Ukraine, Russia, and the Long Shadow of Nuclear Proliferation A Manufactured Fight over Incumbency Hides Trump’s Fascism 
Ukraine, Russia, and the Long Shadow of Nuclear Proliferation A Manufactured Fight over Incumbency Hides Trump’s Fascism
picking up on Marcy’s point that the convention had a different goal – needing to reach out past the democratic core – John Cole of Balloon Juice posted a long thread on his parents’ reaction. For those not familiar, John runs Balloon Juice and he and his family live in a small town in West Virginia. He hits important points so I’m going to quote quite a bit. The quotes are from his Twitter feed, where he tweets under the name “Cake or Death”:
“…so not everything is tailor made for you. Take for example my parents. They are in their 80s dad voted Republican his whole life until 2016. They took away things from this convention that didn’t raise my eyebrows. Dad was blown away by Hakeem Jeffries and Kamala, and both of them were touched and extremely moved by Adam Kinzinger. His message really, really spoke to them.”
“Dad was super impressed to learn it was in part Harris’ diplomacy that led to the border crossings dropping because Mexico started too enforce borders. He was a mayor and knows how hard it is to get the littlest things done, so he respects people that can get shit done and make the system work. And he absolutely loved the line about her mom telling her not to half-ass things.”
“My parents also loved all the veterans. They are not military people so maybe it was just because I was in the Army. But when discussing those guys they both mentioned their military service.”
Small town mayors — the good ones — know how to get stuff done while at the same time keeping the small town feuding to a minimum. Generally speaking, you don’t have a lot of formal power by virtue of your elected office, and have to use your informal, persuasive power to make things happen.
Great program, Marcy and Nicole. So, glad you’re feeling better, Nicole.
Another thing I really enjoyed in the speech was when Kamala referred to Trump’s plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator. And then she said:
“Simply put, they are out of their minds.”
“And one must ask — one must ask, why exactly is it that they don’t trust women?”
I didn’t watch the entire convention, but just listened to the individual speeches by Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Barack & Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Adam Kinzinger.
The thing that struck me most was how all their speeches sounded to me not oratorical, or forced, but as just natural, heartfelt, passionate talk, like you’d have with your friends or family, when something really important was happening.
I hope it felt like that to people who wouldn’t normally listen to “political” speeches. I’m sure their words would have a positive effect on most sensible people.
Yes, I noticed and appreciated that too. It had a very conversational tone overall. Very neighborly. Like everyday people. We all can relate to that.
From Tom Sullivan posting on Digby’s Hullabaloo (https://digbysblog.net/2024/08/24/elizabeth-warren-and-the-dfhs/)
A much-needed sea change to carry the Democratic party into the future.
Sullivan’s question at the end of the quote you posted is good, and the answer is mixed. Compare Pelosi and Schumer’s speeches with AOC and Warren. While Pelosi was appreciated, there wasn’t the same connection with the crowd. And the less said about Schumer’s “dance” up to the microphone, the better.
Pelosi and Schumer still matter within the House and Senate. They bring wisdom and experience. While Schumer still holds a formal leadership position, his informal leadership — his persuasiveness — is less strong. Pelosi gave up her formal post of Speaker, but still wields a lot of informal leadership within the caucus. But neither has the kind of “we speak for the Democratic Party” clout that they used to.
Tom Sullivan is wrong about Harris moving to the left since she arrived in Washington D.C., but especially since she became Vice President.
So far, I’m a bit surprised and pleased Harris has moved more towards the center since becoming VP.
Harris has always been a quick study. And I believe she has studied as hard as Vice President as she did in law school. Her political chops have matured since becoming VP.
I’d like to see her spend time personally campaigning and meeting voters of both parties and independents, too, in Florida, Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, the Carolinas and Georgia. I’d add Upstate NY, too.
It’s imperative that she convinces enough 2016 and 2020 Trump voters
to vote for her in 2024 so that she can easily defeat Trump in the Electoral College. She has the political acumen to do it.
She is *not* going to win Missouri. She might help galvanize folks to support some downticket candidates like Lucas Kunce (running against Josh “Running Man” Hawley for Senate), but she’s not going to flip 20% of the vote to beat Trump here.
Interestingly, I noticed that Kunce did not get a speaking slot at the convention, unlike a lot of other candidates either defending battleground senate seats or trying to flip a GOP seat. That says to me that Kunce and the Harris campaign decided that *overt* support is not how Harris could be most helpful.
In addition, candidate time is the most precious resource they have. Time for events, time for travel between events, and time while traveling to reach out to donors and supporters is very carefully managed. Adding stops with little payoff is a luxury candidates for any race cannot afford.
So, are you saying that all the good will and the supporters who elected former Missouri Democratic Senator McCaskill to two consecutive terms—2007-2019—are gone or now vote only for Republican candidates?
With a private jet and competent logistics assistants, it isn’t hard to make appearances in smaller sized Midwest states, the Carolinas and Georgia.
I did it for several years in a different business and those states are easy to cover geographically. One can do a minimum of two quality appearances per day, and often three.
Replying to ST:
Claire ran two very good campaigns, threading the needle deftly in 2007 and coming up short in 2019. Since 2007, Missouri has moved steadily to the right, with the GOP now holding every statewide office and supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature.
The MO Dems have learned some things over the last few years, and are beginning to claw things back in Jefferson City, but “all the good will and the supporters” of Claire McCaskill are not enough to win here in 2024. In 2007, they were, but not in 2024. MO is a bright red state and not at all purple.
And I strongly suspect Claire would be the first to say all these things.
As for the travel, making short trips as a business person is not at all the same as transporting a presidential candidate, their campaign staff, and others.
Regarding Claire McCaskill, wow, all that work gone after twelve years in the Senate is unfortunate.
Regarding presidential campaigns and how they’ve run in the past, etc., I think Harris could use a smaller jet and hold small meetings in small buildings with fewer people including local press individuals only.
She’s a hot commodity right now and holding meetings with fewer people in smaller venues would create a real buzz due to the restrictions imposed limiting attendees, especially non-local press.
Such small meetings would be much easier to secure.
Right now, I’d like her to be nimble and small when meeting with Republican and Independent voters in these smaller Republican leaning states.
I think she can change and improve the way presidential campaigns hold meetings/town halls and events.
Peterr
August 24, 2024 at 2:58 pm
Replying to ST:
Claire ran two very good campaigns, threading the needle deftly in 2007 and coming up short in 2019. Since 2007, Missouri has moved steadily to the right, with the GOP now holding every statewide office and supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature.
The MO Dems have learned some things over the last few years, and are beginning to claw things back in Jefferson City, but “all the good will and the supporters” of Claire McCaskill are not enough to win here in 2024. In 2007, they were, but not in 2024. MO is a bright red state and not at all purple.
And I strongly suspect Claire would be the first to say all these things.
As for the travel, making short trips as a business person is not at all the same as transporting a presidential candidate, their campaign staff, and others.
Please avoid copy-pasting other community members’ entire comments. If you need to point to a whole comment use a link to the comment in question. Otherwise use an excerpt.
Thank you Nicole & Marcy for this chance to luxuriate in the best week of recent years. Glad you are better Nicole. And Marcy – is this a new haircut? Love it like that in any case. ;-)
I’m at around 30 minutes in when you two are talking about the authentic love & affection of real families being highlighted on stage and throughout the week.
The so-called family on the other side, are cheap versions of the plastic Barbie & Ken dolls (versus the now beloved ones from Greta’s take, another Sacramento girl!). They are stiff, phony and like their patrone, have no genitals. Which explains why there is no evidence of pleasure in their entire physiological systems.
And, according to Noel Casler, they intensely hate one another. Guess what? It shows. And like many pointed out this week – having never experienced real, true, deep authentic parental love they have literally no way to comprehend it.
Great episode. I’m so glad you had some positive things to talk about on the political front this week. The clip of the grand-nieces was adorable!
The threat of Trump supporters trying to steal the election for him is something that has to be prepared for. If the Harris ticket can generate a blue wave and win very convincingly at the polls, maybe the violence and chaos won’t materialize. But don’t get complacent.
One thing about Marcy’s commentary that brought me up short was about 54:00 in, discussing the notion of “the press still thinks this is a normal election,” in which she says: “I got a warning from someone who knows these [terrorist/insurrectionist] networks and [said] ‘I’m not describing history, I’m warning: they are preparing to do it again…’” (my clumsy pruning of a longer quotation). Until I heard her say this, I was under the impression (bolstered by some other NatSec specialists I follow) that the Feds were more or less ready for another manifestation of 1/6, and that it was therefore unlikely to get very far. I suppose it’s possible that a) plans for a new insurrection ARE being made, b) the Feds have eyes and ears on all or most of these plotters, and c) they’ll be neutralized before they can do any real harm. BUT, I hope at some point we can get Marcy’s (or her sources’) sources’ opinion as to exactly what a “new” 1/6 would look like. It’s been bugbear of mine for a while now, the concern about a ‘black swan’ kinetic MAGA response either so unexpectedly outsized or so diabolically strategic that it by itself could derail the electoral process.