TrueBlueGED

I missed that, sorry. But if there's one thing that triggers me, it's people waxing poetic about how "if ONLY people would vote 3rd party, everything would change!"

Governance is inseparable from politics. Governance oozes politics. You cannot have one without the other.

Oh hey, another interesting ballot measure result I missed that happened: voters in Louisiana have voted to end non-unanimous jury verdicts in felony cases.

If you hate both parties and don't like any candidates you have to choose from, that's all well and good. But this bit is mostly nonsense. Politics are important and have very real consequences for people. That you dislike the choices doesn't change that basic fact.

No, we can't. The only way to "rid ourselves" of the two-party system is for institutional change: ditch first-past-the-post elections and single member districts for multi-member districts and proportional representation. Moreover, voter behavior will not change in the aggregate without institutional changes. Voters respond to institutional structures, and those must change first.

The president's party almost always loses seats in Congress in the midterms, unless their approval is in the 60%+ range. Whether that results in either chamber flipping really depends on the distribution of seats before the election. Republicans gaining in the Senate is an outlier result in general (both chambers usually shift in the same direction), but looking at the map and projections beforehand, is hardly surprising in this particular election. Anyway, like I said up-thread, pretty boring night overall if you're looking at control of Congress. However, there have been a number of interesting changes at the state level, particularly with certain ballot measures. Voter ID laws have passed in a few states, NC voters rejected efforts to limit the governor's appointment powers, bi-partisan and non-partisan redistricting commissions have been adopted, Florida eliminated felon disenfranchisement (affects 1 million+ citizens), and Michigan passed a whopper of a voting reform package: automatic voter registration, same-day registration, no-excuse absentee balloting, and straight-ticket voting.

Your alcohol intake is well-documented on this forum ?

My favorite night of the year! Actually, second favorite. The winner? Thanksgiving. A day full of beer, food, and football cannot be topped.

It's not a matter of "figuring it out." People are in a hurry and try to get in/out ASAP. It would be easy to misread if you're in a hurry. The purpose of ballot design should be to accurately capture the intent of the voter. The Ohio ballot design fails that test. It's like designing multiple choice questions for an exam: you should design questions that measure learning, not any kind of "gotcha" question formatting.

The macro results are matching what was expected. Dare I say, pretty boring. The political science models, poll-based models, and expert models (such as Cook Political, not dim pundit commentary) all agreed this is what we were most likely to see. If you want to get into "interpreting" the results (you should not get into this on election night or in the immediate aftermath, but it's inevitable anyway), both Democrats and Republicans can spin things their way. Liberals will enjoy the upcoming subpoena bonanza from the House, conservatives will enjoy continuing to stack the judiciary with conservative judges, and all eyes will (quite prematurely) turn to 2020. You said what I just did, only much more concisely. Edit: As an aside, ballot wording in Ohio is abominable. "Vote for not more than 1." There isn't a single good reason why this isn't "Vote for 1" or "Select 1."

Chicago fired the wrong guy. I don't think Quenneville traded Panarin for Saad, gave Seabrook a retirement contract, cap dumped Hjalmarsson, etc etc etc.

If his skating is an impediment to his success in the AHL, how the heck is it better for him to be in the NHL? Are the Sabres really slower than the Amerks?

I don't think it's that unlikely. For instance, I doubt Botterill envisioned Berglund skating 6 minutes on the 4th line

Freeman, you forgot a possibility: Botterill has a blind spot and thinks Thompson is better (see also: more ready) than he actually is.

I still don't understand why people loved him before the draft.

I'll be crushed if we don't get a 4th Peterman pick today. Crushed.

Can we do this every week for the rest of the football season?

Peterman not throwing a pick is more proof that sports gods are fake.

If you're not rooting for a 4th Peterman pick, I have to question your moral fiber.

I haven't seen a minute of this game, but looking at the box score...we kicked a FG down by 28? Maximum McDermott.

Where there's a Peterman, there's a way.

Attempts.

How many passes does Peterman throw before the first pick?

Eleven: "Afternoon games are the best!" Also Eleven: "I had to take a nap and miss 3 goals."

I can't remember the last time the Sabres made me want to drink out of celebration. Winning the Dahlin lottery doesn't count.