David Graham at The Atlantic looks at the way Harris and Trump are portraying themselves in the race and I think his analysis is right. Harris says she’s the underdog and she is. The Democrats have been trailing slightly all year and the media has, until now, had Trump as the clear front-runner (even though the polls haven’t really shown that clearly at all.) Trump, meanwhile, is still a juvenile whiner, which his pathetic cult followers can’t seem to get enough of: Biden and other Democrats argue that he has been an underrated president, but that hardly matters if most voters don’t agree. By painting herself as an insurgent, Harris can try to shake off the despair and ennui that have plagued much of the party in recent months. Doesn’t everyone love an underdog? Harris’s messaging tells Democrats that they shall, or at least can, overcome. That is appealing to American progressives, who see themselves as perpetually fighting to change the nation for the better. Trump’s approach comes from the opposite direction: a sense among him and his supporters that they used to control the country and no longer do.
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It can be wildly creative
Trump spent the 2016 campaign saying that Hillary Clinton didn’t have the “strength and the stamina” to be president, which was his thinly veiled way of saying that a woman can’t do the job. He’s doing the same thing to Harris: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump suggested thatVice President Harris wouldn’t be able to stand up to world leaders because of her appearance, adding that he didn’t want to spell it out but viewers would know what he meant. “She’ll be like a play toy,” Trump — who has a history of using sexist attacks and stereotypes in campaigns against women — said in a Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham, a portion of which aired on Tuesday night. “They look at her and they say, ‘We can’t believe we got so lucky.’ They’re going to walk all over her.” Trump then turned to look directly at the camera and added: “And I don’t want to say as to why.
I hadn’t heard of Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, before this past weekend. But like many people, I’ve been struck by the pivot he’s signaled in how the Democrats, and the left more generally, should talk about Trump. Asked by Jake Tapper why he insists on calling Trump “weird” rather than an “existential threat to democracy,” which is how most Democrats and progressives have been describing Trump since 2016, Walz said: It gives him [Trump] way too much power. Listen to the guy. He’s talking about Hannibal Lecter and shocking sharks, whatever crazy thing pops into his mind. And I thought we just give him way too much credit. When you just ratchet down some of the scariness […]
Meanwhile, the youts are involved too:
“It’s an incel platform, dude” MAGA Republicans: Totally not weird. If you’ve watched Democrats flounder for years to find messaging that actually catches on, that actually smacks down Republicans’ vapid posturing over family and patriotism, you’re not alone. Remember Rep. Steny Hoyer’s (D-Md.) stillborn effort to sell how you can make it in America if we “make it in America”? I winced. Well, with a new generation comes more facile minds, quicker wits, and sharper tongues. Consider if you will, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his response to Sen. J.D. Vance’s suggestion that Americans without children have “no physical commitment to the future of this country.” Buttigieg responds, “When I was deployed to Afghanistan, I didn’t have kids back then. But I will tell you, especially when there was a rocket attack going on, my commitment to this country felt pretty, pretty physical.” And the crowd goes wild. Republicans’ economic populism is just posturing, Buttigieg argues. It’s more body language than policy. It’s an act.
Good luck with that Donnie… The problem isn’t Fox. It’s you and your people, all of whom sound like batshit loons.
Especially the people who know him best This guy is a smarmy loser and nobody can’ stand him: On the heels of a CNN analysis that showed Vance was the least-liked non-incumbent vice-presidential nominee in at least 44 years, the network also revealed that the GOP lawmaker has a double-digit unfavorable rating with voters across the Midwest. According to CNN, Vance had a 28% favorable rating and a 44% unfavorable rating — or a minus 16-point favorability rating — among voters surveyed in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin in July. For Republicans banking on Vance to help boost the party across the Midwest, his standing is far below where he’ll need to be in order to win over swing voters in key states like Michigan and Wisconsin. CNN data reporter Harry Enten during an appearance last week also pointed to data showing that Vance had a minus 5-point favorability rating after the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. “The people who know him best, the region that knows him best, they like him even less than America likes him,” he told the network’s Erin Burnett.
Is America ready for Pete or is this just a moment in liberal-land? He is a seriously talented politician and I know I’d love to see him out there on the campaign trail with Harris. He’s obviously smart enough to be president. (I mean, look at what the GOP has been putting on offer…) Is it time? Politico reports that he’s on the list: Suddenly, Pete Buttigieg is everywhere. The Transportation secretary is blitzing the airwaves with his Midwest-nice takedowns of Donald Trump and JD Vance. Members of Congress are talking him up. Buttigieg’s digital alumni network is circulating clips of appearances and touting his complementary skills to Kamala Harris. He did a canvassing kickoff for Harris in Traverse City, Michigan, on Saturday morning. And an ally in his home state of Indiana — saying they were acting independently of Buttigieg— has compiled a dossier evaluating Harris’ options and concluding: “Simply put, the vibes are high right now.” The Pete for Veep trial balloon is approaching mid-flight. His allies view it as a clear signal that Buttigieg wants the job.
I wonder why? President Biden has endorsed three important reforms to the Supreme Court. He’s asking for binding code of conduct, which is long overdue. He wants no immunity for former presidents accused of crimes while in office. And the biggie is that he’s asking for terms limits for Supreme Court Justices. The right wing is having a fit as usual. They love corruption so that’s not surprising. But it’s the term limits that have them screaming. Unfortunately, as with so many issues, they are on the wrong side of that one too: Even most Republicans think it’s a good idea. But the “influencers” are very up in arms. Keep it up.