What’s everybody up to today?
Two Harris events today
Putting this up after the first rally, shortly before the second one, so we won’t be waiting for an hour or more if it starts late.
2pm Eastern — Detroit
This seems to have been a union event, maybe firefighters and the UAW.
6pm Eastern — Flint
Have any of you been to Harris rallies? I’m curious whether they are all mostly the same speech each time, or if she focuses on different things in different states.
If you’ve been to a rally, what was it like?
trollhattan
Only two? “LOW ENERGY KAMALA!!!”
Scout211
Trump’s social media account posted a fake endorsement from Jamie Dimon. I think the campaign has just thrown out all attempts to tell even a modicum of truth. Just lying, lying, lying until
the electionforever and ever and ever.This includes the latest smear of Biden, stealing FEMA money for migrants.
Even Glenn Kessler calls him out on X
BR
The Detroit rally seemed to allow her to talk a fair bit about unions — about how her brother in law was a firefighter (I had no idea — Doug’s brother?) and about the longshoremen strike and deal — but also a lot of her economic stump speech.
Jeffro
@trollhattan: right??!?
can’t say they aren’t running through the finish line…
…GO BLUE!
Scout211
@BR: I believe she is referring to her sister’s husband.
ETA: Now I’m not sure of that.
ETA: Now I know I’m wrong. It is Doug Emhoff’s brother.
Josie
I am celebrating my 81st birthday today by eating lemon shortbread cookies given to me by my youngest son and writing postcards to people in Nevada. Such excitement in the air.
bbleh
Picked up my PENNSYLVANIA BALLOT today, oh yes. Gonna vote it and drop it off tomorrow, which frees me up to do whatever, maybe rides to the polls, on Election Day. VOTE EARLY, and as always, GOTV!
Jeffro
hopefully y’all will be heartened to hear that upon my intervening with the facts (“no, VP Harris did NOT offer hurricane victims a paltry $750 each, period”…”no, Biden/Harris did NOT raid FEMA to pay for illegal immigrants”) my mom pulled her Fox-inspired FB rants from last night.
I’m not sure how many times it takes for folks on the right to be played for suckers before they wise up for good, but in my Mom’s case, at least we’re getting closer to that day. =)
gkoutnik
@Josie: God bless you! I did my 200 for Nevada in the summer, and am now working on a pile for Iowa. Iowa! Will wonders never cease. They better not.
zhena gogolia
@Josie: Sounds great!
Baud
@Josie:
Happy birthday!
bbleh
@Jeffro: I love stories like that. Took my mom years to convert my dad, but she finally did. (It was Reagan, not the Orange Guy, but the parallels are strong.) And my friend’s mom jumped the fence in 2016 — just couldn’t stomach him. So it DOES happen, and in some cases it’s worth working at.
(That we have come to this at all is best not dwelt upon. Aux barricades, once more unto the breach, etc.)
Gretchen
Talking Points Memo has been covering the Republican GOTV outsourcing. One guy familiar with the subject thinks they’re not using the usual tested app but some new one that probably won’t work as well. They don’t seem to have a strong ground operation, possibly because they can’t afford it. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-origins-of-trump-campaigns-new-approach-to-field-operations
Scout211
@Josie: Happy Birthday!
Baud
Via reddit, the beach head has been taken.
Maxim
@Josie: Happy birthday!
Baud
Via reddit
Maxim
@Baud: Whoa.
Baud
Via reddit, Exbhit eleventy billion why Dems don’t and shouldn’t give interviews to the mainstream media.
Josie
@Baud: This is excellent news and way overdue. I hope that Biden/Harris take credit for it and gain a few more Texas votes.
bbleh
@Baud: having worked in precisely that field at one point, Texas has always been a joke (with appropriate sympathy for the people there who actually had to try to make it work). If there’s a story here, it’s only the magnitude of the stupidity that made it take this long.
lowtechcyclist
@Josie: Happy birthday – 81 years young!
Delk
Mr and Mr Delk are celebrating our 25th anniversary.
Baud
@Delk: happy anniversary!
pieceofpeace
@Josie: Happy Birthday! 1943 was a good year, yes!
Hoodie
@Baud: That’s big. Texas already has a lot of stranded renewable capacity and potential for a lot more. IIRC the inability to stabilize the large number of renewables they have contributed to their grid failure. Probably some pressure from industry on that front. You don’t want factories with shitty power quality and reliability and they have the potential to generate a relatively large amount of cheap renewable power if they can keep their grid stable.
Josie
Thanks, guys, for the birthday wishes. My granddaughters are impressed with how old I am, and the six year old figures I probably have ten more good years in me. We had a really interesting conversation about that. She is mildly autistic and is obsessed with numbers and their application to real life.
lowtechcyclist
@Delk:
Happy anniversary to you both!
John Revolta
@Baud: SS guys all “Damn I wish she wouldn’t do that “
Josie
@Delk:
Happy Anniversary! 25 years is a good run; here’s hoping for many more.
Old School
@Josie: Happy Birthday!
@Delk: Happy Anniversary!
Sister Golden Bear
Go anti-woke, go broke. Metal music festival loses headliner, multiple bands after announcing Kyle Rittenhouse as guest. The new headliner is a cover band.
Old School
trollhattan
Nibi the beaver has received the governor’s pardon and can continue to hang at the shelter.
Yes, there’s video.
ArchTeryx
@Delk: Happy anniversary to you both!! That’s really awesome!
Geminid
@Josie: Happy Birthday! I hope you’re washing those lemon shortbread cookies down with some good half-and-half.
Sister Golden Bear
@Josie: Happy birthday!
@Delk: Happy anniversary!
Baud
Via reddit, heh.
Josie
@Geminid: Nope – Dulce de Leche flavored coffee with a dollop of heavy cream.
John Revolta
@Sister Golden Bear: Womp womp.
Maybe they can get a really really small violin player to fill in
ArchTeryx
@Gretchen: The problem is that the GOP doesn’t seem to NEED a ground game. Trump won in 2016 without any ground game whatsoever. It was one of a dozen things normal campaigns do that he eschewed and won anyway.
The DEMS are the one that need the ground game, because we seem to depend on irregular/unmotivated voters far more than they do. There are more of us by far, but we’re far less motivated as a party to vote than the fascists are. The old saw “When we show up, we win” seems to be pretty true. The single exception I can think of is 2016, because we showed up in the expected numbers, our ground game worked very well, and we still lost because a whole lot of irregulars showed up, on their own will, to vote for the Orange Orangutan.
It really does seem, some days, that the entire electoral system is wired for them. It doesn’t make it impossible to win by far – we won in 2008, 2012, and 2020 – but we start a lap behind every time. There are times I seriously wish we were like the Australians – and voting was mandatory. Mandatory voting also put an end to all the vote suppression shenanigans there.
Geminid
@Josie: Ah, heavy cream. I see you’re on the hard stuff.
Maxim
@Delk: Happy anniversary!
Sure Lurkalot
@Josie: Way to celebrate Birthday #81. I hope you have many many more to come.
Maxim
@ArchTeryx: Well, a bunch of “our side” voted for third-party candidates in 2016. That was enough to screw us. But I agree with mandatory voting — and mandatory civics education to go with it. One class in high school is not enough.
SleepyMonster
I received a ‘Valued Voter’ postcard! All the way from CA to OH. Looks like it took about a week! Everyone in this house already votes by mail, but it is still heartening to get something like this. Mrs. Sleepy was wildly impressed that people do this at all. ‘By hand? Are you serious?’
Sadly, the post office ran a strip across the bottom of the card that wiped out the bottom two lines. And tore it a little. But what can you do?
Maxim
@Sister Golden Bear: I wonder who the “other entities” are that the ex-headliner discovered?
stinger
@Josie: Happy birthday! Stick a candle in one of the cookies and sing The Song!
ArchTeryx
@Maxim: It’s always tough to know exactly how badly Russian plants like Jill Stein actually hurt, because a lot of her voters seem to be the Perpetually Discontented Left that won’t otherwise vote for anyone. The Right certainly doesn’t have a lock on stupid voters. The Very Online Left drives me madder than the trolls do. With the trolls, you know exactly what they want. The Very Online Left, they just seem to want a give The Man a finger and end up flipping their own side the bird.
stinger
@Baud: Thanks, Joe! Getting SO MUCH done on his way out the door!
stinger
@Delk: Congratulations!
WaterGirl
I talked beth into making an Amazon wish list for us, and she has added a couple of new items, in case anyone wants to help out.
Link
reminder: beth does the design for our pet calendars and lives in Asheville, which was hit super hard by Helene. They still have no power and are expected to be without water for 5 weeks.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Baud
@ArchTeryx:
Both the Greens and Libertarians had their best showings in 2016. A lot of people were high on their own supply that year.
Sure Lurkalot
@ArchTeryx:
I imagine Republicans would pull the same shenanigans as they did with the Obamacare mandate and any repercussion for not voting would be toothless.
Maybe instead of a fine, we could take away a privlege, e.g. you can’t be issued a driver’s license if you don’t vote. I bet that would get a ton of people to the polls more than a $20 fine.
I know every state doesn’t make voting super easy like in my state of Colorado and some really go far to make it ludicrously hard.
Still, participation rates of 40% or so do not a thriving democracy make. With 20% participation, NYC got Eric Adams, good and hard.
ArchTeryx
@Baud: Oh good lord yes. On ALL sides. It was at once the strangest and most nauseating election of my entire adult lifetime
There are times being a part of the One Sane Group really feels like you’re out on a limb as it’s sawed off, cartoon-style. I didn’t think the country would survive Trump I and I was damn near right.
Baud
Via reddit, readership capture.
VFX Lurker
That’s wonderful! What a nice moment.
I had a small, vain hope that you received one of my “Valued Voter!” postcards, but these days I leave enough space at the top and at the bottom for the postmark and stripe.
stinger
@Josie:
So cute! I hope she’s right! And then another ten so-so years? ;-)
Yutsano
@Delk: MAZEL TOV YA CRAZY KIDS!!!
lollipopguild
@Baud: Is Texas finally learning? Watch The Gov. and gang take ALL of the credit for it.
mrmoshpotato
@Jeffro:
Yes, and Go Ducks tonight.
Hoodie
@ArchTeryx: From what I understand, Trump did have a ground game in 2016 and 2020; it was the normal GOP one. For 2024, however, his loyalists dismantled the conventional party building stuff of the RNC when he put them in charge. Marshall says they’re relying on some new approach using networked party loyalists instead of conventional canvassing, but no one knows if that actually works. Other canvassing was outsourced, but they don’t appear to be doing much. Marshall thinks it might be a bullshit story covering the fact that they’re short on funds, given that so much of the money brought in has gone to legal expenses and some stupid election security stuff that Trump has insisted on. Anecdotally, we just got another of the 10-12 Trump mailers we’ve received over the last few months. I don’t understand what they’re doing with that (we are registered Dems in a highly Dem neighborhood), so it smells to me like a bunch of grifters just mailing shit out and getting paid by the piece.
ArchTeryx
@Baud: Without Texas the GrOyPers can’t even win a Presidential election if the entire Rust Belt goes red. The day we win Texas statewide is the day they finally face their fork in the road – get moderate, or be like the California GOP. Crazier and crazier, but permanently out in the wilderness.
SiubhanDuinne
I haven’t read the thread yet, nor watched the videos, but just seeing those two joyous images of MVP makes me feel happier than I can express in words. I love the sound of her laugh; I love the full-bellied gusto she conveys.
ArchTeryx
@Hoodie: Now that I didn’t know. From what I’d read dark money was trying to do a lot of the work but it was all advertising and mailers, not actual door to door. Sounds like even if Trump didn’t lift a finger to get his voters out, the RNC and dark money were happy to fill in. Should have guessed – Republicans always fall in line.
SiubhanDuinne
@Josie: Happy birthday, Josie! I’m almost exactly 14 months older than you, and I’m here to say the differences are negligible at our age. You’re doing heaven’s work.
Baud
@ArchTeryx:
If would be earth shattering.
prostratedragon
Late afternoon groove (pitta pat):
Baud
Via reddit, more readership capture.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Josie: Happy birthday!
ArchTeryx
@Baud: In the category of Least Surprising Headlines Ever, but in a good way rather than a cynical one for a change. Dolly Parton is a fucking saint, always has been, always will be, and as theofascist as East Tennessee is, they will hear nothing bad about her. And for good reason.
She’s part of a much older school of country music, one that gave a crap about its people, about rural America, about impoverishment and destitution, rather than just fighting to be one of the oompah bands at the Neuremberg Rally.
bbleh
@Hoodie: anecdotally, I concur with the amateur-grifters-paid-by-the-piece hypothesis. I’m a registered Dem in Philadelphia (!), and for about a month — starting suddenly and stopping equally suddenly — I received a regular stream of Trump mailers. And likewise I have received a regular stream of Trump-aligned texts — MORE than I have Dem-aligned ones. Both of these, especially the former, suggest to me they’re being directed by people who don’t know what they’re doing but are sure doing SOMETHING, and one assumes (since everybody agrees that’s the Trump model right now) getting paid as subcontractors (probably two or three levels down).
Happy they’ve wasted their money! Hope the printers are nice people!
Nelle
@Jeffro: Thank you! When we moved to Iowa in 2019, three out of four US House Reps were D’s. Then this rapid red onslaught.
Phylllis
@WaterGirl: I just tried to order the water jug for her and got a message that the item can’t be shipped to a gift registry address.
Lyrebird
I had exactly the same read.
(JR: I got a cloudflare issue when I accidentally clicked on your name, fwiw)
Love the photo though! Thanks @Baud!: I needed that!
BR
@SiubhanDuinne:
I do hope normies get to watch her in natural interview settings, like on the NBA podcast that she just did. She’s such a grounded person in a way that is rare in public life, but also she’s a normal person still, not just a political entity — Obama was maybe the only president in a long time who was like that (in his first campaign, anyway). Biden, while comfortable in his own skin, has been a politician for so long that his persona melded with his job.
Jeffro
@ArchTeryx: if we somehow win Texas this cycle, I look forward to the GOP pushing hard to get rid of the Electoral College.
I mean, I’ll die laughing, but it’ll be a great way to go! =)
Kristine
@SleepyMonster:
According to my instructions, I was supposed to leave a finger’s width of blank space along the bottom of the postcard because of the strip. Of course I didn’t read that until I’d written a few cards.
Spanky
The “Editorial Board” at WaPo has shat out an editorial with “concerns” about Jack Smith’s timing of his filing because it’s within the 60 day “quiet period” of the election.
Not linking because I’ve already wasted more of your time than it’s worth.
Jeffro
@Nelle: I’m thinking of writing a piece called “don’t be afraid to fact-check your FoxBubble parents…1) you’ll be in the right and 2) sometimes, just sometimes, it works “
eclare
@Baud:
She is a national treasure. And one of my few fellow Tennesseans that I am proud of.
eclare
@Josie:
Happy birthday!
Melancholy Jaques
@Baud:
Since forever, for the political media “the news” is whatever Republicans are angry about today.
eclare
@Delk:
Happy Silver anniversary!
Jeffro
David Frum, pointing out something that most missed about Liz Cheney’s endorsement of Kamala Harris: where were the GOP men?
*I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt here, that he means “GOP men” (or even ‘man’). It’s still powerful to think about, and we should all keep calling out the cowards keeping their heads down.
bbleh
@Spanky: it is to lol. They’re always going to find SOMETHING about the Orange Guy’s drivel that they can say is putatively reasonable if you squint hard enough, and they’re always going to find SOMETHING about even the most cut-and-dried case against him that’s Just Not Quite To Their Liking.
They’re keeping the beat sweet and trying to keep the hate-mail down. They’re not actually trying to argue or persuade
(I said as much in a comment. Not that they’ll care.)
Matt McIrvin
I think our ballots mail out in a few days. Will be pestering my kid to check for hers.
TBone
@Spanky: well, at least the matter is still in print getting attention, but
Bwahahahahaha!
zhena gogolia
How can we not be ahead by now?
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Half the country hates us.
Josie
@Spanky:
I am only sad that I already cancelled my subscription and can’t do it again. They are disgusting.
Scout211
I’m no campaign strategist, but I think it’s time for this.
Geoduck
If it hasn’t been mentioned here at some point, Bruce Springsteen officially endorsed Harris.
ArchTeryx
@Jeffro: Finally something the right and the left can agree on! Please proceed, GOP.
I don’t think we’ll win Texas in the Presidential election this cycle, but let me tell you if by some fluke we bump off Cancun Cruz, there are going to be some GrOyPers looking over their shoulders very, very nervously.
You see the water rippling? That’s the tyrannosaur coming for you, bastards.
Eolirin
@Jeffro: Nah, they won’t do that. Texas or no Texas, we’re winning the popular vote pretty consistently now, to the point where even when we lose the EC, we’re up by 3-4 million votes.
Getting Texas back would be the only play. There’s no way for them to win except with a minority of votes.
eclare
So did Harris almost call TCFG a MF?
https://x.com/Timodc/status/1842325202702901703
You be the judge.
Trivia Man
ORIGINAL REPORTING
source: me
I drove past the juneau airport to check out the rally site. As rural as I remember but closer to the “city” center.
About 6 semi trailers from a lical trucking company on site. Some nose to tail in an apparent security barricade, some possibly with supplies for food.
I know someone at a local food manufacturer who is providing a few thousand of their item. Owner is a conservative billionaire so maybe a donation. BUT… they were given strict instructions “dont use a trailer with our name and logo on it”. Such pride and confidence.
Enormous popup trump store in a gas station parking lot – one of 3 i saw on my drive. LOTS of giant trump signs through the whole area.
No parking on the street leading up for about 1/2 mile. Could potentially hold 10,000 plus, will be curious to see turnout.
About an hour to milwaukee, appleton, madison. About 2 1/2 hours to green bay and Chicago,
Eolirin
@Jeffro: Hey, Dick Cheney is also all in.
I feel gross having typed that.
Eolirin
@zhena gogolia: We seem to be, just not by very much.
eclare
@Scout211:
She is a prosecutor. Let Harris be the pit bull.
Old Dan and Little Ann
The people across the street from my parents have the worst sign I have see so far. On their lamp post is a sign reading, “Voting for the Convicted Felon in 2024.” Directly in the center of the words is that orange fucker’s sneering face. Revolting.
Trivia Man
@Josie: nice – a good square number. And in 2 years you’ll be back to the Prime of your life.
Jeffro
@Eolirin: yeah but…how do I put this…they’re dumb.
They think they’re within a hair of winning CA, NY, NJ. All those “stranded” GOP voters! Why not give them a voice? Why not run up the popular vote? Just think who would turn out if they knew it mattered, Republicans!! Literally GAZILLIONS of MAGA!!
(LOLOLOL)
zhena gogolia
@Geoduck: It was front-paged earlier today.
Trivia Man
@Josie: she might enjoy my comment 102
bbleh
@eclare: even at the time I was absolutely sure she knew how much she said by not saying anything. I DON’T know whether it was planned — I rather suspect the hesitation was genuine, and then she realized how perfect it was — but very possibly not.
Geoduck
@zhena gogolia: Duh. Thanks. Haven’t been paying attention.
Josie
@Trivia Man: You are right. She just might.
ETA: She is already working her way through the times tables.
eclare
@bbleh:
I think it was genuine. I am so used to cursing at anything that I really have to pull the emergency brake before I let an expletive fly around older relatives.
Over something like dropping a spoon. Me said out loud: oh….shoot. Me before self-edit: shit.
bbleh
@Josie: one of the most talented statistical modelers I ever worked with was, I’m pretty sure, on the spectrum. Was sought after for work, and in a VERY high-paying field. So if she likes working with numbers, I’d say by all means cultivate it!
Scout211
An interesting prediction from an old voice in politics, Michael Moore.
Do the Math: Trump is Toast.
He lists all the states that he thinks she will win, with charts and different scenarios.
Baud
@Scout211:.
We’ll now I’m depressed.
bbleh
@eclare: Let’s not forget that the Second Gentleman is a VERY talented lawyer. I can’t imagine that he’s going along with this whole line — arguably perpetuating it — without knowing exactly how much it benefits her.
zhena gogolia
@Scout211: Well, I’ll take it, despite the source!
eclare
@bbleh:
Good point.
Alice
@Scout211: “Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is planning to more aggressively attack former President Donald Trump”
I would especially like the campaign to call out Trump and MAGA lies about the federal response to Helene. The claims that FEMA is stealing money and supplies and seizing property are causing real anguish, and I fear are going to get people hurt.
Scout211
So then I guess my work is done here.
Josie
@bbleh:
Thanks. That is good to know.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@zhena gogolia: Personally, I think we are ahead.
Geminid
@Eolirin: Former Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan has stepped up. So have former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger and the current Republican Mesa, Arizona Mayor.
Not many others though.
JCJ
@Sister Golden Bear: That is hilarious, a Slipknot cover band. I am sorry – if I want to see Slipknot I will go see them when they are doing Knotfest somewhere. I hope Corey Taylor (singer for Slipknot as well as Stone Sour) is having a laugh.
Steve LaBonne
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: I am quite certain we’re ahead. It’s a narrow lead and no grounds for complacency, but it has been very stable at least since the convention. And I don’t think Trump is going to close the sale with late breakers the way he did in 2016. (2016 feels like another lifetime.)
Sister Golden Bear
I’m enjoying the #Calgorithm madness as UC Berkeley prepares to face off against Miami in tomorrow’s “Woke vs. Coke” game. After the Pac-12 fell apart there were serious questions about whether we’d even still have a football program, so having ESPN’s College GameDay make it’s first-ever appearance here — in part due to our rabidly unhinged fans Twitter meme game — is huge. CGD starts at 6 a.m. Pacific and we’ve already got students camping out to get on TV. Seriously, it has been really sweet to see posts from the three long-time superfans behind much of the effort who had a fever dream of getting CGD here as they were watching the sets go last night.
TBone
@John Revolta: 😆
Steve LaBonne
@bbleh: Let’s be honest, I’m sure he’s heard that word at home, maybe coming from the kitchen when she dropped something or nicked herself with a knife.
frosty
@Kristine: I didn’t know about leaving the blank space until I’d written 144 cards. Oops. At least the only thing covered will be my name.
KrackenJack
@Josie: Yum, lemon shortbread! (Lemon anything actually.) Good for you on the postcards, too. Way to celebrate!
We got another batch of 200 Postcards to Swing States yesterday. They’re for MN-02 – presumably to help incumbent Angie Craig (D) in the House.
eclare
@Sister Golden Bear:
I went to an SEC school, congrats on getting CGD! As Joe would say, it is a BFD.
I might watch just to see how weird it is.
pieceofpeace
@Old School: How quick he is with the warm wit!
I’m expecting a huge emotional national response when Biden hands off the Presidency in January 2025 to K. Harris.
What a moment that will be.
Trivia Man
@Josie: i love the joke because it can be repeated. Use it on her at 7, 11, 13, 17 and on
Jeffro
@pieceofpeace:
I hadn’t even thought of that, and now I have a lump in my throat.
Team Fro is definitely going to be present in DC that day!
Jackie
@Baud: $2M
Jackie
@Jeffro: More and more Never Trump women and women who’ve flat out left the GOP are wondering the same: Where are the cowardly men who aren’t voting for TCFG, yet won’t endorse Harris?
Women are going to save our democracy.
catclub
@Spanky: That is intentional ignorance of the case. grrr
wjca
Been there long ago. As in early 1950s. Almost 3 years old younger brother, over some minor oops: “Damn it!” Almost 5 years old me, with the authority of my superior years: “No, David, it’s ‘God damn it!’.”
Mother, in the next room, suddenly realizing, with a bit of a shock, that her language around us might need a bit of restraining,