Georgia on my Mind - OMG!

[fountainhall]

Today the people of one district in Georgia go to the polls to elect a member of the House of Representatives. The amount of money which has been spent on this seemingly small campaign has reached a totally mind-blowing US$51 million. Compare this with the UK.

1. all election campaign cycles are vastly shorter.
2. there are legal caps on how much each individual candidate can spend - basically a fixed amount plus an amount that varies according to the number of electors in a constituency. The total is never more than US$65,000.
3. there are limits on how much individuals can donate to political parties per year.

In the 2015 General Election, the total spend by parties and candidates was £39,023,564 - i.e. LESS than the total spent for this one House seat in Georgia.

To suggest that US elections are free and fair is balderdash! US elections are bought by cash - US$6.8 billion of it in 2016. Get rid of PAC's and those billionaires seeking to skew elections like the Koch Brothers and the USA will then perhaps have truly representative democracy.

[travelerjim]

Agreed Fountainhall...
However the US Supreme Court overruled the McCain Feingold Campaign Contributions Limitations Act...

Therefore it's a free wheeling spending spree with no real limitations of contributions made via political action committees PACS.

Congress needs to go back and pass another Campaign Contributions Bill which addresses the concern expressed in the Supreme Court decision.

Will they do it? Probably not... The lobbyists are in control of the government... Sadly.

That's why when Trump says Drain the Swamp he means to change the way Washington DC functions
A daunting task for sure.

Tj

[travelerjim]

Good news coming from the Georgia Special Congressional Election

With 80% of the Vote counted ...
Republican 52% leads by 10,000 votes
Democrat 48%

http://www.politico.com/interactives/20 ... ndel-race/


https://www.nytimes.com/elections/resul ... off-handel


https://www.nytimes.com/elections/resul ... st-section

Karen Handel leads by 5 percentage points over Jon Ossoff with 81 percent of precincts fully reporting. Jump to estimate of final result ↓

CANDIDATE PARTY VOTES PCT.
Karen Handel
Rep.
116,182 52.5%
Jon Ossoff
Dem.
105,170 47.5
81% reporting (168 of 208 precincts)
--------------------------------------
And in South Carolina ...
in the Special Congressional Election
The Republican has defeated the Democrat

Election Results: Republican Wins U.S. House Seat in South Carolina
BY THE NEW YORK TIMES LIVE 10:12:27 PM ET

Ralph Norman, a Republican, defeated Archie Parnell, a Democrat, in a South Carolina special election on Tuesday in a U.S. House race.

Mr. Norman was expected to have an advantage over Mr. Parnell for the seat, which was vacated by Mick Mulvaney, now director of the Office of Management and Budget. However, Mr. Parnell kept the race relatively close, losing by just a few percentage points.

CANDIDATE PARTY VOTES PCT.

Ralph Norman
Rep.
44,889 51.1%

Archie Parnell
Dem.
42,053 47.9

https://www.nytimes.com/elections/resul ... l-election

Continued Progress for the Trump Agenda!

Tj

[Up2u]

CNN declares Handel the winner in the Special Election to replace Republican Tom Price. Handel expected to get 52% of the vote. This has been a republican district for 40 years, Newt Gingrich's old district,typically won by 20-30 points. The Democrats spent over 20 million thinking they could flip this district (why?)..

[travelerjim]

The Republican won by 53% to Democrat 47%

The Democratic candidate could not even vote for himself today as he does NOT LIVE in the Congressional District.

Democrats spent over 25 Million Dollars trying to win.
Republicans tied the Democratic candidate to Nancy Pelosi and her failed vision for America.

I'm hopeful that the Democrats continue to champion their election efforts with Nancy Pelosi.. A real loser for their party.
IMHO

Oh... Watch the Fake News tomorrow... CNN MSNBC CBS
Damn.... It was the Russians again.... Lol



Tj

[Up2u]

Ossloff and his fiancee live a mile and half from the district. He grew up within the district boundaries and will move back after her graduation. He said he won't raise taxes (Trump said he would) and Handel won 52% of the vote and Republican Ralph Norman won 51.1% in South Carolina. These are heavily Republican districts that they successfully defended (barely),could the Republican voters be sending a message to their leadership about Trump and Trumpcare?

[travelerjim]

Hahaha... Again

[travelerjim]

Ossloff and his fiancee live a mile and half from the district. He grew up within the district boundaries and will move back after her graduation. He said he won't raise taxes (Trump said he would) and Handel won 52% of the vote and Republican Ralph Norman won 51.1% in South Carolina. These are heavily Republican districts that they successfully defended (barely),could the Republican voters be sending a message to their leadership about Trump and Trumpcare?

Yep... They support the Trump Agenda...
Despise the Nancy Pelosi Radical Leftists

Tj

[Up2u]

Ossloff and his fiancee live a mile and half from the district. He grew up within the district boundaries and will move back after her graduation. He said he won't raise taxes (Trump said he would) and Handel won 52% of the vote and Republican Ralph Norman won 51.1% in South Carolina. These are heavily Republican districts that they successfully defended (barely),could the Republican voters be sending a message to their leadership about Trump and Trumpcare?

Yep... They support the Trump Agenda...
Despise the Nancy Pelosi Radical Leftists

Tj

If that's case, in a district Tom Price carried 60% and 70% of the vote, I look forward to the 2018 midterms.

[fountainhall]

I'll give TJ his moment of glory. But if he hadn't noticed, all those seats had been vacated by Republicans. And even though the Democrats spent $25 million or so in Georgia, the Republicans outspent them. Hardly a valid argument there, I'd have thought!