Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Trump makes a mockery of the legal system and cowardly judges just sit back and let him.

T R E 4 5 O N

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

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

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

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

Let’s finish the job.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / DNC Convention Livestream

Reader Interactions

457Comments

  1. 1.

    lamh36

    PBO on his way to Andrews AFB…Ya’ll, I’m not ready for either @VP or @POTUS to give their LAST convention speeches as sitting VP/POTUS. Makes it too real that it’s almost over.

    #KeepItTogether

  3. 3.

    Chyron HR

    @lamh36:

    It’s not his last speech as president, it’s the prelude to his first speech as the Democratic party’s elder statesman.

  6. 6.

    burnspbesq

    If the schedule on C-SPAN is correct, they are almost 30 minutes behind. Somebody is going to get cut.

  7. 7.

    Keith P.

    This is as good an excuse as any to forget about everything except speeches. God, I hope they are uplifting (PBO!).

  8. 8.

    lamh36

    Here is the night focused on national security…hope folks are paying attention….

  9. 9.

    Chris

    @lamh36:

    Being a person who (to reverse the common phrase) votes for the party not the person, I really didn’t care much either way about Obama when I voted for him in 2008 – I wanted a Democrat in the White House (didn’t care if it was him or Hillary Clinton) simply because they’d at least try to do the right thing, and otherwise didn’t really have any expectations.

    So while I had no biases against him, I really didn’t expect to like him and his administration nearly as much as I’ve ended up doing. I’m still in my twenties and I can very easily see myself living a long life without ever getting anybody in the White House that I like nearly this much. (More than a few old-timers here have said the same thing, i.e. that he’s the best president of their lifetimes, including people old enough to remember the “liberal consensus” years of the mid-century). The country’s changed for the better in a lot of ways in the last eight years, and much of that is due to him. Will very much miss the guy.

  10. 10.

    David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch

    12 years ago tonight (photo)

    Jim Lehrer: he just delivered a keynote speech, I think people are going to remember for a while

    David Brooks: This is why you go into this business. To watch a speech like that.

    Mark Shields: A star is born

    Richard Norton Smith: He is rapidly developing a reputation, state wide, as the first black President of the United States

  11. 11.

    jl

    @burnspbesq: If its good, it will be on. They kept in on for Sanders, because he was good TV by the end of his speech. They’ll keep in on for VP and prez, who will both be excellent.

  15. 15.

    Helen

    @lamh36: Did you see Oliver Willis’s Twitter feed from this afternoon? Had lots of fabulous POTUS pictures. Go take a look. Made me cry.

  22. 22.

    JMG

    I’;@Chris: I am one of those older persons, and while I’ll leave it to history to decide “best” (Christ, historians used to rate Andrew Jackson near the top for some reason), I will say Obama was the President of my lifetime who I could most imagine knowing and liking if he was just my neighbor or a co-worker or something like that. Carter is a fine man, but I don’t think we’d be sympatico, as I am not a fine man. I love Bill Clinton, but he is nuts. Obama you could see playing golf with, or going to the same parent’s night at elementary school, stuff like that.
    .

  28. 28.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @MomSense:
    They don’t want to build a movement, they want to throw a tantrum. They want to elect Drumpf so we all regret not nominating Sanders.

  30. 30.

    seaboogie

    Go Leon Panetta – who looks like he is holding all of our Nat’l Security worries on his lonesome….

  32. 32.

    Soylent Green

    Is there somebody we can hire to punch the California delegation in the neck?

  35. 35.

    Lizzy L

    Thank you for the new posts. I’m on my laptop, and Chrome stops loading the page when there are about 250 comments; I have no clue why. Please keep them coming.

  36. 36.

    dmsilev

    DKos liveblog:

    WHAT DO WE WANT?

    BETTER ENUNCIATED CHANTS!

    WHEN DO WE WANT THEM?

    A FEW MINUTES AGO DURING THAT CONFUSING CHANT AND ALSO GOING FORWARD.

  38. 38.

    FlipYrWhig

    @MomSense: They are just a bunch of rude assholes. People tend to recoil from rude assholes. Kind of why “the left” has had a bit of trouble breaking through for the past century or so.

  41. 41.

    celticdragonchick

    At t his point I want to see the California Berners have their credentials pulled and sent home. This is fucking disgrace.

  42. 42.

    LAO

    What really irritates me, the media will focus on those bozos tomorrow and ignore the substance of the evening.

  44. 44.

    lamh36

    @Davey C:

    here’s my problem…when we’ve got a message to deliver…

    Say your anti-war chant..but when the message is tear into our opponent…DON’T DROWN OUT THE MESSAGE completely…

    that’s just me though…

    Chants: “no more war” “lies lies”

  45. 45.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @Lizzy L:
    weird, I don’t have that problem but put 10 tweets and/or photos in a thread and it takes 3 minutes to stop hopping around when I update

  53. 53.

    lamh36

    RIDE OR DIE JOE Biden..

    I come to really like Joe Biden…he’s def my favorite VP.

  54. 54.

    Ferd ofthe Nort

    Julian assange is in asylum in the London embassy of Ecuador, if I recall correctly. He is actively participating in acts of cyberwar fare from that embassy. I wonder how the Ecuadoran government feels about acts of cyber warfare taken on their sovereign territory?

    Perhaps a certain PBO will walk down to the situation room and make a call from there about the advisability of people conducting political adversarial operations from so-called safe havens.

    All Ecuador has to do is escort Mr. Assange out the door.

  55. 55.

    dmsilev

    @JPL: The CA delegation has a large number of Bernie-or-Bust fanatics. The delegation as a whole is so big that even a small fraction of his minority share is still quite a few people.

  57. 57.

    raven

    @JPL: You do understand that there are people who want the kind of repression Trump will bring in order to light the fire?

  58. 58.

    Mnemosyne

    I think they attempted to shout down Dr. Jill and got shouted down themselves. Heh.

    They’d better hope they didn’t piss off Crazy Uncle Joe, because he will NOT play with them.

  62. 62.

    TheMightyTrowel

    I just want Uncle Joe to end with “this is a big fucking deal” then mic drop and walk off the stage.

  63. 63.

    Truegster

    Biden – best VP debate ever. If Ryan ever runs again, just replay that debate because Ryan will have the same policies.

  65. 65.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kay:

    IIRC, there was a weird thing with Washington state where Bernie won the caucuses and lost the primary, but only the caucuses were binding.

  67. 67.

    JMG

    Paul Waldman was right in the Post. Most of the delegates making a fuss are not Democrats, never were, and deep down want the Democrats to lose. They are the soul brothers and sisters of their way off the charts right wing counterparts. Deep down inside, they WANT to live in dystopia. That way, their misery wouldn’t be their own fault.

  68. 68.

    JPL

    @raven: You do understand, that some of us won’t survive the Trumpster fire. I’m glad they turned off the lights where they are at. Now they need to duct tape their mouths shut.

  71. 71.

    Adam L Silverman

    @raven: Unfortunately they don’t understand that the fire that would be lit will be lit to incinerate them.

  72. 72.

    jl

    I think they are prepping us for Serious Joe Biden. He gets to handle the NATO? Biden can do a serous warning that blundering into WWIII for no reason might be considered a blot on the record of an president’s term, if anyone can.

    Edit: though the way the TV pundit airheads have been going, I can hear them saying “But would it be THAT bad, really? We might get our hair mussed… but…”

  75. 75.

    guachi

    I’m behind because i was getting food. But the thought of Republicans singing “What the world needs now is love, sweet love” makes me giggle.

  77. 77.

    lamh36

    @Adam L Silverman: Lordt…don’t even ask…something about her being taken off the program because of not supporting HRC or something.

    Story is that it was actually Bernie’s say on speakers.

    Besides which Nina Turner has been a total jackass, more so than any political surrogate (as opposed to celeb surrogate) and continually stoked dissent after there was NO WAY for Bernie to win…

    She’s damn lucky they let her in the damn door at all..

  82. 82.

    lamh36

    @AlGiordano 6s6 seconds ago
    The “activists” see “former Sec. of Defense” & think “warmonger.” They know nothing of Leon Panetta’s decades-long fight against wars.

  83. 83.

    donnah

    Intro piece for Joe Biden was moving and reminds us what we are soon to lose. He’s amazing.

  86. 86.

    ? Martin

    @JPL: Bay area. If you want to know what liberal white privilege looks like in all of its worst forms, that what you keep seeing.

  88. 88.

    Schlemazel Khan

    “We do not have time for this. The enemy is before us!”

    Shut up and work for the change you want

  94. 94.

    hovercraft

    @JPL:
    The delegation is something like 500 give or take so the 200 jackasses can make a lot of noise and Anderson said they were joined by WA and OR

  95. 95.

    cckids

    Love Joe Biden. My brother-in-law was the captain (pilot- whatever his rank was) for Air Force 2 from the end of Bush until 2014. He always said that Biden was the best person to fly. (And of course, as an Air Force person, he’s a republican)

    I never knew before that AF 2, when the VP isn’t using it, flies other government officials around (like Ryan or Boehner or Pelosi). Biden was everyone’s favorite.

  97. 97.

    raven

    @Kay: She said Bernie told her she could not be in the nominating area but she was still allowed in the arena.

  100. 100.

    FlipYrWhig

    @JMG: I feel like what Bernie Sanders wants is to have a kind of Working Families Party situation where he gets to pick and choose whether the Democrat is acceptable enough to get their line, but not having to become a Democrat to do it.

  105. 105.

    Adam L Silverman

    @lamh36: Okay, so no one is trying to terminate her with extreme prejudice, they just basically told her not to let the door hit her on the way out to her paid gig on MSNBC. Got it.

  111. 111.

    ? Martin

    @cckids: One of my former students is Air Force and flies similar high-ranking officials. He flew Biden a couple of times and said exactly the same thing.

  116. 116.

    Quinerly

    I think the die is cast. If they don’t get these assholes out of here, they are going to boo Kaine. I guess the good news is we know it and the convention is prepared for it. The chant to the rear admiral and booing of Panetta caught people off guard. It did me.

  117. 117.

    Adam L Silverman

    @lamh36: And that he was made SecDef because he’s a bureaucratic knife fighter and was needed to manage the draw down of the active component of the Army and manage a sequester impacted DOD budget.

  125. 125.

    Keith P.

    Joe Biden isn’t the flashiest speaker but is underrated. I LOVE watching him speak. It’s rarely memorable like Michelle Obama’s speech, but I always feel good listening to him. He’s Uncle Joe, no doubt. He’s given a great meat and potatoes one here.
    He woulda smoked Trump like a cheap Habana.

  127. 127.

    Patricia Kayden

    @celticdragonchick: Agreed. The DNC is going to have to handle hecklers differently going forward. And don’t allow non-Democrats to run on our Party’s ticket in the first place.

  130. 130.

    Schlemazel Khan

    I was not a Biden fan when he ran for POTUS, I felt he has some baggage. But you know what? This guy would have made a great President

  131. 131.

    lamh36

    @jonathanalter 31s31 seconds ago
    Breaking: Senior Dem senators tell me they think Trump may have violated the Logan Act, which bars private citizens from interfering in fp.

  133. 133.

    MomSense

    @Mnemosyne:

    He should be embarrassed. You have to teach your campaigners better than that and you certainly don’t turn your revolution into sore loser conspiracies.

  138. 138.

    JMG

    @Keith P.: I am from Delaware, at least born and raised there, then moved away. One of my brothers is a wheel in local Republican politics there. He’s a literal country club Republican. And of course he loves Biden as a person, even though he hates his politics.

  142. 142.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    apparently the people trying to shout down Leon Pancetta were from the Washington delegation, selected by a binding caucus that had fewer total participants than HRC got when she beat Bernie! in the non-binding primary.

  144. 144.

    guachi

    Okay. I’m still behind the feed.

    “I taught international law and praising dictators was an automatic F”

    That made me laugh.

  151. 151.

    Ben

    I’m a native Virginian and Richmonder. You will love Tim Kaine and so will America.

  159. 159.

    Kay

    @raven:

    The Secret Service presence was incredible for Obama’s night in ’08. I thought. I had no idea. In ’12 when he landed at the Toledo airport they closed down 80 and they had bomb-sniffing dogs- every car hood open and checked- and sheriff’s deputies from 4 counties. I can’t imagine what it’s like now. It must be bizarre to be him.

  160. 160.

    jl

    @Omnes Omnibus: And I bet Biden will do the best damn Trump bashing you can find anywhere.

    Oh yeah, starting off good. But, ‘Malarkey’? Will the pundits be concerned over that kind of language.

    Edit: didn’t know malarkey has an ‘e’.

  161. 161.

    dmsilev

    @MomSense: Some of his campaigners are ignoring him. There was a story yesterday about one of Sanders’ floor whips in the CA delegation who flat out said “Sanders asked me to rein in the delegation, and I ignored him”. Not quite those words, but that was the gist.

    Basically, Sanders and his core team did a horrible job selecting his delegates, and many of the slots went to frothing fanatics and some flat-out ratfuckers.

  163. 163.

    Poopyman

    @JMG: My sister’s in Scranton, about a block over from where he grew up, and the old ladies still call him “Joey”.

  165. 165.

    Smiling Mortician

    “Actually, he has no clue, period.”
    And everyone chants, NOT A CLUE! NOT A CLUE!

  175. 175.

    hovercraft

    @lamh36:
    Forget after he lost, all this week she’s still talking about Hillary acknowledging their pain, she’s not ready to support Hillary till she gets up tomorrow night an apologizes to Bernie and his supporters for the DNC shenanigans and the e-mails. Fuck her.

  178. 178.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @Quinerly:
    I’m sorry I was ever bern-curious. I will remember the berners at my caucus and do anything I can to ensure they do not get a chance to do this ever again. They do not deserve a seat at the table is they are going to shit on the table

  179. 179.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Quinerly: A lot of those guys are former Paulites (Paulistas?). They’re basically free floating anarchists. Next cycle they’ll latch on to someone else. Not sure you can blame Senator Sanders for that. He’s held up his end this week. His state teams allowing these folks to become delegates however, should be a reason to never hire them to work on campaigns ever again.

  180. 180.

    M31

    “A man who embraces the tactics of our enemies.”
    “A man who confuses bluster with strength”

    nice work, Joe

  181. 181.

    Kay

    I actually think serious Biden is much more effective against Trump than shouty attack dog Biden.

  183. 183.

    Chyron HR

    @dmsilev:

    Cut it out, you guys, Bernie said he doesn’t want to be a part of the “Sanders’ delegates whom the Sanders campaign selected to attend the convention are disrupting the convention” narrative. :^(

  185. 185.

    Quinerly

    @Patricia Kayden:
    Oh, I know. I have been watching. Screaming at the tv when they booed my beloved Barney Frank. The booing of Cummings was disgraceful. Closed primaries in OUR party from here on out. There was never a doubt in my mind.

  188. 188.

    lamh36

    Trump ain’t gonna overload. he won’t be able to know which target to hit this is genius
    #DemsInPhilly #DemConvention

  189. 189.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Malarkey for the win. Plus 10 if Joe calls Trump a knave or a jackanapes.

  190. 190.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Kay: He’ll be on Marine One. They’ll either secure a temporary landing site on a corporate pad very close to the arena or they’ll land him at Naval Air Station Willow Grove and bring him in down 95 or use the PA National Guard hangar at Philadelphia International Airport and bring him in up 95.

  197. 197.

    dr. bloor

    Trump likes WWE? Biden just threw his ass into the turnbuckle, hit him over the head with a folding chair, and put the sleeper hold on him.

  203. 203.

    celticdragonchick

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Agreed. The DNC is going to have to handle hecklers differently going forward. And don’t allow non-Democrats to run on our Party’s ticket in the first place.

    Yep. I had some BernieBros accuse me yesterday of trying to “cuck” them out of their free speech (basically accusing me of being an alt right loon) because I insisted that party membership means something and that includes loyalty to principles of consensus building and working with African Americans, GLBT people etc.

    Of course, it went downhill from there to “playing the race card”. I guess I’m guilty.

  205. 205.

    dmsilev

    Someone must have pulled the battery out of Trump’s phone again; it’s been an hour since his last tweet.

  206. 206.

    lamh36

    Let’s be clear…The best thing to happen for HRC is that Biden chose NOT to run…

  207. 207.

    Matt McIrvin

    @lamh36: Hmm… I remember people accusing Jimmy Carter of violating the Logan Act with some of his post-presidential foreign trips. I wonder if it’d fly.

  208. 208.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kay: I actually think serious Biden is much more effective against Trump than shouty attack dog Biden.

    Hear, hear.

  210. 210.

    Misterpuff

    “Come on, We’re America!” Big Smile!

    Unspoken “We don’t put up with Stupid Shit!”/Uncle Joe

  211. 211.

    jl

    Very effective speech. I wanted somebody to debunk Trump’s nonsense point-by-point, but I trust Biden knows what he is doing.

  212. 212.

    NotMax

    Never been a fan of Biden (won’t go into details here and now) but that was professional and well crafted.

  214. 214.

    Lizzy L

    Little American exceptionalism there, Uncle Joe. S’OK by me.

    Michael Bloomberg next.

  215. 215.

    dmsilev

    Preemptive request to the FPers. The thread isn’t bad now, but can we get a new one just before the top of the hour? Something tells me there will be a lot of comments…

  217. 217.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: He’s told them to knock it off, he’s told them to get behind Clinton. Not sure what else he could do.

  219. 219.

    ? Martin

    It’s really notable the extent that Republicans have given up on american exceptionalism other than our willingness to nuke the site from orbit. That was a more bullish case for America that even Reagan ever gave, and given in front of an audience that looks more like America than I’ve ever seen in one room.

  221. 221.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @PsiFighter37:
    THere is an old movie , “The Farmers Daughter” where the neophyte is at a party convention & the old hand says something like “At these things some people will cheer for anything”, when the youngster expresses doubt he stands and yells “FRESH FISH” the crowd goes nuts. Some of the chanting reminds me of that every 4 years.

  223. 223.

    dmsilev

    YouTube stream is running 3:2 in favor of upvotes. It’s been getting steadily more positive with each passing day.

  224. 224.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Luke BrinkerVerified account
    ‏@ LukeBrinker
    “Why is the media covering Russia and not this press conference? Narrative!” — a Bernie supporter during Sarandon/Glover presser

    Good god, Lemon!

  227. 227.

    cckids

    It’s like a turn-around Dr Who episode; the republican convention was all about bashing America & the Dems are shouting USA! USA! and the speakers talking about America being the best country ever. Cool.

  231. 231.

    Mnemosyne

    I’m wondering if the DNC organizers will need to mix up the delegations tomorrow. I know it’s non-traditional, but it’s probably the most efficient way to break up the Paulites Berniebots.

  239. 239.

    Scratch

    What a great speech by Biden. It shows the contrast between the Democrats’ vision for America versus the Republican one and Donald Trump. Good lord, we need to get out every voter we can get and beat the everliving crap out of Donald Trump and the parody of a political party that the Republican party has become.

  240. 240.

    MomSense

    @dmsilev:

    In the old OFA days we all had a version of the talk we gave to volunteers. When we are making calls,knocking on doors, or driving in a car with an Obama sticker, our last name is Obama and we conduct ourselves as he and Michelle would. Even if someone is rude to you, just smile, thank them for their time, and excuse yourself politely.

  242. 242.

    WarMunchkin

    @? Martin: Honestly, I’m a little bit taken aback by the intensity of that. I’m not on board with that extent, that intensity of American exceptionalism. America isn’t a shithole, but we have faltered, we have made mistakes, we have imprisoned our own people, we did fuck up after 9/11.

    No disrespect to Joe, I loved the rest of the speech.

  244. 244.

    JMG

    A lot of worthy Democratic candidates who probably ought to get elected to offices are going to wind up with staffers who’re convention delegates today. And because of a minority of morons, if those staffers were Sanders delegates, or God forbid if the candidate they won’t get out of the primary. Actions have consequences, even for privileged white people. I’m one of them, and it took me longer than it should to learn that my worst enemy was me.

  246. 246.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @PsiFighter37: the man is a tsunami of charm and charisma. Why didn’t he run!

    good christ, even I wouldn’t have cheered MB’s paean to bipartisanship

    @Quinerly: can you imagine if someone called Obama “the man who caught bin Laden”?

  248. 248.

    Patricia Kayden

    @celticdragonchick: How did you play the race card though? Isn’t the word “cuck” used by White Supremacists as an insult to liberal White men? Strange that Bernie Bros would use that term given its ugly background. WEHuntedTheMammoth covers its background in detail.

  249. 249.

    lamh36

    Using “You’re Fired” against Trump in the way Biden did was genius as well…kudos the the VP and his speech team!

  253. 253.

    Matt McIrvin

    @celticdragonchick:

    Yep. I had some BernieBros accuse me yesterday of trying to “cuck” them out of their free speech (basically accusing me of being an alt right loon)

    Um. You sure they weren’t being alt-right loons? I have my suspicions.

  254. 254.

    PsiFighter37

    Pitching deficit reduction at the DNC? Surprised he didn’t get booed a bit more over that.

  255. 255.

    rikyrah

    Mikki Kendall ✔ @Karnythia
    I tweet for the people who wanted Biden to debate Trump just to see if he would take his belt off & drag Trump to a woodshed.
    8:31 PM – 27 Jul 2016

  256. 256.

    Adam L Silverman

    @dmsilev: He’s doing a counter event again tonight with a rally in Toledo. This is outside the norms of how this works – the opposition campaign has historically stood down from events during the other side’s convention.

    Here’s his twitter feed:
    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump

    But he’s on stage now doing his thing, so no tweeting right now.

  257. 257.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    “deficit reduction” booed. Good

    fine with me if Bloomberg and people like him keep up the “get out the vote” stuff

    Oh, Rudi is not gonna like BLoomaparte invoking 9/11

  260. 260.

    dmsilev

    OK, that’s going to draw blood. Bloomberg made far more money than Trump, and did it without the help of a rich father.

  261. 261.

    Technocrat

    Ouch! “I didn’t start it with a million dollar check from my father”

    Billionaire shots fired!

    ETA: This guy steps on applause lines like they were roaches

  270. 270.

    Anya

    The only reason I am interested in what Bloomberg has to say is that he’ll break the “No Label” crowd’s cold hearts.

  271. 271.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Bloomberg is a very tiresome person. Good for him on guns and all that, but sheesh…

  273. 273.

    lamh36

    Nicole Wallace partisan to the end…with more bullshit analysis…she should go back to the View…
    #DemsInPhilly #DemConvention

  276. 276.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    okay, this stuff about Trump’s bankruptcies is great– Trump’s gonna go twitter ballistic

  281. 281.

    jl

    @Omnes Omnibus: Bernie dead-enders put to sleep. Thought they would put up a jeer, but they are so inept, they probably can’t pull off anything spontaneous.

    But, OK, Bloomberg bringing some attitude. He might do OK.

  282. 282.

    Keith G

    A slight rewrite:
    “I had the chance to govern our largest city in the wake of its greatest tragedy…Mayor Rudy Giuliani.”

  283. 283.

    lamh36

    Ok..I’ll give it to Bloomy, this is a good line

    “I’m a New Yorker and I know I con when I see one”- Bloomberg

  284. 284.

    LAO

    @Kay: “I’m a New Yorker and I know a con when I see one.” I’ll give Bloomberg props for that line.

    And the hypocrisy line too!

  288. 288.

    JMG

    That’s the deal. Real zillionaire Bloomberg (and his peers) have nothing but contempt for a fake zillionaire like Trump.

  289. 289.

    cckids

    @Mnemosyne:

    Best triangulation ever!

    I know! I’m not a shouty, AmericaFuckYeah type, but I love to take that “We Looooove our country” badge back from the dipshits on the right.

  290. 290.

    Adam L Silverman

    @LAO: And short! But there’s a reason he’s here. To bring the 3rd Way/No Labels crowd in from the cold. Also, I’m sure he’s got a big file on Trump and he’s going to share some of that. He did run one of the biggest Intel operations in the world when mayor.

    He’s here to put the knife in one lifelong New Yorker who is a legit billionaire to one lifelong New Yorker who might be a billionaire.

  291. 291.

    lamh36

    Ugh…still can’t stand him, but I agree with this

    ‏@sgtjanedoe 56s56 seconds ago
    Y’all can boo Bloomberg if you want, but y’all gonna need his type of voters if you want to turn Clinton’s poll numbers around.

  292. 292.

    rikyrah

    StrokemonHoe ♔ @TheTypicalVirgo
    Lemme tell you something. When an old white man tells you something is “malarkey” he’s not fucking around.

  297. 297.

    Quinerly

    @Adam L Silverman:
    I know about the Ron Paul folks. It’s not all them. I do not make excuses for BS on this. He created this division and he let his campaign go on way too long. Everybody knows it. Ego, grift, and paycheck for his wife as a campaign adviser. You don’t want to get me started on this. I know too many of his supporters and mist have never heard of Ron Paul.

  298. 298.

    ? Martin

    I half wonder if Lindsay Graham would have spoken here to bash Trump. He seems to take great delight in doing it.

  299. 299.

    Citizen Scientist

    I thought Bloomberg was kind of boring and then he had passage that ended with the con-man comment and reality. Makes me want to check out DT’s Twitter feed for a comeback, if any.

  304. 304.

    Lizzy L

    OK, so Bloomberg is a very rich privileged guy, but he’s staunchly against Trump. He’s an ally.

  307. 307.

    PsiFighter37

    Bloomberg’s gotten in a few decent zingers. Kind of surprised that he hasn’t brought up his pet issues of gun control or climate change yet.

  312. 312.

    Adam L Silverman

    @dr. bloor: I grew up with it. Close friend of my Dad’s owned a share of the NWA. We’d go for cookouts at their house and there’d always be a pro wrestler or two there.

  313. 313.

    JWR

    Tonight’s lead story on NBC Nightly News was all about Trump’s possible violation of certain or other laws. (The Logan Act?) Sounds good to me!

  316. 316.

    lamh36

    @jbouie
    I guarantee you this Bloomberg speech is like catnip to white suburbanites in VA and CO and NC.

    @jbouie 58s58 seconds ago
    Jamelle Bouie Retweeted Jamelle Bouie
    I think Bloomberg is Bad. But independent businessman appeals to a lot of nominally GOP college-educated whites.

  318. 318.

    Mnemosyne

    Okay, this is a better speech than I thought. He softened ’em up with a bunch of “both sides” crap and then ripped the curtain right the fuck off Trump’s facade.

  320. 320.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @? Martin: I hate to type it out loud, because troll bait, but I’d bet money McCain and Graham and whole bunch of other elected R’s will be voting for Clinton. Powell will endorse, which I think is one reason no one’s mentioning his email. If I could put five bucks on Dick Lugar endorsing her, I would

    ETA: edited for wild ass apostrophe, damn my eyes!

    Did Leon Panetta, who left the GOP over civil rights, get more boos than Michael Bloomberg, who quit the Democratic Party out of sheer opportunism

  321. 321.

    dmsilev

    “Let’s elect a sane, competent person”

    May not be a line to stir the soul, but well, yeah.

  322. 322.

    goblue72

    @Soylent Green: You could probably hire the rest of the CA delegation to do it. Its small contingent within the delegation. They need some cement shoes attached to them and dump them into the Delaware River.

  325. 325.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Oh it’s definitely great that he’s here tonight and campaigning against Trump.

    He’s just also an idiot.

    It was not the banks that created the mortgage crisis. It was, plain and simple, Congress who forced everybody to go and give mortgages to people who were on the cusp

  327. 327.

    hovercraft

    @Kay:
    I think they counter programmed him tonight so that he could not watch this tonight, he’s getting slaughtered.

  328. 328.

    Kay

    Come on! That was a hearty endorsement! He did a good job. You people are impossible to please :)

  329. 329.

    lamh36

    from a purely political standpoint…I agree with this for sure.

    @allanbrauer 19s19 seconds ago
    Tonight’s program is intended to give moderates, independents, and sane Republicans what they need to support Clinton-Kaine.

  331. 331.

    tcbc

    Bloomberg did a great job. Lots of nuggets that will play in 15-30 second cable news clips.

  332. 332.

    ? Martin

    @efgoldman: This is actually playing very well. The best way to go after a (perceived) successful NY billionaire is with another more successful NY billionaire that doesn’t have a political axe to grind.

    Miguel Bloombito:

    No electo el Trumpo. Los egotisticalo billionairos should no esta be electedo.

  333. 333.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: That’s what he’s here to do. Bring the 3rd Way/No Labels people in from the cold.

  335. 335.

    Chyron HR

    @Quinerly:

    B-b-but Bernie TOLD the worms to go back into the can he opened! It’s completely unfair to blame him for the current situation vis-a-vis uncanned worms. :^(

  336. 336.

    Matt McIrvin

    @lamh36: I know some potential Bloomberg-voter types. I think they’re already all on board to vote for Clinton, though they’ll grumble about it. They’re smart enough to know what’s going on.

  339. 339.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Kay: They’re going to either have to not let Trump see this or medicate him. He’s going to lose it.

  340. 340.

    JPL

    I sorta feel bad for Obama, cuz now he’s competing against his wife and Joe. I assume his daughters will critique him tomorrow..

  341. 341.

    jl

    @Matt McIrvin: The Bernie dead-enders are two few and too inept, and to intent on fighting the demons in their heads.

    Anyway, I recall now reading someplace (maybe from commenter here yesterday?), the Sanders delegations have apointed ‘minders’ that are policing the yahoos, and shutting them down after they pull their stunts. So, maybe they get one surprise jeer a day? We’ll find out I guess when Kaine is on.

  348. 348.

    eric

    I thought that was a very personal attack on who donald is by someone that donald perceives himself to be. that probably hurt him the most.

  349. 349.

    lamh36

    @BharatKrishnan
    It must just KILL @realDonaldTrump that he can’t even pretend he’s richer than Mike Bloomberg.

  350. 350.

    ? Martin

    Consider that the one thing you know gets under Trump’s skin is people attacking his wealth. Bloomberg just mocked Trump’s wealth from a vantage point that nobody could argue with. Trump is already on tilt based on his erratic event this morning. They’re just piling on, trying to knock him completely off his axis.

  352. 352.

    hovercraft

    @PsiFighter37:
    Remember he had said he would run if it was Bernie / Trump, he truly believes that Trump is dangerous. He’s pitching independents to stop Trump period.

  354. 354.

    gogol's wife

    @Kay:

    Yeah, what did they expect?

    People on here are always so worried about whether the last 10% of the Bernies will get on board. I want to pick up the many, many more people who are low-info moderates. This was great for that.

  356. 356.

    Schlemazel Khan

    Loved the debt video, that was great!

    Also, I have to believe the bloomberg talk plays well on the MSNBC/CNN great centrist bullshit stream. That has the potential to move the great middle

  357. 357.

    cckids

    @dmsilev:

    “Let’s elect a sane, competent person”

    But it was the biggest applause line of the speech. I’ll take it.

  361. 361.

    Davis X. Machina

    @Baud:

    Y’all would be pissed at FDR for allying with Stalin.

    “If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons

    WS Churchill…

  363. 363.

    Matt McIrvin

    @hovercraft:

    Remember he had said he would run if it was Bernie / Trump, he truly believes that Trump is dangerous.

    Which would have been incredibly stupid–my main worry about Bernie Sanders was nothing to do with him, it was that he was going to provoke Mike Bloomberg to run third-party.

  365. 365.

    NotMax

    Pressure on Kaine to follow what’s come up to now is nearly inconceivable.

    Must be popping Tums by the fistful backstage.

  366. 366.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kay:

    I think people are watching a few minutes behind and didn’t expect Bloomberg to pull that big fucking hatchet out from behind his back after his milquetoast start.

  367. 367.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @MomSense:
    I’m an old, didn’t know he was still a thing. I can’t say I have heard anything of him in a long time. But that might be my fault

  370. 370.

    Troublesome Carp fka Geeno

    Bloomberg’s speech is a good link to send to any small business owners/semi-sane republicans you know.

    His speech wasn’t aimed at the hall.

  372. 372.

    PST

    I’m a yellow dog Democrat and proud of it, so I don’t have a lot in common with Mike Bloomberg. But I think he gave a speech that will appeal to a big class of potential swing voters. His contempt for Trump is palpable, and many will think, “who would know better?” I really glad he’s part of the program tonight.

  373. 373.

    Steve in the ATL

    @David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch:

    This nomination fight isn’t over.

    Yes, they had a vote, but it’s not over until someone accepts the nomination.

    We still have 24 hours to oust Clinton and install a compromise candidate like Susan Sarandon.

    Let’s do this!

    You jest, but I have a semi-relative who, with her BoB friends, are having this very discussion on FB since the DNC allegedly withdrew their credentials.

  374. 374.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @PaulWartenberg2016:

    Right now I would totally back Joe Biden teaming up with the saner members of Wu Tang to steal that album back from the Pharma Bro.

    Who wouldn’t? And why did it take you this long to get on board?

  376. 376.

    Keith P.

    I usually don’t like Kravitz (always seems like the same two songs for the last 20 years), but this is a really good performance. Has a lot of depth. I think the lack of so much guitar and the chorus + sax really make this a terrific performance. This song usually sounds tedious, but not played like this.

  377. 377.

    Matt McIrvin

    @gogol’s wife:

    People on here are always so worried about whether the last 10% of the Bernies will get on board. I want to pick up the many, many more people who are low-info moderates. This was great for that.

    The last 10% of the Bernies are never going to get on board–I was, and am, more concerned that they’re going to drive low-info moderates away with vague accusations of corruption filtered through media headlines. These Assange dumps are obviously intended to do that.

  382. 382.

    Emma

    @efgoldman: You know why they let him in? Because Donald is always boasting about his money. And here’s a real life billionaire calling him a con man. Anything that takes the luster off Donnie boy among the upper middle class and the rich wannabes is worth a short speech.

  383. 383.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    Mark Dow
    ‏@mark_dow

    BUILD A FIREWALL AND MAKE RUSSIA PAY FOR IT

  384. 384.

    JMG

    I refer everyone to the Onion’s Website and Twitter feed. Onion Joe Biden is having one glorious last stand.

  387. 387.

    OGLiberal

    Bloomberg’s line about electing somebody who is “sane and competent” almost has me forgiving his third way BS. That was good. I never saw him supporting Trump or any GOP candidate but he must hate Trump because that’s a sharp shiv.

  388. 388.

    rikyrah

    “I built a business, and I didn’t start it with a $1 million check from my father.” —@MikeBloomberg on Donald Trump

  389. 389.

    dmsilev

    This is lame. We need some real entertainment, like the second assistant night manager at a since-shuttered Trump hotel.

  394. 394.

    Troublesome Carp fka Geeno

    I need to dig Uncle Joe’s speech. I finally found a stream I could connect to just as he was leaving the stage.

  396. 396.

    JordanRules

    As others have mentioned, I bet folks are trying to make sure Trump doesn’t watch tonight. He may get fed limited info and clips, then send some stupid tweets about that, but I’m thinking he’s bubble boy right now.

  399. 399.

    hovercraft

    @Matt McIrvin:
    He’s a billionaire with the ego to go with it, I’m not his biggest fan, but he did actually start with nothing and is truly self made. I think it will influence people in the center, it wasn’t meant for us.

  400. 400.

    LAC

    @Kay: oh yeah… Bloomberg got to the point and got some choice zingers in. Jaysus, you people…??

  401. 401.

    goblue72

    @jl: That is correct, the Bernie delegates who have come from traditional progressive activist groups, unions, etc. have been coordinating with Clinton delegates to shut the nutbars down, most of whom this is their first time participation in a convention. The nutbars are a very small group at this point – and mostly confined to California. We grow a special breed of deranged lefties out here – like Cindy Sheehan, the nutty nut who ran against Nancy Pelosi a few cycles ago, driving around San Francisco in her fruitcake mobile.

  402. 402.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    John
    ‏@linnyitssn

    Michael Bloomberg spends millions to take on the NRA.
    Republicans receive millions from the NRA to send thoughts and prayers. #DemsInPhilly

  403. 403.

    Kay

    @PST:

    I feel like people don’t get persuaded so much as need a nudge to do what they wanted to do anyway. That’s why people like Bloomberg are good – for validation. People just make up these reasons, IMO. “I was on the fence until..that minor thing happened or that person said this” – almost like an excuse.

  404. 404.

    hovercraft

    Trump just requested a waiver to get an additional 76 visa’s for low wage workers for his properties in Florida because he can’t find American workers. It just went over the wires.
    Talk about perfect timing, and being tone deaf.

  406. 406.

    Anne Laurie

    New post, with livestream of course, up top. Cuz I think President Obama’s speech may attract a few more comments…

  408. 408.

    debbie

    @Emma:

    Don’t forget Bloomberg had many dealings with Trump while he was mayor. His words carry much more weight than all the other speakers combined.

  411. 411.

    guachi

    If the nightly program today doesn’t convince fence sitters (i.e., conservative/moderate white men, independents), nothing will.

    Tonight is basically the stuff I thought was missing yesterday.

  412. 412.

    Fair Economist

    @OGLiberal:

    Bloomberg’s line about electing somebody who is “sane and competent” almost has me forgiving his third way BS.

    In the real world, sometimes you have to ally with Stalin to beat Hitler. Bloomberg isn’t *THAT* bad.

  413. 413.

    Matt McIrvin

    @goblue72: I was developing a theory that when you live on the West Coast, in these (now) predictably super-blue states that usually have late primaries, and where the polls close on Election Day after most people, most years, have figured out who’s gonna win… you start to internalize the idea that your individual vote in Presidential elections doesn’t matter. Which feeds into the notion of voting as a primarily expressive activity rather than as something that will have an effect on the future.

  414. 414.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: Right now Stalin is spinning in his grave because he didn’t realize all he needed to subvert the US is find an over leveraged millionaire with extreme narcissism and get his hooks into him and run him for president.

  416. 416.

    ? Martin

    Miguel Bloombito @ElBloombito: Voto para Clintoño por que esta not perfecto, pero at leasto not el orange Chupacabra.

  421. 421.

    MomSense

    @JPL:

    It’s going to be a love fest. Remember the despair we all felt as we watched the horror of Iraq unfold, our beautiful city of NOLA abandoned, torture and so many other disasters of the W years? We are so much better now. We are going to celebrate our president.

  424. 424.

    celticdragonchick

    @Patricia Kayden:

    They were accusing me of being the one who would use the word because…fuck if I know. It was over at The Atlantic and the #bernitdown crowd was in fine form. I ended up blocking a lot of them.

    The whole “You played the race card!” was astonishing. I was trying to tell them that economic justice doesn’t cover a black man looking down a cop gun barrel in a bad traffic stop or a trans women like me banned form a public bathroom.

    They went off on me.

  426. 426.

    Adam L Silverman

    @guachi: Sometimes you just need to stand in one place and let the earth’s rotation bring it all to you.

  428. 428.

    Anne Laurie

    @LAO:

    I may have voted for him 3 times, but Bloomberg is annoying twit.

    IMO, he’s realized he’ll never be President, but in this speech he’s campaigning for a place in HRClinton’s cabinet.

    And frankly, right now I’d give him one!

  429. 429.

    TheMightyTrowel

    @Emma: you’re right. best to roast it slowly with spicy barbeque sauce and it’s own pig tears. And frankly, it shouldn’t just be CelticDragonChick yelling at the damn pig trolls. All of us white and cis folks gotta step up as well and help put those damn pigs over the coals so we can have a better, tastier tomorrow.

    (did that metaphor go to far?)

  439. 439.

    Anne Laurie

    @dmsilev:

    OK, that ‘Donald Decoded’ clip was just weird.

    I think it was filler to get Mitch McConnell irritated into saying something particularly stupid tomorrow.

  440. 440.

    Matt McIrvin

    @celticdragonchick: As I recall, the Atlantic’s comments were always a complete cesspit except for Ta-Nehisi Coates’ during the period when they were active and heavily heavily moderated. Those comments were worth reading.

  441. 441.

    Anne Laurie

    @MomSense:

    Love me some Lenny.

    I am shallow enough to notice that, when the Demcon.com camera panned out over his intro, the white delegates started clappin & chair-dancing… while the PoC delegates rolled their eyes & checked their phones…

  443. 443.

    Miss Bianca

    @Steeplejack (phone): I am fascinated by how many different layers all these speeches and appeals are aiming for. From “we real billionaires” on down.

    Wow, Kaine doing a Trump imitation – well, there goes his “boring” label!

  448. 448.

    Anne Laurie

    @celticdragonchick:

    I was trying to tell them that economic justice doesn’t cover a black man looking down a cop gun barrel in a bad traffic stop or a trans women like me banned form a public bathroom.

    I’ll share a little (not) secret I’ve proven over & over for more than 40 years: These Tough Guy Leftists always prefer to attack women. It gives them a warm bromantic glow!

  451. 451.

    Shalimar

    @Adam L Silverman: I heard Nina Turner interviewed earlier. She was supposed to be one of those who put Sanders’ name up for nomination. Bernie himself told her at the last minute that she couldn’t do it. She refused to say specifilcally what he told her, but was very pissed off even today and implied (“I was being a strong advocate for my candidate”) that the Clinton people had refused her that courtesy because of her insulting rhetoric on talk shows the last month or two.

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