I lived in Georgia for four years starting in 1998 (makes me feel old to say this). I believe it will go blue in the near future, the way Virginia has.
Stacey Abrams is an exciting candidate, who’s drawing big crowds with the same kind of charismatic appeal that Beto O’Rourke has. Yes, she’s a black woman and he’s a white man, but we are Democrats here and we know that political talent doesn’t have a gender or a race or a socio-economic class. That’s our secret weapon. It’s how we got Bill Clinton beating a legacy kid in 1992 and Obama beating two legacy kids in 2008 and 2012, and it’s how we’re likely to have a talented woman and/or person of color beating the ultimate legacy kid in 2020.
Let’s raise some money for Stacey Abrams. It’s an expensive race I know, but it’s winnable. And this would be a very big win.
I’m not doing a lot of governors’ races because this is a national blog not a state blog. But I’ll do this one, Wisconsin (because fuck Scott Walker), and maybe one or two others.
Mary G
I already have a monthly contribution set up and don’t have more right now, but I agree she could win.
Doug!
@Mary G:
Thanks for giving!
Baud
I’m happy to have talented people like them, but I also hope we collectively realize that most of our elected officials won’t be charismatic or dynamic but are absolutely critical to regaining and maintaining majority status.
Baud
@Baud: We as in Dem voters across the country, not we as in Juicers.
JPL
Abrams is a great candidate, but I don’t see the state turning blue. I so hope that I’m proved wrong, because Kemp is awful. The one good thing I can say about Kemp is because of his poor management as Secretary of State, I still get a free monitoring service. He did purge over 600,000 voters and that might help him.
The one thing about Abrams is she is campaigning in the conservative rural areas, and good for her.
Doug!
@JPL:
I don’t know if she’ll win but the kind of work she’s doing is what will turn the state blue over the next ten years.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
In the most recent poll I saw, she’s been pretty much tied, which is pretty extraordinary, I think. Realistically, you have to think she and O’Rourke and Gillum are long shots, but stranger things have happened. We’re due for a good strange thing to happen
satby
I just kicked in. I assume the thermometer updates at some point ?
Sandia Blanca
Donated in honor of my Georgia in-laws.
JPL
@Doug!: Yes it will, and her candidacy might flip some state seats. That’s what we need.
Central Planning
@DougJ:
+1
Steeplejack (phone)
The thermometer at the top is for Stacey Abrams, right? No label (at least on mobile), and it’s kind of ambiguous with the Scott Walker text (a later addition?).
Yutsano
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Ties have been going to the Democratic side a lot this cycle. I’m also curious if there’s some underpoilling going on as well. Either way, GO STACEY!!!
Doug!
@Steeplejack (phone):
Changed it to be less ambiguous. Yes this is for Abrams
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’m gonna claim this is on topic since it’s what we’re fighting
Toadies gotta toady
Suzanne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: That’s so gross. There’s no polite, gracious way for Cindy McCain to say HELL NO in that situation if she had wanted to.
It’s a funeral, not a house party, Lindsey! Stop inviting hangers-on when it’s not your thing!
A Ghost To Most
We gave $50 to Abrams, and same to Gillum. We’ll probably hit up Beto, then concentrate on Colorado.
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Who the hell was Lindsay caught in bed with? That is just disgusting.
Suzanne
@JPL: It also makes some of the very sharp shivs from Meghan and others make more sense.
Elizabelle
Thunderstorm rolling in. Just saw some bright lightning just a few miles away. I love a dramatic storm.
Kind of a grey afternoon here, after a blue sky morning.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Doug!:
Thanks. Very clear now.
zhena gogolia
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
barf
pat
I spent the morning canvassing door to door. Found almost twenty people who are firmly committed to voting Dem all the way down the ballot. Found one confused “libertarian” and a couple of other 30-somethings who have to look at all the info first. But they were in the minority!
Obviously, lots of “not home” and a couple of “refused…”
Loved the 94 yo lady, sharp as a tack, dem all the way and forever. Told her I hope I’m in as good shape as she is twenty years from now….. ;-)
Yarrow
I think this is the wrong approach. Democrats need to win back state houses to help change happen at the state level, which will affect things like voting rights in the states. We also need to build the bench to have good candidates for higher office and Governors are key to that process. Please consider highlighting other Governor’s races if there are good candidates to support.
Question for the hive mind: Need a recommendation for a candidate that could benefit from volunteer help in or near Charlotte, NC. Would like to convince a friend of mine to volunteer and it helps to have a recommendation of who to volunteer for.
Fair Economist
@JPL: They’ve got something on Lindsay more serious than male hustlers or something like that. He has sharp elbows and wouldn’t just lie down and grovel like he is unless it were something involving jail time.
raven
Go Stacy!
Lapassionara
@pat: Where were you canvassing?
Lapassionara
@Fair Economist: I agree. I think he has been compromised by some kind of connection to the Russian crime syndicate.
Elizabelle
@pat: Yea you!
@Fair Economist: I have wondered if we might see some actual suicides before this is all done.
Because the system is so rotted from within, and some of these people may not be able to live the shame of a scandal, once sunlight finds its way in. I do not speak of the Trump family, or other sociopaths and psychopaths and narcissists. They do not often kill themselves, do they?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Fair Economist: Underage rent boys?
Gelfling 545
@Baud: This is a concern of mine: that people will expect rock stars all the time. I’ll be happy with just competent persons of good will. That said, Go Stacey Abrams!
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I am SO not a Meghan McCain fan, but she must’ve made Javanka want to melt into the marble and seep into the ground water with that eulogy! An indictment of Trump in every paragraph!
@Elizabelle: We’ve been having daily storms — dramatic lightning, sideways rain, etc. Storms are the only thing that make a FL summer bearable (behind A/C, of course).
Ladyraxterinok
Our biggest problem–the roadblocks to voting GOP has put in place.
I asked the volunteer at our county democratic office what democrats are doing in OK to make sure our voting system is secure and that any barriers to voting are being eliminated. She seemed to think there are no probs with voting in OK. That might be true (our system seems to have a paper trail). But given that this is the home of Inhofe and Pruitt you have to wonder.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’ve erased a couple of comments expressing my so-not-a-fandom of the Budweiser princess. She could give lessons in born-on-third-base entitlement to the Mittlet knobs and Dubya generation of Bushes, but if she pinned Lucrezia’s ears back today, I welcome our very temporary alliance.
I wonder if anyone at the funeral is gonna confirm Daddy’s Girl was texting in the middle of the service.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: I went and lit a tealight, just in case … and the storm has gone all polite, after some crashes and booms a while back. Just dribbling rain and gentle thunder out there now.
Virginia is so beautiful and green this summer. I hope we will have a brilliant fall. (Last year, if memory serves, we had a late drought and the colors ended up ashed out and muted. Ghosts of their possibilities.)
And Democratic wins. Lots of Democratic wins this fall!
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Suzanne: It does make them a bit more pointed even.
PS I want my sticky nym back. I’m certain I’m not the only commenter who feels this way; in case anyone actually gives a shit.
Lapassionara
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: we are being patient while Alain devotes his precious time to site issues. Your nym will stick (at least mine does) for a while during a thread.
Yarrow
@Fair Economist: Lindsey Graham made such an abrupt change from a Trump hater to a Trump fan after a golf game that it has had me wondering what’s up. I said in a previous thread either he’s compromised in a big way or possibly he’s doing a double agent kind of thing. Make nice with Trump while recording all their interactions or something.
It’s been baffling to watch and I could see it going either way. Inviting Javanka to the funeral might be part of that plan. Cozy up to them and get them to talk to him.
Cheryl from Maryland
Donated. Thanks for promoting this, DougJ. Aside from Ms. Abrams’ obvious qualifications and legislative chops, I think it is important to support candidates chosen by the backbone of the DNC, the backbone of progressive politics, the ones who have better morals and humanity, the black women voters.
Jim
Well, Virginia isn’t Blue yet. Purple, yes. But we have to get rid of the gerrymandering before we’ll be Blue. The bright Red pockets will remain (I live in one), but hopefully we will be able to counteract their effects.
We do, however, need to be a better balanced state. The pockets of rural poverty get far less attention than the clogged arteries of NoVa and Hampton Roads — because the wealthy areas are the economic drivers of the Commonwealth. Hopefully, a Blue-er assembly will make a difference.
Elizabelle
@Yarrow: We are so fortunate to not live in Henry VIII”s times. Peoples’ heads would be coming off, and Trump would love to wield the power of life and death. He is Henry, without the earlier charm and grace.
zhena gogolia
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I thought the evidence was inconclusive. She’s looking down, and her right arm moves slightly, but she could just be looking in the program.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
TS (the original)
@zhena gogolia: No-one in the trump family (minors excluded) deserve the benefit of the doubt. If it looks like she is texting – she is texting.
Yarrow
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Pay-per-view? No one’s going to pay to watch that shit.
Elizabelle
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I prefer a grim and private burial, after Trump’s body is removed from the federal prison in which he spent his last years/months. It’s been proven he was illegitimately president, so his portrait either does NOT hang in the National Portrait Gallery, or it is there, but covered with a black velvet cloth down to the shoes.
Gorsuch has been removed from the Supreme Court. Trump never got another USSC appointment. He was checkmated at every turn by a Democratic House and Senate.
The Republican party split into the Liberty Patriots Party (you know who) and the Federalists, many of whom conveniently reside in federal prisons, serving long, long, long sentences for money laundering and treason.
JPL
WTF is the dumbass talking about
the previous tweet was Make America Great Again
scav
@JPL: Maybe man desparately trying to convince himself that every friendly — that is to say, not actively hostile — face he sees in his privately life actually is there fo love, sheer love, and not re-calculating their inheritance or comparative employment prospects at every second?
Yarrow
@JPL: It’s projection as usual. The only “friends” Trump has are ones he’s “bought” via bad deals and blackmail.
gelfling 545
How much of the day’s events do you think they let him see/hear about? I’m sure Ivanka &Jared aren’t going to run back to tell him that every single speaker dissed him. Sooner or later some of it’s bound to leak through to him then look out. He’ll probably try to invade Toronto.
A Ghost To Most
@Yarrow: We will if there’s a hanging included.
debbie
@JPL:
Fuck him for not remembering how the world stood with this country after 9/11. Thanks for the gratitude, you fucking asshole.
mohagan
I just kicked in $50. Go Stacy! And thanks Doug! for making this so easy.
JPL
@Yarrow: What upsets me is that Canada sent troops to Afghanistan and lost men in Afghanistan fighting along with us.
Let me add I hate the dumbass.
DissidentFish
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Are we at a point where insinuations about sex crimes with minors should be avoided absent actual evidence? I’d say R’s have managed to find all kinds of bad without going there…
DissidentFish
@JPL: and:
Vietnam: At least 30,000 Canadians volunteered to serve in the American armed forces during the war. At least 134 Canadians died or were reported missing in Vietnam.
Korea: 26,000 Canadians participated on the side of the United Nations, and Canada sent eight destroyers. Canadian aircraft provided transport, supply and logistics. 516 Canadians died, 312 of which were from combat.
WWII: 1.1 million Canadians served in the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force, and in forces across the Commonwealth. More than 44,000 lost their lives[4] and 54,000 were wounded.
[wikipedia]
As the right sometimes says, freedom isn’t free, Trump.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@DissidentFish: He’s supporting a traitor and a threat to the republic. Fuckem.
sukabi
@JPL: since he’s working so hard to keep it under wraps chances are it doesn’t involve consenting adults of any flavor.
raven
@DissidentFish: And No Birds Sang by Farley Mowat is a orthy read.,
A Ghost To Most
@DissidentFish:
As I said before: Canadians are better Americans than Shit Hitler.
J R in WV
I’ve already kicked in to Stacy Abrams, even tho I live a long way from Georgia.
But something I donated weeks ago won’t ever show up on the thermometer.
raven
@J R in WV: It’s a long way from Clare to here. . .
Platonailedit
@Fair Economist:
Oh please, graham is just another typical rethug spineless coward.
sukabi
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think Jeet Heer has it wrong, unless he kicks in the next 18 months none of the listed will attend either, they will have “never supported him” and “don’t know who you’re talking about” as they move to their next grifts. Don Jr. will be cursing the assh0le that left him to rot in prison and will petition the court to change his name after finding out the family fortune went to pay off creditors, back taxes and fines.
dr. luba
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: What, no Ted Nugent? Fellow draft dodger and all………
Another Scott
Donated. Thanks, Doug! Will Gillum be getting a thermometer too? (I don’t know anything about the race – if he’s got plenty of money and it could be used better elsewhere, then I think we can help elsewhere.)
One thing that gives me hope is that polling still isn’t a science. I don’t think anyone was expecting that the GOP would take the Senate in 1980, but they did. Waves can develop late and they can grow exponentially very quickly. There are even things like rogue waves:
Let’s do this!!
Cheers,
Scott.
chris
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: If he lives long enough it’ll just be a couple of pool reporters making sure he’s dead. Everyone else will be all, “Donald who?”
jl
@Fair Economist: I think impossible to know what is going on with Graham. He has slobbered all over Trump before in attempts to get some policy or legislation that he wanted. And Trump shit all over him, but I think he’d try it again. I read some issues and appointments that are on Graham’s wish list right now, but forget what they are, except that they were all bad and/or dangerous.
Anyway, it could just be Graham and Trump playing Charlie Brown and Lucy with the football again.
jl
I made a contribution a few minutes ago and hung around until I saw the thermometer tick up. Not that I don’t trust Doug!. OTOH, trust bet verify.
jl
trust BUT verify.
Some of us commenters really need edit back.
evap
I’ve already given to Abrams and have my yard sign up. It’s hard for me to believe that a black woman can win a state-wide race in Georgia, but, oh, how sweet it would be if she won. I think she would be a good governor and Kemp is just awful, worse the the current governor.
raven
@evap: He’s such a fucking asshole and, of course, there were lots of Kemp sign and stickers at the game today.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’ve seen people speculate he wants to be AG, SecDef and just that he’s always been a fairly weak R for South Carolina– he jumped on Benghazi two years before his reelection to stave off a Tea Party challenge, IMneverHO– and trump could take him out with a tweet.
Another Scott
Twitter:
Women will save us all, if we let them.
65 days to go!!
Cheers,
Scot.
pat
I’ve been away for a while cooking, eating and watching Father Brown…..
I’m canvassing in Wisconsin. We get a list of possible voters: address, phone number, age, sex, and we go to those addresses only. I wonder if other states do it this way. I’ve never been clear on how these lists are compiled.
Any way, it’s a couple of hours seeing different neighborhoods, talking to people, and getting a bit of exercise. Will be doing this every Saturday…..
DissidentFish
@?BillinGlendaleCA: It’s not out of honor to Lindsey Graham.
What is one saying when one considers someone who is widely rumored to be a closeted gay man, and proposes what might be compromising him is relations with minors?
The right thinks all gays are out for the kids. It’s literally the core view on GLBT folks for people like Falwell Jr. I’d ask for another thought from those who are allies.
rikyrah
The Most Unapologetically Black Moments At Aretha Franklin’s Funeral
Posted 8 hours ago
Written By NewsOne Staff
Now that is what you call a homegoing. Aretha Franklin‘s funeral was yesterday at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple and for over 8 hours, the service took over the country. From television to social media, no matter who you were, you had to take a minute to sit down and take in the Queen of Soul’s final bow.
The funeral included former President Bill Clinton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Al Sharpton, Hillary Clinton, Clark Sisters, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Faith Hill, Shirley Caesar, Chaka Khan and more.
There were several classic moments that let you Aretha Franklin truly, and unapologetically, never forgot her roots.
Check out the Blackest moments from Aretha’s funeral below:
rikyrah
Simon Maloy
Verified account
@SimonMaloy
Follow Follow @SimonMaloy
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Trump’s approval/disapproval among black respondents in the new ABC News poll is 3/93
6:38 AM – 31 Aug 2018
Amir Khalid
@DissidentFish:
You raise a good point.
rikyrah
The Hill
@thehill
Follow Follow @thehill
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Thousands already planning to protest Trump’s November visit to Ireland hill.cm/URW9XiC
Yarrow
@rikyrah: LOL. It’s hard to go much lower than that. Who makes up that 3%?
Yutsano
@rikyrah: Someone show me those 3%idiots. I got words for them.
debbie
@rikyrah:
That high? ?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@rikyrah: they’re gonna need balloons!
I would contribute to a balloon fund
(linked article is about trumpsters whining about the disrespect shown their flabby-assed idol)
rikyrah
??? ?????? ????
@TheBaxterBean
Follow Follow @TheBaxterBean
More ??? ?????? ???? Retweeted Kenneth P. Vogel
We already know Bruce Ohr has made a career of supporting & facilitating important DOJ cases that targeted Russian organized crime.
Now we learn he secretly worked to flip Russian oligarchs familiar with Trump & Manafort, his campaign chair.
NO WONDER OHR IS A TARGET OF TRUMP
Matt McIrvin
@Yarrow: People who misheard the question?
raven
You might consider this candidate in Georgia
My name is Tabitha Johnson-Green. I was born and raised in Washington County, Georgia. I am a Christian, wife, mother, Registered Nurse, business owner and your Democratic Nominee for GA-District 10 U.S. House of Representatives. I am a graduate of Georgia Southern University. I have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology. I am a graduate of Middle Georgia College. I have an Associate of Science Degree in Nursing. I am a graduate of Ultimate Medical Academy. I have an Associate of Science Degree in Health Information Technology. I love spending time with family and friends. I also love going to local u-pick farms and picking fresh fruits and vegetables with my family.
waratah
I just watched the Betosong, put a smile on my face. I am really frustrated because I have not figured out how to put a link here from my iPad.
rikyrah
ReclaimingMyTime
@MonieTalks_1
Follow Follow @MonieTalks_1
More ReclaimingMyTime Retweeted ReclaimingMyTime
The family received robocalls from white nationalists who called them traitors.
“It was unbelievably painful,” Rob Tibbetts said,recalling how his wife, Kacey Auston-Tibbetts, became physically ill when she heard it. “It was everything that’s dark & wrong in America right now.”
rikyrah
Taniel
Verified account
@Taniel
Follow Follow @Taniel
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The plan to close voting sites in Randolph County generated huge outcry. But Georgia officials have closed *214* voting locations across 53 counties since 2012. Predominantly impoverished, African-American, & rural counties.
https://politics.myajc.com/news/state–regional-govt–politics/voting-precincts-closed-across-georgia-since-election-oversight-lifted/bBkHxptlim0Gp9pKu7dfrN/ …
twitter.com/Taniel/status/1035899095406338048
Yutsano
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Lemme cue up my quantum orchestra. Although that might still be too big.
Yutsano
@raven: I’m in. She could use a thermometer boost.
jl
@raven: I wasn’t sure what to make of her come-on. But her issues page is damn good. She’s serious and smart. I’ll contribute.
raven
@jl: She beat two really progressive candidates in the primary here and basically did it without campaigning. I worry about some of the writing on the site but it’s not my place to say anything. She’s running against Jody Hice who replaced Paul Braun, two real fucking morons but I doubt she’ll win.
Yutsano
@raven: Let’s make them fight for every seat. I can tell you Cathy McMorris-Rodgers is sweating like mad over her supposed safe seat.
raven
@Yutsano: I’m down.
Steeplejack
@waratah:
Just copy the URL and paste it in as text. FYWP will make it a naked link, I believe. Just don’t make it the last thing in your comment, else it engulf the Reply button.
Test—naked link: youtube.com/watch?v=p5VxGOzgAoU
That should be the “Beto Song” I found on YouTube.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@DissidentFish: Did you read the comment I was replying to? It was saying the conduct being held of his head would be worse than male hustlers, I was pointing out what would be worse. And…Fuckem.
J R in WV
@raven:
I’m in Raven! She sounds good to me.
waratah
@Steeplejack: thank you I will try next time. That is the song. I liked the Whataburger eater is going to be our next leader. I hope this goes viral.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
Don’t know all that much about her but Cathy Albro is taking on the truly worthless Justin Amash in Michigan’s 3rd ( the district I grew up in).
The only good thing I can say about Amash is he had no use for Trump in 2016 and vice versa. But he’s a member of the freedumb caucus and doesn’t even get along with any of them well enough to get anything done. He has literally done absolutely nothing for the district. I would imagine his anti-Trump bent might make him vulnerable but I’ve long despaired of that district coming to its senses.
Cathy seems to have a fairly compelling biography though I have no idea about her intangibles – charisma, likeability, etc. She’d undoubtedly be better than Amash though as almost anything other than a full on MAGAt would be.
Kay
But the nation is made up of states :)
Also- the governor’s races are interesting this cycle – they also have the advantage of not being about Donald Trump so one can watch them without just getting sick to your stomach and hiding under the covers. Some will be Trumpified, Trump-infected, but that could be an advantage IF people are sick of how horrible and mean-spirited he is.
The Cordray v. DeWine race is not bad. Cordray seems to have decided to just be himself, always a wise choice, and he is in fact a sort of smart, nerdy and sincere person so that’s what he’s like. DeWine looks terrible which no one is saying but is true- he doesn’t just look old (although he does look old) he looks exhausted. I don’t think anyone knows why he wants to be governor. He used to be a “moderate” and now he’s just this completely compromised, awkward fake-Trumpster.
I don’t even know why he’s doing this, unless it’s just because he’s been running for things since he finished high school and he’s at a loss and needs a job.
So, on balance, Cordray’s essential dullness when compared with the completely baffling and ..irrelevant DeWine candidacy ends up okay.