Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

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

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)

We’re not going back!

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

In my day, never was longer.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Second rate reporter says what?

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Monday Night Open Thread

Reader Interactions

358Comments

  1. 1.

    J. Arthur Crank

    Nice ad.  Keep giving knees to the groin whenever it is feasible.  If that is not feasible, then “hammering” will have to suffice.

  3. 3.

    matt

    I’m excited to see if a vicious campaign of ridicule can break the normal Matt Drudge, America’s Assignment Editor pattern of the coverage. Definitely worth a try.

  4. 4.

    sab

    First ad was very very creepy.

    That could put this happily married old bat off men in general.

  5. 5.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    That’s a great ad. Informative while being funny and creating a contrast

  7. 7.

    Damien

    Holy crap that made me laugh so hard I had a straight up coughing fit!  Honestly, I’m really down with straight up mockery.  Just make fun of these idiots so hard all the time that being Maga in public starts to be on the same level as walking around with a mysteriously-stained Pornhub t-shirt

  11. 11.

    MattF

    It’s ’Every accusation is a confession’ played visually. Needs to be said repeatedly.

  12. 12.

    artem1s

    Oh boy, I see a very sternly written Broder editorial about incivility coming our way. Good.

  16. 16.

    sixthdoctor

    Waiting for the White Dudes for Harris zoom to start at 8.

    And I understand why they didn’t call it Honkies for Harris, I’m just saying it wouldn’t have bothered me if they did.

  17. 17.

    Percysowner

     

    @Scout211: Interesting I thought he would be a fine choice, although everyone Harris is considering is pretty strong. I wonder why he dropped out, since I don’t read the NYT.

  21. 21.

    artem1s

    @Scout211: ​ 
    And more pimply ew!
    I kind of wish they had included some other body types, like the ever present football player rapist (or wrestling coach) and the 700 club televangelist (Pence/Robertson) and used car salesman (google Sherrod Brown’s opponent bernie moreno). It’s not just sweaty, pimply nerds who are voting MAGAt.

  22. 22.

    Scout211

    @Percysowner: Yea, I wonder too.  On memeorandum, they display a preview.  This was in the preview:

    It was not immediately clear why he withdrew

    So the FNYT doesn’t know either.  Hopefully, he will make a statement.

  26. 26.

    lamh47

    @Baud: yes.

    The question was asked on a number of the zoom calls and the answers has so far always been “Yes”

  28. 28.

    artem1s

    @Scout211: ​
    Could be anything. Maybe he wants to try for a Senate seat or some other state office like AG. Doesn’t have to mean anything nefarious although I’m sure the FYNYT will try to spin it that way.

  30. 30.

    MattF

    Tom Friedman doesn’t like the ‘weird’ labeling coming from Dems. No link. Best possible endorsement.

  31. 31.

    Lochnessmom

    Open thread advice ask:

    Going to D.C. for the first time on Wednesday for a week. Two adults, two high school boys. Renting a row house within walking distance to the National Mall and public transportation, not renting a car, and planning one full day at Baltimores Inner Harbor.

    Any places we should absolutely not miss (like is Old Town Alexandria worth a day)?  Any other stray advice for 50-somethings visiting the capitol for the first time?  Any and all words of wisdom gladly welcomed!

  33. 33.

    PaulWartenberg

    I’m logging into the White Dudes for Harris conference call right now.

    I might not make it back. Pray for me.

    (opens the link)

    My GOD, it’s full of st———-

  34. 34.

    lamh47

    @Scout211: saw that.  My first thought was maybe too much a deep dive on the vetting?

    Not for nothing, but for some reason this has me thinking of John Edwards…first…what ever happened to him…hmm

    But mostly though, the vetting process has me thinking of the shit he was doing and how could it have been missed in any Dem vetting process.

  35. 35.

    cain

    @MattF:

    He was using weird earlier. He didn’t like that furniture jokes though because he thought it was untrue.

    Eta wrong tom

  36. 36.

    Scout211

    @MattF: Tom Friedman doesn’t like the ‘weird’ labeling coming from the Dems

    Let’s tell him to wait six months.  It might stop then.

  40. 40.

    trnc

    @MattF: Scott Jennings, repub mouthpiece on CNN, tried to turn “weird” back on dems, but it had a real Costanza “shrimp store” vibe.

  42. 42.

    PaulWartenberg

    @Lochnessmom:

    Loch, you need to visit DuPont Circle and visit the book store!

    You need to visit the National Archives to see the Declaration and Constitution.

    You need to visit Georgetown and walk the Exorcist steps.

    You need to visit Rock Creek Cemetery and find the Adams Memorial (aka Grief).

  44. 44.

    MomSense

    Moussaka in the oven and I got my assignment for persuasion calls.
    Update on the woman I met canvassing.  She called the Penobscot tribe and she has free health care plus a $500 monthly food allowance.  Coverage starts on 8/2.One of her friends owns a blues club in skowhegan and we have decided to go next Sunday if she feels well enough.  The chemo for her breast cancer is kicking her ass right now.  Fortunately the insurance and food allowance means she can give up 2 of her jobs and her side hustles (mowing lawns).

    LET’s GO change more lives!

  46. 46.

    BR

    @Jay:

    It’s possible Cooper didn’t realize that there are potentially damaging things that might come up in vetting and he doesn’t want to put himself or family members through it. Or that he sees the competition for VP and doesn’t feel like he has the energy for it.

  47. 47.

    trnc

    @MattF: Tom Friedman doesn’t like the ‘weird’ labeling coming from Dems. No link. Best possible endorsement.

    Somehow, I’ve managed to not think about Friedman for years.

  48. 48.

    Maxim

    @Lochnessmom: I’ve never been either, so my only suggestion is to have a great time! And maybe take some photos to submit for On The Road when you get back.

  49. 49.

    rikyrah

     

    The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) posted at 9:16 AM on Mon, Jul 29, 2024:

    WATCH — @RealDLHughley: “Kamala did not lock up the thousands I said she did — I told that lie too, then I did my research… I’m going to apologize by helping her get elected. Not Black enough? She’s Black enough for mediocre white men to call her a ‘DEI HIRE’.” https://t.co/8QkibvMMDH

    (https://x.com/TheTNHoller/status/1817927079218032792?t=4kyctu641Wk9thS-m-ouUw&s=03)

  50. 50.

    lamh47

    I’m sorry for real though, who does he think this works for?

    Like…first she’s 59, second…so what she’s 59…dude ur almost 20 YEARS OLDER and ya look 30 yrs older…

    What is even the point???

    Trump: I mean she is 60 years old. I didn’t realize she was 60. I thought she was a little younger. But she is 60. She is talking a big game but her game is pretty bad.

    https://x.com/Acyn/status/1818066776196006284

  52. 52.

    scav

    @MattF: Weird?  Friedman objects to weird?  I’ve a repeatedly available example.

    What Entitled Idiot Rites Down.

  53. 53.

    Lochnessmom

    @PaulWartenberg:

    Thanks! Good advice. I want to visit The Exorcist steps, but I’m the only one so it’s an “if we can fit it in” stop. So many things!

  54. 54.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @BR: That’s not why I don’t want to listen to him.  I’m still pissed at the effort he put into pushing Biden to step aside (along with everyone else who piled onto that effort).

  57. 57.

    thruppence

    @MattF: I’m a museum hound and could spend all day or maybe two around the National Mall. Don’t know if the highschoolers would have patience with that. Don’t miss the MLK Jr. Memorial.

    Well off to Honkies for Harris, ha h

    Edit: Looks like I clicked the wrong reply button, sorry.

  60. 60.

    HumboldtBlue

    Let’s all remember that in 2011 a nasty, nasty man donated $5,000 to Kamala Harris, I wonder if he recalls.

  62. 62.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @lamh47:

    All the attention she’s getting is definitely getting under his skin. Harris is a very youthful looking 59. He’s nearly 80 and like you said, looks every year of it and then some

  63. 63.

    Lyrebird

    @MomSense: WOW ya done good many times over!

    @Lochnessmom: I would say Old Town can wait unless you really like high-art crafts type places (Torpedo Factory), medium tall Masonic monuments (I don’t want overload on links, it’s the George Washington Masonic something), or little brass plaques saying “Geo. Washington tied his horse here” or something.

    We have a fair number of commenters in NoVa, though, and hey y’all, if you haven’t been to the Torpedo Factory, you should go.

    While in DC please absolutely some Ethiopian food and some Afghan food.  (Both have meaty and veggie options.)  If you cross the bridge into NoVa, also get some Vietnamese food unless that’s really plentiful where you are from.

  64. 64.

    Jay

    @BR:

    Or it’s just the FTNYT inside baseball rumours. If there isn’t a nym or a title attached, it could be former Democrat/now Rethug severed finger Chili lady or his States Parties Republican Chair.

  65. 65.

    Lochnessmom

    @Maxim:  ooh, good idea! I am super excited. My better half is a better photographer than me, so I will task him with getting some worthy pix. Got several different Kamala Harris shirts to wear while we are out and about too.

  67. 67.

    MomSense

    @Lochnessmom:

    There is so much free stuff to do in DC.  I always go to the museums.  The modern art museum and sculpture garden (Hirschborn?) is really good.  When I was young there was a bar I enjoyed called The Rooftop in Adams Morgan.  Lots of great food, parks and monuments – all free!

  68. 68.

    rivers

    @Lochnessmom: All the museums on the mall are very much worth visiting but the Holocaust Museum has to be one of the most powerful and profound experiences I’ve ever had. But also Air and Space, National Gallery,Museum of the American Indian,Museum of African American History and Culture – and I’m leaving out many others. The Vietnam memorial is very beautiful also.

  69. 69.

    lamh47

    @Jay: Also, somthing someone said on twitter made sense as well…

    Cooper is 67, maybe wants to retire and relax and then run for senate in 2026.

    Also too, it’s a hard job to campaign nationally and then VP is a lot of travel

  70. 70.

    Jay

    @trnc:

    what, not every six months?

    What do you talk about with the driver when you are taking a taxi?

    I always start with “have you seen Tom Friedman lately?”

  72. 72.

    BR

    @lamh47:

    I think Trump’s hoping the get the media to talk about “How will Trump’s attacks on Harris’s age affect the youth vote?”

    The pundits might fall for it, but to anyone under 30 there’s no difference between 50 and 60.

  73. 73.

    rikyrah

     

    Bill Madden (@maddenifico) posted at 9:40 AM on Mon, Jul 29, 2024:

    This‼ 🔥🔥🔥 Every leftist — who has no fucking comprehension of the horror that awaits them under a FASCIST Trump regime — needs to watch this video to understand what pragmatic progressives, liberals and Democrats have been trying to explain to them. THESE ARE THE STAKES. 👇 https://t.co/22rBWeXyTP

    (https://x.com/maddenifico/status/1817933142491029867?t=572sI72d6uKH63dKOGaccA&s=03)

  76. 76.

    wjca

    @lamh47: this has me thinking of John Edwards…first…what ever happened to him…hmm

    Now a personal injury lawyer ambulance chaser.  Which probably says something about him all along.

    Let’s hope the vetting process doesn’t fail that badly again.  Leave suck cock-ups to TCFG.

  77. 77.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Lochnessmom: national portrait gallery, national archive, Smithsonian air and space—all awesome. Also Lincoln memorial and Vietnam memorial.

    Spy museum: lame.

  78. 78.

    Anonymous At Work

    This is HILARIOUS for a guy.  For a woman, yeah, creepy AF, all the way.  Leaning into “These are weird dudes” and maybe a few cheap shots like “JD Vance is the Ted Cruz of Ohio” would work.

  79. 79.

    Lochnessmom

    @thruppence:  it’s okay, got it. We are thinking probably 2 full days on the National Mall because we never met a museum we didn’t like. The boys are pretty good, because we drag them to a lot of historic sites and museums, but if they punk out, we will leave them at the house and keep all the museums to ourselves.

    Last year we did Sedona and the Grand Canyon and it was so awesome that even the surly teenagers didn’t complain much.

  80. 80.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud: ​
     

    High school boys will probably like the Air and Space Museum.

    That, and the Museum of Natural History are the two that are pretty much everybody’s favorites.

    The Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial are all within a short walk of each other. I didn’t even know the Korean War Memorial existed until I stumbled across it by accident about 20 years ago, and it’s very striking; I make sure to visit it every time I’m near that end of the Mall. The FDR Memorial is not that far from the Korean War Memorial, and I’m a big fan of that one too.

    Skip the WWII memorial, it looks as if it was thrown together by Monuments-R-Us.

  81. 81.

    JoyceH

    @lamh47:

    Cooper is 67, maybe wants to retire and relax and then run for senate in 2026.

    Also too, it’s a hard job to campaign nationally and then VP is a lot of travel

    Another thing that nobody has mentioned is that Cooper’s LT GOV isn’t just a Republican, he’s that lunatic Robinson. If I cared about the state I was governing, I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable racketing all around the country campaigning for months and leave that madman unsupervised back home.

  82. 82.

    Jeffro

    @Scout211: that’s how you do it right…let the ones no longer under consideration “withdraw” themselves from consideration.

    Pro move!

  83. 83.

    Falling Diphthong

    @Lochnessmom: The Spy Museum is a reliable hit with all ages. Lots of actual historical information, but they have also rigged up an air vent you can crawl through.

  84. 84.

    Lochnessmom

    @Baud: My partner’s first choice is the Air and Space Museum, so we will definitely be hitting that one. I am excited about the natural history museum and the National Portrait Gallery.

  86. 86.

    Matt McIrvin

    @trnc:

    Scott Jennings, repub mouthpiece on CNN, tried to turn “weird” back on dems

    It’s just the same old attack they’ve been using for decades: we have the weird people, the marked cases. The minority races, minority sexualities, gender identities. The bohemians and beatniks and hippies, acid amnesty and abortion. They have the straight white married nuclear family conservative Christian people, the normal folk.

    It’s getting less powerful and it makes them freak out about “replacement” and getting treated the way they treat others. The idea that what they say and do is weird is a profound wound to them, because their whole identity revolves around being normal.

  87. 87.

    Anonymous At Work

    @lowtechcyclist: Always worth pointing out what John Steinbeck wrote about FDR, East of Eden Chapter 34, when writing about how we should live our lives so that are deaths are not celebrated:

    There was a third man, who perhaps made many errors in performance but whose effective life was devoted to making men brave and dignified and good in a time when they were poor and frightened and when ugly forces were loose in the world to utilize their fears. This man was hated by the few. When he died the people burst into tears in the streets and their minds wailed, “What can we do now? How can we go on without him?”

  90. 90.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah: I told Froette about an hour ago (via email) that GA was blue on my “270towin” map.

    You know Warnock and Ossoff are going ALL OUT to help make that happen!  (MTS too ;)

  96. 96.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Lochnessmom: Just be warned, you could spend a week at the Smithsonian alone.  If I were going, I would go to the National African-American History Museum since I’ve already done most of the Smithsonian (though it was years ago and I’d love to go again as an adult).

  97. 97.

    lamh47

    @BR: How does that affect the youth vote?

    She older GenX at most…same age as many of those “youth vorters” parents.

    Hell, the same age as some of those pundits.  And even the old pundits can’t say shit…cause they are “old”

  98. 98.

    Lochnessmom

    @Steve in the ATL:  ah, good advice. If the Spy Museum is lame we can skip that one!

    Eta: the Mob Museum in Vegas was really interesting and well done, and I did not go in with very high expectations. But it was very cool.

  100. 100.

    Bobby Thomson

    I love the graphic that comes up on the white dudes for Harris call every time they hit the next goal.

  101. 101.

    BR

    @lamh47:

    Exactly — it won’t affect the youth vote. But I’m positive we’ll see stupid punditry about it, and that’s my best guess as to what Trump is doing. (Also there’s usual misogyny built into his comments.)

  103. 103.

    mali muso

    @Lochnessmom: Make sure that you reserve a time for the Air and Space museum.  It’s free but now requires timed entry.  Link here.  Also, don’t forget that the distances between the museums, monuments, the mall, etc. are actually quite large.  You do a LOT of walking and it’s usually very hot.  Wear a hat, pace yourself. :)

  104. 104.

    Martin

    Daughter and I don’t really like this ad. A few problems:

    1. it never mentions Republicans and expect you to know who Mike Johnson is which low information voters who don’t know what Project 2025 is aren’t likely to know. So the ‘we’ is sort of implied, and is it just 20 creepy men, or is it all Republicans?
    2. it’s the wrong kind of comedy to reach young people. It’s pretty cringe, it’s a little too over the top, it feels out-of-touch.
    3. turning 2025 into a joke feels like backfire, because the way Trump got through all of his shit was by playing it off as a joke. Oh, he’s not serious about that. Like, the current moment feels like seriousness is the correct tone to take, don’t turn it into a skit.

    So, I think if you’re looking to scare people into action, don’t portray men that everyone expects to hold these positions. Show real women who hold these positions as sort of traitors to the cause. You have to fight harder because of them.

    I think mockery works for things that don’t matter – like fucking couches, ranting about sharks, stuff like that. If Democrats continue to hold the view that this is existential, present it seriously. You can say these people are weird, but take the 2025 stuff seriously.

  105. 105.

    lamh47

    Proof that the “weird” thing is getting to him big time!

    Didn’t Walz say something about never seeing him laugh!  “Has anyone ever seen him laugh…who doesn’t laugh..it’s weird.”

    @Acyn

    Trump: She got rid of the laugh. I haven’t seen the crazy laugh. She’s crazy. That laugh, that’s a laugh of a crazy person. She is not using that laugh anymore.
    https://x.com/Acyn/status/1818072379849064774

  106. 106.

    rikyrah

     

    Megan 📚 (@MegWritesBooks) posted at 1:39 PM on Mon, Jul 29, 2024:

    Obsessed with this guy on the US men’s gymnastics team who’s only job is pommel horse, so he just sits there until he’s activated like a sleeper agent, whips off his glasses like Clark Kent and does a pommel horse routine that helps deliver the team its first medal in 16 years. https://t.co/0D1ZqJjFa1

    (https://x.com/MegWritesBooks/status/1817993333827842252?t=eJUfHKFfXO6B3XrQNz6NaQ&s=03)

  107. 107.

    wjca

    @Anonymous At Work: maybe a few cheap shots like “JD Vance is the Ted Cruz of Ohio” would work.

    Since the media just loves a horserace, maybe get them on Vance vs Cruz for “most hated by other Senators.”  Cruz had an early lead, but Vance is running hard and closing fast!  Looks like this one could be very, very close.

  108. 108.

    Jeffro

    @Lochnessmom: just seconding some of the better recommendations I’ve seen here:

    • National Mall museums (Air & Space, Natural History, American History, African-American History)…just double-check to see which ones need entry-time tickets and/or might be under renovation
    • walk around Capitol Hill and take a tour if you can! (they’re out of session)
    • walk by the White House
    • take a Lyft to Georgetown and see the University, neighborhood, and the ‘Exorcist steps’!
    • consider walking around Adams-Morgan and/or stopping by a Ben’s Chili Bowl location (U Street or H Street) if you want some authentic DC grub!
  109. 109.

    Lochnessmom

    @Baud: i am working on index cards so we know what/when/etc. Some are timed entry, etc.  I am determined to experience as much as possible without dying of overload. My partner is the spontaneous one and I am the Obsessive/compulsive one, so hopefully a good mix.

  113. 113.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Jeff Bridges on White Dudes 4 Harris zoom!  Had trouble figuring out to turn mic on, lol!

  115. 115.

    EarthWindFire

    @Lochnessmom: If one of your DC days is on a weekend, go to Eastern Market and Capitol Hill Books.

    The Folger Shakespeare Library just got a makeover if any of you are into that era of literature.

    My favorite museums are the Hirschorn and the National Building Museum.

    Might be tough to do with the high school kids but if you can go to one of the rooftop places for lunch, you can get some great views of the monuments. The closest one to the Mall is Vue at the Hotel Washington.

  117. 117.

    BR

    I gotta be honest — I don’t think I’ve laughed as much in politics as I have in the last week in like a decade.

  118. 118.

    Phylllis

    @Lochnessmom: I found the MLK memorial incredibly moving. The Korean War memorial is as well, particularly in the early morning. A fave eating place is Medium Rare in Cleveland Park – there’s a nearby metro station.

  119. 119.

    Lochnessmom

    @Falling Diphthong: competing thoughts on this one, but it sounds like a fun one for the boys.  I would like to go spend a month, but the dog would wonder where we went (and the kids have to go back to school too, I suppose).

  120. 120.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Lochnessmom: The National Mall building of Air and Space has been going through a piecemeal renovation for years and years, so several of the aviation galleries are closed right now. But most of the renovated galleries on the Space side, including the Apollo Moon program exhibit, are open and they look spectacular, at least in pictures. I haven’t been back there in a while. When I was a kid, that was absolutely my favorite place in the world.

    The gigantic annex out in Chantilly, VA stole some of the Mall building’s thunder but it doesn’t sound like that’s at all convenient for you to get to.

    I could spend whole days just in the National Gallery of Art (two adjoining buildings connected underground), also the many other art galleries in the area like the donut-shaped Hirshhorn Museum with its adjoining sculpture garden, and the National Museum of American Art a few blocks off the Mall (it shares a building with the National Portrait Gallery, but I never found that quite as interesting).

  124. 124.

    BretH

    Stonekettle is on a tear about weird – this is one of many:

    Remember when Trump served cold McDonalds’ fries and limp soggy Filet-O-Fishes on silver White House serving platters to a sports team he’d invited to the White House?Yeah, that was pretty fucking weird.

    https://www.threads.net/@stonekettle

  125. 125.

    BR

    @Martin:

    Good points. Different reasons than why I don’t like the ad — I don’t like it on a visceral level, because what makes these actors creepy isn’t the same thing as what makes Vance creepy.

  127. 127.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Buttigieg in the WD4Harris house.  “The vibes right now are incredible”

  130. 130.

    Lochnessmom

    @mali muso:  yep, we are trying to be realistic, but I know we are going to want to see more than we possibly can. We are gaming out distances so we don’t kill ourselves (and our bodies are not quite as young as our minds think they are).

  131. 131.

    opiejeanne

    @sab: That WAS creepy. The cold sore on that guy’s lip, the yellow teeth, the increasing sweatiness as OO pointed out.

    CREEPY!!!1!

  132. 132.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @BR: Embrace it!  It’s great.  We need/deserve to have some fun after all the shit from the last 8 years.

  133. 133.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Martin: I didn’t realize that he was on my list of death to celebrated until just now.  He graduated from same OCS company that I did, many years before me of course.  He was held up as an example of what not to be as an army officer.  Fuck that guy.

  136. 136.

    RaflW

    The Moustache of Misunderstanding has a sad (and mistakes a turnout election with a persuasion one). Oh well, if Tom thinks weird is bad, I say keep going.

  138. 138.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Lochnessmom: …also? The National Museum of the American Indian… well, it’s an awesome exhibition of Native American culture in itself, but kind of an open secret of the place is that it has the best museum restaurant on the Mall. All the dishes are made from New World ingredients and components inspired by Native cuisine. Definitely a must-do if you’re around there.

  139. 139.

    Steve in the ATL

    @HumboldtBlue: last night you mentioned Snoop at the Olympics wearing the Digital Underground nose and glasses.  Can’t find a pic.  Do you have a link?

    reminder: Subaru Diane once got busy in a Burger King bathroom!

  140. 140.

    Randal Sexton

    I keep slamming some contributions in to the white dudes donate thing, hoping to see my name on the scroll. Looking for Randal S !!!!

  146. 146.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @BretH:

    Remember when Trump served cold McDonalds’ fries and limp soggy Filet-O-Fishes on silver White House serving platters to a sports team he’d invited to the White House?Yeah, that was pretty fucking weird.

    That always floored me. This was during the 2018-2019 government shutdown. It was just another example of Trump cheaping out. He had a hotel a few blocks away, which I’m sure had a restaurant/kitchen which served resturant quality burgers and fries. And Trump supporters defended it! He was a man of the people because common people like greasy, cold fast food shit. I don’t know about any of you, but if I was invited to the WH, I’d like lobster and steak

  148. 148.

    caphilldcne

    @Lochnessmom: it’s worth going to the monuments at night when they are all lit up.

    Library of Congress is pretty interesting. Are you here in the weekend? Check out Eastern Market. Try Market lunch for breakfast but get there early or you’ll be in a long line.

  150. 150.

    lamh47

    @Martin: I agree with this.

    It’s also most white guy steered as well.

    I get what they are trying, but for young people yeah…not something they’d be tuned into.

    The one ad I did see that I thought was def a good one geared to youth voters was this foreign commercial I think where a couple is getting hot and heavy in bed and one of them ask the other if they have a condom.  Soon as the guy reaches for a condom, a “conservative” pol busts into the room and said something like “we are proposing laws banning contraceptives…”

    The tagline was something like “politicians should stay out of our bedrooms…”

    It was creepy but direct.

  151. 151.

    brendancalling

    I just shared that ad with a dozen people. Whoever made that is genius, and was sharp about targeting the audience. All of them, creepy white men. The “no condoms” dude will, I assure you, raise the hackles of men too.  Just so very very creepy.

    ”And I’m not a serial killer,” lol.

  154. 154.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Lochnessmom: Go to Mt. Vernon. National Gallery of Art is definitely worthseeing. It has great restaurants within walking distance

    Eastern Market near the Capitol is also worth a visit. Great crabcakes and homemade root beer at Market Lunch.

  157. 157.

    Lochnessmom

    @Matt McIrvin:  that is one I am definitely going to. I am originally from the Southwest and grew up with a lot of Native culture, so I am excited for that one personally.

    And Jeffro, EarthWindFire, George, Phyllis, and anybody I missed the first time: Thanks so much. Y’all are not letting me down. Going to go back through the thread later too and make sure I have noted the great advice. Helps when neither of us has been and are kind of overwhelmed.

    Appreciate the food recs too!

  158. 158.

    Wapiti

    @Lochnessmom: Take comfortable shoes. The blocks are a quarter mile long or more.

    The Holocaust Museum is sobering; the Native American museum is great, and sobering. American History museum is great.

    The Vietnam Memorial is amazing. Once I saw it I realized that its detractors, like Ross Perot, could be safely ignored because they’re idiots.

  160. 160.

    Lochnessmom

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Excellent! We are thinking one day to go across to Alexandria and take a bus or train (I forget) and go to Mount Vernon.

    I love a good crabcake, so that one is a keeper too.

  162. 162.

    brendancalling

    @MattF: Tom “Suck on this” Friedman can go eat a bowl of warm carob-coated goat scrotums. I wish the world WAS flat, so I could push him off with a cinderblock tied to his leg.

  163. 163.

    JoyceH

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    And Trump supporters defended it! He was a man of the people because common people like greasy fast food shit.

    I knoooow! I remember him talking about it and he said or implied that they like this stuff and have it all the time. Granted, I’m not familiar with elite athletes, but I strongly doubt they eat fast food all the time! I suspect their diet is pretty strictly monitored.

  164. 164.

    Lochnessmom

    @caphilldcne:  we will get there early this Wednesday and will be leaving late next Wednesday, so hopefully we will get to enjoy a bunch of different things.

  166. 166.

    Eural Joiner

    Bradley Whitford on the White Dudes for Harris: “What a great variety of whiteness we have here…pink, beige…a veritable rainbow of whiteness!” Great delivery :)

  168. 168.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @BretH: thanks for the link. I’d forgotten half of the incidents he mentioned,  and yes, they all were fucking weird 😳

  169. 169.

    Jay

    @brendancalling:

    You can’t do that. There is a massive Icewall surrounding Flat Earth that keeps cats from pushing everything off.

    You have to yeet him over with a trebuchet, but you can still use the cinderblock.

  171. 171.

    Lochnessmom

    @Wapiti:  I am going to have to pace some of it, because some of the terrible historical stuff I find I am sometimes overwhelmed with sorrow. But I also want to bear witness, especially now when people are trying to bury history again.

  173. 173.

    Fake Irishman

    @Lochnessmom:

    Smithsonian museums are all free. Pick one or two. Everytime in DC, I try to pick a new one. Asian Art was cool of the lesser known ones. I’ve always been partial to Air and space of the classic ones, YMMV.

    Rusty Scupper is a pricey restaurant in Baltimore’s inner harbor, which is good. If you want the classic Maryland Crab Cake experience, go to Faidley’s in the Lexington Market for lunch which is within walking distance of inner harbor. The rest of the market has great food too.

  174. 174.

    Lochnessmom

    @Phylllis:  perhaps I will fling myself down and make somebody get a stretcher….. I know that I actually have no idea how draining it is going be, lol.

  176. 176.

    Fake Irishman

    @Wapiti:

    Agreed on the Vietnam wall. It’s a transformative experience.  The MLK monument is striking and SOLID, well designed for impact.

  177. 177.

    West of the Rockies

    But who is the creepiest, DeSantis, Vance, or Cruz (whose own daughter recoiled from him)?

  178. 178.

    The Thin Black Duke

    I think the point of the ad is Matt Gaetz and Ron DeDantis and Ted Cruz and J.D. Vance could join all of those creeps in that room and fit right in. It reinforces how weird the GOP’s talking points are nowadays because they stopped being a “normal” political party a long time ago.

  179. 179.

    KatKapCC

    @Peke Daddy: Carob is proof that the devil is real. I recall an episode of Last Week Tonight where John Oliver said that Jill Stein looks like someone who thinks carob is just as good as chocolate. He’s right.

  180. 180.

    M31

    anyone mentioned yet that Vance has a real “youth pastor” vibe? like he’s not as overtly gross as the guys in that ad but you know he’s a deep down real creep

  181. 181.

    David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch

    @Lochnessmom: ​
      you take the metro to Arlington. Also too, the Washington Nationals are playing the Brewers this weekend.

  182. 182.

    KatKapCC

    On the WFH call, Ana Navarro going off on the “DEI hire” and pointing out that Vance and Trump are two of the biggest DEI hires ever.

  184. 184.

    Math Guy

    @Lochnessmom: Library of Congress. Free, but you need advance tickets available online. Give yourself an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Bonus: close to botanical gardens and Native American Museum.

  185. 185.

    lamh47

    I am already loving Biden’s “I’m not running for again” Dark Brandon era!!

    @onestpress

    Ladies and Gentlemen, Dark Brandon. Press pool: Why do you want to reform the Supreme Court?  Why do you want to reform the Supreme Court, sir?  Why would you like to reform the Supreme Court?   #POTUS #Biden:  I’m reforming the Supreme Court because it needs to be reformed. That’s why.

    https://x.com/onestpress/status/1818068850224619700

  186. 186.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @George: Is that the place with the animal butts instead of heads mounted on the wall?

  187. 187.

    jackmac

    @Lochnessmom: Wandering through the various Smithsonian institutions is an awesome experience. Air and Space Museum is the crown jewel, but spare time to see some of the others (American History, Natural History to name two).  If you get a chance (and have access to wheels or public transit), the trip to Virginia and the Air and Space Museum annex in Chantilly has a Space Shuttle, the Concorde and much more that couldn’t be fit at the mall site. Don’t forget the memorials (Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington Monument, Vietnam Wall, Korean War and World War II and MLK. The Capitol and White House are tough to get into and in several trips to D.C. I never tried. But contact your local congressional representative and ask about tickets/access.  A trip to Arlington National Cemetery and the rows of simple white monuments is a somber tribute to our nation’s heroes and the Changing of the Guard is not to be missed.

  190. 190.

    PaulWartenberg

    @Lochnessmom: Loch, just found out there’s two bookstores in the Dupont Circle area, so I need to specify that you gotta stop by Kramers Bookstore.
    …
    but what the hell, go visit Second Story Books as well!

  191. 191.

    Eric S.

    @Lochnessmom: National Portrait Gallery. At least the Hall of Presidents. This from a 53yo history nerd. Not sure the teenagers will love it.

  193. 193.

    lamh47

    @RedaMor_
    BREAKING: LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman is matching the next $50,000, White Dudes for Harris raises.

  194. 194.

    caphilldcne

    @Lochnessmom: sorry I keep adding things. If you go to the National Portrait Gallery/American Museum of Art (which is awesome) there are a lot of Jose Andres restaurants like Jaleo, Oyamel (have your teens get the cricket tacos), China Chilcano or Zaytinya (middle eastern). The nearby DC main library building has interesting punk exhibit and gorgeous roof.  (look up their programming – maybe you can see a punk show). Ok. What else – go to the top of the tower at the old post office, last time I was there Biden flew in from somewhere and the national park guy pointed out all the stuff going on.  Oysters at Old ARV it’s is classic. Second the trying out of Ethiopian food.

  197. 197.

    caphilldcne

    @Eric S.: they can skip the portraits and go to the 3rd floor for cool American sculpture or the basement for visionary art.

  199. 199.

    hitchhiker

    @Damien:

    Just make fun of these idiots so hard all the time that being Maga in public starts to be on the same level as walking around with a mysteriously-stained Pornhub t-shirt

    Honestly, that’s been true since the summer of 2016 where I live. I’ve never seen a red MAGA hat, and if I did I’m pretty sure people would point and laugh. Let’s make that national.

  206. 206.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​
     

    William Calley died. Good.

    Didn’t know he was still alive. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

    A lot of Republicans at the time took the position that he’d done nothing that was all that bad – or maybe he was even a hero. Motherfuckers.

  207. 207.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Josh Gad on WD4Harris call now.  I was lucky enough to play in the house band for the live tapings of Back To You, a comedy series he did with Kelsey Grammar.  He was always hilarious on set and seemed like a super nice guy.  He even complimented our playing one time.  He’s talking about weeping for his daughters on Election Night in 2016 but also the new feeling of Hope that we are all enjoying now.  He’s very good at this.

  208. 208.

    KatKapCC

    @lamh47: Short and sweet. Honestly, I can imagine someone being like “Do I want to do all that traveling and shit? Maybe not.”

  209. 209.

    David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch

    Whitedudes for Kamala zoom call just raised $6,000,000 million dollars in 2 hrs.

  210. 210.

    Barbecue Swinger

    @Lochnessmom: Chiming in a little late, but I’ve spent a lot of time in DC over the past 18 months, so here’s my input.

    The National Building Museum has a wonderful exhibit of buildings and city scenes built out of Legos and is worth a visit. My 19-year-old son loved the Lego Amsterdam, New Orleans Mardi Gras, and Mona Lisa when we went over the July 4th weekend. I’ve never seen it crowded in there either.

    We also went on a monuments night tour via golf cart which was a big hit. Some outfit also offers tours on scooters with giant wheels that look fun.

    Seconding or thirding Eastern Market. Lots to look at on weekends and good food options.

    Ooh, and a guided tour of the Library of Congress is so cool! I think you have to get tix ahead of time, but it is a gorgeous building, and learning about the symbolism of the paintings had the teen engaged.

    Have fun!

  211. 211.

    different-church-lady

    @lamh47: ​”Mr. President! You said you want to lock up child molesters! Why do you want to lock up child molesters?”

  213. 213.

    different-church-lady

    Well, that pretty much seals it: weird white dudes are going to have to… [checks notes] …vote for Trump just as much as they were already going to.

  214. 214.

    frog

    @Lochnessmom: I grew up near Mount Vernon but left some decades ago when only tour and commuter busses went there.

    Google says it is easier now:

    How to get to Mount Vernon from DC without a car?

    Public Transportation

    1. Take Metrorail’s Yellow Line to Huntington Station.
    2. Exit at the lower level of the station (Huntington Avenue) to catch a Fairfax Connector bus to Mount Vernon.
    3. Board the Fairfax Connector Bus #101, the Fort Hunt Line, for a 20-minute trip to Mount Vernon’s entrance gate.
  216. 216.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @PaulWartenberg: Loch, you need to visit DuPont Circle and visit the book store!

    Good list. I also recommend any of the Smithsonian museums, they’re all excellent of course. There are many great non-Smithsonian museums as well, if you don’t mind paying admission. The Spy Museum, the Newseum, the Holocaust Museum (though that one will take an emotional toll) all worth a visit.

    Besides KramerBooks, there’s a bunch of great stuff around Dupont Circle, including an art museum, the Phillips Collection.

    And there’s another excellent bookstore a little bit north of there called Politics and Prose, if you want to go hang out with the locals.

  218. 218.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Tim Walz on WD4Harris: “This is preaching to the choir, but the choir needs to sing!”

    “How often do you get a chance to have that guy wake up and know a Black Woman kicked his ass?  And you know he’ll feel that!”

  219. 219.

    caphilldcne

    @Lochnessmom: very nice!  I will say the various waterfronts are nice just to walk around. , Georgetown, Often there’s a lot of festivals and things like that. Check out Washington post’s Going Out Guide too

  220. 220.

    Bobby Thomson

    “How often do you get a chance in 100 days to make that bastard wake up and know a Black woman kicked his ass?”

    “shrink him”

    -Tim Walz

  221. 221.

    trnc

    @Jay: ​

    I always start with “have you seen Tom Friedman lately?”

    This is why I get my milk in jugs now.

     

    ETA: “Uh, phrasing.”

  222. 222.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    That ad works because the Republicans can no longer help themselves from saying the weird stuff out loud. I think some of it is penetrating the awareness of the normies, and maybe even a pundit or two is starting to think, “wait… are Republicans the baddies?”

  223. 223.

    Kent

    @Baud:By the way, is it confirmed that Kamala has access to all the Biden money?

    My guess is that they are going to just go ahead and use it and because the FEC is toothless and split 3-3 they won’t be able to do anything about it even if the GOP members of the FEC actually wanted to.

  224. 224.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    Up in Cleveland Park there’s the little known but worth a visit Hillwood Estate and Garden. Probably not worth making the trek up there on your first trip to DC but if you come back often enough that you get tired of the major attractions it’s worth seeing.

  227. 227.

    Suzanne

    As for DC attractions, the National Museum of African-American History and Culture (“the Blacksonian”), the National Gallery, and the Hirschhorn are my favorites. I was surprisingly moved by the new WWI memorial in Pershing Park, as well.

  229. 229.

    john b

    Walz was great on the white dudes call. But  Paul Scheer brought the funny and a great anecdote about Harris protesting apartment rules as a kid.

  230. 230.

    Ohio Mom

    @Lochnessmom: I lived in the DC suburbs for a couple of years. I will warn you that the summer weather can be unbearably humid.

    Don’t wear yourselves out — I believe the free buses around the Mall area still exist, or be generous with yourselves about taking the subway, Ubers, or whatever. The distances between the museums and memorials can be longer than you think in the heat and humidity. Pace yourselves.

    Everyone has a favorite museum they think you should see but really, you can’t go wrong, just pick one a day that that appeals most to you and give it your full attention. Go for depth, not breath, it’s impossible to see everything, make peace with that.

    I liked going to the monuments at the end of the day — unlike the museums, they don’t close and the evening might be a bit cooler.

    I’m not a big fan old old Town Alexandria, it’s too touristy for my taste. Feel the same way about Georgetown.

    As for Baltimore, I always strongly reccomend the Aquarium — it’s expensive but one of the best I’ve ever been to — and the American Visionary Art Museum. Their focus is art by self-taught outsiders — lots of wierd and amusing stuff, things you won’t see elsewhere.

  231. 231.

    rikyrah

    Punk azz bytch 😒 😒

     

    Kathleen Vale (@SanAntoGuera) posted at 5:03 PM on Mon, Jul 29, 2024:

    Long-standing gubernatorial tradition is for American Governors (regardless of political party) to greet U.S. Presidents when Air Force One is wheels down in their state. RESPECT. CIVILITY.

    📌 Texas @GovAbbott could not be bothered. Stop voting for Texas Republicans. #txlege 🗳️ https://t.co/IoFQ44XGzQ

    (https://x.com/SanAntoGuera/status/1818044679226593689?t=WRoOIO_iKvuDxJWvs_eY8Q&s=03)

  232. 232.

    Suzanne

    Mr. Suzanne is also on the White Dudes call, and he said THE DUDE was on! ZOOOOOOMG. He hates the fucken Eagles but loves him the MVP!

  233. 233.

    Barbara

    @Lochnessmom: I would investigate the Trolley Tours site to see if its route and stops would be a good fit for your interests.  It can be a good way to navigate the city if you don’t have a car.  (https://www.trolleytours.com/washington-dc/hop-on-hop-off)

    Old Town has a nice river walk and lots of restaurants, although it would be even better if combined with a trip to Mt. Vernon.  You can visit Mt. Vernon by boat, if you are willing to devote at least half a day to the enterprise.  Here is a link I found for visiting by boat from Old Town.  You can also go directly from DC, but you would not stop in Old Town. Link

    You can get to Old Town by Metro, but it’s definitely a walk from the Metro to the riverfront park.

    An outdoor space in the city that I really love is Dumbarton Oaks, a garden plus a museum that is owned by Harvard University. It’s in upper Georgetown, not served by Metro, but walkable for the able bodied from Dupont Circle.  I am also a big fan of the Phillips Gallery, which is also in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, but not everyone (like teenagers) is a willing museum goer.

    An indoor space I really love is the National Building Museum, which is easily accessible by Metro, and not far at all from Capitol Hill.

    If you have never been to the National Zoo or the National Cathedral, they are both worth seeing.  They are close to each other and reasonably accessible from Metro.

    I like to go to the Kennedy Center because it’s a nice space, and you can also go outside on the terrace for a nice view.  They have a free performance nearly every day at 6:00 pm.  Accessible from the Foggy Bottom metro.

    If you are going to visit the Lincoln or Jefferson Memorial, I would go at night because it’s cooler.  They are not convenient to Metro, but easy to get to, especially if you are willing to use a rental scooter or bike.

    Even though the Native American Museum has a nice cafeteria, I find it to be expensive — I personally would seek out Oyamel or Teaism, which are not far away.

  234. 234.

    Scout211

    You know that weird senator from Louisiana? On Fox News today, he tried to do what Trump and other GOP members keep trying to do—paint Kamala Harris as the crazy one.

    Link    “Margaret Thatcher didn’t giggle, Golda Meir didn’t giggle. When you look at the polls, fair or not, many Americans — and again, this may not be fair — but I’m showing you what the polls show. Many Americans think that the vice president is a little bit of a ding dong,” Kennedy said Monday.

    Caputo tried to warn him this was not going to go well.

    “I’m just wondering how you think that will resonate with women when she is called nasty and crazy and a ding-dong and disrespectful, between you and the president, what has been said about her. I’m just wondering, do you worry how that comes across?” Cavuto said.

    Please proceed, GOP.

    ETA: And show your work.  Which poll was it that asked voters if VP Harris was a ding dong?

  235. 235.

    Kyle Rayner

    @Lochnessmom: Natural History Museum is a big favorite with lots to explore! Great choice! Prepare a battle plan to cut through the dense crowd that’s always circling the Hope Diamond.

    Gonna plug another favorite I didn’t see mentioned, which is actually a complex of three different collections all interconnected without having to go outside: The Sackler and Freer Galleries (Asian Art) and the African Art museum! It’s a lot of history in the form of craft and art, and a wonderfully quiet space. I’m specifically a big fan of revisiting the Gandharan carvings they collected and the Tibetan shrine they recreated. (There’s actually also a couple Sargents part of the permanent collection!) Might be a bit too much art/history for one week if you’re also headed for the NGA, but great to know about the existence of the place if you’re interested in those topics because you won’t see too much non-Western art at the NGA.

  241. 241.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @rikyrah: One of Jackson Lee’s last tweets was proudly declaring that she was still standing with Joe Biden (before he stepped aside).

  243. 243.

    Lyrebird

    @Scout211: “Many Americans” – he means “me and my two racist misogynist jerk friends”

    Senator K makes me more nervous than Sens Cotton or Vance because he is smarter than they are and thus more successful in his smear campaigns.

    MVP is so ebullient and so clearly able to relate to people one on one (from videos at least), though, I don’t think he will make this one work outside of the shrinking circle of people who are already Team Trump all the way.

  245. 245.

    Ohio Mom

    @PaulWartenberg: No love for Politics and Prose Bookstore? I think it gets extra points for being a couple of storefronts down from Comet Ping-Pong Pizza (the place without a basement that was accused by Republicans of having a child sex ring in the basement).

  247. 247.

    dc

    @Jay: Cooper would still be governor (until the newly elected governor is sworn in in Jan. 2025), but when he leaves the state the Lt. Gov. (Mr. Unhinged) would take over as governor. In other words, Cooper would not be able to safely campaign outside the state.

    We in NC are working hard to get Josh Stein elected as our next governor. I wish governor and Lt. Gov. ran on the same ticket as in other states.

  248. 248.

    Jay

    @zhena gogolia:

    they are throwing stuff at the wall to try to see what sticks.

    They had no “narrative” to go with because a bunch of the  ReThug VP’s were irrelevant drones, occupying a chair , and they dismissed her,  little did they realize that MVP Kamala Harris was a key member of the Biden Administration and one way or another the heir to the Presidency as far as the majority of Democrats were concerned.

  249. 249.

    wjca

    @Ohio Mom: it’s impossible to see everything, make peace with that.

    If you do want to see everything, get a place to stay for a month.  With an option to renew.

  251. 251.

    citizen dave

    I’ve been on the White Dudes event–Schiff just ended.  Told Jeff Bridges that Jeff’s comments really tied things up.

    Re: D.C.  I’m a midwestern and was pretty old too before my first time there.  Been there a few times since.  I upvote the Air & Space museum, in particular for Chuck Yeager’s Bell X-1, the little orange plane that was the first to break the sound barrier.  It’s a cutie.  My wife and I walked into the Supreme Court one time.  Meh.  I Am Not A Lawyer.

  255. 255.

    lamh47

    Chile…they even leaking audio now.

    Vance said it felt like a “sucker punch” when the Biden-Harris swap

    @kaitlancollins

    @iarnsdorf
    Audio obtained of Vance saying: “The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden, because whatever we might have to say, Kamala is a lot younger. And Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did.”
    https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/1818097505231360190

    Aww…poor Just Dumb Vance (thx Ana Navarro)

  256. 256.

    KatKapCC

    If Republican leaders don’t enjoy being called weird, creepy, and controlling, they could try not being weird, creepy, and controlling.
    — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 29, 2024

  257. 257.

    cain

    @rikyrah:

    Given that Biden brought in FEMA in record time while this asshole was galavanting in Japan. Did he actually do anything substantial there ?

  258. 258.

    Bill Arnold

    @zhena gogolia:

    ALL THEY HAVE IS HER LAUGH

    Are their any audio recordings/tracks with Mr. Trump laughing, at any age? They are interestingly difficult to find. There is a written statement that he laughed at a juror comment during jury selection in NYC.

  259. 259.

    Barbara

    @Kyle Rayner: The Peacock Rooms used to be open only on Thursdays, but looking at the website there is no separate posting for different hours from the museum itself (now collectively with the Sackler Gallery known as the National Museum of Asian Art). Maybe they have expanded access.

  260. 260.

    Trivia Man

    @Lochnessmom: the Vietnam memorial is stunning and sobering. They are too you g to remember Vietnam but it makes that war very personal and very real

     

    I haven’t been since they built the WWII memorial but that also looks magnificent and thoughtful

  261. 261.

    Betty

    @BR: Speaking of Vance’s weirdness, Rachel Maddow just said Trump and Vance aren’t personally weird. It’s their policies that are weird. Sorry, Rachel, that’s just a weird take.

  262. 262.

    Starfish

    @Lochnessmom: When I lived in Baltimore, the public transportation between DC and Baltimore was for commuters so that part of the trip should be set up for during the week.

    The Metro is solid, but the Baltimore system was fragmented and strange. If you get to Baltimore and are into museums, The Walthers, the American Visionary Arts Museum, The Railroad Museum (this one may be harder with out a car.)

    I loved the Postal Museum in DC because it was always quieter than the other ones, and there was so much interesting stuff there.

  263. 263.

    mfhbkw

    As comedy, this makes me a bit queasy, actually. As a political ad . . . I’m having trouble identifying its target audience. And why attack voter caricatures as subjects? This is “basket of deplorables” all over again. It’s not just the actual deplorables who get defensive. I guess I just think including people would be more effective than telling them what to do or not to do, or giving them a decency bar to clear.
    When Tim Walz says “these guys are weird”, he’s talking about Trump, Vance, Stephen Mitchell; GOP candidates and policymakers; he’s telling regular people, his constituents, his neighbors, Democrat or Republican,  WE’RE in this together. WE have things in common that THEY don’t really understand. Just listen to what THEY talk about ,and how THEY talk about things, how WEIRD THEY are. He “others” the GOP, . It’s Us vs The Weird.

  264. 264.

    Trivia Man

    @Lochnessmom: and the Folger Library with a collection of original Shakespeare folios is across the street from the supreme court. Another excellent tour if its open. A centerpiece of American history and quite literally “the room where it happens”

  267. 267.

    Geminid

     

     

    @Lochnessmom: I will make a general recommendation: plan to spend a lot of time in air conditioned spaces, especially in the afternoon. DC weather is nasty this time of year

  268. 268.

    George

    @What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: ​
     The Tune Inn has animal heads, I know. It might have had animal butts, and still could.

    Years ago when I first went there, the waitresses were cranky older women who would do stuff like toss silverware at you when you sat down and then tell you to “set the table!” Over the past 20 or 25 years it has become more mellow.

  269. 269.

    Martin

    You know, we don’t really have John Bolton on our team, but we have him way more on our team than I ever expected and it doesn’t feel great.

  271. 271.

    catclub

    @Betty: Speaking of Vance’s weirdness, Rachel Maddow just said Trump and Vance aren’t personally weird.

     

    Has she seen Trump’s hair?  If that is NOT weird, then it is normal. Do normal people yell that they are the best at everything? Possibly the best ever?

  274. 274.

    Chet Murthy

    @catclub: I won’t speak to Vance.  But TCFG?  Really?  Not weird?  Sure, he’s not weird, he’s creepy, deranged, damaged, a pervert!  You wouldn’t leave him in a room alone with any of your female relations: that’s how creepy and perverted he is!

  276. 276.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Lochnessmom: I tend to spend a lot of my weekends in old town Alexandria. The tourist spots there would be Gadsby’s Tavern, the town hall with its large front plaza, the waterfront in general, doing a ghost tour, lots of stores, restaurants, bars, and ice cream shops, an apothecary museum, the Lyceum, Lee-Kendal House, the National Cemetery (this was from the Civil War and for the Colored/Black troops and is not the same as Arlington), MVP’s local yarn store, and the Inventors’ Hall of Fame at the Patent Office. You can also get onto the Mount Vernon trail (pedestrian and bicycle trail) which runs from Mount Vernon to DC. I’ve been trying to take pictures when I go out on the tandem bike and I should send the best ones in to WaterGirl.

     

    Note that the museum at the Patent Office is small and you can probably see everything in about an hour or so. Also most of the antique patent models are at the Smithsonian and not the Patent Office, as they were sold off.

  280. 280.

    caphilldcne

    @George: I think the place that had the stuffed animal Butts was bull feathers. But they did a remodel some years ago and I don’t think the butts survived. Tune Inn’s a pretty classic dive bar/restaurant. It’s definitely old school Capitol Hill.

  281. 281.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @wjca: We lived in the DC suburbs for 17 years and didn’t come close to seeing “everything” DC had to offer.

    Just remembered one particular thing that I always meant to check out and never did. I think somebody built a working pterodactyl model that actually flew. It wasn’t at the regular Air & Space Museum, it might have been somewhere in VA (which would explain why I never got there).

  282. 282.

    Mike E

    Gov Roy Cooper has served NC quite well despite having his veto power (and nearly all other relevant powers) stolen by the TEA repubs, for 8 years. He’s held back the red tide as best he could and it would be cruel and unusual punishment to have him take on the role of VP. I’m not friends with him but after personally meeting him a few times I can say he’s no John Edwards (nor does he have to be vetted).

  283. 283.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Lochnessmom: oh yeah, the Fish Market is a great place to go for crabs. And for the Smithsonian, I second the recommendation for Air and Space and Natural History. I think the patent models are at American History so I like going there.

  284. 284.

    tam1MI

    @Lochnessmom:

    Open thread advice ask:

    Going to D.C. for the first time on Wednesday for a week. Two adults, two high school boys. Renting a row house within walking distance to the National Mall and public transportation, not renting a car, and planning one full day at Baltimores Inner Harbor.

    Any places we should absolutely not miss (like is Old Town Alexandria worth a day)?  Any other stray advice for 50-somethings visiting the capitol for the first time?  Any and all words of wisdom gladly welcomed!

    Arlington Cemetery is a must see.  Also the Monumnerts at Night bus tour is well worth the cost.

  285. 285.

    scav

    @Betty: Not personally weird?!  First thought, what a milquetoast hate the sin love the sinner sort of take; Second thought, The real problem is that they are rather normal for republicans — and their actions are indeed entirely 100% weird.

  286. 286.

    dww44

    p@lowtechcyclist: FWIW, I put the Korean War Memorial up near the top  of the most moving of the memorials.  For me it’s right behind the Lincoln in its empathy transporting ability and I’ve seen all the other memorials except those added  since  2015.

  287. 287.

    RaflW

    @lamh47: “Cooper is 67, maybe wants to retire and relax and then run for senate in 2026.” Not to pick on the person reporting this, but:

    69 is young enough to first-time run for Senate, of course. But can we maybe not have the only 39 year old in the Senate be that asshole Vance?

    I’m 58 and salty about people abt. a decade older than me job-shopping towards the US Senate, where once pols get a taste of that life, want to stay and stay like Susan Collins. 67 is full SS retirement age

    eta: My crabbing has no relation to the job he’s doing as governor, which as @Mike E notes he’s done well and facing a sh*t GOP legislature.

  288. 288.

    tam1MI

    @Lyrebird:While in DC please absolutely some Ethiopian food and some Afghan food.  (Both have meaty and veggie options.)  If you cross the bridge into NoVa, also get some Vietnamese food unless that’s really plentiful where you are from.

    If you want some “lowbrow” food, when my sister and I were there we ate at this great pizza place called We the Pizza.  Also, every time we were in Union Station we had shakes from Shake Shack and they were yummy!

  289. 289.

    Auntie Anne

    @Lochnessmom: for a different, offbeat kind of museum, I love the National Building Museum.  Also, was recently at Mount Vernon for the first time in 30 years and was amazed at everything there was to see and do, including the lovely boat ride on the Potomac.  It also gave an interesting perspective on what life was like on a river plantation.

  290. 290.

    wjca

    @Chet Murthy: You wouldn’t leave him in a room alone with any of your female relations: that’s how creepy and perverted he is!

    I think this is how I’d put it.

  291. 291.

    john b

    @Lochnessmom: the national portrait gallery is great. And the air and space annex at Dulles is arguably better than the main air and space museum

  293. 293.

    K-Mo

    FWIW Charlie Pierce had a great Vance take-down piece today

    https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a61719535/jd-vance-sucks/

    Some excerpts:

    And then there’s J.D Vance. I do not say this idly, because I’ve covered some real meatheads in this racket—What up, Ron DeSantis?—but Vance may be the worst public politician I have ever seen. No kidding. This guy could screw up a two-car funeral if you spotted him the hearse. First, there was his acceptance speech at the RNC which could have been used to sedate a young rhino. Then there was the emergence of a flood of older quotes that were so damning that Republican sources were expressing their buyer’s remorse within the week.

     

    Vance, however, because he is a political maladroit who makes Willard Romney look like Sam Rayburn—has insisted on keeping the story alive, apparently infinitely. He clapped back at Aniston,

     

    …he actually did go off on a riff about how Democrats likely would call him a racist for drinking Diet Mountain Dew. Which latter brought an audition tape from Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who also has been mentioned as a vice-presidential possibility. From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

    What was weird was him joking about racism today, and then talking about Diet Mountain Dew,” Beshear said. “Who drinks Diet Mountain Dew? But in all seriousness, he ain’t from here. He is not from Kentucky. …This is a guy who went out to Silicon Valley that’s trying to be an every man, (but) he ain’t one of us… “

  294. 294.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steve in the ATL:

    reminder: Subaru Diane once got busy in a Burger King bathroom!

    Question for the BJ Lawyertariat: Does that rise to the level of libellous comment? Do I have a case?

  296. 296.

    Chet Murthy

    @wjca: Back in 2016, after The Apocalypse, I put it this way:

    None of these people [TCFG voters] would have left their female relations or their wallets in a room alone with the bastard, and yet they were perfectly fine with leaving our country in a room alone with him.

    I was livid then and will be livid again if they do it again.

  298. 298.

    Geminid

    @RaflW: J.D. Vance may be the only 39 year old in the Senate, but Jon Ossoff is 37.

    And it’s not like Cooper would be keeping some younger Democrat out of the Senate if he runs at age 69. Cooper is probably the only Democrat who could even beat Tillis. Rep. Jeff Jackson, who is running for AG this year, might be able to pull it off, but he can run in 2028 against that idiot who replaced Rchard Burr in 2022.

  300. 300.

    brendancalling

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): LOL, “youthful looking.” She’s 6 years older than me.

    The idea that my generation of 50-somethings (and yes, 60 and 70 somethings) are like the last generations older people is so out of sync with reality.

    It’s hilarious, like we grew up on Glenn Miller and Doris Day and Mitch Miller. We’re Gen X, and a lot of us still look fine AF. I know I do, to toot my own horn. My gal (turning 50 this year) and I just ran a damned marathon, which this fucking lardass and his “she’s 60” remarks could never do.

    50 has been 40 for years, this line of attack won’t work.

  301. 301.

    Lyrebird

    @tam1MI: Nothing wrong with some good pizza!

    I chuckled a little, but I am really happy that Ethiopian restaurants could be considered “highbrow” after many years of being considered an oddity.  It’s traditionally served family style, you pick up bites of the different kinds of stew with a crepe of sorts (eat with your hand), and then when it’s mostly finished you get to tear up and eat the big crepe that was under the different kinds of stew.  Darn now I have to get back to DC somehow, it’s been too many years!

  302. 302.

    different-church-lady

    In a better world we wouldn’t spend any time talking about how old someone is, and instead pay attention to who they are and what they do.​

  304. 304.

    Jackie

    @KatKapCC: I left out the snark tags… 🤦🏼‍♀️

    Maybe we’ll see Marianne stumping for Kamala, but I hope she’ll just take her crystals and go away for good.

  305. 305.

    Chet Murthy

    @Jackie: Did she stump for Biden in 2020?  I kinda doubt it — certainly never heard anything about it.  I think she’s just a grifter.

  306. 306.

    Spanky

    @Lochnessmom: I live 20 miles from downtown DC. I haven’t been there in at least 20 years, so my advice on where to go won’t help much. BUT …

    Mind the weather! Next week’s highs are in the mid to high 90s and the overnight lows are in the mid 70s. Dewpoint is going to stay 70 and above. So plan your treks accordingly. Oh, and we’ve moved into that part of summer where there will be near-daily afternoon thunderstorms.

    Don’t make the weather the biggest memory from this trip.

  307. 307.

    BR

    Sometimes the timing of things just ends up being amazing. If Black Women hadn’t started the huge zoom call on Sunday night, the same day Biden stepped aside, the series of calls with different groups would have never happened.

  308. 308.

    cmorenc

    @JoyceH:

    Another thing that nobody has mentioned is that Cooper’s LT GOV isn’t just a Republican, he’s that lunatic Robinson. If I cared about the state I was governing, I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable racketing all around the country campaigning for months and leave that madman unsupervised back home.

    Robinson has a ton of $ paying for frequent ads during NBC’s Olympics television coverage on the WECT-Wilmington station – nice warm and fuzzy presentation of him as one of 9 children growing up in NC, with a smiling Robinson having an amazing resemblance to Charles Barkley, and the ads are totally devoid of any substantive positions, not even the most indirect and elliptical hints.  Whoever is composing these ads isn’t taking the tiniest chance of any of Robinson’s wacked-out looniness seeping into the glowing warm-and-fuzzy “that black friend” every white guy has the ads present.

  309. 309.

    frosty

    @Lochnessmom: DC: I’m sure you’ll get a lot of advice but my favorite is the Air and Space Museum. Smithsonian Natural History is good too. Lots of reptiles and bugs!
    Baltimore: Harborplace isn’t what it used to be. Check out the Baltimore Museum of Industry. The Aquarium is good. A trip to Fort McHenry is worthwhile, too. It’s a short drive from the Inner Harbor.
    Find a good crab cake somewhere, too! My favorites from 30 years ago are gone but I’m sure someone else has taken their place.​
     

    ETA Second the archives to see the Constitution. Especially nowadays.

  310. 310.

    SomeRandomGuy

    “Lindsey Graham – who looks like what would have happened if Foghorn Leghorn had a love child with the Chickenhawk – (ed: fuck it, who cares what Lindsey said?).”

    Discuss: Accurate? Transphobic? Too soon?

    (NB: if it might actually be transphobic, I am sorry. It just seemed like a second “funny thing” in a line of three, the third of which should be a ruthless non sequitur, but, obviously, I’d like to know how to avoid being offensive in the future, if/when I make mistakes.)

  311. 311.

    wjca

    @Chet Murthy: I was livid then and will be livid again if they do it again.

    Definitely with you there.  Probably more livid if it happens again; just because the first time was tempered(?) by shock.

  312. 312.

    Citizen Alan

    @Lyrebird: I was so excited when I moved out to fresno, to learn that there was an ethiopian restaurant here in town. And the three times I cried it.It was excellent. So naturally it went out of business.

  313. 313.

    john b

    @cmorenc:

    Robinson has a ton of $ paying for frequent ads during NBC’s Olympics television coverage on the WECT-Wilmington station – nice warm and fuzzy presentation of him as one of 9 children growing up in NC

    these ads are distressingly well done. Makes a person which such repugnant views seem almost decent.

  317. 317.

    hueyplong

    It’s amazing that NC Republicans could come up with someone (Robinson) significantly worse than Ted Budd. Amazing.

  318. 318.

    K-Mo

    @Lochnessmom: There’s a ton to see.  I wouldn’t go out of my way to see Old Town Alexandria unless you’re headed that way for some other reason (mt Vernon or the airport)

    The African American Museum is a hot ticket- if you don’t already have it, try them online at 815am for same day tix.

    Holocaust Museum is powerful too – make a reservation.

    Your kids might like the US mint – make a reservation there too.

    Lincoln/Washington/Nam/Jefferson/ White House: natch Check out the National Gallery of At if you like Impressionists and modern art.  The coffee in the basement is good.

    Georgetown is kinda cool – see the church where the Exorcist was filmed and get ice cream at Thomas Sweet’s

    Take a walk in a rock Creek park, access maybe from the zoo / Adam’s Morgan or from near the Watergate.

  323. 323.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SiubhanDuinne: Defamation requires the publication of false statements about a person that injure the reputation of that person.  We have publication here.  We will leave the truth or falsity of the statement aside for now.  How does that statement injure your reputation?  Many would argue that it improves your street cred.  I say just respond with a knowing half-smile.  The kind that doesn’t touch your eyes.  Maybe some people will remember the whole mob enforcer thing and rethink their previous statement.

  324. 324.

    frosty

    @Fake Irishman: @Lochnessmom: The Cross Street Market in Federal Hill is probably closer than Lexington Market, although it’s smaller. I’m not going to argue against Faidley’s though. Here’s the slogan on their website.

    “Hands down, Faidley’s is where you should head for a crab cake if you have only one day in Baltimore.”

  325. 325.

    frosty

    @David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch: ​As for aircraft, everyone should spend a day at the Air Force Museum in Dayton.

    As long as we’re leaving DC, if you’re in the Florida Panhandle the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola is a must. And in Puget Sound? Flying Heritage and Armor Museum in Everett.

    I haven’t made it to Dayton yet.

  326. 326.

    Sally

    @different-church-lady: Yep.

    It is unusual to find someone in, say late forties, early fifties who has the depth and breadth of experiences that is required (IMO) to be President of the US.

    Also, the self confidence that can be required to keep pushing through for one’s ideals and policies. To do it, not because it is easy, but because it is right. As they say.

  327. 327.

    Martin

    @brendancalling: It’s not really about actual age (which is why so many young people saw appeal in Bernie who is older than Biden). Sure, there’s some there if you seem to be of diminished capacity. But it has more to do with do your sensibilities and values align with mine, and given how my generation builds trust, are you able to build trust with me.

    One of the problems younger voters have with older people is that they feel that older generations are greedy with jobs, power, etc. at the expense of younger generations. (See the observation about the 67 year old embarking on their senatorial career above). At some point Biden becomes emblematic of that greed – even after suggesting that he’d be a transitional president, he decides that no, maybe the 59 year old can’t be trusted to do this after all. (Not asserting that was his reasoning, but it’s not unfair to read the dynamic this way).

    Harris as the recipient of this automatically makes her young regardless of her age – she’s now emblematic of the hope that all young people have that old people will just get the fuck out of the way and let them have some say in things.

  329. 329.

    BR

    I just figured out why Tim Walz is so good at the talking points — because he was a football coach and a teacher — he probably had to give plenty of pep talks to his teams, but being a teacher and a legislator he knows the stuff.

  330. 330.

    Lyrebird

    @Citizen Alan: Sorry it went out of business… but really glad you got there to enjoy it!

     

    @Lochnessmom: Sounds like you are an amazing planner! I know we’ve all suggested more than will fit, but I did just confirm that you can still take a tour of the tower in the Old Post Office. Great for looking all around, maybe best after a few days so you can see some places where you’ve been.  Do take care to stay in AC and hydrate and all.  Hope you have a great trip!

  331. 331.

    SWMBO

    @lamh47: ​
      I vaguely remember Elizabeth Edwards. I was reading her Wikipedia page about her death and what she said resonated today.

    On December 6, 2010, Edwards’ family announced that she had stopped cancer treatment after her doctors informed her that further treatment would be unproductive, because the cancer had metastasized to her liver. She had been advised she had several weeks to live. Her family members, including her estranged husband John, were with her. She posted her last message on Facebook:

    You all know that I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces – my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope. These graces have carried me through difficult times and they have brought more joy to the good times than I ever could have imagined. The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that. And, yes, there are certainly times when we aren’t able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It’s called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful. It isn’t possible to put into words the love and gratitude I feel to everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me every day. To you I simply say: you know.[38]

  332. 332.

    Martin

    @Sally: Oh, this is such bullshit. AOC is hardly lacking in self-confidence, and has 50% more time in federal office than Obama had when he was elected, and she’s not even 35 yet.

    Volodymyr Zelenskyy is 46, btw, and this is his 2nd career. Experience in a position yields diminishing returns over time. If you need 18 years in the senate to figure out how to be qualified to be president, you’re an idiot and shouldn’t be president.

  333. 333.

    SWMBO

    @lamh47: Maybe he was thinking he needed to stay where he is so that if Trump tries to send in false electors, he can put a stop to that.  Most of her governor level possibilities are probably weighing that as well.  Will they be needed to fight from the governor’s position better than from the candidate’s position?  It’s up to Kamala to decide the strategy on her pick… And she’s probably looking at all possible outcomes.

  334. 334.

    Lochnessmom

    @Barbecue Swinger:  thanks so much! The youngest kid wants to be an architect, so that’s perfect. He loves buildings and design (especially old malls, go figure….14 is an age of exploring a Lotta weird, cool things)

  335. 335.

    Sally

    @Sally: Take Pete Buttigieg as an example of someone who has “Presidential Candidate” written all over him. Eight years as a Governor and six plus years in the Senate would improve his resume a great deal for me. It’s not enough to be clever, (it should be necessary), or perhaps the word smart is better. Candidates need to know stuff – how the systems work, who is who, and where to get the best advice. They need to have relationships. They need to have done things, have experienced things in life.

    I disagree with Obama saying he needed to run early so that people couldn’t define him. Harris is defining herself, the opposition is so far wholly unsuccessful at trying to redefine her to their whims. It seems as if she is just ignoring them all and crashing through being herself.

  336. 336.

    Lochnessmom

    And I want to thank everybody so much. Got my note cards out and I am going jot it all down. Jackals are the best!

    (Was busy dying of schadenfreude looking at Twitter….feels like they are really scared and we are really joyous and fired up.)

  338. 338.

    Kent

    @BR:I just figured out why Tim Walz is so good at the talking points — because he was a football coach and a teacher — he probably had to give plenty of pep talks to his teams, but being a teacher and a legislator he knows the stuff.

    Exactly.  Someone made this same point on one of the front page posts about Walz.

    I’m a teacher and we are constantly searching for the most understandable way to explain something like atomic orbitals or photosynthesis or the carbon cycle.  Teaching is about taking complex concepts and explaining them in simple yet accurate terms.  But you do have to know your shit or the kids will call you out.

    Attorneys, by contrast do the opposite.  That is how you get 50 page fine print disclosures to read every time you click to install any software.  And why government regulations can be unreadable.

  339. 339.

    West of the Rockies

    @SomeRandomGuy:

    Doesn’t seem offensive to me since your making fun of their personalities and not their sexuality.  But opinions vary, I guess.

  340. 340.

    Martin

    <coughs deliberately>

    Not quite the argument I’m making, but close.

    But political scientists have found that VP picks don’t make much of a difference when it comes to elections. Take the claim that selecting a vice president can help a president secure the state they hail from in the election, which is central to the argument that a VP should come from a battleground state. The political scientists Kyle Kopko and Christopher Devine, who specialize in the electoral impact of vice presidential picks, studied over a century of election and voter data and found “a vice presidential candidate’s state of residence generally has no effect on how a presidential candidate performs in that state. The vice presidential home state advantage is, essentially, zero.” The one exception they found was that a VP pick from a state with a small population and who has established an exceptional reputation as “an institution in state politics” could confer some home-state advantage to the presidential ticket. But a small state is, by definition, rarely going to be a game changer in the Electoral College. (Moreover, most battleground states today are not small.)
    Kopko and Devine have also pointed out that there is little evidence that vice presidents deliver specific demographic groups. “We didn’t find evidence, for example, that Geraldine Ferraro or Sarah Palin attracted more women voters to their party’s ticket,” Kopko recently told The New Republic. “Nor did Mike Pence attract more evangelical voters.” They have found one exception to that trend: Harris, as Biden’s running mate, did have a measurable impact on the vote choice of Black, women and Black women voters. But that being said, the effect was very small, and may have been amplified by a perception of Biden as unusually old and/or a potential one-term president meant to take down then-President Trump.

  341. 341.

    RaflW

    I apologize that I didn’t think about the particulars of NC Democratic candidates who could vie for Senate in a couple years. And in general I don’t want to diss the contributions of people over 70, or 67 or even 58, or of course 81 (I was pro Biden staying in, though I’m fully on board for Harris now).

    I just want there to be an age distribution in both houses of Congress that (accepting there are age minimums) has some vague correlation to national demographics — that includes gender and ethnicity, too.

  342. 342.

    Jay

    @Martin:

    But that being said, the effect was very small, and may have been amplified by a perception of Biden as unusually old and/or a potential one-term president meant to take down then-President Trump.

    I would argue the opposite.

  343. 343.

    Martin

    @Jay: Yeah, I’m of the view that a small effect doesn’t justify any kind of explanation. My argument is that they are missing the dynamic that Harris motivated particularly black women to organize, which we know happened in 2020, and that you don’t measure that effect in black women turnout, but in overall turnout (16 million more dem votes than 2016). There was measurable increase of young voter turnout in key states in 2020 – not just swing states but also states with important senate races. That likely only happens due to organizing.

  344. 344.

    Bupalos

    @UncleEbeneezer: these assholes who…. put their popularity at stake just to manifestly and massively increase our odds of defeating Trump and stop us from shooting ourselves in the foot…we need to make them pay!!!

    NEVER ADMIT YOU WERE WRONG!!!!

  346. 346.

    Jay

    @Martin:

    Yeah, I think that based on the Primary results amongst Black voters, for Joe Biden, and the polling results before the election amongst Black voters for the Biden/Harris ticket, (a 20point jump), the big thing was going from “He’s our guy, because of history”, to “holy fuck, let’s get er done!”.

  349. 349.

    Sally

    @rikyrah: I know. I am happy with 59 and 12 more years

    I am also happy with Gov Walz’s 60 years.

    They have both squeezed a lot of experiences into their years.

  351. 351.

    K-Mo

    @Martin: The bit about Ferraro and Palin was a reminder that we have put up some weird avatars for women to latch onto.  I’m surprised to read that Pence didn’t shore up the evangelical vote, but it  boggles my mind how much evangelicals love Trump. Today’s op-Ed in the NYT by Peter Wehner suggests why: they hate the same people.

    Gift link:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/29/opinion/trump-vance-republican-party.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-00.gWkZ.WH57RROp2Dzi&smid=url-share

  352. 352.

    Geminid

    @RaflW: On the positive side, this year Democrats will replace Sen. Ben Cardin (80) with Angela Alsobrooks (52);  Sen. Tom Carper (77) with Lisa Blunt Rochester (62); and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (74) with Elissa Slotkin (48).

    These three new Senators will be a combined 69 years younger than their predecessors.

  353. 353.

    Geminid

    @Martin: On the other hand, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez has never won statewide office, and possibly never could in her majority-Democrat home state of New York.

  354. 354.

    AM in NC

    @Jackie: That’s what we are all hoping here in NC.

    Oh how I would loooooooooooooooooove for Thom to be turfed out by Cooper.

    Tillis was a leader in turning our state legislature into the anti-representative body it is now before he was promoted to the national stage.   He’s a complete tool.

  355. 355.

    K-Mo

    @frosty: If you’re going out to Fort McHenry you can stop at Lp Steamers on Fort Ave for a legitimate, hole-in-wall crab cake (or crab feast) experience.

  356. 356.

    K-Mo

    @K-Mo: PS there’s a good baseball team in Baltimore and an iconic stadium.  Eating the BBQ behind LF (Boog’s) is a rite of passage.

  357. 357.

    Pink Tie

    @Lochnessmom: Our family was in DC a couple of summers ago — I hadn’t been to the African American History & Culture Museum and wanted to go, but didn’t realize it is the only museum in the Smithsonian complex (I think) where you’re required to book timed passes. Just a factor to consider. We were there for only a couple of days on the front end of a family VA/NC trip, so there was still plenty to do. Next time, however, it’ll be part of the itinerary!

    Aside: we probably could have fit in a late-summer trip to DC this year, but the state of Texas *took over* the Houston Independent School District after cherry-picking test results from the lowest-performing, most underserved schools they could find in order to trigger state control. Then they installed a superintendent who is hostile to teachers, administrators, and families. He pushed the start of the school year to August 12, taking away 2 weeks of my kids’ (and effectively our family’s) summer. It is awful.

  358. 358.

    The Lodger

    @Lochnessmom: Don’t forget metal detectors at the Capitol & Air & Space, etc. I had a heavy belt buckle that slowed me down at the gates quite a bit.

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