#Fetterman & Associates

[disasterhimbo]

Source

[ID: a quote tweet by Stephen Semler (@stephensemler) dated March 23, 2024. It is responding to a tweet by the Associated Press (@AP) that says, “BREAKING: Senate passes $1.2 trillion funding package in early morning vote, ending threat of partial shutdown.”

It says, “All but two Democratic senators just voted to:

-give Israel $3.8B in weapons, violating US law

-defund a UN inquiry into Israel's violations of international law

-defund UNRWA, worsening famine in Gaza

-sanction the UN Human Rights Council if it highlights Israeli abuses.”

It contains an image of only text showing who voted yea, who voted nay, and who abstained. 74 senators voted yea, including 47 democrats, 25 republicans, and 2 independents. 24 senators voted nay: all republicans except Senator Bennet (Democrat, Colorado), and Senator Sanders (Independent, Vermont). 2 Republican senators abstained. Full transcription of this image under the cut.]

Transcript of the image contained in the tweet:

“YEAS --- 74

Baldwin (D-WI)

Blumenthal (D-CT)

Booker (D-NJ)

Boozman (R-AR)

Britt (R-AL)

Brown (D-OH)

Butler (D-CA)

Cantwell (D-WA)

Capito (R-WV)

Cardin (D-MD)

Carper (D-DE)

Casey (D-PA)

Cassidy (R-LA)

Collins (R-ME)

Coons (D-DE)

Cornyn (R-TX)

Cortez Masto (D-NV)

Cotton (R-AR)

Cramer (R-ND)

Duckworth (D-IL)

Durbin (D-IL)

Ernst (R-IA)

Fetterman (D-PA)

Fischer (R-NE)

Gillibrand (D-NY)

Graham (R-SC)

Grassley (R-IA)

Hassan (D-NH)

Heinrich (D-NM)

Hickenlooper (D-CO)

Hirono (D-HI)

Hoeven (R-ND)

Hyde-Smith (R-MS)

Kaine (D-VA)

Kelly (D-AZ)

King (1-ME)

Klobuchar (D-MN)

Lujan (D-NM)

Manchin (D-WV)

Markey (D-MA)

McConnell (R-KY)

Menendez (D-NJ)

Merkley (D-OR)

Moran (R-KS)

Mullin (R-OK)

Murkowski (R-AK)

Murphy (D-CT)

Murray (D-WA)

Ossoff (D-GA)

Padilla (D-CA)

Peters (D-MI)

Reed (D-RI)

Romney (R-UT)

Rosen (D-NV)

Rounds (R-SD)

Schatz (D-HI)

Schumer (D-NY)

Shaheen (D-NH)

Sinema (I-AZ)

Smith (D-MN)

Stabenow (D-MI)

Sullivan (R-AK)

Tester (D-MT)

Thune (R-SD)

Tillis (R-NC)

Van Hollen (D-MD)

Warner (D-VA)

Warnock (D-GA)

Warren (D-MA)

Welch (D-VT)

Whitehouse (D-RI)

Wicker (R-MS)

Wyden (D-OR)

Young (R-IN)

(This is the end of the yeas.)

NAYS --- 24

Barrasso (R-WY)

Bennet (D-CO)

Blackburn (R-TN)

Budd (R-NC)

Crapo (R-ID)

Cruz (R-TX)

Daines (R-MT)

Hagerty (R-TN)

Hawley (R-MO)

Johnson (R-WI)

Kennedy (R-LA)

Lankford (R-OK)

Lee (R-UT)

Lummis (R-WY)

Marshall (R-KS)

Paul (R-KY)

Ricketts (R-NE)

Risch (R-ID)

Rubio (R-FL)

Sanders (I-VT)

Schmitt (R-MO)

Scott (R-SC)

Tuberville (R-AL)

Vance (R-OH)

(This is the end of the nays.)

Not Voting - 2

Braun (R-IN)

Scott (R-FL)”

(This is the end of the transcribed image.)

[tomorrowusa]

Perhaps you've noticed that the US Senate race in Pennsylvania is still up in the air. The AP has called it for the GOP candidate but there are still quite a few votes not yet counted.

On Thursday, the Associated Press called the race in favor of former hedge-fund CEO Dave McCormick, who, in his second attempt at the U.S. Senate, challenged Democratic incumbent Bob Casey. Other news outlets such as NBC News, CNN, and the New York Times have yet to officially call the race. However, Casey, the three-term senator, has held off on conceding, citing the slim margin between him and McCormick as well as the number of outstanding ballots that have yet to be counted. Per the AP, Casey currently trails McCormick by 39,545 votes. [ ... ] The Casey campaign has pointed to a statement from Al Schmidt, the state’s secretary of State, who said Thursday that there are an estimated 100,000 ballots remaining to be processed. In addition to Election Day votes, the outstanding votes include provisional, military, and overseas ballots. In a Monday press release, the campaign noted that provisional ballots “broke overwhelmingly” for John Fetterman in 2022 at a larger margin than Casey currently needs to overtake McCormick. Fetterman would later go on to win his Senate seat over his Republican challenger Mehmet Oz. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Friday that the McCormick campaign had filed a lawsuit seeking to challenge tens of thousands of provisional ballots from Philadelphia, a traditionally blue city, as well as a request for a Republican observer for the processing of those ballots. The judge denied McCormick’s observer request, prompting his team to pull the other lawsuit which they could later refile, per WHYY. [ ... ] As the ballot counting enters a new week, Casey appears determined to hold out until the very last vote. “Our Commonwealth ran a free and fair election, and we are still waiting on the final results.  Our election officials will continue counting ballots and ensure that Pennsylvanians’ voices are heard,” Casey said Monday.

McCormick has the advantage but Casey has a decent case.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Markos Moulitsas (kos) at Daily Kos:

Donald Trump had no shortage of potential vice presidential running mates. There were several seemingly serious contenders on the list, including Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Trump picked Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio. He was the worst possible choice.  In some ways, VP picks are overrated, rarely making a meaningful dent in the overall dynamics of the race. Usually, they work best when they mobilize the candidate’s base. Vance isn’t the worst pick in that regard, having made a hard-right turn in recent years that should delight the MAGA faithful. 

But this isn’t a normal election year. Vice presidential picks can serve a useful purpose as attack dogs when the presidential candidate needs to stay above the fray. Dick Cheney comes to mind, or Sarah Palin. The least effective running mates are those who have with zero credibility with the base, like Hillary Clinton’s pick, Sen. Tim Kaine.  Trump doesn’t need an attack dog. No one will mobilize the MAGA base more effectively than him, and he’s not shy about what he says. Trump isn’t staying above any fray.  Other VP picks help fill a hole in a presidential candidate’s resume, such as when Joe Biden shored up Barack Obama’s perceived lack of foreign policy experience (a thing no voter ever cared about, but in those days, the David Broders of the Capitol Hill commentariat had to be appeased). 

[...] All of those picks could’ve served Trump well strategically. Instead, he picked Vance, who once called Trump “America’s Hitler.”  Indeed, we have a vast catalog of Vance quotes lambasting Trump. Stories detailing the ripostes are forthcoming, but include such gems as, “a lot of people think Trump is just the first to appeal to the racism and xenophobia that were already there, but I think he’s making the problem worse," and, ”[Trump] is ultimately a destructive force." But there is nothing Trump loves more than a former enemy bending the knee—and Vance has done so with extreme relish and obsequiousness.  So what does Vance bring to the ticket? 

He can’t deliver the base any more effectively than Trump can. Electorally, he dramatically underperformed in his Senate race, winning by just 6 percentage points in 2022. His Republican predecessor, Sen. Rob Portman, won it by 21 points in 2016. (Trump won Ohio by 8 points in 2020 with a presidential-year electorate.) Vance was a disastrous candidate and hopeless fundraiser, forcing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to spend $32 million to save Vance’s ass. That was money that could have been spent against Democratic opponents including Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia, Sen. Mark Kelly in Arizona, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada, or John Fetterman in Pennsylvania. All four won by less than 5 points, and with that, Democrats held on to the Senate.  It figures that Trump would pick Vance, and not an actual winner. Trump rarely associates with competent, effective people. 

And despite Vance’s past criticism of Trump, his record is everything Democrats could wish to run against, including directly thanking the authors of Project 2025, the extremist blueprint for Trump’s next term in office.  Put another way, Trump needs all the help he can get to expand his base. By choosing Vance, he specifically demonstrated that he has no interest in doing that. 

The pick of Ohio Senator J.D. Vance to join Donald Trump on the ticket was all about doubling down on the MAGA base with no intent to reach out to swing voters, disillusioned Ds, and Trump-skeptical Rs. If Trump were serious about reaching beyond his base, then he would have picked either Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, or Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

This may be the pick that dooms Trump’s chances to win again.

See Also:

Wake Up To Politics: Trump’s confidence play

[beardedmrbean]

Sen. John Fetterman could land himself in trouble with voters after he doubled down on his claims that he is not a progressive Democrat, despite comments he made during his election campaign.

"I'm not a progressive, I'm just a regular Democrat," Fetterman said on X, formerly Twitter.

The statement was contradicted by the website's community notes feature, referencing tweets from Fetterman in 2016 and 2020 in which he clearly said he was a progressive.

Despite the contradiction, Fetterman has noticeably shifted away from the position upon which he narrowly defeated Donald Trump-endorsed Dr. Mehmet Oz in the 2022 midterms.

Politicians such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent closely aligned with the left of the Democratic Party, have called for a ceasefire in Gaza, whereas Fetterman has said he supports the Israeli response to the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7 "unequivocally," despite criticism that it has been too strong.

"I just think I'm a Democrat that is very committed to choice and other things. But with Israel, I'm going to be on the right side of that," Fetterman said.

The Pennsylvania senator's stance on Israel is a particular source of ire for many who consider themselves part of the progressive movement, largely younger voters.

A November 2021 poll by Pew Research recorded that 71 percent of the progressive left movement is made up of people aged 18 to 49.

It is young voters that favored Fetterman in his 2022 Senate race against Oz. According to an exit poll taken by Statista, 72 percent of voters aged 18-24 who answered said they voted for the Democrat. The figure was similar for voters aged 25 to 29, at 68 percent.

His position on Israel-Gaza could spell trouble among this voter demographic. According to a New York Times/Siena poll published on Tuesday, 45 percent of people aged 18 to 29 think President Joe Biden is "too supportive" of Israel. In the same age group, 46 percent of people who responded said they were supportive of Palestine, compared to 27 percent favoring Israel.

The same poll said that just 20 percent of all voters aged 18 to 29 believe Biden is handling the conflict well. Asked about the result on CNN on Tuesday, Fetterman said: "If you're getting your perspective on the world on TikTok, it's going to tend to be kinda warped."

He added: "Sometimes you may alienate some voters, but it is really most important to be on the right side on that. That's where I am at."

A total of 16 of his former campaign staffers wrote him an open letter, asking him to change his stance.

"It is not too late to change your stance and stand on the righteous side of history," it said.

An op-ed in news outlet PennLive was published in November by Mireille Rebeiz, Ph.D., chair of Middle East Studies and associate professor at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in which his position on the issue was labeled "disturbing" and saying he was "unworthy of my trust."

Fetterman has called for humanitarian aid to be sent to Gaza, but criticized pro-Palestinian protesters when they staged a demonstration outside a Jewish-owned store in Philadelphia in December, calling the gathering antisemitic.

Immigration is also a divisive issue in Congress, and Fetterman has made it clear he wants to work with Senate Republicans and says it is a "reasonable conversation" to have. The GOP has pushed for stricter measures along the southern border with Mexico.

"It's a reasonable conversation—until somebody can say there's an explanation on what we can do when 270,000 people are being encountered on the border, not including the ones, of course, that we don't know about," Fetterman said to NBC. "To put that in reference, that is essentially the size of Pittsburgh, the second-largest city in Pennsylvania."

His wife, Gisele Fetterman, arrived undocumented from Brazil as a 7-year-old and was an important part of his Senate campaign. Some accused him of throwing his wife under the bus because of his stance.

Newsweek has reached out to Fetterman via email through his Senate office for comment.

"Fetterman has never been progressive, but endorsing talks for tougher immigration laws when he's married to an incredible woman who was once an illegal immigrant and who kept his campaign alive while he was recovering from a stroke is actually sickening," said Alexandra Hunt, a former Democrat candidate for Pennsylvania's 3rd Congressional District.

The conversation around Fetterman has some such as left-leaning commentator Mehdi Hasan questioning if he is the "new Kyrsten Sinema," the Arizona senator who became an independent in 2022.

"Fetterman has been a pleasant surprise for his Republican colleagues and a thorn in the side of progressive Democrat," Hasan wrote in British news magazine The Spectator in December. He added: "One still has to wonder if he might follow in Sinema's footsteps and officially extricate himself from the two-party system."

Sinema cited a "deeply broken two-party system" as the reason she left the Democratic Party in 2022.

However, Heath Mayo, a conservative who founded the anti-Trump nonprofit Principles First, praised Fetterman.

"John Fetterman is testing a lot of new boundaries for the Democratic Party right now. Aggressively pro-Israel, pro-border security, anti-corruption in his own party[...]That's principled leadership and Dems should embrace it. He is speaking to a lot of us," Mayo said.

On X, Hasan said Fetterman's comments on him not being aligned with the progressive movement was "a total attack on the people who worked hard to elect him."

[swan2swan]

You are every bit as bad as the Comicsgaters who hate Moon Girl (and the rest of Marvel's stuff) because of """forced diversity.""" If you hate nearly all Jews, hate the symbols and, yes, colors associated with our community for millennia, that is not caused by Israel, it is caused by your moral defectiveness and bigotry.

Well, this is an interesting comment to wake up to.

Tell me something:

How often do you see the Prussian Cross in media?

We're not even jumping into the heavy-hitters right now. We're sticking with the particular variant of the Prussian Cross. Black cross. White outline.

Outside of historical stuff and bikers...how often do you see this?

If the answer is "Barely anywhere at all, especially in Children's Media", you'd be correct. Because after the early 1900s, it kind of took on a MAJOR negative meaning.

Obviously, there's plenty of other cross variations to use, so this wasn't exactly a DEATH KNELL for Christian Imagery. Just because people don't want to be associated with the Kaiser's Germany or their biggest crowd that was super-popular in Europe during the 30s and 40s doesn't mean they can't use a DIFFERENT design of cross. But obviously, using that particular brand became something of a cultural taboo

And, again...this isn't even the heavy-hitters.

But now consider: if a bunch of constituents go to John Fetterman's house to protest his support for Israel's genocide, and his only response is to wave a huge Israeli flag...blue and white with the Star of David...what is the message he's sending there? What is the association going to become?

Now, begin to multiply that. Not by hundreds of times directly, but by little moments. People with the Israeli flag on Twitter, putting up arguments about how all Palestinians are terrorists, and how DARE you not sympathize with Israel after the events of October 7th!

Actually, here, you know what? Let's just DEMONSTRATE.

...oh, I was looking for less-silly examples, but sometimes, you get the PERFECT ONE that is making EXACTLY your point:

Here it is. Right here. I dunno how serious the OP is, but yeah, people are actively turning the Star of David into an "I Stand With Israel" symbol, while Israel is committing ALL OF THE CRIMES, and digging a hole deeper and deeper. The longer this goes, the worse it gets, the more entangled they become...do you see why I'm upset now? Do you understand yet?

Especially because...you know who's really having a great time with this? The antisemites. They get to watch a military force do a genocide against those brown Arabs all the way over in a desert while everyone gets MAD, and all they have to do is keep encouraging the fight! Make that Star of David an EVIL symbol! In a few years, guess what you get to do? You get to start SHAMING people for wearing the Star! Heck, you can do that right now! But you don't have to, because plenty of other people are doing that for you.

So we return to my original point:

The fact that while watching a children's cartoon, for s *split second*, I saw something that I immediately associated as a red flag, because it was on my computer screen. And where do I generally see blue and white stars on my computer screen these days? News stories. Propaganda. The guys in your mentions who jump in to accuse you of antisemitism because you say something like "Genocide is bad".

Let's leave with this:

[doodle-do-wop]

If cammie went to college, what do you think the other girls (Anna, Tina, Mick etc) as well as Zach and Preston did after graduation?

OH BOY :DDDDDD!!!

this one is a long one good lord

Anna Fetterman

went into the field but for her civilian disguise, she's training to be a pilot.

She actually had to go through said training to keep up the disguise.

She does undercover work and honestly it's quite scary to realize Anna could've been on the same mission as some of her friends or coworkers as silent backup and they might not always spot her.

Married Carl (her boyfriend from book 1) and has two amazing daughters now

can and will surprise visit her friends just to keep them on their toes (she and Macey do coffee dates where they try out new cafes and chat)

Eva Alvarez

worked in the field for a few years in the FBI but after Kim Lee got seriously injured she left quickly

currently works a simple 9-5 office job and helps out in her community because even without being a super spy she can still help change the world

Kim Lee

did go to a community college to get an associate's degree in engineering and later continued to pursue a higher education in that field

even after her injury, Kim stayed in the field but soon moved into lab work making gadgetry and usually explosive prototypes. She did accidentally microwave one prototype and Eva put her on bed rest until she could correctly count the number of fingers Eva was holding up

Mick Morrison

went to college with Tina Walters as they had planned a long time ago

Got a degree in kinesiology and tried working in the field for a few years but she could never feel like it was really her place

When an opening for a new P&E assistant coach opened up Mick gave it a shot and found she really loved teaching

Sits beside Liz at the teachers table in the Grand Hall and they share gossip about their students

Courtney Bauer

worked for the CIA for quite some time. Stayed in the field as she found it was the place and path for her. Her civilian disguise was at first just a fresh out of high school young adult traveling the world to find herself. Now she's in a 'complicated business' that requires her to go overseas a lot but she fights tooth and nail to make it home for the holidays, big events, etc

she's usually late or the last to arrive and no one lets her live it down

(she was at least early to the reunion)

She, Eva, and Tina stayed close

those three idiots could never just fall apart even if they sometimes go weeks with zero communication

Tina W Walters

took some time after the fire to heal and breathe

went to college alongside Mick Morrison. Worked damn hard for that journalism degree and while she technically fulfilled her legacy as a third-generation gossip columnist, she's got a lot going on behind the scenes.

Worked for a short time in the field for the CIA like the rest of the Walters Women of the past

Changed to being a recruiter after mending her relationship with her mom and has nearly doubled the class count with how many girls she's adopted recruited

unknowingly became the next Buckingham for most of these girls and ya know Rachel it would've been nice to, you know, TELL HER SHE WAS ON THE DAMN PAYROLL

99.99% of her gossip papers are all about Macey, it's so damn funny

Macey helps by the way, they bond over it

there is an infamous page 10 Tina wrote one day that was more of a petty revenge thing than a 'lol taking shit about Macey for my job' thing

The much anticipated Preston freaking Winters

I'm not honestly sure

He spent a lot of time with his mom for sure, she didn't know anything after all and she just lost her husband. He wasn't going to let her lose her son too

did a lot of soul-searching but I'm not sure how much he stayed in politics. He might've honesty just stayed to keep in the loop about anything nefarious and found a way to contact his favorite girls

probably had to go underground with his mom for a while as the Circle scrambled after their leaders were gone (he is an heir technically)

I'd like to think he and Macey still talked but they didn't date for quite some time. They both needed to heal but they were there for each other. Who else could possibly understand them better than the other?

Zach Goode

from what I personally think along with the timeline of the books I do believe Zach went straight into the field while Cam did halfsies with school and work

did a lot of leg work with Bex since she also went straight into the field and while they were technically working for different agencies they're still a goofy little duo that know each other well enough to figure out where on earth they might be off to

attended some of Cammie's classes with her sometimes, mostly when he had downtime and wanted to just be with her or even take notes for her when she wasn't feeling too good

i refuse with all of my ass to believe he waited ten years to propose (sorry y'all but have you SEEN HIM)

if you guys wanna hear about any OCs do let me know because I will totally talk about the Background Girlstm

[jtownraindancer]

Found an Associated Press article about the decision! [Full text below the cut]

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Updated 9:24 PM EDT, September 18, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — The stuffy Senate is now a bit less formal.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday that staff for the chamber’s Sergeant-at-Arms — the Senate’s official clothes police — will no longer enforce a dress code on the Senate floor. The change comes after Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has been unapologetically wearing shorts as he goes about his duties, voting from doorways so he doesn’t get in trouble for his more casual attire.

“There has been an informal dress code that was enforced,” Schumer said in a statement. “Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit.”

Schumer did not mention Fetterman in his statement about the dress code, which will only apply to senators, not staff.

The changes prompted outrage from some of the chamber’s more formal members, eroding a bit of the good will that first-term Fetterman had earned earlier this year when he checked himself into the hospital for clinical depression. He won bipartisan praise for being honest about his diagnosis, which came in the wake of a stroke he suffered on the campaign trail last year. When he returned from treatment, he started donning the more casual clothes, which he says make him more comfortable.

Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican, said it’s a “sad day in the Senate” and that the people who Fetterman and Schumer represent should be embarrassed.

“I represent the people of Kansas, and much like when I get dressed up to go to a wedding, it’s to honor the bride and groom, you go to a funeral you get dressed up to honor the family of the deceased,” Marshall said. Senators should have a certain level of decorum, he added.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine agreed, arguing that the relaxed rules debase the institution of the Senate. “I plan to wear a bikini tomorrow to the Senate floor,” Collins joked.

Walking to Monday evening’s vote in a short-sleeved button-down shirt and shorts, Fetterman said he wasn’t sure if he’d take advantage of the new rules just yet.

“It’s nice to have the option, but I’m going to plan to be using it sparingly and not really overusing it,” he said.

Asked about the criticism, Fetterman feigned mock outrage.

“They’re freaking out, I don’t understand it,” he said of his critics. “Like, aren’t there more important things we should be working on right now instead of, you know, that I might be dressing like a slob?”

When Fetterman reached the Senate floor, he still voted from the doorway. “Baby steps,” he told reporters as he got on the elevator to go back to his office.

Not all Republicans were upset about the change. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley was wearing jeans, boots and no tie on Monday evening, an outfit he says he normally wears when he flies in from his home state for the first votes of the week.

“Now I can vote from the Senate floor on Mondays,” Hawley said, noting that he usually wears a suit and tie every other day.

Nearby, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy was also tieless. The Democrat said he’s been reprimanded by Sergeant-at-Arms staff in the past for not wearing a tie on the floor.

“They would tell us when we were doing it wrong,” Murphy said.

It’s unclear if the rules for more formal attire were actually written down anywhere, but Schumer’s directive means that staff will no longer scold senators for their choice of clothing or ask them to vote from the doorway.

For Fetterman, his signature hoodies and gym shorts were a sign of his recovery. Before he checked himself into the hospital, his staff had asked him to always wear suits, which he famously hates. But after a check with the Senate parliamentarian upon his return in April, it became clear that he could continue wearing the casual clothes that were often his uniform back at home in Pennsylvania, as long as he didn’t walk on to the Senate floor. He still wears suits to committee meetings when they are required.

In recent weeks, the Pennsylvania senator has become more comfortable joking around in the hallways and answering reporters’ questions. His words are still halting sometimes due to his stroke and an auditory processing disorder that makes it harder to speak fluidly and process spoken conversation. He uses iPads and iPhones in conversations that transcribe spoken words in real time.

“I think we should all want to be more comfortable,” Fetterman told a group of reporters on Monday. “And now we have that option, and if people prefer to wear a suit, then that’s great.”

___

Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

I had no opinion on government dress codes before 24 hours ago, but my mind has been changed by the sheer magnitude of raw fury that has been unleashed among the professional conservative class in response to the ruling that Sen. Fetterman is allowed to wear shorts and a hoodie on Capitol Hill. It has been driving them crazy. I have been negatively polarized into the belief that we should ban suits and jackets entirely

[bllsbailey]

How McCormick Won Pennsylvania's Senate Race

It is just after 9 p.m. on election night in an oversized suite on the 24th floor of downtown Pittsburgh's Fairmont Hotel. All the couches and cushioned chairs have been placed along the wall and replaced by around a half dozen campaign staffers working at desks, or makeshift desks, watching data start to pour in from across Pennsylvania. In the center of it all sits Dave McCormick, looking at a monitor with his wife, Dina Powell, hovering over him, her arm on his shoulder.

It is a tender moment captured in the middle of a chaotic scene.

It's early, and McCormick, Republican Senate challenger, is behind incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) at this moment, but there appears little panic. In fact, they are smiling. So are Mark Harris and Brad Todd, McCormick's top campaign advisers. Harris is looking at a whiteboard with counties scribbled across the top, and Todd is pacing, looking at his iPhone. Elizabeth Gregory, McCormick's press secretary, is on the phone. Matt Gruda, McCormick's campaign manager, is watching the results as the Republican challenger starts to grab a very slim lead.

By midnight, they all know McCormick will win, as they have suspected for the past month. However, it would take the Associated Press two days to call it and Casey two weeks to concede a race very few analysts thought the three-term Democrat could ever lose to a candidate his team believed was an easy target.

McCormick and his team believed otherwise.

So how did a West Point graduate from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, go from losing an agonizingly close, contentious Republican Senate primary two years ago to Dr. Mehmet Oz to winning against Casey, whose family has been a Pennsylvania political institution for four decades? It all began with focus and an interview conducted in his Pittsburgh living room days after he lost that first race.

At the time, McCormick said he was unsure if he would try another race.

Within just over a year, he was in. The first thing he did was what many CEOs do when forming a board of directors: He formed a team of professionals from very different backgrounds and experiences who had never worked together. This is a risky business in politics, where a campaign team usually comes as a package deal.

Harris, the Pittsburgh-based chief strategist, was hired first. He came from the political orbit of former Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. Todd, whom McCormick dubbed "the chief storyteller," was hired on Labor Day 2023. He came from the world of Republican Sens. Rick Scott (Fla.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), and Thom Tillis (N.C.). Gregory and Gruda were strategists for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Todd, a Tennessee native and founding partner of OnMessage who coauthored "The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics" in 2018, said it's impossible to overstate the importance of their team not having a contested primary.

"That is all a testament to Dave's nature and his work ethic," said Todd. "He did not get mad and let people who weren't for him become enemies from the first race. He just kept working on relationships."

In those early days traveling across the state, you could see McCormick sitting down and listening to people who did not support him. He never acted like anyone owed him anything, even though it would have been easy to adopt an "I told you so" pose after Oz lost badly to Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) in 2022. He also engaged in small, off-year elections for local offices, thus building more relationships.

Then came the hard part: how to run against a man who, with the exception of one primary race for governor in 2002, had won handily in every statewide race he had run, including for state auditor general, state treasurer and the Senate. Add the kicker that Casey had the same name as his late father, a beloved centrist Democrat governor of the state. From 30,000 feet, a win against Casey seemed daunting.

Todd said he and Harris found out really quickly in research that Casey's strength was overstated.

"He was a mile wide and an inch deep," explained Todd. "A lot of people were familiar with his name, but nobody was familiar with anything he had done or was working on doing."

In short, Casey had no political equity.

Todd said it is rare to see a politician who has broad name recognition and no equity, "especially after as long a career as he had. But beyond knowing that he was in office, he really started with nothing. On the negative side (in terms of campaigning against him), he also did not have any established negatives."

No one was ready to throw Casey out, but no one knew how to rally around Casey to keep him in.

Todd explained that was the tricky part of the campaign.

"So we had to accept early on that people were not going to hate Bob Casey or think Bob Casey was terrible, so we had to construct a strategic framework that let voters vote for Dave without being mad at Bob," he said.

One key thing they had to do was invest cash in introducing McCormick.

Todd explained that sometimes you beat incumbents by just piling on their negatives, something he said he's done in certain races.

"But because Casey didn't start with a lot of negatives and we knew he would have unlimited money, we did not think that it was possible to beat him with negatives alone," he said. "Therefore, the positive construction of Dave and what he's for was going to be pretty important."

Meanwhile, Todd said Casey's mistake was his refusal to break with President Joe Biden or, later, with Vice President Kamala Harris.

"It was obvious to us from the start that the administration was unpopular," Todd said. "Joe Biden personally had some old wells of support, but the administration was unpopular."

Despite that, McCormick's team likely was the only campaign in the United States that was happy when Biden stepped off the ticket.

"We thought that Harris ... would be a disaster in Pennsylvania, and that's why we were ready to go with a campaign linking Casey to Harris on the very first day, really before any other campaign in the country was," he said, pointing to their groundbreaking ad using the voices of Casey endorsing the vice president and the vice president on her litany of positions that included banning fracking, getting rid of the filibuster, limiting meat consumption and abolishing the immigration-control service.

The ad was potent. Using the vice president's leftist statements in her own voice did more to demonstrate that the Democratic Party was too far left than anything they could put on the screen with an announcer in graphics. Using Casey's voice saying she was awesome and perfect, juxtaposed with her saying something far left, helped establish him on the wrong side of the political divide.

Casey's team did little to disrupt their plan despite having a big money advantage heading into the summer, while McCormick's team held their powder until they could even things up in September and October.

Meanwhile, Mark Harris "just spent an enormous amount of time trying to do resource strategy," Todd said of the strategist's strength in understanding the state. Mark Harris had run both of Toomey's successful races.

Also crucial for McCormick was the help of Keystone Renewal, the super PAC run by Sean Parnell, a former Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan, ran for Congress and lives in western Pennsylvania. Without Keystone Renewal, McCormick may not have crossed the finish line.

Parnell helped raise $14 million for the effort that tapped into several different categories of voters, including traditional, young and low-propensity voters, and got them to vote by mail. The final report released Friday showed Republicans added a total of 240,430 people to the permanent vote-by-mail list, the first cycle ever where state Republicans added more voters to the permanent list than Democrats did.

Parnell said they also produced 365,000 first-time voters.

"Those 365,000 are the first voters we need to fold into the program for the next cycle to get added to the permanent list, something that will benefit us immensely," he said.

Todd said the most maddening thing for him was race handicappers kept not seeing McCormick's path to victory: "The Cook Report moved the race to toss-up, but nobody else did, ever."

Throughout the race, Todd said reporters would repeatedly tell him you cannot beat Casey in Pennsylvania. He would counter by pointing to Casey's lack of deep favorables. What they missed was that the race was close, that McCormick had budgeted well and so was going to have enough money, and even more importantly, the presidential race was moving away from Kamala Harris and, in tandem, from Casey too.

Poll after poll after poll showed Casey would be at whatever number the vice president was, and McCormick would be five or six points below President-elect Donald Trump. Todd said that is a hill you can climb "because that means there are a lot of people who are voting for Trump who just don't know enough about you yet."

In the end, the coalition that voted for Trump was also the coalition that brought over McCormick. There are likely a few voters in upper-income suburbs who voted for McCormick but didn't vote for Trump, and there are likely a few people in blue-collar, suburban and ex-urban communities who voted for Trump but didn't vote for anybody in the Senate race.

However, the conservative populist coalition that most of the press missed once again expanded. It is a working-class coalition, plus some capitalists who think the Democrats have gone too far.

Todd said he suspects that because a lot of the voters who are Republican historically but skeptical of Trump are mostly tax cut and border-security type voters, "I think some of those people will continue to come home. They don't like the rhetoric around Trump. They're not culture warriors, but they do agree with him on border security and on the economy. And I suspect he can win a few more of those over time if he plays his cards. And I think the more they get to know Dave, the more they're going to love him."

In the end, Todd said McCormick won because of his leadership in the campaign infrastructure and because he embodied Pennsylvania.

"Dave's family has a detailed family history, and they've invested in writing it all down. They do things like go to Decoration Day every year," he said.

"You very quickly come into the fact that West Point is a really important inflection point for his father, Doug, and Dave both. It has shaped the rest of their life. And so, we had a challenge of ... how do you portray (that) West Point's a United States military institution (inside) which you cannot shoot an ad, then we got to the notion of the Thayer Gate because that's a portal," he explained.

Once you walk through that gate, you're a soldier, and when you walk out of that gate, you are an officer. It was a transformational threshold that became the pivot point of their campaign.

The team's last ad was shot in the streets of West Point, right outside the gate, with McCormick referring to the experience of going through the gate and how it changed him.

In the close, he said, "I left here determined to serve my country for the rest of my life, and that's why I'm running."

When you understand what motivates a candidate, it is the most important thing you can do to persuade a swing voter. They're swing voters for a reason. They don't have real strong opinions on a lot of matters. Or they have strong opinions that conflict with each other ideologically.

From the deliberate strategy of winning over voters in places such as Pennsylvania's Luzerne and Bucks counties and to cutting into Casey's votes in Montgomery, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia, it was clear the plan worked. In the end, swing voters went with their gut based on what they perceived to be the motivations of the candidates, and McCormick won.

[giftsforus]

Biden Fetterman 2024 Its A No Brainer Political T-Shirt

The Biden Fetterman 2024 "It's A No Brainer" Political T-Shirt is a must-have item for anyone who supports the potential partnership between Joe Biden and John Fetterman in the 2024 presidential election. With its bold design and powerful slogan, this t-shirt is not only a fashion statement but also a way to show your political allegiance. The t-shirt is available for both men and women, making it a versatile gift for everyone. Its unisex design ensures that it can be worn by anyone, regardless of gender. It comes in various sizes, ranging from small to XXXL, so finding the perfect fit should not be a problem. The slogan, "It's A No Brainer," is a clever play on words that highlights the strong candidacy of Joe Biden and John Fetterman. It suggests that their partnership is an obvious and logical choice for voters. By wearing this t-shirt, individuals can express their support for these two political figures and their potential bid for the presidency. The design of the t-shirt is simple yet impactful. The text is prominently displayed on the front, making it easy for others to read and understand the message. The colors used are patriotic, combining red, white, and blue, which are commonly associated with American politics. This t-shirt allows individuals to proudly display their political beliefs while also looking stylish. Aside from being a fashion statement, the Biden Fetterman 2024 "It's A No Brainer" Political T-Shirt also serves as a conversation starter. By wearing it, individuals can engage in discussions about politics and share their viewpoints. It can spark meaningful conversations and encourage others to consider the potential benefits of a Biden-Fetterman ticket in the upcoming election. Moreover, this t-shirt could also act as a rallying symbol for like-minded individuals. By wearing the same t-shirt, supporters of Biden and Fetterman can create a sense of unity and solidarity. It serves as a visual representation of a shared belief system and can bring people together in support of a common cause. In conclusion, the Biden Fetterman 2024 "It's A No Brainer" Political T-Shirt is a versatile and impactful item. It allows individuals to showcase their support for Joe Biden and John Fetterman in the 2024 presidential election, while also starting conversations and fostering a sense of unity among supporters. Whether you are a man or a woman, this t-shirt is a great gift option for anyone interested in politics and wanting to express their beliefs in a stylish and meaningful way.

Get it here : Biden Fetterman 2024 It’s A No Brainer Political T-Shirt

Home Page : tshirtslowprice.com

Related : https://giftsforus.tumblr.com/post/722008440612978688/chipmunks-chip-dale-all-over-print-pinstripe

[southjerseyweb]

Fetterman backs Kim as Dems scramble to keep Menedez's Senate seat - Trentonian

… Jersey in his campaign to succeed Sen. Bob Menendez in New Jersey.(AP Photo/Ryan Collerd, File). By Associated Press | ap@dfmdev.com. January 19 …

[ailtrahq]

The scandal enveloping New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez over his acceptance of bribes for political favors escalated Monday. Senator Menendez, the Democratic chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he would not resign. Even as an important political ally, Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.), vowed to return a $5,000 campaign contribution. Senator Menendez Gave Lavishly to Ally Before Scandal According to a CNBC report, Fetterman’s office announced it was in the process of returning the $5,000 in envelopes full of $100 bills. The money had originally come to Fetterman’s campaign for senator in 2022 via a Menendez-led PAC, said CNBC, citing the website OpenSecrets. It went on to note that Fetterman was the first senator in his party to call on Menendez to resign as the explosive story made headlines last week. Senator Menendez received hundreds of thousands of dollars from three business associates in New Jersey. According to the federal indictment, they showered him with cash, gold bars, a luxury car, and even a sinecure for his wife where she would receive pay for little or no work. In return, the three associates received favors from one of the most powerful figures in the US Senate. Menendez helped one of them get a lucrative business opportunity from the government of Egypt. He used his clout to impede law enforcement investigations of the other two. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHckTnejs40[/embed] An Enemy of Cryptocurrency Since the scandal broke, some news sources have called attention to a curious fact. Senator Menendez has posed as a morally upright figure. Warning people about the dangers and, indeed, the fraud that he believes cryptocurrency facilitates. In June, Menendez worked across the aisle with Senator Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican, to re-introduce a bill calling for an inquiry into El Salvador’s acceptance of crypto as legal tender. Learn more about a small country’s experiment with cryptocurrency in the face of Senator Menendez’s hostility. And that’s not even his most sanctimonious stance. In September 2022, Menendez was the lead signer of a letter from six senators to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The purpose of the letter? To express the lawmakers’ concern that Meta enables crypto scammers. Facebook, as it was then called, may have banned crypto ads in 2018. But Menendez and his colleagues felt that this step did not go far enough. And that Zuckerberg had failed to convince them of his commitment to transparency. Menendez did not mince words in addressing Zuckerberg on this point. As the strongly worded September 8, 2022, letter stated: “We are concerned that Meta provides a breeding ground for cryptocurrency fraud that causes significant harm to consumers.” Fraud—something that Senator Menendez would obviously never engage in. Source

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Giulia Carbonaro at Newsweek:

As the 2024 presidential race draws to a close with a Donald Trump victory that could well signal a realignment of the American electorate, the Democratic Party is likely to be forced to rethink its strategy, policies and values over the years to come. After an election night that only brought bad news for Kamala Harris, The Associated Press declared Trump as the race's winner overnight after he reached the necessary 270 electoral college votes to make it back to the White House. As of the time of this article's publication, Trump had 277 electoral college votes and 51.0 percent of the vote against Harris' 224 electoral college votes and 47.5 percent of the vote. While it's too early to say what will happen in the next four years and in 2028, it's worth thinking about who will be the figure to incarnate this change for Democrats, trying to stage a comeback for a party now licking its wounds.

With Kamala Harris’s shock loss to Donald Trump, the 2028 Democratic field is shaping up to be a wide-open contest.

Some names under consideration:

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore

Arizona Rep. (and potential Sen.) Ruben Gallego

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro

Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock

2020 Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg

California Gov. Gavin Newsom

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein

Michigan Rep. and Sen.-Elect Elissa Slotkin

Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis

[beardedmrbean]

The Senate unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday putting into effect a formal dress code, The Associated Press reported.

The vote comes a week after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., changed the dress code to allow casual dress on the Senate floor.

The new resolution, shepherded by Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Mitt Romney of Utah, calls for requiring business attire on the chamber floor, including a coat, tie and slacks for men.

“The United States Capitol is more than just a place of work — it serves as a symbol of freedom and democracy to the world,” Romney said. “Hard work was done, and sacrifices made, to ensure that our legislative branch of government wasn’t just housed in some tent. As senators, we should demonstrate a high level of reverence for the institution in which we serve — and our attire is one of the most basic expressions of that respect.”

Schumer’s decision to relax the standards for the Senate floor was a nod to Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who is known for wearing shorts and a sweatshirt hoodie in the halls of Congress.

Manchin said he and Romney introduced the new rule to codify formal wear and “put all of this to bed once and for all.”

“For 234 years, every senator that has had the honor of serving in this distinguished body has assumed there were some basic written rules of decorum, conduct and civility, one of which was a dress code,” Manchin said in a speech on the floor.

After the vote, Schumer said from the floor, “Though we’ve never had an official dress code, the events over the past week have made us all feel as though formalizing one is the right path forward.”

“I deeply appreciate Sen. Fetterman working with me to come to an agreement that we all find acceptable.”

After a week of defending his choice of clothing, Fetterman told CNN prior to Wednesday’s bipartisan vote that he would wear business attire during Senate votes.

Following the vote, Fetterman’s office sent out a photo of the viral meme showing actor Kevin James as the “King of Queens,” shrugging his shoulders and smirking at the camera.

[college-girl199328]

The senator's health remains under scrutiny as he continues his treatment in the hospital, and there are serious questions about what Democrats might do if the senator chooses to resign.

Fetterman's team has made no indication that he will resign, and Pennsylvania's Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro has said there is no "contingency plan" if he does resign.

Shapiro would be tasked with selecting someone to fill Fetterman's seat in the event, but there would then have to be a special election in 2024. That would take place at the same time as Democratic Senator Bob Casey is seeking reelection—and during the presidential election, where Pennsylvania is a crucial swing state.

Political experts who spoke to Newsweek suggested that a Fetterman resignation could be an opportunity for Democrats to put questions about the senator's health behind them, but it could also carry significant risks.

Fetterman's health problems have been the subject of intense scrutiny since he suffered a stroke in May 2022, and they have only grown since the Democrat checked himself into the hospital in February.

If Fetterman chooses to resign from the Senate, it would be a "headache" for the party, according to Mark Shanahan, an associate professor at the University of Surrey, in the U.K., and co-editor of The Trump Presidency: From Campaign Trail to World Stage.

"But it could also offer an opportunity," Shanahan told Newsweek. "Governor Shapiro will be able to appoint a replacement for Fetterman in the short term, but that person will face a special election in 2024—a date when the other Pennsylvania Senate seat comes up for election and the state will be pivotal in the Democrats' defence of the Senate."

Robert Singh, a professor of politics at Birkbeck, University of London, U.K., told Newsweek that "in one sense" it would be "preferable for the party to try to get a more conventional and reliable official who is actually serving in the Senate and has the chance to consolidate the Democrats' appeal."

"In another, it would open the seat up for a new election in 2024, alongside the other Pennsylvania Democratic senator, Bob Casey, which could prove problematic in a presidential election year with the increased turnout. In some sense, there are no good options," Singh added.

Next year is a presidential election year, and President Joe Biden has said his intention is to run again, though he has not formally announced a campaign. Democrats may not welcome another election in Pennsylvania if it can be avoided.

Shanahan noted that Democrats will "be looking to hold the White House and win back the House of Representatives, so another election in a state the GOP could quite conceivably win is a high risk."

"But it's an opportunity too to reset the playing field and move on from the contentious Fetterman candidacy," Shanahan went on. "John Fetterman was the first Democrat from western Pennsylvania to reach the Senate since 1940—ideally, the Democrats would like to find his successor in the same region."

Thomas Gift is the founding director of University College London's Center on U.S. Politics, and his home state is Pennsylvania. He told Newsweek that it's "hard to see how Fetterman's resignation has a clear political upside for Democrats."

"It would put the issue to bed; yes, an open seat in two years—rather than six—is reason enough for Democrats to hope Fetterman can hold on," Gift said.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has said "it is 100 percent Senator Fetterman's decision as to what he will do in the future," but the governor would be the person who has to choose a successor if Fetterman steps aside.

Gift told Newsweek that Shapiro "might be able to install a party loyalist into Fetterman's seat now." But even if Democrats can hold the seat in a special election in two years—hardly a foregone conclusion—that new senator would almost certainly be more moderate than "far-left Fetterman."

"Consider, for example, a likely replacement like former U.S. Representative Conor Lamb," Gift suggested. "He has broad appeal in Pennsylvania. Yet he couldn't make it through the Democratic primaries' last go-round because he was too middle-of-the-road."

Gift said that compared to Fetterman, "an independently minded replacement could pose headaches for party leadership."

Shanahan noted that "there's a growing clamour for Pennsylvania to elect a female senator."

"Combine meeting those needs with trailing the west of the state, and the field is pretty small, very inexperienced, and has virtually no national exposure," he said.

Shanahan said, "This could move the Democrats on from an unhappy Senate campaign and outcome and offer something—and someone—new to pair up with senior Senator Bob Casey."

"Whatever happens, Pennsylvania is likely to be an absolutely crucial state for the 2024 congressional and presidential elections," he said.

Newsweek has reached out to Fetterman and Shapiro's offices about the possibility of resignation.