Just keep telling yourself that by this time next week the votes will all be counted. It shouldn’t take as long this year as it did in 2020, I keep hearing. It’s possible we’ll know the outcome by Wednesday.
So last night, it’s been reported, Trump entertained his rally crowd in Milwaukee by mimicing a lewd act with his microphone holder. I understand there are videos of this all over the web. I am not going to look for them. Tom Nichols writes at The Atlantic that Donald Trump needs help. Normally if a 77-year-old man is behaving that inappropriately, one would take him to a neurologist. And keep him out of public view. Let’s just hope he keeps his clothes on when there are cameras around.
The Associated Press is reporting that Trump intends to remain in North Carolina for the rest of the campaign. That might mean something. Or not. He probably can’t afford to lose North Carolina, which everybody says is a tossup.
The Des Moines Register reports that Iowa, which has been presumed to be a Trump state, is tipping toward Harris. A new poll shows her with a three-point lead over Trump in Iowa, driven mostly by women who are likely voters.
A long, but interesting, read, by Tim Alberta at The Atlantic — Inside the Ruthless, Restless Final Days of Trump’s Campaign. It shows Trump setting fire to his own campaign because he got bored.
Trump loses $2.4 billion in net worth after his social media stock implodes right before the election. The dump (of pump and dump) happened in 3 days. Fleece the suckers before the election results come in.
I read that Trump has 2.9B in equity. In theory. That's if you sell at market value and if there are buyers. If/when Trump tries to dump all that stock, it will tumble in value. No bank will loan with the stock as collateral – there's almost no revenue and no assets. After Tues, I hope Trump has no political value – I would not let him sign up for a WH tour. The closest he should get to the WH is the Prettiman Courthouse, about a mile and a half from the White House. I see no reason (if Trump loses) for Musk or Theil to bail Trump out.
Truth Social has a personal value to Trump – it's a direct line from Trump to MAGA. The next-to-last card in Trump's hand is to agitate MAGA to violence which Trump hopes will persuade Democrats to drop criminal charges. The last card will be for Trump to fly out to a country without extradition.
My opinion is that Melania will not accompany Trump into exile. I think she's more attached to Barron than Donald.
Harris is reportedly on the way to NYC to do SNL. I'd love a peek at the script but I will see in the morning. IMO, this is a deft move by Harris to steal the spotlight from Trump tomorrow and shine a light on her message.
Harris nailed it and the crowd went wild.
Watch it here. It’s amazing!!!. It made my morning.
Trump was mad that Harris got free airtime on SNL, so his team protested. Sure enough, NBC caved and granted him equal time.
I think they ran one of his campaign ads or something, for free.
Thanks for the Atlantic link. One line that stood out to me was Stump's reaction to laura loon's plastic surgery disasters: "Trump, who is generally appalled by plastic surgery, was disgusted to learn about the apparent extent of Loomer’s facial alterations" has he ever looked at Melania? I was riding around in my car today I noticed that in mostly Red neighborhoods around here many houses had yard signs for local Republicans and the tool trying to beat our congressman Mrvan but did not have Stump signs. I talked to one of my wing-nut "friends: who told me he and his wife would not vote for Stump because of his flip flopping on a national abortion ban. Maybe that explains the signs or maybe people are just embarrassed to advertise they are voting for a complete imbecile? Either way it seems like a positive sign!
I kinda get a vibe that there is an element of people showing up at his rallies like people going to NASCAR races to see a crash. A couple days to go, what's left after fellating a microphone, will he drop trou?
Maybe a total fantasy on my part; but I want to imagine that a year from now it will be hard to find anybody with some semblance of normalcy who will admit to having voted for the guy.
Who are the enemy? Besides Liz Cheney and the other usual suspects? Usually, the competent people in public service by my experience. Those who wallow at the public trough who are employed by ties of nepotism or dominant political party association hate competent people who make them look bad. How they love to use the lists the right wingers make and enforce.
Most of the time this list is never in writing. A few whispers to the "right" people will do.
The WP* now breaks this old practice as news, which is news because they have it in writing for once. Project 2025 takes a common red state r red county practice and puts it in writing. With a reference to the McCarthyism of course.
Most of us learn of this practice buy pulling knives out of their back. These non-literal knives leave only psychological scars, of which I proudly expose.
Why is this important to you? Because you want competent people in schools and other public agencies. This practice has in the past and will in the future limit your chances of getting one also. There are laws but they know the loopholes. Good luck in finding enforcement.
*For the time being I am considering the Bezos move a the most positive endorsement of Harris a paper could make. His action gave him certification of whack pack status and illuminated the problems in having a true free press in this country where the press is privatized. The status of my subscription is probationary.
As a gen-Xer like me that grew up in the City on the Hill, that was the leader of the Free World, and the most stable and bestest system the planet has ever seen, it is just weird to be terrified of political chaos. As a reminder to younger folks (if any lurk here), that fear was reserved for countries in the not-so-free world and places that the low-information voters had never heard of. Now, I am just flat scared of the trumpkins and their angry, hollow beliefs and their dangerously childish views of public policy. If they gain power, I am sure the economy will take a dump and, like in those places that were not-so-free and had shi**y politcal systems, they will have an all out propaganda blitz to convince the former middle class to not believe that their belly is full and Elon the Co-Emperor has beautiful clothes and got them fair and square (or just lay the blame on someone else).
Perhaps off topic, but I am scared of the angry jug-heads out here in rural red-state America. Definitely not the beacon of freedom that I grew up in.
Of course, that was not the meaning of "city on a hill" when it was coined by John Winthrop in 1630.
Trump has been working NC for days, not PA. As Maha observed, if the Blue Wall holds, including PA, that puts Harris at 270. Trump is declaring massive fraud in PA (with no evidence – surprise, surprise.) So if you are as cynical as I am, you might conclude Trump knows he's lost the election. But he's working NC like it would put him at 270 when it won't (if everything else breaks his way.) Pennsylvania has 19 Electoral Votes, North Carolina has 16. SO if Trump can hang up PA in litigation that prevents the certification of PA, it goes to the House.
But things change if Harris also takes NC. It leaves her short of 270 (in theory, if other states break as predicted) But Iowa may break for Harris – with six electoral votes. That would provide an alternate route to 270, even with PA out of the picture.
Nevada, Arizona, and Iowa would ALSO replace Pennsylvania if Trump can hang up those 19 votes. But if Trump has lost the election and he's betting the farm on preventing the certification of PA, there are other routes to 270.
Nate Silver cried foul on the polls for obvious "herding" which is fudging the numbers to make your poll conform to the other polls. Because nobody wants to be the exception who is wrong. So they are tweeking the results so they look like the other polls. Even if everyone is wrong, no individual polling firm will be called out if everybody is equally wrong. Nate did not say so, but if Harris is polling better than is being reported, the results may make Trump's plans moot. Trump can't hang up three different combinations of victory if Harris sweeps.