Election 2014

Oh, on a separate note, we're gong out of town early next Tuesday so I'm going in to vote early for the first time ever.  I've never been a big fan of early voting, but I have to admit it's very convenient and I'm glad I have that as an option. ;-)

I'm not really sure myself.  I do know that I haven't noticed any Republicans running on a social platform so you might be onto something. 
It does seem that my local races have primarily been focusing on the economy, healthcare, and global issues.

my congressperson runs unopposed.  however my state has a gubernatorial race that is pretty heated and i have to be out of town for work but it is too late to register absentee.  so that kind of sucks.  but i'm moving to a new state before next year anyway.  WISH i could vote in texas now, i'm scared for my uterus's rights in that state.

As much as Battleground Texas would like to turn Texas to a blue state, or at least purple, it is not going to happen anytime soon.  There are very few places in Texas were partisan elections are really close calls.  Most of the actual contests occur in the primaries.  There is nothing that points to the slightest change in the Texas Legislature, the place your uterus should fear the most.  If anything, the Texas Senate is going to get a little more conservative. 

I don't have the time or desire to preview every race which could affect the Senate's numbers (I see no chance of the Republicans in the House losing much ground).  However, President Obama is not helping Democrats in congressional races at all.  Midterm elections are generally bad for the party in the White House, midterm elections during a president's second term usually worse - my prediction is that this election will be even on degree worse than that. 

Call your county election office and see if they have an early voting option.  I called mine when I realized I was going to be traveling and thought I had to sign up absentee, but in our state they allow voting 30 days prior to the election by simply walking into the county election commission office.

So, my wife and I will wander in there this week and vote.

Sorry man, the best result is never "when things get so bad".   The sky is not falling.

As I get older and older I have less and less faith in the people who are voting for the next president.  You and I are both informed voters and think about stuff like this, but I would bet far more simply vote for who the "cool guy" is.

If the republicans put up a young guy who goes on TV playing the drums and stupid stuff while the democrats trot out an old rich stiff then sadly I don't think it matters what they stand for with most voters.  The Republicans have been trotting out the old rich stiff as of late, so they've been losing the white house. 

Similar to the Democrats winning the congress and White House in 2008 riding the coat tales of a very unpopular president I can easily see the Republicans sweeping all three in 2016 for the same reasons.  They can certainly lose, but I think it's more likely that they win at this point.  Obviously the pendulum could swing wildly in the other direction in two more years.

I'd love to see the Republicans jack up a majority in both houses while the President continues to jack up the White House to open the door for a viable Libertarian candidate in 2016.  Hey, a guy can dream. 

just a little LOL at "the place my uterus should fear the most."

giddyup.

I don't care if it's a Democrats spending on entitlements or a Republican spending on the Military.  We have to do it on a budget and if there aint enough money then there aint enough money.

Do you honestly believe that if the GOP gains the majority, their first order of business will be to give more power back to the Democrats?

I share in your skepticism a little bit, but I also think that both parties aren't real happy with the rule changes as they are now.  The Democrats looking at a potential minority status are of course wishing the rules were back the way they were and the Republicans who are currently in the minority status want them changed.

I think if Washington continues down the road of what technicality can we push to get this and that law through it's only going to make things worse.  There are many hot button issues that have split support across the country and we elect representatives to put laws in place that reflect our views as a population.  In my opinion when the country is split the congress should be gridlocked on that particular issue.  It's when we have majority support as a nation that our representatives should be passing laws.

Sen. Collins might, the GOP as a whole won't.  By the way, I assume she's talking about Harry Reid changing the filibuster rules.  If she was referring to something else, please correct me.  The GOP was the party that originally dreamed up and wanted the nuclear option back during Bush's presidency. And whenever they finally regain the majorities, there's no way they're going to turn around and give up that power.  They're going to use it to ram through their nominees, same as what Reid has been doing for the past year.  

For what it's worth, my comments are not directed at Sen. Collins in any way.  I realize she was part of the gang of 14 that originally killed the nuclear option.  She was against it even when her party was in power, so kudos to her.  But if the GOP regains Congress, what exactly is she going to do to overturn it?  Turn her back on her party to side with the Democrats who will inevitably be whining about the changes they put in?  That will fall on deaf GOP ears.

It used to take a 2/3's vote, then it was lowered to 3/5's.  Since then, no majority party has ever been concerned enough about protecting the minority power to try and raise that back up to 2/3's.  Politicians take, they don't give.

Congress doesn't need to give any more power to the President (regardless of the person in the Oval Office).  The executive branch has been quick to take more power than granted by the Constitution and not only has the Congress allowed it to happen, Congress has delegated plenty of its authority to unelected bureaucrats.     

True, I tend to think of the line item veto as the President slicing out pork on legislation, but maybe the better solution would be to limit or eliminate earmarks which is really what my goal is.