I totally disagree with Rachel's segment on VA

[bigdarryl]

And the storm having an impact on Election Day.I live in the Northeast from most weather reports the bulk of the storm is going to be between Sunday and Monday.Your talking about eight days before Election Day.What ever damage is done in VA I'm positive voters will have the opportunity to vote with no problems

[Divine Discontent]

1. maybe she's a week ahead of herself... we all wish the election was over. lol n/t

[kevink077]

2. agreed

Rachel is the queen of panic and doom. Her over the top hysterics after the first debate was enough for me to stop watching her until the election season is over. She and some others did a real disservice to the left.

[FSogol]

3. I've lived in Northern VA since the 60s. We've never lost power for more than 3 days.

At my latest house, we've never lost power for more than 4 hours.

[blazeKing]

4. Rural areas may lose it for weeks

If that happens, Money Boo Boo will have problems.

[aquart]

5. Kinda depends on the power outages.

If lower New York City floods, will our underground wiring go out? Cable, electricity, water...all in drowned ground?

If that doesn't happen this storm, it will eventually. In the meantime, how fast can power be restored to voting machines all over the city?

Our old lever machines weren't vulnerable to climate change problems.

[jsmirman]

7. Are our levers gone?!!!

I haven't voted at home since the '08 primaries!

Oh, how the world changes.

[aquart]

11. We fought like tigers but Congress took them all.

[jsmirman]

15. Damn

the wonders of voting for the first time will always be about yanking that curtain shut and pulling the massive lever to hear all your votes ratcheting into the system with that crank and that ca-chunk.

Yet another thing gone by the time I get back home.

[jsmirman]

6. Rachel sometimes indulges in scenarios because she likes to indulge in scenarios

Her nonsense about the 269-269 thing was like, "great! We get it! One of your worker bees was trying to find something cool and broke out the Constitution. And you thought it was really neat!"

I mean, come on. That should have been an interesting conversation in the bullpen or, at most, a two minute segment. I love Rachel, but sometimes she geeks out and can get a little ridiculous.

[Phx_Dem]

9. sometimes indulges? shes the queen of doomsdayscenarios.

[barnabas63]

14. Yeah...I've noticed that too..

I think she tries to motivate people with some of that doom and gloom, so it's okay. Sometimes, though, she does go a bit overboard..

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. Wait, Rachel Maddow found yet another reason to bite her fingernails and carry on

What a surprise.

Her personality sort of proves the point: movements may need their intellectuals, but they also need their actual activists.

[2theleft]

10. I live in Richmond and was without power for 12 days

during Isabelle and 6 days for Irene. 8 for the tropical storm who's name I forget in between the two.

[demOcrat11]

12. Me 2

I stay in Va.beach and your right about that. Im expecting strong winds and maybe some flooding in my area starting sun and at least till tues. But the way Racheal was making it seem like its going to be so bad that when Nov.6 rolls around no one will be at the polls. Seems unlikely

[fairfaxvadem]

13. Well...

The Derecho that moved in here this past June lasted all but a few hours on a lazy summer night. A week later, folks in some of the most prestigious neighborhoods were still sitting outside on lawn chairs with no electricity. I took a bike ride at 8am the next morning and the damage was jaw-dropping.

2+ days of sustained winds and rain???? Old Town Alexandria: flooded. Folks in Chesapeake Bay watersheds that need their sump pumps? with no power?? (my sister and a colleague, for example), Ouch. Just 2 common examples of life along the Potomac, the Shenandoah, the Anacostia, the Bay. Consider that DC is basically surrounded by some form of water and some really low-lying areas and that the city was built on a swamp. The swamp didn't end at the edge of L'Enfant's surveys. It doesn't take a whole lot of rain to screw us good. Take a good look at the VA coastline sometime. There's a lot of water waiting to be pushed up along major population areas from Norfolk to DC to Baltimore. A 100-year storm? Sure. But that doesn't make it any less serious.

And the sewer systems clogged due to, oh, I don't know: It's October in VA and MD and DC with leaves dropping off maple trees the size of baseball gloves that you can't keep up with??? Couldn't get out of my neighborhood last year during just a "severe" rain storm due to the flooded roads. Complain all you want, as we do, about the minimal infrastructure upkeep over the last 25-30 years, but this is our situation.

You say you live in the Northeast. Is it New Hampshire? A mostly inland state last with a very short shoreline last I saw, with massive damage from Irene - a powerful system but nothing close in comparison with this potential beast. Here's a refresher: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20110829/NEWS11/708299989. Irene made life pretty shitty for a whole lot of people. Including in VA.

Folks will likely be able to vote, but I'd hold off on the "with no problems" part of that equation. You may be right, but after many years of working election days in Fairfax, VA, both general and primary, I can tell you it doesn't take a whole lot in terms of the weather to screw things up.