Yesterday, Joshua Green had a very good tweetstorm about where he thinks Trump is going to go tonight:
1. Here’s why I think things will soon get even worse for GOP
— Joshua Green (@JoshuaGreen) October 9, 2016
If you watched Rudy Giuliani this morning on his multiple tv appearances this morning, Trump and company are going all in on throwing Bill Clinton’s alleged past at Hillary, with Trump tweeting about Juanita Broaddrick videos at Breitart. I feel like the entire country needs to read Joe Conason and Gene Lyons, google “the elves,” etc. Some names you might find familiar. Ingraham, Coulter, George Conway.
Conway. Where else have I heard that name> Oh, yeah:
There’s no way to know what happened between Bill Clinton and Juanita Broaddrick, and I don’t feel comfortable one way or another discussing the case because we all know how rape victims are treated. Not to mention, anything you say and you will have idiots either claiming you are attacking Broaddrick or attacking Clinton.
At any rate, this entire freak show that will play out tonight was decades in the making. It’s good old Dan Burton out in his backyard shooting watermelons to prove Hillary killed Vince Foster, the Clinton death list, Bill’s menacing pecker, all wrapped up and repackaged to be shot through the Breitbart puke funnel into the MSM.
And the thing you need to remember is this has nothing to do with Hillary Clinton’s fitness to be President, or Trump’s obvious lack of fitness to be President. Trump likes to talk about distractions. Like all Republicans, it’s projection.
quakerinabasement
Right wing obsession? I think you mean beltway press obsession.
Corner Stone
But, somehow, HRC must be forced to answer for Bill’s cock.
What a time to be alive!
redshirt
If they are going to attack Bill Clinton, my response is: What does that have to do with Hillary?
I’m confident her team has prepped her for this line of attack and she’ll handle it well.
Trentrunner
I predict Clinton will have more than a pat, short, deflection answer about Trump’s sexual assaults/attacks on Bill’s history.
The woman who went to China 20 years ago and said “Women’s rights are human rights,” might just go to town on this sexual predator and all the retrograde sexual oppression he represents.
I would love that.
Hunter Gathers
In Trump’s America, the Clenius hunts you!
Anya
A question to in-house lawyers: Can Bill Clinton sue Rudy Giuliani and Trump?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I don’t want to be pedantic, but I think it was a honeydew.
ETA:
I don’t know if that was a typo, but I vote we all start using “Clenius”.
Corner Stone
I absolutely can not wait for this debate tonight.
Keith G
@redshirt: Exactly, and I imagine that if handled adroitly, Hillary will have the chance to show some of the grown up qualities that make her such a better choice. Such an attack will have the stench of desperation and the public will notice. I bet there are some in HRC HQ that welcome such a stupid tactical move.
Corner Stone
Could Pence be playing any more of a two face game?
/Ms. Chanandler Bong
Keith G
@Anya: Anybody can file a suit. Bill might not like the discovery process. Neither would the next president.
Eljai
Thank you, John Cole. This is actually one of the more thoughtful opinions I’ve seen on this topic.
lamh36
NEW: Burnett “is pro-Trump and has made clear to his teams that he will sue anyone who leaks”
father pussbucket
It’s not about Bill, but if Hillary covered for him that’s not nothing. Disclaimer: I am not well-informed on the “evidence” or lack thereof.
raven
@lamh36:
“Another top Burnett star, the pro-Clinton billionaire and Trump foe Mark Cuban, defended the producer’s right to stay out of the fray.
“Burnett can make his own decisions,” Cuban, who is also an investor on ABC’s reality series Shark Tank, told BuzzFeed News.
Burnett has remained publicly neutral and studiously avoided questions about his role in the presidential campaign.”
redshirt
I love the show Survivor, so just learning that Burnett is a wingnut is another sad.
The Dangerman
I was kinda joking yesterday, but am well more serious now; they might have to either warn people about graphic content continuously or put in the 10 second bleep delay, because nothing is outside the realm of possibility. C words, N words, who knows at this point.
West of the Cascades
@Anya:
Maybe, but it would be hard – for a public figure like the First President Clinton to succeed in a defamation suit (e.g. for Giuliani this morning saying “Bill Clinton raped women”), he would have to show that the false, defaming statements have been said/made with “actual malice” which is established through a showing that it was made with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not. Given that one of the alleged victims continues to assert that Bill Clinton raped her, I think Giuliani would be able to successfully defend any suit.
Barbara
So the plan is to really double down on misogyny by trying to hold Hillary Clinton responsible for WJC’s alleged misconduct 20 years after Americans found him not to be culpable in whatever sense they could do so. These allegations were relentlessly hyped and advertised, including the finer details of what transpired between WJC and Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky. The worst anyone was able to find out about Hillary was that she said some very negative things about Lewinsky, in particular, in private. Wow, imagine that. It infuriates me no end how nice women are expected to be, but to expect Clinton to avoid saying mean things about women hurting her in profound ways might just take the cake. I mean, if she did not say mean things about them I might worry about whether she was really human. FFS.
Iowa Old Lady
@Corner Stone: I actually went out and bought popcorn–Boom Chicka Pop. It’s like crack.
raven
@redshirt: He was a British paratrooper in the Falklands. He came to the states and was selling t-shirts in Santa Monica when he got hired as a nanny and body guard.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@The Dangerman: I’m childless, so I can’t really relate to this, but it seems to be a real thing, people get angry about having to shield their kids form things like the “top of the hour” news on the car radio. I’ll defer to people with young kids about how attentive they are
PaulWartenberg2016
and the thing the Far Right Media Noise Machine keeps forgetting:
A majority of Americans kept forgiving the Clintons over all that.
The Far Right were so obsessed and driven that when they finally tagged Bill on something – Monica – they overplayed their hand, so much so that most Americans recoiled from the Far Right, recognizing a witch hunt when they saw one.
It helped Bill that his own political inclinations were pro-women (at least moreso than the Republicans), and it helped Hillary that a lot of women empathized with her situation and that a lot of women – especially ones now in their 30s and 40s who have lived through the hells Hillary has endured – today would back her in spite of the Republicans’ heavy-handed attacks.
Patricia Kayden
Interesting breakdown by ethnicity of White voters supporting Trump.
Good reminder that no racial grouping can be lumped together.
aimai
@Hunter Gathers: Well played.
? Martin
@The Dangerman: I don’t think anything like that. But I think it’s likely that Clinton turns her narrative away from Trump and toward women, Trump doesn’t notice, attacks her strongly – really personal, and you get that moment in movies when something shifts from combative but fair game to cruel. Trump won’t be able to recognize the moment and will keep going. Clinton will recognize the moment and turn into it.
Don’t underestimate Anderson Cooper as a moderator here. He’s has a history of spotting those moments as well.
raven
Barbara
@Anya: It’s very difficult for a public person to sue someone for defamation in the U.S. They could, but they would have to meet a high standard in showing that the person was reckless to the point of knowingly disseminating information known to be false. To establish that a person would have to show not only that the publisher was factually incorrect, but that they ignored the truth. It’s much easier for a private person to sue under these circumstances. For instance, if I were one of the Central Park 5, I would sue Donald Trump if he keeps declaring that they are in fact guilty after they have been indisputably exonerated and no other evidence exists to place them at the scene and it is well known that their confessions were false. Most celebrities don’t want to litigate the truth of rumors about them for obvious reasons, and only sue when conduct really crosses a line — like saying that Melania Trump was a paid escort.
Starfish
@father pussbucket: A lot of right wingers are saying just this, and their “proof” is that she defended a rapist while she was public defender because that was her job.
Iowa Old Lady
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: This reminds me of when my kid was about 6 and learning to read. We were driving along a theater marquee showed “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” So my kid was practicing. “The. Best. Little. I don’t know that word.” Being a good liberal mom, I said, “whorehouse,” and he repeated it, making it sound like “horror-house” “In. Texas.”
I was relieved I didn’t have to try to explain what the word meant. OTOH, the kids in his nursery school all swore like sailors, which meant he did too.
redshirt
@? Martin: I’m glad Cooper is the moderator tonight. I trust him more than most – which is to say, I trust him somewhat.
? Martin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
My attitude is a bit different about stuff like this. I’m of the view that anything that becomes public discourse becomes something to talk to the kids about. If the president says püssy, then we’re going to have a conversation about that word and what it means and how people react to it. I might be pissed about being forced into that conversation, but there’s no point trying to shield the kids from it – it’s out there, gotta deal with it.
Barbara
@Starfish: If this comes up, the response should be something like, “all rape allegations need to be taken seriously, and the ones against Kathy S. were and her attacker was convicted. But the criminal justice system can’t work fairly unless everyone has the right to a legal defense by a competent lawyer. For instance, in the case of the Central Park 5, five innocent men spent 20 years or more in prison for a crime they did not commit because they did not have lawyers when they really needed them.”
JDM
Do they not remember Bill Clinton’s approval ratings after he was impeached?: 73%.
Here’s the Gallup report then:
And they think it’s a winning strategy to not only repeat that, but try to tie it to the wronged wife?
Starfish
@PaulWartenberg2016:
People who were older than their 30s and 40s endured more than people who are in their 30s or 40s now. Remember that, Chelsea Clinton herself is in her mid-to-late-30s now, and when all the prosecution of Bill was going down, some of us were the same age as Chelsea who had to watch all this nonsense go down.
? Martin
@JDM: Can’t be repeated often enough: they actually believe the Clinton’s are worse than Hitler. And in general they are routinely mystified that voters feel empathy.
aimai
@? Martin: this is a very good analysis. I agree that HRC has to turn into the moment, as you put it, and shift the focus from her and bill to everyone else that Trump has attacked. Her voters (and the supposed undecideds) will not want to protect and defend her and bill because of the years of right wing attacks but they will want to protect “all women” or “all married women” or “women and other people trump has attacked.” If she can refuse to be drawn into defending Bill, but rather demand that Trump acknowledge that attacking her is just another instatiation of his attacks on all women, all democrats, all non white people, all immigrants, and even all other countries in the world then I think she destroys him.
I said this down in another thread but I think it bears repeating (I’m paraphrasing myself) if she turns to him and says something on the order of:
Keith G
@Patricia Kayden: Interesting data at that link. Thanks.
rikyrah
Hillary has been waiting 25 years for this. She is ready.
father pussbucket
@Starfish:
Well, if that’s all the “proof” they have, she’s fine. Accusations of covering for her husband’s misdeeds would be surreal coming out of Trump’s gob.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@redshirt: I think Raddatz is one of the better reporters on TV, too
Schlemazel
@redshirt:
Burnett and his wife made a tv movie based on their interpretation of the bible. It featured Satan who oddly enough was a black man with an uncanny resemblance to a particular US President. He is lower than whale shit
Shell
Maybe he’ll shock/disappoint all the pundits and not mention one thing about Bill Clinton.
Yeah, right.
Felonius Monk
@Corner Stone:
But who will answer for Trump’s teenie weenie? Certainly not Trump.
Mnemosyne
@JDM:
They think that disgust at Bill’s infidelities is what won the 2000 election for W and not the fact that the Republicans fucking cheated. Of course they’re going to go down that road again.
hovercraft
Reposting this Steve Schmidt comment from MTP this morning.
Sarah Fagan a W spokes person responded with but Hillary and Bill’s Clenis are just as bad. Which I don’t think fly. People know all about the Clenis, this right wing obsession with it is creepy. Do they want a piece of it, is that what the problem is? Just sayin’.
trollhattan
Remind me again what WJC’s popularity rating was on departing the White House? Dubya’s?
This “deep well” won’t accommodate a teaspoon, much less a bucket.
Nom de Plume
@father pussbucket:
Juanita Broaddrick told the FBI that the Clintons had not attempted to bribe or pressure her in any way. There is also the small matter of her sworn affidavit denying that the rape ever took place.
I know Cole said above that we shouldn’t re-litigate the case, and I kind of agree with him. I also prefer to give the accuser the benefit of the doubt whenever possible, because women are too often disbelieved about these things. But the Broaddrick case is simply full of holes, and there’s no way around that.
? Martin
@aimai: Right. I would probably pivot even quicker off of Trump. It doesn’t even need to be mentioned that he cheated on his wives. So much of that is out there and on video. I think she touches it, pivots to patterns of behavior that women around the world are all too familiar with. Fall back to her faith and her vows, and to actually repeat those vows: in sickness and in health, in happiness and adversity, forsaking all others so long as we both should live, and that supporting their daughter was always their first charge. And from there she can turn to the oath of the President, that she will to the best of her ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. And like too many other women she is willing to weather the personal blows necessary to protect those that she has vowed to protect – and that includes the American people.
She doesn’t need to address the specifics of the tape or the other things swirling. The media has that firmly in hand now. She need to draw out the assault angle to the video and an oblique reference (but not accusation) to domestic violence helps draw that contrast out. If Trump persists in attacking her, the audience will start to connect that oblique reference to Trumps behavior there on stage.
Betty Cracker
@? Martin: I remember being irritated with Pfizer for forcing me to explain “erectile dysfunction” to my then-four-year-old.
Mnemosyne
@Patricia Kayden:
Very interesting! Now I’m wondering if that’s one of the reasons I tend to identify more with my Irish roots despite having a 100 percent Italian name.
(Probably doesn’t hurt that my Italian grandfather died when I was young while my Irish-German grandmother lived another 25 years.)
Suzanne
I’m sure they think trying to hold HRC accountable for Bill’s sins is a winning strategy. They are wrong. I mean, these are the people who didn’t want us to talk about Noelle Bush’s drug addiction or Bristol Palin’s teenage pregnancy or even GWB’s drunk driving as reflections on the candidates. Barf. Hypocrites. Barf.
Anya
@West of the Cascades: Thanks! It’s obviously with malice but proving it is another story.
SenyorDave
Shocking news according to Yahoo, virtually all of Trump supporters polled say the video will not affect their vote. Why would it, unless you are rich and voting your pocketbook, you have to be delusional to believe that Trump would lookout for your interests. I don’t see that there will be much drop in Trump’s support, just can’t imagine people on the fence now being moved to vote for him.
Robin G
Am I the only one who thinks Trump is less likely to go off on Clinton than he is to focus entirely on the Republican establishment stabbing him in the back? Hillary has always been his enemy, but right now it’s Ryan et. al. whose heads he wants on pikes. He tends to focus on whatever’s pissing him off most at any given moment.
aimai
@Betty Cracker: I have two daughters–I guess I never got pissed off about having to explain sex to them. What bothered me was having to explain 9/11 to them, or Iraq. I just don’t get this hysteria about sex and sexuality. Its harder and more personaly awful to have to explain man’s inhumanity to man, ferguson, rape, racism, torture, slavery, etc…etc…etc… than to have to explain “when a man loves a woman very very much and can’t get it up he can use a little blue pill
aimai
In moderation so I’ll try again:
I have two daughters–I guess I never got pissed off about having to explain sex to them. What bothered me was having to explain 9/11 to them, or Iraq. I just don’t get this hysteria about sex and sexuality. Its harder and more personaly awful to have to explain man’s inhumanity to man, ferguson, rape, racism, torture, slavery, etc…etc…etc… than to have to explain “when a man loves a woman very very much and can’t get it up he can use a little blue p*ll.
Marc McKenzie
I wish more people would read Conason and Lyons’ THE HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT. It exposed the very real “vast right wing conspiracy” that was in full effect in the 1990s.
And by “more people” I mean many in the mainstream media…and many on the Left. Because a lot of the Hillary haters I’ve seen on the Left have been drinking from that well of lies from the 1990s.
Mary G
I’m with@aimai: . Hillary has a strong background in real religion and will be ready with a dignified response that subtly incorporates that and turns the table on Trump. He’s digging himself a deep hole already and it’s just going to get deeper tonight. Especially with women.
Davis X. Machina
Tonight will be a dark night for all those economically-precarious white men out there, pushed to the margins by the bankster friends of a Democratic candidate who has abandoned any pretense of interest in anything except so-called ‘social issues’, an impulse from which they derive no benefit, as the one man who understood their predicament is sandbagged by the
a.) neoliberal Establishment
b.) liberal media
c.) vagenda of manocide
d.) effete coastal elites
(How am I doin’?)
Botsplainer
Hopefully, her answer is along the lines of this:
Ruckus
@aimai:
You said it better originally. Shorter and more on point.
DCrefugee
Please proceed, Republicans.
If it were anyone else, I might be stressed. Hilz has been looking forward to tonight’s event for 20 years. She’s got this…
Schlemazel
@Robin G:
Pasta how I hope you are right! That would be delicious. It would ensure the total fracturing of the GOP. It would be the single greatest act he ever could commit. He really could make America great if he could destroy that party
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Marc McKenzie: it is amazing that Conason and Lyons are, AFAICT, still considered less than respectable partisans by the MSM (haven’t seen Lyons this cycle), but Fournier, Kristol, Friedman are, albeit in different ways, considered sages, and Tim Russet is something of a demigod
Mike in NC
Our entire county lost power around 8 PM last night during the tropical storm. Was fully prepared to still be in the dark when the Trump Shitshow Part 2 aired tonight. Probably won’t watch it anyway (power returned at 3:10 PM today).
Chat Noir
@Betty Cracker: I’m sorry but that made me laugh. But I hear you because I hate those ads — I make my husband mute the tv when he’s watching baseball if one of those stupid ads air.
Citizen Alan
@Starfish:
She wasn’t even a public defender. She was appointed by the judge because the defendant wanted a female lawyer for his rape trial.
The Dangerman
@? Martin:
I dunno; the most memorable line from 2012 was either “Please proceed, Governor” or “47%”. it would have been lottery style odds that the most memorable line from 2016 was “grab them by their (cough)”. Unbelievable.
We’re well into the Twilight Zone here; hell, it’s well into October and one party is widely and openly calling for their candidate to step down. I really thought Trump might step down as he has to know he done fucked up massively; he could have led a nice, relatively quiet (for Trump, I mean) life but he went and shit the bed for his brand. He’s dangerous both in terms of his language and in terms of his meltdown that might come live and broadcast worldwide. And I do mean dangerous; pity the poor Secret Service people tonight, too.
psychobroad
@redshirt: My thoughts exactly–Bill’s not the candidate! Pray she’ll stay on point and not get distracted by all the BS they will be throwing.
? Martin
@aimai: Yeah, same here. Sex was fine. The problem with explaining püssy isn’t the anatomy lesson, it’s explaining that some men will objectify women in various ways and treat them as things they are entitled to, that the term is derogatory and often used to hurt people’s feelings. And then having to explain why people treat each other that way. And then having to explain why people would vote for a person like that.
gogol's wife
I suppose there’s no hope that the “moderators” will try to keep the discussion focused on the issues and not on unsubstantiated accusations of someone who’s not running for President?
Iowa Old Lady
@Mike in NC: There’s nothing like that moment the power comes back on.
DCrefugee
@rikyrah: Two great minds, one great thought…
gogol's wife
@Iowa Old Lady:
and you no longer have an excuse for not watching the debate?
Chat Noir
@gogol’s wife: Thank you. My thoughts exactly.
scav
@Felonius Monk:
Well, duh. Melania — she both backed him up recently (aka enabled him by his own logic) and drove him to the original misdeed by, oh, something or other.
Anya
@Barbara: I wish a very clever left wing lawyer convinces the Central Park Five to sue Trump’s ass.
@Betty Cracker: I remember when I used to ask my parents every word I’ve heard on t.v. that I didn’t understand. It got worse once I realized they were uncomfortable answering those questions.
Ruckus
@? Martin:
A percentage of people can not teach responsibility. They don’t understand it themselves and have no basis for understanding it. Donnie is just the most well known person that describes right now. But it starts with explaining things to kids, like sex, like politics….. It isn’t easy trying to figure out how to get kids to understand notions like responsibility, they have no perspective for the idea. That’s the hard part, figuring out how to instill that perspective.
Ruckus
@Anya:
You must have been fun as a child. Mine just got tired of being asked so many questions. Mostly why and how.
trnc
@Starfish: And because it doesn’t sound bad enough to most people that an attorney defended her client, they have to falsely claim for good measure –
– She asked to be put on the case (she didn’t)
– She laughed about the victim (she didn’t)
– The defendant was found not guilty (he was sentenced to 5 years, but the judge suspended 4)
Soylent Green
@Schlemazel: Someday we may be sending Trump thank-you cards. The best outcome will be a splintered GOP, followed by one that to survive must become a center-right party and cast off its confederate rump. Then those horrible people on the far right will no longer have a significant voice in our national discourse.
Aleta
It’s just so inspiring that a media that could be debating 1,000 other critical things must research and discuss the character of a guy who shouldn’t be in the running, vs the character of a guy who isn’t running, vs the personality of his wife, who is running and has done 1,000 other things to try to address problems in the US.
Suzanne
I just hope that they don’t back off of asking Trump about his taxes and they eat up all of the time on Pussy Galore.
Remember those halcyon days of last week, in which his biggest problem was being a bad businessman and a tax dodger?
Immanentize
Hello, All. It seems many of us have a debate “wish” tonight. Here is mine —
Trump is as pissed at republicans as he is at Hillary, but he has to keep the Hillary hate hot for his followers…
One of the people trying to drive a shiv into Trump is Pence; his debate “win” has totally gone to his head and he is clearly trying to get Trump’s place at the top of the ticket….
If I could be in Anderson Cooper’s head (a la Malchovich), I would ask Trump about all the nasty anti-gay stuff Pence has said and done and ask whether that is how a President Trump would treat LGBT Americans.
Luthe
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: But trigger warnings are censorship! /asshole
Monala
@Iowa Old Lady: one of the funniest such stories I’ve heard is a friend whose 7yr old daughter heard a commercial for a certain male medication and asked her dad what “reptile dysfunction” was. Then she in her wisdom observed that if those people really wanted to avoid the reptiles, they’d put their bathtubs back in the house.
Suzanne
@Soylent Green:
YES. If they want to be intellectually meaningful and have real, consistent values and be a modern Conservative party, they should tell all of the mouthbreathing racists and “values voters” to take a hike and leave them without a political home. There were not be a majority for a few cycles, but they could be formidable over time. But they’re not smart enough for that. And I also don’t think the country would be a safe place once the racist gun-jumpers realize that they are a liability to any serious political process and that their culture is shitty. They already are reacting so poorly to the fact that they don’t drive the American cultural bus, that the “Christian majority” is gone forever.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
It’s only a matter of time the phrase “Hillary Clinton’s strap on” appear in the press. US politics has finally entered the world of bad internet slash fiction.
VOR
@Nom de Plume: The fact that Ken Starr didn’t have enough confidence in her testimony to use it against WJC speaks volumes to me. And I didn’t know about the affidavit or the rest of the story as told by Conason et. al.
Wapiti
My father, a Lutheran and originally from Nebraska, believes that forgiveness is also an important thing. If she is hit with being angry about Lewinski or others, and can explain that it happened, and she had forgiven her husband, and also the women he cheated with… Dad thinks that could be strong.
I think he’s wrong; the Christians of middle America today are not following the religion that he grew up in. Middle America is not the same place he left in the 1950s.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Many people are saying, many, many, extremely well-informed people, the best information, say Trump is a NeverNude
I’m not saying it, but many people are saying it. Look it up, folks. Believe me.
Amaranthine RBG
I posted the other day that Clinton should put the video on her iPhone and pulpit out during the debate and play it for Trump and grill him about it.
But now I see that’s wrong.
Clinton should not even mention it. She should focus (like a laser beam as Bill used to say) on the economy and the people asking the questions. If she’s forced to address it, she should take a rueful tone and just kind of shake her head.
If Trump brings it up or attacks Bill, she should just say, “This election isn’t all about you Donald.”
She’s got this, no need to get in the mud with Trump.
catclub
@Davis X. Machina:
Funny how a guy who lives in a Manhattan skyscraper is considered not part of that coastal elite.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
I’m in the Trump’s going to go after the GOP tonight camp. That’s the fresh meat to him – Pence betraying him I bet pisses him off the most, since he just said it was best hire on Thursday. LOL. Also, there’s a 2.5 minute time limit to every response, and he’s going to run off that rail right away. The moderators know their reputations as respected journalists are at stake – this is a huge spotlight, and they’ll piss Trump off after trying to get him to stay on the rails and answer the audience questions. There really won’t be a lot of opportunity to even talk about Bill Clinton in any articulate coherent way. He’s going to self immolate.
? Martin
AT&T has halted sales and exchanges of the Samsung Note 7. Two more fires reported from replacement units. Samsung hasn’t said anything about it nor do they appear to have approached the CPSC. Samsung is clearly aware of the problem as they accidentally sent an internal communication to one of the victims questioning whether they should respond or let it play out:
If you have a Note 7 even a new one, consider returning it for a Galaxy 7 instead. This doesn’t appear to be a problem with any of Samsung’s other products.
gogol's wife
@Soylent Green:
Uh, I’m never going to be sending Trump a thank-you card.
LeftMass
I want Hillary to use the word ‘grab’ in every answer. Trump grabbed IPO money at $35 and rode the shares under $1. He grabbed the $30 million loan from his Dad, who never ruined value. He grabbed at the chance to go bankrupt and to get a $916 million tax break.
‘Grab’ is a very flexible word and she can work it in a lot.
Then, when he is about to break down, offer him a Tic Tac.
piratedan
well, if anything, I really don’t even expect Clinton to attack him. I kind of expect her to let him hang himself. She’ll speak of him and his ilk in the abstract. I am not even sure how much she’ll pimp the effort she made to make her own marriage work. Not everyone can forgive and reconcile. I think she’ll turn this around and make this about her. Her beliefs, her faith, her work, her desire to make the marriage work and forgive her husband and that this is also the type of President that she’ll be. She’ll work with in hopes of being stronger together and turn it back to her qualities and the types of beliefs that she has in regards to wanting to lead the country.
If Trump says that those decisions reflect on her bad judgement, THEN she can pivot and indicate that this is the type of person she is, she’s not the type to cut her losses and leave everyone else holding the bag.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@catclub: to be fair, he also spends a lot of time at the Marjorie Merriweather Post (as in cereal) estate, which he bought from Dina Merrill, Hollywood actress and granddaughter of the Merrill of Merrill, Lynch.
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: A very good chance HRC could distract him by talking about Ayotte, McCain and Portman, which might just complicate their lives as well…..
? Martin
@catclub:
All that matters is if you are willing to beat up on gays, immigrants, and minorities. Has nothing to do with geography or wealth. Real men punch down.
lgerard
@Soylent Green:
I think sending Reince your thanks and best wishes for his new career might be nice though
Aleta
@? Martin:
And sad to say (from statements by just a a few friends and relatives among many on the left), others actually believe the Clintons are only slightly better than Trump “but that’s not saying much” (direct quote a few days ago).
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@Starfish:
Chelsea is 36 now. She was 18 when the Lewinsky story broke. She’s been coming to terms with this for literally half a lifetime.
lgerard
@LeftMass:
Offering him a Tic Tac at some point when he stumbles would be the single most awesome move in campaigning history
Luthe
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Whattaya mean, bad? I’m sure there is well-written fic on the subject out there somewhere. Rule 34, duh.
As for tonight’s debate, I hope the Donald gets screwed but good and Hillary forgets the lube.
Kay
True. No one has ever benefited from any association with him, except him. He’s been smearing his shit on them for 2 years and a good portion of them still don’t get it. Everyone else can see it.
I see one of Huckabee’s grown children is on the wingnut welfare train. Remember when conservatives used to lecture poor people about merit and hard work? Oh, right. “Remember”. They still do it. From green rooms waiting to go on cable television.
? Martin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, that would also be a very smart strategy. Rather than attack him directly, keep throwing the statements from Republicans in at-risk seats at him. He’ll be unable to keep himself rom knocking those Republicans down.
Basically the same strategy that Kaine employed, which turned out to be strategically smart.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Hillary has internalized Michelle’s edict: when they go low, we go high. It’s what everyone decent in this country is desperate for right now- climbing out of Trump’s open sewer of racists, liars, sex tapes, woman hating white supremacists, etc. Hillary is going to give us her hand to pull us out. She is a grandmother who has worked really hard in public service and made lives better, several of whom she’s invited to watch. She is going to show the country how to be and act decent, a concept unknown to the terroristic man toddler on the stage with her.
schrodinger's cat
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Trump is the devil child Damien from Omen, all grown up. That’s why the toupee, so we can’t see the mark of the beast on his bald head. He has no scruples or morals.
Ceci n'est pas mon nym
@Patricia Kayden: Strange that the only ethnicities in their “white” sample are German, Italian, English, Irish, or self-identified “American”.
No French? No Spanish? No Eastern European? No Greeks? No Swiss? No Scandinavians? Etc. The only people classified as “white” have to come from Germany, Italy, England or Ireland?
Immanentize
@piratedan: I agree. Most people want Hilz to be reactive — she will not because she knows what is next. So I expect some odd non-sequiturs from her which either prefigure Tuesday releases (Monday holiday) or get Trump to declare something that will be very publicly disproven by mid-week.
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I’ve had real problems with her since the infamous flight she and Halperin took in Trump’s helicopter last summer (2015). She was like a giddy, giggling, lovesick schoolgirl with a crush on the popular senior, taking selfies with Donald and basically behaving very unprofessionally. I hope it was a one-time aberration, but I’m nervous about the possibility of lingering hero-worship.
Aleta
Imagine reaction to a tape of Hillary laughing about how much she loves grabbing men by the balls when they meet.
Keith P.
I though Robby Mook was a horrible TV surrogate, but Carl Paladino is setting a new standard on MSNBC.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: Oy, I missed that. Glad I missed that.
Also, I think it’s really weird they have two moderators for a town hall debate. The Veep debate was emblematic of why they need more than one: The CBS reporter didn’t ask about Climate Change, barely brought up choice, and not once but twice used Pete Peterson-sponsored data to talk about Social Security.
Immanentize
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: or beat sweetening? Maybe that paid off in her not being vetoed for this gig?
germy
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Ceci n’est pas mon nym: Notice that “Irish”, Trump’s own group, is the white group that doesn’t support him ROFL.
I’d be curious how that breaks down by belief too.
Patricia Kayden
@redshirt: I love Survivor also and have watched pretty much every season. Very sad to hear that Burnett is a wingnut but not surprised given his forays into making religious movies and shows such as The Bible series.
I hope someone leaks The Apprentice video and simply pays the fine. It’s important that we get to see everything about Trump before the election.
Ceci n'est pas mon nym
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
His infamous reaction to Hillary’s having to use the bathroom (“I can’t even say where she was, it’s disgusting”) puzzled me. The guy has been married multiple times. Did he really not know that women use the bathroom?
It gave a little peek into his strange, strange mind and the bizarre state of sexual relations in his life. More than I wanted to think about (and of course it goes without saying that we’ve gotten much more than a little peek since then, and are likely to get a very big does of TMI in the next few weeks).
MisterForkbeard
@Aleta: Seriously. The new thing now is that “Hannity found video of Clinton groping a woman from the 1992 campaign!” He’s WORSE THAN TRUMP.
…except, the video absolutely doesn’t show that at all. It’s pretty obviously an accidental touch – he wasn’t even looking in her direction, and they both jump afterwards.
But the current story is “Bill is worse than Trump, and the media is covering for Hillary by not showing this video!” Sigh. It never occurs to them that the media isn’t showing the video because… there’s nothing there.
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@LeftMass:
I would love to see Hillary settle into her chair, reach into her purse and pull out a lovely white kitten, have it curl up in her lap, and just stroke it gently throughout the entire 90 minutes while capably answering audience questions (with a little smile on her face). I can’t think of anything more likely to disconcert Trump.
But she’ll do fine without any fantasy props from me.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
as someone raised in a clan of self-ID”d Irish (my parents never gave a damn, but a a few my first-generation-native aunts and uncles and second generation cousins stop just short of faking a brogue), don’t talk Herr Drumpft on us!
Patricia Kayden
@raven: I should have read your comment before calling Burnett a wingnut. Oh well.
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
@? Martin:
YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
lollipopguild
@Luthe: She should just bend him over and give him a good reaming.
aimai
@Robin G: I think Trump is personally terrified of Hillary (and of strong women who he can’t debase) so he is going to go after the GOP because they aren’t on stage with him.
Immanentize
@germy: what state could pence possibly win? I mean ignoring the fact that he probably cannot be a write-in in more than a few states because he is the Constitutionally relevant Vice Presidential candidate for the Republican Party. He is NO free agent.
? Martin
@Aleta: If it were Sam Bee or Amy Schumer, I could almost imagine them walking onto stage for the initial handshake and instead grabbing Trump by the balls and in response to the reaction say ‘What? I’m famous…’ and then just turn to the podium to start.
Uncle Cosmo
@LeftMass: It’s a ticklish business, & I’m not sure it’s worth taking the chance, but one good shot from her that gets (a sizeable fraction of) the live audience to laugh out loud at him, GAME OVER. He’d either physically assault her or go totally catatonic.
(I’ll spare you a repeat of the long story about the Nazis’ attempt to Aryanize the German language, but the moral is: The one thing fascists cannot stand is derisive laughter directed their way.)
Immanentize
@lollipopguild: I think this probably is not the time to sexualize the exchange.
MomSense
@The Dangerman:
Remember when Trump said he had all the best words? He hasn’t exactly elevated the discourse.
divF
@Ceci n’est pas mon nym: One issue may be a small sample problem. There are relatively large populations that self-identify as Irish, Italian, German, and English. The others, not so much.
That said, was Jewish a category they queried ? Viewed as white, but having a strong ethnic identity, even among those who are not religiously observant.
Hal
@MisterForkbeard:
I’ve seen this a couple of times today already. Trump was just joking 10 years ago, but Bill Clinton 20+ years ago? Liberal hypocrisy! Never mind reducing Trump’s proclamations of his ability to sexually assault women, or discussing his attempts to fuck a married woman, just pass him some tik taks. Let’s talk about Bill Clinton, who is apparently running for president in 2016.
schrodinger's cat
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: She just needs to stand out of the way as he self-destructs on live TV.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
and he followed up with “If you’re offended by it, grow up!” If he were still on TV, I bet he’d get fired.
Patricia Kayden
@DCrefugee:
I’m going to punk out and not watch this debate either though. My nerves can’t take the suspense. I’ll read all about it here and on other lefty blogs afterwards. Hoping that Clinton wins this debate as effortlessly as she won the first one. Also hope that Trump goes on a non-stop and damaging twitter bend well into the wee hours of the morning, like he did about Miss Universe after debate #1. There is much more damage he can do to to his campaign.
Immanentize
@MomSense: He has them. But keeping them hostage.
redshirt
@aimai: Your fingers to FSM’s ears.
Barbara
@Ceci n’est pas mon nym: Well, it could be that other groups aren’t large enough to sample as well. Before the most recent migration of people from Central and South America, people of German heritage were the single most populous group, followed by English, Irish and Italian. The total population of Scandinavian and Eastern European ethnic groups of all kind were much smaller in comparison, though obviously it might not seem that way in specific locations, like where I grew up in Western Pennsylvania, or in Minnesota or North Dakota, where most Scandinavians settled. Germans started coming in the 1600s, as did the English, and kept coming all the way up until World War I.
Peale
@germy: ???. So trump wins all the red states, and pence only takes electoral votes from Hillary?
Barbara
@germy: He has been up for going on 48 hours and is now hallucinating in his fever dreams.
lollipopguild
@Immanentize: You are correct but the mental picture of her doing it is hard to give up. I would like one moment where she lets him have it verbally. Righteous anger does exist and she has earned the right to smack him verbally.
germy
@Peale: I’m not entirely sure what the person tweeting was trying to suggest. I was hoping someone here would understand it. I sure don’t.
sdhays
@LeftMass: That’s clever. :-)
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: The fact that Pence refused to defend Trump at every single opportunity on Tuesday was already a big opening to piss Donald off. Pence’s performance was a total disaster for Trump, despite his tepid “win”. Now Hillary can openly speculate that Pence will soon remove himself from the Republican ticket. Which would be awesome, not only because it will force Trump to angrily deny it or curse his own running mate on national television, but because it would also force Pence to stop his pathetic Hamlet-like lamentations and either do it or deny it. If tonight goes the way we all think it will, I think he will try to jump.
@Amaranthine RBG: I’d add a “As disgustingly unfit as you are, Donald, not everything in this election is about you.”
@? Martin: Or don’t give any more money to Samsung since they clearly aren’t handling this situation well. I like my HTC 10.
Barbara
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Besides, his mother is Scottish, not Irish.
Gindy51
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: My husband is a guy, a military guy, a USMC pilot guy. He has never, ever talked like this nor been around anyone who talked like that. Sure he has said things about how a female looks, nice hair boobs ass… but NEVER, EVER that he could walk up kiss her and grab her pussy. He wouldn’t be married to me for close to 30 years if he did.
CarolDuhart2
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: That attitude is why he isn’t on tv. In a world where they bring back aging actors for at least a Second Generation mini-series, he isn’t getting any work (or any good work).
And the media world has expanded since Happy Days. He could even self-fund a project, but being a sexist jerk means he gets no support whatsoever. That’s true with all of the fundies in Hollywood: all of them are has-beens at best. Self-righteousness doesn’t do well in an industry that prefers tolerance and even a little moral flexibility.
aimai
@MisterForkbeard: I clicked on one of those “see pictures of Bill and Hillary you’ve never seen before” fake news sites. The first few pictures were unexceptionable and accompanied by bland text like “she gave the student commencement at wellesley” so it all seemed like typical bio stuff. But as you went through, click by click, the text and images started to slide into wingnut territory and there was a picture of her giving a formal cheek kiss to Yasser Arafat’s wife on a public occasion which was captioned “many thought she was having a lesbian relationship with Arafat’s wife…” as a result of this image. I mean–I thought I was up on all the far right shit they’ve been throwing but that was news to me! And it was just there, sitting out in the open, not on a far right site.
Hilfy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: For The Donald, I think that should be, The Clenius haunts Trump.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Even if I weren’t a bone-deep pessimist, I think I’d think the House is a long, long shot, but the fact that they’re saying this publicly makes me wonder, not for the first time even today, about those fable internal polls.
MomSense
@Davis X. Machina:
You forgot “Lock her up” and “Trump that bitch”. Not sure das Trumpenvolk know what effete means.
schrodinger's cat
OT: AL has been busy and hasn’t FPed the Weekend Movie Club dispatch yet but if you want to take off your mind of the Trump shitshow.
You can vote for your favorite classic dark comedy here
Or read the review of the winner of our first poll, Queen over here
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Mike in NC: We’re still out in Cumberland.
MisterForkbeard
@Hal: The best response I’ve seen to this so far is:
“You are a horrible person. The two cases aren’t remotely equal and you should be ashamed of yourself for trying to compare it.
1) Bill Clinton has had consensual affairs. And apologized for it. Do you understand what consensual means and how this is different from Trump forcing himself on women?
2) Hillary is running for president, not Bill. If you think this reflects badly on her, you’re saying that a wife isn’t a person, andis just an extension/receptacle for her husband’s actions. Why do you think women don’t get responsibility for only their OWN actions?”
bemused
@? Martin:
Their “moral indignity” is reserved only for liberals. Their tribe gets a free pass.
Davebo
Do you really want Donald reading your name on a list? Even silently?
Jeffro
I think we should stop being concerned with comparisons between WJC and DJT, period. I think we should stop stressing here. WJC’s not on the ballot – Hillz and Trump are. Hillz has conducted an honorable campaign and collected endorsements from former brass, state dept officials from both parties, newspapers that have NEVER endorsed a Democrat. Trump is being denounced and asked to step aside by members of his own party a month out from the elections.
This is not a huge deal and we all KNOW Hillary Clinton has prepped for this dumb debate and knows how to deal with not just questions about WJC but the ‘both sides’ mentality of the media as well. She’s likely to throw Pence’s, Melania’s, Reince’s, and Ryan’s own words right at Trump within the first two minutes.
So let’s stop worrying about anything WJC-related, and be reassured about the above. That, plus some GOTV, will send President-elect Hillary Clinton into office with at least a Senate majority, and a shattered GOP besides.
Immanentize
@lollipopguild: totally agree. I wish National Lampoon still existed so we could get that fix.
Jeffro
test…FYWP has eaten two of my comments just now…
Renie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: right, Trump is German and Scottish. We Irish don’t want him.
seaboogie
T minus 225 minutes. I am really curious as to how this will play out. Explosive stuff, but in a town hall format – so I think that adds an extra wrinkle. Heading out for some wine and popcorn, shortly….
Jeffro
Geez that is irritating…ok FYWP, one more try…
I don’t think we should be worrying about WJC-related nonsense. I don’t think we should be trying to explain the differences between whatever he did and what Trump was busted doing. WJC is not. on. the. ballot. Hillz and Trump are, and she’s got him beat by a mile. Record numbers of top brass, former diplomats, prominent Rs, and quite a few newspapers that have never, ever endorsed a Dem are all coming out saying she’s the clear choice.
Plus, this is HIllz, you know she has prepped for not just the WJC questions but the overall ‘both sides’ nonsense.
So…let’s keep all of that in mind, be reassured, and GOTV GOTV GOTV!
bemused
@Schlemazel:
Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten about that. Burnett is a bible thumper who doesn’t have a problem with making a living working and making a lot of money from sleazy sorts like Trump. Selective moral principles.
Zinsky
Hillary should begin the debate by saying, “Any man who is accused in a recent lawsuit of repeatedly raping a 13 year old girl has no business bringing up my marriage or my husband. Do you truly have no shame, Mr. Trump?” Then, refuse to address another comment or question from Trump that isn’t about policy.
Lizzy L
@Jeffro: Yes. I’m phone banking AND reading BJ at the same time, because I AM WOMAN and we fucking multitask.
I am not going to watch the debate, or listen to it. I rely upon you all to tell me what’s happening.
? Martin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Sam Wang is suggesting the Senate is lost, that the GOP is at risk of losing the House.
NCSteve
@Anya: IMO, No. NYT v. Sullivan will pretty much preclude it simply because the evidence is so cloudy and, in any case, giving them a forum to dredge all that shit up again–even call Wiley and Broderick to the stand–serves them more than Bill.
However, the Central Park Five do have a case, Sullivan notwithstanding, and ought to sue the shit out if him. Lawyers will usually tell you that “malice” is very technical legal term of art that has very little to do with the lay understanding of the term. Trump’s assertion that they Five are guilty the other day, however, despite the fact that both DNA evidence and the fact that they were all already in custody at the time of the rape and that he knew these things, is an exception to that general rule.
germy
@bemused:
? Martin
@Zinsky: That would destroy her. She can’t go there without evidence. She doesn’t need to – the media will pick it up next week. Pretrial conference on Oct 14.
stinger
@aimai: This.
germy
@Zinsky:
I thought they’d only be answering audience questions in this town hall debate format.
mike in dc
@germy:
Anyone who does so will find lots of deep pockets willing to indemnify them against both costs and damages. And they will be seen as a national hero by anti-Trump folks.
Omnes Omnibus
I know everyone wants the emotional satisfaction of watching Trump get verbally destroyed by HRC for being the appalling person that he is, but what she needs to do, and will do (IMO), is concentrate on winning the election.
germy
@mike in dc: Mark Cuban!
Starfish
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: I am saying that those of us in our mid-to-late-30s were about her age and thought it was gross for “the olds” to be discussing their sex lives in such explicit details and ignored it as much as possible. Half a life time later, we are going to do the same thing.
Patricia Kayden
@Wapiti: I think your Dad is missing a central part of forgiveness when it comes to Republicans. Republicans can completely forgive their own for all kinds of misconduct, up to and including violent behavior. Republicans condemn Democrats to hell for trivialities and refuse to extend forgiveness towards anyone in the wrong political party.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/10/08/some-donald-trump-supporters-are-defending-his-lewd-comments-because-hes-a-sinner-whos-now-saved/
Some Evangelicals have already forgiven Trump.
bystander
I’m enjoying the brief shots of WU. Looks as if the MSNBC crew is in front of Graham Chapel. It would be funny if they still called the building they’re near the “Women’s Building”. WU only allowed men to live in fraternity houses. Women could join sororities but each sorority only had a room in the Women’s Building for meeting, socials, etc. But no sorority houses. When I entered in 1968, women had curfew during the week. Men? Uh huh.
Bailey
@Zinsky:
Good lord. No. No she should not. Particularly as one of the parties in that rape case (Jeffrey Epstein) is someone that Bill Clinton apparently spent a whole lot of time with. HRC should not go anywhere near that.
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I still love his portrayal of Bob Loblaw on AD, even knowing that his politics are positively feral. But then, his character wasn’t drawn to be funny; it was drawn to portray a stuck-up dick. Truth in advertising and all….
ET
Love how CNN is going back into his archives and pulling Trump comments on Bill’s affairs and Hillary’s handling of the entire situation (he complimented her). All new stations that have back footage of Trump should be scouring it.
artem1s
being prepared is what Hillary does best. however, I will not delude myself into believing that Trump will stick to the usual line up of CDS conspiracy crap. He will throw out some of the golden oldies and then go completely off script when the audience doesn’t start cheering him on. He will just start making up crap whole cloth, one claim more deluded and prurient and vulgar than the next. this might actually turn out to be the moment when he drops the C word.
either that or the Access Hollywood leak is the GOP’s way of telling Donnie that the Bush Crime Family is watching and they have never had any problems throwing their own under the bus in order to advance family business. And Trump is going to be bad for business. I wonder if one of the family fixers has warned him that tonight is his last chance. Lose gracefully and STFU or get completely destroyed.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn: That show embiggened everybody on it. IMHO.
different-church-lady
Think about this: the GOP nominee’s hopes are now based on two things
1) Saying the opposing candidate’s spouse is just as awful to women as he is
2) people who are to ashamed of him to admit their support to pollsters to are going to rescue him at the ballot box.
bemused
@germy:
Now I read that Burnett has donated to Democrats and supposedly not a Trump supporter. He is still a bible thumper and I think bible thumpers are as genuine and principled as most Republicans.
Elie
Honestly, this is just way way past crazyland.. I am not sure that I can watch… The horror of watching this — horrible human being say anything about Bill Clinton or anyone else but his own problems… I feel that I might just blow a gasket. And to think that he has followers and over 70% of the leadership of the Republican Party is more than I can handle. I went for a long walk this afternoon and I just feel so horrible about this whole situation and what has happened to this country — the damage done by this creature and his following… I want to get positive and get past this… I feel terrible even as I feel confident in Hillary and the prospects for the Democrats… this is still a horrible time…
JosieJ (not Josie)
@Omnes Omnibus:
QFT. She’s got her eyes on the prize and she’s this close. Plenty of time to enjoy some schadenfreude once she’s elected.
Elie
@Omnes Omnibus:
I agree with this completely. Completely.
nutella
@Barbara:
She was a Scottish immigrant. Trump’s oldest sister was an anchor baby. A normal person whose mother and two of three wives were immigrants would not be an immigrant-hater. The cognitive dissonance would kill them.
But I don’t think ‘cognitive’ applies to anything happening between Trump’s ears.
Peter
@Bailey: My understanding is that Clinton’s only connection to Epstein is that Epstein donated use of his private jet to the Clinton Foundation at one point. That’s it.
That being said, I agree that bringing up the lawsuit would be a bad move, especially since it won’t even start proceedings until after the election.
evodevo
@Monala: LOLOLOL . I, too, have wondered what it is with the outdoor bathtub thingy?? And how easy it would be to slip and break something while attempting to …climb into the other tub? What is up with that?! And how does the hot water get there? etc. etc.
Bailey
@Peter:
My understanding, and according to the flight logs, is that Clinton was on that plane dozens of times with some questionable company: http://gawker.com/flight-logs-put-clinton-dershowitz-on-pedophile-billio-1681039971
Regardless, HRC should not go anywhere near this.
Percysowner
@germy: I don’t see how. Only 7 states allow write in ballot without having filed ahead of time. Oregon, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey. Pence would have to win ALL those states to get 65 or more. I can’t see that happening. Some state require the electors vote for who won the state on the first ballot. For those that don’t, I also can’t see electors pledged to Hillary suddenly saying “Let’s vote for Pence”. Plus, I’m not sure someone can run for President and Vice President at the same time. I could be wrong, but I think it’s unlikely that write in votes will throw this to the House.