As we all know, the best way to knock down a false rumor is to tweet it to your 450,000 followers, 95% of whom hadn't heard anything about said rumor. Because you definitely don't want anybody talking about you replacing Pence on the ticket, no sirree. https://t.co/h3udwbbhMn
— Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) August 21, 2019
"Pence chief of staff Marc Short said, 'The Vice President has enormous respect for Nikki Haley, and she was an excellent ambassador for the Trump-Pence agenda during her one year at the UN.' (Haley served as UN ambassador for just under two years.)" https://t.co/m3UIPSBOc1
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) August 24, 2019
A point & mock diversion from all the potentially deadly battles. If fighting amongst themselves wasn’t absolutely a feature of every mad autocrat’s court, I’d blame this minor fooferaw on would-be macher Nick Ayers. Politico:
… While the two could hardly be more different — Pence is a 60-year-old social conservative, she is a 47-year-old daughter of Indian immigrants — those close to them say they have long had a warm relationship. Haley traveled to Indiana in 2012 to help Pence with his gubernatorial campaign, then returned three years later to headline a state GOP dinner while he was embroiled in a competitive reelection race.
The two also shared an adviser in Nick Ayers, a prominent consultant who spent four years as executive director of the Republican Governors Association. And their offices gave them access to the same pool of powerful donors who fund races for governor.
The recent divisions have been fueled partly by the rumors that Haley could replace Pence on the ticket and the fact she took so long to address them. Some top Pence aides said they think Haley or an ally was behind the Wall Street Journal op-ed, which a representative for the former ambassador denied…
Further complicating the dynamic between Pence and Haley is the role of Ayers, who remains close to both. Senior Republicans want to see whether the 37-year-old operative, who stepped down as Pence’s chief of staff at the end of last year to return to his native Georgia, picks one over the other.
Former colleagues of Ayers, who has deep ties to the donor class, say he hasn’t chosen sides. He speaks with Pence and Haley regularly and was seen with both at the Aspen retreat, which was hosted by the RGA. A few weeks later, Ayers and Pence appeared together onstage before a national group of young conservative leaders.
The skirmish offers a potential preview of what’s in store for the GOP after 2020 — a fight over the direction of the party. Pence has been the president’s most unwavering ally since he joined the ticket in 2016, even when Trump’s policies and personal conduct veered far from the principles Pence had long been known for. Haley, who endorsed Marco Rubio in 2016 and was critical of Trump during the campaign, has shown a willingness to break from the administration. She has urged the GOP to be more inclusive, representing potentially a new direction for the party…
TL, DR — In their hearts, none of these people expect Trump to win reelection, even assuming he makes it to 2020, so they’re already prepping to carve up the remnants of the GOP for their own profit. Good news for us Democrats, as far as I’m concerned.
It is extremely funny that Pence smirks and stoically mugs through all of Trump's vapid blaspheme bulls*** but is absolutely seething about being snubbed by a fellow opportunist. They all hate themselves. https://t.co/1Ammbr4Jk3
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) August 24, 2019
I think it doesn’t do anything. You can make a case Pence was important for holding conservatives in 2016, but they’re not jumping ship in 2020 and attitudes toward Trump are way too powerful for any new running mate to alter things much. https://t.co/xpN4TOVTbn
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) August 21, 2019
Idea a woman born Nimrata Randhawa & whose dad wore a turban would be a GOP VP nominee is one of the great fantasies of American politics. That Team Pence believe that he’d be bounced in favor of her* says a lot about their acumen
[*plausible he’d be bounced for someone else] https://t.co/AQqtizAcAv— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) August 24, 2019
Stan Greenberg recently did a series of focus groups and concluded: “The white working-class men look like they are approaching the 2016 margins for Trump, but not the women….Clearly the women are in a different place.” https://t.co/zLXtFaFqKi
— Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) August 24, 2019
Jeffro
Wait…trumpov has a problem with female voters in general? NO WAY
AThornton
Recent polling has women going for Generic Democrat versus Trump by +32.
That’s disastrous for the GOP all along the line since it will depress loosely attached GOP voter turnout.
Another Scott
But
MillerDonnie says that he wants to do away with birthright citizenship. At least for people [not] born in the USA after 1905.(sigh)
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
Whoever wins, the direction is down.
A Ghost To Most
There’s money to be made in DC, sharpening the long knives for the long pigs.
Patricia Kayden
Haley brought down the Confederate flag after Black worshippers were shot to death in Charleston. No way would she be useful to Trump.
DCrefugee
Okay, I’ll say it if no one else will: I’m rooting for injuries.
Baud
I don’t think Haley can get away with being as obsequious to Trump as Pence, particularly on immigration issues.
Frankensteinbeck
Haley will be the GOP vice presidential candidate if Trump feels like it. Strategy is moot. This depends entirely on whatever fantasy takes hold in Trump’s head. No one he picks will move the needle even 1% in any direction.
Viva BrisVegas
@Patricia Kayden:
Every time Trump said something racist, he could point at his VP and say, “Look how unracist I am”.
Can’t do that with Pence.
HeleninEire
The US open is a mile and a half from my house. The OLD US open is a block from my house. Came into the pub to watch Serena Williams v. Sherapova. The internet told me it would start at 7. Not so much.
Also wasn’t Sherapova the best of the best? Why is she against Williams in the first round?
lollipopguild
@Baud: Pence brings a lot more voters and donors with money than Haley does.
JPL
@lollipopguild: IMO they’d jump on board for Haley for VP, because it could because females would vote for trump if she were on the ticket. They are willing to do what is necessary.
HeleninEire
@HeleninEire: That’s a joke. Sherapova can’t hold a candle to Serena.
Ken
Oh, sure, it’s OK when they have agendas.
Major Major Major Major
Ah yes, the old “putting a woman on the ticket will help our standing with women, who despise our ticket” gambit.
cokane
It’s not just working class white men. I really wish the media would get off this rust belt romanticism. Plenty of upper middle class whites voted Trump and really are the ones who form the base of the party. They also have racist views.
Mike in NC
Pence has mastered being an obsequious toady, a role Trump demands he play. I read that in reality Pence and Haley despise one another.
geg6
Yeah, because those wimmin are so stupid, they’ll vote for any woman a Trump could put up. And how does Haley even imagine that she wouldn’t be throwing her career away by teaming up with that piece of shit?
I’ll never understand Republicans, especially female Republicans.
Cacti
@HeleninEire:
Sharapova was a PED cheater who couldn’t even beat Serena with the help of drugs.
Serena is 19-3 all-time vs. the ruski steroid mutant.
ETA: never mind, I saw your follow up post.
billcinsd
@HeleninEire: Sharapova was ranked #1 back in 2005. She is currently ranked 87. She has made one quarterfinal at a major since her doping suspension in 2016. She hasn’t made a semifinal or a final since 2015. She also missed 4 months, eta: this year, with a shoulder injury. When you aren’t ranked it’s a draw to see who you play.
TenguPhule
@Baud:
Ender’s Goalpost.
HeleninEire
@Cacti: @billcinsd:
Also too. She’s blond and hot. She got WAY more endorsements than the Williams girls back in the day.
Huh. It’s a mystery.
TenguPhule
@Baud:
I think she can provided she wears skimpy enough clothing.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Noontime @ The Huntington in IR.
TenguPhule
@lollipopguild:
Mr. Couldn’t get r-elected in his own state? That Pence?
hells littlest angel
If you don’t believe her, ask the chaperone of their friendship, Mother.
TenguPhule
I have little confidence in this initiative. And Republicans have nobody to blame but themselves for that.
TenguPhule
And forget about enforcing the election rules now. Unless you’re a Democrat.
Steve in the ATL
@HeleninEire: yeah first set was quite a beat down
Steve in the ATL
@Viva BrisVegas:
He’s not going to risk losing his base by doing something unracist
Gin & Tonic
Went for a follow-up with my surgeon today – he’s been away doing a fellowship at Mayo for a year, and we had a date for when he got back. Looked at the x-rays and said they looked “awesome.” That’s a direct quote. So is “ideal outcome.”
I’m happily enjoying a cocktail.
John Revolta
They’re holding Haley out for the Veep spot on the Ryan 2024 ticket. Unless of course Trumpf doesn’t make it to 2020, in which case they’ll probably try it then. Without Trumpf, Pence ain’t worth a shilling.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@TenguPhule: It’s late to develop and test a program on all the possible systems. Let’s remember the Obamacare website.
PsiFighter37
As others mentioned – it really doesn’t matter who is second fiddle. The election will be about Donnie, and putting a token like Haley on the ticket won’t get either more women or more minorities to vote for them (except for maybe some small number of Hindu nationalists).
Jeffro
@Frankensteinbeck:
Probably true, but let’s watch as he starts floating random 2020 VP screwball picks, thinking that by putting (female) or (African American) or (whomever) on the ticket, it’s going to save him. Oh and pass the popcorn por favor ;)
Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)
Shooting the gap between Clovis and Roswell, NM. Altitude 36,000 feet. Outside temp −54°. Ground speed 501 mph. Pesky headwind still 25 mph. Six hundred miles to LAS. ETA about 7:00 PDT.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Jeffro:
Diamond or Silk?
Jeffro
It’s amazing that Pence thinks he’ll still be standing, and viable, once trumpov falls…that Haley thinks there will be a cohesive GOP after trumpov falls…that Ryan might think anyone would ever buy his BS after enabling trumpov at every turn…
…also amazing that all of them think that the GOP will have a path of any kind to a majority in this country, post-trumpov, or that we won’t hold them accountable for all the damage they let trumpov do to our democracy. SELLOUT TRUMPUBLICANS – now, THAT fits on a bumper sticker, doesn’t it?
Jeffro
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Decisions, decisions…
TenguPhule
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Isn’t that four people?
TenguPhule
@Jeffro:
Anthrax or Black Death.
Elizabelle
@Gin & Tonic: Wonderful news!
Whatcha drinking?
Raven
Tryin to reason with hurricane season
Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)
@Gin & Tonic:
This is for the arm (wrist?) you mangled? Cheers and a hearty “Clean margins!” from the skin cancer table across the bar.
Wapiti
@PsiFighter37: I think her parents are/were Sikhs. If Hindu nationalists vote for Trump, they’re not doing it because of some Sikh-Christian convert.
TenguPhule
Wapo headline.
I stand by my statement that this is the worst case of suicide I have ever seen.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle: I’ll go out on a ledge here, Gin & Tonic.
Patricia Kayden
@Jeffro: I’m not so sure that Trump will fail. He’s an awful president but Congressional Republicans still defend him.
Duane
@geg6: Haley won’t hitch her caboose to the Trumpov train wreck. She quit the UN position to distance herself from him. Wait four years when the Republican nomination is open and run for president.
Yarrow
@Baud:
I disagree. She’s already shown how obsequious she can be to Javanka.
She said all that while sitting next to Trump. She’ll have no problem being an obsequious toady to him.
Mai naem mobile
The current GOP is not voting for a brown woman for their standard bearer. Nah gonna happen. I don’t care how white Nikki Haley acts. An attractive white woman is about as far as they will go.
Elizabelle
@?BillinGlendaleCA: LOL. I earned that one.
sukabi
@TenguPhule: more than likely an “assisted” suicide.
Gin & Tonic
@Elizabelle: I’m having a Negroni, as a matter of fact.
sukabi
@Mai naem mobile: that was soooo 10 years ago. They’ve regressed about a 100 years since then.
Gin & Tonic
@Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi): Yes. this my arm that I had an ORIF (open reduction with internal fixation) for. The x-ray tech lined everything up today, shot the first picture and said “oh, my goodness.” He didn’t realize how extensive the hardware was and didn’t aim the exposure correctly. But “ideal outcome” is akin to “clean margins” so I’ll raise a glass to that as well.
J R in WV
@Mike in NC:
Well, yeah! Sure! She’s a black foreigner, which to Pence is worse than being a tramp truck stop hooker. Even though really she’s far better than a RWNJ like Pence.
Another Scott
@Steve in the ATL: Serena’s beaten her [klaxon][blink]19[/blink][/klaxon] times in a row.
“But, hey, Maria won Wimbledon in 2004 and you can’t take that away from her…!!”
The American tennis commentators are shameless.
Grr…
Cheers,
Scott.
Tazj
@cokane: So true, plenty of middle class and upper class whites voted for Trump didn’t they? However, they don’t have a made up sympathetic excuse as you know, for doing so.
Mart
Convention wisdom says so little while saying so much.
Yarrow
@Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi): Have a good flight!
@Gin & Tonic: Excellent news.
Gin & Tonic
@Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi): Yeah, so here’s what it looked like a bit over a year ago [trigger warning, folks] but now that big gap is fully closed.
Amir Khalid
@Another Scott:
Birthright citizenship is a constitutional right in the US. POTUS cannot take it away by executive fiat; only a constitutional amendment can remove that right. Doesn’t Trump know that? Or does he just refuse to believe it?
Yarrow
@Amir Khalid: The Supreme Court can reinterpret the constitution and say it doesn’t mean birthright citizenship and there you go. As for what Trump understands…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Martin
I have a small and simple suggestion:
Invite the Governor of California to the G7 and G20. We have a larger economy than a few of the G7 nations, and our Governor will actually show up for meetings, and what’s more, he/she will likely commit to greater climate action than even Obama was willing to do.
You can still invite Trump if you want.
Amir Khalid
@HeleninEire:
Maria Sharapova made her name like 15 years ago by beating Serena in the final at Wimbledon. But Sharapova remains a recognisable name, she has not really been a consistent winner since then. Plus she has a rep for being the diva-est diva in the history of tennis.
Villago Delenda Est
Both of these people are vile sacks of shit.
In the words of efgoldman, fuck ’em.
Elizabelle
@Gin & Tonic: Love Negronis. Enjoy! No Campari in the house, alas. Goes on the shopping list.
Villago Delenda Est
@Amir Khalid: He thinks he’s the king of America.
Martin
@Amir Khalid: Her reputation is based on her being photogenic more than usual for a female athlete.
Amir Khalid
@PsiFighter37:
For what it’s worth, Nikki Haley is from Sikh parents of Punjabi heritage. I’m not sure how big ethnicity is for Indian-Americans, but it’s my understanding that old-country political and class divisions can and do carry over.
Chetan Murthy
@HeleninEire:
She’s photogenic. Isn’t that enough? [narrator: no] Even the FTFNYT gets it right:
Yeah, that’s some definition of “longtime rival”.
Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)
@Yarrow:
With our first drink, I toasted my seatmate with “Here’s to our completing a successful flight.” He did a “Wait, what?” take but then laughed. After that I have scrupulously not confirmed his fear that “Oh, Lord, I’m sitting next to a chatty geezer.”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Amir Khalid: The Supreme Court, if they ruled in any way on birthright citizenship, it’d be on the jurisdiction part.
AliceBlue
@Amir Khalid: Amir, this has absolutely nothing to do with your comment, but if you like to read, I just finished a book that’s right up your alley. It’s called “The Birth of Loud” by Ian S. Port and “enthrallingly depicts the invention of the electric guitar, spotlighting the rivalry between innovators Leo Fender and Les Paul and shows how the two men dramatically transformed popular culture and brought music into the modern age.” It’s a fun read that’s not too technical.
Dan B
@TenguPhule: Word is that the FEC wasn’t functioning because its GOP chair prevented any action. Maddow had a report – last night I think.
Chetan Murthy
@Gin & Tonic:
I remember when you were telling us about the injury, and I remember cringing. I’m happy/happy/happy to hear this outcome! Congratulations! I also am drinking a G&T!
rikyrah
It would be hilarious if Race Bannon was thrown over???
Mary G
Question at Twitler’s press conference at the G7 just now:
The FTFNYT actually has a reporter!
Gin & Tonic
@Chetan Murthy: Yeah, it was pretty unpleasant at the time. All’s well that ends well.
Amir Khalid
@AliceBlue:
Thanks, I’ll look out for it.
rikyrah
@Gin & Tonic:
Yeah????
Chetan Murthy
@Amir Khalid:
I don’t know, b/c like I GAF; anybody from anywhere in the subcontinent is as good as anybody else to me, and that includes from Pakistan/Bangladesh. But for the kind of folks who care — the Hindu nationalists, who hold a grudge, like the Hindu nationalists, I’m sure they’ll all remember that Indira Gandhi was assassinated by Sikh militants. Like any of this should matter today, but then, these are the same folks who have it in for Indian Muslims, so ……
Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)
@Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi):
The best thing about commercial aviation for me now is in-flight wi-fi. It really makes the tedious hours fly by. [Rim shot.] I’d be doing the same thing at home, except with the housecat sideboard and without the tactical gear (pants).
Initial descent to LAS. I may disappear soon.
Gin & Tonic
@Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi): I typically read a bit and sleep a lot, and have no need for wifi. Even LAX-MEL.
Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)
@Gin & Tonic:
The Trump era has killed me for serious reading. And I typically don’t sleep on planes.
satby
@Chetan Murthy: and Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist, wasn’t he? Does that give anyone pause as the Hindu nationalists gain more power again?
I would have thought that would doom that movement forever in India.
Brachiator
@Chetan Murthy:
Not a huge tennis buff, but when I saw a headline earlier about “longtime rivalry,” I had assumed something near parity, but damn, this is more like “Serena uses Sharapova as traditional warm up dummy to begin her US Open competition.”
Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)
Okay, maybe a good dinner somewhere with RWNJ brother as I start to get the lay of the land. Fingers crossed.
Chetan Murthy
@Brachiator:
QFT, homes. QF(F)T. And repost Serena makin’ it look sooo easy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzA8_7X9uLQ
Gwangung
@Brachiator: Nit a tennis buff, but even I knew she gets mentioned only because she’s blonde, slender and relatively pretty. Otherwise, she’s just another punching bag for Serena.
Chetan Murthy
@satby:
Hindu nationalists [full disclosure: I’m a “gowda”, which is a sub-caste of landowners, hence, descended from Hindus with no interruption] are as stupid about this as any cornpone good ol’ boy.
karen marie
@TenguPhule: I thought that was already the case, because of Republican refusal to fill vacancies since at least some time during the Obama administration.
Steve in the ATL
@Gin & Tonic: I’m drinking a 2015 Caymus. Is it ok to toast your food news with wine rather than liquor? If not, I’ll send thoughts and prayers.
Steve in the ATL
@Steve in the ATL: good news, not food news, Tim Cook you asshole
Gin & Tonic
@Steve in the ATL: Toast it whether or however you’d like. We’re all live and let live, no?
Brachiator
@Gwangung:
This part I knew.
I didn’t realize just how much of a punching bag she was. I mean, shit, if we were talking boxing, Serena wouldn’t even hire Sharapova as a sparring partner.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Gin & Tonic: (Raises my glass of Diet Coke.)
Ryan
Should we read anything into that it seems Sarah Sanders and Michael Bolton are sitting behind them? Did they hire contract assassins from the senior staff a la Battlestar Galactica?
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Mary G: She’s works for PBS and MSNBC
Kay
The whole thing is great.
HalfAssedHomesteader
@Mary G: I hear she’s with PBS now. So obviously PBS will fire her in short order.
Omnes Omnibus
@rikyrah: Given that there is an actual racist named Bannon associated with this White House, I am not sure how useful your nickname for Pence is.
Peter Desmond
@Kay: very amusing! thank you.
J R in WV
@Elizabelle:
Have recently discovered an old cocktail from the 1890-1920 era, called a French 75. It’s gin shaken with lime juice and simple syrup and ice, strained into a glass of cold champagne. Some recipes call for cognac instead of gin, which sounds good too, but I haven’t tried that yet. Neighbor did those for a party a while ago, they were great. A favorite now.
Named for a popular French 75 mm field cannon in use back then.
J R in WV
@Amir Khalid:
Nikki Haley’s original name is Nimrata Randhawa, also too. For some reason she goes with Nikki now, and married a guy named Haley, and so took his name, traditionally, sort of.
Miss Bianca
@AliceBlue: Oh, I read that book! It is a lot of fun, i second the recommendation!
Chris Johnson
Well, that’s interesting.
For GOPers to move against Trump and Pence is to dare to move against the Russian control. Trump is the obvious guy, but Pence is there for a reason: he becomes the Russian mole President should Trump die, or ‘suicide’ like his old buddy Epstein. Pence is the ‘clean’ one, the one who’s been prepared to step into the role and claim ‘everything is fine now’ and get ‘re-elected’ with huge imaginary margins after fucking up the process beyond repair, maintaining control of the US for Putin.
To openly move against Pence (ask yourself, why NOW? What even has changed with Pence that all of a sudden now it makes sense to replace him?) is to move against the Russians, even though they are actively murdering people (well, if you call rich pedophile kompromat-getters ‘people’). It implies interesting things.
Either she and anyone aligning with her are idiots looking to get murdered… or they think the Russian control has got a lot weaker, and they’re looking to brush all that under the table and reinvent the Republican party as ‘not traitors’, counting on the willingness of the Beltway to hush everything up and make like they’re not all in it with Trump and the Russians. And probably some of them aren’t, but Pence is dirty as fuck. They must have gamed out a plan, even a stupid plan, for ‘moving on’ and persuading people that the situation doesn’t stink.
Parfigliano
@TenguPhule: Video evidence from outsipe Epstein cell “un-useable” to me screams said video shows what happened was not suicide.