This AP report on broke-ass fraud Trump’s broke-ass fraud campaign contains some vivid descriptions of Team Griftapalooza’s profligate ways:
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s sprawling political operation has raised well over $1 billion since he took the White House in 2017 — and set a lot of it on fire…
“They spent their money on unnecessary overhead, lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous activity by the campaign staff and vanity ads way too early,” said Mike Murphy, a veteran Republican consultant… “You could literally have 10 monkeys with flamethrowers go after the money, and they wouldn’t have burned through it as stupidly.”
The article ticks off some of the stupid ways the flamethrower-wielding monkeys torched the cash, including buying up copies of Trump Jr.’s dumb ghostwritten book, hiring private jets to ferry surrogates around, running ads in the DC media market to pacify Trump while he watches Hannity, buying tens of millions in Trump merch and pissing away nearly a million to run ads on Parscale and Pierson’s personal Facebook pages. But nobody is crying for Covita — hundreds of millions more were hoovered up into shell corporations, destination unknown, i.e., the pockets of Trump and hangers-on.
Campaign fund management is so bush-league that even the hideous, mummified casino crook Sheldon Adelson diverted largesse away from the campaign and into super PACs that don’t have the Trumps’ greedy little fingers in their cookie jars. As a subscriber to campaign emails, I have noticed that the Team Trump begging has become more plaintive since conservative donor checkbooks slammed shut:
Reader, I did not fix that!
Anyhoo, two weeks to go. I am encouraged by some recent district polling in Florida that came out yesterday. In an article about a current UNF poll that shows Trump and Biden in a dead heat, Florida Politics points to the Monday polls and underscores Biden’s cash advantage:
Several St. Pete Polls surveys released Monday and previously showed Trump underperforming in areas he won four years ago. For example, Trump is down 11 points in Florida House District 60 in Tampa, a district he carried in 2016 by less than one point. In House District 69 in Pinellas County Trump is down nearly 15 points. He won that district four years ago by three points. A poll earlier this month also showed Trump down more than 13 points in Pinellas County as a whole, which he won four years ago by just over 1%.
In addition to public polling that indicates Biden has an edge, the former Vice President enjoys another considerable advantage: money.
Over the past four months, Biden has raised over $1 billion, a massive amount of money that has significantly eclipsed Trump’s once-overwhelming cash advantage.
Those districts are in the fabled I-4 corridor. And I trust Team Biden-Harris not to turn flamethrower monkeys loose on their campaign war chest. Open thread!
Open Thread: Last Call for 2021 Pet Calendar – Let Us Know by Wednesday If You Plan to Submit Pics
mrmoshpotato
LOL In a city that Hillary won by over 90%!
Shit. They would’ve had a better ROI playing Powerball!
clay
Speaking of Fla, we voted yesterday, in person. Polling place had a steady stream in and out, but it didn’t take long at all.
Been waiting four years to vote against that fucker (again). Felt good, and it also felt good to vote FOR Biden/Harris!
mrmoshpotato
OMG! That campaign email is just SAD! Pathetic and SAD!
ROFLMAO!!!
piratedan
i guess I have to ask, does late money, in this election matter? When there are so few undecided left, do we need to run ads? I guess I’m somewhat uncertain on how this late money helps, does it fill gas tanks to get voters to the polls? Do people get paychecks from the campaign and vendors paid off? Does it retire campaign debt?
I can see where designing a quickie ad for social media can be done, but isn’t the ramp up for state and national ads more time consuming? I just am in awe of the dollars amounts and how it gets spent…
Litlebritdifrnt
Meanwhile Trump owes $1.8 million to states who have held his rallies recently. He won’t pay because he is a deadbeat.
PaulWartenberg
I live in the I-4 corridor. I wanna see wall-to-wall Biden/Harris TV ads from now to Nov. 2nd.
Redshift
@mrmoshpotato: The only ROI for the DC spending was making sure Dear Leader was happy with how his worshippers were praising him. Just like with intelligence reports and medical advice, campaign reports about ad spending probably don’t register with him, and he doesn’t believe it’s real unless he sees it on teevee.
Cervantes
I’ve been getting 2 or 3 robocalls from the Dump campaign every day for about a year. I never answer them (I can tell what they are because they have spoofed numbers from states where I don’t know anybody), but they go to my voicemail so I have to delete them. I realize that the marginal cost of this is very small, but it’s utterly pointless. If you call the same number 1,000 times and nobody ever answers them something weird is happening. I think some contractor is getting paid by the call and the campaign isn’t bothering to find out where the calls are going.
Llelldorin
@piratedan: This blog is full of people who know the answer to this question better than I do, but I’d always assumed it’d go to both day-of GOTV efforts and to rapid response to local GOP shenanigans.
PaulWartenberg
@clay:
I voted yesterday as well, Bartow’s early voting place. Did it after work.Voted Biden (please GOD make it count) and fed the ballots into the scantron.
The parking lot was packed, most likely the first day and all, but always a good sign. I only counted two MAGA hats while I was there.
I heard Hillsborough County had record first-day turnout. That’s so deeply Democrat I am taking it as a great sign.
Emerald
@piratedan:
Get out the vote efforts! Go door to door and get people to the polls! It’s necessary up until the final minutes! Yay money!
PaulWartenberg
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Those states should seize the campaign funds to pay off his debts to them.
PaulWartenberg
@Emerald:
I can do that for free.
(opens window to the street outside) HEY! YOU! YEAH YOU! GO AND VOTE EARLY FOR BIDEN AND EVERY DEMOCRAT ON THE BALLOT, DO IT NOW!
(closes window) Think that’ll help?
PaulWartenberg
@piratedan:
I am also seeing stories that the Biden campaign and the Democratic party is putting aside some of that money for the lawsuits sure to happen when (not if) trump tries to challenge the ballot-counting in battleground states.
germy
The Hunter Biden scandal will surely turn things around for Trump.
trollhattan
@mrmoshpotato:
While Republicans and Diane Feinstein fret over court packing I want Joe’s first two initiatives to be a new VRA and DC statehood. Just do it.
Kay
Florida would be so great because it shuts it down early, but Florida is such a heartbreaker I refuse to hope :)
mrmoshpotato
@Redshift: I know. But still – Powerball. :)
Redshift
I stayed on the White House email list after the change of administration, and it’s always full of opinion pieces and op-eds by administration hacks presented as if they’re news reports from whatever outlet they appear in. But today featured a spectacularly shameless bit of hackery from his administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services:
Ah, yes, trust the “long-standing, bipartisan consensus that we should protect people with preexisting conditions” that Republicans have never lifted a finger to act on in their entire existence. Believe in Trump’s executive order that even if it did more than “lay out a plan,” is completely unenforceable, not that silly “law” that Democrats passed and implemented over vituperative Republican opposition.
trollhattan
@piratedan:
Guessing a lot less than it once did, but if it’s targeted based on good data then tactically, I’d say yes.
The calls and mailers we’re getting at the house are of zero use considering we already voted. And we’ll be getting them for two more weeks. Poor postman.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@piratedan: The Pod Save American guys addressed this question around minute 45 of the Monday pod. They said last minute money is useful not just for ads, but for things like ballot chasing. Also it can be used in down ballot races such as Doug Jones. It takes less money to make a big difference in those races.
mrmoshpotato
@PaulWartenberg: And the new DOJ will hopefully seize everything else from this Soviet shitpile mobster conman crime family.
Redshift
@piratedan: I would like to think some of it is going to downballot candidates and party organizations, but I don’t actually know.
Roger Moore
They didn’t set that money on fire; they embezzled it. This is the problem with investing in the political campaign of a con man who’s mired in legal problems and deep in debt to the Russian mob; he’s more interested in using the money to stave off his personal problems than he is in pursuing the most sensible campaign strategies. My thoughts and prayers to the Republican party in this time of distress.
waspuppet
From the AP story:
“We don’t trust him enough to give him any money, but we want four more years of him as president.”
mrmoshpotato
@PaulWartenberg: Obligatory Simpsons
rp
I’ve seen a lot of stories like this about districts or groups that Trump is losing badly compared to four years ago, but he still polls reasonably well on a state level in Florida and some other states. Yes, Biden is ahead, but based on the more granular data you’d think Trump would be in much worse shape. Put another way, how can Trump’s approval and overall support still be at the same level it’s been at his entire presidency — 40% — when he’s doing so much worse among the elderly, suburban women, etc.? What am I missing? Is he doing better in certain areas or groups than he did in 2016? Are the state and national polls undercounting Biden’s support? Am I just reading this data wrong?
philostopher
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Biden should offer to pay it off for Trump. It probably wouldn’t change any votes, but it would sure piss Trump off.
Roger Moore
@waspuppet:
That seems like a fair, and damning, interpretation.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: Totally understandable, but I have hope this time. It’ll be close, but I believe we will win.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I was thinking, okay, hoping, that Shelly was finding his cash flow diminished by Covid. Are people doing a lot of gambling in Macao these days?
mrmoshpotato
@Redshift: The Rethuglicans do support pre-existing conditions – repealing protection for pre-existing conditions.
Btw, I look forward to the dumpster load of tremendous healthcare plans they’ve been drawing up every two weeks.
SuzieC
Whatever happened to the Bloomberg money in Florida? IIRC 500 million?
MattF
Edifying contrast between 2016 and now. In 2016 it was just Trump who was the gangster— now it’s the whole Republican Party.
ETA: A billion here, a billion there,…
Sister Golden Bear
A@mrmoshpotato:
The ROI was not having Twitler screaming at them (as much).
mrmoshpotato
@Sister Golden Bear: Bummer. I’d give them the Russian coin I have on my fridge for Dump to yell at them more.
Peale
I do want a full investigation into this embezzlement, but I bet it’ll be resisted by the professional campaign types who bilk campaigns anyway. And I’m not really all that interested in chasing down those embezzled funds to return them to their donors. They donated to an untrustworthy guy. He frickin’ stole the money they gave him to put on the inauguration. I want a report on just how crass he was so the public will know. But the suckers can sue him themselves.
Peale
@rp: My guess is that it is white elderly women doing most of the moving to Biden and being replaced by Hispanic men.
patrick Il
I had the best voting experience I have ever had today, Because of Covid I asked for a mail-in ballot, and then, because of Trump, I didn’t mail it in. My wife and I spent last at the kitchen table with the ballots and the internet. There is a wonderful progressive voter site that helps because no one wants to put a D or R before their name. We filled out our ballots. This morning we drove to an early voting site and handed them to can election worker standing curbside.
Virginia’s Democratic legislature and governor deserve great credit. That should be available everywhere.
James E Powell
@Kay:
Same here. I just don’t go to that bar anymore. I’d consider believing in Florida if they elected a Democratic governor and at least one Democratic senator. Till then, it’s just another confederate state.
Baud
OT
Protect the Results
Organizing to Protect the Results of the 2020 Election
We are building a coalition of voters ready to mobilize if Donald Trump refuses to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election.
geg6
@piratedan:
Lots of that money goes to funding voter protection, ie: lawyers. For those who may need one in order to vote on the day of and for any possible fights to get ballots counted.
Some also goes for election day things like transportation and food and snacks for poll watchers and other volunteers. For instance, I am going to be bringing donuts and coffee in the AM and sandwiches and water in the PM to our people who hand out literature at the polls all over the county. I’m excited to have a job to do that day and a day off from my usual work to do it. It will keep me busy. Otherwise, it would be a wasted day for me because I would not be able to concentrate on anything even though I know there will be nothing to know until polls start closing.
Mary G
@piratedan: I know Katie Porter and Liz Warren donate some to other campaigns, which is smart.
@rp: My theory is that a lot of pollsters are so freaked out about missing the white non college vote in 2016 that they may be overweighting them now. Just a WAG. The women are breaking slightly worse for him, but the men are still all in.
Baud
@patrick Il: Elections have consequences.
debbie
Betty, do you giggle much while writing your posts? I know I do when reading them. Your descriptive style is as sharp as a Shonen knife and far funnier.
WaterGirl
@piratedan: I may be able to answer that!
One of the call-in/write-in questions they answered on Pod Save America last night was exactly that.
The answer was YES! Candidates make last-minute buys, and money is always needed to get out the vote, so they said anything up until the day before is still money well-sent
edit: waves to Dorothy.
Betty Cracker
@Peale: Yeah, I don’t care if those fools are ever reunited with their cash. But I would like an accounting of every nickel of taxpayer money these crooks stole or wasted.
mrmoshpotato
@patrick Il: We have vote by mail in Illinois too. I’m going to fill out mine tonight and hand it in at our early voting site tomorrow.
JMG
@rp: There seem to be three levels of polls. National polls which show Biden up by around 10, state polls which extrapolate to Biden leading by about 5-8, and these district polls, which are the worst ones for Trump. Keep in mind many Congressional districts are noncompetitive, so they don’t get polled by media or the candidates. Nancy Pelosi isn’t polling CA-12, for instance. So the district polls are of races deemed to be winnable by both sides. Unsurprising they might be more volatile.
Mike in NC
USA Today breaks 38 year tradition of not endorsing presidential candidate by endorsing Joe Biden in a full page editorial. Hilarious pro-Trump Op-Ed provided by chief bootlicker and religious fanatic Mike Pence.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@mrmoshpotato: We’re turning ours in tomorrow too.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: Doesn’t matter. Dump isn’t a king. Lawsuits will be his only resort. If he’s blown out of water like a fat, orange, fascist shark, probably less so.
Zelma
@Emerald:
Re “late” money, I just heard from a friend in PA that Obama has done a series of ads for candidates for the STATE Senate. So it looks like somebody is putting money into local races. Could be the DNC; could be the DLCC; could be the Biden campaign. Or the Biden campaign could have enough money so the Dems can use resources for down ballot races.
Winning toe State Senate would be quite a coup. Frankly, the PA legislature is one of the worst. It’s the biggest in the country, is the best paid and is the most gerrymandered. But I think the lawsuit which led to the redistricting of the PA Congress districts also applied to the State legislature. It would be something if the Dems could flip at least part of it.
Baud
@mrmoshpotato: Contingency planning.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: January 20, 2021 12:01PM Eastern his traitorous orange bitchass is a private citizen who everyone knows is a Soviet shitpile mobster conman.
NotMax
@Baud
Turning slaughter into whine.
BR
@WaterGirl:
I’ve read that there are fewer targeted online ads that the Biden campaign is running, and I don’t quite get why. It seems they have the funds to dominate both online and on TV.
mrmoshpotato
@mrmoshpotato: ETA – and the states can start bashing his fucking face in.
p.a.
Dropped my ballot off in the collection box this a.m. LET’S GO JOE! Also too, yes on name change to just ‘Rhode Island’. Will be surprised if it wins, to be honest: older-than-avg state, active AM hate radio broadcasts, a strong Sinclair TV channel.
piratedan
ty all, just helping me understand that even at the last minute, money still talks… ty
Gravenstone
@mrmoshpotato: Audience of One. The purchase was cheap if it placated the Beast for a time.
mrmoshpotato
@p.a.: Just stop pronouncing the “s.” :)
PsiFighter37
Saw on Twitter that folks like Kasich and Flake are being vetted for possible Cabinet posts. FUCK THAT SHIT…these guys do not agree with us on anything ideologically speaking. Do not put anyone from the opposite party in a top-level cabinet post, period.
Delk
@mrmoshpotato: hubby turned his in yesterday. I voted in person Friday. He said he just missed a whack job refusing to wear a mask and coughing on everybody as the cops dragged her out.
HumboldtBlue
Here comes the kumbaya let’s all get along effort.
geg6
@BR:
That was true earlier in the election cycle, but it is not true anymore. Just read an article yesterday (don’t ask me where) that discussed this very thing. The Asshole campaign spent a whole shitload of cash on targeted online ads early on. The Biden campaign spent very little at that point. However, the article said that there is now parity in the amount spent by the two campaigns.
mrmoshpotato
@Gravenstone: What’s that tweet about believing Dump is growing into the job when they stop treating him like a toddler?
Here it is.
BR
@geg6:
Ah, ok. Good. Because I know that a lot of the effort in 2016 was to depress Dem turnout, and the best way to counter that seems to target the same demographics with encouragement and crowd out the ad space.
Kent
Is there any place in the country were Trump is running measurably STRONGER than in 2016? Any Hillary counties that have now flipped strongly for Trump?
patrick Il
@PsiFighter37:
Maybe Comey needs a job. He seems nice.
geg6
@PsiFighter37:
Meh. Can’t get too freaked about it, especially Kasich. He was one of the first GOPers to back Joe, so he deserves something. Maybe Commerce or something. They will have to go along with the Biden agenda, so it can’t hurt to throw a bone to the Never Trumpers, who have really done some yeoman’s work, which I really didn’t expect.
BR
@HumboldtBlue:
I’d be fine putting them in second tier cabinet positions where they can’t do much damage.
The most important thing is that they need to put all employees hired under the last 4 years on administrative leave without pay until the circumstances of their hiring can be verified, and then re-interview all of them (and reject most of them). That’ll deal with the burrowers.
mrmoshpotato
@PsiFighter37: Ugh. I understand Lincoln wanting opposition in his Cabinet, but that Republican party is LONG dead. Now it’s the Democratic party v bomb throwers.
Matt McIrvin
@rp: In 2016, I recall Trump was actually weaker than the average Republican in super-red districts (where it didn’t matter), but stronger in swing areas. I would not be surprised to hear that that has flipped in reverse, and Trump is doing better in deeply Republican areas that pollsters are not interested in.
dmsilev
@MattF:
The GOP has been the gangster party for a long time. Remember Jack Abramoff? What’s changed is that now they’re not as good at hiding it.
PsiFighter37
@patrick Il: Honestly, the names mentioned pissed me off. Kasich and Flake are extremely conservative on the policy front. Only Charlie Dent didn’t immediately tick me off, but there is nothing to be gained by putting in an old Mainline PA GOP congressman in the cabinet whatsoever. This country has so many problems that putting in the token GOP person simply is not going to cut it. We need the most competent people, and we need ones that won’t fuck us.
mrmoshpotato
@Delk: Were the cops wearing masks? I’ve heard CPD has been pretty bad about that.
H.E.Wolf
@rp: If you like a good wallow in interesting data, well-written to boot, I recommend reading about 1 week’s worth of daily posts at:
https://electoral-vote.com/
(It can also be found in the Balloon Juice sidebar, thanks to WaterGirl.)
The 2 co-authors do an excellent job. Their daily posts are clear, cogent, NOT hair-on-fire, and quite often funny.
mrmoshpotato
@patrick Il: Dude…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Remember when Chris Dodd and Ed Rendell blackballed Kamala Harris as VP, and we all knew it was true cause Politico said so?
I doubt Kasich is looking for a full-time job, ambassador to somewhere pleasant or personally meaningful to him is more likely. Commerce or VA Secretary Charlie Baker gets an R governor out of a blue state
Betty Cracker
@PsiFighter37 & @HumboldtBlue: I’ve been practically gnawing my tongue off to stifle complaints about shit like this, and here’s where I’ve landed: the entire purpose of nominating Biden was to put together the biggest possible coalition and kick Trump the fuck out of the White House. So far, it seems to be working.
So, until the election, I’ll keep my powder dry and tell myself these are trial balloons to keep the queasy moderates and Never Trumpers on board. It may even be true. God, I hope so.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Exactly. Plus Politico has been running an ongoing series about how the new Biden administration is going to piss off progressives.
Kent
We gotta win first. Is this 3-dimensional chess and an attempt to win more GOP crossover votes in Ohio? I expect so, at least in part. Notice how there are no stories of Dems being vetted for cabinet positions. No stories, for example, about say Jay Inslee being vetted for climate-oriented cabinet spots like EPA or Commerce Dept. If they were really doing serious advance vetting for cabinet spots, we’d be hearing a lot of Dem names too.
My impression is that when Biden talks bipartisanship he is really talking about getting ordinary GOP voters to vote for him. He’s not talking about making common cause with say Ted Cruz. He spent 8 years in the Obama White House and the past 2 watching the entire GOP establishment attack him and his son with glee. I don’t think he has any illusions about the modern GOP.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
JMG
@PsiFighter37: “Vetted for Cabinet posts” is just a leak aimed at buffing up Biden’s “bipartisan healer” image. They won’t get a sniff if he wins. Charlie Baker might. He is an administrator at heart, and getting a popular Republican Governor off the board in a blue state isn’t a bad move.
Kent
@Baud: Commerce is the lead agency on Climate Change. Something like 60% of the Commerce Department is NOAA. We need an actual climate warrior like Jay Inslee running Commerce. If you want a GOP Daddy, put them in charge of the VA.
NotMax
@BR
One can quickly go cross-eyed reading through the parts of U.S.C. Title 5 which cover government agency set-up and employment, but I’ll go out a limb by saying that sort of a blanket action is strictly verboten.
H.E.Wolf
We jackals helped! Our GOTV postcard-writing event in Seattle in early 2020 contributed enough postcards to bring my eventual total (May 2019-Sept. 2020) to just over 1400 for FL.
And that’s not counting all the postcards written by BJ community members outside of our tiny (but mighty) Puget Sound cabal. :)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud:
well, that’s a safer bet than the sun rising in the East
i’m just waiting for Krystal Ball to tweet that she’ll leave the country if Biden doesn’t name Nina Turner to…. Oh, let’s say Treasury.
WaterGirl
@BR: Maybe they think they already have the online peeps? I have no idea. But yeah, they have the money to do whatever they like.
I a bit offended that Joe hasn’t called to ask my opinion!
Omnes Omnibus
I would like some flamethrower monkeys.* Where can l get some?
*Why? Never you mind.
WaterGirl
@HumboldtBlue: Ugh.
@geg6: better!
HumboldtBlue
@Betty Cracker:
I sense that as well. And I sure hope it’s that because if this administration isn’t ridiculously top-heavy with liberal women Joe’s gonna hear it. We’ve passed our quota of old white men at the top.
@Kent:
Ibid
@WaterGirl:
I saw your response to the Toobin link I posted earlier and I didn’t respond cuz I was in bed with a cat on my stomach but the reason I linked to it was because it was a scathing criticism of how Toobin was being treated in light of a disgusting act. In that he was being given the kid glove treatment and it was wholly undeserved.
Puddinhead
In 2016, the Clinton GOTV effort in FL was allegedly subpar (or so I’ve read). I hope the Biden campaign has their GOTV set to ludicrous speed for the big three (PA, MI, WI) plus FL and TX.
hitless
I’m wondering, and work with me here, if Biden could just take all that cash on hand and pay Trump to go away.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Joh Kasich (whom, for clarity, I despise) was for a long time the most popular governor in the country. It’s CW to say trump can’t win without Florida. I doubt he can win without Ohio.
Geminid
The six top candidates for the Georgia special Senate election debated last night. Three Democrats, two republicans, and the Libertarian. Republicans Kelly Loeffler and Doug Collins called each other liars. Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock slammed Loeffler for her mutual endorsements with Q-Anon congressional candidate Marjorie Green. When Collins asked Warnock why he wasn’t criticizing Antifa, Warnock said that he denounced violence anywhere, anytime, “no matter who shows up.” It now looks like Warnock will make the early January runoff, along with either Collins or Loeffler.
clay
@Betty Cracker: Seems fishy to me. You’re* telling me that, with only two weeks to go until Election Day, Biden and his team are spending precious time and resources on vetting cabinet members and not campaigning and getting out the vote? I don’t buy it.
*Not YOU Betty, but the article.
Delk
@mrmoshpotato: he didn’t say. I’ll ask him when he
gets done masturbatingfinishes his zoom meeting.japa21
Not too long ago, the Biden campaign let it be known that all stories about any cabinet vetting should be totally ignored. Obviously, some people weren’t paying attention.
Omnes Omnibus
Do not freak the fuck out over a Politico story. It’s fucking Politico.
Geoduck
@Kent: As a WA state resident, it would be.. ugh.. annoying if immediately after getting re-elected governor (fingers crossed) Inslee decides to resign and take a cabinet post instead. Both of the Lt Gov candidates are Dems, so at least he isn’t risking that.
Eunicecycle
@PsiFighter37: I live in Ohio and I say NO to John Kasich. And why doesn’t the media ever demand that Republican administrations are bipartisan?
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
Contact Elphaba at West Oz 6-0000.
Betty Cracker
@H.E.Wolf: Excellent work! :)
MattF
Twitter has it that a 60 Minutes Trump/Stahl interview today did not go well.
jl
@BR: Yes. I don’t like the idea of putting a Republican anywhere in the cabinet. But if a couple get departments where they have a good record, have some good ideas, and believe in that well defined narrow mission, I’ll put up with it.
If there were a dept of physical fitness, Arnold would be OK for example.
terry chay
@rp: Good question. I wonder if this is due to differing LV models. He’s losing the suburbs but that can be offset if they assume those areas and cities will be somehow depressed since 2016 while rural counties will be on hyperdrive
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: @Geoduck:
For all we know, these “leaks” are intended to soften Biden’s support by progressives who get pissed off and decide to stay home.
Sorry, not taking the bait. Even though I did initially.
geg6
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
He’s also popular with some of the mouthbreathers here in Western PA. He’s a native of the area, having grown up in McKees Rocks.
Kay
@MattF:
Guffaw. He had another hissy fit!
@kaitlancollins
·30m
Apparently there was some drama while President Trump was taping his 60 Minutes interview today. He abruptly ended his solo interview after around 45 minutes & did not return for a scheduled walk & talk he was supposed to tape with Pence,
Kristine
Another Illinoisan. I filled out my ballot on Sunday. I debated taking it to a dropbox, but thought dammit, this is a county that is getting bluer every year in a blue state. I haven’t noticed any mailing issues. So I put it in my mailbox for USPS pickup yesterday, just as I have for the past several elections. I can track my ballot on the county BoE site. It has two weeks to get there.
I am tired. Four years ago at this time, I felt sure HRC would win. Then came the numbness. I thought for sure that he wouldn’t last a year, but one by one, all the safeguards crumbled.
I just want that POS out of the White House, followed by an Augean Stables-level clean-out.
LuciaMia
This is the funniest bit…
geg6
@MattF:
To which I say, well…duh. First, it’s a woman who is interviewing him. Second, it’s the biggest asshole in the world, so you pretty much have to expect a big shitshow.
Omnes Omnibus
@NotMax: I don’t really need flying monkeys, so I am not sure I want to send the extra cash for capabilities I am unlikely to need.
Betty Cracker
@HumboldtBlue: Amen.
@Omnes Omnibus: It’s entirely possible the campaign is leading them down that primrose path for show. Just the other day, Biden said again he believes there are Republicans in the Senate who will come to their senses after Trump is gone, after he’d walked that nonsense back under duress during the primary. He’s either delusional or playing a game. I choose to believe it’s the latter.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
from Kasich’s Wiki page:
not gonna lose my shit if Kasich becomes our ambassador to Prague or Zagreb, or even the Vatican
mrmoshpotato
@H.E.Wolf:
Hot! (wet and cold – it’s Seattle) Dog!
Baud
@Kent:
Nah. That’s EPA. In a normal administration like Biden’s, the Commerce Secretary won’t interfere with NOAA’s administrator.
geg6
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I’m cool with that. And seems to line up with his own wishes.
terry chay
@Mary G: they didn’t miss that vote. Nationally 2016 was within the margin of error and that was with an October surprise shifting it away from Hillary.
what happened was the softness was not uniform and occurred heavily in lower turnout among working class minorities in rust belt cities.l (not Obama-Trump voters).
I do think they are overcompensating. There was a giagantic polling miss in 2018 but there seems no adjustment made for that.
mrmoshpotato
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Don’t be silly. The dirtbag left would want that nutjob as Joe’s VP!
WaterGirl
@Kristine: I am in Champaign, Illinois, and there is a lot of talk on Next-door about ballots not making it through by mail, even after several days.
So not matter where you live, if you can drop it off, that’s better than using the mail.
HumboldtBlue
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Good point.
FelonyGovt
Makes me feel good to think of all the cash the MAGA morons contributed to his campaign being wasted like that.
Kent
Me too. We need Inslee to get this damn state through Covid and back on track financially. I’m just pointing out that any true cabinet vetting article would be mentioning prominent Dems, not just GOP has-beens. That’s why I call bullshit on that article.
HumboldtBlue
@geg6:
You ain’t never lied!
Geminid
Next year the heavy lifting on policy will be done by the Democratic House majority and (hopefully) Senate majority. Joe Biden will sign what legislation that is brought to him. The speculation about Cabinet positions is insignificant, except insofar as it tosses small crabapples of discord among Democrats.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@mrmoshpotato: I think the one-time Clintontine Ms Ball (as was Ms Turner) and some of her twitter friends promoted that idea, in whatever version of sincerity they have
Kent
@Baud: Well, EPA does more climate regulation, NOAA does more climate research.
It’s not a matter of “interfering” with the NOAA Administrator. It’s a matter of having another climate warrior in the Cabinet. The NOAA Administrator sits in the 15th floor of a nondescript office building in Silver Spring MD. I know, I worked there. The Secretary of Commerce works across the street from the White House and attends cabinet meetings.
mrmoshpotato
@Omnes Omnibus: Umm….. who’re you rooting for in game 1 tonight?
Kent
Jared Kushner was a registered Democrat. So there! Trump did have a bipartisan administration.
mrmoshpotato
@hitless: No. Why? Laws.
mrmoshpotato
@Delk: LOL I sense a new slogan for Zoom.
“Zoom. For master debating, not masturbation.”
HumboldtBlue
This was mentioned above and it needs to happen.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@MattF:
much more….
as trump turns his guns from the most trusted voice in public health to the first woman to join a legendary news program beloved by old people, whatever adults are still around campaign pour another drink….
and why wasn’t she wearing a mask?
jonas
@HumboldtBlue:
Not sure what someone like Kasich would bring to a Biden cabinet. Yeah, he’s a NeverTrumper, but his main schtick as a politician was basically been being a Paul Ryan-style small government, IGMFY, you’re-on-your-own conservative.
Sab
@Eunicecycle: Does Kasich even have any core competence? He spent his whole time as governor running for president. Before that, wasn’t his entire career from college on wingnut welfare to congress to investment bank wingnut welfare to governor.Plus a stint at Fox. And he purposely picked the absolute weakest lieutenant governor he could find.
Omnes Omnibus
@mrmoshpotato: I said never you mind.
debbie
@geg6:
It will never happen, but I’d like to see The Lincoln Project guys in some sort of advisory position for communications. Like them or not, they are fucking excellent communicators.
mrmoshpotato
@Kay: Let that New Zealander interviewer take a crack at Dump’s Soviet shitpile mobster conman orange ass!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@debbie: I get the sense Rick Wilson will keep going after Marco Rubio, because it’s personal– Wilson was on his 16 campaign team, I believe. And if he wants to do that, I will support him with money. Because I also hate Marco Rubio in particular.
Mo MacArbie
This is Joe Biden we’re talking about. Was he vetting Kasich or ‘vette-ing him?
mrmoshpotato
@Omnes Omnibus: Ok. Who do you hate more LA or TB? :)
mrmoshpotato
@debbie: ? Hi. Fuck Rick Wilson, etal.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: No Republican has ever won without winning Ohio, going back to 1860.
jonas
I guess because Democrats are assumed to be these idealistic, naive dweebs who need help from conservatives doing grown-up work, like running federal agencies. I hope Trump’s patented “put a bunch of unqualified morons or radical nutjobs in charge and watch everything burn to the ground” approach to governance will change that narrative, but I’m not holding my breath.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Did you see that Twitter thread where Steve Schmidt set Rubio and Cruz aflame, pissed on their heads, clubbed them into goo and called in an airstrike on the urine-soaked remains? Well! I’ve never given the LP folks a nickel and will not trust them, ever. But I might consider supporting a discrete, targeted effort like that with money!
Geminid
I remember an internet ad showing the “trump train” speeding past a crossing. If I had the skills I’d make an ad showing the coal fired trump train belching smoke as it struggled up a grade. Inside the passengers would be chopping up the mahogany paneling and passing it forward to burn. And then an Amtrak-looking Biden train speeds by.
Ken
I hope that she and Trump are happy wherever they end up.
Matt McIrvin
@PsiFighter37: Maybe I’m just getting October paranoid but I smell a ratfuck in that story. It’s an anonymously sourced article in Politico about the actions of unnamed Biden staffers according to unnamed third parties, and it’s got the whole Twitter left buzzing about the perfidy of Biden now.
H.E.Wolf
We did it for you and all the other Floridian jackals. :)
Yeah, and I’m a slow writer with achy hands and a lot of other plates to spin.
But hey, I warned folks in my social circle after the Nov. 2016 election: the Republicans had ticked me off, and the Republicans were going to regret it….
Everyone is always surprised when I make good on my promises. :)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Matt McIrvin: one of the effects of having an old and old school Dem as nominee is he has a lot of friends who think Bill Clinton was as far left as the party should go. I think in particular of the above-mentioned Ed Rendell. And following up on my above post about Kasich, if Biden wants to reward Eddie for his years of service with the US Embassy in Dublin, I’m cool with that. Just tell him tradition demands the Ambassador to Ireland never communicate with the US.
Mike G
I’ll bet anything a lot of the spending was kicked back to the Trump family, because of course it was.
Geminid
@Matt McIrvin: those rose twitter people have to have something to talk about till the election. Then, there will be plenty for them to talk about. And they will. I’m kind of looking forward to it. If Biden wins, it will be a good problem to have.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
He never looks so much like his father as when he’s whining, even the “that’s okay” that shows his ass is really chapped.
and if you haven’t seen the skit that’s lodged sideways in Eric’s ass, here it is. I think it’s one of their best on the LACs. Almost had me feeling sorry for Tiff.
debbie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
He’s not wearing a shirt and tie in that tweet. Hasn’t his father beaten him for that yet?
mrmoshpotato
@H.E.Wolf: Oh no. It’s impressive. I was just mocking Seattle weather. ?
mrmoshpotato
@debbie: LOL It’s funny because they’re all Soviet shitpile mobster trash.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@mrmoshpotato: I Love LA.
J R in WV
@Geminid:
In Europe, the trains look like they’re being pulled by Space Shuttles. We rode on an ordinary train from Toulouse to Paris, and enjoyed the trip greatly.
I went to the “club car” and bought a box lunch for each of us, with a bottle of French red wine (duh!!) and that was really good. Then a conductor came along to punch our tickets. We complimented the train, told him we were enjoying the trip.
He rolled his eyes, and said “Zis train? Really?” and obviously thought we were crazy. But compared to Amtrak, it was really nice. And I like Amtrak travel. Trains in Europe are sweet! Fast, with great views.
terry chay
@Kent: no but he is likely to be doing better in very rural counties. They aren’t polled.
terry chay
@Matt McIrvin: he was only stronger in swing areas as a percentage. I don’t believe there were more than a handful of counties where his vote totals beat Romney 2012,
gwangung
@Betty Cracker: Saying that there are Republicans who’d come to their senses does nothing except make it easier for Republicans to vote for him, so I’m not bothered.
Gravenstone
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Um, Donnie? I thought you were immune from the covid now? And your ignorant ass of all people complaining about anyone else not wearing a mask…
Of course, Trump isn’t the author of the tweet. One of his paid howler monkeys is trying to set up a pretense as to why the interview devolved into the inevitable shitshow.
Kristine
@WaterGirl: Tbh, several days doesn’t seem that long. As long as it gets counted.
WaterGirl
@Kristine: Champaign is not that big. Mail used to get across town in a day or two.
NotMax
@Kristine
This. Hawaii recommending ballots be mailed by October 27.
catclub
oy. IN 2016 I had to get over my fellow citizen voters. As in my fellow citizens elected this guy. This year it is my co-y chromosomians.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Well, there was a postal holiday last week. Also too, mail may have been delivered and because of volume (or short staff) there’s a backlog for confirming and entering individual ballots as received into the system.
WaterGirl
@NotMax: I’m just saying THIS IS NOT NORMAL for our area.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Such massive use of mailed ballots is also not normal for the area.
Just sayin’.
Matt McIrvin
@rp: Also: Trump is losing a lot with many groups that supported him the most in 2016, but he’s actually gaining in some groups.
People looking for silver linings for Trump have started to notice that Trump is doing better than he did in 2016 among Hispanic and black people, particularly Hispanic and black men. And there’s a lot of puzzlement over this. I actually suspect it’s pretty simple: he’s doing better than in 2016 among young people in general, particularly young men, and those demographics are younger on average. He’s getting just as big a gain among young whites.
It’s not to say that young people are pro-Trump now (though he actually is winning young white people). But he was doing incredibly badly with these groups in 2016 and he’s gained, and that partially offsets the losses among seniors. Mind you, old people are much more reliable voters, at least in past cycles.
I think this is all COVID-19–I think the macho, I-want-to-party demographic among the young appreciates Trump being incredibly reckless about COVID, while old people are starting to realize he doesn’t care if they live or die.
KirkwoodATL
Just moved from Atlanta to Florida. I’m now a St. Pete/Pinellas county voter and I checked the status of my ballot today and was relieved to see it listed as “counted!” And then I clicked over to this election’s voter registration information for Pinellas county and found that there are 250,463 registered Republicans and 255,497 registered Democrats. There are 194,098 registered voters with no party affiliation and around 11,000 voters registered for other parties (e.g., Libertarian, Green, etc.). Here’s hoping that Dems vote(d) and that the no party and other party voters are going Dem too, and that includes voting for Charlie Christ and not the vapid gun toting Republican candidate. I have talked with Republicans in my neighborhood who are voting for Biden this year. Fingers crossed we’ll go big for Dems this election!