If you want to get elected to an important position, it helps if you’re already in that position. No matter how their state performed the last 4 years, sitting Governors in 26 out of 27 states were reelected. U.S. Senate candidates had a similar result. And if Senator Warnock beats Hershel Walker in Georgia’s runoff, it will be 100% incumbent victories. This would give Democrats a 51-49 majority in the Senate and they wouldn’t need VP Harris to break a tie.
About the only way to beat an incumbent is to outspend ‘em. For the House of Representatives, the ones who spent the most won 96% of the races. It seems kinda odd that Democrats received more money than Republicans, yet Republicans won 3 or 4 more of the 435 seats than Democrats. Even a small change in numbers gave Republicans control, ending Speaker Pelosi’s long reign. (Data were reported in The Kiplinger Letter.)
Not many years ago, Republicans donated far more money than Democrats. Somehow several rich men and women who became millionaires as a Capitalist, seem to become Liberals in their older years.
Although voters complained about the economy, inflation, illegal immigration and drugs, they voted for Senators who supported a President with the lowest approval rating in recent history. Two-thirds said the country is on the “wrong track,” but they seem to like it that way.
Abortion was not a main factor in polls, but became a main factor in the voting booth. I think this Will Rogers quote explains it if you replace the word ‘drink’ with ‘abortion:’ “I have always claimed America didn’t want a drink as bad as they wanted the right to take a drink if they did happen to want one.” (DT #2083, Apr. 7, 1933)
Happy birthday #80 to President Joe Biden. Politics aside, reaching 80 in good physical shape is worth celebrating. It’s also a good time to decide to retire in a couple of years and let younger folks battle it out in 2024. One youngster in Florida is running: 76-year-old Donald Trump.
A Federal Judge in Washington gave a sentence that can serve as a guide for thieves stealing from hundreds of stores, including Target, CVS, Apple, and small local shops. The Judge sent a man to prison for 3 years, and required him to pay $2000 to cover the cost of the merchandise he stole. At that rate anyone stealing a car would end up in the ‘big house’ for about 20 years. And if you steal diamonds from a store on Rodeo Drive in Hollywood, you get a life sentence.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Historic quote by Will Rogers:
“Elections are a good deal like marriages; there’s no accounting for anyone’s taste. Every time we see a bridegroom, we wonder why she ever picked him, and it’s the same with Public Officials.” (WA #126, May 10, 1925)