Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

I am pretty sure Katy Tur wasn’t always such a bootlicking sycophant.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Never forget that he train is barreling down on Trump, even as he dances on the tracks.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

I’m just a talker, trying to find a channel!

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

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

Bark louder, little dog.

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

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

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Friday Morning Open Thread: President Joe Goes to Detroit

Friday Morning Open Thread: President Joe Goes to Detroit

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Per CNN, “One Detroit man’s ride with Joe Biden in the presidential motorcade”:

… Riley – who runs his own environmental tech company called JustAir – said he never could have imagined having a conversation with the president. Then with little warning, he found himself with the surreal opportunity to ask the president of the United States for some advice, on everything from his company to how he could be a better leader.

“He grabbed my hand and looked at me in the eye,” Riley said. The president, according to Riley, told him that it didn’t matter whether the issue was something significant, like politics, or a little more trivial, like sports teams.

“Even if you’re on different sides of the spectrum … it’s important that we’re in this together. You have to build that rapport and that trust,” Biden told Riley.

The president’s trip to Michigan comes as the campaign is making a full pivot to the general election. Following the New Hampshire primary last month, Biden’s team declared that former President Donald Trump had all but locked up the Republican nomination.

Campaign officials said Biden’s travel will pick up quickly and there will be growing emphasis on retail politics – drop-bys at local eateries and businesses and more intimate settings where the president can shake hands, take selfies and have organic conversations. The decision to have Biden spend half an hour in the car with Riley on Thursday, one campaign official said, boiled down to simply trying to give the president more time and space hear directly from a constituent…

And there was one thing in particular about watching Biden up close that had surprised him, Riley said. He was aware of the clips circulating online that highlight the president’s mistakes and fumbles – tripping over his words during remarks, for example.

“He talked about multiple topics, the things he’s juggling and navigating and processing. He is very sharp,” Riley said. “That man? He’s sharp. He’s with it.”

Asked whether he is inclined to share much about his car ride with friends and family, Riley said he has already started – beginning with his mother.

Reader Interactions

166Comments

  2. 2.

    Attempted Chemistry

    I wasn’t a Biden supporter in the 2020 primaries. I thought he would be a mediocre (if infinitely preferable to Trump) president.

    I am happy to report that I was dead wrong. Turns out empathy and experience are good qualities in a president, who knew?

  3. 3.

    satby

    He’s such a happy warrior. He brings all the experiences of his life to the job along with his humanity and it’s just great to see him in these candid encounters.

  4. 4.

    PaulWartenberg

    Did Twitter just die again? It’s booted me out and won’t let me log back in.

    HOW AM I GOING TO FIND OUT ABOUT TAYLOR SWIFT’S UTTER DESTRUCTION OF MAGA NOW???

  5. 5.

    Baud

    He talked about multiple topics, the things he’s juggling and navigating and processing. He is very sharp,” Riley said. “That man? He’s sharp. He’s with it.”

    I reject your reality and substitute my own.

  8. 8.

    Jeffro

    Helping to get the good word out (albeit slowly), the Post has a quiz you can take to figure out that…surprise!…the economy is actually really good.  (I got a 3 out of 4 because even I thought that gas was up $1 a gallon since Biden’s inauguration, when it’s only up $.75.  See, there, you got a freebie folks. =)

    (in fairness, they also have a piece up at the top of the website about why grocery prices are staying relatively high, and the piece notes basically everything BUT Joe Biden as the cause)

    Grocery prices remain elevated due to a mixture of labor shortages tied to the pandemic, ongoing supply chain disruptions, droughts, avian flu and other factors far beyond the administration’s control. Robust consumer demand has also fueled a shift to more expensive groceries, and consolidation in the industry gives large chains the ability to keep prices high, economic policy experts say.

    The high grocery prices reflect a number of economic factors. The run-up in food costs began early in the pandemic, when supply-chain snarls and worker shortages collided with rampant demand for groceries. But more recent developments continue to keep prices high: Droughts and extreme heat have dampened production of fruits and vegetables. Dry spells in India and Thailand have curtailed sugar exports. And an ongoing avian flu outbreak, the largest in U.S. history, sent chicken and egg prices soaring, though egg prices fell after an initial spike.

    Higher wages at processing plants, warehouses and grocery stores have also added to costs. Meanwhile, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 prompted a spike in commodity prices for wheat, corn and vegetable oils that are finally settling back down.

    Uh oh – COMPLEXITY!  The MAGAts won’t like that (but I doubt they’re reading the Post anyway)

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    Couple of years since initially released but new to yours truly. Recommended on Apple TV+: The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey mini-series. Too pat in its ultimate unfolding but can’t tarnish that Samuel L. Jackson masterfully shines. Bingeable over a weekend.

  10. 10.

    Ken

    In fairness to Darren, I wouldn’t be aware of the record low rates for Black unemployment if not for this blog. I know the administration is getting the word out, because I’ve seen the tweets and press releases here, but they’re not getting amplified in the media. Wonder why?

    (Actually, I saw some analysis that partly explains why, and also why journalists keep pushing “bad economy” — journalism has had several very bad years, what with media consolidation and cutbacks, with really no end in sight. So the remaining journalists are simultaneously distracted, and unwilling to risk getting their bosses and owners angry.)

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @satby:

    He’s authentic, and he’s generous:

    President Biden to union workers: Folks, thanks in large part to you, we have the strongest economy in the whole damn world.

    What a contrast with Mister “I Alone Can Fix It.”

  14. 14.

    satby

    @NotMax: Don’t know if you are the person who recommended Monsieur Spade, but thanks if you did. I’m enjoying everything but having to wait for a week between installments.

  26. 26.

    Elizabelle

    @NotMax:  Love me some Walter Mosley.  Thank you for the recc.

    Did they film some of Socrates Fortlow, too? I really liked that character … (They did.  1998 HBO TV film starring Lawrence Fishburne.  Will look for it.

    ETA:  Walter Mosley credited as consulting producer on Justified: City Primeval.

  27. 27.

    Princess

    It’s worth noting that Biden didn’t do ANY of this kind of campaigning in 2020 (and still won). We’ve never really seen him campaign for president. And now he gets to do it with a record to stand on.

  28. 28.

    Baud

    @Princess:

    It’s worth noting that Biden didn’t do ANY of this kind of campaigning in 2030

     
    He should have borrowed Obama’s time machine.

  30. 30.

    Ken

    In other politicians-meeting-people news, Tom Nichols observes “American life didn’t used to be this sad,” linking to a story about Sarah Palin introducing Ted Nugent at the trucker border rally.

  32. 32.

    Elizabelle

    @Princess:  A (good!) record to stand on, and the elitist pack animals who comprise top MSM talent starting to notice it.

    They have been oblivious so far, for professional and social reasons, or maybe they’re just not that sharp.

    Kay is right about what brittle and conventional people they are.

  34. 34.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Louisiana’s far-right government has quietly obtained hundreds of pages of communications between the Environmental Protection Agency and journalists, legal advocates and community groups focused on environmental justice. The rare use of public records law to target citizens is a new escalation in the state’s battle with the EPA over its examination of alleged civil rights violations in the heavily polluted region known as “Cancer Alley”.

    Louisiana sued the EPA on 19 December, alleging that the federal agency had failed to properly respond to the state’s sprawling Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, request sent by former state attorney general Jeff Landry.

    Court filings note that the public records case is related to another, ongoing lawsuit brought against the EPA by Landry, a staunch advocate for the oil and gas industry who now serves as Louisiana’s governor. Shortly after Landry’s suit was filed, the EPA dropped its investigation into the Louisiana department of environmental quality’s permitting practices, which advocates say disproportionately impact Black residents in Cancer Alley.

    Who needs lobbyists? The oil and gas industry owns Louisiana.

  38. 38.

    Suzanne

    @Ken:

    “American life didn’t used to be this sad,” linking to a story about Sarah Palin introducing Ted Nugent at the trucker border rally. 

    I mean, I agree, but we are also not the ones who became deranged by will-to-power? So… shrug?

    Joe’s doing a great job. I’m very happy to vote for him again, and since PA is apparently once again the tipping point state, to volunteer and donate.

  46. 46.

    Suzanne

    I want there to be a word for garbagey people, like Palin and Nugent, that doesn’t have class or race implications. People who exhibit terrible judgment and taste in all that they do.

  53. 53.

    Jeffro

    @Ken: In other politicians-meeting-people news, Tom Nichols observes “American life didn’t used to be this sad,” linking to a story about Sarah Palin introducing Ted Nugent at the trucker border rally.

    @Baud:Still confusing Americans with Republicans, I see.

    I can’t stand it when they do that!  Seriously, it drives me nuts.  How hard is it to name names/parties, media types?

  55. 55.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Suzanne: ​
     

    I want there to be a word for garbagey people, like Palin and Nugent, that doesn’t have class or race implications. People who exhibit terrible judgment and taste in all that they do.

    Slimeballs, perhaps?

  58. 58.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Freemark:

    My hopes weren’t high but now think he may be the best President of my 55 years on Earth.

    I’d supported him the first two times her ran but wasn’t an initial supporter in 2020. The things he’s done after getting in office are reasons why many of us have been longtime supporters.

    Easily best prez of my lifetime.

  61. 61.

    Geminid

    Hakeem Jeffries fans can see the Minority Leader exercise his formidable communications skills this Sunday, on ABC’s “This Week.” The show’s other guest is  J.D. Vance. I expect the two lawmakers will appear in separate segments but it should be quite a contrast anyway.

  63. 63.

    NotMax

    @Suzanne

    Judges will accept philistine or vulgarian. Honorable mentions for booboisie, lout and clod.

    Taking a cue from another commenter, howzabout nouveau blech?
    ;)

  64. 64.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    He’s authentic, and he’s generous.

    Charlie Pierce wrote something about Biden during his VP debate about how Joe was exceptional in that he loved being at that debate, wanted to be there whereas probably nobody else did.   https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a16218/vp-debate-2012-13609407/

    There’s also a piece (that I can’t put my hands on) about when Biden was rail commuting from DE, he was in Union Station and a guy from the train either missed his ride or couldn’t get one, I don’t remember the details.  Joe had him hop in the car and dropped him off.

    Yeah, he’s that kind of genuine.

  65. 65.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Baud: The teachers believed that if you ignored the language, the kids would drop it. Empirical evidence says that theory is incorrect.

    @Geminid: Jeffries has been a pleasant surprise to me. I knew nothing about him other than that Pelosi was mentoring him. He’s good at politics.

  66. 66.

    Trivia Man

    The classic book about a presidential campaign, Fear And Loathing On the Campaign Trail 1972, tells about Hunter Thompson and Richard Nixon in a car.

    It was well known that A) HST despised RMN with the heat of a thousand suns and B) both were fanatical football fans.

    The campaign asked HST if he wanted to ride between events with the president. One condition – no politics, just football. He agreed and had a good time.

  68. 68.

    Suzanne

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Or as the kids in my son’s day care used to say, “Dummy fucker asshole faces”? 

    Maybe he was my classmate.

    The problem with “scum” and “slime” and all of those is that they’re generic. They don’t convey the specific meaning I’m looking for, which is of people (and yes, usually white people) with more-than-sufficient means debasing themselves to appeal to stupidity and grievance.

  71. 71.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Suzanne: ​people (and yes, usually white people) with more-than-sufficient means

    So you want a word that for these people that does not have a reference to race or class? People who you have defined largely by race and class markers? Interesting.

  72. 72.

    catclub

    @Princess: BJ has become unmoored in time this morning.

     

    Also in space, since the universe is expanding and we are moving within it. also, spacetime.

  73. 73.

    topclimber

    Gee, if only we could get our sugar from this place near Florida that is swimming in the stuff.

    It’s true that like maybe 70% of the countries we trade with, the place is no democracy. Well, maybe with another 60 years of trade embargo we can make them see the light.

    Here’s a hint for those who havva-not figured out what the country is.

  74. 74.

    JML

    Biden honestly likes people. He interested in them, he cares about them, and he doesn’t need a personal connection or an incentive for them to matter to him. He’s basically the opposite of the malignant narcissist that used to hold the office.

    I think it’s smart to have Biden do a bunch of these retail politics opportunities. It plays to Biden’s strengths as a person with warmth and empathy, it makes him seem real to people, and it’s also not hard to package them up in media drops so the wider audience can see it. It’s also a good counter to the constant stream of attacks.

  75. 75.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The Georgia state senate passed legislation Thursday mostly outlawing bail funds for protest groups, and added dozens of offenses to the list of charges requiring cash bail to secure release.

    The passage of SB63 by a 30-17 vote in the Republican-dominated state senate arrives as three activists operating the Atlanta Solidarity Fund face state-level racketeering and charity fraud charges in connection with the prosecution of dozens of protesters against “Cop City”, an Atlanta project to build a police-training facility.

    The bill would require any individual or group raising money as a charitable bail fund and soliciting donations for the release of accused persons to register and meet the requirements of a bail bond company. Under Georgia law, a county sheriff has absolute discretion over who can register as a bondsman, giving local law enforcement an effective veto over the bail component of political protests, said state senator Josh McLaurin, an Atlanta-area Democrat.

    “The program that [US senator Raphael] Warnock’s church runs, a Mother’s Day bailout they do every year, will now be illegal under this bill, because charitable organizations will no longer be allowed to bail out more than three people a year,” McLaurin said.

    I don’t see how this passes constitutional muster but I am not a lawyer.

  78. 78.

    Geminid

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Jeffries is an excellent communicator, and I think he’s a hard worker too. When Democrats elected him Caucus Chairman in November of 2018, Jeffries had served only three terms. His colleagues and leadership must have seen a lot they liked.

  79. 79.

    Suzanne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    So you want a word that for these people that does not have a reference to race or class? People who you have defined largely by race and class markers? Interesting. 

    Okay, fair, but what I want to insult is their fakeness. Like Kid Rock saying he’s not straight outta Compton, he’s straight outta trailer. Like Sarah Palin pretending to be all down-homey and going to spend campaign cash on fancy clothes for her and her barfighting kids.

  80. 80.

    bjacques

    @Jeffro: since I live in Foreign Speaking Nation, whenever someone Statesside brought up high food/gas prices, I loved telling them we’ve had the same here (from much the same structural causes), and feigning outrage that Biden is killing foreign economies too!

  81. 81.

    Ben Cisco

    @Jeffro:

    Helping to get the good word out (albeit slowly), the Post has a quiz you can take to figure out that…surprise!…the economy is actually really good.

    Telling that you cannot access the quiz w/o either having an account or signing up via email to read the article…

  82. 82.

    mrmoshpotato

    @satby:

    He’s such a happy warrior. He brings all the experiences of his life to the job along with his humanity and it’s just great to see him in these candid encounters. 

    Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

  83. 83.

    RevRick

    @Baud:

     

    @Jeffro: Sadly, there is some truth to this!
    Over at Great Orange Satan aka Dailykos, there’s some analysis in the Abbreviated Pundit section, where a generalized sadness and negativity has overtaken our politics, and factors like a healthy economy and incumbency are being cancelled out.

    One analyst describes our politics as 40-40-20, with 40% Democrats, 40% Republicans, and 20% a checked out shrug emoji, and that 20% decides our elections. He says that this 20% dislikes both parties and accumulates grievances of bad news, failures and disappointments. It’s a bleak picture of where we are headed.

  85. 85.

    Suzanne

    Specifically, the concept of being a “social climber”, but the other way around.

    See also: Tom Cotton and Ron DeSantis pretending to be anti-Ivy League.

  86. 86.

    Spanky

    From the WaPo today:

    The Wall Street Journal took a hatchet to its Washington bureau on Thursday, laying off roughly 20 staffers in a restructuring that adds to a brutal start to 2024 for the journalism industry.

    Hey! Maybe they’re going to pare away all that political garbage reporting!
    Oh.

    The cuts focused on the bureau’s economics reporters in Washington, which will be folded into the newspaper’s New York-based business team.

    Yeah, well, another dream crushed.

    The bureau’s team covering U.S.-China news will be shuttered.

    Yeah, nobody cares about that stuff anyway. (Rolls eyes.

    ETA, my impression of the WSJ was that they concentrated on economic news, so you would think that’s where they’d put their money. Guess they’re trying to chase the crowd. I can imagine how that’s going to go.

  87. 87.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Suzanne: Call them Republicans. At this point in time, and after everything that has happened, a person can’t say that they’re a good person if they vote for the GOP. Not now. There are few absolutes in the Universe, and this distinction is one of them.

  88. 88.

    H.E.Wolf

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​[re: GA State Senate Bill 63]

    Thank you for highlighting this.

    According to the Guardian, the GA state legislature’s two halves failed to reconcile their versions of this bill last year. Maybe the Republicans in the lege believe they will be able to get a reconciled bill through both halves this year.

    An article from hngn.com (Headlines ‘n’ Global News, apparently) had this to say: “Experts said that this could worsen overcrowding in county jails. If the new SB63 really becomes law, it would erode the changes that were passed in 2018 under Republican Gov. Nathan Deal.”

    Meanwhile, FastDemocracy.com lists SB63 as #1 on the list of bills opposed by the ACLU of Georgia… so I think OzarkHillbilly is correct that the bill, if it becomes law, will be challenged on constitutional grounds.

  89. 89.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Suzanne: From Wikipedia (not worth finding a better source)

    Kid Rock was born Robert James Ritchie in Romeo, Michigan, on January 17, 1971, the son of Susan and William Ritchie, who owned multiple car dealerships.[2][3][4] He was raised in his father’s large home on extensive property,[2][5] which included an apple orchard and barnyard for their horses.

    Not trailer trash, rich kid trash playing trailer trash.

    Wish I’d seen him booed off the stage too.  (Fuck Limp Bizkit.)

  91. 91.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @mrmoshpotato: Not trailer trash, rich kid trash playing trailer trash.

    Say WHAT??? I am shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, that Kid Rock lies! Why I nevah...

  92. 92.

    Bugboy

    @Baud: OMFG yes.  There seriously needs to be some consideration of a law that prohibits law enforcement unions in particular, and those with typically Republican sympathies, from being exempt from the union busting legislation coming out of State houses across the land.

  93. 93.

    Eyeroller

    @RevRick: I think some of this “analysis” is affected by pundits’ own views and what their colleagues are saying.  I rarely see punditry that seems accurate or based on data.  It’s all “vibes.”  Even some who started out supposedly data-driven are all vibes all the time now.  Add to that, the relentless negativity in the media very likely has an effect on that alleged 20%, the media just will never acknowledge that their framing is not truly objective.

  94. 94.

    Suzanne

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Call them Republicans. At this point in time, and after everything that has happened, a person can’t say that they’re a good person if they vote for the GOP. Not now. There are few absolutes in the Universe, and this distinction is one of them. 

    I absolutely agree. I just want a specific insult that gets at their fucken shameless pandering.

  95. 95.

    Suzanne

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Not trailer trash, rich kid trash playing trailer trash. 

    The insult that I am looking for, that I’m not sure exists, would zoom in on the garbagey-ness of pretending to grow up in a trailer without insulting the people who actually did grow up in a trailer.

  98. 98.

    Marcopolo

    @Suzanne: so working with the idea of carpet-baggers something like carpet-dumpsters or carpet-trash (baggers)…lol, waking up whilst reading the comments this am has been quite the trip.

  101. 101.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Suzanne: Exactly.  Our side isn’t pathetic like that.  Aside from Purity Ponies doing their usual threat of not voting (and they’re just attention-seeking trolls really, more of a nuisance) I’m pretty damn proud of our side.  We are angry and sad when it’s appropriate (bigotry, the war on women/Trans People etc.) but for the most part we don’t wallow in bitterness and resentment.  We are Taylor Swift, they are Ted Nugent.  That speaks volumes.

  102. 102.

    JMG

    @Eyeroller: It is hard to come with another theory when you get poll results like CNN had today. Over 60 percent of respondents said that Trump’s positions were “extreme.” Sixty percent said Biden’s positions were “in the mainstream” (whatever that means). Poll’s topline was Trump 49-Biden 45. So over 10 percent of respondents either crave a candidate with extreme views or are expressing a generalized “fuck it all” attitude.

  103. 103.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @frosty: Was it you I borrowed this from?

    Maybe, I don’t recall phrasing it in exactly these words but I have said that I feed the ticks and my wife feeds the skeeters.

  106. 106.

    Baud

    @JMG:

    I wonder if the top line is weighted by party, whereas the questions are not.

    I will once again put forward my theory that a lot of people are really depressed at the idea of admitting how much better Dems are at governing. Even people who dislike Republicans really want a better Republican party than a successful Democratic Party.

  108. 108.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Suzanne: In my mind, it doesn’t insult everyone who grew up in a trailer, the same way “white trash” doesn’t insult all white people.  It’s not so much the trailer part of it, as it’s the trash part.

    Either way, to Hell with Fred Durst and Kid Rock.

  110. 110.

    JMG

    @Baud: This is another example of the main reason why polls have varied so widely so far. Polling on voters 18-34 or 18-29 is all over the map. CNN had those voters Biden plus 3. Quinnipiac had them Biden plus 14. A YouGov poll had it Biden plus 20. These voters are the hardest to poll, because they’re the least likely to respond to pollsters, so a good deal of current polling hinges on more or less informed guesses.

  111. 111.

    2liberal

    Red Sox ownership added Theo Epstein as a minority owner. So now I can start reading Red Sox nitter  again.

  114. 114.

    Nelle

    @satby: My grandson is watching a Daniel Tiger program on empathy and trying to understand how another is feeling and respond kindly.  I think Astrid does this with regard to feelings but also different styles of thinking and solving problems.  I’m still on the first season, but last night, Coste had to solve a problem by adopting Astrid’s approach.  Later, Astrid chose action, partly by imagining what Coste would do.  I was thinking this needs to happen across all sorts of difference.  And the plots have twists!

  118. 118.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @TS: ​ I got 4 out of 4 (I know surprise surprise) This little tidbit caught my eye:

    (President Donald Trump saw more than 6 million jobs added in his first three years in office… more than 14 million jobs added through December 2023.

    So in a straight up “first 3 years comparison” Biden is more than 8 million jobs better than trump.

  119. 119.

    NickM

    A hopeful bit of news – I went to a postcard writing event locally on Wednesday morning — there were more people (25 or so) than seats ….

  123. 123.

    frosty

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​ The phrase I remember was something like “I’m going out to sit on my bench in the garden and feed the ticks.”

    So now when I go out for a hike or a bird walk it’s “I’m going out to feed the ticks; back in a couple of hours.”

  125. 125.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Suzanne: “trash” is a type of behavior and an expression that is very common and popular in AAVE (African American Vernacular English).  It’s a choice not something anyone is born into.  It has nothing to do with wealth, class, race, gender etc.  Trump is trash. Clarence Thomas is trash.  I don’t feel bad at all using the term and neither do most of the people I know who come from pretty extreme poverty (like no running water, West Virginia).  I’m not gonna lose too much sleep over it.

  126. 126.

    Eyeroller

    @JMG: Somebody here just the other day referenced a discussion of recent polling.  It all comes down to the fact that response rates have dropped dramatically.  It is much harder and costs a lot more to get a “representative” sample and even then it’s unclear how good the sampling is.  So overall there is less polling and what we are getting is generally of lower quality.  The aggregators depended on weighted averages of lots of polls for their accuracy.

    And it’s not just younger people that don’t answer their phones anymore unless the caller is in their contacts.

  130. 130.

    Geminid

    @Jeffro: Fifth District Rep. Bob No-Good was mentioned in yesterday’s Politico story, “Inside Kevin McCarthy’s vengeance operation.” Good is one of the 8 Republicans who brought McCarthy down last Fall, and McCarthy has sworn revenge. Kind of like some Dollar Store Ahab.

    So McCarthy’s head hatchet-man has been out interviewing potential primary challengers, and McCarthy is lining up a war chest to spend on the likely ones.

    Bob Good already has an aggressive challenger in state Senator John McGuire, who was endorsed last month by McCarthy ally Marjorie Greene. Asked about McCarthy’s hostility, Good responded that he hopes McCarthy comes and campaigns with McGuire. I don’t know if McCarthy will visit the Fifth District, but I bet Marjorie Greene will. Something to look forward to this Spring!

  132. 132.

    H.E.Wolf

    @NickM: ​A hopeful bit of news – I went to a postcard writing event locally on Wednesday morning — there were more people (25 or so) than seats ….

     👍!

    And also: thank you for inspiring me to complete my current batch.

    I keep coming back to the US Civil Rights movement, and how it made progress (albeit slowly and with setbacks) because everyone who could, contributed in some way. A lot of those ways were quiet and almost unnoticeable… and made a difference.

  134. 134.

    RevRick

    @Eyeroller:

     

    @JMG: I was citing a Substack by Lee Drutman, where he asks the question: “What if it’s not the economy, stupid?” He then looked at polling data going back to FDR, in some cases, where the average net approval rating for Presidents was +33% pre-Civil Rights era, dropped to +17% until 2004, and has been -8% ever since. He also looked at data correlation between the economy and Presidential popularity, and found that while there was a weak positive before 2008, it doesn’t seem to matter since. And then he looked at favorability ratings by partisans for their own party and the opposition, and found that while own party has remained fairly stable, view of the opposition has plummeted.

  135. 135.

    Eyeroller

    @RevRick: That’s an interesting point but I don’t think it’s the substack essay I have in mind, which was specifically about recent election polling. But your reference is relevant to the increase in negative partisanship we’ve been seeing.

  138. 138.

    lowtechcyclist

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Speaking of economic news: Another shockingly good jobs report shows America’s economy is booming
    Maybe this Biden guy knows what he’s doing?​

    Signs point to yes, my magic 8-ball says.

    355,000 net new jobs in January – that’s a VERY good jobs report.  And consumer sentiment had a double-digit increase.  Plenty of jobs, everyone’s working, most people are getting paid more than ever, and they’re feeling like spending their money.

    In case anyone’s wondering, this is NOT what a run-up to a recession looks like.

  141. 141.

    Paul in KY

    @mrmoshpotato: I saw him once at Louder Than Life. Definitely a boring set (to me). All his songs sound the same. Even if he wasn’t a fakeo POS, they would still sound like lame white boy quasi-rapping.

  142. 142.

    Kirk

    @Suzanne:

    The problem with “scum” and “slime” and all of those is that they’re generic. They don’t convey the specific meaning I’m looking for, which is of people (and yes, usually white people) with more-than-sufficient means debasing themselves to appeal to stupidity and grievance.

    I shall stick with villainous cads, and in some cases poltroons. Old fashioned but still accurate.

  143. 143.

    arrieve

    @Freemark:

    I’m with you. My hopes weren’t high but now think he may be the best President of my 55 years on Earth.

    Like so many here, Biden wasn’t my first or second or even third choice in 2020. I was a Warren supporter, and I actually got to see all of the Democratic candidates (16 at the time, I believe) at the New Hampshire convention. (I live in New York, but the Warren campaign got me an invite.) Biden was on first, while people were still coming in to the arena, and he had a cold and he was completely unimpressive. (I also thought Kamala wasn’t as good as I expected, which just goes to show that you can’t judge a campaign by one speech.)

    But he is good at this job. So very, very good. And we are so damn lucky to have him.

  144. 144.

    Eyeroller

    @lowtechcyclist: It’s also not what people who are genuinely worried about the economy do.  Consumer confidence expresses what they really think, and as Kay has repeatedly said, watch what they do.  There’s some evidence that the doom-and-gloom that shows up in some polling has a lot of negative partisanship behind it, and also some contribution by people parroting what they hear on media.

  146. 146.

    CaseyL

    @Suzanne: ​

    I have a few, but they’re all polysyllabic:

    Walking, talking vomit.

    Waste of protoplasm.

    A singularity of garbage.

    As useful and pleasant as a burst appendix.

  155. 155.

    wjca

    @Eyeroller: it’s not just younger people that don’t answer their phones anymore unless the caller is in their contacts.

    It comes down to this: the sheer volume of Spam call has exploded in recent years.

    Used to be (you know, in “them good old days”) that you’d get maybe a couple of advertising calls a month.  And political calls only the month or so before an election — and even then only a handful.  Now, a day when we only get two or three spam calls is the exception.

  160. 160.

    mrmoshpotato

    @wjca: What?  You don’t like spam calls and texts?

    Ever got a text offering you a medical doctor job?  Those are fun.

  161. 161.

    lee

    Honest question:

    Has there been a President or even someone running for President that can schmooze like Biden?

    Obama & Bill Clinton were good. But IMHO Biden is better.

  162. 162.

    way2blue

    President Biden needs to work on standing up straight!  Nothing telegraphs old to a casual viewer better than walking around hunched over.  Dare I venture that yoga might reduce the apparent stiffness in his legs.

  164. 164.

    Citizen Alan

    @Spanky: It’s a murdoch property now. Like everything else he owns  it now exists to further his agenda for the human race.

  165. 165.

    David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch

    Funny how the political press never interviews union members at diners near industrial plants

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