Amanda Marcotte went to both the Harris/Walz rally and the Vance rally in Philly last night, and let’s just say that the chicken man got blown up:
The chanters [saying “He’s so weird”] didn’t know the half of it. Hours earlier, I had been at a South Philly venue where Vance spoke briefly to about 200 supporters and a group of bored journalists. Vance’s event was small, mean, and yes, weird, featuring the unjustified sarcasm of the candidate and a desperate feeling reminiscent of the mood at a strip mall shot bar at 2 AM on “ladies’ night.”
Meanwhile, the Harris/Walz rally felt like a rousing speech by Coach Eric Taylor of “Friday Night Lights” combined with the front row at Coachella. The cheers were so loud that I regretted not bringing my earplugs. The mood was jubilant, even though folks had to wait hours in the heat and humidity to even get into the place. The campaign claimed over 12,000 people showed up, which is not an exaggeration. Even as Harris and Walz gave the final speeches of the evening, the line to get into the overflow room — just to watch the event on TV — went on for multiple city blocks.
[…]Vance’s speech, on the other hand, wasn’t just underwhelming but a little uncanny. Despite using room dividers to shrink the space, the campaign could not hide that the crowd felt like a medium-sized wedding, albeit a pathetic one where no one cares for the couple. Vance, perhaps recognizing charisma isn’t his strong suit, spoke briefly before bringing up a series of local citizens ready to blame Mexicans for their familial tragedies of drug addiction. He spoke for a couple more minutes, before taking the reporters’ questions about cat ladies.Even in his short speech, it seemed Vance — like the Trump campaign overall — is still struggling to accept that they are running against Harris and not President Joe Biden. It felt like the speechwriter had typed Ctrl-F “Biden” and replaced every instance with “Harris,” whether it made sense or not. […]
I saw a clip of JD answering a reporter’s question about Trump doing one event this week, versus the heavy schedule that Harris and Walz are running. Vance said that Trump is very busy, and mumbled something about raising funds. Yeah, that’s right, JD — your campaign doesn’t have any fucking money because Trump stole it all. Trump doesn’t have a public schedule because their genius plan was to glide to victory over Biden.
Most importantly, they have no strategy. It’s neither strategically or tactically smart to have Vance chase Harris and Walz. Obviously, Harris/Walz were going to have a bigger crowd and more attention than JD in Philly, but even at that, what a weak effort by the Trump/Vance campaign to only get 200 incels to show up. They also fucked up their sign placement (as shown above), but the “Kamala Chaos” message on the sign is just more of them repeating back the charges made by the Harris campaign instead of coming up with anything new or clever.
Tim Walz said “we’ll sleep when we’re dead” in Philly. The Trump/Vance campaign, at the moment, is just asleep.
Also, I have a correction to make to yesterday’s “Tampon Tim” post. I just assumed that the Minnesota law about menstrual supplies mandated that they were to be supplied in both bathrooms. That’s right-wing lie. Robyn Pennachia at Wonkette has the facts:
But the narrative the Right is putting out is that the bill “requires” schools to put tampons in the boys’ restroom. It does not. It doesn’t require them to be in any particular place, actually.
Here is the whole text of the bill:
A school district or charter school must provide students with access to menstrual products at no charge. The products must be available to all menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students in grades 4 to 12 according to a plan developed by the school district. For purposes of this section, “menstrual products” means pads, tampons, or other similar products used in connection with the menstrual cycle.
So, sorry about the error and I hope that I’ll remember in future to vet their bullshit better.
rikyrah
The deepest TikTok videos from yesterday, were these White women sobbing, about how Walz was the father they had before he was taken into the right-wing world of Fox and Rush Limbaugh. The pain on their faces and in their voices really got to me.🥺🥺
OId Man Shadow
If the worst they can come up with is “Tim Walz wanted to make sure your daughter had access to things she might need in our schools!!!!” then I’d say Ms. Vice President Harris picked well.
OId Man Shadow
@rikyrah: The
stupidhopeful optimist in me hopes that a few of those guys out there can look at Walz and realize that they don’t have to walk the path of anger and bitterness. They can be what they consider “real Americans” and choose to be kind.I doubt it’ll happen that much, but like I said, I still have a
stupidoptimistic side in my jaded black heart.Attempted Chemistry
Literally following Kamala around is not exactly dispelling the notion that the GOP is the creepy weirdo party.
Kay
The Tweet is funny because my son who is IBEW says they talk about Trump’s sound system. They say it’s sloppy and jerry-rigged because he stiffed the professionals in 2020 so he has low quality workers now. Something about using a crane for the speaker stack? I need him to explain it better for me, with photos.
Kay
“Kamala Chaos” is bad anyway
We could do better than that on this blog.
Jeffg166
Don Old is not out there on the campaign trail because he is exhausted. Low energy. Low T. Small crowds. Sad.
Baud
I’m so old I remember when they were the party of personal responsibility.
SiubhanDuinne
BWAHAHAHA.
He’s never going to shake that, is he?
LOL.
rikyrah
@Attempted Chemistry:
Stalker…it screams stalker
laura
When a monster like Tim Walz demands that period products be available freely and without shame for students who may not be able to supply their own, and then feeds them two meals per day during the school year, we are truly heading down a path to communism.\\
Seriously- the empathy and kindness he exudes just gets my all up in my feelings. The alleged couch fucker and his blatant misogyny leaves me feeling some sort of way as well. Compare and contrast America.
Jinchi
Agreed. Even a popular VP candidate wouldn’t be expected to pull in bigger crowds than the rival Presidential candidate. They’re playing a game that Vance is almost guaranteed to lose.
And if Vance were the type of candidate who was able to inspire crowds, Trump would pull him off the trail, because he’s a jealous primadonna.
$8 blue check mistermix
@Kay: Interesting — I’m guessing JD just used the mic and speakers from the karaoke machine at the wedding venue they used for his appearance. He could have just talked in his outside voice and that crowd would have heard him.
Baud
Thr Harris campaign should have pizza delivered to the next Vance stalker event.
SatanicPanic
@Attempted Chemistry: right? That’s so creepy. This strategy is definitely coming directly from Trump, known sexual predator
catclub
Thanks, good to see the media noticing.
catclub
Our long nightmare of peace and prosperity.
Baud
@catclub:
We’ll see if they focus on it, or if they’ll just let it pass.
Tony G
@Kay: Very interesting. My father (long since deceased) had been a union. electrician (IBEW and then CWA). It was a family joke that whenever we were in a public space (store, diner, train station, etc.) he’d look around and critique the way that the electrical work had been done.
hitchhiker
Walz as the beloved dad-joke guy is my favorite aspect of his persona — because that’s exactly who he is, only with deep reserves of intelligence, drive, and achievements. It’s just as irresistible as Harris’s sparkle under spotlights.
Holy hell, I’m enjoying all this way too much.
Or, I’m enjoying it exactly the right amount. Is this what the audacity of hope means?
TBone
@Baud: 🎯🔥
TBone
@$8 blue check mistermix: 😆
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
Some anecdotal observations from me:
Harris and Walz smile and laugh – a lot. They’re clearly having fun. It makes them appear relatable and empathetic to a large number of people – and that “would I share a beer or a meal with this person” notion absolutely looms large.
Obama smiled and laughed a lot, as did Joe during that administration. Age takes a lot out of a person, though, and while Joe’s management style is quiet and he got amazing things done, it kind of sapped his relatability.
Say what you will, GWB and Cheney clearly enjoyed themselves, repeatedly. This made them relatable. You can say that about GHWB and Quayle on the trail, Reagan, and Carter before taking the job.
Shit, even Nixon had genuine moments of delight, damaged though he was. You can clearly see it in his face at Tricia’s wedding.
Trump’s stands as the apotheosis of the project that the Radical Right crusaded on from the late 70s on – he’s the living embodiment of every one of their cruel impulses. Incurious, mediocre at governing, lazy, and will magnify the socio-religious status quo. The problem is he’s never happy in an organic sense. He only laughs or smiles when he’s being shitty, bragging on something he didn’t actually do, or maligning someone. And Vance is much the same. They’re clearly not having fun.
Harris/Walz absolutely have this.
Tony G
@catclub: Ha ha. The Soviet model of communism imploded 33 years ago — a third of a century ago — but the right wing still trots out that word to try to smear anyone who wants to restrict corporate greed in any way. They might as well be fretting about how that new kid Elvis Presley is corrupting the youth.
TBone
@hitchhiker: YES!
p.a.
1) We’ll know tRump has retained a minimum bit of self-awareness if he never touches the mike.😀
2) Part of his campaign’s problem is that his mind is so far gone he can’t consistently make the verbal/mental shift from Joe to Kamala.
OId Man Shadow
@Tony G:
Today, communism means destroying the hierarchies that conservatives are seeking to conserve. That’s it.
Walz treats transpeople as human as anyone else? That’s communism.
Harris threatens to break through the glass ceiling? That’s communism.
Black lives matter? Communism.
Gay marriage? Communism.
Welcoming refugees? Communism.
They really do believe that humanity needs to be ruled by strict hierarchies with them at the top. If you don’t believe that, you’re a communist.
Jinchi
Trump has been looking especially disheveled and haggard, lately. Even in his campaign ads, which should show him at his best.
chemiclord
Lacking any real charisma that could help Trump, it appears that Orange Foolius is simply sending out Vance to humiliate himself for Trump’s amusement.
TBone
Today’s Alexandra Petri (gift link, I hope).
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/08/07/tim-walz-policies-hell-trump-satire/
narya
@Tony G: My dad was a union sheet metal worker (even after he had his own small business–there was a category that allowed him to stay in the union, which was important to him). He always looked at the visible ventilation systems when we went out. One of my regrets is that I wasn’t able to take him on the Martin Guitar factory tour so he could see THOSE systems. They’d lived near there for decades, but it never occurred to them to go; my friend plays guitar so was eager to go when we visited, but by then dad’s mobility was too limited.
Also too: I’m grateful that my parents actively resist(ed) Faux. They volunteered for Obama, and my mom pronounced yesterday’s event “magnificent.”
Weftage
@OId Man Shadow: A few days ago, I happened to walk past a panhandler. He asked for money. I politely refused. He informed me that I am a “Communist bitch.” OK.
Suzanne
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Mr. Suzanne, who, over the course of our relationship, has demonstrated years of freakishly accurate predictions….. he says that “the more excited side wins”.
Steve LaBonne
@Jinchi: And at the few rallies he does hold, his speeches have been getting even more glitch-filled and incoherent. He’s in no kind of shape to compete with a campaigner as vigorous as Harris. That’s why he still keeps trying to run against Biden.
Kristine
@Baud:
You left off the last bit: “…is for other people.”
They leave off that bit themselves, but it’s always been understood.
Chief Oshkosh
@Kay: Hey, you wrote that several days ago. C’mon, man! We’re waiting on pins and needles for the answer/education! ;)
Kidding aside, I’m a big IBEW supporter. They support things like driving elderly voters to the polls. I used to be one of their volunteer drivers. Now I’m older enough to be one of the riders!
Lyrebird
@$8 blue check mistermix: Hey, total respect to you for issuing a correction! And not on page 37 etc.
And total respect to Gov Walz for this again:
Health problems have done a bit of a job on my father, but he was a pretty great dad! I still remember my shock and relief when he picked up the box of period products I had anxiously put in the grocery cart and placed it there on the checkout counter with our other groceries like it was No Big Deal. Mind blown.
If you weren’t a super self-conscious tween who needed such products that may sound like a dumb story, but maybe someone else will understand, it was like golden trumpets and little chimes ringing in my head, in a really good way.
JML
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Bill Clinton definitely had fun on the campaign trail (too much fun, really). But I’m not sure Darth Cheney knows what fun was. (W was enjoying himself)
but the Happy Warrior plays in US politics. Biden had it in the last election, and Harris/Walz clearly have it cooking right now. It helps that they’re actually decent humans who like people and don’t look down on everyone they meet.
jonas
Eh, the MAGA base has never given a shit about coherence or comprehensibility. He just belches out some word salad about whatever they’re supposed to boo or hate on and they respond, not always on cue or correctly. Remember, it’s not a political movement, it’s a cult.
NotMax
@Baud
Pizza? No, tacos.
Steve LaBonne
@jonas: But even the media are starting to notice that his handlers are keeping him tightly under wraps because he just doesn’t have it any more. If the journo pack smells blood and goes after that, he’s going to have a real problem.
SatanicPanic
Walz seems like a sweet dude. Like the kinda guy who will drop everything to help you get your car running. I think we all know someone like this whatever their gender, race, etc. it’s really wonderful to imagine someone like this representing America.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Re: that top pic (what was it supposed to be saying?)
Maybe there’s a Harris cabal inside Vance HQ. Secretly recorded in a meeting with the candidate: “OK, the line is ‘I just don’t think Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are what this country needs. And for dramatic effect you whisper ‘I just don’t think’ and then a big shout on the rest of the sentence. It will drive the crowd wild, I guarantee it.”
Chief Oshkosh
@Chief Oshkosh: And clearly shouldn’t post from my phone!
“older enough” – sheesh!
BritinChicago
@Suzanne: I sure hope Mr. Suzanne is right! I’m put in mind of Haley’s prediction: ‘The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to be the one who wins this election’. The word “first” is particularly interesting there. I guess it’s too late for the R’s to ditch Trump, just legally. But I’d love to see the chaos that would result if they tried.
KatKapCC
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: I’ll grant you GWB, but when the hell did Cheney ever appear to be enjoying himself?
jonas
I always had the impression that W looked sort of stiff and slightly uncomfortable doing retail politics. Hence so many gaffes and odd verbal fumbles (remember “putting food on your family”?) Back in 03-04 in the run-up to his first re-election campaign, though, he went on this outdoors show on some cable network and went bass fishing with the host. He was smart, jovial, coherent, and clearly comfortable. It occurred to me that he would have had a vastly more rewarding life had he stayed in Texas and become a bass fishing pro rather than run for President and do such a shitty job that he became a pariah in his own party.
Omnes Omnibus
@jonas: I believe his dream job was being baseball commissioner. Imagine how different the world would be.
Omnes Omnibus
@KatKapCC: I presume he had fun shooting his friend in the face. I mean, let’s be fair.
TBone
@TBone: worth the click (progressive circles of hell for Donold and JD include butter carving and hot dish 😆 and every circle is better than the last):
ETA I use Duck Duck Go so no strings attached.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@SiubhanDuinne: Nor should he.
KatKapCC
Doing WHAT? What is he so busy with? Golf? Calling into edgelord podcasts? Applying more bronzer so he can say he’s biracial too? Figuring out what biracial means?
On the menstrual products law, true that the text doesn’t explicitly state “boys’ bathrooms”, but it’s pretty clear that “all menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students” implies both boys’ and girls’ rooms.
Ruckus
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
They have nothing to be even remotely proud about. And they know who they see in the mirror, because they live with that every minute of every day. They are just so broken that they cannot admit who they are, joyless, useless, obsessed people who have accomplished nothing positive in their crappy lives. They have nothing positive to say because they are completely negative people. Look at Joe Biden, he’s been in politics for decades as a positive person, making things better, while they have done nothing positive in any way, shape or form, politically or personally even if you add up both of them. Joe Biden wants to do more, they want to take more. They know who they are, they just don’t know anything better – other than millions upon millions of people are not like them – which is why they think they are special.
KatKapCC
@Omnes Omnibus: But he only got to do it once!
That we know of…
Hoodie
@jonas: He should have stayed in baseball. I think he loved working in the managing group of the Rangers. His desire to outdo his dad and be something he was not led to his undoing.
FastEdD
A bunch of my union brothers and sisters are IATSE. My favorite “don’t fuck with the sound guy” story is about John Kay of Steppenwolf. During a sound check he went off about how all unions suck. When it was over they announced on the PA, “Have a nice gig, asshole!” They proceeded to zero out all the faders, unplug all the power cords, and adjourn to the nearest watering hole. The gig did not proceed!
TBone
@Lyrebird: real men are happy when daughters menstruate.
robtrim
The invidious (negative) comparison someone made between Tim Walz (positive) and Rush Limbaugh (negative) was supremely accurate.
The angry, right-wing narrative that Limbaugh originated, and encapsulated daily, was the Rosemary’s Baby of the MAGA movement. El Rushbo gave birth to the Right Wing Noise Machine that fosters Trump and his movement of personal self-interest, political nihilism, and fear of the “other”.
Thus, Walz is the anti-toxin that may, to some degree, neutralize the MAGA venom circulating so virulently in our political bloodstream.
NotMax
@JML
See: Star Trek, “Day of the Dove.”
;)
Ruckus
@Baud:
They were the party of personal responsibility – in how to avoid it.
laura
@KatKapCC: when the hell did Cheney ever appear to be enjoying himself?
When he was drinking and shooting a friend in the face. Duh!
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Tony G: The electricians just left after fixing a bad short that was a major fire hazard, and a GFCI circuit that wasn’t working. I was grumbling a little at the unexpected $2K cost. But I wasn’t grumbling that loud. That GFCI circuit saved my life a few years ago, and I told them that story and how I was happy for them to do whatever it took to make sure it was functional.
The neighbors house burned down due to an electrical fire, another reason why we take electrical safety seriously (their house was the same age as ours, 1890).
Also, I’m comfortable with doing minor electrical work around the house, replacing wall plugs and such. But I do NOT mess around anywhere near the circuit breaker box.
I’m happy to pay the real electricians and get the job done right.
Kristine
I am going to chime in with all the other folks here who’ve been wondering aloud about all this happy and smiling and huge crowds and enthusiasm.
I realize only a Democrat would worry about this but whaddya gonna do?
JML
I think W had a pretty messed up upbringing and a lot of his political career was about trying to win Mommy and Daddy’s love and respect. He probably would have been better off doing almost anything else (I bet he was happiest owning the Texas Rangers) and so would the country.
W was a terrible president and a bad governor. He’s probably not a particularly bad guy personally, but dynastic stuff didn’t help. Hells bells, look at RFK Jr.
TBone
@Kristine: go with the flow.
When it comes to style, go with the current.
When it comes to principles, stand like a rock (star).
jonas
In every press interview, he projected the attitude of someone who just wanted it to be over so they could go home, relax, and pass a kidney stone. Either that, or just absolutely sneering, snarling contempt at being questioned or held accountable for anything, ever. (ETA: Samuel Alito has exactly the same vibe)
NotMax
Bad linky. Fix.
@JML
See: Star Trek, “Day of the Dove.”
matt
@chemiclord: That’s my theory – Trump’s ordering Vance to follow Harris around campaigning to punish him for being a weirdo loser.
Kay
Sam Robinson
@samueljrob
12m
Fox 2’s Charlie Langton to Republican VP nominee JD Vance: “What makes you smile? What makes you happy?”
So glad this comparison between “miserable sad sacks and happy, optimistic people” is becoming a narrative. 100% true.
Vance does a really fake laugh in response and says he is having a good time and he smiles at “bogus questions from the media, man”
Man.
Hoodie
@laura: I always remember Cheney as a humorless grump, memorialized by those scenes where he’s sitting in a ridiculous parka looking miserable. That’s not a family known for its sense of humor.
Ruckus
@OId Man Shadow:
Well they do want to conserve something.
Who knew it would be the ignorant side of everything?
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@FastEdD: Was at a Billy Joel concert where he went off briefly on the sound guys. On an impulse he walked over to a different keyboard and did half a song on it before realizing that nobody could hear him. So he kind of went off on the sound guys after that song.
I can’t remember whether he changed keyboards or the sound finally came on on that one.
bbleh
@OId Man Shadow: agree entirely — Walz is a very positive role-model, and an excellent complement to Harris. And we don’t need ALL those guys or even MOST of them — just a few.
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: @Suzanne: absolutely concur they’re having fun, and that fun and excitement are infectious and lead to all sorts of productive things like VOLUNTEERING and VOTING. But let us remember the lessons of 2016, and also remember that (1) Dems are still behind in the polls (which admittedly are gonna take a while to catch up) and (2) more importantly, Republican ratfkers are working busily and systematically at crashing the electoral system at every level — precinct to Congress — and throwing it to the SC or the House. We have to SWAMP them at the polls, not just win, and that’s gonna take a lot more work!
Aux barricades!
Tony G
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: That’s right. I was a teenager when Nixon was president, and I remember him as the embodiment of everything that was cruel, bitter and joyless. Nixon was, however, a very intelligent man and he was smart enough to at least mimic a person with a sense of humor when necessary. Trump and his acolytes (now including Vance) seem to be another species altogether.
Kay
Vance’s wife is going to have to come out and do “smiling” for him.
Urza
Walz needs to take a question on the tampons. “I know its terrible that I think women should have fewer problems to worry about, it makes me real monster doesn’t it”.
Tony G
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: “I’m happy to pay the real electricians and get the job done right.” The ghost of my father appreciates that!
KatKapCC
@Kristine: What is there to worry about with large happy crowds? I don’t understand. Sure, crowds don’t necessarily equal votes, but they don’t necessarily NOT equal votes. Trump’s crowds are filled with groupies who just want to hear him say mean things about immigrants. Harris’s crowds are filled people excited as heck about the chance to elect her.
SatanicPanic
@Kristine: how could it be bad?
Tony G
@FastEdD: I was a big Steppenwolf fan but — yeah — John Kay was an asshole for saying that!
Jackie
@KatKapCC:
When he was blowing up his hunting partner’s face with shotgun pellets?
ETA I see I’m not the first… 😂
JCJ
@Jeffg166: I hope he doesn’t go to T Town to see Frank Thomas and Doug Flutie!
(I am so tired of those commercials when I am watching old Star Trek re-runs)
raven
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Electrical work is NOT a hobby!
KatKapCC
@Urza: Well, should say “girls” at least, since this is about school bathrooms. Don’t want to call teens “women”. But really, he should say “kids” because the whole point is to be trans-inclusive and not shy about it.
hueyplong
@Tony G: During 1979-1981 when I was working at a casino where “John Kay and Steppenwolf” played a lot, I was assured by stagehands that Kay was in fact an asshole.
jonas
@Steve LaBonne: And speaking of the media, when was the last time Trump did a long, sit-down interview with a member of the MSM or the editorial board of the FTFNYT? As we all know, that’s the only way to really vet a presidential candidate and the only way anyone can remain politically viable. If it’s been more than a few weeks, do they really have any choice but to declare his candidacy dead and Trump utterly unfit for office before Labor Day? ‘Cause that’s the end of the season for pool party/fundraisers out in the Hamptons.
Baud
A policy conundrum for the GOP
lowtechcyclist
@Suzanne:
From Mr. Suzanne’s lips to God’s ears!
My predictometer has been busted for so long, there’s no point in my even trying to venture a prediction. But I really feel we’re going to win this thing.
Tony G
@narya: Yeah, my father knew his stuff. He used to brag that he knew more than that electrical engineers at this job at New York Bell Telephone. Maybe he was right. When I was a teenager in the early seventies we had the obligatory “generation gap” conflicts (“Turn off that damn music and cut your goddamn hair!” but we agreed that we hated Nixon and the Republican Party.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
One of the things I’m loving is how effortlessly Walz seems to create memes. And I’m talking about the original meaning of meme as ideas that propagate through the culture, not “poster with a caption on it”.
First we had “weird”. Then we got “mind your own damn business”. I don’t think we’re done yet, I can’t wait to see what else pops out of his mouth. I’ll bet if there’s a VP debate it will be a gold mine.
Actually come to think of it, the Walz memes will probably generate a whole bunch of the other kind of meme.
lowtechcyclist
@NotMax:
And specifically, have a taco truck show up and deliver them.
Kay
Women on IG are using joyful pixs of Harris and Walz and writing “I choose joy”
This is Wine Mom 101 – trust me :)
Leto
@KatKapCC: when KBR killed 13 military members in Iraq, via faulty electrical wiring, but still got paid. Absolutely fuck that fucking ghoul. All of them.
Baud
It reminds me of the Supreme Court. Justice Jackson is much more joyful than Justice Alito, even though the outcomes of court decisions would lead you to think it should be the other way around.
Ruckus
@Steve LaBonne:
Two possibilities – first he is aging out. That starts at a different age for all of us. Some walk, some run into it. SFB is running (figuratively – physically he couldn’t run to save his life). Joe Biden is strolling there and that allows him to actually see and admit it to himself. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have a lot of time before they will need to think about it. Most of us get there at some point, some strolling, some figuratively running full speed up a hill that gets steeper and steeper with every step.
Second – he is an idiot because has never, ever been personally responsible, he does not have that concept anywhere within a thousand miles of him. He is human in concept, not in any way positively.
Tony G
@narya: My father died several years before Robert Murdoch foisted Fox News upon the American public, but I know that he wouldn’t have watched it. During his retirement my father would drive my mother crazy by watching CSPAN and cursing at Newt Gingrich. I was a little bit shocked to see that a beloved uncle (who was NOT particularly right-wing) had enjoyed watching Fox News sometimes. Knowing his personality, I suspect that it was the blondes-with-big-boobs that appealed to him more than the politics.
Quiltingfool
@Tony G: Ha! My husband was a floor installer, and he critiques floor installation, too! After being around him for 30 years (and sometimes helping him at some jobs) I will find myself critiquing tile work in public bathrooms. Sad, isn’t it, the things you notice while in a bathroom stall, lol!
He did tell me an electrician story, though. He was working at a large lake house owned by two brothers who were electricians in St. Louis. One of the men came to the house and checked out the breaker box. According to hubby, the man was not pleased and then proceeded to redo the box. Correctly.
I have a feeling non-union workers did the crappy job.
TBone
@Leto: good eye.
I was (am) a big fan of The Freeway Blogger.
He took on Halliburton virtually single-handedly.
freewayblogger.com/index.htm
freewayblogger.blogspot.com/?m=1
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@laura: Even when Cheney shot his friend in the face by accident, at least that was relatable and indicated some kind of a hobby that wasn’t just self aggrandizement.
God, I feel dirty for having said that.
Also, a reminder for people who want to bring up Walz’ 30 year old DUI – Dick Cheney had three.
brantl
They kind of elided the other possible option; where I’d put my money: dead.
suzanne
@Quiltingfool: I notice an ADA violation in 95% of the public restrooms I use. Gets tiring.
NotMax
@lowtechcyclist
Maybe spring for a tangerine-tinted delivery mascot — Don Tacote.
:)
brantl
@Baud:
I’m so old I remember when
they weresaid they were the party of personal responsibility. FTFYhueyplong
It kind of makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit to read so many comments going all misty watercolor memories about Bush and Cheney in the context of comparing them to Trump.
eclare
@Hoodie:
Yep. He was pretty good throwing out that first pitch at the Yankees first game post 9-11.
And he also showed pretty quick relexes to avoid that shoe that was thrown at him.
brantl
@Baud: With a note that says who it’s from, so the greedy bastards want the pizza, but are afraid to eat it. Karma, it’s a bitch.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
BTW true fact – turns out that even before he became governor, Tim Walz gave out full sized candy bars at Halloween from a well-decorated house.
Trump and Vance seem to be the types of guys who turn off the lights and pretend to not be at home.
KatKapCC
@Baud: The ghost of Hamlet’s father is more joyful than Alito.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@hueyplong: I feel filthy, but it is true.
West of the Rockies
@OId Man Shadow:
It takes so much energy to walk around enraged and resentful about every damn thing. I don’t know how wingnuts do it. And for such low yield!
Baud
@KatKapCC:
Heh.
hueyplong
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Please don’t do this for Trump when he’s been out for 15 years.
eclare
@matt:
That makes sense. TCFG loves to humiliate people, who better than JV Vance?
I don’t know who came up with “JV” for “JD” but I love it.
UncleEbeneezer
@Suzanne: Very true. It’s about turnout. Every election since 2000 has been about turnout. Excitement can be what we saw with Obama in 2008 and are seeing now on our side for Harris/Walz or it can be the frothing-mouth shit we saw in 2016 from MAGA. The excitement in 2018 was palpable on our side. Even in 2020 there was an excitement for Biden/Harris, even if it was more of a “determination to get Trump out” kind.
Excitement is that thing that is hard to manufacture, just ask Gore, Kerry and Clinton. But it rarely loses.
Ramalama
@Baud: This is golden material for SNL.
NotMax
@hueyplong
Single good t6hing to emerge from that woebegone fustercluck was the Do Not Call Registry.
Baud
@hueyplong:
You’ll miss Trump when Pol Pot IV is president.
OId Man Shadow
@hueyplong: Well… it’s kind of like the people of Gotham saying, “You know… I miss the days when it was just greedy, vicious mobsters extorting and stealing from us and there were no homicidal clowns routinely murdering thousands of people.”
frog
@Lyrebird:
I did that once. My thought was “Wow! I have a girlfriend! See?”
Lyrebird
@TBone: Thanks TBone!
I think the Walz pick may also help us with voters who would rather not have to hear about the topic in public ever again but who can tell a decent parent/teacher from a toxic creepo like Vance or Rufo
ETA:
<3 @frog: Yay! more happy!
Jackie
@lowtechcyclist:
Then say; “Oh, we brought far too many! Not the crowd size we expected…”
TBone
@hueyplong: refresher
politifact.com/factchecks/2010/jun/09/arianna-huffington/halliburton-kbr-and-iraq-war-contracting-hi…
No love lost in TBone Town!
NotMax
@brantl
Karma, karma, karma Kamal-eon.
//
JWR
I’ve been watching Colbert reruns for the last week and a half, and this clip, which Stephen clearly enjoyed, really gets to the Jeb Bush “please clap” negative energy we see with Vance, especially when he says “I love you guys”. It’s so awkward!
TBone
@Lyrebird: yours in service,
TBone
🩷
Baud
@UncleEbeneezer:
Seems like an after the fact determination to me. Not very predictive by itself. Partly depends on how widespread the excitement is and how many detractors there are. There were plenty of people excited about Hillary but she had a lot of haters too, for example.
So far, Harris/Walz seem to have few detractors.
divF
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been trying to remember this quote, that is on point for the Trump, the religious right, and the GOP. I finally found it.
Laughter is the enemy of the Devil – this is why Trump fears Harris and Walz so much.
jonas
Huh. I thought Republicans were the party of self-supplied bootstraps, personal responsibility, and all that. I guess not if you can blame the problem on brown people.
lowtechcyclist
@hueyplong:
Me too. They’re responsible for a million dead Iraqis, and millions of refugees.
When they die, may there be a continual line of people waiting to piss or crap on their graves.
eclare
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
Wow!
But it makes an impression. I still remember my fourth grade teacher giving us all mini Easter baskets full of candy for Easter.
Baud
@JWR:
They’re really leaning into the whole weird thing.
TBone
@divF: I have posted this history lesson/guide to punching Nazis several times here in the past. It bears repeating:
slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/far-right-nazis-proud-boys-humor-laughtivism.html
Sure Lurkalot
@narya:
I wonder about my Republican, Nixon-loving father who passed on at a young age, before Fox News, before Limbaugh.
My brother seemed m/l middle of the road if not leans liberal until the 80’s. I think it was Limbaugh who turned him and like me, many of his high school and college friends who still love him dearly do not grok how he was susceptible to the message.
VeniceRiley’s viral tweet is sadly true. How many community-minded, conservative-leaning, mostly men did RW radio and Fox turn into hateful mouthbreathers?
Some of the saddest posts on this very blog are ones that bring up friends and family that are unrecognizable from how they were before getting sucked into the conservative hate funnel. It’s heartbreaking.
Leto
@TBone: there was an army inspector general who tried to hold KBR to account for failing to properly execute contracts. The IG tried to withhold payment until they got their shit together. KBR turned around and pulled all of their third world national (TCN) employees off the job until they were paid. Lasted three days, but then they were paid. And that IG was essentially fired.
I will forever have an unending white hot hatred for all of them. Forever.
Jackie
@eclare: As a sports mom, JV = junior varsity. Coach Walz needs a way to work that in… 🤭
brantl
@jonas: Shrub is a pariah in his own party because the job he did wasn’t shitty enough.
brantl
@Omnes Omnibus:
Baseball would suck, though.
eclare
@Baud:
There were, but a lot of Hillary supporters were afraid to do so publicly. TCFG was new then, the energy was on their side, and they were angry.
Seems like all of a sudden we have decided that there is no reason to be afraid of these weird losers.
TBone
@Leto: me too, I stand in the light of your anger. I went to Texas partially because of it. When I was taken off of my flight, I packed up all my shit and drove back. I mailed the stuff that didn’t fit in my Pathfinder.
I dedicate comment #122 to you.
eclare
@Jackie:
Oh I know exactly what it means! Which is why it’s brilliant.
BR
@Kay:
KamalaHQ is on it:
bsky.app/profile/kamalahqrepeater.bsky.social/post/3kz563u47l22i
Baud
@eclare:
Hopefully that stays true. Things have moved so fast that Republicans and their media friends haven’t had footing to build up a counternarrative. And that might carry us through the election. But the question is whether we are at a point where we can withstand their sustained, relentless propaganda and negativity. Only time will tell. But we need to win first.
NotMax
@Leto
IIRC people were receiving electrical shocks from the showers in the billion dollar embassy complex.
divF
@TBone: Very nice. That was also the guiding principle for the Yippies during the Vietnam era.
brantl
@JML: Lied about the Air National Guard service, went into another country and killed a million people for a lie, stole from Social Security, but other than that, a real prince!
jonas
Good time to re-up this classic from the Onion News Network.
VeniceRiley
Hillary just fully leaned in on the Tampon Tim picture and I’m loving it.
SFAW
@TBone:
Way down in the Freeway Blogger site, there was one aimed at GWB, with the words “Lifelong Failure.” It occurred to me that those same words (if we ignore the 2016 results)* could apply to Shitgibbon. Some enterprising soul might consider turning that into a meme.
*He was a failure as a president, hence my restricting it to the election results.
Baud
@VeniceRiley:
Link? Google does work well with X, I think.
ETA: it does work.
x.com/HillaryClinton/status/1821189725849276644
Steve LaBonne
@brantl: Not even W could be worse than Rob Manfred.
TBone
@brantl: 👍🤬
Kay
Vance is doing an “invite only” event in a swing county in Michigan, including invited media. So it’s only 200 people in a county Trump carried and HAS to carry again in MI, but Vance can say it’s deliberately small.
I wonder if this will be the play – say he gets very small crowds because it’s invite only. Political media will absolutely, 100% fall for it.
suzanne
@UncleEbeneezer:
Agree.
The downside is that it is, at core, a vibe. Someone’s excited so their friends get excited, etc. Because fun is contagious. But it’s not always, like, evidence-based. And we’ve had many elections where we clearly had the better side of any rational argument, and yet we still lost.
That’s part of why I felt the way I did during the recent dust-up. Perceptions and vibes matter, and that sucks that they do. But they do.
Trivia Man
Has JD released his tax returns? Seems like a good question to ask him.
TBone
@SFAW: I wish I were proficient enough to do so!
Magic markers, cardboard, and duct tape are more my speed.
BR
@Kay:
It might have worked better if they hadn’t done several flops of rallies with Vance leading up to the “invite only” events. Gives away the game to all but the most credulous media outlets (NYT).
TBone
@Trivia Man: 😎
Josie
I saw an article in which Vance’s wife stated that he hadn’t meant to denigrate people who couldn’t have children, only those who chose not to have children. I find it rather funny that she thinks that statement will make him more popular.
ETA: This is the sort of attitude that brings forth the slogan, “Mind you own business.”
Trivia Man
And EVERY down ballot republican needs to be yoked to the top of the ticket constantly. I see good coattails here.
Especially senators because there are several EXTRA TRUMPY candidates. NC and WI in particular.
TBone
@Kay: well if he believed in birth control, he’d also buy his condoms in “extra small.”
Baud
Lyrebird
I figure our best bet is to assume they WILL get some more effective jabs in before it’s all done.
I also suspect that the voter suppression attempts and other dirty tricks are more likely to cause problems for the Harris/Walz campaign than any attempts to make Creep and Dumber but possibly* just as creepy come across as appealing.
*Vance is awful, but as of yet I have heard no evidence that he is as awful as the top of the ticket candidate.
M31
@Josie: and her shitheel husband only said he wasn’t denigrating cats, and didn’t mention women at all
BC in Illinois
There is a picture of J D Vance in Shelby Township, Michigan. It consists of
brantl
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Cheney was on a game ranch where they have organized hunts with beaters to put up the birds, and STILL managed to shoot his hunting partner in the face. What a maroon.
TBone
@Lyrebird: Thiel and Musk bankroll Vance, so…
Now I need to use virtual mouthwash.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@SiubhanDuinne: If you are going to come at the cat ladies, prepare to get scratched.
Baud
@Lyrebird:
Trump seems to have successfully made himself unamenable to criticism, so I think people have transferred their ire towards Vance, who isn’t so unassailable.
suzanne
@Josie: Well, story after story of infertility, and stillbirth, and miscarriage on social media has….. uhhhhh….. not served him well for a couple of weeks now. Even Trey Gowdy was horrified.
TBone
Of interest since I mentioned Thiel and Musk
prospect.org/power/2024-07-31-presidential-race-silicon-valley-military-contractors/
Much more at link, but starts off:
Trivia Man
@catclub: he has a super easy solution! Just do more events snd prove the haters wrong! (Unless he doesn’t have the stamina 🤷🏽♀️)
brantl
@Baud: That would be their next logical step, wouldn’t it?
brantl
@NotMax: Oh, that stang!
Kristine
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
As the kids walk up to the door they turn on the sprinklers
Kay
@BR:
It’s great that they know they can’t get a crowd in a Trump county though. Come on. I was told by media repeatedly that Trump people will crawl over broken glass to support the ticket. Why is he only inviting local (county Party Republicans) who basically have to show up? That should be a great county for them.
Michael Bersin
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
There are many stories about vocal soloists crapping on an orchestra in rehearsal. One of my colleagues related that when he was concertmaster of an orchestra the prima donna was quite nasty to the orchestra. In rehearsal he transposed a violin solo within the aria up a whole step (flawlessly) and the entire orchestra followed. The singer had to strain mightily to try to hit the pitch out of the upper part of her range. After that the conductor turned to the singer and said, “Don’t ever @#&$ with an orchestra.”
brantl
@lowtechcyclist: And may genuinely poor people run the beer and chili concessions next to their graves!
Ohio Mom
I am definitely jumping the gun here, but maybe, just maybe, Vance’s participation in the lackluster and apparently doomed Trump campaign (hope I am not jinxing anything) will somehow taint him enough that he ends up being a one-term Senator.
It gets more embarassing every day to be represented by him.
Kay
@Kristine:
Melania is one of those people who don’t know it’s Halloween. Because it has nothing to do with her.
JaySinWA
We use Dawn in this family. But we’ll take Harris/Walz anyway.
TBone
@Kristine:
topclimber
@Kay: He might get some push back over the invited media only thing.
TBone
@Kay: 😆
oldgold
In another idiotic move, this morning Vance is accusing Walz of engaging in “Stolen Valor” for citing his 25 years of service in the National Guard.
I wonder if Vance cleared this with Cadet Bone Spurs?
brantl
@Steve LaBonne: I would’ve expected MLB to go broke if Shrub had anything to do with it.
TBone
@Michael Bersin: life lesson to be writ large!
Kay
One of my neighbors in Michigan put up a weird banner along his fence when Trump was shot. Like a painter’s drop cloth with TRUMP in red paint. Disturbing. It looked like a bloody bandage, unwound. It’s gone. I wonder why he took it down. It didn’t fit at all in this happy little beach town.
TBone
@oldgold: holee shit! That’s worthy of a lawsuit, at the very least…
eclare
@BC in Illinois:
Bless his heart…
topclimber
@Lyrebird: The advantage of having fewer years as an a-hole. But I have faith he can catch up!
eclare
@Michael Bersin:
Wow! Awesome.
Lily
I’d love to see the headlines and story slants the NYT, WSJ, etc had pre-prepared about Shapiro to use if he was picked. I like to think of Fox and operatives spending more time on Shapiro than Walz.
I also like that Walz sounds like waltz.
Kay
@topclimber:
Oh, they love it. Lobbing some softballs, it’s practically a party.
Ruckus
@BritinChicago:
Their issue is that they have no one else.
They have no depth, they are floundering. SFB and Vance? What human skills do either of them have? Breathing, eating, exhaust. That’s it. They can exist. Intellect? My last dog was smarter. He was an asshole as well but a far smarter one than either of them. Their political party has lost it’s way, they have aged out. They want this to be the middle 1800s but that time has gone – before they existed. In my 3/4 of a century life has changed rather significantly. Sure we breathe in and out, we eat, we have exhaust stuff, etc, that hasn’t changed but pretty much everything else has. Except some conservatives. Because they still want to go backwards as their only direction. Things were better when – it’s all bullshit. It wasn’t better. But then it is difficult to even think of forward with one’s head up such a dark and smelly place.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Ohio Mom: Well, Sarah Palin’s career got shunted to the express track to oblivion after her VP run flamed out (“former half-term governor of Alaska”, anyone?) and Dan Quayle was pretty much a non-entity after he and Bush Senior got thrown out in ’92, right? So there are a couple of hopeful precedents for you.
3Sice
@BC in Illinois:
A couch humping, no charisma spud. If mush brain is no longer capable of carrying a public schedule, they could not pick a worse proxy.
Anyway
A friend of mine was at the rally yesterday and sent me pics. She left home (Landenberg for PA/DE at jackals) at 10 am to join a rideshare and got back at 11 pm!!! Don’t know if I could have done it. She enjoyed it enormously — said the Drum Corps at the start was awesome, the speeches and crowd were great, the whole thing was emotional (sorry feels) and she’s very glad she went.
Kay
@Lily:
Someone should do a line by line comparison of Walz/Shapiro state policy and compare. I bet it’s comparable and media are exaggerating the difference. It would be easy for them to do it, but, well, you know. We should pay a Democrat to do it. They won’t do the simplest tasks to add value to their reporting.
topclimber
@Kristine: “You wanna cross my lawn to get to the next house faster, kid? That will cost you a snicker’s bar and two caramels. Got any ketchup in your bag?”
Omnes Omnibus
@Lyrebird: I figure that if we just keep hitting them they will never get a chance to regain their balance. If we are behind we need to work to catch up. Once ahead, we need to run up the score. I don’t know if people remember it, but running up the score in politics is fun. You start winning in the toss-ups. Then the lean R districts become possible wins. It snowballs and election night is a party. It is something to strive for. If we eke out a win, so be it. Let’s shoot for something bigger.
artem1s
Good lord. Poor Fundie White men still afraid of tampons and maxi pads I see. Weirdos. UNUSED tampons and Maxi pads. Double Weirdos.
artem1s
@Attempted Chemistry:
Creepy Stalker Weirdos
Trivia Man
@brantl: I personally blame Bud Selig for the W Bush presidency. He blocked W from being commissioner so he could be the powerful ruler.
I guarantee Bush would have fucked up baseball LESS than he fucked ip the world. And after Commissioner he would have had zero interest in president because that’s a step down in his eyes.
Fuck Bud Selig for this and other reasons.
hueyplong
@brantl: I refuse to believe that Bush would have been a worse baseball commissioner than Bud Selig.
artem1s
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
Cheney especially enjoyed shooting his friends in the face.
Kent
Lawrence O’Donnell did a bit yesterday on how “Mind your own damn business” is the most effective messaging on abortion that he has seen in the 40 years that this has been a political fight.
I think he is right. And it has the additional advantage of being universal and instantly understandable. No one likes the weirdos who are inserting themselves into your business. No matter what the subject it.
hueyplong
@Kent: It could be argued that “Mind Your Own Business” works so well because, thanks to Dobbs, we’re not just talking about the hypothetical, conjectural minding of other people’s business by intrusive, right-wing state governments.
Kent
I’ll save you the time.
Walz has a Democratic state legislature. Shapiro does not. That’s the difference.
Everything listed by the media as an accomplishment by Walz is actually a legislative accomplishment. He didn’t govern by executive order.
Kent
Well yes, loss of abortion rights are now real and not hypothetical. That is true.
But the genius of the slogan is that it also works for things like contraception, transgender medicine, IVF, and every other area in which the GOP is trying to insert itself into people’s lives. No need to argue the details and merits of any of that. Just “mind your own damn business”
3Sice
The Trump signs and flags are thin on the ground, but the stuff that is out there, is way out there. Like Bircher CT weirdos who never came back after getting COVID.
hueyplong
@Kent: … which, in turn, will work because we’ve seen the other hypothetical go frighteningly real.
We’re in agreement. I’m just a little sloppier at wording.
oldgold
@artem1s:
When I was in the 7th grade, I played on our school’s boys’ basketball team. On our first road trip, we had to dress in the girls’ locker room. There we first spied a female vending machine that charged a nickel. Being 12 and 13 year old knuckleheads most of the team, me included, made a purchase. Soon thereafter, the coach came onto the scene and we were directed to discard our purchases into the trash.
As far as I know, none of us were damaged by the experience.
scav
@artem1s: They may be rightfully afraid! Their very masculinity is threatened. The threat from Small Carts may be more easily avoided, but Tampons! Those things are sneaky and small, they could be easily snuck in under his truck seat or maybe even under the car chassis is close enough. Guy sits down too close, Whoomph! instantly transitioned. Masculinity impaired. Real men should spend more time checking under their seats and chassies, constantly. Can’t be too safe.
Roberto el oso
@FastEdD: Not defending the anti-union rant but Kay was born in what is now Kaliningrad in 1944, so his views on unions/socialism were probably pretty negative.
Bill Arnold
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
I’ve read (but have not confirmed) that one reason Walz was picked as VP candidate was that he makes Kamala Harris laugh.
There are a few pieces like this today; this UK one is good.
How Tim Walz’s sense of humour could see Kamala Harris laughing all the way to the White House – The Democratic candidate’s running mate, who coined the ‘Trump is weird’ line of attack, brings an affability back to politics that has been sorely missed. Not only is he sharing a laugh with voters, but he’s making them realise just how much of a joke their opponents really are (The Independent, Ryan Coogan, 07 August 2024)
Roberto el oso
@Hoodie: I think you’re right. One of the up-sides of running for Governor of Texas was that it is a not an especially powerful executive position, which seems to have appealed to W’s inherent laziness. And then he met his Svengali, Karl Rove.
louc
@oldgold:
It probably comes from this story, which can be found on Tim Walz’s wikipedia page. Big oppo research there.
Lyrebird
@Omnes Omnibus:
FIRED UP
fired up!
READY TO GO
ready to go!
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
@Baud: As long as I’ve known; when Republicans say personal responsibility, they mean “you little folk are personally responsible to deal with the consequences of the decisions of powerful folk and they are not.”
artem1s
@KatKapCC:
It implies gender neutral bathrooms and locker rooms which the weirdo perverts also hate.
Dave
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: There was one moment with Trump where he showed he might actually have been to feel joy and that was when he playing in the trucks. Weird but probably about the closest he’s ever come to wholesome weird versus all the rest of him.
You see this in Eric and Don JR a bit more though it’s faded every once in a while you used to see a real person desperate to escape the hellscape they inhabit. Ivanka not so much but man I don’t even want to imagine the distorting shit she grew up with given her father and his well attitude towards her.
None of this is exculpatory to any the people involved, they are absolutely responsible for their horrible actions and words, but it is why I can have the tiniest shred of empathy for them amongst an ocean of withering contempt.
TBone
@scav: 😆😆😆🩷
Barbara
@Kay: Apparently she tried to “explain” his disparaging comments about cat ladies and sociopathic childless people — stating that what he “really” meant was that policies need to help lighten the load for people with children. Like that’s ever been a Republican priority since, basically never.
Of course, it’s all a big lie, but even the most charitable interpretation is that Vance is so bad at conveying his thoughts that he needs his wife to restate what they “really” meant to say.
Yeah, maybe she can smile on his behalf as she attacks Kamala Harris for not being either Black enough or Indian enough. What a loathsome duo.
Dave
@OId Man Shadow: Hell even slightly moderating the absolute orgy of capital and wealth concentration is verboten as communism might actually be the thing they associate most strongly with it.
Ruckus
@Baud:
When the other side is so bad, it makes your side look better and better.
And when it actually is a hell of a lot better, all one has to be is one’s self.
Lily
Vance’s events give me the impression the RNC (Trp) doesn’t want to share enough $ with him for a respectful expense fund. Could be they want him to mostly pay for himself. (Possibly even Vance doesn’t want to waste his money on his survival odds.)
That video of him handling scanty provisions on a bare table was over the top. As though even junk food companies doing product placement didn’t bother sending that much. (More likely a staffer had to run around grabbing things after someone in a hurry had an idea.) Prob skimping on the salary for an experienced full-time organizer too — “let the locals do all that,” then save $ by stiffing them.
eclare
@Bill Arnold:
Harris picked someone for VP that she could see herself having lunch with every weekday for the next four years.
I’d pick Walz too!
Dave
@BritinChicago: The beautiful thing about this is that there is no way that Trump himself would not throw a massive truly epic tantrum over it and take his hard core sycophants with him.
As degraded as the GOP is they do seem to be aware of that and therefore will never pull the plug on a Trump campaign; they’ll just hope he strokes out or something so they can use him as martyr.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Yep, same. Precisely why I never minded buying stuff in that aisle for my wife. 40+ years later, I’m still proud that I have a mate and still can’t quite believe it.
Barbara
@hueyplong: “MYOB” has a lot more resonance now that it can be juxtaposed against the multi-year bellowing by an entire political party about how intrusive and authoritarian it is to ask people to wear masks in public.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
Far too generous…
Ruckus
@Kay:
So he only has 200 people to invite?
Always look for the opposite possibility to their BS. Because their BS is always predicated upon twisting the reality.
Ruckus
@Lyrebird:
Their top of the ticket wouldn’t allow the second to be near as good as he is.
And he is the stuff that is shoveled off the floor of a barn…..
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Josie: My wife, who I used to think of as the normie in our relationship, this year keeps finding stuff I was unaware of. I’m subscribed to several substacks because of her, and she reads to me from others.
So she passed along something she’d heard about Vance belonging to something called the “natalist movement” which has very weird views about birth and keeping the birthrate high. He’s probably used to making these statements about childless couples in echo chambers and having everybody nod in agreement. He didn’t realize there’s a real world out there.
Barbara
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I know that he used to make frequent public statements to the effect that he was doing “his part” by having three kids. I assume that he is channeling some version of the great replacement theory.
Kirk
@NotMax: I disagree.
They should send Runzas.
Trivia Man
@Dave: He also looked sincerely happy when Hulk Hogan was introducing him at the convention. An honest emotion because he is a fan of celebrity.
Trivia Man
@Ruckus: in Wisconsin we have an ad that is literally shoveling off the floor if a barn. Hovde for senator (California millionaire) said “modern farmers don’t work hard, they mostly sit on a tractor.”
The thick, outraged, Wisconsin accents are perfect.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Barbara: One wonders what he thinks “his part” is in having 3 kids…there are 8 billion people on the planet…and global climate change is going to make life and growing crops, etc harder and harder How is having lots of kids going to help that?
Soprano2
@Kay: That reminds me of how Sarah Palin thought a question about what kind of things she read to learn about the issues was a “gotcha” question. They act like no one should ever ask them a question they don’t want to answer. Doesn’t he know how to say what makes him happy? Maybe he needs to see a therapist.
tam1MI
Are we sure the people in the “crowd” are not just people on their lunch hour who wandered over to see what the fuss was all about? 😉
Eolirin
@Omnes Omnibus: A landslide to make Tester’s race winnable would be a good start. If we get the trifecta we’re gonna get a lot done.
UncleEbeneezer
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I’m guessing the whole Natalist Movement is really just cover for panic over The Great Replacement Theory that has been so popular with White Nationalists, forever:
Eunicecycle
@Soprano2: an obvious answer would be something about his family, how they have fun together. But maybe they don’t, with a dad that tells you to shut the hell up and takes away your chocolate milk.
The Lodger
@Baud:Hey, pizza. I’d go.
Soprano2
@Sure Lurkalot: Not just men, this happened to my mother. I don’t know if it would have happened to my father or not.
Eunicecycle
@UncleEbeneezer: but would Vance’s children count since they’re bi-racial?
Soprano2
@Kay: It seems that this is the kind of thing you do when you’re afraid to face the voters. Aren’t most of these closed events fundraisers?
Soprano2
@Trivia Man: I hate that they still sing “God Bless America” at the baseball games on Sunday, and that they want you to stand up for it! That is not our national anthem, it’s a religious song, and I’m not required to stand up for it. That was Selig’s doing.
Baud
@Soprano2:
Me too.
chris green
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
Nixon was bitter, racist, antisemitic, paranoid, and a traitor. But he still was able to manifest some charm. He had a loving marriage and one close friend. Trump has none of that.
youtu.be/RAMm5qn50VA?si=VObKF7ku8CNsG4x9
UncleEbeneezer
@Eunicecycle: As long as they are wing-nuts, they get conditional approval. That seems to be the way the other side views it. They aren’t “white” but they are acceptable so long as they act like good little Nazis.
The Lodger
@eclare: Junior Varsity Vance?
japa21
@Omnes Omnibus: I mentioned yesterday that Walz could even bring Texas into play. HS football is a religion there. He and Allred could have some football buddy campaign stops. Do it a could times, see what happens. If it resonates, beef it up. If not, so be it. Possible big gain with minimal cost.
Most reputable polls have Allred within the margin of error against Cruz.
Westyny
@KatKapCC: when he was debating Joe Lieberman
pluky
@Michael Bersin: Now this is one of the things that separate merely good musicians from professional grade. Not only could the concertmaster ad lib the transposition, his colleagues had ears sufficiently trained to hear the transposition, and follow with ease.
Kayla Rudbek
@divF: “The Devil cannot abide to be mocked” and that the Devil’s initial sin was pride (thinking that spirit was superior to matter). So many of these fundamentalist Christians fall into that same trap.
artem1s
@BC in Illinois:
It’s really got that Four Seasons Landscaping vibe nailed down, doesn’t it?
Tony G
@chris green: Either that, or he could fake it! I basically grew up hating Nixon, but in the half-century since he resigned in disgrace I haven’t given him much thought. I recently listened to a CD of Johnny Cash performing at the White House (probably 1970 or 1971). Cash was great, of course, but it was interesting to hear how articulate Nixon was, even getting in a couple of jokes. There’s been a real de-evolution of the Republican Party over the past fifty years.
Tony G
@oldgold: The guys who think that “Tampon Tim” is a clever joke haven’t grown up at all since seventh grade.
Ebony
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: So people who don’t celebrate Halloween are automatically bad people?
Ebony
@chris green: Nixon was a terrible person, but according to you because he was in a “loving marriage”, it mitigates all of the terrible things he did. I am tired of married people being put on a pedestal. I as a single person is not seen as good despite trying my dam hardest to be good.
Darkrose
@Steve LaBonne: At least W likes the game, which is more than you can say for Manfred.