We’ve made progress. If there are no more Anita Hill’s, more progress than I thought.
What I worry about is that we’re in the middle of the Harris Honeymoon. I hope we can sustain this level of support until November.
But as I said, I worry. I was disappointed how easily the conservatives were able to sway public opinion against Biden (while diverting attention away from Trump). I worry they’re planning on doing the same thing to Harris now that she’s the candidate and that we’ll fall for it again.
I don’t worry because I don’t think it was easy. It was basically their entire focus; attack Biden every way they can, devote all of our effort and resources to it. Call him a criminal and old. Get everyone to believe it. It took them years.
Now they have an only few months to try to do it to Kamala, and their candidate is an ancient convicted criminal. Every attack you used against Joe can be used against you now.
It’s like you took your shot by venturing out onto the ice with a blowtorch to drown your enemy, and suddenly you have a new enemy grinning at you from solid ground as the ice you melted is falling apart around you.
Well, it all lasts about a month to settle down to usual trenches. By the time of the election the low information voter will decide on a random news item like the Comey laptop that he brought out to kill crooked Hillary the last day.
They’re doing the same thing right now, but all they have is racism and misogyny. And that’s just energizing the Democrats even more. 170,000 people have signed up to volunteer for her campaign.
I understand your worry but keep this in mind - we are entering what I call “the Olympic distraction”. There will be a couple of weeks where the Paris games will be getting most of the coverage.
The Harris campaign will likely hold off on announcing a VP pick until that has wound down. Then we are practically at the Democratic convention. This will be a very different event than the RNC was - much more upbeat and hopeful about the future. Plus most likely more inspiring speeches and speakers.
I expect to see a definite post-convention bounce for the Democrats. If they manage to maintain the positive vibes among the public, this shortened campaign time could be a big advantage.
Plus, the longer DJT is not the center of attention, the more wildly hateful and nasty his rhetoric will become.
And don’t forget he is likely to see sentencing come down at some point in the Fall as well. None of this, plus the joke that is JD Vance, is going to help the GOP win over the undecided or RFK Jr voters they need.
Assuming the judge opts not to throw out the conviction, the sentencing is scheduled for September 18.
That would provide Harris with even more ammunition against Trump potentially.
It seemed to me that at one point there was a palpable fear of what would happen if Harris were the nominee. I think SNL did a sketch about it, parodying the panic among the Left at its collective lack of viable candidates.
However, within seconds of Biden dropping out, it seems like that panic vanished in an instant and turned into unbridled relief coupled with unprecedented enthusiasm. You can feel that enthusiasm coming through the airwaves if you listen to MSNBC in the morning on the way to work (like I do).
I was planning on reluctantly voting for Biden. Now I’m planning on enthusiastically voting for Harris. Not that it matters in Missouri, but still…
It’s not going to matter here in Kentucky, either, but I feel the same way you do.
Yep. I don’t think this will “embed” right, but when they did this it struck a chord.
Hopefully in a couple of months we can all “look back and laugh” at how hilarious it was.
And in the other direction New Jersey too.
In 2016 a friend of my was canvassing in Penn. Consider how long a trip that was, I was absolutely amazed.
Outside of sending money, not sure what else would help in the states that are very lopsided.
This (limited giftlink) Economist article provides a decent summary of Harris’ prospects and challenges.
I don’t think so. I think they see getting the VP chosen and the virtual roll call done in time for access to Ohio’s ballot as very important. The deadline hasn’t been extended yet as far as I know, so they’ll have to meet it. This is another one of Biden s choices–putting the convention closer to the election despite Ohio’s deadline–that makes things a tiny bit harder for any other nominee.
But I think it will end up being fortuitous for Harris, and will keep the enthusiasm flowing. There’ll be excitement for the VP pick. Then some excitement for the roll-call vote that will mean she’s officially the nominee. Then the convention will be coming up quickly.
All the money and volunteers will get to work, and the enthusiasm will keep building…
I think this sums it up pretty well. The panic after the debate for me wasn’t about it being a bad debate for Biden. It was about realizing that I had real concerns about him being able to do the job. I had zero enthusiasm for Biden, but would vote for him, of course, to beat Trump. I wanted Harris to take over because she was the most legitimate person to do it.
After it was done, and I saw her stepping into the role and bringing both gravitas and humor and authenticity to it, I was really surprised by how enthusiastic I felt. I don’t know, but I suspect that’s similar to how a lot of other people felt.
Ohio has extended it – they did so a couple of months ago – but for good reason, many in Democratic leadership are treading on the side of caution.
The Ohio Legislature passed a law that extends the deadline (for this year) to September 1st, but said law only goes into effect on September 1st.
Because of that, there is concern that this would allow for Ohio courts, or the legislature, to engage in shenanigans, and so, the DNC is still planning for the voice vote that will meet the original deadline.
Thanks. So it’s extended, but there’s a significant risk in waiting.
Well, a potential non-zero risk, anyway. The DNC is clearly following a “better safe than sorry” strategy on this.
Note that the article quotes an Ohio Republican spokesperson who blames the Democrats for the problem (for scheduling their convention after the state deadline), while the real problem is that Ohio’s law creates a deadline which regularly falls before when the conventions occur. Four of the past six Democratic National Conventions, as well as four of the past six Republican National Conventions, have occurred after the Ohio deadline; each time, the state legislature has had to pass a one-time law for an exemption. Obviously, it’s contentious this time, because the GOP controls Ohio government, and it’s the Democrats who need the exemption.
As mentioned the deadline has been extended. I understand concerns about underhanded games if the Democrats trust the Ohio GOP but even if the nomination is done virtually on August 7 that is near the end of the Olympics which end on the 11th.
In my opinion it would be wise to wait as late as they can with the announcement because the more DJT doesn’t dominate the news cycle the better for the Harris campaign. And also they get more time to thoroughly vet people and avoid any unpleasant surprises.
But the law granting the exemption to the deadline comes into force on September 1.
If you were a Democrat, would you trust the Republicans in Ohio not to reconvene after the deadline passed, but before Sept 1, and repeal the law?
Did you read my entire post? Specifically where I said
I understand concerns about underhanded games if the Democrats trust the Ohio GOP
It should still be done on August 7 as I also said.
Your statement was inaccurate:
The deadline has not yet been extended.
As of this moment, if the Dems nominate Harris and her VP pick at the convention, August 19 to 22, they will have missed the deadline.
They will then have to wait until September 1 to be sure they are on the ballot in Ohio.