Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are going to repeat themselves, with variations and additions, for the next few days. That’s just how it works. Here’s a good thread on why that bores the media:
campaigns understand this, they get that most people are not watching youtube livestreams of their stumps speeches. so a big part of campaigning is figuring out how to *break through* to these lesser engaged populations.
one way is the tour + stump speech.
this gets interested people out to see you speak, hear your (and your surrogates’) pitches, gets clips on the local news, etc. but this means the stump speech is **the same** everywhere you go. a simple message you are repeating in lots of media markets to push it through to the non-junkies
heres the thing: for reporters who follow the campaigns around, this is *boring.* hearing the same speech 2 or 3 times…kinda annoying. hearing it 2 or 3 times a day gets stale real fast. early on there is enough tweaking that they can fixate on the changes and read tea leaves. later…not so much
bc these are solipsistic morons, when they get bored, they tend to impute that to the campaign. “i’m bored, so the speech must be stale. the campaign must be Out of Ideas.” a disconnect between how they receive the campaign messaging and how normal people do. this is a problem campaigns must manage!
trump is not like this. he goes up and rambles extemporaneously. most of it is nonsense. but it is *different.* and therefore interesting, and exciting. political reporters enjoy this constant newness more the boring (but effective) repeated stump speech. this is a big reason they like trump.
“he makes our job less boring” is somehow an even worse reason to give trump glowing coverage than “he generates clicks/sells papers.” unfortunately, our political media is filled with absolute dullards who cannot stop gazing at their own navels. this is a major driving force of pro-trump coverage.
whether they do it consciously or not, this is also why they clean up his ramblings. if they *punished* him for it by printing them verbatim in the paper, then he might stop. and that’d be bad! then he’d be normal and boring. so instead they facilitate him. for their own amusement.
Marcy Wheeler makes another important point:
This is actually the purpose rallies are supposed to serve at this point of a campaign, even one launched a mere three weeks ago. These crowds are important not (just) because they lead Trump to melt down, but because they’re a necessary way to catch up on volunteer recruitment Biden hadn’t been doing. This is why Walz, especially, makes an ask at every one of these rallies. This is why Kamala always talks about the hard work ahead.
This is about recruiting bodies to do voter identification, persuasion, and ultimately GOTV. This is about basic campaign work.
Trump, meanwhile, has sent JD out to speak to empty parking lots.
Anyway, you probably all know this but there are a lot of people who don’t.
Baud
Harris/Walz need to give a speech at Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
hrprogressive
Even the most competent media could report the facts on the ground without being biased;
“Harris / Walz stump speeches generate large, enthusiastic crowds receptive to their message” is a factual statement.
Instead, they go out of their way to both diminish anything Not Republicans do, and fluff everything Republicans do, because of two key reasons;
1) Their Corprofascist Shareholders want the GOP to win, so they slant all the coverage this way.
2) The MSM thinks they are the gatekeepers of all information, and as such, are better than all the peons. See, Benji Sarlin having a big dad that Harris & Walz won’t genuflect at the altar of Semafor or wherever he has a byline now.
It is factually different that the Trump/Vance and Harris/Walz campaign experiences are vastly different, and only one of them is bringing in huge, happy, enthusiastic crowds.
And it ain’t the guy they have their thumb on the scale for, and that makes their fee-fees super hurt, y’all.
hrprogressive
“Big Sad”, not “Dad”, RE; Sarlin, but I can’t ever fucking edit my comments on mobile in a timely manner, so fywp, and you all should get the gist anyway, lol.
OId Man Shadow
I didn’t know that. But I did know that our political media are vapid fools who would happily adjust to being Baghdad Bob in an authoritarian regime as long as they kept getting paid.
Betsy
Oh, please! Are these the same people who’ve listened to tRumplethinskin say “WALL, WALL, WALL” and “CROOKED HILLARY” and “HANNIBAL LECTER” and “FAKE NEWS” ten THOUSAND times in a row?!
Old School
Why can’t Kamala Harris offer her opinions on sharks vs electrocution?
Kay
She should do a policy website so all of media can ignore it and continue to ask her to respond to whatever Donald Trump said 10 minutes ago. A week of whining that she hasn’t talked to them and they basicaly repeated Trump’s lies to her and insisted she “respond”. She doesn’t have to accept the defensive position they have slotted her into.
It is laugh out loud funny that they are now insisting they care about policy. No one believes that. The entire country complains that all they care about is horserace bullshit. This idea they have that people think the candidates are stopping them from substantive work has not been true for 30 years. More egotistical delusion.
ALurkSupreme
This is a Fox specialty: Taking some staple of politics that all reasonable observers understand and shrieking OMG! repeatedly at it in the hopes that their drooling viewers will take the bait.
IOW, they’re trying to make “stump speech” the 2024 version of “You know Obama uses a teleprompter, right?” I doubt they’ll make much headway, but in their minds it’s certainly worth a try.
Quinerly
Suggested
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/12/trump-overturn-result-presidential-election-vote
coin operated
Just flinging more shite against the wall…
Jeez…these people are tiresome
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@ALurkSupreme:
Years back when H Clinton talked about the right-wing noise machine and the coordinated effort it displayed, it was an eye opener since when you looked at their messaging from that angle, it all became clear.
Thus, the “Fox Speciality”. They must get together late Sunday, review what we’ve done over the last week, then put together “X” number of propaganda points for the coming week and then Monday morning, boom, there they are.
The sad thing is when “mainstream”, ie corporate media, picks up on that same crap to an extent.
Jackie
Repeating stump speeches is kinda like concerts. Groupies following their favorite singer or group hear the same songs at every concert. They. Don’t. Care. They’re into the feelings and enthusiasm they get from every concert.
Same as TCFG in 2016.
Same as Harris today.
Everybody wants to be a part of it.
Kay
Kamala Harris said Donald Trump and JD Vance will outlaw medication abortions. Media should run and ask Donald Trump to respond. They won’t because they only put the female Democrat in the subordinate, defensive position. There is no rule she has to accept their stunted, backwards view of society. She’s not accepting it. That’s why they’re pissed.
I still think she should flood the zone though. Come on. They’re going to ask what they always ask “here’s some stupid shit Trump said that we’re fascinated with – defend yourself” She can do that in a walk.
Give interviews to all major papers and all networks, except the NYTimes. Do it in one weekend.
rikyrah
The Associated Press
@AP
BREAKING: More than 100 pregnant women were turned away from ERs or negligently treated since 2022, an AP analysis finds.
Bradley P. Moss
@BradMossEsq
People warned this would happen if Roe fell. People warned that conservatives had no plan to address this if Roe fell. People warned women would be at risk if Roe fell. They were right. Conservatives didn’t care. The women are just birthing stations to them. The babies are just political props. That’s all that mattered.
https://x.com/BradMossEsq/status/1823014886890148184
matt
The thing is, having stable positions on issues and a stable prioritization of them is how well managed organizations operate. Having a bunch of Republicans in media yawning theatrically and rolling their eyes if anything just highlights how dysfunctional and stupid political media have become
gratuitous
And oddly enough, when the felon gives them new and different whines based on some perceived grievance that flickered through his broken brain synapses, the media are very circumspect about reporting on the rambling nonsense. At least until two or three iterations of clean-up by the staff have molded the bullshit into a more palatable and less stinky pile.
But Harris is boring because she has a stump speech, the kind politicians have been using for centuries. Simpering dimwits, nearly every one of them in the political press.
trollhattan
@Baud: Seriously, how can they resist?
The optics and then the her crowd/his crowd shots, plus some Leaking Rudy reminders…gold Jerry, gold!
Sure Lurkalot
@Betsy:
Yeah, I don’t buy that part of the thread that the media loves Trump because he’s extemporaneous, new and different. It’s American carnage “same as it ever was” with a new meme or two culled from his sundowning, perfect, beautiful brain. They just don’t mind a bit of fascism to go along with their racism, misogyny and tax cuts.
Leto
@rikyrah:
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4823127-new-mexico-governor-invites-texas-doctors-to-practice-in-her-state-following-restrictive-abortion-law/
KatKapCC
@Jackie: I was going to touch on this comparison, too, but to point out that most people only go to one concert. If a band is touring the States and let’s say they do 50 concerts, the majority of fans are only going to one show. Most bands play a pretty similar setlist night to night. They might change it up a bit, swap a song or two for new ones, move a few around, but mostly the setlist will be the same, and sometimes exactly the same. No one gives a darn because most people are only seeing them once.
Same with these rallies. The vast majority of people are not flying from one to the next. Someone who was in Philly was not gonna fly to Arizona, then head to Vegas, etc etc.
Right wing media is just so damn dumb.
rikyrah
Candidly Tiff![]()
![]()
@tify330
Masterful execution by VP so much so that Nancy Pelosi had to admit her hope for an “open convention” was destroyed because VP being so skilled. Too bad so sad.
https://x.com/tify330/status/1822991726488768856![]()
Veronica McDonald
@Purify_toast17
Pelosi was hoping for an open convention and challengers to Harris but nobody stepped forward and Harris worked the delegates and wrapped it ip within a day. Pelosi HAS to support Harris now because if she doesn’t and Harris loses, everyone will blame her for the loss:
https://x.com/Purify_toast17/status/1822993042380320989
hueyplong
So a Fox Newsbot complained about someone else harping on the same talking points daily? What are they going to do, sue for infringement?
Release the Caravan!!
TBone
@Leto: boss move 😎
Baud
@rikyrah:
My submission apparently got lost in the mail. Damn you, Dejoy!
TBone
Today’s Tiedrich for a good dose of schadenfreude
https://www.jefftiedrich.com/p/donald-trumps-brain-has-gone-fuckity
TBone
@Baud: 🤣
polyorchnid octopunch
Feel pretty sure Casone’s obtuseness is a choice, not a characteristic.
rikyrah
@Kay:
POLICY?
They don’t give two shyts about Policy.
They were NEVER going to cover Project 2025 in any way..
Until Taraji P. Henson shouted it out at the BET awards and Project 2025 searches went through the roof on Google.
Until then, it was just Democrats putting out information on Project 2025 on social media.
And, it’s not like Harris dropped off the turnip truck. She was part of the BIDEN/HARRIS team.
Go to that website and copy/paste those policy positions.
FOH they give a rat’s ass about policy positions.
TBone
Holee shit, I hope this one goes viral!
P2025 PSA about tax breaks for deadbeat dads (but not the single mother unless she marries deadbeat dad):
https://x.com/witty_shitty/status/1822359730884681895
WTF, indeed!
Lacuna Synecdoche
mistermix @ Top:
Yep. Rallies and stump speeches are the political equivalent of a band’s new album tour.
You go out, you play the new songs, you mix in a bunch of fan favorites to keep the audience engaged and give them time to process the new material, and then you go to a new town and do it again, usually with minor variations adapted to new localities (Hello, Pittsburgh! Hello, Cleveland! Hello, Peoria! HELLO, NEW YORK CITY!). And also to give yourself something creative to do, to keep from getting bored out of your skull and maybe find some new material for your oeuvre.
Tony Jay
I am currently on the Isle of Skye waiting for the ferry to take us to the Hebrides.
If anyone has any Dutch or Belgian friends and you’re worried because you don’t know where they are, worry not. They’re all here.
Leto
@TBone: apparently New Mexico, like other states, is suffering from a doctor shortage. So why not try to lure doctors there that TX, and other shit states, obviously don’t want?
Rio Rancho Observer: Series to dive into New Mexico’s doctor shortage
This is the first article in a series trying to address this problem.
TBone
@Leto: it’s simply fabulous.
Frankensteinbeck
@rikyrah:
I seriously doubt it. Pelosi is smart as a damn razor, and that Harris would quickly and smoothly get the nomination was obvious. Whatever reason she had or meaning she put into anything she said, she sure as Hell did not think there would be serious challengers to Harris. I haven’t heard her latest, but the stuff I heard at the time sounded like she wanted to let the process play out so nobody could claim Harris got a ‘coronation’ and wasn’t the nominee fair and square.
Leto
@Tony Jay: well the other half were at the Tour de France Femmes. Sooooo much orange. Also if you don’t bring us back a bottle of scotch, we’ll all be sorely disappointed!
TBone
@Tony Jay: am jelly
kindness
In the modern era, Democrats not only have to run against Republicans, but they also have to run against the MSM. Because the Village Elders are twits for the most part.
Kay
@rikyrah:
Six months of media bleating because some policy holders couldn’t keep their own doctors under Obamacare. They got medical care! They just had to switch doctors. Every media outlet covered it for months – shrieking.
Republican policy and laws has women bleeding out in ER bathrooms and parking lots and we get ONE AP story. Imagine if Democrats had pushed thru laws that resulted in men being denied ordinary, best practices health care because of our “beliefs”. They would literally be trying Biden in a criminal court right now.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@TBone: That was funny. Among other things, he says the Harris campaign has opened an account on Truth Social and is using it to troll Trump. LOL. Good one, Harris campaign!
hueyplong
@Lacuna Synecdoche: We need to remember the old “every accusation is an admission” rule. FoxNews is decrying stump speeches because Trump himself is no longer capable of making one.
TBone
@Dorothy A. Winsor: He always makes me feel better (even when I already feel good!) 😊
ArchTeryx
The absolute tell that what the media wanted was a Republican romp in this election was how eager they were to get rid of VP Harris as well as Pres. Biden. That means chaos, which feeds Democrats in Disarray perfectly and leaves Trump with the same wide-open glide path to victory as he got in 2016.
Biden wasn’t having any of that. I think he was absolutely gleeful he pulled one over on the hostile MSM and left them without a narrative. Or time to make one.
Even that stupid attempt early on to meme her laughter just got my furry “fraternity” involved. They quite promptly came up with a Kamala Harris “fursona” of an anthropomorphic hyena. Yeens are extremely popular among us and the character design itself is as sharp and snappy as they come, plus most folks know actual hyenas are matriarchal. It’s a hell of a symbol for a strong, intelligent woman, and it turned their idiot meme right on its ear. We may be a tiny minority but most of the brother/sisterhood are young and most are liberal, and not a lot of us vote. ANYTHING that gets non-nazi young people to the polls, I’m all for.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Tony Jay:
August in Yurp! Everybody’s on holiday!
Heh heh, is the sun actually shining?
Jeffro
they should! and if they did, I cannot imagine the amount of wingnut head-sploding that would occur…
…but I’d like to try!
JML
I’d say it’s unbelievable that the media doesn’t know how a stump speech works, but I had candidates that couldn’t grasp it either. We were doing the district convention circuit and they wanted a new speech each time, because they thought the audience would get bored if they gave the same speech. They thought it was a lot of the same people each time because they kept seeing all the staff from the other campaigns. they never really internalized the idea of having one speech that they knew backwards and forwards, inside out and could give a 1 minute, 2 minute, 5 minute or 10 minute version was what they should be spending time on rather than making sure it was “current”.
They thought the fact that their staff knew another candidate’s stump speech word for word was a bad thing, and we’re like “yeah, we’re bored, but a) we’re not the audience, and b) we’re also impressed with their discipline.”
Baud
@JML:
That would be me. My mind gets bored with repetition.
Jeffro
between this and Baud’s “Four Seasons” suggestion, BJ is a veritable fountain of great ideas (seriously!)
ArchTeryx
@Tony Jay: In my Cities Skylines community, one of the things going on right now is the drama volcano over the Cities Skylines 2 release last October. It was released by their Finnsh developers in a very incomplete, very broken state, mostly because of their investors. (Always the investors).
They dropped a huge and extremely helpful patch, some surprise bonus content, then announced they were going on holiday for a month, as the Finns all do in August. Nobody, but nobody, begrudged them that. They worked like HELL right before their holiday, and earned every day of it. If only we would jump on that train, but Europe’s millenia ahead of us in how it treats its own citizens.
Ocotillo
I recall reading a book about the ’68 campaign by Jules Whitcover (sp.?) and Jack Germond and I am too lazy to look up the title.
They had a blurb in there about RFK giving stump speeches and the press corp knew when he quoted George Bernard Shaw, he was just about to wrap up the speech and they were free to get going to their transportation.
Kay
We had an open convention. There is no “closed convention” option. Pelosi said we should follow the rules and so did everyone else because there is no “closed” convention. “Open” is the rule. You all know this. You watched the delegate count with Obama. He wasn’t the nominee until the vote and either was Biden and either was Harris. Biden can’t “close” a convention for Harris and either can Pelosi. It’s not within their power.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: I’m kind of enjoying that I know exactly what Tim Walz is about to say. And I can hear “I know Donald Trump’s type” over and over again.
rikyrah
@TBone:
Absolutely absurd, but, not surprising.
cain
Wait till they find out that Taylor Swift plays the same songs in every city of her Eras tour!! Boriiing!!
Kay
@Jeffro:
I think her “make things shorter” is also great. The public will appreciate it. No one wants a 90 minute stump speech. Trump is holding people hostage in those rallies like the asshole he is.
Give them each 30 minutes. Maybe the time limit will make them ask better questions, like it does in meetings. They are free to recite whatever Trump said to her but if they do they aren’t getting more questions – time’s up!
Ocotillo
@KatKapCC: Oh, but the dead end MAGAts travel from rally to rally. It’s amazing they can afford it too with the economy being so bad. :rolleyes
Jeffro
I wish blue states would do this in regards to red states’ teachers, too
Seonachan
@Tony Jay: You’re already in the (Inner) Hebrides. I assume you’re headed to the Outer ones?
ArchTeryx
@Jeffro: They are. New York State absolutely has been putting ads in red states trying to lure their teachers away. Not all of New York State is The City, and we need teachers for non-NYC areas too – they’re not cheap, but a hell of a lot cheaper than the fully-gentrified City. And while we have our issues (the Regents Exams, our standardized testing program, is a hot mess) we aren’t threatening teachers with prosecution if they don’t empty their libraries, either.
rikyrah
@ArchTeryx:
yep yep yep
WereBear
@ArchTeryx: Red states want to live in 1850. Go ahead.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Kay: Agree. After about 10 minutes, people are mentally making their grocery lists.
Tony Jay
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
It was yesterday, not so much today, but ‘Scotland’. If it wasn’t for the rain the country would dry up and shrink to the size of Andorra.
@Leto:
Can’t touch the vile stuff, so if any comes into my possession (strange things happen on holiday) I’ll donate it to the Annual BJ Raffle, all proceeds to go to the Andrew Sullivan School for Unwanted and Broken Trans-Atlantic Transplants.
@TBone:
Frikking stunning scenery hereabouts. Glencoe is not what I expected at all. What’s odd is that a lot of it looks just like scenes I’ve seen from ‘modern’ westerns set in Montana/Wyoming, etc. Not so much the scale, but the look.
artem1s
@KatKapCC:
Also, the stuff that does change is important to the audience at that location. Warm up acts for instance are often local favorites.
The campaign equivalent are the Congressional campaigns and the state wide campaigns. I have been to many presidential campaign rallies and there are always an hour or more of local office holders who speak and press the flesh at these events. The MSM is pointedly ignoring all the local races that will get a boost from Harris dropping into Detroit or Las Vegas. Coattails matter in general elections. TCF doesn’t have any and isn’t providing any money to the GOP down ticket campaigns. The reason the MSM ends up showing an empty podium so often with TCF is there are no local campaigns invited (unless they are ready to foot the bill for the venue).
PJ
@Frankensteinbeck: You know, you could listen to or read one of Pelosi’s interviews from the last week where she says that she though there would be an “open opportunity” or an “open process” to select the nominee. She’s mealy-mouthed as usual (talk about a person who needs to step down), but this is from her interview with Ezra Klein last week:
I can be hard to know what Pelosi means at times because she is an unclear speaker, but I assume by “people” in the last paragraph, she means Harris.
Kay
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I think it’s so Trump that he gets people in there and then just goes on and on and on. No respect at all for their time. It’s hostage taking. Assholes do it all the time.
Tony Jay
@Seonachan:
Far outer. Berneray, between North and South Uist. Apparently it’s Big-Ear Windsor’s fave place, but if that ever-so patient leech turns up to harsh my mellow I’m jumping in a canoe and heading straight west. Nothing between there and the Mislaid Colonies but Ocean and the odd surfing Icelander.
Jeffro
@Kay: “shorter is better” is 150% true for any public speaking occasion, really. I have shortened up several intros, toasts, and other public speaking occasions in recent years…oddly enough, no complaints! LOL
I know they want rally-goers to feel like they got some sort of value out of attending (especially if they stood in line for hours, then sat in an arena for a couple more) but 30+30 is just about perfect, imho.
Once Harris and Walz are done touring together, they should keep that formula going with their next speaking partners. Harris for 30 and Buttigieg for 30. Walz for 30 and Whitmer for 30. etc etc.
Leto
@Kay: it’s not just that her speeches are shorter, but they actually have structure. It’s not just the insane brain vomit of a dumbass. She’s a professional. It’s why she keeps repeating the same points. Yes basic stump speech, but that’s also key in teaching. Repeat the same points, hammer them home. The overall event for Harris/Walz is probably the same length as just one Trumpov brain dump, but during that time you get multiple speakers who are up there firing the crowd up, hammering the same points home, and as we’ve pointed out, it’s a more joyful event. Joyful warriors!
KatKapCC
@zhena gogolia: Right? It’s kind of fun to hear the audience start to giggle and cheer when they know the best lines are coming up :D
Bupalos
@rikyrah: “I’m smarter and have a better understanding of U.S. politics and how to win than Nancy Pelosi” is a chicken I’m genuinely surprised people can’t stop fucking.
The Nancy’s Razor explanation for why Pelosi and Obama and Clyburn wanted the optics to contain some semblance of a process beyond “Joe said so” was to create separation between Harris and Biden, who’s political negatives are the whole reason we needed to switch candidates. That shouldn’t seems so mysterious and require these weird conspiracy scenarios that Joe Biden miraculously foiled with his secret double reverse jujitsu.
As we should regognize by now and Pelosi no doubt recognized then— there was no significant danger of division in the Democratic Party with Trump as the opponent. The one thing everyone agrees on here (except for the top political operators in the party that actually do this for a living) is probably wrong. A more open, slower, but still managed process was not some chasm of chaos ready to swallow us up. That no one wanted to challenge and that Harris quickly consolidated endorsements is proof of that.
Jeffg166
Somehow I don’t find a 78 year old man whining about his life constantly all that interesting. Emotionally Don Old is about ten years old.
Leto
@Tony Jay: I typically give them as gifts to my more inclined friends. I’m right there with you though. Anything that’s supposed to taste of “peat and moss”… whelp, there’s just better things in this world to enjoy!
Jackie
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I believe Biden’s campaign did, also. And had fun with it😁
KatKapCC
@Ocotillo: “Economic anxiety” = “Why is the weeknight rate at the Motel 6 in Bozeman so damn high??”
Jeffro
@ArchTeryx: good…super-smart!
any state or county or district that can do this and couple it with even a few thou in signing bonuses or similar (discount moving services? childcare?) is going to have a huge leg up on recruiting.
Belafon
@Kay: What @PJ has is what Pelosi was talking about. What she meant by open was to essentially start the primaries over, in a short time, to select a new nominee. The benefit of the doubt to give her is that she wasn’t trying to get rid of Harris, she just thought that there would need to be a competition to select Biden’s replacement.
Kay
@Jeffro:
That Trump does that boring, endless rambling is control. He’s telling them they have to listen to him for as long as he wants. My mother in law had three wealthy husbands (not at the same time!) and the second one was a Trump-like dick. Only he could grant an audience and only he could dismiss you when it was over. He had a big boat (captives!) and I would tell my husband “no – it’s not worth it”. He got his pound of flesh for the boat ride.
KatKapCC
@artem1s: Like Walz making “dang it’s hot down here” jokes in Vegas and teasing himself about being used to Minnesota weather :p
gratuitous
@JML: There’s a very old joke about an obscure academic touring the U.S., giving a lecture about some theory he’d developed. It’s pre-internet, so nobody knows what this guy looks like. After a few months of touring college towns, his driver makes the observation that he could probably give the guy lecture, having heard it so much.
The academic agrees and lets the chauffeur deliver his lecture. Neither of them realize, though, that a rival scholar is in the audience this evening, and the rival thinks he’s spotted a flaw in the academic’s reasoning. At the end, there’s a Q&A, and the rival gets up and poses his devastating question. The driver, caught totally unawares, clutches for a moment, but recovers and says, “Sir, it’s clear that you know nothing of my work, and your callow question is so far beneath my standing, I’m going to let my driver answer it.”
Leto
@Jeffro: oh, absolutely! Incentivize them to move there! Blue states typically have much higher pay, which leads to better retirement. I know that’s something my mom wished that they had done: my dad teaching someplace up here (PA, NJ, Maryland, etc) instead of SC. They have friends who were teachers in northern/liberal states, and their retirement pay is just… better.
But yeah, I agree. I like that Sean Fein (UAW president) has continually given teachers props, talking about how they’ve been left behind, and how they’ve been unfairly denigrated. Good message.
Tony Jay
@Leto:
The only thing I’m willing to tolerate is Balmoral Chicken in Whisky sauce. And by tolerate I mean stuff into my yawning chewhole like there’s no tomorrow.
Other than that. Yack.
Belafon
@Bupalos: Since she seems to have been wrong about the need to separate them, her little razor seems to be blunt. I’m glad that the party has coalesced around Harris as quickly as they did. There was never any doubt us pro-Biden people would switch to Harris; a different nominee would have been a problem.
Jackie
@Kay:
Ninety minutes AFTER starting ninety minutes LATE. And he wonders why people start leaving halfway through his more often than not boring spiel.
Seonachan
@Tony Jay: Ah, the birthplace of Giant MacAskill. Had the best cup of tea of my life there – I would recommend but I doubt the two old sisters I visited 30 years ago are still living.
KatKapCC
@Leto:
What are Irish revolutionaries doing here? ;)
(It’s Shawn Fain :D)
Ruckus
@hrprogressive:
This is why the phrase – liberal media – is so much bullshit. The politicians are speaking to different people daily and giving basically the same speech. And yet there is media traveling with them, listening, broadcasting every day, and wondering why the speech is the same – while the audience is different – and they don’t seem to understand how this works. And SFB, as mistermix states, stands there and rambles – like the old dumb fart he is. I doubt he could actually memorize a speech of more than a minute. So he stands up at the podium and rambles like the old moron he is, because he likely couldn’t remember an actual speech. He’s rambling, not giving a speech. He’s not a politician, he’s a doddering old fart with alleged grievances that he thinks he has because he’s a doddering old fart. And a moron. Joe Biden is older and not a doddering old fart. He’s just old. As someone not much younger than SFB, I see this in people my age and older all the time. Not everyone older, I know a lady 98 yrs old who isn’t a doddering old fart, she’s just older. All of us who get old are not doddering old farts – at least not yet – but some are. SFB is. His grievances and his personality – him, is his problem, he just gets up at a podium and shows them off to everyone.
He’s not a politician, not a leader, he’s a grievance whore.
Leto
@Tony Jay: haha; if you have a recipe for that, please pass it along!
Bupalos
@Belafon: She likely thought Harris needed to be reintroduced on our terms in a high media interest environment, while gaining separation from Biden. It was never going to be “restart the primaries, and the caricatures presented that included Mr. Beast and Taylor Swift are so stupidly dismissive of the political intelligence of Clyburn , Pelosi, et al we’re perhaps the most embarrassing part of the BidenStays’ intemperate defensive crouch.
lowtechcyclist
@Jeffro:
My favorite priest/minister/whatever kept his sermons to five minutes. He was an Episcopal priest, so he had the advantage of a liturgy with a structure that took up most of the service anyway, unlike, say, Baptist ministers who have to ramble on for 30-40 minutes in order to have the service fill up an hour.
My limited observation is that even most Episcopal priests go on more like 10-15 minutes, but Rev. Bodie felt that five minutes’ worth was about as much as most congregants would absorb, so anything beyond that was wasted.
Again, there were no complaints, and his sermons were some of the best I’ve ever heard.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@KatKapCC: Every single time I see Fain’s name, I misread it and have to correct myself.
Leto
@KatKapCC: I apologize! I figured I bumbled it, but I was also too lazy to look. I also knew that everyone here knew who I was talking about :P
trollhattan
@Tony Jay: LOL!
Fun fact: the Belgians are there primarily to keep an eye on the Dutch. You know how they get, or will soon.
Have a good time, hope you spot puffins. Also, thanks again for the Emma Hayes loan.
Frankensteinbeck
@PJ:
If you go from the assumption that Harris had it locked down, and I find it very hard to believe Pelosi didn’t know that, it sounds like “We gave you fuckers a chance” to me. Harris did face an open primary. Nobody stepped up who had the slightest traction. Manchin went “I’d kind of like to…” and trailed off when the delegates ignored him.
ArchTeryx
@Frankensteinbeck: And good for the delegates for doing that. The man is a walking computer worm in the Democratic Party and now that his usefulness is at an end, he needs to be shunned like the DINO he is.
KatKapCC
@Leto: Oh no worries! It just made me chuckle :) He probably gets that all the time.
Bupalos
@Belafon: I mostly agree that as it turned out, she is getting more of a fresh start than might have been expected and there might not have been much more juice in that squeeze. The changing of the candidate itself seems right now to have been a sufficient thunderclap to wipe “inflation” and “Gaza” out of people’s minds, but I don’t know that was completely predictable. We don’t really know and haven’t won the election yet.
But I’m not saying Pelosi or Clyburn are always right and are just genius political prophets, I’m saying the counter take that they were being just incredibly stupid, and it’s only by the grace of God (Biden) that we avoided certain destruction is one of the sillier takes we’ve seen.
OId Man Shadow
@Bupalos:
That it didn’t happen doesn’t mean it couldn’t have happened.
I mean, we had quite a few Democrats who were ready to not vote for Mr. Biden because he was Oldey McOld despite the alternative being theocratic fascism.
Personally, I think we got lucky with Biden/Harris. Biden for playing the shit hand he was dealt by his party and its leaders incredibly well, and Harris for being an organized and driven leader to make those calls when the news broke to lock shit down and make sure that everyone knew she was the nominee. And frankly, for the joy she’s having so far and picking Minnesota Nice Dad to run with her.
And sure, maybe because those of us who gave a fuck about the four weeks of attacking our nominee are so much in the fucking political junkie territory that we would suck it up and vote for anyone the party put up because Trump helped.
Now, I’m going to try to ignore that whole thing because it still makes me feel stabby and I’m going to stay happy by watching Harris and Walz.
BR
I’m enjoying the reports that Trump’s big dollar donors over the weekend were griping that Trump couldn’t stay focused on real stuff because he was obsessed with Harris’s crowd sizes.
Baud
@Jeffg166:
You just described a huge portion of the comments on this blog.
Quinerly
@Leto:
Big doctor shortage here. I have been here 2 1/2 years. Still don’t have a primary care physician, ob gyn, or dentist. Found JoJo a vet, but we drive from Santa Fe to Pecos. Small village practice.
Medical care has been my biggest disappointment and concern here. Such great doctors and hospitals in St. Louis. I had had my same ob gyn since 1984, same primary care physician and same dentist for 20 years. Lots of nurse practioners with stand alone practices. No doctor on site.
It’s a mess here. Many just drive to CO or AZ. Friend’s husband was diagnosed with early stages prostate cancer. Obviously, not a terribly exotic disease. Aging population here. You would think you could get fast and simple care. He went to Carbondale, CO for treatment.
rikyrah
@Kay:
I’m still waiting for the story where they tell the country of the 50 allowed ‘exception’ abortions.
Not 50 per Red State that has disallowed abortion.
50 TOTAL – covering those Red States.
Just find me 50 cases where abortions were allowed due to ‘exceptions’.
THEY.CAN’T.FIND.THEM.BECAUSE.THEY.DON’T.EXIST.
PJ
@Bupalos:
@Bupalos:
Clyburn endorsed Kamala on July 21, the day Biden dropped out. He never once spoke about an “open process” or anything similar, and had indicated prior to Biden dropping out that he supported Biden, and if Biden wasn’t running, then Harris.
Pelosi has been plain about what she wanted, which was this open process/blitz primary nonsense. You can continue to maintain she is a super-genius who didn’t really want that and really wanted Harris, but her own words belie that.
cain
@Kay: I’m ok with Trump torturing them for 90 minutes. The press is there too – I hope they are bored shitless.
Old School
New Randy Rainbow for those interested: The Lawyer or the Conman
Warning: Biden is old jokes included.
(The first 90 seconds is an ad.)
NotMax
@Tony Jay
When it comes to picking up the tab, do the Dutch treat and the Belgians waffle?
“Hoots mon, will be here all week. Tip the servin’ lassie, try the Cullen skink.” :)
trollhattan
They should consider recruiting smaller ones then.
Here all week, tip your server.
3Sice
Rovian 101 – attack where you are weak. For whatever reasons Trump is a no go on the road, and Vance isn’t even drawing fellow davenport enthusiasts in his stead.
Leto
@Quinerly: that really sucks, and I’m really sorry about all of that. You guys have such a diverse geographical population, that it makes serving everyone really hard. At least your legislators are talking about trying to fix it, and not off on some quixotic journey to strip women of their autonomy, and doctors of their responsibilities. I don’t know what they can do to lure more docs there, but I hope they can.
Hungry Joe
POSTCARD UPDATE
Postcards to Swing States:
Yesterday — 15
Running total — 200 … and DONE! Done with the first batch, anyway. I’ve ordered 200 more.
Postcards for Jon Tester — 50/50. I’m now helping Ms. Joe write her 50 for Sherrod Brown
pthomas745
“Stump speech” is something I learned reading “The Making of the President” books back in the day.
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/The_Making_of_the_President_1960
RaflW
“This is about recruiting bodies to do voter identification, persuasion, and ultimately GOTV. This is about basic campaign work.”
Yep. I had to fill out a form to get an invitation email to attend in MKE. They were definitely list-building! And then while in line to get admitted & screened, there were cheerful clipboard people asking (gently) for people to sign up to volunteer. Anyone who fills that out would be gold. They were attending a rally and said “Yeah, sure I’ll do that.”
Also, f-ck the national press, esp the political desks. Dullards and morons is right. It’s why I’ll keep harping on the idea that Harris and Walz should be doing interviews with local papers, radio &/or TV. Sure some of them will have drunk the national coverage koolaid, but others will likely ask questions of interest to the local communities.
SatanicPanic
I wonder if Trump is mostly campaigning in red states because he wants to be sure to have solid attendance at his rallies.
Leto
@NotMax: @trollhattan: you two, Get out!
KatKapCC
@Old School: I wish he hadn’t felt the need to go so hard about Biden, but I do like the comparison bits between Trump and Harris.
trollhattan
@pthomas745:
I like the idea of making speeches from the back of a rail car during a whistlestop campaign, perhaps most famously practiced by Teddy Roosevelt. IIRC Truman was the last to do so.
Stuffing a crowd into an airport hanger seems lots more complicated.
CaseyL
@ALurkSupreme:
They did this to Hillary, making it a YUGE scandal that she and her State Department assistants smashed their phones and computer hard drives to pieces. WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO HIDE?? …
People who knew actual facts, who tried to explain that smashing-to-pieces is the only allowed method to dispose of electronic devices that ever held classified information… somehow never got interviewed.
Plus all the RIGGED ELECTION!! bullshit, which was basically people who had not the tiniest clue of how voting actually works found all sorts of ordinary, standard procedure things EVIL AND SUSPICIOUS.
The RW relies a lot on the average person’s abysmal ignorance, and the MSM – not just the RW but all major media – are happy to echo the charge without any pushback. People who know actual things have to fight to get on the air.
Bupalos
Anything could happen. I just don’t think It was a significant danger when balanced against the other dangers, chief among them that Harris would just inherit Biden’s negatives, and a distant second that she show signs of the campaign disaster she ran in 2019. Those were, I think in the opinion of these party elders, higher dangers that also did not materialize.
I too think we got lucky, but the luck was that the earthquake of changing the candidate indeed shook things hard enough that Harris does seem to have been granted a near complete political reset. Also we’re lucky that MVP is just clearly feeling good and confident and the operation looks really solid. However it happened, the place we now find ourselves is a world away from two months ago, in a very good way. We have a lot of people to thank for that, chiefly Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, and the surprising strength and “refuse to lose” mentality of the Democratic party as an organization.
MomSense
@Frankensteinbeck:
We had an open convention. We were required to have one. As soon as Biden released his delegates we were in an open convention. There was no way to avoid an open convention because it was the procedure according to our rules.
People are confusing open convention with contested convention.
When/if the Republicans legally challenge our nomination process you will all be glad that we did this according to the rules.
Kay
Crowd sizes can be deceiving. Obama had huge crowd sizes in the 2010 midterms – I went to one in Columbus – and we still got slaughtered.
Captain C
@Jackie:
Jambands of course being the exception, but I suspect the same reporters who whine about stump speeches also look down on jambands and their fans. Also, TCFG is not a jamband, but a trust fund fake punk who just wanks in front of the audience for an hour or more each time, and the political reporters pretend like they are savvy music critics and write about the (non-existent) genius they just saw to hide the fact that the Felon still has no clothes and they still aren’t mentioning this fact.
rikyrah
Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
NBC News: The following officials are set to speak at the Democratic National Convention this month: President Biden President Obama President Clinton Secretary of State Clinton
@MSNBC
8:05 AM · Aug 12, 2024
https://x.com/kylegriffin1/status/1822982680708817190
hells littlest angel
Personally, I rather enjoy hearing “Mind your own damned business,” and “I know Donald Trump’s type” over and over again. It’s soothing.
Kay
@MomSense:
I love that we’re buddies on this. It’s been fun.
rikyrah
Hillary Clinton
@HillaryClinton
Tim Walz served honorably for two decades. Then he joined Congress and worked to pass a new GI bill that helped fund the college educations of millions of veterans—among them, JD Vance.
https://x.com/HillaryClinton/status/1823030446399377917
11:15 AM · Aug 12, 2024
HumboldtBlue
@SatanicPanic:
I wonder how much of it is due to fear of the Iranians. They want his ass.
hells littlest angel
@rikyrah: I’m hoping Jimmy Carter will be able to record a statement. That would be lovely to see.
NotMax
@Kay
And then there’s boat parades.
//
ArchTeryx
@Bupalos: Someone in the party, many someones, realized that they HAD to get their shit together or we were going to end up 1930s Germany. The spectre of a home-grown army of blackshirts engaging in mass murder under Trump and the Heritage Foundation’s supervision apparently got taken seriously enough that the transition was fast, smooth and the replacement hit the ground running.
None of it may stop our slide into fascism. But it does give a huge dose of hopium to the party when we most needed it.
lowtechcyclist
@Bupalos:
We spent three and a half weeks with a shitload of division and anger and mistrust, while Trump was the opponent.
Maybe you’ve forgotten that.
Captain C
@Kay:
FTFNYT headlines the following Monday (in the biggest font they can afford):
HARRIS REFUSES ALL INTERVIEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!
And only in the 23rd or so paragraph will they mention she gave about a dozen interviews to various outlets, just not their crappy thumb-on-the-scale ass.
Frankensteinbeck
@MomSense:
I agree with all of this. Everybody had the chance to win Harris’s delegates. It was impossible not because they weren’t allowed, but duh, these people already picked her to vote for along with Biden and she was the only person who either polls or logic said might win. I mean, if we gave black voters the finger by ditching Harris we had ZERO chance. The rules were followed. Harris won fair and square.
NotMax
@rikyrah
Not a one of whom will rip off his or her shirt.
:)
BR
@hells littlest angel:
Yeah, the slogans are all of a sudden so good:
“We’re not going back”
“I know Trump’s type”
“Mind your own damn business”
And more importantly Harris and Walz are authentic messengers of these messages.
Kay
@NotMax:
I was like “where did all those people go?” :)
Obama’s rallies were always so beautiful because of the Black kids and their parents. Just joyful and proud. This one was on the Ohio State campus fields and people brought picnics and kids galore. But we still lost.
Quinerly
@Leto:
I am told Covid Times added to the problems, especially around Santa Fe. Lots of doctors retired and literally moved. I have heard several stories about doctors just up and quitting. Retiring to AZ, CO or heading east after being transplants here 30 plus years. “No, I’m not sticking around here as a retired physician with the state of medical care in New Mexico.”
I had absolutely no idea about the medical care situation here even after traveling here and looking at houses off and on for over 10 years. It’s a real sore subject with me. Don’t get me started about all these nurse practioners with their script pads and no real oversight.
Bupalos
@lowtechcyclist: That was just dumb blog anger stuff. That has nothing to do with any broader political reality.
PJ
@Kay: Enthusiasm among people who are hardcore Democratic voters is great, but they are always going to vote for the Democrat. Reaching the nonvoters and independents and undecideds (who must have heads filled with concrete in this political environment) in swing states is what will decide this election, and I don’t know any way to correlate rally size or enthusiasm by Democrats with persuading those voters.
jonas
They can always be relied upon to take the bait, because all you have to do is gin something up on the Wingnut Wurlitzer and then NPR and the NYT have to report on it a few days later because “everybody’s talking about it.” Also, because they’re always in a defensive crouch, scared shitless that they’ll be accused of “ignoring” a story just because it was first reported in the Epoch Times and boosted on Ben Shapiro’s podcast.
MCA1
I think the correct Dem and Dem-friendly media/pundit response to this weak sauce is mockery, instead of feeling the need to educate people about how stump speeches and campaigns normally work. No explaining.
“Trump says the same idiotic gibberish at every one of his rallies – where y’all been the last 8 years?” would be better than “Actually, this is normal for most campaigns and politicians.” Or perhaps “The Harris/Walz crowds don’t seem to mind that they’re giving pretty much the same speech they did the day before. No one’s leaving like they do during Trump’s tired old schtick about birds and wind turbines, sharks and electric boats, weak toilets and whatnot.” Or just splice together a montage of Trump playing air accordian to some repetitive soundclips with a caption along the lines of “What was that about using the same speech over and over?”
BTW, not at all meant as a criticism of mistermix.
rikyrah
@Kay:
not just rich men do this. There are people that you know you will NEVER take a ride from, because you become their hostage, and captive to whatever nonsense they are spouting.
Usually happens to you ONCE. and from then on, you know you will never ride with them again. You’d rather stand in the cold waiting 30-45 minutes for a bus than to ever ride in car with them again.
NotMax
@BR
Repeated from downstairs.
We’ve all probably heard of a sine wave.
Increasing feeling come November we’ll be looking at a sane wave.
Quinerly
@MomSense:
Keep pushing back. I am going to try to continue to look forward.
I hope to be traveling when it comes out that Clyburn was involved.😉
Edited to add…traveling, camping, hiking with no cell service to view the comment section of BJ.
Kay
@Frankensteinbeck:
The Democratic Party functions as an institution. It works when it has to. The Trump Party could have never pulled it off. It involved teamwork and putting egos aside for the greater good.
If the rest of US instiutions functioned as well as the Democratic Party the last 4 years we would be in great shape in this country. As it is our Party is nearly last man standing against fascism.
rikyrah
@PJ:
I am heartened by all the volunteers they are getting to sign up along the way. all those boots help…on the ground, on the phone…writing postcards…all needed.
Ruckus
@Quinerly:
I’d bet that many doctors go where the patients are. IOW more people not less people. They make their living and pay off their education bills by seeing a lot of people. Moving where there are fewer people/patients doesn’t always pay the bills. I’ve lived in major population areas and in far less populated areas. In the first you get a set time with the doctor and they talk fast because they have to, in the far less populated area they might sit and discuss the last HS football game they went to. It’s the nature of the business
Kay
@rikyrah:
Or people who get you in their car and then run their errands! My God. If you want company for your boring errands say so. Don’t trick me! I sit there like a surly 7th grader, furious.
Mousebumples
@Hungry Joe: thanks for writing! I’m checking off my little projects and will soon be starting my 300 Postcards to Wisconsin Voters!
divF
@lowtechcyclist: If P.G. Wodehouse is to be believed, your rural pastors could not always be relied upon to keep it short. On the other hand, they did reuse material.
dc
@PJ: Biden, Harris and us with our $$ told Pelosi it was Harris. And Pelosi being Pelosi, she listened to the numbers and the $$.
Frankensteinbeck
@Kay:
Can’t argue with that. The freakout over Biden that caused him to resign to save us was an outlier in four years of great unity, and that unity came back instantly when it was over. We have processes, the processes were followed, and they produced the best result. We didn’t fall to fighting over egos like the pundits imagined. There was only one viable way forward, so we united and took it, and it’s turning out to be pretty damn great. Harris kicks ass.
KatKapCC
@rikyrah: Hillz always knows how to drop the mic.
Ramalama
@Jeffro: while NM is at it why not lure businesses too?
lowtechcyclist
@Bupalos:
So the media weren’t just fanning the flames, they were making the whole thing up? Except for here at BJ, where it was actually happening?
Gotcha.
Bupalos
@Kay: This is so under appreciated, what a great sign we just say for the United States generally that the Democratic Party summoned up the strength to do a very difficult thing, a very complicated thing, but a thing that was very small-d democratic.
When we talk about democratic strength and democratic decline the primary measure of this is institutional – what institutions are functioning and what institutions are failing. Both of the parties are key democratic institutions, one is in a steep descent and general state of failure. The other one just showed more strength than it has in decades.
TBone
@Tony Jay: aye but isn’t everything better on a highland loch? Our West always looks dry and brown to me, being a Pennsylvania Yankee.
I really am jealous!
MomSense
@Quinerly:
There were a lot of people involved, but I’m sworn to secrecy!! If we get through this (I’m hopeful) the post election season of interviews is going to be lit!
In an ironic event – my son’s band is the featured artist at this sweet, little club in Portland that was written up by the FTFNYT. I can’t believe it. World’s collide again.
They played there Friday night and I wasn’t able to go so they sent me some videos. They have some new music and it’s cool – reminded me a bit of Little Feat. The music scene is really fun here.
Bupalos
@lowtechcyclist: Electorally speaking nothing was changing. Maybe a point or two was shaved off of Biden’s losing numbers from media feeding-frenzy amplification, but there really wasn’t any additional toxicity or division like we saw on this blog, because people in general (especially those who are inclined to shift allegiances) aren’t at all passionate about their positions to begin with.
The entire fight was about the best way to win, not who was and was not an acceptable candidate, and that was almost certain to be the case no matter what happened because of the opponent. Harris was destined to come out of any process, and if she somehow couldn’t navigate that process, then there would have been something fatally flawed about her as a candidate and that would have been good to know. As it turns out, she’s kicking ass
This was a fight about whether to bring in the reliever. The crowd might cheer or boo that decision, but there’s no way on earth it was going to start rooting for the other team after the commercial break.
zhena gogolia
@rikyrah: Great! I may even watch it.
Quinerly
@Kay:
Keep saying what is true.
MomSense
@Kay:
All those boring Saturday mornings spent in rules committee meetings are finally useful!
The rules have been revised since I did my time, but it still holds true that Democrats love our rules, policies, and bylaws. We follow them!
zhena gogolia
@lowtechcyclist: I think there is an epidemic of short-term memory loss!!!
Kay
@Bupalos:
I got it from a political science paper I saw. I just read the summary. It said the Democratic Party was the most effective political Party in existence at this time, party because the US system is structured in such a way to give conservatives an edge. But I thought about it watching that choreographed dance take place. Watching the pieces fall into place, everyone playing a role. Republicans never could have done it.
I think Party politics is good though. I think it’s a check on grifters and radicals and egomaniacs and bad ideas. AL wrote a post once “Bring back the smoke filled room”. I think I was the only one besides her that liked it.
Eunicecycle
@Kay: and he is often hours late, so they’re stuck there even longer
And Jackie got there long before I did.
Bill Arnold
@TBone:
Jeff was harsh on the NY Times story about elderly felon’s AI accusations, but at least in its current form and headline, it is not bad. “Falsely claims” is close enough to “lies” for me.
Trump Falsely Claims That the Crowds Seen at Harris Rallies Are Fake – The former president, in a series of social media posts, said that Vice President Kamala Harris had used A.I. technology to create images of fake crowds at her events. (NYTimes, Shane Goldmacher, Aug. 11, 2024, Updated Aug. 12, 2024)
Eric
I wonder if these people ever go to a concert and complain that the band played the same songs the night before, and the night before that.
Belafon
@Bupalos: Just more proof you’re still living in your own little fantasy world. It wasn’t just on this blog, or other blogs like Daily Kos.
Baud
@Bill Arnold:
Well, now I’m skeptical.
Mike E
If by “instantly” you mean in a few weeks, I can get behind this. Here on BJ though, the finger pointing continues, the shitstirrers come in and stir shit (hi lowtech!) and now I have to go check the color of the sky when bupalos is making perfect sense and Baud(!!!) is being a wet
pair of pantsblanket. Interesting times!lowtechcyclist
@Bupalos:
FTFY. It wasn’t about campaign strategy; it was about whether or not we should stay with Biden. To abstract it to “the best way to win” as if it had nothing to do with which actual person would be the candidate, is bullshit.
It had been clear for a couple years that Trump would be the opponent. So this fight was pre-ordained the whole time?
Gawd, are you ever full of it. Guess it’s time to pie you again.
Hilbertsubspace
@HumboldtBlue: Run for it Marty! It’s the
LibyansIranians.Baud
@Mike E:
I’ve always been a wet blanket. You people need adult supervision.
Kay
@Eunicecycle:
I’m cranky about punctuality. Clinton, Biden and Obama were always late too. I don’t think “they talk to the rope line at the last event!” is an excuse. Build that into the schedule. I don’t understand why people can’t be on time. I don’t think they’re even trying.
Quinerly
@Eric:
Yeah….I have heard about all those complaining Dead Heads. They can’t believe that they see 100 plus shows a year and the band plays the same songs, same order for every show….even post Jerry.😎
Kathleen
@OId Man Shadow: And without doing real work!
p.a.
The Gettysburg address was a bit of a shock, and, IIRC correctly, criticized, for being so brief (also most criticism came from Dems) in a time when long, loquacious, profundity was the expectation in public speaking. Edward Everett preceded Lincoln and spoke for 2 hours.
Baud
@Quinerly:
Two words: Mari Juana
lowtechcyclist
@zhena gogolia:
Indeed! I’m glad that we somehow came out of all this not just OK but in far better shape than I would have expected, but how does anyone forget those awful three and a half weeks?
Quinerly
@MomSense:
Wonderful about your son.
“A lot of people involved”…….maybe even Jill????
I’ll see myself out.
rikyrah
Meredith Lee Hill (@meredithllee) posted at 10:01 AM on Mon, Aug 12, 2024:
I was sitting in a local DFL office in Tim Walz’s old congressional district when a young couple walked in looking for Harris-Walz signs
Elle and Elysse turned out to be former Tim Walz students and members of the gay-straight alliance he helped form
They married in 2011 https://t.co/1y7tF4UyXP
(https://x.com/meredithllee/status/1823012025187897646?t=2aCkwnFbikk7xsPrAwo7tA&s=03)
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Quinerly: We really do have great doctors here. My parents live out of state and I’ve been a bit disappointed in their care relative to the care my mother-in-law has received. I suspect its because we have two medical schools in town.
zhena gogolia
@lowtechcyclist: Beats me. But I am not going to let history be rewritten.
Mike E
@Baud: three words: steal your face
trollhattan
@p.a.: In an era where the spoken and printed word, and musical performance*, were the sum of mass communications and entertainment, skilled oration such as Everett was considered among the pinnacle.
Today? A killer 12-second TikTok.
*Imagine taking a 6th grade class—or a Trump rally—to a performance of Beethoven’s 9th.
Captain C
@cain:
At least some of them are probably enjoying the creative writing they are doing to make TCFG’s rants look vaguely coherent.
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: Yep. Cacti gets banned but many others can continue being nasty 24/7 without any consequence.
rikyrah
LOL
Ian Coldwater![]()
![]()
(@IanColdwater) posted at 6:31 AM on Mon, Aug 12, 2024:
People out here shocked and amazed that someone who spent decades lecturing rooms full of 30 unruly high school students could be good at reading a room and keeping people engaged while speaking without a teleprompter.
What do you think educators do all day?
(https://x.com/IanColdwater/status/1822959206888055204?s=03)
Quinerly
@Baud:
😎
I have close friends who have been migrating around for years for these “Fare Thee Well” tours. Same folks who can say truthfully that they saw Jerry over 300 times.
I loved Buffett. But really loved him in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Seeing him once every couple to 3 years at Jazz and Heritage Fest after around 1988 was enough for me.
rikyrah
Dave Troy (@davetroy) posted at 8:34 AM on Mon, Aug 12, 2024:
Monday thoughts:
1. The only way to understand the present moment is to have a deep understanding of the interplay between historical networks representing competing worldviews.
2. The two primary worldviews in competition at the moment are propertarian hierarchy vs. democratic institutionalism.
3. It should not be surprising that two billionaires from propertarian Apartheid South Africa are trying to install a President and Vice President.
4. None of this is new — the Civil War was fought over propertarian hierarchy.
5. Crooks was teased; he aimed to kill a President, to become the apex predator in a hierarchical worldview.
6. It’s just a matter of time until Musk admits to weaponizing private messages on this platform; plan accordingly.
7. Musk is leading a networked insurgency. Each of you: lead your own.
Women understand the implications of propertarian hierarchy and patriarchy. Refuse to go back. Women know the way forward — and that’s literally on the ballot. Onward!
(https://x.com/davetroy/status/1822990120888209823?t=PSH9MaRWHyzVfYsGNiukqg&s=03)
lowtechcyclist
@Mike E:
You can call me what you will, but if you think Bupalos is making perfect sense and Baud is being a wet (whatever), you must be standing on your head because your thinking’s upside down.
rikyrah
chris evans (@notcapnamerica) posted at 7:55 PM on Sat, Aug 10, 2024:
I’m absolutely loving that the media doesn’t know what to do with Democrats actually going on the offensive and doing it with humor.
Trump and rhe GOP have been saying the most absolute vile things for a decade + and suddenly now they want to act shook and clutch pearls.
(https://x.com/notcapnamerica/status/1822436674850185693?s=03)
3Sice
Maga merch is the unlicensed goods getting hawked along the road before you pull into the parking lot at a concert or athletic event.
Cheap, bottom shelf junk.
rikyrah
Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) posted at 7:28 AM on Mon, Aug 12, 2024:
Judge Tanya Chutkan has set status conference for 10am on Sept 5 in federal criminal case against Donald Trump in DC
It’ll be at the DC federal courthouse.
(https://x.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1822973306850435545?t=tvqBx4anx574l_8dxN3ePw&s=03)
Quinerly
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:
St. Louis has top notch medical care. I get very sad when I realize how much I took it for granted. I always lived in the city. Mid Town/CWE in the beginning then over 35 years in Soulard. Easy access to the best of the best
p.a.
Volunteers. Boots on the ground. And Dem Party lawyers. ACLU lawyers. Common Cause Lawyers. DoJ lawyers (they’re “ours” this time!) Even if tRump checks out (if I can’t win I’m not trying), it’s obvious the fuckery will be off the charts. Violence- election day and beyond. Organized? Maybe not if the DoJ is on the ball. Stochastic? Yup. Nuts with guns.
Bupalos
@lowtechcyclist: I don’t even understand this response. The debate over changing the candidate or not was a debate over the best way to win. It was a disagreement within broad agreement, like the question of whether or not to bring in a reliever. As strongly as people feel about sticking with the starter or switching to the reliever, the very fact of being passionate about the argument indicates a much deeper kind of unity. No one is going to quit rooting for the team, and none of the players is going to stop trying hard based on that decision.
Kay
It doesn’t mean as much as it sounds. Republicans have plenty of other money pots they can tap – they are never, ever running out of money because they have 95% of the billionaires. But combined with the NYTimes article that said they have OH polls where Trump is below 50 I hope it’s good for Sherrod.
BR
https://bsky.app/profile/iboudreau.bsky.social/post/3kzjzy6gkbw2h
hobbitdreams
@MomSense:
Were Ezra Klein and the other pundits and donors who called for a Thunderdome mini-primary confused? Please don’t underestimate our intelligence or try to blot out recent memory. We heard and read what we heard and read. “Open convention” in their parlance did NOT mean a procedural nicety that segued smoothly to Kamala. It meant finding a white guy acceptable to aforementioned donors and pundits, or maybe a juicy “Dems in disarray” narrative.
With his endorsement, Joe helped prevent that from happening. For that and many other things, I am eternally grateful. I’m also delighted that the enthusiasm that greeted Kamala blew the would-be power brokers’ plans out of the water.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I see Trump is posting on twitter again.
Layer8Problem
@schrodingers_cat: ” . . . Cacti . . . ” Damn, thank you for reminding me! 😁 I had totally forgotten about him.
Another Scott
Wow.
Fritschner is a great get for the Harris-Walz Virginia team.
Forward!!
Cheers,
Scott
Eunicecycle
@Kay: it would be great if we could stop seeing the doom and gloom commercials but the ones I see the most are coming from PACs because they don’t endorse a candidate. I also see positive ones for Sherrod from PACs, probably 2:1 pro-Sherrod so that’s nice to see.
Kay
@hobbitdreams:
Ezra Klein is not a “powerbroker” in the Democratic Party. I mean, come on. Pundits say all sorts of stupid shit. Was anyone in the Democratic Party changing the nomination rules? Because they would have had to and they would have had to in two weeks. There’s rules. There’s DNC members. There’s delegates. They vote on everything. Ezra Klein doesn’t mean anything.
Omnes Omnibus
I’ll just make an observation. I think that some of the “Biden should go” people are making a category error about the loyalty of the “Biden stay” people. They assuming it is primarily a personal loyalty and thus the suggestions of cult like behavior. I would say that it is more a function of institutional loyalty. Biden was the person chosen by the Democratic primary process and a successful incumbent. It’s not something thing you throw over lightly. The fact that every “Biden stay” person immediately got on board with Harris supports my view.* You should want people in the party who will dig in and not give up when there is adversity. Because there will be adversity.
*There is, of course, a personal element to this. And people can legitimately feel that Biden was “done dirty.”
Bupalos
@Eunicecycle: The interesting thing about this contest is that you practically don’t hear the name of the guy running against Brown ever, from either side. The only references to an opponent I think I ever hear are in Brown commercials that mention a car dealer. It seems to me even those might not say the car dealer’s actual name.
Jeffro
@p.a.: 2 hours! good lord
then again, I guess folks back then didn’t have their phones clamoring for their attention
sdhays
@Kay: Hillary had an extensive policy website that they didn’t read. They’d claim she had nothing to say about X, and which was true if you ignored her website AND her stump speech.
hobbitdreams
@Kay: Selective editing, i.e. misrepresentation, of other people’s comments as per usual. Ezra Klein was an exemplar of multiple voices. I stand by my point: there were many voices that were calling for an “open convention” or “mini-primary,” including some in the party, and virtually NONE of these voices mentioned passing the baton to Kamala. We heard and understood what they meant.
Kamala’s candidacy is a delight, but I’m not yielding to revisionist history, which is both gross and dishonest.
tam1MI
I recall reading somewhere that whenever George Wallace dropped the phrase “… And let me tell you…” into his speeches, that was the signal to the press to get out their pencils and/or start recording, because he was about to deviate from his usual stump speech.
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: Biden should stay people are being most supportive of KH and TW. While not being in a forgiving mood of media twits like Ezra Klein or the party head honcho who is willing to now whine to anyone with a microphone about how Biden won’t return her calls
Also not too fond of hectoring commenters here who want to retcon something that happened last month.
Kay
@Eunicecycle:
The Republican should be doing better than he is. It’s a R + 8 state now (supposedly). I think they manipulated it so much they’re not actually confident it’s an R +8 state. The whole thing makes me sad. When the Ohio Supreme Court revealed themselves as corrupt hacks it affected me profoundly. I think lawyers should have been better than that. Instead of being the defenders of democracy and process we’re either cowering and ass kissing or actively conspiring to invalidate elections. This profession needs an ethical reset. We’ve lost our way. We were not resilient when challenged, we didn’t “hold up” which to me means the weakness was already there.
MisterForkbeard
@PJ: My understanding of all this is mostly that Pelosi just wasn’t going to push any one candidate in particular and that’s all it was.
Talking about an open primary is basically the outgrowth of that. If she’s not going to explicitly endorse Harris out of the gate (which is fine – she’s a huge party leader and it’s okay to not put your thumb on the scale) then the open primary talk is what’s left.
ETA: Regardless, it’s not really worth anyone getting angry about at this stage. Kamala stepped in and has been doing fantastically, and we should unify behind her – as we’ve done.
Soprano2
@Kay: I liked the one response she had to them that she hadn’t heard whatever TCFG or Vance thing they were asking her to respond to because she had been talking to the voters. More of that, please!
rikyrah
@Kay:
Sherrod needs to get Walz in there for him. Run up the numbers with the Dem Voters.
Chris
@CaseyL:
People who supported the Afghanistan withdrawal, including regularly invited commenters, literally could not get on the air for pretty much all of August 2024.
Interesting thing to remember next time one hears the media caterwauling about “but what about opposing viewpoints? What about telling people what they don’t want to hear?”
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: I almost added this to a post here and have in the past. The passion exhibited by the BidenStays (I think it’s fair to say waaaay more passion than BidenGos) says a lot of positive things about them as people who care a great deal about this. We just had a different idea of the best way forward.
One of the reasons I continue to respond to the drips of anti-Pelosi or Schiff stuff is that I think at some point we need to digest all this as simply positive all around. Great that people (including Biden) had that level of belief in biden and the importance of his record, great that the party was able to keep it’s head and get to a much better election dynamic, great that some party members were willing to stick their heads up and maybe get them chopped off…crowned by the most statemanslike act we’ve maybe ever seen in American politics? Instead of something to forget and get past and figure out how different “sides” were better or worse, maybe it was just an all-around great moment for the Democratic Party and American democracy?
So it made a blog a less fun place to be for a bit and had people getting shouty on the internet. That’s not exactly Ragnarok.
schrodingers_cat
@Chris: I suggest we call MSM, Klan Media, because that’s what they are enabling.
Soprano2
@Kay: Did you see where Dana Bash asked Vance if they would use the FDA to outlaw abortion medications? Of course Vance said no. If she were more conversant in what they actually intend to do she would have asked him if TCFG would issue an executive order on his first day directing the DOJ to enforce the Comstock Act provisions against anything that could be used to provide an abortion in any state. I’d like to hear him deny that!
I’m listening to the latest “Wilderness” podcast. Anat Shenker-Osorio says when they do focus groups about Project 2025 they have to make it way less draconian than what the document actually says because otherwise no one in the group believes that’s the Republican position or intent. That tells you why they want a dictatorship.
rikyrah
@Kay:
I know that this is about Ohio, but, you asked about Texas.
Allred doesn’t impress me. He doesn’t seem to be understanding that he needs to run up his numbers in the Blue areas, while trying to chip away at the Red area margins.
Why is Congresswoman Crockett doing rallies for Harris/Walz in Georgie and not in Texas with Allred?
So tired of these Democratic Senatorial candidates running away from our ticket. I excuse if for Tester, but, Allred doesn’t have any excuse.
Ask Beasley and Mandela Barnes about how running away from the Democratic ticket worked for them..
Kay
@hobbitdreams:
So Biden hadn’t withdrawn yet and you think Democratic leadership should have endorsed Harris? They should take that away from Biden? Sorry. It’s the worst idea ever. You objected to him being pushed out but you would have supported the Democratic Party endorsing Harris while Biden was still the presumptive nominee? It wasn’t about comforting or reassuring you. That wasn’t the objective.
Chris
@Kay:
For basically this entire century (at least), virtually every other institution that touches on politics (the media, the security agencies, the private sector) has completely abdicated its obligations, safe in the knowledge that the Democratic Party will clean up after it. It makes what you say all that much more spectacular. The Democratic Party has effectively been carrying the entire country on its back for decades now.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@TBone: thank you! He’s great 👍
rikyrah
@schrodingers_cat:
My rage is still sitting in a pot on the backburner of the stove. It will be there for some time.
My focus now is helping to try and save democracy in America.
But, I, like others, will get back to our pots. Post-election.
Soprano2
@TBone: I learned a new thing about Project 2025 this weekend thanks to a big spread in our local paper (the story was done by the Tennesseean, I think) – they want to make it so that anyone who works on Sunday has to be paid time and a half, because they want their “holy day” back. I’m sure they’d try to spin this as “pro worker” but the effect would be that almost all businesses would close on Sunday rather than pay all the workers mandatory overtime.
Mike E
@Omnes Omnibus: I dunno, I think it’s more zero sum game thinking and shit-list collecting here… don’t ever cross certain commenters, you’ll regret it! (somehow)
Kay
@rikyrah:
I feel like Tester and Brown really know their states. Obviously they could be wrong but I think they get the general “permission” to run from the Party that candidates in tough red state races get. They do it all the time in House races – “I am a bold contrarian and not in Nancy Pelosi’s pocket!” I think we just notice Senate races more. Golden in Maine basically trashes the Democratic Party daily and he wins.
PJ
@MisterForkbeard:
I don’t personally care if Pelosi wanted Harris or not, or didn’t want to put her thumb on the scale, or whatever her thinking was; if there had been a mini-primary like she says she wanted, it would’ve been a shit show that we would still be dealing with now – “Dems in disarray!” 24/7. Thankfully, we avoided that by Biden endorsing Harris and Harris lining up enough endorsements in the first 24 hours that it was a done deal.
What I don’t understand is why Pelosi keeps talking about her role in getting Biden to bow out and why she wanted a mini-primary (and shitting on Biden in the press as she does it.) She should want people focused on getting Harris and Walz elected, but ego is a mighty drug . . .
Scout211
Per the headline I just read:
Speaking of headlines. Yesterday Memeoradum was full of headline after headline for article after article about Trump’s bizarre charge that the Detroit crowd for Harris-Walz was created by AI and did not exist IRL. Every one of them used some version of FALSE in the headline. Is our media learning? Is it okay for the media to call Trump’s words false now? Have they stopped being afraid of Trump calling them names or threatening to sue them?
schrodingers_cat
@rikyrah: Same, that’s my focus too. But I sure as hell don’t want to be lectured about unity by the turncoats.
Bupalos
@Kay: He also didn’t say anything like what he’s consistently presented as having said.
The idea that “the powerbrokers” were foiled by Biden- who saved us from certain division and doom- is a kind of groundless and basically inverted assumption that I think has more to do with blog psychology than anything else.
hobbitdreams
@Kay: You continue to twist, misrepresent, and put words into the mouths of those who dare to disagree with you, as well as ignore inconvenient facts. I will not be bullied into joining your retconning of history, as lovely as that little hivemind mentality might be.
Quinerly
@Layer8Problem:
And, then there’s the guy who was very strident about Biden must go. When I tuned into those threads about 10 days after the debate, regular commenters were wishing death on him and his mother (I said “wishing” not “threatening.”) Lots of “fuck yous” directed at Kay, MomSense and others, too. I got off light…only accused of having Alzheimers and being a troll. I either missed the “fuck yous” or wasn’t worthy of them.😎
Like I said up thread, I wish to look forward. But some here want to re litigate how poorly they think Biden was treated without all the facts. More facts to come out as to how this all went down. And then there are those who want to compare Biden and Harris and that certain actors will turn on Harris, too, if she misteps. Imo, they are comparing apples and zebras.
Honestly, I don’t care how we got here. I owe no personal loyalty to Biden like he was a family member or friend. I want to win. And that wasn’t going to happen with Biden. We needed and got a reset with Harris-Walz.
RinaX
@schrodingers_cat: Exactly. I’m thrilled with Kamala’s success and will stay mad forever at President Biden’s treatment.
Lyrebird
In my line of work, I can explain how it’s somewhat natural to engage in, but in my life as a citizen of this country and this planet, I am here to thank you and many others for what you’ve said. In this moment, revisionist history within the ranks of people pulling for the Harris Walz campaign is at best a waste of time, and can well be a source of splintering.
There are actors of ill will on the outside who will encourage any splintering they can, when we need to run up the score. Biden-Harris pulled off something amazing four years ago, and it’s not downhill now.
Gonna mush up my metaphors here, but for the running up the score, YES to @rikyrah:’s point, let’s get Walz in Ohio, appearing with Tester up in Big Sky country, let’s get the ticket to pump up the volume in Florida, Let’s frickin GOOOOOOOO!
Quinerly
@Mike E:
Hmmmm…….
Kay
@Chris:
It’s really true. I read the summary of that paper and it was like “light bulb!” Too lazy to read the whole thing.
The only functioning federal government – for YEARS now. And they do overperform. given the EC and the Senate. That was the other point of the paper. I thought about it after we won in 2020 because so many other countries were failing re: the far Right. But as always, you;re only as good as your last win so we have to do it again.
Bupalos
Again, “I know more about the politics of this than Nancy Pelosi and Jim Clyburn, the proof is the future-counterfactual that I insist I know the shape and outcome of” is a chicken that I’m genuinely surprised people want to keep fucking.
OId Man Shadow
Okay… I am going to try to explain.
I’m still very angry about the four weeks of a subset of Democrats attacking the party’s nominee constantly and aiding and abetting the media and the pundits and the Republicans in fucking us over to the point where shit like the Ariana Grande primary was being floated as an idea, however stupid it was.
I am trying very hard to set aside that rage and process it and let it go because the realities of the two-party system really limit my ability to express that anger at certain Democrats without helping Republicans hurt women and minorities and I strongly believe in a “First, do no harm” when it comes to government.
Also I like Harris and I like Walz and they are very positive and I am not wanting to piss on Democrats when they’re finally acting like they should and being excited and positive and feisty. And they make me happy.
So, sure… if the victors want to paint those four weeks of shiving the nominee now as a brave historical democratic correction and Joe Biden is a hero instead of the names they were calling him, well, you get to write the histories.
I really do prefer talking about the positive stories about Harris/Walz. And staying on message is a good thing no matter what the media says. “None of their damn business” resonates with Americans and it’s good someone says it and says it often.
Kay
@hobbitdreams:
Whatever. Disagreeing with you is not “bullying” you. In fact, I was told to fuck off, to shut up and called a racist during this by my supposed “victims”. I did none of that to any of you. I’ve been here for years. I have never once told anyone to shut up, but the Biden people did.
But you’re my victim. Bullshit. If you throw a punch learn how to take one.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Ocotillo: The Boys on the Bus. Had a story about how it was about to rain at the end of the speech, and RFK says “as Shaw once said, “run for the bus”” as the press tried to avoid the raindrops.
RevRick
@rikyrah: The attitude of the reactionaries in charge of the GOP towards women duplicates the conventional narratives of the Greco-Roman empires with regards to race, class and gender. Those who weren’t in the “in” group were considered contemptible others. Slaves, for instance, were considered two-footed livestock. Women were only good for reproduction. And barbarians were stupid and dangerous.
PJ
@rikyrah: Absolutely. We will need everybody to get out the vote.
jowriter
@rikyrah: Perfectly said.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Tony Jay: I know you are kidding, but on my trip to the UK I was fascinated to learn that Scotland is volcanic and England is chalk. They are geologically dissimilar and were scrunched together to make one island.
Kay
@hobbitdreams:
BTW, this is a personal attack. Those are supposedly barred under the rules the people who told me to fuck off and shut up insisted they needed for protection. But I’ll never report you, because I don’t give a shit.
hobbitdreams
@Kay: DARVO. It’s what bullies do when they can’t win on the merits. Those sweet victim tears
hobbitdreams f
@Kay: DARVO. It’s what bullies do when they can’t win on the merits. Those sweet victim tears.
PJ
@Bupalos: You need to check the definition of a fact, because the actual fact is that, prior to Biden dropping out, it was reported that Pelosi wanted a mini primary, and she has confirmed that in her book interviews last week.
Clyburn never went along with that nonsense – he explicitly stated that he was for Biden and if not Biden, Harris, and when Biden dropped out, he immediately endorsed Harris.
Tony Jay
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan):
I read that just yesterday on the look-out plaque on the beach at Ceols, just outside Fort William. A big old band of crust stretching from Scandinavia and Scotland down across the Atlantic from Greenland to the US Southeast are all holdovers from the ancient continent of Laurentia.
I’d say more but we’ve got choppy seas and I need to go stand on the deck for a bit. 🤢
geg6
@Belafon: Totally agree. Everything I’ve seen and heard and read about Pelosi’s role in this says she wasn’t doing some genius ninja thing and was absolutely sure that Harris would be the nominee because of her (Nancy’s, to be clear) awesome (and legislatively, they are awesome) political skills. She was totally open to something like a mini-primary, which is about the stupidest thing I can possibly imagine and why I wasn’t on board with everyone who was running around screaming “Off with his head!” And I have lost a lot of my respect for Nancy Pelosi and her political skills. I don’t really think she’s someone we should listen to when it comes to electoral politics. She’s a great legislator and a fantastic Speaker of the House, but no one should hire her as a campaign consultant.
Ruckus
@trollhattan:
When was the last time people here rode on a train?
I ride the commuter train here in LA instead of driving across the county. Takes about the same amount of time, sometimes less, and costs me $2.70 to go 50+ miles round trip, while gas alone is about 4-5 times more. And less of that stress stuff. Here in LA county there are 2 train systems. Electric commuter trains, there are 5 routes that covers a lot of the county and Union Pacific diesel trains. Other parts of the country use trains a lot more. Many major metropolitan areas have commuter trains, I’ve ridden several of them, Boston, Chicago, NYC subways for example. Even in LA some of the commuter trains are underground for at least a few miles. It’s far better than running the tracks in the middle of the road, it allows one to get off one train, stand on the platform and wait 5-6 minutes for the next train going in a completely different direction. Makes it extremely useful for commuting. And morning/late afternoon many of the trains are full and standing room is all there is when one boards. The trains get used.
japa21
@Omnes Omnibus:
Thank you.
Kay
@hobbitdreams:
Good. We agree. You’re not being “bullied” when people disagree with you. The rules are not you can attack me and when I come back you scream “bully!” especially because you attacked me personally and I never do that. You may say whatever you want. And I can (and will) disagree. If you want an echo chamber start your own blog.
You almost turned this one into an echo chamber, where 90% of the people here went off the deep end and decided the entire Democratic Party was plotting to remove Kamala Harris. No polls, no newspapers, just quoting each other on Twitter.
hobbitdreams f
@Kay: So observations of repeated behavior committed in writing are personal attacks? Lol. Btw, I’ve never engaged in fuck-you’s. I prefer arguing on the basis of facts and logic, with a dollop of opinion thrown in for fun.
Citizen Alan
@tam1MI: Ah, Jack Germond. I haven’t thought about that pompous sack of shit in years. Supposedly one of the “liberals” on the McLaughlin Group. But I will never forget that his very last column before retiring was an attack on Al Gore just months before the 2000 election for Gore being “a serial liar.” The evidence? Gore said in a stump speech that “this audience is one of the biggest crowds we’ve ever had!” But Germond checked with Gore’s staff and they said “there were probably one or two that were bigger.”
geg6
@lowtechcyclist:
Forget it,
Jakelowtechcyclist. It’s Chinatown with several of these people. They will continue to move the goalposts, play Calvin ball and condescend. Let them at it if it makes them feel good. None of them are worth the time or trouble. Only they know. Only they understand. Only they are brilliant political strategists and nothing you can say will change their minds.Mike E
@OId Man Shadow: even more important in this situation is the fact that the MAGA swell has always been a mile wide but inch deep, the MSM look into this faux river and admire their own reflection in publishing all the memes/narratives that they ostensibly see in it THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN a nice cool swimming pool appears that has everybody wanting to jump into and the media must recalibrate or lose their opportunity to cash in.
The press sucks and are no good and will let you down every time BUT they can be led by the nose with some smart strategizing and stagecraft. Won’t save democracy but that only happens with a trouncing this fall, meanwhile I’m going to enjoy this Freedom and Joy Summer. Nobody in normieland cares about what Nancy and Co. are doing and all the BJ infighting is just an embarrassment.
geg6
@Mike E:
Shit stirring is in the eye of the beholder. Myself, I see others wallowing in the shit.
hobbitdreams
@Kay: Wow! Am I ever powerful on this almost top 10k blog! I almost turned it into an echo chamber. Must have gotten a radioactive spider bite to have such effect. Lol.
Mike E
@geg6: yep, the Internet is weird.
Chris
@Kay:
Yeah, it’s almost hard to add up the sheer number of things crippling the Democratic Party; from the official ones like the EC and the Senate, to the less visible ones like election day being on a work day, to voter suppression laws of varying explicitness from state to state, to the ever-present threat of straight-up coups by Republicans in varying positions of power.
On a level playing field in an actual democracy, the GOP would’ve entered long-term minority status sometime in the late nineties.
hobbitdreams
@geg6: Yes, you’re right. Will stop holding up mirrors now, even if they don’t like it for some reason.
Soprano2
@rikyrah: Think about the fact that no living past Republican president or vice-president spoke at the Republican convention. They have completely repudiated their history in favor of the Orange Fart Cloud.
Old School
@Quinerly:
Whatever happened to all of those long-time lurker, first-time commenters who felt strongly enough to post 40 times per days about how Biden must go?
I guess they are all back to lurking.
Geminid
@Quinerly: I have only visited New Mexico, but the state fascinstes me and I read about it when I can. One thing that stands out is that New Mexico is a poor state. The 2020 Census showed that New Mexico ranked 48th out of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia in per capita income, at $28,423. Only West Virginia, Arkansas and Mississippi were poorer.
Colorado by contrast is ranked 9th at $41,053, with Virginia and California right behind.
I could see this on my trips to New Mexico, when I spent time around Santa Rosa, Roswell and traveled through southern New Mexico. The local economies seemed stagnant, which may account for the aging population because a lot of the state is like that, at least outside various pockets of prosperity. The young people leave, many for other states.
I don’t really know Albuquerque at all though, and that city is a key part of New Mexico’s economy. If they can stay on top of the water problem Albuquerque could be a good generator of economic growth, it seems to me.
zhena gogolia
@Omnes Omnibus: Well put.
MomSense
@hobbitdreams:
Why do you care what the pundits thought? They know nothing and they were not driving this process.
When democratic officials like Raskin, Pelosi, etc were talking about an open primary they were talking about the rules and what happens as soon as Biden released his delegates.
Since all the polling had Harris and all the other top contenders at about the same numbers in head to head match ups, I don’t even think donors (save for one) cared. It was reported that in her last call with Donors before Biden stepped aside, people kept interrupting the call to tell Harris how much they liked her.
Behind the scenes Harris was wrapping up her support. She also had the campaign money, campaign apparatus and legitimacy to be the nominee.
geg6
@Omnes Omnibus:
Nah, we’re just idiots who know nothing about politics and have to be schooled on it by our betters.
*looks up at her BS in poli sci (summa cum laude, no less) and wonders how that ever happened when she is so stupid and naive about politics
prostratedragon
@Tony Jay: Wow, I read about N. and S. Uist in McPhee’s The Crofter and the Laird, a good read which is a memoir of a season spent at his ancestral home on Colonsay. If you search on “Uist” you get a host of references involving the name “McPhee.”
geg6
@schrodingers_cat:
You can all come sit by me.
hobbitdreams
@MomSense: I see. My “problem” is that I believed my lying eyes. Why, oh why didn’t I heed the retroactive wisdom of BJ Politics Knowers?
Kelly
@Omnes Omnibus: Well put. My strong opposition to Joe stepping down was “I’m not a member of any organized political party…. I’m a Democrat.”
MomSense
@geg6:
And yet it ended up exactly as we said it would so maybe there is something to how we evaluated the information.
Bupalos
@PJ:
A lot of the problem here is that folks are defining “mini-primary” as whatever they want (generally if they were BidenStays, then something intentionally ridiculous and prone to disaster, as a way of arguing BidenStay)
I think the reality from the point of view of the machers like Clyburn is that they knew it was always a process that would in reality be managed by endorsements and controlled by them. “Mini-primary” was a shorthand for “controlled process that will generate more coverage, drown out Trump for weeks, create separation from Biden’s negatives, and give us an escape route in case of further disaster.”
MomSense
@hobbitdreams:
I think you are giving far too much weight to what pundits were saying. And yes I know for a fact that politicians don’t always say everything and that sometimes what they say publicly and what they are working for behind the scenes are different. There were structural factors to the actual campaign and funds that had to be included.
This is so ridiculous since one of the criticisms I kept getting from others here was that I was brainwashed by pundits. I was ignoring them.
geg6
@MomSense: I don’t pie but consider yourself that and just ignore me and all my comments. I’m really not interested in interacting with you and your friends. And no, it didn’t end up exactly as you said. This election is very important and I’m all in for the Dem ticket. But the future is, hopefully, in sight and there are scores to settle with people who have shown they are less than trustworthy in a crisis. And there are lots of us out here who feel the same way.
Anyway, that’s it from me. You never have to interact with me again.
tam1MI
This.
Bupalos
@Kelly: I get this and I think it’s where I have the greatest disagreement. The Democratic Party is actually pretty damn strong and incredibly united. I think 2016 gave us some PTSD we’re still saddled with, but really, what we just pulled off is not something that happens amidst a herd of cats, and it’s not because of one guy conducting a brilliant counter-conspiracy.
MomSense
@geg6:
Scores to settle. Got it.
OId Man Shadow
@Omnes Omnibus: Yeah. That’s it.
Thanks for posting that into words.
Geminid
@Ruckus: Fortune Magazine had an article about passenger trains July 30:
The lawsuit focuses on Amtrak’s Southern Crescent Route between New York and New Orleans. It carried over 300,000 passengers last year and Amtrak intends to increase that number.
Bupalos
@tam1MI: This isn’t “history” and it wasn’t written in the first place, such that it is now being rewritten. We’re still reading tea leaves on what happened behind the scenes. A contingent here has firmly decided based on a preexisting narrative that the “history” is basically as Trump has it: A handful of bigwigs and donors conducted a kind of conspiracy, what he and some here call a “coup.” The part where the contingent here diverts from Trump’s line is that they say there was a second counter-conspiracy conducted by Biden and Harris to fuck the coup plotters over and save us from chaos and destruction.
That isn’t the actual history. The behind the scenes history of this event will begin to be written years from now. We aren’t “rewriting” it when we suggest maybe this was actually the party doing a much more democratic and much more healthy thing than Trump wants to say. That it isn’t really any part of “democracy” to pretend an incumbent primary is democratically more essential than the Party on the whole doing it’s best to win a critical election.
Quinerly
@Geminid:
Thanks for taking the time to read my comments and to weigh in. We are the poorest Blue state.
There’s such a huge divide with not a lot in the middle. Redford is here permanently now with his last wife and her high end art gallery. I have met her. She seems down to earth but she is Robert Redford’s wife. I walked away from our encounter a little star struck. Santa Fe is the second largest art buying destination, I believe. Money comes here to spend money. Ali MacGraw has been here probably 30 years and is very approachable. Very involved in the animal rescue community and has been known to actually clean cages and walk rescues. Host of other very wealthy people and movie stars here in Santa Fe and Taos. If I had it to do over again, I would have looked more seriously to buy in Albuquerque or in Corrales. I really like Corrales. Locals here in Santa Fe whose roots go back to the Spanish can’t afford housing because of AirBnBs and those of us who have moved in from out of state. Lots of resentments on the FB Community Bulletin Boards and on NextDoor….especially towards CA and Texas money who came in and bought during Covid Times and since.
I have been shut down here most of the summer obsessed with my landscaping and new plantings and entertaining houseguests. I’m very antsy to get on the road to “drive around and look at things with my dog and talk to strangers.” Waiting for the tourists to leave and for cooler weather. I need to get back to that pulling into those dirt road villages and onto the pueblos to fall back in love with the state. Very restless right now.
hobbitdreams
@MomSense:
Here’s the thing:
-The Harris-Walz ticket is great! I love it.
-NO ONE KNEW in advance that it would happen, or that it would work so well. Opinion-havers on BJ and elsewhere might have thought it likely, but they didn’t KNOW. Plenty of slip between cup and lip, etc.
-There were forces that were indeed pushing for a Thunderdome mini-primary.
-NO ONE KNEW in advance that it wouldn’t happen. Opinion-havers on BJ and elsewhere might have thought it unlikely, but they didn’t KNOW.
I’m glad that things have worked out as well as they did AND I object to rewriting of history. Especially the history of the past few weeks that we all lived through. That is all.
Quinerly
@MomSense:
This is getting ridiculous. Cultist.
“Scores to settle.”
I doubt Biden would even say that. And, he was the one “stabbed.”
Kelly
@Bupalos: My worries about the Democratic party unity and organization go back further than 2016. Bacus and Lieberman making Obamacare less than it could have been. My Congressperson Darlene Hooley supporting the shitty bankruptcy bill back in 2003.
We’re better now. I’m feeling good about this. Things have changed. I’m catching up.
PJ
@Bupalos:
See, here you are taking a quote from Clyburn about the proposed virtual roll call prior to the Democratic convention (needed to meet the Ohio deadline) where delegates state who they are supporting, not the actual “blitz primary” or “open process” envisioned by people like Pelosi and Zoe Lofgren. That virtual roll call is not “open” – the delegates are already pledged.
The process that played out, where Biden endorsed Harris, and Harris locked up the endorsements and pledges she needed in 24-48 hours, was not the one these people envisioned. Thankfully, they didn’t get their way.
tam1MI
Union workers get paid double time when they work on weekends. Even trying to do something” pro-worker “, the Republicans figure out a way to screw workers over.
schrodingers_cat
Fun fact: Nancy Pelosi has restricted the comments in her tweet praising KH talking about their event yesterday, to only those accounts she follows.
You guys (you know who you are, not going waste my time tagging you) can try to retcon events that happened a month ago, but she knows what she did and that she has pissed off a lot of Ds.
Ruckus
@Kay:
Don’t forget that while they may be the leaders they have a large force of protection, which has a not insignificant level of say so in space, movement, who, what, when, where and how, because their job is to protect the person they are guarding, at all cost. It is never just a walk on, a few friendly words and thanks, see you later.
Bupalos
@PJ: It’s open as soon as the candidate releases the pledged delegates which is what it would mean for Biden to withdraw. You’re really making the point I’m trying to make, that all the terms here are undefined. When you say “what Pelosi mean was X, what Clyburn meany was Y, what posters here meant is Z” that’s really the point. People are imposing their idea of some more drawn out process, and generally slanting it to sound more or less chaotic based on their preference about Biden in the first place. Clyburn said we could “adapt” the roll call, and there’s no further explanation of what that means. Nor did Pelosi ever lay out what she meant. Personally what I talked about as an open primary was just a bunch of democrats giving speeches slagging Trump for 3 weeks, alongside some polling that Harris was destined to lead unless she had serious problems, followed by the delegates casting their votes. The deeper point is you can’t say “this is what they meant, and this is how that would have turned out” and act like you’re talking about “history” and/or getting bent out of shape that that “history” is being “rewritten.”
UncleEbeneezer
4.6 Earthquake in Highland Park, CA. We felt it pretty good here in Altadena. Short but a definite JOLT!
Quinerly
@schrodingers_cat:
Glad I have a life that doesn’t include Twitter. Or whatever it’s called.
tam1MI
That is not what Nancy Pelosi has been saying in her interviews. Hence the disagreement.
Geminid
@Quinerly: Part of New Mexico’s economy is based on tourism and second homes. That is not a bad thing in itself, but it seems like this sector might not support middle class jobs like say, the automobile factories and battery plants that are popping up in the Carolinas and Georgia.
New Mexico ought to benefit from the clean energy transition though. That should generate a lot of jobs and economic activity. I read in connection with the Sunzia wind project that preparations are being made to straighten out some highway intersections on the way to Lincoln County and two other counties next to it. You may be seeing some very long wind turbine blades being towed if you travel that way.
Bupalos
When pressed by CNN’s Erica Hill as to if there will be an expanded field during the virtual roll call vote ahead of the DNC, Clyburn said “there will definitely be other candidates.”
Clyburn emphasized Tuesday on MSNBC that Democrats “should not in any way do anything to work around Ms. Harris” and “should do everything we can to bolster her, whether she’s in second place or at the top of the ticket.” On Wednesday, he doubled down, saying Harris would do “very well,” but that he would be “interested” in hearing from Democratic governors, too. “If [Harris] were to be the nominee, we would need to have a running mate, a strong running mate,” Clyburn said. “So all this would give us a good opportunity, not just to measure up who would be good to be at the top of the ticket, but also who would be best in second place.”
It’s all ambiguous, but I think some managed “competitive” process from which Harris is overwhelmingly likely but not guaranteed to emerge on top is the most likely reading of Clyburn. I frankly think that’s what pretty much all of them were thinking, and a lot of what they were thinking is “imagine 3 weeks of ‘who can trash Trump the hardest’ being breathlessly covered by the media.”
hobbitdreams
@Quinerly: Yes, Nancy is such a fool for engaging on that platform.
schrodingers_cat
@hobbitdreams: If Nancy does it, she is smart, if you or I do it, we are idiots. Those are the rules, I am afraid.
MomSense
@tam1MI:
I am looking at what she is saying given that she is referring to a set of rules that are in writing. So her language may seem ambiguous to you unless you look at what the rules say.
Quinerly
@Geminid:
Big solar field not too far from me in planning stage. Lots of NIMBY. Screaming on line and in community meetings.
Ironic in that my community of Eldorado was planned to be the largest solar community in the country. Late 1970’s.
See history section. Wiki page really needs updating: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldorado_at_Santa_Fe,_New_Mexico
MomSense
@Bupalos:
It’s also what happened. The governors Clyburn was referring to are people that were planning to run in 2028. They all came out quickly saying they were not seeking the nomination and endorsing Harris.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@OId Man Shadow:
Thank you for this.
It’s also hysterical that the same people who claim something is a personal attack whinge about passive aggressive posts saying “come on, attack me directly, I can handle it”.
Can’t win (and shouldn’t even try) when dealing with a certain subset of “valued commenters”.
Ruckus
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:
It is likely that you have a higher population density and therefore more customers per doctor and therefore a higher salary is possible for the doctors. Let’s face it, it is expensive to get through the process of becoming a doctor. And while in some areas decent doctors are not that difficult to find, finding one that does not have a FULL schedule is difficult. I use the VA and I have appointments well into next year. They wanted to schedule a lab procedure and it’s 3 months out, almost 4 from when it was actually scheduled. It can get worse in normal medical providers.
empty parking lots
This Vance guy is creeping us out.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Quinerly:
That description applies to a *lot* of “hot” places. Fucking AirBnb is a pox on neighborhoods; there’s a reason that big cities like Lisbon, Barcelona and NYC are finally enacting and enforcing legislation to curb that. And “CA and TX money” is constantly used as a trope here in Denver, with some justification, but I’ve been hearing that for almost 50 years. There’s a shitload of money that needs to be parked somewhere and real estate in places like Santa Fe is just one. Thank’s 40+ years of Reagonomics!
I have an old friend in Santa Fe whose been very active in solar and grid upgrade issues with the state legislature. Grid modernization there is a big thing because it’s been neglected far longer than a place like here in CO and yet, the utilities always do things that enable their bottom line first at the cost to consumers, the “smart metering” being the latest in that line of crap.
Uncle Cosmo
If there were any “Irish revolutionaries here,” they’d no doubt would have spelled it correctly: Sinn Féin, pronounced “shin fane,” Irish Gaelic for “[We] ourselves”. You could’ve looked that up, but instead you chose to shoot from the lip and make a cheap and inaccurate joke. No doubt you were sniggering to yourself over your cleverness as you typed.
Ruckus
@PJ:
I may be way, way off base here but Nancy Pelosi is 84 yrs of age. Is it possible that – as good as she has been for decades – and she has been, is it possible that she has reached her limit? And no I do not know the answer to that question but as someone who is a senior and who lives in a senior’s apartment complex with other seniors I see people who have reached their limits. I’m a few years younger than she is and I reached my work limit about 1 1/2 yrs ago – and retired. Now I worked as a high precision machinist so being able to concentrate and do physical work was possible but I’d done this for over 60 yrs and really was just done. We all have limits, she may have reached hers. And no, I’m not saying she has, the only person that KNOWS that is Nancy Pelosi.
Quinerly
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Thanks for weighing in.
Ruckus
@Kay:
The sound you can’t hear is me clapping.
One of the reasons I’ve been on this blog for over 15 yrs is that it has normally a reasonable crowd who may not, does not always agree but we normally discuss issues, especially if we have differences. Of course there is always the concept that someone will be so far off base that it might sound like an argument. And even arguing is OK, we are trying to find common cause among a group of humans, an often fraught and tiresome effort. Humanity often does not follow the rules of decorum or rational thought and often trying to get from point A to point B requires a trip the length to another continent and back rather than one normal step. But we seem to be able to normally do that here, at least most of the time.
But I think that the “conservative” side of our politics is so shamelessly fucked up and trying to coalesce around a maximum loser who
hasis going around the bend at warp speed that it has gotten us to an irrational stage in our national politics. And that affects all of us, and some of us more than others. It’s difficult to play being a human when a large segment of the population has zero idea how to do that and demands that we listen to them, or they will make it worse. This is about the worst time I’ve seen in politics in my over 3/4 of a century. And that’s saying something.CarolPW
@OId Man Shadow:
Good job, thanks.
MomSense
@PJ:
It’s exactly what happened. The language of open convention or mini primary may seem ambiguous to you if you are not referencing the rules. Because Harris had the structural advantage and because she had been lobbying for weeks for the delegates and endorsements she needed, she wrapped up the open convention in about 24 hours. Also this year was a little different because we had the official nomination process by roll call before the convention – which is why Clyburn referred to the roll call.
ewrunning
I’m late to this thread, so apologies if someone else made this point already. Much as I like the explanation about bored “solipsistic morons” in the media resenting hearing the same speech over and over, I think the writer misses another factor. When a Democratic candidate does alter her/his stump speech, in content or tone, to connect with the local audience, our evermore pointless political reporters and pundits immediately leap into action to label such as”inauthentic,” “pandering,” “cynical,” etc. Similarly any Democrat who changes a policy position in response to new information or for whatever reason is ipso facto considered a phony. Republicans do this all the time. The number of times they get called on it are vanishingly small.
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
I believe that at least a part of this is that Kamala Harris is our first female VP and has what I think is an extremely good chance at winning the presidency. Now of course we had Hillary Clinton run for president and do very well but she and KH are 2 different humans – AND this is a different time. HC to me led the way for this. She shouldn’t have had to but then humans were/are involved.
Darkrose
I may be missing something, but I don’t get this argument, because I voted for Biden/Harris. It would be one thing if she wasn’t on the ticket, but she was, with the understanding that her main job is to take over for Biden if it becomes necessary. That’s why the “we don’t want a coronation” thing always sounded like “we’re waiting for a great white hope to step up” to me.
Ruckus
@UncleEbeneezer:
Didn’t feel it on the east side.
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
I used to go on twit more than on here but then someone bought it and renamed it and to me it became basically useless. He seems to have spent a lot of money for something with the goal in mind to screw it up and lose a lot of participants. I will still check out a post that someone here links to on occasion but other than that……nope.
Ruckus
@Kay:
A+
Ruckus
@Geminid:
It’s ok with me, one way or the other. If I go long distance, I fly. Medium distance it’s the train if possible. Next month I have to go to Washington, the state, and I’m flying. Trains work fine for me for shortish distances and I’ve taken them long distance, but I’ve done that and really not interested any more. I use to travel for work, 8 months a year. Been to 48 states for work, not at all interested in ever doing that again. And yes I’ve stated it was 46 here before, but I remembered a trip to 2 of the one’s I’d left out of the count. Only went there once but have been. It’s a pretty cool country and I’ve also traveled quite a bit of Europe and a few other countries, including Cuba 3 times. It sure has been interesting, sometimes boring, but the boring makes the interesting all the more so.
UncleEbeneezer
@Darkrose: The whole “coronation” thing is straight from Bernie Bros who claimed that the 2016 Primary was rigged and the DNC pushed other candidates aside for Hillary. When I started to see people reviving the phrase and floating the bullshit notion of mini-primaries in order to be “fair” that’s when it became pretty clear there was an effort by the ReplaceBiden back-stabbers, to try to skip past Kamala. They were clearly going to try to say that Kamala didn’t earn the nomination and had an unfair advantage. Fortunately, the Dem Base and elected delegates got behind Harris too fast for the potential shit-show that many Replacers wanted to happen.
Origuy
@Tony Jay: I had Balmoral Chicken in Alloa, near Stirling. Delicious!
The only time I’ve been in the Hebrides was a day trip out from Oban. A string of tickets as long as your arm. Ferry to Mull, bus to Fionnaphort on the other end of the island, smaller boat to Staffa with a pass by Fingal’s Cave, a few hours there to go inside the cave, another boat to Iona to see the abbey, then a ferry back to Oban.
Paul in KY
@Tony Jay: Was in Jamaica recently at a resort in Negril and there were alot of Brits there. All fine people. One afternoon at the pool there were alot of laughing and playing children in the pool shouting and talking and generally having a great time.
As I drained my 4th pina colada, I mentioned to my wife that it sounded like ‘Harry Potter Summer Camp’.
She proceeded to spit up her drink.
Paul in KY
@Jeffro: The greatest speech ever given (Pres. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address) lasted about 3 minutes.
Paul in KY
@Eric: I think the 2 bands I’ve seen the most in my career are Portugal the Man and Moon Taxi. Fine with hearing their songs again and again.
Actually got really pissed at Dead and Company when they played Bonnaroo back in 2017 or 2018 or thereabouts. They were also on a big tour of regular venues and one of their ‘shticks’ for this tour was they would not replay a song while on the tour. This meant that we only heard about 3 songs I’ve ever heard of. The rest were deep cuts that all sounded the same.
Paul in KY
@BR: I have to assume that all their Article 15s and LORs were coming from Tim Walz types. LOLing!
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: Certainly if Mr. Allred is going to win, he’s going to have to get huge numbers in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso and run good in Fort Worth/Dallas area too.
Paul in KY
@OId Man Shadow: I was Biden all the way, but that debate…
It shocked/saddened/freaked out alot of our supporters.
Paul in KY
@hobbitdreams: Kay was right about Pres. Biden needing to deeply reflect on his campaign performance and to bow out if he thought he couldn’t go hammer & tongs at TFG.