In this election, we seem to have reached a stage in which everything to be said has been said and everything to be done has been done. We’re just doing variations on the same old themes now.
The October surprise turned out to be a crude joke about Puerto Rico. There are significant Puerto Rican populations in most of the infamous swing states, and a backlash is spreading. Surprise! There is speculation the one joke alone could cost Trump Pennsylvania, at least.
Trump has reached his standard stage of denying he knows anything about the joke or the comedian.
Even so, the information bubble most MAGAts live in is telling them Trump is about to win in a landslide. They are being prepared to reject the election results if Harris wins. It will be ugly. See also Philip Bump, The stage is set for post-election tumult if Trump loses.
In the “every accusation is a confession” department, Trump accused Harris of running a “campaign of hate.” He also warned Michelle Obama she made a “big mistake” by being “nasty” to him.
In the things to read department, I recommend this interview with Stuart Stevens at Vanity Fair. Stuart, who shows up on MSNBC from time to time, is a former GOP campaign consultant who has a lot of insightful things to say about the Republican Party and the election. And Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times says That Revolting Rally Was a Sign of Weakness. Here’s just a bit:
Far from showing strength, the Madison Square Garden rally showed that however vicious and virulent its leaders and supporters might be, the MAGA movement is a spent and exhausted force, even if it is not yet defeated.
Consider the absence from the stage of anyone in Republican politics who isn’t a bona fide MAGA acolyte. There were no charismatic Republican lawmakers fighting tough races in swing states. There were no popular Republican governors, not even vocal allies like Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin. There were no former rivals, reconciled to Trump’s leadership, like Tim Scott, Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley. And there were no figures of perceived moderation and propriety that, if they were present, could lend credence to the notion that electing Trump would bring some version of stability back to American life.
Instead, the rally showcased an off-putting combination of D-list celebrities, including Dr. Phil and a visibly worn Hulk Hogan, and Trump sycophants, perhaps most notably Elon Musk, who has sunk tens of millions of dollars into the effort to put the former president back in the White House.
Tonight Kamala Harris will be giving a major speech from the Ellipse in Washington DC. This is supposed to be her “closing argument.” It starts at 7 Eastern Time, or thereabouts.
Just a few more days …
There Will Be an End to This Some Day
It can't be over soon enough. I'm officially going into political news dark mode, no news for me until after the election, I've had way more than enough. Maybe the mahablog but that is it! I've seen a few stories on the cables and CNN's website about how the country is suffering from mass anxiety over the election. That's fucking rich, the same media who forces the hand wringing over an election over two years ago and has fed the country a steady diet of sensationalistic political bullshit now says the country is suffering from "mass anxiety". No shit Sherlock? I'm not one for yard signs, I really don't care who my neighbors vote for and certainly don't want them knowing how I vote. Voting is the only control I have why would I cede that to passers by? That being said one of my neighbors had this sign in their yard, I laughed my ass off, nothing could sum up the way I feel about this god damn election any better. Fucking End it Already!
https://www.amazon.com/Voila-Print-Giant-Meteor-Already/dp/B0D9C5Z7R2
MSG blew up in Trump's and Elon's faces. The Guardian says that Puerto Rico's largest newspaper just endorsed Harris. She and Jennifer Lopez are doing a rally in Las Vegas (lots of wavering Latinos here). 45 is the gift that keeps giving.
Jimmy Kimmel did a great send up of the freak show. I never knew how weird Elon Musk was until watching clips of him. The psychics say he's in big trouble for colluding with Putin, and while it's going to happen in stages, he's headed for ruination. He'll get kicked out of Tesla before he sinks that brand. They also said something would happen this week to bump Harris' numbers, and I think MSG was it.
Thanks for the Jimmy Kimmel link.
There's a thing called internal polling, paid for by both campaigns, to get better info on the actual state of the election than public polling. You might remember that Manifort got busted for passing along polling info to a Putin agent. This can be quite detailed in a swing state, down to the precinct level. My guess is that Trump got the news before MSG that the election will go against him. Other than wishful thinking, what supports that? Various pundits have observed that MSG was not designed for persuadable voters in swing states – it was a war cry to the MAGA faithful.
It's quite possible Trump is losing, he knows it, and he's shifted to "Steal the Vote" mode. The sure-fire antidote to Trump's scheme is for Democrats to take the House (which should be a slam dunk after the GOP antics in the last two years.) The other factor that cooks Donald's goose is a landslide win – the "Blue Wall" takes Harris to 270. Add on NC, AZ, and NV and it's a blowout. Trump will call for a revolution – it's the last card he holds but Biden holds the reins of government. I suspect the militias are heavily infiltrated – if/when they try, the feds will take them down hard.
The two federal trials will proceed, with action on the J6 trial resuming in November. Before the end of the year, we may have a trial date. If the trial starts, it will go to completion, even if Trump flees the country. Trump has to be there on the first day but he can't stop it. If he flees and if he's convicted, Trump can never return to the US without directly going to jail. IMO, that marks the disintegration of MAGA into warring, ineffective factions.
It's gonna be a long six days.
I think today I will make a yard sign that says The End is Near.
The Blue Moon has cast a spell over Jeff Bezos.
Citizen676 comments the perfect Harris Ad in response to WP article documenting Jeffy's conflict of interests:
From the same comment page this jewel, and The Wack Pack meme:
stash1967 in reference to the Donald of course.
Some day Fact Checking may cease to be the booming career field it seems to have become.
The MSG Nazi Rally inspires a commenter to the Post to condemn its sanewashing review of the event. More comments on Bezos and his scrub of the Harris endorsement article of course, which may become the most powerful non-endorsement of all time.
Credit to BHopskinsIII
Others have speculated that Bezos is afraid Trump II will award all the space travel contracts to Elon Musk, freezing out Bezos's Blue Origin.
Harris' crowd size at Ellipse estimated at over 75,000. tRump's crowd size same location on Jan 6 estimated to have been 53,000. So sad.