John Bel Edwards, Democrat, re-elected governor of Louisina in run-off election

[Zaydin]

Won by about 1.4 percent over his Republican challenger after failing to secure 50% of the vote in the first vote last month.

Not going to lie, I was expecting Governor Edwards to lose since it's Louisiana, but I guess the combination of Trump and the lingering legacy of Bobby Jindal is still hurting Republicans in Louisiana.

Trump can't seem to stop losing as of late, can he?

[Ghostpanther]

Congrats to Edward. A good win for the democrats. And this is the example of how you can beat Trump....Democrats who argue that nominating a moderate presidential candidate is the best approach to beat Trump are certain to point to Louisiana's race as bolstering their case. Edwards, a U.S. Military Academy graduate and former Army Ranger, opposes gun restrictions, signed one of the nation's strictest abortion bans and dismissed the ongoing impeachment inquiry against the president as a distraction.

[Zaydin]

Just a reminder, the GOP had a decent margin in the primary. Around 5 points.

The Trump Effect is real. Seems to be sapping the GOP of at least 5 points in quite a few races, because remember that Bevin was ahead by 5 points in polling in Kentucky before Trump showed up.

And yet the GOP is still willing to throw themselves on swords for him despite the massive weight he is around their ankles.

You'd think these high profile losses in red states would convince the GOP that maybe Trump isn't the asset they thought he was.

[Fugus]

The Trump Effect is real. Seems to be sapping the GOP of at least 5 points in quite a few races, because remember that Bevin was ahead by 5 points in polling in Kentucky before Trump showed up.

And yet the GOP is still willing to throw themselves on swords for him despite the massive weight he is around their ankles.

You'd think these high profile losses in red states would convince the GOP that maybe Trump isn't the asset they thought he was.

I think they know, but if they actually show principles and be honest, they will lose his supporters which makes up the majority of their base to begin with.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't. And they have no one to blame but themselves, their own gerrymandering to amplify their own power also amplified the power of their fringe (My personal theory) combined with the effects of Fox and the other tabloids keeping too much of their base oblivious of the facts which prevents them from making that pivot as well put them in a no-win situation.

[Zaydin]

I think they know, but if they actually show principles and be honest, they will lose his supporters which makes up the majority of their base to begin with.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't. And they have no one to blame but themselves, their own gerrymandering to amplify their own power also amplified the power of their fringe (My personal theory) combined with the effects of Fox and the other tabloids keeping too much of their base oblivious of the facts which prevents them from making that pivot as well put them in a no-win situation.

Or their flimsy excuse will be 'Well Trump wasn't on the ballot and that's why his supporters didn't show up'.

Rather than admit that sure, Trumps base might be motivated but there aren't enough of them to make up the difference from every other demographic that Trump and the GOP have spent three plus years alienating and pissing off.

[Toppy]

Should note that Trump visited here TWICE in the last two weeks to campaign for Phony Rispone. Though Rispone's entire campaign was pretty much "HEY, HEY LOOK, TRUMP LIKES ME"

But there's still the lingering shit the GOP has here in Louisiana: Republicans drove this state into the ground and even though its poorly educated, even the poorly educated are aware of this. Not to mention Edwards has secured pretty much the entire state worker vote by giving them their first raise.... ever. Risponse wasn't promising much, but one thing he was promising was killing the shit out of state jobs.

I'm not sure what kind of call this lose is for the GOP. I mean yes, he's a Trump man, and he lost. But he also was reprehensible to an extreme: he was a joke at any debate since he quiet litterally had no clue what he was talking about. He outright lied, constantly, openly, called out for it by everyone, and kept on trucking. Hell had a good laugh when he was called a racist and a day later his new campaign ad featured him and his family and oh look at that a black grandchild no ones seen before.

That it was THIS CLOSE for someone who had no stance other than "I hate you all, Trumps dick tastes delicious" and was so open about how terrible he was, its a bit scary.

[smityx]

Won by about 1.4 percent over his Republican challenger after failing to secure 50% of the vote in the first vote last month.

Not going to lie, I was expecting Governor Edwards to lose since it's Louisiana, but I guess the combination of Trump and the lingering legacy of Bobby Jindal is still hurting Republicans in Louisiana.

Trump can't seem to stop losing as of late, can he?

They got tired of all the winning and are taking a break

[Fugus]

Or their flimsy excuse will be 'Well Trump wasn't on the ballot and that's why his supporters didn't show up'.

Rather than admit that sure, Trumps base might be motivated but there aren't enough of them to make up the difference from every other demographic that Trump and the GOP have spent three plus years alienating and pissing off.

Yep, and I have a few of his supporters on my friends list, the ones still clinging to him ignore the facts like its ebola or an STD, you can show concrete evidence to them and they will deny it. They will deny Trump said something he said on camera even after you show it to them sometimes.

They are devout and they make a huge portion of the Republican base, but outside of that devout and vocal section, the majority just aren't there anymore. And as much shit as Republicans vow to support and keep looking away from, the damage he has done to the farmers along with abandoning our allies to die is a bridge to far, even if they can con themselves that Trump actually helped jobs and the economy.

The farmers he supported got burned because his shit, many factory workers were burned when their jobs left because of his shit, our allies got burned because of his shit which hurt his support bad.

The sad thing is the biggest supporters of him on my list are pure potheads and they don't realize that he appointed sessions who actually wanted to go into states where it was legal to shut them down and the only thing that stopped him was public backlash.

[DarkTZeratul]

Congrats to Edward. A good win for the democrats. And this is the example of how you can beat Trump....Democrats who argue that nominating a moderate presidential candidate is the best approach to beat Trump are certain to point to Louisiana's race as bolstering their case. Edwards, a U.S. Military Academy graduate and former Army Ranger, opposes gun restrictions, signed one of the nation's strictest abortion bans and dismissed the ongoing impeachment inquiry against the president as a distraction.

So what you're saying is that you feel the best example of how Democrats can beat Trump is to run on Republican platforms? Because those sure as hell are not moderate positions unless you're starting waaaaay the fuck to the right.

[smityx]

Should note that Trump visited here TWICE in the last two weeks to campaign for Phony Rispone. Though Rispone's entire campaign was pretty much "HEY, HEY LOOK, TRUMP LIKES ME"

But there's still the lingering shit the GOP has here in Louisiana: Republicans drove this state into the ground and even though its poorly educated, even the poorly educated are aware of this. Not to mention Edwards has secured pretty much the entire state worker vote by giving them their first raise.... ever. Risponse wasn't promising much, but one thing he was promising was killing the shit out of state jobs.

I'm not sure what kind of call this lose is for the GOP. I mean yes, he's a Trump man, and he lost. But he also was reprehensible to an extreme: he was a joke at any debate since he quiet litterally had no clue what he was talking about. He outright lied, constantly, openly, called out for it by everyone, and kept on trucking. Hell had a good laugh when he was called a racist and a day later his new campaign ad featured him and his family and oh look at that a black grandchild no ones seen before.

That it was THIS CLOSE for someone who had no stance other than "I hate you all, Trumps dick tastes delicious" and was so open about how terrible he was, its a bit scary.

Not really in the current atmosphere. Repubs have made things to divisive, hateful of the other and toxic nowadays a ham sandwich could get 40% if it had a R behind it's name.

[Tenlo]

So what you're saying is that you feel the best example of how Democrats can beat Trump is to run on Republican platforms? Because those sure as hell are not moderate positions unless you're starting waaaaay the fuck to the right.

Of course only way to beat trump is to be an adult republican! It's genius!
Hell let's get Dems to embrace those policies. I want to see fox news arguing for gun control and pro choice policies

[Gerron]

The Trump Effect is real. Seems to be sapping the GOP of at least 5 points in quite a few races, because remember that Bevin was ahead by 5 points in polling in Kentucky before Trump showed up.

And yet the GOP is still willing to throw themselves on swords for him despite the massive weight he is around their ankles.

You'd think these high profile losses in red states would convince the GOP that maybe Trump isn't the asset they thought he was.

I don't think the GOP considers Trump an asset as he hasn't had any real effect on any elections he's stumped for since becoming President. He just doesn't really hurt them either. I am starting to wonder if we might see some Republican voter apathy in 2020. I'm not certain he can get people out to vote when he isn't up against someone extremely unpopular.

[jellmoo]

To be fair, calling this a Democratic win is almost silly. Edwards basically ran on a Republican platform. He is not a moderate democrat by any stretch of the imagination. He's very much a 90's era Republican.

[Fugus]

To be fair, calling this a Democratic win is almost silly. Edwards basically ran on a Republican platform. He is not a moderate democrat by any stretch of the imagination. He's very much a 90's era Republican.

A 90's era Republican are largely modern day Democrats already with actual left leaners called fringe and extremist.

From what I have read, he is more like a left leaning Republican now.

But calling modern day Democrats left leaning because they are left of the Republicans is about like calling Tennessee west coast because its west of North Carolina. And modern day Democrats are largely old school republicans and the only thing that has even remotely changed that is Bernie Sanders in 2016 and what he emboldened since which the party itself is actively trying to fight off.

[draynay]

Congrats to Edward. A good win for the democrats. And this is the example of how you can beat Trump....Democrats who argue that nominating a moderate presidential candidate is the best approach to beat Trump are certain to point to Louisiana's race as bolstering their case. Edwards, a U.S. Military Academy graduate and former Army Ranger, opposes gun restrictions, signed one of the nation's strictest abortion bans and dismissed the ongoing impeachment inquiry against the president as a distraction.

If you want a real Republican instead of Trump then don't vote for him.

[Xeones]

Congrats to Edward. A good win for the democrats. And this is the example of how you can beat Trump....Democrats who argue that nominating a moderate presidential candidate is the best approach to beat Trump are certain to point to Louisiana's race as bolstering their case. Edwards, a U.S. Military Academy graduate and former Army Ranger, opposes gun restrictions, signed one of the nation's strictest abortion bans and dismissed the ongoing impeachment inquiry against the president as a distraction.

Basically a state level politician is representative of the state?

[jellmoo]

A 90's era Republican are largely modern day Democrats already with actual left leaners called fringe and extremist.

From what I have read, he is more like a left leaning Republican now.

But calling modern day Democrats left leaning because they are left of the Republicans is about like calling Tennessee west coast because its west of North Carolina. And modern day Democrats are largely old school republicans and the only thing that has even remotely changed that is Bernie Sanders in 2016 and what he emboldened since which the party itself is actively trying to fight off.

Ehhhh, I don't think I'd agree with that given that the party has definitely had a shift to the left even before Bernie's 2016 run. After the incredibly pragmatic Clinton years, the party kept moving left as they opposed W Bush.

With Edwards being:

- Against gun legislation
- Pro-Life
- Against same sex marriage
- Planning to decrease welfare

This makes for some decidedly un-Democratic viewpoints. If we look at people like Biden and Booker as moderates, this is definitely veering pretty strongly towards the Right.

[Fugus]

Ehhhh, I don't think I'd agree with that given that the party has definitely had a shift to the left even before Bernie's 2016 run. After the incredibly pragmatic Clinton years, the party kept moving left as they opposed W Bush.

With Edwards being:

- Against gun legislation
- Pro-Life
- Against same sex marriage
- Planning to decrease welfare

This makes for some decidedly un-Democratic viewpoints. If we look at people like Biden and Booker as moderates, this is definitely veering pretty strongly towards the Right.

From what I have seen (38 years old for reference). I watched them turn more and more right leaning as time has gone on and actively fought their left from actually having any say as much as possible. Biden is about what they have largely been for a while now.

It isn't that the Democrats were further left, it is that the Republicans went further right and turned into a parody of themselves making the already right leaning Democrats look left by comparison.

It wasn't till Sanders that we actually got true healthcare reform on the issue with the next closest thing being the ACA which was a right wing idea from the 90's and basically a modified version of Romneycare. Even Obama himself said he would be an old school Republican.

Its Sanders and Warren actually giving voters an alternative for a change that is actually pulling the Democrats closer to the center again. Other than that, they have been pretty far right leaning over the years.

[Wyrt]

So, does he run as Democrat because he's not far right enough for Republicans or because he wants to avoid Republican primaries?

[jellmoo]

From what I have seen (38 years old for reference). I watched them turn more and more right leaning as time has gone on and actively fought their left from actually having any say as much as possible. Biden is about what they have largely been for a while now.

It isn't that the Democrats were further left, it is that the Republicans went further right and turned into a parody of themselves making the already right leaning Democrats look left by comparison.

It wasn't till Sanders that we actually got true healthcare reform on the issue with the next closest thing being the ACA which was a right wing idea from the 90's and basically a modified version of Romneycare. Even Obama himself said he would be an old school Republican.

Its Sanders and Warren actually giving voters an alternative for a change that is actually pulling the Democrats closer to the center again. Other than that, they have been pretty far right leaning over the years.

Ultimately my perspective may be skewed as I'm not American (Canadian), and I'm only a few years older. But I've felt that Bubba was really the last of the "more right leaning" people, and that was more him towing the line on what was en vogue culturally at the time. The party re-invented itself a bit as the tea party gained prominence on the right by moving left. Not as far as Sanders, Warren or the Squad, but definitely embraced more hot topic social issues like taking a firmer stance on women's rights as well as LGBQT issues.

Now, I do think there's a divide when it comes to fiscal conservatism in the Democratic party. That's been slower to move to the left, which is why people like Sanders stand out.