2024 Elections

[Vrede too]

Democracy Now!

If his target audience is the left, here's one leftie he missed entirely.

I'm not persuaded on Ukraine yet, either, but IF NC is no longer purple I could see voting for West on the Green Party ticket, if it's even on the ballot here.

Yeah, this'll work.

AMY GOODMAN: And as president, what exactly would you do to stop that war?

CORNEL WEST: Oh, one is, I would pull back on the U.S. military support. I would sit down with the elites from the Chinese empire, given all of their forms of regimentation and repression in their own context. Think about our precious Muslim brothers and sisters in China, the Uyghurs. But I would sit down with the Chinese. I would sit down with the Ukrainians. I would sit down with the Russians, say, “We’re going to stop this war, and we’re going to come up with a plan, a process, with a variety of voices heard, to make sure that the suffering stops and we understand and we’re honest about the larger context of the war.”

Unless one believes that a Ukraine victory - including Crimea and all of the south and east provinces - is achievable within an acceptable time frame, there will be a negotiated resolution at some point (perhaps after Putin dies). How much blood until we get there?

[O Really]

Back when I was an arbitrator, I would do something (that I learned from somebody else) and say to one side, "so if Mr. Bigg here would agree to give you $10 million, would you agree to settle?" "(always) "Sure." "And Mr. Bigg, if Mr. Aggrieved here would accept $10 would you agree to settle?" (always) "Sure." "So all we have to do here is decide on a price and we'll all go home." Frivolous in a way, but it got rid of all the chaff and got to the wheat of the matter. But applying that game to Ukraine and Putin, at this point I don't think either of them is willing to give anything. Why not let Russia keep Crimea? Nobody did anything when they took it and they've had it for years. But that's not even on the edge of the table. Until all sides want to reach a settlement the blood will continue to flow.

[GoCubsGo]

This may keep things entertaining for a bit.

[Vrede too]

This may keep things entertaining for a bit.

https://twitter.com/jonathanvswan/statu ... 2255123457

Should wannabes attack TRE45QN or attack other wannabes in hopes of becoming the alternative to TRE45QN?

Rupert Murdoch Bails On Ron DeSantis, Reportedly Has New Name To Fight Trump

Billionaire media baron Rupert Murdoch reportedly wants to see one Republican in particular take on former President Donald Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 GOP primary for president.

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported Murdoch “has privately told people” he wants to see Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) enter the race.

Youngkin earlier this year ruled himself out of a run, with commentators suggesting he was readying himself for the 2028 election. However, in May there was renewed speculation that he may throw his hat into the ring one election cycle earlier.

Murdoch’s reported pick came as his media organizations — including Fox News — soured on his initial choice to take on Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), amid the governor’s faltering campaign....

[Vrede too]

The campaign of Chris Christie's dreams

Long but interesting description and analysis of what he's up to.

Go Never Trumpers Go.

[GoCubsGo]

Enough of him.

[Vrede too]

Enough of him.
https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/ ... 5510092800

He's not even pretending to try and win. This must be TRE45QN-style grift for him and his orgs.

[billy.pilgrim]

Enough of him.
https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/ ... 5510092800

He's not even pretending to try and win. This must be TRE45QN-style grift for him and his orgs.

He could change parties claiming that he's the one and only RFK, back from wherever he's supposed to have been, ready to be the next republican president.

[Vrede too]

He's not even pretending to try and win. This must be TRE45QN-style grift for him and his orgs.

He could change parties claiming that he's the one and only RFK, back from wherever he's supposed to have been, ready to be the next republican president.

I don't think RepuQs will buy it. However, he could go Indy and spoil the election for the Dems, just as you'd been hoping Dolt .45 would do for the GQP months ago.

[O Really]

You'd think a guy who had a father and uncle politically assisted might be more circumspect in intentionally pissing off crazies.

[billy.pilgrim]

You'd think a guy who had a father and uncle politically assisted might be more circumspect in intentionally pissing off crazies.

Don't you mean, Being crazy

[O Really]

You'd think a guy who had a father and uncle politically assisted might be more circumspect in intentionally pissing off crazies.

Don't you mean, Being crazy

Yeah, that too.
But (semi) seriously - a Kennedy can't go around running their life scared and living under a rock just because of the assassinations', but you would think they would have a psychological effect if you're going into politics. You might even think JFK Jr.'s plane was sabotaged. You might believe in the Kennedy Curse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_curse

[Vrede too]

You'd think a guy who had a father and uncle politically assisted might be more circumspect in intentionally pissing off crazies.

Don't you mean, Being crazy

Yeah, that too.
But (semi) seriously - a Kennedy can't go around running their life scared and living under a rock just because of the assassinations', but you would think they would have a psychological effect if you're going into politics. You might even think JFK Jr.'s plane was sabotaged. You might believe in the Kennedy Curse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_curse

Ah, I could not figure out what "politically assisted" meant. AutoCorrect?

I think Jr might be pleasing more crazies than he's pissing off. But, it only takes one . . . or however many really killed JFK, RFK and JFK Jr.

[O Really]

Politically assassinated. AutoInCorrect

[Vrede too]

Politically assassinated. AutoInCorrect

AutoCorrect is a conversation assistant assassin.

He could change parties claiming that he's the one and only RFK, back from wherever he's supposed to have been, ready to be the next republican president.

I don't think RepuQs will buy it....

"Great" minds?

Marjorie Taylor Greene Points Out How RFK Jr. Has 'Fooled' A Lot Of Republicans
Greene described some of Kennedy's policies as "far, far left" after naming where she agrees with the conspiracy theorist.

[Vrede too]

GOP aide: Biden fundraising should be ‘wakeup call’

Joltin' Joe has raised more than all RepuQs combined, $72M.
Fascist DerSantis has money woes and is shedding staff.

Caveat #1: I think it's all obscene, but if it has to happen I'm glad that Joltin' Joe is winning and ex-VP Q-tip and Fascist DerSantis are losing.
Caveat #2: These figures don't include money raised by supposedly "independent" super PACs.

Other topics:
The Defense War bill is a mess due to GQP cultural warfare.
RFK Jr is a "deranged, disgusting" asshole.

Donald Trump’s Hints About A Potential 2024 Running Mate Proves He’s Willing to Settle for Allies

Vivek Ramaswamy
Senator Tim Scott
Robert Kennedy Jr

I've said it before, I think Uncle Tim would be a dangerous VP pick. I'm not so sure about Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert Kennedy Jr.

[GoCubsGo]

GOP aide: Biden fundraising should be ‘wakeup call’

Speaking of fundraising. I'm ok with Schiff.

[Vrede too]

Speaking of fundraising. I'm ok with Schiff.

https://twitter.com/fuzionbunny/status/ ... 6206627840

Schiff (O Really's pick), Reps. Barbara Lee and Katie Porter (my favorite) - what an excellent choice O Really has!

... Schiff's haul far outpaced Porter, an Irvine Democrat who raised $3.1 million in the second quarter of 2023. But she led Schiff 19% to 16% in a poll of likely voters released last week by the Public Policy Institute of California. Lee had the support of 13%.

Tight.

... Several Republicans are also running for Feinstein’s Senate seat, but their prospects are dim due to California’s progressive tilt. Californians last elected a GOP politician to a statewide office in 2006, and have grown more liberal since then. Democrats accounted for 47% of registered voters, Republicans for 24% and voters who do not express a party preference for 22% as of Feb. 10, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Since 2006 - nice run!

... If two Democrats emerge as the winners of the primary, their battle will continue until November, and tens of millions of dollars will be spent on the contest. If a Republican claims one of the top two spots, the Democrat they face will have a seemingly insurmountable advantage.

But one notable uncertainty is whether former Dodgers star Steve Garvey, a Republican, will enter the contest; he is expected to announce a decision this month.

As of Saturday, 23 candidates had filed to run for the seat.

... Lee — a Black woman who has served in the House of Representatives since 1998 — emphasizes the racial disparities in the nation’s Capitol. Only two African American women have ever been elected to the Senate.

“We love you, Barbara. We think you would make a great senator. But Adam Schiff, he just looks like a senator,” Lee wrote in an email to supporters, paraphrasing comments she has received. “I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard this on the campaign trail. And I’ll be honest, it breaks my heart.”

[Vrede too]

A Third Party Soft Launches, but Its Politicians Disagree on Details

As the ostensibly bipartisan interest group No Labels discovered on Monday, consensus campaigning and governance is all well and good until it comes time for the details.

At an event at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., the group had something of a soft launch of its potential third-party bid for the presidency when Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, and Jon Huntsman Jr., the former Republican governor of Utah, formally released No Labels’ policy manifesto for political compromise.

The two men took pains to say they were not the bipartisan presidential ticket of a No Labels candidacy, and that no such ticket would be formed if the Republican and Democratic nominees for 2024 would just embrace their moderation — “that won’t happen if they’re not threatened,” Mr. Manchin said threateningly....

Joe Manchin III
Jon Huntsman Jr
Joseph I. Lieberman, a former Democratic senator turned independent famous for wrecking the ACA
Benjamin Chavis, a civil rights leader and Democrat
Pat McCrory, a former Republican governor of North Carolina

One thing both men agreed on: No Labels need not divulge the big donors that are fueling the current drive toward a possible third-party bid for the White House. Democratic opponents of the effort have accused the group of hiding a donor list that leans heavily Republican, proof, opponents say, that the drive is all about electing former President Donald J. Trump to a second term.

Ut-oh.

No Labels has denied that but declined to reveal its current donors....

SSDD.

[Vrede too]

Fingers crossed.

2024 election: Republican state parties in disarray ahead of crucial contests
With big opportunities in Arizona and Michigan, the GOP is dealing with local struggles.

"Born to Ride Donald J Trump"?

... the Arizona GOP, which is now seen as one of the most right-wing state parties in the nation, might not be up to winning either the Senate or the presidential contest. And it’s not just Arizona: A number of GOP state affiliates look increasingly troubled as 2024 looms.

Arizona GOP spent big to overturn the 2020 election

Conservative journalist Jon Gabriel highlighted the problem in a recent Arizona Republic op-ed, noting that the party had less than $50,000 in its cash reserves as of March 31, down more than $700,000 from the same point on the calendar four years earlier. Gabriel noted that $300,000 of that difference was spent on “legal consulting” as part of the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential result and declare Donald Trump the victor....

(Loser wingnut Kari) Lake is now mulling a bid for Sinema’s Senate seat, saying recently that she believed she’s the only Republican who can win the race.

A consolidation of Democratic power in Michigan

Trump won Michigan in 2016, shocking Democrats who believed it to be part of their unbreachable Midwest fire wall. Four years later, Republicans believed they had the opportunity to flip a Senate seat there and came within 2 points of doing so.

Those gains quickly receded by the 2022 midterms: Republicans were blown out in what was seen as a winnable gubernatorial race and lost control of the state Senate for the first time in nearly 40 years.

Things haven’t improved much since then. On July 8, a brawl broke out at a meeting of the state GOP committee, with Clare County Republican Party Chair Mark DeYoung telling the Detroit News in an emergency room interview that a fellow Republican “kicked me in my balls as soon as I opened the door.”

... According to a June report from the Washington Post, at least four county Republican parties in Michigan are immersed in disputes over who their rightful leaders are. The conflicts between far-right and more moderate Michigan Republicans has also proved costly: The party had only $116,000 on hand as of March 31, down from nearly $867,000 two years prior.

With Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow retiring next year, Republicans will have an opportunity to flip an open Senate seat — but the race is already rated by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report as leaning toward a Democratic win.

Trouble elsewhere

... In Colorado, where Republicans won a Senate seat as recently as 2014, it’s unclear whether the state GOP is actually paying any staff members or is running solely on volunteers. Colorado was once considered a purple state, but Biden won it by 14 points in 2020.

Trump came within 2 points of winning Minnesota in 2016, but the Republican Party is also in trouble there. According to a June filing, the party had just $53 on hand and more than $335,000 in debts. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar is up for reelection in 2024, but so far no major GOP candidate has announced a bid against her.

Fingers crossed.

Republican Figures Brawl In Wild Ball-Kicking, Rib-Cracking Battle In Michigan
"He kicked me in my balls as soon as I opened the door,” Clare County Republican Party Chair Mark DeYoung told The Detroit News.

... It’s at least the second physical altercation at a Michigan GOP event in recent months....