Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

“But what about the lurkers?”

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Primary Open Thread

Reader Interactions

149Comments

  4. 4.

    Corner Stone

    Anyone who thinks that speech by Trump “unfreaked out” republican establishment people is fucking stupid.

  5. 5.

    divF

    Went to my polling place to drop off my absentee ballot. They were out of “I’ve voted” stickers, so I took one in Chinese.

  12. 12.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @PGFan:

    And she’s over the line.

    Not according to ‘Bernie Math’, which states that she has to win a majority of delegates by pledged delegates alone.

  15. 15.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    BWHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAAH

    Talking Points Memo Verified account ‏@TPM

    Trump-endorsed Rep. Renee Ellmers loses GOP primary in North Carolina

    The only member of Congress explicitly endorsed by Trump just became the 1st GOPer to lose her seat

  16. 16.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud:

    There’s a primary tonight?

    The phrase alone encapsulates the failure of the Baud!2016! campaign. May it Rest In Peace.

  17. 17.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    We’ve come a long way for this front seat to history, baby. This is what being a liberal Democrat means – the first black president followed by the first woman president. The Obama coalition is back together, and we’re taking it on the road, with Obama’s guidance. He’s going to bring it now. Thanks Obama! #ImWithHer

  21. 21.

    scott (the other one)

    Jesus F. Christ, I decided to tune into MSNBC and it’s just a shitshow. What the fuck are they doing? Nicole Wallace, Steve Schmidt, Ben Ginsberg…felching hell, it’s horrific.

  27. 27.

    Patricia Kayden

    Hugh Hewitt just panned Trump’s speech. He found some parts cringeworthy. If Trump can’t win over Hewitt, …

  29. 29.

    dmsilev

    Interesting that with 40ish percent of the vote in for both states, Bernie is up big in North Dakota but Hillary has a respectable 8 point lead in South Dakota. Lends credence to the “she only wins Southern states” theory…

  31. 31.

    Keith P.

    Trump’s status as kingmaker is in doubt, as Renee Ellmers dropped her primary.

  33. 33.

    Ramping Up

    The Clintons are cowering after Trump’s powerful speech, if that was the flamethrower, next Monday is the FIREBOMB!!!!! in which Trump will attack the Clintons as a corporation out to line their own pockets at the expense of the public.

    Be forewarned: the FIREBOMB!!!!! is coming!

  37. 37.

    lamh36

    Nicole Wallace earlier was darn near breaking down over Trump and his racism prior to the polls closing and Trump’s speech….betting someone gave her a call to get with the program… now she’s all good…

    Gurl Bye

  38. 38.

    MikeBoyScout

    Somebody not too far away from where you are right now is not yet registered to vote in this November’s election. You can help.

    If we all do our little bit we can win the whole kit and caboodle.

    Yes.We.Can.

  41. 41.

    Elie

    @dmsilev:

    North Dakota — another caucus.

    Really, after all this is over, there needs to be a real examination of what happens in these caucuses. Something very funky. I will never again participate in one of these….

  42. 42.

    schrodinger's cat

    Does this mean Bernie’s finger wagging and wild hair can go bye bye from my TV screen. Bernie please take fellow New Yorker with a crow’s nest for hair with you too.

  45. 45.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @scott (the other one): I just flipped it on to see Brian Williams thanking Hugh Hewitt.

    I’m a political junkie, but the one thing that will make me change the channel is listening to Brian Williams draw the simplest statement/question/banality out a couple of dozen words in his desperate quest to find a witticism. He is literally the worst That and Nicole Williams happily trying to interrupt pretty much everyone to spew out some loyalist banality. Maybe she is literally the worst. Nah, it’s Hewitt

  46. 46.

    redshirt

    @Elie: They helped Obama in 2008. They appeal particularly to the hard core who can/would commit a lot of time. Most Primary voters are not like that, let alone regular voters.

  47. 47.

    Patricia Kayden

    @lamh36: This is the woman who purportedly couldn’t even vote for her own VP candidate in 2008. Cannot stand her.

  52. 52.

    divF

    @dmsilev: Yes, but the ND vote total is around 200, while the SD vote is around 20000, both with half the precincts reporting.

    ETA: I see, ND is caucuses.

  53. 53.

    Bobby Thomson

    I’ve been thinking lately that losing in 2008 probably turned out very well for Clinton in the long run. Obama greased the rails both by moving the country to the left and by making Republicans lose their shit so badly that they chose the most racist, misogynistic carbuncle they could find. She might have had to pull her punches against McCain but will be under no restrictions against Trump. After everything he’s done, no one will feel sorry for him or think she’s gone too far.

  56. 56.

    MomSense

    @Ramping Up:
    Trump’s hair is coated with a thick layer of highly flammable product. Firebombing is definitely somethings he should avoid.

    He was very low energy tonight. Sad.

  58. 58.

    lamh36

    Wallace had the nerve, to get upset when Rachel said the speech was not only lame, but boring as hell and said nothing and that Trump is boring and not “electric” when trying to read from a script…

    @DafnaLinzer
    On @MSNBC Nicole Wallace said @realDonaldTrump speech written by team: daughter Ivanka, Chris Christie and members of Jeff Sessions staff
    https://twitter.com/DafnaLinzer/status/740354904536035328

  59. 59.

    Ramping Up

    @geg6:
    Hewitt? Don’t know what channel you’re on but Hewitt is butthurt because Trump said his radio show sucked to his face at one of the debates.

  61. 61.

    JAFD

    From the New Jersey Statutes Annotated, 1934-29:

    No person shall
    by abduction, duress
    or any forcible or fraudulent devise or contrivance whatever,
    impede, prevent or otherwise interfere
    with the free exercise of the elective franchise by any voter;
    or compel, induce or prevail upon any voter
    either to vote or to refrain from voting at any election,
    or to vote or refrain from voting for
    any particular person or persons at any election.

    Ghod, I love that sentence.

    rECOMMENDATIONS:

    Was ambling thru the dollar store Monday, found in their book section a hardcover copy of John Thorne’s _Pot on the Fire: Further Exploits of a Renegade Cook_, for a buck. Unfortunately only one copy, if they had a half-dozen, would have gotten to gift my friends with.

    Any American who likes cooking, eating, or food in general, and who is not familiar with the works of John Thorne, should rectify that immediately, and then join the campaign to get him a MacArthur Fellowship and a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

    For those interested in seeing some of the waterways of New Jersey:
    http://www.hackensackriverkeeper.org/eco-cruise-schedule/
    https://newarkriverfront.org/2016/05/27/newark-riverfront-revival-announces-summer-2016-calendar-of-events/
    (same boat, different pier)

    If you are a voter and you realize that you have Registered In The Wrong Party, please try to come to that realization before you step thru the voting machine curtains, before the poll worker has frozen the Monarchist levers and opened the Whig ballot for you.

    Had I asked beforehand how to reset the machine in that case, the day would have gone more smoothly.

    If you were curious, the precinct where I was working went 50 for Hillary, 32 for Bernie, and all the Republicans who showed up voted for Trump

    Happy Wednesday!

  63. 63.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Baud: Why haven’t you been called on to share your insightful political commentary? You’d be a big improvement from Ms. Wallace.

  65. 65.

    lamh36

    So none of the folks at MSNBC could see maybe a problem with this line?

    Trump: “We’re going to take care of our African-American people that have been mistreated for so long”

    “our” African Amerans, as opposed to who’s?

  70. 70.

    Ramping Up

    I can see Trump turning this thing all the way around by talking about jobs, jobs, jobs and jobs, and on the other hand attacking the Clinton Foundation.

  71. 71.

    Matt McIrvin

    @divF: Caucuses, and, I think, reporting some kind of delegate-equivalent thing instead of actual votes, which is why the numbers are so tiny.

  72. 72.

    dmsilev

    @MomSense:

    Trump’s hair is coated with a thick layer of highly flammable product. Firebombing is definitely somethings he should avoid.

    That’s crazy talk! We _need_ to see Trump running around with his hair literally on fire.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    @Baud:
    His appeal to the frack vote is herewith saluted. Now, back north for the next syrup season.

  75. 75.

    Patricia Kayden

    @lamh36: Hugh Hewitt claimed that that phrase made him cringe. He thought it was very problematic which says a lot since he’s a douche.

  76. 76.

    Gaffa

    Speaking as someone who just came from the (a) North Dakota Democratic Caucus…

    It’s much like a lot of meetings. Only with really bad coffee.

    I think I should add that North Dakota is still the only state in the Union in which all elections require no registration. You just show up with an appropriately legal ID on the day of the election, we check your address versus the one we’ve printed off, and then you vote.

    Likewise, the Democratic Caucus was basically open to any Nodak Democrat (or likewise interested quasi-liberal sapient) who felt like wandering by.

  79. 79.

    Mike J

    @dmsilev: `

    Interesting that with 40ish percent of the vote in for both states, Bernie is up big in North Dakota but Hillary has a respectable 8 point lead in South Dakota. Lends credence to the “she only wins Southern states” theory…

    NDak=caucus, SDak,=primary

  86. 86.

    CaseyL

    The Guardian has a live stream at Hillary’s HQ, where they’re waiting for her to make a speech.

    Tried to link to it, but no luck. Just go to the Guardian live blog.

  88. 88.

    batgirl

    @Major Major Major Major: The BS talking point is that most of the super delegates were pledged to Clinton before the race even began and that’s not fair! Of course, most of the super delegates were “pledged” to Clinton in 2008 before the primaries began, but changed their vote in favor of Obama when it became clear that he was the party’s choice. Wonder why it isn’t happening for Bernie?!

  91. 91.

    Patricia Kayden

    Mike Murphy feels that Trump is a disaster and that Clinton will win. He’s one of those Republicans who will not be voting for Trump in November.

  93. 93.

    Gaffa

    @Baud:

    Man, we didn’t even get Power Point presentations when we were canvassing for Obama in 2012. They did manage to find a bunch of old Princess-style rotary dial phones behind one of the old banks or hotels downtown and plugged those into the phone banks, though (true story).

    The elite and slick post-college grads who were leading the canvassing had their iPhones and tablets, and then the phone bankers had a 1960s-era phone, a pen, and a stack of numbers to call.

  94. 94.

    gf120581

    @Mike J: Yep. Symbolic of the race, really. If it weren’t for caucuses, Sanders would have been buried long ago. Funny how his “revolution” depends on the fewest people showing up.

    Speaking on Trump, anyone think he looked miserable tonight? He hates reading from a script. Which is why he won’t stay this way for long. He can’t.

  95. 95.

    dww44

    @scott (the other one): In the interests of journalistic objectivity and neutrality the decision makers at MSNBC have decided to deed more than 50% of their pundit seats to the OTHER, may I say, DARK side!!!. Result, I watch MSNBC about 80% less than I did back when it was somewhat of a liberal bulwark. What does that say about the political inclination of the decision makers there? It isn’t all about the bottom line.

  100. 100.

    Ramping Up

    Wait until the FIREBOMB!!!!! on Monday.

    Heard through the Grapevine that Trump is even going to reference the new book CRISIS OF CHARACTER, a shocking new book by a former Secret Service Agent that details the depravity of the Clintons! Wait UNFIT FOR COMMAND was to Kerry, CRISIS OF CHARACTER will be to Hillary!

  101. 101.

    Ken

    @Iowa Old Lady: At least he didn’t twist the knife by pointing out that the proto-candidates will start making appearances at every hog auction and church picnic a full year before the caucus date.

  102. 102.

    AnotherBruce

    @dmsilev: Bernie is up YuugeIn North Dakota caucus! 70% Reporting and Bernie has over a 2 to 1 lead. So far the votes counted add up to 183 Bernie, 76 Hillary, Take that, Killary!

  103. 103.

    NotMax

    @Ramping Up

    Ooh, all caps, bold and italics. With 5 exclamation points*.

    How can anyone possibly stand up to that?

    What a maroon.

    (Thank you, BJ and FYWP, for not allowing blinking text.)

    *IIRC, Jeb “dropping the hammer” merited only 2 exclamations from you and no italics. Maybe you can still get a partial refund on your crystal ball.

  105. 105.

    Luthe

    @Iowa Old Lady: Except pumping your own gas. Which is awesome in winter when you can crack the window, push the twenty through, and tell the poor soul out in the cold what grade of gas you want.

  106. 106.

    Adam L Silverman

    I’ve just put up a live feed to Secretary Clinton’s address so no one has to 1) look for it, 2) watch it on cable news (ewww…), and/or 3) not be able to watch it as they don’t have cable or satellite or a TV.

  107. 107.

    PhoenixRising

    Cross-posted:

    OMG you guys! Tough afternoon of canvassing after a tough morning getting long-postponed routine medical care. On the last block, I bagged 3 votes: One who wasn’t going to vote today because she thought she had more time (downside of early voting for 3 weeks) and two who thought they had to vote at the polling place shown on their voter reg card.

    But the fun part wasn’t correcting those misapprehensions (which seem driven by decades of Republican narratives about how *hard* it is to vote and how people whose lives aren’t so stable that they still live near that one elementary school just don’t really have time to educate themselves about the issues so it’s probably fine to make it hard for them to vote).

    The fun part was the 11ish year old girl cousins, who were making themselves ‘braces’ out of the foil from their gum when I walked up to the porch because it’s too hot to trampoline today. They saw that I had a flyer with a picture of Hillary and started wheedling with their moms (who are sisters, who are sharing the care of an elder at her home so she can remain there for the rest of her life…girls told me all this, natch).

    “We can go there right now! It’s behind the palatas (ice cream) shop! You know, the President place we go for day camp!”

    They had attended an event at the community center at which Bill C came and talked, 3 weeks ago. So. GOTV. It’s hard, and it’s also sometimes rewarding.

  108. 108.

    Luthe

    @dmsilev: Will Bernie Sanders be campaigning on any of those days? No? Then I think I might be able to make it that long.

  109. 109.

    Elie

    @Gaffa:

    Yeah — pretty much WA state also — just need to declare that you are a Democrat that day….

    Bullshit method. We are building the Dems — not the independents or “whatever”

  112. 112.

    AnotherBruce

    Sorry, the comma store had a sale on commas, and I used them up in that previous comment.

  113. 113.

    Gaffa

    As for Bernie winning my state caucuses…

    I’m not that surprised. The caucuses here are immensely low-key and pretty much self-selecting for people who are already enthusiastic about something, and Mr. Sanders’ message (albeit not that of his supporters) did get a lot more traction up here with the college students who make up 15% of this town’s population.

    I was just content to push back the narrative that Hillary is the single greatest criminal mastermind since Moriarty, which was the competing view tonight.

  114. 114.

    Renie

    You mean all those H-2B jobs he has that are all temporary, low-skill, nonfarm worker jobs. Yeah that will really help…

  117. 117.

    Mike J

    Nate Silver ‏@NateSilver538 11 minutes ago
    Clinton needs only ~20% of the vote in California to clinch a pledged delegate majority.

  118. 118.

    Gaffa

    Hey, I didn’t say I agreed with the college students.

    That being said, the main employment of any larger North Dakota city (except for Fargo, our biggest), beyond agriculture and higher education, is people working at Target to shop at Wal-Mart, and vice versa. Not exactly a thrilling economy. Plus the best burrito place in town just closed, so I’m a bit more upset than usual.

  127. 127.

    Emma

    Clinton Foundation:
    –Clinton Development Initiative staff in Africa train rural farmers and help them get access to seeds, equipment and markets for their crops.
    –Clinton Climate Initiative staff help governments in Africa and the Caribbean region with reforestation efforts, and in island nations to help develop renewable energy projects.
    –Staff at the Clinton Health Access Initiative, an independent, affiliated entity, work in dozens of nations to lower the cost of HIV/AIDS medicine, scale up pediatric AIDS treatment and promote treatment of diarrhea through life-saving Zinc/ORS treatment.

    Trump had to be shamed into give up money raised for veterans.

    Please proceed.

  128. 128.

    PaulWartenberg2016

    Jersey? She can have it! /rimshot

    What’s interesting is seeing Hillary winning or doing well in the Primary states – while the Caucus one(s) are showing very low turnout and barely for Bernie.

    I hope California goes 55 percent for Hillary.

  132. 132.

    divF

    @PaulWartenberg2016: In CA we now have jungle primaries. 34 US Senate candidates from all parties, from which there will be two Dems (Harris and Sanchez) likely on the November ballot. OTOH, I’m in Barbara Lee’s Congressional District, and she was the only candidate on the ballot.

  133. 133.

    Ken

    @bmoak: I’ll guess that the caucus is the one with total statewide turnout smaller than my high school class size.

  134. 134.

    NotMax

    @PaulWartenberg2016

    Yes there are, aplenty, including Iowa and North Carolina (which already held prez votes), plus a special election in Ohio for Boehner’s former seat..

  135. 135.

    scott (the other one)

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: That’s exactly it—Nicole Wallace refusing to either Rachel Maddow or Eugene Robinson finish their sentences so she could hop in and refute their facts using official RNC talking points was just galling. I can’t even imagine how unpleasant it must be for those two to put up with it. Meanwhile, Brian Williams just sat there, saying absolutely nothing. (Which was preferable, I suppose.) Then they threw it to Steve Schmidt who, I swear, seemed to be reading off a teleprompter…and then they went to Ben fucking Ginsberg.

    Yeah, I used to watch at least a dozen hours a week of MSNBC just a year or two ago, and had for nearly a decade. I’m not sure I’m even watching an hour a month now.

  136. 136.

    PaulWartenberg2016

    @efgoldman:

    Oh, I heard about her.

    She lost?

    All because she actually VOTED on a few things rather than block/obstruct every vote in Congress?

    This is how far the Republicans have fallen. They fail to respect even their hard-line Conservatives… all because those same Conservatives actually work to earn their paychecks. It’s disgusting.

    I hope to God there’s a Democrat running in that district for the General.

  140. 140.

    AnotherBruce

    @PaulWartenberg2016: I’d like to answer that question, but the downside is that I’d have to go to North Dakota to find out. (Apologies to North Dakotans for that cheap joke.)

  141. 141.

    Gaffa

    North Dakota is a fine state — at least better than South Dakota, which is either strangely empty (no state capital is more terrifying than South Dakota’s), or just plain strange (Corn Palace, Mt. Rushmore, etc.).

    For all our jackhole conservatives, this is still the only state with a strong prairie populist background from the old Great Depression — we have a (socialist) State Bank and a (socialist) State Mill, and state funding of all of our universities is written directly into our constitution, so frequently strong university presidents have more power than the governor.

    Come on up and don’t let the Medora Musical ads scare you. Or the giant concrete buffalo.

  142. 142.

    Miss Bianca

    Yes, thanks for posting this. It’s going to be long time before I get thru’ it all.

  143. 143.

    NotMax

    @Gaffa

    (no state capital is more terrifying than South Dakota’s)

    Never been to Harrisburg, PA I take it? A scab on a nodule on a boil on an armpit.

    Or Trenton, NJ? Capital is such a pit that the governor’s mansion is someplace else – in tony Princeton.

    Some people are shocked to discover how much vast emptiness there is up around there. The eastern 1/3 of Montana, for example.

  144. 144.

    Gaffa

    I’ve been to both Harrisburg and Trenton, actually — didn’t mind Trenton, to be honest, but perhaps I lucked into an area where there were some decent sandwich shops.

    I still hold that Pierre is the most terrifying state capital, because it’s so damn *empty*. Even North Dakota, hardly the bustling heart of the world’s commerce, manages to find over 50,000 people to pack around our capital. Pierre is, like, twelve streets (and this is barely an exaggeration). You feel like a band of angry tumbleweeds will come and maul you for intruding upon forbidden land.

    As for Montana, that’s a third world nation that happens to be appended to the United States. Buddy of mine worked as a forecloser lawyer for East Coast banks there back in the 1980s. He lived in Billings, one of the largest cities there. The Interstates were still gravel, there was no city plumbing, and for winter, an actual coal wagon dumped coal down your coal shute for you to burn in your ancient coal stove in your living room to survive the cold.

    At least North Dakota inspired the legacy of PDQ Bach.

    That being said, I welcome to hear the true horror of Harrisburg and Trenton, which I know only a little of. At least I found people there, albeit of a scabrous and dubious quality.

  145. 145.

    NotMax

    @Gaffa

    Have been to N. Dakota, but never S. Dakota.

    Was supposed to do some short-term coursework at the Pine Ridge reservation, but that was cancelled as a major blizzard made travel from St. Paul impossible and there was no possible way to reschedule for a variety of reasons.

  146. 146.

    Gaffa

    St. Paul! A noble city. I miss going to Mickey’s. :( And then if we were still hungry, we’d just wander down the street and eat sushi at that sushi place, assuming it’s still around.

    South Dakota overall is probably more conservative than North Dakota, but it’s probably just different strains. The state’s farming isn’t as strong — it’s really just Sioux Falls and its predatory credit card companies, and then the rest of the state. Mt. Rushmore, for all Hollywood adores it, is kind of a strange, lonely, and sad thing to see in person — much like a lot of the weird-ass icons in South Dakota (the Corn Palace, for instance).

    South Dakota’s Badlands, and cave systems around it, are gorgeous (and much better use of your tourism dollar than Mt. Rushmore, IMO). And if you’re over by the Badlands, you’re not too far from Wyoming’s Devil’s Tower, which is also awesome to see.

  148. 148.

    Gaffa

    I can’t argue too much with dissing Wyoming (although I remain a fan of their ghost towns and Devil’s Tower).

  149. 149.

    JAFD

    Note that Ms. Ellmers is not the first Congressperson to lose a primary race this year – Rep Chaka Fattah of Philadelphia got indicted in a ‘campaign fnds for personal use’ scandal, and voted out.

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