I was expecting a complete sh!tshow after Joe Biden dropped out. It's what Democrats normally do. The current trajectory and energy has squashed my original expectations. Good on us all!

 Trump Was `Very Happy' with Walz's Handling of Protests
August 7, 2024 at 5:21 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 48 Comments

In the hours after Kamala Harris announced Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, allies of Donald Trump rushed to denigrate the Minnesota Democrat, seizing on criticism of his handling of the riots in the wake of George Floyd's murder in May 2020, ABC News reports.

But at the time, Trump expressed support for Walz's handling of the protests, according to a recording of a phone call obtained by ABC News -- telling a group of governors that Walz "dominated," and praising his leadership as an example for other states to follow.

Said Trump: "I know Gov. Walz is on the phone, and we spoke, and I fully agree with the way he handled it the last couple of days... I was very happy with the last couple of days, Tim. You called up big numbers and the big numbers knocked them out so fast it was like bowling pins."

Democrats Are Having Fun Again
August 7, 2024 at 3:20 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 105 Comments

Los Angeles Times: "Democrats haven't had this much fun during a campaign season since presidential hopeful Bill Clinton busted out his saxophone on `The Arsenio Hall Show' and performed an ambitious version of `Heartbreak Hotel.'"

"Social media is rife with happy memes of Harris dancing and chatting about coconut trees. Her recently announced VP pick, Minnesota Gov. Walz, is already inspiring reams of big dad energy jokes. And all Vance has to do is show up to rouse laughter."

"It's a stunning change of pace for the Party of Perpetual Hand-Wringing, a cautious body which usually approaches elections with the seriousness of a bomb squad dismantling an explosive device. One wrong move and -- boom! -- we're Gilead, the police state in The Handmaid's Tale. Best to stay cautious and somber."

"But Harris' sudden candidacy has interrupted a doom loop that's plagued the left since Al Gore lost to George W. Bush, making him the first candidate since 1888 to win the popular vote but lose in the electoral college. No Republican has won the popular vote since, including those who've made it into the White House. The uphill climb to victory has given Democrats little to smile about, until now."

this is an X link

EXCLUSIVE: Evangelicals For Harris drops their first media spot TODAY in an effort to win over some of those "on-the-fence" Conservative Evangelicals in swing states who are lukewarm when it comes to Donald Trump. You can watch it here first before it's officially released. Many more are coming soon. The videos will start on social media and eventually make their way to TV in certain swing states. Specifically and most interestingly, Evangelicals For Harris will be targeting conservative Christian media websites. This is NOT just a play for liberal Christians. The group already has over 200,000 Evangelical Christians who have signed a pledge to volunteer and vote for the Harris/Walz ticket. Big Zoom call tonight FYI. They ain't playin'.
Look, here's a reality check. Donald Trump will get a HEFTY MAJORITY of the conservative evangelical vote. That's a no-brainer but if you think an effort like this is laughable and a waste of time, you're missing the larger political point. Elections are typically won at the margins, especially in the seven key swing states and so with that in mind, consider this.
In 2008, Barack Obama received 26% of the White Born Again Evangelical Vote and WON.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton received 16% of  the White Born Again Evangelical Vote and LOST.
In 2020, Joe Biden received 24% of the White Born Again Evangelical Vote and WON.
If Kamala Harris gets 20% or more of the White Born Again Evangelical Vote (not out of the question), Trump will probably lose.

We are going to sweep all three branches and win in places from coast to coast that no one expected.

By the end of next week she will be a solid five points ahead.

After spending the weekend being inundated with political ads while watching YouTube (something I don't normally do), my takeaway is as follows.

The GQP is running on telling Americans they that live in a communist sh!thole. But they can fix it if you subscribe to the premium package.

The Democrats are sending out the message that the United Sates is already a great country and they want to make it greater.

Harris, Needling Trump, Holds a Rally at His Convention Site
In her latest move that seems meant to get under Donald Trump's skin, Kamala Harris will hold an event at the same Milwaukee arena where he accepted the Republican nomination.

Walz will compliment this part of her appeal.   He also looks like he is enjoying himself.

Tim Walz brings his abortion-rights bona fides to the Democratic ticket

Not a good look for a supposed bring-it-on tough guy.

He claims that the hillbilly culture is anti-intellectual and dooms the group to a low income future.  So what does this have to do with Trump (who isn't mentioned in the book)?  He admires the family and educational values of the Mormons of Utah who are just as much in the Trump camp as the people from small town Appalachia.  

There is a little about his 4 year non combat career in the Marines where he for a while wrote propaganda while in Iraq.  The most extensive section about Vance's adult life is the description of Yale law school where he learned the importance of networking and met his future wife Ursa.  Nothing much is said about what he learned about law.  Here is an excerpt which covers what he did at Ohio State after getting out of the Marines.

I felt an immediate drive to finish college as quickly as possible. I met with a guidance counselor and plotted my exit--I'd
need to take classes during the summer and more than double the full-time course load during some terms. It was, even by my
heightened standards, an intense year. During a particularly terrible February, I sat down with my calendar and counted the
number of days since I'd slept more than four hours in a day. The tally was thirty-nine. But I continued, and in August 2009, after
one year and eleven months at Ohio State, I graduated with a double major, summa cum laude

She has not explained what, exactly, happened in Washington after President Joe Biden's disastrous debate; or why she has changed her mind on fracking, which she once said should be banned, and has wobbled on Medicare for All, which she once supported; or what she plans to do with Lina Khan, the head of the Federal Trade Commission, who is said to be unpopular among some of Harris's wealthy donors; or much about how a Harris Administration would handle the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

As wildly different as Harris and Trump are, their campaigns seem to share a degree of indifference to the specifics of what their candidates are saying, because both campaigns realize that many of their voters are unconcerned about such details--or, at the very least, are unlikely to be moved by them. What matters to many voters right now is their hatred and fear, however justified, of the opposing candidate, and the fun they have calling the other side weird, dangerous, and deranged. Harris and Trump, under differing circumstances, and in different ways, have floated above what was once the perfunctory and deeply unsexy muck of campaigning on a platform, or for some particular issue, and seem to exist more as brands. Other Presidential candidates have risen above that muck, too--often the highly charismatic ones, like John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Obama--but I can't think of a race that was quite as unmoored as this one from the actual details of governance. Trump has been insisting that he doesn't actually know anything about Project 2025. Harris's campaign Web site, meanwhile, does not even have a policy section, or an articulation of beliefs. There's just a button to donate, some merch and yard signs, and a biography that describes her as "the daughter of parents who brought her to civil rights marches in a stroller."

Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was nobody at the plane, and she "A.I.'d" it, and showed a massive "crowd" of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN'T EXIST! She was turned in by a maintenance worker at the airport when he noticed the fake crowd picture, but there was nobody there, later confirmed by the reflection of the mirror like finish on the Vice Presidential Plane. She's a CHEATER. She had NOBODY waiting, and the "crowd" looked like 10,000 people! Same thing is happening with her fake "crowds" at her speeches. This is the way the Democrats win Elections, by CHEATING - And they're even worse at the Ballot Box. She should be disqualified because the creation of a fake image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE. Anyone who does that will cheat at ANYTHING!