"So, when CNN puts together a panel of “undecided voters,” the biggest question in your mind should be, “Why would anyone take seriously comments from voters who are undecided at this point in time?” "
I agree with Robert that CNN's panel of "undecided" voters is not credible. Presumably they are engaged enough to have been chosen to take part in this fatuous exercise. So there's little reason to not have decided by now. But that doesn't mean that undecided voters don't exist.
Readers of this newsletter take politics (and our democracy) very seriously, thinking and reading about it daily. Many actively contribute time and money. So it may be hard to understand that for millions of our fellow citizens, politics is nothing more than background noise. For them, it's like Hollywood gossip, or professional sports. They're just not interested and don't really care. If asked, they'll likely be categorized as "undecided" because polls don't have an "I don't give a damn" line. Most probably, they won't even vote.
It's tempting to dismiss these "undecideds" as ignorant, or worse as complicit in Trump's attack on our republic. That would be a tragic mistake, an escalation of the divisions our adversaries seek to exploit. If we believe our work is righteous, it is so precisely because we are doing it for the benefit of all -- most especially for those unable or unwilling, for whatever reason, to do it themselves. This is the heart of progressive political activism.
I agree. I suspect they HAVE already decided, but don't want to reveal their reasons for their decision (misogyny, racism, secretly wanting an end to our form of government or being too lazy to vote.) Being "undecided" in my view is a cop out.
I don’t want to watch the debate tonight. I’m seriously considering skipping it and writing postcards instead. I just don’t want to hear any more of Donald’s lies and playbook of bigotry and hate. I have no doubt that Kamala Harris will handle herself with dignity and humor, but I don’t want to look at Abuser Donald “live and on tv” ever again.
I am totally with you on not watching the debate tonight.Postcarding would be a more worthwhile option. Hearing his voice and even looking at him physically causes revulsion in me.I have never felt almost nausea about the presence of one human being.Robert is right.What will be on tv tonight will not be a debate.It will be more of Trump’s disgusting hatefest and I want no part of it.
Neither of you are alone. Some can stomach it and to others, there are more important ways to use ones time. I do want to see Kamala rip him to shreads in front of millions if he gets out of line in any way. Sure the NYT will call her an angry pushy Black woman if she does, but the PEOPLE will see it clearly and know what they saw.
I am also glad. Robert put it down in black and white for us all-it is NOT a debate and the news media, practicing both siderism will try to treat it like one. It’s so ridiculous.
“I have never felt almost nausea about the presence of one human being.” –
I hadn’t quite thought about that until now. Thank you (I guess), Victoria Wilson.
You brought back memories of how I felt when then-President Richard Nixon went on TV. At the time, the wonderful Herblock captured it in a cartoon in which Nixon appears on-screen, opens with his customary “My fellow Americans,” and the watching family hug each other in despair.
I can't blame you Susan. Here on the east coast, the show will begin at 9 pm. My bedtime is 9:30 as I have to be up at 4:30 am. I can't watch anything upsetting before bed or I won't be able to sleep, and seeing the Felon is always leads to agitation for me. His stupidity is always unnerving for me, as I find it so unacceptable that the GOP has allowed this demented, narcissistic, racist man to be their nominee. I also can't stand to be reminded of his limited use of english vocabulary. Is anyone having a drinking game focused on when he uses the word "strongly"? So I will DVR the show and watch it when I can, fast forwarding through the Felon's idiocy.
I understand completely. Donald has nothing new or interesting to say and I expect he’ll just rant ugliness. Enough of that in the world today. Some folks just want conflicts; others want to resolve them.Harris wants the latter and I’m all in for Harris. I sent an email to Vice President Harris last night saying I was sure she’d hit it out of the ballpark tonight and cheering her on. It helps to take even small actions.
I disagree completely, and it’s evident where you stand by stating a comment as you have about “liberals”. I am calling out one man, who should be able to speak fairly well, as he is running for president, but you make a negative “observation “ for a huge group of people. Such false and unnecessary stereotyping.
He speaks worse than a third grader, and I would say it’s pretty far fetched to say most American adults speak as poorly as he does. Perhaps it’s so noticeable because he blathers on and on, making his inability to take command of the English language so evident.
Check out the linktree above and sign up to join us sometime. We meet five or more days a week to hear speakers and write postcards together (while we listen!). People can also join if they are not writing postcards too, of course! We learn so much every day. Listening to Rudy Salas, Candidate for Congress in CA-22 right now on our Zoom.
Susan, I will not be watching the debate. I do not feel it is the best method to get information to people in this election. I am 7 hours ahead and I will sleep and then wake to the headlines. What I expect will happen is that Donald will successfully show to his people that he fights for them, in a streetfighter, nasty kind of way. That gets them motivated. Harris will be the only one answering policy questions, and responding to things. Then the corporate press will nit pick what she says apart as to the truth of it after the debate, and continue on their path to make Donald Trump king, so that he can give them news that gets people excited, the only thing they seem trained to do. However, if they are successful, unless they plan to work for Truth Social, they will probably have ended their careers. Or perhaps all of this rabid media have second homes in other countries where they can continue their careers. Viva la Kamala!
I am not going to waste time watching the production billed as a debate. Presidential “debates” have not been true debates in years. A ridiculous amount of attention gets paid to appearances.
Regarding defeating Trump for good. DonOLD is relentless; he was defeated in the last election and did not go away. He has had something to say about so many things since he was fodder for the NY tabloids in the 80’s. His mouth has never shut. We will never be rid of DonOLD’s toxicity until he passes away.
I have been debating also whether to listen to the debate -- or read a good book - and I'm going with the latter. I can't stand the thought of listening to the demented orange creature spew out his slurry for 90 minutes - and the media later pouncing on anything and everything they perceive as an error, real or not, by Harris while letting Trump by with a free pass. What has this country become? Wishing Harris all the luck in demolishing Trump..........he and his minions are the death knell of this nation.
Debate - there is a format and rules for a debate. The msm/legacy ABC commentators along with reporters are unaware or have disregard for the terms of engagement for a debate. They will folow-up with "sane-washing" the outcome. Enough Said!
But where to find coverage one can believe? I tend to have to see things with my own eyes and hear with my own ears to believe unless it's from a Very credible source and many previously credible sources took some big hits just before Biden stepped away from the race.
I can't stand to watch it either. I just won't put myself though the nausea of having to listen to that whiny cretin spew lies unchallenged for 90 minutes. I expect Harris to demolish him and the media to call it a "draw."
For those who wonder where we can learn what really happened--right here! I expect poor Robert will force himself to watch and give us an honest recap. And like others, I don't know how anyone can be undecided at this point. The may not know much about her, but they've had nine interminable years of his bullshit.
I very much sympathize with your perspective on this. But I do expect Kamala Harris to leave Trump looking bad, as she did with Brett Kavanaugh during the hearings on his nomination to the Supreme Court. She is wonderfully agile of mind. See the video in this link:
The New York Times died in 2003 when they decided to be cheerleaders for Widdle Georgie's invasion of Poland, er, I mean Iraq, the corpse is now completely rotted. It's time to plant it six feet under where it belongs.
I have never forgotten that disgraceful episode of supposedly professional reporting. I commented on it when on substack the blatant bias of the NYT was first exposed. I researched it to be sure I didn’t dream up such shockingly shoddy so-called journalism. I remain so glad I dumped that poor excuse for public accountability and despite the fact that they beg my return, it will never happen.
Drown MAGA in a blue tsunami. Sent more than 12 million texts this cycle. Need phone banking and canvassing to close the deal.
The electorate is not set... yet. Millions of potential Harris voters are not registered ... yet. She trends 60% with women, the same with young people, 70% with tenants in the blue wall swing states. Now is the hour to expand our base significantly.
FT 6 calls primarily unregistered people who trend Democratic...mostly women. Usually don't have to do a lot of persuading.
According to AOC on Zeteo with Mehdi Hasan, the number of “undecided” voters has shrunk to virtually nothing. So the election for President and hundreds of other offices is about “turnout”. Whoever is likely to vote Democratic has to be convinced and helped to vote. The GOP is intent on suppressing voter turnout because they know there are more people who support Democratic policies than support GOP policies.
They can recognize that, by voting for Harris they are *voting against Trump*, setting the stage for a respectable Republican Party to emerge. Serious Republicans should vote for Kamala Harris.
This article (by Peter Baker) exhibited some of the same false equivalencies - writing about trump’s mental shortcomings/decline/unwellness as aging, and comparing to Biden’s aging as if it were the same phenomenon for instance, and then -- after trying to distance itself from “sane-washing” (the wonderful new phrase, though not one used by the Times) -- it did exactly that with trumps remarks last week about child care and tariffs. As O’Donnell focused on, the article let stand trump’s and then amplified the inaccurate portrayal of tariffs as taxes paid by foreign countries.
I’ll add this (though somewhat grudgingly - I unsubscribed a while ago but was gifted the articles): today the Times also published an opinion piece by the Editorial Board that was quite good in its repudiation of Trump.
The point is that finally (I guess we’re supposed to say ‘better late than never’) the Times by its Editorial is trying to redeem itself a bit. My guess is that some of the well-deserved criticism making the rounds now (including Robert’s and maybe those of us who write letters to the editor, or unsubscribe) is reaching them, though they’ll never admit it.
But they will never begin to redeem themselves if their reporting doesn’t reflect how the Editorial Board says they view trump. NYTimes: you need to do better -- way way better -- in all daily reporting not just in a one-time Editorial.
Peter Baker and Susan Glazer his wife were good columnist but now have become snarky and never ever positive and always questioning things that are not questions at all
Robert, I respectfully disagree with your final Concluding Thought, "Then we can go about dismantling the remnants of the GOP." I believe we need to help the GOP reform and rebuild itself to preserve the tenets it supposedly holds. A Democratic Party with no counterbalance to represent the needs and wants of half of our country won't unite us.
You are right that we need a functioning two party system. But the current GOP has looked the other way as their candidate tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, attempted to bribe an ally, refused to return national defense secrets, encouraged white supremacists, was found liable for sexual abuse, was convicted of fraud, and said nothing when their candidate accused the first Black Asian woman for president of succeeding by giving blowjobs to male politicians (Trump's words, not mine, apologies). There is no coming back from that; there is no "reforming" a party that has embraced depravity. The GOP needs to disappear. Something different needs to replace it.
I guess I'm too optimistic (I never woulda thunk so though). I hear frustrated Republicans who are saying and doing the right things, but they're currently on the outside looking in (Michael Steele, Joe & Mika, Nicolle Wallace, Liz & Dick Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and Geoff Duncan, to name a few). I'm hoping the shellacking we're gonna give the GOP in November is enough to shake some sense into them. That being said, I'd hoped the demise of the Tea Party would give rise to a better GOP, but we got MAGAts instead.
Oh I don't. But when even Dick Cheney thinks the Republican nominee is a danger to our country, so deserving of defeat that he's advocating voting for his Democratic opponent, that says something. I think he was awful as VP, but I think at least he thought he was doing what was right. The Republican nominee knows he's an inveterate liar, cheat, con man, narcissist, and projectionist. But he considers those to be among his best qualities (they may well be).
Agreed. The Democratic Party w/o a counter-balance will go off the rails in the other direction leaving us with the same position just different actors. It seems our form of government formulates political parties so let's have as many as possible. And let's have an educated populace; when was the last civics classes taught? 50 years ago? What percentage of the populace can even name the 3 branches of our government? Ignorance is one of the most important fueling stops on the path to dictatorship.
Will there be Federal Marshalls from the DOJ in states such as Texas, Florida, and Georgia to monitor voting, protect election workers, and protect voters? Must we rely on Marc Elias (Elias Law Group) and DemocracyForward.org (Chairman is Marc Elias) to protect election sites. When I worked on the Obama campaigns as a volunteer we called attorneys around the country to determine if they would be able to travel to battleground states to work on voter protection. This is so frightening I have a sleep disorder. I’ve been awake since 3 am. I’m now going to write postcards.
There are Democratic teams of lawyers in all the swing states in addition to Elias’ people. Also, remember that Elias has been hired by the campaign to coordinate these efforts. Nobody is going into this blind.
The Florida ACLU is a good resource and details what to do if there is a problem at the polls along with contact #’s. Action is also a good remedy, Linda!✍️
I’ve just finished reading NYT’s David Leonhardt’s “24 questions” he thinks should be asked of Trump in the debate tonight. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM SHOULD HAVE BEEN DIRECTLY ASKED BY NYT’S REPORTERS SINCE THIS CAMPAIGN BEGAN. And every other reporter for that matter.
My night ends with Laurence O’Donnell and last nights opening segment was a masterpiece. Laurence reminded us that “ tariff’s were a major screw up in the Trump Administration which led to hundreds of farmers going bankrupt and a major bailout of farmers and he is at it again. VP Harris needs to remind folks of what a Trump administration did
the havoc and corruption and ask why will it be any different now. She needs to be very focused on a few major differences between the Harris Administration and Trump especially in addition to abortion, the economy and immigration. These three major subjects she needs to focus on and tear Project 2025 apart. One comment Harris should ask I’m heard yesterday goes like this “ Donald Trump is 78:years old and we don’t k one the real state of his health and God forbid something happens to him do we really want JD Vance as our next President. It’s weird.
And one more bit of praise for Lawrence O'Donnell last night: his take down of the education and the intelligence of the NYT writers who do not know how tariffs work, that they increase the costs of imported goods and are not expenses that are paid by foreign governments, as Trump would have us believe. His stating this information as something "we all learned in high school" is a strong dig at the shameful ignorance of the Ivy League educated staff of the NYT.
Ain't this the truth? "There is no meaningful way for Kamala Harris to engage with a compulsive, shameless liar on the merits of contested policies. Trump doesn’t know what the contested policies are, much less the arguments supporting and against the policies. He is immune to logic. He will engage in personal attacks when Kamala Harris addresses substance in a way that “sounds” to Trump as if he is losing." I shudder for the future of our country when tfg is the best and the brightest that the GOP offers us for the PRESIDENCY!!! It's not a local district in a state, it's the whole enchilada. We're entitled to a loyal opposition in our politics, not a dis-loyal, self-serving, megalomaniac.
I didn’t want her to engage in this atrocious bread and circus. Not demanding fact-checking seemed like an unforced error from her campaign, the first one I have seen. I have no interest in watching this show. I take some comfort from your very sensible advice that anyone who’s undecided is looking for an excuse not to vote for a woman. I wish we were living in a world where women had an equal chance at the presidency, but that is not the world we live in. I heartily agree that turning out the base and new voters is our best strategy.
“Let’s find new voters and motivate existing voters who “did not vote” in 2020 but will respond to Kamala Harris in a way they did not respond to the Biden-Trump contest in 2020.”
This is what makes sense to me, too. I am not a campaign expert, but it seems to me that voter registration FOLLOWED WITH GOOD INFORMATION ON THE VOTING PROCESS is key this year. There are lots of great groups, though I appreciate how the League of Women Voters doesn’t just stop at registration and also focuses on information. If you’re in the Dallas area, contact me at CampusVoterReg@lwvrichardson.org.
On the NYTimes web site, the lead article today concerns questions being raised about Trump’s age and capacity. Better late than not at all, and the timing — on debate day — is nice.
there are two major news articles and an Editorial criticizing Trump in today's NYT. They have clearly heard the criticism. Whether it is a passing phase remains to be seen.
Knowledgeable observers have noted for many years that presidential debates are really joint appearances. That is how I think Kamala Harris should approach tonight. I suggest that she not engage with Trump directly, not even look at him. She should refer to him only in the third person (it will drive him crazy). She should freely point out that he is lying, and perhaps—although she shouldn’t reach for an opportunity—direct attention to one of his more obvious lies. But mainly, she should speak directly to the voters. And it wouldn’t be bad for her to admit that a point in Joe Biden’s program is wrong.
Remember for every tech billionaire there are thousands of their workers that can't wait to vote for Kamala. Who cares about tech billionaires, I want the vote of their workers...who should be for Kamala...Women for Kamala, Educated Men and Kids....we got this...Blue Tsunami on the way...remember the huge turnout in 2022 in states Like Wisconsin.....Women's rights,
"So, when CNN puts together a panel of “undecided voters,” the biggest question in your mind should be, “Why would anyone take seriously comments from voters who are undecided at this point in time?” "
Indeed.
Completely agree. But now the new political trope of the “undecideds” is….” I don’t know Harris well enough to vote for her”.
Well, they certainly must know Trump well enough to not vote for him. .
Yes!
I agree with Robert that CNN's panel of "undecided" voters is not credible. Presumably they are engaged enough to have been chosen to take part in this fatuous exercise. So there's little reason to not have decided by now. But that doesn't mean that undecided voters don't exist.
Readers of this newsletter take politics (and our democracy) very seriously, thinking and reading about it daily. Many actively contribute time and money. So it may be hard to understand that for millions of our fellow citizens, politics is nothing more than background noise. For them, it's like Hollywood gossip, or professional sports. They're just not interested and don't really care. If asked, they'll likely be categorized as "undecided" because polls don't have an "I don't give a damn" line. Most probably, they won't even vote.
It's tempting to dismiss these "undecideds" as ignorant, or worse as complicit in Trump's attack on our republic. That would be a tragic mistake, an escalation of the divisions our adversaries seek to exploit. If we believe our work is righteous, it is so precisely because we are doing it for the benefit of all -- most especially for those unable or unwilling, for whatever reason, to do it themselves. This is the heart of progressive political activism.
.
I agree. I suspect they HAVE already decided, but don't want to reveal their reasons for their decision (misogyny, racism, secretly wanting an end to our form of government or being too lazy to vote.) Being "undecided" in my view is a cop out.
Maybe they just want to be on TV ;)
I don’t want to watch the debate tonight. I’m seriously considering skipping it and writing postcards instead. I just don’t want to hear any more of Donald’s lies and playbook of bigotry and hate. I have no doubt that Kamala Harris will handle herself with dignity and humor, but I don’t want to look at Abuser Donald “live and on tv” ever again.
I am totally with you on not watching the debate tonight.Postcarding would be a more worthwhile option. Hearing his voice and even looking at him physically causes revulsion in me.I have never felt almost nausea about the presence of one human being.Robert is right.What will be on tv tonight will not be a debate.It will be more of Trump’s disgusting hatefest and I want no part of it.
I’m glad to hear you say this. I thought I was alone in this.
Neither of you are alone. Some can stomach it and to others, there are more important ways to use ones time. I do want to see Kamala rip him to shreads in front of millions if he gets out of line in any way. Sure the NYT will call her an angry pushy Black woman if she does, but the PEOPLE will see it clearly and know what they saw.
F*** the NYT.
I am also glad. Robert put it down in black and white for us all-it is NOT a debate and the news media, practicing both siderism will try to treat it like one. It’s so ridiculous.
“I have never felt almost nausea about the presence of one human being.” –
I hadn’t quite thought about that until now. Thank you (I guess), Victoria Wilson.
You brought back memories of how I felt when then-President Richard Nixon went on TV. At the time, the wonderful Herblock captured it in a cartoon in which Nixon appears on-screen, opens with his customary “My fellow Americans,” and the watching family hug each other in despair.
I can't blame you Susan. Here on the east coast, the show will begin at 9 pm. My bedtime is 9:30 as I have to be up at 4:30 am. I can't watch anything upsetting before bed or I won't be able to sleep, and seeing the Felon is always leads to agitation for me. His stupidity is always unnerving for me, as I find it so unacceptable that the GOP has allowed this demented, narcissistic, racist man to be their nominee. I also can't stand to be reminded of his limited use of english vocabulary. Is anyone having a drinking game focused on when he uses the word "strongly"? So I will DVR the show and watch it when I can, fast forwarding through the Felon's idiocy.
I understand completely. Donald has nothing new or interesting to say and I expect he’ll just rant ugliness. Enough of that in the world today. Some folks just want conflicts; others want to resolve them.Harris wants the latter and I’m all in for Harris. I sent an email to Vice President Harris last night saying I was sure she’d hit it out of the ballpark tonight and cheering her on. It helps to take even small actions.
Lynn, are you a doctor or nurse?
Nurse Practitioner.
“I also can't stand to be reminded of his limited use of english vocabulary.” –
Unfortunately, that speaks to “average Americans”. Too often, liberals “speak over people’s heads.
I disagree completely, and it’s evident where you stand by stating a comment as you have about “liberals”. I am calling out one man, who should be able to speak fairly well, as he is running for president, but you make a negative “observation “ for a huge group of people. Such false and unnecessary stereotyping.
He speaks worse than a third grader, and I would say it’s pretty far fetched to say most American adults speak as poorly as he does. Perhaps it’s so noticeable because he blathers on and on, making his inability to take command of the English language so evident.
In fact Michael, I disagree bigly.
If you do watch you can still write postcards! Multitask for Democracy!
https://linktr.ee/markersfordemocracy
That’s what I plan to do. I will contribute more and keep my sanity.
Check out the linktree above and sign up to join us sometime. We meet five or more days a week to hear speakers and write postcards together (while we listen!). People can also join if they are not writing postcards too, of course! We learn so much every day. Listening to Rudy Salas, Candidate for Congress in CA-22 right now on our Zoom.
Susan, I will not be watching the debate. I do not feel it is the best method to get information to people in this election. I am 7 hours ahead and I will sleep and then wake to the headlines. What I expect will happen is that Donald will successfully show to his people that he fights for them, in a streetfighter, nasty kind of way. That gets them motivated. Harris will be the only one answering policy questions, and responding to things. Then the corporate press will nit pick what she says apart as to the truth of it after the debate, and continue on their path to make Donald Trump king, so that he can give them news that gets people excited, the only thing they seem trained to do. However, if they are successful, unless they plan to work for Truth Social, they will probably have ended their careers. Or perhaps all of this rabid media have second homes in other countries where they can continue their careers. Viva la Kamala!
I am not going to waste time watching the production billed as a debate. Presidential “debates” have not been true debates in years. A ridiculous amount of attention gets paid to appearances.
Regarding defeating Trump for good. DonOLD is relentless; he was defeated in the last election and did not go away. He has had something to say about so many things since he was fodder for the NY tabloids in the 80’s. His mouth has never shut. We will never be rid of DonOLD’s toxicity until he passes away.
My wife and I *do* plan to watch the “Debate”.
Why??
Because we don’t want others to tell us what transpired – what *they* want us to know.
IMHO rope a dope.
Quoth the bard, the play's the thing....
I've had Live TV PTSD since Jan. 6. I don't put myself through it, and prefer to read about it the next morning.
I have been debating also whether to listen to the debate -- or read a good book - and I'm going with the latter. I can't stand the thought of listening to the demented orange creature spew out his slurry for 90 minutes - and the media later pouncing on anything and everything they perceive as an error, real or not, by Harris while letting Trump by with a free pass. What has this country become? Wishing Harris all the luck in demolishing Trump..........he and his minions are the death knell of this nation.
Debate - there is a format and rules for a debate. The msm/legacy ABC commentators along with reporters are unaware or have disregard for the terms of engagement for a debate. They will folow-up with "sane-washing" the outcome. Enough Said!
You probably won't miss much, and anything significant will get more coverage than we have time to read tomorrow.
But where to find coverage one can believe? I tend to have to see things with my own eyes and hear with my own ears to believe unless it's from a Very credible source and many previously credible sources took some big hits just before Biden stepped away from the race.
Yes. That’s why my wife and I plan to watch.
I can't stand to watch it either. I just won't put myself though the nausea of having to listen to that whiny cretin spew lies unchallenged for 90 minutes. I expect Harris to demolish him and the media to call it a "draw."
For those who wonder where we can learn what really happened--right here! I expect poor Robert will force himself to watch and give us an honest recap. And like others, I don't know how anyone can be undecided at this point. The may not know much about her, but they've had nine interminable years of his bullshit.
I'm watching the Paralympics and writing postcards to voters.
I’m hoping for a Dan Quayle moment.
I very much sympathize with your perspective on this. But I do expect Kamala Harris to leave Trump looking bad, as she did with Brett Kavanaugh during the hearings on his nomination to the Supreme Court. She is wonderfully agile of mind. See the video in this link:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/09/harris-trump-debate
I’m with you!
AGREED
The New York Times died in 2003 when they decided to be cheerleaders for Widdle Georgie's invasion of Poland, er, I mean Iraq, the corpse is now completely rotted. It's time to plant it six feet under where it belongs.
I have never forgotten that disgraceful episode of supposedly professional reporting. I commented on it when on substack the blatant bias of the NYT was first exposed. I researched it to be sure I didn’t dream up such shockingly shoddy so-called journalism. I remain so glad I dumped that poor excuse for public accountability and despite the fact that they beg my return, it will never happen.
The NYT is not worth the paper it is printed on. Save the trees; cancel your subscription.
Someone here called it birdcage carpeting.
I prefer "The Nation's Finest Fishwrap."
Remember Colin Powell and Weapons of Mass Destruction,?
Weapons of Mass Distraction.
The focus on inactives and new voters is a central focus of ongoing efforts and must remain so.
Thank you Robert for reiterating that.
Drown MAGA in a blue tsunami. Sent more than 12 million texts this cycle. Need phone banking and canvassing to close the deal.
The electorate is not set... yet. Millions of potential Harris voters are not registered ... yet. She trends 60% with women, the same with young people, 70% with tenants in the blue wall swing states. Now is the hour to expand our base significantly.
FT 6 calls primarily unregistered people who trend Democratic...mostly women. Usually don't have to do a lot of persuading.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops/volunteer
I am also proud to state DIDDO to the motion to not watch the debate!
Thank you for this reality check. I don't need to ride an emotional rollercoaster over this TELEVISION EVENT!
To note: DIDDO refers to how we all can now embrace that concept again now that the 'Medal of ???' winner (bestowed by T) died.
And TELEVISION EVENT refers to a great doc on America experiencing the tv movie The Day After.
https://televisionevent.com/
Thanks, Joe. Thanks, Joe. That’s exactly how I feel.
According to AOC on Zeteo with Mehdi Hasan, the number of “undecided” voters has shrunk to virtually nothing. So the election for President and hundreds of other offices is about “turnout”. Whoever is likely to vote Democratic has to be convinced and helped to vote. The GOP is intent on suppressing voter turnout because they know there are more people who support Democratic policies than support GOP policies.
WE ARE STILL ACTIVELY REGISTERING NEW DEMOCRATS. Tempus fugit.
We are under the radar. Enough to swing the election.
https://www.mobilize.us/ft6/?q=phone%20banks&tag_ids=20038
There is a nuance and that is the voter who is a Republican who has never voted Democratic is thinking can I vote for Harris or not vote at all
They can recognize that, by voting for Harris they are *voting against Trump*, setting the stage for a respectable Republican Party to emerge. Serious Republicans should vote for Kamala Harris.
From your lips to God’s ears.
Thanks for pointing out and recommending watching Lawrence O’Donnell’s excellent coverage of the Times headline article today: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/09/us/politics/debate-trump-age-capacity.html
This article (by Peter Baker) exhibited some of the same false equivalencies - writing about trump’s mental shortcomings/decline/unwellness as aging, and comparing to Biden’s aging as if it were the same phenomenon for instance, and then -- after trying to distance itself from “sane-washing” (the wonderful new phrase, though not one used by the Times) -- it did exactly that with trumps remarks last week about child care and tariffs. As O’Donnell focused on, the article let stand trump’s and then amplified the inaccurate portrayal of tariffs as taxes paid by foreign countries.
I’ll add this (though somewhat grudgingly - I unsubscribed a while ago but was gifted the articles): today the Times also published an opinion piece by the Editorial Board that was quite good in its repudiation of Trump.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/09/opinion/harris-trump-debate-issues.html
The point is that finally (I guess we’re supposed to say ‘better late than never’) the Times by its Editorial is trying to redeem itself a bit. My guess is that some of the well-deserved criticism making the rounds now (including Robert’s and maybe those of us who write letters to the editor, or unsubscribe) is reaching them, though they’ll never admit it.
But they will never begin to redeem themselves if their reporting doesn’t reflect how the Editorial Board says they view trump. NYTimes: you need to do better -- way way better -- in all daily reporting not just in a one-time Editorial.
Peter Baker and Susan Glazer his wife were good columnist but now have become snarky and never ever positive and always questioning things that are not questions at all
Peter Baker has one skill that I can identify: he CREATES "news" where none exists.
Robert, I respectfully disagree with your final Concluding Thought, "Then we can go about dismantling the remnants of the GOP." I believe we need to help the GOP reform and rebuild itself to preserve the tenets it supposedly holds. A Democratic Party with no counterbalance to represent the needs and wants of half of our country won't unite us.
You are right that we need a functioning two party system. But the current GOP has looked the other way as their candidate tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, attempted to bribe an ally, refused to return national defense secrets, encouraged white supremacists, was found liable for sexual abuse, was convicted of fraud, and said nothing when their candidate accused the first Black Asian woman for president of succeeding by giving blowjobs to male politicians (Trump's words, not mine, apologies). There is no coming back from that; there is no "reforming" a party that has embraced depravity. The GOP needs to disappear. Something different needs to replace it.
I guess I'm too optimistic (I never woulda thunk so though). I hear frustrated Republicans who are saying and doing the right things, but they're currently on the outside looking in (Michael Steele, Joe & Mika, Nicolle Wallace, Liz & Dick Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and Geoff Duncan, to name a few). I'm hoping the shellacking we're gonna give the GOP in November is enough to shake some sense into them. That being said, I'd hoped the demise of the Tea Party would give rise to a better GOP, but we got MAGAts instead.
Please don’t exalt Dick Cheney. He was a malignant force during the Bush II Administration.
Oh I don't. But when even Dick Cheney thinks the Republican nominee is a danger to our country, so deserving of defeat that he's advocating voting for his Democratic opponent, that says something. I think he was awful as VP, but I think at least he thought he was doing what was right. The Republican nominee knows he's an inveterate liar, cheat, con man, narcissist, and projectionist. But he considers those to be among his best qualities (they may well be).
Agreed. The Democratic Party w/o a counter-balance will go off the rails in the other direction leaving us with the same position just different actors. It seems our form of government formulates political parties so let's have as many as possible. And let's have an educated populace; when was the last civics classes taught? 50 years ago? What percentage of the populace can even name the 3 branches of our government? Ignorance is one of the most important fueling stops on the path to dictatorship.
Will there be Federal Marshalls from the DOJ in states such as Texas, Florida, and Georgia to monitor voting, protect election workers, and protect voters? Must we rely on Marc Elias (Elias Law Group) and DemocracyForward.org (Chairman is Marc Elias) to protect election sites. When I worked on the Obama campaigns as a volunteer we called attorneys around the country to determine if they would be able to travel to battleground states to work on voter protection. This is so frightening I have a sleep disorder. I’ve been awake since 3 am. I’m now going to write postcards.
There are Democratic teams of lawyers in all the swing states in addition to Elias’ people. Also, remember that Elias has been hired by the campaign to coordinate these efforts. Nobody is going into this blind.
Mostly volunteers.
Feds would have a greater deterrent effect.
The Florida ACLU is a good resource and details what to do if there is a problem at the polls along with contact #’s. Action is also a good remedy, Linda!✍️
https://www.aclufl.org/en/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-while-voting
Writing postcards helps. I’m mailing a bunch today 😊👍
Me too …
I’ve just finished reading NYT’s David Leonhardt’s “24 questions” he thinks should be asked of Trump in the debate tonight. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM SHOULD HAVE BEEN DIRECTLY ASKED BY NYT’S REPORTERS SINCE THIS CAMPAIGN BEGAN. And every other reporter for that matter.
Thanks - I just read that article. Those are some great questions. Too bad he’ll never give a straight answer to any of them.
Such a good point -- all these media folks advising Kamala Harris on the questions she should ask is sickening. They should do their job.
My night ends with Laurence O’Donnell and last nights opening segment was a masterpiece. Laurence reminded us that “ tariff’s were a major screw up in the Trump Administration which led to hundreds of farmers going bankrupt and a major bailout of farmers and he is at it again. VP Harris needs to remind folks of what a Trump administration did
the havoc and corruption and ask why will it be any different now. She needs to be very focused on a few major differences between the Harris Administration and Trump especially in addition to abortion, the economy and immigration. These three major subjects she needs to focus on and tear Project 2025 apart. One comment Harris should ask I’m heard yesterday goes like this “ Donald Trump is 78:years old and we don’t k one the real state of his health and God forbid something happens to him do we really want JD Vance as our next President. It’s weird.
And one more bit of praise for Lawrence O'Donnell last night: his take down of the education and the intelligence of the NYT writers who do not know how tariffs work, that they increase the costs of imported goods and are not expenses that are paid by foreign governments, as Trump would have us believe. His stating this information as something "we all learned in high school" is a strong dig at the shameful ignorance of the Ivy League educated staff of the NYT.
Ain't this the truth? "There is no meaningful way for Kamala Harris to engage with a compulsive, shameless liar on the merits of contested policies. Trump doesn’t know what the contested policies are, much less the arguments supporting and against the policies. He is immune to logic. He will engage in personal attacks when Kamala Harris addresses substance in a way that “sounds” to Trump as if he is losing." I shudder for the future of our country when tfg is the best and the brightest that the GOP offers us for the PRESIDENCY!!! It's not a local district in a state, it's the whole enchilada. We're entitled to a loyal opposition in our politics, not a dis-loyal, self-serving, megalomaniac.
We are not *entitled* to anything. It must be earned.
I didn’t want her to engage in this atrocious bread and circus. Not demanding fact-checking seemed like an unforced error from her campaign, the first one I have seen. I have no interest in watching this show. I take some comfort from your very sensible advice that anyone who’s undecided is looking for an excuse not to vote for a woman. I wish we were living in a world where women had an equal chance at the presidency, but that is not the world we live in. I heartily agree that turning out the base and new voters is our best strategy.
“Let’s find new voters and motivate existing voters who “did not vote” in 2020 but will respond to Kamala Harris in a way they did not respond to the Biden-Trump contest in 2020.”
This is what makes sense to me, too. I am not a campaign expert, but it seems to me that voter registration FOLLOWED WITH GOOD INFORMATION ON THE VOTING PROCESS is key this year. There are lots of great groups, though I appreciate how the League of Women Voters doesn’t just stop at registration and also focuses on information. If you’re in the Dallas area, contact me at CampusVoterReg@lwvrichardson.org.
On the NYTimes web site, the lead article today concerns questions being raised about Trump’s age and capacity. Better late than not at all, and the timing — on debate day — is nice.
there are two major news articles and an Editorial criticizing Trump in today's NYT. They have clearly heard the criticism. Whether it is a passing phase remains to be seen.
Hugh Carithers –
“Capacity” is fair game. Age(ism) is not.
Regardless, Dems are now making it an issue, just as Republicans did before Biden dropped out.
Knowledgeable observers have noted for many years that presidential debates are really joint appearances. That is how I think Kamala Harris should approach tonight. I suggest that she not engage with Trump directly, not even look at him. She should refer to him only in the third person (it will drive him crazy). She should freely point out that he is lying, and perhaps—although she shouldn’t reach for an opportunity—direct attention to one of his more obvious lies. But mainly, she should speak directly to the voters. And it wouldn’t be bad for her to admit that a point in Joe Biden’s program is wrong.
Remember for every tech billionaire there are thousands of their workers that can't wait to vote for Kamala. Who cares about tech billionaires, I want the vote of their workers...who should be for Kamala...Women for Kamala, Educated Men and Kids....we got this...Blue Tsunami on the way...remember the huge turnout in 2022 in states Like Wisconsin.....Women's rights,
voting rights, the unions.....