Tag: U.S. Senate
Why Doug Jones will Lose His Senate Seat to a Republican in Alabama
When a less chewed up and spit out Jeff Sessions vacated his Senate seat in 2017 to become Donald Trump’s first U.S. Attorney General, it forced a special election in Alabama to replace him. And that’s about the only way a Democrat like Doug Jones was ever going to win in that state.
The reason is straight ticket voting (STV). Alabama (and six other states*) still offer this option for those who have one concern when casting a ballot: party affiliation.
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Mitch McConnell’s ‘Very Expensive Lunch Club’
“Three times a week the Senate Republicans meet for lunch… And occasionally they walk into that chamber and take a vote or two or three on judges. That is the sum total of the Senate’s work today. Mitch McConnell has effectively turned the United States Senate into a very expensive lunch club.”
— Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), quoted by The Hill.
Senators Get One-Week Recess Instead of Four
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “told lawmakers that the Senate will recess for one week instead of four to work on nominations and legislation,” the Washington Post reports.
Divine Sense of Humor?
Minnesotan Michele Bachmann is weighing a U.S. Senate Run,
Which would inject our sorry politics with some whack-job fun.
But before facing the nation,
She seeks divine confirmation.
And we’re fervently hoping God tells her she’s His Chosen One.
Jimmy Kimmel: Punkin’ Alabama with ‘Judge Roy Moore’s Number One Fan’
Jimmy Kimmel sent comedian Jake Bird to Alabama to punk Judge Roy Moore and his fans.
If Moore Is Elected, Senate has to Seat Him
“If he is elected, there are no grounds under the Constitution to fail to seat him. The Constitution says you can only look at citizenship, whether they are a resident of the state, and if they are the proper age. So we have to seat him.”
— Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), quoted by CNN, on whether the U.S. Senate would refuse to seat Roy Moore (R) if he wins Alabama’s special election.
A Classified Bus Ride
Amid concern over when and where North Korea’s bomb will drop,
Trump called the Senate together to say let’s make Kim stop.
But when all was said and done,
Senators concluded, as one —
The president had just called them to gather for a photo op.
Cook: Clinton Wins and Dems Take Senate
There is a food fight under way among many of those doing presidential-election modeling… It’s not my style or expertise to put a specific percentage on Clinton’s chances of winning, but, suffice it to say, it’s a really big number. … The Senate is tougher to call. The strong likelihood of a Clinton victory means that the Democratic target is 50 seats, a gain of four, with Vice President Tim Kaine casting a tie-breaking vote if necessary. Right now, I think the odds are highest for a four-seat gain, next likely would be five seats.
— Charlie Cook
Rubio Says Women Don’t Need the ERA
Good news, ladies! You might not have noticed it, but your rights in America are totally equal. Your protections are the same as men. Discrimination based on gender is over. Feels good, huh?
Apparently that’s what Sen. Marco Rubio thinks. When he was asked at a rally before he quit his race for president earlier this year if he would support the Equal Rights Amendment, Rubio guffawed. “That old thing?” he seemed to say in a newly released video. “That’s so 1979!”
In fact, efforts continue to this day to enshrine equal protection of rights for women in the United States Constitution.
Now Rubio is back in Florida, running for the U.S. Senate seat he virtually abandoned because he was so convinced America would elect him their president in November. Yet even as he campaigns, he won’t commit to serving the full term, lest he again decide America wants him more than Florida does. How Rubio has any support in his state, and any votes among those of us paying pink taxes is a mystery.
