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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

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If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

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

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

The willow is too close to the house.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

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Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

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

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

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Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

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You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Biden-Harris 2020 / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Ready for the Scrum

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Ready for the Scrum

by Anne Laurie|  September 22, 20208:56 am| 100 Comments

This post is in: Biden-Harris 2020, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat

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Biden met a 10 year old girl today waiting with others to see him in Wisconsin

“I've never met a vice president before,” she said

“Well, I may be speaking to a future president in you,” he responded. (Via pooler @KThomasDC)

— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) September 21, 2020

It's going to be a great week — @KamalaHarris will be in Detroit and Flint on Tuesday. Then, early voting will begin on Thursday. Get fired up and ready to vote. https://t.co/4mo4XlQCs7

— Michigan Democrats (@MichiganDems) September 20, 2020


Biden to WBAY won’t say whether he’d consider court packing. “It’s a legitimate question, but let me tell you why I’m not going answer that q.Bc it will shift the focus, that’s what he wants, he never wants to talk about the issue at hand & he always tries to change the subject.”

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) September 22, 2020

link https://t.co/pSkYzN2sZK

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) September 22, 2020

Kamala Harris may become a leading figure in the opposition to Trump’s court nominee, as both the Democratic VP candidate and a member of the Senate committee tasked with vetting Trump's pick. https://t.co/rBmGj5jELv

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) September 21, 2020

JUST IN: Judge orders postal service treat election mail as priority https://t.co/Ldyj2W9WXc pic.twitter.com/zqU4Q5ac8Y

— The Hill (@thehill) September 21, 2020

A federal judge has ordered Louis DeJoy to treat all election-related mail as first-class and restore overtime for U.S. Postal Service employees. https://t.co/hiPf2Q5klC

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 21, 2020

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Previous Post: «Scientific Papers Are Hard To Read Morning Open Thread: Want A Coronavirus Test? Here, Have Some Body Armor
Next Post: COVID, pre-exisiting conditions and post-facto underwriting »

Reader Interactions

100Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    September 22, 2020 at 9:04 am

    Good response by Biden. Don’t play the media’s game where they act like agents of Trump’s reelection campaign.

  2. 2.

    Jeffro

    September 22, 2020 at 9:13 am

    Reposting from below…I hope Biden & Co spend some of that $300M warchest simply repeating this paragraph from Catherine Rampell’s piece today:

    “With about 200,000 dead from Covid-19 and nearly 30 million Americans filing for unemployment, Republican senators decided in recent weeks not to fixate on trumpov’s mishandling of the dual public health and economic crises, nor even to ask what they might do to help. Instead of passing coronavirus relief, they have remained laser-focused on their precious bench. In the past month, nearly every Senate roll-call vote has related to a judicial appointment; not one addressed mounting hunger, school closures, financial desperation, or American deaths.”

    Maybe with Mark Hamill doing the voice-over?

  3. 3.

    germy

    September 22, 2020 at 9:21 am

    I’ll say this for Biden:  He’s shrewd.  They throw so many gotcha questions at him and he bats them away with responses that are more thought provoking than the questions deserve.

    Harris is good at this, as well.

  4. 4.

    Gin & Tonic

    September 22, 2020 at 9:22 am

    My son listens to NPR’s Marketplace (he’s an adult and makes his own choices.) This morning they had a story about the increased popularity in pandemic times of the PB&J, and interviewed the executive director of the Texas Peanut Producers Board. Her name is Shelly Nutt.

    No, I am not joking.

  5. 5.

    debbie

    September 22, 2020 at 9:22 am

    @germy:

    He’s got his own 11-dimensional chess game!

  6. 6.

    germy

    September 22, 2020 at 9:24 am

    FEINSTEIN on ending filibuster and expanding SCOTUS: “I don't believe in doing that. I think the filibuster serves a purpose. It is not often used, it's often less used now than when I first came, and I think it's part of the Senate that differentiates itself.” ht @DanielPFlatley— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) September 21, 2020

    An anti-filibuster source sends this along in response to Feinstein: pic.twitter.com/yWIYurSlRw— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) September 21, 2020

  7. 7.

    PsiFighter37

    September 22, 2020 at 9:25 am

    @germy: He’s been doing this a long time…not his first rodeo.

  8. 8.

    Kay

    September 22, 2020 at 9:28 am

    Nate Cohn
    @Nate_Cohn
    · 1h
    The world where Biden’s basically tied in GA/TX/IA/OH but can’t claim a clear 5 point lead in PA/FL averages is one *really* easy for the race to either turn into a total blowout or a highly competitive contest, with a big popular vote-Electoral College gap

    There are so many swing states. There are now two whole tiers- the swing states where Biden is ahead (tier one) and the swing states where Biden is tied (tier two). This is where it probably matters that Biden has so much money.
    I don’t really agree with the conclusion, though. I think there’s a third possibility- Biden clears the states he needs and then gets a couple of add-ons. That’s the boring, ordinary possibility.
    Up 4/5 in Pennsylvania isn’t that close- Obama only won it by 6 and no one was counting for days.

  9. 9.

    germy

    September 22, 2020 at 9:31 am

    Open Thread?

    There’s a website devoted to cats on film:

    https://catsonfilm.net/

    They appear often as extras, sometimes as important cast members.  These people are documenting it all

    Categories:

    CATAGONIST

    HEROPUSS

    CATZILLA

    CATPANION

    CATGUFFIN

    etc

  10. 10.

    zhena gogolia

    September 22, 2020 at 9:31 am

    @germy:

    There’s something to be said for experience and intelligence, isn’t there?

  11. 11.

    Yutsano

    September 22, 2020 at 9:33 am

    @Kay: But mah horserace…

    They want it so bad. The media wants that drama. They need their fix of a tightening race rather than the blowout that is coming. That’s BOOOOOOORING!!! Plus the Democrats don’t have the fun influence parties like the Republicans do!

  12. 12.

    Kay

    September 22, 2020 at 9:34 am

    Republicans and Democrats really are different though. Republicans were as convinced Romney would win as they are Trump will win. That’s a constant with them. Has nothing to do with Trump.

    If all you watched was Fox Obama was a huge failure and everyone hated him. They were telling me day of the 2012 election that Obama was “toast”.

  13. 13.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 22, 2020 at 9:35 am

    @Kay: Obama wasn’t dealing with a large fraction of the population voting by mail, with his opponent actively rejecting the legitimacy of mail voting and trying to physically stop it. Pennsylvania is one of the few states where they can’t start processing mail votes until Election Day, so it’s probably ground zero for any disaster that happens.

    Latest thing I heard was that there’s now a court order requiring the rejection of “naked ballots” that don’t have the inner secrecy envelope, and speculation that that could flip the state.

  14. 14.

    Betty Cracker

    September 22, 2020 at 9:35 am

    @Baud: It was an excellent response.

    @germy: Why is DiFi still there? Not my state, so I don’t recall what happened when she was last up…

  15. 15.

    Kay

    September 22, 2020 at 9:38 am

    @Yutsano:

    I have to say, I think this one is interesting too. Donald Trump won Iowa by 9. They’re tied. It’s just that I think the majority of the uncertainty runs in Joe Biden’s direction.

    We may know more ahead of time too. It could break. They could not stay tied in the second tier states.

  16. 16.

    Barbara

    September 22, 2020 at 9:40 am

    @Kay: They really, really need their horse race.  Not that I think Biden should take PA for granted because of what happened in 2016, although it does look more and more like an outlier, woe to us.

    As for Dianne Feinstein, she is on my death watch list.  She really should have retired and is Exhibit A for how intoxicating power can be.  Nothing burns me more than the “sacralization” of our institutions.  The whole fucking point of democracy is that if an institution or policy or program isn’t working to serve the public interest we have the right and maybe even the obligation to change it.

  17. 17.

    Kay

    September 22, 2020 at 9:40 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    All of that’s true but I think I started with the basic assumption that a “swing state” would be closer than a non swing state. They’re within five, which is why they’re swing states. We weren’t getting more certainty than that.

  18. 18.

    Kay

    September 22, 2020 at 9:42 am

    @Barbara:

    Oh, I think he should really focus on PA. It’s pretty Trumpy. I think they are really focusing on it for a reason. He doesn’t have that much room for error, hence, “swing state”.

  19. 19.

    Barbara

    September 22, 2020 at 9:43 am

    @Kay: If past is prologue, “undecideds” break away from the incumbent.  Meaning, “undecided” at this point has typically been seen as a tacit judgment against the incumbent, whether that ends up being an actual vote for the challenger, or a decision not to vote at all.

  20. 20.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 22, 2020 at 9:46 am

    @Kay: One thing that’s nice to see is that on 538’s page, their breakdown of battleground states can be switched between “See states with the closest races” and “See states closest to the tipping point”… and the fact that those sets aren’t the same is really encouraging.

    Biden is leading in all nine “states closest to the tipping point”, though none is a slam dunk, and a massive systematic poll miss or election-process catastrophe big enough to have him losing them could certainly be going on.

  21. 21.

    Kay

    September 22, 2020 at 9:46 am

    @Barbara:

    I just think there’s real uncertainty and we have to live with it. I don’t think media is inventing it. It would be less uncertain if he were up 9 in PA, but he’s not. You don’t hear much about Michigan any more because he’s consistently up enough to put it mostly in his column. Minnesota too. If that happened in PA too we would hear less about PA.

  22. 22.

    waspuppet

    September 22, 2020 at 9:47 am

    @germy: I gotta say, I’m usually apoplectic at Democrats’ ability not to take a firm stand on something, but this was in fact a perfect answer. I’ve known enough addicts and abusers to know that Trump is one, and as such, nothing terrifies him more than to have to actually stand and answer the question “You said you would [X] — did you do it? Yes or no?”

    They will do anything to avoid actually answering this question. If there hadn’t been a SCOTUS opening, he would very possibly have started a war, so he wouldn’t have to give a straight-up account of himself.

     

    PS: Can we stop calling it early voting? It’s voting. We don’t just have one day to vote anymore. Calling it “early” voting implies it’s something different from voting, which is what Republicans want.

  23. 23.

    cmorenc

    September 22, 2020 at 9:48 am

    Among key reason GOP Senators may be going along with Trump / McConnell’s push to confirm hard-right nominee ahead of election is: – realization is setting in (with everyone but Trump himself) that not only is Trump going to lose the election and the GOP likely to lose the Senate, but that the GOP likely faces a long winter in the Congressional wilderness as well for several election cycles.  Controlling the courts, and a reliably secure RW majority in SCOTUS in particular, are their only long-term bulwarks to hold back the ongoing sea change in demographic and social / economic attitudes of a growing majority of the country.  (They don’t trust Roberts ever since he voted to uphold the ACA).

    True, the GOP has a structural advantage that will prevent their Senate minority from becoming very large, but they realize from their own experience 2014-present that even a fairly durable small 2 to 4 seat D Senate majority is hugely consequential, and their gerrymandering-built wall in the house has already been substantially breached in 2018 and will likely erode further

    Biden is playing it tactically smart to not discuss the prospect of Ds packing SCOTUS post-election – and keep the focus on the disastrous GOP handling of COVID and the threat to insurance coverage (particularly pre-existing conditions).

  24. 24.

    Lacuna Synechdoche

    September 22, 2020 at 9:50 am

    The Hill via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    JUST IN: Judge orders postal service treat election mail as priority

    That’s good. I applaud that decision.

    Now how do we enforce it? Because we’re dealing with an administration that has no compunctions about ignoring the courts.

  25. 25.

    Kay

    September 22, 2020 at 9:51 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I think the fact that there are so many swing states makes it less likely there is big polling error. It all makes sense with his national numbers. They’re where one would expect them to be. Ohio even or up one is consistent with PA at 4, 5 and Michigan at 6,7,8.

    I don’t mean to harp on this but we had an indicator PA and MI were very close in ’16. Trump was way up in OH. That correlation is 50 years old. No one needed Nate Silver to discover it.

  26. 26.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 22, 2020 at 9:54 am

    @Barbara: Undecideds also tend to break for the leader.  This means that a steady lead throughout can pay big dividends as people decide that they want to be on the winning side.

  27. 27.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 22, 2020 at 9:54 am

    @cmorenc: I would say it’s a realization that they and Trump would lose a fair election, but having a large enough conservative majority in the Supreme Court makes it more likely they can nullify the election result through litigation and stay in office.

  28. 28.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    September 22, 2020 at 9:54 am

    @germy:

    I’ll say this for Biden: He’s shrewd. They throw so many gotcha questions at him and he bats them away with responses that are more thought provoking than the questions deserve.

    He’s been at this a looooong time.  But, not all politicians with his longevity ever learn the skill set he’s showing now (I’m thinking of odious DiFi).

    He learns and applies, always has.  It’s been one of his strengths and it’s really come out this year.

  29. 29.

    H.E.Wolf

    September 22, 2020 at 9:54 am

    I have been reading and enjoying http://electoral-vote.com – they post new info Mon through Fri, a Q&A on Sat, mail from readers on Sun. I appreciate that they do this with humor, expertise, and an absence of hair on fire.

    From their FAQ page:

    Unlike other sites, which track generic national polls, this site tracks the state-by-state polls. After all, the presidency is decided by 51 separate state elections and the Senate by elections in almost three dozen states. As new state polls are released, the maps, spreadsheets, tables, graphs, etc. will be updated. In the maps, the states with white centers are statistical ties and are subject to rapid fluctuations.

    The main page generally contains a map showing the state of the polls. Putting the mouse on a state pops up information about the polls there. Clicking on a state goes to a graph of the polls for that state. There are numerous other pages with election data on the site. From any page, clicking on the “electoral-vote.com” name on the red banner at the top of the page takes you back to the main page.

    The news items on the main page are written by two front-page authors, “The Votemaster” (Andrew Tanenbaum) and “Zenger” (Christopher Bates). The (V) or (Z) after each item indicates who wrote it.

  30. 30.

    cmorenc

    September 22, 2020 at 9:55 am

    @Kay:

    The GOP (particularly GOP Senators) are behaving in a way that reflects their realization they are likely to lose the Presidency and control of the Senate – the Senate by 1 or 2 seats, and the Presidency by too wide a margin to steal by electoral chicanery.

  31. 31.

    Yutsano

    September 22, 2020 at 9:55 am

    @cmorenc:

    that the GOP likely faces a long winter in the Congressional wilderness as well for several election cycles.

    This is most likely true for 2022 as well. The Senate map could cost them anywhere from two to five seats. It’s entirely possible the Democrats could get to 60 and be there for a while.

  32. 32.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 22, 2020 at 10:00 am

    @H.E.Wolf: Tanenbaum got into the state-poll-aggregation game before Nate Silver or even Sam Wang. I like the simplicity of his approach–it’s rough and makes no claims to predict anything, but you know exactly what you’re getting. The analyses can be a bit conventional-wisdom, but for their intended original purpose (summary of the US political situation for citizens voting abroad) that’s fine. My favorite page on the site is the comparison of the electoral-vote graph of state polling over time for every presidential election cycle since 2004.

  33. 33.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    September 22, 2020 at 10:01 am

    @PsiFighter37: Biden is the nominee because he never confused twitter noise with actual public sentiment

  34. 34.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 22, 2020 at 10:01 am

    Fuck Romney. What incredibly contorted “reasoning” to justify what he was going to do anyway.

    And screw you, Mittens, with your “liberal friends” bullshit.

  35. 35.

    Johnnybuck

    September 22, 2020 at 10:02 am

    I think it’s damn straight of Biden not to focus on the Supreme Court. Republicans, wrongly, in my opinion believe this will energize their voters, but I have a hard time believing that this makes that much of a difference, particularly if Democrats focus on Healthcare, the lack of relief, and the coronavirus.

    The fact is, if they have the votes to confirm, they will. Energize your voters to make them pay rather than making this a hill to die on.

  36. 36.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 22, 2020 at 10:02 am

    @Kay: You are going to hear about WI, MI, and PA throughout this election because of 2016.  Biden has been up by about 6 points in WI for three months.  Can Trump win here?  Maybe, but not unless things change.  HRC was never, IIRC, ahead in WI by that much.  Nevertheless, WI will continue to get attention even if Biden goes up by 10 points.

  37. 37.

    Chris Johnson

    September 22, 2020 at 10:03 am

    @Baud: Also a good response by Biden in that it plays directly to the pressure on Republicans.
    Liberals like us can tell ourselves forever that all the Republicans are only chuds marching like fascists to the tune of any asshole wearing a red jersey, and that describes some of them: enough that they lost control of their party to a man that’s run by their historic enemy, who’s not even a real Republican at all. So it’s PARTLY true.
    But Biden is correct that Trump is working really hard to destroy the American system that a bunch of Republicans really care about, and Trump is too demented, stupid, and self-absorbed to do this in a sneaky way. So the Republicans have to line up behind autocratic monarchy and the abandonment of the system they were trained to revere… and the contempt for a military they were trained to revere… and the abandonment of free market capitalism they were trained to revere (Trump is openly a royal patronage system and that too is getting increasingly brazen)
    It’s too much, way too much. This is the right angle to take: Trump is a RINO. He’s attacking stuff that Republicans really do care about, and expecting them to just take it unquestioningly. Are they the Republicans that liberals always said they were, or are they something else?

  38. 38.

    Quinerly

    September 22, 2020 at 10:03 am

    Romney caved. MSNBC live now.

    Wants to proceed with the SC consideration process.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    September 22, 2020 at 10:04 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I hope Dems refer to their conservative friends when they pack the court.

  40. 40.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 22, 2020 at 10:06 am

    And now Trump is addressing the UNGA, remotely. Ugh.

    ETA: “Blood in the sand.”  Drink!!

  41. 41.

    Kathleen

    September 22, 2020 at 10:07 am

    @germy:  Pelosi is a master of this as well. Media: “Some say gotcha gotcha gotcha.” Nancy: “That’s not important. What’s important is that American families deserve xyz.”

  42. 42.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    September 22, 2020 at 10:07 am

    @Chris Johnson:

    You’ve very effectively described why the otherwise odious people in the Lincoln Project broke with the GOP and are doing what they’re doing.

  43. 43.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 22, 2020 at 10:08 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: There’s another reason we’ll hear about WI, MI and PA. Those are the three states in the intersection of two sets:

    1. States that are relatively close
    2. States that don’t start processing mail ballots until Election Day

    A while back, Sam Wang posted an analysis of what a tortuous “long Election Night” could actually look like in 2020. It turns out that a bunch of swing states, including Florida and Arizona, will actually be trying to count mail ballots in an expeditious manner, so the “Trump Election Night landslide” mirage and an extended fight to stop the counting of mail ballots is unlikely there, but it might happen in MI, WI and PA.

  44. 44.

    Quinerly

    September 22, 2020 at 10:09 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: I guess he’s in the Oval House.

    He looks like death warmed over. Clutching podium for life.

  45. 45.

    Quinerly

    September 22, 2020 at 10:10 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: OK now, accordion hands.

  46. 46.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    September 22, 2020 at 10:11 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Tom Nichols @RadioFreeTom ·3m
    This is really not a UN general assembly speech. It’s a re-purposed rally speech.

    Well, I guess the good news is that he can’t hear the United Nations laughing at him right now

    Don’t know if that’s the good news…. I’d like him to hear that.  I wonder if he’ll whine about no one paying attention to his Nobel nomination.

  47. 47.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    September 22, 2020 at 10:11 am

    @germy: I can’t remember what movie this story was from, but some actor was playing a bad guy and holding a cat as a prop, and staying completely in character as the reluctant cat was scratching the hell out of him. As they do.

    Does that ring any bells with anyone?

    I think the holding of the cat may have been improvised also, he just grabbed it and picked it up for the scene.

  48. 48.

    debbie

    September 22, 2020 at 10:11 am

    @Quinerly:

    I’m still giggling over that youtube someone shared last week about the accordion hands.

  49. 49.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 22, 2020 at 10:14 am

    @Quinerly:

    Just heard it was prerecorded (don’t know when). So his advisors actually had a chance to try to fix things, and they bailed.

  50. 50.

    germy

    September 22, 2020 at 10:15 am

    @Quinerly:

    Here’s what I don’t understand:  Romney says he supports having a vote.

    But does that automatically mean he’ll vote FOR trump’s nominee

    Whoops:  edit

    Mitt Romney: "I recognize that we may have a Court which has more of a conservative bent than it has had over the last few decades, but my liberal friends have over many decades gotten used to the idea of having a liberal court and that's not written in the stars." pic.twitter.com/0lXXcAGrjQ— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 22, 2020

  51. 51.

    Kathleen

    September 22, 2020 at 10:15 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: I’m sure media’s treatment of Obama and reasons why did not escape him either.

     

  52. 52.

    Kay

    September 22, 2020 at 10:15 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I don’t agree. We no longer hear that much about Michigan – I don’t think it’s that complicated. They’re numbers people. They see 6 and they think “swingy”. They were handwringing over Minnesota until they got a couple of 8s and 9s. If it were a narrative they would stick to priors and they really don’t. They’re much more bullish on Texas than they were 2 weeks ago because the election is closer and it’s still tied.

    Trump’s main problem is he’s running out of time. If he loses they’ll say his whole foray into “law n order” was a tragic mistake and he should have stuck to the economy. I disagree only because Republicans can’t “stick to the economy”. They have no economic plans. Those rallies would be really short. He’d be saying “look at the stock market!” and leaving. They have no health care plan. That’s 70% of Biden’s pitch. He just has more to say.

    The Trump peoples laziness is truly in a class by itself, I must say. He doesnt’ need a real health care plan. They make shit up constantly. They can’t even produce a piece of paper with health care words on it.

  53. 53.

    Baud

    September 22, 2020 at 10:15 am

    @Quinerly:

    Romney caved.

    So, it’s not technically a “cave” if he’s doing what he wants to do.

  54. 54.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 22, 2020 at 10:17 am

    @Matt McIrvin: …actually it’s four states: MI, WI, PA and Iowa, but Trump is more likely than not to win Iowa for real.

  55. 55.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 22, 2020 at 10:17 am

    @germy:

    I haven’t taken time yet to go through all 100+ entries, but I’m going to be mightily peeved if Pyewacket (Bell, Book, and Candle) isn’t in there.

    ETA: Also, of course, The Nine Lives of Thomasina.

  56. 56.

    Quinerly

    September 22, 2020 at 10:17 am

    @debbie: in real life, he clutches and clutches… Then lets loose with the accordion hands and back clutching. As I have mentioned several times, I went about 6 months without actually seeing him on cable. Listened only on an app. He definitely looks worse. Physically, gestures, weight, posture. Hoping for a stroke. This is the kind of person he and the GOP have turned me into. No remorse.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    September 22, 2020 at 10:18 am

    @germy: Probably, unless Trump nominates someone who ends up being a child molester or something, in which case Romney will vote present.

  58. 58.

    Jinchi

    September 22, 2020 at 10:18 am

    @germy: Feinstein is exasperating. This is literally the first I’ve heard from her since her re-election and it’s not a defense of civil liberties or the right to health care – it’s a defense of a Senate rule that has hobbled her party for years.

  59. 59.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    September 22, 2020 at 10:19 am

    @cmorenc: From your mouth to FSM’s orecchia.

    Apparently Mark Kelly’s race is considered a special election, and if he wins he could be sworn in by Nov 30. That alone could be a significant shift in Senate dynamics.

  60. 60.

    raven

    September 22, 2020 at 10:20 am

    @germy: “The Constitution gives the President the power to nominate and the Senate the authority to provide advice and consent on Supreme Court nominees. Accordingly, I intend to follow the Constitution and precedent in considering the President’s nominee. If the nominee reaches the Senate floor, I intend to vote based upon their qualifications,” Romney said in a written statement.

  61. 61.

    germy

    September 22, 2020 at 10:20 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    These people seem thorough.  Those movies have to be in there.

    I’ll be digesting their site slowly over the next few days.  I admire their dedication.

  62. 62.

    Kathleen

    September 22, 2020 at 10:22 am

    @Quinerly: Copy that.

  63. 63.

    zhena gogolia

    September 22, 2020 at 10:22 am

    @raven:

    The Constitution was temporarily suspended at the time Merrick Garland was nominated.

  64. 64.

    Quinerly

    September 22, 2020 at 10:22 am

    @Baud: this is true. I actually held out a little hope. He really twisted himself into a knot how he could vote to remove Trump but yet turn around and award him a lifetime appt (40 years probably). I caught only part. It sounded like at one point he was essentially saying the court was liberal for a long time, and time to get used to a conservative bent. Someone needs to find his exact quote. JoJo is demanding his walk. One day he will learn how to yank the phone out of my “paws.”

  65. 65.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 22, 2020 at 10:23 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Did you know that Pyewacket was the name of an “actual” familiar of a witch discovered by Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins in England?

  66. 66.

    Geminid

    September 22, 2020 at 10:24 am

    One of my Senators, Mark Warner (D-Va.), is on the ballot this year, with a comfortable lead. I expect he will be asked about the filibuster, and his answer very likely will be similar to Feinstein’s. But he may add the caveat that if an intransigent and unreasonable minority stands in way of legislation vital to the American people, all options are on the table. When Barack Obama spoke at John Lewis’ funeral, and said that if the House’s voting rights act was killed by a Senate filibuster, the filibuster must be ended. Obama has kept a low profile the last few years, but I think he stays in touch with Democratic senators on issues like this. I don’t see a Democratic Senate majority ending the filibuster in January, but it may be gone by April.  They may decide to let the Republican minority make the case for them before they act.

  67. 67.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    September 22, 2020 at 10:25 am

    @germy: gets to the question of who is the real Mitt Romney: The pro-choice governor of MA or the severely conservative 2012 candidate. I’d guess somewhere in the middle, closer to the latter, but more of an institutionalist than most current Rs.  And a party loyalist. He voted against witnesses in the impeachment trial to make things easier for his colleagues, while probably knowing all along he would vote to convict

    I think the best chance we have for stopping this, and it’s a bank shot, is to emphasize the link between health care and the SC, especially if trump goes with Barrett (though my money’s on Barbara Lagoa). Besides the 200,000 deaths, we have 7 million people who’ve been infected, who now have a pre-existing condition with unknown potential long-term effects.

  68. 68.

    Jinchi

    September 22, 2020 at 10:25 am

    @germy: but my liberal friends have over many decades gotten used to the idea of having a liberal court and that’s not written in the stars

    What an absurd statement When is the last time the court was liberal? Just before the confirmation of Clarence Thomas, by a majority Democratic Senate, nearly 30 years ago.

  69. 69.

    zhena gogolia

    September 22, 2020 at 10:25 am

    Some people wanted to think Mitt Romney was a hero but the reality is he's just trapped in the pet carrier on the roof of Mitch McConnell's car— Tube Amps for Justice, USA (@CuriousAudioUS) September 22, 2020

  70. 70.

    Quinerly

    September 22, 2020 at 10:27 am

    @germy: that’s what I heard. Thanks for finding it. I was trying to move fast, out the door. Didn’t have TV on. Recognized his voice and switched on to see chryon. It’s a fucking quote for the ages

    (then I got sucked into watching Trump giving his pre recorded UN address. Ugh)

  71. 71.

    MomSense

    September 22, 2020 at 10:28 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: 
    My big concern with WI relates to the Voter ID law and the ability of the voters who were disenfranchised in 2016 to be able to vote this time.

  72. 72.

    germy

    September 22, 2020 at 10:30 am

    @Quinerly:

    Funny how in that quote Romney accuses liberal justices of “looking at the sky” to make their decisions.

    I mean, come on!

  73. 73.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 22, 2020 at 10:30 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Mitt Romney started running for President while he was still governor of Massachusetts, and he swung far to the cultural right at that point. Did everything he could to keep same-sex marriage from happening no matter what the law or the courts said. Romney the moderate was always a mirage.

  74. 74.

    Baud

    September 22, 2020 at 10:31 am

    @Jinchi:

    The last time the court was truly liberal was before Nixon. But Clarence Thomas was a clear inflection point in moving the court even further to the right.

  75. 75.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 22, 2020 at 10:31 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I didn’t know about Matthew Hopkins, but I knew it was the name of an* historical familiar.

    *I can do this since Steve in the ATL has abandoned us.

  76. 76.

    Yutsano

    September 22, 2020 at 10:31 am

    @Quinerly: Meh. He’s a carpetbagger in a state that often sees only the majority religion and little else. He’s in very little danger of ever losing his seat unless he loses a primary. I still think he’s trying to be the White Horse but he’s getting a little long in the tooth for that. I wish he would retire and just be a church bishop. Then he can exercise real power.

  77. 77.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    September 22, 2020 at 10:32 am

    @germy: Shadow Of The Cat (1961)! (#106) You’ve given me the title of a movie I’ve wondered about off and on for years! Seen on the Saturday afternoon creature feature when I was a kid, which believe me was a lonnnng time ago.

    Another very silly one from the 90s had Timothy Busfield from “Thirty Something” as a guy moving with his family into a house harboring a terrifying colony of ferals. But the thing is, little house cats don’t actually look that terrifying. Even when you hold one up to your neck and act terrified. I assume that one is in their list.

    Also for the record I loved The Heat (they kind of dissed it).  But didn’t remember the cat.

  78. 78.

    germy

    September 22, 2020 at 10:33 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Remember, Putin hacked the republicans, too.

    Just didn’t release what he found.  But he still has it.

    We wonder why they do backflips obeying trump, but I think that’s the reason.   Must be some nasty stuff in republicans’ emails.

  79. 79.

    Quinerly

    September 22, 2020 at 10:34 am

     

    @Matt McIrvin: hope I don’t offend anyone. One of my besties is an escaped Mormon (kicked out by her parents at 18, suffered mental, emotion, physical abuse at the hands of her convert mother)

    40 years later, my friend insists it’s a cult. She considers Romney as evil as Trump.

  80. 80.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 22, 2020 at 10:35 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: FWIW I think the use of an with historical is partly due to the need to ensure that one wasn’t saying ahistorical.

  81. 81.

    germy

    September 22, 2020 at 10:36 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:   But the cat had a great role!

    https://catsonfilm.net/2014/10/28/cat-of-the-day-107-the-heat/

  82. 82.

    Jo Jo las Orejas

    September 22, 2020 at 10:37 am

    @zhena gogolia:
    Eso es bueno. ¡Le doy 4 patas a ese Tweet!

  83. 83.

    Geminid

    September 22, 2020 at 10:38 am

    @Geminid: A lot will depend on whether the Democrats win a narrow majority, by picking up 3 seats, or pick up 6-10 seats. I hope Republican senators will be saying their goodbyes to a lot defeated colleagues in the lame duck session. There are 22 republican seats up in 2020, and polling on those races will begin after this election is over. Republican Senators like to talk about principles like “constitutional conservatism,” “fiscal conservatism,” etc. But their central ideological tenet is, “I must be reelected!”

  84. 84.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 22, 2020 at 10:42 am

    @MomSense: A lot of work has been put into that.

  85. 85.

    narya

    September 22, 2020 at 10:46 am

    Pelosi was on Maddow last night, and she really pressed hard on the health care angle, and also noted that the senate can’t seem to find time to aid fellow americans through a pandemic but can only confirm judges. Just hammered it home. I like this strategy–it doesn’t get lost in the weeds, it points to the pandemic and everyone’s fears and experiences around that. I also saw a Biden commercial about health care–“if T* wins, my son w/ leukemia becomes uninsurable and we can’t afford medicine.” Short, to the point.

    I do wonder that I see any ads at all–I’m in a blue corner of a blue city in a blue state–though i assume it’s a regional ad buy.

  86. 86.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 22, 2020 at 10:55 am

    @Quinerly: I have an ex-Mormon friend who is pissed off that, according to the church, she’s still married to her ex–in a polygamous marriage! He got remarried in the church, and the church didn’t recognize her divorce, they just added another wife.

    The church apparently figures they’re doing you a favor when they do this because it gets you into the better sort of afterlife.

    She says she wouldn’t care what the LDS church thinks about her marriage, except that they went to so much effort to impose their opposition to same-sex marriage on everybody, yet they retain this quaint notion of involuntary polygamy regardless of what the law says. It strikes her as hypocritical. She likes to point out that the church is often described as having given up on polygamy but they really only modified their views to the extent that it satisfied the government.

  87. 87.

    yellowdog

    September 22, 2020 at 10:55 am

    @Kay: I thought Iowa would move toward Biden after the derecho hit and the shitgibbon denied aid except for one county. On top of the tariff fiasco. Some farmers have had enough.

  88. 88.

    yellowdog

    September 22, 2020 at 11:01 am

    @Yutsano: Looking at the 2022 Senate map, I only see two, maybe three pickup opportunities. Arizona and North Carolina are possible and IA is barely feasible.

  89. 89.

    Quinerly

    September 22, 2020 at 11:10 am

    @Matt McIrvin: pretty much what my friend says.

    I always wonder about Harry Reid, though. He’s a Mormon. I maybe wrong but think he is a convert thru his wife.

    Any kind of religion is a problem for me. I’m a Druid in a deeply Catholic city

    ?

  90. 90.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 22, 2020 at 11:11 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    they had a story about the increased popularity in pandemic times of the PB&J

    ???

  91. 91.

    germy

    September 22, 2020 at 11:14 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: 

    I can’t remember what movie this story was from, but some actor was playing a bad guy and holding a cat as a prop, and staying completely in character as the reluctant cat was scratching the hell out of him. As they do.

    Does that ring any bells with anyone?

    Maybe this?
    https://catsonfilm.net/2015/01/23/cat-of-the-day-110-cloud-atlas/

  92. 92.

    Yutsano

    September 22, 2020 at 11:15 am

    @yellowdog: Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania are most likely dead men walking. I could see a pick-up in North Carolina and Iowa. Throw in a long shot like Kansas and we’re playing with real money.

    EDIT: I think Arizona is mislabelled here since that would be the full term McSally would have to run for if she won. Since she’s most likely to lose that moves blue after November Allah willing.‏

  93. 93.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 22, 2020 at 11:27 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Fuck Romney. 

    Hear hear!

  94. 94.

    sheila in nc

    September 22, 2020 at 11:56 am

    @Yutsano: Couldn’t see the map properly but NC will be an open seat. Burr is retiring.

  95. 95.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 22, 2020 at 12:26 pm

    @Yutsano:

    I wish he would retire and just be a church bishop. Then he can exercise real power.

    A Morman Bishop and a Catholic Bishop are two different things; a Morman Bishop is the spiritual leader of a ward, a local congregation, not real position of power.

  96. 96.

    debbie

    September 22, 2020 at 12:28 pm

    @germy:

    I can’t think of it at the moment, but I’m thinking it’s a Peter Seller’s movie.

  97. 97.

    germy

    September 22, 2020 at 12:39 pm

    @debbie:  Might be one of the Pink Panther films.

  98. 98.

    RobertDSC-Work

    September 22, 2020 at 12:57 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

     

    Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in the opening scene of The Godfather Part I. The cat he plays with was not in the script, it was a cat he found on set and kept.

  99. 99.

    Geminid

    September 22, 2020 at 1:11 pm

    @yellowdog: A year ago, people looked at the 2020 Senate map and most saw only 4 seats in play. Now there are 10 or more seats in play, even Alaska. Electoral trends are dynamic, not static. I don’t think we’ll be able to understand the 2022 map very well at all until 2022.

  100. 100.

    Miss Bianca

    September 22, 2020 at 1:13 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Did you know that Pyewacket was the name of an “actual” familiar of a witch discovered by Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins in England?

    Ooh! Ooh! I did!

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