking at all. That’s what I do every time, vote for the “lesser of two evils”, which is still evil by the way. I can only remember two candidates that I have been happy to vote for. A local Judge who I know personally to be a man of upstanding character and integrity, and Ron Paul when he ran in the GOP primaries in 2008 and 2012. In 2008, I lived in Florida so I had to _shudder_ register as a Republican in order to vote in their primary. Happily, Alabama has open primaries so I didn’t have to join that abomination in 2012 in order to vote. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/193 "2018-10-30T16:35:43Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > We are talking about morality. None of those things you mentioned have any moral aspect to them. Sex does have a moral aspect to it. > > I’m not lecturing anyone. We are having a discussion. I agree sex has a moral dimension to it. Which is why it’s so absurd to keep bringing up these ignorant and incorrect claims about nature. Unless you believe both that homosexuality is not observed in nature, AND that humans should obey all natural impulses, it’s nonsense to keep talking about the “natural order”. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/194 "2018-10-30T16:50:06Z")
What part of ‘keep this on track’ was I unclear on? Focus! ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/195 "2018-10-30T17:02:14Z")
> [@Gladys\_Overnow](#): > > This so much. > And now to be blaming Trump and republicans for the current animosity on both sides when Hilary literally lost the election by calling Americans ‘deplorables’ just shows that the Dems still dont get it. I dont think the Dems realize how far they’ve fallen. Giving their indignation at Trump’s win and Hillary’s loss has become their obsession - they who refuse to unite with those they disagree with and like Hilary, mock anyone doesn’t toe the party line. It’s like we’re in opposite land. Everything that Magas throw at the Dems is actually projection. Hillary’s “deplorables” quote in context was actually talking about how we shouldn’t tarnish all Trump supporters with the same brush; meanwhile Trump frequently insults all Dem voters. But apparently only the taken out of context quote from Hillary is offensive. As for the indignation at Trump’s win…who’s talking about the election? I’ll give you a clue: one man, who is not just a genius but a “very stable” one. Yes, I blame Trump and the current GOP for attempting to turn politics into Wrestlemania while real people get murdered, and it’s not “both sides”. “Both sides” is what you say when there is a wave of white supremicist terrorist acts occuring and you neither want to accept any culpability nor denounce white supremacy (because, say, you have “very good genes” not like the “low IQ” black people that you frequently attack). ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/196 "2018-10-30T17:05:54Z")
I was having dinner with a friend (we’re both Democrats) recently and we were talking about the possibility of a blue wave. She said that she hopes that if the Dems take the House, that they don’t focus on investigating Trump, but rather on “governing.” Given that even if they control the House, the Democrats are unlikely to control the senate and if even they did, it wouldn’t be in numbers to override a veto, so in those circumstances, what would she consider to be governing? She didn’t really have an answer, there wasn’t anything specific that she thought it was possible for House controlled by the Dems, but with a red senate and POTUS. In my opinion, the only power the Dems will have if they win back the the House is to investigate, provide oversight and shine a light on this administration and I think that will be plenty. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/197 "2018-10-30T17:23:01Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > What part of ‘keep this on track’ was I unclear on? > > Focus! My apologies. I broke my cardinal rule, and I responded to a post before reading the rest of the thread. Considered me focused. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/198 "2018-10-30T17:23:57Z")
The Dems could do things like pass a budget bill through the regular order, rather than defaulting to continuing resolutions to fund the government. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/199 "2018-10-30T17:31:27Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > In my opinion, the only power the Dems will have if they win back the the House is to investigate, provide oversight and shine a light on this administration and I think that will be plenty. In the increasingly unlikely event that the Dems win back the Senate as well as the House, the Dems should ditch the filibuster, pass popular legislation, and force Trump to veto a whole bunch of popular bills. But assuming we get the expected result - Dems taking the House only - I agree with you completely. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633/200 "2018-10-30T17:46:59Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > The Dems could do things like pass a budget bill through the regular order, rather than defaulting to continuing resolutions to fund the government. And the Reps would just step aside and not try to block such efforts? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-fearing-a-red-wave-or-at-most-a-blue-ripple/823633.md?page=11)