Harris-Walz: The First Rally
[NB: check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]
The last thread is getting unwieldy and there’s a lot to discuss after tonight’s first rally in Philadelphia.
Here’s the video if you didn’t get to watch it:
I think this one might be my favorite so far:
Heh. Share a link to your favorites in thread below.
From the last thread, it looks like several of my personal favorites have weighed in negatively, including Nate Silver, Jonathan Chait, and Mark Penn. Also the idiots at the NYT, which I would not have know if not for this site.
Maybe we should start a list to see the losers who have sadz.
The NYT is probably in the doldrums because it’s beginning to look like their Donny Trump is not going to win. In fact, he’s likely to go down in flames. The cynical NYT must be sad that it won’t have the easy, just say what Trump says, storytelling hour for much longer. Its reporters will have to go back to work.
As far as Trump not winning, I wouldn’t count on anything till Scotus has weighed in. As they’ve already shown us, they feel that they run the show. And what other gifts have they taken and have they done crimes that Barr has kept hidden from us?
I don’t see that the electorate has fundamentally changed in any way. The almost hysterical enthusiasm is a very good development, but this election will still/again be decided in the margins of a handful of random swing states. Harris is swinging for the fences, which I think is the right move, but a home run is the longest of shots. Not impossible, but keep the South, Pensyltucky, a chunk of the West, and Florida in mind. Indiana/Ohio too.
Washington Post is already publishing tidbits from Republican oppo research on Walz.
Nate Silver: “Is Walz a reasonable pick in a vacuum? Sure. He’s not JD Vance. He’s well-qualified. Personally, I find his schtick kind of charming, although you might expect me to say that as a fellow Midwesterner. And not unimportantly, he’s not particularly left-wing himself and will likely read as being pretty moderate to voters, having a fairly centrist track record as a member of Congress. He might have been my second choice among Harris’s finalists, although I think it was a real mistake not to consider Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who would seem to be a dominant strategy over Walz other than that it would mean having two women on the ticket.”
It’s paywalled, hence my excerpting a single paragraph from the article. The overall thrust of it is that he thinks Shapiro is better because Pennsylvania, although he admits Shapiro is a higher-risk pick too.
Nate Silver is — well — Nate Silver. GIGO.
I find Nate’s schtick kind of . . . smug and condescending.
For instance, Whitmer rather directly and publicly took herself out of consideration, shortly after Biden announced he was not running any more. But go ahead, Nate, and declare it a mistake by Harris for taking Whitmer at her word.
And…
Watch just Walz’s speech from Philly tonight and then convince me she made the wrong choice.
LOL. Whatever Midwestern roots Nate Silver rode in on, they ran away some time ago. His commentary strikes me as snark rather than analysis.
His reference to Whitmer, for example, sounds like he’s taunting the left, rather than expressing his real preference. He should also be the last person to talk about making political choices in a vacuum, an environment politicians never get to work in. But it is one commenters use to describe pipe dreams.
Silver seems to call Walz “centrist” in order to make him sound boring, not to accurately describe that he shares his priorities with a majority of Americans. Inside the Beltway, that’s called being left, because it’s not adopting the views and flexible…morality that K Street lobbyists nurture in order to secure their own success.
Silver is pure savvy centrism at this point. Was Harris supposed to blackmail Whitmer? And “pick Shapiro to lock in Pennsylvania” is a pundit wankfest, based on what, 50 year out of date political conventional wisdom? Run to the center, where all the independent voters are! Surely a vague message of gradual advancement will inflame their passions and lead to victory.
I live in Minnesota. Minnesotans know what a treasure we have in Governor Walz. His simple, honest, home-spun humor and passion have made the Star of the North the envy of our neighbors. He is a genuine, compassionate high school teacher, coach and mentor to thousands of people in Minnesota and beyond. My sense is that Americans are thirsty for some simple honesty, humor and someone who truly cares for others in our communities who are less fortunate than us. Walz may have driven a stake through the heart of the so-called “Pro-Life” movement with his version of The Golden Rule – MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!
Gov. Walz is a treasure, and thank you for sharing him with us. Let’s go.
And you watch this news clip of Walz and his daughter at the state fair, and you get the feeling that he’s a good dad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S233kqP0ak8
Dayum, learned a new word today – ‘bawbag’.
Thank you.
‘Tim Walz has zero bone spurs.’?
Perfection.
(It’s the Scottish equivalent of “klootzak”.)
“So it’s going to take a special kind of humility that white men have not traditionally had to support her. She is Gladys Knight. He got to be a Pip.”
(Sheletta Brundidge)
I think it’s a campaign ready to roll out: I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Midnight Train to Georgia
We can go back to a bit more of this, IMO (the whole set is worth a listen.)
Not a meme, but when Gov Walz said “mind your own damn business” I immediately heard New Zealand’s Tami Neilson singing “Stay Outta My Business”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5xO8p-JcIg
Joy and truth.
Oh yes. I have a feeling that “none of your damn business” is another of his turns of phrase that will resonate with a lot of Americans. And the more people find out about Project 2025 and “Our Plans for You”, all the more so.
David Cay Johnston gives his thoughts on Walz’s selection for the first six minutes and then discusses the payment of $10 million by Egypt to Trump
https://www.you.tube.com/watch?v=K8SgariDQjY
Interesting that company that bought his Post Office hotel in DC for inflated price has defaulted on payments, starting at 14:07
Relatedly: it was primary day in Michigan. I voted at 7:55 p.m. this evening as is my habit. I like to go at the very end of the day to find out what turnout was like. I was the next to last voter and turnout was pretty good for a primary, though it’s impossible to tell what the real numbers were for my precinct given early mail-in voting.
What struck me about this evening: the mood was incredibly upbeat, brisk, and I saw more Black voters in the short window I was at the polls than I did since 2020. My precinct is about 20-30% non-white but I have rarely seen BIPOC voters at the end of the day outside of general elections. This could be an Obama-type turnout if I had to swag a guess based on what I saw tonight.