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Varad Mehta

9 Aug, 8 tweets, 4 min read

@dcexaminer

"Lisa Murkowski was in trouble well before Donald Trump descended the escalator. If she loses in 2022, the surprising thing won't be that she does, but that she managed to hold on for so long."

Me on #AKSen. This week's @dcexaminer magazine cover story. yahoo.com/now/murkowski-…

"Lisa Murkowski was a prime target for the Tea Party fervor that swept through the GOP in 2010. Yet her relationship with Alaska Republicans was already tenuous, largely because of how she got her seat in the first place." yahoo.com/now/murkowski-…

"Whether such was its intent, the notion that Alaska’s new voting procedures would rescue Murkowski from electoral oblivion hardened into conventional wisdom." yahoo.com/now/murkowski-…

"Dominant as this consensus has been, several analysts have recently challenged it. Rightly so. Far from shoring up Murkowski’s crumbling standing, Alaska's revamped electoral scheme is likely to undermine it further." yahoo.com/now/murkowski-…

"To win under the new regime, Lisa Murkowski has to do something she never has: garner 50% of the vote. One reason she's managed to win three consecutive elections, including the 2010 write-in campaign, is that she hasn't had to. That's no longer true." yahoo.com/now/murkowski-…

This was a change of pace for me. I usually do analytical, think-piece stuff. And there's some of this here. But I also have an anonymous quote (a first) and asked Murkowski's office (twice) for comment. They never replied to my e-mails. Oh, well. I tried. yahoo.com/now/murkowski-…

@SethAMandel

I liked writing this one a lot. But I probably wouldn't have put my thoughts about the Alaska Senate race and the state's new voting system down on paper unless prompted to. So props to @SethAMandel for raising the idea and setting me on that path. yahoo.com/now/murkowski-…

Also, a tip of the cap to the artist who graced my article with the wonderful drawing of Lisa Murkowski adrift on a floe. That's pretty damn cool, if I do say so myself. yahoo.com/now/murkowski-…

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More from @varadmehta

Varad Mehta

@varadmehta

9 Aug

The average Bing user must not have gotten past the third grade.

I had to check twice to make sure I clicked the right one.

The average Bing user isn't an NFL fan, either.

Read 4 tweets

Varad Mehta

@varadmehta

8 Aug

With the Olympics ending, it's clear my dooming from a week ago about the US underperforming proved exaggerated. But it wasn't wrong. Despite winning the gold medals and total medals races, the US finished with fewer in both categories than Rio, though only by a few.

But those overall numbers are deceptive because the US totals were boosted by sports that weren't on the program in Rio. The US won golds in men's 800M swimming, women's 1500M swimming, women's surfing, and women's 3x3 basketball, all of which made their debuts in Tokyo.

The US took silver in baseball and softball, and both of those were a one-time thing for Japan. They weren't on the bill in Rio and won't be in Paris (though they might make it back for LA). I think I'm overlooking a gold, too.

Read 4 tweets

Varad Mehta

@varadmehta

6 Aug

I had to ship my stereo off to get repaired. It's a good thing I still have its predecessor. I'd have donated it but couldn't because of the pandemic. Even COVID has its silver lining.

Amazingly, despite being unplugged since last May, it still has all the radio station presets in its memory.

What is that expression on my face in the first picture?

Read 4 tweets

Varad Mehta

@varadmehta

9 Jul

"The Last Jedi." Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . .

If "The Force Awakens" is a movie defined by one or two big bad choices, "The Last Jedi" is a movie defined by a whole bunch of little ones.

Although Space Monte Carlo is pretty close to being a big bad choice, you'd have to say.

Read 22 tweets

Varad Mehta

@varadmehta

8 Jul

"There's no getting around the reality that the new Supreme Court has its conservative favorites and its progressive enemies, and that the court stands ready to recraft American democracy in its image."

The left is still so mad about Brnovich. slate.com/news-and-polit…

"You're making it sound more like a hostage situation for the liberal justices."

LOL. slate.com/news-and-polit…

This caterwauling, as much as his expansive and unflinching decision, is why it was so important that Samuel Alito have the opinion in the Brnovich case. newrepublic.com/article/162912…

Read 8 tweets

Varad Mehta

@varadmehta

8 Jul

@ArcDigi

Liz Cheney, Evan McMullin, and Miles Taylor were supposed to save the GOP from itself by saving it from Trump. There was just one problem: GOP voters don't want to be saved by anyone the media would send to their rescue. ICYMI, my latest for @ArcDigi. arcdigital.media/p/liz-cheney-f…

"Given the silence that has already enveloped Liz Cheney, her House GOP colleagues' decision to exile her to the backbenches seems to have been a sound one." arcdigital.media/p/liz-cheney-f…

"There are other Republicans besides Donald Trump and Liz Cheney, a fact the media and supporters of both conveniently forget. Whatever the post-Trump future of the Republican Party, Liz Cheney won't be shaping it. Nor will Evan McMullin and Miles Taylor." arcdigital.media/p/liz-cheney-f…

Read 11 tweets

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