TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2026
Morning Joe, sanguine assessments: We Americans no longer vote on Election Day. We've made it easier (and better) than that.
Back in 1960, Americans did all vote on Election Day, if they chose to vote at all. (Or if they were allowed to do so.)
In the opening pages of his iconic book, The Making of the President, 1960, Teddy White described the way the electorate rolled on that famous Election Day—in the famous presidential election pitting Senator Kennedy against Vice President Nixon.
We don't vote this way today. With a focus on the candidate destined to win, White's famous book starts like this:
CHAPTER ONE
WAITING
It was invisible, as always.
They had begun to vote in the villages of New Hampshire at midnight, as they always do, seven and a half hours before the candidate rose. His men had canvassed Hart’s Location in New Hampshire days before, sending his autographed picture to each of the twelve registered voters in the village. They knew that they had five votes certain there, that Nixon had five votes certain—and that two were still undecided. Yet it was worth the effort, for Hart’s Location’s results would be the first flash of news on the wires to greet millions of voters as they opened their morning papers over coffee. But from there on it was unpredictable—invisible.
By the time the candidate left his Boston hotel at 8:30, several million had already voted across the country—in schools, libraries, churches, stores, post offices. These, too, were invisible, but it was certain that at this hour the vote was overwhelmingly Republican. On election day America is Republican until five or six in the evening. It is in the last few hours of the day that working people and their families vote, on their way home from work or after supper; it is then, at evening, that America goes Democratic if it goes Democratic at all. All of this is invisible, for it is the essence of the act that as it happens it is a mystery in which millions of people each fit one fragment of a total secret together, none of them knowing the shape of the whole.
What results from the fitting together of these secrets is, of course, the most awesome transfer of power in the world...
Given the way we do it today, many millions of people have already voted in weeks. No president will be elected today, but at least as a matter of theory, Democrats are trying to create that "awesome transfer of power" within the legislative branch of the federal government.
They're doing so in an attempt to rein in the sitting president, whose conduct now seems to become stranger with each passing day.
In Sunday morning's New York Times, an attempt was made to describe that behavior. In print editions, that "News Analysis" piece sat right there, at the top of page one.
Of course, given the way we do things today, most subscribers to the New York Times now read the paper online.
Tomorrow, we'll start to discuss the problems which existed with this latest front-page report. For today, we thought we'd show you what was said on today's Morning Joe program—what was said about the likelihood that the Democratic Party—known as the "Democrat Party on our largest "cable news" channel—might take control of the Senate.
On MS NOW's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough routinely presents the most intelligent conversations in American broadcast news. Today, a gang of analysts went way out on several limbs concerning the likely outcome of some key Senate races.
Example:
Who's going to win the Senate race in Texas? At 6:58 a.m. Eastern, Politico's Jonathan Martin offered this striking assessment about the race between the Democrat, James Talarico, and the Republican, Ken Paxton:
MARTIN (11/3/26): I can't find any Republican in Texas who thinks Ken Paxton is going to win. I think the surprise could be if Ken Paxton does win at this point.
I mean, Talarico, in the early voting—
It's pretty clear where this is going in Texas. I think Greg Abbott will hang on for governor. But I think the Texas Senate race is pretty clearly cooked at this point.
Say what? According to Martin, he can't find a single Republican insider who thinks Talarico is going to lose. And when Scarborough threw to John Heilemann in Austin, this is part of what Heilemann said about what he has found in Texas:
HEILEMANN: I couldn't find any Democrat or Republican who doesn't think James Talarico is going to win that Senate race.
Those were rather bodacious assessments. Meanwhile, Scarborough himself was soon saying this:
"Kansas is gone!"
According to Scarbrough, Kansas is gone for Roger Marshall, the Republican incumbent. Scarborough said it's been gone for a week—and that Kansas insiders all know it.
Those predictions are subject to error—but they're remarkably definitive. And when Scarborough sked his panelists for their overall view of today's Senate races, this is what they said:
Entire Morning Joe Panel Predicts Democrats Win AT LEAST 53 Senate Seats...
Morning Joe is calling its shot. An entire panel on the MS NOW morning said Democrats will not only win on Tuesday night, they will romp.
At the end of a segment kicking off the program’s 7 a.m. ET hour, host Joe Scarborough went around the horn to solicit predictions from a quartet of his regulars: Politico’s Jonathan Martin, John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon and Claire McCaskill.
All four predicted that Democrats will not only take control of the Senate, but they will do so by a healthy margin.
“I think 53-47 is probably the safe place [to land],” Martin said.
And so on from there, with Mediaite providing tape of the predIctions.
Once again, the pundits were spotted on limbs. Their predictions ran like this:
Senate seats to be held by Democrats
Jonathan Martin: 53 seats
John Heilemann: 54 seats
Mark McKinnon: 55 seats
Claire McCaskill: 53 seats
To our ear, those were surprisingly sanguine predictions. Starting tonight, we'll see if those stars knew their stuff.
In the larger sense, no one knows the way this national challenge is going to turn out. Yesterday, down at the Reflecting Pool, the president's behavior was very strange—and whatever becomes of his party tonight, he'll be in charge of many government functions for the next two years and two months.
That strikes us as a dangerous state of affairs. Ho is it being reported?
Tomorrow: Highly visible on page one (unless you're reading online)
ReplyDelete"Once again, the pundits were spotted on limbs"
Yawn. They have to spew some sort of bullshit, to justify their pay. Why not this kind of bullshit?
Yet you spew bullshit for free. What kind of business plan is that?
DeleteUncle Vova pays me.
DeleteIf you haven’t voted yet, please be sure and do so. This election matters.
ReplyDeleteSomerby might have urged his readers to vote, but strangely he didn’t. Instead he reminds them that the Dems are a real threat in red states. Exactly what a right winger might say to motivate red America.
All CNN and MSNOW have been doing for the last 3 weeks is reminding us that Dems are a real threat in red states. So you have to include them in your right wing accusation, idiot.
DeleteI went and voted and wrote in Jasmine Crockett because I'm sick of the racism of Democrats.
Delete"Oh we care so much about African American women"
Yes, until they try to run for office Then it's, "No thanks. We want the gay, white male Sunday school teacher."
Forget it.
Kamala Harris, idiot.
DeleteTell me if I'm wrong, but I tend to remember that the last Dem nominee for President was an African American woman. Isn't that right?
DeleteHe also didn’t say whether he himself voted, or how.
ReplyDeleteYet you didn't tell us whether you voted or how.
DeleteWhat are you hiding?
I wrote in “Putin” for all offices. I know he’s not a US citizen, but if the Democrats can cheat, so can we.
DeleteI told people here that I voted several weeks ago. It is obvious how. Somerby is supposedly writing a political blog. No one else doing that is coy about their perspective the way Somerby is.
DeleteThere is talk today that Trump is going to reduce aid to Israel by merging the US and Israeli military in various ways.
ReplyDeleteThere's something wrong when a midterm election is so important. Years ago, ordinary people went ahead with their lives, regardless of which party controlled the Senate or the House. Today, the government is so powerful and so intrusive that the election of a handful of people will directly impact the lives of all of us.
ReplyDeleteAdd this to the demonization of political opponents -- especially the verbal and armed attacks on our President -- and we have a country that may be moving toward some sort of uprising. An uprising by the left.
We have seen signs of the revolution in the violence by leftist assassins and the left's weak opposition to Islamic terrorists on campuses. We see the uprising when Dems call for packing the Supreme Court. Or, where Dem. Senator Slotkin calls for punishing people who dare to be Republican staffers.
https://nypost.com/2026/10/18/us-news/sen-slotkin-urges-dems-to-use-prosecution-to-make-young-people-afraid-to-serve-in-trump-admin/
Make Aliyah, Dave, before it’s too late.
Deletego fuck yourself, dickhead in cal
Delete"Senator Slotkin calls for punishing people who dare to be Republican staffers."
DeleteYour own link quotes Slotkin as saying she wants Democrats to go after and make examples of officials in Trump's orbit who "engage in corruption."
I guess you'd prefer the corrupt officials be allowed to continue unmolested.
When the Democrats seize all power, they’ll stop Jewish emigration. Get out now, David, while you still can!
Deletedickhead in cal supports "waste, fraud and abuse"
Deletego fuck yourself, dickhead in cal
the next honest comment dickhead in cal makes on this comment board will be his first in history
What I think DiC must have been suggesting, Hector, is that all Republican staffers engage in corruption.
DeleteThe most corrupt president in history and fucking David is here whining. Fuck off, David
DeleteThanks, DG. That makes sense. Sometimes we need a David-in-Cal whisperer.
Delete“I’m at 99% approval rating in Israel, can you believe it?” Trump said. “In fact, if people ever got tired of me in the U.S., I’ll move to Israel and become prime minister. Think of it: I’m at 99%, I have the highest approval rating of anybody in history!”
DeleteHector - Slotkin's stated goal was to frighten people from working as Trump aids. She said
Delete“I want [young people coming out of school] to be like, ‘Lord, that might be buying myself a ton of problems I don’t want, and so let me avoid participating in that,’” the senator went on. “I want that deterrence message sent.”
Hector - suppose Trump said he wanted to deter young people from working as Dem aids. Would you not find it improper?
Yes, I would find it improper.
DeleteWhat you're ignoring, or pretending to ignore, I can never tell which, is that the Trump administration is engulfed in an unprecedented level of corruption. Slotkin's statements are simply referencing this obvious fact.
Hector - can you list all the many corrupt things going on in the Trump administration?
DeleteMay I introduce you to Dickhead in Cal, President of the Church of the Perpetually Aggrieved.
DeleteDon't do it, Hector, he's a dishonest fucking liar.
DeleteIf you need someone to list all the corrupt actions of Trump -and his family- that may explain why you support him. Go do your own research. Lazy MAGAt.
DeleteThis is why the new Congress must prosecute Trump and his accomplices. If someone at a blog doesn't know what the corruption consists of, then the nation needs to be told using televised hearings, as occurred with the 1/6 hearings and impeachment.
Delete
DeleteRetarded Dumbocrats will never forgive the Trump admin for eliminating ~$30 billion Dumbocrat slush fund aka USAID.
That's the reason Dumbocrat psychos scream "corruption!"
This is Dickhead's game he plays. Divert, deflect, distract. He wants to get you chasing your tail, getting into a ridiculous debate trying to prove water is wet. Let the fucking racist prick crawl back under his rock.
Delete'That's the reason Dumbocrat psychos scream "corruption!"'
DeleteTrumptard, we've talked about this. You've come dangerously close here to making a statement about the real world, and your track recored in that endeavor is, let's say, underwhelming.
Next time just stick to saying we're all Dumbocrats. It's hilarious and reinforces your brand.
Triggered, Hillary?
DeleteThis is the kind of comment that should be moderated out:
Delete"Triggered, Hillary?"
And anything with the word "Dumbocrat" in it.
Delete
DeleteOh, you're always so bitchy after your afternoon enema, Hillary, dear.
Special for David in Cal:
Deletehttps://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-warren-reads-100-acts-of-trump-corruption-into-congressional-record-to-mark-100-days-of-the-trump-administration/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_allegations_during_the_second_Trump_presidency
Just in the last 24 hours, Trump has said:
ReplyDelete"I've kept every single promise I made, except far more. I've actually kept far more promises than I made."
and he said he would have won he war in Vietnam in a week because he would have bombed "Ho Chi Minh City."
Ho Chi Minh City was formerly known as Saigon. So he would have been bombing our allies.
Tremendous campaigning, sir!
"I think nobody knows more about campaign finance than I do
Delete"I know more about ISIS than the generals do."
"I know more about courts than any human being on Earth."
"I understand politicians better than anybody."
"Nobody knows more about trade than me."
"I know more about renewables than any human being on Earth."
"I think nobody knows more about taxes than I do, maybe in the history of the world."
"I understand money better than anybody."
“Nobody in the history of this country has ever known so much about infrastructure as Donald Trump."
"Nobody knows more about construction than I do."
“Nobody knows more about technology than me."
"I know more about drones than anybody.”
“I know more about inflation, I know more about everything than anyone in this room, anybody anywhere in the world.”
It's funny that he's never said he knows more about narcissism than anyone else.
DeleteI have it on pretty good authority that Bob rapes owls. My friend's uncle knew someone that went to Harvard with him and he told them that Bob would get up early and go to local parks with hunter's netting to capture owls and he would then take them back to the dorm, rape them and eat them. It got so bad he tried to marry his assistant philosophy professor's adopted owl. It's disgusting, but it aligns perfectly with what he writes here everyday. I don't want to get too graphic but this person saw him once rape a baby owl and then try to sell its meat to a local vendor. And Cambridge Police at the time reported several missing black and Mexican owls that they suspected had been raped and subsequently sold for their meat. It's just more MAGA perversion. I shudder to consider my Dirty Water drinking relatives at the time may have been thinking they were innocently spending their hard-earned money on a cherished epicurean delicacy not knowing they were really eating a future right wing blogger's stolen and raped owl meat instead.
ReplyDeleteThis is fascism in action.
If you study assistant philosophy, what do you expect?
DeleteFine, blame the owl. Jerk.
DeleteOwls are predators.
DeleteI always suspected Somerby of being an owlophile. It wasn't so much what he said, but what he didn't say.
DeleteWell, in Somerby's defense, the owls had just molted, so they were asking for it.
DeleteThere are certain owls and eagles that are both predators and prey of each other. During the day, the eagle has the upper hand, at night the advantage shifts to the owl. I fashion myself an owl when walking the streets at night. I usually sleep all day but once in a while I get up early and watch SportsCenter.
DeleteThe owls are not what they seem.
DeleteThe difference between this mock accusation and Somerby's actual situation is that he himself posts the creepy mooning over young girls (Antonia, Anne Frank, Malala, packaged Barbie costume pink youngster, remarks about sexual politics in the Iliad, defenses of other men accused of sexual misbehavior). Some people are drawing conclusions from Somerby's own disclosures, not making stuff up about owls. If Somerby wants to show solidarity with other men who like women on the young side (to use Trump/Epstein's term), that is his choice. He could easily avoid the reactions to it here by simply not treating young girls as suitable sex partners for much older men.
DeleteLighten up, Francis.
DeleteSex crimes against children and adults do happen. They are not as funny to the victims as to you. The lack of empathy for women and children is more of a Republican trait, but it also exists among men who dislike having their own behavior limited and seem to have no sense that rape is prohibited because it harms women and children.
DeleteTrump and Epstein are both sexual psychopaths. They didn't kill their victims (that we know of), like Ted Bundy and other serial killers) but they have the lack of empathy to do so. It is why Trump is able to do so many other horrible things without conscience or shame. Most of us here do not find that funny or clever, as @12:14 seems to. This is ugly stuff because it mocks those who care about sexual sadism, attacks on young girls, and rape of women. It perhaps makes this commenter feel big and hairy and masculine to diminish the concerns of women about rape and pedophilia, but that is so far from manly behavior that this kind of thing is sad. Teaching men that violence is the only way to express masculinity is not just toxic but ultimately destructive to our society.
Again, if Somerby were operating a responsible blog, he would moderate out such comments, but he doesn't. Why not? This is as filthy as the worst racist nazi diatribes. That stuff is career-ending. Why is this tolerated here?
I'm guessing your pendantic bullshit would be the first to go.
DeleteDG and others -- watch it with this stuff. If it keeps up this way, I will report it to Blogger as hate speech. No one is fooled when someone here substitutes baby owls for children and talks about raping and mutilating them.
DeleteThe funny thing about 1:56 is I just can't tell if it's serious or if it's mockery. It hits the edge between them perfectly.
DeleteA pendant is a decorative object that hangs from a necklace. More illiterate trolls from that Eastern European troll farm, or just another stupid bot, or perhaps Cecelia not using her nym again.
DeleteThe correct term is pedantic. If you think rape is trivial, you will find out that women care about it and you will be non gratis to anyone female who you spew this bile toward. Incels wonder why women don't like them and then they blame their looks instead of their rotten souls.
Somerby doesn't have to watch Gutfeld to find misogyny. It is right here in his own blog comments.
"if Somerby were operating a responsible blog, he would moderate out such comments"
DeleteSo you expect Somerby to read every single dip-shit comment that's made on this blog? What is wrong with you?
That isn't what happens when you moderate a blog. You set rules and use a comment system such as Disquis to screen out the recurring riff-raff (you). When Cecelia and David are gone, there are far fewer comments. Throw in DG and there will be about a dozen. The criterion should be substantive content as opposed to disagreeable name-calling, cut-and-past propaganda, lies and stupidity about Corby or people who have died (but didn't really). A day or two of attention would clean things up nicely.
DeleteThere are far fewer comments at this blog than most other sites with higher traffic. It shouldn't be a burden. Most of us read the comments.
"The funny thing about 1:56 is I just can't tell if it's serious or if it's mockery. It hits the edge between them perfectly."
DeleteCan't tell whether DG is a fatuous asshole, Somerby himself, or too stupid to live.
DeleteI have the same question about 1:56 that DG does.
DeleteGet out the vote!
ReplyDeleteThrow the RepubliBums Out!
Jonathan Martin says the Texas Senate race is pretty much cooked. Why would he take the Republican perspective when he presents himself as a neutral observer of politics? It is not cooked according to Democrats, but is coming up roses. The right doesn't own that office simply because it has won in the past. Our Democratic perspective is as valid as theirs and we do not consider it "cooked" at all. Simply over, and we are winning!
ReplyDeleteAI says: "cooked" generally means that someone or something is doomed, finished, in severe trouble, or completely exhausted.
Paxton is majorly corrupt, was impeached by his own party, and a complete sleazeball. What's not to like for your average maggot racist in Texas? I'm afraid I agree with Martin.
DeleteThe question is why Martin, who says he is not conservative, is responding in a conservative voice, not whether Republican prospects are truly cooked -- they obviously are.
Delete