Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

I really should read my own blog.

Republicans do not trust women.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

We still have time to mess this up!

You cannot shame the shameless.

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

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

In after Baud. Damn.

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Kamala Harris in Action / Funniest, Dummest, Most Pathetic, Best, Worst, Most Memorable Lines in the Debate (and Taylor Swift Endorsed Kamala!)

Funniest, Dummest, Most Pathetic, Best, Worst, Most Memorable Lines in the Debate (and Taylor Swift Endorsed Kamala!)

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I laughed out loud when the Tramp said: ” Joe Biden hates you.”

*****

Also, Taylor Swift (!)

Full statement.

Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most. As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.

Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.

I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.

I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story.

With love and hope,

Taylor Swift
Childless Cat Lady

Reader Interactions

237Comments

  4. 4.

    Trivia Man

    “You still don’t have a plan” (after 9 years of promising a plan to replace ACA)

     

    “I’m not president. If I’m president, I will come up with a plan”

  5. 5.

    Xantar

    I wish I had come up with this line, but sadly I’m stealing it from another comment section:

    It looks like Trump

    😎

    got Swift-boated

     

    🎵 YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! 🎶

  14. 14.

    Anoniminous

    Legally Swift could start a PAC that could tap her global fan base.

    I don’t think she’ll do it.  Damn it all

  15. 15.

    catclub

    Extended ‘whataboutism’ comparing the J6 rioters to lots of unrelated groups.
    Still worried that Seattle and Minneapolis are smoking rubble.

  21. 21.

    hueyplong

    @catclub: Seems like Biden-Harris should get credit for the Marshall Plan-like reconstruction project that completely rebuilt those two cities.

  22. 22.

    bbleh

    Even Teh Fox was like “huh, well, she did well, actually, kinda, actually REALLY well, kinda …”

    Hahahahahaha!

    I hope the Narrative settles on this.  It can’t hurt.

    But dammit this is still REALLY CLOSE …

  23. 23.

    dmsilev

    ‘Concept of a plan’

    Something about illegal immigrants in prison getting transgender surgery forced onto them.

    Dogs and cats getting eaten in Ohio.

  29. 29.

    RevRick

    The top headlines of the NYT and Washington Post declare Harris puts Trump on Defensive. That will shape how the news will come out in the coming days.

  34. 34.

    RaflW

    @RevRick: Weak sauce from the cowardly press. Not wrong, per se, but substantially lacks coveying what actually transpired.

    She goaded him into multiple, extended rants and a lot of lies. Seems well beyond “defensive.” But you all know I think the Times in particular is unfixable.

  36. 36.

    catclub

    Harris saying, in answer to crime wave question that it is rich coming from Trump, who is a one person crime wave. That stung.

  37. 37.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @JWR:

    Right? I do find it interesting he brought up Orban though. The right has become enamored with Orban’s Hungary over the past few years

  40. 40.

    Jackie

    @RaflW:

    I know money is just one measure, but ActBlue spun up about $41 million since the debate started.

    I was one of many who received a text and added a contribution! 😊

  45. 45.

    Redshift

    @dmsilev:

    Something about illegal immigrants in prison getting transgender surgery forced onto them.

    I had the impression that one was more about about them getting it for free, not being forced.

    Best description of that I saw was “it’s like someone asked ChatGPT to make all their grievances into a single sentence.”

  47. 47.

    dmsilev

    @Redshift:

    it’s like someone asked ChatGPT to make all their grievances into a single sentence.

    When SkyNet comes to kill all humans it will claim self-defense, and will have a very valid point.

  49. 49.

    frog

    @bbleh: Trump said 20 million a month, so doing a little math that means in 1 year the population goes up by a third.

    Huh? All those illegals must be invisible. Or they’re all in the room with me now.

  50. 50.

    dmsilev

    WaPo’s ‘undecided swing state voter’ panel thought Harris won, 22-2. While wondering about those two, I’ll take it.

  51. 51.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @catclub:

    Yeah, it’s weird. Conservatives openly worshipped shirtless Putin back in the early 2010s. It’s almost like Victor Orban is the ‘safer’ alternative or something?

  52. 52.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    While I’m happy about the Swift endorsement, I’m kind of wishing Taytay had waited a week or two.

    With all the post-debate enthusiasm out there, it might have been better to wait for the next lull in the news cycle, so there’s something to fill it with.

  55. 55.

    RaflW

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: Shock and awe, baybe.

    And, her framing of “I watched the debate, and you should too” is actually crucial. Many of her fans don’t watch live TV but will seek out streaming later. She urged them to do it!

  56. 56.

    pieceofpeace

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): He was trying to deliver a zinger to unsettle and rattle her.   Trump, in his mind, can not be any less than a king, especially one who believes he possesses the ability to verbally anoint or ruin another, at will.

  57. 57.

    Jinchi

    I avoided the debate, but learned my 13 year old watched as part of a school assignment. Based on that comprehensive survey I can confirm Kamala has the Bay Area California middle school vote locked up.

  62. 62.

    BlueDWarrior

    @oldgold: I’ll take a 3:2 margin for Harris in a general debate watcher poll. For the most part, most orgs “Undecided Watchers” panels seem to be overwhelmingly pro-Harris in terms of the night. But Undecideds are so fickle they may wobble again for any number of inscrutable reasons.

  63. 63.

    VFX Lurker

    I’ve been away from Balloon-Juice all day, but I want to note two things:

    • My attempt to purchase two T-Shirts and give a $25 donation to the official Kamala Harris store is failing on ActBlue’s end, which isn’t taking my money. The last time I saw this happen was the Answer the Call fundraiser, which overloaded ActBlue’s ability to handle traffic. Maybe this is a good sign for Vice President Harris’ fundraising. I’ll try again a few hours later.
    • I see at least one thread cracked a TBogg unit downstairs. Damn.
  66. 66.

    Chet Murthy

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: I’m certainly not an expert on this stuff, but …. I read somebody saying that the -way- she endorsed, mentioning that she watched the debate, might have been a way to encourage her followers to watch the debate themselves.  If she’d waited a few weeks, the debate might have faded from memory, and it would have been less motivating to have their idol ask/tell them to watch it.

    But I don’t actually know: it sounds compelling, maybe it even is *grin*.

  67. 67.

    lamh47

    Vance on CNN smiling and still trying to defend that bullshit about immigrants eating cats and dogs or some shit.

    Chris Wallace azz talking bout he took umbrage with Vance talking bout media didn’t discuss “immigrant crime”…fuq you Chris Wallace…smh

    Dana Bash interrupted said no let’s call it what it is…it was racist. Good on Bash.

  68. 68.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @BlueDWarrior:

    I think that’s why it’s really important to have more of these debates and get both of them in front of voters often. People need to be constantly reminded of what he is and who Harris is

  69. 69.

    Redshift

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Why is Trump so obsessed with saying Biden hates Harris?

    It was going around the wingnut-sphere (and still is; I saw it in a reply just days ago) and TCFG posted about it.

    Basically, they tried to will into being the idea that Biden was “pushed out” involuntarily, sometimes by Harris, sometimes by Obama (the secret master controlling everything) or others, and he hates them first taking what was rightfully his. This is the basis for TCFG’s bizarro post that Biden was going to storm into the stage at the convention and take the nomination back somehow.

    I suspect it’s partly TCFG can’t imagine selflessly giving up anything, and is sure everyone else is really like him, and partly he spins bizarre fantasies because he thinks it’s unfair he’s doesn’t get to run against Biden.

  70. 70.

    NickM

    I see that the Harris campaign had the 3rd best fundraising day of the season 9/10 – around $45 million and behind only the two days after the announcement.

  71. 71.

    Origuy

    All the poll stats folks are having conniptions tonight because they won’t be able to separate the debate bump from the Swift bump.

  73. 73.

    Jackie

    @Lacuna Synecdoche:

    While I’m happy about the Swift endorsement, I’m kind of wishing Taytay had waited a week or two.

    Taylor’s timing is PERFECT!

    She and her cat punched TCFG and Vance when they KNOW TCFG had a sucky debate! 😁

    She and Harris will be controlling the news cycle for the next several days.

  74. 74.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    @RaflW:

    And, her framing of “I watched the debate, and you should too” is actually crucial.

    @Chet Murthy:

    I read somebody saying that the -way- she endorsed, mentioning that she watched the debate, might have been a way to encourage her followers to watch the debate themselves.

    Good points. I concede.

  75. 75.

    Kent

    @Jackie: I would not be surprised if Taylor’s people coordinated the endorsement timing with Harris’ people.

    Of course going into the debate, the Harris people couldn’t have known how badly she would eviscerate Trump

    I doubt that she wrote that perfect of an endorsement on the fly while watching the debate.  She had it queued and ready to drop.

  77. 77.

    kwAwk

    VP Harris did a magnificent job tonight in the debate.  Probably the best debate performance against Trump we’ve ever seen.

    Strangest moment and maybe best but missed opportunity was the part about Jan 6th.

    A) Trump couldn’t come up with a single regret from that day.
    B) Trump wouldn’t tell what he was doing in the missing 2 hours
    C)  Trump claimed he didn’t organize the rally, he just showed up and gave a speech so then who was bossing him around that day?
    D)  Claims he offered Nancy Pelosi, if I remember correctly 10,000 National Guard for security, for a rally of his own supporters that he called to Washington.  If the really wasn’t supposed to be violent, why did he need the National Guard, and if he was worried about violence, why did he have the rally at all?

    Seriously, 10,000 National Guard Troops spaced at 3 feet apart, 5 feet on center, would be a line of soldiers 6 to 7 miles long.

  79. 79.

    scav

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: Actually, reminds me somehow of Cheney’s endorsement.  If I remember right, that was released on a day when he likely to have some good news, the putting off (if not more) of some of his cases.  But no, that got stomped on by Cheney.  Any relief he might have felt today — or bothsider headlines he could have relished — have just been pushed even further down the page.  The impression that things are moving even faster than the news cycle should really play havoc with his assumption of being in control.

  82. 82.

    jonas

    @BlueDWarrior: But Undecideds are so fickle they may wobble again for any number of inscrutable reasons.

    “I agree his rallies are getting boring, but I’m really concerned about this wave of immigrant cat eating. What are Democrats doing about that?”

  85. 85.

    Jay

    @prostratedragon:

    well there is that whole 25th Amendment proposal by ShitHead to change it to allow the impeachment of a Vice President if they conceal the President’s inability to do the job.

    His previous proposal was to hang them.

  89. 89.

    S Cerevisiae

    There was only one President on that stage tonight, and she was brilliant. I also know nothing about fashion but she looked so damn Presidential, I think she put this thing away tonight.

  90. 90.

    Kent

    @NotMax:

    “They burned down Minneapolis.”

    Spat out by you-know who at least twice.

    Dude….Minneapolis happened on YOUR watch, not the Biden Administration.

  91. 91.

    Redshift

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    TMP noted this “Trump Enters Spin Room To Declare Victory For Himself”

    ROFL

    Yeah, it happened while the MSNBC hosts were talking to Claire McCaskill who was in the spin room. She told them there was a bit of uproar because he’d come into the spin room and they were kind of stunned. “He’s come into the spin room to spin for… himself? That… is not a sign of strength.” (Or something like that.)

  95. 95.

    karen marie

    My prediction of the media reaction is they’re all going to say “both sides claim victory” and then just move on.  There will be no examination of Trump’s absurdities, still no explanation to voters about how tariffs  work, still no explanation that there is no such thing as “post-birth abortion.”

    The one place in the abortion discussion that made me cringe was when Trump accused Harris of being in favor of abortions in the sixth, seventh and eighth months and her responding that she’s not.  That is insane.  There are situations where abortions in those months are necessary.

    As well as Harris did, I am disappointed that she was not prepared with specific responses to his most common bullshit.  Like Trump’s claim that inflation during the Biden administration was the worst the country’s ever seen.  I’m sorry, Donald, I’m pretty sure you were not only alive during the 1970s but an adult, because you weren’t just investigated for housing discrimination but you pled no contest, paid a fine, and signed an agreement that you would stop your illegal practices.

  99. 99.

    Redshift

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Also, the dogs and cats being eaten by Haitians. It’s fucking bizarre

    It is, but that kind of thing also has a long history as a way of stirring up racist and anti-immigrant hatred. It’s basically “those people are animals, they can’t be trusted to behave decently among civilized people,” and in the past could lead to getting the neighbors together to run people who are different out of town, or kill them, or burn their house down. Let’s hope it stays in the past, and the wingnuts who eagerly lap it up aren’t numerous enough to change that.

  102. 102.

    clay

    @karen marie:

    The one place in the abortion discussion that made me cringe was when Trump accused Harris of being in favor of abortions in the sixth, seventh and eighth months and her responding that she’s not.

    I’d have to go back and check, but I thought she ignored his accusations on that and didn’t respond.

    (Which was pretty typical of the evening; she mostly ignored whatever blathered out of his pie hole and made the points she wanted to make.)

  104. 104.

    frosty

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: I kind of like a comment that Taylor’s (and/or the campaign’s) timing undercut everything the spin room was doing. Forget these campaign staff we’re talking to, let’s check out the Swifties reactions.

  105. 105.

    clay

    @lamh47: Riiight… the lady dating the champion football star is gonna want to be knocked up by Mr Pasty-Flabby over there.

    Elon thinks he such an edgelord, but he has no idea what he’s in for if he pisses off the Swifties.

  107. 107.

    karen marie

    @clay:  She shook her head and quietly said no.

    Republicans have been on that jag for a long time and no one ever addresses it directly.  I thought it was a missed opportunity.

    That being said, I am still absolutely pro Harris/Walz and a steadfast Democrat, because even if she didn’t push back the way I would have liked, I know she is well aware of women’s reproductive healthcare issues.

  109. 109.

    Redshift

    It really is striking how many of the bizarro moments were just unfiltered sludge from the right-wing bubble. He’s marinating in it so constantly (and is in a feedback loop with it) that he’s completely lost the ability to make it more presentable for normal people. He always said appalling things, but he didn’t always get attached to random things that are trending over there.

    One of the most powerful, though unverbalized, points of the debate was “do you want to have a government that makes decisions based on what some guy posted on Facebook and ‘they said it on TV'”?

  110. 110.

    Jay

    @karen marie:

    The one place in the abortion discussion that made me cringe was when Trump accused Harris of being in favor of abortions in the sixth, seventh and eighth months and her responding that she’s not. That is insane. There are situations where abortions in those months are necessary.

    It’s a standard Forced Birther attack line.

    Nobody is “in favour” of abortions, but sometimes they are needed.

    The standard PP response is that “abortions should be safe, legal and rare”.

    MVP Kamala Harris quickly avoided wrestling with a pig in the mud with her answer.

  112. 112.

    karen marie

    @scav:   I recommend a listen to the Professional Left Podcast (with Driftglass and Blue Gal) that they posted tonight.  They talk about the Cheney endorsements and what’s actually going on with that.

    They also discuss Lawrence O’Donnell’s take on sanewashing and the fact that he did not name names.

    (It was taped pre-debate, so …)

  115. 115.

    KatKapCC

    @Jay:

    The standard PP response is that “abortions should be safe, legal and rare”.

    No one on the pro-choice side uses this phrase anymore. It has been out of favor for many years. And yes, some of us are “in favor” of abortions when they are needed or wanted. You seem to imply that being “in favor” of abortions means someone wants all pregnancies to be aborted. No. It means we want pregnancies that are not wanted to be able to be aborted if that’s what the pregnant person chooses. Don’t do their work for them, please.

  117. 117.

    Jay

    @KatKapCC:

    Crawl down into the mud with the Forced Birther Pigs if you want. In Canada, Planned Parenthood still uses, “safe, legal and rare”, but we have fewer insane people than you do, and you know, Free Healthcare.

    Nice strawman though.

  118. 118.

    Chet Murthy

    @Jay: Jay, @KatKapCC: does have a point.  We went thru many years in the US of using that “safe, legal, and rare” formulation, and what too many people took away from it was “eew, abortion, ick”.  And so, at some point in the last 10yr or so, abortion rights activists and -many- women bloggers started celebrating abortion, and that has only accelerated since Dobbs.  You can see a real sea change in the way women writers talk about their abortions: there are lots of essays about how it wasn’t a “fraught” decision at all, how it was the obvious thing, how it was great and their lives were so much better because of it, how happy they are that they got their abortion, and how they had no second thoughts whatsoever.

    In short, “what ‘ew’ ?  I’d do it again!”  And I think that, given that we do indeed have so many Forced Birther Pigs, that is the only formulation that can work in the US as currently constituted.  I think that the complexity of having that argument out before an audience that still contains a lot of “eew abortion” types, is why VP Harris stuck with “I will restore the protections of Roe v. Wade”.  It avoids having a complicated explanation of what she’s proposing, while making it clear to any woman who cares that she’s in their corner and will restore their rights.

  121. 121.

    lamh47

    @karen marie: I saw that more as a head shake and a no of WTF is this guy talking about.

    Unlike Chump Kamala wasn’t allowed to talk over the muted mic.

    So she spoke with her expressions and reactions.

  125. 125.

    SatanicPanic

    “There’s a new kind of crime ‘migrant crime’”

    or

    All the times he said “that’s no one’s ever heard of”

  128. 128.

    piratedan

    I thought that there was one moment when I had a sense of clarity regarding Trump ranting about the pets being eaten in Ohio and he was saying that he “saw it on TV!”.

    The channel he likely saw it on…. Fox News, you know, the network that has stated in court that you can’t take what they broadcast as factual information as its for entertainment only….

    I thought about that poetic alignment of a national network constantly pumping false information out there on a daily basis and their most significant political “asset” dropping that out that there like it was actual truth and having everyone recognize that not only is he repellent asshole, he’s also unable to stay tethered to reality.

    Next thing you know, he’ll being citing Fast and Furious as a documentary.

  131. 131.

    Groucho48

    @karen marie: I think her giving him the amused look and then ignoring what he said and making her own points was more effective. Don’t let him decide what’s important

  134. 134.

    Ishiyama

    I honestly have to draw a parallel from fiction to find the equal of the job that Kamala Harris did, by triggering Trump into tirades of nonsense. It put me in mind of Jose Ferrer in the Caine Mutiny, asking Humphrey Bogart about the strawberries.

  136. 136.

    TS

    Washington Post Headlines are using all the negative words in relation to the very positive impact of Kamala Harris in this debate – and the commenters are fighting back against them.

    They just cannot say trump lost. Wonder what they will be saying on election day when trump loses

  140. 140.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    So … I’m awake and caffeinated and my work computer is on and my to-do list is clear.

    I take it from the post-mortems that things went better last night than they did last time?

  141. 141.

    Chet Murthy

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: If you haven’t watched it, and you have even the slightest urge and free time, you should: it was

    (a) cathartic after all the heinous trauma we’ve all been thru

    (b) great gobs of fun, watching her slice-and-dice the bastard

    (c) even more fun, watching him spout the most ridiculous tripe

    (d) and watching as even the moderators just wouldn’t put up with some of it

    Truly, great fun.  I felt like I was back in 2016, watching The Trump Show at my local bar, watching Hillary gut him like a fish.  Obviously, we shouldn’t be complacent like we were that time around.  But it was great fun, seriously!

  143. 143.

    K-Mo

    Most memorable point for me was when she said people were leaving his rallies out of exhaustion and boredom and his eyes *bugged out.*.

  145. 145.

    Mel

    @TS: Smaller city news is doing it, too. The Cincinnati Enquirer is sanewashing Trump’s ragey, psycho- babble performance, reporting as if the debate had been a point-for-point, well-matched back and forth. with Trump supposedly taking clear policy stances.

  148. 148.

    TheMightyTrowel

    @jay and others – “Safe Legal and between a woman [depending on audience, pregnant person – ed.] and her doctor” – does the same work, cuts out the ick, restores privacy. Cut that rare crap out – one step away from shaming women who get abortions – abortions will happen at the frequency women/pregnant people need them to happen.

  151. 151.

    Chet Murthy

    @TheMightyTrowel: Mmmm… the problem with that formulation is that the retort can be made “you’re for abortion in the ninth month!”  Whereas “I will restore Roe v. Wade” isn’t, and also has the advantage that because it is not -detailed- as to exactly what regime is being reinstated, it forces TCFG to expend precious time explaining it (which of course he can’t do, b/c he doesn’t know and never cared to learn).  And your target audience already believes that Roe v. Wade was an acceptable standard, so you don’t have to convince them.

  155. 155.

    Jay

    @Chet Murthy:

    Yurp. Commies on your border.

    Sad thing is, we get a lot of “Merkins” crossing the border, for medical care.

    If you are sick, the Hospitals treat you, simple as that.

  156. 156.

    Mel

    @Jay: Never said that it was independent.

    My point is that the type of sanewashing of Trump’s sad-sack performance that is being discussed is happening in more than one print outlet, in different sized markets, despite the very obvious outcome of the debate.

    It’s exactly what I expected them to print, but it still raises my hackles to see it.

  157. 157.

    Jay

    @Mel:

    Used to it here, Post Media, felon Conrad Black back in the 80’s, bought a lot of local papers, dictated editorial content and front pages. We lost a lot of good writers and reporters.

  158. 158.

    Mel

    @Jay: A few years ago, one of my meds for my autoimmune crud went from around $3 a month to nearly $500 a month. (Colchicine – drug company used a loophole to take a 100-plus year old generic drug back to patented status for the sole purpose of jacking the price sky high.)

    My immunologist was recommending that patients consider taking intermittent overnight  trips to Canada together to fill a three month supply of the med, because it would be far cheaper travel out of the country and fill the prescriptions than to try to afford filling the meds Stateside.

    It’s insanity that this is how our healthcare system is structured.

  164. 164.

    David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch

    Kamala is a real life “Jackie Brown”.  She took Dump apart with a pair of pliers and a blow torch.

  165. 165.

    p.a.

    The few reports on trad video media I’ve seen so far are normalizing the freak’s performance.🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

    I hope the ratings were through the roof!

  166. 166.

    trnc

    @KatKapCC:

    The standard PP response is that “abortions should be safe, legal and rare”.

    No one on the pro-choice side uses this phrase anymore. It has been out of favor for many years. And yes, some of us are “in favor” of abortions when they are needed or wanted. You seem to imply that being “in favor” of abortions means someone wants all pregnancies to be aborted. No. It means we want pregnancies that are not wanted to be able to be aborted if that’s what the pregnant person chooses

    Clinton meant that the conditions that lead to unwanted or dangerous pregnancies need to be reduced. IE, birth control education, access to prenatal care for all expectant mothers, etc. He wasn’t denigrating abortion.

  167. 167.

    Starfish

    @karen marie:

    The one place in the abortion discussion that made me cringe was when Trump accused Harris of being in favor of abortions in the sixth, seventh and eighth months and her responding that she’s not. That is insane. There are situations where abortions in those months are necessary.

    Someone on Twitter pointed out that Harris murdered a baby that was 78-years old.

  169. 169.

    Starfish

    @piratedan: Remember. This happened a lot during his Presidency. He spent a lot of time watching Fox news and having his actions be influenced by whatever nonsense they were going on about.

  177. 177.

    Mousebumples

    @TheMightyTrowel: I’d like for abortions to be rarely needed – because it’s simpler for free pregnant person to not need to make arrangements for the abortion and to not be pregnant* if they don’t want to be. Easy access (free access!) to birth control with the ACA has been a game changer. I still remember the shock of some women when their oral contraceptives at my Walgreens went from $25 to $0. (I credited Obamacare)

    Access to long term family planning strategies should also be more accessible. You want a hysterectomy, tubal ligation, vasectomy? No need to wait until you have X number of children. No need to ask a spouse about their opinion. Everyone should have the bodily autonomy to make that choice.

    Anyhow, while I am all in on the bodily autonomy train, I think it is still good to make the need for abortion as low as we can.

    * – abortion due to pregnancy complications often can’t be predicted or prevented, so there will always be a need, no matter what we do to arrange birth control access and stop rape/incest/abuse.

  178. 178.

    K-Mo

    BTW can someone clue TFG in on what a “strongman” is?   I liked the way MVP used that term correctly in one of the later answers.

  179. 179.

    MagdaInBlack

    @lamh47: I suspect she wont respond, but just for sh*ts and giggles I’d love her to post a side by side of Kelce shirtless and Leon in that godawfu pic of him shirtless and a comment like “Thanks, but I’m doing fine.”

  180. 180.

    bugs

     

    @karen marie:  I’d have pointed out that “in favor of” is a weird way to frame  supporting access for a medically necessary procedure that nonetheless frequently has a lot of difficult physical and emotional complications surrounding it.  It’s like asking a candidate if they’re in favor of colostomies.

  183. 183.

    snoey

    @RaflW: Seedfinder says that Black Rubble is Barney Rubble crossed with Blackberry Kush. Haven’t had any but the breeding looks solid.

  188. 188.

    AM in NC

    One of the strongest moments for me was when Harris beat him over the head with the examples of real women being harmed by his anti-abortion policies that he says “everybody wanted”, and her repeating over and over again with each example “She didn’t want that. She didn’t want that, and her husband didn’t want that” and then explicitly saying he was taking an IMMORAL position.  Totally turned the tables on the Christian Nationalists who have always tried to claim the moral high ground on this issue.

    It’s important for Democrats to talk about the immorality of so may of the Republicans’ policies; people vote on emotions and affinity, not logical policy prescriptions (although Democrats win there too).

  189. 189.

    Betty

    @JWR: Elon has responded as his creepy self saying  he will give her a child and protect her cats. He is far gone into Trumpism

  190. 190.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @ascap_scab: and @grubert:

    To my surprise, that article isn’t that bad, and neither are DeWine’s actions.  Bones thrown simultaneously to the humanitarians and the xenophobes, mostly the former.  A population increase of 25% in 4 years is a strain, and more money for schools and healthcare is definitely a good thing.  The police were being arranged before the ‘eating pets’ thing came up to handle traffic issues I’m sure are real, but I’m also sure they’ll hassle immigrants because they’re cops, so that’s not good but not insane.  His rhetoric simultaneously praises immigrants and bashes the federal government for allowing lots of immigration.  A mixed bag, vastly better than I would have expected.

  193. 193.

    TBone

    My cousin in Michigan copied me on her son’s texts from his college dorm during the debate. 😆 🔥 They had a Blue house party and celebrated with copious laughter (😉) every time Donvict lied.

  194. 194.

    Kay

    @ascap_scab:

    That city, like a lot of Ohio small cities,  was dying. It went from 80k population to 60k in ten years. Haitians are the best thing that ever happened to it. They’re all working. DeWine realizes that means they’re all paying taxes, right, including property taxes and state taxes for schools? Can he add and subtract?  They’re a NET GAIN.

    It’s in the part of Ohio prosecutors call “the meth belt” – huge drug problems and young white men who won’t work. That’s why local employers were desperate for reliable employees and have welcomed Haitians. They interviewed one last night who has hired 30 and said he would “gladly” take 30 more. They’re GOOD for the economy and the whole town.

  195. 195.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Betty:

    He is far gone into Trumpism

    He’s always been a racist, queer-phobic, misogynistic, just plain mean asshole.  Trumpism wasn’t a big reach.  Frankly, all signs point to him just being loud and public about his horribleness, and I’m sure gross, sexist humor has been par for the course all his life.

  196. 196.

    Starfish

    @TBone: My middle schooler was incredulous and laughing at all the stupid things he was saying until we told him he had to go get ready for bed.

  198. 198.

    Betty

    @Jay: I also didn’t like her sounding as if Roe v. Wade restoring Roe would be enough. The protection has to go beyond that because the Court continued to whittle it away over time. Full reproductive rights – period.

  199. 199.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Kay:

    They’re GOOD for the economy and the whole town.

    Reading the article, it sounded like he did understand that.  You’re on the ground in the state, and maybe know more than the article says, but it sounded like a reasonable reaction to a town’s population growing quickly, with some “But damn those federal Demon-crats!” rhetoric tacked on.  I mean, I was expecting hate, but he was praising the immigrants for being honest and hard working there.

  200. 200.

    Mousebumples

    @Betty: I consider that to be an electoral promise that makes sense to Voters. If you need to explain your policy in great detail, you lose normies. I hope Congress will restore Roe + additional protections. But we have to do the work, too.

  201. 201.

    Ken

    It’s not from the debate, but I would like to nominate this from Nate Silver (screencap from a bluesky post by Jill Twiss) in the “pathetic” category:

    And the stature gap in terms of physical size was also notable, especially with Harris having a shorter podium. Sometimes you’ll hear people say that you should watch the debate with the sound off, and by that measure it was much closer than with the sound on.

  202. 202.

    Starfish

    @Mousebumples: We don’t need to “restore Roe.” We need to grant women rights over bodily autonomy to the point that we kill the various restrictions that the federal government has put into place like the Hyde amendment, the restrictions against Medicaid funding abortion, etc.

    We need to come out better and stronger.

  203. 203.

    TS

    Had such a busy day in my world, missed most of the “after the debate” discussion – just laughing out loud as I read some of them.

    As for the media – really trying to normalise his behaviour – not getting there – no way

    Missed most of MJ – just tuning in to the repeat hour – they are decimating trump

  204. 204.

    prostratedragon

    Be interesting to filter out the references to cats and Haitian immigrants from his babblings last night and compare to the June babblings. I bet there’s little difference in coherence. Ears, when unplugged, are powerful.

  206. 206.

    The Thin Black Duke

    I wish some folks would stop saying stuff like “I wish Kamala said [something something].” Don’t harsh my buzz, man. MVP was superb. Can we just enjoy the afterglow for a while?

  207. 207.

    hueyplong

    @Ken: On the other hand, there are also people who assume that, in a “debate,” the one thing you’d not want to ignore is what they are saying.

    The number of things on which Nate Silver presumes to be an expert grows and grows.  His work is also inching closer and closer to that of G Greenwald in both style and content.

  208. 208.

    hueyplong

    @The Thin Black Duke: Especially when they are things that appeal most to the people whose votes are already assured.  We’re aiming at the squishy middle here, and the squishy middle likes middling things.

  210. 210.

    Mowgli

    @The Thin Black Duke: agreed. Seems nitpicky to me, especially in areas like abortion where she deftly balanced that not all Americans are comfortable with the topic and she focused on the politically “sellable” message not on some dream of what we’d get without divided government.

  211. 211.

    Kay

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    But portraying this as the federal government somehow dumping them in Ohio is just nonsense. They started coming there in 2018. They found work so more located there. No one was dumping anyone. There’s a group in south Toledo too. Joe Biden didn’t “send” them there – they moved there the same way all human beings move, because of connections to other people.

    Again- the city had 80k residents and went down to 60k. If 20k Haitians moved there they’re up to the population they had a decade ago. It isn’t even a net gain of people.

  212. 212.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    I didn’t watch much of it.  I hate these things.  I walked in early to see her taking Trump apart to relieve my anxiety, then peeked in later to see Trump brag about overturning Roe vs Wade again and Harris start going to town.  She goaded dumbass Trump into providing material for a thousand political ads, and she has been running ads just quoting his horribleness.

    She was amazing, put everything I heard in terms normies will easily understand and be inspired by, and she dominated that debate like a champion.  A huge win.  A fucking rout.

  213. 213.

    prostratedragon

    @Ken:  He’s really flailing and flopping these days. I mean, besides which if you look at the candidates with sound off and not at the stage managing, maybe it doesn’t look close at all.

  214. 214.

    JML

    @Betty: referring to Roe like that is just short-hand for reproductive rights. People don’t have Dobbs baked in, but basically everyone understands that when you talk about restoring rights under Roe that you’re talking about protecting reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. I woudn’t take it quite so literally.

  217. 217.

    TBone

    When she strode across that stage LIKE A BOSS and invaded his personal space right from the beginning, I knew it was gonna be good!

  218. 218.

    TS

    @hueyplong:

    His twitter feed is full of posts saying the ABC helped Harris all the way. If you don’t want to listen to your man being an absolute disaster, this is what you see.

    He has turned into greenwald based on his current followers. Wonder if he even realises this.

  220. 220.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: I saw that. He said they reliably show up for work every day. After struggling to hire people in a place where meth is prevalent I’m sure it was a relief for him to find reliable employees. I can tell you that for my bar that’s an important quality – way too many people in the restaurant/bar industry have substance abuse problems and aren’t that reliable when it comes to coming to work when they’re supposed to.

  222. 222.

    Soprano2

    @Ken: He’s revealed himself to be a sexist asshole. I’m sure he got badly ratioed for that tweet. ETA – I knew some man would mention their difference in height, which is important to some people. Most women are shorter than most men, though, so I don’t think anyone thinks much about that.

  223. 223.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    What I am curious about is how the Dems got the debate moderators to do their job instead of the usual theater critic / tone police.

  224. 224.

    Elizabelle

    Lol.  My 23 year old neighbor sent me a text overnight.

    Marked safe from having my pet eaten today.

    If that is going around among young women …

  225. 225.

    Soprano2

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: I think the few things they corrected him on were too far even for people who are supposed to be impartial moderators. They thought it was important for people to know that there is no state that allows infanticide, and that there are no credible reports of immigrants eating people’s pets.

  226. 226.

    TS

    @Ken:  MJ just said you should watch the debate replay with the sound of and the difference in body language was amazing – especially the facial expressions – Harris won hands down.

    This was my experience – he stared and frowned, he did not look at his opponent, he looked miserable. MVP laughed, smiled, was serious, bemused and confused as it fitted each question to her and to trump.

    Nate has joined the weird crowd

    CNN commentator – whose name escapes me, saying exactly the same as MJ

  227. 227.

    hueyplong

    @Soprano2: “They thought it was important for people to know that there is no state that allows infanticide, and that there are no credible reports of immigrants eating people’s pets.”

    Ten years ago we’d have dismissed as dystopian fantasy the idea that someone would have to assure people about either of those things.

  228. 228.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Ken:

    And the stature gap in terms of physical size was also notable, especially with Harris having a shorter podium. Sometimes you’ll hear people say that you should watch the debate with the sound off, and by that measure it was much closer than with the sound on.

    Was Nate Silverman always Zoolander in disguise?

  229. 229.

    Mousebumples

    @Starfish: I agree. But we need to win first. Roe is a term that both A) reminds people of what worked well (*mostly) for many years, and B) reminds people of the crazy pants opinions in the other side.

    Win votes, then pass legislation.

  231. 231.

    PaulWartenberg

    I laughed out loud when the Tramp said: ” Joe Biden hates you.”

     

    That’s trump projecting his hatred of JD Vance onto Biden-Harris. he has to demean Harris somehow so he wants everyone thinking that Harris is disliked by her own mentor/boss.

  233. 233.

    KatKapCC

    @Jay: No idea what you mean about getting into the mud. But for one thing, this is US politics, not Canadian. For another, I’ve been an abortion rights activist for decades and worked as a clinic escort for many years, so I think I know what I’m talking about. Shove your self-important snottiness.

  235. 235.

    Colette South

    @catclub: Have you been to that section of Minneapolis recently?

    (I’ve been reluctant to head up that way, but I would imagine that significant rehabbing has been done by now.)

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