2024 US elections stuff

[RedRajah]

Am reminded of a friend from university whose leanings were always Rightward, who once wrote a kids' book about the American Presidents where for most of the book he methodically presented at least one good thing and one bad thing about every single Pres ...

... until President FDR, who according to his kid-friendly history did nothing good ever, only bad stuff and then ...

... Ronald Reagan, who apparently according to my friend's kids book, only did good things and never ever once did a single bad thing worth mentioning.

I really have not forgiven him for that.

Did he write the script for the recent Reagan "biopic" flick that just came out?

 

[Sage]

Goldman Sachs says Harris’s economic plan leads to growth & Trump’s would mean the economy takes a hit

 

[Introversion]

Trump campaign pulls away from three target states after Harris surge

Donald Trump has quietly wound down his presidential campaign in states he was targeting just six weeks ago amid polling evidence showing that Kamala Harris’s entry into the presidential race has put them out of reach and narrowed his path to the White House.

The Republican presidential nominee’s campaign has diverted resources away from Minnesota, Virginia and New Hampshire – states Trump was boasting he could win while Joe Biden was the Democratic candidate – to focus instead on a small number of battleground states.

Money is being poured into the three “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, which were all carried by Biden in 2020 and are seen as vital to the outcome of November’s election.

Special attention is being paid to Pennsylvania, which has 19 electoral college votes, and where a new CNN pollshows Trump and Harris tied at 47% each.

Resources have also been transferred to southern and south-western Sun belt states – namely North Carolina, Georgia Nevada and Arizona – where Trump previously had healthy leads over Biden that have been whittled away since Harris replaced the US president at the top of the Democratic ticket.

Maga Inc, a Trump-supporting Super Pac, has recently spent $16m in adverts in North Carolina as polls have shown Harris close to drawing even in a state the Democrats carried just once in presidential elections since 1980.

The tactical shift is a graphic sign of how the dynamics of the electoral contest have shifted since the Republican national convention in July, when euphoric Trump campaigners talked confidently of winning Minnesota, Virginia and New Hampshire.
…

 

[Sage]

Historian who accurately predicted 9 of last 10 presidential elections makes his 2024 pick​

Spoiler alert: it’s Vice President Kamala Harris.

 

[Unimportant]

JD Vance, who so despises childless adult women, has put forward a real, concrete, easy-to-enact plan to help the real Americans who do have children and who are struggling with the insanely high costs of childcare:

“I think one of the things that we can do is make it easier for family models to choose, or for families to choose whatever model they want, right?” Vance said.

“So one of the ways that you might be able to relieve a little bit of pressure on people who are paying so much for daycare is make it so that, you know, maybe, like, Grandma or Grandpa wants to help out a little bit more, or maybe there’s an aunt or uncle that wants to help out a little bit more. If that happens, you relieve some of the pressure on all the resources that we’re spending in daycare.”

 

[Alessandra Kelley]

JD Vance, who so despises childless adult women, has put forward a real, concrete, easy-to-enact plan to help the real Americans who do have children and who are struggling with the insanely high costs of childcare:

Oh gosh, if only people had already thought of extended family!

It sure is a good thing that everyone with children also has loving, safe, capable, independent nonabusive parents and siblings who live nearby in clean safe spacious housing that can readily hold the very large number of children Vance's policies will cause, with no jobs, medical issues or social lives of their own so they can drop everything to do child care as long as needed for free.

 

[Chris P]

JD Vance, who so despises childless adult women, has put forward a real, concrete, easy-to-enact plan to help the real Americans who do have children and who are struggling with the insanely high costs of childcare:

Ah, so that's how all the childless cat people can redeem themselves! Take some of the "pressure" off the breeders. We do have a function after all. Good to know.

 

[DavidLWyattjr]

Look, the GOP has given up on America, and really that's the story to tell. All they have is bluster, lies and accusation, and a couple of news networks whose profits depend on backing those lies. But that is also a way to attack them. When has a Republican been allowed to go off the reservation? Only to raise the debt ceiling because they know they would get the blame for the havoc that would follow. That's it. We need to constantly bring up that Republicans have voted every single moderate out of power, every single honest person out of power. and we need to keep on it, for it is a true story we can tell, one that becomes clearer every single day

 

[Marian Perera]

Ah, so that's how all the childless cat people can redeem themselves! Take some of the "pressure" off the breeders. We do have a function after all. Good to know.

Reminds me of when I babysat my former landlady's granddaughter, who was maybe two and a half, and told her that if she wasn't a good girl, I would eat her.

 

[Unimportant]

The things that right-wing pundits go after just boggles me. Here's Fox News host Jesse Watters ranting about how awful Tim Walz is:

"Women love masculinity and women do not love Tim Walz,” Watters claimed. “So that should just tell you about how masculine Tim Walz is.”

“The other day you saw him with a vanilla ice cream shake. Had a straw in it. Oh. Again, that tells you everything," Watters concluded.

"I recommend that all men refrain from using straws,” the Fox News host explained. “It's unbecoming the way a man's lips purse, the size of the straw is just too dainty, the way your fingers clasp on it. No. Come on. Straws are for women and little kids."

And there you have it. All us women and little kids -- obviously indistinguishable from each other -- have been put in our place.

 

[Alessandra Kelley]

The things that right-wing pundits go after just boggles me. Here's Fox News host Jesse Watters ranting about how awful Tim Walz is:


And there you have it. All us women and little kids -- obviously indistinguishable from each other -- have been put in our place.

This man pays entirely too much attention to the dainty way Tim Walz' lips purse.

 

[Unimportant]

Doesn't TFG drink diet Coke with straws like, all the time always? (Ew. And that just made me think about his lips and cat-anus mouth and....ew.)

 

[The Black Prince]

Doesn't TFG drink diet Coke with straws like, all the time always? (Ew. And that just made me think about his lips and cat-anus mouth and....ew.)

Cats are notorious for licking their bottoms, but no self respecting cat is licking that.

 

[Stytch]

The things that right-wing pundits go after just boggles me. Here's Fox News host Jesse Watters ranting about how awful Tim Walz is:


And there you have it. All us women and little kids -- obviously indistinguishable from each other -- have been put in our place.

How is that straw bit not parody? It must be exhausting performing zealous conservative masculinity all the time. Just as much as feminity, but with less acknowledgement of makeup. (Of course all the TV folks are wearing it )

 

[worrdz]

JD Vance, who so despises childless adult women, has put forward a real, concrete, easy-to-enact plan to help the real Americans who do have children and who are struggling with the insanely high costs of childcare:

Y'know, amazing how no one ever thought of that! Why, let's legislate that as the de jure option! And if you don't have any grandparents to provide child care, you'll be adjudicated as Non Grandparentis and locked up.

 

[Lakey]

"[W]omen do not love Tim Walz,” Watters claimed.

[citation needed]

How is that straw bit not parody?

I mean, in a way, it is. It's the kind of thing that led Fox's lawyers to argue in court that Tucker Carlson's program was entertainment rather than news. Watters is not even pretending here to be saying things that are true and meaningful. Rather, the purpose is to entertain the viewers and keep them watching. And Daily Kos's purpose in writing about it is the same, really. It's the cycle that keeps these TV shows and websites going, feeding off each other.

 

[Silenia]

Look, the GOP has given up on America, and really that's the story to tell. All they have is bluster, lies and accusation, and a couple of news networks whose profits depend on backing those lies. But that is also a way to attack them. When has a Republican been allowed to go off the reservation? Only to raise the debt ceiling because they know they would get the blame for the havoc that would follow. That's it. We need to constantly bring up that Republicans have voted every single moderate out of power, every single honest person out of power. and we need to keep on it, for it is a true story we can tell, one that becomes clearer every single day

Just so you know, the phrase "off the reservation" is considered highly problematic by a lot of Native Americans/American Indians, to which the phrase originally was applied. In-depth explanation by Debbie Reese (American Indians in Children's Literature)

 

[Sage]

Kennedy “suspending” his campaign in swing states at the 11th hour has already delayed mail-in ballots going out in North Carolina. Since mail-in voting tends to favor Democratic candidates, can we claim election interference from Kennedy yet?

https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-rfk-ballot-2024-appeals-court-c879337b294900f5f028add25d821cf0

 

[Sage]

“Incoherent word salad': Trump stumbles when asked how he'd tackle child care

Let’s hope his debate performance sounds about like this.

Asked if he would “commit to prioritizing legislation to make child care affordable” and “what specific piece of legislation” he would support during a Q&A session at the Economic Club of New York Thursday, Trump said:

---

“Well, I would do that, and we’re sitting down. You know, I was somebody — we had, Senator Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka, was so impactful on that issue. It’s a very important issue.

"But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about — that, because look, child care is child care, couldn’t — you know, there’s something — you have to have it in this country. You have to have it. But when you talk about those numbers, compared to the kind of numbers that I’m talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that they’re not used to. But they’ll get used to it very quickly. And it’s not going to stop them from doing business with us. But they’ll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country. Those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we’re talking about, including child care, that it’s going to take care. We’re going to have — I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time, coupled with the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country.

"Because I have to stay with child care. I want to stay with child care. But those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I’m talking about, including growth, but growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just — that I just told you about. We’re going to be taking in trillions of dollars. And as much as child care is talked about as being expensive, it’s, relatively speaking, not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers will be taking in.[…]

Biden was abandoned by his party over incoherence during the last debate. If Trump gives answers like this, which not only dismisses child care as a concern, but rambles on off subject in a way that sounds like he can’t keep a straight thought in his head (which is different from pivoting to a new subject, as I think he has always been prone to), may Republicans abandon him just as quickly.

 

[mrsmig]

It's as if he's stuck in a rut right now: call names and blame his opponents for everything wrong in the world. He's always done that, sure, but in the past he could heave himself out long enough to be marginally coherent. Even that seems beyond him now.

 

[Introversion]

Hello, fellow carbon-based life form, allow me to greet you in the accepted Earth manner

J.D. Vance, refusing to relinquish the “Most Weird” trophy to RFK Jr.

 

[Marian Perera]

From that link, apparently Vance said in his podcast, "I think you may very well hear dogs howling right now. which is — I’m actually home today". Just like in the Terminator films, the dogs recognize a non-human when they smell one!

 

[Sage]

Donald Trump indicated he only wants loyalists to vote for him

“One person who didn’t support me—he said, ‘I must admit I had the most successful four years of my life but I’m gonna vote for some—’ and now that person came back to me. I don’t want that person,” Trump said to muffled applause. “I don’t want that person.

Good. I don’t want them to vote for you either. They can stay home or vote third party if they don’t want Harris.

I know the strategy was likely focusing on the next round of election fraud accusations by claiming he already has all the votes he needs to win, but, even with that, seriously, who thinks saying, “I don’t want anyone new to vote for me” is a good strategy? Especially after just admitting you lost last time?

(There are times when I really think his heart’s not in it to win it. He has to win it if he wants to avoid the consequences for his crimes, so he’s not going to drop out, but I think he’s tired of it. The fact that Vance is doing more rallies than he is is telling to me. He’s got the younger, more energetic surrogate out there much more than himself, doing the thing he used to love most, despite Vance’s unfavorability. I honestly think the trials, the assassination attempt, Harris’s surge in popularity, and his age are wearing him down).

ETA: The New Republic, the first article I linked to, is a strong left-wing publication, according to Ad Fontes Media Rating. Apple News is obsessed with suggesting it to me, even though I think this is the first time I’ve actually read an article from it

 

[Unimportant]

I don't think he wants to win. At least, he doesn't want to put the work in to campaign, and he doesn't want to put the work in to do the job. He wants to either win and hand it over to Vance with a pardon for himself so he can't be put in prison and he can continue to grift and make money, or to litigate the not-win in the courts for a million years so that he can't be put into prison and he can continue to grift and make money. Not going to prison, and grifting and making money, are his two driving forces IMO.

 

[Sage]

I wonder whether, if Judge Merchan had sentenced him before the trial, but it wasn’t jail, or if he’d entertained the immunity argument, Trump would be calling up Biden, offering to stop campaigning or drop out in exchange for pardons in the Federal cases (assuming the Georgia case is kaput, which it may not be). I don’t know what would happen if he’d drop out. My guess is that there’d be a write-in campaign for the GOP, probably for Haley, & RFK would attempt to get back on those swing state ballots. I don’t think it would automatically go to Vance (though, boy, it’d be fun to watch the same folks who claimed it wasn’t fair for Harris to “replace” Biden on the ballot now tie themselves in knots claiming that Vance could actually replace Trump, post-convention & nominating deadlines, on the ballots). I’m sure there actually is some rule or precedent, but it’s too late to look it up now.

Anyway, it’s just a thought exercise, since Judge Merchan postponed sentencing, and Trump doesn’t know if that means potential jail time for a state case (which the president can’t pardon).