US Politics: July 2020 - "Denigrating this Luxury Avenue"

Fauci's main job right now is to convince Republicans that this thing is real & dangerous and I respect him for swallowing his ego to do so

“Public spokesperson for infectious disease response” is not his real job. He’s the widely respected director of NIAID, has been for decades, and has an organization and an extramural community of hundreds of grant-funded researchers supportive of his leadership. Resigning wouldn’t dent Trump and would hamper the work of his colleagues.

I'm sure there are a lot of government folks right now thinking "Six months to go..."

If Fauci resigned, the GOP line would be that his opinion is invalid as he no longer has access to the most up-to-date information.

yeah he's in a shitty spot. he's allowed to do media appearances it seems as long as they aren't official or only via podcasts and crap. I hope he's getting through to some Republicans but I honestly don't know. And the longer he's there getting crapped on by Trump it introduces this doubt about scientists that is bound to wreck any vaccination effort when and if a vaccine shows up; I hadn't really thought through all the implications of this until Kathleen Sibelius said this:

"Kathleen Sebelius, who served as secretary of Health and Human Services under former President Barack Obama, told CNN efforts to discredit Fauci and other scientists are "potentially very, very dangerous" as the US and other countries work toward a coronavirus vaccine.

"I think people want to know from the scientists that the vaccine is safe, that it is effective, that it will not do more harm than good," she told Blitzer on "The Situation Room."

"And if the public scientists have been discredited, if the President says 'don't believe them, you can't listen to them, they're often wrong,' we have then undermined a national vaccination campaign which is an essential step to bringing this horrible period to an end.""

lol frogb's don jr msg

Who is the floating head gnawing on Donald Jr.'s shoulder?

Fauci remains in control of the vaccine search stuff IIUC so has concluded that he is better inside the tent being pissed on, which, fair enough, thank you for your service.

this appears to be the only competitive gubernatorial race this year

Missouri Governor GE:
Mike Parson (R-inc) 41% (+2)
Nicole Galloway (D) 39%@YouGovAmerica/@SLU_Official 6/23-7/1https://t.co/sw6774hxek #MOgov

— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) July 13, 2020

Don't know if it's translating into any real support but GODDAMN Omar's challenger in MN is spending money on direct mail and distributing fliers, get two a day sometimes

Driving around the Lake of the Isles/Lowry Hill area the other day, am seeing his sign on a ton of lawns. I want a deeper dive into who's funding this dude's campaign.

something tells me it's going to be a rich christian who believes in literal approaching armageddon

what's the polling on her? I wouldn't be surprised to see her lose TBH

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/07/20/is-working-with-the-lincoln-project-sleeping-with-the-enemy

i *wish* it was an erotic thriller

"working with the lincoln project"

steamy

I haven't read that article yet but the answer is "yes"

it is 100% letting the enemy fingerbang you in the hopes that they will help you get a Honda Prelude

Something something something Lincoln logs

what's the polling on her? I wouldn't be surprised to see her lose TBH

MN-5 is like +25 Dem, most liberal district in Minnesota, there's no chance Omar loses in 2020

Trump's campaign is spending 13% of its Facebook digital advertising budget on Texas.

— Plural Vote 📊🗳📈 (@plural_vote) July 13, 2020

To what extent does any progressive / liberal / Democrat need to "work" with the Lincoln Project?

I think I can enjoy whatever chaos they are able to sow without endorsing them as people or it as an organization or whatever. Let them to their thing (because hey, free country and all). I don't need to like them personally to accept that they may peel off some support from DT.

That said, I doubt they're having much impact. The vast majority of Republicans are on the Trump Train. There's a tiny little sliver of NeverTrumpers who are in conversation with themselves.

Decent humans were already convinced that Trump is a vile piece of shit and didn't need slickly produced ads to convince them further.

What am I missing?

xp to facebook digital advertising budget - over what time period? for the year? for last week? for next month?

the fear is that the dem establishment will give them (and people who think like them) disproportionate credit and confirm their bias that the way to win is to court right-wing voices.

xp

To what extent does any progressive / liberal / Democrat need to "work" with the Lincoln Project?

https://i.imgur.com/vLNdtIc.jpg

To what extent does any progressive / liberal / Democrat need to "work" with the Lincoln Project?

the article is about a specific progressive, liberal Democratic video producer working for them. I'm not sure why ulysses posted the link without comment, but we really don't need to do a 13th round of this discussion on the back of this short profile

f.hazel Omar’s challenger is a centrist Democrat with trying to primary her. His campaign looks astroturfed as shit to me, but maybe people here are buying it. My neighborhood has about an equal number of signs for both of them, including one yard with both of their signs in it lol. No publicly available polling for this primary race afaik

“Who is” not “with” sorry

apologies, I thought the Dem primary in MN was over!

the fear is that the dem establishment will give them (and people who think like them) disproportionate credit and confirm their bias that the way to win is to court right-wing voices.

Ok well if you look at current polling, it's clear that Trump will have a tough time winning with his current base (no matter how "enthusiastic" they are). He needs to convert people who are not currently in his camp. Anything that gives them pause might plausibly be helpful (though I remain skeptical that there is a large population of persuadable independent voters).

I don't know any serious Democrat who thinks this election will be won by "courting right-wing voices." The steps are 1. Ensure the traditional D base has access to voting, 2. Keep D enthusiasm high and MAYBE 3. Entice wavering independents.

I am not aware of anyone whose strategy is "Oh, let's tap into this YUGE pool of anti-Trump Republicans, for surely they are the ticket to a Biden victory!!! Surely Evan McMullin and Mitt Romney and Max Boot are just the tip of an immense silent iceberg of dissenters!" Perhaps I am wrong in this and would be happy to be enlightened.

xxp to rob. it's ok, there's room on the internet for me to keep telling people that they are advancing the interests of the post-trump republican party without having any effect on the 2020 election (lmao "sowing chaos") by retweeting rick wilson and the red state super racist's stuff.

omar is not going to lose a primary or a general election.

xp remember the PUMAs

this appears to be the only competitive gubernatorial race this year

Montana too I think

Don't know if it's translating into any real support but GODDAMN Omar's challenger in MN is spending money on direct mail and distributing fliers, get two a day sometimes

I gathered up a bunch in an envelope and sent them back to the campaign, lol

Ha. I've probably received a dozen by now.

I'm not sure why ulysses posted the link without comment

BEST. PRESIDENT. EVER.

It was a good piece, I enjoyed it.

I am making sure I overseas vote the MN5 primary for Omar.

I am literally going to chew off my own arm https://t.co/r5IrGLK1nu

— Imani Gandy ☄️🌏🔥 (@AngryBlackLady) July 13, 2020

You know he's really feeling it when he crosses his arms like that.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d2/61/e1/d261e19050a4f95d1ef60ccb2cce019a.gif

"Trump absurdly tries to blame Obama for problems w/ testing for Covid-19, which didn't exist until nearly 3 years after he left office."

He didn't. Are these ppl really this dense or are they consciously lying in order to make Trump seem even stupider?

I don't know any serious Democrat who thinks this election will be won by "courting right-wing voices."

yeah, but plenty of unserious democrats do. for example--donors.

A lot of serious democrats have become serious about making frequent, targeted, small donations.

I have successfully avoided hearing Trump's voice for at least six months, then Hulu hit me with a Trump campaign ad during the Justified finale.

Apparently Joe Biden is going to abolish the police and encourage rapists btw.

<man looks up from ventilator in ICU and thinks to himself, “I’m definitely a single-issue plagiarism voter this year”> https://t.co/g05h3eCiET

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 13, 2020

It's hard, but of course. Next question.

annoys me to see posts like that, tbh

"he stole The Old Man and the Sea word for word"

"That was his Typing final"

Meanwhile, Melania has been going on and on about 'Malarkey' and her relationship with a "Corn Pop".