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Jul 16
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HappyLiberal, if you are going to be here and play such an aggressive and divisive role, you are going to need to operate under your actual name and not a pseudonym. I have asked people to keep calm and be respectful of one another as we go through this rough patch together. You have posted many times, today, angrily. So if you want to stay here and keep contributing you will need to do so as an actual person. Thank you.

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Jul 16
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That is a little too passive aggressive, I'm sorry. I just asked that if you are going to be so aggressive and so combative that you do so as an actual person and not "Happy Liberal." I did not ask you to stop or alter your posts in any way. I just asked that if you were going to come in here so heavy you needed to it as a person.

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Jul 16
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As someone who was there, what did it feel like when McGovern replaced his VP mid campaign?

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I don’t doubt that you do….but maybe consider that those who support Biden remaining on the ticket also care equally and disagree with your assessment. Whatever happens is going to be a disappointing decision for a significant chunk of our D family, and we will all have to be part of soothing and healing the wounds quickly…maybe start now by expressing your opinion of who the nominee should be with greater respect for the President’s service & his supporters belief in him, as well as expressing your commitment to Team Democracy regardless of what decision is made….and I would give the exact same advice to Congressman Schiff.

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Jul 17
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Thank you, Simon. I'm tired of reading these commenters divisive comments. We need to stay united, focused on defeating fascism at every level of government, and not make the same mistake as we did in 2016 when the Bernie Bros refused to back HRC and caused so much divisiveness at the 2016 DNC convention. Still Ridin' with Biden/Harris2024 VoteBlueNoMatterWho2024💙

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thank you, Simon

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Thank you! The sooner the better

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Jul 16
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I am so tired of people bashing our president.

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David Jolly was on MSNBC a few nights ago and was extremely frustrated with those trying to push Biden out. He was pretty certain that Biden would win if everybody would rally around him!

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Credit to The Guardian’s eminent Marina Hyde:

"Trump could be America’s Hitler."

– JD Vance (aka "America’s Martin Bormann")

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NB. I sincerely hope a Democratic PAC already has the billboards in production!

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I've been sayin'..... It's the Russians, stupid. Vance is Putin's choice for VP. "He is vehemently opposed to using more funds to help Ukraine and has blasted what he sees as Europe’s over-dependence on the United States when it comes to military investment. One senior EU official, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly on the issue, said in an interview Monday that the appointment of Vance was a “disaster” for Ukraine — and by extension for the European Union, which has backed Kyiv as it defends itself against Russian aggression." https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-vice-president-nominee-jd-vance-republican-party-united-states-presidential-election-us-eu-relations-isolationism-foreign-policy/

IMHO the ethnic core of the Republican Party in his home state is now vulnerable. Trump won Ohio by 8% in 2020. I don't know this as a fact but I bet many of his 2020 ardent supporters were Slavic Americans. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/04/23/jd-vances-dismissive-attitude-toward-ukraine-is-an-insult-to-70000-ukrainian-americans-in-ohio/ Add to that the veterans and military, their families and friends now opposed to him due to "not suckers or losers." As of today, Democrat Sherrod Brown leads Moreno by 5% according to the polls.

According to the 2022 American Community Survey, about 8.2 million people in the United States, or roughly 2.5% of the population, reported Polish ancestry. This makes Polish Americans the largest Slavic ethnic group in the country, the second largest Central European group, and the eighth largest immigrant group overall. Add the Baltic states, Finland, etc.

Hopefully the word about Putin/Vance will affect the vote in WPa, MI, MI.

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According to the 2022 American Community Survey, about 8.2 million people in the United States, or roughly 2.5% of the population, reported Polish ancestry.

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According to this Wikipedia article, there are 65K+ Polish Americans in OH, if you look at just 3 cities (Toledo, Cleveland, and Parma).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._cities_with_large_Polish-American_populations

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Add to that the veterans and military, their families and friends now opposed to him due to "not suckers or losers."

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A friend of mine was a registered Republican until Trump, although I think she was more of an independent based on her voting record. Her dad was career military and nothing sets her off more quickly than Trump's take on veterans and the military. She has MAGA relatives so she calls me to vent about Trump and our current threat to Democracy. (My late parents were both WWII veterans).

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Veterans. "Not suckers or losers" works. 4 million people on Facebook are veterans or active duty members. 12.5 million people on Facebook are family members of a veteran or an active duty member. 242 million people on Facebook are friends with one or more veterans or active duty members. Say the magic words daily, as a mantra on military, history sites, and see what happens. https://rvat.org/

Pet lovers love their pets.

I also use "Don't Slit Your Own Throat." As president, Trump tried and failed to cut benefits drastically. Some Republicans wanted to replace the entire system. See. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Trump, House Republican Cuts to SSI Would Harm Children With Disabilities, Sept. 18, 2017, Kathleen Romig and Guillermo Herrera. https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/trump-house-republican-cuts-to-ssi-would-harm-children-with-disabilities

“The Trump proposal would cut SSI by more than $8 billion over the next decade, shrinking benefits for roughly a quarter of a million children with disabilities by between 38 and 66 percent. It would also increase SSI’s administrative costs and improper payments”.

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Democratic Messaging Project (a PAC) -- we have static billboards, a robust digital campaign and digital rolling billboard trucks in the battleground states of Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin starting in August thru Election Day. We are not shying away from creative, provocative messaging and we sure as heck will be putting JD Vance - in all his MAGA glory - front and center. We've already started on our social media. And, we're out with a rolling billboard truck right now at the Republican National Convention where our work is being picked up by numerous media outlets. Folks can go to our website to see what we're doing and check out our amazing creative from our genius graphic artist, Scotty Sandow. www.blueforyou.org

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Jul 16
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Perhaps Vindman can be featured in some ads? I’d like to see him on the campaign trail, addressing voters with Ukrainian, Polish and other East-European background, as well as Independent and Republican voters who are concerned about national defense.

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Here is a suggested billboard, pending approval from Ms Daniels:

“This November, help me spank Donald into submission. He’s a loser!"

– Stormy Daniels

Suggested illustration: closeup of a Stormy winking, holding a rolled-up issue of Forbes Magazine with Trump on the cover. Oh, and be sure to place one near Mar-a-Lago!

PS. This would also make a great TV ad.

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We are not shying away from creative, provocative messaging....

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Your comment reminded me of a local Charlotte (NC) ad agency's provocative campaign to encourage people to get the Covid vaccine. It went viral nationwide and reached a whole lot of people (many who never actually saw the truck with the message), so here's hoping your billboards do too!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/09/21/funeral-home-truck-vaccine-charlotte/

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Excellent! I would like to see more examples of our current creative messaging.

I have suggested ads and billboards featuring Stormy Daniels, asking voters for help to "spank Donald" in the upcoming election.

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I had a 100 year old friend who I’m very sorry to say died recently. She lived through Hitler and called Trump “Little Hitler.” I like the diminishing adjective, but I wouldn’t take it as underestimating Trump’s destructive bent.

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In 2016 it was Pence because no else wanted it. There was no strategy involved.

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No, Pence was chosen by Paul Manafort. One feature of Pence was to appeal to evangelical voters.

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After everyone else he asked declined. You can google it.

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I haven't found evidence that Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie declined. But thank you for your reply, I wanted to move our discussion past the glibness. Imo the VP selection is/ was made by T's overlords, not T himself and in this instance, because T is such a wreck in public, the campaigning will be taken up by Vance. Good for us because he is so unappealing [polite term]

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Agreed.

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Not only the campaigning - also the playbook which I imagine he has already sworn to implement.

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Vance publicly holds many beliefs that I, and a majority of Americans, find unpalatable.

Vance 2016: Trump might be America’s Hitler.

Vance 2024: Trump might be America’s Hitler, but that’s okay because I have on a brown shirt and red armband.

Time to denigrate this loathsome individual with all the things he’s been recorded saying. Simon has helped us by collecting the links, let’s make sure people see them.

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Lets remember Vance beat Tim Ryan, easily. Clearly he is palatable to many people and so is maga. Otherwise neither would exist. I don't know what the VP debate plan is but if there will be one Harris better be prepared and not just assume Vance will self destruct while she stands there passively.

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Having voted for VP Harris many times in CA, I can say she never does anything “passively.” She is a brilliant woman of action!

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Yeah, research shows 30% of people want a king. It makes their lives simpler and gives them structure. That doesn’t mean they’re the majority.

40% of people vote in very national election and 30% never vote, and 30% vote some of the time. What we need to do is turnout as many voters from reasonable majority of that remaining 30% who do not want a theocracy.

Harris is going to bring it. We need to too.

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Like I said yesterday, it motivates most of us to worry less, do more. Gestalt therapy? FIGHT BACK! Register more Democrats. Swamp Republicans. Millions of unregistered trend Democratic. In the past 2 years 84,000 have been purged in Baghdad By the Sea. .

FT 6 has texted well over a million in the past several days. Thanks to a donor, texts to Arizona today and tomorrow. https://www.fieldteam6.org/

Thursday is Florida day on FT 6 Textarcade. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ft6arcade24bamk.

Also Florida day on FT 6 phonebank. https://www.fieldteam6.org/actions

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Field Team 6 also launched Project-2025-themed postcard campaigns statewide for all the swing states and for target districts in several additional states. You can find these campaigns under the "Special Messaging" section.

https://fieldteam6.herokuapp.com/getting_started

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Thanks for all you do! Sharing here if you are a post card writer - I work for BWPM but I do ROV, FT6 and VF as well - here is a link to our latest campaign https://shop.bluewavepostcards.org/?source=substack-comment

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Daniel, you said "thanks to a donor..." Singular. Has FT6 recently received a large donation from a deep-pocket donor? I have been hoping this would happen!

Would you kindly tell us a bit more?

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All I know.

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Im signing up of some mobilize and FT6 phonebanking. Also promoting my organization BWPM - we are about to sell out of our 1st set of postcards to get Michigan voters to sign up for mail in ballots.https://shop.bluewavepostcards.org/?source=substack-comment

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“Trump went on to endorse Vance late in the GOP primary. That, and the outside $10M ad blitz, are clearly the only reasons that Vance went on to win.

BUT….even with all that help, and in a state where the GOP Governor (DeWine) defeated the Democratic candidate by more than 25 points, and the rest of the GOP ticket won by the high teens or low 20s, (judicial races by the low teens), Vance only won by just over 6 points. As dramatic an underperformance of candidates on the same ticket as you’ll see in Ohio.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/davidpepper/p/breaking-view-from-ohio-the-short?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

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I agree. I think the VP is very impressive and would not be rolled over...but I also think Vance is smart and slick and would be impressive as well. I think he's wrong on every single issue, but I think his delivery would be strong.

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Thoughts on the Teamsters?

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My thoughts- they’re scared Trump will win so they’re appeasing him. It’s wildly disappointing.

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I think they are playing both sides of the coin too

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As Lawrence O'Donnell pointed out last night, the Teamsters' association with the Republican Party goes back decades to the days of Jimmy Hoffa.

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You know about Jimmy Hoffa, et al. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoffa_(film)

As a young lawyer, the first time I negotiated with them, the business agent asked for my shoe size...for the concrete overshoes. The way to promotion was to break the legs of the incumbent. I lived half way between Pgh and Cleveland. In the 70's they had open warfare with the steelhaulers (FASH). Were Republicans starting with Nixon...the president of the Cleveland faction's father had lived in my home town. I represented the former business agent from Youngstown in a couple of mundane zoning/real estate matters. He had a residence in Vegas, courtesy of the Cleveland mob, who had been in Cuba, left before Castro. They didn't know that the president of the union was an FBI informant.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Presser

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This is gold....you should write this in a book. My dad was a Teamster; had met Hoffa a few times and knew guys like Tony Pro. If you've seen Casino, it was the Teamster's pension fund that was giving the mob money for casinos.

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Later I had a colleague who had been assigned to follow the Teamsters by DOJ. My dad was a DA. Later was a special prosecutor. I remember shooting wars - trucker v trucker- on I-80, Youngstown, Akron....-

Someone should check out the alleged relation of Marco Rubio's family to the Cleveland mob.

They did a TV movie re Jackie Presser....

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Well it seems to me he is a Trumper. He has met with him, big smiles, etc. Even if I had to meet with him, you couldn't get me to look so happy to be near him. Just my opinion of course. On another note, I actually know someone who is anti union but gets happy when their union negotiates and gets their members better pay, better hours, back pay, etc. I'm not kidding. I believe there are Teamsters who like the union but will vote for Trump. No idea how many. Again, just my opinion.

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Yeah - the pretend 'tough guy' thing can be appealing to them too. AND those other unions (police Fire etc) that are Republicans basking in their collective bargaining but have some kind of un Holy Alliance with the anti-union Republicans. I did think more of the Teamsters as a whole. Am waiting to see how this plays out (and yes, the anti-union person benefitting from the union... a particular level of stupidly selfish)

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Hey my neighbors couldn't stand Obama, were against ACA, but were glad their son qualified for it. Seriously.

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I had a colleague like that too. She told me she couldn't see any good in Obama, but would be foolish not to have her kids on her health insurance until they were 26. She couldn't see the hypocrisy.

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Right! Shaking my head. You can't reason with this type of person.

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Anyone still thinking Joe can be pushed side at this time is thinking magically. A little over too days left and we are still having this conversation? It is unhelpful to the Biden campaign and unhelpful to the party. Democrats need to STOP. I want to know who the Senior Democrat is, within the party, that AOC is talking about in her social media postings. Joe has said, numerous times, he is staying. We would be smart to stop the FIRING SQUAD. Absolutely Kamala needs to be out there campaigning for her and Joe's re-election

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The anonymous leaking is so undermining. If they have something to say, speak up on the record. It's unbelievable to me that party members are still declaring (to reporters) like it's a fact that "he can't win." How is that helpful?

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Exactly! Undermining is a perfect word. And it applies to those of us that are out here busting our asses for the Dem party - up and down ballot. This applies to the donor class, and celebs too.

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Claudia, I agree 100%!

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Apparently there is a guy who is supposed to be an old Dem operative named Steve Greenberg who is writing memos that we are in for a historic ass kicking if we don't dump Biden. WTF, if true.....saw it on Dkos so take it for what its worth.

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I'll look him up. Well, that pretty much explains it 'old Dem operative'. We are no longer living in that 'old' world. It is a different time and the grassroots activists were not out there doing what we do. AND activists are extremely well informed. Thanks for the input.

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I think you mean Stan Greenberg who a longtime Democratic pollster and strategist and married to Cong. Rosa DeLauro.

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Yes. Just learned that too.

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I see Greenberg was an influential Clinton 'guy'. I really do not get why the Clinton gang and Obama gang have it out for Biden. It doesn't make sense to me. Biden's been good for the country and Kamala is there if anything should 'go wrong'

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trump is obviously a huge threat to the world. Increasingly I am convinced that Biden cannot beat trump. I am hopeful, though, that Harris or some other alternative will make sure that in 2024 trump ends up in prison, not the White House.

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Trump is not going to prison. Biden is not leaving the ticket. Time to stop with these fantasies. At this point they are doing the work of maga. We have a flawed candidate that we have to drag over the finish line by the skin of our teeth so he can continue being a great President. Reality is here now.

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Who is doing the work of MAGA? The fantasy may be that keeping Biden on the ticket is a winning formula. trump may well go to prison in 2024 if he is kept from the White House.

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We all just need to keep our hands down and keep working, getting everyone we know, including young people, to vote for Biden/Harris, writing/postcarding/donating. We are motivated! Let's do this!

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Just got off a phone call with some activists - yes post carding (I have a link below) but possibly now more importantly PHONEBANKING and CANVASSING - I know it can be uncomfortable, but that is what changes and engages voters. https://shop.bluewavepostcards.org/?source=substack-comment

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The ticket is set in two days. If Biden were to be replaced it had to happen a week ago.

Edit - two weeks not two days.

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Explain, please.

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Sorry, I had the timeframe wrong upon further investigation. It's more like two weeks.

https://www.axios.com/2024/07/16/biden-dnc-vote-nomination-states-2024-election

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Like Morning Joe said, Joe has always been a gaffe machine. He has a speech impediment after-all. This doesn’t mean he’s an empty shell. Let’s rally around Biden, one of the most consequential President’s of my lifetime. Biden for the win 2024!

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Why are you convinced that Biden can't win? He's favored in the 538 forecast right now.

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Biden isn’t ahead, and it’s only going to get worse. And that’s despite Biden massively outspending trump in swing states. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/2024/national/

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I didn't say he was ahead, I said he is favored to win. 538 has him at 53% chance to win, even though he is currently behind in the polls by a small margin.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2024-election-forecast/

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I disagree. Biden is the only one who can beat Trump.

https://youtu.be/0yoPnWPduHo

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Kind of curious if more recent data shows Nikki Haley voters sticking with their decision to support Biden over Trump. I personally know a few -- including my mom, who will definitely vote Biden -- but I'm wondering if any data has this holding up? As always, this would be yuuuge.

Asking because this hasn't emerged as a talking point much lately, despite Trump publicly snubbing those voters. Hoping this is from a lack of quality data; I've always been scared that Haley voters would rally around the Beast

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The Congressional assault on Biden is over. The 16 Democrat representatives and 1 Democrat senator have taken their bat and ball and left the field. They are still whimpering their disloyal dissent. AOC rightfully called for them to retire due to their incontrovertibly poor leadership. In Detroit, Joe Biden had stood up robustly to stand them down. He did so with a vengeance to defend his well-considered path for America. As he left, I scrutinized him ascending the steps of Air Force One. In good manners, he let Jill go first. I was surprised when he dropped her hand. They were showing that he was not being propped up. I think that was intentional. He let her get a step or two ahead. He reached for and grabbed the handrail. He took careful steps going up. He was paying close attention to his ascent, but mindful neither to be too slow, nor too fast. He knows his every step, here on out, must be perfect. He is a very, very wise man, politically astute, on a mission for America. I will vote for that.

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I’ve always thought AOC was great- progressive but also pragmatic, and she’s been right on with her commentary.

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She is growing in her job. I find her quite good and gaining in maturity. Bernie has her under his wing, I think. It is a great place for her.

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I find myself again agreeing with Carl. I'm an old Boomer and can see how AOC has matured over the past few years. Using the word "retire" is perfect. Not aggressive, not demeaning, but gets the point across. Recall it was AOC's questioning of Michael Cohen in 2019 that led to Tish James civil lawsuit for fraud. Trump was fined $464 million (on appeal). Representation matters.

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Karen, people are starting to talk.

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I’m so disappointed in my Colorado senator Michael Bennett. I haven’t heard lately whether he’s changed his stance.

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He’s going to have to. Hey, remember when he ran for president? Could go back to all the way to that 2020 primary era, in terms of what he’s saying today.

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I remember getting requests to support "this Dem." I want my money back.

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Carl, please use Democratic when referring to our party, not "Democrat." We don't want to reinforce the right's framing.

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You lost me. I was not referring to our party. I do see it is always the Democratic Party, but I am referring to specific representatives that are Democrats. I don’t have a style guide like I do in other writing. Guide me to one please.

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Your comment is gratuitous. Simon taught me (the hard way) not to do that.

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Democratic senator,Democratic representatives. It's not just a grammar issue; the use of the term the way you did so is intended by our opponents to be pejorative. If you did not know that it's ok.Let's agree to move on.

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I am not in agreement and requested the style guide, not the Fisher take. We need an arbitrator. I don’t get the pejorative relationship. Democrats are elected representatives.

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It 's not my take. The use of "Democrat" politicians rather than "Democratic" is done to irritate Democrats and liberals, because it is not only incorrect usage ( and as Democrats we get to decide what we are called ) but has a subtle ( or maybe not so subtle ) emphasis on "rat." But a lot of folks may not know this. It was often used by Joe McCarthy; implies that Democrats aren't really Democratic. As for style, the proper use is always "Democratic." Senator Brown is a Democrat; he is a member of the Democratic party, not the Democrat party. It seems that you were not aware of this and surely didn't mean any harm; I was just trying to let you know the difference. We've spent way too much time on this. If I have offended you, then I am sorry, I did not intend to. I will not comment further on this.

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According to Oxford Dictionaries, the use of Democrat rather than the adjective Democratic is in order to maintain a distinction from the broader, positive associations of the adjective democratic with democracy and egalitarianism. My intent was to be specific and to avoid association with democracy. It was 16 Democrat representatives and 1 Democrat Senator. Their actions were way less than democratic, as Biden has the needed votes. That distinction was needed in my opinion. As to whether I am right or wrong, I care to know but from a source above our pay grades. You cannot have the last word here. lol. No offense taken at all. I have enjoyed the input and I worried of this topic as I was originally writing my post. We both may be enlighten if I find the right style guide. I lived with the GPO Style Guide for decades. I will look in Chicago.

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Fisher - you are absolutely right.

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Noise from the peanut gallery was not solicited. Lol

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Adam Schiff is still stirring up trouble with his rich group of Netenyahu friends. That will ease off, Biden knows how to win, and is working on the Blue Wall. We will win, thankfully for everyone.

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Here’s a little hopium of my own to share. This morning I got an email from “postcards to swing states” . They are pausing sign-up for the moment because of the overwhelming number of volunteers who have reached out and they need to catch up. In the last two weeks alone over 19,000 volunteers have requested. 5.5 million postcards. In early August, they will resume taking orders with a goal of 29 million postcards to be sent out. Maybe this kind of news isn’t reported in the media or reflected in the polls but it’s a wonderful thing to see such an amazing amount of enthusiasm in a grassroots organization.

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Thank you! I am working on 600 of those Postcards to Swing States already to send to NV, MI & PA! I was going to try to fit in 200 more somehow—but it sounds like others are really stepping up! (I have completed 300 of my 600 so far ✍️.) Thank you, fellow enthusiastic Democracy lovers!

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