Democratic McAuliffe takes Virginia

[Lithium381]

That was a close race! 46% to 47.3% or so as of right now. . .

Closer than the 2012 presidential election.

Obama said "the people have spoken". Half don't want his policies, same in VA. Poor republican virginians. like a comment on another website .. . arlington cemetery probably carried the (D) vote!

Sarvis ran as a Libertarian and I'm glad the party got the press from this election, but he wasn't the best representation of the party out there. Still, ~140k votes and 6.6% is awesome for a third party!

 

[cubby1223]

It truly is sad when there exists a state where not a single descent person wanted to run for Governor from the two major parties.

 

[compuwiz1]

Was by no landslide. Still sad, however.

 

[dbk]

This was Ken Cuccinelli's race to lose.. all he needed to do was come a little bit to the middle but he went the other way and totally alienated the NOVA voters. He even lost Loudoun County - no chance after that..Sad indeed

 

[theeedude]

Medicaid will be expanded and hundreds of thousands of poor Virginians will get access to healthcare because McAuliffe won.

 

[berzerker60]

Poor republican virginians. like a comment on another website .. . arlington cemetery probably carried the (D) vote!

Surely it's some magical, all-consuming conspiracy of ~liberal media~ and ~voter fraud~ rather than the inbred Virginia GOP switching to a less democratic nomination system (convention rather than primary) that resulted in choosing probably the only person anywhere who could have lost to Terry Fucking McAuliffe. Keep sticking with your self-justifying, paranoid fantasies rather than accepting the reality that people hate Tea Party extremism even more than they hate McAufliffe, which is saying a LOT.

 

[dbk]

Surely it's some magical, all-consuming conspiracy of ~liberal media~ and ~voter fraud~ rather than the inbred Virginia GOP switching to a less democratic nomination system (convention rather than primary) that resulted in choosing probably the only person anywhere who could have lost to Terry Fucking McAuliffe. Keep sticking with your self-justifying, paranoid fantasies rather than accepting the reality that people hate Tea Party extremism even more than they hate McAufliffe, which is saying a LOT.

Exactly..all the polls leading up to the vote had Cooch down by like 7 to 8 points, yet he barely lost. Virginians really don't like McAuliffe.

 

[Jaskalas]

The election system needs to change. Automated run offs are a necessity and there's no excuse for why we're not already doing it with today's technology.

Imagine for a moment that no third party could "take away" votes from the two major parties. Voters could cast their vote towards multiple candidates, choosing a priority for whom their vote counts. If their #1 candidate isn't the top two, their next highest priority is given their vote and so forth. Automated run off elections all done from the same vote on the same day.

I would eliminate the entire concept of "wasted votes" and rend null the damaging effect of having more candidates. People could truly vote with their hearts instead of with fear. No more "lesser of two evils" approach if your vote were to always count against your greatest opponent.

 

[cubby1223]

The election system needs to change. Automated run offs are a necessity and there's no excuse for why we're not already doing it with today's technology.

Imagine for a moment that no third party could "take away" votes from the two major parties. Voters could cast their vote towards multiple candidates, choosing a priority for whom their vote counts. If their #1 candidate isn't the top two, their next highest priority is given their vote and so forth. Automated run off elections all done from the same vote on the same day.

I would eliminate the entire concept of "wasted votes" and rend null the damaging effect of having more candidates. People could truly vote with their hearts instead of with fear. No more "lesser of two evils" approach if your vote were to always count against your greatest opponent.

But only a Republican & Democrat filled government can legislate those changes...

 

[Anarchist420]

The election system needs to change. Automated run offs are a necessity and there's no excuse for why we're not already doing it with today's technology.

ding ding ding. plus there is no consent of the governed when a candidate can take office with less than 50% of the vote... thomas jefferson was against slim margins, he really wanted a common consent.

 

[IronWing]

Surely it's some magical, all-consuming conspiracy of ~liberal media~ and ~voter fraud~ rather than the inbred Virginia GOP switching to a less democratic nomination system (convention rather than primary) that resulted in choosing probably the only person anywhere who could have lost to Terry Fucking McAuliffe. Keep sticking with your self-justifying, paranoid fantasies rather than accepting the reality that people hate Tea Party extremism even more than they hate McAufliffe, which is saying a LOT.

This is precisely why we need to get away from primaries. Candidates should represent their parties, not some middling mush. If a party selects losing candidates that party will shrink in influence. This is as it should be. It also opens the way for new parties to fill the spaces created by parties that go off the deep end.


At first blush, I kind of like Jackalas' automated runoff idea. I'll have to mull that over.

 

[Lithium381]

Surely it's some magical, all-consuming conspiracy of ~liberal media~ and ~voter fraud~ rather than the inbred Virginia GOP switching to a less democratic nomination system (convention rather than primary) that resulted in choosing probably the only person anywhere who could have lost to Terry Fucking McAuliffe. Keep sticking with your self-justifying, paranoid fantasies rather than accepting the reality that people hate Tea Party extremism even more than they hate McAufliffe, which is saying a LOT.

Hey, i'm not beholden to the (R) team. . i just found it comical!

 

[irishScott]

I almost feel bad for not voting. A few more people as depressed about this election as I was and Kooky Cuccinelli would have won.

 

[Lithium381]

But only a Republican & Democrat filled government can legislate those changes...

and recently in many states the big government party (R&D) has been trying to restrict ballot access....

 

[cubby1223]

ding ding ding. plus there is no consent of the governed when a candidate can take office with less than 50% of the vote... thomas jefferson was against slim margins, he really wanted a common consent.

40% of a 20% turnout is not sufficient proof of a candidate's popularity?

 

[WhipperSnapper]

It's sad that 45+% support vaginal ultrasound probes for women before being allowed to have an abortion. A vote for the Republicans is a vote for Big Government in the Bedroom (and in vaginas).

Another Republican candidate said what (!!?!!) about rape?

 

[irishScott]

It's sad that 45+% support vaginal ultrasound probes for women before being allowed to have an abortion. A vote for the Republicans is a vote for Big Government in the Bedroom (and in vaginas).

Another Republican candidate said what (!!?!!) about rape?

45% of those Virginians who voted, mind you. Total voter turnout is a little over 2 million. There are over 6 million adults eligible to vote in Virginia.

No one liked either of these two morons outside of inbred Appalachia.

 

[ivwshane]

Sounds like it was choice between a turd taco and a turd burrito, guess which one won?

 

[dmens]

Oh look, a race between a gay-hater and a corruptocrat. Pardon me if I couldn't give a damn who won that race for a state overrun by government parasites and war profiteers.

 

[sportage]

Democrats just do not vote off year elections. Always a major pisser for the democrat(s) running. The VA state map is nearly totally red, with a northern chunk of blue. Huge democrat population.
So.... guess the republicans just need to nuke that general northern area of the state.
I hear plans are already on the drawing board.

What I find interesting in a sickening sort of way is now the media has began the circle jerk mode for chris christie. You'd think christie had walked on water while whistling Dixie out of his ass.
Only people that give a crap about chris christie are Jersey folks.
Chris Christie has no love affair going with the general American voting population.
The first Iowa primary for 2016 will make that quite clear.
Iowa will typically chose another hard right wing tea party conservative.
Cruz or Paul.
And chris christie will be fatally wounded with that process.
I do so love how republicans eat their own.
But... what ever drives this media love affair with Chris Christie, let them have at it.
If they pretend Christie is some god like savior, that will fuel their future Hillary/Christie game of warfare. That is about the extent of media, all media, these days. Screw the real reporting...

 

[Anarchist420]

if there is going to be a governor elected by statewide popular vote, then there needs to be >1/2 expressly consenting with run-offs and a vacant office until that happens.

less evil, but still evil since there would still be a governor would be if the councils of 9/13 of the counties was required for a governor to take office.

anyway, even if cucinelli was going to do vaginal probes as a requirement for an abortion, that's much easier to evade and really isnt anywhere near as bad as forcing people to pay for "family planning". and mcauliffe's cheating, lies, dishonor and hypocrisy wouldve been enough for me to vote for whoever his opponent was if i believed in voting for a governor.

 

[nextJin]

The state map is incredible... NOVA is the only thing that matters. I'm sure the two biggest issues are the Libertarian candidate getting Democrat funding and the government shutdown swinging those government workers over to Mc awful. Job security is all that matters on election day, well jobs/free stuff.

 

[Triumph]

I expected McAulliffe to win, and the Lt Governor candidate for Repubs was an absolute nutjob. Now I'm worried about the Attorney General spot. That's a very important office, and right now the democrat Herring is beating the repub Obenshein by a scant 0.03%. What a crazy margin.

 

[Wreckem]

Democrats just don't vote off year elections. Always the pisser for the democrat(s) running. The VA state map is nearly totally red, with a large northern blue section. Small but huge population, mostly all democrats.
So.... guess the republicans just need to nuke that general northern area of the state.
I hear plans are already on the drawing board.

What I find interesting in a sickening sort of way is now the media has began their circle jerk mode for chris christie. You'd think christie had walked on water while whistling Dixie out of his ass.
Only people that give a crap about chris christie are Jersey folks.
Chris Christie has no love affair going with the general American voting population.
The first Iowa primary for 2016 will make that quite clear.
Iowa will typically chose another hard right wing tea party conservative.
Cruz or Paul.
And chris christie will be fatally dissected with that process.
But... what ever drives the media's delusion about Chris Christie, let them have at it.

The next President will not be a sitting Senator or House member.

Christie being a moderate or as some like to call him a RINO, can win independents. Cruz and Paul are virtually un-electable because neither has a shot of winning independents. Christie will lose Iowa. He will slaughter everyone in New Hampshire. He will win all primaries above the mason Dixon and lose most of those below. It will come down to Florida and/or the West to determine who gets the Republican nomination. It will be fringe tea party candidate or moderate mainstream candidate. The problem is, what happens if the Tea Party doesn't get their un-electable candidate nominated for the GOP nomination, will they splinter off and run a third party?

 

[fskimospy]

The state map is incredible... NOVA is the only thing that matters. I'm sure the two biggest issues are the Libertarian candidate getting Democrat funding and the government shutdown swinging those government workers over to Mc awful. Job security is all that matters on election day, well jobs/free stuff.

You realize that the libertarian candidate took votes away from McAulliffe, right? Without the libertarian candidate running he would have won by somewhere around 5-7 points according to the polls. I wonder if this will end up being something like the myth that Perot took votes away from Bush I. (he took votes from Clinton)

Cuccinelli was one of the most transparently horrendous gubernatorial candidates that a major party has ever run. Not only were his views on social issues paleolithic but his economic ideas were downright insane as well.

The only reason this election was remotely close was due to low off-year turnout for traditional democratic constituencies combined with a third party candidate that siphoned votes from the democratic candidate. The thing is that means had the Republicans run an even moderately sane candidate they totally could have won. Instead they nominated crazypants.