Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Everybody saw this coming.

Come on, man.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

In after Baud. Damn.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Chill Grey Dawn Open Thread: The Mother’s Milk of Politics

Chill Grey Dawn Open Thread: The Mother’s Milk of Politics

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We political junkies all know how important the money is, and it’s very much to our advantage if we can keep reminding people that the Biden campaign has got it (and that whatever the GOP collects will be piddled away by TFG). Five reporters on this NBS piece — “Biden is building a behemoth of a campaign. Trump at this point seems to be playing catch-up.”:

President Joe Biden has been scooping up record-making donations and plowing the money into an expanding campaign operation in battleground states that appears to surpass what Donald Trump has built thus far.

Flush with $71 million cash at the end of February — more than twice that of Trump’s campaign — Biden parlayed his fundraising advantage into a hiring spree that now boasts 300 paid staffers across nine states and 100 offices in parts of the country that will decide the 2024 election, according to details provided by the campaign.

Trump’s advisers would not disclose staffing levels, but his ground game still seems to be at a nascent stage. His campaign hired state directors in Pennsylvania and Michigan last week, people familiar with the recruitment process said.

Combined, the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have fewer than five staff members in each of the battleground states, said two Republicans familiar with the committee and the Trump campaign’s organizational structures in 2020 and 2024.

At this point in 2020 — when Trump was running as the incumbent — the Trump Victory organization already had state directors, regional directors and field organizers on the ground in battleground states, testing field operations and activating volunteers, the two people said…

State campaign offices serve myriad purposes. They can be a place people go to pick up yard signs, make calls to unregistered voters, or get the training needed to become effective evangelists when they go door-to-door.

But state teams also serve a more utilitarian function: making sure that people have a ride to the polls or drop their absentee ballots in the mail. That can be grinding work, but operatives say it can be decisive in a tight election.

“I’ve made to everyone who will listen [the point] that our challenge is changing the mindset of Republicans to get them to request [mail-in ballots] in the first place,” said DeMarco, the GOP chair in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County. “That’s where not having boots on the ground early, and being able to set up one of these programs, puts us at a disadvantage.”


 
Meanwhile…
Chill Grey Dawn Open Thread: The Mother's Milk of Politics

Reader Interactions

241Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Trump won in 2016 with less money. A hateful base, compliant media, and online propagandists can go a long way.  Don’t despair, but stay focused.

  2. 2.

    Rusty

    Trumps campaign seems less dependent on money, the media loves to give him free press for every deranged utterance (nice cleaned up by them of course).  That said, I think it’s going to hurt the down ballot candidates which is only good.  I also suspect the PACs will be running a robust micro targeting campaign that will be very effective.  It’s not going to be easy to win, but I think Joe and Kama have this.

  3. 3.

    lowtechcyclist

    Biden parlayed his fundraising advantage into a hiring spree that now boasts 300 paid staffers across nine states

    Nine states?

    There’s the 7 swing states: AZ, NV, WI, MI, PA, NC, and GA. And they’ve let it be known that they’re contesting FL.  What state is #9?

  6. 6.

    Princess

    I think that Biden does a ton of delegating — I bet he’s playing zero role in the build up of his campaign— but Trump seems to want to have direct control over everything, no doubt so he can keep his hands on the money. He has two competing transition teams and their main activity seems to be imposing loyalty oaths. It’s hard to build a campaign when you’re suspicious of half your party.
    The other thing I’ll say is that for Biden to be taking in so much, he must also be getting billionaire dollars, which is a good sign.

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    and $814K to sit at his table

    “How much to sit outside?”

    “You couldn’t afford it.”
    //

  9. 9.

    There go two miscreants

    …a futile effort to keep himself out of prison

    Unfortunately we have not yet made this a true statement.

  10. 10.

    Betty Cracker

    Not sure I agree that it’s to our advantage to brag about the Biden-Harris campaign’s money juggernaut, at least outside the circle of fellow politics junkies. I suspect most normies think all the money sloshing around in U.S. politics is gross. Hell, I think it’s gross, though of course I’m glad our side is outperforming the corrupt fascist cult.

  11. 11.

    NotMax

    Overdid it on the monthly trek into town on Wednesday. Can tell am going to be one achy cowpoke for the next two days.

    Ah well, this too shall pass. At least the nearly empty freezer, the pantry and the vodka supply are restocked.

  13. 13.

    NotMax

    @Betty Cracker

    Grapevine whispers the Biden campaign has already booked airitme for ads in October.

    Dolt 45 campaign? “We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.”

  14. 14.

    Shalimar

    @Betty Cracker: Are the fundraising numbers being reported in places normies will even see them?  cable news networks and political blogs probably don’t have much risk of wide exposure.

  15. 15.

    gene108

    Normal assumptions about fundraising and campaign organizing don’t apply to Trump. He has a hard floor of support that’s concentrated in just enough states and counties to make winning the EC ever present.

    I think the only thing that might force Republicans to be a less destructive force in this country is abolishing the EC and going with a national popular vote for president. It’s not going to happen, but one can dream.

  16. 16.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @NotMax: At least the nearly empty freezer, the pantry and the vodka supply are restocked.

    So… Vodka in the freezer, vodka in the pantry, and vodka at the bar. You should be good for the next week or so.

  18. 18.

    trnc

    @Betty Cracker: Hopefully, they continue to highlight the small dollar donors.

    The first quarter total for Mr. Biden, which encompasses money raised from March through January, is $187 million. His campaign says 96% of these donations were “grassroots,” or under $200, and that there were 1.1 million donors who made 1.9 million contributions.

  22. 22.

    Kay

    I donated this month because I heard Jen O’Malley Dillon say it was an important ramp-up month (words to that effect).

  23. 23.

    Falling Diphthong

    I suspect that at some point this summer it’s going to become apparent that folding the RNC under the Trump campaign was maybe more about consolidating all the money in one place for legal fees, rather than a coordinated up-and-down-the-ballot campaign effort.

  26. 26.

    EarthWindFire

    @NotMax: My guess is NC. The GOP gubernatorial candidate is batshit crazy, so the campaign may think they have an opportunity there.

  27. 27.

    jonas

    @Baud: Just what I was going to say. Probably the surest sign he knows deep down he lost in 2020 is his campaign hoping to make the 2016 magic happen again — no real plan or organization, everything held together with duct tape and baling wire, and just praying for enough crazy shit to keep the journos occupied and the earned media coming in.

  31. 31.

    Kay

    Voters remain largely uninformed about legislation Biden signed upgrading the nation’s roads and bridges and returning manufacturing jobs to the U.S. 

    What an indictment of media. They spent YEARS sending NY and DC reporters into manufacturing areas to bemoan the lack of investment and now that manufacturing is booming they can’t be bothered.
    It would be an interesting story! What are they making? How has the manufacturing workforce changed? HOW did Biden reinvigorate US manufacturing and why wasn’t anyone else who tried successful at doing it?

    But you’ll never hear that story. They prefer sad trombone stories about the dying rust belt and rural white males living with their parents. It’s like they don’t want us to do well – it works better for their narrative arc if we continue declining.

  32. 32.

    gene108

    @EarthWindFire:

    The GOP gubernatorial candidate is batshit crazy,

    NC GOP gubernatorial candidate is the current Lt. Governor.

    He’s nuts, but he’s also won statewide office.

    Worth putting money into NC to keep him from winning.

  33. 33.

    Kay

    If Trump is re-elected the NYTimes and the Washington Post will send reporters back out to the Great Lakes states to report on the Trump manufacturing revival. Bet on it.

  34. 34.

    Betty

    @Kay: Yes, but I wonder how much longer they can continue to ignore the huge success Biden”s plan has had. It seems reality has to creep in there at some point.

  37. 37.

    lowtechcyclist

    @EarthWindFire: ​

    My guess is NC. The GOP gubernatorial candidate is batshit crazy, so the campaign may think they have an opportunity there.

    I included NC in the original seven – Biden lost it very narrowly in 2020 despite not having any resources to put into the state. So the original seven were AZ, NV, WI, MI, PA, NC, and GA, and the eighth is FL, where Biden’s campaign has said they’re going to try to win. So the question is which state besides those eight has the Biden campaign already been seriously organizing in.​

  41. 41.

    Kay

    @Betty:

    I wonder if it’s partly their rigidity and how they always go with elite opinion. We were all supposed to write off manufacturing years ago – it was “bending metal” as Bill Gates said and no one needed it. All the Wall Street genuises said it was never coming back.

    Biden did an old fashioned industrial policy with an objective of in-shoring manufacturing and….look at that. It worked.

  46. 46.

    catclub

    @Ken: Vodka in the freezer, vodka in the pantry, and vodka at the bar.

    Vodka in the freezer, vodka in the pantry,  vodka at the tiki bar.

  47. 47.

    Baud

    I wonder if I would have ended up a Republican if it weren’t for the bigotry.  My lizard brain is screaming at me that the Republicans are right that most people are natural serfs and should be treated as such.

  48. 48.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Oh, it’s killing me. The inability of vast parts of the Democratic Party to recognize real liberal economic policy when they see it. You want to scream.

    OTOH I think we’re seeing some labor union members return to the fold here locally. They’re doing really well, particularly any trade involved in construction. I think they may surprise pundits. They won’t flip OH for Biden but they’ll make a difference in MI and WI and PA and even in OH they’ll help Sherrod Brown.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Glad to hear it. Some progress would be welcome news.

    ETA: I’ve concluded that the second biggest faction in the US after the MAGA are people who like to complain about things, including the solutions to those things.

  52. 52.

    Eyeroller

    @Baud: I’ve long had the feeling that people are too stupid to govern themselves and too evil to govern others.  Yes, I’m something of a misanthrope.

  53. 53.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: I question NH but only because it has just 4 EC votes. Seems like their ought to be a more worthwhile target than that.

  54. 54.

    hueyplong

    NC and FL, both mentioned, seem best. Each has a really important non-Biden thing to fight (lunatic in NC, abortion in FL) and they’re populous enough to turn the election into an electoral blowout.

  55. 55.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Jen OMalley Dillon has a good feel for the middle aged college educated women who will be really central to Biden’s success. They did a ton of outreach with that group in 2020, before Dobbs. It’s the women male pundits like to sneer at as “wine moms” or “resistance moms” – the pink pussy hat knitters and Instagram enthusiasts. They vote at really high rates and they have numbers in swing states.

  56. 56.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    I’ve trained myself not to trust what I’m being told in the media and social media, because there’s so much gaslighting and spin and narrative fluffing. For me, politics has become a faith-based endeavor.

  57. 57.

    Anyway

    @Eyeroller:

    Churchill nailed it –

    “Democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.”

    small d Democracy is the only option for the sprawling diverse populace that we (and large parts of the world) are.

     

    Glomming on here about the fund-raising – add me to the eyerollers about Biden’s “war-chest”. Not convinced that teevee advertising does much (‘cepfer the consultants)

  59. 59.

    bbleh

    @topclimber: I like “Broke Don” too!  It’s simple — nothing clever, nothing deep.  It drops like an anvil — two hard monosyllables.  And it says “Loser” about as clearly as anything else.

  62. 62.

    Eyeroller

    @Baud: Yeah, that’s actually a critical aspect.  Salaries for a large staff is expensive.  Volunteers need resources.  Etc.  That’s why they always say that early money is better; it allows staffing to ramp up.

  63. 63.

    gene108

    @Betty:

    I know NC was mentioned in states Biden’s focusing on.

    I find people assume Lt. Governor Robinson will just crash and burn in the general election because he’s nuts. They see snippets of his speeches on social media. They don’t realize he’s won a statewide race four years ago.

  67. 67.

    Kay

    I’m taking a trip to Portugal the day after the election in November. We’ll meet my son, daughter in law and grandaughter – they’re coming from Denmark. I’m treating my youngest sister to the trip – she’s sort of my politics “buddy”. She was an Independent until Obama and then she became a Democrat, which was fun for me because then we could talk politics.

  71. 71.

    Trivia Man

    We know his fanatics are, well, fanatical about him. And abrasive, cruel, and smug. I have no doubt he can get a huge volunteer army to do voter outreach, knock doors, make calls… but i am very skeptical they can do it in a way that doesn’t terrify the uncommitted voter or lackluster biden suporter.

  73. 73.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @OzarkHillbilly: Queue Allan Sherman:

    Oh my grandfather’s clock was the best ever made by the Timex Company,
    Just like the one John Cameron Swayze displayed last night on the old TV.
    Oh it worked underwater so perfectly and it still make a ticking sound,
    Which my grandfather tried only this afternoon – and that’s how the old man drowned.

    (from “Shticks and Stones” IIRC)

  76. 76.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Trivia Man: I have no doubt he can get a huge volunteer army to do voter outreach, knock doors, make calls…

    I have doubts, because all that is like, work. Unpaid work at that. I think flying a trump flag is all most MAGAs are willing to do for him. That and maybe vote.

  77. 77.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I knew Obama had grabbed her when she called me and said “tell me about delegate caucuses”

    The day she left the normies behind. I think Obama brought a lot of people in. Not all of them stuck but some did.

  78. 78.

    TS

    @Baud:

    Apparently Hollywood has decided now is a good time for a movie about Trump

    Major reason trump dies not have to worry about advertising money. The media advertise for trump & call it news

  79. 79.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Betty: Nope. If a Democratic success continues for more than a year, it’s simply considered. the norm. None of them ever consider how it got so good (comparatively) – it’s just always been that way and we’re being greedy by trying to crow about the sunrise.

  80. 80.

    Another Scott

    @lowtechcyclist:

    RollCall.com (from March 18):

    Biden campaign officials said Monday they see “multiple paths” to President Joe Biden winning reelection, targeting a handful of swing states — and even trying to grab states he lost to Donald Trump in 2020.

    “From day one, the Biden-Harris campaign has firmly believed this race will be won on the ground across key states that are core to our multiple pathways to 270. As we enter the general election, we have multiple clear paths to victory through a number of critical swing states,” Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden-Harris 2024 campaign manager, wrote in a memo.

    Even as Trump has opened up a lead in most national and state polls, Rodriguez wrote that campaign officials are eying strategies aimed at “expanding the map in places like Florida and Texas.”

    Nikki Fried seems to be doing good things in the Florida Democratic Party. Here’s hoping that the good people there come to their senses this fall.

    Texas has been a heavy lift for a while, but I always remember that it was a strong blue state until DeLay and his minions gerrymandered the hell out of the place. Once it flips back, I figure it will stay blue for quite a while.

    We’ll see.

    Forward!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  81. 81.

    Sanjeevs

    I don’t think reported fundraising for Trump is important when Putin is desperate to have him reelected and will use his full propaganda network to do so.

  83. 83.

    Suzanne

    @Kay:

    It’s the women male pundits like to sneer at as “wine moms” or “resistance moms” – the pink pussy hat knitters and Instagram enthusiasts.

    I know this is not specifically what you’re getting at…. but I don want to point out how much misogyny there is in this incredibly common dynamic. So many men really hate women and code their diversionary interests as “shallow” and “annoying”. And men’s diversionary interests are not coded this way. Think about makeup and fashion, crafts, Pinterest, celebrity gossip, interior design.

    But I will note that there are not-especially-intellectual activities enjoyed by men (and lots of women) like sports and “fantasy leagues”, craft beer, woodworking, weightlifting….. there’s not a cultural narrative of these things as shallow.

  86. 86.

    Barbara

    @Kay: The women like me who more or less turned Virginia into a reasonably safe blue state for federal elections.  Media sites hire women for their morning shows, for instance, because they embody and appeal to this same demographic and yet they seem incapable of making the connection that this largely female audience also votes.  Basically, the belief that men are serious and women are frivolous is so ingrained that they aren’t persuaded even by a tsunami of contrary evidence.

  89. 89.

    Suzanne

    @Barbara:

    the belief that men are serious and women are frivolous is so ingrained 

    Y.E.S. Thank you.

    This is one of the most toxic attitudes out there.

  91. 91.

    Kay

    @Suzanne:

    Agree. A couple of years ago I listened to Chapo Trap House with my youngest – he’s a Lefty- and while them making fun of their liberal moms was funny  – I recognized myself, honestly – it was also wildly sexist, which I told him. I also told him IMO it’s kind of weird to have a group of young-ish men so clearly resenting their mothers.

    Pundits simply don’t sneer at any other group like they do middle aged women. It’s amusing because you know what? Fuck them. We can actually swing an election.

  92. 92.

    JPL

    @rikyrah: The orange party closed the doors on several outpost in GA.   One is already a sex toy shop, which seems more fitting.

  93. 93.

    Barbara

    @Suzanne: It’s how they tricked themselves into believing that women didn’t care about abortion in 2022, post-Dobbs.  Women are unserious, they don’t know how to evaluate what’s in their own best interests blah blah blah.  It’s the self-delusion that caused whatever his name was at NBC to hire Megyn Kelly for her own post-Today talk show without understanding that Megyn appealed almost exclusively to an older male audience and actually repelled many women.  They didn’t have one woman in their suite of executives with enough power to push back and say, “Are you kidding?  She doesn’t appeal to women!”

  94. 94.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Princess: but Trump seems to want to have direct control over everything, no doubt so he can keep his hands on the money

    It comes across to me that with Donald Broke he wants that direct control so he can force his entire staff to be always be paying attention to him. It’s like with him and those decision by tweet while he was president, it forced people to lose sleep over him.

  96. 96.

    Layer8Problem

    I put in my first automated monthly donation for Biden this month.  I hate telling anyone “Sure, charge me automatically, no worries!”, but it’s Joe and Kamala and dammit if it keeps their cash flow happy I’m in.  It’s necessary.

  97. 97.

    Kay

    @Suzanne:

    I don’t know why Right wing men don’t get more shit for their outfits – costumes, really. The Harley-branded clothing (or Rifle, the Right wing coffee/clothes company) and wallet chains and cowboy boots and hats and guns worn as accessories. And the truck. This is absolutely as shallow and tribal as any high school girl dressing like her peers.

  98. 98.

    AM in NC

    @Kay: And we are volunteering like CRAZY.  Go to any Democratic meeting of any kind, and it’s older women doing the vast, vast majority of the work.

    But this is true of every volunteer activity I’ve taken part in. Unpaid work is largely the domain of women, even those who also do full-time paid work.  It’s one of the greatest differences I’ve noticed in labor.  Most men are very reluctant to do unpaid labor, while most women take it as expected and normal to do it (whether in the house or in the community at large).

    It was eye-opening to me when I was in non-profit management early in my career that there was a whole army of women in every community doing unpaid work that made the community functional – I mean a vast, invisible army of unpaid labor without which education, healthcare, hunger relief, and politics simply would not take place as we know it.  And it’s completely taken for granted and ignored, when it’s not outright being disparaged, largely because women do this work, I think.

    Really eye-opening.

  101. 101.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Barbara: Maybe I am an outlier here, but I tend to see men choosing frivolous leisure activities (gaming, golf, stamp collecting, etc.) while women tend toward good works (volunteering, taking classes, etc.).

  102. 102.

    stinger

    [Trump’s] campaign hired state directors in Pennsylvania and Michigan last week…. Combined, the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have fewer than five staff members in each of the battleground states

    I keep reading that the Committee to Re-Elect the Creep is staffed by quiet, competent professionals this time. Doesn’t really seem like it.

  104. 104.

    topclimber

    @Trivia Man: I know I would listen to a guy who showed up at my door with an AR-15 and the “suggestion” that I vote for Trump. But fortunately I have a safe room in my home where I can retreat when there are barbarians at the gate.

    Most Trumpsters are far more likely to get off their asses so they can then place them in their monster trucks and piss off everybody else on the highway with one of their MAGA convoys coal-rolling along at 20 mph. Then back to the recliner!

    Now the Evangelicals, they got a church network for GOTV and it is potent.

    ETA what Ozark Hillbilly said.

  106. 106.

    Kay

    @AM in NC:

    Go to any Democratic meeting of any kind, and it’s older women doing the vast, vast majority of the work.

    Yup. I started and ran a womens group from 2002 to 2010 and none of the county Democratic leaders even acknowleged our work until I stepped down, which they bitched about.
    I think the resistance groups probably made a difference too, Indivisible and Red Wine and Blue. Red Wine and Blue win school board races, which is an underserved political area, particularly with the assault on public schools from the anti woke crowd.

  107. 107.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Kay: I’ve never understood this attitude that men are serious and women are frivolous. The biggest, BY FAR, the biggest fuckups I’ve known are ALL men. Hell, I am one.

    And we got quantity goin’ fer us, too.

  108. 108.

    Baud

    @Baud:

    And of course, this election will be another test, since abortion is on the ballot.  Men are going to be even more insufferable if they defeat women this year.

  109. 109.

    Fake Irishman

    @Eyeroller:

    not just early money, but also CONSISTENT money. 500,000 people giving $20 a month lets you hire staff for the whole campaign, so you don’t have to lay them off just as they are hitting their stride.

    (also, you can tap small donors again and again without hitting the contribution limit

  110. 110.

    topclimber

    @AM in NC: That’s certainly the case in any Catholic mass I attended over the past few decades. The little old ladies handling most everything else so a male priest can tell them that Jesus doesn’t want women clergy.

  112. 112.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    It surprises me, the extent that the professional anti abortion “movement” – the paid people, many of whom are women – still don’t get that abortion is much bigger than “abortion”.

    For 50 years we tried to get people to understand that one can’t silo “abortion” and only allow it for good women or pure women or deserving women – that as a practical matter it would bleed into pregnancy care. It had to. It is inevitable. The clear, brihgt line they were looking for between good women and bad women doesn’t exist in biology or medicine. 

    Then anti choice people won and the whole country got it in 6 months – but the professionals STILL don’t.

  113. 113.

    Baud

    @topclimber:

    I’ve been thinking about that lately.  Historically, it’s understandable that warriors would predominantly be men, and since warriors were often associated with rulers, that men would end up as rulers.  But I can’t think of a reason men came to dominate religious leadership, which isn’t tied to physical prowess.

  114. 114.

    rusty

    @schrodingers_cat: I agree at just the presidential level it may look that way, however NH has also reelected the Republican governor 5 times. The two Democratic congress members and senator were considered extremely vulnerable last election, the most at risk seats last cycle.  We managed to pull off the trifecta only because the Republicans nominated three complete reactionary loons that even this state couldn’t stomach.  The Republicans also control the state senate, house and executive committee (but that is more due to extreme gerrymandering).  There is a lot of purple here, Biden would be right to not take it for granted.

  116. 116.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @Kay:

    In 2000, Bush Jr pretended to be cowboy talkin’ West Texas rancher. The political media not only didn’t laugh at him, they called it authentic and mocked Gore for being phony.

  118. 118.

    Kay

    @Melancholy Jaques:

    Agree. People talk about the NYTimes treatment of Clinton, but they were just as bad with Gore. Boy when their (garbage) political team decides they don’t like a candidate they’re not shy about bringing them down. They’ve done it over and over and, oddly(!) they never seem to dislike the Republican.

    Deeply conventional and rigid people who admire wealthy daddy figures.

  119. 119.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @schrodingers_cat:

    In New Hampshire in 2000, Bush Jr beat Gore by about 7K votes. Nader got about 22K. Florida got all the attention because it was close, but New Hampshire betrayed America.

  121. 121.

    M31

    @Baud: But I can’t think of a reason men came to dominate religious leadership,

    gotta have a place for younger sons to get a power base, can’t have them assassinating the older sons to move up

  122. 122.

    satby

    @Another Scott: Yes, saw it on twitter last night, and promptly shared to the lower info FB crowd.

    I’m still surprised so many people use FB at all. I, a nearly 70 yo woman, had to show the market where they could advertise to the college crowd in the area on Instagram; but it’s new (not, actually) and I still don’t think they do it. The college kids themselves told me that’s where they look for things to do around S.Bend.

  123. 123.

    cmorenc

    @EarthWindFire:

    @NotMax: My guess is NC. The GOP gubernatorial candidate is batshit crazy, so the campaign may think they have an opportunity there.

    So, how batshit crazy is Mark Robinson?  So batshit crazy that by comparison, Alan Keys was a thoughtful moderate reaching out to democrats for bipartisan solutions.  He’s a black male version of MTG.

     

    @EarthWindFire:

  125. 125.

    Kay

    @rusty:

    Here’s kind of a fun fact. The Right winger who moved to NH and helped push the state in a nutjob libertarian direction is from NW Ohio. I know his whole (horrible) family. They owned a collection agency (since sold). He never earned his own money. He inherited all of it from his dad and granddad and THEY got if from skimming 3% off garnishing working peoples paychecks to pay medical debt.

    I hope he stays there. We have enough asshole Righties in Ohio.

  127. 127.

    sab

    @Kay: My Catholic nieces still don’t get it. One of them had an ectopic pregnancy and she still doesn’t get it. Next time they will let you die in agonizing pain and your husband will have to manage those kids on his own.

  130. 130.

    lowtechcyclist

    @topclimber:

    That’s certainly the case in any Catholic mass I attended over the past few decades. The little old ladies handling most everything else so a male priest can tell them that Jesus doesn’t want women clergy.

    Same thing in Southern Baptist churches, with the appropriate denominational changes in wording.

  131. 131.

    Kay

    @sab:

    My oldest son is a Democrat because of Gore. He was too young to vote for him but he really liked him – and it wasn’t easy to publicly support Gore when your high school is 75% Right wing. His first political experience was the SCOTUS throwing the election to Bush. I’m suprised he even continued to care about politics after that.

  132. 132.

    Glidwrith

    @Baud: So someone has decided to recreate Broke Don as The Apprentice again and use that image to paper over the reality of what SFB really is. Just great.

  135. 135.

    sab

    @schrodingers_cat: Mine too. Good management is all about good hires and Gore really sucked at that. I met my future husband in the voting line in 2000 and he talked me off a not voting ledge. I detested Lieberman.

    I am pretty sure that a Gore team would have prevented 9/11, but otherwise they would have been mediocre. But we wouldn’t have invaded Iraq, and we wouldn’t have Bush hires on the Supreme Court.

  136. 136.

    Kay

    @sab:

    Ugh. I just wince. It’s like a physical sympathetic reaction. The delivery of my youngest child inexplicably went from “normal” to “everyone freaking ouit and running around and me passing out” – it “fell off a cliff” as the OB said after. It can become life threatening for the mother very fast.

    I was really glad my daughter had both of her children in NY and in a secular hospital, but she’s a medical pro and pays attention.

  137. 137.

    Suzanne

    @Kay:

    I don’t know why Right wing men don’t get more shit for their outfits – costumes, really. 

    The Millennial version of this is Oakley sunglasses, Punisher T-shirts, and terrible facial hair. And on dating apps, they pose with a fish.

  138. 138.

    Mike E

    @sab: No, Gore’s problem was he never wanted to be president. I don’t blame him for the sentiment but he was an ill-suited candidate for that momentous time, with so much consequential change that followed.

  140. 140.

    satby

    @Baud: It’s not cool because it’s main usage is by olds. Younger people have profiles so they can shop on FB marketplace, but they seldom post on it. And when they do, it’s really just a cross-post from something they put on Instagram.

  141. 141.

    sab

    @Geminid: They love it. Big city. Black friendly. Already promoted in her job. But she misses us a lot. I am so glad she made the move. Gives her a future that Akron can’t provide.

  142. 142.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @M31: gotta have a place for younger sons to get a power base, can’t have them assassinating the older sons to move up

    You’re right. It’s about power, and way back when the Church was the real power behind the thrones. Many Cardinals had their sons join the clergy for just that reason.

  143. 143.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: But you’ll never hear that story. They prefer sad trombone stories about the dying rust belt and rural white males living with their parents. It’s like they don’t want us to do well – it works better for their narrative arc if we continue declining.

    It’s a lot harder to explain all the anger out there when they can’t say it’s because of the economy in the rust belt. It’s like the people on Maher’s show, totally unable to understand why white men are so mad because they refuse to talk about their anger that women, people of color, and LGBTQ people are a lot more successful and prominent than they used to be. Why are so many white men down on colleges? Could it be because more and more women are getting college educations, so they now outnumber men at some colleges? Nah, it’s got to be that the colleges are too “woke”. The press refuses to describe what’s actually happening because it might make white men look bad and make them feel bad.

  144. 144.

    sab

    @Kay: That’s interesting. I haven’t ever even discussed that with my stepkids who are about the same age. The Iraq war shocked them so much that we forgot what went before. Both of my stepsons’ best friends went off to a war they hadn’t signed up for. We were at peace when they enlisted.

  145. 145.

    topclimber

    @sab: Something might have happened with climate change, which would offset a shitload of mediocrity. I bet he would have pushed for net neutrality too.

  147. 147.

    Suzanne

    @Barbara: Women are unserious, they don’t know how to evaluate what’s in their own best interests blah blah blah.

     
    Yes. There is such a big swath of misogyny in coding men as serious and women as unserious. This attitude extends into areas of study and professions. Men do art, women do crafts. Men are professors, women teach elementary school. Men are architects, women are interior designers. Men are doctors, women are nurses. Men build houses, women change the sheets.

    I think this trope about women being frivolous is coming back specifically because women are making such inroads into these other arenas of society. It’s basically the social equivalent of negging. I keep pointing out that this is all in service of pushing us back into the home and leaving the “serious things” to men to control and decide.

  148. 148.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Soprano2: Could it be because more and more women are getting college educations, so they now outnumber men at some colleges?

    I’m so old I can remember when that was a point in favor of attending a particular school.

  149. 149.

    Mike E

    @hueyplong: If Putin’s Asset takes FL or NC for granted (or TX for that matter) the Dem infusion of funds, staff and boots on the ground will force the GQP to scramble to staunch the breech…those clowns don’t look composed during the best of times let alone crunch time, so even when a blue pickup seems like a longshot the effect will mess up their national strategy, it’s a good tactic to press them in their (supposed) strongholds.

  152. 152.

    sab

    @topclimber: He would have pushed but he wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.

    Biden’s hires are beyond excellent. Just look at his VP and his cabinet.

  155. 155.

    TBone

    Exhibit A:

    …tRump hunched forward in his gold-painted, spindle-backed chair under the chandeliers of Mar-a-Lago’s glittering grand ballroom and told Sean Hannity why New York’s attorney general, who’d sued him earlier that day, has “no case. “We have a disclaimer,” Trump told the Fox News host. “Right on the front. And it basically says, you know, get your own people. You’re at your own risk … It may be way off.” Trump was describing the disclaimer that fills the second and third pages of his annual proclamations of net-worth — the 20-page “Statements of Financial Condition” …

    https://news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-says-simple-disclaimer-142818047.html

  156. 156.

    Kay

    @Suzanne:

    I had a male lawyer sneeringly tell me once that my work in juvenile court was “social work”. He, OTOH, was engaged in the manly pursuit of BIDNESS law. We didn’t get along. Once a magistrate had to scold us for bickering in his chambers. I’m a strong advocate for my people and so is he but it wasn’t acceptable for me because I’m female.

  157. 157.

    sab

    @Soprano2: When my cousin went to my law school there were three women students, and they were routinely harassed in the school library. When I went, three years later, half the class were women. And a lot of them bright, law review level bright.

    Of course the guys are angry.

  158. 158.

    Soprano2

    @Suzanne: The sneering about “women’s issues” has been around forever. For example, pregnancy and childbirth and all that affects men’s lives too, yet those things aren’t seen as men’s issues. It’s not a mistake that as a profession gains more women, the average salary goes down. Anything women like or believe is important is seen as lesser by men.

  159. 159.

    Kay

    @Suzanne:

    I think medicine, sort of admirably, has changed to recognize that women are often very good at it in a way that law or “business” or engineering has not. I think that area is ahead of the rest.

  160. 160.

    TBone

    @Suzanne: I was studiously informed right here the other day, when I pointed out that women suffer way more than men do, that “it’s not a competition.” Must’ve hit a nerve somewhere.  🙄

  161. 161.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: Pundits simply don’t sneer at any other group like they do middle aged women. It’s amusing because you know what? Fuck them. We can actually swing an election.

    That’s why they couldn’t find any enthusiastic Hillary voters, because they don’t actually see those people.

  162. 162.

    Suzanne

    @Kay: I worked on a large healthcare project once where the general contractors (almost all men) were teasing the interior designer about her work and how much of the project’s budget was dedicated to interiors. I said — in front of everyone — “You need to stop talking to her like she’s your wife running around with your credit card and remember that she is a member of this team and adds value”.

    I have been told that I’m not very nice.

  163. 163.

    Denali5

    I hate to say it, and I am from Tennessee, but Gore lacked charisma. He came across as wooden and cold. Odd for a southerner, but there you are. People vote for a candidate who they can identify with. Bill Clinton had this quality.

  164. 164.

    Betty Cracker

    I’m at a Tampa hospital for pre-op testing and was surprised to discover that everyone has to go thru a metal detector. Then a cop rooted through my purse and confiscated the miniature Swiss Army knife on my keychain. I am pissed! The hospital back home may be a glorified veterinary clinic, but at least they don’t wand visitors, search belongings and confiscate old ladies’ Swiss Army knives!

  165. 165.

    lowtechcyclist

    Some serious Republican horseshit, via Weigel:

    Republican Secretaries of State in Ohio and Alabama have told Democrats that their presidential ticket might not qualify for their ballots, warning that the party’s nominating convention in Chicago [August 19-22] will come too late to make their deadlines.

    “There are no exceptions to Alabama code section 17-13-31(b),” Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen said in a statement to Semafor, citing the state’s Aug. 15 statutory deadline. “If I do not receive a nomination from the Democratic party that complies with Alabama code section 17-13-31(b), I will not be able to certify the names of the Democratic candidates to appear on the November ballot.”

    In Ohio, the Secretary of State’s office sent a letter to the state Democratic Party last week, warning that the DNC, scheduled to start on Aug. 19, would miss its Aug. 7 ballot deadline. The options laid out by legal counsel: Either the DNC would have to be moved up, or the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly would have to pass a law changing its deadline by May 9.

    Seriously, how often have both conventions finished up by August 15 (Alabama’s deadline), let alone by August 7 (Ohio’s)?  It happened in 2016, when both parties had their conventions in July, but that stands out like a sore thumb.  The convention (so to speak) is that the party in the White House has their convention later.  The 2020 GOP convention concluded on August 27; the 2012 Democratic convention on September 6; the 2008 and 2004 GOP conventions on September 4 and September 2; the 2000 and 1996 Dem conventions on August 17 and August 29; and the 1992 GOP Convention on August 20.

    Exactly when have either of these states left either party’s nominee off the ballot before because of the lateness of their convention?  That would be ‘never.’

  166. 166.

    Baud

    Via Reddit

    Hyper-sexual “zombie cicadas” that are infected with sexually transmitted fungus expected to emerge this year

    I blame Biden.

  167. 167.

    TBone

    During the longest 4 years we’ve ever faced together as a nation, my female therapist told me “Make sure you keep your inner Bitch alive. You’re gonna need her.” She earned ALL of her pay with that simple advice that day.

  170. 170.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    Part of my reason for giving up on OH politics after this cycle is how much sexism I saw among Democrats in the 2016 election. I just won’t work in that kind of environment, although I would have at 20 or 30 or 40, when I was much more accomodating of people (women too!) who don’t like women. I value my time too much now. MI has an entire team of women running the state. I can live and do political volunteering there, so I will.

  172. 172.

    Attempted Chemistry

    @sab: the world just isn’t as cushy for mediocre white men as it used to be. (Don’t get me wrong, it’s still plenty cushy, it’s just that it used to be plush.)

  177. 177.

    Soprano2

    @OzarkHillbilly: But that was when the women were mostly there to get their Mrs. degree. Now those women are there for a serious education and a career, and the men are none too happy about the competition.

  179. 179.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    I go thru several metal detectors almost every day at work and every single time I think “I have to get searched because of gun nuts”.

    You should be able to do the airport pre check thing -certify you’re not a gun nut with anger issues.

  180. 180.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Soprano2:

    Could it be because more and more women are getting college educations, so they now outnumber men at some colleges?

    Make that most colleges.  Women have been the majority of college students for over four decades now, with women currently constituting 56% of four-year college students and 58% of 2-year college students.

  182. 182.

    Suzanne

    @OzarkHillbilly: I have been told that I communicate “more like a man”, and that I can be “intimidating”. I can indeed be incredibly straightforward and directness and truth-telling can be off-putting, I know.

  183. 183.

    topclimber

    @sab:

    No argument about the quality of Biden’s hires.

    I admire your assurance that Gore, who never got to pick a cabinet, would have gone with mediocrities. And that an earlier push on climate change by the guy who has become one of the world’s leading icons on the subject would have gotten us nowhere better than where we are now.

    Ah, counterfactuals…the stuff that all night bull sessions are made of.

  185. 185.

    JML

    Texas is an interesting conundrum for the Democrats right now. It’s still in the long shot column, and there’s a lot of factors involved there politically that make it a challenging state to navigate and grow your support in. But at the same time, it’s also a massive prize, because if it flips state-wide, the GOP as constructed becomes a rump minority party for a generation. With a dem as governor, you could get fair maps for both state and federal races. the presidency would be completely out of reach for republicans without Texas even if they managed to flip states like VA (not happening) or PA (seems unlikely). So I get chasing this white whale.

    remember, CA used to be reliably republican. the 50’s through the 80’s, it was a GOP stronghold and flipping it in 1992 was a huge accomplishment by the Clinton campaign; the last democrat to have won CA was LBJ in ’64, and a) he won everything that year except for the Jim Crow deep south, and b) he was running against crazy-ass Goldwater. He was the only democrat to win CA between Truman and Clinton. now, it’s the bluest state in the union and republicans are in total exile. When a state flips, it can flip for a long-ass time.

    Cracking the code in Texas may be a pipe dream…but it’s also one that you have to try and puzzle out because it’s what locks in generational change and finally drives a stake through the heart of the Reaganite bullshit that nearly destroyed the country.

  188. 188.

    sab

    @topclimber: I like that you trust in his choices. I always thought he was a good guy who made bad choices. I never thought he was a bad guy.

    ETA Out of all the possible VP hires he picked Lieberman.

  191. 191.

    Soprano2

    @sab: I think the elder law firm I talked to has all women attorneys. Thirty years ago you wouldn’t have seen that.

  192. 192.

    Suzanne

    @Eolirin: Violence at hospitals is an interesting (and sad) phenomenon. In some cases, shootings are intended for patients occur when “gang members come back to finish the job”. There’s violence by patients against healthcare providers all the time, and there’s been a few high-profile cases when a patient has a bad outcome and one of their family members comes back and shoots the providers who “failed” their loved one.

    A huge amount of violence in healthcare settings is relationship/domestic violence against nurses and doctors. There was an incident a few years ago in which an emergency room doctor was killed by her ex-fiancé, who came to her workplace and shot her.

  193. 193.

    Kay

    This is kind of funny in “generational warfare that I am not a part of” way. I was talking to my youngest and his GF, they’re college juniors. He works some hours as a math tutor in a low income school – 4th thru 6th grade boys- and she works at Menards and babysits. They told me millennials are bad parents! Hysterical. They think they’re too permissive.

  194. 194.

    Old School

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Nine states?

    There’s the 7 swing states: AZ, NV, WI, MI, PA, NC, and GA. And they’ve let it be known that they’re contesting FL.  What state is #9?

    It doesn’t give a definitive answer, but the application for Deputy Operations Director lists:

    Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Georgia as options. (That’s 12 states.)

  195. 195.

    TBone

    More ladylike advice from Helen Mirren:

    I wish I’d said “fuck off” instead of “I’m sorry” more often.

    (Paraphrased)

  196. 196.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    Elder law (and probate) have really become areas where women land – it’s good because for once it’s not the least lucrative areas. I see more and more women probate judges. They’re coming out of probate and elder law practices.

  198. 198.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Soprano2:

    I think the elder law firm I talked to has all women attorneys. Thirty years ago you wouldn’t have seen that.

    The optometrist practice I go to is all women. Same deal there, I’m sure.

  201. 201.

    Kathleen

    @stinger:

    I keep reading that the Committee to Re-Elect the Creep is staffed by quiet, competent professionals this time.

    Republican/Media speak for “Staff doesn’t pee in the trash cans in the break room”.

  202. 202.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    100% agree. I think 90% of the media/Republican objection to Biden is his liberal economic policies. They recognize they shouldn’t attack on that though so we get bullshit like “he can’t bring people together” – “we hate trans people and…wokeness! Yeah, that’s it. The woke is what we object to”

    I swear to God it was easier before they figured out they had to hide the ball. Give me Mitt Romney back with his whining about how lower income wage workers don’t pay federal income tax.

  203. 203.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: I can see the Rethug campaign ads. The grainy black and white film with bad audio and solemn intonations like “Joe Biden is in the deep winged pocket of hyper-sexual zombie cicadas who are flooding our borders.” Cue sinister music track.

  204. 204.

    Soprano2

    @Suzanne: I have been told that I’m not very nice.

    I was told at my yearly review that I should be nicer to people, they’re worried that the men will be afraid to come to me if they need help. I admit that sometimes I can be short with people, some of that is the rest of my life bleeding through but the rest is mostly impatience with stupidity. We’re told we’re not nice when we do and say things that would be dismissed if a man did them. I find myself resenting that more and more as I get older.

  205. 205.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Soprano2: But it is because colleges are too “woke” in a sense.  When I was still Libertarian-leaning and fairly clueless/apathetic about politics, I briefly hung out with some Young Republican dudes in my Freshman year of college.  This was back in ’94 so many moons ago obviously, but I’m guessing a similar dynamic is still present.  The guys I kicked it with were forever mad about the fact that there was so much Feminism and Black Liberation and LGBTQ groups all over campus and that they took up so much space.  It was this whole ridiculous and dumb mindset of “We (white dudes) can’t go anywhere anymore…” and a fantasy that they were somehow being oppressed by the existence of proud, independent and vocal Women/Black People/LGBTQ People etc.  They didn’t resent these people being at our University and getting educated, they resented having to be confronted with their political beliefs, demands and spirit of empowerment.  I suspect that this is still the mindset for many college-age men even today.  I’ve seen traces of it in relatives and (much younger) students of mine here and there.  Boys resenting the fact that girls get to play too or that everyone is excited about the Barbie movie or whatever.  It’s the He-Man, Woman-Haters Club thing that has been around since the Little Rascals, so it’s nothing new, but when I see shit like that in 8, 10, 14 year old boys it’s hard not to think it’s connected to our current politics and the trend of boys/men resenting gains made by girls/women, Black People, LGBTQ People etc., and the expectation that they (the boys) treat marginalized groups with fairness and respect in most public spaces and institutions.  Or more simply: the sentiment behind Gamergate is still alive and well.

  206. 206.

    sab

    @rikyrah: Reagan was an econ major in college. Before Keynes, so he didn’t believe in Keynesian economics, which does actually work.

    So Reagan, an actor, set us back a couple of generations on economic policy.

  207. 207.

    Soprano2

    @Attempted Chemistry: I asked one of them once how it felt to have to stand in line rather than always automatically being at the front of the line. I didn’t get an answer, but I think that’s a lot of the reason for their resentment. Again, the press and pundits won’t talk about that because reasons, but it’s a lot of what’s behind why they like TFG.

  209. 209.

    Soprano2

    @sab: I think Gore picked Lieberman because the press was screaming that he needed to show how much he disapproved of what Bill Clinton did.

  210. 210.

    Suzanne

    @Mousebumples: I finished my MArch in 2010, and my class was about 50/50. The junior staff that I have seen get hired in the last 3-5 years or so are probably 2/3 women. Interior design remains almost all women, even as that becomes more professionalized and defined as a discipline. (To note: interior decorators are the ones who pick out your wallpaper. Interior designers deal with all performance aspects of the interior, including accessibility, utility coordination, etc.)

    What’s interesting is that basically an entire new degree has emerged: the PhD in architecture. It’s not needed to practice architecture, you can be licensed with a MArch and in some states, a BArch. When I graduated, it was only offered at one university, and now there’s lots of universities offering it. Almost all of the candidates I see in those programs are women, and really often they’re Persian and Arab women whose families are wealthy and want them to get educated.

  211. 211.

    sab

    @Soprano2: If you have seen Barbie movie you will know why America Ferrera’s speech made me cry. My husband was shocked. He had no idea I feel so much conflicting pressure in my life. Be tough but be nice and don’t offend anyone but don’t let them walk over you.

  212. 212.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: I’m sure that’s true because of the aging of the population. Every time I’m in a support group for caregivers now I mention that people should see an elder law attorney. Most of them haven’t even thought about it! I think people in this situation especially need to think ahead and game things out so there are minimal surprises. Those can cost you a lot of money, or make it impossible to afford care that your loved one needs.

  213. 213.

    Suzanne

    @Soprano2:

    We’re told we’re not nice when we do and say things that would be dismissed if a man did them. 

    Oh, absolutely. Architecture and engineering are full of men with bad social skills who can be total douchebags. I had a colleague swear at me in front of other people, and on my APR that year, the only negative comment that I received was that I wasn’t nice. It was noted that my work was high-quality and that I went above and beyond in training and mentoring junior employees. But I’m not nice.

  215. 215.

    sab

    @Soprano2: My parents did all that elder care attorney planning and it has been a godsend. Otherwise I would be spending my life in court instead of at my dad’s nursing home.

    I have done some of the planning for us, but we really need to get a reliable kid on the bank accounts.

  216. 216.

    Soprano2

    @sab: Oh yeah, you’re not supposed to get mad or hurt anyone’s feelings but you’re not supposed to be walked all over either. I was mad because the admin who organized the breakfast meeting we had in February instead of a Christmas event didn’t tell anyone there wasn’t going to be any coffee! What really made me mad was when I asked her about it she snidely said “Well, I brought my own, you should have done that”. If I had known, I would have done that! Plus, she can’t think creatively because we have a coffee station and coffee we already paid for that could have easily been moved to this meeting room. What I was told was there was no easy way to do it and they couldn’t afford it! What a stupid excuse. It was trivial, but my boss was upset that I got mad at her and let it show in front of other people. What a dumb thing to be marked down over.

  217. 217.

    Soprano2

    @Suzanne: I bet there’s not one man who is EVER marked down because he’s “not nice”. Men aren’t expected to be nice to people. Polite, maybe, but not “nice”.

  218. 218.

    Fake Irishman

    @Kay:

    his Mom clearly kept caring about politics. I’d imagine that rubbed off on him a bit consciously or not.

  219. 219.

    rikyrah

    @Suzanne:

    I think this trope about women being frivolous is coming back specifically because women are making such inroads into these other arenas of society. It’s basically the social equivalent of negging. I keep pointing out that this is all in service of pushing us back into the home and leaving the “serious things” to men to control and decide.

     

    You keep on making this point. It’s absolutely correct, and can’t be said enough.

     

    Watched a TikTok yesterday of this young woman who said that she will never shut up about being a single young woman living on her own. She said that she was THE FIRST WOMAN, IN HER ENTIRE FAMILIAL LINEAGE, that lived alone.

    And, when she broke it down, I went ‘ WOW’.

    She has enough financial stability to live on her own

    on her own terms.

    No other woman has been able to do that before her.

    I really thought about what she said.

     

    Have you heard about the 4B movement in South Korea?

  220. 220.

    sab

    @Soprano2: A man with a backbone would have picked the best guy available, not the press favorite.

    ETA Your VP is supposed to be your understudy, the person who would be best to replace you. Lieberman was certainly not that.

  221. 221.

    CindyH

    @gene108: I live in NC and am worried – I love Josh Stein but he’s sorta bland and the fact that he’s Jewish may not be helpful in NC.  I’ve worked every campaign since Kerry and the NC voters are really hard to gauge.  So yes, we need all the help we can get!

  222. 222.

    Josie

    @JML: I received an email from Beto this week with this information:

    “During the 2022 elections, Texas had 7.9 million registered, likely Republicans and only 7.5 million registered, likely Democrats — a deficit of nearly half a million registered voters.”

    His group, Powered by People, is working on registering voters and will also work on getting out the vote when the time comes. Many are unpaid volunteers and are doing wonderful work. If anyone could send them a few dollars, it would help their efforts tremendously.

  223. 223.

    Kay

    @Fake Irishman:

    We’re very close in temperament. He lives in Denmark. I miss him. For a long time I thought I understood him (I do) but until he moved overseas I didn’t realize he also understood me – that even when he was a child our relationship was reciprocal and there’s nothing better than being understood – known.

    He thinks the US education system is better than Denmark’s in math and science – he’s unimpressed with Danish high schools- so maybe when their daughter is school age they’ll move back. They’re Democrats Abroad though! They still vote. It counts for Illinois though so not much help.

  224. 224.

    rikyrah

    @JML:

    I still want money spent in Texas, because of possible down-ballot prospects.

    This is a Presidential year. I think that, if we invest in Texas, we probably won’t win the Electoral College votes, but, I think we could do a lot of good down ballot.

    The year Beto lost to Ted Cruz, we got a whole lot of down ballot Democratic judges elected in Texas. I think we can do that again.

     

    Allred is a good candidate.

  225. 225.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    I swear to God it was easier before they figured out they had to hide the ball.

     

    Reading this brought to my mind, Frank Luntz.

    Luntz was the go-to guy for their coded language. The dogwhistles that the GOP and the MSM that enabled them to hide behind.

    Now that the Orange Menace says the quiet parts out loud, Frank has been struggling to stay relevant and paid.

  226. 226.

    rikyrah

    @sab:

    So Reagan, an actor, set us back a couple of generations on economic policy.

     

    I tell Peanut, the root of America’s problems can be broken down this way;

    White Supremacy

    anything from 1980 onward: Ronald Reagan

  227. 227.

    Citizen Alan

    @Baud: It is and has always been depressing to me to think about how many of my fellow citizens maintain a peasant mentality and would never aspire to anything higher. And by peasant, I don’t just mean poor. A poor person is just someone with the misfortune of not having much money. A peasant is a poor person who is proud of their poverty, who worships the people responsible for that poverty, and who snaps and snarls bitterly at anyone who tries to help them out of poverty. It’s the sort of person who got black lung from working in a coal mind but reserves his anger for his children and grandchildren who leave the state because they don’t want to end up the same way.

  229. 229.

    Josie

    @rikyrah: Allred is an excellent candidate–a centrist, perfect for Texas. Plus, a former football player, also perfect for Texas. :-)

     ETA: Strangely enough, Cruz is starting to say that he likes to reach out across the aisle and work with Democrats to get stuff done. Pretty ironic.

  230. 230.

    UncleEbeneezer

    If you’ve never seen it, “OJ Simpson: Made In America” is truly one of the best, true-crime documentaries ever made. Not only does it show the incredible story of the tragic murder and the circus of a trial, but the first episode is one of the best primers of the story of racist policing in America and racial tensions in Los Angeles from the Watts Rebellion, Rodney King/LA Uprising, the Rampart Scandal etc., that set the stage for the Trial of the Century.  ESPN really knocked it out of the park with this mini-series and showed that they can make documentaries as good as anyone.

  231. 231.

    Miss Bianca

    @schrodingers_cat: Really? Fascinating! I always think of NH as a GOP stronghold at the national level because it seems that way to.me at a state level, but that just goes to show you how much I don’t know.

  233. 233.

    Suzanne

    @UncleEbeneezer: Co-sign. That documentary was equal parts fantastic and devastating. Be aware that the filmmakers show a picture of Nicole Brown Simpson’s body that had never been publicly exhibited before and it absolutely made me gasp aloud.

    Marian Wright Edelman’s son Ezra Edelman was the director.

  234. 234.

    opiejeanne

    @Suzanne: In high school I had two male teachers and an aide, corner me in a hallway and tell me that I had a sharp tongue. One of them had overheard only my end of a conversation with my ex-boyfriend who told me I shouldn’t stand with my legs apart because it made me look like a whore. I assure you, I was the least likely girl to be mistaken for one at that school.

    What these bozos heard was me telling him to go to hell, and they came boiling out of their offices in the music building. Band director, choir director, and some guy whose claim to fame was that he played the organ in one of our musicals. I was in band and was the accompanist for the choir, and they felt it was their duty to scold me. They’d seen the ex leave and, surprising to me, apparently these middle-aged men had gossiped about us because the choir director launched into a “hilarious” story about how he cheated on his “pinned” girlfriend in college and she just couldn’t get over it. Yeah, maybe I wasn’t over the ex but I wasn’t willing to take shit off of him.

    This was in 1968, and thank God I was about to graduate so I didn’t have to put up with either teacher for much longer.

  235. 235.

    Miss Bianca

    @Soprano2: We are looking for an elder law attorney right now, in fact, for my brother in Michigan who suffered a stroke. He’s a year younger than I am, so I have a hard time thinking of him as needing eldercare, but there we are.

  236. 236.

    columbusqueen

    @Omnes Omnibus: As a gamer & stamp collector, I disagree somewhat, but maybe I need frivolous hobbies to avoid stroking out over the current state of things.

  237. 237.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Layer8Problem: Well, bully for you. I OTOH am at the point of unsubscribing to every goddamned e-mail from the campaign. I am thoroughly sick of wading through a half-dozen shrieking texts every day, carefully crafted to stoke fear and outrage and demanding that I send them at least $100 RIGHT NOW!!!!! – which will only disappear into the tony wallets of “consultants”. This election is going to be won by boots on the ground, not those fuckheads who can’t find their flabby arses with both hands but can hoover up that sweet sweet cash.

  238. 238.

    Suzanne

    @rikyrah:

    Have you heard about the 4B movement in South Korea? 

    YES, oh my God.
    South Korea is the U.S. in ten years, if we can’t figure this shit out.

  239. 239.

    rikyrah

    @Josie:

     ETA: Strangely enough, Cruz is starting to say that he likes to reach out across the aisle and work with Democrats to get stuff done. Pretty ironic.

     

    LIPS SO PURSED.

  240. 240.

    NotMax

    @CindyH

    Pennsylvania has a Jewish governor named Josh Hawaii has a Jewish governor named Josh.

    Seats still available aboard that train.
    ;)

  241. 241.

    Diceros bicornis

    @Kay: yay for the kids in Denmark with Democrats Abroad! Ok they vote in Illinois, but they probably know other American expats who may vote in Arizona or Florida or…. Getting out the vote abroad includes urging everyone else one knows to register and vote. And yes much of the heavy lifting is being done by women here too

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