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None of this in North Carolina was unexpected. The polls predicted this outcome. It's been an unfolding disaster since 2010. Our job is to hunker down and fight the Republicans right here, right now.

You are correct, but what is puzzling is that with the increasing population amonmg young and better educated, critical thinking people in the Triangle area of the state, I am a little shocked at the out come on the congressional level. Obama lost verty close overall which makes the congressional races even ore strange

It's the mindset that kept sending Jesse Helms back to the Senate.

it's going to get even worse before it gets better! I bet our early voting will one of the first things on the chopping block.

The new congressional districts, courtesy of the Republicans, make things likely to stay like this until the next census and (hopefully) a democratic governor come back around. I got gerimandered (sp?) out of David Price's district. And that sure sucks.

I'm feeling a little big like a Debbie Downer about NC this morning. We worked so hard, dang it!

But truthfully, the way it FEELS here and the people I know and love in NC give me hope! It really is a great state and we ARE going to move forward! . . . . Maybe just not as quickly as I had hoped.

We came a long way despite Jesse Helms. Maybe we're seeing the last gasp of the old white racists, instead of a new takeover.

I am also starting to look for groups and organizations to stay in touch with.......we're going to need it.

Stupid, stupid people really put us in a mess. There will be no defense from an onslaught of teabaggery, selfish, dangerous legislation.

I told my husband last night about my anxiety and he said perhaps the Republicans will stand down on some of their more outrageous agenda for fear of not being re-elected and/or recognizing that the entire state does not agree with the teabagger ideology.

Our electorate is so very split between red and blue.

Dammit!

Going to go read your blog now......btw, I'm bluford2 and posted there last night. I didn't think they would post it due to the late hour.

They're drunk with power right now - maybe they will overreach and it will backfire. The Republicans also have a serious problem - the economy in North Carolina has changed drastically and is not going to magically improve. The strategy launched by Bain of outsourcing manufacturing overseas is not going to stop - the Republicans now controlling the state will continue to bleed it dry, and the result will be a worse economy, not more jobs. Furthermore, ramming fracking and offshore drilling through without any environmental protections - which is clearly their strategy - will destroy the tourist trade. These morans have no idea how close they are to shutting down North Carolina's economy entirely.

I only hope that they get the blame. Low-information voters will be told that its all Obama's fault.

One of the last Blue Dogs left.

this may be a state where the Rove-led carpetbombing of ads did just enough. I just went to my front yard and put my five reserve Obama Biden signs on my lawn - I am in a sea of red - not big of me, but I do want to rub all of their noses in it just a bit (before they come and steal them all).

Grass roots coalition of gardeners and other environmentalists - we have a tough row to hoe.

single pink, a lovely flower - I always have extra cuttings/rooted suckers - let me know if you ever want some.

And be ready to take advantage when they do.

We did have a bipartisan majority coalition in our state senate but four of those people lost their positions so now the senate, house and governorship are all firmly in R hands. There are several who are moderate which may save us, but our governor is firmly committed to selling Alaska off to the highest bidder. It's very troubling.

The demographics are against the Republicans on the national level, so they are focusing on taking over states. The biggest problem with that is voter suppression. I'm certain that NC will have a voter ID law soon and we may lose early voting. We may lose paper ballots and get iffy machines forced on us. Our Democratic Secretary of State, Elaine Marshall, was reelected and that is a Good Thing.

It's now a pure republican majority with two very conservative assholes in the lead in the house and the senate. First item on the agenda is to give the BigOil companies here a $2 billion a year tax break without any promises from them to increase production (oil pays for our state basically, so this is a biggie that the old coalition had been fighting against) and they are considering whether to take on the abortion issue, which is really sick since AK has had legal abortions since before Roe. Alaska has exactly one mosque, but these fruitcakes want to make sure that we don't have sharia law.

Gaaahh, it goes on and on. I anticipate lots and lots of street protests in my future. Damn.

The two primary causes for the GOP to win so big here were the unending parade of scandals and the worst gerrymandering I've ever seen. NC sets the standard for gerrymandering in this country and this was seriously the worst case of it we've ever had. The question is what can be done right now to block the GOP agenda?

Nothing can be done about the scandals. They happened and only time will take away their sting. The gerrymandering issue might have some traction. I've hated that practice for a long time because I really despise how it distorts legislatures by creating safe districts. Sure, it's cool to see a really left-leaning district produce a liberal lion, but it seems that you get 10 Paul Ryans for every one of those. I don't mind if the legislature keeps drawing up the districts, as opposed to a commission or something, on one condition: they don't get access to voter registration or race/ethnicity statistics when they do it.* If the legislature had to draw up districts solely on the basis of number of inhabitants, we might be able to get away from this bullshit.

*I know there's a potential Civil Rights Act problem because of the allowance of minority-majority districts. I don't know if they are simply allowed or mandated.

It's just a thought I had today, but basic fairness in elections might be a topic that would distract the General Assembly from running the state into the ground. It's not that I think they give a damn about fairness, it's that it might have a chance to get traction in the state without the distraction of a election year.

It seems like the lawsuits are still going on. But once the Republicans got their chance they pounced.

Part of our problem is that our "liberal lions" are never all that liberal.

Let them legislate. In two years, we will see North Carolina voters running back toward the middle. New Hampshire tried the teabagger-republican experiment, that state's voters gutted the republican party there yesterday, giving democrats control of the Governor's slot and all of the Legislature.

We actually had an excellent turnout of Democrats in this election, yet the Republicans increased their majority in the state legislature and flipped control of the congressional delegation to them. Why? Gerrymandered new districts.

North Carolina voters will have to run well to the left to turn this around, preferably in time for the next census in 2020 so that the Democrats can redraw the districts. Between then and now we're up the creek with no paddle.

to St. John's in New Brunswick, Canada and to Vermont as possibilities for my sons. They have some disabilities and I'm looking for the right environment for them to live given this. They need to become better drivers though because they don't much now do so due to motion and how it affects them.

I will be setting up a meeting in St. Johns with someone who is head of the court system there. They are friends of my cousin. I now have to look at Vermont resources. It's all such a pain in the ass but I have to be a good parent before I leave this earth.