Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $153 on campaign • Hacker News Board

Re: Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $153 on campaign

#221

Post by bingohbangoh » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 10:13 PM UTC

nostromo wrote: post #192

Erik816 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A "Republican" who has previous run as a Democrat and has voted for Democrats in all recent presidential elections. This says less about any shift in the electorate than it does about the extremism of the Seattle left.

I agree that Seattle is a little bonkers, but I disagree that this isn’t a larger shift. NJ and Virginia governorships were both supposed to be easy wins for incumbent Democrats. So far, one has lost and one is too close to call.

For those unaware, Murphy (D, incumbent) was ~20% up back in July.

It's shocking its even close.

Re: Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $153 on campaign

#222

Post by ejstronge » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 10:13 PM UTC

BuyMyBitcoins wrote: post #173

caseysoftware wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Grew up near Chicago but long gone before this happened so I looked it up: > Krupa needed 473 valid signatures of ward residents to get on the ballot. He filed 1,729 signatures with the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. He earlier said he filed 1,703 but missed a page of signatures. > A crew of mysterious political workers — perhaps they were Buddhist monks, or the gentle sun people known as the Eloi, or maybe…

We’ve got some pretty convincing evidence of corruption and election fraud here. BUT, rest assured this is extremely rare and these same people wouldn’t dare tamper with any other kind of election. Nor would this happen anywhere else in the United States. Anyone who asserts an election was subject to fraud is attacking democracy itself. /s

> Anyone who asserts an election was subject to fraud is attacking democracy itself. /s

I trust you are referring to problems with the 2020 election? I would appreciate learning what analogies you see between mob-like coercion and the election

Re: Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $153 on campaign

#223

Post by davidw » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 10:13 PM UTC

b9a2cab5 wrote: post #186

davidw wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We went to Italy over the summer, and mask usage was ubiquitous. Nothing fancy, just the basic surgical ones. They are required in schools there because children come into contact with adults. "Is it worth it" is an ongoing question; at some point, it's probably not, but we're not there just yet. Our vaccination rates are still pretty low. And remember: the bellowing about masks started before we even had vaccines.

"we're not there just yet" is a political decision, not a scientific one.

Yes, but it can be based on more objective statistics though, like the local hospital being overrun with COVID patients, as ours was over the summer.

Re: Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $153 on campaign

#224

Post by vadfa » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 10:13 PM UTC

wrycoder wrote: post #145

PKop wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blocking the faces of children in the prime of their life, where they need to develop social skills through interaction and facial expression, is madness. The covid risk for children is a rounding error. This is not prudent risk management; mind-boggling for someone from the tech industry who should be able to do a cursory look at statistics and dismiss this practice out of hand.

I see maskless parents shepherding their masked small children around. The kids are obviously self conscious about the masks, and at the same time, they appear to be proud to wear them.

Kids are proud to wear something that makes it harder for them to breathe and recognise the emotions of others? Give me a break...

Re: Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $153 on campaign

#225

Post by PaulDavisThe1st » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 10:13 PM UTC

busymom0 wrote: post #183

subsubzero wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You take guns away and they use knives and cleavers. Look to London for what would happen with guns being banned. The solution is to not ban an object but provide opportunities for people. Jobs, education, paths that pave roads to a career. Nothing drives more people to crime than feeling like they are in a hopeless situation.

> knives and cleavers or vans here in Canada. According to the FBI homicide stats for US, 297 people were murdered by a rifle in 2018 in the US. 1,515 on the other hand murdered with knives, 443 from blunt hammers, 672 with hands, feet: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-... EDIT: I specifically stated "rifle" not all guns. Because saying we need to take away all guns is pie in the sky thinki…

The bit you missed out from that link was:

   Total firearms: 10,265

Re: Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $153 on campaign

#226

Post by SirSourdough » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 10:13 PM UTC

nostromo wrote: post #179

SirSourdough wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I want people who lack compassion and consideration housed at the bottom of the ocean, but we can't all win.

Is this a paradox? Because it sounds like you may end up there yourself.

Perhaps. But I'd rather be there for lacking compassion for the inconsiderate and intolerant than for punching down at the most vulnerable people in our society. Hopefully I'll at least end up in a different house than the commenter I initially replied to...

Re: Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $153 on campaign

#227

Post by BuyMyBitcoins » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 10:14 PM UTC

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #142

BuyMyBitcoins wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likability has always been a factor in democracies. It serves as a proxy for trust and a proxy for similarity. Both major political parties try to use the “down to earth/have a beer with” PR move. AOC was celebrated for being a bartender prior to being elected. She was quite literally someone who you could share a beer with.

I've never encountered a bartender that would drink on the job, so I doubt you could have shared a beer with AOC, at least not while working.

I thought I was being clever with that idiom but yeah it’s not quite accurate if the other person isn’t also drinking. I guess I was trying to capture the idea of “having a beer in the company of”.

Re: Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $153 on campaign

#228

Post by animal_spirits » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 10:14 PM UTC

SirSourdough wrote: post #149

voz_ wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want status quo, but I also don't want them housed. I want the ones that steal, rape, squat in parks, do drugs, sell drugs, defecate in public, and litter to all be thrown in jail.

And I want people who lack compassion and consideration housed at the bottom of the ocean, but we can't all win.

Compassion would mean to have love and hope for those who you disagree with, not the desire to throw them in the bottom of the ocean.

Re: Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $153 on campaign

#229

Post by bingohbangoh » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 10:14 PM UTC

umvi wrote: post #2

Any (relatively) unbiased sources that explain how NJ got into this predicament? Just current leadership being out of touch with the wants/needs of NJ citizens?

Not trying to dunk, but comments like this -- assuming that a blue collar, republican challenger is automatically bad -- says a lot more about the OP than it does about the situation.

Re: Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $153 on campaign

#230

Post by CWuestefeld » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 10:15 PM UTC

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #138

CWuestefeld wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume that "rather have a beer with" is a proxy for "has similar values to me" and "seems honest". Those seem reasonable qualifications for at least some offices. What would you place higher, for which offices?

I'd rank higher than beer-ability: * ability to hold, and describe, contradictory ideas * ability to convey complex policies in a way that doesn't bore people * ability to pick the right people to work with, and specifically the avoidance of a "yes-men" bubble * ability to listen to and have a reasonable understanding of scientific advice * previous independent out-of-country, out-of-language travel experience * disp…

Let me note that you didn't cite what office these qualifications hold for. I don't mean to single you out here: it seems that this is usually how it goes.

But I'd like to suggest that there are very different qualifications for executives, legislators, and parts of the judicial system (when they are electable). Like, maybe a legislator needs to have that ability to work with science that you mention, in order to devise the best possible policies. But that seems much less important for an executive, who needs more of your anti-yes-man quality than does a legislator. And so forth.