by Sandy » Tue May 30, 2017 9:56 am
Couple of interesting observations.
Civil disagreement is dead. The hate-mongering that has been the primary feature of extremist right wing media like Rush Limbaugh and his ilk, leads to this sort of thing happening. People getting beaten at political rallies, encouraged by the candidate egging them on at the microphone, and the hateful name-calling is out of control. No one seems immune to it, though I don't hear it being incited by politicians or media personalities "on the left" like it spews out of those on the right. The Democrats gained seats in the Texas legislature during the last election, maybe this Republican was just a bit frustrated by the fact that he now has to sit near Representative Romero, Representative Blanco and Representative Nevarez (first name Poncho). The guy did call ICE, though it seems that all the protesters turned out to be there legally. The Texas capitol is a public building, and people have the right to protest there.
I suspect that the Republican candidate in Montana was likely frustrated by having to spend a fortune of his own money on campaigning for a seat that he should have won without spending much. Montana's a deep red state, one that Democrats win only when their Republican candidate is completely inept, or openly corrupt, as has been the case in the governor's race and a senate race. This guy wound up having to campaign, and raise and spend a considerable amount of money, far more than his opponent, to eke out a narrow win of a seat that his predecessor had won by 20% in November.
I think the race in Georgia will be skewed by overkill. Other friends of mine who live in the area say that it is information overload, though I'm sure the local news and radio outlets are loving it. William failed to mention that about 90% of the money flowing into the Republican candidate's war chest is also from the outside. Regardless of the outcome, the fact of Trump's declining popularity was underlined by Ossof's gathering right at half the vote in a district that the GOP candidate won by 15 in November, and that the loud Trump flag waver finished fourth, and under 10%. Maybe that kind of campaigning is what it takes to get votes out, though I hope not.