2026 Midterm Elections

[Soen Eber]

Correction.

We all fund the recount because Trump will do it with some loophole bull shit tax dollar abuse.

Correction to the correction.
So far, he can't do anything about state electoral processes without a friendly governor and state representatives. Minnesota is not friendly. Republican voters turned out Lidell, and most of us want to put Pam Bondi in the Hennepin County docket.

It's why he's always calling to "Nationalize the elections" so he can control everything. He's frustrated. He can't even get most state's voter information, even from Republican leaning states.

 

[Free]

Mark Jacob (@markjacob.bsky.social)

Rep. Ralph Norman, who’s in a Senate runoff with Lindsey Graham’s sister Darline, secretly urged a military-backed coup in 2021 to keep Trump in power. But the NY Times thinks it’s no big deal. In its last 92 stories mentioning Norman over 3 years and 7 months, it hasn’t stated that fact once. 1/7🧵

bsky.app

Good on the NYT for keeping us informed.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

This is nothing new, though. That has always been a defining characteristic of the left, it has always been a coalition of vastly different groups of people with interests that don't necessarily overlap.

Take labor rights advocates, for example. They're generally in favour of economic growth and often in conflict with the environmentalists. Teachers and academics are often quite disconnected from blue collar workers. Liberal religious people who are in support of social programs may clash with feminists who prioritise reproductive freedom.

If you imagine society as a circular pie and divide it into "political Left" and "political Right", then you don't actually get a pie divided into left and right halves. Rather, "the Right" is located in the center of the pie that is occupied by the conservative establishment and its allies while "the Left" is distributed alongside the outer crust like an annulus.

That also explains the siege mentality of the conservative mindset, btw.

This, by Janan Ganesh, in the Financial Times (hence Evernote link) makes some interesting points. I'm not sure that I agree with him, particularly because I distrust anyone who uses the term "woke" in a pejorative sense, but I do think there's an important distinction between socialism -- which, to my mind, is about changing the whole economic system to transfer economic and political power from capital to organised labour -- and liberalism, which is more about social and cultural attitudes.

Both the US left and right seem more interested in fighting about cultural issues than about economic ones, to the obvious benefit of the right, who can't really defend the current system, particularly in the US.

And here, by Robert Shrimsley in the same paper, is an article arguing the right have the same problem (again, Evernote)

 

[Noodles]

, but I do think there's an important distinction between socialism -- which, to my mind, is about changing the whole economic system to transfer economic and political power from capital to organised labour -- and liberalism, which is more about social and cultural attitudes.

Yeah there is and its annoying that the media pretends there isn't. Liberals are basically Centrists. Progressives/Leftists in my experience, seem to hats Liberals as much as the Right and Alt-Right.

 

[Free]

Scoop: Mike Rogers-AIPAC rupture roils Michigan Senate race

Allies of Mike Rogers, Michigan's GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate, have asked AIPAC not to advertise on his behalf, triggering a rupture with the powerful but polarizing pro-Israel group.

Rogers spoke with AIPAC chair Michael Tuchin in Los Angeles last week. The next day, AIPAC shelved an already-cut video ad targeting Rogers' Democratic rival, outspoken Israel critic Abdul El-Sayed.

Completely left unsaid in the article is that something like this - direct coordination between a political campaign and an independent expenditure group (like AIPAC) used to be fucking illegal before the law stopped having any meaning.

 

[Free]

Thanks, SCOTUS...

Supreme Court sides with Trump administration on mail voting restrictions ahead of midterms

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority didn’t decide the legality of Trump’s order, instead ruling that states who sued did not have the legal right to challenge it.

apnews.com

The Supreme Court opened a path Monday for possible implementation of President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting mail-in voting, though it remains unclear how much can be put in place before the fast-approaching midterm elections.

The decision leaves room for additional court challenges that could further slow Trump’s order, and other similar cases have already been filed. The U.S. Postal Service laid out how it would implement the order last week, but time is running short to impose major changes. North Carolina is sending out ballots Sept. 4 overseas and to military voters, and other states will quickly follow suit in just a few weeks.

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority didn’t decide the legality of Trump’s order, instead ruling that states who sued did not have the legal right to challenge it.

While the emergency order is not final, it does have the potential to create chaos around voting across the country, with Trump often questioning the integrity of elections and the nation’s highest court again the possible arbiter of a political controversy.

(Originally posted in the wrong thread...)

 

[Free]

Turns out SCOTUS's decision mentioned above is not the destructive move I feared, though it's still not great.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Yeah. It was based on the rules not being published. The Post Office publishing their final rule pretty much undoes any changes. The suit is now timely and expect new injunctions.

 

[Ellie]

Correct place for this?

Made me giggle, gave me hope.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

 

[Free]

Ed Markey won his primary in Massachusetts.

Ed Markey defeats Seth Moulton in Mass. Democratic Senate primary, AP projects

Sen. Ed Markey topped Congressman Seth Moulton in the Democratic primary on Tuesday.

www.boston.com

He's 80 years old. Being well into your senior years is not helpful for incumbents right now, but Markey was the obvious choice from a progressive standpoint. His opponent flew a few huge warning flags, especially in regards to trans rights and tepid response to Israel's attacks in Gaza.

Good Riddance, Seth Moulton: You Got What You Deserved

The congressman who got drubbed by Ed Markey on Tuesday tried to distance himself from the base. That just doesn’t work anymore.

newrepublic.com

 

[Free]

lol

Mock Republican convention website tops Google, redirects to Epstein files

Democratic lawmakers poke fun at prank website, while Republicans slam 'fake news' and redirect users to real one.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[Free]

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)

Enten details how Trump went from +20 on the economy relative to Harris in 2024 to -41 net approval on the economy now

bsky.app

Have fun at your midterm convention, President Trump! Keep making the election in November ALL ABOUT YOU.

 

[Free]

Bill K - NO DEATH PENALTY (@really-mad.bsky.social)

Somebody broke into my car. Didn’t steal anything but the left me two tickets to the GOP Convention in Dallas. I’m reporting it as a Hate Crime.

bsky.app

 

[Free]

In case you care:

What You Missed by Not Watching Trump Last Night - The American Prospect

While you whiled away the hours (nearly two of them), I did my journalistic duty.

prospect.org

I didn't watch even any of the pundit observations. I only know there was something about beating your meat?

 

[Free]

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)

Trump: "Please right your right hand. I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States. That loves us so much he can't even breath. That I will go out with my family, my friends, I'll do it any way - I don't care if I'm registered or not, I'm going to try to cheat like hell..."

bsky.app

Cheat like those Demoncrats do! (It's amazing how good we are at it, huh?)

 

[Free]

SCOTUS rejects Trump admin’s request to enforce new USPS mail ballot restrictions

The brief order denying DOJ’s request for a stay of a lower court order blocking the rule only prompted noted dissents from Justices Thomas and Alito.

www.lawdork.com

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday night rejected the Trump administration’s effort to implement new U.S. Postal Service mail ballot restrictions for the midterm elections, keeping in place a lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking the new USPS rule.

The application for stay presented to JUSTICE JACKSON and by her referred to the Court is denied. The Government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge to the District Court’s preliminary injunction. And the equitable factors applicable for obtaining emergency relief from this Court do not favor a stay.

The order means the rule will not be in effect for the 2026 elections — a point key to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s decision to join the court majority in denying the Justice Department’s stay request.

Justices Thomas and Alito dissented, continuing to show how pure their Trump lackeyness is.

 

[Free]

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)

Emmer says Republicans need to talk more about grocery prices that aren't expensive: "Eggs are at pre-pandemic prices. Ah, beef is at, ah, less than $2 a pound for ground beef ... I think we have a lot to run on."

bsky.app

Where is this guy buying ground beef? Because I want in.

 

[Noodles]

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)

Emmer says Republicans need to talk more about grocery prices that aren't expensive: "Eggs are at pre-pandemic prices. Ah, beef is at, ah, less than $2 a pound for ground beef ... I think we have a lot to run on."

bsky.app

Where is this guy buying ground beef? Because I want in.

Yeah, I have not bought beef in ages because it's so expensive. They probably mean that poisoned Argentina Mystery meat that they probably only sell at Trump'S Freedom™ Gas stations.

 

[Free]

Trump Tells North Carolina Hurricane Relief Depends on Midterm Outcome

Donald Trump threatened to withhold FEMA funds unless his chosen candidate wins.

newrepublic.com

President Donald Trump told a North Carolina audience that if Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley doesn’t win in November, he would withhold FEMA funds. But don’t worry, he’s only joking!

“We spent more than $2 billion, FEMA funding, and you know you’re waiting for some additional money to take care of some of the back, and I’m gonna get that to you, Michael. Now, if Michael loses, I’m not sending it, OK. No, I’m only kidding, you’re getting it. You’re going to get it, Michael, so. He’s been bugging me, he’s been bugging me,” Trump said to a packed rally in Gastonia, Whatley’s hometown Wednesday.

First, har har, funny joke. Just keep telling those knee-slappers, Mr. President.

Second, why would Whatley be "bugging" you for FEMA funds (why should ANYONE?)? He's running for the U.S. Senate, he's not IN the U.S. Senate yet.