Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

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

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

After roe, women are no longer free.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

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

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

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

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

This really is a full service blog.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Open Thread: Joe Biden Live in Philadelphia

Open Thread: Joe Biden Live in Philadelphia

by | 71 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

He is scheduled to discuss the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the future of the Supreme Court.

And if you haven’t seen this already, it’s brilliant.

I’m going to try and be back later to show off what I did all week.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

71Comments

  2. 2.

    New Deal democrat

    For anyone who might be interested, I have posted my weekly update of the polling nowcasts for both the Presidential and Senate races, here.

    A shift to a Democratic majority in the Senate is looking increasingly likely, with a possible majority of 56 if the Ds pick up all of the toss-ups.

  4. 4.

    Shalimar

    OT, but it just occurred to me people are getting the math very wrong on the future Supreme Court nominee vote.  Murkowski, Romney and Collins say they won’t vote for the nominee before the election.  They do not say they will vote against.  53 Republicans minus 3 votes equals a 50-47 vote, not 50-50.  McConnell can lose 6 Republicans and still have the votes to confirm as long as they all abstain instead of voting no.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    @Shalimar:

    Tulsi didn’t fool anybody when she voted present on impeachment.  I don’t think any of these senators are that silly.  Everyone will see through it.

  7. 7.

    Another Scott

    @New Deal democrat: I don’t see your link.  Please update.

    Thanks.

    Relatedly:

    Biden was up, 52-44, over Trump on Feb. 29. Then covid spread, lockdowns started, and everything changed…except for how we view the 2020 race.

    Biden up, 51-43, in latest WSJ/NBC poll our this morning.

    More here from ⁦@learyreports⁩: https://t.co/EBN8rRm6Bb— Michael C. Bender (@MichaelCBender) September 20, 2020

    I can’t imagine that Uncle Joe’s numbers are going to go down as a result of RBG’s passing.

    Forward!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  9. 9.

    New Deal democrat

    By the way, in addition to nuking the filibuster and adding seats to the Supreme (and lower) Courts, another reform completely within the authority of Democratic Congressional majorities is to do away with *Congressional* gerrymandering.

    The Congress itself has authority to determine how Congressional seats are to be allocated. This is stated *directly* in the Constitution, and Chief Justice Roberts called attention to it last year. Before 1842, it was usually “winner take all” on a State-by-State basis. In that year the Whigs finally succeeded in changing the system to “district-by-district.”

    A new Congress next year could inaugurate a version of “proportional representation” by allocating seats by the %age of votes for each party in each State, and/or could mandate how Congressional districts are to be drawn in each State.

  15. 15.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Friday night, when these numbers started racking up, I wondered if we’d get to $50M by Monday morning, I typed out that speculation here and deleted it out of superstition

    ActBlue@actblue· 3h

    Small-dollar donors have now given $100 million on ActBlue since 8 p.m. ET Friday, investing in candidates up and down the ballot and orgs on the front lines of the impending judicial confirmation fight. The grassroots is ready to fight to honor Justice Ginsburg’s legacy.

    I genuinely wonder what the Rs think when they see these numbers. Michael Steele said on the Joy-less AM Joy that McConnell is willing to trade the Senate majority to lock in the Supreme Court.

    @Shalimar: has Romney clarified his position? I know there were reports he was with Murkowski Friday night, but his spokesbot shut it down hard. I suspect McConnell and trump are counting on a lame-duck vote, where I could see Murkowski voting ‘no’ and a lame-duck, bitter Collins voting ‘aye’ because fuck you all I’m off to the tall grass

  18. 18.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: I haven’t seen a story on it in a while, but it used to be CW that the majority of individuals in McConnell’s caucus hate him. That, I think, is how the ACA survived. I don’t know who McCain hated more, McConnell or trump. I suspect McCain would’ve had trouble answering the question, honestly.

  19. 19.

    debbie

    Other than relying on GOP Senators to refuse to hold hearings on the nominee (ha), do the Dems have any options to stop this?

  21. 21.

    New Deal democrat

    @debbie: I happen to think that if Biden explicitly promises to sign a bill expanding the Court to 13 members if the GOP goes through with this, it will stop them in their tracks – or at least enough of them.

  24. 24.

    narya

    @New Deal democrat: My fear about that is that it would motivate R voters who might otherwise stay home. Showing all the cards in your hand might not be the best strategy. I’d rather he say something noncommittal like what we do will depend on the options available to us at any time.

  25. 25.

    Subsole

    @debbie: Nope. Be sure to thank your local Green party.

    @New Deal democrat: Disagree. It would need to be at least 15-17. Too easy to gradually escalate/frogboil their way around it otherwise. Hell, bump it to 21. Or 101 for all I care. Give ’em the ENTIRE fucking hammer, make it clear that doing this will destroy the court. Which is the last fingerhold their trashfire party actually has.

    Will Dems do that? No. But that’s probably what it would take.

    Besides, having more justices makes it less likely that we go thru a Constitutional crisis every time one dies.

  28. 28.

    Leto

    I think my issue with Rs coming out with “not before the election” is the potential lame duck period. It’s how we got the USPS poison pill. We know they won’t respect McConnell’s “will of the people” horseshit (nor will he). I don’t think they’ll respect the threat of a court packing because I don’t believe they think Dems will go through with it. Idk, whatever Dems can do to delay/obstruct. I’m more hopeful today than yesterday, and I’ll be more hopeful tomorrow, etc…

  29. 29.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @New Deal democrat:

    I happen to think that if Biden explicitly promises to sign a bill expanding the Court to 13 members if the GOP goes through with this, it will stop them in their tracks – or at least enough of them.

    I think it would have the exact opposite effect, it would give the lame ducks a pious-sounding excuse to vote with McConnell. I’m also highly skeptical that Cunningham, Bollier or Gross want to answer questions about court expansion. Just my gut, I’d be happy to see evidence to the contrary.

  34. 34.

    Yutsano

    Joe will never be a great orator. But oh man he has speechwriters who are really good at knowing what needs to be said!

  35. 35.

    Leto

    @Yutsano: I’m watching it via MSNBC, though the tv feed is about 20 sec behind the YouTube feed. Listening to a grown up speak directly about issues facing all of us. Yes please.

    He’s currently speaking about voting, how much early voting is happening, and all I can think about is how POC in NC are having their mail-in ballots rejected at 4x the rate of white voters. UGH.

  36. 36.

    Yutsano

    @Leto: “If Drumpf wins the election, then his nominee should go forward and have a clear hearing. But if I win the election, the nominee should be withdrawn. I should be the one to choose the successor to Ruth Bader Ginsburg!”

    That rare anger…it’s welcome when it pops out.

  37. 37.

    Leto

    @Yutsano: yup. He’s also proposing to sit the first black female SC justice, but making sure that says that he engages the Senate with their constitutional “Advise and consent” Part. But that the selection is “mine, and mine alone”.

    Now calling Trumpov an “infection that will destroy this democracy.” And that we have to stop it. Like you said, very good writers. I know his voice is in there too but the entire team is nailing it.

  39. 39.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @narya: twitter says the Dems– Pelosi, Schumer, Biden and surrogates were all on message today promoting the connection between the courts and health care, which I think is the smart way to go.

  47. 47.

    Kathleen

    @Yutsano: Random thought that popped in my brain – I wonder if any Senate Republicans have indicated to Joe or campaign surrogate that they are wavering in their support for Trump and if that’s what prompted his plea directly to Rethug senators.

  49. 49.

    New Deal democrat

    Another thing: keep in mind that McConnell is devious enough to be willing to withdraw consent for a nomination now, in return for the Democrats refusing to pack the Court after a D win. That way he gets to pocket the current 5-4 majority.

  50. 50.

    Kathleen

    @WaterGirl: I think he’s emotional and angry and he’s keeping it in check as best he can. He did a good job of containing the anger but he was stumbling a little bit more with his words and I attribute that to his controlling his emotions.

  52. 52.

    Baud

    @New Deal democrat:

    I don’t think the Dems would pack the court anyway.  It’s a big lift and there are too many other things on our plate.  It’s only because the hypocrisy is too obvious here that there’s momentum.

  53. 53.

    zhena gogolia

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    This is why I don’t watch these things. He’s fine. Watch two minutes of Trump and you’ll calm down. Aaron Rupar has a clip of him calling himself “Donald Prump,” for God’s sake.

  54. 54.

    Redshift

    @New Deal democrat: And while we’re at it, repeal the Reapportionment Act of 1929!

    We hear a lot of talk about how hard it would be to get rid of the Electoral College, or even do an end run like the Natural Popular Vote Compact, but it would only take an act of Congress to increase the size of the House and give higher population states a bigger share of the electoral vote.

  60. 60.

    taumaturgo

    This is what the old and stale conservative leadership is very good at; surrendering before the fight. If the quiver wasn’t empty it is now.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday said she would not leverage a government shut down in order to slow down Republicans’ push to fill the Supreme Court vacancy following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

    “None of us has any interest in shutting down the government, that has such a harmful and shameful impact on so many people in our country,” Pelosi told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week.”
    It seems that a 6-3 majority is peachy.

  61. 61.

    Another Scott

    @taumaturgo:

    1. Alternative Universe House Speaker Pelosi threates to shut down the government to prevent Senate from confirming new Justice.
    2. (missing step 2)
    3. Profit!

    Underpants Gnomes plans never work.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  62. 62.

    taumaturgo

    @Another Scott: Desperate times call for extreme measures, not unlike what the GOP did acting in unison to steal a Supreme Court seat, unless the pain and suffering of the people during a shout down raise to a higher level of 6-3 Supreme Court majority for years to come. Someone, please inform the leader that is suicidal to fight with an empty quiver.

  64. 64.

    Ruckus

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    They deal and have dealt with mcconnel for longer and he doesn’t strike most people as a complete idiot. Evil yes, complete idiot, no. They’ve also had to deal with him on a personal basis, which they really don’t have to do with trump. They depend on him, not trump for committee assignments. He is effectively their boss. And I’d bet he doesn’t let them forget that. So yes, I’d expect them to like him less.

  67. 67.

    Chris Johnson

    @taumaturgo: What’s got you ‘quiver’ minded? Hanging out with your real friends who are ‘quiverfull’ hard right Christianist Republicans? Aren’t you the nym that a lot of people have pied, around here?

    All about how Pelosi is dooooooomed and the word that comes to your mind is ‘quiver’. Funny, that. Fuck off, friend :)

  68. 68.

    germy

    @Chris Johnson:

    Nancy Pelosi  was on TV this morning.  She refuses to rule out impeaching Trump or AG Barr to stall SCOTUS process: “We have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about to discuss now.”

  71. 71.

    tam1MI

    @taumaturgo: Someone, please inform the leader that is suicidal to fight with an empty quiver.

     

    It was suicidal to vote for Jill Fucking Stein in 2016, but you did it anyway.

Comments are closed.