The better example is the 2016 election, where Bill shorten was considered the victorious one and did a victory lap of the country even though he lost, while malcolm turnbull made a bitter, concession-style speech on election night even though he won.
this midtern has been a huge success for the democrats, and they are looking good in the senate until 2028 now. 2022 was always going to be the toughest fight, all of their marginal seats coming up at the same time 2 years into a presidency when there are usually large swings against the party in power.
2024 and 2026 senate elections are much more favourable conditions.
This could not have gone much better for the Democrats, especially given Biden & Harris have hardly set the world alight with their performances.
As far as the Republicans go, this does seem to be the end of Trump from what Iāve observed (currently on holiday in what is a Republican leaning area visiting family), with DeSantis very much the new āheroā. Policy wise, heās just as bad (if not worse) than Trump so this might not be a good thing for the Democrats if heās the presidential candidate in 2024 as heās got the same policies without anywhere near as much baggage.
I really hope this is the end of trumpās rein. But I really get the feeling weāve been here before after the 2018 and 2020 elections. Not to mention in the wake of major scandals. Heās a political cockroach that manages to survive everything.
Hopefully itās a case of 3 strikes and heās out and republicans start to realize he has only ever had one good election, and that was the anomaly.
The Republicans, especially those from down south seem to have a āRepublican or nothingā and a majority of the people living in those parts of the world are blindly selfish as all they care about is stomachs, their jobs, their money and their rights to have guns/free speech rather than issues that really matter. I donāt expect them to give that up anytime soon unfortunately.
Ironically it reflects on the current situation of most of the rural electorates in Australia, in particular those in rural Queensland which is pretty much the Australian equivalent of the Deep South with their unwavering loyalty to the LNP.
At a Federal level yes most regional Qld seats fall to the LNP but on a State level no way.
Seats from Cairns to Coolangatta are Labor at a State level. Including Cook which is the tip of Cape York and all of the larger regional centres along the coast.
To say regional Qld only votes LNP is simply untrue, and itās nothing like the deep south of the US.
Conflating Queensland attitudes with the Deep South is a surface level comparison at best.
I think a lot of southerners donāt realise that Regional Queensland is culturally quite different. Thereās a lot of distrust for southerners and a lot of skepticism of government (in part because of broken promises, neglected infrastructure, governments implementing policies better suited to southern states on a very different economy). Even Brisbane is treated with suspicion. But thereās also a lot of opposition to unfettered capitalism as well. Itās very much the same as how WA views itself as different from āthe Eastā.
Thatās very different from the American South, in which politics is still very influenced by slavery, the American Civil War and the 1960s.
I find it annoying when southerners compare regional and rural Qld to the south of America. Itās a lazy assumption that is simply false. Regional centres in Qld voted strongly for marriage equality for example - a stronger yes vote in places like Townsville and Cairns than parts of Sydney. These are not socially conservative places. They are generally reserved in behaviour but not socially conservative in the traditional sense.
All the things youāve said are correct. There is definitely an anti-capitalist streak in parts leaning towards agrarian socialism at times.
They particularly distrust Federal Labor because at a Federal level Labor just doesnāt āgetā them or what their priorities are. Similar I suspect to WA regions. At a State level in Qld, Labor does a much better job at understanding the regional priorities, and are getting better at it - despite the anti-SEQ sentiment.
Firstly I appreciate these insights from both of you who are Queenslanders and have a better understanding of the localism there than I (as a Southerner) ever will, and I apologise if my remarks have offended.
I just find it fascinating that Queensland, being a fairly progressive state on a state and local level, seems to be a a particular stronghold for the LNP which is far from progressive and seems on the surface, similar to the Deep South in America which has always been conservative. I get that America is different with more cultural factors ingrained in their Southern states whilst Queensland is more because of the federal Labor but I only made the comment because I observed in our last Federal Election that even though Labor couldāve broken the LNPās blue wall in Queensland on a federal level, that didnāt occur and most of them are still as blue as it gets even though we all knew how many felt about Scomo and his constant attacks on the state.
In addition I also thought culture might have had something to do with it too as places like Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and up in Kennedy have voted for the LNP/Katter for eons as if the other parties donāt exist and theyāre almost like an institution up there rather than just pure dissatisfaction.
We should probably move to the correct topic to discuss this further
Some good news out of the US with CNN projecting that the Dems will retain Nevada in the senate thus retaining control of the Senate without the Georgia runoff. The Georgia runoff will add a 51st seat if Warknock retains his seat on Dec 6. This will give them a clear majority and one less psychopath Dem senator to deal with. Manchin and Sinema less powerful if they were to get this.
Thereās also a narrow very thin path to control of the House as well. Unlikely but much more hope than before. So much for the red wave.
Iām so here for the comeuppance of the vile GOPs and their leader Trumpty Dumpty. All of those stupid rallies and MAGA slogans and yet they still canāt defy the odds. This is so good.
That so called red wave doesnāt exist . I concede that just hoping now the republicans party can tell trump and his fanatics to fuck off. We need decent candidates for the party that will actually listen to what people are saying. Clearly the votes have stayed two things 1 we are sick of this maga bullshit and trump rhetoric and 2 we need people in the party to start listening to the American people.
I still think democratic can maintain some legitimacy and change their messaging for the presidential election coming up in 2024. I think they can pull off another win if they play their cards right.
Both parties need to start listening to the American people, not just elitists or rural but everyone !
Mr. Trump called for a new election on TruthSocial, shortly after several news outlets called the Senate race for Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly over Republican Blake Masters.
āIdiot, and possibly corrupt, officials have lost control of the tainted election in Arizona. MACHINES BROKEN IN REPUBLICAN AREAS. A NEW ELECTION MUST BE CALLED FOR IMMEDIATELY!ā Mr. Trump said.
Itās not a new concept though - the gerrymander is nearly as old as the house itself. The only way to fix it is to move to have independent electoral commissions (like Australia) which is highly unlikely to occur
