# Bill Maher - Flip The District **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 31, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205 "2014-01-31T15:20:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/21 "2014-01-31T19:52:15Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Well, this will “Work” insofar as Maher will secure some entertaining material, such as it is. So he could go after Louie Gohmert, even though that Tea Partying Texas Congressman is in a R+24 district. > > But if Maher wants to hit the sweet spot, he will choose Steve King of Iowa. King has a sizable [stockpile](http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/199988/30-of-congressman-steve-kings-greatest-quotes/) of loony assessments on record and presides over an R+5 swing district. Doable. Also suspenseful, which can help ratings. Nice assessment! Yes, this is probably on Mr. Maher’s short list of potential targets. Should be entertaining at least. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/22 "2014-01-31T19:54:41Z")
Wait… _Steve King_ is in a swing district? How the hell has that guy kept his seat? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/23 "2014-01-31T19:58:05Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Wait… _Steve King_ is in a swing district? How the hell has that guy kept his seat? The (stupid, mouthy, idiotic) devil you know… ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/24 "2014-02-15T19:17:47Z")
Steve King does sound like a good one, but here’s my nominee: > **[Sean Duffy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Duffy)** > > Sean Patrick Duffy (born October 3, 1971) is an American politician, prosecutor, former sports commentator and reality television personality who is currently a co-host of The Bottom Line on Fox Business, as well as a contributor on Fox News. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the U.S. representative for Wisconsin's 7th congressional district from 2011 to 2019. > He first gained fame as a cast member on The Real World: Boston, 1998's Road Rules: All Stars and 2002's Real W... Sean Duffy - the Wisconsin 7th which had been represented for 30 years by Democrat, David obey. In action: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qamnkTUF6sI/hqdefault.jpg "Sean Duffy Loses His Cool After Being Challenged On The Ryan Budget And Medicare") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qamnkTUF6sI) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ve3h45tGUiQ/hqdefault.jpg "GOP Rep Sean Duffy in Polk County struggles on $174,000 Salary") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve3h45tGUiQ) He isn’t as loony as King, Bachmann, and Gohmert, but he’s in at least a potentially competitive district. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/25 "2014-02-15T23:09:25Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Steve King does sound like a good one, but here’s my nominee: > [Sean Duffy - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Duffy) > > Sean Duffy - the Wisconsin 7th which had been represented for 30 years by Democrat, David obey. > > In action: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qamnkTUF6sI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qamnkTUF6sI) > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve3h45tGUiQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve3h45tGUiQ) > > He isn’t as loony as King, Bachmann, and Gohmert, but he’s in at least a potentially competitive district. And Wisconsin Democrats in general are going into this election really **mad.** ---
**Author:** ![Bellhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/26 "2014-02-16T03:52:55Z")
btw, Sean Duffy was on MTV’s \*\*The Real World - Boston \*\*(1997) The one big defect with Maher’s plan is that the backlash against a show business liberal trying to interfere with a district in the heartland. More productive would be to go after a corrupt and ineffective Democrat in a primary. And make sure the CD is already in a safe Democratic district so you don’t end up electing a Republican. I do believe that by “Flip a District,” he just means turning out an incumbent. ---
**Author:** ![Bellhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/27 "2014-02-16T13:36:46Z")
I’d like to see Maher have the guts to “flip” the corrupt Charles Rangel out of his seat. The crook has already been stripped of his chairmanship, now let’s finish the job. Of course incumbents are tough to remove in that district… before Rangel, Adam Clayton Powell held the seat for 30 years. One district represented by just 2 congressmen for 70 years. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/28 "2014-02-16T15:39:19Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > And it could blow up in his face, too. Quite a lot of people will dislike their congressperson enough to vote him out…UNLESS some outsider (and, if a southern district, a YANKEE outsider) comes in and starts making fun of him and trying to keep him from getting elected. Then the congressperson becomes THEIR bastard and no outsider is going to tell THEM what to do! Doesn’t Congress have like a 95% return rate. Very few districts are ‘in play’ due to the way districts are drawn. Bill will need to find a district that could be won by the other party. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/29 "2014-02-17T00:45:24Z")
> [@Bellhorn](#): > > I’d like to see Maher have the guts to “flip” the corrupt Charles Rangel out of his seat. The crook has already been stripped of his chairmanship, now let’s finish the job. Of course incumbents are tough to remove in that district… before Rangel, Adam Clayton Powell held the seat for 30 years. One district represented by just 2 congressmen for 70 years. While Rangel made CREW’s 2009 list of most corrupt Congressmen, he is not on the 2013 list. So methinks there are better candidates for inclusion, if corruption is indeed the criteria. [Crewsmostcorrupt - Informasi Tentang Kasus dan Tokoh Korupsi di USA](http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/mostcorrupt) We could drill down further by comparing tax evasion and incomplete reporting (Rangel’s probable and unacceptable sins) to evading campaign finance laws by pressuring employees to give to your campaign, sign false affidavits and later reimbursing them via corporate accounts (possibly eg Vern Buchanan). But I’ll just point to the current list. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/30 "2014-02-19T22:53:00Z")
What you really need is a group of concerned Democrats and independents to remove corrupt Democratic congressmen, and a group of concerned Republicans and independents to remove corrupt Republican congressmen. The opposing party is already opposing. You have to turn the base against the corrupt official, not their usual opponents. Democrats rallying against a dumbass Republican will just drum up partisan support for said Republican and encourage higher turnout among their base. What you need are their votes flipped to anyone else. Someone who isn’t an established entrenched candidate with the party apparatus and a smattering of corporate sponsors funding them. Then if that guy sucks, and he will, though not as much, you can run a real candidate against his weak ass in the next election. Or you could redraw the districts in some kind of sane and logical manner so that all the Republicans and Democrats actually vote together in the same district, as opposed to drawing the lines in such a way that the districts never swing. (Cue canned laughter) ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/31 "2014-02-20T06:48:35Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What if O’Reilly or Hannity were to respond in kind? O’Reilly? He’d have to [do it live](http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eUFY8Zw0Bag)! ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/32 "2014-02-20T17:08:55Z")
One caveat to all the proposed targets. If Michele Bachmann decides to unretire she’d be the perfect bullseye. She almost lost in 2012. It wouldn’t take much, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/33 "2014-02-20T17:54:46Z")
She’s already announced that [she won’t run for reelection](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rep-bachmann-will-not-run-in-2014/2013/05/29/eba51652-c840-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html). ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/34 "2014-02-24T18:29:03Z")
The biggest target for a hotly contested district would be Mitch McConnell’s. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205/35 "2014-02-24T18:37:13Z")
Oh, I truly do hope the Republicans can can him. It would make me feel like dancing, but I don’t own any petticoats and my high kicking isn’t up to snuff. Any politician who does [**crap like this**](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-december-10-2012/mitch-mcconnell-s-self-filibuster) needs to go scuba diving in wet cement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-flip-the-district/680205.md?page=1)