What a brutal, exhausting day this has been news-wise. It’s a good thing my mom taught us that “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” because I had probably looked for good news over a dozen times today, with no luck. You know it’s bad when even the Hopium guy doesn’t have much that’s positive. Finally I found something!
The Poll that Should Freak Out Every Republican Running Office
Trump’s support among Latinos starts to crumble and that’s bad news for the GOP in ’26 and beyond
by Dan Pfeiffer
Donald Trump is obsessed with his poll numbers. Not the real numbers — that truth would be too brutal for his brittle ego — but a series of imagined ones. In an interview with CNBC this week, Trump showed just how detached he is from the reality of his polls. Despite being pressed by anchor Joe Kernen, an ally, Trump continued to assert that his poll numbers were the “best he ever had” (not true) and that there were polls showing his approval rating at “71%” (utterly ridiculous). If your 79-year-old relative said things this delusional, you’d call a family meeting.
The truth is that Trump’s poll numbers are historically bad. The only president with a worse approval rating at this point in their term is… Donald Trump in 2017. His numbers have fallen significantly since the beginning of his term.
These numbers should be concerning for Republicans running for reelection next year. Presidential approval is historically correlated with their party’s success in the midterms. However, a new poll from Equis Research on Latino voters should scare the living daylights out of Republicans — including, and especially, Donald Trump — because it portends real problems in the midterms.
A Crucial Voting Bloc
For Democrats, one of the most shocking and confounding aspects of the Trump era is his significant gains with Latinos over the last eight years. According to Catalist, a Democratic data firm, Trump gained 16 points with Latinos from 2016 to 2024 — a massive shift that fueled his victory and Republican claims of a permanent electoral majority.
Much of the panic from Democratic strategists after the election centered on this shift. Latinos are the fastest-growing population in America. If Republicans continue to make gains with Latinos while holding their overwhelming margins with working-class white voters, Democrats could be locked out of power. It’s simple math.
In the near term, Republicans need Trump-level Latino support to hold onto the House.
However, according to the Equis Research poll, Latino voters are already starting to sour on Trump and the GOP, just seven months into his term.
If you want to read more, you need to sign up for his newsletter. Looks like you have get it for free for 7 days.
As an aside, I would like to say that it’s so frustrating that Latino voters are talked about as if they are a single voting bloc, all the same, when they clearly are not.
On the non-political TV front, I am liking Ballard so much that I am sad that I’m already on episode 9 out of 10. The only thing that could make it better is more Bosch.
On the food front, I am making do without my oven or cooktop. I made an excellent stir fry on my new electric skillet. Haven’t figured out how to cook my corn on the cob yet – any ideas? I have never made it in the microwave but if it’s a decent way to cook it, please share instructions. I wanted to make mac and cheese today – I needed comfort food! – and I had it all figured out except I didn’t have a way to boil the noodles.
Today I made my favorite, egg custard, in my countertop oven. It was much better than when I tried it over the weekend and forgot to turn off the convection feature. Pretty sure that egg custard is probably close to the top of the list of foods that do not benefit from hot air blowing over them.
Tomorrow I’ll make broccoli quiche – a friend loaned me her little plug-in induction thingie so I can sauté the green onions and the garlic, and everything else I can do in my countertop oven.
Open thread.
Special Angel Match – First Dibs for the Night Shift
WaterGirl
I’m stepping on my own fundraising thread so there’s a thread for conversation, but I’m hoping people will still read the previous one.
frosty
Thank you for your perseverance WG! (Now I’ll go back and read the post)
Dan B
I microwave corn in our high powered ‘Inverter’ microwave. Cut off the bottom 1 – 1/2″ and microwave on high for 31/2 minutes. Put a heavy towel over the husks and pull them off. The silk will come with. Margarine or butter with fresh ground cumin
We’ve done it in a BBQ also, takes longer.
frosty
I’ve done corn on the cob on a Weber charcoal grill and it came out fine. Can’t help you on the noodles but there’s gotta be a way to cook them in a microwave.
ETA I really liked the Rene Ballard books; I’ll have to try the series. Never tried Bosch and I don’t know if I have the stamina for 10 seasons. Meanwhile, looking forward to the new season of Wednesday being over so we can binge the whole thing fast!
JoyceH
@Dan B: I just nuke the ear and then cut the bottom bit off. It’s so freakin’ easy! When I think of the time I spent as a kid shucking corn and pulling off those fiddly little silks. The key, though, is to make sure when you cut off the bottom bit, you cut off at least one round of the kernels. That way all the silks are detached and can be pull off in one swoop slick as can be.
Scout211
WaterGirl, can you heat water in the electric skillet and cook a few ears of corn at a time?
XeckyGilchrist
Well, one thing we know for sure is there’s no way Trump will alienate Latino voters any further.
Jackie
I hate to be a Debbie – Downer… but with all the gerrymandering Red states are aggressively planning to be in place for the mid-term elections, does this matter?
Michael Bersin
Last Saturday Lafayette County, Missouri Democrats held their annual fundraising dinner and pie auction at a social hall in Higginsville.
There was plenty of speechifying to go along with the auction action of bidding on around fifty pies and desserts.
The keynote speaker was Will Westmoreland – The North Forty:
“…when they asked Will Rogers, ‘How do people learn in rural America?’ He said, ‘Well, some learn by reading, some learn by observing, and the rest of them just have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.’ [laughter] And there’s a lot of peeing on the electric fence going on in rural America right now. [laughter] But we can change that…”
“…Well by golly, I’m a rural American and I kind of want a school board that doesn’t ban books. I want a county clerk that believes in free and fair elections. I want a health department that doesn’t think vaccines were sent up from the bowels of hell by the Devil himself…”
Full audio:
Will Westmoreland – Lafayette County Democrats – Higginsville, Missouri – August 9, 2025
It’s worth a listen.
Jackie
@frosty:
Googled, and YES! Cooking pasta is indeed possible in the microwave!
Nix Besser
I’ve never bothered with cutting the ends of the cobs, but then, I’ve never been bothered by silks.
Wrap each cob in a damp paper towel and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes. Easy peasy. The End.
Season or flavor as desired.
WaterGirl
@JoyceH: But HOW LONG do you nuke it? On high? How many minutes?
Scout211
@Jackie: Sounds like high maintenance pasta.
WaterGirl
@XeckyGilchrist: Not quite sure what you mean by that.
Suburban Mom
The NYT cooking section has a Mac and cheese recipe that doesn’t require boiling. The output is very cheesy, but my family likes it. I suggest mixing a couple of different cheeses rather than all cheddar.
This is a gift link cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015825-creamy-macaroni-and-cheese?smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share
Scout211
@WaterGirl: Google says:
Microwave on HIGH.
WaterGirl
@Jackie: @Scout211: Yeah, I don’t think I’ll try pasta in the microwave.
NotMax
Corn on the cob in the microwave is easy peasy.
With husk.
Without husk.
Chetan Murthy
@WaterGirl: I read that with “/s” attached.
Chetan Murthy
@WaterGirl: I don’t know how powerful your ‘wave is, but mine doesn’t seem to be all that great. I find that it takes quite a while to even boil water. If I were going to cook pasta in the ‘wave, I’d heat the water to boiling in an electric kettle first, then ‘wave the pasta+water. B/c so much faster.
XeckyGilchrist
@WaterGirl: joking. I expect the admin will accelerate all their racist garbage.
JoyceH
@Jackie: Seems to me that people are running around with their hair on fire screaming, “Gerrymander, gerrymander!” as if a gerrymander is a magical thing than means “we always win”. But consider that Texas is already gerrymandered! If they tinker more, they could wind up perpetrating a “dummymander”. (That’s a real term, you can look it up.). Because there’s only so much you can do with a partisan redistricting. You can clump your voters together and get a cozy very safe district. But if you want MORE districts won, you’ve got to spread your voters out more and it’s the safe districts that are then put in jeopardy. Say you have a cozy district that’s R+10. You want more wins so you make that district R+5. Then in a wave election you’ve lost the districts that were originally safe. And if they’re losing Latinos already and their deportation plan seems to be “grab all the brown folk”, that number is going to drop more.
Jackie
@Scout211: Yes, but when choices are limited… At least there’s the option 🤷🏼♀️
JoyceH
@WaterGirl: there are a lot of recipes online. Might depend on how many you’re doing at once but I always do an ear at a time. I just plonk the unshucked ear in there and nuke on high for three minutes.
Wapiti
I’ll cook pasta (linguine) in a 10″ fry pan when it’s hot and I don’t want to heat up a pasta pot full of water. 3/4″ or 1″ of water comes to a boil fast and will cover the noodles. I expect one could use an electric skillet to boil macaroni.
NotMax
Good news, you say?
Massive No-Show Order At Restaurant Leads To 2 Amazing Acts Of Kindness.
:)
JoyceH
I cook spaghetti in boiling water in the skillet. Like with the corn I’m doing a serving at a time.
mrmoshpotato
Thunderstormasaurus is upon Chicago! Totally! Slaps!
It is fucking POURING!
Jackie
@JoyceH: It’s just so frustrating how openly and brazenly FFOTUS is telegraphing his plans to steal the 2026 elections. He’s not even being sneaky about it. Red states are willing and happy to oblige. The Supreme 6 will happily assist.
FreeThinkingRedneck
@JoyceH: From your lips straight to the FSMs ears. PS. I nuke Mac and cheese all the time.
mrmoshpotato
I guess enough Latino aren’t enjoying finding out after fucking around.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
Get an Instapot. It does everything but roast.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@mrmoshpotato:
You live in Chicago? If you’re a Chicago resident, out of curiosity, what did you think of the Chicago Street Race while it was there the past few years?
Trivia Man
Good news in Wisconsin politics – the long shot candidate in WI-06 (Glen Grothman!) is fighting hard. LGBTQ+, young, grew up as a farm kid… the real deal and a fighter. Kelly Brown. Prepping for a guest spot on a nutjob podcast, fingers crossed. It’s called Badger State Resistance. (Obviously white republicans are the most oppressed class in wisconsin. /s)
RevRick
@JoyceH: Gavin Newsom put out a tweet that pictured California as having all 54 Congressional districts blue. If Texas can make districts meander 350 miles to gerrymander blue districts away, California can do likewise with all the excess blue votes piled up in LA and the Bay Area. And Hochul could do the same with the excess blue voters in NYC. And Pritzker with Chicago.
Meanwhile, despite having a negative favorable rating Democrats are currently up by 5-8 % in generic ballots. And the historic reality is that those percentages only worsen for the party in power by an average of 5%. A 10% margin is considered a landslide. And a margin that large would not only give the Democrats the House, but would also potentially gain Democrats six Senate seats. As it stands now the Democrats are on track to gain 10-12 seats in MI, IA, PA, VA, WI alone
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: jealous!
WaterGirl
@Chacal Charles Calthrop: this is just while the board that controls my oven is out for repair.
Melancholy Jaques
@WaterGirl:
I have a comment in moderation that has an incomplete nym. Can you please delete it?
mrmoshpotato
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I didn’t go downtown, but there’s no way it didn’t cause some street damage. And of course shut down multiple streets.
Fuck NASCAR, and fuck our former mayor Lori Lightfoot (for more reasons than that NASCAR shit.)
WaterGirl
@Melancholy Jaques: done!
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: 😁⛈️⛈️⛈️ Only if I wasn’t outta booze.
Oh! And it rained so damn hard to Saint Louis yesterday that Busch Stadium dugouts had waterfalls coming down the stairs!
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: rain > alcohol
mayim
I’ve been doing corn on the cob in the air fryer.
A friend gave me plastic containers meant to cool pasta and ramen in the microwave. They are ok ~ she got them for me after I had mentioned how annoying boiling a pot of water for one serving.
Played phone tag with the repair shop so I’m still waiting to hear what’s is wrong with my car ~ I’m just pretty sure it’s going to be expensive, which I don’t need with my DOGE-induced unemployment. Maine is not a place that is easy without a car. [Reactivated GoFundMe linked in nym.]
Another Scott
Trader Joe’s Hatch Chile Mac & Cheese is pretty good.
If you have a TJ’s near by.
Good luck, and thanks for all you do.
Best wishes,
Scott.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: Meh. Can always water the plants. 😁
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@mrmoshpotato:
I mean, I’m sure it brought in plenty of tourism dollars to the city when it was there. Lots of attendance too from what I recall. It was always a treat to watch SVG race there.
The Gen 7 Cup cars only weight about 3400 lbs, so I doubt any real damage was done to the streets
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: you must not have as many plants as I do!
Kent
Honestly, I don’t think Trump gained with Hispanics so much. Maybe a little.
But what isn’t really discussed is that Kamala Harris probably lost them. Running a black woman is not really the way to go if you are trying to attract working class Hispanic men. That is just the reality of the world we live in. I’m willing to bet that whatever flips we saw in 2024 were as much votes AGAINST Harris as for Trump. I have no idea who the candidates will be in 2028. But demographically speaking, almost anyone would be better if you want to appeal to Hispanic men.
Kent
@RevRick: Dems have a negative favorability rating because a whole lot of Dems are pissed that Schumer and Co. are not fighting harder to obstruct Trump. I’m in that same opinion. I have a low opinion of Congressional Dems right now too. That doesn’t mean I’m ever voting GOP for God’s sake.
Melancholy Jaques
@Jackie:
While I think the relationship between poll responses and voting is unreliable, especially in midterms, as Lester Freamon says, all the pieces matter.
Jackie
Arizona is crying. Didn’t Arizona vote for FFOTUS? Ah, well…
I want to hear about how all the flip states that chose FFOTUS over Harris are suffering. Que lastima.
Melancholy Jaques
@WaterGirl:
Thank you. I was doing too many things at the same time.
different-church-lady
So, let’s see if I have the timeline right here: he promised to treat them like criminals, and then they gravitated towards him, and then he started treating them like criminals and they kinda… soured on it, do I have that right?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@different-church-lady:
That was supposed to only happen to other people in their minds, I’m sure
WTFGhost
Re: boiling the noodles, does your electric skillet *kinda* have the raw water capacity for macaroni? But maybe it never boils the water?
Well, boil the water in the microwave, so you have a good steady boil going, then, pour it into your pre-heated pan, at maximum heat, and it should be able to maintain the boil.
Of course, you need a portable induction cooktop, in the ideal world where you always have room for more toys, then you can use an induction ready skillet to replace that electric skillet, and induction ready 1, 4, and 16 quart pots.
Chetan Murthy
@different-church-lady: Yeah, per @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): he promised to treat those others over there like criminals, not meeeeeee!
Timill
@different-church-lady:
He promised to treat the undocumented like criminals, and now he’s decided that all Hispanics are criminals to be deported or incarcerated, so…
Chetan Murthy
@Timill: And he can make anybody “undocumented” by (Hey Presto!) taking away their documents!
Martin
@Jackie: Trump came through on his no tax on tips by eliminating the tips.
Lamh47
It’s late and I’m on break at work so I may not be able to respond to comments but wanted to let you all know that the GFM for my sister is already paying dividends! She is able to check out of the extended stay hotel she was staying with the kiddos and was able to find temporary housing place that she was able to book for at least one month or more if she needs to.
She was able to pay to make sure her car is running and able to get her and the kids transportation and soon as the kids start school this week, she’ll be able to stay at the place and heal as she takes care of the newborn baby Ezra and almost 2 year old Emmanuel.
All due to the kindness and generosity of “strangers” /my friends here at BJ!
thank you all so much and I’ll continue to keep you all posted!
Jackie
@Martin:
Yup.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@WaterGirl: oh ok. I got one when cooking gas in my apartment building had to be replaced and we had no idea how long that would take. Now I wouldn’t cook rice, oatmeal, or anything that needed to be braised any other way. It also enables me to make my own chicken stock out of rotisserie chicken etc.
Jackie
@Lamh47: Awesome news, Lamh47! BJ jackals are awesome!
Gretchen
I cook an ear of corn in the microwave, husks and all. My purist husband insists that way must be awful – he’s never actually tried it – and the only proper ways are boiling or grilling, which neither of us ever wants to go to the trouble to do. So far this summer I’ve eaten a lot of good corn, he hasn’t had one ear.
NotMax
Not a single word of feedback on the good news article above at #26?
I haz a disappoint.
JaySinWa
Insert bad Van Gogh joke here.
JaySinWa
@NotMax:
There’s no bad news for Trump so it isn’t good enough. We’re all nattering nabobs of negativity. Schadenfreude reigns, good news drains.
Sorry. I read it and it is good news. Generous people still exist and are recognized. Humanity isn’t entirely lost.
prostratedragon
@NotMax: Should I think mishap > prank? That part is so confusing. Anyway, nice and fittingvresponses.
Other good news, Hands Across High Street in Columbus, OH this past Saturday. Very good turnout.
prostratedragon
Shhhhh …
MattF
Some possibly very good news— a path forward for understanding and treating Alzheimer’s disease. Derek Lowe has a detailed and rather optimistic post on the new understanding of the role of lithium that ends with:
Very unusual for Lowe to say anything positive about Alzheimer’s research.
WaterGirl
@NotMax: I had clicked on it on my phone but got a weird page that seemed funky so I closed it.
MagdaInBlack
@Lamh47: ❤️
dnfree
I microwave husked corn all the time in the simplest way imaginable. I de-husk the corn, break off the bottom extended stalk, rinse it under cold water, put it in a covered Corningware casserole with lid, and that’s it. I base the time on the size of the cob, basically. For standard-looking corn, 4.5 minutes. If it looks delicate, 4 minutes. If it’s huge, 5 minutes. My microwave is 1100 watts, so the time would vary based on that. Try it! No extra water needed except the few drops from rinsing it off.
WaterGirl
@dnfree: I’ll try that! Thanks
Paul in KY
I do hope that EVERY Latino citizen that voted for that creep gets messed with sometime between now and Nov 2028. Better have your paperwork ready, jerks!
SWMBO
@WaterGirl: Good Lord and butter. Microwave on high for 4 minutes.
I think it was Betty Cracker that steered me to fasta pasta.
amazon.com/dp/B00WHCIEPW?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1
It gives water levels and cooking times for all types of pasta. It takes less than 15 minutes to cook spaghetti for 2 in it.
Paul in KY
@mrmoshpotato: Wish I was there on a nice balcony that would keep me dry while observing.
Paul in KY
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I was there back on that weekend this year and (IMO) it totally blows. They close off big portions of Grant Park, the cars are super loud. The people who come in for the race look like poor crackers. I sure hope they do away with it.
Paul in KY
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I saw a bunch of empty stands. Tho it was 95 degrees there and they were in the sun, etc.
Miki
I’m going to second the Instant Pot as a great replacement/substitution for a cooktop/oven (both of which I avoid during hot summer months). Corn – yep, Mac & Cheese – yep, grains – yep, beans – duh, emergency saute pan – yep, whole chicken (pressure cooked then crisped up with air fryer lid) – yep. It’s such a workhorse for soups, stews, braises, etc., all year round. Plus the set/forget it part. I’d be lost without mine.