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You are here: Home / Election 2020 / Election 2020 Open Thread: Kamala Harris Is Running Like A Winner

Election 2020 Open Thread: Kamala Harris Is Running Like A Winner

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117Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    I hope she turns it around. As well as one or two of the others. I’m not a fan of two of our three frontrunners.

  2. 2.

    Martin

    She’s still my first choice, but I’m pretty sure Warren will be our nominee. I’m okay with that. I like her as well.

  4. 4.

    Elizabelle

    Maybe Kamala is the sleeper candidate (as opposed to the sleeper cell candidate), who will draw more attention closer to the primaries? My first choice is Elizabeth Warren; my second choice is Kamala Harris.

    Whatever Harris does from 2021 on: presidency, vice presidency, attorney general, California senator, we are so lucky to have her.

  5. 5.

    rikyrah

    i don’t know how many District Attorney’s were passing bills in the California Legislature while also running for Attorney General, but nobody does that by themselves. she had buy-in. she produced results that lowered #Truancy in California for k-5 students most at risk.

    — Tulsi Didn’t Qualify ? (@skepticalbrotha) September 10, 2019

  7. 7.

    trollhattan

    Harris is very effective in her candidate’s role and is an excellent communicator in varied settings. What’s lacking is her campaign itself and I have no idea why they aren’t as effective as some others.

  8. 8.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    no puppet, no puppet, you’re the puppet!

    John T. Bennett @ BennettJohnT
    Here we go. Acosta asks if NSC is “a mess.” Hogan Gidley standing off stage mutters, “Is CNN a mess?” Rarely see that.

  10. 10.

    Lyrebird

    Thank you Anne Laurie for doing like Sens Harris and Warren and getting important information out past the noise!

    I love them both and would be much happier to campaign for either of them than for Biden (sorry Uncle Joe!). Part of why I love them is how they are running such excellent campaigns and not getting baited by the current crop of Penns and Halperins and Cilizzas and other people who should be retired or working minimum wage jobs at best.

    Help a jackal out? Some of my relatives keep repeating the bit about how HRC was told to campaign in Michigan? Wisconsin? …but didn’t, anyone have a favorite link to an explainer? Thanks for any tips. Will only be able to check back after several hours.

  13. 13.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Lyrebird: I don’t have a link but IIRC the “quants” assured Clinton that she didn’t need to spend time and money in MI and WI, in one late report I read, published after the vote, both Clintons and Obama were having doubts about that one the last couple weeks.

    the other side of the MI/WI argument is PA and FL, where they left it all on the field, including Michelle and Bruce Springsteen

  14. 14.

    kindness

    This can only mean David Sirota will swoop in and lay a phat troll on Kamela. It’s what he does. Speaking of which, elsewhere on the intertubes it seems as if the BernieBros are in open revolt and happily burning down the village in order to save it. God some of my political ‘friends’ piss me off as much as Trump does because they are even more insidious than Trump is.

  15. 15.

    Baud

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    The quants may have been right if it weren’t for Comey.

    Given all the wrongs that we know did happen by bad people, I get annoyed when people obsess over the Wisconsin issue. It’s like an attempt at avoiding addressing the real problem.

  17. 17.

    Kent

    @Lyrebird:

    Help a jackal out? Some of my relatives keep repeating the bit about how HRC was told to campaign in Michigan? Wisconsin? …but didn’t, anyone have a favorite link to an explainer? Thanks for any tips. Will only be able to check back after several hours.

    I don’t know what she was *told* to do. But I do know what she did do which was take a premature victory lap by campaigning in CA to run up the numbers there.

    https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/13/politics/hillary-clinton-california-fundraising/index.html
    https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/trump-clinton-electoral-college/506306/
    https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/hillary-clinton-big-win-2016-squash-rigged-talk-230247
    https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-last-10-weeks-of-2016-campaign-stops-in-one-handy-gif/

  18. 18.

    dr. bloor

    @Baud: I’d love to see her pick up some steam as well, but if it doesn’t happen I hope she has the wisdom to get out quickly and give her supporters a chance to vote elsewhere–which would give your preferred front runner the biggest boost.

  19. 19.

    Betty Cracker

    @trollhattan: Harris is genuinely funny, and I like that about her. I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t have a sense of humor. I made my husband listen to that clip where she did an impression of her mother-in-law.

  20. 20.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: true

    @kindness: remember when the ‘Bros would whisper in awed tones the Bernie had never run a negative ad? added on to all the pissing he’s been doing inside the tent for going on three years now, hiring Sirota is like he wants to set that nonsense on fire himself.

  21. 21.

    LightCastle

    I seem to recall Clinton *was* supposed to go to Wisconsin, but it was the day after the Pulse club shooting, and so she canceled. Then because the quants said it looked solid, she didn’t arrange to go back.

    Am I just misremembering something?

  22. 22.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Lyrebird: Why is it such an article of faith that putting in campaign appearances in a state helps you win the state? IIRC they were constantly in Ohio and Pennsylvania and lost both of those. Why would being in Wisconsin and Michigan a few more times turn the tide there? What’s the causal mechanism? “Oh, well, I WAS going to vote for Hillary Clinton, but only if she was within a certain number of yards from my house.”

  24. 24.

    TenguPhule


    Netanyahu vows to annex large parts of occupied West Bank

    This will end badly.

    Benjamin Netanyahu has announced he will annex large swathes of the occupied Palestinian territories if he is re-elected, a decision that for decades has been considered an endgame scenario for Palestinians’ aspirations of statehood.

    The Israeli prime minister said on Tuesday that he planned to make the move, which would permanently seize up to one-third of the West Bank, after next week’s election and hinted it may have been approved by Washington.

    “I am waiting to do this in maximum coordination with [Donald] Trump,” he said in a speech broadcast live on Israeli television.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Well, I’ll assume retail politics works, so I won’t go that far. But it is wrong to assume that she would have won those states and the presidency if she had visited certain states X number of times.

  26. 26.

    TenguPhule

    David Nakamura
    ✔
    @DavidNakamura
    Reporter: “Is this national security staff a mess.”
    Mnuchin: “Absolutely not. That’s the most ridiculous question I’ve heard of.”

    64
    7:43 AM – Sep 10, 2019

    I dunno, I’m sure Trump has asked him at least one question before.

  28. 28.

    TenguPhule

    The effects of Trump’s firing decisions (by tweet, no less) have once again reverberated around the world. The price of oil immediately nosedived after news of Bolton’s departure broke.

    Dropped like Trump’s credit rating after an audit.

  29. 29.

    pat

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Wisconsin: Voter ID. I read somewhere that up to 300,000 voters didn’t have the proper ID and trump won by about 30,000 votes.

    And thanks to gerrymandering, the dems got 50% of the vote in the last election and ended up with about 35% of the seats in the Assembly. (approximately…)

  30. 30.

    Gravenstone

    @Baud: Hillary could have taken up residence in WI for all the fucking good it would have done. Her speaking there wasn’t going to appreciably offset the systemic voter suppression instituted by the Republican controlled state legislature that targeted predominantly Democratic (read Black) portions of the state.

  31. 31.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    I get annoyed by the WI issue as well, especially since Clinton our performed Russ Feingold who presumably was there every day.

  32. 32.

    Baud

    @MomSense:

    Plus, given how those states were strong Bernie states, how come no one outside of BJ points the results as proof of how much damage he did in the way he conducted his campaign?

  33. 33.

    James E Powell

    @Lyrebird:

    Some of my relatives keep repeating the bit about how HRC was told to campaign in Michigan? Wisconsin? …but didn’t, anyone have a favorite link to an explainer?

    It’s a waste of time to try to convince someone of that which they refuse to believe. If Comey doesn’t send the letter, HRC wins PA, MI, and WI handily.

  34. 34.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    If Comey hadn’t sent that letter, Hillz would have won those states even with the voter suppression and Russian – Trump campaign fuckery. Those voter ID laws disenfranchised 200,000 or so voters. The margin was 30,000. I’d like us to learn the lessons of 2016, not just reflexively blame the woman. Not directed at you, BTW.

  35. 35.

    Doug R

    @Lyrebird:

    — The theft of Democratic analytics. The Mueller indictment also revealed, for the first time, that the Russian hackers were able in September 2016 to break into a cloud-based system hosting data for the Democratic National Committee and thus gain access to the party’s “analytics” — i.e., the critical data that campaign strategists use to determine whether to target ads, ramp up get-out-the-vote or registration drives and send the candidate (or, in the infamous case of Clinton and Wisconsin, where to not send the candidate.)

    The 2 ways Russia may have helped Trump steal the election aren’t what you think

  36. 36.

    JCJ

    @Baud: One thing I don’t understand about the obsession over Wisconsin is the fact that recent history is being ignored. Scott Walker won three state wide elections. Ron Johnson won twice against Russ Feingold, and I am pretty sure Feingold campaigned in Wisconsin in 2016. Also a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and civil unions won easily. I have only lived here for 26 years, but I have no reason to believe Wisconsin should have the reputation it has. Trump won campaigning on racism
    It may well work again.

  37. 37.

    StringOnAStick

    A co-worker told me yesterday how she broke up with a guy because he grew into an increasingly trollish B bro in 2016. She’s not super politically tuned in but is growing increasingly pissed off at every bit of tRump’s corruption she actually hears about (thanks, MSM, for fucking that up!). She came in pissed off yesterday over the Scotland stuff, and then I showed her Adam’s post about the high level spy we exfiltrated. The boss is on vacation, otherwise he and I would have had a “JFC!” session over both topics.

  38. 38.

    Jeffro

    Trumpov is talking to a gathering of HBCU representatives right now. Nickel bet that he works in a “vote for me – what the hell have you got to lose?” before he finishes his word salad.

  39. 39.

    Cacti

    @trollhattan:

    Harris is very effective in her candidate’s role and is an excellent communicator in varied settings. What’s lacking is her campaign itself and I have no idea why they aren’t as effective as some others.

    I don’t think her campaign has done a very good job of selling why her instead of any of the three frontrunners.

    She had one memorable viral moment, then followed it by letting Tulsi Gabbard beat her up and steal her lunch money.

  41. 41.

    Leto

    @pat: This right here is what I remember regarding Wisconsin.

    Top Republican Official Says Trump Won Wisconsin Because of Voter ID Law: The law blocked thousands of Wisconsinites from voting in 2016, predominantly in Democratic-leaning areas.

    Yes retail politics works, but what’s even more effective is having control of state legislatures so these toxic voter ID laws aren’t implemented. Or having an effective Supreme Court so this doesn’t happen. People, still, going on about X candidate not visiting some place enough is just bullshit. She didn’t carry the Dakotas: why aren’t people harping about that? Idaho? Move the fuck on. She ain’t running, this isn’t 2016. It isn’t worth the energy to keep going back over these points.

  42. 42.

    artem1s

    So how long before the MSM starts with the ‘she’s TOO prepared’ bullshit when describing Harris? She has years of experience and it should count FOR her. But instead everyone is obsessing over imagery and likeability again. Also, I challenge anyone who says her campaign isn’t being run well. By what measure? She’s getting enormous crowds (seemed to be the ONLY qualification Wilmer had in 2016) and is in the top three consistently as first or second choice in polls. She started out polling in double digits AND she doesn’t have nearly the name recognition that Warren or Biden have. So how is that a badly run campaign?

  43. 43.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Baud: I can ignore most of the crap ads in the sidebar, but I’m seriously considering installing an ad blocker so I don’t have to look at Quisli Gabbard’s treasonous mug any more.

  44. 44.

    Cacti

    @artem1s:

    Also, I challenge anyone who says her campaign isn’t being run well. By what measure?

    Their consistent inability to budge her standing out of the single digits despite the resources at their disposal.

  45. 45.

    Leto

    @Elizabelle: Same: my first is Warren, second Harris. Honestly I’d be extremely proud/happy with either. Both are super smart, personable, and can help us move in a forward direction. I can also see either one adopting the policies of the one who eventually drops. Both have good policy ideas that people like/respond to. And I figure it’s going to take a super strong woman to fix this mess.

  46. 46.

    TenguPhule

    Trump pushes for crackdown on Calif. homeless camps

    Aides are discussing moving residents of the camps to government-backed facilities.

    First they came for the asylum seekers.

    Then they came for the homeless….

  50. 50.

    glory b

    @Kent: My response would be that Finegold spent the entire campaign in WI (for Senate) and lost too, so that wouldn’t have been enough.

    I never thought that anyone’s vote would have been changed that late n the campaign by just showing up a few places, but YMMV.

  53. 53.

    Turgidson

    @Cacti:

    I’m not sure how she was supposed to prevent “lettiing” Tulsi blow a bunch of mostly-bullshit smoke up the viewers’ asses in the handful of seconds she had to rebut the crap Tulsi flung into the ceiling fan.

    I didn’t think she had a great second debate either, but the sucker punch from Tulsi is not why.

  56. 56.

    Gravenstone

    @artem1s:

    So how long before the MSM starts with the ‘she’s TOO prepared’ bullshit when describing Harris?

    /point to Trump

    This is what lack of preparation looks like. If you’re fine with that, then you’re as much a part of the problem as he is.

  57. 57.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Baud: It’s only natural that a guy who constantly brags about his ostentatious wealth and Ivy League education would be a hero to non-college-educated men. Wait, that can’t be right… :/ ;)

  61. 61.

    Cacti

    @Turgidson:

    At the second debate, she had a chance to solidify the bounce she got from the first. Instead she came off completely flatfooted against attacks on her prosecutorial record that she had to know were coming at some point.

    It gave the unmistakable impression that she’s much better at throwing punches than taking them. Her momentary rise as the “fighter” candidate who could stick it to Trump was shattered when she showed a glass jaw against a Z-list competitor. And her temporary bounce fell flat and hasn’t budged since.

  63. 63.

    Zinsky

    Kamala is very smart but too serious for her own good. Obama had a sense of humor. A nearly perfect attorney general candidate though! Especially given the sclerotic, corrupt fat turd that occupies the office currently!!

  65. 65.

    Kent

    @glory b:

    @Kent: My response would be that Finegold spent the entire campaign in WI (for Senate) and lost too, so that wouldn’t have been enough.

    I never thought that anyone’s vote would have been changed that late n the campaign by just showing up a few places, but YMMV.

    It’s easy to second guess after the fact. I grant you that. I would have thought Florida was going to be the swing state in 2016.

    Still, I do have the sense that the Clinton campaign was overconfident and trying to run up the popular vote numbers late in the campaign. Of course without Comey who knows. Likewise without the Bengazi nonsense which led to the so-called fake email scandal that the press obsessed with, who knows. If we had had a responsible press core Trump would not even have won the nomination.

    All that matters to me at this point is who can crush Trump in 2020. I’m feeling good about our chances with either Warren or Harris. Biden scares me becuase I don’t have the sense he has the energy for the sort of house to house combat we are going to see in 2020 when Trump decides to set the entire country on fire in his reeelection campaign.

  66. 66.

    The Moar You Know

    Trump pushes for crackdown on Calif. homeless camps

    Aides are discussing moving residents of the camps to government-backed facilities.

    @TenguPhule: Maybe this will shove the state government into finally doing something about this. We’ve got fucking typhus running epidemic in Los Angeles and hepatitis in San Diego. Both LA and SD have been begging for help to deal with this – we’ve got 20,000 homeless just in downtown San Diego and that’s not a typo – and the state hasn’t done jack shit. Hell, we frankly could use federal help but not the kind of help (probably a nice Zyklon B shower) that Trump wants to inflict on these people.

  67. 67.

    Kent

    @Zinsky:

    Kamala is very smart but too serious for her own good. Obama had a sense of humor. A nearly perfect attorney general candidate though

    Oh for Fuck’s sake. Harris is actually the funniest and hippest of all the candidates. Are you even paying attention?

  70. 70.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    First version of comment eated… Boo-urns!

    @Cacti: Maybe that’s not her campaign’s objective at this stage. “National vote” polls are kinda meaningless for a hotly contested primary like this one.

    No votes will be cast until next year, and several early States will have a significant impact on the others down the line…

    I’m still betting on Harris, and 2020 is going to be hard fought and hard won.

    Based on how the race has gone so far, and where I think we’ll end up next Spring, I would not be at all surprised to see two of the candidates joining together to reach 50% of committed delegates in late May/early June, to prevent a brokered convention. And I have a hard time believing that either Biden or Bernie will included in that eventual, inevitable deal.

  71. 71.

    germy

    Does Harris plan to legalize or to decriminalize cannabis?

    I’ve seen both statements from her camp in the past.

  72. 72.

    Cacti

    @The Moar You Know:

    Maybe this will shove the state government into finally doing something about this. We’ve got fucking typhus running epidemic in Los Angeles and hepatitis in San Diego. Both LA and SD have been begging for help to deal with this – we’ve got 20,000 homeless just in downtown San Diego and that’s not a typo – and the state hasn’t done jack shit. Hell, we frankly could use federal help but not the kind of help (probably a nice Zyklon B shower) that Trump wants to inflict on these people.

    I would also say that this is an “ignore this at your peril” issue for our side. Homelessness is also a big problem in western WA. You can hardly go to a public park in Tacoma anymore that isn’t a campground for the homeless population. People aren’t going to put up with it forever.

  75. 75.

    Martin

    Expanding on my above comment, I still believe Harris will drive Dem turnout better than any other candidate, but Warren is doing a great job – certainly better than I thought, and I thought she’d be pretty good.

  76. 76.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @Zinsky: Wow, you haven’t seen Kamala’s obvious sense of humor yet? She has an infectious laugh, and a great smile. Such a contrast with the sourpuss in the Oval Office.

  77. 77.

    The Moar You Know

    Instead she came off completely flatfooted against attacks on her prosecutorial record that she had to know were coming at some point.

    @Cacti: She got written off my list during the Kavanaugh debacle for the same reason. She shows an amazing lack of flexibility for a trial lawyer.

  79. 79.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @germy: Yes. Harris has both introduced specific legislation to do this, and included mj legalization in her broader criminal justice reform proposals.

  84. 84.

    Citizen Alan

    @Kent:

    Hell, without Anthony Fucking Weiner, Hillary wins. The Comey Fucker’s last minute “buttery males” announcement arose out of the investigation into that pervert’s internet habits.

  85. 85.

    Doug R

    @Zinsky:

    Kamala is very smart but too serious for her own good. Obama had a sense of humor. A nearly perfect attorney general candidate though! Especially given the sclerotic, corrupt fat turd that occupies the office currently!!

    Remember how Hillary was cold and calculating except when she laughed and it was always inappropriately?

  87. 87.

    Doug R

    @germy:

    Does Harris plan to legalize or to decriminalize cannabis?

    I’ve seen both statements from her camp in the past.

    Kamala Harris proposes legalizing marijuana, ending bail, eliminating death penalty

    Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris unveiled a proposal Monday to broadly reform the criminal justice system aimed at ending mass incarceration, helping felons reintegrate into society and increasing oversight of police and prosecutors.

    The senator and former California attorney general plans to legalize marijuana, eliminate the death penalty for federal crimes, end federal mandatory minimum sentencing, scrap the cash-bail system, reduce the incarceration of juveniles, stop the use of private prisons and clear the nationwide rape kit backlog during her first term.

  90. 90.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @Doug R: @Doug R:

    The senator and former California attorney general plans to legalize marijuana, eliminate the death penalty for federal crimes, end federal mandatory minimum sentencing, scrap the cash-bail system, reduce the incarceration of juveniles, stop the use of private prisons and clear the nationwide rape kit backlog during her first term.

    Now, THAT’s an agenda that is both achievable and sorely needed. Go Kamala!

  91. 91.

    Yutsano

    @Leto: There’s a reason why Evers is in a huge fight with his legislature over the voter suppression laws. And a whole bunch of other issues. Wisconsin just needs a big voter referendum to remove their massive gerrymandering issue. That would help balance some things out too. But yeah definitely the voter suppression’s gotta go.

  92. 92.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    OT: he “missed him”, that creepy sentimentality toward people he’s humiliated and tossed aside

    WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump began losing confidence in national security adviser John Bolton, whom he fired on Tuesday, he reached out to the man he had fired to give Bolton the job: retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster.
    In phone calls to McMaster — the first of which took place last fall — Trump told his second national security adviser that he missed him, according to two people familiar with the conversations. It’s a sentiment the president has also expressed to White House aides, they said. Trump has solicited McMaster’s advice on various national security challenges, even asking McMaster whom he should nominate to lead the Pentagon, they said.
    … At that time, Trump was barely speaking to McMaster and regularly did derogatory impressions of him in his absence, according to current and former White House officials.
    Like Bolton, McMaster’s firing was also hasty and announced publicly by the president on Twitter.

    wasn’t there also some degree of vindictiveness in McMaster’s firing? The timing meant he would never get a fourth star? Doc Silverman, you out there?

  93. 93.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    But he’s dropped 12 points among non-college white women, to 42%

    Democrats could get them. There’s an opening there. I think Obama specifically sought out that vote.

  94. 94.

    Leto

    @Yutsano: Indeed; hey, I meant to reply back to you yesterday: I hope your rehab is going well too. I know you said you had some setbacks but I’m rooting for ya! Maybe we can form the BJ Rehab Brigade (Electric Bugaloo Shuffle)? ??

  95. 95.

    Leto

    @SiubhanDuinne: It’s infectious, in the best possible way.

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I believe that’s correct regarding McMaster. His name wasn’t on the roll for a fourth star and he basically hit the progression wall. In today’s military, it’s the “up or out” philosophy. And he was out.

  97. 97.

    Yutsano

    @Leto: I have PT tonight in fact. I have to see if I get the prematurely greying basketball guy, the male modelesque guy (seriously, dem blue eyes of his are wow!) or the hella jacked one. Although the jacked one is much more likely on a Friday. It should be the model dude, but the way the staffing of the clinic goes who knows?

    Also: if you want to get back on your feet fast get Mormons. Anyone who did their PT undergrad at BYU. They’re mean as fuck but they’re just SO DAMN NICE ABOUT IT…

  98. 98.

    MomSense

    @Martin:

    I agree with you that Harris will drive turnout. I know this is ageist, but I really do not want a septuagenarian for President. With just about all other government jobs, I think it is fine. President is unlike any other role in government for the amount of stress. Also for generational reasons I don’t want 70 and 80 year olds as President.

    Honestly I think Warren is better suited for Senate Majority leader. I have some other issues with her positions on trade and I think the Native American issue will become butter emails if she is our nominee.

  100. 100.

    rikyrah

    @Yutsano:

    Also: if you want to get back on your feet fast get Mormons. Anyone who did their PT undergrad at BYU. They’re mean as fuck but they’re just SO DAMN NICE ABOUT IT…

    BWA HA HA HA HA AHH A

  103. 103.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: I think we’ll get a slice of them even if we don’t try. One thing that sort of hamstrung Clinton was running for the third term of a Democratic presidency. PBO saved the economy from collapse and had it back to “normal” and on the upswing, but people with shitty, unstable, low-paying jobs don’t want to hear about how great the economy is.

    We mock “economic anxiety” around here a lot, and rightly so. It was and still is used as an excuse for racist shitheads — but it is also real for many people. Clinton had plans to help folks in that situation, and Trump was selling obvious lies with a heaping helping of racism, sexism and xenophobia, so I’m not excusing anyone who fell for it.

    But running against Trump opens up all kinds of opportunities to talk about economic inequality and how Trump’s so-called great economy sucks for millions of people and the “great healthcare” he promised never materialized, etc. He has a record now, and it sucks if you’re not a hardcore racist and/or plutocrat. Democrats can talk about that, and I think it’ll resonate.

  104. 104.

    Leto

    @Yutsano: Haha, I’ve found that all of my therapists (occupational or physical) are sadists. I think that’s part of the job description. All of mine have been suuuuuper nice, but also basically laugh at me when I’m crying uncle, tapping out, or generally begging them to kill me again. All of my therapists are from the Penn St/Temple PT schools, so it just reinforces my: they’re all sadists!

  105. 105.

    VOR

    @Leto: If McMaster is smart he will run, run, run as far away from Trump as he can. Work on your memoirs. Don’t even think about re-taking that position.

  106. 106.

    Leto

    @Betty Cracker:

    He has a record now, and it’s shitty. Democrats can talk about that, and I think it’ll resonate.

    A record of corruption, lies, incompetence, and being a Russian stooge. He’ll still pull 47% of the vote just so they can stick it to “those” people. /rage

  107. 107.

    Leto

    @VOR: Exactly. The wing nut welfare circuit, as well as the regular dipshit media, will all fawn over him as one of the former “adults in the room”, waiting expectantly to hear what he has to say about the insanity. We’ll see if he pulls a Mattis, but honestly his credibility is shot because he didn’t bother to speak up while in a position of power to affect change/draw attention to the glaring incompetence so…

  108. 108.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    I think so too. I notice in my practice that they’re more “socially liberal” than WWC men. It’s weird and hard to explain, but WWC men do a lot of moralizing at them, like they’re part of what has “happened” to WWC men. I think they feel blamed and are essentially politically up for grabs.
    They did like Obama. There were even internet themes around it- remember the Romney supporters making fun of the “nail techs”? That’s what that is. It’s a class difference. I don’t get the same sense of grievance and entitlement from them that I sometimes do with the men. I think they’re more open and hopeful.

  109. 109.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    It’s a weird thing and it’s just my observation but WWC men are very hard on them, like if the women were more “traditional” the men wouldn’t be slipping economically. There’s a real judgment of them. I think they respond to that with defiance and an openness to new approaches. Because it isn’t their fault. They didn’t cause the economic slide or the anger in the men. They were just trying to survive, too.

  110. 110.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kay: It’s weird and hard to explain, but WWC men do a lot of moralizing at them, like they’re part of what has “happened” to WWC men

    in my experience, women are much more likely to have to deal with the realities of modern day life that don’t fit into the WWC model of man-as-breadwinner, women, even if they work, take care of the house: from sick kids and broken down cars to unplanned pregnancies, deadbeat dads and sudden emergency room visits that aren’t covered by insurance.

    there was so much snobbery in the Romney campaign– remember “I’m unemployed myself! Ha ha ha!”– I’m surprised he didn’t fail harder

  111. 111.

    Turgidson

    @Cacti:

    Instead she came off completely flatfooted against attacks on her prosecutorial record that she had to know were coming at some point.

    That was my point, though. Yes, she needs to be ready to defend her record as a prosecutor. She’s pretty good at that in interview settings, I think. My point was that Tulsi threw a bunch of shit she couldn’t possibly have been prepared for against the wall and Kamala got hammered for not seeing that exact shit coming. Tulsi’s attacks held her responsible for decisions her rank and file prosecutors made far away from her office that she reversed when informed of the issue. How was Kamala supposed to have the details of what her line prosecutors did, however many years ago, at her fingertips to rebut the charge that she personally suppressed evidence or was in the courthouse cackling with glee that some people got time for dealing or using pot?

    Tulsi’s barrage was like the nitwits in the GOP claiming that Obama was personally directing the IRS to target teabagger SuperPacs or micromanaging the NSA’s surveillance. It’s not realistic to expect Kamala to have detailed retorts ready for every instance of questionable or bad judgment on the part of her prosecutors.

  112. 112.

    J R in WV

    @Kent:

    If we had had a responsible press core Trump would not even have won the nomination.

    If we had a responsible R party, where people with no (as in ZERO) chance had withdrawn early in the primary race, “Trump would not even have won the nomination”!

  113. 113.

    germy

    @J R in WV: If we had responsible law enforcement, trump would have been locked up for his financial crimes long before he ever got the idea to run for president.

  114. 114.

    J R in WV

    @Leto:

    My PT is an Irishman from LongIsland, who met a girl from WV while golfing near Myrtle Beach, aka WV South. No kidding, Myrtle is part of cell phone plans in WV! Anyway, turns out to be a big Blues fan, so we would talk about blues, until I squeaked for him to let up stretching that newly rebuilt shoulder.

    His ex-wife was daughter of the surgeon who rebuilt my shoulders. Very small town. So his daughters spent a lot of time at grandpa’s house where there was a pool, etc. Thus he spent some time there at his ex-FIL’s just to be with the daughters and their grandpa. The Dr. is a really nice guy, and a total wizard at joint replacements.

    But he didn’t mind making me squeal AT ALL!! But that’s a good thing, a PT who doesn’t make you squeal isn’t doing the job right.

  115. 115.

    J R in WV

    @germy:

    Yes Indeed!!! White Collar crime is a huge issue that need to be addressed by the next administration, with focus and attention. Starting with new legislation that eliminates loopholes and makes people in charge of things responsible for keeping issues honest.

    Fiduciary kinds of responsibility!

    ETA: For example, no one could prosecute Drumpf for the fraud that was Trump University? Don’t believe that at all!!!

  117. 117.

    Zinsky

    @Betty Cracker: I don’t see it, Betty. Harris’ humor is the smug, self-important kind. Not like Obama. I don’t think Kamala is presidential material – too smug and self-righteous. Most people don’t like that sort of affect.

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