I have gone from baffled to sad regarding every acquaintance who will vote for The Donald again. They are not dumb. I am having trouble accepting the possibility they are deluded. Maybe I just cannot understand The Vast Power of Cult(?)
This is a very telling book. It talks also about Pence’s acquiescence. I think it’s why he kept trying to convince trump to concede. Perhaps once Pence saw that his life was threatened, he awoke from the brainwashing. 🤷♀️
It's strange that every story about TFG doesn't introduce him as "Donald Trump, who attempted to overthrow the 2020 election results." It's very dystopian. The straightest media we have are still pretending this is normal.
The bothsiderisms and forced false equivalencies upon which the beltway media was built is struggling. Facts and the truth have a notorious anti-MAGA bias.
The mainstream media is having an existential crisis on their reporting of Trump and his MAGA movement - they keep trying to treat this like it is a normal time and of course, we all know there is NOTHING normal about this moment in our country's history. I agree with Timbo - these forced false equivalencies being hoisted upon news consumers is disgraceful. I don't know that the media writ large (there are still excellent journalists out there) will ever recover from how they have dropped the ball on our democracy.
Harris campaigning with Cheney is a big deal. Trump can't afford to lose any voters and even peeling off a small fraction of Republicans that voted for him in 2020 is very bad for him. It also strengthens her bipartisan credentials to independent voters. Every little bit counts.
It's not Democracy OR abortion OR the economy that matters. It's all of it and fits into one compelling coherent narrative. Trump and Vance want to destroy our democracy so that they can take away our freedoms and rig the economy for the rich.
It's been my thought all along that Dems need to put up lots of social media/ads/content about January 6 just before the election to remind voters of what's at stake. Voting has begun in some places, and about to begin in many others - seems like a good time for that to happen!
Contrarian opinion here, but is it possible that the past few years of focusing on January 6th and Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election results have actually been beneficial for him? Hear me out:
Time and time again, polls show that while voters may not like Trump personally, they still trust him more than Kamala Harris on the economy. What does that tell us? It tells us that our job, leading up to the election, is to make the case that a Harris-Walz America will be more prosperous. So how do we do this? We need to shift the narrative and highlight that Trump wasn’t a great economic president even BEFORE the pandemic.
The events of January 6th and Trump's refusal to concede the 2020 election created a shift in the media and public's focus. Rather than continuing a nuanced debate over his policy achievements and shortcomings, especially regarding the economy, much of the attention turned to election-related controversies, questions of democratic norms, and subsequent legal challenges. In this way, these controversies may have inadvertently allowed Trump to escape deeper scrutiny of his economic record, including the underlying weaknesses of his economic policies.
Much of the pre-pandemic economic growth during Trump's presidency was largely driven by deficit-financed tax cuts and spending. The 2017 tax overhaul, which promised to pay for itself through growth, resulted in significant short-term economic gains, but these gains were fueled by massive increases in the federal deficit. His administration saw an annual deficit increase even before the pandemic, exacerbating the national debt. Had these issues been more thoroughly examined in the 2020 election, Trump's economic record might not have looked as positive.
By focusing on the post-election narrative, Trump’s defenders and critics alike have shifted away from discussing bread-and-butter economic issues like stagnant wages, rising income inequality, or long-term debt sustainability. This has allowed him to continue to tout his economic record unchallenged, especially to a base that may not be fully aware of the economic trade-offs or the looming fiscal challenges created during his term.
All that to say, labeling him simply as "a threat to democracy" isn’t going to shift any voters, especially not toward the Harris campaign. By now, everyone knows Trump is petulant and egotistical—those characterizations are baked into his brand. If we are to talk about January 6th or his character issues, it must always be tied to how those personal shortcomings manifest in governance. Because of his inability to focus or work with others, he couldn’t pass a meaningful infrastructure bill, he couldn’t stay focused during a pandemic, and he failed to rally a competent team around any single cause. His approach has left us with ballooning deficits, environmental degradation through reckless drilling, and a series of short-term policies that create long-term harm—all for the sake of making things look good in the moment.
1. Our attention spans are truncated to a point where I feel even an “October Surprise” will be memory holed…focus on Jan 6 related to Vance’s response and Smith’s filing will fade in a couple of news cycles, I think.
2. Ezra Klein argues that Vance has experienced an ideological transformation, rather than merely being a craven, egotistical ladder climber willing to subvert his values to obtain power. Having spent a lifetime surrounded by people of the latter bent, I disagree…Vance is truly dangerous in that he will do what Pence wouldn’t.
3. If Vance had acknowledged Trump’s loss he would have undermined what he has obtained thus far…any influence he might have IF Trump is elected will be hampered by Trump’s sense of betrayal. As a litmus test, all of Trump’s inner circle must not acknowledge his loss (hence his identity as a “loser”) or they will be cast out. Vance knows this of course…and the craven, no shame weasel did a cost / benefit analysis and chose the absolutely laughable response – looking towards the future…as more aligned with his interests: VPOTUS >> POTUS. He needs this to overcome an obvious inferiority complex.
Could you elaborate on this from your article: "Everyone ignored the giant orange elephant in the room. I understand why Walz took the approach he did — it made strategic sense. But everything felt off, given the stakes of this election."
What was the strategic sense of Walz not rebutting Vance's many outrageous lies and being so collegial given the stakes?
Oklahoma seemingly is getting a jump on Project 2025’s plans. Turns out it’s also Trump’s newest grift:
“Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, which is endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump and costs $60, far above the average price for Bibles. Mr. Trump receives royalties from their sales; financial disclosure reports filed in August show he has made $300,000 from the Bible since endorsing it.”
Anybody read the M. Gessen article in the NYT yesterday? It says it all. Normalizing Vance and 45 and ALL the lies, by trying to make it seem like Walz’s misspeak is the same as all the lies of the Stop the Steal BS….
I have gone from baffled to sad regarding every acquaintance who will vote for The Donald again. They are not dumb. I am having trouble accepting the possibility they are deluded. Maybe I just cannot understand The Vast Power of Cult(?)
This is a very telling book. It talks also about Pence’s acquiescence. I think it’s why he kept trying to convince trump to concede. Perhaps once Pence saw that his life was threatened, he awoke from the brainwashing. 🤷♀️
https://a.co/d/5lhPV8C
Interesting
Impeding death reliably focuses the mind.
Some news: Liz Cheney and Kamala Harris will have a rally this afternoon in Ripon, Wisconsin - the birthplace of the GOP:
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/10/03/liz-cheney-to-appear-with-kamala-harris-in-ripon-wisconsin/75484263007/
I hear orange is the new orange.
It's strange that every story about TFG doesn't introduce him as "Donald Trump, who attempted to overthrow the 2020 election results." It's very dystopian. The straightest media we have are still pretending this is normal.
The bothsiderisms and forced false equivalencies upon which the beltway media was built is struggling. Facts and the truth have a notorious anti-MAGA bias.
The mainstream media is having an existential crisis on their reporting of Trump and his MAGA movement - they keep trying to treat this like it is a normal time and of course, we all know there is NOTHING normal about this moment in our country's history. I agree with Timbo - these forced false equivalencies being hoisted upon news consumers is disgraceful. I don't know that the media writ large (there are still excellent journalists out there) will ever recover from how they have dropped the ball on our democracy.
Harris campaigning with Cheney is a big deal. Trump can't afford to lose any voters and even peeling off a small fraction of Republicans that voted for him in 2020 is very bad for him. It also strengthens her bipartisan credentials to independent voters. Every little bit counts.
It's not Democracy OR abortion OR the economy that matters. It's all of it and fits into one compelling coherent narrative. Trump and Vance want to destroy our democracy so that they can take away our freedoms and rig the economy for the rich.
It's been my thought all along that Dems need to put up lots of social media/ads/content about January 6 just before the election to remind voters of what's at stake. Voting has begun in some places, and about to begin in many others - seems like a good time for that to happen!
Contrarian opinion here, but is it possible that the past few years of focusing on January 6th and Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election results have actually been beneficial for him? Hear me out:
Time and time again, polls show that while voters may not like Trump personally, they still trust him more than Kamala Harris on the economy. What does that tell us? It tells us that our job, leading up to the election, is to make the case that a Harris-Walz America will be more prosperous. So how do we do this? We need to shift the narrative and highlight that Trump wasn’t a great economic president even BEFORE the pandemic.
The events of January 6th and Trump's refusal to concede the 2020 election created a shift in the media and public's focus. Rather than continuing a nuanced debate over his policy achievements and shortcomings, especially regarding the economy, much of the attention turned to election-related controversies, questions of democratic norms, and subsequent legal challenges. In this way, these controversies may have inadvertently allowed Trump to escape deeper scrutiny of his economic record, including the underlying weaknesses of his economic policies.
Much of the pre-pandemic economic growth during Trump's presidency was largely driven by deficit-financed tax cuts and spending. The 2017 tax overhaul, which promised to pay for itself through growth, resulted in significant short-term economic gains, but these gains were fueled by massive increases in the federal deficit. His administration saw an annual deficit increase even before the pandemic, exacerbating the national debt. Had these issues been more thoroughly examined in the 2020 election, Trump's economic record might not have looked as positive.
By focusing on the post-election narrative, Trump’s defenders and critics alike have shifted away from discussing bread-and-butter economic issues like stagnant wages, rising income inequality, or long-term debt sustainability. This has allowed him to continue to tout his economic record unchallenged, especially to a base that may not be fully aware of the economic trade-offs or the looming fiscal challenges created during his term.
All that to say, labeling him simply as "a threat to democracy" isn’t going to shift any voters, especially not toward the Harris campaign. By now, everyone knows Trump is petulant and egotistical—those characterizations are baked into his brand. If we are to talk about January 6th or his character issues, it must always be tied to how those personal shortcomings manifest in governance. Because of his inability to focus or work with others, he couldn’t pass a meaningful infrastructure bill, he couldn’t stay focused during a pandemic, and he failed to rally a competent team around any single cause. His approach has left us with ballooning deficits, environmental degradation through reckless drilling, and a series of short-term policies that create long-term harm—all for the sake of making things look good in the moment.
Want to point out that ABC News reported the "So what?" on January 7th of this year:
abcnews.go.com/US/special-counsel-probe-uncovers-new-details-trumps-inaction/story?id=106131854
Why it flew under the radar I have no idea, but that leaked a while ago.
A few thoughts:
1. Our attention spans are truncated to a point where I feel even an “October Surprise” will be memory holed…focus on Jan 6 related to Vance’s response and Smith’s filing will fade in a couple of news cycles, I think.
2. Ezra Klein argues that Vance has experienced an ideological transformation, rather than merely being a craven, egotistical ladder climber willing to subvert his values to obtain power. Having spent a lifetime surrounded by people of the latter bent, I disagree…Vance is truly dangerous in that he will do what Pence wouldn’t.
3. If Vance had acknowledged Trump’s loss he would have undermined what he has obtained thus far…any influence he might have IF Trump is elected will be hampered by Trump’s sense of betrayal. As a litmus test, all of Trump’s inner circle must not acknowledge his loss (hence his identity as a “loser”) or they will be cast out. Vance knows this of course…and the craven, no shame weasel did a cost / benefit analysis and chose the absolutely laughable response – looking towards the future…as more aligned with his interests: VPOTUS >> POTUS. He needs this to overcome an obvious inferiority complex.
Hi Dan,
Could you elaborate on this from your article: "Everyone ignored the giant orange elephant in the room. I understand why Walz took the approach he did — it made strategic sense. But everything felt off, given the stakes of this election."
What was the strategic sense of Walz not rebutting Vance's many outrageous lies and being so collegial given the stakes?
Thank you, Dan. Very informative and helpful
Who’s who in Trump's Jan 6th insurrection? Follow along with this interactive relationship map.
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/10/03/jack-smith-judge-tany-chutkan-jan-6th-insurrection-relationship-map/
Timing is everything. It’s providential, this timing. I agree with the bafflement.
Dan, did you catch this in yesterday’s NYT?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/04/us/oklahoma-schools-trump-bible.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Oklahoma seemingly is getting a jump on Project 2025’s plans. Turns out it’s also Trump’s newest grift:
“Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, which is endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump and costs $60, far above the average price for Bibles. Mr. Trump receives royalties from their sales; financial disclosure reports filed in August show he has made $300,000 from the Bible since endorsing it.”
Anybody read the M. Gessen article in the NYT yesterday? It says it all. Normalizing Vance and 45 and ALL the lies, by trying to make it seem like Walz’s misspeak is the same as all the lies of the Stop the Steal BS….
What do people make of this view? https://open.substack.com/pub/jessicareedkraus/p/women-across-america-just-fell-in?r=f24mp&utm_medium=ios
Women fell in love with JD Vance??