Breathless CNN & MSNBC pundits over a House "horse race"

[Funtatlaguy]

Both besides themselves this morning with different pundits saying Trump and GOP surging in polls with Republicans coming home. Saying that blue wave now not gonna happen and Dems may or may not win back the House and will lose seats in the Senate.

I had to turn tv off. It wasn’t just a mention of a poll or two. It was a palpable glee and energy that Election night will somehow be exciting now.
Forget that the country has moved further into one party aristocratic rule. That’s ok with them.

I hate everyone right now. Going to take long bath. Then will get back on the phones trying to GET out the early vote in my area.

[bearsfootball516]

1. FiveThirtyEight as the Democrats chance of a House flip at 85 percent, the highest ever.

Pundits on these shows are trying as desperately as they can to keep the race close, but they're failing.

[Butterflylady]

16. Yes

It's called ratings!!!!

[rockfordfile]

60. That doesn't mean anything. You have to get out and vote.

[peekaloo]

2. Their paychecks depend on it.

and the viewer is left with horseshit.

[MontanaMama]

3. We've been here before.

I’m swearing all of them off except Rachel until after Nov 6th.

[Funtatlaguy]

5. Probably wise. I don't know why I torture myself.

[DUgosh]

4. We need to vote

As if these “polls” are true.

[Guppy]

6. There was never an enthusiasm gap

republicans always vote and they are always voting republican

[True Blue American]

8. The pundits

Go which ever way the wind blows. I used to like Kornaki. Now, he is so full of himself he has become a bag of wind.

Scarborough and Mika put Trump in the WhiteHouse. Not they hate him, but show him over and over.

[redstateblues]

53. Kornacki is unwatchable anymore, especially when he hawks his stupid book

The Red and the Blue. What a goofy title. Why does every talking head on MSNBC have to have a book they are selling even if they have a good idea? Wait for it-Money money money.

[True Blue American]

63. Good question

He bores me to tears with his breathless polls.

I think I am just burnt out. Nothing left.

[Sherman A1]

7. I watch just a few minutes of CNN each week and it's always the same

24/7 Breathless, High Pitched, Breaking News Infotainment designed to fill the space between ads for drugs we never knew we needed.

I would urge all to simply turn off cable news.

[wasupaloopa]

9. Drugs, weight loss, toe fungus and attorneys fishing for clients.

[MoonRiver]

14. And don't forget meds for diarrhea, constipation and heart burn.

[ooky]

33. And Medicare Advantage plans to pay for it all.

[MoonRiver]

35. But of course.

Heaven forbid that Medicare would actually pay for everything. Ugh

[The Blue Flower]

10. I had to turn off Mika's hand wringing this a.m.

"Trump has a message and the dems don't." "Where are the dems?" "Dems are going to lose." How about giving them the free ad time you did to il drumpf?

[badhair77]

18. Exactly. They even gave time to his empty podium during the primary and the GE.

Her “no message Dems” is her daily message and I’m done. She’s preachy and Joe bloviates. Not a good way to spend my time.

[JaneQPublic]

25. It's hard to hear, but Mika was doing Dems a favor.

Complacency is our enemy.

She was lighting a fire under Dems who are comforting themselves with the #BlueWave warm fuzzies.

What she said is exactly what we need to hear to redouble our efforts in making campaign contributions, volunteering to help get out the vote, and committing to show up and vote.

You can call it hand-wringing, but it appears all her comments were based in fact.

Yes, many of the races we're counting on are closer than we expected.

Yes, the GOPers are now as energized to vote as the Dems are.

Yes, tons of cash are being dumped on GOP candidates by all the usual billionaires.

Yes, Trump did rise in the polls.

So maybe we should quit getting our feelings hurt anytime someone on TV dares to suggest Dems CAN'T cruise to an easy win and just keep working our assess off.

[Kentonio]

32. +1000

[PearliePoo2]

39. YES! Thank you!

Before the 2016 election, she warned that trump could win. She took a LOT of shit for making that observation!

Unfortunately, she was correct. She was scared to death about it and what it could mean.
After trump won, she asked Joe if this country would be alright because she is terrified. He told her, "Yes, our institutions and guardrails will hold. We will survive this".

Now I'm not so sure either one of them believe that's true!
I think they're even more scared now!

Yesterday, Joe's advice to Democrats was, "Ring doorbells!! Talk to people and ASK FOR THEIR VOTE!"

[True Blue American]

64. That is what I mean.

Democrats have plenty of messages but they are so glued on what Trump will shout at a Reporter as he goes off on another expensive trip to appear before his hired goons.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

11. This is what election stealing desensitization looks like.

Dems way ahead for over a year...then mysteriously, right before the election the gop rallies (on a non-existent platform), and right before the race it's neck and neck. Then by a "shocking squeaker" the gop candidate pulls off a stunning win, to come from behind. Same formula. Different election. Then the right wing lectures begin on "why we lost' for 'credibility'....wash, rinse, repeat.

[Merlot]

31. yes, it's deja vu all over again.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

34. Watch media election coverage...

this pattern has happened so many times it's hard not to notice. Hopefully, this time, I'm wrong.
The Intel Agencies have already signaled that the soviet union continues to tamper w our elections. The groundwork could be laid already. **ZERO has happened to make elections honest since 2016. Took a year and a half for dt to admit it. Lot's of acknowledgments that things are broken by folks other than he though...but here we are again.
"Polling' is another tactic of this type to steer peoples thinking, and reduce expectations. We need landslide proportion voting to overcome this system it seems. At some point, if too many people vote, the whole 'cheating equation/algorithim' shuts down apparently. It would be too obvious if a whole nation voted for someone (Obama) , and they didn't get elected. As it is now, they just let the unhinged alt-rights hatred of the left (talk radio/fox) minimize and fight bad election results.
Just spitballing.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

58. I'm just being picky here but there is no Soviet Union.

That was dissolved many years ago. Our problem is Russia.

[True Blue American]

66. Our problems are Putin, Trump and the old white men in Congress, to be really picky!

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

70. No way. Really? Russia, soviet union, all the same, tends to only piss off russians in my exp.

I prefer the soviet union when they attack us like they did the cold war.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. Our very form of government is at stake and those clowns are obsessing over a horse race.

F--k them.

[beachbum bob]

13. media commentary is about veiwership and why they have to say and do what they do and ITS OK

as anything say will drive MORE democrats to vote and if WE ALL VOTE we blow the GOP out of the water.

first time in decades that democrats finally getting MAD

[nycbos]

15. Do take anything for granted. That is one of the reasons we lost in 2016.

Be confident but not complacent.


There are swing districts that are very close. Pay no attention to the national polls.

Make phone calls. Knock on doors.

[dalton99a]

17. Fuck them. GOTV

How to Vote Early in the 2018 Midterm Elections


Early Voting in Texas Starts TODAY!!

[treestar]

20. Hopefully anyone that would influence will be

more motivated to go vote.

[spanone]

21. the media is hunkering down...i am ignoring them. they did the same in 2016.

they profit from this bullshit.

[qazplm135]

28. actually in 2016

the media thought Hillary was going to win.

[spanone]

29. the pollsters thought Hillary was going to win. the media gave trump $2Billion free airtime

[stopbush]

36. Yep, but tRump won because the Russians partnered with him to beat Hillary.

Without that, all the free media time and anti-Hillary bashing by the media given to tRump would not have been enough for him to win.

What we can be assured is happening TODAY is that the Russians are busy right now amplifying any anti-D messages in social media to suppress D voter turnout and to lay the groundwork for Rs challenging the legality of D wins.

[qazplm135]

48. the media gave him free airtime BECAUSE

they thought Hillary was going to win.

[Zambero]

56. Entertainment value is not without consequences

Repeat lies and utter nonsense often enough, and the liar / buffoon eventually becomes "legitimate".

[True Blue American]

68. But they pushed Trump like crazy

He was calling in to every show every day,including his dear friends, joe and Mika until he exposed her face lift and threatened to expose their affair.

Suddenly they became engaged.

[Stellar]

23. Hillary was ahead in the polls up to Election Day....until she lost.

Just....GET OUT THE VOTE!!!
Don't get discouraged. Just VOTE!

[JaneQPublic]

26. +1,000 (nt)

[BSdetect]

24. I cannot bear to watch these crapheads chasing their ratings

Its just that. False excitement to lure viewers and generate ad revenue.

Appalling.

Just ignore cable "news" and such.

[qazplm135]

27. It IS a horse race!

They ARE closing the gap.

They DO vote more often and more regularly than we do.

They DO have more money than we do.

If folks don't like that, then get out and vote and convince others to vote.

But the idea that Dems don't traditionally vote as much as Reps in midterm elections isn't some fantasy concocted by the networks to juice ratings. It's fucking history.

[stopbush]

37. And there are many fewer Rs than Ds in this country.

Why do these raw numbers never figure into the calculation? Only 25% of voters identify as Rs. The country is NOT split 50/50 as the media would have you believe.

[qazplm135]

46. Because when you have more of a smaller group

and less of a larger group, at some point that line gets crossed until the larger group does something about it.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

41. Neither is it fantasy that Repubs cheat to win, even with our enemies.

And they pass laws to restrict voting and allow gerrymandering, and profit from their positions. The race MAY be closing, maybe it isn't. The early voting in most states is 3 times what it was for 2016. I'll be curious to see vote counts.
ps...we are/did vote. Did you?
Welcome to DU.

[qazplm135]

47. yeah and?

They will probably cheat next time too. Until we actually get enough folks voting to get into power, it won't matter what they do.

The first day early voting numbers look great. Who that favors time will tell. But the reality is, until the polls close on election day, there's no guarantee for a wave or not a wave or anything. So folks need to get out and vote and encourage others to vote.

Early voting started today and I haven't received my registration confirmation yet since I just moved to a new state less than a eyar ago. Once I get that confirmation, I will stop by the library I've already identified on my drive home and early vote.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

71. Youre at DU. We all vote.

Youre preaching to the choir. Probably most of us old timers here already voted by mail in.
Yes. You get your vote in alright??

[rso]

30. Dems

I am disappointed that high profile democrats are not out there countering the Trump BS. When is Obama going to do rallies to counter Donie’s Rallies ?

[stopbush]

38. Wrong. Ever heard of Beto?

[rso]

40. Dems

I’m not talking of a single State, I’m talking about a popular ex-President joining the fight to ensure that we flip the House. Surely you are not comparing Obama’s National profile and gravitas the Beto’s.

[stopbush]

42. Surely you're not saying that President Obama is not out there campaigning, are you?

Last edited Mon Oct 22, 2018, 02:00 PM - Edit history (3)

[rso]

43. Dems

I know he’s doing something today, but I have not seen Obama do any rallies up to today.

[stopbush]

49. Might that be because you're not paying attention?

Obama kicked off his Fall campaigning in Anaheim on September 8, and has been campaigning for the past 6 weeks.

Geez, what DEMOCRAT wouldn't know that?

[lapucelle]

61. Why do the headlines read "Dems"?

People who have not seen what President Obama has been doing should probably simply pay more attention.

[rso]

74. Obama

Great that Pres. Obama has started to do rallies. Still, his rallies should be as frequent as Don the Con’s.

[lapucelle]

59. ...

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obama/obama-hits-campaign-trail-for-first-time-since-leaving-white-house-idUSKBN1CO1IU

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/us/politics/obama-campaign-trail-virginia-new-jersey-alabama.html

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/05/barack-obama-midterm-elections-ohio-california

https://www.npr.org/2018/09/08/645913806/obama-hits-midterm-campaign-trail

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/us/politics/obama-midterms.html

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-05/obama-takes-on-trump-hitting-campaign-trail-for-2018-democrats

https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/obama-is-back-on-the-campaign-trail-1317239875965?v=railb&

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/were-going-to-fight-president-obama-hits-the-campaign-trail-in-california/2018/09/08/30ffd606-b38c-11e8-9a6a-565d92a3585d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1db2cef9fa32

[LBM20]

67. He is doing them NOW. Also Biden has been out BIGTIME. And Sanders. And Harris. And others.

[sarcasmo]

44. CNN and MSNBC do that for ratings. The sky is falling nonsense here makes me laugh.

[stopbush]

50. Imagine if it was the Rs enjoying a nine-point advantage in the polls.

We'd be hearing how the Ds might as well hang it up as a party, and that the Rs looked to be headed to one-party rule for as far as one could imagine.

[sarcasmo]

73. Bingo. That's how CNN and MSNBC report around election time.

[sunonmars]

45. of course they want to create a horse race, they want bums on seats watching on election night.

[bearsfootball516]

57. Yep. For fun, I've rewatched the 2008 election on MSNBC a few times this year.

One thing I always remember, there was a point when Obama basically had the election won, but the west coast polls hadn't closed yet, so they couldn't officially call it.

One of the MSNBC pundits was doing math on air and saying how when polls close and assuming Obama wins California, Oregon and Hawaii, it'll put him over 270.

Rachel Maddow immediately states "Yes, but that's not considering Arizona, and what if McCain wins Oregon and Hawaii?", as if there was any chance in hell that a Republican was going to win Oregon and Hawaii. She knew it wasn't possible, but it was her job to try to keep viewers on the screen and if people KNEW the election was over, they'd turn it off.

So she was trying to create a horse-race when there wasn't one, just to try to keep eyeballs on the screen. That's what all cable pundits are trying to do right now. They need a horse-race for their ratings, so they're talking as if it is one.

[JCMach1]

51. Beating the same dead horse since Kavanaugh, polls began to shift back to D since

except in places we were probably going to lose anyway...

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

72. +1 This.

[BlueJac]

52. Fuck them!

GOTV!!

[dchill]

54. This is the kind of shit that made Trump's win...

seem almost plausible...

To THEM.

[unblock]

55. i used to buy the lie that the media roots for a "horse race" for the sake of ratings.

if that were true, then they'd prop up democrats and tear down republicans when republicans were in the lead. but they rarely do that. instead, they find a different narrative, that the democrat is scandalous or inept and that the republican is dynamic and exciting or whatever.

somehow the "bias for a horse race" only happens when it helps republicans.

[disillusioned73]

62. I tuned out corporate owned media a while ago..

ALL OF THEM.. This is what they do, and then gasp breathlessly in horror when a trump gets elected - they are part of the problem and they benefit from what has been created..

[BigGermanGuy]

65. i've gone a week without watching

any 24/7 news station.

I've felt much better in life.

[True Blue American]

69. My kids told me to turn it off.

Works,too.