The Politics Thread

[Vee]

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[Vee]

 

[DRW50]

 

[Vee]

A typically dishy piece, but the biggest takeaway is Trump secretly sending Putin COVID tests before the American people.

I don't always agree with Beutler on many things, but I generally agree with this. Like him, my growing concern is after the election. The race is pretty stable, and as of today's polls Harris remains considerably up both nationally and in most key states including MI:

 

Sorry for the funky order.

 

Edited October 8, 2024 by Vee

[Vee]

And yes, this and the COVID test stuff is the key headline all major Beltway media are running with:

 

[Vee]

Thompson, who seems to have a visceral distaste for Harris (and Biden), nonetheless posts this poll which seems to bear out what we've been seeing for some time:

 

[Maxim]

I just watched the 60 minutes interview. They should be ashamed of themselves for putting it out like that. Cutting her answers while she is still speaking... what is this? Is this for real? Kamala once again was as graceful as can be. Shockingly offensive editing.

[Maxim]

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Kamala on the View today. 

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[DRW50]

There's an idea at large that CBS (and any legacy media) is liberal, but far from it. CBS had some of the more egregious attempts at "gotcha" moments with Biden in 2020.

And I'm already seeing some Beltway figures chiding Harris for some of her View answers too, like not saying enough to satisfy them about what she did differently than Biden.

To be honest, I think Trump has the right idea (as Biden did in shutting out the NYT) about avoiding mainstream media. Harris has to do this now, but I hope if she wins, she does the same. They need to be squeezed out of relevance.

Thanks for the articles @Vee . I agree that post-election will be a huge problem if Harris wins...it's just the getting there I'm not sure of either. 

I do wonder just how many conversations Democrats are going to have about how they support unions, whether Harris wins or loses. Politico (I know) talks about just how fervent the efforts were in the end to stop the Firefighter's Union from endorsing Harris. Meanwhile, piece of [!@#$%^&*] Sean O'Brien is doing a victory lap on one of the bro podcasts (who also hosted Trump), complete with him and the host spewing bile about Chuck Schumer.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/08/tim-walz-union-snubs-00182961

[Vee]

I didn't love the 60 Minutes interview either. Harris is admittedly not perfect as an interview subject unless it's more casual (which is to somewhat be expected after being kept often in reserve for four years, and only having two months to pull this whole thing off up to now which has been remarkable) and I find she too often leans on canned answers in those more buttoned-up settings, whereas I do think she thrives and excels in debates or live on the stump, or with more unconventional or less Beltway-centric outlets. I do think with more time she'd do much better in this kind of format, but we haven't had any and regardless it hasn't hurt her favorables which keep going up.

But I also felt Bill Whitaker's performance on 60 Minutes was lousy. It was the classic old-school TV interview of brief soundbites, too much editing down, too much voice-over by the anchor and not enough substantive discussion, and most of his questions were merely gotcha framing shots out of the old GOP playbook (Trump says this/what do you say, how are you going to pay for it, etc). So in that sense I think it only proved Harris' team right for going to Stern, to Call Her Daddy, to The View, to NABJ etc. And I think those will all work well.

Edited October 9, 2024 by Vee

[JaneAusten]

I don't understand how the Teamsters support - the head of the union - matters. They made the decision not to endorse anyone but ALL of the regional orgs have endorsed Harris/Walz.   That says more to me than anything.  But the membership has been conservative for a long time. Biden is probably regretting bailing them out at this point, and frankly maybe some of these idiots should lose it all so they can see what their decision cost their membership.  It may not matter.  The good news is the Black Teamsters endorsed Harris from the beginning. 

[Vee]

 

[JaneAusten]

The landscape is changing.  The interviews don't matter as much anymore.  Younger people and even older people have changed how they consume information.  Stern was at the forefront of changing his own delivery channel that has seen so many popular programs on places like Spotify or SiriusXM now. And Sterns audience certainly is not the younger audience some of these other programs draw in so again, it's not just younger people.

There is still a place for 60 minutes but soon that won't be.  Part of its progress but part of it is also they themselves pushing themselves into irrelevance. The fact is they have escalated their own irrelevance by their behavior. I do think there is still a place for local news. I still know lots of people who watch the local news but the national news, newspapers, that's old hat.  I do worry about viable news sources - I think there is still some level of universal trust in local media - and maybe boosting those channels of news becomes more important. The national news media is lousy.

I have such a nostalgic fondness for 60 minutes. They have done so much great reporting over the years, but it hasn't been the same for years. They have fallen victim to much of the same. I don't think changing personalities and adding people like Anderson Cooper has helped one bit.  In fact I think it's hurt their brand and accelerated their decline.  

If you haven't seen the movie The Insider which was about the Tobacco investigation and how 60 Minutes initially backed off of it to an extent, came to fruition.  Christopher Plummer may not have looked like Mike Wallace but he certainly played him to a tee, arrogant SOB he was. A gem of a performance and Russell Crowe was exceptional. But it was the story that was riveting much like All the Presidents Men was and IMO still is. And if you have seen Network, it feels like we've been living through our own reality version of the movie the past 20 years. Paddy Chayefsky was clairvoyant.

Edited October 9, 2024 by JaneAusten

[Vee]

I do think Harris' stuff on The View is really quite good overall - particularly the longer story about the morning she got the call from Joe and then calling her pastor. I can't fault her for her loyalty to Joe re: answers on delineating herself from his choices in his term. It is a tricky tightrope she has to walk til November, probably the first candidate to ever do so in these circumstances and she has been very loyal to him on the trail. But of course the Beltway is mad she didn't give them something on a gotcha question re: throwing Joe under the bus.

Anyway, I feel her answers, particularly on the hurricane disasters, will resonate with voters. She was awfully good. I find that when she is live (on the stump, on The View, at a debate, etc.) she always is.

Edited October 9, 2024 by Vee

[Vee]

This from Colbert tonight is great.

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The earlier segment in this appearance where she again kind of bobs and weaves around the 'how would you govern differently from Biden' question is not as rough as the gotcha corps online are making it out to be, as she does eventually pivot to some of her own previously stated policies fairly well. I just think, as I said above, that Harris is in an impossible position due to her intense loyalty to Joe where she cannot and will not totally turn her back on him and their (very strong) overall policy record, but the media (who deeply resent Biden) and the GOP want to chain her to him. And if she talks about the obvious new element - a female POTUS zeroing in on women's rights in a new way - she risks alienating men.

That said, I think it was overall a very strong appearance and this clip will go viral and be winning material for her.

Edited October 9, 2024 by Vee