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May 31
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Evan, I am putting you on official warning that your posts are persistently critical of Biden and Democrats; you repeat your arguments again and again; and this all feels trollish. I have asked you to cool it before, and if you don't I am going to start pulling your posts down or suspend your posting privileges. You do what I talk about all the time here - Biden is good BUT BUT BUT. No buts here. We don't live in buts. You have to make your posts more constructive and not critical and negative or you need to go.

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Eminently quotable:

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“I like people who weren’t convicted.”

– Ghost of John McCain

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"I am standing back and standing by, Your Honor."

– Warden, Rikers Island

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“Republicans aren’t bringing their best. They are flooding our country with felons and rapists!”

– Anon.

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“Pro tip: If I were a reporter, I’d be calling swing Senate and House candidates for their thoughts about running with a convicted felon at the top of the ticket.”

– Simon Rosenberg

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“34 for 45.”

– Neal Katyal

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“I applaud ex-President Trump for helping our criminal justice system ‘drain the swamp’.”

– Anon.

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“Ivanka and Jared both have dads who are convicted felons -- just in time for Father's Day!”

– Greg Olear

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“When I can, I tell the truth.”

– Donald J. Trump

(Editor’s note: That’s a lie.)

.

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New Reality TV Show Starring Trump: World’s Biggest Loser Tagline: Trump bestest loser ever

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Criminal. I think that works better than felon, for many of the voters we want to reach.

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Based on what James? Please focus on advancing the broader narrative rather than quibbling about words….

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Appreciate the question Simon. Criminal is a word everybody understands, and has very strong negative meaning, about underlying bad and dangerous character and actions. Felon is a technical term relating to the the legal process. One the one hand many of the low information but supportive voters we want to reach may not relate or understand the import of being a felon. And on the other hand, many of the voters we want to reach, or their families may in fact have been convicted felons, including for actions many may not see as actually criminal. And they may have paid their debts to society.

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how do you know this James? Do you have data backing this up? Please stay focused on the mission. This is an unwanted distraction, and you are literally doing exactly what I ask everyone not to do today which is work on helping us tell our story, help us win.

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I talk to lots of low information voters and have some sense of what will reach them. In order to advance our efforts, for those voters I believe using the term criminal will resonate better. Just an informed view I would say.

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James, what works for you works for you. (You've probably noticed that Simon is very touchy about any criticism of what works for him. He is very effective on video, but not all of us have such a varied audience.)

You might like this version provided by Dan Pfeiffer in The Message Box today (slightly modified for my own use):

"The message is that Donald Trump is a danger to democracy. He is running for president to help himself, to avoid criminal accountability, and to punish his enemies."

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James, Donald Trump has been a criminal for a very long time - certainly since before he was elected president - his fake university, misuse of his charitable foundation, being a sexual predator, and tax and business fraudster. Calling him a criminal now will NOT move the needle on public opinion.

What he has not been up until this week was a CONVICTED FELON. As a resident of FL, he will not be able to vote (unless DeSantis makes an exception for him); he cannot own a gun; he cannot associate with other felons (he's invited several of them to Mar a Lago appartently); AND he will be barred from entering a number of countries. According to Jay Kuo's substack essay from yesterday, that includes Canada!!

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Appreciate the thoughtful perspectives on this language communications discussion.

I’m heading out to talk to voters today, so will be interested to hear their thoughts.

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See, this is where personal/anecdotal experience - however valid and well-intentioned it may be - is a really dodgy basis for informing messaging.

In MY experience, felon is definitely the word with more weight. A lot of people I know use "crimminal" more casually or as a colloquial. ("She kept you waiting outside the cafeteria for half an hour? Ugh, that's crimminal!") Crimminal is used as a come-on in saucy pop songs; it can conjure an image of an "outlaw." Crimminal can be minor, i.e. the teens who draw graffiti or snatch candy bars. A lot of people think most politicians or businesspeople are somewhat crimminal, because to them the word just means unprincipled and unprincipled folks are a dime a dozen. Not ideal, but big whoop.

No one uses "felon" in common conversation. Felon is serious, always. It means you are someone who has been officially deemed as marked by society as something especially bad. There is rarely any true comeback from "felon." You say that word and it just lands there and stays there.

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Agreed, felon has a great deal more gravitas. And we do have evidence of its weight, so much so now, I’m comfortable calling it significant evidence. We should assume that MAGA, Inc had been coordinating and testing communication for the postNYC-conviction-era. Several immediately started using the made up term “unconvicted felon” to describe Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, anyone involved with the trial, anyone involved with other Trump prosecutions, including the FBI, the entire Democratic Party, and really, anyone and everyone in the prodemocracy coalition.

Clearly “Convicted Felon Donald Trump” didn’t just hit a nerve, it’s hurting them like my preop month before my lumbar fusion surgery; constant torturous relentless misery-inducing shooting pain. The kind of pain you’d seriously consider selling your soul if only it would just stop.

Well, we may be dubious about the presence or absence of souls in NAGA media, and like everything else, the term unconvicted felon will be set aside once the base has tired of it, but we should never let up. Keep the nerve pain firing because it’s effective. If we allow the right to just move on we only contribute to the numbing of the voters.

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Go BLUE in November!!!

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It's fascinating that pundits have spouted that Biden should be replaced at the convention, while we hear crickets about Trump being replaced. The right is all in on this authoritarian game plan and they hypocritically sold their soul for a morally bankrupt want to be tyrant.

I will say with confidence that history will remember Biden as one of the greatest leaders this country has ever had and we will be incredibly rewarded for getting him 4 more years as president.

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The fact that Biden believes in our system of government - the values of our Republic - and the dignity of all citizens is testament to your faith in history and objective historians.

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I think a lot of it comes down to how people feel the risk of the other. Republicans and Republican leaners do not feel a risk or threat from Biden, and but virtually every Dem and Dem leaner feels some risk and threat from Trump.

Except for some a few really dug in crazies on either side, most people really don't really think about, or have strong disapproval of Biden's presidency. Even when I speak to people who like Trump and claim Biden is bad, their assessment of Biden is rarely more than non-specific annoyance and hollow talking points they are prepared to drop at the slightest pushback. The whole premise of the Republican primary was people did not care if Trump was least prepared to beat Biden, they just wanted Trump.

I do agree History is going to be much kinder to Biden than modern day discourse. Provided he wins in November, which I think he will.

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It makes me want to 1) rip my hair out, 2) go back in time 40 years and angle for a cushy pundit job because I *know* I can do better than these jokers. What part of “incumbent advantage” don’t they understand? Even if they weren’t alive, or were just kids, in 1980, or 1968, how much effort does it do to go to the library (or open Libby), read a history book or two, and grok that a strong challenge to an incumbent, or NO incumbent (as in 1968) means that whichever party has the challenged or no incumbent is *almost guaranteed to lose?*

I am out of patience with these welfare mooches. And yes, I just said that pundits are welfare moochers. I don’t care about single parents on government aid; they’re not calling for dumb ass political decisions. But “pundit” is probably about the most useless job in all America. Go get real jobs, as real journalists covering real issues, or get your CPA licenses or teaching certificates or bag groceries or *something* useful.

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Since before 1900 (!!!), every single incumbent who didn't face an interparty or *major* third party challenge was re-elected, regardless of popularity, with the exception of The Felon and Hoover, who literally had tent cities named after him. Not running an incumbent who is presiding over a factually strong economy because of any other reason is so fundamentally stupid I can't take anything else someone who suggests such a thing says seriously.

Regarding useless jobs, I invented a test I call the Higglytown Heroes Rule, named after the titular children's show from my era where the characters would sing songs about the workers in their town. If your job cannot be immediately understood in the context of a Higglytown Heroes ditty, then you do not have a real job, regardless of how much money you make. Therefore, firefighter, police officer, janitor, baker, doctor, lawyer, or artist all pass the test and are real jobs, while Cable News Consultant or Junior Vice President of Marketing Analysis do not and are not. (My brother once tried to challenge the Rule by asking if strippers passed. My reply was obviously yes, for while their occupation would not appear on the program that inspires the Rule, the appeal of the occupation is self-evident enough to be easily explained in the ditty, and no other job could clearly replace the service they provide.)

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You made me think of an encounter I had years ago with a curious child.

I was waiting for my turn at my hairdresser and the client in the chair had brought her preschool son. He was very friendly and as I mentioned curious, so he asked me what I did for a job. I was an engineer at the time. When I told him that, his eyes get really big and he asked excitedly "You get to drive a train?". Boy was he disappointed when I told him I wasn't that kind of engineer! (I don't have kids and had forgotten about Thomas the Tank Engine - it didn't occur to me that he ever would have heard the word engineer)

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I agree. Biden is going to be remembered as one of the great presidents.

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I donate monthly to Biden-Harris, but I celebrated a little with an additional $34 dollar donation yesterday.

I have been writing postcards through Postcards to Voters for OH-6 Special Election coming up on June 11. It's a very red district. I'm going to be interested to see what happens there. A win may be unlikely, but a significant narrowing of the gap would be very encouraging. I think it may help us understand whether this conviction has any electoral significance, but also, as a postcard-writer, I think it may give us some idea whether/how effective postcards are. The expectation is that it will be a low-turnout affair, which is where postcards are supposed to have the most impact.

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I too just made an extra Biden-Harris donation for this month. If you can, please join us!

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I did AC! In honor of the jurors who presented former potus 45 with 34.🇺🇸

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I wonder if any studies have been done on the effectiveness of writing postcards? I think they do have to be at least a *little* effective, considering how much better we’ve been doing since 2016, though many other factors contribute to that.

But I think that an involved grassroots is a good thing to have, *and* that writing postcards makes people feel as if they are making some effort toward getting Democrats in office. Especially people who are very busy and can only do, say, 10 postcards a week, or else, are housebound and can’t canvass, or who live in very blue districts and would have to make a pretty long drive to the nearest swing district to knock doors.

Tl;dr it feels good, gets people involved, and I think that has to make a difference for the good. I would love to know if any actual studies have been done.

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There are older studies that show postcards definitely help turnout anywhere from 2-4%. Tom Suozzi’s campaign reported his voters received an average of 5 handwritten postcards this year. We all know how big his win was. I think some on here try to downplay the effectiveness of postcards (or texts, or phone calls). It contributes to a cumulative, collective effort. It is not a question of what does one postcard do. It shows enthusiasm for a candidate. As we all know, enthusiasm is catching! Look what Simon does with it!

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That’s good to know! Every percentage point helps. And I think giving your average person something to do, besides donate or post indignantly on social media, is a big help. The more people know they can make a difference, the more they pitch in, which means more people making a difference…

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here is another bunch of studies about postcard effectiveness:

https://shop.bluewavepostcards.org/pages/why-postcards

From a logical perspective, the biggest turnout boost/impact will be for elections with the lowest expected turnout barring an intervention. In other words, special elections.

From the background info sent with the addresses for the OH-06 race, turnout is expected in the 8 -10% range so it won't take that many votes extra votes to win.

The other thing to keep in mind is that targeting is getting a lot more effective. For a general election, they would look for people with a middle-range voting propensity score, not a registered Democrat who has voted in every primary and general election in the past 10 years.

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You'll find some research about the effectiveness of mailing "voter postcards" here:

https://www.turnoutpac.org/postcards/

If interested, you can request free postcards to mail. Although the sign-up form indicates the minimum order is 200 postcards, you can request fewer postcards in multiples of 25.

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I’ve been postcarding for Will Rollins through Activate America. I also have used Tony the Democrat. It’s nice to have an embarrassment of postcard riches! Etsy now even has online stores dedicated to selling (neutral themed) voter postcards, and I like to buy from them because small business, etc. Thank you for the link on the effectiveness; I’m glad it really works and is not just “feel good,” though the latter is important too.

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Thanks! Just signed up.

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There are quite a lot of studies on postcards, actually, and some of the postcarding groups continue to do studies, sometimes comparing different messages, or different timing, for example. A good place to look, if you are interested, is the website for postcards to swing states--they publish the results of their studies there. It's definitely marginal, and it's worth noting that it makes a much better difference in smaller, low-turnout elections like special elections, than huge national elections.

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There's a good book called Get Out the Vote by Donald Green that shows that they are effective, esp. compared to printed mailers. Our grassroots group is writing 5,000 this election.

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✅ $34 donation to Biden/Harris today

✅ 75 postcards completed,so far, for NEAZ Native Democrats

NEAZ Native Democrats helped Pres Biden secure a win in 2020 ! They have a very effective postcarding campaign that pairs high-potential Native voters with a local organizer.

Postcarding is effective ! So is phone-banking, texting, canvassing, Letters to Ed, wearing a Biden/Harris t, donating +++

✍️📲🚶🏻💲👕🛒

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I wonder how many donations of $34 to Democratic orgs were made yesterday, some in my giving circle did the same too.

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Hi Kathy,

May I ask who you work with to write postcards for/with NEAZ? Interested in connecting with this grassroots org. Thanks!

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Hi Tracy,

Here’s a link: https://neaznativedemocrats.org/join-us

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Thank you - I did look it up online but thought you might have another connection.

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I signed up thru Mobilize after registering to vol with them.This link says the postcard campaign “Event Is At Capacity”.

You could still contact NEAZ Dems and get on the list for when they open it up.

https://www.mobilize.us/aznativeorganizingcampaign/event/527542/

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Actually, my org is dolng work in Arizona this election cycle and I'm interested in making connections with the Native American communities. This is a great potential connection! Any others you may know of? Please send them my way. Thx

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Great minds, Ellen!! I give monthly to Biden and sent $34 to 46 yesterday as my way of celebrating!! I got many responses from others that did the same. 💙

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Me too- added a separate donation to my regular monthly one. Wish I had thought to make it $34.

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I wrote Postcards to voters for Oh-6 Special Election on June 11, too! Like you, I understand that District 6 in Ohio has traditionally been very red, but I agree with you that it will be interesting to see if this conviction has any impact on the turnout or the final vote.

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Hi Ellen, I have also been (and still am) writing postcards for Michael Kripchak in the upcoming OH-06 special election.

I was on the Markers for Democracy postcarding call yesterday and he was the surprise guest along with Tony the Democrat (from Postcards to Voters). I was very impressed and thought he was running a smart campaign, especially for a first time candidate. For example, he was leveraging the list of people who had signed the petition for last year's abortion ballot amendment for a list of people to text. (His GOP opponent was a cosponsor of the OH Heart Beat bill and favors no exceptions to the abortion ban - not even rape and incest). Kripchak was also criss-crossing his district while his opponent has NOT been out talking to the voters.

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That's great to hear, Cheryl. It would be a stunning flip, that's for sure. But again, even if he doesn't pull it off, every time Dems run strongly in a red district, it forces the Republicans to spend money there. It forces their nominees to answer questions and do some campaigning. Even moving a district from ruby red to purplish is a HUGE step in the right direction.

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I absolutely agree. The GOP candidate with be running against Kripchak again in November. (I think OH ran primaries for both the Special and general election at the same time with the same winners).

I checked Ballotpedia and the GOP candidate is currently a state senator in a very red district. He was never challenged at the primary level for those races, but did have Democrats running against him in the General election. The first real challenge he faced was in the primary for this house seat.

I wonder if he thinks he's a shoe-in and doesn't need to earn the votes in his district? From, Michael Kripchak's comments yesterday, it doesn't sound like he's doing much campaigning.

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Thanks to all who stayed the course…now let’s go get the rest of ‘the gang’!

I had (inadvertently ) a first solid Trumpian parroting all the BS yesterday finding out the unanimous guilty verdict. I tried my best to stop it from the get go. But for thems -like him - there’s no facts going to be believed ..however there are significant percentages having said it would make a difference if/when he was found GUILTY! Adding up those numbers, small percentages, changed from the insurrection and continued. I’ll take the 10% over and over again they add up!

We are far from done with this mess I’m sorry to say, there’s still numbers of them continuing the cacophony/the lies. And they need accounted for and duly sentenced too.

THEY KNEW. THEY KNEELED. THEY KNOW NOW…it’s just a matter of time and a domino theory of historic measures . May we always preserve our DEMOCRACY.

SISTERS I CALL OUT TO YOU ESPECIALLY…

HANDS OFF OUR BODIES , OUR VOTING RIGHTS.

The World needs us too! To stand firm and settle up this score! Down with autocracy!

💙VOTE ALL THE COMPLICIT OUT💙

💙BLUE TSUNAMI💙

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I think you are right. It won’t sway that hardcore base. But, there are many people who “just don’t like politics” or maybe aren’t really keen on Joe Biden, or have that nihilistic South Park attitude, or whatever. People like this generally do not want to vote for *actual convicted felons* and can be peeled off.

Blue Wave! 🌊

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Lincoln Project launched this ad within hours of the verdict:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwcjDO6JCVQ

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For me, playing offense sounds like this:

- If you want politics in this country to look like professional wrestling, vote Republican. If you want politics in this country to look like serious individuals doing the people's work, vote Democratic.

- If you want our country to become a second-rate former superpower licking its wounds and managing its declining power, vote GOP. If you want our country to continue being a beacon of hope in this world for liberty and freedom, vote Democratic.

- If you want over half of this country's people to be treated like second-class citizens, vote Republican. If you want to ensure that everyone has a voice and an opportunity to fulfill their potential, vote Democratic.

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Thank you David- that felt good to read.

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Amazing to see every Republican marching lock-step to defend Trump...except Larry Hogan and the MAGA knives are out for him...

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Will this help us ensure that Angela Alsobrooks defeats Larry Hogan in November?

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Marylanders PLEASE send Angela to the Senate!

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I think Hogan just put himself in an impossible position, which is ironic, since he was really the only non-clown Republican candidate. First, the partisan lean of his state is deep blue; second, he’s going to turn off the MAGA base by not being MAGA enough, and the disaffected “Haley voters” who want the traditional low-taxes, small-government old school Republican stuff is going to lose any respect they have left for Hogan if he tries to lean into MAGA.

Alsobrooks is going to flatten him. She already got the heavy hitter endorsements in the primary (her own governor, Wes Moore, and Patty Murray who is the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Raphael Warnock, Cory Booker…) and I think Moore, at least, is going to be stumping for Alsobrooks, and she will benefit.

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Yeah, Maryland is a Biden +30 state and Alsobrooks is a strong candidate. The idea that this race will actually be close is a stretch of the extreme yoga variety.

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MAGAts are definitely stupid enough to cut off their nose to spite their face, so it might.

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Interestingly, some tribal societies would cut the nose tip off of thieves, so everyone would know they’re untrustworthy. How appropriate that, figuratively, this is what MAGA cultists are doing to themselves.

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Did not know that. Interesting.

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Brown noses in line.

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Except for Sherrod, who may be a Brown but does not have a brown nose.

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From Joyce Vance’s post yesterday. It will be interesting to see how the RDF(Raging Dumpster Fire) party falls in line..

“Writing in Slate Magazine, a former producer for Trump’s reality TV show “The Apprentice,” Bill Pruitt, says his NDA has expired, leaving him free to discuss details from his time on the show. His most startling revelation is a claim that while discussing which apprentice should win during one season of the show, Trump said, “but, I mean, would America buy a n— winning?” Pruitt says there is tape, like the Access Hollywood tape and has called for its release.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/joycevance/p/a-programming-note-for-tonight?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

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I always believed in the existence of the N word tape, because that is so in character for Trump, but the real pee pee tape was provided by Giuliani apparently! (When he was on a Zoom call being arraigned!)

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We need to get loud, not about him, about us. Totally!

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Simon, please please, please add Florida. Abortion and marijuana on the ballot. Trump won in 2020 by 3.2%. Window of opportunity is open. FT 6 has added it. Register Democrats to seize the day.

https://www.fieldteam6.org/

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The Florida Democrats are in much better shape now that Nikki Fried has stepped up and taken over.

I am of a very firm belief that state Democratic parties, when well funded and led (as we are seeing with Anderson Clayton in NC) are the bedrock of whether a “swing” state can go blue or not. NV always manages to squeak by thanks to the Reid Machine. (The 2022 governor election being an exception.)

Meanwhile, name a swing state where the Republicans are in tip-top-terrific shape.

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Thanks , Daniel🫶

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If you want to make a difference in FL, there is a desperate need to raise funds to cover the filing fees for all the Democratic candidates recruited to run for every single seat in the FL legislature. The money must be raised by the DEADLINE of June 14, 2024.

Read about the effort to recruit candidates here:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/5/31/2243710/-Conviction-Makes-FL-Even-More-Critical-for-Trump-and-More-Critical-for-D-s-to-Contest-Every-District

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/5/24/2241931/-FL-Miracle-Update-Uncontested-Districts-Down-to-ZERO-Now-let-s-fund-them-all

Donate Here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/blue-florida-1

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I contribute. Down to 5 districts.

They need to partner with FT 6. "Our secret weapon is a database of 9M unregistered likely Democrats, most in swing states, and we can use that to set up postcarding, phonebanking and textbanking for free! Just tell us where you want to target, who you want to contact (age/gender/race), and we’ll set it up. We love your input on scripts too! We’re here to be of service. Bring your volunteers and we’ll bring ours, and we can promote events on our Mobilize feed, on our website, and with our mighty social media presence."

https://www.fieldteam6.org/partner

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Thanks Cheryl - just donated!

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Great!

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Thanks Cheryl,

I just donated again with this reminder. Need 5 more to hit their goal. Great news.

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Rolling out one more way to help build the Blue Wave in North Carolina: Cards for Democracy is now ready for writers! https://www.mobilize.us/buildbridges4am/event/630283/

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Wes, are these different postcard campaigns than can be found here?

https://fieldteam6.herokuapp.com/getting_started

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Cheryl, Yes, there is a comparable site for partner organizations of FT 6 to set up campaigns. We just put up three new ones there.

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Cool, I will check it out. Sometimes groups just repackage what it already available directly.

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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4696125-manchin-independent-leaves-democrats/

Boris Manchin leaves Democratic Party goes Independent like Natasha Sinema.

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What a dick. He couldn't let the media run on Trump for a full day.

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Never. His No Labels debacle showed how much Joe Manchin craves the spotlight.

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Stay focused people.

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Let’s not read too much into this, at least not yet. Remember, Bernie Sanders and Angus King are both Independents. For all his faults, Senator Manchin has always caucused with the Democrats. That matters!

Far better that West Virginia elects Joe Manchin to the Senate as an independent than replaces him with the Republican candidate, Jim Justice!

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It makes me wonder…are there other areas where we can sneak in Democratic-friendly officials under the wire as independents? I know Sanders and King are New Englanders, and draw on that “flinty, independent, thinks for themselves” New England tradition. But there have to be other opportunities. Montana and other parts of the Mountain West, which kind of has that same mentality?

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Call me skeptical that the Dem-friendly independents are worth the trouble. It's not like the Dem bashers do not point to those independents to make their point. How many conservatives paint all Dems as Socialist because of Bernie, or lefties point to Sinema as an example of corporate capture on the party? As much as I like Angus King, we would probably have the other Maine seat if he had endorsed our senate candidate in 2020.

At the end of the day they are accepting the framing of the republicans. "Dems are bad that is why I am not one!" winked the Independent.

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I generally am with you, in that Democrats should just call themselves that, even if they have to be more conservative than we might like. I’m thinking about areas where the Democratic “brand” is so spoiled that running an independent might be a Hail Mary pass. (I noticed a lot of voters in red, or red-swing, states, will vote for Democratic *policies* like legal abortion, weed, and Medicare expansion, but hate *Democrats* with a passion. There has to be a way to work around this kind of spoiled identity.)

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Yes but every time I sit and think how to improve the brand I come to a few simple conclusions.

1. The Democratic party attracts policy nerds and over qualified people to run for office. 2. Democrats have to appeal to a broader base of people so they are less good at using cultural signifiers broadly and at times use them inappropriately. 3. We are mostly right, know it, and we are put off by need to convince people. 4. Our politicians feel disconnected from ordinary people because of 1, 2, and 3 so often operate out of fear, uncertainty, and doubt, and because of this miss opportunities to correct those issues, voters often see this as weakness, elitism or something else. 5. Wealthy people view things like campaign contributions and funding right wing media akin to a business expense and use it to paint the worst possible caricatures of 1-4.

I think to fix it the Dems need to start playing like they have nothing to lose in every state they lost by 9 or more points in 2020. They should start a program to recruit, vet, train, and run people with a cool factor/cultural capital. People like athletes, musicians, and tv stars or anyone else who has the cultural capital/cool factor to run in these states. I doubt Mr. Beast wants to be a senator but has Chuck Schumer ever asked him? Why the Dems did not find a way to make Collin Kaepernick useful after the NFL iced him out I will never know.

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Your first paragraph is one of the most bang-on things I've ever read on this whole platform.

The second paragraph I disagree with entirely, though. I think you did a great job naming the problems 2-4, so decided that the only way to fix problems 2-4 is by ditching conclusion 1, which is actually not a problem but instead our major strength right now. Simon remarks over and over about the upper hand we have been given by having strong candidates who are experts that know how to work campaigns and push through results, while the opposition keeps turning off swing voters by nominating self-funding celebrity yahoos. The idea that we should play their game and get our own yahoos is baffling, and would be very unfortunate for our party and country.

Smart people can often learn to dumb themselves down if need be, but dumb people can never smart themselves up.

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There’s one running for Senate in Nebraska, Dan Osborne. He was a Dem until 2016, switched to Independent, and is running against the GOP candidate for the Senate seat (there is no Dem candidate running).

I think if a Dem-leaning Independent wins a red state (like Manchin has always been), then great.

I don’t think the Dems should spend $$ or time campaigning for them- save that for the actual Dems running.

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"For all his faults, Senator Manchin has always caucused with the Democrats. That matters!"

It really doesn't. Actions speak louder than words, and stated party affolliation is just that: words. What matters is how you actually vote, and when the chips were down, he screwed everyone else royally. The fact he didnt screw everyone *completely* just proves he knew - like all manipulators do - to give out just enough sugar to keep people questioning. If someone calls themselves your friend but talks smack about you, ruins your birthday party, and steals your girlfriend... they are not your friend regardless of what they say. They are an abuser and their proper place is the curb.

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I think he's announced he won't be running again.

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Contrast. Simon is right. It's all about contrast. Contrast in character (integrity vs infantile insanity), contrast in records (historic progress vs historic failure), contrast in vision (American Dream vs project 25).

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Or as Jill Biden called it yesterday, "the choice."

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Michigan reinstated abortion rights before Ohio. In fact Ohio sent people to us to find out how we did it! Working every day for a November win.

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Praise for Joe Biden's successful presidency from left, right, and center:

“JOE BIDEN IS ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PRESIDENTS IN MODERN AMERICAN HISTORY.”

-Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

“JOE BIDEN IS A GREAT AMERICAN PRESIDENT. HIS ACHIEVEMENTS HAVE BEEN NOTHING SHORT OF HISTORIC.”

-Stuart P. Stevens, Former Chief GOP Strategist

“EXPERIENCE MATTERS. JOE BIDEN IS AN FDR DEMOCRAT AND IT’S PAYING OFF.”

-Joe Scarborough, MSNBC

“I WOULD VOTE FOR JOE BIDEN OVER DONALD TRUMP IN A HEARTBEAT."

-Former GOP Representative Adam Kinzinger

“JOE BIDEN HAS HELMED THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PRESIDENCY IN MODERN HISTORY.”

-Dahlia Lithwick, Slate

“WHAT PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS ACCOMPLISHED IN JUST (HIS FIRST TERM) IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN MY LIFETIME.”

-Governor Gavin Newsom

“JOE BIDEN IS A GOOD MAN AND A GREAT PRESIDENT.”

-Representative Jim Clyburn

“PRESIDENT BIDEN IS 100% RIGHT - AMERICA HAS THE BEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD.”

-Andrew Ross Sorkin, CNBC

Meanwhile, 🍊 is a twice-impeached, disgraced convicted felon who brags about ending Roe v Wade, tried to kill American democracy, and is running again to finish the job. His enablers are defending the utterly indefensible. Not a hard choice for voters this fall, and easy to understand Simon's goal of our getting to 55!

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