2018 Senate Toss Up Races-Polls-Bob Davis Podcast 751

2018 Senate Toss Up Races-Polls-Bob Davis Podcast 751

These days political coverage turns elections into sporting events. My mission is to provide political coverage without making predictions. Let’s start with the Senate in 2018 Senate Toss Up Races-Polls-Bob Davis Podcast 751.

November 6th 2018

First of all throughout this podcast I refer to election day as November 7th 2018. In fact it’s November 6th, 2018. Until election day, many of the questions people have about outcomes will remain unanswered. I’ll tell you why.

Statewide Races

Furthermore commentators love to make national predictions. It’s important to remember these are individual state elections. Despite efforts by the media to make you think these are national elections, they aren’t. They’re local elections. Find out more in 2018 Senate Toss Up Races-Polls-Bob Davis Podcast 751.

The Stakes Are High

Especially relevant are the stakes. The future of Donald Trump’s presidency is in the balance with these Midterm Elections regardless of the local and national issues driving them.  Much of the coverage of the 2018 midterm elections hinges on this truth.

Key Races

What it comes down to are about 6 or 7 key races in various states around the country. As we get closer to election day (November 6th 2018, by the way) the line up of so called toss up races might change.

Holding The Majority

Republicans currently hold 50 seats in the US Senate with one vacant seat. Democrats hold 48. 2 Independents caucus with democrats giving them 49 votes potentially. With Vice President Mike Pence, the republicans can count on a 51 seat majority.

Arizona’s governor will appoint a replacement for the late John McCain, giving the republicans a potential 52 vote majority.

Will republicans hold that majority?

Making Useless Predictions

Finally I am so tired of hearing these know it alls making predictions based on primary vote results and conventional wisdom. As you’ll hear in 2018 Senate Toss Up Races-Polls-Bob Davis Podcast 751 polling is pretty thin in some key races. It’s about time someone covered the story without telling you who’s going to win.

Trump’s Twitter Feed

In conclusion we’ll cover about 7 senate races worth talking about. Will the president’s twitter feed and rally machine help republicans or hurt them?

As far as predictions, I remember a sports writer’s response when I asked him which team was going to win the big game Sunday. He said “That’s why we play the game!”

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating Of Saint Paul

2018 Senate Toss Up Races-Polls-Bob Davis Podcast 751

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Political Dealignment-Culture Shock-Bob-Davis-Podcast-750

Political Dealignment-Culture Shock-Bob-Davis-Podcast-750

I find it harder these days to make sense of politics. We’ll talk about it in Political Dealignment-Culture Shock-Bob-Davis-Podcast-750.

Role Of Podcasting

Moreover it’s time to talk about the unique role of podcasting in sorting out the noise. Especially since our day to day news coverage has become a reality TV drama. A minstrel through the lens of Cable TV News and Social Media.

News Is A Reality Show

What will it be this week? A reveal in court that has to be walked back? A trade deal touted as the greatest thing ever that closer examination turns out to be just ok? An economy that is the ‘best ever‘? Diplomacy and policy discussion conducted via twitter?

Sorting Out The Noise

Especially relevant to me is the role of podcasting in this political realignment. How do podcasters help listeners navigate these times? More opinion disguised as news? Or worse, opinion disguised as ‘truth‘.

Let Politicians Defend Themselves

Most noteworthy is the idea that the ‘little people‘ need media to defend and interpret everything politicians say and do, when those politicians should be able to defend themselves. Find out more in Political Dealignment-Culture Shock-Bob-Davis-Podcast-750.

Tuning Out

Finally I am beginning to get the impression people are turning away and tuning out the noise anyway. Should podcasters rush to cover stories in depth that will be forgotten in twenty four hours?

Mean Discourse

I spent a weekend delving into the last one hundred years of history for Podcast 749. Our country and the world has changed so much over the last century. We have exchanged the industrial revolution for a technical revolution. Technology has made our discourse meaner.

An Invisible America

There is an America where people share their passions and help each other out regardless of their political opinions. That America just isn’t always visible on social media and definitely not visible in news coverage of every breath taken in Washington DC.

Maybe that’s the problem.

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul, Reliafund Payment Processors and John D Scott Personal Injury Lawyer

Political Dealignment-Culture Shock-Bob-Davis-Podcast-750

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Real Machinery Hill-Pioneer Power Show-Bob Davis Podcast 749

Real Machinery Hill-Pioneer Power Show-Bob Davis Podcast 749

In my line of work every now and then you come across something amazing. I spent a weekend at the Pioneer Power Show and had a blast. Check it out in Real Machinery Hill-Pioneer Power Show-Bob Davis Podcast 749.

Living History

If you want to see living history the Pioneer Power Show is the place.

Every development in farming technology is represented here.

Back Breaking Work Brute Strength

Most noteworthy more than a century ago brute strength powered the farm. Men and animals cleared land, planted crops and harvested. Mechanization of the farm was a revolution for farmers and consumers.

Steam Power Revolution

Portable Steam power represented a revolution in agriculture starting in the 1870’s. As a result of steam power farmers could do more.

Today’s Tech Is Invisible

These days we tend to ignore the impact of technology because we can’t see it working. Steam was a huge source of motive power in America a hundred years ago. Gas and diesel eventually replaced steam and those developments are at the show but you can’t miss the huge, belching steam engines.

Hear the steam engines. Meet the people who work on them. Learn how they were built and how they worked in Real Machinery Hill-Pioneer Power Show-Bob Davis Podcast 749.

Anger Emotion And Loss

Finally a personal note. I find emotions like anger and the feeling of loss at the root of what is going on in this country today. Everyday it gets harder and harder to shout into the noise. Furthermore advancing the story or thinking on almost any issue is just about impossible.

There’s Still An America with Passion and Character

In conclusion I have learned finding and talking to people doing something they love and learning while they do it is a powerful reminder that whatever is wrong won’t be wrong forever. Especially relevant is the character of people doing something they love, teaching others about it, and having fun while they do it.

Thanks to everyone at the Le Sueur, Minnesota Pioneer Power Show for a great weekend.

Sponsored by John D Scott Personal Injury Lawyer at Hoffman Hamer and Associates and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

(Editor’s Note: In this podcast I suggest the first steam engine was made in 1867, and I am referring specifically to portable steam power for farming and other uses. Obviously the steam engine was invented many decades before 1867.)

Real Machinery Hill-Pioneer Power Show-Bob Davis Podcast 749

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