I’m not sure what happened, but fundraising started to go nuts here over the weekend. We’ve raised 45K since last Friday night for political candidates. Thanks a lot everybody!
Here’s a race that I think is a great investment that I’ve only highlighted once before: the special election in Georgia for the Senate seat vacated by Johnny Isakson in 2019 and currently held by Kelly Loeffler. Loeffler is a crooked insider trader. There’s a jungle primary on election day followed by a run off so the amounts of money being raised by the Democratic candidates is not that big yet. The Democratic frontrunner is Raphael Warnock. Let’s raise some money for him.
Yutsano
The jungle primary doesn’t look too good for either Warnock or Lieberman. There’s still time but it’s not looking too hot. If Lieberman could be persuaded to drop that would help but right now he has zero incentive to do so.
But we might want to talk about the Osoff vs Perdue race. Osoff has been consistently a few points ahead. We might want to throw him some scratch too. And we might want to suggest to Abrams that she give some support here too. Maybe she is but all I have seen so far is her supporting Warnock.
PsiFighter37
New Monmouth poll shows Biden’s lead going from 13 to 4. While 13 felt wide, 4 seems too tight.
Baud
@PsiFighter37:
I hold to my view that polls conducted in August are always bad for Dems.
But 4 is tighter than I would like to see.
Another Scott
@PsiFighter37: Made me look. https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_pa_090220/
I don’t think Joe needs to worry. It’s hard to imagine that turnout is going to be less than 2016 (even with the COVID-19 challenges).
Cheers,
Scott.
DougJ
We’ve raised tons for Ossoff. I think this is a great one in terms of bang for buck.
James E Powell
I posted this in a dead thread below, but it fits better here.
Does someone have a remote cabin where they can keep Ed Rendell till election day and maybe beyond? What is it with a Democrat who repeats Republican propaganda? Does he think he’s doing something good or necessary? Does he want Trump to win?
dww44
Polls in August being bad for Dems might portend better things for us in Georgia soon, since someone noted that a recent poll showed Trump leading Biden by 7 here which just simply gobsmacks me. It shouldn’t because I have far too many relatives whom I otherwise like who would vote for the devil as long as there was an R by his name. They honestly think we Dems are evil because they buy all the conspiracy theories hook, line, and sinker. These are not uneducated red necks either.
If the jungle primary comes down to a runoff between Kelly Loeffler and Doug Collins, I will vote for Collins, albeit I despise his rants in the House hearings of which he’s been such a prominent part. Simply, Loeffler bought her seat via the outsize donation she made to Brian Kemp’s state GOP. With her sugar daddy husband’s money in spite of what everyone says. Both she and David Perdue should be kicked out of office because of their insider trading activities in late January, which even if not technically illegal, in every other way are unethical and self serving.
Everyone knows, of course, that with her husband, she owns the Atlanta WNBA team and her recent BLM criticisms have not endeared her with the team’s players.
joel hanes
I’m not sure what happened
Democrats who were confident that the nation would come to its senses became seriously worried that R insanity plus R shenanigans place the outcome in doubt.
Baud
@James E Powell:
Sees Michael Moore and says, “The Centrists need someone like that!”?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@PsiFighter37: is that the PA poll? the one that shows Biden getting 76% of people of color? strikes me as kind of a weird way to discuss a poll– Biden is much stronger with African-Americans than Hispanics, stronger with people of Mexican heritage than Cuban, etc, I don’t think I’ve ever seen “PoC” lumped together in a poll like that. Ron Brownstein is somebody I trust to get into crosstabs and weighting, etc, but he doesn’t thread his tweets. He says it’s a good poll, but… I’ll wait for the next one.
artem1s
@PsiFighter37:
poll of what? likely voters? who? national? I honestly don’t want to hear anything about national polling. It means nothing. As we all know 4% in a national poll can mean a electoral college win or loss of 40-50 points.
the only polls I want to hear anything about are state by state polls that show me what the electoral college is going to look like on Nov 4. Anything else is just a poorly conducted popularity contest of whatever jackass quality the pollsters have decided means ‘electable’ this week.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@James E Powell: Bubba or Carville or somebody could do the Biden campaign a solid if they called ol’ Eddie up and said, ‘You need to shut your fucking mouth for the next two months. Longer would be even better, but, Ed, you really need to shut the fuck up. Any questions?”
Bubba would probably be a lot smoother, but I like the idea of Carville yelling at him
Jim, Foolish Literalist
have some optimism. This number was rumored to come in at “over $300M”. I guess “almost $400M” would have seemed like overselling
Yutsano
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Did anyone else hear that tweet in Joe’s charming rasp? No? Just me? Okay…
SiubhanDuinne
@Yutsano:
Listening to Joe’s charming rasp right now. He’s talking about COVID-19 and reopening schools. I’m honestly more impressed with him every time I see him.
dnfree
On the topic of demonstrators destroying property, what do others think of this? I question the judgment of the adults involved. Oak Park is a traditionally liberal suburb of Chicago.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/oak-park/ct-oak-park-protesting-tl-0903-20200901-smp5gpo6prd3xofij42jbf6ezm-story.html
SiubhanDuinne
@dnfree:
I was born and raised in Oak Park. Can’t read the Trib article beyond the first sentence or so, but any kind of vandalism revolts me and I’m saddened to know it’s happening in a place I love.
zhena gogolia
@dnfree:
They’re going to help lose the election for us. It’s Susan Sarandon-level idiocy.
germy
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@zhena gogolia: five years of self-indulgent, maximalist sloganeering and bellowing about “REVOLUTION!”
Wyatt Salamanca
https://www.debates.org/2020/09/02/cpd-announces-2020-debate-moderators/
Omnes Omnibus
@dnfree: Unacceptable behavior. That being said, we should not allow ourselves To be distracted from the underlying reasons for the protests by the bad behavior of a few hotheads. That is what Trump and the rest of the GOP want us to do.
germy
Baud
@Wyatt Salamanca: Not great.
Yutsano
@SiubhanDuinne: I read the whole article. Not sure why I didn’t hit a paywall but the fact is I did. The protest organisers did not crown themselves in dignity here. Protest is perfectly fine. Destroying property is not.
Having said that, the few pictures I saw weren’t that extensive. I think a reasonable restitution is warranted but nothing below the low thousands. And I will say the mayor was being the most political there, but in kind of a good way.
LuciaMia
Think Im looking forward to the vice-presidential debate the most.
Wyatt Salamanca
@SiubhanDuinne:
OT
Your Book of Trump is an incredible achievement!
How long did it take for you to write it?
Yutsano
@Baud: Could be worse. Chris Wallace could actually prove he’s worthy of his family name here. Or go all in on hackitude.
germy
@Yutsano:
Every presidential and vice-presidential debate I’ve ever seen, the questions are all framed around republican talking points.
Doesn’t matter if it’s Wallace or Todd or Holt.
A Ghost to Most
Contrarian theory: people are pouring money in (no complaints here) to feel brave.
My wife and I are not supporting politics this time. Instead, we’re sending $100/month to the local food bank since May. Seems a better use of funds.
dnfree
@SiubhanDuinne: does this work? I know many here are fond of their gardens and plantings.
https://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/8-27-2020/Protesters-vandalized-mayor%27s-home-as-he-led-board-meeting/
Yutsano
@LuciaMia: I’m buying all the popcorn for that one.
???
Immanentize
@Wyatt Salamanca: I will bet right now that Trump will not participate in debate three — Black woman moderator? No fucking way.
Another Scott
Yup.
Cheers,
Scott.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
reiterating my call for twitter to create a NOTDEAD hashtag for trending celebrities of a certain age, I’d like to reassure everyone that it appears that AL GREEN IS FINE and on twitter and has a sense of humor.
dnfree
@Omnes Omnibus: It disturbs me that the adult leaders of the youth organization, and one of the council members, said it’s not their place to criticize this behavior.
The mayor asked that no one be arrested.
Another Scott
@Immanentize: I’ve said for many months (years now?) that Donnie won’t debate.
But we’ll see.
Cheers,
Scott.
dnfree
@Another Scott: I’ve said the same thing, but maybe he’ll call my bluff.
Baud
@dnfree:
The forbearance from arrest is ok. Not criticizing is silly.
Immanentize
@dnfree: That’s it? That’s the big vandalism? I’ve seen worse done by six year olds on Halloween.
Also, who chalks circle As anymore? Provocateurs, that’s who!
dnfree
@A Ghost to Most: I made the opposite decision. I was going to give my stimulus money to local charities like the food bank, but then I decided the election was more important for the long-term benefit of struggling people.
Baud
@Immanentize:
It’s Welker. She is….not a threat to Trump.
SiubhanDuinne
@Wyatt Salamanca:
Thank you! I cranked out first drafts of each of the first four chapters in no more than an hour apiece, though the going-back-and-tinkering bit took, and continues to take, much more time. But the actual writing part is quick. I started the project last Wednesday.
But I keep rereading it and finding — not flaws so much (although they’re certainly there!) but whole sections I’d like to expand. There are so many stories to tell about Trump and Trumpism, and I’ve touched on only a few of them.
Thank you again for your kind words. Much gratified by the warm reception here at Jackal Central. Hope you enjoy the remaining chapters!
Wyatt Salamanca
@Baud:
I’m not satisfied with these moderators either.
Chris Wallace will be loaded for bear and I expect him to hit Biden extremely hard. He sounded very pissed off a few days ago when he criticized Biden for blowing off the Sunday shows and I think he’ll take out his frustration with Uncle Joe in a big way at this debate.
Steve Scully has the bland inoffensive demeanor of a typical C-SPAN anchor and I expect him to quickly lose control over the debate he moderates.
Susan Page is a decent analyst, but I don’t know whether that translates into her being a good debate moderator.
I think Kristen Welker will do the best job among the four.
For all the praise Biden has received about what a smart campaign he’s run, I think it was a huge mistake for him to duck these Sunday shows.
I’ve never been impressed by Biden’s debate performances and expect to see three extremely ugly shit shows with no clear winner. I hope Biden exceeds my low expectations for him in these debates, but I’m not holding my breath.
dnfree
@Omnes Omnibus: if this kind of moderately destructive protest, which won’t be written up nationally, happens enough places, it still feeds the Trump line of attack that Democrats are okay with peaceful demonstrations turning destructive.
“Outside in Abu-Taleb’s backyard, protesters reportedly smashed potted plants, tore up tomato cages, overturned patio furniture and threw eggs at the house. They also drew and spray-painted the sidewalks with pictures of hands raising middle fingers and pigs.
One drawing featured a pig and a mallet next to the words “Break the piggy bank” along with multiple instances and iterations of “F— the police.”
Abu-Taleb told Wednesday Journal he was home alone most of the meeting and texted his family not to come home to avoid confrontation with protesters. His wife, he said, came home anyway and at one point was confronted on their front porch by four or five young people, some without masks, who stood inches away from her face.
The protests became so distracting that the board of trustees ended up adjourning the meeting earlier despite having other police reform agenda items to discuss.“
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Is this even really trolling? isn’t it just some determined and determinedly unfunny schtick?
Yutsano
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Every blog has a contrarian. He’s got a shtick and isn’t afraid to use it.
Aleta
@SiubhanDuinne: Would love to see it distributed more widely.
SiubhanDuinne
@dnfree:
Thank you. I’ve forwarded the link to my cousins and siblings. We all have a powerful love of Oak Park, though no one in the family has lived there since 1978. Have had a couple of fine family reunions there — in fact, just yesterday I was wearing the t-shirt I had made for our 2015 OP reunion :-)
Wyatt Salamanca
@SiubhanDuinne:
Were you an English major or have you ever earned money as a writer?
With the exception of Baron, I think the entire Trump family is SCUM. In this rare instance, their scumbaggery led you to create some great art.
SiubhanDuinne
@Aleta:
Thanks, Aleta. I’m seriously pondering that. To quote the subject of this project, “We’ll see what happens.”
dnfree
@Immanentize: They also went into the back yard, smashed potted plants, uprooted tomato plants, egged the house, etc. The online meeting was adjourned. The trustee most affiliated with the defund police group declined to criticize the destruction. Both I and my husband have served on elected boards, and having my plants uprooted and smashed, and my house egged, would not increase my sympathy for the cause. Especially when the adult leaders justify it.
H.E.Wolf
Electoral Vote blog does this (at the bottom of their weekday posts).
Here’s the link: http://www.electoral-vote.com/
MisterForkbeard
@Baud: Yeah. None of those are disqualifying, but they’re not good. Chris Wallace is about the best anchor at Fox, and that means he’s only mildly terrible and lets a lot of conservative shit go.
SiubhanDuinne
@Wyatt Salamanca:
My degree is in Music Journalism. I’ve written thousands upon thousands of radio scripts from my days at NPR stations, and at least hundreds of speeches (or bits thereof) for a variety of Canadian dignitaries during my quarter-century working for the Canadian Consulate General. But not anything “creative” for the most part — certainly am almost embarrassed to show my face in the company of people like Dorothy A. Winsor, Frankensteinbeck, TaMara, Major4, Tom Levenson, and WereBear, to name just a few of the talented and published writers who grace this blog.
Undeterred, am working on a couple of writing projects which may or may not ever see light of day.
Thank you again for your kind interest.
Omnes Omnibus
@dnfree: What would you like me to say? If we can’t look beyond the douchecanoes on the edge of every protest, then we are doing what right wants us to do. I am capable of condemning bad behavior on our side without blaming everyone on our side for that behavior.
Immanentize
@dnfree:
This sounds like a job for Nextdoor!
Annoying yes, but this really makes you question the worthiness of the underlying cause?
Omnes Omnibus
@A Ghost to Most: Please tell us what is actually brave, oh courageous one.
Wyatt Salamanca
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’m a lifetime PBS / NPR junkie. I look forward to reading more of your work in the future.
dnfree
It feeds the Trump narrative that Democrats/liberals are soft on crime and okay with blurring the line between peaceful protest and destructive activities. Is it going to sway my vote? No. Might it sway some votes in the Chicago suburbs? Yes. Will that cost Biden Illinois? Not likely. But smaller actions like this could be happening in swing states too. We wouldn’t necessarily hear about every local destructive act. I think “NO destruction” is a good place to draw the line, clearly, if we want to hold the middle.
And holding public office at the local level takes time and effort and doesn’t pay much. (In Illinois being on the school board is unpaid.). It would be disheartening to experience destruction of my potted plants and tomatoes and damaging of my house siding (which eggs can do). And it would tick me off to have the young people responsible told by their adult leaders that this is an acceptable way to demonstrate.
dnfree
@SiubhanDuinne: I also thought your Book of Trump Is very creative and well-written! Certainly it’s as well-done as some of the other Trump books I’ve seen, like “Good Night, Trump”.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: Broderist feather-weight
catclub
@H.E.Wolf: That electoral-vote website seems very optimistic in biden’s direction. It casts arizona as dark blue, texas and NC as tied.
SiubhanDuinne
@Wyatt Salamanca:
@dnfree:
Thank you!
Miss Bianca
@A Ghost to Most: I sure appreciate you going out of your way to tell us that you’re better and smarter than the rest of us because you’re not contributing any money to political campaigns. I guess the rest of us will go on with doing so regardless, *in addition* to donating to other causes.
You just have to find a way to make your virtue signalling as insufferable as your drive-by commando routine, don’t you?
J R in WV
@dww44:
I would perhaps disagree with you about these being uneducated red necks, though. I have a S-I-L from Ga who is an Auburn grad and is as ignorant as a stump and racist to boot.
Geminid
@dww44: I would be very surprised if both Loeffler and Collins make the runoff in the contest to fill Isaacson’s seat. I’m guessing it will be Collins vs. Warnock. But I’m in Virginia, watching from 500 miles away. I’m really hoping Congresswoman Lucy McBath (GA-7(?)) can win reelection, and Carolyn Bordeaux can take the open Georgia 8th(?) Congressional race. These are suburban districts just north of Atlanta.
Geminid
@Geminid: Correction: Congresswoman Lucy McBath represents the Georgia 6th Congressional district. She has a rematch with Karen Handel, whom McBath beat in 2018. Carolyn Bordeaux is running for the 7th GA congressional seat.
J R in WV
@Miss Bianca:
Just pie him, a lot of work went into that piece of software, use it!
burnspbesq
I loved it when the Atlanta Dream (WNBA team part owned by Loeffler) warmed up in “Vote Warnock” t-shirts before a nationally televised game.
One of the leaders of the Dream, on and off the court, is Elizabeth Williams, one of the three women’s players whose jersey hangs from the rafters at Cameron Indoor Stadium (the home of Duke basketball). Make us proud, EWill.
burnspbesq
@James E Powell:
We have a storage shed in the back yard, with no electricity or Wi-fi) that could be repurposed. There’s a very good futon out there (bought from S.K. Uyeda Department Store in LA’s Little Tokyo) that he can sleep on