Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Getting coffee for the machine

By Dave Anderson:

The Pittsburgh machine has a mythical reputation of being able to put any of its endorsed candidates over the top in a contested primary.  That myth is just that, a myth, as Pittsburgh City Council has at least four of its nine members who ran and beat endorsed candidates, including some incumbents in the past three years.  I don't think Arlen Specter can count on the Pittsburgh machine to help pull his ass over the finish line with a winning plurality.  

This morning, I voted at the library.  The library is the polling place for two precincts that went to 70:30 for Obama in the 2008 general election.  These are core Democratic precincts with above average turnout rates in the past three Democratic primaries.  There should be plenty of attention and some activity at the local library for last minute persuasion/reminders.   

There was one Sestak sign and two Specter signs at the front door.  At 10:00AM, I was voter # 23.  During the 2008 primary, I was voter #50 at 7:30AM.

I also spent a few hours in Squirrel Hill with my daughter this morning after we voted at our local library.  We went to the Squirrel Hill branch library for story time.  This library was also a polling location for several core Democratic precincts.  I could barely tell the difference between Election Tuesday and any other rainy Tuesday in the size of the crowds at the library.  

I think turnout in Pittsburgh will be low, and low turnout means a highly informed and motivated median voter.  A highly informed and motivated median voter probably favors Sestak.  



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