US Politics, July 2024 - "Will you just drop out, man?"

To be fair to Doggett, he’s not just some random Democrat, he’s a 77-year-old white guy and longtime congressman who supported Biden in 2020. He ought to be Biden’s core political demographic. But it’s also significant mostly because he’s a crack in the dam, and those have a way of spreading.

I don't know. I prefer Mulder.

Clyburn was saying immediately after the debate, Biden or Harris, either one, so I didn't put much into his statement today

Why are people talking like Biden's stepping down? Because a Congressman from Texas said he should?

― A So-Called Pulitzer price winner (President Keyes), Tuesday, July 2, 2024 2:46 PM bookmarkflaglink

Biden's literal campaign co-chair said he'd support Harris if he stepped down. after two days ago publicly pooh-poohing the idea. you don't think a lot of discussion happened behind the scenes for him to say that publicly?

The one state I don't believe in that Puck poll is New Mexico. Really?

Doggett's been a Texas House rep since 1994, and he's very well-liked and not prone to saying bullshit for attention

I take Clyburn's statement as a shot at the folks talking up Whitmer and Newsom over Kamala.

Whitmer would be a good choice

sentencing pushed until September, gives them 2 more months to figure out how to squash it entirely

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-hush-money-sentencing-immunity-b2572660.html

Whitmer would be a good choice

no, because then the $200 mil already raised is wasted, we've been over this

Yeah, but it would be the highest-rated episode of The West Wing ever. Two women, one white, one black, fighting for the Democratic nomination? How beautifully American-dream!

Seymour Hersh's substack looks at Biden's withdrawal in 1987 to see how he came to that decision then. Anyway, interesting tidbit I'd never heard:

They were set up on a blind date after Biden saw her modeling in a Parks Department ad at the airport, and they hit it off immediately.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/02/joe-manchin-biden-debate-democrats-drop-out/

As panic and confusion over President Biden’s faltering debate performance swept the ranks of Democratic lawmakers late last week, Sen. Joe Manchin III informed a few key allies that he would soon break with Biden in an interview on a Sunday news show, a high-profile defection that would underscore the president’s weakness.

Democrats feared Manchin — a moderate West Virginia senator who recently registered as an independent but caucuses with Democrats — would call for Biden to step aside. If he did, the senator would then become the first prominent elected official allied with the party to call for Biden to exit the presidential race.

But he didn’t. Senior Democrats heard of Manchin’s plans and started making calls to the independent-minded senator, who once used a Sunday show appearance to announce his opposition to Biden’s top agenda item and effectively kill it. The “full-court press” was quickly assembled to help dissuade Manchin from appearing on the show, according to two people familiar with the response who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

president joe manchin nearly led the charge

sentencing pushed until September, gives them 2 more months to figure out how to squash it entirely

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-hush-money-sentencing-immunity-b2572660.html

― frogbs, Tuesday, July 2, 2024 12:27 PM bookmarkflaglink

The sentence might be squashed but the thing he paid the hush money for isn't hush anymore, and all these hearings draw attention to it.

The Focus Group was interviewing Hillary voters who were thinking of voting for Trump or RFK or sitting out. One thing (and I agree with milo on this), they mentioned is that part of the appeal to these voters is it seems like Trump is a "reset" or outsider again.

I think this could remind these voters that it's not that Trump is innocent, it's that Trump needs to be bailed out by the Supreme Court justices - that Trump appointed. It makes him the ultimate insider, a very different proposition than in 2016.

Fuck Pete Buttigieg and don’t even joke about him being in contention

Is it just me or is Buttigieg the best polling Democratic candidate in every swing state except Michigan (where Whitmer is the Governor)? pic.twitter.com/eDBOKnkLfk

— Armand Domalewski (@ArmandDoma) July 2, 2024

no, because then the $200 mil already raised is wasted, we've been over this

― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Tuesday, July 2, 2024 12:30 PM (twenty-nine minutes ago)

it literally can't be anybody other than Harris, y'all can stop now

no, because then the $200 mil already raised is wasted, we've been over this

there are several prominent Democratic donors for whom two hundred mil is not peanuts, but not really an "oh, shit" amount either. the question that needs to be asked is whether you're really getting any value at all on that 200 mil, because its worth is zero if it supports a non-viable proposition. The point about donors making a stink about who they donated to is an OK one if we actually thought politicians gave a shit about pissing off the people who support them which last I checked, no! I agree that for many reasons it could ONLY be Harris, on your main point I concur, but that 200 mil -- that's not really the sticking point I don't think

that's fair, point taken, just a super frustrating situation all around

Yeah, if this is something that might conceivably happen and not just fantasy baseball, I'm persuaded by all the arguments both optical and logistical that it would have to be Harris. I would have preferred an open primary (which she obviously would have run in), but pushing this to an open convention now definitely would be messy and problematic. I don't love Harris — more because of her poor primary performance in '20 than anything else, from a strictly pragmatic pov — but I think she has the capacity to generate at least some energy and excitement, there is a motivated Dem/progressive base out there that is pretty much desperate for anyone-but-Biden to rally around. It would change the entire dynamics of the race. Will Americans really elect a Black woman? It's a tall order, but we're already in unprecedented territory so ... maybe?

re: Buttigieg he's one of those D politicians who is very deeply hated by the young and hip, and by the olds who still consider themselves young and hip. he is very much on the "we'll work harder to defeat him than we will to defeat a Republican" list for these dudes

I like Whitmer and do not want to see her potential squandered on this last-minute shitshow

crut otm

also Pete is a CIA mole ;)

if he's CIA I really wouldn't mind him getting as much physical proximity to the (R) candidate as possible, like when they're in a room having some diet cokes or whatever

lol, save us deep state

i don't have anything to add just wanna say what a fucking shit show this is.

not despairing either just like, the debate and the immunity and everyone just knowing the democrats aren't gonna do shit

and none of the crazy shit trump said in the debate or like calling for liz cheney to be sent to a tribunal none of it even a blip

reminder to renew your passports now

Whitmer has said she doesn’t want it. If democracy survives, we can all immediately switch to hating her when she runs in 2028.

Buttigieg's sterling record with Black voters makes him a shoo-in.

Will Americans really elect a Black woman? It's a tall order, but we're already in unprecedented territory so ... maybe?

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, July 2, 2024 1:05 PM bookmarkflaglink

The US elected Obama twice. A significant number of Republicans voted for Nikki Haley over Trump in the primaries.

Whether those Haley voters are pissed off enough to stay home or vote for Harris or RFK, I don't know. But I don't think think this is as tall of an order, at least where I sit in my deep blue state bubble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDUP3GFHix4

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:izxpomdyri45gzhppiiyattq/bafkreifnrmqikuslkl6vnep2csux5kn2rczmlabv5dawrw43knqwnq4utq@jpeg

I don't think think this is as tall of an order, at least where I sit in my deep blue state bubble.

If she does end up as the nominee, I would very much want to believe this. But Black women ime scare the hell out of conservatives and maybe even some "moderates," they are routinely portrayed as angry, crazy, radical, threatening. They managed to make Michelle Obama scary, and all she wanted was for people to eat vegetables. (In that sense, Harris' otherwise lamentable law-and-order credentials might help, who knows.)

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7if4sphhnmtfsklcixbg2i4g/bafkreibgff27no3lr7e4gywu62aax75jbkwaj67nfwz5oj7s5mwzbd53ru@jpeg

Volunteering for the War on Terror a decade in to polish your political resume is far more disqualifying than Kamala being a cop.

xpost love how he frames this as "the difference is Trump didn't say he wanted to lock up his opponent". literally did that all throughout 2016 dipshit as a candidate!

as felicity inadvertently alluded to, correctly: the difference between harris and obama re: electability is that obama has won a democratic primary and (twice) a general election. the candidate that has the best chance of winning is the one the party should choose. harris would not be my choice in an open primary, but in the pinch the parry currently finds itself in, she may be the safest choice.

If she does end up as the nominee, I would very much want to believe this. But Black women ime scare the hell out of conservatives and maybe even some "moderates," they are routinely portrayed as angry, crazy, radical, threatening. They managed to make Michelle Obama scary, and all she wanted was for people to eat vegetables. (In that sense, Harris' otherwise lamentable law-and-order credentials might help, who knows.)

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, July 2, 2024 1:27 PM bookmarkflaglink

That could be true. However, as jaymc often correctly observes, it is not the preferences of posters itt that "matter" but apparently these voters:

1) hold nc
2) flip georgia and arizona
3) make headway in wisconsin, michigan, and pennsylvania

Haley won more votes than the margin of victory in Georgia and Arizona. These NeverTrump Republicans are really extremely fed up. Quite possible that Kamala being a "cop" is a feature for them, not a bug

I would very much like to know if those voters know anything at all about Harris' CA record!

Why, do you think the Haley voters will like it or not like it?

is it crazy to think that even more nevertrumpers will be born after the scotus decision

no

_Fuck Pete Buttigieg and don’t even joke about him being in contention_

🐦[Is it just me or is Buttigieg the best polling Democratic candidate in every swing state except Michigan (where Whitmer is the Governor)? pic.twitter.com/eDBOKnkLfk🕸
— Armand Domalewski (@ArmandDoma) July 2, 2024🕸]🐦

lol, save us deep state

any port in a storm imo

My antipathy to Buttigieg is the one thing that drives the MSNBC contingent of my circle bonkers; they can't fathom it! They know him as the articulate mouse-faced gay dude who calmly destroys the GOP on FOX.

table and I don't agree on much politically these days, but we're as one re Buttigieg -- though I'd vote for him in the unlikely chance he's the nominee.

I think actual Never Trumpers could find Harris palatable, sure. But I assume they're already voting for Biden anyway. The key voters are more the "hate them all/none of it matters anyway" crowd, which inevitably is going to have its share of people who wouldn't tell you they're racist but have lots of questions about Black women being "qualified" for whatever it is they may be doing (apart from menial labor).

Still. After the past week I think Harris or anyone (or at least anyone who might conceivably end up in the slot) has the potential to change the dynamics and reset the race, and is therefore a better option than what we have.

There is no way I would vote for that warmongering McKinsey fuckface, hope him and his dumb husband actually witness the hellfire that evangelicals want all of us fags to see. They deserve it.