“Dems cleared the field”=Nobody ran against him bc
A. They knew they’d lose
B. They knew he already beat Trump & the odds were better of beating Trump w Biden then rolling the diceThis isn’t complicated, but people who don’t understand basic politics try to make it complicated https://t.co/79SY3MVJhH
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) May 14, 2024
I remember Astead Herndon as someone doing excellent reporting during the Black Lives Matter protests. Such good reporting, in fact, that the FTFNYTimes apparently hired him to be their Black Best Friend for the 2024 electoral cycle, where hate-clicks spend just like the honest ones…
The reason Biden won the primary is that he’s very popular with Democratic primary voters and all of his credible challengers decided to support his re-election, this isn’t that complicated
— vituperativeerb (@vituperativeerb) May 14, 2024
Again, *you* are deciding to paint him as having bad vibes. The guy oozes charm and you can't get over the fact he didn't come grovel to you and your boss for an interview. Fuck offhttps://t.co/1MB29g3GOz
— The okayest poster there is (@ok_post_guy) May 14, 2024
I think a lot about that time the NYT endorsed two people that weren't Biden and then the lady who was operating the elevator backed him. She has better political instincts than all of them.
— Alex ????? ?? ????? (@JewishWonk) May 14, 2024
NYT columnist who is Definitely Not Mad that Biden thinks he and his colleagues are a bunch of whiny, entitled babies (true!) will not and cannot explain how dems "cleared the field" pic.twitter.com/VSkeqttzpz
— Josh (@JoshGreenberg27) May 14, 2024
And finally, the 'clearing the field for an unpopular candidate' narrative is just the dumbest shit (especially from a 'serious' political reporter). When do presidential incumbents face serious primary challengers? Never. Just dumb as hell.
— Centrism Fan Acct ?? (@Wilson__Valdez) May 14, 2024
Speaking of ‘clearing the field’, there were other potential candidates for the Democratic nomination — just not any who intended to have a continued political career!
i am torn between being angry that horserace reporters forgot that dean phillips exists while finding it hilarious that everyone else also forgot dean phillips exists
— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.bsky.social) May 14, 2024 at 1:41 PM
War for Ukraine Day 812: A Brief Wednesday Night Update
eclare
Crazy. Yesterday on Morning Joe the first topic of discussion was whether or not the FTFNYT was garbage. Joe was the most convinced and argumentative that yes, it is, at least as far as political coverage.
And yeah I remember when it endorsed both Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren (way to take a stand, “we can’t decide!”), and the elevator operator loved Joe.
Balconesfault
Begs the question… are they too stupid to realize that their constant ankle biting has been a major factor contributing to Biden’s “unpopularity” … or are they too stupid to understand that after what they did to Gore, and then Hillary, eventually their real intent would become obvious?
p.a.
The shit can’t even give Biden credit for supposedly “clearing the field” in some unspecified shady way. The “Dems” did that!
MSNBCification= The Democratic Party not being Republican-Lite. Democratic Party punching back, not whining about collegiality and decorum.
suzanne
@p.a.: I think “MSNBCification” really means cohesive. Dems in array!
piratedan
I do find it unusual that the political coverage from the self-proclaimed paper of record has more to say about the lack of challenges from a party who’s last Presidential candidate has successfully navigated COVID (compared to the rest of the world), survived an attempted political coup on the transfer of power than it does for a party that is in the process of nominating a candidate that is currently under federal indictment and on trial in NY State Court.
Baud
Tweets in the OP already cover what I would say.
It’s Dems vs. the World, because the World is run by elites and their serfs who suck up to them.
matt
Why didn’t people with real political careers line up to have what happened to Dean Phillips happen to them? Must have been some dirty backroom deal, absolutely no other possible explanation. Nate Silver and Asshead here figured it out over lunch.
danielx
Trump offers to outsource US energy policy to fossil fuel extraction industry in exchange for one billion dollars.
But Joe Biden is OLD and unopposed by a primary challenger, because FNYT editorial staff thinks it’s important that voters know that. Now “it’s out there’, so we have to cover that! Are there any emails involved???!!??
Lather, rinse, repeat.
ETA: oil/coal industry execs would be stupid to take Trump up on his offer. Why pay the bastard to do what he would do by natural inclination anyway?
Shalimar
@eclare: I have not been able to listen to Morning Joe since Scarborough began his “everyone who doesn’t want Palestinians murdered indiscriminately is an evil Hamas supporter” rants.
edit: He is comically anti-school protesters. They all have evil intentions and should basically be destroyed for them.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
Shorter AsteadWH: “Bernie woulda won” and “why wont MSNBC hire me as a contributor”
Shalimar
@p.a.: How many objectively pro-Democratic people are there on MSNBC? Maddow, O’Donnell. Anyone else? It’s just disgusting that people who are angry that MSNBC has a small leftward bias just accept that FoxNews outright coordinates with Republicans on talking points.
Princess
I’m sure people like him and area Klein aren’t being forced or ordered to go along with the NYT narrative. They’re hearing the NYT vibe and looking at their careers and choosing to advance at their places of work. But the idea that the NYT is “stupid” is naive. They know what they’re doing. And it’s not out of pique. The owners want lower taxes.
Baud
If AL hadn’t mentioned the NYT, I would have guessed this guy was some Twitter nobody posting stupid outrage bait. Such is the quality of journalism in the US.
@Shalimar:
Is Joy Reid still there?
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@matt: Don’t forget Marianne… even more forgotten than Phillips apparently. Weird how they refuse to concern troll Republicans over Trump’s weaknesses. Haley drew like 20% support in Maryland’s primary on Tuesday. Haven’t checked results from other States that voted this week but that’s been a durable trend throughout the primary season.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Baud
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?:
Also, pretty sure Maryland has a closed primary so those are just Republican faithful.
rikyrah
Still mad about that no interview with POTUS.
Then, there is the matter of Haberman being revealed as the Trump stenographer that we knew she was
eclare
@Shalimar:
Agreed. I watch on the DVR and def fast forward at times. I also do that depending upon who the guest is.
zhena gogolia
@Princess: Bingo.
Baud
@Princess:
Lower taxes and more revenue. The media did very well under Trump because people felt they needed to spend all their time paying attention to everything. Crisis is lucrative.
Tony Jay
@Shalimar:
Really? I didn’t know he commented here. /s
Tony Jay
The FTFNYT is just opposed to Democratic Administrations. It’s that clear and simple. It’s not that Biden won’t give them an interview, it’s that they want the format of a Biden interview through which to undermine and attack him. Not giving them that format denies them a tactical advantage, but it’s not changing their strategy either way.
Barry
@Balconesfault: “Begs the question… are they too stupid to realize that their constant ankle biting has been a major factor contributing to Biden’s “unpopularity” … or are they too stupid to understand that after what they did to Gore, and then Hillary, eventually their real intent would become obvious?”
They know. Remember, these sh@ts had a multidecade feud with the Clintons, and gave us Dubya and Trump. They watched Trump, and warp coverage to help him.
trnc
The wins don’t translate because NYT opts to put flimsy or outright false headlines about his age on the front page much more often than legislative and economic wins.
Shalimar
@Baud: Joy Reid is generally pro-Democrat. Chris Hayes is, but his nerdy “I’m willing to deeply consider any idea” persona makes it hard to tell sometimes. Melber is, but he also tries to do an objective legal analysis show. Nicolle Wallace is now, but she will also go into stories about her good friends from her Republican days at the drop of a hat. Etc. With the MSNBC hosts, there are always caveats. With Fox, they seem to be outright shills. Maybe that is just to me.
trnc
But even that isn’t correct. Biden had multiple primary challengers. Here is a report on one of the early primaries. The source is chosen completely at random. :-D
Baud
@Shalimar:
We really don’t want outright shills. I perfectly happy asking for media that treats liberals as a distinct news market that deserves to be served. But most of us don’t like being lied to, even about things we want to hear.
3Sice
FTFNYT or DougJ?
Baud
@Shalimar:
@Baud:
We do need more and better hacks, however. People who are unapologetic about expressing opinions in support of us.
NotMax
Cold?
gene108
I don’t think the political media wants to acknowledge how hardened the political polarization on the Right is.
Accepting basic reality like Biden won in 2020 or Obama was born in the USA will cause Republicans to lose support. Democrats aren’t going to get credit for anything from a sizable part of the population.
This is a factor in any attempt to evaluate popular support for what Biden has done.
Baud
@gene108:
Absolutely agree. Republicans to their credit have developed a system for spreading preferred sentiments almost instantaneously to their supporters. That’s our reality now.
Baud
@NotMax:
There was a debate on Reddit about grey. I think it’s gray in the US and grey in UK, or vice versa. It’s one of those things that doesn’t stick in my brain.
NotMax
@Baud
An “a” in America, an “e” in Europe.
Baud
@NotMax:
Oh, that’s good. I will think of you the next time I have to spell that word.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Tony Jay:
This needs to be repeated constantly. Once one starts from that point of departure, everything they do makes sense.
Careerist “Journalists” like Asshead have to toe the internal party line on messaging if they want to get ahead. It in part explains why people who go there seemingly have their brains replaced overnight.
danielx
@trnc:
Got me there.
satby
@Baud: I use them interchangeably just to mess with autocorrect.
Baud
@satby:
Oh wow. You come at the king, you best not miss.
Ken
I know the NYT considers local reporting beneath them (take George Santos — please!), but I wonder if they’ve picked up on this story of a multiply-convicted fugitive hiding somewhere in the city?
Baud
@Ken:
Too bad America’s Most Wanted isn’t still on the air.
satby
@Baud: 😂
And, for a mood lifter from Twitter, Rachel Handlin yesterday became the first person with Down’s Syndrome in the world to earn a graduate degree in any field. Kudos to Rachel, and her very proud dad!
Ken
@NotMax: Conveniently it also works for Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and (South) America. I think I first noticed this unimaginative naming around the age of 10, playing Risk.
BellyCat
@Baud: Grey.
Not only does the UK have a better grasp of cloudy, wet weather, the spelling looks the part.
Whereas “gray”, if one misses the “r” could be read as “gay” which could either be “happy” or something many small-minded Americans are somewhere between “not comfortable with” or “should be outlawed”.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: Either/or in my head.
trnc
Unless I’ve missed something, you mean multiply-indicted but I share your dream.
Chris
@Balconesfault:
I mean, they’ve gotten away with it for literal decades without their intent becoming obvious to most people, so I can understand why they’d think that.
Starfish
I am so glad that I am not on Twitter anymore because the way everyone wanted to tear into the gay black man for not being politically astute enough is pretty gross.
People are going to vote, but a lot of people are not excited about “Which 80 yo do you want running the country?” And everyone on Twitter is big mad that someone said that out loud. People want to feel inspired, and this election does not feel inspirational. It feels like “Please don’t burn down the world.”
Hodge
@Baud: In my idiolect “a” if a bluish hue, “e” if yellowish
Princess
Fwiw I can’t stand MSNBC either. It also is not the news.
@Starfish: Boo fucking hoo. This is not a reality television show or the Olympics. It’s real life and Americans make choices that affect the entire world, which does not get a vote here. I’m sorry the thrills aren’t running up and down your leg about these guys but seriously, people need to grow up.
Starfish
@Princess: That’s the ticket. Be a condescending person to people who are going to vote the same that you are going to vote. It worked so well for the Hillary or bust crowd.
Y’all, I don’t have good feelings about this election. I hope I am wrong and people do show up to vote.
Layer8Problem
@Starfish: I feel terrible, just terrible, that so many people (presumably similar to the “very many people are saying” crowd Trump likes to invoke) feel that the choice we have is so difficult. Hopefully a better candidate will arrive to make us happier.
Another Scott
@Starfish: People want lots of things. But people need to realize that doing one’s duty to pick sensible leaders is different from falling in love. They’re different categories.
I need to be inspired to take out the trash – said no one ever.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
trnc
The reason democrats are mad about that is that it’s the political equivalent of “I would like to fly from NY to LA, but I don’t want to use anything with wings or blades.” We had primaries, and Biden had challengers. Biden won, and it wasn’t even close. There is no mechanism by which another candidate could be chosen that would reflect the will of Democrats nationwide.
Uncle Cosmo
For some time now my go-to tl;dr has been World War O-for-Oligarchs – they owned the planet before 1929 and they want it back, all of it.
IOW yeah, you pretty much nailed it.
Vichy Times aka Herrenvölkischer Beobachter, putative Fishwrap of Record for Fascist Coddlers over the last century, arrogantly confident nothing bad could ever happen to them once the evilangelicals take over. (And who’s to say they’re wrong? How many German, Italian or Japanese Malefactors Of Great Wealth who made out like bandits under Hitler, Moose or Hirohito were strung up after the war?)
Uncle Cosmo
In a closed primary – IOW, among registered Republicans. 8^O
In MD for many years some districts had more DINOs than Jurassisgrassic Park could CGI up. I grew up in one, heavily Democratic by registration but reliably Thuglican for President or Governor since 1968. Local offices continued in Democratic hands for many years while the votes of those “Nixon/Reagan Democrats” helped give us Thuglican Governors and Presidents. Not sure whether the old homestead has (d)evolved past that, but there are still many districts in Baltimore City (like the one I’ve lived in for >35 years) that are non-competitive for local offices.
Reboot
@Starfish: ‘Not politically astute enough’ or disingenuous? My sense is, the guy’s smart enough to know how incumbency works.
Also, you might have to be inspired to, say, volunteer for a candidate (that would be me), but, my personal opinion, inspiration would not be my number-one consideration to get off my butt and go vote.
mr perfect
@Starfish: Vote for democracy or vote for dictatorship only on day one. If that doesn’t motivate people to get out and vote then nothing will stop the USA from becoming a non democracy. If that sounds condecending then I am guilty as charged.