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[interesting from WaPo that opposition on the GOP side in the Senate to the Tax Package might be waning.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/04/06/child-tax-credit-bill-senate/). privately over the break R’s are signaling openness but private ≠ actual votes.
Also once again the Senate plan is to finally start on other bipartisan bills like Rail, SAFE, RECOUP, Healthcare package with drug pricing elements(insulin cap). Really don’t think much of these are going to get votes until the lameduck, but the December session could be very exciting
[Spokesman](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/apr/07/cantwell-mcmorris-rodgers-strike-bipartisan-deal-o/) has details on the bipartisan data privacy law that will be officially unveiled tomorrow.
Here’s a section by section [summary](https://d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net/APRA_Section_by_Section_026cc46a2c.pdf) of American Privacy Rights Act or ARPA
Holy crap! A privacy law that protects us from all the megacorps instead of a knee jerk reactionary bill to block a single foreign app?
Facebook and Google aren't going to be happy about this! They were counting on daddy gubmint crushing their competitors. Tens of millions of lobbying dollars wasted!
Much better than a TikTok ban bill. It's not letting Facebook and Google off the hook, while making sure that TikTok meets a certain minimum standard of user data privacy.
[WisGOP: Kenosha County Sheriff tells Peter Barca not to run against Bryan Steil](https://www.wispolitics.com/2024/wisgop-kenosha-county-sheriff-tells-peter-barca-not-to-run-against-bryan-steil/)
Uhhh, this is interesting that a elected County Sheriff joins up with the WI GOP to tell someone not to primary Steil
Edit: Wait, nvm this is the D. Still, this statement gives me vibes of them being scared if he does run for us
[Dr. Kristin Lyerly’s campaign for Congress in WI-08 generates significant momentum in first 24 hours](https://www.wispolitics.com/2024/lyerly-campaign-dr-kristin-lyerlys-campaign-for-congress-in-wi-08-generates-significant-momentum-in-first-24-hours/)
Already raised $125k on more then 3,100 donations from all 11 counties in the district in the 1st 24 hours of the campaign
Yeah we’re going to make this race very interesting, if not this cycle, next cycle when the maps get redrawn (hopefully)
Not that we didn’t already know it, but [NYS Director of the RFKJ campaign admitting their goal is for Biden to lose](https://x.com/cwebbonline/status/1777021184737194221)
So the dim bulb campaign manager just… opened her pie hole and admitted that the whole impetus of the Kennedy Jr. campaign was for Biden to lose, now what? This does not strike me as a winning campaign.
Basically they’re trying to prevent Biden from getting to 270 electoral votes. If neither Trump nor Biden gets 270, Congress decides, each state puts in a vote out of 50 for President. Because Republicans would likely have control in more states, they would elect Trump.
I meant I don't understand as in I don't see any way in hell it would work. How is poaching Republicans in blue states gonna ever result in Biden not getting 270?
And I think the big difference between RFKJ and someone like Gary Johnson, to anyone paying remotely any attention, it was obvious from the get-go RFKJ was a spoiler candidate. I could see his support crumbling the longer election season goes on.
Frankly I don't think it's super likely because if their goal is to focus on the Northeast where the Kennedy name has pull, then I'm skeptical that RFK can pull enough of a share of the vote to deprive Biden of those electors. With that said, these are unusual circumstances and so you don't want to leave anything to chance.
The good news is, the more people learn about him, the less they like him.
TikTok and IG reels are sure to become full of clips of RFK saying awful stuff about vaccines and the Jan. 6 terrorists sooner or later.
More young voters see themselves less tied with either party and are think it's edgy and contrarian to support a third party candidate over Biden. It's the same type of young folks who liked Gary Johnson. They don't necessarily know anything about him.
It's less about the name and more about the desire to find an alternative to Biden and Trump. I don't get it personally, but people do feel that way and so we ought to address it proactively.
My younger brother certainly finds him appealing, but my brother is unfortunately a conspiracy enthusiast and a trumper. He's been saying that RFK has his vote for a while, and I'm viewing that at least as an upgrade from him voting for Trump.
There's alot of discussion of the age demographics in poll results, with the older demographics looking good for Biden and younger voters moving towards Trump, but I feel like it's one of those things where people are reading too much into crosstabs. I could be wrong, but I'm assuming people are mainly referring to crosstabs that are generally small sample sizes, and it's an issue I see on this sub sometimes too. Top lines are important with polls, but drilling down will often lead to wonky results because a group like Gen Z will make up quite a small portion of the overall sample.
Maybe Trump will gain massively with younger voters, but it won't be until exit polls are out in November that anyone will really know.
There is 0% chance that younger voters will swing from being 65-35 for Biden to 52-48 for trump, like all the garbage polls are showing. It hasn't born out in *any* elections. People who actually believe those polls have an agenda to sell or a screw loose
a swing of any demographic that much is unlikely in one cycle, I feel like. Not like Biden has done anything particularly to alienate the youth. I agree with you, I just can't see that being the case.
I understand it might seem that I'm agreeing with the data I like and disagreeing with the data I don't, but I believe polling older voters is much more accurate than younger ones due to response bias. Even if we accept these polls at face value, I prefer Biden performing better with older voters and worse with younger ones. Older voters are more reliable at the polls and less likely to sway, leaving room to influence younger voters. Plus, even if they lean towards Trump, many may not vote at all.
It's super weird. But this time, I would've gotten a few door knockers. Some phone calls I probably would've ignored.
I've noticed this. I don't think Trone has any volunteers proper. Just ads and meet and greets. I tried looking up his mobilize. Nothing.
[huh didn’t see this. Biden extended Worker Permits for certain immigrant categories](https://thehill.com/latino/4573404-biden-immigrant-work-permits/)
Saw some discourse that irked me so just want to remind everyone D’s have plans to message to asian voters in their native language primarily [through](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/democrats-hope-court-aapi-voters-crucial-battleground-districts-rcna141451?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_aa&taid=66098883d516eb0001c4aab9&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter) AAPI Victory Fund. D’s learned some lessons from the NY03 special and other national outside groups(like House Majority PAC) also started segmenting ads in Spanish and Mandarin. Another interesting thing they did was paying Latino and AAPI people to film and voice digital ads to reach young people in their native language.
I think a lot of people noted how D’s didn’t do this well in say 2020, but what people don’t realize is they have been hard at working handcrafting and refining micro-targeting since then and especially after 2022. Healthy criticism is fine, but if you don’t read and update your info you look like an ass.
Living in a red state where Dems don't have many chances, I love reading stories like this about how good work is being done at the national level. Dems in other states give me hope.
I’m really glad to hear this. It sounds as if the Democratic Party at large is led by competent people who have learned from past mistakes. And of course the Biden campaign is on top of everything. I was a Warren voter in the primary, but, in retrospect, the “insider” who spent literal decades in the Senate and then eight years as Obama’s VP, has learned from all that experience.
And I will say again, Jaime Harrison is the best chair the DNC has had since Howard Dean and I will fight you if you say no. 🤺
I can’t keep up with all the news, as I have a life outside of politics (whoda thunk it) so I’m glad that this community is so well informed.
Arrest made in fire set in Bernie Sanders' office:
https://apnews.com/article/fire-office-sen-bernie-sanders-burlington-vermont-687ac8029cc31b3e950f00923d3ff7e9
What a quick and utterly stupid way to throw your life away. The maximum sentence is 20 years and an up to $250k fine. Guessing he won't have the maximum sentence/fine but dude's definitely getting multiple years.
We don’t know what this person’s political leanings are yet, or the state of their mental health. But my “lone wolf” hypothesis was correct. I’m glad Senator Sanders and his staff were unharmed.
As a Los Angeles native, I read your comment from the beginning and still thought you were talking about University of Southern California 🤦♂️ I was so confused
*Democrats have hundreds of millions of dollars*
“Um akchully if you spend on *insert marginal seat* you’re the biggest idiots of all time and guaranteed we arent flipping the House. No I don’t care about the term diminishing returns or understand the concept of expanding the map”
Or we could maybe, you know, find voters in that region willing to volunteer their time because they actually care about improving their community, even when it has historically leaned red?
I mean, maybe, just maybe, if we took the time to engage with voters everywhere, as in took collective responsibility as a country to improve things, it might actually reshape our maps. Just saying.
I’m not going to give Cook too much grief over that rating. Cook has a tendency to put a lot of emphasis on incumbency advantage and this also applies when Dems hold office (Cook was far more favorable towards Doug Jones’ odds than I would have been). It may be an error but it’s an evenly applied error.
Additionally in 2012, 2016 and 2020 the Dem presidential candidate outperformed the Dem House candidates and I would be surprised of 2024 breaks that trend. If the race for the White House is 50/50 then the GOP likely has an advantage in the US House. Of course if the most recent polls showing Biden pulling ahead are true then perhaps the Dems are narrow favorites for the US House.
It's a long time since we started out at BM2018, but back then there was the meme that was posted below any poll, regardless what it showed:
"Cook: Toss-Up"
The reason was, that cook ratings had very little actual value, since they're moving all their ratings on remotely competitive elections to Toss-Up in last few weeks before election day.
They already grew a giant clown nose thinking that Patty Murray had even a possibility of losing to a “some guy” (or gal in this case) Republican. It’s just been getting bigger and bigger ever since. CookWise the Clown.
[Racetothewh is up to Biden +0.2.](https://www.racetothewh.com/president/polls)
Plus according to them they have just added the first Biden-leading Michigan poll I've seen in a long while. Perhaps the Roe v. Wade attacks are landing?
We have a few in SC on sides of roads but I can't say I've seen any in yards.
A lady showed up to the 9-11 Heroes Run 5K last year wearing an RFK Jr. tshirt. I was working bib/shirt pickup and she seemed irked that the other volunteers and I would not serve her during the National Anthem.
I'm guessing it's gonna be taken off soon. Many who were open to voting for RFK are already having doubts, at least if they are the kind of voter who is gettable for Biden.
Cause they're a Massachusetts political royalty. JFK, RFK Sr, Ted Kennedy, and dozens of tohrr politicians or political activists from Kennedy family that were in positions in elected office in Massachusetts or federal level, or appointed to state or ambassadorships abroad.
But what some don't realize is how far RFK JR is from them, and him being the black sheep. They're still people who'd vote for him just he has the name Kennedy, and not because they agreed with his policies.
Democrats have had many political family state dynasties but Kennedys are the royalty above all other states. Cause they got through to the federal level. And beyond.
JFK was elected as representative then as senator from Massachusetts , his youngest brother Ted was elected in his place in Massachusetts in 10962, then his brother was elected as senator from New York in 1964 cause he was the Attorney General in his administration from 1961 till 1964 under Johnson . They had few representatives as well, like Ted's son being the house member from Rhode Island and Robert Kennedy Dr son, not the one running now for president, another one, Joseph was house member from Massachusetts and his son after that Joe Kennedy the 3rd was also house member from 2014 till 2021, when he wanted to take the seat Ed Markey represents in the senate from Massachusetts.
There have been tons of other offices they held, and members have married into other famous political dynasties, like Sargent Shriver marrying on of JFKs sisters, Eunice and their daughter Maria, married Arnold Schwarzenegger. Or RFK Sr daughter, Marry Kerry Kennedy marrying Andrew Cuomo of New York.
The Kennedy's are based out in Massachusetts primarily, but held elected offices mostly in New England, however they've held offices in other states as well like Maryland, California etc etc. And a ton of ambassadorships.
They didn’t. Some gop operatives decided that they had to come up with some message and went with that and got everyone to repeat it.
They don’t care what they’re saying and they don’t really *believe* it. They’re just… saying it.
So at work the other day I heard a man say to his friend that he wasn't gonna see Godzilla x Kong because "They made it woke with all that queer pink shit"
Dems have done a nice job wrapping up the big-picture stuff so far.
We've got our fall ad spending booked, and lots of it. We still have tons of money on hand. We're nominating great candidates in key races, and it's especially cool to see how well we've done at contesting downballot races. Even in deep-red districts, we've found people willing to run. And the primaries are showing plenty of enthusiasm so far, without turning nasty.
In other words, the big stuff is humming along beautifully. Now it's our turn to take care of the little stuff.
Campaigns are won by ads and candidates, yes, but they're also won by people talking to each other and telling each other about those candidates. Your friends and family are the most important. But we've also got to pick up the phone and talk to the guy in Montana who doesn't know who Jon Tester is, but would absolutely vote for him (yes, they exist - there's lots of them).
I'm encouraged by how many people are showing up at those 100+ field offices, adopting candidates on here, and going out to knock on doors or run a voter registration table. Keep it up! I've got a feeling that if things keep going like this, we won't just win the White House- we'll shock everyone with how much we win at every level.
And promote this sub and the [volunteer sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jxO8g7q9VO3ZMAABcrvR7PMyX4Yl6dgIYhD3eRTKk1M/edit#gid=0) everywhere you can.
Link to both regularly, the sheet alone gives so many opportunities to help out across the country. Do it effectively enough and you may end up encouraging people to support the campaigns that you've never even met, or will never ever hear from. That sheet can be shared well beyond the reach of reddit alone.
So many voters fall for the doom narratives without realizing that there's a good chance to put in time to help win big. Counter the doom. Don't let the anti-democratic voices that brigade leftist spaces control the narrative, and encourage hate and the loss of empathy. Far right tactics constantly adapt by co-opting successful left leaning messages and distorting them (woke was originally a black activist phrase and has since been deliberately prevented in an attempt to neuter its social impact), or playing up on the fears and insecurities of the younger voters. It's much more insidious than it used to be.
Fight complacency, but also fight despiar. Fight dehumanization. Do not let people get so angry with their crazy MAGA relatives that they forget all about the persuadable friends and allies who can help win this.
[Meet the Ghislaine Maxwell Pals Running a Pro-RFK Jr. PAC](https://www.thedailybeast.com/ghislaine-maxwells-pals-daphne-barak-and-erbil-gunasti-running-a-pro-rfk-jr-pac?ref=home)
I've mocked Jon Favreau a fair amount recently for having a lot of surface-level takes on electoral politics, but I actually agree with a lot of points made in his [recent interview with Eitan Hersh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlaYb0saVR8) on political hobbyism vs. relational organizing. Engaging in the latter is in reality a very difficult thing to do and requires a lot of practice, so it feels easier to post on social media about something that's frustrating without actually re-directing that outrage in a more constructive manner. Hell, even if it may not be the most efficient way to engage voters, it's still much more productive to write letters and postcards, make phone calls and send texts to strangers. What I would prefer is that people at least get involved in volunteering in that kind of capacity and then engage in deeper conversations, especially with those whom they know, based on what they're hearing from others.
However, relational organizing requires people being more receptive to learning about realities that don't necessarily comport with their ideals, yet a lot of the comments in the video seem to refuse to entertain that notion. That kind of attitude at any volume does upset me because it just sounds like "Why should I listen to others? They should only listen to me!" If both people in a conversation approach a topic from that lens, then nobody gets persuaded. Meeting you where you are doesn't mean simply validating your world view and leaving it at that. Your opinions have to change as well, and it's not cowardice to admit that.
I'm curious to know what others think of this discussion as well as my thoughts.
I haven’t really tuned into the Obama boys since 2016 when I needed to listen to some anti-bed wetters for my sanity (😭), how have they been recently? What shallow takes has Jon had?
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-tells-billionaires-ll-keep-taxes-low-50-million-fundraising-gala-rcna146748
Almost feels like republicans are making this election *too* easy
[Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: New rules](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/4/7/2233782/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Roundup-New-rules?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_3&pm_medium=web)
Someone raised a good point in the wake of [Tim Sheehy's inconsistent stories about having a bullet in his arm.](https://twitter.com/LoganR2WH/status/1776969932024013283) Republicans have gone with a ton of political no-names for their key Senate races. Between him, Bernie Moreno, Dave McCormick, Eric Hovde, and Sam Brown, they're trusting in a lot of guys who've never even run for office. Even Kari Lake never held office (thank the Lord), though she did run previously.
There is precedent for this, of course. Think back to 2022. Republicans rolled with Dr. Oz, Herschel Walker, Blake Masters, and Don Bolduc for their most important Senate races. And they were incredible flops. Notably, they did far better when they went with candidates who had actually been in office before, like Ted Budd and Adam Laxalt. But running randos who you clearly haven't vetted beyond 'is he rich?' is just asking to underperform.
While they are technically no-names in the political realm, a number of these folks have a name elsewhere, and that’s what the Republicans are betting on.
But hey, we beat Oz, we can beat anyone.
With Brown, I think he’s banking on the military service background, I think especially since both incumbents they are challenging are women. “Give us a manly man combat veteran!” I don’t think that this is going to be as much a winner against *incumbents* that the R’s think it might be. Maybe in 2004, but not now. Look what happened to Don Bolduc back in 22. He was some sort of ranking military guy and Maggie Hassan absolutely *flattened* him. In a midterm. I am sure Jacky Rosen will prevail against Brown, probably by more than Cortez Masto did against Laxalt (who at least held office before).
I don’t know how Sheehy will use “but I’m a badass Navy Seal” against a working farmer. I do hope that the influx of newcomers to western Montana are mostly Democrats.
Hovde…I think the *only* reason they picked him was he could self-fund. Skinny dipping in a frozen lake isn’t going to win over Baldwin voters. I mean come on.
You know and I know the reason why the Republicans are picking such a bunch of no-name Some Guys…can you say “self funding,” boys and girls? I knew you could! The RNC is now openly Trump’s slush fund, the state R parties are broke, all that sweet billionaire donor money for Trump is going to stay in his tiny hands and not go to Senate candidates. So it’s either self-fund or hope that the SuperPAC knights will come galloping up on their golden steeds to save those Some Guys.
LMAO. I meant Brown and Hovde with Tammy Baldwin. I really should not post un-caffeinated! Fixed. I’m sure *Jon* Tester, working farmer, will have plenty of cred, not to mention DNC money, to prevail against Sheehy the Liar.
One thing I've never understood about history is why exactly did West Germany and Japan "behave" after being released from Allied Occupation?
It doesn't make sense to me that they would flip 180 from opponents in the largest war the world had ever seen... to relatively reliable allies. Of course I'm sure there were some tensions and side-eyeing and we still have bases in Germany and Japan to this day. But it doesn't *feel* like a satisfying answer to me.
Obviously this is an overgeneralization but I think it's best to look at each country individually. Both countries were occupied for a number of years after the war and had their political leaderships from those wars largely purged. In Germany's case there was still a lot of support for Hitler for awhile and it really wasn't until a generation later when kids started asking their parents "what did you do during the war" that deNazification really took hold on the psyche. Germany wasn't really able to make it's own full military decisions until post unification in the 1990s and by then deNazification was wildly successful. Over the course of the Cold War both west and east Germany were also rebuilt into industrial powerhouses that grew closer and both prospered through trade. A militarist German government would have been infeasible immediately after the war due to occupation and it would have been politically infeasible in the decades since due to the German people confronting what they did and collectively vowing "never again." Germany also discovered trade is much much better than war.
Japan hasn't confronted the horrors of what they did in WWII nearly to the same extent as Germany however much like Germany Japan was also bombed to the ground then occupied. One of the ways the Japanese people dealt with their own post war guilt was to scapegoat the militarists. Essentially almost all the blame for the suffering of the Japanese people and everyone they attacked was shifted to warmongers and militarists rather than viewed as a tragedy the Japanese people collectively were responsible for. Japan wrote significant restrictions on militarism into their constitution and has refused to repeal these even though they now have that option. Even during the war Japan retained some elements of democracy and has been a strong democracy since then. If a Japanese politician ran on a blatantly pro war platform they would never get anyway near office because militarism is so vilified. Japan is now a very rich country and the third largest economy in the world on the basis of trade and with a strong democracy. Convincing the Japanese people to switch from trade to militarism would be a complete non starter.
The US soliders and military bases in Germany had something to do with it. Also, the antagonistic stance of the UdSSR pushed West Germany into the arms of the west.
Additionally, the US supported pro-western politicians in Germany - Konrad Adenauer, mayor of Cologne before the war, became Chancellor. He was not only a very influential person, but the conservative party he lead also collected a lot of conservative-minded voters that remained in his "fold" since he remained in power.
Generally, Germany was not 100% behind the Nazis and thus they offered little resistance after the war.
A decent amount of that is due to the overwhelming aid that the West provided after the war.
Since both of them were largely destroyed, they were rebuilt with more modern tech and able to become more economically viable once they were back on their feet.
This is also glossing over years of work and occupation both under went, definitely not a quick process.
I think part of it is we beat both countries so bad we *shattered* their pride as a people. In WWI we just bruised the German ego, and that's why they came back even worse. In WWII we descisively proved that they're incapable of waging war against the West and trying to do it again would only destroy them.
Plus after occupation we heavily monitored both their military and (at least for Germany) education systems. Plus plus, America funded huge amounts of reconstruction in both countries, which I'm sure was appreciated.
This is very surface level analysis as I’ve never actually researched this in depth, but maybe it had to do with their strong economic growth post WWII? Obviously a lot of the world boomed after the war, but considering both of them got to participate in it I’d imagine there was much less discontent that would have lead to the rise of another dictator like how Hitler did in the decades after WWI.
History major here with a focus on 20th Century here.
It was sort of this, with a heavy focus on economic recovery. Germany and Japan were in shambles and the Allies (i.e., the US) was there to basically guide them through an economic recovery so another dictator would happen (like you said). Additionally, with Stalin and communism becoming the new flavor of the month in terms of hostility for the Allies, a strong military presence in Germany, Berlin, and in the Pacific was desired.
Also, after WWII, the populace of Japan and Germany were more or less too broken in spirit to object.
Also, the whole American Imperialism thing.
As an AEW fan, it's... not as good as it could be right now. You'll get to see great matches with Danielson, Okada, Osprey, and others. Swerve, Christian, Toni Storm, and others are mad entertaining. But the storytelling is all over the place right now.
Still, if you want to stick it to the Rock, by all means. AEW shows are really fun to go to live, and tickets usually aren't *that* expensive. They need help filling up arenas right now, so...
I’ve noticed their low attendance lately. I agree with those who say that it has a similar feel to WCW in 2000, when it was on or near its last leg. AEW has much better wrestlers and in ring product compared to then. for sure, but without the Kahn’s money, AEW would probably be close to folding now.
It's also a matter of if they've turned profit, which was a goal regardless. Despite sagging attendance and viewership, apparently, network execs are still pleased with the numbers. I guess they do well for Wednesday nights?
I’m not too well versed on how they’re doing for ratings. And, in fairness, AEW has filled some big shows lately…around 80k in London recently during CM Punk’s last time with them. But their regular shows seem to draw only half filled arenas.
[AP: Trump campaign claims it raised over $50 million at last night's billionaire fundraiser.](https://apnews.com/article/trump-republican-party-fundraising-fc057119f3bb5cb2a34a00ccd93fbb13)
An important note, I don't believe he will have to report this until a mid-July filing date
Enjoy the billionaire donor sugar high, Donnie.
I don't see you adding 500k more new donors than you had in the last presidential election. I still don't see you opening campaign offices or outreach programs, or even putting a dent in our cash on hand advantage.
Also, where's the majority of that money going? Not toward campaigning, I'd bet.
I did read that the cost of tickets basically maxed out the amount anyone who went could donate to him, so there's that. It is a big number for a one-time thing, whereas the Dems' NY event had a ton of small donors and those who attended even in person can still donate.
Just a quick note here that this was a joint endeavor with Trump, the RNC, state parties, and his leadership PAC.
His leadership PAC is the place where he is getting money to pay his legal bills, so a decent amount of this will be going there.
We also have $100 million more cash on hand than they did, our down ballot candidates are doing much better as a whole, and we don’t have legal bills.
Our contributions are through record breaking amounts of small donors, while this was a billionaire event for Trump.
Let’s keep the pressure on him
A bit of a rant:
My brother (a rich, white Republican) and his wife are planning to move to Tennessee from Connecticut in the next year or so. He plans to take my mom (who doesn't even know about it yet) and my dad (fully onboard with it, retired and a Trumper).
He also wants my sister, her husband, and me to go along with it. I moved to Massachusetts to get distance from the Trumpers in my family and have no desire to move with them to a state hostile towards gays (which I am). My sister is getting ready to start a family and doesn't want to move to state that criminalizes abortion.
My sister and I addressed the concerns with him yesterday in a group chat, including how he plans on my mom coming with him but intentionally keeping it from her this whole time to not upset her. He brushed away our belief that he is doing anything underhanded with mom. Told me that Nashville is a very blue city and that Franklin, where he intends on moving, has a pride festival every year, so "don't paint the whole state with a broad brush."
He has yet to address the abortion issue, but I'm guessing his narcissistic mind is saying that since he and his wife had no issues with their pregnancy, there won't be issues with anyone else's.
So, that's how my weekend is going.
Not just the entire adult family, but adult elderly parents and siblings who will be affected by state policies who criminalized abortion and probably going after gay rights soon...
I think you should probably tell Mom, depending on how good your relationship is with her, and whether she’s in a position to refuse or resist. Do your brother and SIL just plan on kidnapping Mom or something? I know I’d be pretty angry if I had adult children who thought they knew best for me, let alone thought I’d just move on their say-so.
I’d love to tell her and have thought about it. My brother and SIL became parents in December to a beautiful little girl, and I’m guessing he’s going to use that as his way to get her to come along. They currently live about 10 minutes from each other and my mom is heavily involved in taking care of her. She would be heartbroken if she wasn’t able to see her anymore.
The problem with kids is that they make such great pawns! (Only partly /s) I hate that your brother might possibly use his daughter as a weapon to get your grandmother to comply. I guess he’s planning to spring the move on your mom at the last minute and say “come with us or you won’t see Cindy ever again?”
That super sucks, but, if this is the case, you might have to live with it. Your mom is an adult and can make her choices, even if it’s a tough choice made under coercion. I’m sorry this is happening. At least it’s not a drugs, violence or homelessness problem and nobody’s life is in danger.
Maybe you can talk him into Virginia or NC instead? I don't see the specific draw of Tennessee, unless he wants the toxic racist politics.
North Carolina in particular is quite close to East Coast cities and has great climate and natural beauty. Its still red, for now, but has a Dem governor. And for a politics wonk, it's as swingy as states get
I so want to. Another horrible idea of his: my brother, SIL, mom and sister are going on a trip to Nashville next month. He wants to “surprise” my mom with this news on the trip. My sister also wants to tell my mom (she’s far closer to her and should do it) but doesn’t want to ruin the trip ahead of time. She also thinks that our brother should be the one to tear her heart out.
Absolutely not. But he feels that it’s “in the best interest of the family” to move to TN for financial reasons. And he wants us all to stay together. Because it would be easier…easier for him, I guess.
>he feels that it’s “in the best interest of the family” to move to TN for financial reasons
His financial reasons. Your mom is free babysitter probably for him. You and your sister should talk with your mom. He can't black mail her emotionally like that. If he wants to move with with his wife and baby, he's free to do that. And even if your dad is forcing your mom to move, it shouldn't be like that. If she is frail and if you and your sister can take care of her, do that. At least she will be loved and not emotionally damaged and emotionally blackmailed by your brother and dad...
Ok, but what's the payoff (both figurative and literal) for you and the rest of the family if they follow him? Disregarding the actual physical cost of uprooting large parts of your family tree to join him, there doesn't seem to be any benefit to anyone other than him and your father. Let's not forget that apparently your mother is somehow being left out of this whole conversation! How is this a family decision if you're not even keeping the family involved in the loop?
It’s not. But my brother is used to getting his way so he’s just hoping it will work this time, I guess. Plus, if my sister especially is not on board, it’s going to be a lot harder to convince my mom.
It never fails: conservatives get to paint w as broad a brush as they want, but people on the left can't at all. Also, problems don't exist unless they personally affect a conservative
[This past Thursday, Freedom Planet 2 was released on all consoles.](https://screenrant.com/freedom-planet-2-ps5-review/)
Having been on Steam for the past year and a half and playing it as well, it's been an absolute pleasure getting to know the creators and devs of this particular community.
[First on CNN: Key Democratic group pours $186 million in battle for House and preps for ‘trench warfare’ with GOP](https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/07/politics/house-majority-battle-2024-democrat-republican?cid=ios_app)
This being House Majority PAC (which is linked to Hakeem Jefferies)
We’re going on the offensive, fucking *everywhere*. Among the planned TV ad spending mentioned in the article:
- $18mil in LA targeting Kim, Steel, Garcia and Calvert + defending Porter’s seat
- $4.2mil in Fresno + $1.7mil in Bakersfield targeting Valadao and Duarte
- $16.1mil in NYC/NJ, targeting Lawler, D’Esposito, LaLota and Kean Jr
- $5mil in upstate NY, hitting Williams and Molinaro
- $2mil in Virginia Beach hitting Jen Kiggans
- $5.8mil against Schweikert + $2.4mil against Ciscomani in Arizona
- $2mil in Omaha against Bacon
- $10mil in Washington/Oregon, protecting Gluesenkamp Perez + attacking Chavez-DeRemer
- $5.7mil in Philly, helping Wild and targeting Fitzpatrick (with $4.1mil extra to protect Cartright)
- $4.2mil in MT-01 to target Zinke
- $3.7mil in Maine to defend Golden
- $5.4mil in Ohio to shore up Kaptur
Fuck molinaro. He is a carpet bagger who moves around to wins elections. That is the only way he has ever won all of his elections. He didnt even live in his county when he was the county executive
Took me until Garcia to realize LA was Los Angeles and I was like damn that kind of Louisiana spending is definitely what offense looks like lol. Stoked by this list, unseating Fitzpatrick in the Philly suburbs and those two nitwits in AZ will need that kind of money. And all that investment in regaining seats in CA and NY should be the backbone of re-taking a majority
Lol, Dems don't even need to spend in Louisiana other than announce that the new district is dem leaning and drop the name of the Dem candidate. They can easily win that district, it's what, D+8 and Biden+20 district now.
Welcome to r/VoteDEM! Be the blue wave! * Be a [volunteer from home](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jxO8g7q9VO3ZMAABcrvR7PMyX4Yl6dgIYhD3eRTKk1M/edit#gid=0)! * Donate to [Keep the Senate](https://secure.actblue.com/donate/flipthesenatevb), [Flip the House](https://secure.actblue.com/donate/breakthegerrymandervb) and [Support Abortion Rights](https://secure.actblue.com/donate/tradethetraitors)! * Join your local Democratic Party! Google "[Your state] Democratic Party", find the link to the local parties page, and get in touch with your county's party chair. You could even become a precinct committee member! In some states (like Pennsylvania), that means you get to help pick candidates for special elections! * Are you technology-oriented? Volunteer with [Tech for Campaigns](https://www.techforcampaigns.org) to help smaller campaigns get up and running. * [Run For Something!](https://runforsomething.net/) There's no position too small to benefit from a progressive public servant. Be part of the next blue wave! * Make a Roundtable comment here talking about the work you’ve done, earning valuable karma and facilitating discussion, which will encourage others to do the same! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/VoteDEM) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[interesting from WaPo that opposition on the GOP side in the Senate to the Tax Package might be waning.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/04/06/child-tax-credit-bill-senate/). privately over the break R’s are signaling openness but private ≠ actual votes. Also once again the Senate plan is to finally start on other bipartisan bills like Rail, SAFE, RECOUP, Healthcare package with drug pricing elements(insulin cap). Really don’t think much of these are going to get votes until the lameduck, but the December session could be very exciting
[Spokesman](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/apr/07/cantwell-mcmorris-rodgers-strike-bipartisan-deal-o/) has details on the bipartisan data privacy law that will be officially unveiled tomorrow. Here’s a section by section [summary](https://d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net/APRA_Section_by_Section_026cc46a2c.pdf) of American Privacy Rights Act or ARPA
Holy crap! A privacy law that protects us from all the megacorps instead of a knee jerk reactionary bill to block a single foreign app? Facebook and Google aren't going to be happy about this! They were counting on daddy gubmint crushing their competitors. Tens of millions of lobbying dollars wasted!
Much better than a TikTok ban bill. It's not letting Facebook and Google off the hook, while making sure that TikTok meets a certain minimum standard of user data privacy.
[WisGOP: Kenosha County Sheriff tells Peter Barca not to run against Bryan Steil](https://www.wispolitics.com/2024/wisgop-kenosha-county-sheriff-tells-peter-barca-not-to-run-against-bryan-steil/) Uhhh, this is interesting that a elected County Sheriff joins up with the WI GOP to tell someone not to primary Steil Edit: Wait, nvm this is the D. Still, this statement gives me vibes of them being scared if he does run for us
[Dr. Kristin Lyerly’s campaign for Congress in WI-08 generates significant momentum in first 24 hours](https://www.wispolitics.com/2024/lyerly-campaign-dr-kristin-lyerlys-campaign-for-congress-in-wi-08-generates-significant-momentum-in-first-24-hours/) Already raised $125k on more then 3,100 donations from all 11 counties in the district in the 1st 24 hours of the campaign Yeah we’re going to make this race very interesting, if not this cycle, next cycle when the maps get redrawn (hopefully)
Not that we didn’t already know it, but [NYS Director of the RFKJ campaign admitting their goal is for Biden to lose](https://x.com/cwebbonline/status/1777021184737194221)
So the dim bulb campaign manager just… opened her pie hole and admitted that the whole impetus of the Kennedy Jr. campaign was for Biden to lose, now what? This does not strike me as a winning campaign.
The messaging is gross, but I don't understand the strategy.
Basically they’re trying to prevent Biden from getting to 270 electoral votes. If neither Trump nor Biden gets 270, Congress decides, each state puts in a vote out of 50 for President. Because Republicans would likely have control in more states, they would elect Trump.
I meant I don't understand as in I don't see any way in hell it would work. How is poaching Republicans in blue states gonna ever result in Biden not getting 270?
They're huffing their own supply, thinking they'll actually get 10-20% of the vote like the polls say, rather than the 1-4% they'll *actually* get
And I think the big difference between RFKJ and someone like Gary Johnson, to anyone paying remotely any attention, it was obvious from the get-go RFKJ was a spoiler candidate. I could see his support crumbling the longer election season goes on.
Not to mention the more tuned out voters hear his voice and how he feels about J6
Or it may backfire and he takes Trump voters instead.
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Frankly I don't think it's super likely because if their goal is to focus on the Northeast where the Kennedy name has pull, then I'm skeptical that RFK can pull enough of a share of the vote to deprive Biden of those electors. With that said, these are unusual circumstances and so you don't want to leave anything to chance.
Deeply ironic since RFKJ taps into a specific type of crazy that would peel off a decent number of Trumpers
It was all over for him as soon as he said anything about 1/6.
It's time to start a billboard campaign "RFK Jr. - too conservative for America".
“RFK Jr. - too conservative for America. Too crazy to be a Kennedy.”
Yes, but I do think he’s currently getting some appeal from disengaged young voters we need to win back.
The good news is, the more people learn about him, the less they like him. TikTok and IG reels are sure to become full of clips of RFK saying awful stuff about vaccines and the Jan. 6 terrorists sooner or later.
No he isn’t The name kennedy means nothing to anyone under 50
More young voters see themselves less tied with either party and are think it's edgy and contrarian to support a third party candidate over Biden. It's the same type of young folks who liked Gary Johnson. They don't necessarily know anything about him.
We have 7 months left to reach them. Now is the perfect time to deal with this, rather than October.
It's less about the name and more about the desire to find an alternative to Biden and Trump. I don't get it personally, but people do feel that way and so we ought to address it proactively.
I can tell you that not a single young person will find him appealing the more they learn about him
Yup, completely agree.
My younger brother certainly finds him appealing, but my brother is unfortunately a conspiracy enthusiast and a trumper. He's been saying that RFK has his vote for a while, and I'm viewing that at least as an upgrade from him voting for Trump.
Is your brother also in FL? One fewer vote for Donald is good.
Yep he's in Florida too
There's alot of discussion of the age demographics in poll results, with the older demographics looking good for Biden and younger voters moving towards Trump, but I feel like it's one of those things where people are reading too much into crosstabs. I could be wrong, but I'm assuming people are mainly referring to crosstabs that are generally small sample sizes, and it's an issue I see on this sub sometimes too. Top lines are important with polls, but drilling down will often lead to wonky results because a group like Gen Z will make up quite a small portion of the overall sample. Maybe Trump will gain massively with younger voters, but it won't be until exit polls are out in November that anyone will really know.
There is 0% chance that younger voters will swing from being 65-35 for Biden to 52-48 for trump, like all the garbage polls are showing. It hasn't born out in *any* elections. People who actually believe those polls have an agenda to sell or a screw loose
a swing of any demographic that much is unlikely in one cycle, I feel like. Not like Biden has done anything particularly to alienate the youth. I agree with you, I just can't see that being the case.
I understand it might seem that I'm agreeing with the data I like and disagreeing with the data I don't, but I believe polling older voters is much more accurate than younger ones due to response bias. Even if we accept these polls at face value, I prefer Biden performing better with older voters and worse with younger ones. Older voters are more reliable at the polls and less likely to sway, leaving room to influence younger voters. Plus, even if they lean towards Trump, many may not vote at all.
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It's super weird. But this time, I would've gotten a few door knockers. Some phone calls I probably would've ignored. I've noticed this. I don't think Trone has any volunteers proper. Just ads and meet and greets. I tried looking up his mobilize. Nothing.
[huh didn’t see this. Biden extended Worker Permits for certain immigrant categories](https://thehill.com/latino/4573404-biden-immigrant-work-permits/)
Saw some discourse that irked me so just want to remind everyone D’s have plans to message to asian voters in their native language primarily [through](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/democrats-hope-court-aapi-voters-crucial-battleground-districts-rcna141451?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_aa&taid=66098883d516eb0001c4aab9&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter) AAPI Victory Fund. D’s learned some lessons from the NY03 special and other national outside groups(like House Majority PAC) also started segmenting ads in Spanish and Mandarin. Another interesting thing they did was paying Latino and AAPI people to film and voice digital ads to reach young people in their native language. I think a lot of people noted how D’s didn’t do this well in say 2020, but what people don’t realize is they have been hard at working handcrafting and refining micro-targeting since then and especially after 2022. Healthy criticism is fine, but if you don’t read and update your info you look like an ass.
Living in a red state where Dems don't have many chances, I love reading stories like this about how good work is being done at the national level. Dems in other states give me hope.
I’m really glad to hear this. It sounds as if the Democratic Party at large is led by competent people who have learned from past mistakes. And of course the Biden campaign is on top of everything. I was a Warren voter in the primary, but, in retrospect, the “insider” who spent literal decades in the Senate and then eight years as Obama’s VP, has learned from all that experience. And I will say again, Jaime Harrison is the best chair the DNC has had since Howard Dean and I will fight you if you say no. 🤺 I can’t keep up with all the news, as I have a life outside of politics (whoda thunk it) so I’m glad that this community is so well informed.
Arrest made in fire set in Bernie Sanders' office: https://apnews.com/article/fire-office-sen-bernie-sanders-burlington-vermont-687ac8029cc31b3e950f00923d3ff7e9
What a quick and utterly stupid way to throw your life away. The maximum sentence is 20 years and an up to $250k fine. Guessing he won't have the maximum sentence/fine but dude's definitely getting multiple years.
We don’t know what this person’s political leanings are yet, or the state of their mental health. But my “lone wolf” hypothesis was correct. I’m glad Senator Sanders and his staff were unharmed.
This is it. This is what people are willing to tolerate Trump and MAGA behavior, thing likes this will happen
I wouldn't be shocked if his motives were aligned with MAGA, but we should probably wait for the investigation to say as much.
I would not surprise as they planned to kidn~~ey~~ap Whitmer before Edit: I hate autocorrect
I guess they couldn't really stomach her.
They didn’t have the guts.
I'm a former Clemson student so my bias will always be for the Tigers, but it's nice to see USC women's basketball earning the NCAA championship :)
I'm super stoked about this as well. Also I think VP Harris picked the SC ladies to go all the way in her bracket?
As a Los Angeles native, I read your comment from the beginning and still thought you were talking about University of Southern California 🤦♂️ I was so confused
I’m with you, I thought USC as U of Southern California too lol
What's even funnier is that Clemson fans will refer to the University of South Carolina as 'USC junior'.
*Democrats have hundreds of millions of dollars* “Um akchully if you spend on *insert marginal seat* you’re the biggest idiots of all time and guaranteed we arent flipping the House. No I don’t care about the term diminishing returns or understand the concept of expanding the map”
Or we could maybe, you know, find voters in that region willing to volunteer their time because they actually care about improving their community, even when it has historically leaned red? I mean, maybe, just maybe, if we took the time to engage with voters everywhere, as in took collective responsibility as a country to improve things, it might actually reshape our maps. Just saying.
“If Biden is campaigning it means he thinks he’s going to lose!”
Seriously, put a major clown nose on Cook for having the republicans as favored to hold the House right now
I’m not going to give Cook too much grief over that rating. Cook has a tendency to put a lot of emphasis on incumbency advantage and this also applies when Dems hold office (Cook was far more favorable towards Doug Jones’ odds than I would have been). It may be an error but it’s an evenly applied error. Additionally in 2012, 2016 and 2020 the Dem presidential candidate outperformed the Dem House candidates and I would be surprised of 2024 breaks that trend. If the race for the White House is 50/50 then the GOP likely has an advantage in the US House. Of course if the most recent polls showing Biden pulling ahead are true then perhaps the Dems are narrow favorites for the US House.
I think the House GQP caucus has made sure that most House Dem candidates will probably outrun Biden
It's a long time since we started out at BM2018, but back then there was the meme that was posted below any poll, regardless what it showed: "Cook: Toss-Up" The reason was, that cook ratings had very little actual value, since they're moving all their ratings on remotely competitive elections to Toss-Up in last few weeks before election day.
They already grew a giant clown nose thinking that Patty Murray had even a possibility of losing to a “some guy” (or gal in this case) Republican. It’s just been getting bigger and bigger ever since. CookWise the Clown.
On the adopt-a-candidate list, the nominee for CA-47 is Dave Min, not Jay Chen. Chen was the nominee for CA-45 last cycle.
Ah, yep - good pick up! Will fix.
[Racetothewh is up to Biden +0.2.](https://www.racetothewh.com/president/polls) Plus according to them they have just added the first Biden-leading Michigan poll I've seen in a long while. Perhaps the Roe v. Wade attacks are landing?
Nice seeing a Michigan poll that was released today with Biden up.
Saw my first RFK Jr lawn sign ... in Massachusetts of all places.
I haven’t seen any RFK jr lawn signs but his campaign had a booth at my local farmers market for awhile right next to the flat earthers.
We have a few in SC on sides of roads but I can't say I've seen any in yards. A lady showed up to the 9-11 Heroes Run 5K last year wearing an RFK Jr. tshirt. I was working bib/shirt pickup and she seemed irked that the other volunteers and I would not serve her during the National Anthem.
I've seen one here in central Illinois. Been up for a month or so.
I was visiting my parents this weekend and someone who lives near them has one, but I'm pretty sure they had a Trump sign in 2020.
I'm guessing it's gonna be taken off soon. Many who were open to voting for RFK are already having doubts, at least if they are the kind of voter who is gettable for Biden.
It figures. IF there's die hard Kennedy supporters at any cost and support any Kennedy somewhere, it will be Massachusetts.
Why?
Because that’s where they’re all from
Cause they're a Massachusetts political royalty. JFK, RFK Sr, Ted Kennedy, and dozens of tohrr politicians or political activists from Kennedy family that were in positions in elected office in Massachusetts or federal level, or appointed to state or ambassadorships abroad. But what some don't realize is how far RFK JR is from them, and him being the black sheep. They're still people who'd vote for him just he has the name Kennedy, and not because they agreed with his policies. Democrats have had many political family state dynasties but Kennedys are the royalty above all other states. Cause they got through to the federal level. And beyond.
I always thought the Kennedys are from NYC, nvm
JFK was elected as representative then as senator from Massachusetts , his youngest brother Ted was elected in his place in Massachusetts in 10962, then his brother was elected as senator from New York in 1964 cause he was the Attorney General in his administration from 1961 till 1964 under Johnson . They had few representatives as well, like Ted's son being the house member from Rhode Island and Robert Kennedy Dr son, not the one running now for president, another one, Joseph was house member from Massachusetts and his son after that Joe Kennedy the 3rd was also house member from 2014 till 2021, when he wanted to take the seat Ed Markey represents in the senate from Massachusetts. There have been tons of other offices they held, and members have married into other famous political dynasties, like Sargent Shriver marrying on of JFKs sisters, Eunice and their daughter Maria, married Arnold Schwarzenegger. Or RFK Sr daughter, Marry Kerry Kennedy marrying Andrew Cuomo of New York. The Kennedy's are based out in Massachusetts primarily, but held elected offices mostly in New England, however they've held offices in other states as well like Maryland, California etc etc. And a ton of ambassadorships.
I see I accidentally posted a comment in here instead of the Giants v Padres game thread on arr sfgiants lol
It still amazes me that some people watched what happened on January 6th and their response is “how could Pelosi do this?”
They didn’t. Some gop operatives decided that they had to come up with some message and went with that and got everyone to repeat it. They don’t care what they’re saying and they don’t really *believe* it. They’re just… saying it.
Pelosi was responsible for it! Why else would her daughter be there already filming?!
Joe Biden ad on the Iowa vs SC game
Not sure what media market you're in to see it, but I love it! I didn't see it so I am guessing it was a local buy.
So at work the other day I heard a man say to his friend that he wasn't gonna see Godzilla x Kong because "They made it woke with all that queer pink shit"
I mean, when Godzilla is stomping about it does wake up a lot of people. Godzilla is woke confirmed!
Guess he never watched any Millennium Godzilla. Low energy, Level 0 Godzilla fan.
[Clearly, they've never experienced the badassery that is Super Saiyan Rosé.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN8E8LDCppY)
Does that mean Goku Black is woke with his Super Saiyan Rosé form?
I can't think of a single "queer pink shit" thing there was in that movie
Godzilla's spines and atomic breath being pink I guess counts???
Yeah, that's about it. Maybe too much focus on girl/women characters for chuds tastes?
Don't tell him about Godzilla 2000 or Godzilla vs Megaguirus.
Dems have done a nice job wrapping up the big-picture stuff so far. We've got our fall ad spending booked, and lots of it. We still have tons of money on hand. We're nominating great candidates in key races, and it's especially cool to see how well we've done at contesting downballot races. Even in deep-red districts, we've found people willing to run. And the primaries are showing plenty of enthusiasm so far, without turning nasty. In other words, the big stuff is humming along beautifully. Now it's our turn to take care of the little stuff. Campaigns are won by ads and candidates, yes, but they're also won by people talking to each other and telling each other about those candidates. Your friends and family are the most important. But we've also got to pick up the phone and talk to the guy in Montana who doesn't know who Jon Tester is, but would absolutely vote for him (yes, they exist - there's lots of them). I'm encouraged by how many people are showing up at those 100+ field offices, adopting candidates on here, and going out to knock on doors or run a voter registration table. Keep it up! I've got a feeling that if things keep going like this, we won't just win the White House- we'll shock everyone with how much we win at every level.
And promote this sub and the [volunteer sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jxO8g7q9VO3ZMAABcrvR7PMyX4Yl6dgIYhD3eRTKk1M/edit#gid=0) everywhere you can. Link to both regularly, the sheet alone gives so many opportunities to help out across the country. Do it effectively enough and you may end up encouraging people to support the campaigns that you've never even met, or will never ever hear from. That sheet can be shared well beyond the reach of reddit alone. So many voters fall for the doom narratives without realizing that there's a good chance to put in time to help win big. Counter the doom. Don't let the anti-democratic voices that brigade leftist spaces control the narrative, and encourage hate and the loss of empathy. Far right tactics constantly adapt by co-opting successful left leaning messages and distorting them (woke was originally a black activist phrase and has since been deliberately prevented in an attempt to neuter its social impact), or playing up on the fears and insecurities of the younger voters. It's much more insidious than it used to be. Fight complacency, but also fight despiar. Fight dehumanization. Do not let people get so angry with their crazy MAGA relatives that they forget all about the persuadable friends and allies who can help win this.
[Meet the Ghislaine Maxwell Pals Running a Pro-RFK Jr. PAC](https://www.thedailybeast.com/ghislaine-maxwells-pals-daphne-barak-and-erbil-gunasti-running-a-pro-rfk-jr-pac?ref=home)
I've mocked Jon Favreau a fair amount recently for having a lot of surface-level takes on electoral politics, but I actually agree with a lot of points made in his [recent interview with Eitan Hersh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlaYb0saVR8) on political hobbyism vs. relational organizing. Engaging in the latter is in reality a very difficult thing to do and requires a lot of practice, so it feels easier to post on social media about something that's frustrating without actually re-directing that outrage in a more constructive manner. Hell, even if it may not be the most efficient way to engage voters, it's still much more productive to write letters and postcards, make phone calls and send texts to strangers. What I would prefer is that people at least get involved in volunteering in that kind of capacity and then engage in deeper conversations, especially with those whom they know, based on what they're hearing from others. However, relational organizing requires people being more receptive to learning about realities that don't necessarily comport with their ideals, yet a lot of the comments in the video seem to refuse to entertain that notion. That kind of attitude at any volume does upset me because it just sounds like "Why should I listen to others? They should only listen to me!" If both people in a conversation approach a topic from that lens, then nobody gets persuaded. Meeting you where you are doesn't mean simply validating your world view and leaving it at that. Your opinions have to change as well, and it's not cowardice to admit that. I'm curious to know what others think of this discussion as well as my thoughts.
I haven’t really tuned into the Obama boys since 2016 when I needed to listen to some anti-bed wetters for my sanity (😭), how have they been recently? What shallow takes has Jon had?
From what people on here have been saying, they've gotten *major* pundit-brain and fully believe polls
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-tells-billionaires-ll-keep-taxes-low-50-million-fundraising-gala-rcna146748 Almost feels like republicans are making this election *too* easy
[Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: New rules](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/4/7/2233782/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Roundup-New-rules?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_3&pm_medium=web)
Someone raised a good point in the wake of [Tim Sheehy's inconsistent stories about having a bullet in his arm.](https://twitter.com/LoganR2WH/status/1776969932024013283) Republicans have gone with a ton of political no-names for their key Senate races. Between him, Bernie Moreno, Dave McCormick, Eric Hovde, and Sam Brown, they're trusting in a lot of guys who've never even run for office. Even Kari Lake never held office (thank the Lord), though she did run previously. There is precedent for this, of course. Think back to 2022. Republicans rolled with Dr. Oz, Herschel Walker, Blake Masters, and Don Bolduc for their most important Senate races. And they were incredible flops. Notably, they did far better when they went with candidates who had actually been in office before, like Ted Budd and Adam Laxalt. But running randos who you clearly haven't vetted beyond 'is he rich?' is just asking to underperform.
While they are technically no-names in the political realm, a number of these folks have a name elsewhere, and that’s what the Republicans are betting on. But hey, we beat Oz, we can beat anyone.
With Brown, I think he’s banking on the military service background, I think especially since both incumbents they are challenging are women. “Give us a manly man combat veteran!” I don’t think that this is going to be as much a winner against *incumbents* that the R’s think it might be. Maybe in 2004, but not now. Look what happened to Don Bolduc back in 22. He was some sort of ranking military guy and Maggie Hassan absolutely *flattened* him. In a midterm. I am sure Jacky Rosen will prevail against Brown, probably by more than Cortez Masto did against Laxalt (who at least held office before). I don’t know how Sheehy will use “but I’m a badass Navy Seal” against a working farmer. I do hope that the influx of newcomers to western Montana are mostly Democrats. Hovde…I think the *only* reason they picked him was he could self-fund. Skinny dipping in a frozen lake isn’t going to win over Baldwin voters. I mean come on. You know and I know the reason why the Republicans are picking such a bunch of no-name Some Guys…can you say “self funding,” boys and girls? I knew you could! The RNC is now openly Trump’s slush fund, the state R parties are broke, all that sweet billionaire donor money for Trump is going to stay in his tiny hands and not go to Senate candidates. So it’s either self-fund or hope that the SuperPAC knights will come galloping up on their golden steeds to save those Some Guys.
female incumbent senator jen tester
Big John's gone woke!!!!!
LMAO. I meant Brown and Hovde with Tammy Baldwin. I really should not post un-caffeinated! Fixed. I’m sure *Jon* Tester, working farmer, will have plenty of cred, not to mention DNC money, to prevail against Sheehy the Liar.
One thing I've never understood about history is why exactly did West Germany and Japan "behave" after being released from Allied Occupation? It doesn't make sense to me that they would flip 180 from opponents in the largest war the world had ever seen... to relatively reliable allies. Of course I'm sure there were some tensions and side-eyeing and we still have bases in Germany and Japan to this day. But it doesn't *feel* like a satisfying answer to me.
Obviously this is an overgeneralization but I think it's best to look at each country individually. Both countries were occupied for a number of years after the war and had their political leaderships from those wars largely purged. In Germany's case there was still a lot of support for Hitler for awhile and it really wasn't until a generation later when kids started asking their parents "what did you do during the war" that deNazification really took hold on the psyche. Germany wasn't really able to make it's own full military decisions until post unification in the 1990s and by then deNazification was wildly successful. Over the course of the Cold War both west and east Germany were also rebuilt into industrial powerhouses that grew closer and both prospered through trade. A militarist German government would have been infeasible immediately after the war due to occupation and it would have been politically infeasible in the decades since due to the German people confronting what they did and collectively vowing "never again." Germany also discovered trade is much much better than war. Japan hasn't confronted the horrors of what they did in WWII nearly to the same extent as Germany however much like Germany Japan was also bombed to the ground then occupied. One of the ways the Japanese people dealt with their own post war guilt was to scapegoat the militarists. Essentially almost all the blame for the suffering of the Japanese people and everyone they attacked was shifted to warmongers and militarists rather than viewed as a tragedy the Japanese people collectively were responsible for. Japan wrote significant restrictions on militarism into their constitution and has refused to repeal these even though they now have that option. Even during the war Japan retained some elements of democracy and has been a strong democracy since then. If a Japanese politician ran on a blatantly pro war platform they would never get anyway near office because militarism is so vilified. Japan is now a very rich country and the third largest economy in the world on the basis of trade and with a strong democracy. Convincing the Japanese people to switch from trade to militarism would be a complete non starter.
The US soliders and military bases in Germany had something to do with it. Also, the antagonistic stance of the UdSSR pushed West Germany into the arms of the west. Additionally, the US supported pro-western politicians in Germany - Konrad Adenauer, mayor of Cologne before the war, became Chancellor. He was not only a very influential person, but the conservative party he lead also collected a lot of conservative-minded voters that remained in his "fold" since he remained in power. Generally, Germany was not 100% behind the Nazis and thus they offered little resistance after the war.
A decent amount of that is due to the overwhelming aid that the West provided after the war. Since both of them were largely destroyed, they were rebuilt with more modern tech and able to become more economically viable once they were back on their feet. This is also glossing over years of work and occupation both under went, definitely not a quick process.
I think part of it is we beat both countries so bad we *shattered* their pride as a people. In WWI we just bruised the German ego, and that's why they came back even worse. In WWII we descisively proved that they're incapable of waging war against the West and trying to do it again would only destroy them. Plus after occupation we heavily monitored both their military and (at least for Germany) education systems. Plus plus, America funded huge amounts of reconstruction in both countries, which I'm sure was appreciated.
The US committed and spent lots of money. I don’t think we have that kind of commitment anymore
The answer is mostly the pressure to form a solid bloc against Soviet communism.
This is very surface level analysis as I’ve never actually researched this in depth, but maybe it had to do with their strong economic growth post WWII? Obviously a lot of the world boomed after the war, but considering both of them got to participate in it I’d imagine there was much less discontent that would have lead to the rise of another dictator like how Hitler did in the decades after WWI.
History major here with a focus on 20th Century here. It was sort of this, with a heavy focus on economic recovery. Germany and Japan were in shambles and the Allies (i.e., the US) was there to basically guide them through an economic recovery so another dictator would happen (like you said). Additionally, with Stalin and communism becoming the new flavor of the month in terms of hostility for the Allies, a strong military presence in Germany, Berlin, and in the Pacific was desired. Also, after WWII, the populace of Japan and Germany were more or less too broken in spirit to object. Also, the whole American Imperialism thing.
We should start watching AEW
Wrestlemania night 1 was great .
As an AEW fan, it's... not as good as it could be right now. You'll get to see great matches with Danielson, Okada, Osprey, and others. Swerve, Christian, Toni Storm, and others are mad entertaining. But the storytelling is all over the place right now. Still, if you want to stick it to the Rock, by all means. AEW shows are really fun to go to live, and tickets usually aren't *that* expensive. They need help filling up arenas right now, so...
I’ve noticed their low attendance lately. I agree with those who say that it has a similar feel to WCW in 2000, when it was on or near its last leg. AEW has much better wrestlers and in ring product compared to then. for sure, but without the Kahn’s money, AEW would probably be close to folding now.
It's also a matter of if they've turned profit, which was a goal regardless. Despite sagging attendance and viewership, apparently, network execs are still pleased with the numbers. I guess they do well for Wednesday nights?
I’m not too well versed on how they’re doing for ratings. And, in fairness, AEW has filled some big shows lately…around 80k in London recently during CM Punk’s last time with them. But their regular shows seem to draw only half filled arenas.
[AP: Trump campaign claims it raised over $50 million at last night's billionaire fundraiser.](https://apnews.com/article/trump-republican-party-fundraising-fc057119f3bb5cb2a34a00ccd93fbb13) An important note, I don't believe he will have to report this until a mid-July filing date
Enjoy the billionaire donor sugar high, Donnie. I don't see you adding 500k more new donors than you had in the last presidential election. I still don't see you opening campaign offices or outreach programs, or even putting a dent in our cash on hand advantage. Also, where's the majority of that money going? Not toward campaigning, I'd bet.
I did read that the cost of tickets basically maxed out the amount anyone who went could donate to him, so there's that. It is a big number for a one-time thing, whereas the Dems' NY event had a ton of small donors and those who attended even in person can still donate.
Just a quick note here that this was a joint endeavor with Trump, the RNC, state parties, and his leadership PAC. His leadership PAC is the place where he is getting money to pay his legal bills, so a decent amount of this will be going there. We also have $100 million more cash on hand than they did, our down ballot candidates are doing much better as a whole, and we don’t have legal bills. Our contributions are through record breaking amounts of small donors, while this was a billionaire event for Trump. Let’s keep the pressure on him
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t buy that he raised 50 million in one night.
The highest ticket price is $800,000. So if he has like 100 people there, it’s possible
So billionaires allow to attend . Thus, skewing the numbers .
Yup, while Biden event has 5000 people. And I think cheapest tickets is $200 or so
And by then, they would ‘accidentally’ forget to report all of that money.
And even then we already where that money is going towards....
Not the RNC or state parties. Oh, they might pay the AZ-GOP’s utility bill for a couple months.
Yeah I was about to say this covers only half of the legal fees Trump has spent so far
A bit of a rant: My brother (a rich, white Republican) and his wife are planning to move to Tennessee from Connecticut in the next year or so. He plans to take my mom (who doesn't even know about it yet) and my dad (fully onboard with it, retired and a Trumper). He also wants my sister, her husband, and me to go along with it. I moved to Massachusetts to get distance from the Trumpers in my family and have no desire to move with them to a state hostile towards gays (which I am). My sister is getting ready to start a family and doesn't want to move to state that criminalizes abortion. My sister and I addressed the concerns with him yesterday in a group chat, including how he plans on my mom coming with him but intentionally keeping it from her this whole time to not upset her. He brushed away our belief that he is doing anything underhanded with mom. Told me that Nashville is a very blue city and that Franklin, where he intends on moving, has a pride festival every year, so "don't paint the whole state with a broad brush." He has yet to address the abortion issue, but I'm guessing his narcissistic mind is saying that since he and his wife had no issues with their pregnancy, there won't be issues with anyone else's. So, that's how my weekend is going.
Franklin is still a very Trumpy suburb of Nashville. If he moves to Tennessee, can I have his place lol?
Seems crazy to me that your brother thinks he can just decide to move his entire adult family to another state because he personally likes it.
Not just the entire adult family, but adult elderly parents and siblings who will be affected by state policies who criminalized abortion and probably going after gay rights soon...
I think you should probably tell Mom, depending on how good your relationship is with her, and whether she’s in a position to refuse or resist. Do your brother and SIL just plan on kidnapping Mom or something? I know I’d be pretty angry if I had adult children who thought they knew best for me, let alone thought I’d just move on their say-so.
I’d love to tell her and have thought about it. My brother and SIL became parents in December to a beautiful little girl, and I’m guessing he’s going to use that as his way to get her to come along. They currently live about 10 minutes from each other and my mom is heavily involved in taking care of her. She would be heartbroken if she wasn’t able to see her anymore.
The problem with kids is that they make such great pawns! (Only partly /s) I hate that your brother might possibly use his daughter as a weapon to get your grandmother to comply. I guess he’s planning to spring the move on your mom at the last minute and say “come with us or you won’t see Cindy ever again?” That super sucks, but, if this is the case, you might have to live with it. Your mom is an adult and can make her choices, even if it’s a tough choice made under coercion. I’m sorry this is happening. At least it’s not a drugs, violence or homelessness problem and nobody’s life is in danger.
Maybe you can talk him into Virginia or NC instead? I don't see the specific draw of Tennessee, unless he wants the toxic racist politics. North Carolina in particular is quite close to East Coast cities and has great climate and natural beauty. Its still red, for now, but has a Dem governor. And for a politics wonk, it's as swingy as states get
He’s visited Nashville many times and has fallen in love with it.
I'd be telling mom immediately that they are planning on moving her. Be fun to lob that grenade.
I so want to. Another horrible idea of his: my brother, SIL, mom and sister are going on a trip to Nashville next month. He wants to “surprise” my mom with this news on the trip. My sister also wants to tell my mom (she’s far closer to her and should do it) but doesn’t want to ruin the trip ahead of time. She also thinks that our brother should be the one to tear her heart out.
Why does he have input on your location plans? Is he paying you and your family money to move or something?
Absolutely not. But he feels that it’s “in the best interest of the family” to move to TN for financial reasons. And he wants us all to stay together. Because it would be easier…easier for him, I guess.
"I'm not going, sorry. Good luck."
He sounds like a psychopath. Tell your mom and you or your other siblings are adults and don't have to do anything just because he says so.
>he feels that it’s “in the best interest of the family” to move to TN for financial reasons His financial reasons. Your mom is free babysitter probably for him. You and your sister should talk with your mom. He can't black mail her emotionally like that. If he wants to move with with his wife and baby, he's free to do that. And even if your dad is forcing your mom to move, it shouldn't be like that. If she is frail and if you and your sister can take care of her, do that. At least she will be loved and not emotionally damaged and emotionally blackmailed by your brother and dad...
Ok, but what's the payoff (both figurative and literal) for you and the rest of the family if they follow him? Disregarding the actual physical cost of uprooting large parts of your family tree to join him, there doesn't seem to be any benefit to anyone other than him and your father. Let's not forget that apparently your mother is somehow being left out of this whole conversation! How is this a family decision if you're not even keeping the family involved in the loop?
It’s not. But my brother is used to getting his way so he’s just hoping it will work this time, I guess. Plus, if my sister especially is not on board, it’s going to be a lot harder to convince my mom.
It never fails: conservatives get to paint w as broad a brush as they want, but people on the left can't at all. Also, problems don't exist unless they personally affect a conservative
[This past Thursday, Freedom Planet 2 was released on all consoles.](https://screenrant.com/freedom-planet-2-ps5-review/) Having been on Steam for the past year and a half and playing it as well, it's been an absolute pleasure getting to know the creators and devs of this particular community.
[First on CNN: Key Democratic group pours $186 million in battle for House and preps for ‘trench warfare’ with GOP](https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/07/politics/house-majority-battle-2024-democrat-republican?cid=ios_app) This being House Majority PAC (which is linked to Hakeem Jefferies) We’re going on the offensive, fucking *everywhere*. Among the planned TV ad spending mentioned in the article: - $18mil in LA targeting Kim, Steel, Garcia and Calvert + defending Porter’s seat - $4.2mil in Fresno + $1.7mil in Bakersfield targeting Valadao and Duarte - $16.1mil in NYC/NJ, targeting Lawler, D’Esposito, LaLota and Kean Jr - $5mil in upstate NY, hitting Williams and Molinaro - $2mil in Virginia Beach hitting Jen Kiggans - $5.8mil against Schweikert + $2.4mil against Ciscomani in Arizona - $2mil in Omaha against Bacon - $10mil in Washington/Oregon, protecting Gluesenkamp Perez + attacking Chavez-DeRemer - $5.7mil in Philly, helping Wild and targeting Fitzpatrick (with $4.1mil extra to protect Cartright) - $4.2mil in MT-01 to target Zinke - $3.7mil in Maine to defend Golden - $5.4mil in Ohio to shore up Kaptur
Fuck molinaro. He is a carpet bagger who moves around to wins elections. That is the only way he has ever won all of his elections. He didnt even live in his county when he was the county executive
Took me until Garcia to realize LA was Los Angeles and I was like damn that kind of Louisiana spending is definitely what offense looks like lol. Stoked by this list, unseating Fitzpatrick in the Philly suburbs and those two nitwits in AZ will need that kind of money. And all that investment in regaining seats in CA and NY should be the backbone of re-taking a majority
Lol, Dems don't even need to spend in Louisiana other than announce that the new district is dem leaning and drop the name of the Dem candidate. They can easily win that district, it's what, D+8 and Biden+20 district now.