For what it's worth, Governor Elect Mikie Sherrill came out against the Senate vote early Sunday evening. I take her at her word, she's pretty upset since this was a central campaign thing, and hopefully, New Jersey keeps moving further to solidify the state-run health exchange from the Federal one.

I'm mostly pointing this out because a lot of dems are likely going to be primaried from the left in 2026 and you want to ask yourself if you want to make you ineligible to vote in those primaries.

Everyone in America isn't secretly a socialist just waiting for the right candidate to come along. We're much better off pushing for more progressive candidates in winnable races than clinging to some fantasy that West Virginia of all places is going to abrupty turn woke.

No I don't! I'm just realistic about how much ground we'd have to gain in the reddest state in the union.

You're buying wholeheartedly into the "how could Nixon have won, no one I knew voted for him" fallacy. Most of the electorate aren't terminally online lefties, sad but true.

(long, long, long sigh)

Do I really have to explain to you who votes in the primary and who votes in the general election?

Well, maybe next time we should run a candidate in West Virginia in 1972.

*That's* the dream bigger that I have. That people on the left will understand that holding out for perfect candidates means you don't get to wield any power or advance your agenda. Sorry if that shatters your fantasy of MAGA coal miners magically turning woke, but it's how it fucking works.

We're in this mess because too many people in the left were too precious to vote for Hillary, and that attitude of "hard left democratic socialist or nothing" cost us enough Senate seats that Manchin was the crucial swing vote instead of an irrelevant member of a 52- or 53-seat majority.

Except the "dream bigger" here is to elect better Democrats *where that is possible* instead of living in a fantasy world where West Fucking Virginia lines up behind a Bernie Sanders type.

Well, I'm sorry Mitch McConnell didn't control the Senate for those four years. I guess that's what you would have considered a win? Unless there's some magical third outcome in the WV Senate race I'm unaware of.

I once played as the Khazars in CK3, and anyone I captured, I either converted to Judaism or killed. One of those former prisoners gave birth to Genghis Khan, who, at some point after his bar mitvah, conquered half the world and converted everyone in Asia I hadn't already gotten to. L'chaim!

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