The Republican, Dan Bishop, won the Special Election for the seat from the 9th congressional district in North Carolina that I wrote about the other day, here. It was close, 51 to 49 percent, in a district Trump had carried by more than 11 points.
I get a kick out of the things cable news "analysts" say as the returns come in. When it looked like the Democrat might win, narrowly, there was talk about "alarm bells" and "hair on fire" at the White House. Then the Republican ekes it out and "a win is a win is a win." The idea is that the Special Election is an early test of Trump's strength in one-thirteenth of "the battleground state of North Carolina," and apparently a decline of 12 points warrants an F, whereas if the downturn is only 10—passing grade and nothing to fear! That Trump won North Carolina by only about three-and-a-half points seems like a relevant fact. Consequently, if you accept the premise that the Special Election result foreshadows the 2020 outcome in North Carolina, and your "hair is on fire" at -12, perhaps it should still be smoldering at -10.
Trump tweeted that his rally in North Carolina earlier in the week saved the day for Bishop. It's more likely, however, that he's a narcissistic dope.
Of course the same cable news "analysts" have opinions on the contest for the Democratic nomination. I was watching last night when one of them said the race hadn't changed for weeks: Biden still in first, Warren still surging. I wonder how long a candidate can "surge" and remain in second place? Considering that she's been "surging" for weeks, you'd think that by now Warren might have "surged into the lead." Maybe more modest verbs don't deliver as many eyeballs to the advertisements.
And maybe I shouldn't channel skim between innings of the Twins' game. They beat the Nationals last night, 5-0, to remain five games ahead of Cleveland. Speaking of advertisements, Bob Eubanks, looking like a display in a wax museum, is on every channel. Do you owe Uncle Sam more than $10,000? Call this number to convert it into a refund! We won't stop running this ad till we've heard from everyone who was ever enrolled at Trump University.
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