61 Comments

Just finished Jay's piece as you put this up and am happy to see such optimism and new energy. His comments about the GOP being caught like raccoons in the headlights made my heart sing. And the idiotic idea of trying to give Joe the heave-ho before he's finished his tenure is a real sign of desperation. Joe did not step back from four more years because he's "unfit", (That's their guy.) he did it because he believed it best for his party and the country. Imagine that, doing something best for the country. It's a patriotic sacrifice that all the right wing flag waving pales before. But the wingers love "demanding, investigating, implying, impugning, reversing, destroying..." because they are all control freaks. With Harris we'll get Law and Honor.

Expand full comment

It's been pure joy watching the R's flap around like hooked fish in the bottom of the boat for the last 24 hours. Another poster made the point that the President masterfully timed his announcement to be after the RNC, and after the Sunday talk shows were over, so there's been no pundit bloviating about "how he looks" or other such nonsense.

The best? Stephen Miller (Herr Goebbels vers. 2.0) melting all the way down on Fox, babbling something about the D's having pulled of a coup d'etat. Something tells me that their professionals are starting to figure out their bacon is getting fried. No complacency, we work hard from here to Election Day, but now we're running before the wind once again, after being stuck in the doldrums.

Expand full comment

Stephen Miller must get his news from the Borowitz Report..😂

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Calling it “the most crooked conspiracy in American history,” on Sunday Donald J. Trump and other Republicans accused Democrats of plotting to nominate a winning presidential candidate.

“I’ve seen the Democrats do some pretty evil things, but I never thought they’d choose a nominee with a chance of winning,” Trump said. “This should never be allowed to happen in our country.”

“What we are witnessing is no more and no less than a shameless scheme to mount a successful election campaign,” House Speaker Mike Johnson charged. “As God is my witness, this will not stand.”

Senator J.D. Vance attacked the Democrats’ “blatant use of strategy” and warned of more sinister machinations to come.

“In a matter of days, be prepared for them to announce that they’ve chosen a qualified and appealing VP candidate,” Vance said. “We Republicans would never do that.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/borowitzreport/p/republicans-accuse-democrats-of-plotting?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Expand full comment

Love it.

Expand full comment

You said on line exactly what I said to myself when I read it (after laughing my butt off, however).

The only thing that could be better than the R's feeling some campaign pain is when they taste the bitter dregs of a nice long draught of defeat.

Expand full comment

Borowitz nailed this one and apparently the Republicans are feeling all the pain.

Expand full comment

Damn, they accuse Dems of what they have been expert at for decades. The unmitigated gall is the reason I hate the very whiff of “conservative Republican.”

Expand full comment

As a onetime sailor, I LOVE that image of running before the wind. We're not gonna get whacked with a boom either.

Expand full comment

Yeah, we've been rowing the longboats, trying to get the ship into a prevailing wind, but we are out of the doldrums and ready to set sail. The seas ahead are wide and free, and we have a ship to get to port.....we must go down to the sea again.....

Expand full comment

To take the analogy further, we're going into the Roaring Forties, and going around the Horn. We'll make it if we work together.

Expand full comment

Uh-oh. I might have to start rereading Patrick O'Brian . . . after I get done rereading LORD OF THE RINGS

Expand full comment

Damn, those doldrums are hard to take. The wind is so welcome.

Expand full comment

I would like to think that those of us who pushed back on the dump Biden brigade helped to spark some serious introspection among the political class, and perhaps among donors. They panicked so fast after the June debate that they were totally unconscious of the practical implications of dumping Biden precipitously. Clearly they assumed they were dumping Harris, too, but many of us pointed out how damaging that would be to the Democratic coalition. We also focused their attention on the practical limitations in transferring campaign funds and the likelihood of Republican judicial shenanigans. By the time the President concluded that his campaign was untenable, enough time had passed that the political class, at least, realized that mini primaries and contested conventions were pipe dreams. Thus, our worst nightmares seem to have been avoided. It is still a disadvantage to not have an incumbent running, but the transition appears to have been effected as smoothly as one could hope. With the extra energy coursing through the party, and the example of the President’s selfless act to give us moral grounding, I am thinking that we are going to pull this off. I am actually hopeful. No more feelings of dread.

Expand full comment

The swift endorsement of those who media had speculated as replacements, the amazing fund raising that occurred in mere hours, the energy generated by President Biden's decision to put country first, the joyous celebration of various (and massive) groups under our diverse tent made me proud. It also gave me confidence that any efforts by those donors to sabotage Kamala Harris has at least been hosed down a bit by the collective outpouring of support for her. Whatever I thought donor motivations were at the outset, if they were true, they have now felt the door hit them in their backsides. Now, maybe they'll let the VOTERS decide this election. It looks pretty clear today where we're heading and I'm very excited. I'm sad that President Biden endured so much pressure, given his accomplishments, his age, his dedication, his wisdom (and Covid on top of it all), but he will go down in history as one of the finest examples of presidential leadership in our country's history. Just my two cents!

Expand full comment

Exactly right.

Expand full comment

Bleepin' A.....

Expand full comment

Couldn't agree more!

Expand full comment

Agree 100%

Expand full comment

Well said, Ms. Massey!

Expand full comment

I agree with you. Biden is a true statesman. And a class act.

Expand full comment

I absolutely love this piece, Tom. Great summary to use and to share with those who may not pay close attention to all that is happening so swiftly. Thank you.

Expand full comment

Loved this piece. Especially the “womp womp” line.

Expand full comment

Granting that I am less charitably inclined toward Obama, Pelosi, and Schumer than Kuo is, he nailed it. Interestingly, yesterday's Times had a front-page story co-written by Official Pol Potbelly Steno Maggie Haberman about how they were preparing for Harris. Well, gee, where's the beef?

Expand full comment

CHEERS! The husband and I are setting up weekly donations to the Harris campaign.

Expand full comment

Loved Kuo`s section on Contrasts between Trump and Harris!!!

No doubt, Donald and team are trying to dig up other "dirt" on her. Wait for it!!

Expand full comment

Their problem is just about everything they can say will rebound on them.

Expand full comment

They don't have to dig for anything - they will make up whatever they think will stick to the walls when they throw it.....

Expand full comment

They are not averse to making Schitt up. Or staging violence geared to make chump a sympathetic victim. Yes, I said that

Expand full comment

I had to look up "brat" and hey, whatever. (I'm still stuck in my kids' slang. As well as "I kid you not" and Right On. )

Expand full comment

Yeah, me too. It's def a Gen Z thing (shrug)--hey, every generation gets to have their own secret code slang and catchwords. We had our own as well.

Expand full comment

Like, Wow. Cool seems eternal.

Expand full comment

Groovy!

Expand full comment

Tom, you’re quite charitable with Obama, Pelosi & Schumer. I’m profoundly disappointed they haven’t endorsed Harris. It’s disrespectful to Biden who’s sacrificed so much. It feels like caution at a time when boldness and assertion is needed.

Expand full comment

Nancy Pelos this morningi: “My enthusiastic support for Kamala Harris for President is official, personal and political.”

As to Obama, he will do what he did with Biden in 2020 - wait till she is the official nominee after the convention and then make his support official. He'll also campaign for her this fall. Whatever we who pay closer attention to things think about his presidency (and there's a lot to think), he's the most popular Democrat among people who don't do politics like we do, as my Chiropractor reminded me this morning when she said Obama was her favorite president of her lifetime.

Expand full comment

It's the Democrat Adlai Stevenson complex....we Dems just LOVE "eggheads"...the rest of the country, for some reason--not so much.

Expand full comment

Yep, I liked Ike, but Stevenson was a great man. Can’ believe there was a time when we had two wonderful candidates.

Expand full comment

As the writer noted Kamala is the future! Chuck is simply a place holder! Nancy had the courage to fight trump and Barack was too nice !

Roy Cooper for VP! Highly respected NC Governor who battled 8 years against the state’s gop leader who believed he is ‘the masta of the plantation! Kamala and Roy perfect together!

Expand full comment

Someone pointed out that if Cooper is tapped as VP candidate, the lieutenant governor is in charge of the state. The current lt. governor is currently running as governor and he's an absolute horror! Neither Cooper nor the people of NC can afford to leave Mark Robinson in the catbird seat while the governor is away! https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/nc-s-mark-robinson-introduces-himself-at-republican-national-convention-what-to-know/ar-BB1q2yos

Expand full comment

Yes, this important point changes my thoughts about Cooper for VP. He'll make an excellent AG though.

Expand full comment

And Cooper is termed out in January so completely free to take on an important role in the new Harris/vp? administration. Also, hopefully by then, NC Lt. Governor Robinson will have been defeated in his push to become governor.

Expand full comment

Too busy putting their knives away.

Expand full comment

I agree with you, but this is the way politics works. Keep your eyes on the prize, which is defeating MAGA in November.

Expand full comment

I don't know how the kids these days use that "brat" word, but I'm from WI, and here, that word means something important; so much so that for WI Gen-Z'ers, "brat" still is primarily the tube meat that you cook on the grill. :-)

Expand full comment

💙 Jay Kuo and only one quibble.Trump can’t “wrap his bandage around the fact”. Apparently he’s “healed” and has discarded his ear fashion accessory.At the rally in Michigan, Cheatolini also said he was “bringing back cement”. 🤔

We’ve got this !!

✍️📲💲🚙👕🛒

Expand full comment

Did TCF mean "bringing back cement" as in overshoes, like the mafia tough guy that he fantasizes he is?

Expand full comment

That’s what I thought

Expand full comment

Yesterday was shock and grief - I didn't vote for Joe in the 2020 primary, but I've grown to love the man. I'm an activist on a crackpot team and we are ON FIRE! We pivot and save democracy. I've learned today why my kids associate Kamala with coconuts, green cutoff shirts and brat. Damn this is exciting. And I can't wait for the thunderous ovation Joe will get at the DNC. It will be so epic, the Swifties will be in awe. (I love Taylor.)

Expand full comment

It's tempting to suggest SecTrans Pete Buttigieg for VP as the perfect counterpoint to Vance. Midwestern family man, father of two kids he's proud of, multilingual and coherent and, best of all, politically and ethically consistent. Might be a little too 'woke' for some folks, but it would make for an interesting debate if Vance has the guts.

Expand full comment

One fight at a time.

Expand full comment

And one victory. I'm guessing either Beshear or Shapiro.

Expand full comment

Beshear, Shapiro or Cooper. Beshear and Shapiro are still in office and we need them there, so that puts Cooper as a natural.

Expand full comment

Cooper would be good and he's from a potentially flippable state. NC is a bit like MO in that it hasn't been that long since they elected some Democrats although the media make 2018 sound like a previous century.

Expand full comment

Billionaire Art Pope and idiot McCrory bought votes in n Car. They used Rush to preach hate, and religion to do the same. My home state has been hijacked by evil. Cooper was a shot of sanity.

Expand full comment

Perhaps that is all Vance has is unmitigated gall!

Expand full comment

Then it's a "put up, or shut up" situation for him.

Expand full comment

Where Things Are At suits me just fine. Glory Hallelujah! Don’t screw it up Dems

Expand full comment

Womp. Womp. Indeed.

Expand full comment