The Politics Thread

[Vee]

Thank you all for all you do.

My mother (who has done her share of phone banking, canvassing, etc. even in her 80s, and worked on Capitol Hill and in the very buildings from 1/6 for many years) is going to Harris' rally at the Ellipse tomorrow. Even before I knew she planned to go I was concerned for Kamala, given the fact that she was going to be live at a site so emblematic of the riot - I think right now anything is possible in terms of violence. I didn't tell my mother not to go, but I did tell her to be careful and go with a friend.

[Liberty City]

Hoping and praying your mother (and others) remain safe! We are in the home stretch!

[JaneAusten]

 It should be exciting but I see the concern.  I just hope the safety of everyone there is of primary concern. I don't even know who handles security there. The DC Police?  

Knowing your moms history, I am sure so much of this has been painful.  I'll keep you both in mind when I meditate this evening.

[MichaelGL]

Trump could never win the popular vote, not in 2016, not in 2020, and definitely will not win it in 2024. And the only reason he won in 2016 is because of the ridiculous electoral college. Just don't see it happening at all this year. 

[Vee]

As I told people here on 1/6, she was very upset on the day of the insurrection. I remember her taking me to the Capitol and those halls as a kid when she took me to work. But other than that she's always been a pillar of strength. She was ready to fight the morning after in 2016 when I was extremely defeated and she's never stopped doing her part.

I think she'll probably be fine, but I'm just very mindful of violence following or surrounding this election.

[JaneAusten]

The only thing I wonder is where people think all this new support is coming from because he's already lost white male working class voters since 2016 and I don't buy the increase in black support - I just don't.  And even those smaller demographic groups are not enough to offset the male votes and now white working class women he's going to lose. Even just 1 or 2% is huge in those rustbelt states.

[Vee]

So far the Black support does not appear to be materializing in EV at the level the GOP kept hyping up.

Meanwhile:

 

 

[Marco Dane]

Nickelodeon‘s 2024 Kids Pick the President “Kid’s Vote” poll and the winner is Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

[Vee]

Please register in order to view this content

 

[wingwalker]

Interesting. This is usually accurate, because kids tend to vote for who their parents are. The 52%-48% seems very likely as well.  

[Vee]

The Times follows up on Harris' campaign now beginning to telegraph victory, and reveals that Trump is cranky and stressed.

[DramatistDreamer]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/bad-bunny-jennifer-lopez-ricky-martin-kamala-harris-puerto-rico-insults-trump-rally-1236046350/

[Khan]

Words cannot describe how much I have come to admire that man.  In a world full of Donald Trumps, be a Joe Biden.

Edited October 28, 2024 by Khan

[janea4old]

From Jennifer Rubin of Washington Post
Opinion:  Voting for Trump means putting Vance in charge

Quoting excerpts from her column:
In many ways, the prospective vice president is more dangerous than Trump.

Mainstream news outlets now feature stories about felon and former president Donald Trump’s “strikingly erratic, coarse and often confusing” rambling speeches, “cognitive decline,” and bizarre behavior. This evidence of mental breakdown, coupled with his event cancellations due to reports of “exhaustion” (reports his campaign has denied), give voters every reason to think that Trump could not complete a second term or would be “out of it.” Either way, his vice-presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), the most disliked man ever to run for vice president, would be running the show.

And considering the opposition from most of the “adults” from the first term, he might be relying on likely Trump Cabinet officials and advisers such as Kash Patel, Stephen K. Bannon, Richard Grenell, Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Vance is far more ideological than Trump, who blows with the wind on everything from a national abortion ban to Social Security.

And Vance is every bit as enmeshed in the fever world of conspiracies — from the antisemitic obsession with George Soros as the mastermind behind Democratic causes to the “great replacement theory” to election denial — with ties to other conspiratorialists. He is a better spoken, more erudite conspiracy monger.

Moreover, few doubt that Vance, who has extensive ties to Project 2025, would likely be raring to implement the wholesale remaking of the federal government.
If Trump might be distracted or convinced the plan would make him unpopular, an ideologue such as like Vance might well be more committed to implementing its crackpot ideas.

--- Jennifer Rubin goes on to talk about Vance's foreign policy, his opposition to Ukraine, and his support for Orbán of Hungary, and she says this:
while Trump might be bamboozled by flattering dictators who know how to play him, Vance shows an affinity for their aims and positions

Full column here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/28/trump-vance-election/

Non-paywall version:
https://archive.is/Xoguf

Twitter link to this column:
https://x.com/PostOpinions/status/1850967786710761901

[janea4old]

Drop-off ballot boxes in Vancouver Washington  and Portland Oregon set afire.
Early this morning Monday October 28.

(fyi, Vancouver Wash and Portland OR are adjoining cities on the state line)
 

Note: There is zero in-person voting in Washington state and Oregon.
Both Washington state and Oregon are mail-only states, but you can either mail your ballot or drop it off in an official ballot box.

 

https://www.katu.com/news/local/vancouver-ballot-box-seen-smoking-same-morning-as-portland-ballot-box-arson

The Clark County Washingon elections auditor told KATU that the last ballot pickup at the box that was set afire -- was 11 a.m. PDT Saturday October 26.
Hundreds of ballots were inside at the time of the burning, and KATU was told there were maybe only a few that could be saved.
Anyone who dropped off a ballot since then is urged to immediately contact Clark County Elections for a new ballot.
https://clark.wa.gov/elections
 

Just a few hours earlier, Portland OR police had responded to an arson at a SE Portland ballot box.

Elections officials in Multnomah County OR said only three ballots were destroyed at the ballot box at Southeast 10th and Morrison streets in Portland, thanks to a fire suppressant inside the box.
https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2024/10/a-second-ballot-box-fire-this-time-in-clark-county-destroys-hundreds-of-ballots.html

Edited October 28, 2024 by janea4old