How America’s First Woman Vice President Stepped Up

Win or lose, I think by the time exit polls come in this week, there will be real cause to question the poll-driven narrative we’ve been fed since February. Indeed, that’s already happening as Black and Hispanic and young voters are moving to Kamala Harris in recent polls, which is precisely what people skeptical of early polls said would happen months ago.

That technically means that Joe Biden might have been in far better position in the polls than reported — not in terms of favorability, but in a head-to-head with Trump. Still, the debate debacle (which Bob Woodward subsequently disclosed was significantly a reflection of Biden’s stress about Hunter, something I noted in real time) provided the opportunity to switch candidates. And Biden put his ego aside for the good of the country.

He entrusted to his Vice President the fate of the nation.

On June 29, I suggested that if Biden dropped out, whoever replaced him might break through the Double Haters logjam.

There is no chance that Trump will become anymore likeable, honest, or coherent. If someone besides Biden had four months to capitalize on his negatives, it might flip the table. It would eliminate the double haters election. If someone [not] named Biden found a way to make Trump’s malice matter more than his stammer, it might well matter.

Joe Biden has a choice to make about whether he remains the best shot to beat Donald Trump. And one way or another, Republicans will be stuck with a candidate who vigorously acts unpresidential.

On July 21, almost immediately after Biden endorsed Harris (remember this time stamp reflects Irish time), I repeated my Double Haters comment and noted that Harris speaks about choice better than anyone but Gretchen Whitmer (in retrospect I realize I underestimated the Vice President).

On September 1, I described how Harris’ focus on choice was forcing accountability on Trump for one of his most disastrous actions as President.

Kamala’s team has succeeded in making abortion something more: the most obvious item on a laundry list of the ways the far right has tried to take rights (and books) away, a fight for Freedom, one that has enthused millions of younger voters, especially women of child-bearing age.

And so, as I thought it might, Kamala’s focus on choice is one of the things that has remade the race.

[snip]

Thus far in this campaign, a focus on abortion has also provided a way to make visible the patriarchy presumed in most threads of the right wing coalition backing Trump, especially but by no means exclusively Christian nationalism. Lest voters ever forget, Kamala’s campaign keeps rolling out one after another video in which JD Vance demands women get back to the role his Church dictates for them: breeding children.

A number of things — the successful convention, a surge in registration among those women of child-bearing age, polls showing that abortion is the most important issue for a larger number of voters — have led horserace journalists to finally cop on.

[snip]

This is more than agitation.

It is flailing.

Panic.

A recognition that he is losing because of actions he took as President, he is losing because of what the payoff he owed to social conservatives who put him in the White House, a far right SCOTUS, did to women. What NYT journalists with another book contract describe as “head-spinning” is not about branding, it’s about panic because Kamala threatens to hold him accountable for his actions.

No matter how many contradictory statements Trump makes about what a second Trump term would do, there’s no escaping what his first term did do. There are no backsies on Dobbs. There are no backsies on Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. There aren’t even any backsies on that platform granting fetuses protection under the 14th Amendment, even if NYT’s Trump whisperers continue to pretend that didn’t happen.

[snip]

[E]ven as Kamala has already made Trump an equivocating wreck, nine-tenths of the way through his campaign and just in time for low-information voters to witness it, she has only just laid a foundation to build on.

Both before and after the debate, I described how Kamala Harris’ very deliberate and perfectly executed plan to get under his skin made her the protagonist of the campaign.

Journalists missed the Vice President’s clear intent because they treated Donald Trump as the protagonist of this story.

I don’t know how much the debate will affect the direction of the race. Though she struck blow after blow, it was still the 60/40-40/60 result I also predicted. The debate itself is most likely to have an effect for the way it gives Brian Fallon another opportunity to suggest Trump is too weak to take Harris on in a second debate. It might even lead some Trump cultists to wonder — to merely begin the process — of asking whether he really is the loser that Kamala Harris said he is.

But it may do something more important, indirectly.

In August, the press treated Kamala as the story largely because Trump was huddled in his mansions. But they still treated him as the protagonist. Every time he gave the order, they scurried to attend things billed as press conferences which were little different from his rambling rally speeches. He made them props in a fantasy that he had shared more about what he plans to do as President than Kamala Harris, and they were happy to play the role he demanded.

Yesterday, the press got their first chance — likely their only chance — to see the two candidates side-by-side.

And they left with the certainty that Vice President Kamala Harris was the protagonist of that story. Of this story.

Since that moment — since Vice President Harris made her hulking opponent look small on the stage — Trump has utterly failed, day after day, to regain control his emotion. He has lashed out at everyone. Harris, Jews, reporters, everyone who has ever crossed him.

In an attempt to sow distrust and division, he unleashed a flood of disinformation that exacerbated the floods Helene and Milton built.

By mid-October, as record numbers of voters started casting early in-person votes, Harris waltzed into Fox News and caught them cooking the books. That same week, Trump swayed on stage for almost 40 minutes, got embarrassed in a Bloomberg interview, and chose to defend January 6 rather than win Ramiro González’ vote. Charlamagne tha God nudged Harris to use the word fascism.

Sure, there were moments in October where Trump’s increasing fascism fed despair.

Vice President Harris’ response taught a lot of white people the lessons of leadership she learned as a child of the Civil Rights movement.

And she carried on, executing the plan. She and Liz Cheney kept methodically reaching out to women — to the kind of white women who voted against Hillary Clinton in 2016.

As Trump wallowed in his toxic emotions, in the insecurities  being made to look small by a Black women elicited, his handlers allowed him one after another indulgence, all leading up to the potentially fatal one: the Madison Square Garden fascist rally that seemingly confirmed the concerns raised by Trump’s generals. Just as the low-information voters he had been banking on all year started to tune in, Trump’s fascist rally mocked them, recalling back his refusal as President to treat them with respect.

And it wasn’t just Hispanics that could lose him Pennsylvania. Trump provided an opportunity for key validators like Lebron James to explain, succinctly, that America is still fighting for equal rights.

All this time, pollsters kept contorting their polls for fear of missing Trump voters.

Until Ann Selzer came along and told us what pollsters should have recognized from the start: Women vote. And this year, women will vote for a woman to be the first woman President.

Symbolically, Kamala Harris went to East Lansing last night and refused to even speak of Donald Trump.

Turn the page.

This thing is not over. Harris’ thousands of volunteers have to get out every vote tomorrow.  A flood of bros might come to the polls tomorrow and make that effort meaningless. Harris lawyers have to fight to count every vote — and keep fighting all the way to January if Trump attempts to cheat again.

This thing is not over.

But holy hell, Kamala Harris and her entire team stepped up.

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105 replies
    • emptywheel says:

      Shit. Should have used that for the title.

      Still, I’m paranoid that Alito will tamper, so I’ll wait, for now.

    • harpie says:

      I am increasingly hopeful that we WILL get a day in the near future,
      when [at least] three of these FECKING Entitled Men in Robes realize that
      their retirement plans won’t be working out quite as they had hoped.

      • pleasestopsayingfeck says:

        No need for that condescending “feck” crap. Father Ted-speak isn’t how people actually talk in day-to-day Ireland. Graham Linehan is more TERF than Irish anyway.

        [Moderator’s note: You are not going to be permitted to police language and content here. Get on topic or leave. This form of trolling will not be permitted.

        Community members, do not reply to this comment. Replies will be binned; this comment is a form of concern trolling intended to disrupt conversation. Don’t take the bait. /~Rayne]

  1. CaptainCondorcet says:

    Stepping up can mean a lot of things, including laying foundations even when you have no idea if the building will ever be completed. Where I live Bad Bunny is exceedingly influential in the 18-24 age bracket. Harris’s team have apparently been in discussions with his PR team since September about what an endorsement could look like. And while it was officially billed as a “support” instead of an “endorsement”, no one should overlook the impact of Bad Bunny himself tweeting a positive clip of Harris in real time as a response to the fascist rally. I doubt he randomly searched the web for clips. Harris recognized her vulnerability with that demographic and worked to see what could be done about it, and it may well pay off in election-altering ways. Whatever my disagreements with Harris’s policies may be, I agree with Dr. Wheeler that Harris and her team stepped up.

    • emptywheel says:

      Harris kept saying, over and over, I know I have to earn their vote. And she–and her team–never stopped working for it.

      • atriana smith says:

        I remember when Obama pointed to his own (flawless) campaign(s) as an example of his executive and organizational skills. No one had seen a campaign that well thought out and executed.

  2. rattlemullet says:

    They ran an almost completely flawless campaign! In my opinion, the campaigns ground game along with that of the democratic party ground game and their tens of thousands of volunteers rocked the vote effort. The volunteers from the pictures I have seen are comprised mostly of women. Mostly it is women who will save this county by their leadership skills and tireless effort to elect Kamala as president. These women are fearless!

  3. klynn says:

    Indeed she and her team have stepped up. They understood the assignment.

    Where abortion rights has been on the ballot it won:

    In Ohio with 57% of the vote (56.78).

    In California with 66.78% of the vote.

    In Michigan with 56.66% of the vote.

    In Vermont with 76.77% of the vote.

    That averages out to 64.2475% with those four states.

    There is hope in that average. I’de take that average and run on it and step up.
    https://ballotpedia.org/History_of_abortion_ballot_measures

  4. JVOJVOJVO says:

    Kamala is still making the most of every % – Drumpf, not so much!

    As of today, Trump has less than 0.1387 % of his campaign left (1 of 721 days).

    As of today, Harris has almost 0.9345 % of her campaign left (1 of 107 days).

    h/t @emptywheel

  5. dannyboy says:

    Her work has paid off!:

    “NYC breaks record with more than 1 million New Yorkers voting early in 2024 election” [ New York Daily News
    UPDATED: November 4, 2024 at 11:39 AM EST] So we now know Democratic Voters are out in force.

    And then there’s anecdotal evidence picked up from Wo[Men] in the bar. I’ve shared observations from NYC pubs over the last few weeks, mostly focused on how strongly woman, and men friendly to them, felt about Vice President Harris.

    My latest observations are of the other side (Neighborhood bar appropriately named The Dive Bar). There, the same guys (it’s almost exclusively male) who were boasting of the Joe Rogan interview HAVE STOPPED TALKING ABOUT TRUMP. The discussion has shifted back to Sports and TV Shows. He’s been exorcised from the conversation. That speaks loudly to me.

  6. synergies says:

    Kamala’s campaign has been brilliant with some hiccoughs, mainly in the email & texts category. This last Saturday Night Live guest opening spot was HUGE with the saying “Keep Kamala and carry on.” I laughed. Just how incredible.

    Interesting is the history of the 1939 WW II poster & saying “KEEP CALM and CARRY ON” that has been remastered with new sayings after being found in a book by Stuart Manley a book store owner in the year 2000. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_Calm_and_Carry_On

    Also said on the show, “and end the dramala.” : )

  7. Savage Librarian says:

    In the Meantime

    Proud of Harris in the meantime
    Proud of Harris, such a pol
    Proud of Harris
    She’s a winner
    And she’s civil
    Proud of Harris,
    She’s a stunner
    She won’t shrivel

    Proud of Harris, she’s so cogent
    She’s so cogent, she’s so clear
    Proud of Harris
    Why, oh why, so proud of Harris
    Fearless, she perseveres

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caExf8y_GVE

  8. emptywheel says:

    Watching Harris’ rally in Allentown, a crucial rally. Fat Joe gave a superb endorsement, emphasizing Latino pride.

    As happens, crowd launches into chant of “not going back.”

    I remember that that didn’t come from her. It came from the crowd in one of the early rallies. And she sheepishly let the crowd go.

    The campaign tried to brand “a new way forward.” But it was a lost cause. Not going back.

    • Savage Librarian says:

      I remember it as a re-branding effort. I remember it as something she already had said previously. But the campaign wanted to rebrand as forward looking rather than focusing on the past.

      But too many people remember the past and are enthusiastic about not returning. It is a great motivator, for young and old alike, especially women. And I don’t think she was sheepish. More like knowing the audience and going with the flow. But I admit I’m a loyalist with my own built-in reasons for why I have always had faith in Kamala Harris.

    • GSSH-FullyReduced says:

      Trump/Vance 2024 flags flying “Take America Back” clearly render Project 2025 down to its basic message: white boys rule so don’t mess with us. A manosphere phenomenon.
      But the “We Won’t Go Back” mantra/branding/slogan/retort statement of Harris/Walz 2024 has much long legs, deeper implications, brilliance and truth to power.
      Kamala is a force of nature, all stepped-up.

  9. cmarlowe says:

    This is a bit OT, but is the 11th Circuit waiting for the election before it rules on the class docs case appeal?

    • Shadowalker says:

      IF he wins all the cases go away, why waste time on something that is moot?

      For the record, I’m 99.9999% sure Madam Vice President will win. I’ve been more positive on that prediction as time goes on. Not basing this on polls either.

  10. punaise says:

    It was one of those “where were you when” moments on July 21. I recall exactly: I was listening to public radio, pulling into the parking lot of a CVS after cat-sitting at our daughter’s place. Without hesitation I knew it had to be Kamala; otherwise it would be sh*t show.. She has not disappointed!

      • punaise says:

        Right? Almost as if there was a method to their madness. I mean people had literally voted for her to (possibly) become president if needed…

        Curious how Obama held back for a bit though, perhaps by design as well.

        Josh Marshall (I know, YMMV, I know) says:

        I believe Harris, win or lose, has run an almost flawless campaign. […] in that cruelest month, July 2024 I do not think there was a single story published discussing murmurs from Harris world about whether Biden should drop out, what kind of race she might run, anything like that. It goes without saying that that kind of chatter would have been poisonous for the Democrats’ eventual chances. Despite some people’s illusions, Harris was always the only plausible replacement candidate. It doesn’t take a genius to know such chatter would be damaging….Harris remained absolutely loyal to Biden until the moment he decided to step aside. … But that is a very, very tough position to be in. It would be irresponsible not to be ready for the call to come. But even the hint of preparation for it would be disastrous. It was an accurate preview of the kind of campaign Harris would run.

        • Twaspawarednot says:

          Whether it was planned or not it could not have worked more perfectly because the Trumpers we’re focused on what they thought was an easy target. Oops, Kamala is a whole nother problem the Trump campaign can’t deal with.

        • Ithaqua0 says:

          OT, but what’s your problem with Josh Marshall? He really knows his stuff, and doesn’t hesitate to say when he doesn’t.

          Looking for enlightenment, not to start an argument :)

        • Shadowalker says:

          punaise
          November 4, 2024 at 6:30 pm

          “ Curious how Obama held back for a bit though, perhaps by design as well.”

          That was planned. I think Obama knew enough to keep some space and let her do things that needed to be done on her own first. Sort of like not stealing thunder or the moment. Plus this cuts out any conspiracies, like he was behind forcing Joe out or anything else they can fever-dream up.

      • punaise says:

        Ithaqua0
        November 4, 2024 at 7:12 pm

        That’s above my pay grade. Marcy and Josh have a (mild?) bit of history as I recall, but it’s not for me to recount or characterize. I am a big consumer of TPM content, and I try to be judicious with citations here.

    • John Lehman says:

      Amazingly on July 21st…if you can believe it…this person, right after he found out about Kamala….was in the St. John’s Portland Oregon neighborhood admiring a recently painted mural of Beatrice Morrow Cannady (a renowned Portland civil rights activist) when lightening struck follow by a loud clap of thunder but no rain.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrice_Morrow_Cannady

  11. dmbeaster says:

    But holy hell, Kamala Harris and her entire team stepped up.

    I think her effort outdid Obama’s excellent efforts in 2008 and 2012. Her campaign was more aggressive and took it to Trump. Such a refreshing change from so much Democratic punch pulling rather than punch throwing.
    It was also notable for rolling out so much in such a short time. So many sound decisions, and I loved the message creation and discipline.
    The only thing that I have hated is the constant doom and gloom fund raising messages, which is a past staple. Maybe it works, but who builds momentum by selling fear and disaster to your own side? And maybe its just old consultants using old tricks, but I wish it would stop. The worst was an obnoxious text about how they had sent me six messages and I still had not sent money. This was after I donated, and I got that text twice over time. I have sometimes written back that I am specifically not sending money because of the obnoxious pitch, but that was probably futile.

    • JanAnderson says:

      Who are you talking about?
      Trump’s entire campaign now and in ’16 is/was gloom, doom, disaster – “American Carnage”.
      The threat of him is real.
      Can you not unsubscribe? Mark those emails as spam if they’re a nuisance.
      Easy peasy.

      • Matt___B says:

        My experience with the flood of unwanted political e-mails and texts is that sometimes clicking Unsubscribe works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes the Unsubscribe in larger font at the top of the e-mail won’t work but the tiny-font Unsubscribe at the bottom of the e-mail does work. I don’t know why the difference, but that’s my experience.

        With texts, sending the word “STOP” sometimes works and actually results in a confirmation from the sender that no further texts will be sent to you. Sometimes it works without confirming text message. And sometimes it never works – STOP STOP STOP, and they still keep coming. It’s the wild west in Unsubscribe-land but the herd can definitely thinned, but never completely cut off, it seems…

        • Twaspawarednot says:

          Whether it was planned or not it could not have worked more perfectly because the Trumpers we’re focused on what they thought was an easy target. Oops, Kamala is a whole nother problem the Trump campaign can’t deal with and was unprepared for

  12. JanAnderson says:

    3 – 4 months? As you know that’s a long campaign season elsewhere. I wonder that after she wins (I’m betting on it), could it become “normal”? :-)

    • Shadowalker says:

      Don’t forget she was able to assume control of the whole campaign that was started by President Biden last year. Would not recommend others try to replicate what happened. She’s also really good at this.

      • JanAnderson says:

        What happens here is an election must be called by the PM in roughly the 4th year, or whenever he/she sees fit in those 4 years – or, in the case of a minority government, it suffers a non- confidence vote, and an election will follow in pretty short order.
        So the political parties must be ready in any case.
        It’s done and dusted in a few months.
        Different in many ways, notably not a 2 party thing.
        Anyway, kudos to Harris, she grabbed the baton and ran with it. :-)

        • Shadowalker says:

          It’s more than two parties. It used to be much shorter when the parties decided on the nomination at the convention. 1960 was the first time democrats incorporated primaries into the process (with only 16 primaries).

    • -mamake- says:

      Sure, I’ll take your $$.
      Yes, while it would be fantastic if we shorten the season, right now there are too many making truckloads of money on the extended season.
      Good goal but will take sustained effort to bring it about.
      Heard Sherrilyn Ifill yesterday on Lucid Q & A with Ruth Ben-Ghiat talking through the kind of forensic analysis we need (regardless of who wins) to strengthen this experiment in democracy.
      If Harris wins, sure hope she can advise of be appointed to whatever position would serve this interest best.

  13. RitaRita says:

    Her campaign has been amazing. She has had a groundswell of momentum that hasn’t really slowed down. The tactic of getting various groups to advertise zoom calls created opportunities for people to come together and not only feel a part of their group but also of the larger group. It was a great grass roots organizing tactic.

    And her momentum put Trump on the defensive, in part, because his ego would not allow Harris’ massive rallies to go unanswered. And, in the home stretch, it is obvious that he is tired and making a mess out of his public appearances.

    Two other thoughts – Harris accomplished a lot in a short period of time, while Trump had diminishing returns. Maybe future campaigns will be shorter but more intense. And, while I would gladly have voted for Biden, he could not have campaigned with the intensity and stamina of Harris.

    • JanAnderson says:

      She’s fantastic, hit the ground running and has kept up the momentum.
      The very notion of the word contrast. While there’s a challenge built into a 2 party system, she has come out fresh, while the old fart has come off as well…an old fart. :-)

  14. Badger Robert says:

    She had won statewide races in California more than once. That means she won the primaries and won the general elections. She made it to the Senate and all the federal Democrats knew she had the chops. The sitting VP is always pre-vetted. The Presidential candidate knows all the possible negatives about his VP nominee and for 4 years VP Harris was next to the spotlight. For an intelligent person, being VP is the best possible training ground for the Presidency.
    She did not have to wait for Biden’s second term to expire. She’s in the perfect combination of training and energy.
    Thanks to Ms. Wheeler for this exposition. But there’s more to be written.

  15. Badger Robert says:

    I think there is something more to Kamala Harris. There is a certain gritty street smart toughness to her. She has a trial lawyers instinct to go for the defendant’s weakness and exploit it. And she is almost bi-lingual in her ability to be both from Oakland and the streets, and speak Tom Brokaw’s standard English. But that’s hardly surprising since she had a long career dealing with cops, judges, defense attorneys and victims. She learned through the rough polishing of experience until she was the head of the largest AG’s office among the states, and the natural leader of the AGs.

  16. Badger Robert says:

    Back in 2019 or 2020 when Beto and Kamala were still in the Democratic primary someone on O’Rourke’s team, maybe Robert himself, asked me what I thought of Senator Harris. I replied, she’s qualified. I didn’t think people would vote for her, but I was dumb about that.

    • BRUCE F COLE says:

      Actually, back then she wasn’t ready for POTUS prime time, imo. I think being VP for 3.5 years did the trick.

  17. Badger Robert says:

    It starts with Joe Biden. He did something that Obama omitted. He made his VP ready and supported her.
    Then there was the skillfully produced convention in which Democrats took back the symbols of strength and patriotism back. The wounds of 1968 were healed. The early rallies produced volunteers and contributions. But the latter rallies produce voters and word of mouth supporters. We know have to suspect the polls have been trailing opinion all along. The Republican candidate is losing support among men too. It figures. The misogyny is disgusting and its not the way men think about the women in their lives.

    • Rayne says:

      This: “He did something that Obama omitted.

      is bullshit. Biden was ready save for Beau’s death. That’s why Obama picked Biden to begin with, a Senator who served for decades.

      Obama’s and the DNC’s fuck-up was dropping the ball after Obama was elected. They assumed wrongly there would be no racist blowback for having elected the first Black president.

      There will be blowback against the first Black Asian woman president. But this time I think both Harris and the party understand what’s coming; the question is whether the Democratic base will rise up to meet the challenge and get her back.

      Or are they going to cut the racist element slack and compromise.

      • Badger Robert says:

        In order to make the comment brief I had to leave out many of the complicated details involving Obama, Hillary Clinton and VP Biden. Both Clinton and Biden were old by the time they got the nomination. VP Harris is in the prime of her career.

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Man, you need to read more history. Try Rick Perlstein and Howard Zinn. The wounds of 1968 still smart and may never heal.

      Obama omitted setting up his VP to replace him? Why, because Joe didn’t beat Hillary for the nomination? Because Trump cheated and the press, Russians, and Jim Comey helped Trump do it?

      • Badger Robert says:

        I’ll stick with the opinion that the Dem Convention of 2024 was impossible before this year. The situation with respect to 2016 was complicated by many factors that would make too long of a comment.

        • earlofhuntingdon says:

          Whatever the 2024 Dem convention did, and it accomplished many good things, it didn’t heal the wounds of 1968.

          It’s not an argument, if you say what supports it is too difficult or complex to explain. It’s the sort of thing one learns to expect from George Santos, or his soul mate, JD Vance.

  18. Badger Robert says:

    I think there is national compromise available on the issue of access to abortion. I think all of you could figure out what it would include. The starting point would be no criminal penalties.

    • Rayne says:

      No. Fuck NO. We are NOT going back, or haven’t you heard that?

      Persons who were born without a uterus and therefore never at risk of pregnancy and its incumbent maternal mortality have ZERO business telling the uterus-endowed they must compromise. NEVER.

      Why the fuck do you think so many women are turning out to vote? No goddamned compromise on the autonomy and agency over our bodies.

      ADDER: Let me refresh your memory where Harris is at —
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6g-zycRv8Q

      No regulation on women’s bodies, period. That’s the starting point, no compromise.

    • Shadowalker says:

      Compromise? This whole thing is based on religious belief. How about Republicans stop forcing their relatively weak faith on the rest of us. Besides, if the creator made everything, including us, we could have been created where abortions wouldn’t be possible and miscarriages would never happen.

    • JanAnderson says:

      Criminal penalties? Where are you starting? Before most of us were born? There are millions of women who were born and have been living with access to abortion all their lives. No going back, and certainly not to criminalization. Sheesh.

      • Rayne says:

        The other major problem with proposing *any* compromise is that Roe was based on a fundamental but unenumerated right to privacy.

        Justice Thomas told us they were going after other decisions which also relied on that same right to privacy: Griswold v. Connecticut (birth control), Loving v. Virginia (mixed race marriage), Obergefell v. Hodges (same sex marriage). If we cede any ground at all related to privacy rights, these decisions are also vulnerable. So are any future decisions regarding a right to personal data privacy, and that is indeed sure to come.

        We are NOT going back.

        • P J Evans says:

          Privacy was so basic that the Constitutional Convention didn’t think it needed to be written in explicitly.
          The RWNJ justices are sure it only applies to *them* and people of whom they approve.
          Maybe we need to get all up in *their* private lives.

    • Hug h roonman says:

      “The starting point would be no criminal penalties.”
      …Said Adam to Eve.

      Then Eve tore out out her Rib, threw it at Adam and said-

      “Here… gnaw on this!”

  19. Thomasa98 says:

    Harris’ campaign’s not over yet. My wife is in Phoenix doorbelling today. Yesterday she helped elderly people with ballots and inquired about transportation for tomorrow. Last week it was Tucson. She’s there with Common Power and reported that there are other groups there as well.

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Pretty sure Joe Biden, if that’s who you’re referring to, has earned his retirement. Time for a new wave of leaders to be appointed and given a chance to prove their mettle.

        • SteveBev says:

          Oh I think he could manage a part-time position, reviewing papers etc of interest to him for significant fees commensurate with his particular experience

          Senior Special Adviser on Compliance Issues to Barbara Jones in the Monitorship of a certain NY Corporation might appeal.

        • earlofhuntingdon says:

          Who says it’s snark? But, yes, after reading WaPo headlines this morning, it’s definitely down.

        • punaise says:

          @Earl

          The premise Biden *not* riding off into the sunset seems so absurd to me that I inferred a missing Snark tag. If you rub a bit of lemon juice on it, it does come through.

  20. Legonaut says:

    I also have to commend Harris for picking Walz as her VP candidate. Brilliant choice, the perfect complement to her and the perfect foil to JD Vance, Tucker Carlson, and all of the toxic masculinity spewing from the Trump bros.

    Not to mention, he’s a capable leader with high favorability among his past constituencies. Eight years from now, he’ll be a worthy contender for the top spot.

    • Rayne says:

      If there was any residual to the myth that one of the two candidates on a ticket had to be from a southern state, Walz is the very end of it.

      Perhaps a new myth is now born: one of the candidates must be from a coastal state and the other north of the southern border of the “blue wall.”

  21. Stuart Dahlquist says:

    I’ll bet my user name is incorrect.
    There was a time in the early 2000’s when I had some interaction with the city of Long Beach, Ca. Street and alley clean up organizer, some dialogue at council meetings, that kind of thing. There was a parade happening and I volunteered to drive one of the cars that would be ridden in by someone of political stature, whom it would be was completely random. A driver could end up with Arnold Schwarzenegger, I ended up with Kamala Harris. At the time this wasn’t a big deal at all but my impression of her, really her impression on me really stuck. She had one of the most intense attentions I’ve ever encountered; probing, deeply compassionate, curious.
    We had about five minutes of conversation, and she surely reached me.

    • Hug h roonman says:

      Wow… what a GIFT!

      That impression really comes through… hopefully wins the day… and turns a page.

  22. orvillej says:

    Kamala was my first choice in the 2020 primaries. I understand how and why Joe Biden ended up winning and I do think he was the right person for the time. He was the best person to beat Trump and he did it handily. But I was glad he chose Kamala for VP and, in retrospect, I think it has been really good for her to spend these last years learning the ropes. Whatever you think about Biden, you must admit he’s a heckuva politician and I think she’s learned some things from him.
    She already had great skills of her own and the way she’s pulled off this lightning campaign shows that. I’ll be thrilled to see her claim victory. I’m also hoping that Joe can work some magic during the lame duck to get something positive done in Gaza to take some pressure off of her. Not going back!!

    • Magbeth4 says:

      You were lucky to have a Democratic Primary. Nikki Fried, the Chairwoman off the Florida Democratic, decided to have no Primary. She should be “retired,” and the Democratic Party in Florida needs to be purged of the duplicitous members, some of whom may be Republicans masquerading as Democrats. Don’t believe it? A prominent Republican Party lawyer in my town “joked” that Republicans should join the Party, the NACCP, and other Democratic-leaning organizations, and “take over.” One wonders………..

      • grizebard says:

        Sooo…. Republican entryism of the Democratic Party in Florida assisted the “undemocratic” selection of Kamala Harris as pres. candidate (a very Trumpist trope, BTW)… is that what you’re trying to imply…?

        At this critical point in the electoral contest, is this your outstanding concern? Are you serious…?

        • Magbeth4 says:

          My “outstanding concern” as you call it was that at the time, there were choices which could have been made, many of which could have been good. Democrats should have the right to choice of candidates and not be corralled into only one candidate which was not chosen in a Primary. I fully supported Harris when I realized how effective she could be as a candidate and as a President. I just don’t like a chairman of a State Party apparatus limiting choices for their Party Members. Whatever happened to the rights of the Democrats of Florida to have a vote for whomever they wished to run as their candidate? This should never happen again.

        • Rayne says:

          Harris went to state party’s delegates to obtain their support, and the delegates gave it to her. Delegates are representatives of the party’s members. You don’t like this? Become a party delegate. I’ve been one.

          You’re promulgating a right-wing talking point that the primary wasn’t legitimate. It ends here.

  23. ExRacerX says:

    Jump back, what’s that sound?
    Here she comes, full blast and top down
    Hot votes, burning up the ballot-box
    Model citizen, very disciplined

    Don’t you know she’s coming back to DC?
    Trump’s gonna lose this time
    He’ll crap out!

    Kamala
    Kamala
    Kamala
    Kamala

    Ain’t nothin’ like her democratic machine
    Got the feel for the wheel, keep the election clean
    Hot votes, burning down the ballot-box
    Out an on-ramp coming into the White House

    Don’t you know she’s coming home to DC?
    Trump’s gonna lose this time
    He’ll crap out!
    Uh-oh

    Kamala
    Kamala
    Kamala
    Kamala
    Kanama, oh-oh-oh-oh
    Woo!

    Ah…
    Voting center’s running a little bit hot tonight
    I can barely see my ballot from the heat coming off it
    Standing there, between the screens
    Reach my pen down
    Fill the circle in…

    She’s winning, Trump’s spinning
    Way behind in rearview mirror now
    Got the fearing, power steering
    Pistons popping, ain’t no stopping now…

    Kamala
    Kamala
    Kamala
    Kamala, oh-oh-oh-oh
    Kamala
    Kamala (also, Tim Walz)
    KAMALA!

  24. timbozone says:

    She really did. Now we wait and hope it’s not Trump in the White House.

    It’s a shame that Joe Biden stumbled so badly in that early debate but you can’t beat your own age at some point.

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