Jeff Danziger lives in Vermont, which has a historically… complicated relationship with New Hampshire. They both rely heavily on tourism, but Vermont is the ‘good brother’ that does its best to remain true to its flinty yankee heritage, resisting anything that smacks of ‘development’ and living within its meagre budget; NH is the shiftless prodigal that charges visitors to enter, charges visitors again to leave, and is more than willing to shill everything from fireworks & booze at state rest stops, to Jersey-Shore-style bikers’n’bikinis festivals in between.
Mocking NH’s First! In the Nation! primary every four years has been one of Vermont’s affordable pleasures, but it’s looking like they’ll have to find a new target…
I live in New Hampshire and our primary is in less than a week.
Normally, there would be political yard signs EVERYWHERE.
This year, there are virtually none. You would have no idea that this is even an election year.
Not a good sign for Criminal Defendant Donald Trump.
— Mark Romano (Follow on YouTube) (@DLPodcaster) January 17, 2024
‘You don’t see the frenzy’: The New Hampshire primary is a bust https://t.co/wKTAMiSgy0
— POLITICO (@politico) January 19, 2024
Politico is perturbed — “‘You don’t see the frenzy’: The New Hampshire primary is a bust”:
The storied New Hampshire primary is a dud.
Debates are off. The frontrunner, Donald Trump, chose to spend a day in court. His main rival, Nikki Haley, is keeping a light (by New Hampshire standards) schedule. And Ron DeSantis, already an afterthought here, is effectively ceding the state and moving on to other contests.
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before in my 32 years of New Hampshire presidential primary experience,” said New Hampshire GOP strategist Mike Dennehy, a veteran of John McCain’s presidential campaigns here.
The collapse of the GOP primary campaign in New Hampshire came on relatively suddenly this week, spurred by DeSantis’ decision to focus more on South Carolina — where the primary is a month away — and Haley’s refusal to debate unless Trump appeared alongside her. What remained was a string of nighttime rallies by the former president and a handful of retail events featuring Haley. No one is barnstorming…
And that’s just the Republican primary. On the Democratic side — where the incumbent president, Joe Biden, is not even competing and the main events are Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) discussing artificial intelligence — it’s even worse. The dramatic elements that have traditionally defined this week of politics — from John McCain catching fire to Hillary Clinton choking up with tears — are nowhere to be found…
Getting up-close-and-personal with presidential hopefuls is a rite of passage for Granite Staters who pride themselves on putting the nation’s top politicians through the retail-politics ringer. Trump changed that in 2016, winning the state not by camping out in diners and living rooms but by holding rallies where he could speak to hundreds of people at a time.
But when the 2024 campaign began last year, New Hampshire appeared to be returning to its traditional form. Trump had ditched his arena rallies for high-school auditoriums and performing-arts centers. He took a few questions from voters. He even popped into Manchester’s famed Red Arrow Diner…
And Biden faced intense criticism from the state’s top Democrats — as well as most everyone else here — for moving to strip the state of its prized first primary in favor of South Carolina, a more diverse state that propelled him to the Democratic nomination in 2020.
But as the primary heads into the home stretch in New Hampshire, it feels more like a corpse than a campaign. Trump is spending just as much time in the courtroom as he is on the campaign trail. ABC and CNN were forced to cancel their New Hampshire primary debates after only DeSantis would agree to step on stage…
The Democratic primary is even less relevant, with the Democratic National Committee saying it won’t count toward convention delegates. Biden’s long-shot challengers — Phillips and self-help author Marianne Williamson — are making several stops a day. But their opponent is a write-in campaign for the president, not someone they can spar with on the debate stage.
It’s a wholesale toppling of New Hampshire’s time-honored traditions, and voters are taking note…
Trump tells me his campaign adding more events next week in New Hampshire was not in response to Nikki Haley’s rise in polls there. “No, not for any reason… We’re not worried about New Hampshire.” pic.twitter.com/zHTqIawN9d
— Kate Sullivan (@KateSullivanDC) January 14, 2024
This was pre-Iowa; his handlers can’t cancel NH events now, or he looks like he’s taking them for granted (which a politician must never, never do!).
So we Democrats get this kind of quality content for future attack ads:
[Goes on about Jan. 6 tapes and records being destroyed]
"Because of lots of things. Like, Nikki Haley is in charge of security. Did you know we offered her 10,000 troops?" https://t.co/AkulfF3Dbk
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) January 20, 2024
When you see or hear stupid punditry about Biden’s performance in NH remember that we didn’t hear that about Iowa, bc the Iowa Dem party accepted the new DNC rules, but we’re hearing it about NH bc the jackasses at the NH Dem Party care more about going first than about winning
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) January 16, 2024
Something to watch in NH: Whether Biden gets more write-in votes than Trump’s vote total.
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) January 16, 2024
The Very Serious Media, of course, is doing its best to gin up excitement…
Only Katy Tur could go to New Hampshire and pretend Biden's in trouble in a state with no Democratic primary delegates.https://t.co/cBRRyTZcMQ
— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) January 16, 2024
And of course the Dirtbag Leftists have their own cunning plan:
It's an idea dumb enough to be a Ryan Grim Signature Idea™ https://t.co/bX8WbSZHJk
— The okayest poster there is (@ok_post_guy) January 18, 2024
(Relatively) small population, very large part-time state legislature (many of them cranks flinty quasi-libertarian idealists):
New Hampshire, baby! pic.twitter.com/GZWctglP27
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) January 18, 2024
Baud
Thanks, Dems, for changing the primary calendar.
eclare
@Baud:
Seriously.
Dangerman
Legalize heroin?
Baud
I blame Boston.
MazeDancer
Feels like another moment of Mr. Biden doing something that makes sense, helps the Party, works for the base, and the media doesn’t know what to do.
NH is a teeny white state, meaningless to Dems, primary wise.
It’s like the media wants fever pitch battles for 10 more months, and the sane part of the country wants abortion legalized and Trump to go away. And a few more sensible choices. But that won’t do. So we get polls, polls, polls, and anti-Biden screeds.
And as their ratings plummet, will media switch to “stakes not sweepstakes” coverage? One can hope.
JMG
As someone in the Boston TV market, Tuesday can’t come soon enough. I’d rather see a Kars for Kids spot than another goddamn Haley ad,
eclare
@JMG:
That bad, huh? Wow.
Betty Cracker
Via TPM, the DeSantis campaign missed the filing deadline for the NY Repub primary:
Hahahaha!
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
He’s a regular Dean Philips.
Seriously, that’s really amazing from a so-called top tier candidate.
Kristine
One nice thing about cutting out cable is that I no longer see commercials (at least for now). But I just catch a glimpse of the phrase “Kars for Kids” and that damned jingle takes over my brain.
Kristine
::enjoys watching BC chortle over the smoking ruins::
Spanky
@Betty Cracker:
Now there’s some wishful thinking.
Ohio Mom
Brings to mind a question I’ve pondered forever, Why are Vermont and New Hampshire so different? You’d think they’d be more alike.
OzarkHillbilly
@Spanky: Hide all the fire extinguishers.
Baud
@Spanky:
Those boots don’t burn, baby!
Baud
@Ohio Mom:
See my comment at # 4.
Betty Cracker
Wow, that video of Trump blaming Haley for not controlling the January 6th riot — he’s decompensating rapidly! If Haley wasn’t a craven piece of shit who’s more concerned about her immediate political ambitions than the long-term health of the country and her party, she’d call a press conference, play that clip and ask NH GOP voters if they really want to nominate a demented old fart whose copious use of bronzer makes him more likely to fail the paper bag test than herself. But she knows the answer.
Princess
If Trump does get elected, given his brain is marshmallows and what’s left of it is going to be spent avenging himself against his enemies, who is actually going to be running things?
Also: unreal how the media ignores obvious signs of his deterioration.
Also too: Dems be like millennials, out here destroying stuff boomers like, like Iowa caucuses and NH primaries. Thanks, Biden! Really.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Yeah, and frankly, she could use that talking point against Biden if she was the nominee. It would be wrong and flase, but she would have an audience for it.
But she can’t go there against Trump.
Tom Levenson
@Baud: Always a safe bet.
Suzanne
@Ohio Mom: I’ve noticed that crazy is attracted to crazy.
Odie Hugh Manatee
It’s “wringer”, not “ringer”. I know because I had to use one as a kid.
Damned yoots tryin’ to sound all cool and stuff…
LAWN, get off and that stuff!
JMG
@Baud: Oh, she already does that. One Haley radio spot says, :If Joe Biden gets another term, he’s not going to make it. and Kamala Harris will be President.” Racism and slander in one sentence. Impressive!
Odie Hugh Manatee
Sky News is reporting that today is the most depressing day of the year. That’s good news in the UK.
Spanky
@Princess:
His Chief of Staff, and there would be a real fight to be awarded that position by some of the worst pieces of work that emerged from his first administration. Awarded by a man whose brain is fried and hate filled.
It must never come to that.
OzarkHillbilly
@Princess: Yeah but Biden is old.
Baud
@JMG:
I love that Joe never once put any daylight between himself and Kamala in the face of all the hand-wringing about her by the usual suspects.
Anne Laurie
Lotsa people have pondered that question, over the last couple hundred years!
There’s the same sort of divide between eastern & western Massachusetts, too. At least part of the distinction is that New Hampshire has always been reliant on offshore industries / immigration / tourism, while Vermont (& western MA) are where ‘yankees’ bought farms & shunned big-city pleasures. This has been exacerbated as NH leans into its current status as a ‘family style’ tourist destination (downscale summer resorts, fireworks & cheap booze, ‘destination’ outlet centers, Laconia Biker week), while Vermont pitches itself as a place for hiking, visiting family farms, and high-end crafts / entertainment. It’s weird, but it’s also one of those places where you can tell where one state highway ends & the other begins even without signage!
Baud
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
Yeah, except it’s always today.
Splitting Image
@Betty Cracker:
Please allow me to express my thanks for chronicling the ongoing sins of the Florida Republican party. I don’t think I’d have appreciated DeSantis’ fall from grace as much as I have if it weren’t for your regular reports of his atrocities over the years.
Hopefully he will destroy the state party on his way out, but until that happens, I’ll content myself with reading about the destruction of his campaign.
Princess
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Fake news. It was Blue Monday, January 15th. Besides, a Saturday can never be the most depressing day of the week.
kalakal
@Betty Cracker: Brought to you by the team defeated by the challenge of providing both food and cutlery
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Baud:
That’s what I thought too. Also.
@Princess:
Of course it’s fake news… it’s Sky!
I think it’s the week recap in boring news.
Anne Laurie
That’s certain a good part of the difference now, but people were shaking their heads about the difference between the two states by the end of the Civil War, at least. New Hampshire has just, historically, been more outer-directed — and more reliant on Boston economically. Vermont touts its independence, but they didn’t have much choice back in the day (hard even to bring farm products to market in the urban, populated eastern part of MA, much less commute to Boston every day, which it seems like half the population of NH now does).
There’s also the fact — again, riffing off the post-Civil-War commentary I’ve read — that only someone really dedicated to their personal independence would work on a Vermont farm, rather than either moving closer to the growing Boston/overseas metropolitan area, or else pulling up stakes & joining the ‘Westward expansion’ to potentially richer territory in distant vales like Ohio.
Matt McIrvin
@Ohio Mom: I think the answer is that, for the most part, they are really not that different.
The differences that exist are the result of population distribution. Vermont has a tiny population even compared to NH and is dominated by Burlington, which is a liberal college town. NH’s population is concentrated at the south end of the state in what are effectively far suburbs of Boston, and a lot of people who live there, live there because they need to be in the metro area but they hate Massachusetts. The rural populations elsewhere in the two states are probably more alike than different.
Ramalama
@Betty Cracker: All that money spent for the most basic abc mistake.
kalakal
@Splitting Image: He’s really got nowhere to go after this, he terms out in ’26, neither Scott or Rubio are going to make way for him in the Senate, all he can do is try to pick up a state rep seat. And the consequences of his poisonous, performative jackassery going to be well in evidence by 26.
eclare
@kalakal:
Hahaha…great comment
Matt McIrvin
@MazeDancer: I just have nightmares of the general election coming down to NH’s 4 electoral votes and the state going for Trump because the Democrats wouldn’t honor their stupid primary. It’s a very New Hampshire thing to do.
trnc
I noticed a distinct lack of yard signs driving around back roads of central NC yesterday. We’re still 6 weeks away from the gooper primary here, but the diehards hadn’t taken down signs from 2016 in some places.
Matt McIrvin
@Anne Laurie: Yeah, the Berkshires are kind of Greater Vermont culturally. I lump them into the same region.
Chief Oshkosh
@Princess:
You don’t know very many Brits, do you?
;)
OzarkHillbilly
Sure it can, if your working 6/12s.
catclub
@Ohio Mom: I think they are alike. Compared with any other state – RI? CONN? DEL? WYO? WVA? They are closer to each other than these.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
All the more reason to have moved it.
catclub
Stephen Miller, Stephen Bannon, Jared? Ivanka? Stephanik?
Ugly indeed. Lots of Steph’s
Ramalama
@Matt McIrvin: from my limited experience rural nh and rural vt are very different. A former masshole, I drove every weekend through both NH and VT to Montreal. Stopped all the time in gas stations. Vibes totally different. Friend of mine has a horse farm in a village in VT. I was there during the worst part of the pandemic helping friend with the animals. Signs on the little market, post office, the tiny library telling everyone to reach out if ill. If going hungry. Neighbors really helping neighbors. My friend confirmed that Vermont is better than NH…which is why she lives there and not the neighboring state.
Vermont has a law banning billboards because having them would Mar the view of the mountains.
Every once in a while my partner and I wonder if we could live in the US, where would we go? We live in Quebec. Having spent so much time in Vermont, the answer has gotta be Vermont. Even vt healthcare is excellent.
Ramalama
@Matt McIrvin: from my limited experience rural nh and rural vt are very different. A former masshole, I drove every weekend through both NH and VT to Montreal. Stopped all the time in gas stations. Vibes totally different. Friend of mine has a horse farm in a village in VT. I was there during the worst part of the pandemic helping friend with the animals. Signs on the little market, post office, the tiny library telling everyone to reach out if ill. If going hungry. Neighbors really helping neighbors. My friend confirmed that Vermont is better than NH…which is why she lives there and not the neighboring state.
Vermont has a law banning billboards because having them would Mar the view of the mountains.
Every once in a while my partner and I wonder if we could live in the US, where would we go? We live in Quebec. Having spent so much time in Vermont, the answer has gotta be Vermont. Even vt healthcare is excellent.
Ken
Does the New Hampshire Democratic party have any plans for a make-up election, so they can have delegates at the DNC?
CliosFanBoy
We’re getting Haley flyers a couple of times a week here in northern VA. VA’s primary is March 5, so I dread what we’ll get in the mail between now and then.
The flyers are being mailed to someone who hasn’t lived here in years, some guy who rented the basement apartment from the people who owned the house before us. (we bought it in early 2019).
I rather like both VT and NH. My wife was born in the far northern part of VT (that’s where the hospital was) and grew up in equally far northern NH.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: yep.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Betty Cracker: Wow. Surely someone had a spreadsheet with all the filing deadlines and requirements and a space to check them off. WTH.
@Ohio Mom: I ask the same question about Wisconsin and Minnesota. There I think maybe it’s because the Minnesota has a major metro area and Wisconsin doesn’t. That doesn’t account for Vermont and NH though.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: I know this isn’t one of the podcasts you listen to, but Pod Save America had a whole segment on “Tiny D” which, at the end of it, they referred to as “couldn’t resist dancing on his grave”. I think you would really enjoyed it. I know I did!
If you think you might listen, I can get you name of the episode and the time stamp.
CliosFanBoy
@Ramalama:
Although VT is one of the 15 states with a republican governor that turned down the free federal money to feed hungry kids over the summer.
sab
@Ohio Mom: I ddunno if it matters, but New Hampshire was one of the 13 rebelling colonies, while Vermont and Maine were added later
ETA Closeness to Canada so cultural differences?
WaterGirl
@Ken: I was wondering about that myself, yesterday.
*but not enough to google it. :-)
UncleEbeneezer
@Anne Laurie: Or with signage! In Fall of 2016 I hardly saw a single “Trump” sign in VT but then the moment we crossed over into NH, they were suddenly everywhere. Fuck that state. VT is much prettier anyways, lol.
caphilldcne
@Dangerman: it would actually be much less dangerous than fentanyl has become although it’s not going to be possible to put that particular paste back in the Prohibition. I think that guy is a former cop who used to be the head of LEAP – Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. They’re actually an interesting group of former police who speak out about the issues that they’ve seen as a consequence of criminalizing drugs rather than treating it as a health problem.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Thank you. That was the first thing that caught my eye reading that long piece.
I saw a wringer in actual use just once in my life, on a long ago family trip to a lake cabin which I guess must not have had electricity.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I’m bored with any “news” about the primaries because the conclusion is so obvious.
Another Scott
@Dangerman: “libertarian” in the picture intro being the operative word.
Because all the world is black and white in everything. Stuff is a free-for-all, or it’s illegal and carries the death penalty. No such thing as standards and norms and competing interests and regulations in the real world. No sir-ree.
Cheers,
Scott.
caphilldcne
@caphilldcne: paste in the tube. More coffee please.
oldgold
Somehow along the way I got the impression that Senator Tim Scott was a decent fellow. I was wrong.
I now think Tim Scott is actually worse than the Senior Senator from the Palmetto State, the miscreant, Lindsey Graham.
Yesterday Tim Scott’s joint appearance with Trump was beyond cringe worthy.
In 1860, James Petigru was right when he said: “South Carolina is too small for a republic, but too large for an insane asylum.”
Geminid
@CliosFanBoy: About one third of Virginia voters self-identify as Independents, and since we do not register by party the primaries are totally open. So Haley has good reason to advertise in the Old Dominion; it’s probably one of her better prospects.
South Carolina’s system is similar. Besides Independents, Haley could attract “strategic” crossover votes from Democrats trying to throw a spoke in Trump’s wheel. It seems like this type of voting is talked about more than it’s ever actually done, but this year could be different.
Ken
Same here, but we can’t just skip to the end without discarding one of the most sacred traditions of our democracy — pumping tens of millions of dollars into advertising.
(Besides, Elise Stefanik wants to skip to the end, so we know it’s morally wrong.)
Ramalama
@CliosFanBoy: Yeah, I saw that and was surprised. Hoping that there might be a legit reason there. Kind of like how Mass Health was actually better than the ACA, Obama care, when Obama first rolled it out, and if memory serves there was foot dragging by MA.
I mean asthma inhalers on the VT healthcare plan cost something like $8. Compare Quebec at $22 Canadian. In MA, it cost $79.
WaterGirl
@Geminid: I did it once, registering as a Republican so I could vote against Daddy Bush in the primary.
O. Felix Culpa
@oldgold:
He’s a Black man from South Carolina who chose to be (and remain) a Republican. No one decent or self-respecting does that. See: Thomas, Clarence.
Edited.
Geminid
@Dorothy A. Winsor: The process interests me even though the outcome is not in doubt. This is the first stage of Trump’s presidential campaign, and depending on how it goes- and how he goes- Trump could come out of it substantially weaker.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
There’s hardly any news in the news these days. It’s so much punditry and prognostications.
UncleEbeneezer
@Ramalama: Forget where I saw it, but I read that the VT situation is really more that they don’t have the proper distribution needs ready to go but are planning to accept the Federal funds the following year.
trnc
Probably Stephen Miller. In any case, I’m sure the power struggle would be epic, but there’s no chance the country comes out ahead.
NotMax
Anyone wanna watch double Ds?
;)
Omnes Omnibus
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Milwaukee isn’t the size of MSP, but it isn’t tiny either. It does leave the urban/rural balance much closer though. Also, if you look at their histories, WI is as likely to be the left of MN as it is to the right.
CliosFanBoy
@Geminid:
I know, but it’s addressed to a person who moved away years ago. We just figure “let them waste their money.”
Kristine
@Splitting Image:
Really hoping he takes Chris Rufo with him.
sdhays
@CliosFanBoy: The impression I had was that there was some nuance there. I believe the governor said that they didn’t have the bureaucratic capacity to be ready to roll it out this year, but they would be working to make sure they could do it next year.
I don’t really know why it would take a year to prepare for something like this rather than 4 to 5 months, but that’s what they were claiming. At least different from Iowa’s “we need to starve the (poor) children in order to tackle childhood obesity, which we also couldn’t care less about”.
Omnes Omnibus
@sab: They are equally close to Canada. VT shares a longer border with Canada, but I doubt that makes a difference.
CliosFanBoy
@UncleEbeneezer:
I saw that too, but was a bit dubious. But since I don’t know how those programs are set up, and given Vt’s record to date, I think it’s worth giving them the benefit of the doubt. That’s unlike states like Nebraska and Kansas where they just straight came out to say “we don’t want to feed hungry kids. Lousy fat welfare moochers.”
Chris Johnson
@Geminid: The process highlights the strife within the Republican party. There’s a place for conservatives balancing the hippies, but there is no place for fascists as that obliterates the very idea of democracy, balance, or governance. So, when I see that Trump ‘won’ with (gasp!) more than 50% of the most rabid Republicans, well, I am happy to see it. Coulda been 73%, in the bizarro world Republicans live in where not aligning with the fascist makes you the insane one. There’s way more than 27% ‘insane’ enough to actively resist Trump knowing they will be targeted by his people. And to win a general he has to have ALL the Republicans and more, so all this looks very promising so far. Democracy ain’t dead, nor is our tripartite system of governance.
Ken
@NotMax: You indirectly remind me: While driving during the past couple weeks, I’ve heard “Never Gonna Give You Up” at least four times on different stations. It made me wonder if Astley had died or something….
sdhays
@WaterGirl: My very first vote was for John McCain in the Illinois primary against George W. Bush, not because I wanted McCain to be President, but because I already detested George W. Bush (and the Democratic primary was already over).
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊😊😊
OzarkHillbilly
@CliosFanBoy: I’m not so sure, I mean if Misery could manage it…
JML
I get that the changes the DNC (correctly IMHO) made to the primary calendar are new, but we’ve got liberals out here complaining that Biden wasn’t out campaigning in Iowa. (while ignoring that he’s been campaigning in NC) Sigh.
NotMax
@Ken
My mutant ability in a nutshell.
:)
MomSense
@sab:
Maine was part of Massachusetts. We didn’t split off until 1820. A bunch of Boston lawyers stole the land Mainers had been farming since long before the revolution and started assessing lease payments.
We pressed for separation and got it as part of the Missouri Compromise.
Also too we staged a tax revolt before the tea party in Boston. We seized tax stamps in Falmouth and I think burned them.
Lots of Scottish farmers here who carried their hatred of the British with them when they settled here.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: My instinct is to let the Republicans and Independents sort these questions out. For one thing, the result is hard to calculate. Like, what if you end up helping the worse candidate and they win in November?
Or end up helping the stronger candidate? If I wanted to vote strategically, would I vote for Haley because she would not be so horrible a President as Trump? Or against her because she might be the stronger candidate in November? But could I maybe hit the sweet spot, and help Haley rough Trump up on her way to losing?
This shit makes me go cross-eyed. A good reason not to be a strategic crossover primary voter.
OzarkHillbilly
@Geminid: I feel the same.
3Sice
Not the exciting return to 1968 we were promised.
For local broadcast and Cable TV, political season and live sports were the last of the revenue spinners.
See also: Pop-pops whinging about the NFL on streaming.
UncleEbeneezer
@CliosFanBoy: That’s pretty much what I’m assuming too. If someone made this excuse for NE or KS I would just laugh.
Omnes Omnibus
@Geminid: I couldn’t face even pretending to be a Republican. ::shutters::
NotMax
@3Sice
All things considered, 1968 was a horrid year.
different-church-lady
@Betty Cracker: NH GOP voters would just be like, “Well, why didn’t you control the riot?”
sab
@MomSense: Thanks. I am learning a lot of American history in my old age that I should have learned much earlier.
sdhays
@Geminid: Yeah, I wouldn’t do it again.
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
Jay-zus made me do it.
//
Chris T.
@Ken: See also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnRxTW8GxT8
Captain C
@Princess:
People like Steven “Kapo” Miller, who will happily use the Federal bureaucracy to indulge their own sadistic urges.
Scout211
Since this is a big play-off weekend and we will see many pics of Taylor Swift for the Chief’s game, I wanted to highlight a wonderful opinion piece this morning in USA Today by sports columnist Nancy Armour.
There are so many great points, I suggest clicking over and reading the whole thing, but here are a few:
RevRick
@Matt McIrvin: Current polling has Biden up by 9% over Trump in NH, which is the margin he beat him by last time.
WaterGirl
@Geminid: @OzarkHillbilly:
Yeah, that’s how I feel now, too, when entities promote some strategy for screwing with the opposition with “strategic” voting in the primaries. One of these days that could backfire and it would be an own goal.
I didn’t see it that way when I was a young pup, though. I crossed over to vote against Daddy Bush and I flirted with the third party candidates.
The world looks different when you have more experience.
Captain C
@Betty Cracker: That’s hilarious, and also says that he has the worst hiring skills of any candidate in recent memory, Wilmer* included.
*Wilmer in this case referring to said individual (and his hiring skills) only as a Presidential candidate.
Captain C
@Matt McIrvin: Which would inevitably be followed by the Mises Libertarians winning the governorship and legislature and the entire state being overrun by bears.
RevRick
I heard whining about all the political ads on Boston TV right now. Move to Pennsylvania and find out what that really means. We are swing state central. We will be getting ads for President and US Senator and Representative nonstop in the general election. Thank God we have a late primary.
Omnes Omnibus
@Captain C: Do the bears ever actually leave Provincetown?
O. Felix Culpa
@Omnes Omnibus:
ISWYDT. :-)
Josie
@trnc:
I’m wondering if the power struggle has already begun. Maybe we are not seeing a Weekend at Bernie’s type of situation that is developing in the background. My sons accuse me of being a conspiracy nut, but Trump doesn’t seem to me to be all there lately.
zhena gogolia
@Josie: Oh, ya think? When he goes on for at least a minute about how Nikki Haley was in charge of security on Jan. 6?
If Biden did this, the NYT would print a special section devoted entirely to it.
zhena gogolia
He has also repeatedly said that he beat Obama. Has the NYT put that on the front page? I think not.
Elizabelle
Putting in a plug for the Poe House in Baltimore, whose big Poe birthday fundraiser was cancelled due to snowstorm this week. More info on previous thread. They hope to raise $5,000.
For any Poe-minded jackals, and I know we have many.
eclare
@Scout211:
Great points, heading over to read the article, thanks!
satby
@O. Felix Culpa: @Omnes Omnibus: was it CornerStone who started that? I still miss him.
Miss Bianca
@oldgold: Was just reading about Pettigru earlier this year. He seemed to be a very interesting fellow – staunch Unionist among the most rabid of the rabid secessionists in his home state. And yet respected by all.
eclare
@zhena gogolia:
How does he have time for all the speeches when we need to get ready for World War II?
Geminid
@Chris Johnson: Yeah, primaries shed light on the different parties’ voting bases. That’s one reason I’ll be following the primaries to replace Reps. Sarbanes and Trone in Maryland, and the two to replace Reps. Wexton and Spanberger in Virginia. I may gain some insight into how other Democrats think.
Maryland’s Senate primary interests me for the same reason. The leading Democratic candidates probably do not differ much on policy, but they have very different backgrounds. Sixth District Rep. David Trone is a 67 year old white guy who has represented a ~750,000 resident, suburban/rural district in western Maryland for five years now. Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, a 52 year-old Black woman, is in her second 4-year term running a suburban county with almost a million residents.
Prior to their current jobs, Trone was a wealthy liquor distributor, while Alsobrooks was county prosecutor.
Miss Bianca
@Geminid: Well, and Haley was also the SC governor, was she not? You’d think she’d pick up a few votes among SC’s GOP voters for that alone.
Or is that too much to presume? After all, actual *governance* doesn’t seem to be much of an electoral priority among the GOP these days.
Omnes Omnibus
@satby: IIRC it was. He at least popularized it.
Steeplejack
@Scout211:
Great article! Thanks.
OzarkHillbilly
@WaterGirl: We all have our youthful indiscretions.
Imagine that. Now if only we can explain that to Republicans.
satby
@Omnes Omnibus: I thought I remembered that.
Lots of people have moved on, but I hope he and his son are doing ok. He was such a a devoted dad.
Immanentize too, hope he and the Immp are both doing well.
Elizabelle
@satby: I miss them both. And a shoutout to Roger Moore. Plz come back. (Hasn’t he been AWOL lately?)
How are you and the pets doing with all the snow, satby?
WaterGirl
@Scout211: Wow, it’s hard to even choose the excerpts when the whole article is so great! Thanks for sharing that.
RevRick
@Scout211: There was an excellent explanation of this on Stephanie Ruhle on MSNBC. Basically, the outrage stems from the fact that Swift is the epitome of white wholesomeness and she has betrayed that status by aligning herself with the opposition party. She is associating herself with the blahs, teh gays, etc. and that is unacceptable to the white supremacists.
Miss Bianca
@WaterGirl:
Boy, ain’t that the truth!
satby
@Elizabelle: well, I didn’t go back to the market because we’re supposed to get more, it’s at around 10 inches on the ground now, though clear, sunny and 7°.
East of me in Michigan City, IN and north in Niles, MI they got 24 inches of snow, with more on the way today. Lake effect is weird, you can go from clear and sunny, to a whiteout in nothing flat.
Captain C
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m sure they head elsewhere in the cape if, say, they have a favorite restaurant or suchlike that’s closer to the mainland.
eclare
@RevRick:
Nazis thought since she was tall, blonde, and a country singer (originally), she was one of theirs.
Nope.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
My oldest cousin on my mom’s side moved to Eastern Vermont in the late 80s (near Hanover, NH) and my second cousin (her sister) moved to Lebanon roughly a decade ago after living in the Cleveland area for most of her life. I’ve crossed the border from VT to NH many, many times on visits and have yet to be charged a fee by NH for coming, or leaving. So, although I’m fully on Team Vermont I’m not sure what the “charging visitors for entering and leaving” refers to? Is it the toll road from the MA border you’re referring to? Because…no offense to anyone who lives there but MA has no grounds to criticize any other State for having toll roads. And one can enter and leave from other neighboring states without getting on a toll road.
My second cousin rents in NH because, thanks to being a “tax free” State property taxes there are off the charts. She still owns a house in the Cleveland area and plans to move back there as she says New Englanders are unfriendly. I’m not sure that’s the problem so much as she moved to NH in middle age and, based on my experience, it gets harder to meet people the older you get. Also she’s single with no kids so meeting people through a spouse or school activities isn’t happening. I lived on the coast of Maine for a summer (Ogunquit to be precise) and people seemed friendly enough but I was in my early 20’s.
But it could also be generational. My Aunt and Uncle (her and the older cousin’s parents) spent a winter there – they were considering retiring there but have decided to stay in the Cleveland area – and wanted to test out the winter before committing. My oldest cousin said they developed a larger social network in that one winter than my cousin has in like nearly 3 decades (and they have three kids). GenXers are not the most social generation.
NotMax
@satby
Jean Shepherd, The Big Indiana Blizzard.
;)
Another Scott
In the comic: The dog at the table, and the jaded waitress at the counter, are nice touches.
Cheers,
Scott.
Ksmiami
@sab: The Treaty of Hidalgo and it’s aftermath is definitely left out of most US history books…
sab
@Scout211: A lot of men are idiots. Taylor Swift isn’t dating Travis Kelce because he is a famous QB. She is dating him because he is a nice guy who very much likes and respects her.
Another Scott
@satby: +1
I remember leaving my Chicago rental (around 64th and Pulaski) one bright and sunny winter day and heading east to Hyde Park and ending up in a very heavy snowstorm. I told a guy in class that it was bright and sunny just west of the campus and he couldn’t believe it.
I can only imagine what Buffalo and similar places are like…
Cheers,
Scott.
Elizabelle
@Another Scott: The dog is ready with her soundbite!
evodevo
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Yep…I had a wringer on the elderly washing machine I had in the barn to wash horse blankets. It was an automatic one, and boy you have to watch out using it. Talk about squashed fingers, etc. Mangle, indeed!
Geminid
@sdhays: Not many people do this. Republicans had a good opportunity in 2020, and I remember some including radio host Hew Hewitt urging Republicans in Virginia and South Carolina to vote for Bernie Sanders; “so we’ll have a real choice in November!” said the lying Hewitt.
After the South Carolina primary, analysts found scant evidence that Republicans had in fact crossed over to support Sanders. They did find a larger than usual vote for Biden from wealthier Republican precincts in places like Pawleys and Hilton Head Islands. But I think these were mainly never-Trumpers open to voting for Biden in November.
evodevo
@CliosFanBoy:
As a mail carrier, I can guarantee you we have mixed feelings about political mailings…on the one hand we get TRAYS AND TRAYS of them per day and it becomes overwhelming. On the other hand, talk about raising PO revenues. ALSO, the ones printed on 6X9 card stock are EXCELLENT for scooping up pet poop and barf. Take it from me, really helps with the cleanup LOL
Betsy
@Ohio Mom: They are like two sides of the same flinty coin.
A beloved Vt aunt pointed out to me that they are even sort of shaped like yin and yang.
Ramalama
@WaterGirl: The Tiny D segment was hy-larious. They even noted that they don’t normally go all in, dancing on a political grave, but they did it for the listeners. INDEED.
catclub
When we moved to central mass I started hearing the song “500 Miles” in grocery stores. I never heard that where were down south.
I think it is an Irish influence thing.
WaterGirl
@Ramalama: It was truly fun.
Ironcity
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: The last wringer washer I saw was a few years ago in a house that we were working on that had some issues with water supply. The machine was almost brand new and was from a dealer in Pennsylvania who apparently does a business with Amish and/or Mennonite communities there and Ohio. Something about it doesn’t have to have electricity. They seem to be used in Saudi Arabia too, with the sign saying “Now entering the 13th century.”.
Ironcity
@catclub: 500 Miles. The Proclaimers Scottish
wrog
@Baud: @Ohio Mom: @Anne Laurie: It’s the geography. The Appalachians run NE to SW, so for NH it’s the northern part of the state that has all of the mountains, whereas for VT it’s the southern part of the state that has all of the mountains. So NH is tilted towards the Atlantic coast, most of the people are in the south, and it’s essentially a suburb of Boston (which is right over the border), while VT is tilted towards Canada, most of the people are in the north, and it’s essentially a suburb of Montreal (which is right over the border).
wrog
I love how everything is the Democrats’ fault. Nobody ever asks why it is that NH always got to go first and here we see the DNC is actually trying to do something about it, the problem being that their only leverage is in setting the initial rules for who gets seated at the convention —
… which, by the way, can be changed by the convention itself (and often does, cf the whole fight in 2016 about what to do about Michigan and Florida who similarly jumped the gun, because of course, come convention time, everybody has sympathy for the delegates not getting seated and the fact that the individual states were breaking the rules is long forgotten).
Never mind in NH, the choice of when to hold the primary is up to the state legislature, which is Republican controlled, and they wouldn’t hesitate to screw over the Democrats in any way they can.
Ruckus
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Long ago, one of my great aunts old wringer washing machine quit. They were glad to find that they could still purchase another one. New even. This had to be close to 55 or so yrs ago.