Alexandra Petri take note The Ink this morning one-ups Washington Post satirist Alexandra Petri in reflecting on the “Unity Statement.” You know the ones, the pro forma statements Democratic politicians make in response to mass shootings or, in today’s news, an attempted assassination. Certain stylistic conventions must be followed: First, the statement maker’s spouse’s name should be included prominently somewhere: “Becky and I were sad to hear…” “Corey and I were deeply shaken by the news…” “Charlie and I join together…” The inclusion of the spouse is important here because it signals that this is a special kind of statement. More Christmas card vibes than political statement vibes. The normal rules are suspended. There will be no jabs here, no stridency, maybe not even any truth. Second, the Unity Statement must deplore effects without naming or shaming their causes. Now is not the time for blaming someone for their role in contributing to what has finally now come around to imperil them, too.
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If you feel as if American politics have taken yet another deep dive into the Trump show maelstrom, you aren’t alone. This past week has been a chaotic whirlwind of lies, false accusations, lurid scandals and even a foiled assassination plot. Even the sleaziest reality show wouldn’t have had the nerve to script something like this. The assassination plot that capped off the week took place on Sunday at Trump’s Palm Beach golf club where the Secret Service reportedly spotted a man with a rifle in the bushes at one of the holes and shot at him, setting off a chase which concluded in his arrest. It’s still early, but a cursory look at his background appears to show the man’s politics were all over the place from voting for Trump to giving donations to Democrats then begging Nikki Haley to team up with Vivek Ramaswamy to compete for the presidential nomination. He was, at one time at least, attempting to be involved with trying to recruit foreign volunteers to fight in Ukraine but nobody took him seriously.
Trump says he knows nothing about Project 2025. And the Heritage Foundation which is responsible for it has denied that Trump knows anything about it. Hookay…
Sam Stein has a useful reminder for you. Loomer isn’t the (only) problem: [I]f the presence of Laura Loomer by Trump’s side is what makes you worry that Trump will get dragged into the dark depths of conspiracy land, well, you’re way too late. The former president has been a prolific conspiracy theorist for decades. Let’s take a tour through what Trump was thinking even before Loomer joined his entourage: Trump was the de facto leader of the Obama birther movement, even casually suggesting that the director of the Hawaii Department of Health, who died in a plane crash, was murdered as part of a coverup. He openly mused that former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers wrote Obama’s memoir and that Obama never actually went to Columbia University. He floated the idea that Ted Cruz’s father had ties to Lee Harvey Oswald. He raised doubts about Vince Foster’s suicide. He wondered aloud if Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was suffocated to death. He pushed the story that Muslims in New Jersey were cheering after 9/11.
Depends on who’s asking Ok, ok, I can’t resist. Here’s a little polling chum for a Monday afternoon. Don’t take any of it too seriously because the polls are close and polling is in crisis so we really have no earthly idea who’s ahead and who’s behind. But there are trends… From Dan Pfeiffer’s post this morning on the post-debate polls: The national polling averages remain largely unchanged. On the day of the debate, the FiveThirtyEight polling average had Harris leading Trump by 2.5%. Today, that lead is 2.8%. However, a steady stream of positive polls for Harris came out since the debate. Simon Rosenberg compiled this list in a recent issue of his Hopium Chronicles newsletter: Harris 50-45 (+5) Morning ConsultHarris 47-42 (+5) Ipsos/ReutersHarris 51-47 (+4) RMGHarris 50-46 (+4) Data For ProgressHarris 49-45 (+4) YouGov/Yahoo (LVs)Harris 49-45 (+4) YouGov/Times (LVs)Harris 47-43 (+4) TIPP InsightsHarris 50-47 (+3) Leger/NYPostHarris 48-45 (+3) SoCalHarris 44-42 (+2) Redfield & Wilton And then, on Sunday morning, an ABC News/Ipsos poll showed Harris up by six points over Trump.
Trump earlier today: Later that day:
Bolts.com has done some deep research into the elections official positions in states where they themselves are on the ballot this year. Yikes: One needs only to skim recent headlines to be reminded of the power of state elections officials to shape access to voting. Nebraska’s secretary of state just unilaterally shut down voter registration for tens of thousands of people with past felony convictions just weeks before the election. The secretary of state in Ohio, who has spent years courting the Big Lie, this month proposed to make it harder to vote by mail by limiting drop boxes. In Arizona, the secretary of state is laying the groundwork to combat election deniers who might seek to reject election results in November. All these officials were elected by voters in the 2022 midterms, a busy cycle that saw a coordinated (and largely unsuccessful) effort by followers of Donald Trump to take over election administration. Two years later, a new round of states are selecting their chief election officials.
Compiled for sharing If you’re in the mood for a breathless summary of superconmisogynisticextrabragadocious Trumpy lowlights, Seth Meyers has you covered. Bookmark it for Thanksgiving. This Zak Kimball guy has a set of explainers on his TikTok page, but this one answers The Donald’s debate challenge to Vice President Kamala Harris about why she hasn’t accomplished the things she proposes in 3-1/2 years in that office. For the civics-challenged. Tom Bonier explains why the polls are so screwed up and why they now overestimate Repunblicans’ support. And for those of you paying attention, voter registration has been way up since Biden handed Harris the baton. Voter registration has been spiked insanely since Harris trounced Trump in the debate and Taylor Swift’s endorsement. Enjoy. Update: Knew Rosenberg had these but could not find them earlier
Another family feud over a GOP candidate in AZ Most of us have them, family members who for reasons unfathomable have gone full red-hat. For other unknown reasons a lot of them run for office in Arizona. Six members of Rep. Paul Gosar’s (Ariz.-R) family made a point of asking people not to vote for him. Several appeared in attack ads against him and after Jan. 6 called for his ouster from Congress: “I consider him a traitor to this country. I consider him a traitor to his family,” Gosar’s brother, Dave, a Wyoming attorney, said. “He doesn’t see it. He’s disgraced and dishonored himself.” Now it’s Wonder Woman actress Lynda Carter’s turn, reports Mother Jones. Her sister, Pamela, “an activist prayer warrior,” is running for a state house district in suburban Maricopa County. Lynda’s distancing herself: In their quest to hold onto the legislature, Republicans have turned to a member of a famous Arizona family—Pamela Carter, older sister of the original Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter.
How can people vote again for this clown?