I believe Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is an outstanding, brilliant woman and would be a superb Senator. Colin Allred is a forceful advocate for voting rights and I hope he will be able to join the Senate. Both Florida and Texas are huge states in which it is difficult and expensive to run campaigns that reach every potential voting group.
I have donated my little $100, which for the record I cannot afford ... but I cannot afford to leave a climate apocalypse and second class citizenship to my daughter, nor to your daughters and sons.
Jerry Wechsler, kudos to you for going the extra mile. I,too donated when my budget says “Ummmmm……”. But it feels like we must do all we can. Yesterday I volunteered at our local Dem HQ. How wonderful it was to be there with about fifty others wanting to “Do Something!” By now many of us -formerly unacquainted with each other,- give a big ”Hey! Great to see you again!!!” And yesterday we had a real treat. YoYo Ma was in town for a concert, but made a point to drop by the Dem HQ to speak to us volunteers and play “Amazing Grace” and “Simple Gifts” for us on his cello! This was a pop-in, no fan-fare decision on his part. He spoke about coming to our country as an immigrant. How grateful he is for our country. And how grateful he was for us being there volunteering our time for a candidate he believes in. We all have things we can do to support our Dem candidates. YoYo Ma showing up to share his amazing talent with us was an example of the warm, joyful, and humble giving, I keep noticing over, and over, and over in this campaign. Your extra $100 donation was another example of this for me, Jerry Wechsler. Inspiring!
Thanks for sharing this story. In a way, this kind of world is what we are all working for, isn't it? Grace, generosity, and attention by the famous and the powerful, and an appreciation for the good work of democracy. We have Yo-Yo Ma. They have Steven Miller, J.D. Vance, and Donald Trump. Autocracy and Democracy are not just two competing forms of government. As we have seen for the last 100 years, they are alternative visions of human experience, opposing notions of who we are as human beings and what matters -- for us, kindness, art, beauty, appreciation, and affection. For them, insult, meanness of heart and spirit, ignorance, power and bullying. For the Republican Party today, as Adam Serwer foregrounded in the title of his book, cruelty is the point. [The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America (2021)].
I love YoYo Ma! I had the great privilege of listening to him many times during the early 1980's at the Spoleto Festival here in Charleston, SC when he was a young performer. What a beautiful story!
I see we're in the same metro area, MLRGRMI. And, damn, I wanted to go to that event, but it slipped my mind. I've met YoYo Ma, thanks to having a friend whose father was a major modern music composer, and I wish I'd been there.
Thank you. I have been supporting both Debbie Mucarsel Powell and Colin Allred. I met Ms. Mucarsel Powell when she was in Congress, and she is wonderful. I’d love to be “at” the event, but Yom Kippur starts at sundown on the 11th.
That was a real oversight on our part. We are talking to the campaigns about the timing. But, just to show you that I am an equal opportunity clueless scheduler, I scheduled one of our Founding Member meetings for December 25 (Christmas). I will need to fix that!
Oy, gevalt! My Outlook calendar lists Yom Kippur the next day--which is true--but fails to note that the Jewish day starts at sundown the night before. Which has a certain logic. After all, for most Christians, isn't Christmas pretty well over by 6:00 p.m. on the 25th?
My apologies for the timing of this event conflicting with Yom Kippur. I've written to the campaigns to see if there's any other options. Thank you for mentioning this and hope we can figure something out.
ok ok Jerry. I too cannot afford $100. I live in Arizona and have been doing my small part to support Ruben Gallego, who will add an extra "D" seat to the Senate, and Jonathan Nez for Congressperson (who, in a long shot, may defeat the evil Eli Crane, one of the 8 craziest MAGA federal representatives). But ok, I'm going to ActBlue right now and send $100 to Mucarsel Powell and Allred. We CAN NOT lose the Senate.
I’ve been making micro-donations monthly to both Gallego and Mucarsel-Powell, but Mr. Hubbell’s efforts on behalf of democracy and truth inspire me to give more. I also discovered Focus for Democracy through these daily essays, and they have been my main focus ever since. I invite friends to join F4D Zoom events, although almost none ever do. But I continue to add my small droplets of hope to the ocean we are creating.
I also donated a C-note--now, rather than later--and I'm glad to have had the guidance on where to put the money. The need to preserve our Democracy and send the GOPers packing has been the driving force for my donations this election season, which have been far greater than ever before. And thank you Jerry, for your donation. As Joyce Vance says, we're all in this together.
As a geriatrician over forty years I have previously commented that trumps worsening display of vile language with disgusting attacks may be signs of frontotemporal dementia FTD escalating over the paranoid arrogant hurtful elements of his narcissistic personality disorder. Poor sentence structure, slurring and poor word usage, loss of all empathy and insight, and inappropriate behaviors will all continue to escalate despite his followers media and enablers denial. Supporting Harris is the only rational decision . Republicans covered for Reagan’s Alzheimer’s his last year in office but trumps neurocognitive declines will be unmasked further in the coming months as it deteriorates further .
Our best issue is that Trump is incompetent to stand trial, let alone carry out an oath of office. He was grifter in chief as president. Not a word about his false accusations about Biden, Kamala, all of which are easily proven.
As to Vance, he is Putin's choice to be president. Ukraine is our issue.
Charges have been brought against him in Ohio for making false charges about Haitians. The Republican governor and the mayor of Springfield call him a liar.
Ukraine, NATO, Putin, importance of alliances, were not asked about or brought up by the candidates. Neither were the crimes that Donald has been charged with.
I agree, Lanette. My second biggest fear if Trump is elected in 2024 is that all of Ukraine's horrendous sacrifices and hard-won victories will be for naught.
Unfortunately, I do think Vance came off as more reasonable and there wasn’t enough contrast between two really drastically divergent campaigns. Wish they had talked about both Ukraine and Project 2025. Vance is a champion of that document and it got no coverage. Not enough people understand that threat to our democracy. Last night’s audience was missed opportunity to expose that scary real plan for our future!
Perhaps Harris will talk about it in her 60 Minutes interview. Walz did mention it once, but kind of "in passing." I agree that he should have been bringing that up as often as vance brought up Harris.
I completely agree with you, especially about the 2025 plan. That deserved a lot more attention, given that Vance has had such a large hand in it and with its associated documents and backers.
My hunch/hope is that Vance can't maintain last night's persona through the coming weeks. Now we have his Debate statements to publicly contrast to whatever slips out of his mouth before the election.
As a retired neuropsychologist, I completely agree with you. FTD also helps explain Trump’s periodic aphasic-like speech errors and problems with word retrieval and recall of overlearned factual information.
I have been wondering, given tffg is degenerating before our eyes, what will happen. I think it's too late for him to be removed from the ticket. (??) My nightmare is, tffg gets elected, kicked out by using the 25th, and then we're stuck with a younger &*)*&)&^^ for 4 years. Anyone?
Not that I really like the thought, but I've been thinking the same thing for a while now. I'm sorry I don't have an answer for either of us. :( If anyone can enlighten us, please do so.
You are probably right but many many voters do not see or experience what you have described real time and reading about it can be misconstrued as “ fake news”
They can show him speaking, as yesterday. Ads on the web are much less costly than national television, and for once the Democrats have plenty of money. Put out 3-5 minute ads on the web just showing Trump speaking (or mumbling) continuously, followed by a tag like, “The president has control of nuclear weapons. Think about that when you cast your vote.” Democrats can’t afford to be nice.
If anything, the debate made it clear that if Trump were to win, his billionaire backers would push Trump aside quickly and make Vance their puppet president. We cannot let this happen which is why my GenZ daughter and I launched Donuts+Democracy🍩🗳️ a few days ago!
🍩We have already partnered with 29 colleges (and counting) in battleground states/districts and HBCUs with more being added every day. The premise is simple - students host a GOTV event - Your Donut - Your Vote - Your Future - and we fund the donuts.
🗳️We test-piloted this program in 2022 midterms in NV and it was magic. And at $2 a donut is the most effective and least expensive GOTV strategy. Plus young voters are the key to winning and have the most room for growth.
🍩To learn more and support our efforts (we need to raise $30K in 7 days and in 3 days hrs have raised $17,500!):
Thank you! We’d be so grateful if you’d spread the word - we have a ways to go in our fundraising and have schools signing up everyday. (We’ve been so impressed by all the college students who are so motivated to register and engage their peers while also juggling school - we really don’t want to turn away any 🍩+🗳️ for lack of funding.)
When I tried to Venmo @Donuts-Democracy the search found Heather Donuts and Democracy. Checking to be sure that it’s the correct recipient before I send money
Thank you! It's hands-down the best GOTV work I've ever done - way higher volume voter engagement than canvassing, texting, postcards and phonebanking. So fun and simple! And we just signed more colleges - up to 32!! We’d be so grateful if you’d spread the word (and if you can donate) - we have a ways to go in our fundraising and have schools signing up everyday. And we really don’t want to turn away any 🍩+🗳️ for lack of funding. https://substack.com/home/post/p-149580349?r=51f18&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Robert, thank you for staying up so late to provide us with your analysis of the debate. I could not watch or follow the debate at all. I didn’t watch any of the debates. As it is I’m wide awake here at 3 am with pre election stress disorder. 34 more days. The Harris-Walz campaign has an extremely strong ground game and there are voter registration drives going on all over the country. I’m trying to remain hopeful. I don’t believe polls. I believe voter registration numbers, early voting participation, and the amazing energy and determination of the Harris - Walz team. Writing postcards next, with soothing music in the background.
I have PESD also and am praying it doesn't morph into PTSD on Nov. 6. Need to breathe more. I don't believe the polls either but my nerves are shot nonetheless.
Thank you! I did not know that what I have has a name, but I too suffer from PESD at times, despite how hard I am working for Harris/Walz and how hard I try to stay optimistic. PTSD will be the least of our worries on Nov. 6 if Trump wins, but as Robert repeatedly tells us, ". . . we have every reason to be hopeful . . . ."
Your caption for this newsletter sums it all up for the debate, Tim did indeed get the job done. I only watched/listened to the first 20 minutes and couldn't bear to hear any more from JDV. His slick unctuous manner as a creepy-younger version of tffg was too much for me. I went back to addressing envelopes for more letters for votefwd.org and it was a calming and productive task.
They've closed the campaign for voters abroad (at 94%) so I'll go back to doing letters for North Carolina voters, which is at 99% of their goal.
Excellent comment, JR, but I wish you'd stayed thru the rest. Gov. Walz took a while to get warmed up and comfortable, which was unfortunate but for me at least, expected. While Vance may have won the first few rounds, the split decision after the full 15 has to go to Walz.
I think Robert's analysis is comprehensive and spot on, and I commend CBS and both moderators for making the debate fair and meaningful. That said, I doubt that any voters were swayed.
I got through the first half of the debate this morning before work, finding myself flummoxed that so many have focused on Gov Walz being "nervous". I only saw a few halting sentences in his initial remarks, and I actually had to rewind and watch the beginning again, thinking I somehow missed something.
So far I have seen Governor Walz's performance in the debate last night with him on display as a public servant who was excited and full of energy to get his messages out. Vance was cool and collected as he had a script that was dictated to him, and he memorized it well. He's a superb liar.
So, I am hearing that the Governor really hit his stride and the last part of the debate. I thought he was perfect enough in the first half, so I look forward to seeing the remainder .
Lynn -- I watched the entire debate and agree with your assessment of the Governor's energy and excitement. He was empassioned! He also landed many substantive points against Vance, who was smug and, admittedly, slick. As trump slides further into dementia, Vance becomes an even more dangerous individual.
On Hurricane Helene…Jessica Tarlov knocked it out of the park on Faux News when they tried to claim Biden admin not doing enough.Love how she just talked louder over Jesse Watters as he tried to interrupt.She brings the data.The look on their faces.😂
Last night's debate brought to mind a popular family comedy TV show of the 1950s-and 60s-"Leave it to Beaver." Those readers of a certain age will remember the 12 year old Beave, his brother, Wally, and parents, Ward and June Cleaver. The bully in the show was Eddie Haskell.
For those of you who can remember, Eddie was a mean spirited. lying punk, who harassed and insulted the Beaver and diminished the little guy whenever he could. Yet, when there was an adult in the room like June or Ward Cleaver, Eddie became this unctious, syrupy, polite sheepish creep. Tim Walz was the adult in the room last night to JD Vance's Eddie.
Yes, JD, you are an unctuous bully little punk who has been revealed.
Debate. I watched the whole thing. Vance won on style. But he couldn't bring himself to say publicly that Biden won in 2020 - which is damning in my eyes. And, his whopper of the night was: Trump saved and fixed the ACA. Can you imagine? Walz overall won on Substance. But I'm afraid he did better and better as the debate wore on and there may have been a diminished audience. And personally, I thought the moderators were great. In fact, I thought they were much better at their jobs than the moderators in either of the two earlier debates.
Agree with you — I watched the entire performance, too, including post commentary on MSNBC and CNN. Mixed bag, but generally agreed that Tim hit his mark and JD was oily slick.
The evening of October 11, when the events for Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Colin Allred will occur, is when Yom Kippur evening services (Kol Nidre) will be held. The timing will probably not affect the west coast, but Jewish people in the eastern and central time zones will definitely have a conflict. Yom Kippur is the one holidy that even non-observant Jews observe.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Colin Allred are outstanding Senate candidates, each exuding experience, competence, empathy, and attunement to their constituents. I've already donated to both, but have happily signed up for this event in support of Robert and those observing Yom Kippur--and, of course, of attaining a Dem majority in the Senate! (The link does provide the option to donate without attending the Zoom.)
My apologies for the timing of this event conflicting with Yom Kippur. I've written to the campaigns to see if there's any other options. Thank you for mentioning this and hope we can figure something out.
Another outstanding and informative column, Robert! Thank you so much! I wake up every morning looking forward to your calming voice. In this case, I think I had an even more positive view of Tim Walz than you did. I agree he was a bit nervous at times and spoke too quickly, but the content he delivered was incredibly powerful. JD Vance was left to whine about people forcing him to tell the truth - hard to imagine candidates who are so dependent on lying that they refuse to participate in debates or interviews that are fact checked because it knocks their entire strategy out from under them! JD Vance reversed himself multiple times: all of a sudden he doesn’t want a federal abortion ban? That’s news! All of a sudden he understands why women might want and need an abortion? That’s news! He was careful to keep the crazy hidden as he agreed with so much of what Tim Walz said that it was truly head spinning. But you can’t hide crazy forever. His “drill, baby drill, comments about energy and the subsequent climate impact and his continued demonization of immigrants blaming them for everything, and Kamala Harris by extension, continue to show people who are looking for someone moderate who he really is. And he did not supply the juicy headlines and over-the-top statements that keep the MAGA base interested. Most importantly, he could not admit Trump lost the election or defend his refusal to vote for the bipartisan immigrant bill that Trump killed. It is hard to imagine that anyone looking for a moderate and reasonable presidential and vice presidential choice could possibly choose the Trump Vance ticket.
Vance looked more relaxed and confident than Walz. From reporting, he probably was.
But he also came across, to me, as a slimy, smug, snake oil salesman—not likable.
And finally, I found myself wondering why we even have a VP debate. There are other ways to see these candidates, and they are not running against each other.
I’m just glad the debate is behind us and doubt it changed any minds.
I think the solo shot of NGC 7331 floating distantly in the void is pretty neat looking, Robert!
It has to be extremely challenging to go from the level of exposure and stakes that Tim was dealing with a few weeks ago to headlining the 2nd and last debate of an election like this. I think he did well. The D campaign will have some very effective material to work with.
When I look at many of your astronomical photos, I am impressed by (among other things) their photographic resolution. Do you use a special camera, Robert?
Tim Walz did seem nervous at first, but as the debate went on, he projected earnestness and sincerity. What fitting qualities for the awesome responsibilities that lie ahead of him.
Agree wholeheartedly! Among others, one reason this ticket is so appealing/successful is that it's so normal human being, just people who care about other people trying to get a job to care for other people, i.e., the whole country.
We watched the whole nauseating and frustrating debate. In the grand scheme of things, Walz did no harm. And he did stake out his positions on reproductive health and election integrity.
But I was nauseated by Vance and his slick, slimy presentation of lie after lie. While the US economy did suffer when Biden took office due to Covid and supply chain problems, it rebounded beautifully due to the investments made by his administration. The US has the strongest economy in the world. Economists are calling it nearly perfect statistically. Walz should have called out Vance's bullshit on that.
And I was extremely frustrated by Walz's "Mr. Nice Guy...I agree with you on that" attitude. JD Vance is a lying bastard of a monster. I had expected Walz to continuously refer to Project 2025 and the fact that Vance has stated he wanted to lead that project when in office!
But now...next. The news will be filled with the horrors of war. And Robert is right to zoom in on Trump's collapsing mental fitness. We all should be outraged that a political party can field a candidate that is having a mental breakdown right before our eyes. Of course, his replacement would be worse. Oy.
The NYT has finally discovered its senses: "The New York Times BREAKING NEWS V.P. debate highlights: A smooth JD Vance tried to rewrite the history of the Trump presidency. Tim Walz had a rocky start but found his voice on abortion and Jan. 6. Tuesday, October 1, 2024 11:46 PM ET"
I believe Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is an outstanding, brilliant woman and would be a superb Senator. Colin Allred is a forceful advocate for voting rights and I hope he will be able to join the Senate. Both Florida and Texas are huge states in which it is difficult and expensive to run campaigns that reach every potential voting group.
I have donated my little $100, which for the record I cannot afford ... but I cannot afford to leave a climate apocalypse and second class citizenship to my daughter, nor to your daughters and sons.
Jerry Wechsler, kudos to you for going the extra mile. I,too donated when my budget says “Ummmmm……”. But it feels like we must do all we can. Yesterday I volunteered at our local Dem HQ. How wonderful it was to be there with about fifty others wanting to “Do Something!” By now many of us -formerly unacquainted with each other,- give a big ”Hey! Great to see you again!!!” And yesterday we had a real treat. YoYo Ma was in town for a concert, but made a point to drop by the Dem HQ to speak to us volunteers and play “Amazing Grace” and “Simple Gifts” for us on his cello! This was a pop-in, no fan-fare decision on his part. He spoke about coming to our country as an immigrant. How grateful he is for our country. And how grateful he was for us being there volunteering our time for a candidate he believes in. We all have things we can do to support our Dem candidates. YoYo Ma showing up to share his amazing talent with us was an example of the warm, joyful, and humble giving, I keep noticing over, and over, and over in this campaign. Your extra $100 donation was another example of this for me, Jerry Wechsler. Inspiring!
This is the most amazing story I have heard. I can't imagine what it was like to sit there and soak in those cello tones. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for sharing about your experience yesterday. Hearing YoYo Ma's personal story and his playing must have been amazing!
Thanks for sharing this story. In a way, this kind of world is what we are all working for, isn't it? Grace, generosity, and attention by the famous and the powerful, and an appreciation for the good work of democracy. We have Yo-Yo Ma. They have Steven Miller, J.D. Vance, and Donald Trump. Autocracy and Democracy are not just two competing forms of government. As we have seen for the last 100 years, they are alternative visions of human experience, opposing notions of who we are as human beings and what matters -- for us, kindness, art, beauty, appreciation, and affection. For them, insult, meanness of heart and spirit, ignorance, power and bullying. For the Republican Party today, as Adam Serwer foregrounded in the title of his book, cruelty is the point. [The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America (2021)].
Even Stephen Miller's relatives don't want him!
Lucky you!
I love YoYo Ma! I had the great privilege of listening to him many times during the early 1980's at the Spoleto Festival here in Charleston, SC when he was a young performer. What a beautiful story!
I see we're in the same metro area, MLRGRMI. And, damn, I wanted to go to that event, but it slipped my mind. I've met YoYo Ma, thanks to having a friend whose father was a major modern music composer, and I wish I'd been there.
That is soooo wonderful! I always thought he seemed like a nice guy, so this just proves it. Thanks for telling us!
Thank you. I have been supporting both Debbie Mucarsel Powell and Colin Allred. I met Ms. Mucarsel Powell when she was in Congress, and she is wonderful. I’d love to be “at” the event, but Yom Kippur starts at sundown on the 11th.
That was a real oversight on our part. We are talking to the campaigns about the timing. But, just to show you that I am an equal opportunity clueless scheduler, I scheduled one of our Founding Member meetings for December 25 (Christmas). I will need to fix that!
Oy, gevalt! My Outlook calendar lists Yom Kippur the next day--which is true--but fails to note that the Jewish day starts at sundown the night before. Which has a certain logic. After all, for most Christians, isn't Christmas pretty well over by 6:00 p.m. on the 25th?
I got a good laugh out of your scheduling mistake. Thanks Robert! I hope it's easy to fix!
Me too!
Will the interview be available to replay for donors to the event?
My apologies for the timing of this event conflicting with Yom Kippur. I've written to the campaigns to see if there's any other options. Thank you for mentioning this and hope we can figure something out.
Hi, Jerry. Thank you from a Georgia resident with a sister in Florida. Every $100 counts, as does every ounce of support!
Thank you, Jerry!
ok ok Jerry. I too cannot afford $100. I live in Arizona and have been doing my small part to support Ruben Gallego, who will add an extra "D" seat to the Senate, and Jonathan Nez for Congressperson (who, in a long shot, may defeat the evil Eli Crane, one of the 8 craziest MAGA federal representatives). But ok, I'm going to ActBlue right now and send $100 to Mucarsel Powell and Allred. We CAN NOT lose the Senate.
I’ve been making micro-donations monthly to both Gallego and Mucarsel-Powell, but Mr. Hubbell’s efforts on behalf of democracy and truth inspire me to give more. I also discovered Focus for Democracy through these daily essays, and they have been my main focus ever since. I invite friends to join F4D Zoom events, although almost none ever do. But I continue to add my small droplets of hope to the ocean we are creating.
“What is an ocean but a multitude of drops?”
- from the 'Cloud Atlas’ film
I also donated a C-note--now, rather than later--and I'm glad to have had the guidance on where to put the money. The need to preserve our Democracy and send the GOPers packing has been the driving force for my donations this election season, which have been far greater than ever before. And thank you Jerry, for your donation. As Joyce Vance says, we're all in this together.
Thank you for donating - it will go a LONG way when we win those seats in November. You are a Patriot.
As a geriatrician over forty years I have previously commented that trumps worsening display of vile language with disgusting attacks may be signs of frontotemporal dementia FTD escalating over the paranoid arrogant hurtful elements of his narcissistic personality disorder. Poor sentence structure, slurring and poor word usage, loss of all empathy and insight, and inappropriate behaviors will all continue to escalate despite his followers media and enablers denial. Supporting Harris is the only rational decision . Republicans covered for Reagan’s Alzheimer’s his last year in office but trumps neurocognitive declines will be unmasked further in the coming months as it deteriorates further .
Our best issue is that Trump is incompetent to stand trial, let alone carry out an oath of office. He was grifter in chief as president. Not a word about his false accusations about Biden, Kamala, all of which are easily proven.
As to Vance, he is Putin's choice to be president. Ukraine is our issue.
Charges have been brought against him in Ohio for making false charges about Haitians. The Republican governor and the mayor of Springfield call him a liar.
Ukraine, NATO, Putin, importance of alliances, were not asked about or brought up by the candidates. Neither were the crimes that Donald has been charged with.
To quote Ray Charles "What I say?"
I guess I was figuring that it was only 90 minutes, and what should they have skipped covering? Hard choices.
I noticed that too DK Brooklyn. I was upset and disappointed these weren’t brought up.
You are correct. Too bad the Ukrainian war was not addressed in the debate last night.
I agree, Lanette. My second biggest fear if Trump is elected in 2024 is that all of Ukraine's horrendous sacrifices and hard-won victories will be for naught.
Of course, my first fear is for America itself.
Trump would fold on Ukraine in a minute.
Unfortunately, I do think Vance came off as more reasonable and there wasn’t enough contrast between two really drastically divergent campaigns. Wish they had talked about both Ukraine and Project 2025. Vance is a champion of that document and it got no coverage. Not enough people understand that threat to our democracy. Last night’s audience was missed opportunity to expose that scary real plan for our future!
Perhaps Harris will talk about it in her 60 Minutes interview. Walz did mention it once, but kind of "in passing." I agree that he should have been bringing that up as often as vance brought up Harris.
I completely agree with you, especially about the 2025 plan. That deserved a lot more attention, given that Vance has had such a large hand in it and with its associated documents and backers.
My hunch/hope is that Vance can't maintain last night's persona through the coming weeks. Now we have his Debate statements to publicly contrast to whatever slips out of his mouth before the election.
As a retired neuropsychologist, I completely agree with you. FTD also helps explain Trump’s periodic aphasic-like speech errors and problems with word retrieval and recall of overlearned factual information.
Harry, Thank you for sharing your expertise in clear language at such a critical time!
Thank you for stating the obvious Harry. He is already imprisoned. Quite so!
I have been wondering, given tffg is degenerating before our eyes, what will happen. I think it's too late for him to be removed from the ticket. (??) My nightmare is, tffg gets elected, kicked out by using the 25th, and then we're stuck with a younger &*)*&)&^^ for 4 years. Anyone?
Not that I really like the thought, but I've been thinking the same thing for a while now. I'm sorry I don't have an answer for either of us. :( If anyone can enlighten us, please do so.
You are probably right but many many voters do not see or experience what you have described real time and reading about it can be misconstrued as “ fake news”
They can show him speaking, as yesterday. Ads on the web are much less costly than national television, and for once the Democrats have plenty of money. Put out 3-5 minute ads on the web just showing Trump speaking (or mumbling) continuously, followed by a tag like, “The president has control of nuclear weapons. Think about that when you cast your vote.” Democrats can’t afford to be nice.
Like the old ads against Goldwater
Yes.
If anything, the debate made it clear that if Trump were to win, his billionaire backers would push Trump aside quickly and make Vance their puppet president. We cannot let this happen which is why my GenZ daughter and I launched Donuts+Democracy🍩🗳️ a few days ago!
🍩We have already partnered with 29 colleges (and counting) in battleground states/districts and HBCUs with more being added every day. The premise is simple - students host a GOTV event - Your Donut - Your Vote - Your Future - and we fund the donuts.
🗳️We test-piloted this program in 2022 midterms in NV and it was magic. And at $2 a donut is the most effective and least expensive GOTV strategy. Plus young voters are the key to winning and have the most room for growth.
🍩To learn more and support our efforts (we need to raise $30K in 7 days and in 3 days hrs have raised $17,500!):
https://open.substack.com/pub/democratsdeliver/p/donuts-democracy-magic?r=51f18&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Brilliant idea! Yes, 100% right about Vance. He is dangerous because he is smart, smarmy and a liar.
Thank you! We’d be so grateful if you’d spread the word - we have a ways to go in our fundraising and have schools signing up everyday. (We’ve been so impressed by all the college students who are so motivated to register and engage their peers while also juggling school - we really don’t want to turn away any 🍩+🗳️ for lack of funding.)
When I tried to Venmo @Donuts-Democracy the search found Heather Donuts and Democracy. Checking to be sure that it’s the correct recipient before I send money
That’s it!
💙 this idea! Thank you for including Florida A&M University!😎
Donate for donuts…and blue votes !
We'd love to include more Florida colleges and universities! If you know any college students who would be interested, please DM me for details.
👍
I love this!
Thank you! It's hands-down the best GOTV work I've ever done - way higher volume voter engagement than canvassing, texting, postcards and phonebanking. So fun and simple! And we just signed more colleges - up to 32!! We’d be so grateful if you’d spread the word (and if you can donate) - we have a ways to go in our fundraising and have schools signing up everyday. And we really don’t want to turn away any 🍩+🗳️ for lack of funding. https://substack.com/home/post/p-149580349?r=51f18&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I dunno, sounds like buying votes to me!
I think we can all agree that Jonathan was explaining his deep affection for donuts in a satirical way!
Hope that comment is levity!
Robert, thank you for staying up so late to provide us with your analysis of the debate. I could not watch or follow the debate at all. I didn’t watch any of the debates. As it is I’m wide awake here at 3 am with pre election stress disorder. 34 more days. The Harris-Walz campaign has an extremely strong ground game and there are voter registration drives going on all over the country. I’m trying to remain hopeful. I don’t believe polls. I believe voter registration numbers, early voting participation, and the amazing energy and determination of the Harris - Walz team. Writing postcards next, with soothing music in the background.
I have PESD also and am praying it doesn't morph into PTSD on Nov. 6. Need to breathe more. I don't believe the polls either but my nerves are shot nonetheless.
Thank you! I did not know that what I have has a name, but I too suffer from PESD at times, despite how hard I am working for Harris/Walz and how hard I try to stay optimistic. PTSD will be the least of our worries on Nov. 6 if Trump wins, but as Robert repeatedly tells us, ". . . we have every reason to be hopeful . . . ."
Your caption for this newsletter sums it all up for the debate, Tim did indeed get the job done. I only watched/listened to the first 20 minutes and couldn't bear to hear any more from JDV. His slick unctuous manner as a creepy-younger version of tffg was too much for me. I went back to addressing envelopes for more letters for votefwd.org and it was a calming and productive task.
They've closed the campaign for voters abroad (at 94%) so I'll go back to doing letters for North Carolina voters, which is at 99% of their goal.
Excellent comment, JR, but I wish you'd stayed thru the rest. Gov. Walz took a while to get warmed up and comfortable, which was unfortunate but for me at least, expected. While Vance may have won the first few rounds, the split decision after the full 15 has to go to Walz.
I think Robert's analysis is comprehensive and spot on, and I commend CBS and both moderators for making the debate fair and meaningful. That said, I doubt that any voters were swayed.
I got through the first half of the debate this morning before work, finding myself flummoxed that so many have focused on Gov Walz being "nervous". I only saw a few halting sentences in his initial remarks, and I actually had to rewind and watch the beginning again, thinking I somehow missed something.
So far I have seen Governor Walz's performance in the debate last night with him on display as a public servant who was excited and full of energy to get his messages out. Vance was cool and collected as he had a script that was dictated to him, and he memorized it well. He's a superb liar.
So, I am hearing that the Governor really hit his stride and the last part of the debate. I thought he was perfect enough in the first half, so I look forward to seeing the remainder .
Lynn -- I watched the entire debate and agree with your assessment of the Governor's energy and excitement. He was empassioned! He also landed many substantive points against Vance, who was smug and, admittedly, slick. As trump slides further into dementia, Vance becomes an even more dangerous individual.
Yep, Lynn. Tim got his points across well.
I agree with you. I’m not sure why people say that Vance won on style.
Robert, thank you for coordinating the Senate Circle fundraiser for Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Colin Allred ! 💙
For those concerned about Georgia,the brilliant Jay Kuo gave a detailed analysis.It certainly brought my blood pressure down.
“Can They Really Steal the Election in Georgia?
The State Board of Elections in Georgia is about to run straight into a high legal wall”
https://open.substack.com/pub/thinkbigpicture/p/georgia-election-board-trump-steal?
r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
On Hurricane Helene…Jessica Tarlov knocked it out of the park on Faux News when they tried to claim Biden admin not doing enough.Love how she just talked louder over Jesse Watters as he tried to interrupt.She brings the data.The look on their faces.😂
https://www.mediaite.com/news/jessica-tarlov-hits-back-hard-at-fox-news-co-hosts-bashing-biden-harris-praising-trump-on-hurricane-helene-response/
That's the most fox I've watched and WOW! Go, girl!
Last night's debate brought to mind a popular family comedy TV show of the 1950s-and 60s-"Leave it to Beaver." Those readers of a certain age will remember the 12 year old Beave, his brother, Wally, and parents, Ward and June Cleaver. The bully in the show was Eddie Haskell.
For those of you who can remember, Eddie was a mean spirited. lying punk, who harassed and insulted the Beaver and diminished the little guy whenever he could. Yet, when there was an adult in the room like June or Ward Cleaver, Eddie became this unctious, syrupy, polite sheepish creep. Tim Walz was the adult in the room last night to JD Vance's Eddie.
Yes, JD, you are an unctuous bully little punk who has been revealed.
Eddie Haskell! You’ve nailed it. Makes one’s skin crawl.
Omg, brilliant!
Debate. I watched the whole thing. Vance won on style. But he couldn't bring himself to say publicly that Biden won in 2020 - which is damning in my eyes. And, his whopper of the night was: Trump saved and fixed the ACA. Can you imagine? Walz overall won on Substance. But I'm afraid he did better and better as the debate wore on and there may have been a diminished audience. And personally, I thought the moderators were great. In fact, I thought they were much better at their jobs than the moderators in either of the two earlier debates.
Agree with you — I watched the entire performance, too, including post commentary on MSNBC and CNN. Mixed bag, but generally agreed that Tim hit his mark and JD was oily slick.
I pray a lot of the country saw the same slickness we did. It's not a great look, IMHO
The evening of October 11, when the events for Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Colin Allred will occur, is when Yom Kippur evening services (Kol Nidre) will be held. The timing will probably not affect the west coast, but Jewish people in the eastern and central time zones will definitely have a conflict. Yom Kippur is the one holidy that even non-observant Jews observe.
We are working on this scheduling issue.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Colin Allred are outstanding Senate candidates, each exuding experience, competence, empathy, and attunement to their constituents. I've already donated to both, but have happily signed up for this event in support of Robert and those observing Yom Kippur--and, of course, of attaining a Dem majority in the Senate! (The link does provide the option to donate without attending the Zoom.)
Likely scheduling constraints cause this date/time to be selected.
What time would be best on the East Coast, then? Maybe email Robert directly?
My apologies for the timing of this event conflicting with Yom Kippur. I've written to the campaigns to see if there's any other options. Thank you for mentioning this and hope we can figure something out.
Another outstanding and informative column, Robert! Thank you so much! I wake up every morning looking forward to your calming voice. In this case, I think I had an even more positive view of Tim Walz than you did. I agree he was a bit nervous at times and spoke too quickly, but the content he delivered was incredibly powerful. JD Vance was left to whine about people forcing him to tell the truth - hard to imagine candidates who are so dependent on lying that they refuse to participate in debates or interviews that are fact checked because it knocks their entire strategy out from under them! JD Vance reversed himself multiple times: all of a sudden he doesn’t want a federal abortion ban? That’s news! All of a sudden he understands why women might want and need an abortion? That’s news! He was careful to keep the crazy hidden as he agreed with so much of what Tim Walz said that it was truly head spinning. But you can’t hide crazy forever. His “drill, baby drill, comments about energy and the subsequent climate impact and his continued demonization of immigrants blaming them for everything, and Kamala Harris by extension, continue to show people who are looking for someone moderate who he really is. And he did not supply the juicy headlines and over-the-top statements that keep the MAGA base interested. Most importantly, he could not admit Trump lost the election or defend his refusal to vote for the bipartisan immigrant bill that Trump killed. It is hard to imagine that anyone looking for a moderate and reasonable presidential and vice presidential choice could possibly choose the Trump Vance ticket.
Vance looked more relaxed and confident than Walz. From reporting, he probably was.
But he also came across, to me, as a slimy, smug, snake oil salesman—not likable.
And finally, I found myself wondering why we even have a VP debate. There are other ways to see these candidates, and they are not running against each other.
I’m just glad the debate is behind us and doubt it changed any minds.
That's exactly how Vance came across to me as well! Sleazy and gave me the creeps!
I think the solo shot of NGC 7331 floating distantly in the void is pretty neat looking, Robert!
It has to be extremely challenging to go from the level of exposure and stakes that Tim was dealing with a few weeks ago to headlining the 2nd and last debate of an election like this. I think he did well. The D campaign will have some very effective material to work with.
When I look at many of your astronomical photos, I am impressed by (among other things) their photographic resolution. Do you use a special camera, Robert?
Tim Walz did seem nervous at first, but as the debate went on, he projected earnestness and sincerity. What fitting qualities for the awesome responsibilities that lie ahead of him.
I thought his nerves and a few stumbles made him even more relateable. But he was 💯 with substance.
Agree wholeheartedly! Among others, one reason this ticket is so appealing/successful is that it's so normal human being, just people who care about other people trying to get a job to care for other people, i.e., the whole country.
Such a great point!
We watched the whole nauseating and frustrating debate. In the grand scheme of things, Walz did no harm. And he did stake out his positions on reproductive health and election integrity.
But I was nauseated by Vance and his slick, slimy presentation of lie after lie. While the US economy did suffer when Biden took office due to Covid and supply chain problems, it rebounded beautifully due to the investments made by his administration. The US has the strongest economy in the world. Economists are calling it nearly perfect statistically. Walz should have called out Vance's bullshit on that.
And I was extremely frustrated by Walz's "Mr. Nice Guy...I agree with you on that" attitude. JD Vance is a lying bastard of a monster. I had expected Walz to continuously refer to Project 2025 and the fact that Vance has stated he wanted to lead that project when in office!
But now...next. The news will be filled with the horrors of war. And Robert is right to zoom in on Trump's collapsing mental fitness. We all should be outraged that a political party can field a candidate that is having a mental breakdown right before our eyes. Of course, his replacement would be worse. Oy.
The NYT has finally discovered its senses: "The New York Times BREAKING NEWS V.P. debate highlights: A smooth JD Vance tried to rewrite the history of the Trump presidency. Tim Walz had a rocky start but found his voice on abortion and Jan. 6. Tuesday, October 1, 2024 11:46 PM ET"