I’m not counting chickens because 2016. But if the shift in senior voters’ allegiance from Trump to Biden that shows up in poll after poll is real, it could be devastating not only for Trump but for the Republican Party across the board. Here’s an excerpt from a recent Axios piece on the topic:
Something wild and unexpected unfolded in the second half of President Trump’s term, and now is accelerating: Elderly Americans, who helped elect him, have swung sharply against him… National and state polls show a total Trump collapse among Americans 65 and older. If this chasm remains, it could help bring the whole Republican power structure down with Trump.
In what has been a 50-50ish nation, it’s stunning to see polling gaps this wide:
- In a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll out Sunday, Joe Biden led Trump by 27 points among seniors (62% to 35%).
- In a CNN/SSRS poll out yesterday, similar story — 21 points (60% to 39%).
This is a group Trump won by seven points in 2016. The same gap shows up in state polling, including the critical battlegrounds of Florida and Pennsylvania.
The conventional wisdom is that Republicans’ “let grandma die to save the economy” policy turned off seniors. That’s got to be part of it. But as the Axios article notes, Biden was up 11 points with seniors pre-COVID. Trump’s mismanagement of the pandemic accelerated an existing trend.
My sense is that part of it is just Trump’s horrible personality. He’s an asshole, and he behaves inappropriately. That offends a lot of people, but maybe older voters more than most.
The Daily Beast has a report from Trump’s Florida stronghold, The Villages, where Democrats who sat back and let their wingnut peers hog the spotlight have recently started speaking out and staging their own events. Pence is scheduled to hold a rally in The Villages tomorrow, but the reception may not be as enthusiastic as it was in pre-COVID days, especially since infections are spiking in the community:
Over the past week, Sumter County has experienced some of the highest daily positivity rates in the state. On Sept. 30, the daily positivity rate was 21.86 percent. Then it dropped below 10 percent for six consecutive days. But on Oct. 7, the daily positivity rate sprang up to 15.3 percent. The daily case count jumped from just 14 on Tuesday to 98 on Wednesday.
Even Republicans are spooked:
John Calandro, who recently served as president of the Sumter County Republican Executive Committee, said the Pence visit would take place with adequate precautions—even as he nodded to the anxiety in the area.
“I know things will be fairly socially distant,” he told The Daily Beast on Thursday, adding that he was on his way to examine the event setup. The Trump campaign was taking the lead in planning the event, he said.
“I certainly don’t think any of us will get real close to him,” he added of Pence, laughing.
Democrats in The Villages are more adamant:
On Wednesday, ahead of the VP debate, face-covered Villagers in 400 golf carts decked out in Biden-Harris signs participated in a caravan to deliver mail-in ballots to the Sumter County Supervisor of Elections, Stanley, the Democratic club president, recalled. “People are revved up, man,” she said. “They are excited.”
But Robin Viger, a volunteer with the Villages Democratic Club who knows a family of three who came down with the disease, was more focused on the immediate danger of the vice president coming to town than electoral prospects.
“I’m opposed,” she said. “I don’t want him here. I don’t want the virus.”
Trump is aware of the danger, which is why he posted a bizarre video yesterday in which he copped to being a senior himself while coquettishly adding that “nobody knows that.” He called seniors “MY FAVORITE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD” and ranted for two and a half minutes about all the good FREE drugs coming their way — the exact same drugs he received at Walter Reed. He looked and sounded like a shady, spray-tanned used car salesman. I don’t think anyone who’s not already in the cult will be fooled.
Anyway, let’s hope this shift is for real. Open thread.
debbie
I hate to be sucker-punched again, but I have to say early in-person voting turnout here has totally surprised everyone. I am taking that as a hopeful sign.
Baud
I think the shift is real. I just hope it’s permanent, especially as the Dem majority starts trying to deal with the complexities of actual governance.
Belafon
Because I’m at work, I can’t get to the embed information for this tweet, but it fits here:
https://twitter.com/sarahmucha/status/1314576692640321536
Baud
Didn’t he also say he recovered from COVID because he was young? Not that I don’t expect him to speak from both sides of his ugly mouth.
Dopey-o
The best boss I ever had retired to The Villages. I have no idea if he is safe.
Curious that pence cut short a trip to arizona to save the red senate seat there. Coincides with Pelosi’s commission to discuss Amendment 25.
Baud
FWIW, as much as I welcome news like this, it along brings to mind the bullshit of 2016 that landed us here in the first place. I know we can only move forward. At the same time, never forget.
tokyokie
I think my best friend’s mom may live at the Villages. But I can assure you that she’s been voting against Republicans since long before she was 65. And as a Holocaust survivor, I’m sure she especially loathes fatass.
Felanius Kootea
There’s nothing like having a president whose incompetence could directly lead to your death from COVID-19 to focus the mind, though I’m glad many were on board with Biden before the pandemic.
I posted on a dead thread last night that I now have a publisher for my first book, a linked short story collection. It’s been a long process (many years) with twists and turns: finding an agent, having that agent drop me abruptly because she wasn’t sure my book would sell, finding another agent, writing more stories at her request, going on submission to publishers and now I have a book deal. It will be published by Amistad, an imprint of Harper Collins, hopefully next year, maybe Spring 2022 (depends on the edits requested, etc.). I am so excited. I found out yesterday morning and I could barely sit through my work meetings. I did get it together to teach my evening class.
germy
germy
@Felanius Kootea:
Congratulations! From what I understand, a short story collection is the hardest thing to sell. I don’t know why, because often I’d rather read a collection of short fiction rather than an entire novel.
leeleeFL
@Baud: Wrong area of anatomy. He has only talked out his butt for years. Just sayin’!
Betty Cracker
@germy: Haha! That’s a good one from LP. Amazing that it’s not a front page story that Trump is hawking an experimental (and unavailable) drug as a cure-all to millions of people, but after the bleach, oleander, hydroxy, etc., it’s dog bites man, I guess.
DCrefugee
The shift seems to be real, and is helping put Florida into play. But some people are missing an obvious reason:
Seniors see Biden as they want to see themselves: “Powerful, still very active, an attractive wife, a Corvette, well-liked by most people who aren’t nihilistic assholes and about to become president. If he can do that at *his* age, I can too. I’m not ready for the rocking chair, and neither is he.”
rk
Fuck these people and all republicans. Useless idiots. They always vote for the idiot white man. They’re happy when their guy kills everyone non white and screws up the young and poor. Then, when the idiot harms them, suddenly they want the democrat to save them. Biden will come in, try fix the devastation, but in two years they’ll vote for the same republicans. If the pandemic were only effecting non whites, they’d be cheering for Trump. May all republican voters and every single person who uttered the phrase “I hate both Hillary and Trump” rot in hell.
p.a.
Maybe the shift is due to the Fox/tRumpists ignoring the medical advice and shuffling off this mortal coil already. Sad part is they take others along too. “You win one funeral at a time…”
cope
As a card-carrying old, I quit drinking over two years ago and I love drinking what with my Scots/Irish heritage and all. I quit in part to make sure I lived long enough to 1) vote in this coming election and 2) see certain people whom I cannot stand die. I just want to outlive them, I don’t wish violence or tragedy on anyone (well, maybe a little), I just want to still be alive when they are mouldering in the grave. And I consider myself a good person.
Baud
@DCrefugee:
And cognitively sharp!
Hungry Joe
I, too, remain spooked by 2016 (remember “After this election the GOP will be a rump party”?), but we can power through the cognitive dissonance of being both badly spooked and wildly optimistic. When I drove with some friends to Las Vegas (from San Diego) in 2008 to canvass for Obama, we all agreed that we’d never seen anything like the political enthusiasm we were witnessing … and experiencing.
Well, boys & girls, what’s happening now is about an order of magnitude greater. When Ms. H. Joe and I organized a flash Zoom group we call “Ex-Journos Save Democracy” with the idea of recruiting some of our former newspaper colleagues to write post cards and, later, phone bank, we were hoping to snag ten; about 30 responded, and at least 20 have participated. We’ve generated thousands of post cards, and people are on board to do more, more, MORE!
We’re going to win. We’re going to win big.
We can make this happen. We’re making it happen. We will have made it happen.
trollhattan
@germy:
Whoever did that REGENERON ad is a freaking genius. Captures the Commodore 64/Waterbed Warehouse Columbus Day sale vibe perfectly.
Another Scott
Repost:
The national press is just catching up to where Ben was in June. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
germy
@Betty Cracker:
A nice touch was the typo in the chyron.
Really captured the Trump team’s attention to detail.
Nicole
Tiger Beat on the Hudson, as Charlie Pierce refers to Politico, had an article about Trump’s collapsing support, and it went into how some of it is also related to our changing perceptions on what being older is, and how the GOP seems to still view 65+ Americans through a lens that is several decades old (which is hilarious, considering how old a lot of the GOP bigwigs are). One thing that stuck out to me is how we all think of Archie Bunker from All in the Family as “old,” but the character was supposed to be around 46 or 47 at the start of the series. (!)
I hope it’s a genuine sea change for the elderly, because we Gen-Xers do not seem to be helping the shift much. Too many of us came of age during the rah-rah Reagan 80s, I think. I never could stand him, but I grew up in a conservative area and still know a lot of peers who revere his memory. It’s weird.
Today is my birthday (YAY!) and I am a few years older than Archie Bunker was supposed to be at the start of his show. And I’m planning on going for a 6 mile run on this lovely day. I hope our understanding of what aging is continues to evolve. Getting older isn’t the most fun thing ever, but it sure beats the alternative. Seniors know this, and I think are realizing the GOP is not interested in helping them beat the alternative.
SiubhanDuinne
@Felanius Kootea:
I’m so excited for you! Please keep us posted on all the steps from now until publication, and do let us know the minute you have a pre-order/release date. Is there a title yet, or is it still known as “Work in Progress”? Very much looking forward to reading your linked-stories novel.
germy
@trollhattan: I wonder if Trump saw it, if he would even get the joke?
“Looks like a great ad!” He’d say. “Why can’t we do something like that?”
L85NJGT
There are a over a million more women than men in the age 65-69 cohort.
O. Felix Culpa
@Felanius Kootea: Congratulations! I am very happy for you. Please let us know when the book is published and how we can get it.
trollhattan
@DCrefugee:
Yeah, I’m not convinced anybody else from the Dem field of…30? would have pulled this off. Joe offers a safe bridge to a crapton of now-dissatisfied Trump voters and 2016 stay-at-homes that frankly, none of my favorite candidates would have. If it takes him to pry them away from the Republicans we can deal with the next step–making it permanent–later. We do need to mind the young and first-time voters because many of those are skeptical.
...now I try to be amused
@rk: I’ve come to fear that America is too stupid to survive.
Robert Heinlein wrote that the beginning of the end of a democracy is when the plebs figure out they can vote themselves bread and circuses — but in America they only voted for the circuses.
sherparick
@Baud: Trump says he recovered so fast because he is a perfect physical speciman, great genes, etc.
trollhattan
@germy:
Heh, maybe he’ll see it and assume his team did it. :-)
“I want more of these!”
Betty Cracker
@DCrefugee: Great point. I’d never considered that angle.
SiubhanDuinne
@germy:
Yes. That made me laugh out loud when I saw it. Well done, LP!
catclub
haha, in two years the outrage on all the media will be about liberal over-reach and returning the adults to control congress. also complaints that Biden has not fixed everything, yet.
The Dangerman
@Baud: I thought he recovered from Covid because he’s in perfect physical shape? A total stud? More a Dud and always a Dudley DoWrong. What an asshole.
For the curious, I survived isolation, my test this past Tuesday came back negative, and I’m part of the population that never showed obvious symptoms (other than tired, but that could easily be the heart medication)
different-church-lady
“But I never thought he’d try to kill my age group!” says 2016 voter for the “Kill All Age Groups Party” candidate…
Baud
@Nicole: Happy birthday!
catclub
How do you know? paradise could be … paradise.
Ruckus
@Dopey-o:
A gentleman that I know and used to work for lives in the Villages as well. Having known him for decades, and liking the fact that he has two vocal ranges, professional speaker and swearing profusely, and since retirement has worked on Alzheimers/dementia issues in a great way, I’d say the Villages do not comprise a single range of only conservative. Take Ed McGinty as well. Now it may be high percentage conservative but it’s not all.
SiubhanDuinne
@Nicole:
Happy birthday! Enjoy your run, your day, and your year to come!
Geo Wilcox
@L85NJGT: And every single one of them at some point in time was talked over by a man like Kamala Harris was the other night. Pence did his party ZERO favors being such a boorish asshole.
Salty Sam
It’s real. Permanent?… maybe not so much. My mid-80’s mom&stepdad, who were all-in for the shytegibbon last year have turned. Pandemic fail headed them in that direction, and the debate shitshow sealed the deal. They will most likely sit out this election, they would NEVER vote for a Dem, and if they’re still around in ‘24, would certainly vote for whatever asshole the R’s cough up.
I’m feeling better and better about the outcome of the election (although complacency has no part in my life for the foreseeable future). It will be a multi-generational effort to undo the damage, both in policy AND in attitudes, that right wing conservatives have wrought over the last four decades.
Much will depend on how Dems govern, and what immediate gains we make (assuming, as I am, we get the trifecta in November). We should plan to keep the pressure on wimpy, old-school Dems to push for good policy just as ruthlessly as Repubs work for the 1%.
Arm The Homeless
Anecdata: I work in an extremely affluent zip code in SW Floriduh. We are they type of community that is ground-zero for dorky dentists who have recently retired from the Midwest who would like to spend their last 25 years getting skin cancer on their $80K boats.
While there is obviously a large contingent of Trump cultists, I have noticed that there is a large minority of Biden signs and flags where I didn’t see Clinton paraphernalia in ’16. These tend to be the full-time residents and from the few I have spoken to who are willing to talk politics with a stranger, they’re embarrassed about the rhetoric and are very scared that the apathy they’ve witnessed from the GOP and their base about COVID and their health will mean not only on-going risk until we have a vaccine, but that they are losing precious time with their families out of fear of infection.
MattF
@Baud:
That struck me as the prize-winning lie. Yes, everyone says he acts like a three-year-old, but, Jesus on a PBJ, that’s just special in the annals of denial.
Ken
Seems to be coming true, just with a four-year delay. If I were feeling much more charitable than I ever feel, I would even say that the “heighten the differences” folks had a point – electing Trump with a Republican congress has opened a lot of people’s eyes.
Nicole
@catclub:
Suffice to say I’m not in a hurry to find out. :)
different-church-lady
@rk:
You’re very close, but it’ll take longer than that for the dems to fix everything. Only after a year or two of repairing the economy will they return to the GOP. Luxury breeds idiocy.
different-church-lady
@MattF: Based solely on my own experience with my supposedly-not-COVID-but-maybe-was-COVID, I have no idea how the hell he’s going to get through an entire rally without having a very obvious coughing fit.
A Ghost to Most
Hell is The Villages. Apologies to JPS.
FelonyGovt
deleted- duplicate
db11
@Felanius Kootea: Congrats! That’s a huge accomplishment.
…and nice to hear that someone has some good news in the midst of all this chaos.
JAFD
Some respite and good news for Philadelphians, present, past and future.
A local band gets recognition
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/awards/gramophone-classical-music-awards-2020/orchestra-of-the-year
https://youtu.be/WrJjNZG5sIw
And a bike ride along the Schulykill
https://youtu.be/hXxY2jUYUJY
Have great weekend and keep healthy, jackals !
Nicole
@Baud:
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thanks! I spent the night before my birthday doing a Zoom reading with friends of Green Grow the Lilacs, the play that was the basis for Oklahoma!, playing Aunt Eller, who clearly thinks of herself as old, is treated as old, and is described in the notes as being around…. age 50. Although I guess maybe that would have been old for turn-of-the-century Oklahoma.
Kind of a dark play- closer to August Osage County in many ways than to Rodgers and Hammerstein. But was a surprisingly fun read and if we can’t have live theater right now, this was the next best thing.
Kropacetic
Someone needs to tell this man the story of William Henry Harrison.
Edited for oops.
SFBayAreaGal
@Felanius Kootea: Wooho. Congratulations. I’m looking forward to reading your shirt stories.
FelonyGovt
@Felanius Kootea: congratulations! I’m so pleased for you. I hope you will let us know when your book comes out.
@Nicole: Happy birthday! Getting old(er) isn’t THAT bad and it’s so true that the concept of what’s “old” has changed a great deal.
Gin & Tonic
@Kropacetic: Henry.
Kropacetic
Socks that we have to wait. But a tip of the hat to FK.
catclub
@JAFD: nobody can spell skookill right. I am not even trying
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: And no one is mentioning that the FREE drug he got would have cost eight million fucking dollars! Just for the dosage he got! For one person.
SFBayAreaGal
@Nicole: Happy birthday. May your day be full of love, laughter, and fun.
Gin & Tonic
@MattF: Eric (the dumb one, right) says that he was cured by a vaccine.
catclub
more bodice rippers?
The Thin Black Duke
@different-church-lady: Let’s make voting easier for non-whites so we won’t have that problem again.
Eunicecycle
@Nicole: I just saw that Broadway is staying dark until at least May 2021 and I’m sure local theater will follow suit. I know Cleveland Playhouse Square has held out hopes of opening “soon.”
Also, the Golden Girls were supposed to be in their 50s when the show first started!
Oh and ETA happy birthday!
debbie
@germy:
He certainly won’t be believed after all the lies he’s already told them.
trollhattan
@A Ghost to Most:
Mom’s fun sister moved to some posh Florida retirement community after her husband died. Mom would visit her and on returning vowed she would never surround herself with all old people, not willingly anyway. And after dad died and she wanted to downsize, she bought a condo in a regular neighborhood and lived there happily until we reluctantly moved her into a care facility, which must have been a hard pill to swallow but she resisted in-home care so it was the only move.
My takeaway is there’s a danger from surrounding yourself with just people who look like you, because the spice of life around you becomes bland and you risk disengaging. Science tells us old people spend most of their time complaining.
debbie
@Betty Cracker:
Who knew he could love fetal stem cells so hard? //
Kropacetic
Except for Sophia, who was younger than Bea Arthur who played her daughter.
brantl
@…now I try to be amused: You may not know this, but Heinlein was a libertarian.
Kay
I went to get a flu shot with my youngest son at Walgreens. There was a wait and there was a (truly) elderly woman there waiting too- just tiny and fragile-looking. He’s gregarious – a friendly person- and he gradually got too close to her chatting with her and I looked over and realized she was scared. We were all masked but my sense was she didn’t want him any closer so I called him toward me because I didn’t want to embarrass him with “too close!” but I was struck by how vulnerable she must feel.
Elizabelle
@germy: That Lincoln Project ad is perfect. Doesn’t even need a ginsu knife.
trollhattan
@The Thin Black Duke:
I do not know whether the Voting Right Act can be restored following Shelby County so if not, VRA II needs to be on the front burner.
debbie
@cope:
LOL, I can relate. I have many fantasies about ripping peoples’ faces off.
brantl
@The Dangerman: Good to have you back.
Steeplejack
Trump’s video:
trollhattan
@debbie:
Can you imagine trying to ‘splain to Donny what that even means?
Steeplejack
My impression is that perhaps young(er) people think, “Eh, he’s old, what do you expect?” Whereas “seniors”—of which I am one—are more likely to think: “He’s our age. Yes, he’s an asshole, but no one has to be an asshole.” (Optional “Fuck that guy” at the end.)
Ken
Why?
SFBayAreaGal
@Kropacetic: Lol. Should have said short.
germy
SFAW
@Baud:
I had assumed he was making a non-dickish joke, perhaps for the first time in his life. Of course, I would not be surprised to find I was wrong.
SFBayAreaGal
@catclub: Hmmm, could be sub conscious talking. ;)
germy
@Kay:
I went to get my car inspected. Mine was the first appointment, so I got there in time to see none of the mechanics or counter people with masks. One guy behind the counter waved me over, and then put his mask on as I approached.
They don’t understand that the virus hangs in the air. They think they’re good.
Eventually, as the place filled with customers, their masks went on.
I think it’s more theater than anything else. As soon as the customers were gone, I’m certain the masks came off again.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Felanius Kootea: That is fabulous! Congratulations!
Calouste
Apparently no rally for the shitgibbon this weekend, “he’ll be back on the campaign trail on Monday”.
I guess they have trouble fine tuning the meds.
Elizabelle
@Nicole: Happy Birthday, Nicole. Happy whole birthday weekend!
VeniceRiley
@WaterGirl: I believe that Regeneron is, if approved under EUA, giving the first 50k doses out to hospitals gratis. From there, I would think there should be a federal purchase agreement. I mean, didn’t they get the BARDA big bux?
SFAW
@germy:
He went on to say “Why can’t they just leave the campaign funding to patriotic Joo .. er, I mean real Americans, like Sheldon Adelstein? Um, Adelwitz? Look, you know who I mean.”
Baud
@SFAW: Who knows with him? “It was a joke” is his go to excuse whenever he receives any criticism.
Tom Levenson
@Felanius Kootea: great news. Congratulations!
Gozer
Saw something earlier on twitter I think? Anyway, it posited that senior voters who reached the age of majority prior to Nixon’s admin tend to be more GOP leaning by a few points, while the average Boomer who became 18 during Nixon’s presidency tend to be ever so slightly more liberal (in polling at least).
Before COVID the voting population was already losing those voters at a fair rate. This has only increased since March.
Elizabelle
@Felanius Kootea: Fabulous news! We should do a virtual book launch for you here, once it’s out/about to be published.
Yea you.
Ken
Now, now. The drug wasn’t fetal stem cells. It was a synthetic antibody secreted by an immortalized line of stem cells derived from an aborted fetus. Completely different thing.
WereBear
@Felanius Kootea: All the congratulations! That’s sweeeeeet.
germy
@SFAW:
They don’t like democracy.
I mean, didn’t they tell us money = free speech?
Well… we’re talking now.
Kropacetic
@Ken: Died in office from illness attributed to ill-advised actions he took to project strength.
SFAW
@Arm The Homeless:
I thought you said they were “extremely affluent.” Boats for thems peoples run a bit more than $80K, I believe. Unless the boat is used, and advertised as “for parts or resto.”
SFAW
@germy:
But Ur not sayin it rite.
waspuppet
Well, when you put it THAT way …
Baud
@Kropacetic:
He at least had the decency to do it in the first 30 days.
Felanius Kootea
@germy:
@SiubhanDuinne:
@O. Felix Culpa:
@db11:
@SFBayAreaGal:
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Thank you all! Will let you know when it’s published. The working title for now is “Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions.”
Ken
Or he hacked up a lung last night after the Hannity call. ToMAYto, toMAHto.
Gin & Tonic
@trollhattan:
Explains a lot about this blog.
Elizabelle
My next door neighbor, whose adorable dog I walk sometimes, just for fun, just announced she is quarantining and will take a COVID test tomorrow; will let me know asap her results.
She and her boyfriend are 20-somethings; they attended a wedding in coastal North Carolina last weekend (I was thinking, whoa there, but maybe they are invincible.) Were just notified the bride has tested positive.
I am not always in a mask around them, and not following the 6 to 10 foot rule either (albeit, we are often outdoors), so she was kind enough to alert me to the situation. To hear.
Brachiator
I am seeing a slew of the standard news stories about the white working class and seniors, emphasizing those who are “ride or die” for Trump. There is also an insistence that there is a wide informal agreement among Trump supporters not to participate in polls, and so keep the evil media fooled.
I tend to think that the pro Biden polls are accurate. And I am more concerned about voter suppression efforts, especially attempts to spoil mail in ballots.
Voter turnout looks as though it might be high. So I say get out the vote and support efforts to get a big turnout.
ETA. I don’t know if it is targeting, but I notice a lot of GOP ads on YouTube and a smaller number of Democratic Party ads. The Democratic Party ads are not nearly as slick, or creepy as the GOP stuff. I’m curious to know if ads targeted to a younger demographic are any different. But this may be the future. I don’t watch much TV and so would miss most tv ads.
L85NJGT
FOX News watching Jerry is no longer around to dictate voting preferences, and the fiscal & actuarial reality for many 65+ women is outliving the nest egg and being reliant on Social Security.
Felanius Kootea
@Nicole: Happy birthday!
SFAW
@Kropacetic:
Trivia: John Tyler’s grandson recently died.
Elizabelle
@Gin & Tonic: LOL.
Ken
@Kropacetic: Yes, I know. I meant why bother telling Trump?
L85NJGT
@Ken:
“Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead……’
SFAW
@Nicole:
Happy Birthday, young lady. Enjoy your run, I hope the weather stays beautiful.
Matt McIrvin
@…now I try to be amused: Heinlein had the late 20th century conservative/libertarian fear of democracy, that it would lead to the little people “voting themselves the treasury” through a ruinous welfare state. But as you say, we haven’t done that. We’ve done pretty much the opposite.
Heinlein thought the Gilded Age was awesome and wanted the US to return to that kind of economy. Well, we’ve been going at it.
Baud
@SFAW:
Oh man. Not Tyler too.
Aleta
@Felanius Kootea: That’s wonderful. I’ll want to buy a copy, just announce when please.
Felanius Kootea
@Tom Levenson:
Thank you!
@Elizabelle:
Ooh – a virtual book launch would be nice. That’s a great idea, now that COVID has made it the new norm. I’ve attended three Crowdcast/Zoom book readings since June.
@WereBear:
Thank you!
SFAW
@Baud:
Apparently it was a boating accident, something about a canoe tipping.
Patricia Kayden
Aleta
@Nicole: Very Happy Birthday to you!!
germy
@Baud:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFaRklAYanY
Nicole
@Felanius Kootea: Please do let us know! And post a link to Amazon, or the small independent book seller of your choice. :)
Felanius Kootea
@Aleta: Thank you, will do.
Kropacetic
Alas, it took him a whole 31.
Wow, you just blew my mind.
Baud
@Felanius Kootea:
I don’t think I’ve congratulated you yet so you can thank me too now.
Matt McIrvin
@Brachiator:
I’ve seen liberals echoing these stories to keep people from getting complacent. I think the intent of them is to prepare the ground for trying to nullify the election result after Trump loses (or support it if he wins a narrow, contested victory).
L85NJGT
@Matt McIrvin:
File under: Every accusation, an admission
Felanius Kootea
@Nicole: Thank you. Good idea – I’m rooting for the Vromans and Skylight Books of the world – they’ve been hit hard by the pandemic and I hope they make it through.
Kropacetic
To cause fear and anxiety.
NetheadJay
@Baud: I see what you did there…
Patricia Kayden
@Baud: He’s young. He’s old. I’m surprised he hasn’t claimed that he’s White and Black and Asian too.
Nicole
Thanks for the birthday wishes, all! We’ll be taking advantage of NYC’s Open Streets continuing into October to have a drink with a few friends outside this evening.
Pandemic birthdays can be a bummer, except that 2 years ago, I was in Georgia on my birthday and had to spend it alone with my 8-year-old, outside a Tanger Mall Outlet, eating at quite possible the WORST Mexican restaurant I’ve ever been to. So this one, masks and social distancing and all, is still very much a step up. ;) Off to run!
cain
@Nicole:
First off, Happy Birthday!!
Yeah, as a Gen Xer who was in high school when Raygun became president. I never liked him. I could never understand what was so exciting about this man – I saw a man full of flaws.
That said, there was nothing interesting about who the Democratic party put out there. Mondale? Meh. But I did like Jimmy Carter and I’m sad that he couldn’t get re-elected.
mad citizen
But if William Henry Harrison had had REGENERON he’d still be alive today.
From upthread, yes, I hate how these campaigns are so “of the moment”. I’d like to hear Dems everywhere talk about how the R’s have fucked things up for at least 20 years and people need to vote Blue for a sustained period for our nation to rebound.
I guess the reality will be: Does the Republican wither away as a white party, or do some of the other kinds of americans join it and change it for the better.
James E Powell
My sense is that this is true, that older white people are offended and repulsed by Trump. And it’s not like Trump is any different than the last time. It’s just that in 2016 it didn’t offend and repulse them as much as the idea of a woman president.
trollhattan
@Nicole:
Wow, you share birthdays with John Lennon (his 80th today). Have a happy!
WaterGirl
@sherparick: So if you don’t recover right away, it’s YOUR fault.
Don’t worry about the fact that you didn’t get 8-fucking-million dollars worth of one experimental drug and the other experimental drug for god-only-knows-how-much.
Losers. Trump thinks that the 220,000 people who have died from COVID are LOSERS.
Fuck him.
cain
@trollhattan:
Once in office we really need to show momentum and deliver on what we promised. This means keeping those damn blue dogs in check and remind them that every blue dog didn’t get re-elected for being more conservative.
JPL
@germy: I’m surprised that popehat didn’t change his hat to vulnerable/not vulnerable
WaterGirl
@The Dangerman: I’m so glad to hear that. I have been thinking of you every day. I’m not crying, you’re crying!
Steeplejack
trollhattan
@James E Powell:
Some may well be, but I see too damn many proud Trump supporters around for my own comfort and general sense of well-being. The more belligerent and shouty he is, the better.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Nicole: Happy birthday! Eat cake
JPL
@Nicole: Happy, happy day! Enjoy your run.
Steeplejack
@Felanius Kootea:
Congratulations! Good news. ?
germy
@Steeplejack:
Brachiator
@DCrefugee:
Very interesting. Very interesting. Would Biden’s apparently good relationship with his wife add to that?
The alternative fantasy would be that of an angry rich fat man with a sullen wife and snotty adult children.
Kropacetic
Or do other kinds of Americans join it and allow it to continue being awful?
cain
@trollhattan:
Absolutely, I couldn’t live with a bunch of olds. I don’t have much to contribute anyways – I can’t remember anything from my past anyways. No cute stories, nothing to reminiscence about .. I live in the moment.
But I love hanging around younger people – their energy drives me and as a person with ADHD, I’m already hyperactive and the same energy.
Felanius Kootea
@Baud:
Not thanking you until you fix your candidacy and get a proper campaign manager ;-).
@Steeplejack:
Thank you!
narya
Downstairs Neighbor had a birthday this week, and she and Friend have both been super careful, and she has a vehicle, so . . . we’re getting takeout tonight to celebrate. It will be the only meal I haven’t cooked–with the exception of pizza on my birthday in July–since early March. I love to cook, am good at it, etc., but am still looking forward to this in an inordinate fashion.
Happy birthday and congrats for the book to commenters above!
Steeplejack
@germy:
Thanks. Sunday, so five days ago now.
[Adjusts the yarn on the conspiracy board.]
Kay
Notre Dame lost the video Notre Dame removed. The plan is to overturn Roe but not tell anyone, because overturning Roe is really unpopular.
So the deal is Democrats must accept the political downside of supporting Roe, which they do, but Republicans should be insulated from the political downside of opposing Roe, and they will secure that advantage by lying about it. Sounds fair.
Kent
I think this is a big part of it. Biden with his common working man schtick and somewhat deliberately un-hip and garbled language “no malarky?” just resonates with the older crowd who see him as one of them in a way that Trump can never be with his uber wealthy NYC pretenses and 3rd mail-order model bride. And Clinton wasn’t either frankly with the way she ran her campaign. “I’m With Her” made the campaign about Clinton’s personal barrier shattering. Biden’s campaign is more studiously about us not him.
I’m not sure we would see the same swing if a younger and edgier candidate (and less white/male) were on the top of the ticket. Remember, the older the population cohort in this country the whiter it gets. It would be interesting to know what percent of this swing is ideological party preference in general, and what percent is owed to Biden specifically.
I think in a way, both Trump AND Biden are representative of the last gasp of the Boomer (and earlier) generation. By say 2028 it will truly be a different electorate.
trollhattan
@cain:
It has really hit hard since the kid went off to college how much I miss her friends showing up at the house, the soccer games, the school events, all of it. I get a lot of energy from that crew. And COVID has for the moment stymied volunteering at the high school, but that at least will eventually pass.
p.a.
@Steeplejack: Maybe he’s off preparing the dacha…
Bill Arnold
@germy:
We should be better about informing the storekeepers/employees who “pull up their mask” that they are not good.
I walked out of a store yesterday because when I walked in the storekeeper put on a mask. Didn’t say why, ’cause I’m shy. One town over in the county is a haven for some Hasidic sect (it would take a paragraph to accurately describe the hats on the males) with a rampant COVID-19 outbreak.
Arm The Homeless
@SFAW: Boehner lives down here, so maybe my perspective of “extreme affluence” is skewed. Definitely more affluent than 99% of the South-east
Kent
Honestly, I’m just fucking tired of hearing about Roe. Democrats could have put it to rest in 2008 and with unified control in 2021 they could do so again by simply guaranteeing reproductive rights in federal statute. They have been letting Roe carry way too much weight over all these years. I suppose a conservative SCOTUS could find a way to overturn that too, but the arguments would be completely different from whether or not a right to privacy can be found in the constitution.
In any event, old videos of Barrett aren’t going to make any difference. There is nothing short of videos of her conducting satanic child sacrifice rituals that will derail her nomination. Republicans simply do not give a shit and are beyond persuasion. The fact that she is an extremist asshole is a plus, not a mark against her.
jonas
That’s really been the kicker for my parents and in-laws. Trump and the GOP talk as if the only thing that matters here is getting the stock market back up and running and well if some folks die off in the meantime, wev. Meanwhile, millions of seniors who *don’t* wish to ride the special Covid Carousel of Renewal are basically barricaded in their houses while infection continues to spread in schools, colleges, and in towns and cities throughout the US, particularly in the upper Midwest now. It will have almost been a year in December since my kids last saw their grandparents in person — all because selfish rightwing assholes, egged on by Trump, refuse to do shit-all to stem the spread of the virus. Let me tell you, they, and many like them, are PISSED.
Kropacetic
This holds true with more or less any political issue.
Democrats must also be judged by their wackiest activist, while Republicans must never be judged and always assumed to be acting in good faith.
Kropacetic
It sucks but at some point people need to eat.
catclub
The GOP does that voting themselves the treasury.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: @Felanius Kootea:
That would definitely fit in the Celebrating Jackals series!
cain
@trollhattan:
it really does and you are in tune of what is happening now vs what was in the past – sharing what’s hip today and what hip when you were younger.
For instance, I always get a chuckle out of the above waist jeans that was in style in the 80s and is suddenly back. I really disliked the look when I was in high school.. but also hated bell bottoms. Stuff like that. That young girls are wearing “mom jeans” is kinda funny :D
mad citizen
@Kent: Hillary of course was the victim of a 20 year propaganda program. I recall “I’m With Her” but also recall reading on CNN the announcement about her slogan “Stronger Together”, and so that’s the one I remember. Maybe one was for the primaries and one for the general? I don’t think “Build Back Better” has any effect on Biden’s standing.
rk
I saw a truck yesterday in New Jersey with at least 6 flags, 5 Trump flags and one blue lives matter weird looking flag. I work with a lot of older white people and they’re all (except maybe one or two) trump supporters. One day CNN was on in the break room and one of the women cursed at the anchor, grabbed the remote and changed the channel. If my work place is any indicator, Trump would win by a landslide.
MisterForkbeard
@Kay: Isn’t this the 4th or 5th time we’ve found something important she just happened to leave out? And that coincidentally ‘hides’ her true feelings on what she wants to do on the court?
That seems like a real pattern. Or maybe just a giant incredibly unlikely series of coincidences that all happen to just favor her enormously. I wonder which it is?
chopper
@cope:
that’s scots/irish all right.
Kent
I’m not saying that what happened to Clinton was fair. I was a very big Clinton supporter. I just know that my own elderly parents who were Clinton voters are just more enthused with Biden. He resonates more with them than Clinton ever did. They just find him a lot more down to earth and less polished. Which they like.
LuciaMia
@Ken: Is that Tucker Carlson interview still on?
Baud
@Kent: Biden is definitely more folksy (than Hillary or Obama). We can debate whether he can get away with that because he’s a white guy, but my only concern is that it keeps resonating for one more month (at least).
Eunicecycle
@Bill Arnold: I was in a car dealership service area where only about half of the employees were wearing masks and neither of the people I spoke close to were. Despite the sign saying masks required. I stewed angrily but stayed. About 4 days later I felt sick with a cough and a fever. Eventually I got a Covid test that was negative, but boy was the dealership going to get a sternly worded letter and maybe a negative Yelp review if I were positive. I may still do the Yelp review.
Brachiator
@Kropacetic:
I walked out of a store yesterday because when I walked in the storekeeper put on a mask.
The owner of a coffee shop I frequently visit complains about pandemic related regulations, but is scrupulous in following them.
At a nearby restaurant, the outdoor tables are too close together and staff are very sloppy about wearing masks. For this and other reasons I would never eat there.
But I also notice that fatigue is setting in and people are getting irritated about having to follow the rules.
KSinMA
@Felanius Kootea: That’s fantastic! Congratulations!!!
Kay
@MisterForkbeard:
Why won’t Joe Biden tell us about his hypothetical additional judges? That’s my concern.
Also- stop attacking her religion.
Salty Sam
@SFAW: ISWYDT
Ajabu
@catclub:
How do you know? paradise could be … paradise
Or it could be Lay down in a hole in the ground and hold your breath forever. YMMV…
montanareddog
@Gin & Tonic:
It would have been fun to see the reaction if it Goku had said that.
Kropacetic
Staffing levels play a role. If you can’t take a proper break during your shift, you’re more likely to try to find somewhere in your workspace you can discreetly sip some water and pick at your lunch.
ballerat
@germy: The KIA dealership near where I live is like that too. No masks except for the guy right at the service counter. I see 10 feet behind him in the same room, 6 or 7 of their guys having a meeting, gathered around a table, no masks.
It’s a joke to them. Until one of them super-spreads and it isn’t.
Uncle Jeffy
@Gin & Tonic: Didn’t help with his case of terminal stupidity, did it?
gvg
@Matt McIrvin: I disagree…he didn’t write flattery of big tycoons owning everything. The moon was a harsh mistress was pretty blunt about unsupervised corporations. He was a mixed bag on a lot of issues but he was a more complete libertarian than the current crop of Christian Ayn Rand con people. Heinlein was a sexual liberal, and wouldn’t fit with them at all. I can’t actually think of any group he would quite fit in. Different books had different bad guy themes.
errg
@cain:
Yes, we need to deliver. Which means that if we take back the senate we need to kill the filibuster, add DC as a state, add Puerto Rico as a state if they approve it in their referendum, and expand the Supreme Court. And they need to do all this quickly and with no tears, no year of negotiating with the Republicans (a la the ACA), which just ends up making things look sleazy.
Just do it.
Mel
@Felanius Kootea: Congratulations!! Keep us posted on publication dates. I’m looking forward to reading your work!
Brachiator
@Matt McIrvin:
I was never a huge Heinlein fan. Enjoyed some of his stuff, immensely, but it was always pick and choose. However I didn’t know much about his personal political beliefs and didn’t much care.
Uncle Cosmo
@catclub: Close friend who grew up in the Philthy metro region refers to it as the Surekill. He claims that in those days (1960s-70s) participants in regattas held on the river were issued cyanide pills in case they fell in…. :^D
Mel
@The Dangerman:
So glad to hear that you are doing well! Just get as much rest as you can over the next few weeks, and take extra good care of yourself.
Thank for the update – have been thinking of you and hoping that things were on a good trajectory.
Kosh III
My sister-in-law is a die hard Republican as in she’d vote for Castro if he had an R after his name, she voted for Trump in 16 but says she is disgusted with him and has a Biden sign in her yard.
JaneE
I don’t know how many seniors are all that aware of how Social Security and Medicare are funded, but Trump’s
promisethreat to make his payroll tax deferral permanent if he were re-elected ought to put a big dent in his support all by itself. No more income for the Social Security Administration equals no more social security checks – not smaller checks as when the trust fund is exhausted, but no checks at all – and not ten but more like two years from now. I expect the social security funding will be replaced by general revenue funds right after the replacement for the ACA is enacted – that is never. Even seniors who won’t starve without their social security check will most likely have to make some changes to their lifestyle, and we all know how old people hate change. (/s)cope
@chopper: A Scottish coworker of mine once told me this about her fellow Scots: “you must either agree with a Scotsman or kill him.” And she told me in the nicest, sweetest way possible.
Bill Arnold
@Kropacetic:
Point, thanks.
I don’t recall that he was eating but he might have been.
I have occasionally seen this behavior in other stores too; customer walks in, mask goes on at least one employee. This is NY State, with near 100 percent mask discipline in stores.
Betty
@Belafon: I was waiting for him to bring out the golden oldies. I wonder f he and Jill have worked out a dance routine.
Uncle Cosmo
@chopper:
(Having spent a fair chunk of my mid-years hanging around Irisn-Americans, I will testify to the veracity of this as an impartial observer.)
Uncle Cosmo
@LuciaMia: I hope so – I want to see Needy Amin giver Fucker Churlson this shit. And then have him infect the rest of Faux Noise.
Ruckus
@JaneE:
As an old on SS who has paid in my entire life and who has also been an employer and paid the other half of employee’s bit, I understood then and understand now that without SS people will die, and a lot sooner than normal. I’d bet a lot more old farts like myself understand SS better than shitforbrains and his cohorts, many of whom never actually lived off wages or maybe did so long ago that they have long forgotten about it. All they see is that 7+% that goes with every paycheck their companies write, which they think they are entitled to as masters of the universe. Fucking knobs. They seem to be able to do all the maths that show money coming in but none of the maths of what it takes for that to happen.
Also as an old, as many of us here are, we now spend far less of our time worrying about living and far more worrying about staying alive so we can live. shitforbrains thinks he’s going to live forever because he’s so great. Wouldn’t it be nice that there were gates after the body bag, just so we’d know that he ends up in the place without air conditioning, or comforts of any kind whatsoever.
Uncle Cosmo
@gvg: Heinlein catches a lot of flak for The Man Who Sold The Moon, whose protagonist is bazillionaire Delos D. Harriman. But it’s a bad rap. DD is not above a bit of chicanery (stuff that allegedly has been to the Moon, to be sold off to help fund the trip, being sneaked onboard after landing because it weighed too much to take) or even reckless endangerment (the downrange path of the Moon Rocket’s early stages’ descent is over populated territory)…but basically he just wants to get to the Moon. The real heavies in the book are his fellow corporate board members (and his wife) who don’t share his passion & are constantly scheming to stop him.
Chris Johnson
@rk: Yeah, but you’re a troll, doesn’t count :)
J R in WV
@Nicole:
Happy Birthday, you young sprout! I wish I could run, let alone multiple miles… oh well.
Brachiator
@Kropacetic:
D’oh! I missed the obvious point the first time around. Absolutely people need a break. But I am seeing more instances of owners and patrons trying to get around wearing masks at all.
J R in WV
@Bill Arnold:
We were flying out of JFK to Europe some years ago, and there was a guy wearing what appeared to me to be a ritual set of garb, with a hat that was flat on top, with a rigid flat brim, quite round, with tiny balls, dozens of them, dangling from the edge of the hat brim. Hat was dark brown rigid felt, little dangles and balls were white, or perhaps a very pale tan.
Would that hat be close to the hats your local ultra-orthodox community males wear? I know there are a ton of different orthodox sects, so I’m sure there are a whole slew of very rigidly adhered to garmets and hats.
I have trouble keeping my tee shirts and jeans in order — I would have been excommunicated from any religious sect with rigid clothing rules at least 50 years ago…