Next: Kamala and Lizzo had some fun on Instagram over the weekend.
Here are the highlights from the CNN townhall. I tried to find the full video, but no luck.
And I just love this ad:
Open thread
by TaMara| 131 Comments
This post is in: 2020 Elections, Biden-Harris 2020, Open Threads, Politics
Next: Kamala and Lizzo had some fun on Instagram over the weekend.
Here are the highlights from the CNN townhall. I tried to find the full video, but no luck.
And I just love this ad:
Open thread
This post is in: Early Voting 2020, Politics, Vote Like Your Country Depends On It, This Fight Is For Everything
Early voting in person is available today – Sept 21 – in these states:
Minnesota
South Dakota
Vermont
Virginia
Wyoming
* Voting absentee in person (a bit of an oxymoron) started on September 9 in Alabama
…..
Always check your state and county websites for specific information about voting times and voting locations.
…..
Early voting in person starts on Thursday – Sept 24 – in Michigan.
Early voting in person starts on Thursday – Sept 24 – in SOME COUNTIES in Illinois.
Missouri does not offer an early voting period. If you will be unable to vote in person on Election Day, you can request an absentee ballot/mail-in ballot by mail or by visiting your local election office – beginning on Sept 22.
…..
Remember, if you vote – in person or drop it off or put it in the mail – stop by and post a comment in the I Voted post. It’s in the sidebar on computers and in the hamburger menu on mobile.
If you know the date for early voting, and your state isn’t on one of these lists yet, let me know in the comments:
Massachusetts early voting starts October 17
GA early voting: October 12 – October 30
Ohio starts on October 6
Florida early voting: October 24 – 31 (Oct 19 in some places!)
Maine early voting: October 5 – 30
Texas early voting: October 13 – October 30.
RI early voting begins October 14.
California: October 5 – November 2
Arizona: October 7th
Kentucky: October 13th
New Mexico: Oct 17 – 31
North Carolina: Oct 15 – 31
Missouri: September 22
Nevada: October 17 – 30
Colorado: October 19
West Virginia: Oct 21 – Oct 31
This post is in: Biden-Harris 2020, C.R.E.A.M., NANCY SMASH!, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat
24 winners of the Turing Award, sometimes called the Nobel Prize of computing, endorse Biden. They cite Trump's anti-immigrant policies that are keeping out students, scientists, inventors.
First time Turing Award laureates have endorsed a candidatehttps://t.co/UWLJGw6xFM— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) September 20, 2020
Joe Biden, the Democratic National Committee and affiliated joint fundraising committees entered the month of September with $466 million cash on hand, a Biden campaign official confirmed to @ABC News on Sunday evening. https://t.co/mnz3nQLImG
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 21, 2020
The Biden Campaign vastly outraised Trump’s Campaign in August – and that was *before* the massive $100 million in ActBlue donations to Democratic candidates this weekend. https://t.co/CQdxChXwEG
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) September 21, 2020
“We have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about to discuss right now,” Speaker Pelosi tells @GStephanopoulos when pressed on what Democrats would do if Pres. Trump and Republicans push a SCOTUS nomination ahead of the Nov. 3 election. https://t.co/JhU93KY3iQ pic.twitter.com/HOmI8AxREN
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 20, 2020
Democrats very coordinated on messaging, from Biden to Schumer to Pelosi — making scotus all about health care rather than cultural issues https://t.co/t8NTgzgFgZ
— Blake News (@blakehounshell) September 20, 2020
Monday Morning Open Thread: Democrats Know What We’re Fighting ForPost + Comments (222)
This post is in: 2020 Elections, C.R.E.A.M., Proud to Be A Democrat
Don’t listen to the Church of the Savvy members whining ‘What does it matter… ‘
And this was not just a Friday night & Saturday, it was Rosh Hashanah.
The Trump campaign raised $210 million over the entire month of August (which included their convention) https://t.co/rlYZ2l8hn6
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 20, 2020
Small-dollar donors have now given $100 million on ActBlue since 8 p.m. ET Friday, investing in candidates up and down the ballot and orgs on the front lines of the impending judicial confirmation fight. The grassroots is ready to fight to honor Justice Ginsburg’s legacy.
— ActBlue (@actblue) September 20, 2020
The money Democrats have raised in the last 24 hours will provide additional tracks of media to campaigns already on the air. Guarantee you there were Dem House campaigns unable to afford TV until, say, Week 2, who'll now be able to get up in Week 6 or Week 5. Huge difference.
— Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) September 19, 2020
Uh…what? There’s 6 weeks left. That’s a ton of time to buy more TV & digital (& w Trump doing so little it’s available), & even w the USPS screwed up, campaigns can do a lot more mail; they have the money now rather than having to wait until Oct 10 to cover the costs of mail. https://t.co/jZklEGvjex
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 19, 2020
…be able to spend now on mail that they wouldn’t be able to w money that came really late, etc.
Also, campaigns on the bubble, like A-Z or ME or CO, this may be the stake in the stake in the heart that allows the DSCC, Dem superPAC’s, etc to go hunting in more states. It…
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 19, 2020
It may also give a campaign tight on money the resources to do more polling & data work, & if it shows a closer race than donors would expect, & they can describe a path to victory, they may be able to convince people & especially institutional spenders to invest in their race.
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 19, 2020
Late Night Open Thread: Notes from Some Democratic Campaign ProfessionalsPost + Comments (38)
by David Anderson| 89 Comments
This post is in: 2020 Elections, Anderson On Health Insurance
ActBlue is reporting that liberals and Democrats have raised at least $100 million dollars in hard money, coordination eligible funds since Friday night.
Small-dollar donors have now given $100 million on ActBlue since 8 p.m. ET Friday, investing in candidates up and down the ballot and orgs on the front lines of the impending judicial confirmation fight. The grassroots is ready to fight to honor Justice Ginsburg’s legacy.
— ActBlue (@actblue) September 20, 2020
The play for Democrats is to bring an extraordinarily rationale fear of massive electoral retribution on Republican Senators who are in tight races if they vote to confirm a Supreme Court nominee before election day and then incredible political and structural retribution if there is a nominee confirmed before Inauguration Day. The money being raised right now makes both the electoral and structural threats more credible. Democrats in order to admit states and expand the Supreme Court need to start the session with at least 51 Senators to accommodate the probability that Sen. Manchin (D-WV) votes against the rules that drop the filibuster. Larger majorities makes rule and structural changes easier to implement.
Senator Murkowski (R-AK) who is not up for re-election until 2022 has come out with a statement that she will not vote to confirm a nominee before the election. This removes one golden ticket for Republican incumbents who are in tough races and would like to be able to vote no and hope yes in an attempt to save their seat. Other Republican senators have been mealy mouthed.
It is critical for Democrats to come out of the election with a Senate majority able to credibly threaten to retaliate with significant structural changes for any lame duck confirmation.
So we need to be strategic. Democrats need to win a net of three seats. Senator Jones (D-AL) is likely to lose re-election as he is running against a Republican who is not banned from a mall in one of the deepest red states in the country. So that means Democrats need to win at least 4 seats. Looking at recent polls (mainly NY Times/Sienna, Seltzer and a few others with high ratings) and glancing at a few of the projection systems, I would guess that the lay of the land looks like the following:
State | Republican Seat Defender | Democratic Challenger | Current Status |
AZ | Martha McSally | Mark Kelly | Dem Big Lead |
ME | Susan Collins | Sarah Gideon | Dem Medium Lead |
CO | Cory Gardner | John Hickenlooper | Dem Medium Lead |
NC | Thom Tillis | Cal Cunningham | Dem Small Lead |
MT | Steve Daines | Steve Bullock | Toss-up |
IA | Jodi Ernst | Theresa Greenfield | Toss-up |
SC | Lindsay Graham | Jaime Harrison | Toss-up |
KS | Roger Marshall | Barbara Bollier | GOP Medium Lead |
TX | John Coryn | MJ Hegar | GOP BIG LEAd |
KY | Mitch McConnell | Amy McGrath | GOP Big Lead |
I may be off by a little bit with a few of the seats, but Texas and Kentucky are marginal probabilities of flipping and strategically low to very low value on investment at this time. Mississippi has a higher probability at 538 of flipping Blue than Kentucky.
I’m circling back to the ACA repeal fight and a post I had right after the House got the AHCA out with a bare majority:
In a previous thread, a troll was FIRST!! with the advice to “Just quit, we lost this fight in November”
I reject that.
We aren’t going to win often but we get to choose how to lose. We can roll over without trying to defend our values and our morals or we can fight as hard as we can to either get a policy win or inflict significant political costs on Republicans to increase the probability of future policy wins by either putting the fear of losing their seats into them which constrains future opportunity space or flipping those seats in 2018.
And then hours after the Skinny Repeal billed failed:
We won last night…
You did it. We did it…
We told our stories, we made our phone calls even though we were told that they would not matter, we consoled each other and picked each other. We kept on banging knowing that the odds were not great in our favor, but our values, our morals, our sense of self would not allow ourselves to rest without trying as hard as possible. Some days I could not do much more, but I knew that you and millions of other decent people who worried about their lives, families, friends and communities would bang the drum for me and I would bang the drum for someone who need a respite day later on.
We kept on going. We did not know if we would win, just that we could either win a policy and political victory that protected ourselves and our vision of an America where we are in this together or at least inflict massive political costs against a vision of America that is cruel, cold and atomistic
The ACA repeal bills needed three Republicans to do not-Republican things. The SCOTUS fight needs four Republicans to go against their caucus. This is a big challenge. The most likely outcome is the infliction of massive political costs to flip the Senate and gain an in-party consensus that systemic structural reform is needed and needed fast. And for that outcome to occur, we need to be smart about how we use our resources. Focus on the winnable instead of the enjoyable fantasies.
by TaMara| 71 Comments
This post is in: 2020 Elections, Biden-Harris 2020, Open Threads, Politics
He is scheduled to discuss the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the future of the Supreme Court.
And if you haven’t seen this already, it’s brilliant.
I’m Joe Biden and I approve this message. pic.twitter.com/TuRZXPE5xK
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 20, 2020
I’m going to try and be back later to show off what I did all week.
Open thread.
Open Thread: Joe Biden Live in PhiladelphiaPost + Comments (71)
This post is in: Biden-Harris 2020, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat
I’m Joe Biden and I approve this message. pic.twitter.com/TuRZXPE5xK
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 20, 2020
The Very Serious Media is bored with Trump.
All Trump rally speeches should be covered exactly like this ?(genius). https://t.co/1HuvzhELaM
— Greg Jaffe (@GregJaffe) September 20, 2020
The Very Serious Republicans are (now) appalled by Trump.
Celebrating the injury of a journalist who was not breaking the law but rather covering a significant national news story is not "law and order." It's cruelty and malice.
But that's the point, isn't it? https://t.co/9dTK9Qmwfi
— David French (@DavidAFrench) September 19, 2020
Let’s kick his sorry arse to the curb!
Good morning. We're in the last gasp of minority rule. In 2021, we will fix the democracy the GOP has broken: a modern, expanded Court, an end to the Jim Crow relic filibuster, a Right to Vote const amendment and statehood. A republic if we can keep it. 1st stop: flip the Senate.
— Heather McGhee (@hmcghee) September 19, 2020
Sunday Morning Open Thread: Promises, Promises…Post + Comments (78)