I’m living like Biden is behind 30 points. The media has proven they can make mountains out of molehills, and Republicans have no shame.
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.
The unpunished coup was a training exercise.
“woke” is the new caravan.
Celebrate the fucking wins.
Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.
“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”
If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.
Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!
Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.
When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.
The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.
Let’s not be the monsters we hate.
Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll
Trump should be leading, not lying.
Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.
Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.
The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.
This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.
They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.
I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.
Let me file that under fuck it.
If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.
He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!
Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.
Tom Levenson
What John says.
Or rather: I treat this as if we’re tied–and the last vote I might be able to persuade on a walk through New Hampshire’s hills is the one that delivers the goods.
BruceFromOhio
These motherfuckers simply cannot re-wire or recognize what’s real. The “Where’s Joe Biden?” and “Biden’s campaign is dysfunctional” shit made me donate to Biden, Amy McGrath, and couple of local Dems.
TaMara (HFG)
Ditto. I’m going to cover my car and yard with Biden signs (I rarely do political signs) And all my campaign money is going to flip the Senate. Not taking anything for granted.
Geoduck
The one safe prediction is that the Shiatgibbon is going to lose the popular vote by an even wider margin than before. The electoral college is another question.
Elizabelle
Yep. And drag all the Democrats into office.
Make Maggie Haberman and John King of CNN cry.
Yutsano
@TaMara (HFG): We definitely need to give some scratch over to Bullock. Montana is a cheap media market and Bullock has basically stopped campaigning so he can focus on getting his state through the coronavirus pandemic. Which is honestly the best advertising for him since it shows why he’s a popular governor. But still, we could do worse than throwing him some bread. If Jones really is a lost cause (I still don’t think he has an opponent yet) then getting two Democratic Senators from Montana isn’t a bad outcome.
oatler.
Dems are coming out looking like stammering milquetoasts. Still, Gohmert, Jordan and Collins can go to hell.
Mary G
I want them crushed in every office, all the way down to dogcatcher.
zzyzx
I’ve never understood the pretend we’re down by 30 idea. I mean, yeah, don’t get complacent, but I personally am more energized when I feel like I’m part of a movement that has a chance to be successful and do things than when I’m feeling hopeless about how we’re going to get crushed and just will act out of desperation.
Brachiator
Yep. National polls especially are not to be trusted. I don’t even know why “journalists” bother reporting this stuff.
Still, I hope any poll showing Biden in the lead makes Trump cry, whine, and slap some flunkies.
JPL
@Mary G: I want them demoralized and one of Joe’s balls to have the Dixie Chicks perform Landslide.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@BruceFromOhio: Yep, I was planning on giving to Biden and a bunch of flippable Senate seats and maybe a few in danger Congress seats again this Friday. Now I’m just going to kick in more because I am reminded of the run up to 2016. I don’t know what the October surprise/”Comey moment” will be this time, but the horse-race loving media just won’t be able to stand it if Trump seems to be losing badly by then.
hitchhiker
Look, we KNOW the press is eager for a comeback narrative. We KNOW that any tick of a whiff of a whisper that team trump is turning it around is going to get him a week of good press.
These stories should be understood as a set up for that round of events, and nothing more. The work is in protecting the vote wherever it’s in jeopardy, which means in every state where Rs are in charge of voting rules, but especially in GA, FL, and WI.
Republicans are laser focused on preventing people from voting, and/or dissuading them to the extent that they can do that. That’s the real fight.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@JPL: Followed by Walking On Sunshine and Na Na Na Na Good Bye. Also F you by Lily Allen. I have a whole playlist worked up… What, bitter , me??
Betty Cracker
This year, I’ve decided to treat favorable polls like an ice cream cone — a perishable item to enjoy without guilt as long as it is consumed in moderation and acknowledged as no substitute for regular servings of fruit and veggies.
Over the weekend, I had a conversation with a couple (lifelong Dems) who are definitely voting for Biden this November. They’re pissed off that he’s the nominee but fully recognize the imperative to get rid of Trump and understand that Biden is the only vehicle for that now. But both are utterly convinced Trump will win. Nothing I could say would shake their conviction.
It was a maddening, circular conversation. I know they’re traumatized by 2016 — we all are. But it’s so irrational to grant Trump supernatural powers, which is what they’ve essentially done. Do any of y’all run into that attitude in the wild?
Baud
@Betty Cracker: Yes, although not recently with the good polling. But so many people just assume that Trump will win, even though he just barely squeaked by on the strength of the Global War on Hillary. I just chalk it up to a defense mechanism.
JPL
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone: I like it. Save it for election night in case it comes true and maybe Betty will put up a playlist for us.
JPL
If the polls demoralize the trump supporters so be it. sad
Baud
@JPL:
I was confused because I thought you were talking about Joe’s testicles.
randy khan
@Betty Cracker:
Oh, definitely. From committed Dem friends on Facebook, who do things like linking Michael Moore (who the friend in question doesn’t even like that much). I just say to them that we should act like we think Biden is behind or in a really tight race, regardless of what we actually think, because that’s what maximizes the chance of not just a win, but a big, fat, embarrass-the-entire-Republican-Party win.
Baud
Question: What would you people do differently if you actually believed Biden was up by 15, 20, or 30 points?
jl
“I’m living like Biden is behind 30 points.”
Not sure whether that is good news or bad. Cole working hard for Democrats, or he needs a welfare check?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Betty Cracker:
Yes. And it is maddening. He barely squeaked by in 2016 w/ the EC as @Baud: notes
artem1s
I feel a lot like I did in 2006 midterms. No way could we retake the House and my oh my the Senate was for sure out of reach. But something feels similar to me this year. It took 6 years of W screw ups to get the fence sitters and undecideds to realize that we couldn’t take another Congress rubber stamping the Bush Crime family endless wars against bqhatevwr. This is the first time since 2006 I feel like a 50 state strategy makes sense. It feels like anything is possible if we keep our eye on the ball. And maybe, just maybe, we can keep MSM from bothsider-ing us to death and keep them from spoiling some really good races out there. Taking the WH isn’t going to be enough to clean up this mess.
Ksmiami
I want the GOP to start being afraid tbh. They need to be made to understand that a tyrannical minority that stifles the majority is inherently an unstable government. I want them hounded and scared. They should be…
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@randy khan:
Oh god, fuck Micheal Moore. His latest documentary, Planet of the Humans, is some real doomer trash that does real damage to the green energy/sustainability movement
artem1s
@Betty Cracker:
mostly it’s with Stein, Johnson, or Wilmer voters who are still flogging their “I hate Hillary” excuses. They either will or won’t decide to get on board. I’m putting my time into GOTV and making sure voter suppression is eradicated wherever I can.
Peale
@Baud: I’m not worried about what I’d do. I’d be more worried that 29% of dem voters would just vote for Scottie McDuckhead as a protest or whomever it is the Libertarians coughed up this year.
Baud
@Ksmiami: Does the GOP ever really feel afraid? Are they afraid in blue places like New York and California? The problem is, they benefit from liberal Democratic governance at least as much as everyone else. It angers them, sure, but it doesn’t really frighten them.
piratedan
hoping for the satisfaction of viewing TV nine months from now as the MSM continues to bang on the incivility of Dems jailing GOP politicians for their crimes; wondering aloud where is the comity of our political process when we could separate families and discriminate with impunity….
Kay
Well, not me! I’m planning on taking Texas.
You-all are just superstitious. It doesn’t matter what our inner thoughts about the election are :)
Eric K
@Geoduck: i think the margin is 3-4 points, Trump can lose by that and still squeak out an EC win by holding Wisconsin, once it gets above that he’s toast and states like Arizona, Florida and North Carolina are in play
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@JPL: Cool, I’m not going to get too confident but am going to give to what and whom I can. I am super introverted, so calling people doesn’t work but I am going to try to do post cards this year and also try to convince some of my (Dem leaning) family to make sure they are registered and that they go vote, especially my in-laws in TN and LA. My daughter unfortunately is semi-engaged to a guy that is very “both sides/why vote” and whose parents are Republicans. He is not a bad guy but…
Baud
I wonder if most the hyper-pessimism is from white Democrats because they are more likely than non-white Democrats to socialize with other white people and less likely to socialize with non-white people.
Miss Bianca
@Betty Cracker:
Yes, I run into We’re All DOOMED because Trump Superpowers, aided, inevitably, also by Neoliberal Democrat Fecklessness, ie, Why Aren’t the Democrats DOING SOMETHING/ANYTHING. Meanwhile Biden fundraisers are in full swing, and Democrats are out voting, and…le sigh.
It’s not just Republican members of Congress who live in their own bubbles, is all I’m saying.
Betty Cracker
@artem1s: Yes, I know some of that type as well. My counter-argument to them is SCOTUS, SCOTUS, SCOTUS. They’ll either get it or they won’t, like you said.
The couple I referred to at #15 aren’t in that category. They just seem seriously demoralized. I know they work with a lot of Trumpers, so maybe that’s a factor. I live in Deploraville myself, so I understand being in the political minority, but they’re not in my face all day, so maybe that’s part of it.
RandomMonster
I hate the fact that Baud got the correct response to that before I did.
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I wish all those people who want the “Boomers” to step aside for the younger generation would set an example and put Moore out to pasture.
Miss Bianca
@RandomMonster: Y’all weren’t the only ones. Not sure I can even describe the images that surged thru’ my brain. Not sure I’d want to, tbh.
PAM Dirac
@zzyzx:
I’m very much with you. It’s easier to do hard work when you think there is a real chance it will lead to success. Commit to the hard work with enthusiasm and optimism.
A Ghost to Most
I think it’s cute that you still think there will be elections.
Marcopolo
Here’s an AcBlue flip the Senate blue fundraising page (it has the most Senate races listed of any page I saw). You can make a donation that splits evenly between all the candidates or click through and pick & choose but having this many races listed in one place makes it easier to dole out money.
Candidates/races included:
AL (Jones inc lean R)
AK (just changed by Cook Political to a competitive election–i.e. moved from solid R to likely R)
GA (both races are Lean R)
IA (Lean R)
KS (Lean R)
MI (Peters inc lean D)
MT (tossup)
NC (tossup)
SC (likely R)
TX (likely R)
Notably missing: AZ (tossup), CO (tossup), KY (likely R) & ME (tossup)
Of the missing I’d say that Kelly in AZ & Gideon in ME are already well-funded. If McGrath prevails in KY she is well funded; if Booker wins he’d need to raise a shit ton of money. If Hickenlooper prevails in CO I wouldn’t think he’d have funding probs.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
Maybe more like ten behind. When you’re 30 behind, it can get to feeling kind of lost and hopeless.
Omnes Omnibus
@zzyzx: Thank you. But I guess everyone needs to do what works for them. Let’s run up the score. Either way, keep our feet on the gas through the election and make sure it isn’t close enough to try to steal.
JPL
@Baud: Joe’s supporters might not be rah rah sis boom bah types but will walk on coals to prevent another trump term. (at least that is what I hope_)
RandomMonster
@Miss Bianca: Maybe Biden can add the AC/DC song to his election night playlist.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Nothing.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
Not much.
JCJ
@Baud:
Yeah, that was what I thought at first read. The problem you could run into is a whole “left shark – right shark” situation. What if one of his balls was really enthusiastic and the other was just limping along?
MisterForkbeard
If I was doing this I’d be working on getting a visa to move to New Zealand. But I’ll work like I think Biden is 1 point behind and every bit helps.
Kent
Yes. WAY too many Dems live in ultra blue urban bubbles and since everyone in their orbit can’t stand Trump they think the election is a foregone conclusion. It is not. A lot of GOPers in red and swing states are kind of demoralized now. But the lizard brain is still going to kick in come November as Fox and Facebook is going to give them enough rationalization to vote GOP again.
What we have learned from both Bush and Trump who won while losing the popular vote is that it doesn’t fucking matter how narrow the margin is, you can still seize absolute power across the executive branch and do whatever the fuck you want. We just need a fucking win and to take the Senate. I don’t care if it is by one electoral vote or two hundred. A landslide doesn’t give you any more ‘mandate’ than a close election. You just take the win and seize power and govern.
Too many Dems seem to think that a bigger voting margin give their policies more legitimacy or something. It doesn’t. Winning the Senate will do that. Not winning Georgia.
MattF
@Betty Cracker: You also don’t want to buy into TrumpWorld delusions. Yes, it’s likely that races will narrow, yes, it’s likely that Trumpites will do their very best to steal the election. But the big lesson of the past month or two is that ‘their very best’ is a museum of incompetence. I haven’t forgotten that, amazingly, 40% approve of Trump’s job performance, but reality is still real and still out there.
Miss Bianca
@A Ghost to Most: So, is drive-by “ha ha you rubes” substance-free snarking (that’s somehow also missing in the snark quotient) just going to be your standard MO now?
*yawn
James E Powell
@JPL:
And follow that with Not Ready to Make Nice.
WaterGirl
@JPL: I had to read that 3 times in order for it to make sense – because I was thinking of the other kind of balls, wondering what the Dixie Chicks would have against Joe Biden.
edit: I see from #19 that either Baud is just joking, or he had the same momentary problem that I did.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
To them, Moore’s “one of the good ones” because he tells them what they want to hear: that Democrats are feckless neoliberal sellouts
MisterForkbeard
@Miss Bianca: “Why Aren’t the Democrats DOING SOMETHING/ANYTHING”
I see a ton of this online and it’s always infuriating. Like what? What exactly do you think Democrats should be doing? Running a good campaign? Passing bills in the house? Putting together good policy? Investigating wrongdoing? Subpoenas?
They’re doing all of these things.
What’s left? Impeachment that definitely won’t go anywhere, I guess. And mooning the cameras whenever Republicans show up on camera.
Omnes Omnibus
@A Ghost to Most: Shouldn’t you be out blowing a goat?
Kent
I, for one, no longer trust white Americans to ever do any fucking thing right anymore. I’m related to way too many of them.
James E Powell
@Baud:
The NYT would have front page stories every day about Tara Reade, Hunter Biden, and whatever other bullshit the Republicans give them.
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus:
Goat:
“Naaaaaah!”
Amir Khalid
Completely off topic, but Trent Alexander-Arnold has just scored Liverpool’s first post-lockdown goal, against visitors Crystal Palace. Liverpool need two wins out of this and their seven other remaining matches to secure their first league title in 30 years.
Miss Bianca
@MisterForkbeard: Thank you, you just articulated exactly what I have wanted to say, except that I’m just getting so fucking FED.UP. with having to say these things to people I keep thinking ought to know better.
I guess I’m just one of those sell-out establishment Democrat whores I keep hearing so much about.
Kent
On the plus side, Trump’s campaign is all about the grift. It was in 2016 and nothing has changed. So I don’t expect them use their wealth particularly strategically as opposed to funneling the maximum percentage to Trump businesses and Trump cronies. So there is some small measure of satisfaction to knowing that all those MAGA small donor folks are basically pissing their money away and enriching the worst vultures of the GOP ecosystem, rather than seeing it used to good effect.
Calouste
@Baud: Getting the house ready to sell, talking to my boss that if I can work from home now I could also work from a different country, and dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on the paperwork needed to achieve all that.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Chief Oshkosh
@BruceFromOhio: Yep. And right now there’s a headline at WaPo that says police reform bill in the Senate is stalled because of Democrats. While technically true, it completely ignores that the Senate bill put forth by the Republicans didn’t actually include police reform.
pamelabrown53
@Omnes Omnibus:
LOL. OO, for the win!
Also, agree we need to demonstrate our enthusiasm. Yesterday, saw a TX. poll with Biden down by 2. I live in TX.; I’m going to do yard signs and bumper stickers (which normally, I don’t do) – and sooner rather than later. Enthusiasm is infectious and I ‘m the joyful warrior this cycle.
P.S. I partially credit Beto O’Rourke’s senate run for priming the pump.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Yeah, I was about to issue a “Phrasing!”
Chief Oshkosh
@Baud: Well, that’s just how big and jangly-ding-dong-dangly that they are — only one is needed for any one purpose!
geg6
@WaterGirl:
Even more puzzling to me was how a testicle, whichever side it’s on, could play a song.
CliosFanBoy
Remember, 41% of voters STILL voted for Hoover in 1932.
JPL
@WaterGirl: lol It never entered my mind which normally is the first to go there.
hedgehog mobile
@Miss Bianca: Come sit six feet away from me. With a mask. ?
Betty Cracker
@MattF: I tend toward optimism about 2020 precisely because of that “museum of incompetence.” Any other politician really would have an opportunity here, but it’s foreclosed to Trump because he’s Trump. He isn’t going to suddenly get better at managing the pandemic and economic fallout. He’s not going to unite a badly divided country. He’s incapable of rising to the occasion.
Omnes Omnibus
@pamelabrown53: Yeah, if we do this right, this election can lead to this country becoming a better place. We don’t just have to talk about fixing what Trump broke. We can talk about how the give us a chance to really make a difference and help the country live up to its potential.
Baud
@Calouste: You would do that if Biden were up by a lot? That was my question.
MCA1
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Not only that, but (a) Trump’s an incumbent now and will not get the benefit of his support slowly growing post-convention as reluctant Republicans come back into the tent, (b) there are multiple shitstorms raging across the country and he’s failing, in real time, to overcome them and in fact is actively exacerbating them, and (c) all the polling was basically right on the money for the 2018 midterms, where R’s got fucking shellacked. Not to mention, most of the pollsters adjusted their models after 2016. This is a completely different landscape.
Omnes Omnibus
@geg6: Biden is a talented boy.
WaterGirl
@geg6: It is a puzzlement. :-)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I shared your confusion.
JMG
I have always felt that true confidence in any competition must include a realization that of course losing a possibility, then maximizing the means by which it becomes the smallest possibility. If you feel you’ve done that, it’s OK to be confident.
Marcopolo
@pamelabrown53: So here’s the thing: there are a lot of states that are tossupy (and I am trademarking this word). TX is definitely one of them. If you live in a state like this (TX, AZ, GA, OH, FL, WI, MI, MT, IA, NC, PA, AK, NH) find some amazing local candidates running for state or local office and give them some help. They will propel folks to the polls to vote. Those folks can then vote up ticket for Biden.
Here’s the woman who started RunForSomething explaining this much more eloquently than I ever could:
The entire tweet thread is worth a read. And RunForSomething is an organization that is doing amazing work.
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: @geg6:
I’m so glad it wasn’t just me!
Miss Bianca
@Marcopolo: What I don’t get is how “electing more Democrats” and “beating Trump” are somehow seen as either/or propositions.
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
Aren’t supernatural powers what his followers think he has? His one supernatural power used to be his ability to bullshit and walk away. The spotlight he’s in every minute makes that impossible, that and his declining mental health.
Josie
@Omnes Omnibus:
This is exactly what I am hoping for. You have pointed out a vision toward which we should all be working. I hope enough voters think this way to make it a reality.
cokane
Um, if Biden was behind by 30 points there’d be no reason to get involved in that election.
raven
So the wingers think the Peter Strzok notes that were released show that Obama and Biden were part of the “coup” attempt! What say you?
Odie Hugh Manatee
I with you, John. Fuck the polls, fuck the media and double fuck the Republicans.
Eyes on the prize, middle fingers to the rest.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@raven:
Not familiar w/ the notes, but it’s a 99.99% probability of being bullshit
Steeplejack
@Amir Khalid:
I salute you for staying up in the middle of the night to watch. I turned it off at halftime because it’s getting close to my “read on the bed with option to doze” time. Liverpool looked to have it well in hand at 2-0.
Amir Khalid
Mo Salah makes it two before halftime. Looking good for the home team.
Joe Biden’s position in the election is like Liverpool’s in tonight’s Premier League match.* He’s not making tactical mistakes, he’s outplaying his opponent without having to strain himself, he has a good lead. There’s still a way to go — it’s only halftime at Anfield, and election day is four months away — but if he stays alert, he should win this.
*Nice segué, if I do say so myself.
raven
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Flynn’s lawyers also submitted a supplement to his agreeing with the government on dismissing his case. ‘
‘Mr. Obama himself directed that ‘the right people’ investigate General Flynn,’ according to the memo. According to the notes, Comey said said ‘Flynn – Kislyak calls but appear legit.’
Next to ‘VP’ it states: ‘Logan Act,’ and ‘I’ve been on the intel cmte for ten years and I never,’ with no further notation, in the part that applies to Biden, Trump’s presumed 2020 opponent.
‘According to Strzok’s notes, it appears that Vice President Biden personally raised the idea of the Logan Act. That became an admitted pretext to investigate General Flynn,’ according to the lawyers’ memo.
The Logan Act bars Americans from conducting unauthorized talks with a foreign government that is in a dispute with the U.S. It has rarely been used since its enactment in the 18th century.
Ruckus
@Baud:
Yes but. The gop doesn’t give a damn about government, other than it gets out of the way of their grifting. And that no one is going to say anything about the grifting.
J R in WV
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone:
Actually, you are wrong about your daughter’s semi-fiancee — if that’s what he believes, he is a very bad guy, helping Trump to win another term. To me that’s as bad as it gets. I’ve got relatives I don’t speak to anymore! They vote R, always.
Calouste
@Baud: Sorry, misread your question.
pamelabrown53
@pamelabrown53:
Okay! Just ordered a yard sign and provided feedback that they need to offer larger signs. 18″ x 24″ a bit too small. Will order another sign after Veep is chosen. Just want to get started.
Amir Khalid
@Steeplejack:
Mind you, a few years ago, Palace came from 3-0 behind in this fixture to draw 3-3, so we cannot be said to be home and dry. We cannot even be said to be home and vigorously towelling ourselves off.
Gravenstone
@raven: “think” is doing way too much lifting in that sentence.
Calouste
@Miss Bianca: It’s the same people for whom “walk” and “chew gum” are either/or propositions.
Ruckus
@JCJ:
I was going to say just hanging around, but it seems too late now…..
Steeplejack (phone)
Noted narcissologist weighs in with an optimistic take:
Miss Bianca
@Amir Khalid: I don’t even know who Mo Salah is, and I approve this metaphor.
MisterForkbeard
@Miss Bianca: I feel old (in my 30s), because I constantly feel like I’m dealing with children – people who will not understand that what they’re saying is either nonsense or counterproductive.
It’s like today, when one of my kids demanded strawberries at 11:30 while I was prepping lunch. I put some in her lunch, and that started a HUGE FIGHT because she wanted strawberries and the other food I was making but didn’t want to call it lunch.
It felt like an internet flame war. “I want strawberries!” “Okay, we’re already doing those in lunch” “No! You’re doing it wrong! O don’t want them for lunch, I want them for a snack!” >_<
pamelabrown53
@Omnes Omnibus:
Besides being talented, he’s decent, kind and generous.
Basically, the opposite of a malignant narcissist.
Amir Khalid
@Amir Khalid:
Correction: in the reverse fixture, at Selhurst Park.
Marcopolo
@Miss Bianca:
They aren’t. That’s not her point. Her point is there is so much focus on the presidential race (by the media) that a lot of people don’t pay any attention to their state and local races, and that the outcomes of those races can be just as important in terms of enacting policies & programs that will make their lives better. Like local DAs who will decide the who, what, and how of policing being done in their communities. Also that the enthusiasm that local candidates can generate for their elections can translate up ticket for national races. Its a win win win for everyone.
And her entire tweet thread is a response to someone who told her they didn’t have time/money to invest in supporting local candidates/races because the presidential race is so important this year.
Of course, everyone here at BJ understands these points already.
Miss Bianca
@J R in WV: I figure that as long as these lean-R “why bother” types aren’t voting, at least they aren’t voting Republican. And that any attempt to rile them up to some sense of their civic responsibilities tends to drive them in the opposite direction of the one I want.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@raven:
IANAL obviously, but none of that seems problematic if true. It’s been proven Flynn as a private citizen was promising favors to foreign powers.
I assume this is referring to the DC Circuit short-circuiting Sullivan’s review of the DOJ’s move to drop Flynn’s charges? Good.
Amir Khalid
@Miss Bianca:
Mohamed Salah “The King of Egypt” is a Liverpool FC forward.
ETA: His teammatemidfielder Fabinho makes it 3-0 from an appropriate distance of 30 metres.
Bill Arnold
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
You’re entirely too polite. That documentary demonstrates that Michael Moore is a gigadeath cultist. If one is OK with reducing the global homo sapiens population by 50-90 percent, then he’s your guy. If one wants to keep the gigadeaths in the 1–3 range, then he’s your enemy. (Propaganda-caused delays in decarbonizing the global economy move us to the >1/2 the human population removed scenarios.)
Miss Bianca
@MisterForkbeard: Oh, dear God. You’re right.
At least with kids there’s some hope that they’ll snap out of it some day.
ETA: Well, one of these days when I blurt out “Strawberries!!”, at least *someone* will understand what I mean!
Steeplejack (phone)
@Amir Khalid:
I’m not a fanatical Liverpool fan. I’ll leave it in your capable hands.
Marcopolo
@raven: Well, if they were they really fucked it up big time. Thy didn’t get the word out that Trump’s campaign was being investigated for colluding with Russia before the Nov 2016 election and then screwed it worse by having Comey announce that Clinton was being looked at for the emails, again, one week beforehand. I mean, I thought Comey was part of their deep state cabal but maybe he wasn’t?
It’s all so fucking confusing.
MisterForkbeard
@Miss Bianca: Strawberries is going to be my personal shorthand for this now. Thanks :P
raven
@Marcopolo: That’s why I asked.
Marcopolo
@raven: Please provide a fricken link to whatever you are citing. It would be the polite thing to do. From the text that is quoted in comments down thread I can’t tell if Flynn’s team or Strok wrote “the memo.”
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Bill Arnold:
I learned recently about eco-fascism (fascists that care about the environment) and that one of their talking points is about “overpopulation” destroying the planet. It sounds like a good faith argument and normal people don’t pick up on the eugenic undertones
Marcopolo
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Also asking for a link to wherever these quotes are coming from. Did I just miss it? Entirely possible, I miss a lot.
raven
@Marcopolo: Try the google
The page of notes was taken by Strzok appears to describe a January 5, 2017 meeting of President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and national security officials. This meeting occurred amid accusations that incoming Trump administration officials had colluded with Russian operatives. Strzok was not present at the meeting, and it is unclear what record of the meeting he consulted in taking the notes.
Ksmiami
@Baud: if we start harassing them and threaten to turn off the tax payer dollars we can bully them as well.
Amir Khalid
Liverpool are cruising at 4-0 up after a beautifully worked team goal on 69 minutes, finished off by Sadio Mané. If Man City draw or lose against Chelsea tomorrow …
Marcopolo
@raven: TY for the link. So Strzok wrote the notes but wasn’t in the meeting? How does that work?
Martin
@Marcopolo: Look at CA. We are a counterbalance to Trump because we are blue top to bottom. When the ACA was being drafted, CA put our own health care solution aside to throw our weight behind ACA, helping to get it passed.
I’m in a historically red district but everyone here knows who Katie Porter is. Turns out ours was an important House race in ways nobody could have anticipated. Our county Covid response is flagging because our county supervisor is a wingnut. OTOH, our Registrar of Voters (who happens to be a Republican – the only Republican I will vote for) is amazingly good. We were among the first counties to support the state transition to mailing every voter a ballot and have been doing that for 2 years now. I genuinely believe we have the best run elections in the nation.
Ken
The Caine Mutiny, obviously.
pamelabrown53
@Marcopolo:
Thank you for your comment with all the links! This just be one cycle (hope we can make it a habit) where voter turnout will be driven on local turn-out elections.
If it’s both, we just might turn this lumbering country around!
Ken
@MisterForkbeard: Did you consider “no strawberries at all today, we’ll try again tomorrow”? My parents used that technique a lot when we got whiny.
Ladyraxterinok
@hitchhiker:
Got idea IA GOP legislature working on messing up absentee ballot procedure!
An WIL WE STILL HAVE POSTAL SERVICE IN NOVEMBER?? Trump was saying he wasn’t going to sign, or something
And KY governor is a dem. Did he fight to stop the polls closing in Louisville? Don’t get it
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Miss Bianca:
Strawberry Fields Forever.
Martin
The tl;dr version of the argument is that we elect Presidents state by state. If you get voters to elect Ds at your state level, be it governor or senator or atty general, then you’re most of the way to electing a D president. Good state-level turnout drives the presidential race. This is why the GOP focuses so hard on ballot initiatives – it’s a turnout effort with the goal of winning those EVs.
Ladyraxterinok
@Ksmiami:
Evangelicals are viewing this election as literally a war between God and Satan. They at least preach that anyone not supporting Trump is demonic.
They constantly refer to the NT passage that is roughly ‘ for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against all the principalities and powers of darkness’ They believe they engaged in a Holy War.
I don’t believe we’ve ever before had a political group viewing Americans and an election like this
Captain C
Installing their flavor-du-jour politicians, giving them (the Purity Pony ‘Left’) the keys to the apparatus and bank accounts, performative outrage without doing anything, us all bending a knee, and for the Chapo types, I suspect, putting them in charge of re-education camps for Liberals (and you can likely imagine just how they would use that power).
Jeffro
@Amir Khalid:
AND…AND…
1) the pandemic is only going to get worse (thanks, early re-opening states!),
2) therefore the economy is going to stay flat at best – it could easily get worse,
and
3) as well all know, trumpov will not suddenly start behaving better/acting even slightly more rational, making the case for four more years of national abuse even harder
It’s not just about ‘team Biden’s performance…’team trumpov’s performance is likely to go down, and they’re already behind.
Bill Arnold
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
That’s the bad camp. (They think they’ll be in the 10%, well most of them think that. The anti-immigration movements are part of that, to normalize blocking global heating refugees.)
The “good” ones find reducing the global homo sapiens population by oh about 50 percent (4-5 billion) through neglect and halfhearted global heating mitigation measures to be acceptable.
Humans can do better than that.
Marcopolo
@Ladyraxterinok: So to be clear, the way elections worked in KY yesterday was something agreed to by the D Gov & R Sec of State to make voting safer for voters and poll workers. It included:
1) No excuse absentee voting for everyone in the state (KY normally has very strict rules for who can vote absentee & why).
2) Allowing early voting for several days prior to yesterday (note: normally KY does not have early voting of any kind).
3) Reducing the number of polling places dramatically but expanding the capacity at polling locations that stayed open.
Turnout in yesterday’s KY primary was the highest in history.
The vast majority of Kentuckians voted by mail using the no excuse absentee ballots.
About the same number of folks voted early as voted yesterday. The vast majority of folks who went to vote yesterday had no problems, there were no long lines because the polling places that remained open had lots of capacity.
However, folks who showed up to vote just before polls closed Tuesday night found themselves in long lines of cars trying to get into the parking area for the Louisville polling location. When they closed the doors at 6 those folks felt disenfranchised. Several campaigns asked a judge to extend voting and it was extended to 6:30. Everything I read said that all of the folks who had problems parking just prior to the 6 p.m. deadline eventually cast their votes.
On the face of it, KY did a great job. I haven’t seen any reports of folks who requested absentee ballots & didn’t get them in time (although I assume that probably happened). And I am also sure there were probably folks who, for whatever reason, did not request an absentee ballot & then found out they had no way to get to the polling location. But for the vast vast majority of folks it worked pretty damned well & I’m a little tired of all the misinformation about the process still floating around.
joel hanes
Who has standing to invite in international election observers/monitors?
Because the Rs will be desperate cornered rats this fall, and we’ve already slid far into banana republic territory.
Captain C
@Bill Arnold: That documentary demonstrates that Michael Moore is a gigadeath cultist. If one is OK with reducing the global homo sapiens population by 50-90 percent, then he’s your guy.
To people like that, I can only say: “You first!”
Tom Q
To address Betty’s question: yeah, I know too many people who fall into “it looks good, but Trump is a magical genius and Dems will find some way to blow it”. I think one shouldn’t underestimate that the media’s longtime pushing of a Diabolical GOPers/Feckless Dems narrative has caused many (who should know better) to internalize it. Even the Dems’ success in recent decades — winning the popular vote 6 of the last 7 presidentials — reinforces the theme, seeing not once but twice Dems have had it swiped out from under them via the Electoral College. Plus, if you’re old enough, the dominance of the Nixon/Reagan/Bush I maps gave you a political inferiority complex in your tender years.
That’s why I think a complete annihilation of the Pubs — 10+ popular vote margin, 400 EVs, 6-10 (why not dream?) Senate seats — would be the optimal November outcome. It would reset that narrative; make people see the Dems as the natural governing party in a nation that currently lines up Dem on almost every issue, often by 60-70%. Obama’s election SHOULD have done that, but, honestly, a 7.25% margin wasn’t that great given the economic collapse, and of course the immediate reversal in the House two years later changed the gestalt quickly. What we need is for Biden & Congressional Dems to go big and establish themselves as fully in charge. Eventually, the “we’re a center-right nation” blather will die out as its falsity will become more apparent.
As far as Cole’s initial post…Of course, nothing for granted. But there’s no reason to think, based on widespread polling and the empirical circumstances, that Trump has any more than a Hail Mary’s chance of being competitive in this election. And it’s hard to imagine a candidate getting two of those in succession. (Remember: after the Truman miracle in ’48, Harry was too unpopular to even run in ’52, and his would-be successor lost by 10.)
Bill Arnold
@Ladyraxterinok:
That is what i call a “one-bit error”.
(Those churches are, to be polite and roughly within their faith tradition, tools of the Adversary.)
Frankensteinbeck
@joel hanes:
Just remember: If it was within the physical power of any Republican, Doug Jones would not be a Senator. They cheat, but they have limits.
J R in WV
@Miss Bianca:
You are probably correct, BUT we don’t need to call these goat-phuckers good people, do we? I mean, they just are not~!!~
Ken
@Bill Arnold: You remind me of a line from Tuf Voyaging, one of George RR Martin’s science-fiction novels from before Those Books. “I forgot the good people of Suthlam and their long history of rational thought. Undoubtedly in their billions they will change their ways, deftly averting the catastrophe that is coming.”
chopper
i’m acting like biden’s behind by 5-10. that you can come back from, that’s some good motivation.
god, if i felt like it was 30 i’d be drinking myself into a coma right now.
Ladyraxterinok
@Chief Oshkosh:
Can any media give an accurate account
Before sElection 2000 a commenter at Mike Malloy’s blog said’ With all the spin we’re seeing, I think if Gore wins we’ll never know because media will spin his win away
And what happened. FL was called for Gore then Bush family told Fox that that wasn’t accurate. And an exec at Fox was part of Bush family. And of course Jeb was Gov
There was a consortium of newspapers that carefully examined the ballots that some courts had caused to be preserved. All but one concluded that Gore did in fact win FL. The report came out 9/12/00—-so no one noticed!!!
VFX Lurker
I know a thirty-something in California who’s convinced the big orange idiot will win this November. That said, every time a primary election happens she implores everyone on her FB feed to vote.
So, she wants Dems to win, but she still expects the big orange idiot to win this November. Maybe she’s trying to avoid another 2016 heartbreak.
J R in WV
@Bill Arnold:
Well, put, worthy of my friend the Episcopal Bishop. If they don’t spend their effort helping the homeless, the poor, the sick, who don’t attend their “church” — then they ARE working for the Adversary! Who also works with Trump, obviously.
ETA fix a typo…
Patricia Kayden
Subsole
@Kent: Yeah. That kinda fits my sitch, too.
Although… I have been outright shocked at how some of my folks have reacted over the covidiocy. They could tolerate the culture war shit. (The riots triggered some deep-conditioned responses.)
But the sheer staggering incompetence on the virus response just…I dunno…broke something. Like, they are openly calling Trump a dumbass, when they were all dewy-eyed for him on election day. They have nothing kind to say about Abbot or Patrick either. They despise Cruz and are kinda side-eyeing Cornyn, who presents as pretty mild for Texas GOP. So it isn’t just limited to Trump.
Granted, they probably will just not vote, rather than go vote for the sensible choice. So yeah, not the RIGHT thing. But y’know, after beating my head against that wall for 20 years, I’ll fucking take apathy and call it a win.
jc
Late to the party. Don’t be overconfident about Biden winning. If Trump can’t win, he’s going to make sure that the post-election outcome is so chaotic that the results in several states are too tangled, and it will take months to sort out the mess. He thrives on this kind of crisis politics, because it keeps everyone off balance, which is to his advantage.
Subsole
@Miss Bianca: A lot of people are unfathomably lucky Democrats live here, otherwise most of us would have cut these fuckers and this country loose a long time ago and let them burn and/or sink with their little red lifeboat full of poor life choices.
Subsole
@geg6: The piano is a surprisingly versatile instrument.
Just sayin’.
Subsole
@Marcopolo: Don’t know about the rest, but Texas is likely red this year, at least nationally.
Now, locally, we have a real shot at flipping some seats. And if we can take control during a census year, we can start reversing some of the obscene-ass districting shenanigans that are keeping us fever-red.
Just making us purple would be seismic. We can win without TX. They LITERALLY cannot. We are a very expensive media market. Just making them actually have to fight here every two years would probably put a lot of other purple states out of GOP reach.
zhena gogolia
@Baud:
This I want to see.
different-church-lady
They’re gonna try it. They’ll be down 20 points, and they’ll try manipulating the vote totals and it will be an utter shit-show that nobody believes.
(DCL, thinking about +4)
Patricia Kayden
Ladyraxterinok
@Marcopolo:
Really apprecite this info. Had known NOTHING about this
Someone needs to plaster democraticunderground with this info. I got idea many, esp blacks, had a terrible time trying to vote and left in dismay
What you’ve set out makes a lot of sense. Sounds like state did a great job.
Again, really appreciate the info!
J R in WV
@Ladyraxterinok:
Also, this primary ballot in KY only has Presidential noms and Senate noms, (or some such tiny combination) a very short ballot, took seconds to cast one.
So closing the doors while there were people waiting outside was pretty stupid on the part of the person managing the polling station. And that’s why adding 30 minutes allowed all those people to finish voting.