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You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / 2024 Primaries / Dank Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: (Past) Time to Take Out the Trash

Dank Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: (Past) Time to Take Out the Trash

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After tomorrow — Sooooper Tuesday! — I’m hoping we’ve seen the last of some of the grifters attaching themselves to this year’s bandwagon. From Politico, “Is No Labels about to face plant?”:

Donors to No Labels are starting to fear that the third-party group missed its window for launching a much-hyped presidential bid and are questioning whether to make future financial commitments to the organization.

Those fears have intensified after two high-profile No Labels candidate targets — former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat — passed on the chance to run for president, and as the party’s planned April presidential nominating convention approaches without a clear ticket in place.

“No Labels just missed one heck of an opportunity to potentially be viable, and now I don’t know that they can be viable,” said Jim Teague, the CEO of a Texas oil and gas company and a No Labels donor. “I don’t know who they can possibly get to run that would generate excitement that Joe Manchin would have generated,” he said, adding that it’s “pretty doubtful” he will donate to the organization in the future.

No Labels officials say they are continuing to move forward with plans to launch a presidential run and are looking at “sometime after Super Tuesday to determine if we offer our line and who would be on it,” spokesperson Maryanne Martini said.

The sense that there is a lack of clarity around the group’s 2024 plans — including the absence of a slate of candidates — has caused anxiety among at least the half dozen donors who spoke with POLITICO…

“I’d be pissed if I was a donor,” said the person who has direct knowledge of No Labels’ vetting process, noting that the ticket, if it comes together, will likely include lesser names at the top of it. “It’s like buying a ticket to see Taylor Swift, and you show up to see Madonna fall off the stage.”

No Labels, for now, says it is plowing ahead. The group has regular Zoom calls with supporters where they discuss the status of getting on the ballots and encourage relaying names of potential presidential candidates.

Some supporters would like to see Romney or Ryan on the ballot, even though No Labels “has not spoken” to either of the veteran Republicans, Martini said.

And I would like to see my favorite potato chips available in a no-calorie variety, but I don’t plan on getting much satisfaction in that hope.
 

‘Democratic commentator’ Kaivin Shroff brings receipts from the distant past (last November):
Dank Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Time to Take Out the Trash

And Dean’s not doing so well, at this point in time…

***********
Finally… we’re not gonna see the end of TFG’s ‘campaign’ as long as his handlers can prop up his carcass to parade before his deluded groupies and the media (assuming that Venn diagram is not a perfect circle), but perhaps there’s a chance…

Reader Interactions

106Comments

  2. 2.

    satby

    Dan Rather has seen some things in his 92 years, and he’s reminding journalists of the principles they should be working under.

    It’s confounding and frustrating to watch political coverage these days. One Sunday talk show host on NBC News said former President Trump “allegedly” tried to overturn the 2020 election. With all due respect, please eliminate that word from any future reference to that terrible day in January 2021. There is nothing “allegedly” about it

  5. 5.

    ColoradoGuy

    Looking at the Rolling Stone report, the White House combined the worst aspects of a Mafia and a religious cult. Which mirrors a certain Central European nation in the 1930’s.

  6. 6.

    NotMax

    @Ten Bears

    Meth-heads. Tweakers. Speed-freaks. Dopers and Drunks

    What are five groups with more political credibility and gravitas than No Labels, Alex?

  7. 7.

    Frankensteinbeck

    The donors didn’t just find out No Labels are spoilers.  That was what they wanted.  What the donors just found out is that No Labels are grifters.  They never planned to run a candidate in the first place.

  10. 10.

    Anne Laurie

    @ColoradoGuy: Looking at the Rolling Stone report, the White House combined the worst aspects of a Mafia and a religious cult. Which mirrors a certain Central European nation in the 1930’s.

    … And every ‘leftist’ horny for a Trump return imagines they’ll be Christopher Isherwood.  (Of course, most of them couldn’t write as well as Christopher Robin.)

  14. 14.

    Baud

    I’m not a huge Madonna fan, but that seemed like a pretty gratuitous dig. There are certainly worse people he could have picked.

  18. 18.

    satby

    @Baud: Backed Haley to try to block Trump? He’s backed Biden before. From Forbes:

    Mark Cuban told Bloomberg on Monday he’d vote for President Joe Biden over Republican frontrunner Donald Trump even if Biden was receiving his “last rites”—a repeat endorsement from Cuban, who has supported Biden in the past, albeit in a limited capacity.

     

    Full disclosure, I use his pharmacy, where my Rxs are cheaper than a regular pharmacy’s copay cost after Medicare (barely) covers them.

  19. 19.

    JWR

    “I don’t know who they can possibly get to run that would generate excitement that Joe Manchin would have generated,”

    I don’t think finding another *firebrand* like Joe Manchin will be too hard. Hell, you’ve got half the current GOP congress waiting for your call. Just tell ’em that the only skill needed is an ability to lift up the Manchmentum just like ol’ Joe used to do.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    @satby:

    I’m pleased. It’s helpful to have popular celebrities back Biden despite his age.  It can help make normies comfortable with the idea as well.

  22. 22.

    hueyplong

    @Baud: I would say that shows that there is a level of irresponsibility that even billionaires won’t tolerate from a candidate who will lower their taxes, but nah, Cuban just likes to troll Trump personally. And I applaud his apparent efforts to induce that fatal apoplexy.

  25. 25.

    satby

    @Baud: He’s doing good work with his pharmacy though I don’t doubt he’s making a mint with it too. But the savings are significant and it’s helpful on a lower fixed income. I count him as an ally.

    Knee-jerk anti rich guy comments are annoying to me. JB Pritzker is another billionaire and he’s been a fantastic and very liberal governor of IL. #notall

  27. 27.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: ​ There are always exceptions. I’ve even known 1 or 2. I still hate most of the rich tho, because they prioritize maintaining their status over the well being of others.

  28. 28.

    Betty Cracker

    @satby: Any billionaire who’s willing to betray their class to save democracy is okay in my book, but you can probably count them on one hand with fingers to spare. Rumor has it Biden will make taxing the rich a central theme of the SOTU. Good!

  29. 29.

    gene108

    Jim Teague, the CEO of a Texas oil and gas company and a No Labels donor. “I don’t know who they can possibly get to run that would generate excitement that Joe Manchin would have generated,”

    A thought I did not think possible in 2024 regarding Joe Manchin.

  33. 33.

    Pete Mack

    I can’t believe No Labels keeps its 501c rating. Political parties have public donor bases, and limits on individual donors. (Corporations are forbidden from donating–directly or indirectly.)

  36. 36.

    gene108

    @satby:

    The issue with calling J6 an “alleged” insurrection is there should be something else to call it if it is not an insurrection.

    In “John smith allegedly murdered the victim”, John’s either a murderer or he is not a murderer.

    The media really needs to explain what else J6 could’ve been, if not an insurrection.

  37. 37.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    The donors didn’t just find out No Labels are spoilers. That was what they wanted. What the donors just found out is that No Labels are grifters. They never planned to run a candidate in the first place.

    The donors probably weren’t bothered by a healthy bit of grifting by Penn and Jacobson, so long as they were able to accomplish their purpose.  I’ve got no reason to doubt that P&J intended to run a candidate, but they just couldn’t find one that might actually draw enough voters away from Biden to come close to mattering.

    Too bad, so sad. ;-)

  38. 38.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @JWR: and @gene108:

    They only need enough excitement to peel a couple of percentage points off Biden and give Trump the election.

    Instead, No Labels is going to pocket the money and say “Oh, well, we tried!”

    I figured this was their plan from day one.

    EDIT – @lowtechcyclist:

    they just couldn’t find one that might actually draw enough voters away from Biden to come close to mattering.

    Obviously there is room to disagree here, but I think they knew that from the beginning.  They got a couple of names who might maybe qualify to talk it up, that’s all.

  40. 40.

    gene108

    @Pete Mack:

    I can’t believe No Labels keeps its 501c rating. Political parties have public donor bases, and limits on individual donors. (Corporations are forbidden from donating–directly or indirectly.)

    It’s probably a 501(c)(4) where donations are not tax deductible. This is usually the category most political non-profit organizations organize under.

    Other non-profits like the United Way, religious organizations like churches, temples, etc., food banks, etc. are organized under section 501(c)(3). Donations to these entities are tax deductible.

  41. 41.

    Manyakitty

    @satby: expecting anything other than slavish obsequiousness towards her perceived betters out of that useless Welker will lead to disappointment. She would be comically bad if it wasn’t so tragic.

  42. 42.

    TBone

    @satby: it’s in the legal record for all time, so yes, there is no more “allegedly.” We have a “convicted” insurrectionist but no specific legislation to prevent it from occurring again (continuously). ETA apparently what we have is a suicide pact.

  44. 44.

    TBone

    @mrmoshpotato: That’s always my recommendation, I mean, being retired has to be good for something!  My cats are on to me though.  They will stink bomb earlier and earlier.

  45. 45.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Baud: I agree. I’m old enough to remember Madonna as a Taylor Swift caliber superstar. Kidd Rock, on the other hand, always sucked. To pick just one example.

  49. 49.

    prostratedragon

    That nagging feeling that you must have slid into an alternate timeline:

    I don’t know who they can possibly get to run that would generate excitement that Joe Manchin would have generated

  53. 53.

    geg6

    LOL!  These people are delusional if they think that, somehow, Joe Manchin is exciting to anyone other than themselves.  Jesus.

  55. 55.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: Vote getter or not, it’s a necessity, IMO. These oligarchs have to be reined in before they complete their takeover and turn this country into another repressive right-wing, nuclear-armed kleptocracy.

  58. 58.

    Ramalama

    I am proud to announce my new PAC: No Baubles.

    Get in while the getting’s good. In the event that the Gen Z (and younger) decide to continue listening to Tracy Chapman, your best bet for when they get up in arms around her “Talkin’ Bout A Revolution” – your best bet is shelter. No Baubles can take you there! No fuss, no muss. For only $29,999 you can secure your spot in history as well as this reclaimed bomb shelter complete with moss, clay pots, unused jalapeno seeds that you always meant to plant but could not be bothered, army cot with aired out wool blanket, and the finest of Cold Duck (not foie gras, ha ha), in these plastic champagne glasses that your mother couldn’t throw out because who knew when she’d need these.

    You’re riding out the Revolution in style. You’re roughing it. You can’t wait to ride it out in No Baubles PAC environs to then tell any friends who survived, “We had to watch Mork from Ork on videotape. The toilet paper felt like it came directly from East Berlin BEHIND THE WALL.”

    Your surviving friends will be AMAZED and JEALOUS at your GENIUS in participating in this Outward Bound Extreme Sport, while they sniveled on their islands in abject luxury, worrying about their portfolios on the MAINLAND.

  61. 61.

    zhena gogolia

    Am I the only one who can’t get the “open kimono“ image (with respect to the Trump regime) out of my head?

  63. 63.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @prostratedragon:

    I don’t know who they can possibly get to run that would generate excitement that Joe Manchin would have generated

    If they’re that desperate, shouldn’t they be calling Baud?

  64. 64.

    StringOnAStick

    @raven: Can you elaborate on that?  We have a fence that’s fine except for the rotting posts and  I need to come up with a fix.

  68. 68.

    Another Scott

    @gene108: Along those lines, January 6 wasn’t an attack on the Capitol.  It was an attack on Congress doing it’s job.

    It wasn’t an empty building – it was in session.

    The framing of this stuff by the press is really important, and too often they get it wrong.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  69. 69.

    Ken

    @Frankensteinbeck: They only need enough excitement to peel a couple of percentage points off Biden and give Trump the election.

    Weren’t they making overtures to RFK Jr, until the polling showed he’d pull more votes from Trump than Biden?

  71. 71.

    Geminid

    @Baud: Axios reporter Barak Ravid posted an account of Iraeli minister Benny Gantz’s meetings with Biden administration officials yesterday. Ravid said Gantz spent 1 1/2 hours with State Department officisl Bret(?) McGurk, over an hour with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and 45 minutes with Vice President Harris.

    It sounds like they spent much of the time chewing Gantz out over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and Israel’s plans for a military operations in the southern Gaza strip. Ravid will likely write this up in an Axios article posted today.

    Gantz also spent some time on Capitol Hill, where he met with Congressional leaders of both parties except for Speaker Mike Johnson, who declined a meeting.

    Gantz has a meeting scheduled with Secretary of State Blinken this morning. Then he’ll fly on to London to confer with UK officials before returning to Israel. As with their Washington embassy, Israel’s London Ambassador has been instructed not to assist or cooperate with Gantz in any way.

  73. 73.

    Princess

    @Baud: because Gantz is not the leader, Netanyahu is? Would it insult Netanyahu if Biden met Gantz? Do they care?

  76. 76.

    sdhays

    @Geminid: I know Israelis seem to think that the Netanyahu government is going to collapse sometime this year and there will be elections and Gantz will most likely then be Prime Minister, but what is the mechanism for that? Netanyahu has a coalition of horribles who all know that if one of them leaves, they’re going to lose (most likely). So they all have an incentive to just ride it out.

    What part of his coalition of horribles is shaky? I just don’t see it.

  78. 78.

    Manyakitty

    @Geminid: I’ve been calling pastor Mike’s office almost every day and asking how much Satan offered for his soul. What a pathetic coward he is.

    I’m now adding a comment for the staffers who almost certainly fast forward or delete my messages, asking if they’re concerned about their own souls, working for an agent of hell as they are.

    I’m sure it’s pointless but I feel a little better after.

  79. 79.

    Geminid

    @Baud: As it happened, Biden spent most of yesterday at Camp David, preparing for his State of the Union speech.

    He might not have met with Gantz anyway. That might dilute the stern message his national security team is sending. Biden and other top Democrats like and respect Gantz, and hope Gantz becomes Prime Minister soon. But right now the Israeli government is pissing Biden off and Gantz is part of it.

  81. 81.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @StringOnAStick: I’ve seen a bunch of those online. Most of them done sort of flat spike you drive into the ground next to the post, then bolt to the post. Googling “post repair kit” turns up a bunch.

    I was looking for something different, wondering if you could take a foot off the top of the post then bolt a new bit of post on.

    i think instead I’m just going to take off an inch or two and put caps on.

    I’m facing pickets and rails that have been eaten by ivy over years of neglect, so I’m rebuilding the sections of picket fence & three gates.

  82. 82.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    The donors didn’t just find out No Labels are spoilers. That was what they wanted. What the donors just found out is that No Labels are grifters. They never planned to run a candidate in the first place.

    Goddamn but that Dark Brandon is one wily mo’ fo’.

  83. 83.

    Balconesfault

    Anyone else watch enough of the Ackerman video to get to the point where he claims as many as 70% of the Republican Party wants someone other than Trump to be the nominee?

    Who does this guy talk to?

  84. 84.

    sdhays

    @Frankensteinbeck: So, his own party is going to trigger an election that they will lose in? I know that polls show them doing better if Netanyahu isn’t their leader, but still far behind Gantz’s party.

    What incentive do they have for triggering an election at all? Are we saying that Likud would rather be a junior partner in a coalition with Gantz than the major partner in a coalition under Netanyahu?

  85. 85.

    Kay

    @sdhays:

    Local elections in Israel, delayed by the war in Gaza, have returned gains for Ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties after low turnout in most areas.
    The municipal votes were expected to serve as an indication of public opinion after the 7 October Hamas attack and the ensuing war in the Gaza Strip. Just under 50% of the seven million eligible voters turned up to polling stations, and rightwing and religious parties allied with the Likud, the party of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, were more successful in mobilising their bases.

    He isn’t going anywhere.

  86. 86.

    JML

    @Kay: well, if he doesn’t go he’s probably going to drag the entire country down to hell with him. Netanyahu is destroying sympathy for Israel, and seems bound and determined to spark off new waves of anti-semitism across the world. There are increasing numbers of people who are very comfortable comparing the entire state of Israel with Hamas and suggesting Israel is actually worse.

    I don’t know if finally shoving him out of office (and hopefully into prison where he belongs) can reset things to where there might actually be a possibility of peace, but as long as he stays it will only get worse. Everything he does is based around making Israelis afraid and making it seem like he’s the only one who will protect and save them by killing their enemies. Too many frightened people still buy it (and forget that he failed to keep them safe in the first place by propping up Hamas for his own political purposes and ignoring the intel that said an attack was coming)

  89. 89.

    Another Scott

    @JML:

    (h/t to a jackal here.)

    If Rick Perlstein is right, then Israeli politics have much more serious problems than just Bibi and Likud. They’ve let a toxic fascism fester and grow and destroy almost any chance for peace with Palestinians.

    I’m no expert, but he presents a compelling case IMHO.

    Things don’t change until they do, but Israel needs to get its house in order soon or there will be no house left.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  90. 90.

    Geminid

    @sdhays: By law, Netanyahu can wait until October, 2026 to call another election. Yet most Israelis assume there will be elections by June. These include Likud ministers speaking off the record. This government’s culpability for the debacle of October 7 is too clear for it to remain in power. I could not say how and when this government will fall, but I can tell Israeli politicians are already planning for life after Netanyahu.

    This war cannot be prolonged just to keep him in power. This is very different than Iraq, where a relatively small professional Army fought 7,000 miles away from the US. For Israelis, the war is right next door, and the Army and Reserve contain a large part of Israel’s citizens.

    The pressure on the coalition has intensified now that the Knesset must pass a new military service law that will increase enlistment terms and raise the active reserve age limit from 40 to 46. One of this coalition’s weaknesses politically is that a large component of its voters have draft exemptions, but its ministers want to increase the rest of Israelis’ military obligations. This issue alone could collapse Netanyahu’s government.

    So my guess is there will be early elections, as happened after the 1973 war. Or, a more short term reorganization of this government excluding Smotrich, Ben-Gvir and their feral MKs, and with a different PM chosen by Likud; sort of a National Unity Government 2.0,* and then elections after the war ends. Opposition leader Yair Lapid has offered to join with those conditions.

    * After October 7, Gantz brought his 12 MKs into an emergency “National Unity” government. Netanyahu initially resisted Gantz’s terms, but bowed to pressure from Washington and within Israel including his own party. Yair Lapid and other opposition party leaders refused to enter a government alongside Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.

  93. 93.

    mrmoshpotato

    @evodevo: Yes.  Let’s not forget the famed Capitol tourist pastime of beating police with flagpoles.

    (Oh how I enjoy seeing this trash get arrested.  Good on everyone who turned them in.)

  94. 94.

    Kay

    @JML:

    There’s a window to change direction and it doesn’t stay open forever. There’s lots of far Right, anti democratic countries – it’s weird kind of exceptionalism to think Israel (or the US) can’t join that group.

    It only concerns me to the extent that the US seems to be relying on Israeli elections to stop the human rights catastrophe – I think that’s foolish and naive. It’s the Biden Administration blind spot as far as I’m concerned.

  95. 95.

    Kay

    @Another Scott:

    then Israeli politics have much more serious problems than just Bibi and Likud

    I think this has become obvious. Read what the voters say in that article about how the far Right gained in the electiontwo days ago – they’re all voting on “security”.

  98. 98.

    Miss Bianca

    @NotMax: Right?? My God…anyone who could, with a straight face, talk about “the excitement that Joe Manchin would generate” has got to be sniffing some serious brain-solvents.

  99. 99.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    Jim Teague, CEO of a Texas oil and gas company and a No Labels donor, via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    I don’t know who they can possibly get to run that would generate the excitement that Joe Manchin would have generated.

    That sentence really should be in the DSM as an example of delusional thinking.

  101. 101.

    piratedan

    Another batch of lazy fuckers is all No Labels is… You want meaningful change, build a fucking political party and DO THE WORK.  Or take the MAGA way, co-opt an existing party from within.  This top of the ticket bullshit is nothing more than publicly jerking off.

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