This is not the right way to look at this. "Bases" need to be persuaded to vote. Enthusiasm matters. Volunteers and voter contact matters. Defections of "base" voters - Republicans - matter. It is not all about independents and undecided voters. We have a lot of Dems we need to persuade to vote for us, and a lot of Rs to persuade not vote for him in addition to those who have not made up their mind yet.
The debate helped us and hurt them. There is no question about that.
I have friends and family who are voting for Harris/Walz but "don't really care for her". After the debate, they are energized, love her and want to donate and asking how to volunteer. A friend in PA told me her friends are more excited now to get out and vote for Harris/Walz.
Frustrating isn't it....but you will find that no one will make some folks happy. And it's not about being happy; it's about selecting a person to do the job. SHe showed she can do that, trump showed he can't; which is why he lost in 2020. i still see trump flags flying from trucks and such ( I regard these as fascist symbols, full stop ). but not as many.
I just can't waste any more psychic energy on trump supporters. I've concluded they are fearful people (they can't help it -- it's part of their DNA) and want a strongman to protect them. trump plays a strongman quite effectively on T.V., though as Simon continually points out, he is actually weak and pathetic. We can keep doing the work that will realize the promise that the majority of Americans want for our country.
Dan, I came to the same conclusion after watching the "debate." Donald's supporters are fear-based folks. A friend of mine said she'd come to the conclusion that some folks just like being bullied. That's probably true as well. Once upon a time, I wanted to understand them. Now I simply want to get away from them and elect Harris.
I thought in that debate he looked quite weak. Just his physicality was gone and anyone watching saw she owned him. It might just make enough of his voters that like the (fake) tough guy act to not bother to vote.
The older I get the less patient I am with people who act as if they are picking a life partner when they are, in fact, electing a competent executive to run the country. Someone on Reddit’s VoteDem put it this way: do you want to take a bus that will drop you off a block or two from your destination, or do you want to wait for an Uber to show up without you even calling it and whisk you right to your stop? You are better off banking on the former than the latter.
Even when I was younger and dumber, I did stuff like vote for Mike Dukakis, who I didn’t really like, because I vote blue no matter who and he was an acceptable option. Joe Biden wasn’t my first pick in 2020 (that would have been Elizabeth Warren) but hey, he was a perfectly good option! He’d get the job done!
It wasn’t like I was having to *date* Mike Dukakis or anything, I was electing some guy who would warm the Resolute Desk chair and hopefully keep his finger off the big red button. (This was still the 80’s.) Chances are I will never meet the President. My vote is my “You’re hired,” not my “I wuv you so much please marry me.”
We’re not going to get an Obama every single time we run a candidate. As it is, I think Harris has the closest energy to Obama other than, well, Obama, I’ve seen in my lifetime, and I am happy to vote for her and encourage others to do so too.
Obama, in my opinion, is a great orator - a once in a lifetime politician - great orator skills, funny, smart, and let's face it, handsome, cool, etc. Having said that, Biden has been in the best president in my lifetime. I voted for him in the primary bc I thought he was the only one who could beat Trump in 2020. I was surprised at how much he got done. His time just ran out. I have been so impressed with Kamala Harris. Boy, that debate was so energizing. Finally, someone stood up to Trump and told him, right to his face, that world leaders are laughing at him and that Putin would eat him for lunch. The fact that was it was a woman and a woman of color made it all the more delicious. God, it felt good.
Couldn't have said it better! Only difference: I voted for Warren in the primary, while figuring Biden would win, and I was fine with that. I just wanted to win. But I had no idea how effective and powerful and amazing he'd be, and how different from Obama's more centrist presidency, something that surprised and disappointed me (though I was in love with him and the whole family). Biden leaned a lot more left, which delighted me and progressives and disappointed GOPers and centrists. But he's like an old-time deal-making liberal (IMO). And has laid the groundwork for the decades to come. And the debate...omg, too much to say, but I agree...it felt SO good!!!!!!
Agreed. I was gonna vote Democrat no matter what. But after the debate I'm fucking pumped up. Haven't felt like this since 2012. Harris has crossed "The Obama Threshold", for me at least.
It is also not so much about undecided voters as it is about getting people who normally don't vote to vote. Also, getting people who are not registered to vote to do so, and then to actually follow through and vote.
Their site says to check back on Friday, because they are temporarily sold out! That's good problem, related to the surge of volunteer activity. My hubby and I, with the help of one of our dear neighbors, have done 2,500 BW postcards, and we're not slowing down. See ya Friday, Blue Wave folk! 🌊
Even Republican base pro-Trump voters may begin to peel away from him, as he deteriorates right in front of our eyes and is tagged as the loser that he is. I was impressed by an interview of a Trump supporter a few weeks back who showed up at a local Republican headquarters to volunteer for and meet him. He never showed up and she walked away in disgust saying, "I've had it with Trump."
Millions of yet unregistered folk who trend Democratic are the secret weapon. We can tell how many register. Within a few minutes after Taylor Swift endorsed, 3000,000 new Democrats were added. 12 million texts have been sent. Need follow-up. Phone banks today. Partner with FT 6 to sweep.
Glad to hear this, since many pundits yesterday said they thought Taylor Swift's endorsement "won't make much of a difference in the vote." I feel these pundits have no understanding of who she is or her pull with young voters.
The subtext of all their gobbledygook is always the same. Anchor: "In your professional opinion, would you say that this race is going to come down to the wire, that Donald Trump is unbeatable (except for 2020), that the polling is suspect if it favors Democrats and obviously correct if it favors Republicans, and that our viewers absolutely must remained glued to their screens for the next six weeks, stopping only to obtain prescriptions for the new drugs advertised by our pharmaceutical sponsor?" Pundit: "Yes. Yes, I would."
Joe Biden might disagree about whether or not a debate performance means anything to the candidate's base. And not to get confrontational about it, but this is the kind of thinking we need to move beyond. When Biden's debate was a disaster, this comments section was full of calls for him to drop out (though less so than in other corners of the web). It's a predictable response, unfortunately. After our bad debate, it was "GAME OVER." After their much worse debate, it's "Who cares?" Everybody described this debate before it happened as "consequential." But now they're quick to say that what they really meant was "inconsequential" and the future is a boot stamping on a human face forever, etc., and what the hell are you smiling about, you irrationally exuberant voters! But this is not a place for sideline spectators. This is our election to win. And we win by donating, volunteering, building community, and voting on day 1.
According to some psychotherapists who study narcissists, she inflicted a narcissistic injury that may actually make him collapse sooner than he was on track. His symptoms of mental decline are growing more apparent to even a layperson like me.
I remember thinking “my god she really chopped him off at the knees” when she said “Your rallies are boring, Donald, people leave early.” Because, when lobbed a question on what he’d do about immigration - which is a sore spot for the Biden administration this election - Donny Boy *completely blew it* by saying “Wait a minute, let’s talk about rallies! Kamala has to bus people in, but MINE are not boring, they are the biggest, most beautiful rallies anyone has ever seen!” Even someone whose knowledge of psychology begins and ends with pop Freudianism could spot that narcissistic injury a mile away.
Combine that with his rants on how they are eating the pets and performing gender affirming surgeries on imprisoned immigrants, yeah, Donnie’s brain meats are rotting. And he has a teeny…rally. The tiniest.
Lessons from a Post-Debate Focus Group of Undecided Voters
The debate made undecided voters more willing to pay attention to Vice President Harris. While they criticized the lack of direct answers to some questions, I believe the main issue is a lack of understanding of the Vice President's role. I see an opportunity for VP Harris to clarify what the Vice Presidency entails, bridging the gap in undecided voters' minds about her ability to chart a new path forward.
In my view, the Vice Presidency has three key roles:
1. Be the primary advocate for the President's agenda and decisions.
2. Manage specific issues assigned by the President.
3. Serve as the President's top advisor, though all major decisions are ultimately made by the President.
Educating voters about the Vice Presidency can help address some of the key questions undecided voters still have. For example: How will she differ from President Biden? Why hasn't she achieved more over the past 3.5 years?
At the debate, there were three questions where the Vice President's role could have been better highlighted:
1. The first question on the economy over the past 3.5 years falls under Role 1. Voters need to be continually reminded of the challenges left by Trump, the long-term investments made by President Biden, and the acknowledgement that there is more work to be done—hence VP Harris's plan.
2. The question on immigration ties to Role 2. The VP was tasked with diplomatic efforts related to immigration, not border management.
3. Regarding Afghanistan, this relates to Role 3. The VP started strong by affirming her support for "President Biden's decision." I would suggest to do this more.
In sum, educating the public about the Vice Presidency allows VP Harris to respectfully differentiate herself from President Biden while also taking credit for the progress that has been made.
Isn’t it bizarre that someone who has been strongly promoting Hannibal Lecter is suddenly spreading deranged conspiracy theories about immigrants eating people’s pets?
It's all bizarre. First it was Cristi Noam shooting her puppy and goat to prove her MAGA "strength" and then came Vance with his cat ladies. These folks are nuts. Feed them to the squirrels.
I turned on public radio news and was horrified to hear them announce 🍊👿 his claim about immigrants eating Fido and Fluffy like it was a credible concern. All spoken in that quiet neutral tone. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
They just WON'T SAY THE TRUTH OUT LOUD.
He Is A Traitor To Our Country, Aligned With Our Mortal Enemies and Disregards All Of Our Laws and Our Constitution.
I don't remember the radio show. I do remember his reputation for being a left leaning environmentalist. Went down the conspiracy theory path of weirdness.
Time will tell how the debate is talked about by historians but I wonder whether it will be received as a moment when Trump’s grip on the party began to loosen. He wanted that budget legislation passed in the House, which includes a voter suppression piece. I believe Mike Johnson decided to pull it at the last minute but don’t know where it is now. I also saw that Trump doesn’t want the Fed to make an interest rate cut but Republicans are disagreeing with him. Small examples but they’re not falling in line the way they were.
I’ve seen a small number of House and Senate GOP caution that voters rarely reward a party for shutting down the government and that putting “politics before what is good for the people” by demanding the Fed not cut interest rates is how you lose an election. I think the more rational ones are starting to accept that he’s not winning and it’s not worth sacrificing their own careers to tank the economy and shut down the government less than two months before an election.
A government shutdown would be a disaster for them but they might do it anyway because they really, truly hate one another worse than they hate Democrats. And, on the interest rate cut, they have as much say in the decisions made by the Fed as you or I do.
"Trump’s Trainwreck" – believe it or not, that’s the headline of this day-after article in the National Review, a prominent conservative publication. I recommend having a look at the comments; there are more than 1200. They’re scathing! These are not people who will be voting enthusiastically for Donald Trump. Enjoy!
"If you’re obsessing over how bad, how in the tank for Kamala Harris, the two ABC news moderators were, it’s because you don’t want to come to grips with the brute fact that Donald Trump was a disaster last night. He was unhinged, often incoherent, incapable of completing thoughts and sentences when he had points to make, and led into self-absorbed rabbit-holes — claims that he won the 2020 election, the size of his rallies, whether “migrants” are eating stolen pets..."
Dunno, but with 1200 comments to one article, they clearly do have a readership. I’ve never seen anything written by Lowry that I liked.
To the National Review’s credit, they did do a special anti-Trump issue. Granted, that was back in the day, before the Republican Party became MAGA and Fascist...
Sometimes curiosity gets the best of me – I wanted to know what NR had to say about the debate.
Well I don't read it but I saw Lowry had an opinion piece in NYT (maybe you saw it) about how Trump could win on "character". I mean, that was just so completely absurd it looked like an act of desperation. The anti-Trump stuff I saw from them was like 2016 and I don't know what's been going on since then.
There are 100,000 postcards left to write for Winning the House Thursdays Anyone in Hopium can help. Please put the link in the newsletter. The click is ticking now.
She said it without saying it. We all said it, just not out loud - motherfucker. One of the best moments of her delivery and a splendid counterpoint to the endless dog whistles Trump blunders through that the press fails to cover.
GOTV and turnout is vital! We need to make our Enthusiasm and Joy the Winning Advantage.
If MAGA Republicans vote at or below the 2020 national turnout level (a record-setting but IMHO utterly dismal 66.6 percent), while we achieve Scandinavian-level turnout (75–85 percent) of Democrats and democracy-favoring Independents, then 2024 will be a Blue Tidal Wave election!
It’s called patriotism and a sense of civic obligation. 😊
I have never understood why American election turnout numbers are so abominably low, even when calculated as a percentage of registered voters instead of as the portion of total adult-age people who would be eligible to vote if they bothered to register.
Some American election observers are *impressed* by the 2020 national turnout figure. Must confess I utterly fail to see what there is to brag about.
Sure, there are exceptions; I understand turnout in Minnesota was just a whisker short of 80 percent. I would be content if Democrats in every other state can replicate the numbers of Tim Walz’s state.
Guess where the majority of Minnesotans can trace their ancestry! Sweden, at least, has an interesting mix of high individualism mixed with a sense of *civic* collectivism. (Sort of the reverse of southern Italy and Greece where familialism takes precedence over civic duty.) I don’t know if Minnesotans vote so much because of their ancestry or because Grandma will pelt you with leftover hotdish if you don’t, tbh. But I admire Minnesota for voting and for being the home of Tim Walz and the late Prince. ☔️
I agree our voting participation is a disgrace, as a nation. I think some of it is deliberate suppression, especially in former slave states, that have built a whole apparatus to disenfranchise large segments of the population. But, I’m still wrathful that in 2022, people in California - a BLUE state with universal mail in voting! - couldn’t get off their butts to fill in a ballot and mail it. We lost a couple very winnable House races this way. (This is why I am postcarding for CA-13.)
There’s work to be done in a lot of red states to make voting easier, but states like California have NO. EXCUSE. You don’t even need a freaking stamp. 📫
Lots of Minnesotans of Norwegian kin as well. It is said that if you count everyone who is half, quarter, one-eighth or one-sixteenth, there are far more Norwegian-Americans than there are Norwegians back in Norway. (Norwegians sometimes joke about a relative they’ve never heard of suddenly arriving at their doorstep and staying a whole week!)
I agree about California. We lost some close races we should have won. New York screwed up similarly. Certainly the Democratic Party in New York state failed to mobilize and GOTV. Dems could and should have kept the House in 2022. Imagine how much more the Biden-Harris Administration and Democrats could have achieved!
"He is a rapist, fraudster, traitor, 34 times felon. He is much more untethered, impulsive, mad. And he is so much so that voters needed to see it all themselves. And they did on Tuesday And it was devastating for him."
It sure was! So next week when more polls are in if we still see "Harris/Trump in dead heat election..." headlines then there is either something terribly wrong with polling, with reporting, or with people. Maybe all three. It is both thrilling to have Harris crushing and frightening to still see Trump with a very legitimate chance of winning anyway. No choice but to keep working, but something is very wrong with the system that needs to be examined and fixed.
My friends and I did another phonebanking session last night for Harris/Walz. Team, let's push past any shyness and get on those phones, now is the TIME!!! We plan to go twice a week. I figure if Kamala can step up under that tremendous pressure, the least I can do is pound those phones for her. Check out your local Dem headquarters, where they have all the resources you need. Or, join one of the many daily phonebanking sessions the Harris/Walz campaign has on Zoom! They have you do it in groups. LFG!!!
God bless you, Sarah. I've got friends coming over to join me in phone banking next Wednesday night. I myself will hit a Zoom phone bank a time or two before that.
Sarah's right, everyone: time to push past any shyness and get on those phones!
And, let's hop on that Voting on Day 1. Here's the early voting, starts SOON! Won't it feel great to run up those #s?: Pennsylvania (Sept. 16), Minnesota (Sept. 20), Virginia (Sept. 20), Vermont (Sept. 21), and Illinois (Sept. 26).
Please reach out to everyone you know in these states and spread the word, tell them to tell everyone, leverage every network you have. Ask your friends, reach out to all your networks to let people know to tell their friends to vote early in these states. I'm going to join all the Dem-specific FB groups I can in all these states and be making posts, and thinking of anyone and everyone I know in these places to be ambassadors for voting early. Let's all do this, we can make a difference! LFG!
Interesting take that the Harris campaign wants a second debate. I recall an expression from an old time pol who said no to a debate because if you’re ahead, let your opponent get his own damn publicity. I’m wondering if the Harris campaign is seeing an upside even if Trump behaves within the bell curve of normal, which is certainly not a given, because the recent inflation numbers were good and the Fed is likely to cut rates? In other words they can defend their economic record to those who feel burdened by high prices??? Thoughts????
This is not the right way to look at this. "Bases" need to be persuaded to vote. Enthusiasm matters. Volunteers and voter contact matters. Defections of "base" voters - Republicans - matter. It is not all about independents and undecided voters. We have a lot of Dems we need to persuade to vote for us, and a lot of Rs to persuade not vote for him in addition to those who have not made up their mind yet.
The debate helped us and hurt them. There is no question about that.
I have friends and family who are voting for Harris/Walz but "don't really care for her". After the debate, they are energized, love her and want to donate and asking how to volunteer. A friend in PA told me her friends are more excited now to get out and vote for Harris/Walz.
This is awesome, thank you!
Frustrating isn't it....but you will find that no one will make some folks happy. And it's not about being happy; it's about selecting a person to do the job. SHe showed she can do that, trump showed he can't; which is why he lost in 2020. i still see trump flags flying from trucks and such ( I regard these as fascist symbols, full stop ). but not as many.
I just can't waste any more psychic energy on trump supporters. I've concluded they are fearful people (they can't help it -- it's part of their DNA) and want a strongman to protect them. trump plays a strongman quite effectively on T.V., though as Simon continually points out, he is actually weak and pathetic. We can keep doing the work that will realize the promise that the majority of Americans want for our country.
Dan, I came to the same conclusion after watching the "debate." Donald's supporters are fear-based folks. A friend of mine said she'd come to the conclusion that some folks just like being bullied. That's probably true as well. Once upon a time, I wanted to understand them. Now I simply want to get away from them and elect Harris.
I thought in that debate he looked quite weak. Just his physicality was gone and anyone watching saw she owned him. It might just make enough of his voters that like the (fake) tough guy act to not bother to vote.
Good. I hate those flags.
The older I get the less patient I am with people who act as if they are picking a life partner when they are, in fact, electing a competent executive to run the country. Someone on Reddit’s VoteDem put it this way: do you want to take a bus that will drop you off a block or two from your destination, or do you want to wait for an Uber to show up without you even calling it and whisk you right to your stop? You are better off banking on the former than the latter.
Even when I was younger and dumber, I did stuff like vote for Mike Dukakis, who I didn’t really like, because I vote blue no matter who and he was an acceptable option. Joe Biden wasn’t my first pick in 2020 (that would have been Elizabeth Warren) but hey, he was a perfectly good option! He’d get the job done!
It wasn’t like I was having to *date* Mike Dukakis or anything, I was electing some guy who would warm the Resolute Desk chair and hopefully keep his finger off the big red button. (This was still the 80’s.) Chances are I will never meet the President. My vote is my “You’re hired,” not my “I wuv you so much please marry me.”
We’re not going to get an Obama every single time we run a candidate. As it is, I think Harris has the closest energy to Obama other than, well, Obama, I’ve seen in my lifetime, and I am happy to vote for her and encourage others to do so too.
Obama, in my opinion, is a great orator - a once in a lifetime politician - great orator skills, funny, smart, and let's face it, handsome, cool, etc. Having said that, Biden has been in the best president in my lifetime. I voted for him in the primary bc I thought he was the only one who could beat Trump in 2020. I was surprised at how much he got done. His time just ran out. I have been so impressed with Kamala Harris. Boy, that debate was so energizing. Finally, someone stood up to Trump and told him, right to his face, that world leaders are laughing at him and that Putin would eat him for lunch. The fact that was it was a woman and a woman of color made it all the more delicious. God, it felt good.
Couldn't have said it better! Only difference: I voted for Warren in the primary, while figuring Biden would win, and I was fine with that. I just wanted to win. But I had no idea how effective and powerful and amazing he'd be, and how different from Obama's more centrist presidency, something that surprised and disappointed me (though I was in love with him and the whole family). Biden leaned a lot more left, which delighted me and progressives and disappointed GOPers and centrists. But he's like an old-time deal-making liberal (IMO). And has laid the groundwork for the decades to come. And the debate...omg, too much to say, but I agree...it felt SO good!!!!!!
Thank you for sharing. I hope that's the sentiment among many similar type voters in all the swing states!
Agreed. I was gonna vote Democrat no matter what. But after the debate I'm fucking pumped up. Haven't felt like this since 2012. Harris has crossed "The Obama Threshold", for me at least.
It is also not so much about undecided voters as it is about getting people who normally don't vote to vote. Also, getting people who are not registered to vote to do so, and then to actually follow through and vote.
That is one of the main things that Blue Wave postcarding addresses:
https://shop.bluewavepostcards.org
Their site says to check back on Friday, because they are temporarily sold out! That's good problem, related to the surge of volunteer activity. My hubby and I, with the help of one of our dear neighbors, have done 2,500 BW postcards, and we're not slowing down. See ya Friday, Blue Wave folk! 🌊
I just got mine in the mail today!
Even Republican base pro-Trump voters may begin to peel away from him, as he deteriorates right in front of our eyes and is tagged as the loser that he is. I was impressed by an interview of a Trump supporter a few weeks back who showed up at a local Republican headquarters to volunteer for and meet him. He never showed up and she walked away in disgust saying, "I've had it with Trump."
Seriously, who wouldn't vote for a bright-eyed star instead of a glazed-over, combed-over weirdo?
Millions of yet unregistered folk who trend Democratic are the secret weapon. We can tell how many register. Within a few minutes after Taylor Swift endorsed, 3000,000 new Democrats were added. 12 million texts have been sent. Need follow-up. Phone banks today. Partner with FT 6 to sweep.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Daniel, I so appreciate your can-do upbeat attitude! You always adding the field team6 link is great!!! Thank you, fellow warrior 🩵
Glad to hear this, since many pundits yesterday said they thought Taylor Swift's endorsement "won't make much of a difference in the vote." I feel these pundits have no understanding of who she is or her pull with young voters.
Pundits are (hear me out) stupid.
The more I hear about them, the more I think you're right.
The subtext of all their gobbledygook is always the same. Anchor: "In your professional opinion, would you say that this race is going to come down to the wire, that Donald Trump is unbeatable (except for 2020), that the polling is suspect if it favors Democrats and obviously correct if it favors Republicans, and that our viewers absolutely must remained glued to their screens for the next six weeks, stopping only to obtain prescriptions for the new drugs advertised by our pharmaceutical sponsor?" Pundit: "Yes. Yes, I would."
Shaun, respectfully, this is not the tone we bring to our community.
Tes. We Dems need to get over our glass-half-empty mindset.
Joe Biden might disagree about whether or not a debate performance means anything to the candidate's base. And not to get confrontational about it, but this is the kind of thinking we need to move beyond. When Biden's debate was a disaster, this comments section was full of calls for him to drop out (though less so than in other corners of the web). It's a predictable response, unfortunately. After our bad debate, it was "GAME OVER." After their much worse debate, it's "Who cares?" Everybody described this debate before it happened as "consequential." But now they're quick to say that what they really meant was "inconsequential" and the future is a boot stamping on a human face forever, etc., and what the hell are you smiling about, you irrationally exuberant voters! But this is not a place for sideline spectators. This is our election to win. And we win by donating, volunteering, building community, and voting on day 1.
According to some psychotherapists who study narcissists, she inflicted a narcissistic injury that may actually make him collapse sooner than he was on track. His symptoms of mental decline are growing more apparent to even a layperson like me.
I remember thinking “my god she really chopped him off at the knees” when she said “Your rallies are boring, Donald, people leave early.” Because, when lobbed a question on what he’d do about immigration - which is a sore spot for the Biden administration this election - Donny Boy *completely blew it* by saying “Wait a minute, let’s talk about rallies! Kamala has to bus people in, but MINE are not boring, they are the biggest, most beautiful rallies anyone has ever seen!” Even someone whose knowledge of psychology begins and ends with pop Freudianism could spot that narcissistic injury a mile away.
Combine that with his rants on how they are eating the pets and performing gender affirming surgeries on imprisoned immigrants, yeah, Donnie’s brain meats are rotting. And he has a teeny…rally. The tiniest.
Lessons from a Post-Debate Focus Group of Undecided Voters
The debate made undecided voters more willing to pay attention to Vice President Harris. While they criticized the lack of direct answers to some questions, I believe the main issue is a lack of understanding of the Vice President's role. I see an opportunity for VP Harris to clarify what the Vice Presidency entails, bridging the gap in undecided voters' minds about her ability to chart a new path forward.
In my view, the Vice Presidency has three key roles:
1. Be the primary advocate for the President's agenda and decisions.
2. Manage specific issues assigned by the President.
3. Serve as the President's top advisor, though all major decisions are ultimately made by the President.
Educating voters about the Vice Presidency can help address some of the key questions undecided voters still have. For example: How will she differ from President Biden? Why hasn't she achieved more over the past 3.5 years?
At the debate, there were three questions where the Vice President's role could have been better highlighted:
1. The first question on the economy over the past 3.5 years falls under Role 1. Voters need to be continually reminded of the challenges left by Trump, the long-term investments made by President Biden, and the acknowledgement that there is more work to be done—hence VP Harris's plan.
2. The question on immigration ties to Role 2. The VP was tasked with diplomatic efforts related to immigration, not border management.
3. Regarding Afghanistan, this relates to Role 3. The VP started strong by affirming her support for "President Biden's decision." I would suggest to do this more.
In sum, educating the public about the Vice Presidency allows VP Harris to respectfully differentiate herself from President Biden while also taking credit for the progress that has been made.
Thank you for taking the time to educate us.
Message to the Donalds, JDs, Elons and Josh Hawleys of this world:
"Maybe you wouldn’t feel so emasculated by feminism if your manhood was rooted in something other than oppressing women."
Truth.
Bumper sticker:
"SuperCallousFragileEgoTrumpYouAreAtrocious"
I'd buy that one! Clever.
I just saw a fun one "Cars Against Trump".
🤣
That's it in a nutshell. I've been searching for words to express that. You are exactly right! Thank you and let's spread that around.
A good friend of my wife, her hairdresser, posted that. I too thought it was spot on.
Another priceless Instagram quote from my wife’s hairdresser:
"When I heard they were giving schoolchildren sex changes, I nearly spit out my dog."
In NY-17 I hope we’re stressing over and over how much the GOP hates Haitians and Hatian-Americans!
Isn’t it bizarre that someone who has been strongly promoting Hannibal Lecter is suddenly spreading deranged conspiracy theories about immigrants eating people’s pets?
It's all bizarre. First it was Cristi Noam shooting her puppy and goat to prove her MAGA "strength" and then came Vance with his cat ladies. These folks are nuts. Feed them to the squirrels.
Weird.
I turned on public radio news and was horrified to hear them announce 🍊👿 his claim about immigrants eating Fido and Fluffy like it was a credible concern. All spoken in that quiet neutral tone. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
They just WON'T SAY THE TRUTH OUT LOUD.
He Is A Traitor To Our Country, Aligned With Our Mortal Enemies and Disregards All Of Our Laws and Our Constitution.
Disgraceful.
Ironically Trump hates dogs and Vance hates cats.
I'm sure dogs and cats hate them both. :-] Animals are quite smart.
"No, Donald" you could say "It wasn't immigrants eating dogs. It was RFK Jr. You know, the guy with a worm in his brain."
Didn't RFK used to host a left-wing radio show years ago?
I don't remember the radio show. I do remember his reputation for being a left leaning environmentalist. Went down the conspiracy theory path of weirdness.
Yes! That was it. He and another environmentalist had a show (perhaps on public radio here in Boston). I thought the name was Ring of Fire(?).
Time will tell how the debate is talked about by historians but I wonder whether it will be received as a moment when Trump’s grip on the party began to loosen. He wanted that budget legislation passed in the House, which includes a voter suppression piece. I believe Mike Johnson decided to pull it at the last minute but don’t know where it is now. I also saw that Trump doesn’t want the Fed to make an interest rate cut but Republicans are disagreeing with him. Small examples but they’re not falling in line the way they were.
I’ve seen a small number of House and Senate GOP caution that voters rarely reward a party for shutting down the government and that putting “politics before what is good for the people” by demanding the Fed not cut interest rates is how you lose an election. I think the more rational ones are starting to accept that he’s not winning and it’s not worth sacrificing their own careers to tank the economy and shut down the government less than two months before an election.
Seeing Putin's Lunch spreading pet-eating lies and screaming that Biden hates Kamala might dampen the old ardor for servitude a tad.
A government shutdown would be a disaster for them but they might do it anyway because they really, truly hate one another worse than they hate Democrats. And, on the interest rate cut, they have as much say in the decisions made by the Fed as you or I do.
"Trump’s Trainwreck" – believe it or not, that’s the headline of this day-after article in the National Review, a prominent conservative publication. I recommend having a look at the comments; there are more than 1200. They’re scathing! These are not people who will be voting enthusiastically for Donald Trump. Enjoy!
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/trumps-trainwreck/
A quote from the article:
"If you’re obsessing over how bad, how in the tank for Kamala Harris, the two ABC news moderators were, it’s because you don’t want to come to grips with the brute fact that Donald Trump was a disaster last night. He was unhinged, often incoherent, incapable of completing thoughts and sentences when he had points to make, and led into self-absorbed rabbit-holes — claims that he won the 2020 election, the size of his rallies, whether “migrants” are eating stolen pets..."
Does anyone read that thing anymore? I always get the sense that Lowry is just tagging onto the Trump train in a desperate attempt to remain relevant.
Dunno, but with 1200 comments to one article, they clearly do have a readership. I’ve never seen anything written by Lowry that I liked.
To the National Review’s credit, they did do a special anti-Trump issue. Granted, that was back in the day, before the Republican Party became MAGA and Fascist...
Sometimes curiosity gets the best of me – I wanted to know what NR had to say about the debate.
Well I don't read it but I saw Lowry had an opinion piece in NYT (maybe you saw it) about how Trump could win on "character". I mean, that was just so completely absurd it looked like an act of desperation. The anti-Trump stuff I saw from them was like 2016 and I don't know what's been going on since then.
At this rate are they going to try and recall another speaker? Is “House Republican Leader” the new Defense Against The Dark Arts position?
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There is nothing like real-time daylight to clarify critical issues. The Harris Trump debate certainly fit the bill.
It was a pleasure watching our brilliant, highly qualified, next President take apart our former, out to lunch, president pervert.
I can't think any more commanding performances than Harris' utter destruction of Donny without getting into one-off sports analogies.
Psychiatrists can start using "did you vote for Trump in 2024? as a sanity test.
Go Kamala Walz. It will be wonderful welcoming you into office in Jan 2025.😊
Journalists should start interviews with every Republican politician with this simple question (i.e. sanity test):
"Do you believe Joe Biden won the 2020 Presidential Election?"
"...and THIS *long pause* former president..."
She said it without saying it. We all said it, just not out loud - motherfucker. One of the best moments of her delivery and a splendid counterpoint to the endless dog whistles Trump blunders through that the press fails to cover.
Totally agree!
"...fffffformer president..." 🤣 We all knew exactly what she was thinking!
Beautifully played.
It’s funny how often mf popped into my head while listening to and reflecting on the debate. Good to know I had company 😊
(Response to a point made by Simon:)
GOTV and turnout is vital! We need to make our Enthusiasm and Joy the Winning Advantage.
If MAGA Republicans vote at or below the 2020 national turnout level (a record-setting but IMHO utterly dismal 66.6 percent), while we achieve Scandinavian-level turnout (75–85 percent) of Democrats and democracy-favoring Independents, then 2024 will be a Blue Tidal Wave election!
🌊
the Blue Tsu
We're good.
I like the Scandinavian numbers. Let’s shoot for those😊
It’s called patriotism and a sense of civic obligation. 😊
I have never understood why American election turnout numbers are so abominably low, even when calculated as a percentage of registered voters instead of as the portion of total adult-age people who would be eligible to vote if they bothered to register.
Some American election observers are *impressed* by the 2020 national turnout figure. Must confess I utterly fail to see what there is to brag about.
Sure, there are exceptions; I understand turnout in Minnesota was just a whisker short of 80 percent. I would be content if Democrats in every other state can replicate the numbers of Tim Walz’s state.
Guess where the majority of Minnesotans can trace their ancestry! Sweden, at least, has an interesting mix of high individualism mixed with a sense of *civic* collectivism. (Sort of the reverse of southern Italy and Greece where familialism takes precedence over civic duty.) I don’t know if Minnesotans vote so much because of their ancestry or because Grandma will pelt you with leftover hotdish if you don’t, tbh. But I admire Minnesota for voting and for being the home of Tim Walz and the late Prince. ☔️
I agree our voting participation is a disgrace, as a nation. I think some of it is deliberate suppression, especially in former slave states, that have built a whole apparatus to disenfranchise large segments of the population. But, I’m still wrathful that in 2022, people in California - a BLUE state with universal mail in voting! - couldn’t get off their butts to fill in a ballot and mail it. We lost a couple very winnable House races this way. (This is why I am postcarding for CA-13.)
There’s work to be done in a lot of red states to make voting easier, but states like California have NO. EXCUSE. You don’t even need a freaking stamp. 📫
Lots of Minnesotans of Norwegian kin as well. It is said that if you count everyone who is half, quarter, one-eighth or one-sixteenth, there are far more Norwegian-Americans than there are Norwegians back in Norway. (Norwegians sometimes joke about a relative they’ve never heard of suddenly arriving at their doorstep and staying a whole week!)
I agree about California. We lost some close races we should have won. New York screwed up similarly. Certainly the Democratic Party in New York state failed to mobilize and GOTV. Dems could and should have kept the House in 2022. Imagine how much more the Biden-Harris Administration and Democrats could have achieved!
The NYT poll is about as accurate as trump claiming that he won the debate... or the election.
"He is a rapist, fraudster, traitor, 34 times felon. He is much more untethered, impulsive, mad. And he is so much so that voters needed to see it all themselves. And they did on Tuesday And it was devastating for him."
It sure was! So next week when more polls are in if we still see "Harris/Trump in dead heat election..." headlines then there is either something terribly wrong with polling, with reporting, or with people. Maybe all three. It is both thrilling to have Harris crushing and frightening to still see Trump with a very legitimate chance of winning anyway. No choice but to keep working, but something is very wrong with the system that needs to be examined and fixed.
Simon, do you know where the DSCC is focusing? Is it putting any money behind candidates in Montana or Florida?
My friends and I did another phonebanking session last night for Harris/Walz. Team, let's push past any shyness and get on those phones, now is the TIME!!! We plan to go twice a week. I figure if Kamala can step up under that tremendous pressure, the least I can do is pound those phones for her. Check out your local Dem headquarters, where they have all the resources you need. Or, join one of the many daily phonebanking sessions the Harris/Walz campaign has on Zoom! They have you do it in groups. LFG!!!
God bless you, Sarah. I've got friends coming over to join me in phone banking next Wednesday night. I myself will hit a Zoom phone bank a time or two before that.
Sarah's right, everyone: time to push past any shyness and get on those phones!
Thanks Patrick, let's be her army :)
And I agree, it's great to do it w friends and snacks :)
And, let's hop on that Voting on Day 1. Here's the early voting, starts SOON! Won't it feel great to run up those #s?: Pennsylvania (Sept. 16), Minnesota (Sept. 20), Virginia (Sept. 20), Vermont (Sept. 21), and Illinois (Sept. 26).
Please reach out to everyone you know in these states and spread the word, tell them to tell everyone, leverage every network you have. Ask your friends, reach out to all your networks to let people know to tell their friends to vote early in these states. I'm going to join all the Dem-specific FB groups I can in all these states and be making posts, and thinking of anyone and everyone I know in these places to be ambassadors for voting early. Let's all do this, we can make a difference! LFG!
Yikes. - I live in PA. Haven’t gotten my ballot yet!
Why haven’t the Senators and House members who voted to impeach trump endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket yet?
Interesting take that the Harris campaign wants a second debate. I recall an expression from an old time pol who said no to a debate because if you’re ahead, let your opponent get his own damn publicity. I’m wondering if the Harris campaign is seeing an upside even if Trump behaves within the bell curve of normal, which is certainly not a given, because the recent inflation numbers were good and the Fed is likely to cut rates? In other words they can defend their economic record to those who feel burdened by high prices??? Thoughts????
They're toying with him. Donald Trump will never get on a debate stage again as long as he lives.