Dems Coalesce around Vice President Kamala Harris
We’re filling up thread quickly and I’m about to go to bed.
So I’m starting a new thread.
Since President Biden dropped out and endorsed the Vice President, she has formally taken over the campaign, raised $27.5 million in small donations, and collected endorsements from dozens of prominent Democrats (including a notable one from PA Governor Josh Shapiro, undoubtedly one of the leading candidates to be Kamala’s running mate).
About the only one publicly considering a challenge — aside from Marianne Williamson — is turncoat Joe Manchin, a 76-year old retiree looking to replace the 81-year old former nominee.
Dems are in array.
And the Republican nominee, a felon, fraudster, and rapist, has announced he is afraid to do a debate with a prosecutor like Kamala Harris. He’s also wailing about his sunk cost.
Update, Monday: Manchin has now given up the ghost of a renewed POTUS bid.
More endorsements:
Roy Cooper (with Josh Shapiro, among the most likely VP candidates)
Andy Beshear, who calls out JD Vance for dissing Kentuckyians
Tony Evers
Wes Moore
Mark Kelly
Jared Polis
Pete Buttigieg
Dick Durbin
Kirsten Gillibrand
Brian Schatz
Ron Wyden
Bob Casey
John Fetterman
Catherine Cortez Masto
AOC
Ayanna Pressley
Delia Ramirez
Greg Casar
Jamaal Bowman
Tennessee’s entire delegation
All 50 Democratic Chairs
Kathy Hochul
Phil Murphy
AFT
SEIU
Update: Nancy Pelosi endorses:
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Thank you.
Dr. Wheeler,
Is “in array” a joke? Or did you mean “in disarray?”
Feel free to delete this comment.
I think neither. Just one of Marcy’s tasty wordsmithing. In short, right out of the gate things are going well.
No, it’s tongue in cheek for the “Dems in disarray” theme the courtier press likes to push to avoid talking about how awful the Convict-1 speeches are. At least 25 ‘senior moments’ in Grand Rapids but not a peep from the MSM.
I also see that Convict-1 is already demanding that the September debate go on Faux News instead of ABC. Chickening out as usual.
I would say, “In array” perfectly sums up the mood here in far off northern Maine. Whatever angst had been stirred up in the post-debate hyperbole was instantly dispelled when everyone here let out a cathartic deep breathe and instantly coalesced behind Harris. There aren’t a lot of us up here so I do speak for everyone…
It’s a joke.
Journalists, particularly at NYT, love to tell “Dems in disarray” stories.
So those of us who are tired of all that like to make “Dems in array” jokes.
So would the failure so far of Obama, Schumer et al to endorse Harris be a dislocation in the array?
I think the party leaders are delaying simply so other voices can be heard, and Kamala doesn’t look like a smoke-filled backroom choice… it’s how you build consensus. I’d guess they’ll have come out in support of her by the end of the month.
Marcy – You mention NYT editorialists. As a non-subscriber I get so far in an item and then hit the “you ought to subscribe and read everything” intercept – SO – not to misdirect the thread, but perhaps a new post examining this full editorial – what are they doing??? At it again???
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/21/opinion/editorials/joe-biden-drops-out-courage.html
Is it that they want a contested convention to sell clicks? I ask from reading a different site referring to that item. Unable to see the full thing.
It’s very simple: they want to disregard the Democratic voters’ votes already cast in the primaries for Harris as Biden-Harris and allow white candidates to re-do the results of the primary.
The NYT’s editorial board conveniently ignores that the base of the Democratic Party isn’t white.
Yes, but, Shirley, you jest. It’s a riff off of the usual GOP meme that Dems are in “disarray.”
It’s array of sunshine after several bleak weeks.
It is indeed, punaise. I am optimistic about how things are shaking out, seeing most prominent Democrats almost immediately lining up to endorse Harris. A week ago it was half of them demanding Biden step aside while the other half was “ridin’ with Biden”. Things could have gone a lot worse. There are still many bumps in the road to negotiate but my stress level is lower now. The idea of Manchin or Philips winning an open convention is ludicrous.
I never jest, and don’t call me shirley. I prefer fully operational battle station myself
I don’t see anyone really stepping to the plate to seriously contest Kamala. The baton has been passed and anyone trying to take her on will probably be viewed as the bridesmaid who didn’t catch the bouquet trying to rip it away. While not the perfect candidate, Kamala just doesn’t have severe drawbacks that someone could poke holes in such a short amount of time as to overtake her momentum.
Hard to argue that Harris isn’t suitable when she has literally been next in line to ‘old codger’ Biden for 3.5 years.
Will the usual suspects in the media start looking at Trump’s ‘senior moments’ now that his opponent is over 18 years younger than him? (I won’t hold my breath.)
The media will start looking at Trump’s ‘senior moments’ when Sus domesticus masters the theory of aerodynamics.
Apart from Joe Manchin, who ain’t even a Democrat.
In the last five minutes, Pete Buttigieg endorsed Harris. So have Newsom and Jared Polis and Mark Kelly.
And the NYT posted a story with a hed about Harris having been “often disparaged as unqualified.” The story had nothing – nothing – to substantiate that narrative. Last I looked, they changed the headline to flag her “rocky start” in the Biden Administration. NYT, having got what it wanted, moves on to the next task: 24/7 “butterexperience”
I heard a YouTube talking head lawyer opine that Harris wasn’t a particularly successful Vice President.
It seems to me that Vice Presidents (other than when presiding over the Senate) are as successful as their Presidents allow them to be.
“Often disparaged” = passive voice = no accountability. A favorite toy of Murdoch MAGA media.
The Post has a running list of Dems in Congress and governors who’ve endorsed Harris:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2024/kamala-harris-endorsements/
So far, 159 endorsements vs. 1 calling for an open convention. UFW is another organization that’s endorsed her.
As of 7:56pm central, it’s up to 249 who have endorsed Harris with 37 not yet endorsing her. I expect Obama will be onboard soon.
Meanwhile the old man still in the race displayed Republican plans for the future: bringing back cement. No, really. https://x.com/Acyn/status/1814802450366578835
Of course you would have missed that if you relied on billionaire media. NYT and WaPo don’t print the insanity. They love them some tax cuts and are perfectly content with Trump.
Maybe if enough people quit giving them money they’d rethink normalizing the nutso criminal.
A lot of the best people are in cement.
Hoffa?
Even William Safire knew that it’s not “cement.” It’s CONCRETE. (reinforced, at that). architect’s nit pic.
In the aggregate, an overliteralness is the hobgoblin of blogs. :-)
Well, all righty then. We can never have too much cement, right? (geezus) No doubt cement producing stocks will soar tomorrow. I’m sure MTG is on the phone with her broker as we speak!!!
What about Johnson and Johnson, now that people are wearing gauze bandages in solidarity?
I really hope Acyn’s health insurance provides first class mental health coverage. He’s been reporting TFG’s insanities for so long that his brain may very well be turning to mush.
But thank god he is doing that reporting.
As someone who works with concrete, this is fantastic news for me! I’ve been just crushing seashells with my bare hands up until now!
In that clip, Trump is a concrete example of someone who looks and sounds like he sniffed some rubber cement.
(wiping tea off my computer screen)
Yes..,in the aggregate
punaisesays:@
July 22, 2024 at 1:49 am
You’re trowelling.
@jdmcjay8:
I know, it’s rebar-bative…
Q: What do you call a Shrink’s office, that makes one’s mind bigger?
A: Expansion joint.
This is a concrete example of the sort of video clip that Democratic party ads should cement in everyone’s brain.
So then – if TFG uses a tined eating utensil to spread cementitious material would that make him a mortar forker?
LOL
Knife formwork.
I have missed cement since it was sent away…
Kelly was a given because his wife, Gabby Giffords, was in front of him in going public with an endorsement of Harris, at least in the Dem party people here.
This is the jujitsu move we were looking for – in one day Biden has turned this from a referendum on Biden, his age and his infirmities, to Trump’s age, dementia, corruption and unfitness for office. Harris is smart, decent, talented and honorable. She will do a number on Trump in debate and on the campaign trail. I think she will make an outstanding President – the first woman in our Nation’s history to hold this office.
While I admire your enthusiasm, there is nothing about the last year or two of coverage that suggests that the media will do anything but carry water for PO1135809 while finding many, many ways to sow doubt about Kamala and/or actively try to sabotage her campaign.
Trump wants out of debating Harris, complaining that it’s a bait ‘n switch. LOL. As one of the crummiest landlords in America, and father-in-law to another, he knows what that is. Biden, of course, didn’t drop out to embarrass Donald. Donny takes care of that himself.
Trump’s not mad that he “invested” in a second debate with Biden. He could recoup any sunk costs, in the unlikely event there are any, simply by going through with the debate. His only problem is that his writers will need to invent new insults to throw at her. Given the convention speeches, they were already doing that.
Trump’s real problem is that he’s scared speechless at the idea of being beaten by … a professional, competent woman of color, who can argue him under the table without breaking a sweat. Sad.
I seem to remember last week that Convict-1 was telling Joe to get out.
He, as well as the courtier press got what they asked for but not what they really wanted. No need to rush the VP pick either. As a flyer idea, how about Franken?
Al Franken was snark, right?
Trump tells every opponent to give up, in the face of his wondrous and miraculous presence. It’s not necessary to respond to such canned insults.
Yeah, that’s why the word ‘flyer’ was there. Franken would be a good surrogate, because if Jason Miller is OK for network TV, Franken’s sins are a lot less vile.
If we want to get “the kidz” how about Trae Crowder? He can move into TFG’s brain rent free at least 20 times in less than a minute. One thing that really gets to the TFG is ridicule, and Mr. Crowder is an artist in that regard. Yes, that’s snark.
Trump wants the debate moved to Fox. Harris should say “yes and we will have Bret Baier for the moderator. Other conditions previously agreed upon are still in force (microphone cutoffs, etc)”.
Then Trump would be really scared!
World leaders, apart from those loyal to Xi and Putin, are breathing a collective sigh of relief at any hint that they will be less likely to have to wrestle with Donald Trump again in the White House. (At least between 12.00 and 4.00 pm, his normal work hours.)
She was my choice in 2020. She has given me no reason to change my mind. And she will make Trump even crazier. Go Kamala go!
Prosecutor vs felon.
Woman vs rapist.
Minority vs racist.
Gen X vs Boomer.
Educated vs Not so stellar thinker
Happily married vs Serial adulterer.
Middle class vs Oligarch.
Public servant vs Draft dodger.
Supports our Troops vs Calling our Troops “suckers & losers”
Literally cops vs robbers
A couple weeks ago here I linked to a James Fallows ‘example’ Biden withdrawal speech. I said I thought it useful, guessing it would prove accurate except for assuming there’d be a short mini-primary before or at the convention next month (a prediction he corrected in #3 below.)
Have a read a lot of reaction pieces today and Fallows’s has the best signal-to-noise ratio so far. He makes the following six numbered points, and I’m including only #6 in full:
.
(If you’re unfamiliar with Fallows, he was a speechwriter for democratic presidents starting at age 24 with Jimmie Carter. His analyses of presidential speeches, including Thursday’s RNC Trump acceptance speech, have always been useful.). With his substack, Breaking the News, he’s proven to be one of the more thoughtful media critics—the first of its three title-words has a different meaning than one might first assume, sharing Marcy’s, ummm, disappointment with NYT/WaPo editorial decisions).
Manchin and Dean Phillips (“who?”) are both making noises about trying to get back in and take the nomination.
Fuck the both of them. Manchin can shove his Maserati sideways where the sun don’t shine.
And Phillips? I am so bloody sick of media morons claiming Biden “rigged” the primary when Phillips simply had zero national profile going into the primaries. Who indeed; cripes, I didn’t even know he owned Talenti gelato and I buy that product.
Wait, what? I had no clue about the Ice Cream Connection! (BTW, now that we all have a lifetime supply of the handy plastic jars, can Talenti switch to cardboard?)
I want them to start with zero votes and go *down* from there.
I also want Manchin’s “yacht” parked on the lawn in front of the WV capitaol, with the Maserati on the party deck.
Same, same. The idiot clearly didn’t get the memo when he left the Democratic Party that no one missed him. He needs to have it spelled out s l o w l y to him in excruciating detail on national broadcast and streaming networks.
Wouldn’t it be special if that became Manchin’s legacy — a blackhole instead of votes.
So he’s the one responsible for the rotten pecans in the southern butter pecan gelato they make… Every pint has at least 3
You keep buying, and counting?
Sure glad I didn’t go with Talenti for National Ice Cream Day, then!
Is Manchin still a thing?
No.
Not for long.
Didn’t Manchin make a big show of leaving the Democratic party, to the delight of Mitch McConnell et al.?
Yep, both Manchin and Sinema made a big deal out of leaving the party for being “far left”. But Manchin wants back in solely so he can try for the Presidential nomination.
Joe Manchin is 77, about a year younger than Donald Trump. He’s a has been arch-conservative DINO with the worst environmental record among Senate Democrats. If the Democrats really want to lose, they would pick him for the top or bottom of the ticket.
The only good thing about Manchin being a Senator, is that he represents West Virginia and we’d likely have someone even worse, like the Tubberville of WV.
The same with Sinema. I remember she ran against Martha McSally and I’m still glad she won that race.
Manchin executed what fandom communities call a flounce.
source: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Fandom_Flounce
Note how many Democrats begged Manchin not to leave.
*crickets*
Part of Obama’s legacy is that he weakened Ms. Clinton and then Trump succeeded Obama. Part of Lincoln’s martyr legacy is that Andrew Johnson was not Presidential material. Part of Lyndon Johnson’s legacy is that RFK was tragically murdered, and Hubert Humphrey was unable to match the crook, Nixon.
But Biden’s legacy might exceed them all. Are you ready for some history?
If Newsom and the state party chairmen and chairladies are good with Harris, we’re set.
Excellent reporting, as always.
Newsom endorsed.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gov-newsom-endorses-kamala-harris-for-president-in-show-of-california-unity-after-biden-drops-out/ar-BB1qnEWf?ocid=BingNewsSerp
I’m waiting for Schumer, Jeffries & Pelosi to nail the coffin shut. Jaime Harrison can’t speak up, because the Ds have decided (rightly IMO) to pretend that the convention will be open.
The convention can pick the VP nominee. That might be fun.
Someone like Beto might be good.
Beto needed to beat Cruz for a real shot at VP. Not a bad choice but I think there are better ones like Beshear if not Inslee. Beshear would definitely counter the fraudulent hillbilly Vance in his own language and already beat the dedicated Trumper Matt Bevin in rose-red KY.
Reply to Rugger_9
July 21, 2024 at 9:24 pm
Beshear not only beat Bevin, he beat TFG-endorsed Daniel Cameron. Which he couldn’t have done without the help of a significant portion of Republican voters.
As an essentially lame-duck governor whose vetoes are routinely overriden by the Republican superduperstupidmajority in the Kentucky General Assembly, it might make sense for him to run as VP. That would mean his Lieutenant Governor, Jacqueline Coleman, would be the governor, and would position her well for re-election in 2027.
Good point, JSG and since Beshear is term limited he’ll be available, a real Appalachian dude and a winner in a tough place. It will also undercut any ‘west coast values’ attack that would follow Inslee.
I’ll switch to him as my personal first choice.
Harrison can’t speak up because of his formal role as Party chair.
Surely similar prudential considerations affect the present stances of:
Schumer and Jeffries as the present Party leadership in Congress,
Pelosi as the most recent ex Party leader in Congress,
Obama as the most recent Democratic ex-President ?
I posit that all of these are motivated by being manifestly seen to be observing the proprieties.
(Though in Pelosi’s case, in particular, there may well be a preferred outcome she may be working towards behind the scenes, but this is not a possibility to dwell on; I think that it is better all round for everyone else interested in promoting a defeat of Trump, to focus on promoting unity behind KH candidacy, and securing delegates in her favor.)
Thank you to this community for consistently good comments even at times hard contact sport.
Despite support for Joe Biden, the Kamala Harris ticket has been hoped for by my family and friends. We want to pivot from ageist nasty bickering to real issues. First and foremost: reproductive rights. Not just abortion but women continuing to say– keep your laws off our bodies. This includes sex education, contraception, as well the evolution of sexual roles. MAGA wants fundie baby voice housewives but we want our daughters to be Presidents. Not far behind in importance are LGBTQ+ rights. Again– keep your laws off anybody’s body or love. Immigration is a sticky wicket along the Rio Grande. Here in New Mexico we have a long tumultuous history of indigenous rights against Spanish colonialism and American rule. Somehow there is an ability to co-exist for mutual benefit. Nobody here is waving signs that say Mass Deportations Now!. My own choice for Vice-presidential candidate would be Deb Haaland.
I do hope that the Democrats get in array around real issues, not relentless worried yammering about a bad debate performance. Project 2025 must be stopped by continuing to reveal its abhorrent policies. Trump is trying to disengage from it but, as we all know, he is a sociopathic lying grifter. I want us to keep our focus on what is at stake.
I really appreciate hearing your views. New Mexico gets so little notice politically & it deserves much more. I was friends with Barbara Grother ( do I have the name right? ) on facebook but have been off for 2 years. Her political drive for New Mexico was incredible.
Oh, look! A new, bright, shiny thing to write about! The Media are giddy that their campaign worked! The Oligarchs are happy, because they figure a woman married to a millionaire is not going to raise their taxes! And, all the politicos who grift off of donors and betray voters are thrilled.
I am sad about Biden, even though I was shocked at his debate performance. I have seen that decline in my elderly male friends; the fragility, the vacant look and the hesitancy in responding. But, I accepted it was due to illness. It was cruel to pile on while he was recovering from Covid and exhaustion. He is owed our collective apology for the agony he has been put through by his own Party.
My vote will be for Democrats, as my mother so famously reminded me that they’re all “crooks.” So vote for the smartest “crook.” I don’t think Kamala is a crook or a “crook,” and she is damned smart. So, I am voting for her, and praying she will follow through on Biden’s policies re: taxes, etc., etc., etc. We need a woman in that job for a change. Let us hope she has comparable empathy as Biden has shown towards U.S. Citizens to do the right thing.
Lester Holt on NBC is doing his best to fill the journamalistic void left by Lou Dobbs. He’s pushing the ‘fractured Democratic Party’ meme without any real evidence and debased himself enough to give Jason Miller far too many minutes of airtime to trash the Biden Administration as incompetent know-nothings. The only questions Miller needs to answer are how much he’s paying AJ Delgado in child support and how far behind he is on those payments.
That example does prove the point raised elseweb that it was never really about Biden, it was to go after Harris too. I have seen no significant Ds (Dean Phillips, Marianne Willamson and Manchin don’t count) that have pushed back against Harris, but I’d be willing to be corrected.
Watch for Obama. To the best of my knowledge he has not endorsed Harris.
Nor Pelosi, according to the previous post. Who would they prefer or what do they want in exchange for their endorsement? Veto power over the VP pick?
Pelosi can kiss my ass. I don’t know what her story is right now, if she thinks the Speaker Emeritas label entitles her to be the Dowager Queen of the Democratic Party or what. She lost me when she couldn’t keep her mouth shut about Biden though she’s OLDER than he is and should have given up her seat back at least a couple terms ago.
Neither Obama nor Pelosi nor Schumer have yet endorsed Harris. That’s not coincidence, but coordination. I don’t mind, and would think they will coordinate their endorsements by about, say, Wednesday.
Nor Bernie, as of yet. Though holdout Squad members firmly defending Joe as of early this morning have, like AOC and Ayanna Pressley.
I watched a few minutes of AOC’s Instagram Live call yesterday and she was mainly concerned that Kamala we be forced out of consideration. And that rich white major Dem donors wanted to get their capital gains tax rate lowered and Biden wasn’t planning on doing that, so he had to go just for that reason alone. (I’m unclear on what Kamala’s tax policies might be).
See https://www.thedailybeast.com/cori-bush-ayanna-pressley-ilhan-omar-endorse-vp-kamala-harris-for-president
The holdout is Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
Hopefully Obama isn’t listening to Axelrod…
That Obama hasn’t weighed in as fully on-board bugs me too. I would have expected as closely as Biden and Obama worked together in the Obama administration that Biden would have vetted Kamala through Obama as well. Perhaps there is $omething I’m missing here involving big donors and who they’ll back.
As for Pelosi, it may be something dating back to the DA or AG days. SF politics is a notoriously weird soap opera with all sorts of middle-school emotional decision-making. However, I would think that Willie Brown’s endorsement would have some effect on Pelosi. Even though Brown is an ex-BF from long ago, he’s also a very astute politician who as far as I know was the only politician in the USA able to stay Speaker of the Assembly when the GOP had the majority.
Tlaib has to be reelected in her heavily Palestinian district and GOTV for herself and the Presidential ticket. Perhaps she can do that best locally, w/o making any comment now about Harris. A strong endorsement from her could be twisted by MAGA to say “Harris has the antisemitic endorsement because . . .” to try to alienate Jewish/Zionist voters against Harris. With Harris having a Jewish spouse rooted in IP law in CA, it would be a hollow contention, but hollow is a MAGA specialty.
Pelosi, when Speaker was the shibboleth that every Republican back then, ran against, as well as their own opponent. Michele Bachmann did that stunt from a Minnesota district. Pelosi might feel discretion is the better part of valor, leaving her name out. It could add one more to a parade of endorsements, but do more harm than good. With two autocratic personalities on the MAGA ticket, and Pelosi viewed as autocratic in her speakership, let things rest.
Obama, save him for a convention speech with the Harris family with him on stage as he speaks. Enough have endorsed already.
Harris could have my unqualified endorsement if she’d agree to appoint Jamaal Bowman as Ambassador to Israel. He’d be able and motivated to mop up a few communication channels that have been unhelpful.
reply to Rayne:
Pelosi has endorsed Harris. I expect Obama will too in the next few days. This election is so important. Biden as always does the right thing for the country. He has been a fantastic president and relieving him of the campaign work gives him the next 6 months to fully focus of bringing home yet more good things for the American people. Go Biden! Go Harris!
The idea of giving some “media campaign” credit for Biden’s time expiring is not consistent with the facts on the ground.
Biden had a chance and blew it in one miserable night.
Biden polling and fundraising didn’t fall off a cliff because people suddenly listened to media they don’t respect or trust. The implosion was simply because people believed what they saw with their own eyes.
Biden’s efforts to bail out the sinking ship resulted in more gaffes and opportunities for confirmation bias. Talking to BET television he couldn’t remember his own Sec of Defenses name and called him “the black guy.” He couldn’t muster strength to do a town hall meeting and lay the questions about his fitness to rest. Or his advisers discouraged him from that. Which itself spoke volumes.
The writing has been on the wall that this was coming. It was managed well by Biden as you’d expect from the leader that he is and the relationships he fosters. Bless the guy. And bless Kamala who will supercede expectations just like her mentor Joe.
Since 1960 a candidate’s TV image has been crucial to their candidacy. Biden’s TV image was defective. HIs withdrawal was timely and gives his successor a platform from which to win.
I haven’t seen Schiff supporting Kamala. He is trouble and feels entitled. And he has pelosi’sear.
Pelosi has just endorsed.
Agree!
Joe Biden is such a good man, I hope he quickly recovers from covid
Biden should spend the next 6 months presidentin’ like he’s got nothing to lose and force Congress, the media and Republicans to spend time paying attention to his job as president, vs. just going away quietly while they campaign against his VP.
If he’s not campaigning, he has extra time to get more stuff done. Maybe issue some Executive Orders while he’s at it. Maybe get the ball rolling on some SCOTUS judges, either by appointing more or investigating the ones in power. Just president the hell out of his lame duck session.
Yes, he can become the yolo leader and push those items that the US people support but that the Republicans will not want to vote on. Make people take a stand.
Exactly. Keep advocating for policies, including some that should get bipartisan support, and have democratic representatives and senators bring bills forward, then talk a lot about how republican lawmakers refused to debate or vote and are in line with their candidate.
There is a truism in politics that you become a lame duck the minute you announce you’re not running for re-election. I expect Biden to continue to pursue foreign affairs, but he’ll have little power to move domestic issues forward now.
Ignores the power of the Presidency and from a network built over fifty years in the Senate and White House.
Considering the GOP has the House and it’s an election year, there was no chance of any Biden domestic policy being passed anyway. That’s just obvious.
Thankfully Biden wasn’t sitting around his entire term waiting for a Godot-esque Infrastructure Week!
Thanks to SCOTUS, Biden now has full immunity.
That’s pretty much the opposite of “lame.”
My life is usually very interesting to myself and views. I like Kamala a lot, hugely as she is intelligent. Earlier when the dissing of Biden happened, I wasn’t for Biden dropping out. It took me a while to realize that the people pushing for Biden to drop out weren’t the old Hillary crowd. I mistakenly thought it could be aligned with the woman for president at all costs which the cost has been TFG. I’ll never forget “Hillary supporters” were rude & entitled. Kamala I realized stands as her own woman. Very cool.
Where I’m going with this, I totally completely support Kamala. Combining the woman’s vote with the youth vote, WOW my gens Kennedy Johnson era, this looks very, very, good to me.
I’d like a woman VP also. : )
Back to how I see i.e. views. Interesting to me because I was busy today and didn’t look at the new sites until later. Most all had a side view of Kamala or a kind of off look photo of. The oligarch news will end someday. How absurd, rude & slighting. She’s a strong woman soon to be our President. Hurray! Thank You Dear Joe Biden. Good choice. 8 years, YEAH! I repeat woman’s vote & nowadays unprejudiced youth vote. Been a while since my eyes were opened. : )
The news photos today were infinitely better. I’ll take the 2nd impression for the win : )
It’s looking like we will have a career prosecutor versus a career perpetrator.
You damn right we are in array! Thank you so much, Ms. Wheeler, both for this thread and for the incomparable journalism you provide to us nearly every day of the year! I am SO energized by this news! Could there be a greater contrast to a smart, energetic mixed race liberal woman than an obese, old lethargic misogynistic sexual predator who is a white male? She is going to annihilate him with words if he is dumb enough to debate her. She could simply cite the multiple indictments and civil lawsuits pending against this wretched man and eviscerate him verbally on national TV. This is going to be so GOOD!
Well, you might be right. Overconfident early feelings are a possible enemy of the hard work that the hard workers need to do to GOTV. There is no slam dunk highlight reel in Presidential mud wrestling. Different sports.
I think Harris will have no trouble holding the Biden voters support. But saying she’s great is different from being dead certain to vote. Most on the site and thread are there, will vote, but always GOTV is the gold standard.
Trump isn’t going to debate Harris. He is scared shitless of her. Already he is sowing the seeds to get out of any debate. He knows she will skewer him for all the world to see. And for once he is not wrong.
It might be too soon for him, but I would love to see Pete Buttigieg as VP. Imagine the Republican outrage.
Mayor Pete has had a lot of exposure lately due to various crises in the transportation sector, none of them his fault. He is very well spoken and very competent. Him and Harris on the ticket would be total continuity with the previous, successful administration.
I once thought the prospect of having a first guy or second guy, married to a guy, would be too much of a lift for middle America in the early 21st century. Thinking further about it, probably those who genuinely care, as opposed to caring about “electability”, would vote Republican anyway.
But I won’t presume to second-guess the selection process, however it shakes out.
It has been difficult to feel optimistic about our time here, but, the future seems to have more potential now.
VP’s are usually chosen because they help the ticket to garner votes with their own geographic strengths. I’d like to see one chosen for their progressive smarts. I’d like to see Stacey Abrams, or Buttigieg.
I didn’t mean to imply to have Buttigieg as VP simply FOR Republican outrage. That would just be a fun by-product. I was very impressed with how he handled testifying in front of a Congressional Committee recently, very calmly correcting some of the Members misleading statements. He appears to be a steady hand on the tiller to me.
That has been exactly my impression.
If it were based solely on merit, Pete would be a great choice. However, the undercurrent I see while Convict-1 continues his mental decline is the peeling off of quasi-independents as they realize their messiah is what the Ds say he is: a criminal grifter with extraordinary poor morals.
What Pete’s selection would do now is give the RWNM a moral issue in the GGG realm (guns, God and gays) to flog incessantly on top of the ‘San Francisco values’ play they’re already using on Kamala. I’d rather not get the rubes that excited, and Pete’s time will come sooner than later.
Biden was pushed out for exhibiting weak political athleticism.
Harris has a great deal of it.
So does Buttigieg. Pete would complete an amazing ticket.
Rayne above at July 21, 2024 at 11:59 pm (re: Pelosi):
Agree 100% – she had no standing to pull that shit.
I saw on Xitter that Pelosi has backed Harris. I suspect that yesterday’s fundraising haul has a lot to do with it.
Completely disagree with both of you. She is possibly the greatest Speaker of the House ever, vying with LBJ for that title. She single-handedly saved Social Security twice. Obama turned getting the ACA passed over to her, and she did it. She’s done far, far more stuff than just that. She is quite possibly the greatest politician of our time, conservative or liberal. RESPECT. And RESPECT is why she has the standing.
As for her delaying – this is standard “build the consensus by letting the non-leader voices be heard” stuff. All (good) managers in the business world speak last, not first, when issues that require consensus come to the table. This *actually gets taught* in some leadership training classes.
You’re talking about her *past* achievements. I’m talking about her current ongoing failure as a leader in the Democratic Party and her district’s representative.
She’s 84 years old — older than my mother. She’s displaying her own frailty when she’s in public. Her veiled criticism of Biden for continuing his race deserves a clapback because she’s not set any example for other older Dems. Point to one or more solid successors she’s groomed for her district; at least Biden made an excellent choice in Harris.
Some of the media frenzy was fed by a failure of senior Democrats to rally firmly and loudly around Biden, likely because they were too worried about their own asses. That includes Pelosi who is running yet again for another term after +37 years in office, redistricted four times.
,,, and for a longer take on it,
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/07/nancy-pelosi-kamala-harris-endorsement-biden-jeffries-schumer.html
I chuckled at Andy Beshear talking about neighbors fighting with neighbors, reminiscent of the Rand Paul lawncare incident.
Whitmer as VP choice would not only be historic, but energize the women vote, anti-Dobbs vote and anti Project 2025 vote. Plus, who wouldn’t want to see her debate the fake hillbilly…plus it would solidify Michigan and I’m guessing Wisconsin too.
The VP candidate will likely be a white man. The selection would mirror how the Democratic Party has operated — if the head of the party is Race/Gender A, the vice chair will be the opposite/other Race/Gender B.
I don’t like the binary, I questioned it when I was active in state party politics because I am multi-racial/multi-ethnic. All I got was a blank stare in response followed by a bunch of filibustering.
That’s relatively inevitable. She needs a VP 8-12 years younger than she is. She has to solidify the new era, New Frontier, message.
I wonder if she will be willing to nominate a man or woman who played the odds in 2020 instead of taking the risks she accepted. She may prefer someone who was in the 2020 primary contest.
Is there some pick that would bring Obama and perhaps James Carville into the fold?
Carville? Seriously? Fuck him.
You want a bridge past Gen X, Carville is NOT the opinion to seek. He’s 79 years old and most Millennials and Gen Z have no fucking clue who he is nor give a rat’s ass about him if they do.
He’s definitely not helping matters flooding Democratic voters’ email boxes this last couple years by way of multiple candidates, electeds, and PACs. His stuff is immediately filtered to my spam box.
yes Rayne, I get that and I surmised right away that Beshear is the likely choice but he doesn’t do two things: he won’t put Kentucky in play (my home state) and he won’t solidify Michigan and Penn and Wisconsin like Whitmer would…
I disagree that Beshear wouldn’t put Kentucky in play. How do you think he got elected? By peeling off Republican support.
I loved watching Willie Geist interview Andy Beshear. Beshear is very dynamic, personable and authentic. He also called out Vance for being the jerk he is. As Beshear said, “He ain’t from here!”
I think Beshear would be an outstanding VP. (Full disclosure: My Grandma was from Kentucky.)
“I’m not going anywhere:’ Michigan Gov. Whitmer says about possible Vice Presidential pick”
Duncan Phenix
WLNS
July 22, 2024
https://www.wlns.com/your-local-election-hq/im-not-going-anywhere-michigan-gov-whitmer-says-about-possible-vice-presidential-pick/
I wasn’t expecting Whitmer either, not because she isn’t ready (she is) but like Shapiro she is too important to MI (and PA) where they are now.
Jamie Raskin.
Harris as President would mean five of the six most important elected positions in Massachusetts would be women, if you count the mayor of Boston. Not only that, but one lesbian, one Black, and one Chinese-American so far.
Replying to HCGorman
July 22, 2024 at 9:11 am
“I haven’t seen Schiff supporting Kamala. He is trouble and feels entitled. And he has pelosi’sear.”
See:
“Schiff throwing ‘full support’ behind Harris”
Miranda Nazzaro
The Hill
07/22/24 9:31 AM ET
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4785545-schiff-throwing-full-support-behind-harris/
Thanks for the heads up on Schiff. glad to see he did the right thing.
YW.
TBH, I initially read your post as ‘pelosi’s[r]ear’.
Which made me spew coffee at my screen, and I’m still chuckling.
So…thanks for that.
Something my beloved predicted is a court case by the GOP that the replacement of Biden by Harris is somehow illegal, tapping into the byzantine election rules in the various states. She says it will get to SCOTUS who will of course (6-3) agree with Mike Johnson and the Heritage Foundation.
I see a couple of problems with that tack, not that the SCOTUS majority cares:
1. There is no nominee until there is a vote to create one. That vote has not happened yet, and since Biden has released his delegates by withdrawing from the race it’s still within the DNC bylaws to decide the ballot lines. I do expect OH GOP to muck around on this point.
2. Heritage has to show standing, an actual tort where damage to them can be shown. If they follow their usual pattern, they’ll pay off a faux Biden voter to scream he’s being cancel-cultured out of his choice.
Any such litigation should be laughed out of court, but Speaker Johnson is already on record that he supports the litigation, taking out time from measuring drapes for the Oval Office.
A well connected friend in S.F. attended a soiree at Nancy’s two weeks ago. Nancy wants Gavin with Gretchen as VP.
See:
“Tough. Fearless. Tenacious,” Newsom said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“With our democracy at stake, and our future on the line, no one is better to prosecute the case against Donald Trump’s dark vision and guide our country in a healthier direction than America’s Vice President.”
Faith E. Pinho
LA Times
July 21, 2024
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-07-21/la-na-pol-newsom-harris
Governor Newsom has had no problem diplomatically pushing back against Speaker Emeritus Pelosi, if your anecdote is accurate.
Unimaginative pairing from the computer at central casting. As such fantasy pairings do, it ignores reality.
Stephen Miller was ranting on Faux that we need to honor the primary election results that picked Biden. I’ve never laughed so hard. Good one, Steve.
Comedy gold, but I seriously can’t picture anyone calling him “Steve,” which would be like calling Jared Kushner “J-Rod.”
“Heinrich” has a nice ring to it.
But “Siegfried” has The Ring, though.
I’m waiting for the immolation scene.
It was a coup! [Sarcasm] But in all seriousness, the usual suspects, including David Sacks, have actually been describing Biden’s withdrawal and endorsement of Harris as a “coup.” Erick Erickson, meanwhile, posted on Xitter that “Biden stepping aside is the American equivalent of all those people accidentally falling out of windows in Russia” (https://nitter.poast.org/EWErickson/status/1815356264295084462). The real Erick Erickson is a parody of himself.
His rant includes such gems as “they filled in circles!!!!”
But you know what is really triggering Stephen? He tells you:
“…the Republican Party spent tens of millions of dollars running against Joe Biden”
Time for some Fats Domino…
Sending out my Love and Thanks to President Joe Biden, whose selfless act of standing down yesterday still, to be sure, warms the cockles of my heart today.
I’ve been thinking of the quote below all summer – it kept popping into my head, even though I don’t recall having read the whole of Common Sense, unless it was back in high school: now it makes perfect (not common;) sense to me!!
“These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” — Thomas Paine
So, groovin’ on Cream – I Feel Free
Ahem!
More accurate to say that the above quote came from the first in a series of pamphlets titled “The American Crisis” published between 1776-1777 and 1783. The famous quote is at the very beginning and was published in the Pennsylvania Journal on December 19, 1776. Paine had already written/published “Common Sense” on Jan 10, 1776. -Wikipedia
Bit of a Panic in Detroit, but it’s all right now baby…
Nancy just endorsed. And a few minutes ago Manchin did a quick 180 and bowed out.
Both from the WaPo live updates; not sure of the URLs.
Didn’t Manchin make a big pony show of resigning from the Democratic party? And he thinks we should consider him? Hahahahahaha, yeah
Here’s PELOSI:
https://bsky.app/profile/nycsouthpaw.bsky.social/post/3kxv7dcdyhf2m
Jul 22, 2024 at 1:24 PM
Also, the entire PA delegation:
https://bsky.app/profile/adambonin.bsky.social/post/3kxv6plmigf2f
Jul 22, 2024 at 1:13 PM
Marcy has the PELOSI endorsement in the post:
A guide to the coming attacks on Kamala Harris
https://popular.info/p/a-guide-to-the-coming-attacks-on
Judd Legum Jul 22, 2024
It’s already started and it’s vile, see Digby:
https://digbysblog.net/2024/07/22/the-kamala-attack-book/
Needless to say Loomer has been particularly vile. I won’t link to her graphic lies, some of which have been put in Xitter jail.
These people are desperate
Desperate, with no message that resonates with the groups Convict-1 is trying to reach and no capability to STFU.
Harris’ campaign brought in 81 M$ in 24 hours from small donors and that is a truer picture of support than anything the courtier press says.
So far, all I’ve seen is Hannity trying to rile up the plastic straw coalition and the enormous “people who hate laughing” demographic.
FACT FOCUS: A look at false claims around Kamala Harris and her campaign for the White House
Melissa Goldin and David Klepper
Updated 1:25 PM GMT-7, July 22, 2024
AP
https://apnews.com/article/harris-trump-biden-election-misinformation-d4efb8f48904d71e914e4d1376ca9b28
Forgive me if this has already been mentioned, yet it made my day.
Wes Moore, governor of Maryland on X, 7/22/24, 10:03 AM:
“Donald Trump is about to find out being the President of the United States is a Black job.”
[Accompanied by a photo of he and VP Harris, with US Flags in background, appropriately sporting big grins]
According to an ActBlue tracker, Dems have now raised over $100M from small donors since yesterday afternoon — much of it likely going to Harris.
https://observablehq.com/@rdmurphy/actblue-ticker-tracker
I wondered. Thank you.
I’ve been inundated with fundraising texts from a number of places today, some of them quite obscure.
My response to the legit ones has been “I’m focusing on Harris 2024 today.”
Update re: how much of that was raised by Harris …
Charlotte Clymer:
https://bsky.app/profile/charlotteclymer.bsky.social/post/3kxvgsp43yh2e
includes a screenshot of the Harris Campaign announcment
Maybe ActBlue can ask for money from some past donors to her campaigns – one Donald J. Trump and his daughter, Ivanka:
“California records show that Trump contributed $5,000 in September 2011 toward Harris’ 2014 reelection campaign, and followed up with another $1,000 in February 2013. His daughter Ivanka Trump also donated to the campaign, contributing $2,000 in 2014.”
https://www.npr.org/2024/07/22/g-s1-12696/kamala-harris-donation-trump-election
“Harris campaign spokesman Ian Sams told McClatchy that Harris donated the $6,000 Trump had contributed to a non-profit that advocates for civil and human rights for Central Americans”
Emily Caden
Sac Bee
AUGUST 11, 2020
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article226975319.html
He also donated to Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom campaigns.
So, there seem to be no rules on how to proceed. I keep coming back to the thought of how to make the choice more demonstratively democratic. Something like all registered Democrats being given a security code and asked to “vote” for the VP of their choice during the convention? Something that made us look better than a having bunch of rich insiders picking a ticket we never voted for? It would be a PR stunt, but the convention is a show.
VP will be chosen by Harris, as has been the case in the past, he/she is confirmed by the delegates. Republicans did the same last week when Trump named JD his running mate.
The reason the virtual vote became necessary was because the OH legislature said they couldn’t amend the law there to permit the Ds to place the names on the ballot for November, even though waivers were routinely granted for both parties since it went into effect in the 80s.
After much blowback the Leg and Governor DeWine (GOP) passed a law to take effect 01 SEP for a waiver which also happens to be the cutoff day. However, the OH Dems don’t trust the legislature the DNC went to a virtual ballot. I think the date is early August, which gives Harris time for some vetting and/or the delegates can do their VP pick then.
Conventions still have to sort out platforms and other leadership details so it’s not just about picking the ticket.
Hmm, so something virtual has been done. I didn’t know about that. My point was to give the people some form of input would look good to the nation. Maybe people could suggest their platform priorities. Point is voters feel left out. The electoral college codifies that. What could we do as a party ”of us” , as Cory Booker just called us.
First, you have an immediate way to express yourself and your priorities: go to the local Democratic Party office and get involved. Based on my personal experience it only took me showing up at one meeting and asking questions to make a serious difference.
Quite honestly it’s on Americans who feel left out — they assume they don’t have to do anything, that the party will simply show up on their doorstep, in their mailbox, on their phone and stroke their fee-fees. Fuck no. Democracy is a full contact sport and it requires the engagement of voters to keep the republic.
Second, the public has plenty of opportunities to shape platforms. Write to elected officials; visit campaign offices and events. Do it regularly. Vote every election, up and down the ticket. There’s nobody stopping you and other voters, you’re just not being spoon fed.
Electoral College codifies nothing. The only reason the primaries and conventions are done this way is because they are used as a means of creating and inspiring the base. Vice President Harris was already selected to be the VP candidate in the primaries, now she has to get the delegates who were pledged to the President (who he released) to switch to her as the Presidential candidate.
Conventions now are nothing more than a big rally. I think it was the 1860 Presidential election where the first combined ticket was used, before that both offices were individually elected.
Harris has the delegate votes already lined up. Took her about 24 hours. So, on to the VP pick.
Not sure how this works, but I imagine she will now have to release those same delegates to open the spot for VP.
Daniel Nichanian: “It’s over: A majority of the pledged DNC delegates have now endorsed Kamala Harris, virtually ensuring she clinches the Democratic nomination on the first ballot. The endorsement of California’s delegation just now put her hundreds of delegates over the threshold needed.”
https://bsky.app/profile/taniel.bsky.social/post/3kxvzfjzmil2p
I just caught Kamala Harris’ powerful speech in WI and I mostly wept through it, for a variety of reasons.