# GOP still trending to win Senate **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 13, 2014, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426 "2014-08-13T10:52:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 45
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/881 "2014-10-21T23:08:06Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Thank goodness I won’t have to pay this one. I wouldn’t be so sure about that one. YOu should have specified that it won’t be Reid. That’s more likely. Chuck Schumer’s got the leadership position in the bag, I think, win or lose. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/882 "2014-10-22T00:14:02Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I wouldn’t be so sure about that one. YOu should have specified that it won’t be Reid. That’s more likely. Chuck Schumer’s got the leadership position in the bag, I think, win or lose. Are you suggesting that the Republicans will have 51 or more members and Chuch Schumer would still be elected Majority Leader??? You … ah… have any money you’d like to stake on that? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/883 "2014-10-22T00:45:42Z")
No, I’m saying there’s still a chance that Republicans will not win a majority in the Senate. What I meant about Schumer is that he’ll probably be the Democratic leader. If the Dems win and need independents(the only really plausible path to keep the majority at this point), then Reid stepping down is probably the price they’ll have to pay. If they lose, Reid gets fired because his toxicity is part of the reason. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/884 "2014-10-22T00:58:51Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > No, I’m saying there’s still a chance that Republicans will not win a majority in the Senate. > > What I meant about Schumer is that he’ll probably be the Democratic leader. If the Dems win and need independents(the only really plausible path to keep the majority at this point), then Reid stepping down is probably the price they’ll have to pay. If they lose, Reid gets fired because his toxicity is part of the reason. I’ll take that bet. Reid stays as Senate Minority Leader if the Democrats lose the Senate. Nobody is voting for Republicans because they hate Harry Reid. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/885 "2014-10-22T01:01:39Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Thank goodness I won’t have to pay this one. I thought you were **Bricker** , not **adaher**! Not that the Republicans aren’t ahead, but your confidence is a little beyond what the poll aggregators indicate (and far beyond the 3 to 1 odds you gave me). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/886 "2014-10-22T01:54:45Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I’ll take that bet. Reid stays as Senate Minority Leader if the Democrats lose the Senate. Nobody is voting for Republicans because they hate Harry Reid. I’m not betting, but call it a prediction. If Democrats lose, Harry Reid is not the Democratic leader anymore. It’s true that few are voting Republican because of Harry Reid, but someone has to be punished for failure. Harry Reid managed to go from filibuster-proof majority to the minority in record time. If Democrats win, then I’d be inclined to still predict Schumer as the Majority Leader, but I’m not sure how committed Orman, Pressler, Pryor, or King really are to getting rid of him. I’m not going to make a hard prediction based on trusting politicians to do what they say they will do. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/887 "2014-10-22T02:11:37Z")
Meanwhile, the President continues to be hilarious: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/10/20/obama-giftwraps-another-sound-bite-for-republicans/?hpid=z6](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/10/20/obama-giftwraps-another-sound-bite-for-republicans/?hpid=z6) > [@](#): > > “The bottom line is, though, these are are all folks who vote with me; they have supported my agenda in Congress,” Obama said. > > He continued: “So this isn’t about my feelings being hurt. These are folks who are strong allies and supporters of me. I tell them – I said, you do what you need to do to win. I will be responsible for making sure that our voters turn out.” Biden gets a lot of heat for saying honest things at the wrong time, but I’ve rarely heard a politician so candidly discuss the dishonesty of campaigning before so matter of factly. He basically just acknowledged that all these red state Dems are liars. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/888 "2014-10-22T02:19:54Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > He basically just acknowledged that all these red state Dems are liars. Really? What did they lie about? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/889 "2014-10-22T02:34:04Z")
That they are not close allies of the President. As the article states: > [@](#): > > While Obama’s previous comment suggested the election was indeed something of a referendum on him, these comments suggest not only that, but that Democratic candidates are actually on-board with him – something most of them have made pains to argue is not the case. Attempting to deceive their constituents. That makes them liars. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/890 "2014-10-22T02:36:45Z")
You’re not even going for coherence anymore, are you? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/891 "2014-10-22T02:43:05Z")
Are they on board with the President’s agenda or are they not? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/892 "2014-10-22T03:39:55Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Are they on board with the President’s agenda or are they not? Some examples would be nice. Between quotation marks. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/893 "2014-10-22T03:55:50Z")
Let’s start with Begich, who lied pretty directly about opposing the President: > **[Begich's Bogus Claim Exposed](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mark-begich-ad_n_5959786)** > > Begich's Bogus Claim Exposed > [@](#): > > Sen. Mark Begich makes the bogus claim in two ads that he “voted against President Obama’s trillion-dollar tax increase.” Actually, he voted against a GOP resolution that set forth Obama’s spending levels for fiscal year 2013 but without the president’s policy language. The Democrats derided the resolution as a political stunt, and it failed 0-99. > > The faux budget vote came in May 2012. Less than eight months later, Congress passed bipartisan legislation — the American Taxpayer Relief Act — to address the so-called fiscal cliff that contained some of the same tax hikes proposed in Obama’s fiscal year 2013 budget. Begich voted for that bill. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/894 "2014-10-22T04:01:43Z")
The rest of them try to speak in the most general terms about being independent of Obama, but their voting records say they are not independent at all, but rubber stamps. The President says they are on board with his agenda. He’s said it twice now, so it’s not a gaffe. Is it true, or is it not true? And if it is true, are red state Democrats honestly running as the Obama allies they are? If not, they are liars. That may be fine to the President, who has told them to “do what they need to do”, but I’d think that here on SDMB we have higher standards. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/895 "2014-10-22T09:37:06Z")
So politicians are making political calculations to get re-elected? Stop the presses! ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/896 "2014-10-22T12:40:44Z")
Somehow I’m wondering why Bush isn’t in demand as a campaign asset. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/897 "2014-10-22T13:48:24Z")
If you’re wondering _that_, you may be the only one who is. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/898 "2014-10-22T14:32:37Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > So politicians are making political calculations to get re-elected? Stop the presses! I’m not outraged about their deception, just gleeful that the President exposed it. “Let me be clear” indeed. 😃 Notice I wrote that the President was being hilarious, not “I’m so pissed off at these red state Democrats!” And you have to admit, their act this campaign season has been REALLY amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/899 "2014-10-22T17:18:33Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > And you have to admit, their act this campaign season has been REALLY amusing. Wait until you read the Pit on Nov.5. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426/900 "2014-10-22T17:30:19Z")
Interestingly, the only Democrat not running from Obama in a red state is Michelle Nunn. It doesn’t seem that there is any political benefit to running from your President when you share his party. Your supporters don’t believe it, your enemies don’t believe it, and independents don’t even believe it. I’m not sure what they think they are accomplishing. Those Democrats enable him, they need to own his performance, for better or for worse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426.md?page=44) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-still-trending-to-win-senate/695426.md?page=46)