The Politics Thread

[Vee]

Folks can go around and around about this, but I will say I don't know that one senator taking up Silver's dubious wisdom means it is taking hold with the general public. That's just one more of select rank and file Dems in office who are scared of their own shadow - and those guys frankly often don't have their finger on the pulse of the public. it's possible, but I don't see it.

[DRW50]

There's been a great deal of criticism on the left against Adam Schiff (soon to be Senator B from California, or whatever the terminology is) for elevating Steve Garvey (R-Comatose) in the top two system, locking out Katie Porter and Barbara Lee. One of the biggest criticisms is that his decision was selfish because now many Democrats will stay home while Republicans run up the score. 

I have some doubts on this one, namely because I think with Trump on the ballot, many Republicans and Republican-leaning voters would have flocked to the polls anyway, but beyond anything else, I think it shows what a poor candidate Porter was. In spite of tons and tons of money, six years of glowing media profiles and cable news coverage, she couldn't even get second place. And it wasn't especially close for the second and third spot either.

I initially believed the praise surrounding Porter, but after she endorsed that loathsome grifter Nina Turner, I began to see it as a sham. Her little stunt during the endless Speaker vote reading a "not giving a [!@#$%^&*]" book was another reminder. I was not surprised to see Turner, always eager to get people to stay home or vote third party, jumping in yesterday when Porter had a sore loser session.

@Vee This is one of those polls I mentioned of stupid people who now remember Trump's economy as the good old days.

(it may make me sound elitist to call them stupid, but I'll take it)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-trump-leads-biden-economy/

 

[Vee]

I'm sure some of these polls are legit. I'd never deny a lot of messaging work needs to be done. But we've also seen way too many polls weighted towards the GOP or just idiots from various outfits and then touted as gospel.

I liked some of what Katie Porter did in the past but she should've known better than to go up against Adam Schiff, let alone how she's behaved since. Many moderates know and like Schiff. Her best move would be to lay low, rehab her image and not go further into the Nina Turner zone. We'll see if it works out but both of us have seen this story many times.

[JaneAusten]

I have a difficult time dealing with fatalism and this is what I constantly had been seeing in the media. Trying to turn fascism into a self fulfilling prophecy. I had to turn away from it. Since I have,  I am clearer about what the media and press is today and why so many people have turned against it. And it's not just the right who have created their own, it's the rest of us who can see how cynical and dishonest they have become. 

Nate Silver is done. Who is he now just another in a swarm of cynical social media personalities. He was fired from ABC, kicked out of 538, what does he have left. He's a bitter man who should be ignored. He lost any credibility he MIGHT have had when he behaved like a COVID-19 expert. It was embarrassing and ended his career.

That Reddit thread that was posted in the media thread was an eye opener and it tells me people do know what's happening and what the press and media are doing. I just can't understand it because it's not like despite all of this, these folks or institutions would be trusted in a fascist society. They'd be the first to go.

I choose hope. I'll put my faith in the good people who are still here. We are the majority and it's time we start acting like it and elevating things that matter to us and not allowing the darkness to flood more of the zone. There are many of us working our tails off, reaching out to people. It's why I was so confident about 2022. Either the media lied about abortion or they rigged all of the polling or they really were in shock about how much it mattered. I don't think any of these people are that stupid and that it was the people who run these organizations that pushed yet again a GOP narrative vs the truth. And all those who spread it are complicit.  They don't get a pass and are not to be trusted. We know all that we just have to be smarter. And we have millions of others who want what we want - the new silent majority.

Edited March 7, 2024 by JaneAusten

[DRW50]

 

[JaneAusten]

Thank you for posting this.  I have always been a great admirer of hers. She is a progressive but never IMO showboated over it.  She really had no chance in the race but she would have been my choice.  I have a lot of respect for Adam Schiff and I understand why he was the choice, but I will always wish it could have been her. Best of luck to her in her retirement. She will be missed.

[Vee]

Fired up tonight.

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Like I kept saying: The media worked the age angle too early this year and last.

 

This has turned into an energetic call and response rally and I suspect is playing very well. The Beltway will not be thrilled they can't tear it down, but the public will out.

He is now actively baiting the GOP hecklers (who are mostly drowned out by a very loud Dem cheering section) and mocking them with their own policies.

[Vee]

Joe has always been a closer - every time he is counted down and out, this happens. I knew it would in the 2020 primaries (even when I was supporting Warren, I knew he would close and anyone who thought otherwise was an idiot), I knew it would in the midterms and throughout his first term and I knew it would here. I knew it would be good but not quite this good. Turning it into a church show/rally was what was necessary. And he will do it again.

[Vee]

 

[Vee]

 

[Vee]

 

 

[Vee]

More from Rolling Stone on the horrified GOP response to Katie Britt.

[DRW50]

I haven't watched these in years so thanks @Vee for the review. From what I've read, Katie Bot...er...Britt's response got the response those usually do.

[Vee]

You should watch both. Joe crushed it and it's not going to be an equivocal thing - period. The only take the GOP has overnight is 'he's so angry'. Frank Luntz suddenly is fretting that Joe Biden is a loud, fiery man with too much energy. He basically turned the SOTU into a wrestling promo and he needed to, taunting and baiting them to lose it, because for better or worse that is the energy and fire required for this GOP and this election.

When even insufferable Do Something king Will Stancil is pleased, you know it went over. The NYT mavens (Haberman, Jonathans Martin and Swan) were largely reduced to sniping about Ilhan Omar's reaction to the minor fuss of him saying 'illegal' (not that serious) and hmphing that he didn't listen to Ezra Klein's podcast begging for a brokered convention. A snarky Olivia Nuzzi reposted a few gifs of Uma Thurman getting shot with adrenaline in Pulp Fiction. Then they all logged off. No sign of Nate Silver, of course. Whenever Joe busts the conventional wisdom, these folks retire to the fainting couches for awhile.

Edited March 8, 2024 by Vee

[Vee]

From Simon Rosenberg, notably right while all the pundits mocked him in the midterms and I believe the time before that: