Elections and Opinion Polls - general thread

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caltrek
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Re: Elections and Opinion Polls - general thread

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Keep Hope Alive: The Browning of America
by Abby Zimet
November 4, 2021

https://www.commondreams.org/further/20 ... ng-america

Extract:
(Common Dreams) Okay, so the effort to replace Minneapolis' brutish police department with a community-minded Department of Public Safety failed…in a taste of Raymond Carver's "small good" things…police reform measures passed in Austin and Cleveland; the re-election in Waterloo, Iowa of its first black mayor - despite the opposition of cranky back-the-blue retired cops mad the city was replacing their longtime, KKK-dragon-like emblem - and the election of its first majority black city council; and the election in three Michigan towns of their first Muslim and Arab-American mayors newly giving voice to their communities. In Dearborn Heights, which is about a third Arab-American, Mayor Bill Bazzi… became the first elected Muslim mayor after having been appointed when the former mayor died….In Hamtramck, Amer Ghalib, a health care worker and immigrant from Yemen who came here at 17, became both the town's first Muslim and Arab-American mayor and its first non-Polish mayor in 100 years when he crushed Mayor Karen Majewski with 68% of the vote; three Muslims were also newly elected to the city council, making it now entirely Muslim. In a town with a large population of Muslims from Yemen and Bangladesh who've long struggled to be heard, he was mobbed by jubilant supporters after his victory.

Finally, in Dearborn… Abdullah Hammoud became the first Muslim mayor in a city that's almost half Arab-American. His win was especially historic in light of the city's past: Known as the capital of Arab America, Dearborn boasts the country’s largest mosque, its first Arab-American museum, and its second largest Arab population after California; it's also infamous for its racist leaders. Its longest-serving mayor Orville Hubbard was nationally known for his racism, and the city's last mayor used to rage about "the Arab problem."…In a victory speech, …he (Hammond)…noted, "We never ran to be the first, we ran to be the best." “To the young girls and boys who have ever been ridiculed for their faith or ethnicity...to (our) elders and others who are humiliated for their broken English and yet still persist, today is proof that you are as American as anyone else," he declared. "We said that together we can (and) will bring change. Tonight, together, we did it."
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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caltrek
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Re: Elections and Opinion Polls - general thread

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Below is an excellent summary of the Virginia governors race and its implications for the broader politics of this country. Even many who think of themselves as being on the far left fail to understand the basic points made by the author. I only quibble with how tough he is on Biden (read the conclusion in the linked article but not cited below), although I can understand the frustration on that point.


Split Identity Politics
by Jeffrey St. Clair
November 12, 2021

https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/11/12 ... -politics/

Introduction:
(Counterpunch) Here they come: James Carville, Paul Begala, Mark Penn, Andrew Stein, and the rest of the doddering pack of “New Democrats” from the Clinton era, exploiting the loss of their pal Terry McAuliffe in Virginia, to decry the alleged “wokist” takeover of the Democratic Party, “wokism” being the latest K Street slang to refer to any progressive policy that the US Chamber of Commerce finds objectionable.

I didn’t see any Democratic candidates seeking the endorsement of Ibram X. Kendi or campaigning on trans rights, black reparations or defunding the police. Certainly not Terry McAuliffe. McAuliffe was so “woke”; he regularly directed his limo driver to ferry him to the northern Virginia home of Bill Kristol to plot campaign strategy.

Yet, the refrain is always the same. The Democrats loss a narrow off-year election in a southern state because of their obsession “identity politics,” alienating that mythic demographic of white male “blue-collar” voters, even though increasingly most of the factory workers in Virginia these days are recent immigrants from Mexico and Central America toiling on the unforgiving killing floors of slaughterhouses and industrial chicken and hog confined feeding plants.

When Democratic Party savants say it’s time to get back to “economic issues,” what they mean is the economics of campaign contributions. The banal slogan “It’s the economy, stupid,” was never about addressing the crises afflicting the working class but about getting right with Wall Street. As the Clintons’ bagman, McAuliffe was the ideal candidate for the likes of Carville and Penn. McAuliffe knew were the money that lubricated the Democratic Party machinery came from and what kind of deference needed to be paid to make sure it kept flowing. He didn’t have to learn these lessons at a retreat. They came naturally to him. McAuliffe’s own politics have never strayed from the most austere prescripts of neoliberalism.

Race and gender are class issues, even if the cultural reactionaries that run the Democratic Party machine refuse to recognize it. There’s nothing more restrictive than attuning your political platform to an illusory “white working class.”
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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caltrek
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Re: Elections and Opinion Polls - general thread

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Andre Dickens Wins Atlanta Mayor's Race
by Maureen Breslin
December 1, 2021

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watc ... ayors-race

Introduction:
(The Hill) Andre Dickens (D) won the Atlanta mayoral runoff election on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, defeating his opponent, Felicia Moore (D).

The 47-year-old mayor-elect's campaign focused on fighting crime in Atlanta, the AP noted, adding that Dickens said he would be more effective in bringing crime rates down than Moore and would address crime with affordable housing and opportunities for poorer Atlantans.

Dickens announced his victory on Twitter, saying he was "humbled" to have been chosen.

“We voted for progress and a problem solver, for a bridge builder, for transformation, and this work will start right now. We can’t wait any longer to address these issues,” Dickens said during his victory speech Tuesday, according to the AP.

Dickens also reportedly acknowledged Atlanta's problems, but said he believed in the city.
Don't mourn, organize.

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Re: Elections and Opinion Polls - general thread

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InteractivePolls
@IAPolls2022
Biden Job Approval: Nevada
Approve 33%
Disapprove 59%

Approve/Disapprove (NV)
Dem: 71/17
GOP: 2/97
Indie: 18/73 (net: -55)
White: 28/65
Black: 58/26
Hispanic: 40/46

@Civiqs / 04/16/2022
https://civiqs.com/results/approve_pres ... ate=Nevada
12:52 PM · Apr 17, 2022
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Re: Elections and Opinion Polls - general thread

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Why Taiwan is 2024’s First Big Election to Watch
by Joshua Keating
January 6, 2024

Introduction:
(Vox) Even amid a historically packed global election calendar in 2024, next week’s presidential contest in Taiwan will be one of the most closely watched and significant. The political future of the island and its historically fraught relationship with China — by far the main issue for voters this year — will have consequences not just for Taiwan’s nearly 24 million people, but for global security and prosperity.

China views Taiwan as a rebellious province, rather than an independent country, and Beijing’s longstanding position is that the two should be reunified. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently described this reunification as a “historical inevitability” in his New Year’s address.

While China’s official position has been that this reunification — something Taiwanese voters overwhelmingly oppose — should be accomplished by peaceful means, it has not ruled out using force and has stepped up military and economic pressure on the island. This has alarmed governments and military leaders around the world, given the real possibility that a war over Taiwan could draw in other countries including the United States and devastate the global economy.

Underlining the stakes, a senior Chinese official warned Taiwanese voters this week to make the “correct” choice, describing the election as a decision between “peace and war, prosperity and decline.”

China on the ballot

The January 13 election pits current Vice President Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) against Taipei Mayor Hou You-ih of the Kuomintang (KMT), as well as third-party candidate Ko Wen-je, of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).
Read more here: https://www.vox.com/authors/joshua-keating
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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Re: Elections and Opinion Polls - general thread

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Predicting and Controlling Bad-actor AI Activity in a Year of Global Elections
January 23, 2024

Introduction:
(Eurekalert)More than 50 countries are set to hold national elections this year and analysts have long sounded the alarm on the threat of bad actors using artificial intelligence (AI) to disseminate and amplify disinformation during the election season across the globe.

Now, a new study led by researchers at the George Washington University predicts that daily, bad-actor AI activity is going to escalate by mid-2024, increasing the threat that it could affect election results. The research, published today in the journal PNAS Nexus, is the first quantitative scientific analysis that predicts how bad actors will misuse AI globally.

“Everybody is talking about the dangers of AI, but until our study there was no science of this threat,” Neil Johnson, lead study author and a professor of physics at GW, says. “You cannot win a battle without a deep understanding of the battlefield.”

The researchers say the study answers the what, where, and when AI will be used by bad actors globally, and how it can be controlled.
Read more concerning the findings of the study here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1032173
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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