109 Comments

Nice. When I heard this I thought maybe we also should have written cards and made calls for Kamala and Tim. Well Done Everyone

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We made lots of calls for Harris-Walz into NC and WI, and raised them $1.5m. I promoted volunteering for Harris-Walz every day on my site from the day the campaign began in March of 2023. We directed thousands perhaps even tens of thousands of volunteers to the campaign. We did our part in IMHO.

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Wasn’t it too “old school” to match their echo chambers? Don’t see a counter to Fox News that can match its reach.

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In the end it came down to old fashioned tv ads...the trans ad was so effective trump's own team couldn't believe it when tested in focus groups. IMO it cost us the election. David Plouffe, if I read correctly, said they couldn't find a way to counter it because Harris was on tape. Clearly, this election was NOT about the economy. We need to stop listening to that nonsense; the trans ad gave people the excuse they needed to vote against a Black woman. Still, I think we could have won the EC with another debate or two. But who knows, it looks like Gaza really was a thing in MI. In a race this tight, it may have mattered. There was no good move here, as whatever Biden did he would be attacked; there were ads in PA saying he was anti Israel, ads in MI saying he was anti Arab, and so on. It was still ads that did us in. That said, there is a real problem with young men and Democrats, and we need to get these voters back in better numbers. I am disgusted that so many people, as TPM noted, blithely put trump back into power and yes, as they noted, we should have a right to be just a little angry before we start talking about what we did wrong. TPM did not think Harris did much wrong.

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I think lot is speculation but bottom line is they have more platforms to spew and twist lies—and Dems need to be able to counter it. So hoping some of these new ones can grow. Joined sez.us.

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Every time someone brings up the issue of _____ rights, people should respond by saying something about believing in freedom of expression or freedom from fear/intimidation and then ask what that has to do with the price of eggs. Steer the conversation back to the insane corruption that the GOP is enabling.

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We did

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Almost all the canvassing and phone banking I did in Wake County (around Raleigh) starting in Sept featured a script focusing on electing Harris/Walz with the secondary focus being down ballot/NC Council of State offices, especially Josh Stein (Gov) and Jeff Jackson (AG) with a shout out for Allison Riggs (NC Supreme Court). I also wrote 300 postcards for NC voters to GOTV. I'm not suggesting that additional efforts wouldn't have helped, especially in other NC counties which might inform future efforts (Harris/Walz won in Wake County).

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Thank you!

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A RECIPE FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

With a 217–215 split Speaker Mike Johnson cannot afford even a single defection! Unlike the Senate, there is no tie-breaker in the House – and according to House rules, in the case of a tie vote, the question before the chamber "shall be lost".

Good luck to Johnson herding his flock of MAGA sheep and other critters! I jest, of course… For I am sincerely looking forward to lots of outright lost votes as well as tied-and-thus-lost votes in the House, decisively slowing down Trump’s legislative agenda, creating huge frustration for Agent Orange, and hopefully triggering high blood pressure well above safe levels.

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With such a narrow majority, I highly doubt Trump will be able to realize his dream of repealing Obamacare.

As we recall, in 2017, despite Republicans controlling the House with an overwhelming 241–194 majority, repeal of Obamacare passed by the very narrow vote of 217–213. Fully 20 Republicans defected and voted with the Democrats.

However, thanks to Senators Murkowski, Collins and McCain, Obamacare repeal failed in the Senate.

NOTE: Several 2017 medical papers estimated that repeal would have resulted in up to 35,000 additional American deaths per year. (Ref. Dr. Woolhandler et al., and other papers.)

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I’m looking for any and all reasons to believe they can’t repeal Obamacare.. I have read something about using an “impoundment” law or rule whereby Congressionally approved funds could be “impounded.” If anyone can shed more light on this I’d appreciate it. I’m sure this regime will go to any lengths to subvert the balance of powers.

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If I recall correctly – and take this with a grain of salt, because I may well be wrong – the "impoundment" rule was done away with in Nixon’s time. Essentially, it’s not too different from a "line veto", whereby the president could just cross out the items he doesn’t like in the budget passed by Congress.

Trump has mentioned that this is a power he would like to have, for obvious reasons. And just as obviously, it would be extremely dangerous to give him this nearly dictatorial power.

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Honestly, I wouldn't put it past the Republicans to repeal the ACA, pass their own version with it being essentially the ACA only with Trump name all over it. Then take full credit for it. But it does seem like a lot of work and Trump is so lazy and with the margin in the House being so small, I think it's more likely Republicans will spend the next four years saying they are going to repeal the ACA and that they have "concepts" on the new plan.

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He can't afford even one member of his caucus getting sick, having an accident, or being unable to get back to DC for a vote. He has ZERO margin for error. And Marge sitting there, ready to challenge his speakership at every turn. Johnson will NEED Democratic votes on some bills, and that will send MAGA world into a feeding frenzy.

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And lest he forget, the Democrats already saved Johnson’s speakership in this Congress. He owes them - bigly.

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So did Kevin McCarthy! Had he been mindful of that and chosen to cooperate even a little bit with the Democrats, McCarthy could have sidelined Matt Gaetz and the worst of the MAGA nihilists – and remained Speaker to this day.

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I feel quite certain that he has already forgotten. He can't afford to 'thank' even one Dem.

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Johnson has shown where his morality lies.

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lol Johnson does not think for one single moment about thanking a Dem

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NOW is our time —FORWARD & ONWARD‼️

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POWER-GRAB FAILS IN SOUTH KOREA

Heather Cox Richardson’s latest "Letters From an American" is very informative about recent events in South Korea, where President Yoon Suk Yeol tried to impose martial law. Fortunately, brave legislators and a protective cordon of pro-democracy demonstrators around Parliament forced him to back down. An interesting nugget:

“A member of the conservative People’s Party, Yoon was elected to a five-year presidential term in 2022 after a misogynistic campaign fueled by young men who saw equal rights for women — whose average monthly wage is 67.7% of that a man — as reverse discrimination that is taking away their own rights and opportunities.”

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-3-2024

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May Americans find inspiration in the South Koreans’ immediate and powerful response to a man trying to take away their democratic rights!

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May we have the guts and put aside our comfortable laziness to fight like these brave South Koreans…

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I saw in a piece by Verge reporter Sarah Jeong (who was there by chance) that it seems the opposition party was able to immediately text its members/supporters to converge at the national assembly. This speaks to the importance of the dem party treating their supporters as more of collective force to be activated rather than a piggy bank to be harangued. Also the opposition party leader scaling a fence to get in to be able to vote is the kind of energy we need from our leaders. Seriously. Anyway, really inspiring: https://www.theverge.com/24312920/martial-law-south-korea-yoon-suk-yeol-protest-dispatch

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"…the importance of the dem party treating their supporters as more of collective force to be activated rather than a piggy bank to be harangued"

Your comment is so worth emphasizing! Simon repeatedly underscores this point – and it clearly is a major Hopium focus going forward.

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100%. Thanks for sharing these important stories!

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Quote of the day:

“I’m f*cking blasted and hanging out in the weirdest scene because history happened at a deeply inconvenient hour. So it goes.”

– Sarah Jeong, Journalist (overly inebriated after a night on the town, yet rising to the occasion in Seoul)

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I also loved the final sentence, also a quote from Jeong: When she finally went home, Jeong wrote: “I expensed my cab ride home. I’m tired so I put ‘korea coup’ down in the expense code field.”

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The MAGA Bro virus is, apparently, a pandemic.

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WaPo is reporting this a.m. that the Trump administration has discussed the defense secretariat position with Gov. Ron DeSanctimonious. Nothing screams defense to our adversaries more than the "Disney warrior" in elevated shoes. Luv it!

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White Boots

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In return for naming daughter-in-law to Little Marco's Senate seat, perhaps.

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They don't care about any of that. They just want a guy who is bought and paid for and will fuel corruption at DoD, funneling money to whatever contracts they want to use to plunder the country.

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Apparently John Fetterman said he would vote for his nomination if DeSantis admitted he wears 4” heel lifts in his shoes!

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Democrats should send people from the administration to every News show to explain the economy and economic progress democrats made. It needs to be an hour long show with charts and statistics. Send Katie Porter out! Start getting out the message and overwhelm the Trump message.

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Katie Porter would be awesome, especially paired with Pete B.!

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They should've done that every day for the last 2 years.

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Good news this morning regarding Adam Gray! I wrote a lot of post cards for him and Derek Tran so this is motivating.

I believe one message we need to trumpet loud and clear is “The election was NOT a mandate”

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As someone quipped: Trump thinks "mandate" means he’s going on a date with Elon Musk.

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😂

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😂

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Elonia.

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Democratic messaging MUST improve. That means remembering the old sales adage: everyone is tuned into their own radio station: WIFM (What's In it For Me?). We need to consistently talk to people about the benefits to them of Dem leadership and policies. Biden's policy accomplishments have been epic but there's been little translation of those macro policies into WIFM for the people who will benefit. In addition, most voters believe the President has the power to control markets. There needs to be frequent consistent messaging about external causes for high costs: bird flu/eggs, product shortages/covid, fuel costs/Ukraine war, grocery costs/price gouging. We are generally doing a lousy job of selling our successes. That needs to change for us to win. Anyone listening?

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Dec 4
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Racism and misogyny were at the core of the Trump vote. They can say the economy, the price of eggs, cost of gas, but it was racism and misogyny. However, I'm not so sure a while male would have won. He would have done better but with the MSM pretty much just being a Trump propaganda machine with their constant sane-washing and the Democrats constantly playing into their hands, it would have been tough. I am someone who thinks Harris ran a brilliant campaign. Could the campaign have done few things differently, sure I guess, but overall, she was amazing and Walz was the prefect running mate.

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Dec 4
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if we have elections....

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I don't think Trump ran an amazing campaign that won him the election. So, we can, respectively, agree to disagree on this point.

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Dec 5
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And yet, given that he uses more bronzer and makeup than any drag queen, it may be quipped that Trump was more "a candidate of color" than Kamala was.

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I completely agree. My apologies. I misunderstood. When you wrote, "In my view an amazing campaign is one that produces a winner" I interpreted that as you implying Trump ran an amazing campaign since he won. I do think she ran an amazing campaign that she had to start literally overnight. Too many forces were against her. I was completely gut punched realizing a lot of this country is still even more racist and misogynistic than I even imagined - they now just hide behind the cost of eggs.

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I suppose if you judge the 'popular vote' but those who did vote, then technically he did 'win the popular vote.' But the fact is that fully one third of US Citizens with the right to vote DID NOT. Trump received a sliver more that one third and Harris received a sliver less than one third. I wonder how happy with the result those non-voters will be for the next 4 years + the years it will take to repair the damage.

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We are so close in the House thanks to flipping several seats and much hard work! South Korean legislators plan to impeach the President of South Korean.

If Democrats regain the House in 2026, impeachment is possible for many of his unconstitutional acts which are sure to have happened by then. SCOTUS hasn't changed that part of the Constitution yet.

We must keep working on electing Democrats starting in Virginia and help keep our democracy alive.

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Another bright light in all of this are the events in South Korea, which are really inspiring, especially how ordinary people were fighting back against an attempted coup. There's some really incredible acts, such as people helping hoist legislators over walls so that they could get inside to vote against Yoon's martial law declaration. Heather Cox Richardson provides an excellent summary of events. The other important factor she brings up: this is the first time that Bluesky was a better source for rapid-fire news on-the-ground than X. Link to HCR's blog: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-3-2024?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=20533&post_id=152552922&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=p0z68&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

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"Speaker Johnson will have a 217-215 “majority” in the early days of Trump 47." He'll also have Shadow Speaker Hakeem Jeffries leading a united Democratic caucus in opposition to Trump and his worst impulses. And, if that weren't enough, the long knives will be out on Johnson's side of the aisle with dangling threat of a single member still having the power to challenge his speakership at any time. 🍿

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Thanks for the update, Deborah! Makes the math a little more favorable for Johnson, but does anybody really think it would be hard to line up 9 wing nuts to oust him? Especially if the MAGA hoard got their panties in a bunch?

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Dems need to correctly "brand" the MAGA GOP as Trump sycophants willing to support whatever the would be King declares. We can rely on the anti-American substance of the MAGA agenda to be chaotically defined for us by Trump on a day to day basis. But it would be ineffective to just rail against Trump or MAGA separately without including the total Trump Death Star.

The best anti-MAGA lesson we can learn today is to checkout what just happened in S. Korea..Everyday Koreans stood in the streets against a military coup attempt by the conservative government and toppled the coup..in 6 hours, not 4 years!

The lesson?

We are a 249 year old democracy who will never go back to an autocratic Kingship form of government. Trump/MAGA/The Heritage Society, may have a lot "ideas" for day one.

We need to stand up together to be sure they have a lot of trouble shoving them down the throats of the governed.

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Somehow the "Trump is a dictator and threat to democracy" message didn't seem to be as potent as I think many of us assumed it would be. It seems that voters weighed that threat against the prospect (which was a complete fabrication) of lower grocery and housing prices and decided the risk of possibly losing some of their democracy was worth it. This is mind-blowing to me, especially in light of the example just set by brave, everyday South Koreans, but I appreciate the comments that remind us of the real economic struggle of many Americans. However, I believe there's very little that the Trump admin will do to improve the economic situations of everyday Americans. Any relief or improvement they experience will be because of the continued impact of Biden/Harris policies. To echo the point others have made, we need to make sure credit is properly attributed, and that everyday Americans are shown daily how this new administration is actually making their lives worse. Too many Americans were fooled into buying what will certainly turn out to be a mirage, and we need to be ready to gently point them back to reality when that happens.

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I totally agree. The way for the Democratic majority to regain its momentum will be based on how quickly MAGA and traditional GOP voters realize the true "pro rich white guys" agenda Trump has up his sleeve. When the retribution of the disenfranchised turns against the Trump sycophants, we win.

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And maybe not so gently! Not rudely, but firmly. We really need MANY more social network influencers to counter all the consistent MAGA and right wing lies. If someone is a good budget keeper, they need to show (all of us) the contrast between a week's worth of groceries today, a year ago; two years ago. And continue to do this CONSISTENTLY each month for the next couple of years. No discussions or explanations - just counter them at their own game. At least, that seems reasonable to me at this point ...

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Excellent to see the our work for the house pay off. I am looking listening to all of the DNC chair interviews. I will be watching yesterdays this afternoon.

I wish we could get some reasoning from senators for re-electing Schumer. I think it is something we should be asking them. They had all the money in the world and we lost 4 seats. Losing OH and PA are just clear evidence that our current tactics are not working or we are placing our focus on the wrong things. The senate brand needs to be better considering the stacked Map.

It is beyond time for new leadership in the senate. I was furious that Schumer went to the Al Smith dinner and treated Trump like any other Republican candidate. And his first announcement after was a promise for Bipartisan legislation for Trump. He clearly does not understand the issues we are facing and his concepts of norms and procedures are at least 20 years out of date. I just wish we could get Schatz as leader.

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I'm not a Schumer fan, but I think maintaining control of the Senate was a near impossibility this time. Dems had to defend 6 Senate seats in states that Trump won in 2020, whereas the GOP had to defend only 2 seats (I believe) in states that Biden won in 2020. It was an uphill battle at best, and the results were better than they could've been. I think the situation will be basically the opposite in 2026, so Dem prospects should be good. And perhaps that will be an opportunity for a new Senate majority leader besides Schumer.

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Dec 4Edited

I am not staking this on if we retained control or not. That is not where my issue lies. It is that he operates under the assumption that when people say they want congress to work together he takes it as a prescriptive instruction not a descriptive outcome.

We can only control us not the the Republicans. And the republicans won't even do the basics like approving ambassadors under a Dem president. So clearly what the public wants is not on the table.

The response to that is to not continue to say "well we will work in good faith with them." The response should be "these assholes are trying to hurt Americans and we wont let them." I do not want to wait for two years of for maybe us to get a better hand in the future.

Edit: Like I am very bullish on 2026 for the Senate but I do not see us gaining 4 seats. Do you? I count Maine, and NC as feasible pickups, but if we want control we need two more seats. We would be counting on picking up two from Texas, Ohio, Iowa, and Alaska. That is a hard get. And on that we all need a good explination from the senators why we should stick with Schumer.

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Schumer is a weenie. We REALLY needed and still need STRONG leadership in the Senate. Schumer gets played by Moscow Mitch so often it doesn't even get noticed anymore.

If Schumer was even a mediocre leader, EVERY judicial vacancy would have been filled LONG before the election. Instead, he let the loser in charge of the committee be owned by the GQP via the idiotic "blue slip" rule that the GQP will eliminate within seconds of it being invoked the first time.

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Dec 4Edited

I actually took the blue slips example out of my prior comment as an because it just makes me the most mad and in fairness to Schumer there is probably enough blame to go around on that one.

Looking at Dick Durbin as the senator I am second most disappointed in.

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I know. I used like Dick Durbin. Alas, he too, keeps operating as if the times were the same as years ago - which frankly, come one, were they REALLY that great? I mean how far back do we have to go?

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Messaging: We must know who we are trying to reach. I know several people who are economically strapped. A month behind on bills and rent...There are millions like them. We need to understand and they need to understand that our Capitalism isn't working for them They need to know that we understand this....The person who wrote we need Radio WIFM "what's in it for me" is correct. This is not just an American problem. All the democracies that resemble us are in trouble. Even up in Canada people are angry not as bad as us but they are angry. In Britain is struggling , Australia, France.....The problems are similar. Jobs shipped overseas, outsourced, Migration, Cost of Housing, groceries. It's a world problem Anger is easy to sell....I'm not advocating Anger, but I'm am advocating a democratic party movement and coalition with other expressing outrage about how corporate greed, selfishness is killing the dream of democracy. Yes the economy looks grwat on paper. Yes many american are doing great, going on cruises buying this and that BUT!! a very large number are not....And they don't understand benefits..Happiness and optimism doesn't resonate right now....I understand why Joe would say, I've never been as optimistic about America"...But even to me it sounded tone deaf. Nothing can be worse than when a whole lot of people are hurting and angry .That's why we got the result we got...And it was only by 1.5% of the pop. But they knew where to target ..The word doesn't resonate with them...We need social psychologist and marketing people to find the right words for us. These people don't know history WW-2 is ancient history to them. It's going to take a lot deep thinking. And on delivering the message...And regarding delivering the message....We are going to need a think tank for how to develop an echo-chamber like theirs ...And deep pockets to invest in that .....In someways it's going to be living behind the Iron curtain....We need a Radio Free America modern day style.

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Spot on. Astute comments and clear ideas!

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Barry, it really came down to the trans ads. When the economy is really the issue, elections are not close. See 1980, 1992, 2008....and with an economy as good as this one is, probably the best of my adult life, Biden should have been a shoe in for re-election. But things have changed, and the old rules are gone; we had trump in front of the camera every day except for a brief period in 2021 when people were happy to have an adult running things again, and restoring stability. And then Afghanistan, made to look much worse than it was, and trump being in front of the cameras every day, his followers never accepting his defeat, and a press that goddammit, just did not cut Biden a break and called him senile from late 2021 on. Harris lost the election...have we heard much about her on the news? Now, what happened when trump lost? And now we have to suffer that dangerous fool another four years; Timothy Snyder thinks trump's cabinet picks are designed to weaken the country; I have a lot of respect for him, he is a genius ( and that is not opinion ) but I disagree; trump's picks are evidence that he remains a dangerously stupid asshole.

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i dont think it was the price of eggs. planes were full on tgiving holiday. and billions spent over the weekend. unemployment low. wages higher. gas low. inflation down. it was the usual maga culture wars and race/misogyny fueled by social media, fox, X. mass delusional brainwashing. we reached a tipping point in hearts and minds.

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I listened to the video with Ken Martin. He is a proven leader who has brought results in MN. His ideas are smart and include funding all areas. Can his ideas work in red states like Texas?

I look forward to hearing from him and the other candidates.

Thanks for interviewing him, Simon.

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Hey! Let’s not dis a man who seeks help from his mom! Real men proudly love all the women in their lives!!! 😉

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Very astute observation. If he sought help from his Dad I bet that would not get made fun of, especially if his Dad were a successful business man or ex military. Seeking help from or being led by women is seen as weakness. Even to some Dems. Very interesting, and I completely missed it until I saw this comment.

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I remember sitting in municipal court as a young journalism student and hearing the judge say over and over, thank god for mothers, who were mostly the ones paying the fines for their idiot sons.....

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"Let’s not dis a man who seeks help from his mom!"

Are we talking about Pete Hegseth here? Because if we are, I can think of plenty of other reason to dis him. And could his own mother, who in clear words accused him of being abusive towards women!

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Hi All, As a Brit I'm not able to comment on whether misogyny, racism or dislike of any other personal characteristics counted towards Harris' defeat. I don't know whether it was inflation, immigration or any other issues. That said, looking at this century's US Presidential election results, something really stands out:

Gore 50,999,897 (48.4%) Bush 50,456,002 (47.9%)

Kerry 50,028,444 (48.3%) Bush 62,040,610 (50.7%)

Obama 69,485,385 (52.9%) McCain 59,961,454 (45.7%)

Obama 65,915,796 (51.1%) Romney 60,933,504 (47.2%)

Clinton 65,853,514 (48.2%) Trump 62,984,828 (46.1%)

Biden 81,283,501 (51.3%) Trump 74,223,975 (46.8%)

Harris 74,898,009 (48.4%) Trump 77,193,105 (49.9%)

The scale of the fall in the democratic vote this year is huge. I thought the Harris/Walz campaign was superb. I was 100% convinced and totally shocked when Trump won.

We need a through, objective analysis of why Democratic voters stayed at home, rather than the plethora of 20/20 hindsight opinions. In 2026 it will be expected that the Democrats can re-take the House. If they can regain the 'Biden' voters it could be an absolute blue rout. That won't compensate for the grief at this year's loss, but it's the start of re-instating decency, honour, truth at the apex of US Government.

Love to you all, Russ.

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