Down Ballot Races - 2024 Election

[1972Shocker]

How can you not like you some Hung Cao!

Hung Cao Annihilates Tim Kaine in Senate Debate

On Wednesday evening, Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine was destroyed by Republican challenger Hung Cao during their first and only debate.

According to a poll published shortly after the debate, Cao was the winner, with 75 percent support to Kaine’s 25 percent support, according to WRIC.

Cao, who is an immigrant, came to the United States with his parents as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975. He is a retired Navy captain and served with special operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. He attended the United States Naval Academy.

When the audience began to clap, the moderator, Deanna Allbrittin, immediately asked them to be silent.

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I don't know whether Cao can win in Virginia, but hopefully there are enough patriotic and common sense Virginians to deliver another upset in the vein of Glenn Youngkin. Kaine is a worthless Democrat rubber stamp. Cao seems like the real deal to me.

[Kung Wu]

Man. Again ... outstanding!

[1972Shocker]

Man. Again ... outstanding!

Not sure what pig roast Kaine was at but Cao skewered and roasted him pretty good in this debate.

[WuDrWu]

I watched this debate.

1)You're 100% correct that Tim Kaine is a rubber stamp. He's also a grifter and a moron. A political criminal his entire life or at least since his late 20s. Bought and paid for, period.

2)Cao is a million times better person. I would want a million Caos before 1 more Tim Kaine.

3)That poll isn't a real poll by any definition. Cao wasn't anywhere near as prepared to discuss specifics. Understandable given Kaine's entire life as a politician. Cao also didn't answer many of the questions, just giving his prepared talking points, often times barely related to the question, sometimes completely unrelated to the question. The moderators often times would re-ask the question and he still wouldn't answer. While I agree that Cao SHOULD be elected to replace the grifter, there's no way he "won" the debate 3 to 1 among people that watched it. He's "right" about a lot of things and he IS the best man for the job, but Kaine was by far the more polished and ready person on the stage.

4) Cao did land a few haymakers, my favorite was his response to Tim questioning Cao's assessment that 99% of his (Kaine's) bills were voted down. Cao said something like there are 2 truths, don't wear a red shirt into a Target and don't argue Math with an Asian. Classic truth bomb.


The moderators asked both men good, strong, fair questions. Gave them chances to defend tough stances and support questionable ideas. That's the way it should be. And yes, it did benefit TK but frankly, in that venue, everything benefits the guy that's been a politician for 40 years. Kaine also avoided many of the questions, but at least answered parts of it....again, an ability that is born out of being a politician forever and being able to say all he's "done" and supported because he's spending your money everyday.

Kaine trying to compare his "family" immigrating from Ireland in 1850 to Cao's family from Vietnam was sickening.

The question on reparations was stupid imho. Kaine wants to spend, spend, spend. Cao said you can't heal if you keep picking at the scab. Brilliant. Also, Cao said the Universities should be underwriting the loans, not the government or otherwise. Spend those billions in their own coffers. Excellent. If he would have taken it a step further and said "I have no problem with loan forgiveness as long as the money comes from the folks that benefited and that is the schools themselves. If they want to give the money back to people that were swindled, I support that. I do NOT support Joe the Plumber repaying Steve's tuition. And I never will.


His alpha males and females comments were well received.


Cao also floored him with the "you've been in office for 30 years, why haven't you done it yet?" (that was around the point he destroyed him with the Math/Target comment). That point MUST be hammered home to EVERY politician. Get the hell out of office.



Cao reiterated the "let the schools pay for it. And don't let the government give money to schools that have raised tuition 36 fold over 30 years."


Cao was also right about Medicare for all and how everything Kaine and all Dems support just further pave the way for s single payer system which is what they want.

Cao punished him during the abortion discussion. He made great points and basically called Tim a liar, correctly. And Kaine is wrong about Roe v Wade, and only because it scores him political points.

Cao's counter to a "threat to democracy" was outstanding. Kaine continued to lie about deaths on Jan 6.


Cao is a tremendous human. He lives his life right. He's what makes this country great. Kaine is what is destroying this country.


The 30 second close was poorly timed but otherwise the moderators did a good job. I wish I could say that for the National moderators.


Hats off to NewsNation for covering this. For a National news station, they do a better job than almost anyone else.

[WuDrWu]

Now, if you want to see a beating, David McCormick just pantsed Bob Casey (PA Senate) on again, NewsNation.

Strong showing for the GOP. Oz was close, and he was an AWFUL candidate. McCormick is sharp.

Caseylies.com

[Kung Wu]

I watched this debate.

1)You're 100% correct that Tim Kaine is a rubber stamp. He's also a grifter and a moron. A political criminal his entire life or at least since his late 20s. Bought and paid for, period.

2)Cao is a million times better person. I would want a million Caos before 1 more Tim Kaine.

3)That poll isn't a real poll by any definition. Cao wasn't anywhere near as prepared to discuss specifics. Understandable given Kaine's entire life as a politician. Cao also didn't answer many of the questions, just giving his prepared talking points, often times barely related to the question, sometimes completely unrelated to the question. The moderators often times would re-ask the question and he still wouldn't answer. While I agree that Cao SHOULD be elected to replace the grifter, there's no way he "won" the debate 3 to 1 among people that watched it. He's "right" about a lot of things and he IS the best man for the job, but Kaine was by far the more polished and ready person on the stage.

4) Cao did land a few haymakers, my favorite was his response to Tim questioning Cao's assessment that 99% of his (Kaine's) bills were voted down. Cao said something like there are 2 truths, don't wear a red shirt into a Target and don't argue Math with an Asian. Classic truth bomb.


The moderators asked both men good, strong, fair questions. Gave them chances to defend tough stances and support questionable ideas. That's the way it should be. And yes, it did benefit TK but frankly, in that venue, everything benefits the guy that's been a politician for 40 years. Kaine also avoided many of the questions, but at least answered parts of it....again, an ability that is born out of being a politician forever and being able to say all he's "done" and supported because he's spending your money everyday.

Kaine trying to compare his "family" immigrating from Ireland in 1850 to Cao's family from Vietnam was sickening.

The question on reparations was stupid imho. Kaine wants to spend, spend, spend. Cao said you can't heal if you keep picking at the scab. Brilliant. Also, Cao said the Universities should be underwriting the loans, not the government or otherwise. Spend those billions in their own coffers. Excellent. If he would have taken it a step further and said "I have no problem with loan forgiveness as long as the money comes from the folks that benefited and that is the schools themselves. If they want to give the money back to people that were swindled, I support that. I do NOT support Joe the Plumber repaying Steve's tuition. And I never will.


His alpha males and females comments were well received.


Cao also floored him with the "you've been in office for 30 years, why haven't you done it yet?" (that was around the point he destroyed him with the Math/Target comment). That point MUST be hammered home to EVERY politician. Get the hell out of office.



Cao reiterated the "let the schools pay for it. And don't let the government give money to schools that have raised tuition 36 fold over 30 years."


Cao was also right about Medicare for all and how everything Kaine and all Dems support just further pave the way for s single payer system which is what they want.

Cao punished him during the abortion discussion. He made great points and basically called Tim a liar, correctly. And Kaine is wrong about Roe v Wade, and only because it scores him political points.

Cao's counter to a "threat to democracy" was outstanding. Kaine continued to lie about deaths on Jan 6.


Cao is a tremendous human. He lives his life right. He's what makes this country great. Kaine is what is destroying this country.


The 30 second close was poorly timed but otherwise the moderators did a good job. I wish I could say that for the National moderators.


Hats off to NewsNation for covering this. For a National news station, they do a better job than almost anyone else.

Thanks for this honest review!

[WuDrWu]

Not to be a complete Debbie Downer, but I know with the tiny bit of polling momentum that Trump and the GOP are enjoying, at the moment, there will be talk about solid gains for the GOP in 32 days, or even dare I say, a red wave.

Allow me to dispel those thoughts.

In the last month or so, the only consensus movement in Senate races have been towards the DEMs. Nebraska (special election) has gone from safe to likely for the GOP. Ted Cruz in Texas has gone from likely to leans. Montana has moved about, going from toss up to tilts GOP back to leans GOP. AZ has gone from toss up to leans, probably tilt or likely if we're being honest, for the DEM. Nevada is the same. Virginia is basically safe for DEMs (so disappointing). Hell, we can't do better than toss up in OHIO where Trump might win by half a million votes!

We need 2 states. Montana is the most likely. Then probably Ohio. Then PA, MI, WI, AZ, NV, VA, MN & MD in order of likeliness.

This round is the best hope for the GOP to win back the Senate. If they don't, they are HIGHLY unlikely to win it for at least 6 more years, and by then the deficit could be too great to overcome.

We only really had to defend Texas and Florida this time around, and those shouldn't be tough to defend with strong incumbents running. But they are tough. My point is, almost every dollar available could have gone to picking up 1 or more of 11 gettable races (NV, AZ, OH, VA, PA, MI, WI, MD, MT, MN, ME) and we're getting slaughtered, dollar wise, by the DEMs and it's ENTIRELY POSSIBLE we don't even pick up ONE seat. What a disaster that wound be.

I mean seriously, we can't even find a decent candidate to run against Angus King in Maine? He's ****ing EIGHTY! He'll be counting out 87 candles with his abacus when his next term is up. That's the best Maine can do?

And the GOP have much better candidates to run against weak DEMs this time around, especially compared to 2020 and 2022. And we can't make any headway.

In 2 years, 2026, we'll have to defend MT, TX, NC, IA, ME & KS, among others for sure, with only GA, NH and MI as realistic possible pickups. That will be a difficult, if not impossible ask.

We might hold the House. It's going to be close. If I had to bet even money, I would reluctantly bet on the DEMs taking the House. And that means more Nancy Pelosi folks. 84 ****ing years old, barely capable of a cogent thought these days, yet a mortal lock to win California 11, one of the most ****ed up libtard areas of the country, and a seat she's held since I was in ****ING COLLEGE. SMFH

The winds of change, if there are any, are still fully filling the liberal sails. If we don't bank every possible GOP vote, there is very little hope for our Republic.

[Kung Wu]

Not to be a complete Debbie Downer, but I know with the tiny bit of polling momentum that Trump and the GOP are enjoying, at the moment, there will be talk about solid gains for the GOP in 32 days, or even dare I say, a red wave.

Allow me to dispel those thoughts.

...

The winds of change, if there are any, are still fulling filling the liberal sails. If we don't bank every possible GOP vote, there is very little hope for our Republic.

Thanks for doing this, even if it's gloomy. I'm basically a two issue voter: Economy (I consider the illegal immigration crisis to be a humanitarian and economic disaster) and SCOTUS/Federal judge appointments, so I mainly care about the POTUS election this go around. I haven't been following the down ballot races like I probably should, so your summary is helpful.

[Shockm]

Hats off to NewsNation for covering this. For a National news station, they do a better job than almost anyone else.

While I didn't see the debate you did, I would agree that NewsNation, along with Fox would do the best job of referring debates. However, as partisan as the MSM (ABC, NBC, CBS), the Democrats will never allow a debate to go to another network. Fox always does a good job on debates too (Fox has a core group of journalists that are REAL Fair and Balanced JOURNALISTS), and CNN did a good job on the Trump/Biden debate in July (although getting Biden out of the race may have been the goal of that debate for the People in Power).

I usually don't watch the Fox Commentators that are clearly Party advocates with a Right leaning POV like Hannity, etc. because I don't have time. However, when I've watched NewsNation on occasion, they aren't always right down the middle like they say they are. Cuomo will always lean left, and his commentary shows it. Leland Vittert who used to be on Fox is totally anti-Trump (he doesn't cover Harris (probably because she doesn't ever say much) hardly at all, and is not negative about Harris in his commentary, For whatever reason, he isn't balanced on the President's race, continually mentions Trump's negatives with suburban ladies plus others, (name calling, and negativity) and definitely, not balanced, whenever I"ve watched him. NewsNation never mentions that Harris doesn't do any public interviews or refused to come out of the basement and answer questions.

[WuDrWu]

Leland is about as fair as an opinion guy can get imho. And that's what they all are, opinions. All the Fox folks are solid right thinkers. But you get news from Bret, Sandra, etc. There's basically no news on CNN anymore (the lady in the morning isn't terrible, but the guy she co hosts with is effing brutal). MSNBC is all opinions. Of course, Gutfield is just comedy. NN with Cuomo and Abrams, yes, solid left lean BUT they will give you another side, another view, often times. You don't see that much anymore.

[Shockm]

Leland is about as fair as an opinion guy can get imho. And that's what they all are, opinions. All the Fox folks are solid right thinkers. But you get news from Bret, Sandra, etc. There's basically no news on CNN anymore (the lady in the morning isn't terrible, but the guy she co hosts with is effing brutal). MSNBC is all opinions. Of course, Gutfield is just comedy. NN with Cuomo and Abrams, yes, solid left lean BUT they will give you another side, another view, often times. You don't see that much anymore.

I agree that LV is mostly down the middle. But imo, he is anti-Trump at least when I watch. and, he says almost nothing negative regarding Kamala. I still watch NewsNation quite a bit because they are mostly down the middle (morning programming isn't quite as much, and later at night not as much) with some of the commentators they have pulled from CNN. They also don't have a strong core group of Reporters covering the President or candidates. NewsNation, and Fox do cover both candidates events, speeches, etc. where the other channels don't.

As for Fox, they do have an obvious lean toward right in their programming, and commentators lean right too. However, in my opinion, there is no one more fair and balanced toward both sides than Brett Baier, Bill Hemmer, Shannon Bream, and Aishah Hasnie, . They bend over backwards to present both sides on their news shows, and reports. This also includes Chris Wallace (he actually leaned a very little left) when he was on Fox.

Other balanced commentators who may lean a little right although not much include Harris Faulkner (she comes from a family military back ground), Martha MacCallum, Sandra Smith, and John Roberts,

Reporters who cover the President (or other Senators/Representatives, such as Peter Doocie, and others are the only reporters who ask tough questions of the President, and others so they sometimes seem to be right leaning, but only because no other reporters ask those questions. It used to be that all reporters ask those tough questions. No longer.

One last thing. Dana Perino is a former political operative for Bush, who is much more down the middle than the political operatives pulled in by CNN, MSNBC, ABC, etc.

[WuDrWu]

Not to be a complete Debbie Downer, but I know with the tiny bit of polling momentum that Trump and the GOP are enjoying, at the moment, there will be talk about solid gains for the GOP in 32 days, or even dare I say, a red wave.

Allow me to dispel those thoughts.

In the last month or so, the only consensus movement in Senate races have been towards the DEMs. Nebraska (special election) has gone from safe to likely for the GOP. Ted Cruz in Texas has gone from likely to leans. Montana has moved about, going from toss up to tilts GOP back to leans GOP. AZ has gone from toss up to leans, probably tilt or likely if we're being honest, for the DEM. Nevada is the same. Virginia is basically safe for DEMs (so disappointing). Hell, we can't do better than toss up in OHIO where Trump might win by half a million votes!

We need 2 states. Montana is the most likely. Then probably Ohio. Then PA, MI, WI, AZ, NV, VA, MN & MD in order of likeliness.

This round is the best hope for the GOP to win back the Senate. If they don't, they are HIGHLY unlikely to win it for at least 6 more years, and by then the deficit could be too great to overcome.

We only really had to defend Texas and Florida this time around, and those shouldn't be tough to defend with strong incumbents running. But they are tough. My point is, almost every dollar available could have gone to picking up 1 or more of 11 gettable races (NV, AZ, OH, VA, PA, MI, WI, MD, MT, MN, ME) and we're getting slaughtered, dollar wise, by the DEMs and it's ENTIRELY POSSIBLE we don't even pick up ONE seat. What a disaster that wound be.

I mean seriously, we can't even find a decent candidate to run against Angus King in Maine? He's ****ing EIGHTY! He'll be counting out 87 candles with his abacus when his next term is up. That's the best Maine can do?

And the GOP have much better candidates to run against weak DEMs this time around, especially compared to 2020 and 2022. And we can't make any headway.

In 2 years, 2026, we'll have to defend MT, TX, NC, IA, ME & KS, among others for sure, with only GA, NH and MI as realistic possible pickups. That will be a difficult, if not impossible ask.

We might hold the House. It's going to be close. If I had to bet even money, I would reluctantly bet on the DEMs taking the House. And that means more Nancy Pelosi folks. 84 ****ing years old, barely capable of a cogent thought these days, yet a mortal lock to win California 11, one of the most ****ed up libtard areas of the country, and a seat she's held since I was in ****ING COLLEGE. SMFH

The winds of change, if there are any, are still fully filling the liberal sails. If we don't bank every possible GOP vote, there is very little hope for our Republic.

I've read this a few times and I cannot believe I missed this, and I actually came here to talk about WI but anyway.....It would appear that I didn't mention or even consider WV in my analysis. Joe Manchin is not running for his seat, which he switched to Independent but he caucused with the Dems. That is a mortal lock for the GOP and Jim Justice who has not polled with a less than 30 point spread since May. He will move this seat red, mean the GOP needs 1 more to secure the Senate for the next 2 years.

Montana is a bit of a goofy state now, but Tim Sheehy does appear to have a lead outside the margin of error. He is routinely polling above 50% and has been +5 or more for 8 weeks now.

Bernie Moreno is in a battle in OH. He has a decent chance there.

Dave McCormick is close but trails Casey (which is AWFUL) in PA.

Mike Rogers trails in Michigan by a similar amount. I get the feeling that Rogers and his team are not running a particularly strong race. They're getting murdered, money wise, And Slotkin is a terrible candidate IMHO. But she's outspending him by a ton.

Eric Hovde has nearly pulled even with Tammy Baldwin in WI. This is interesting. It was funny listening to MSLSD this morning and their "political expert" who literally cannot believe Tammy is behind and I'm quoting "SHE SHOULDN'T BE LOSING!" The actual NERVE of Wisconsin voters.

I am hopeful to add MT to WV and get the GOP to 51 and then add 1 more....probably OH. 2 would make me feel like we had a fighting chance to keep the Senate in 2026.

Larry Hogan hasn't the money or traction to get close enough in Maryland, unfortunately.

Lack of money is killing the GOP. Just Google any State's Senate race and see all the Act Blue sponsorship and articles and just try to find the name of the GOP candidate. I dare you.

Nothing else looks very good right now. AZ SHOULD be but Kari Lake is too polarizing. NV, VA, MN and ME are little more than pipe dreams.

[Kung Wu]

Nothing else looks very good right now. AZ SHOULD be but Kari Lake is too polarizing. NV, VA, MN and ME are little more than pipe dreams.

Take another look at NV and tell me why it's a pipe dream.

[Kung Wu]

NV, VA, MN and ME are little more than pipe dreams.

This blog is wild: https://thenevadaindependent.com/art...ting-blog-2024

[Kung Wu]

NV is going to come down to whether Harris has a lot of late mail-in ballots rolling in after election day. Makes you feel warm and fuzzy.