US Politics, August 2024 -- "Unburdened By a Has-Been"

can't let the brainworms eat all the good parts

polls show rfk primarily pulling votes from trump with a small slice of dem voters in safe states supporting him based on the bugs and bears stuff

well RFK has locked up the John Carpenter vote, he's serving Prince of Darkness like damn

I always assumed a big chunk of the 3rd party vote was from people going "anyone but these two" when it was Biden and Trump, which is why recent polls have it decreasing as Harris's numbers go up. tbh I'm not sure how many of these voters Trump wins back, I mean he's gonna have to change something but he's just not capable

what strikes me is a) the RNC is over and done with, and therefore they already had their biggest shot at getting their message out. b) the DNC is still a couple weeks away. c) Harris is outspending Trump everywhere. d) Harris is high energy happy and showing up all over the country to enormous rallies, Trump is mostly sending out his "please clap" VP. e) Harris has strong proxies who will go to bat for her everywhere in crucial states, and no one seems to be really going to bat for Trump that much.

― omar little, Thursday, August 8, 2024 10:14 AM (seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

don't forget Trump is yet to be sentenced, feel like that's going to come at a bad time for him

feel like the AZ stuff might start to bubble up a bit more too.

all the polling and just his politics seem pretty clear that rfk jr is attracting mostly conservatives, which is pretty funny as his whole campaign was prob intended to be a dem spoiler, they thought they could get by on his name alone

nice touch "kathy johnson from the kellogg family" btw

I think right now he's pulling more from trump than Harris, but by November he will be pulling nothing from nobody (except me, I'm going to vote for him).

gotta go with the guy covered in bugs every time

xp
yeah some kind of story about dynastic wealth & reality to be told here

she should talk to the press tho

Some interesting stuff on Politico about this today:

Ever since Biden passed Harris the baton, news organizations have been pushing the vice president’s team for a sit-down interview. According to two people familiar with the campaign’s thinking, there are ongoing discussions about a joint interview with Harris and Walz prior to the convention, which begins on Aug. 19 in Chicago. But on the whole, Harris’ top communications aides are deeply skeptical, as Biden’s inner circle was, that doing big interviews with major TV networks or national newspapers offer much real upside when it comes to reaching swing voters.

One longtime Harris ally suggested to West Wing Playbook that Harris could hold off on big interviews until after Labor Day. “There’s really no need,” the person said. “The voters that she needs are at the local level. They’re not reading the national press.”

Walz, whose viral cable TV appearances helped propel him onto the ticket, could be deployed on television more liberally than Harris in the coming months, the two people said. But it’s also quite possible both candidates will focus much of their media outreach on podcasts, influencers and other platforms outside the traditional news media.

So far, Harris’ rally speeches, delivered via teleprompter, have been well received. And she has routinely interacted with the reporters that travel with her — but on her terms. She often visits with the press pool seated at the back of her plane (something Biden did just twice in more than three years), but speaking only off the record. And when she has chosen to comment on the record on something in the news, Harris has spoken to the pool on the tarmac, making statements but not taking questions.

“What is the incentive for her [to take more questions]?” said another person close to the campaign who was granted anonymity to share how Harris’ team views the matter. “She’s getting out exactly the message she wants to get out.”

David Remnick interviews Nancy Pelosi:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/nancy-pelosis-art-of-power

Key quote:
“You take a punch, but you have to be willing to throw a punch. For the children.”

yeah some kind of story about dynastic wealth & reality to be told here

― rob, Thursday, August 8, 2024 11:28 AM (five seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

hes like of course theyll want to know from which of the families she descends

its nice that they didnt pick this phony

“Faith” is really not something you hear Jews… ever talk about. https://t.co/cbNONyJ3mr

— Isi Breen (@isaiah_bb) August 8, 2024

i get what those campaign people are saying, but getting your own message out is not the only reason to take questions. if that were true then sure, just keep doing scripted rallies, why talk to those people.

you talk to the press in part to rebut the claim that you are not talking to the press, which does matter to a certain kind of voter, especially if it becomes one of things that you are known for (e.g. Biden). we're not there yet with Harris, and maybe the off the record stuff is sufficient for now.

you also talk to the press because you believe in democracy

RFKII is siphoning off the antivaxxers, a strong group that helped deliver Trump in '16, and if anything is a stronger bloc in '24.

I don't think Harris should allow the appearance that Trump gets to dictate what she does or does not do. Being reactive is loser stuff. Trump stuff.

She can take questions in her own way in her own time.

I always assumed a big chunk of the 3rd party vote was from people going "anyone but these two" when it was Biden and Trump, which is why recent polls have it decreasing as Harris's numbers go up. tbh I'm not sure how many of these voters Trump wins back,

The third party % will decrease as the election gets closer; both sides are looking at it as the Flight 93 election, the most important election ever, etc.

I guess every election from now on will be called a Flight 93 election, and in a sense that is correct. Most voters believe the other side is the devil.

she should just go on drew barrymore show or something. get more swing voters that way anyway.

you also talk to the press because you believe in democracy

OK, this was genuinely funny. Good one.

The NY/DC political press has nothing to do with "democracy." It's an elitist sideshow that wants to drag politicians into their world of court intrigue and either doesn't give a fuck whether anything ever gets done to actually help people, or is actively hostile to that effort. If I was a political candidate I would never talk to any reporter from the Times, the Post, or any other "major" outlet.

not a big democracy believer, cant say im surprised

she should do hot ones. well know this to be true.

I genuinely don't see the connection between democracy and talking to the New York Times. Can you explain it to me?

hot ones would be a brilliant idea.

The View. that would be good too.

she should totally do one of those CNN town halls though, the type that Obama was good at

a free press is generally considered to be a essential part of democracy, regardless even if youre pure a high level realpolitikio not talking to the press is stupid it will just cause them to become even more blood thirsty werewolves terrorizing the night or whatever

a free press is generally considered by journalists to be a essential part of democracy

not talking to the press is stupid it will just cause them to become even more blood thirsty werewolves terrorizing the night or whatever

So, blackmail. Cool, cool.

agree with unperson on this... political press is toxic as hell for Democrats, can't say I really understand why but they always revert to Republican framing no matter what

https://media.tenor.com/6hmiwiYMh58AAAAM/money.gif

most of the press at this point is owned by rich guys who want to stay rich and make sure they get tax cuts

I think Harris should give interviews to local press about local issues in every city she visits. But I think the New York Times and the Washington Post and every other self-described "major" paper should be frozen out completely. Because they suck at their jobs, and they're demonstrably in the tank for Trump already. So fuck 'em.

agree with unperson on this... political press is toxic as hell for Democrats, can't say I really understand why but they always revert to Republican framing no matter what

― the absence of bikes (f. hazel), Thursday, August 8, 2024 11:53 AM (twenty-one seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

thats more of a long term problem for democrats, some of which is def of their own making, but just being like sorry you guys are toxic actually is not only not going to work out well its also lame bs

meanwhile, joe biden is trying to warn people about trump doing what he says - refusing to accept a loss and doing another coup and never having an election again - but unfortunately it came out like this:

“If [Donald] Trump loses, I’m not confident at all” that there would be a peaceful transfer of power, Biden said. “He means what he says. We don’t take him seriously. He means it, all the stuff about, ‘If we lose, there’ll be a bloodbath, it’ll have to be a stolen election.’”

Biden and the NYT had a mutual antipathy (based on the NYT thinking it should have special access) I wonder if Kamala shares his attitude.

xp
oh wait, i think i see what he meant. i guess it just reads poorly, maybe it sounds better spoken

I dont understand what he means by that, if Trump loses it would be Biden transferring power to Harris, who cares what Trump thinks?

a free press is generally considered by journalists to be a essential part of democracy

― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Thursday, August 8, 2024 11:52 AM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

not sure what the point of making things up is, you can take issue with the formulation but pretending this isnt civics 101 is just silly

the idea that it's ok to avoid hostile questioning simply because it's hostile would not fly in most countries.

Biden and the NYT had a mutual antipathy (based on the NYT thinking it should have special access) I wonder if Kamala shares his attitude.

that politico piece suggests her press strategy is being run by the same people, so probably yes.

I'm hoping Trump is busy right now studying his COVID briefings so he can capture some of that special magic he had four years ago this afternoon.

you also talk to the press because you believe in democracy

this equating of democracy and public vetting of candidates by the press goes back to the post-WWII era of the national liberal consensus and the strong desire of the press to shed its "yellow journalism and muckraking" image for a more idealized image of responsibility and trustworthiness. it feels to me like that banner is still proudly waved by the majority of journalists, but the old social framework within which those standards were developed and maintained has all but disappeared. it's an atavism.

thats more of a long term problem for democrats, some of which is def of their own making, but just being like sorry you guys are toxic actually is not only not going to work out well its also lame bs

meh, in the 90s your argument makes sense but Harris campaign has like 5000 other avenues for getting their message out to voters these days, why fuck with the New York Times? they aren't even a serious news org anymore, the newspaper is a loss leader to sell puzzle subscriptions

this equating of democracy and public vetting of candidates by the press goes back to the post-WWII era of the national liberal consensus and the strong desire of the press to shed its "yellow journalism and muckraking" image for a more idealized image of responsibility and trustworthiness. it feels to me like that banner is still proudly waved by the majority of journalists, but the old social framework within which those standards were developed and maintained has all but disappeared. it's an atavism.

Was coming back to add exactly this point.

Meantime, more on the ground, love and happiness in Georgia:

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bzwidbjmtse2letyqcd6tdsi/bafkreigr3iujdoc4ezeubsvbi55vd6h5ra7w5ftfegqspaup5m3sfn4hly@jpeg

its not just the new york times shes not taking questions, and since i dont work for the campaign i dont see the media as just a way to get her message out

When it comes to the press, why are you all so intent on hurting Benjy Sarlin's feelings, you heartless trolls?

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yxavlmxjv2j2nwvjesmq5ogl/bafkreiex2wa5nzfgcv7kpenwrlg27pbt4ek72ryhi6bixeav57a6khhtqe@jpeg

SARLIN et al: "Why are you ignoring us?"

AMERICA (watching the Olympics): "You say something?"

this equating of democracy and public vetting of candidates by the press goes back to the post-WWII era of the national liberal consensus and the strong desire of the press to shed its "yellow journalism and muckraking" image for a more idealized image of responsibility and trustworthiness. it feels to me like that banner is still proudly waved by the majority of journalists, but the old social framework within which those standards were developed and maintained has all but disappeared. it's an atavism.

― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Thursday, August 8, 2024 12:06 PM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

pretty sure ideas like the fourth estate predate the end of ww2

Meantime, the gentle people:

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:c7ozmxoc5b2ky4iam2o36uic/bafkreihlg5tzmdijrnzur6mrjrowicvyj5iaiojcmumpf33ytcemk3xvbe@jpeg