Special Election megathread (5/21: CA-20)

[GeneralMacArthur]

I'm missing why so many people here are fans of Nina Turner. What is there to like?

It's the same reason Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene.  They like her because the people they don't like are offended by her awfulness.  Every time she does something awful, they get a free post from someone like me saying "hey wow this Nina Turner is truly awful" and they can all high-five each other and go "Nina pissed off GMA again, great success!"

If you don't believe me just look at the posts in this thread.

Soon Nina will be in Congress and her incredibly awful and stupid behavior will get national attention, so instead of just my Atlas posts they'll get whole news cycles where mainstream media types (whom they also hate) talk about how awful Nina is.  And it'll be the same thing.  "Nina pissed off the MSM again, great success!"

[Continential]

No, they're Nina Turner supporters.

It's easy to get confused since in 2016 they all helped Trump get elected by voting for Jill Stein.

citation needed

Stein's vote share was greater than Trump's margin of victory in all three of the Blue Wall states he flipped, we don't know how 2016 could have gone but the Stein vote was helpful to Trump.

I highly doubt all or the majority of Nina Turner supporters supported Stein in 2016, like what General McArthur implies.

[VBM]

No, they're Nina Turner supporters.

It's easy to get confused since in 2016 they all helped Trump get elected by voting for Jill Stein.

citation needed

Stein's vote share was greater than Trump's margin of victory in all three of the Blue Wall states he flipped, we don't know how 2016 could have gone but the Stein vote was helpful to Trump.

Come on, anyone who hated both Hillary and Trump enough that they decided to vote for Stein would have just stayed home if Stein wasn’t on the ballot. I don’t know where people get this stupid idea that Stein voters would have voted for Hillary if they couldn’t vote for Stein

[GoTfan]

I take back what I said about no one caring that Turner is gonna win.  Apparently General MacArthur cares

He's openly admitted to hating the progressive left, so it's no real surprise.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Jim Clyburn endorsed Shontel Brown today, a few days after Nina Turner and friends called Clyburn "incredibly stupid."  As a result, Brown's odds on PredictIt doubled from 10% to 20%.

Oh, also here's a clip of Nina nodding along and agreeing with Killer Mike as he accuses Jim Clyburn of being "incredibly stupid" and "caring more about his sponsors than the people who voted to get him there."  You might think this clip is from a year ago, before Nina adopted her new public image.  Actually, it's from this week.

I guess Clyburn did read all that.

Even if Nina wanted to be an effective representative (in my opinion, she has no principles and just likes raising tons of cash from dumb Bernie cultists) she would never be able to succeed at it because she's such a rude, aggressive, bridge-burning-type person that she'd be blacklisted by half of Congress by the end of her first term.  She's probably already insulted the vast majority of her future colleagues by name.  People remember this stuff and they don't want to work with you when you go around talking about how stupid they are and how they're rigging the election against you and how you're going to take away their seats.  This is why Bernie has only passed 3 bills in 40+ years in Congress.

[Adam Griffin]

And perhaps this will be the election where people figure out - hopefully - that Clyburn isn't some kingmaker in Democratic primaries, and that his endorsement is a lagging indicator rather than a leading one: that he almost always endorses the candidate who has the best chance of winning (and the rest of the time, as is likely the case here, endorses a candidate out of sheer pettiness).

[GeneralMacArthur]

And perhaps this will be the election where people figure out - hopefully - that Clyburn isn't some kingmaker in Democratic primaries, and that his endorsement is a lagging indicator rather than a leading one: that he almost always endorses the candidate who has the best chance of winning (and the rest of the time, as is likely the case here, endorses a candidate out of sheer pettiness).

You can call it "petty" to endorse the opponent of a woman who insults and degrades you, but Nina will find that such "pettiness" is very common in the halls of Congress.

People don't want to work with an asshole.  People root against assholes and try to help them lose.  Even if her colleagues agreed with Nina on everything (and at this point it's unclear what she actually believes since she's running on "expanded access to healthcare" which her own campaign once compared to 9/11) they would find someone else to work with who doesn't call them stupid corrupt election thieves behind their back.

Nobody forces Nina to behave like this.  She does it to herself because she's a terrible person.

[Morning in Atlas]

16 pages of malding

[brucejoel99]

The Chad Clyburn >>> the Virgin GMac.

[Adam Griffin]

And perhaps this will be the election where people figure out - hopefully - that Clyburn isn't some kingmaker in Democratic primaries, and that his endorsement is a lagging indicator rather than a leading one: that he almost always endorses the candidate who has the best chance of winning (and the rest of the time, as is likely the case here, endorses a candidate out of sheer pettiness).

You can call it "petty" to endorse the opponent of a woman who insults and degrades you, but Nina will find that such "pettiness" is very common in the halls of Congress.

People don't want to work with an asshole.  People root against assholes and try to help them lose.  Even if her colleagues agreed with Nina on everything (and at this point it's unclear what she actually believes since she's running on "expanded access to healthcare" which her own campaign once compared to 9/11) they would find someone else to work with who doesn't call them stupid corrupt election thieves behind their back.

Nobody forces Nina to behave like this.  She does it to herself because she's a terrible person.

I can call it petty, and so would anybody else who understands the definition of the word.

I fully understand how Congress works: that is precisely the point that people like Turner were making. And yet...all too many holier-than-thou types such as yourself squawk about concepts such as compromise, decency, cooperation and working together. Personally, I'm A-OK with pettiness and in fact embrace it - but I don't subsequently turn around and become morally outraged by those I don't like for doing so while extolling the virtues of those who I do (unless, of course, they themselves are hypocrites). That is what tangibly separates people like me from people like you: I'm sh[inks]tty all the time, whereas you're hypocritical about it depending on the situation and whether it's one of your "team members" or not. People like Clyburn and Turner have to work together for the betterment of all, irrespective of personal feelings, right?



If you spend more time getting butt-hurt about what people in your own party say and do than what people outside of it - who clearly want to burn it all down - do and say, then maybe you picked the wrong party? From your own worldview, the same can be said about p-e-t-t-y representatives like Clyburn. Look to someone like Pelosi who has had far more vitriol thrown at her by candidates and members of Congress, only to embrace them when the time comes, and contrast that to Clyburn - who was still publicly ranting and raving about AOC after she was elected because she didn't kiss his ring.

[EJ24]

Let's just face reality, Turner is destined to be the next Tulsi Gabbard.

She's a good fit for her state, but on a national level she's going to get exposed and flame out hard and fast. She'll get lots of press and attention from the "anti-establishment" grifter types like Joe Rogan and Jimmy Dore, and their audience who understand next to nothing about politics and government, but won't be a serious contender otherwise.

[Pheurton Skeurto]

Let's just face reality, Turner is destined to be the next Tulsi Gabbard.

She's a good fit for her state, but on a national level she's going to get exposed and flame out hard and fast. She'll get lots of press and attention from the "anti-establishment" grifter types like Joe Rogan and Jimmy Dore, and their audience who understand next to nothing about politics and government, but won't be a serious contender otherwise.

Uh, Tulsi Gabbard is a transphobe and islamophobe. They are nothing alike politically. Also, all this fearmongering about Turner like she will singlehandedly derail the Biden agenda out of spite is...well, silly. Let's see if she wins the primary and then let's see what type of Congresswoman she is before we jump to conclusions about her being a future flame-out.

[EJ24]

Let's just face reality, Turner is destined to be the next Tulsi Gabbard.

She's a good fit for her state, but on a national level she's going to get exposed and flame out hard and fast. She'll get lots of press and attention from the "anti-establishment" grifter types like Joe Rogan and Jimmy Dore, and their audience who understand next to nothing about politics and government, but won't be a serious contender otherwise.

Uh, Tulsi Gabbard is a transphobe and islamophobe. They are nothing alike politically. Also, all this fearmongering about Turner like she will singlehandedly derail the Biden agenda out of spite is...well, silly. Let's see if she wins the primary and then let's see what type of Congresswoman she is before we jump to conclusions about her being a future flame-out.

They are exactly alike, their big claim to fame is being joined at the hip to Bernie Sanders and propagating a bunch of right-wing lies and crap about Hillary Clinton. People like Gabbard are indirectly responsible for the election of Trump, and people like Turner will do all they can to ensure a Biden loss in 2024 out of spite. Watch.

[beesley]

I'm not sure I'm convinced by the argument that Nina Turner is worse for passing the Dem agenda than an empty seat, but go on.

[wbrocks67]

I'm not sure I'm convinced by the argument that Nina Turner is worse for passing the Dem agenda than an empty seat, but go on.

The argument is just that Turner is a loose cannon and can't be trusted to fall in line when necessary. She doesn't strike me as someone who is a team player, but rather someone who's only interested in their own self interests

[beesley]

I'm not sure I'm convinced by the argument that Nina Turner is worse for passing the Dem agenda than an empty seat, but go on.

The argument is just that Turner is a loose cannon and can't be trusted to fall in line when necessary. She doesn't strike me as someone who is a team player, but rather someone who's only interested in their own self interests

Fair enough - though I wouldn't worry about it.

[GALeftist]

I really don't understand why Nina Turner has turned into this Tulsi like figure in the minds of so many of y'all (and evidently in the mind of Mr. Clyburn as well). Yeah, she's used hyperbolic language in the past, but honestly I would bet she voted for Hillary in 2016 and just never admitted to it. In this primary, she has primarily tied herself to Berniecrats/the Squad nationally and the Ohio Democratic establishment locally. Neither group suggests to me that she will be anything other that a normal progressive Democrat in terms of voting record a la AOC.

[CookieDamage]

Nina Turner will probably fall in line way more often than not, y'all are being dramatic and need to seriously touch some grass

[Pyro]

Not mentioned yet here, but Ayanna Pressley endorsed Nina Turner yesterday. Fairly big news considering Pressley's role as a major Warren surrogate in 2019/20. I wonder if other "Warren Democrats" will be announcing their support for Turner as well.

https://twitter.com/Marisa_N19/status/1410232531220373511

Also it looks like in the wake of Clyburn's move, Turner raised over $100K in 24 hours.

[JM1295]

Nina Turner will probably fall in line way more often than not, y'all are being dramatic and need to seriously touch some grass

Yeah, I mean has the left/progressives held up any legislation thus far to make us think differently? They couldn't even get together to block giving the capitol police more funding, which barely passed with 218 votes lol. The Squad, Jayapal, Pocan, etc. have all shown that they will fall in line and idk why people expect anything different from Turner. It has almost always been moderates who have held up the Biden agenda thus far.

[The Undefeatable Debbie Stabenow]

Not mentioned yet here, but Ayanna Pressley endorsed Nina Turner yesterday. Fairly big news considering Pressley's role as a major Warren surrogate in 2019/20. I wonder if other "Warren Democrats" will be announcing their support for Turner as well.

I mean, Porter already endorsed Turner and is probably a higher-profile member of the Warren sphere than Pressley is.

[Not Me, Us]

Not mentioned yet here, but Ayanna Pressley endorsed Nina Turner yesterday. Fairly big news considering Pressley's role as a major Warren surrogate in 2019/20. I wonder if other "Warren Democrats" will be announcing their support for Turner as well.

I mean, Porter already endorsed Turner and is probably a higher-profile member of the Warren sphere than Pressley is.

Hard disagree. The general public is way more likely to know who Ayanna Pressley is than Katie Porter.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Nina Turner will probably fall in line way more often than not, y'all are being dramatic and need to seriously touch some grass

I was never really a fan of Turner either, but I've come around to this line of thinking as well. It'll be fine.

[The Undefeatable Debbie Stabenow]

Not mentioned yet here, but Ayanna Pressley endorsed Nina Turner yesterday. Fairly big news considering Pressley's role as a major Warren surrogate in 2019/20. I wonder if other "Warren Democrats" will be announcing their support for Turner as well.

I mean, Porter already endorsed Turner and is probably a higher-profile member of the Warren sphere than Pressley is.

Hard disagree. The general public is way more likely to know who Ayanna Pressley is than Katie Porter.

Katie Porter gets a ton of press from nearly every important congressional hearing she attends; she’s all over left-leaning media. While Pressley is a part of the original four-person “Squad,” she’s definitely the least known of the bunch because she’s not AOC, she hasn’t had Omar and Tlaib’s repeated controversies, and she’s never been targeted by the right in the same way that the other three have been.

Case in point: Porter is currently trending on Twitter for no reason other than because a bunch of Democrats want her specifically to be on the 1/6 commission.

[EJ24]

I really don't understand why Nina Turner has turned into this Tulsi like figure in the minds of so many of y'all (and evidently in the mind of Mr. Clyburn as well). Yeah, she's used hyperbolic language in the past, but honestly I would bet she voted for Hillary in 2016 and just never admitted to it. In this primary, she has primarily tied herself to Berniecrats/the Squad nationally and the Ohio Democratic establishment locally. Neither group suggests to me that she will be anything other that a normal progressive Democrat in terms of voting record a la AOC.

She compared voting for Biden to "eating a bowl of sh**t". At least even TULSI had sense enough to endorse Biden in April. Turner said this mere weeks before the 2020 DNC convention.

She's also cozy with Jill Stein and the Greens, which is another characteristic she shares with Gabbard. Stein offered her the VP slot in 2016 after she made her loyalty to MAGA and Putin clear in the public eye. She's going to win this seat and stab Democrats in the back.