"Their efforts.....are adorable" is perfect - the Boston version of "Bless Their hearts."
Thanks for Point 6. Katy Tur (natch!) brought this up with Rachel Maddow as the news was breaking saying something to the effect of "My girlfriends are texting me worried about the ramped up misogynistic attacks to come." Rachel said something to the effect of - "Yeah, so what, your friends need to put their big girl pants on." I interpreted Rachel's smile as saying That’s Adorable and Bless Their Hearts simultaneously.
To push back against point 5, Harris' chief flaw in 2019-2020 was that she was terminally online, which led her to both prioritize pointless irrelevancies in pursuit of Twitter clout, and also to frequently spout incomprehensible word salad as she tried to leverage social media lingo that no one ever uses in actual conversation. Nothing that she has done in the intervening 4 years shows any growth in this regard, so wile it's certainly possible she's grown as a politician, all of this "Kamala is actually a great candidate" talk is wildly premature until she starts some public appearances.
You write that, "nothing that she has done in the intervening 4 years shows any growth in this regard" and I'm curious where you're getting that from. I see a politician who had a rocky first year as VP and then found her voice in a post-Dobbs environment.
I'm with Bill. As I've commented elsewhere, I was actually a Kamala supporter in early 2019: I'm from the Bay Area and liked her record as DA and AG, thought she did a reasonable job as a senator, and I liked the fact that she was married to a Jewish guy. But then she ran away from her record as DA, she was a miserable campaigner, her candidacy imploded, and then when picked as VP (which I was fine with) I found her folksiness manner somewhat off putting in speeches, interviews, and her debate.
And while I admit to not paying very close to her over the last two years, I certainly hadn't seen anything that made me change my mind. So I was bummed that the Democrats closed ranks so quickly around her rather than creating some process where she would have started as the favorite but would have to demonstrate she was the best choice to take on Trump. While I get the desire to just start the general campaign and to feel united, all that would have happened after the convention regardless. The most important thing post Biden's announcement was to pick the best candidate, and I fear the opposite happened.
I think the best way to judge whether someone is good campaigner is to actually watch them campaign, and (as a Warriors fan) I fear the Democrats may have saddled themselves with the James Wiseman of nominees: someone who checks all the boxes of what you were looking for and has flashes of potential but doesn't actually help you win games.
Having said that, what's done is done, and certainly Kamala gives Democrats a fighting chance to defeat Trump versus the certain defeat that sticking with Biden would have meant. So I certainly hope you're right Dan that she has grown as a candidate, and my fears about her will prove unfounded.
Your first paragraph resonates for me. I haven't followed her closely in the last few years, but I feel like she probably learned a lot campaigning and being in the White House. I think she'll do fine.
You mentioned Trump is in the lead, I assume you mean in polls. I do my best to remind everyone that when you see a national poll result, you need to be adding 3.9% to Trump's total. That was the PV-EV split in 2024 and I have no reason to think it would be lower than that as opposed to higher.!
I tell people this because I see people get excited over a poll where Kamala leads Trump by 2%. Folks, that's not a lead, it's a deficit. Always add 3.9%
I'll throw my two cents in for Roy Cooper for VP. I'm biased from personal experience, but I think this interview shows how good it is at the assignment. And he puts North Carolina more in play. https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp-video/mmvo215371845867
Thanks for your 10. I am curious what your thoughts are on how Harris' baggage from being part of Biden Admin - the great things and the not so great things - matter in light of what we would lose if the MAGA Party took over. Another question I have is what can we do to fortify our legal system so that when Harris wins, the litigation and lies from the Right do not go up to the Illigitimate Supreme Court and cause mayhem.
Ominous: "This roller coaster will not end until November at the earliest." 😅
"Their efforts.....are adorable" is perfect - the Boston version of "Bless Their hearts."
Thanks for Point 6. Katy Tur (natch!) brought this up with Rachel Maddow as the news was breaking saying something to the effect of "My girlfriends are texting me worried about the ramped up misogynistic attacks to come." Rachel said something to the effect of - "Yeah, so what, your friends need to put their big girl pants on." I interpreted Rachel's smile as saying That’s Adorable and Bless Their Hearts simultaneously.
To push back against point 5, Harris' chief flaw in 2019-2020 was that she was terminally online, which led her to both prioritize pointless irrelevancies in pursuit of Twitter clout, and also to frequently spout incomprehensible word salad as she tried to leverage social media lingo that no one ever uses in actual conversation. Nothing that she has done in the intervening 4 years shows any growth in this regard, so wile it's certainly possible she's grown as a politician, all of this "Kamala is actually a great candidate" talk is wildly premature until she starts some public appearances.
You write that, "nothing that she has done in the intervening 4 years shows any growth in this regard" and I'm curious where you're getting that from. I see a politician who had a rocky first year as VP and then found her voice in a post-Dobbs environment.
I'm with Bill. As I've commented elsewhere, I was actually a Kamala supporter in early 2019: I'm from the Bay Area and liked her record as DA and AG, thought she did a reasonable job as a senator, and I liked the fact that she was married to a Jewish guy. But then she ran away from her record as DA, she was a miserable campaigner, her candidacy imploded, and then when picked as VP (which I was fine with) I found her folksiness manner somewhat off putting in speeches, interviews, and her debate.
And while I admit to not paying very close to her over the last two years, I certainly hadn't seen anything that made me change my mind. So I was bummed that the Democrats closed ranks so quickly around her rather than creating some process where she would have started as the favorite but would have to demonstrate she was the best choice to take on Trump. While I get the desire to just start the general campaign and to feel united, all that would have happened after the convention regardless. The most important thing post Biden's announcement was to pick the best candidate, and I fear the opposite happened.
I think the best way to judge whether someone is good campaigner is to actually watch them campaign, and (as a Warriors fan) I fear the Democrats may have saddled themselves with the James Wiseman of nominees: someone who checks all the boxes of what you were looking for and has flashes of potential but doesn't actually help you win games.
Having said that, what's done is done, and certainly Kamala gives Democrats a fighting chance to defeat Trump versus the certain defeat that sticking with Biden would have meant. So I certainly hope you're right Dan that she has grown as a candidate, and my fears about her will prove unfounded.
Your first paragraph resonates for me. I haven't followed her closely in the last few years, but I feel like she probably learned a lot campaigning and being in the White House. I think she'll do fine.
You mentioned Trump is in the lead, I assume you mean in polls. I do my best to remind everyone that when you see a national poll result, you need to be adding 3.9% to Trump's total. That was the PV-EV split in 2024 and I have no reason to think it would be lower than that as opposed to higher.!
I tell people this because I see people get excited over a poll where Kamala leads Trump by 2%. Folks, that's not a lead, it's a deficit. Always add 3.9%
> Still, despite a month’s worth of good news, it’s still a pretty tight race.
Yeah, my recollection is that candidates often receive a substantial bump after conventions, and that didn't seem to happen here.
I'll throw my two cents in for Roy Cooper for VP. I'm biased from personal experience, but I think this interview shows how good it is at the assignment. And he puts North Carolina more in play. https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp-video/mmvo215371845867
Thanks for your 10. I am curious what your thoughts are on how Harris' baggage from being part of Biden Admin - the great things and the not so great things - matter in light of what we would lose if the MAGA Party took over. Another question I have is what can we do to fortify our legal system so that when Harris wins, the litigation and lies from the Right do not go up to the Illigitimate Supreme Court and cause mayhem.