#telling u to just vote for biden

[fleeting-sanity]

🤨

[sybbi]

"If enough of us vote third party for president, we could actually GET somewhere with our policy goals!"

Baby girl you can't even get a majority of third party/independents in a single state legislature. In the past 30 years there have been seven independent/third party state governors, and of those, only three were genuinely independent. The rest either got elected as a R/D and switched mid-term when they alienated themselves from their state party, got elected as I and then switched to R/D during their terms (with some of them having served the R/D parties before), or served as proxy candidates with heavy backing and support from one of the major two parties. Even VERMONT, a relative stronghold for independent/third party candidates -- the place that brought you Bernie Sanders -- doesn't have a majority of third party candidates. And when I call them a stronghold, I mean they are the only state (I know of) that consistently elects (less than a handful of) Independent candidates to the state legislature; the place is still dominated by Ds and Rs.

"The highest power in the land can't actually be voted on so there's no reason to vote for the democrats"

Hey princess here are some high school civics question for you: How are Supreme Court judges nominated? :) By what process are they appointed? Who starts that process? :) Why is the Supreme Court considered reflective of who has won the presidency? :)

[matoitech]

it’s hard to wrap my head around how anyone thinks ‘vote blue no matter who’ is a normal position to take right now and acting like ppl who refuse to vote for fucking genocide joe are the ones responsible when trump wins. all u too FAR LEFT freaks are to blame for not voting for a guy gleefully funding genocide when trump inevitably wins because of you >:(

[anarchopuppy]

struck by the similarity between current liberal conspiracy theories about biden and qanon conspiracy theories about trump

"he WANTS to drain the swamp and arrest hillary forgive student loans and call for a ceasefire, he just cant SAY that bc then hed be targeted by the deep state the republicans, so all we have to do is reelect him one more time and await the glorious day when he'll fix everything!"

its the exact same comforting lie u tell urself for why the person u voted for didnt do what u wanted them to do, as if politicians lying is some brand new unforeseen phenomenon

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

* * * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

September 10, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Sep 11, 2024

Former president Trump has always approached debates as professional wrestling events in which the key is not to explain policies or answer questions, but rather to demonstrate dominance over your opponent. In 2016 the Democratic nominee, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, had a hard time countering this strategy effectively because of the many expectations of what was appropriate behavior for a female presidential candidate. In 2020 and then again in the June 2024 “debate,” Democratic candidate Joe Biden’s stutter made it difficult to counter Trump’s scattershot attacks.

The question for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in tonight’s presidential debate was not how to answer policy questions, but how to counter Trump’s dominance displays while also appealing to the American people.  

She and her team figured it out, and today they played the former president brilliantly. He took the bait, and tonight he self-destructed. In a live debate, on national television. 

The Harris campaign began the day trolling Trump with a new campaign ad featuring the pieces of former president Barack Obama’s speech at the August Democratic National Convention that concerned Trump. “Here’s a 78-year-old billionaire”—the ad cuts to a photo of Trump in a golf cart—“who has not stopped whining about his problems.” Then a clip of Trump shows him complaining about Harris’s crowds, before Obama notes Trump’s “weird obsession with crowd sizes,” complete with Obama’s hand motion suggesting Trump’s sizes were small. “It just goes on, and on, and on,” Obama says, before the ad shows empty seats and people yawning at Trump’s rallies.

“America’s ready for a new chapter,” Obama says to the overflow crowd cheering at Chicago’s United Center during the Democratic National Convention. “We are ready for a President Kamala Harris!” At the end, even Harris’s standard statement, “I’m Kamala Harris and I approved this message,” sounds like a challenge.

This morning, the Harris campaign began running the ad on the Fox News Channel. 

At the same time, they began running Philadelphia-themed ads across the city on billboards, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and on food trucks and taxi cabs, sidewalk art, and digital projections making fun of Trump’s fascination with crowd sizes. They showed, for example, a full-sized Philadelphia pretzel labeled “Harris” alongside a piece of one that looked like an upside down U labeled “Trump.”

The taunting might have been behind Trump’s demand for loyalty from Republican lawmakers this afternoon, telling them to shut down the government if he doesn’t get his way on the inclusion of a voter suppression measure in the bill to fund the government. The right has often relied on threats of government shutdowns to try to get their way, but such shutdowns are never popular, and even moderate Republicans are leery of launching one just before an election.

Nonetheless, Trump tried to lock them into such a shutdown, reiterating in a post this afternoon the lie that undocumented immigrants are voting in presidential elections. “If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THEY SHOULD, IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, GO FORWARD WITH A CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET. THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO ‘STUFF’ VOTER REGISTRATIONS WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN—CLOSE IT DOWN.” 

Throughout the day, the Harris campaign placed posts on social media showing Harris looking crisp and presidential and Trump looking old and unkempt. And then, for ten minutes in the hour before the debate, the Harris campaign held a drone show over the Philadelphia Museum of Art showing campaign slogans and then turning the words “MADAM VICE PRESIDENT” into “MADAM PRESIDENT.” 

Hugo Lowell of The Guardian reported today that Trump’s advisors were concerned ahead of the debate about whether they would get “happy Trump” or “angry Trump,” worrying that a frustrated Trump would engage in the vicious personal attacks that turn voters off. They expressed relief that having the microphones muted when it was not a candidate’s turn to speak would prevent Harris from irritating him with fact checks and snark of her own. Conservative lawyer George Conway noted that it was “[i]nteresting how one campaign is extremely concerned about the emotional stability of its candidate, and how the other is not.”

Harris’s attacks on Trump, including her campaign’s subtle digs at his masculinity, appeared to have accomplished what they set out to. When the two came out on stage, he went straight to his podium, while she strode across the stage, moved into his space, held out her hand, introduced herself and wished him well: “Kamala Harris. Have a good debate.” He muttered in response, “Nice to see you.” Then she took her own spot at the podium. When the debate opened, it was clear that Harris was the dominant figure and that her opponent was “angry Trump.” He would not look at her during the debate.

In her first answer, Harris tried to set out both her own story as a child of the middle class and how she intended to build an opportunity economy for others, lowering food and housing costs and opening the way for more small businesses. It was a lot, quickly, and she looked a little nervous.

Then Trump spoke and it was clear he was going off the rails. His first comment was to suggest Harris was lying, and then to insist that his proposed tariffs will solve everything, although he has the way tariffs work entirely backward: they are paid by the consumer, not by foreign countries. As he followed with a long list of his rally lies, Harris started to smile.  

From then on, he continued to produce rally stories full of wild exaggerations and attack Harris with lies in what CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale called “a staggeringly dishonest debate performance from former president Trump.” "No major presidential candidate before Donald Trump has ever lied with this kind of frequency,” Dale said. “A remarkably large chunk of what he said tonight was just not true. This wasn't little exaggerations, political spin. A lot of his false claims were untethered to reality." As Harris spoke directly to the American people, growing stronger and stronger, Trump got wilder and angrier and told more and more crazy stories. 

And then, about ten minutes into the debate, Harris baited him. She invited the American people to go to one of his rallies, where “he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter, he will talk about ‘windmills cause cancer.’ And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.” 

Trump lost it. He defended his rallies, said Harris couldn’t get anyone to attend hers and has to bus in attendees (in reality, her rallies are packed and he is the one who reportedly hires attendees), and then, in his fury, repeated the lie about immigrants eating pets. When a moderator fact-checked that story, he fought back, saying he heard it on television.

And from then on, Harris kept baiting him while explaining her own policies directly to the camera, and he took the bait every single time. He ran down every rabbit hole and appeared unable to finish a thought. Notably, he refused to say he would not sign a national abortion ban and admitted that after nine years of promising one, he had no health care plan (he has, he said, “concepts of a plan,” and if they pan out, he’ll let us know in the “not too distant future”). 

He threatened World War III and repeated that the U.S. is “a failing nation.” He told a long story about threatening “Abdul,” the leader of the Taliban; in fact, the leader of the Taliban since 2016 is Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada. In response to Harris’s statement that foreign leaders thought he was a disgrace, Trump answered that Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, who destroyed his country’s democracy and replaced it with a dictatorship, says he’s a good leader. New York Times columnist David French wrote: “It's like she's debating MAGA Twitter come to life.”

The debate moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis of ABC, asked solid questions and corrected the most egregious of Trump’s lies. But as he continued to interrupt and yell at Harris, they increasingly gave him leeway to do so. This meant he spoke more often and for more time than Harris; MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle reported that he spoke 39 times for a total of 41.9 minutes, to her 23 times for a total of 37.1 minutes. But the extra time did him no favors.

By the end of the evening, Harris had delivered a clear message about her hopes to move the country forward beyond years of using race to divide people who have far more in common than they have differences. She promised to develop an economy that will build small businesses and support a growing middle class, while protecting rights, including the right to make reproductive decisions without the intrusion of the state. And she showed the nation that Trump can be baited, that he lies freely and incoherently, and—perhaps crucially—that he is no longer the dominant politician in America.  

Immediately after the debate, the Harris campaign continued their demonstration of dominance. Harris-Walz campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon released a statement recapping Harris’s strength and Trump’s angry incoherence. She concluded: “Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?”

Then things got even worse for Trump. 

Music phenomenon Taylor Swift endorsed Harris, telling her 283 million Instagram followers that she felt she had to because of Trump’s earlier reposting of an AI image of her seeming to endorse him. That, she said, “brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth. I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election.”

After explaining why she was supporting Harris and Walz and urging her fans to do their own research, Swift signed off: “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[mithliya]

The person you were talking with earlier (sincerelyyellingback) is a proudly ignorant antivaxxer and a trump supporter. So she’s very likely not arguing in good faith. Just wanted to give you a heads up!

idk much about her beliefs but i did see she said she thinks trump is better than biden and would vote for trump. frankly i think thats like saying shooting ur left foot is better than shooting ur right foot. point being that there's hardly enough of a difference to justify preferring one over the other, imo. one pretends to stand for something but is causing harm to various minority groups he pretends to care for, and one is openly shitty and also causes harm to various minority groups (that he openly hates). its illogical to me to vote for either of them ultimately bc neither of them actually serve women's interests, neither protect women, neither protect poc or serve our interests, neither are good for US' international politics (though admittedly, in the case of fighting china, trump is more active therefore he may be better/worse depending on ur views there) ... either u vote blue and enable the left-wing's further shift to the right by telling them u will vote for them no matter how much u let them down, or u vote red and enable the right-wing's extremism & shift further to the right by telling them u support what they are standing for. either way u are harming many innocent people.

i really just hope people collectively wake up eventually and realise this system is absolutely fucked and there is no better choice, at least not on a larger scale. maybe for u as an individual person one is slightly better in one very specific regard but if u want to say that, then say that instead of pretending ur making the morally superior choice yknow. "im choosing the politician i think would negatively impact my life the least" is much more preferrable to "im choosing this politician bc actually this politician is the morally superior choice for minorities!" is simply a lie.

[dvasva]

ye tbh. im withholding my vote unless i see kamala harris actually support palestinian liberation. im not gonna be duped into accepting what i wouldnt accept out of joe biden just cause kamala harris isnt joe biden. which isnt to say ill neber vote for her but i'm certainly now strongly undecided until she makes a change.

if u also want better from these damn politicians, email and call her campaign reps, the white house, mail into her hq with physical mail telling her to actually put her money where her mouth is.

politicians actually have to earn ur vote. im not just gonna wait until she doesnt need us to vote for her anymore to be vocal about this issue.

Palestinian lives are not currency to pay for our comfort. If we can't even support them during a genocide we are actively funding, then tbh we don't even deserve the comforts. your own fear is not an excuse to not at least attempt to use what leverage you have with your voting power to get a politician to actually do what theyre supposed to do.

[neotrances]

and its also telling bc i’ve seen multiple post and tweets like that where liberals threaten minorities with worse treatment if they don’t vote for biden and its like oh so ur aware? ur aware the system is rigged and we will be punished for questioning or fighting anything? ur aware they give us scraps of equality and expect us to be grateful? ur aware the brown people around you are one of the “bad election” away from being hunted? u think racial discrimination is warranted if someone doesn’t do what you want? u are exactly like every other racist piece of shit republican there is, u just like calling ur self a leftist bc it makes u feel good

[tf2heritageposts]

As someone from tennesee.....you are soooo fucking right abt ppl not voting for biden. I have friends in the bluest states telling me theyre not gonna vote as a form of protest and im just like......kay.....thats....nice that u have that priviledge i guess.......must be cool.....

fucking literally man. everyday i hate northerners more

[sandgraab]

look I don’t really think you people whining about third party voters is going to help anything. even if you unrealistically gave kamala every third party vote she still loses handily. like sure maybe it’s a factor. maybe Gaza protest votes had an affect. maybe her being a woman. maybe her being black. but when you get into the meat of it I think two things are the biggest factors: the first is that dems have completely abandoned the base that bernie helped cultivate, and they have expectedly fled, some (latinos) for the other side and some just didn’t seem to vote.

the second, and what I think is the main thing, is that the economy sucks and Americans are selfish. sorry. you can pull out your little graph and condescendingly explain to joey bob on the street that WELL AXSHUALLY IF U LOOK HERE… but if you ask the average person they will tell you that everything is too expensive. and kamala, if nothing else, assured voters that she would continue whatever it is joe biden has been doing. to the informed that could mean genocide, or trying to cancel student loans. but to the average American that means “mah groceries are still gonna be 400 bux a week.” so idk. maybe an actual leftwing platform instead Joe Biden 2 would have gotten us somewhere. maybe not. i really don’t know. but I do know a large portion of the electorate are selfish and all THEY know is that 4 years ago everything was cheaper.

[1eos]

I’m actually so insanely sick watching “democrats” and liberals and late night show hosts talking about Biden like he’s our savior against trump and being made to feel guilty when I say what’s the point in voting, because when it’s Kids in cages everyone is, RIGHTFULLY, enraged but when it’s Palestinian children dying from US provided military arms, when it’s the US vetoing ceasefires, it’s VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHAT. So attractions are only atrocities if the other side commits them in office? At what point will white liberals realize the old farts they’ve put into office are just conservatives with blue paint???? Sorry I’m just so so upset about all of this and want to scream at my democrat friends who are telling me to vote blue even after all this…

alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll of this. its actually very very disturbing. like the average democrat can't actually understand that human rights violations are bad unless a republican is in office when they're enacted? like if trump were president he would be giving aid to isntreal and all the ppl who are acting like biden can't be criticized would be raining down entreaties on trump. its been obvious for the past decade or so but the american two party system is just picking which vernacular you want your fascism to be loaded with. our current foreign policy is even more barbaric than when trump was in office but now its wrapped up in rhetoric that's only quietly racist and zionist. enough so that white ppl who want to feel good abt themselves and believe theyre committed to social justice can blow genuine concerns off as 'fear mongering' or being a 'psyop'. i just saw something the other day where someone asked a biden official what they had to say abt arab american voters and the bitch said some shit abt how isntreal has a right to defend itself??????? and if that isnt deranged and evil enough the vote blue no matter what dipshits will deadass look u in your face and act like blue is the better option. huh???????? the american voting system is the epitome of illusion of choice bc you're getting fascism regardless

[beardedmrbean]

Democratic Mayor Tiffany Henyard of the small Village of Dolton, Illinois, has made national headlines in recent weeks for being accused of weaponizing police in retaliatory business raids and spending taxpayer money on luxurious trips. Now she is facing investigation by the Dolton Trustees as well as the FBI.

In a special meeting Thursday night, a four-trustee majority "voted unanimously to call for an investigation into Henyard and what they say is the misuse of funds," FOX 32 reported. Dolton Trustees slammed the mayor for having "disgraced this entire village" and being a "stain on our community."

Earlier this week it was reported that the FBI is investigating the mayor, as six individuals have reportedly spoken to the agency about her alleged misconduct, including "business owners, a former village employee and one or more public officials." 

The self-proclaimed "Super Mayor," who insists "God chose me" and met with President Biden in January, has been said to engage in such wild antics it is like a "real life Parks and Rec situation." But her multitudes of alleged misdeeds could finally be catching up to her.

From first-class flights to Las Vegas to beauty vendors, Henyard is frequently called out by her colleagues for questionable spending of taxpayers' money, possibly for her own benefit. She makes $285,000 from her positions both as Dolton mayor and Thornton township supervisor.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Henyard reportedly has a $224,000 a year salary as township supervisor alone, but has put forth an ordinance to cut the salary of any non-incumbent supervisor to $25,000.

Municipal attorney Burt Odelson, said to represent Henyard's political opposition, condemned this as "so illegal in so many ways," telling FOX 32 such conduct "violates so many tenets of the law." 

Aside from her personal income, the way she allegedly uses the town’s money has been a consistent source of controversy. While Henyard has denied using village credit cards, WGN Investigates said it obtained copies of the township’s credit card statements indicating village officials spent more than $24,000 at restaurants during a 12-month span, as well as $3,741 just on Henyard taking a round trip flight to Las Vegas. 

Henyard is also well-known for using a makeup artist, hairdresser and stylist before public appearances and photoshoots. Residents complain she puts up town billboards to promote herself personally, and she has produced music videos that feature city workers, such as police dancing or boosting her image by being in the background as she lip-syncs songs. 

On Tuesday, a Dolton-based U-Haul rental and trucking business owner named Lawrence Gardner told FOX 32 he went to the FBI out of frustration that the Village of Dolton would not renew his business license. He claims he has suffered from harassment, a raid on his business and was shut down by Dolton police. Gardner believes it is retaliation after he refused to donate to a civic event sponsored by Henyard.

FOX 32 reported Wednesday that multiple bars in the town were raided by police the day after the news team visited the businesses amid allegations their licenses were being held up for political reasons. The raids reportedly occurred mere hours after FOX 32’s report about the alleged FBI investigation into Henyard’s conduct was released.  

Employees and owners of the bars reportedly claimed "it's part of an ongoing campaign of harassment by Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard" and that "Their business licenses have been stripped by Dolton, but they've continued to operate with a state license."

Tammie Brown, a Dolton Trustee, was quoted in the same report as saying the raids were a warning to other businesses, "I'm sure that they were asked to donate [to Henyard], make a donation, and most likely they didn't make a donation. So you don't get a chance to stay open if you don't pay the queen's ransom."

The Village of Dolton defended the legitimacy of the raids in a statement to FOX 32, arguing both businesses had their liquor licenses previously revoked, and had "a history of violent incidents."

In addition to the raids and music videos, Henyard's use of the police as her personal security has been a source of controversy as well. 

Henyard spends hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on security, which effectively takes police officers off the streets who should be protecting the town, Dolton Trustee Brittney Norwood said.

"I think that she spends the money on security because she just loves it. She likes the thought of being surrounded by police officers. I think it makes her feel more important," Norwood said. "The police are simply working under her instructions, but it's also sad. It's sad because we need the police patrolling the streets, and they're with her instead."

Former Dolton Police Chief Robert Collins, who was fired by Henyard, also slammed the mayor for maintaining a security detail of "several officers" whom he argues could be out fighting crime, but are instead "sent out to run errands, do pick-ups, do drop-offs."

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is reportedly cracking down on "The Tiffany Henyard CARES Foundation" which, per the acronym, stands for Cancer And Remission Empowering Survivors.

The Chicago Tribune on Thursday reported that Henyard’s charity "has been told by the Illinois attorney general’s office to stop soliciting or accepting contributions, and that it must register with the state." The same outlet summarized that the mayor was told her charity "is not in good standing and states the attorney general has sent multiple letters advising, among other things, that it is not registered with the state."

The letter reportedly warned that "to avoid further action by this office," the charity must file a registration statement, copies of financial reports and a list of the organization’s officers and/or directors by March 13.

Henyard is also infamous for her fiery rhetoric toward the town's trustees in public meetings.

Fox News Digital reported that Henyard slammed her fellow officials at a meeting in early February about her spending when she declared, "You all forget I’m the leader. They want to hear from the mayor. You all ain’t learned that yet. The mayor, not the trustees that don’t do nothing. They only run their mouth. You all don’t do no work, no work!"

Later during the meeting, Henyard proclaimed, "Y’all got false narratives out there, and y’all should be ashamed of y’all selves. Y’all Black. Y’all are Black! And y’all sitting up here beating and attacking on a Black woman that’s in power. Y’all should be ashamed of y’all selves."

Norwood told Fox News Digital in an interview, "I feel as if I'm in a dictatorship." 

She added, "The way she talks [to the trustees] I sometimes feel as if I'm in a mentally abusive relationship… I've learned to expect her to be disrespectful. She's like a bully." 

Norwood is party to a lawsuit that accused the mayor of actions that amounted to "fraud," according to a complaint reviewed by Fox News Digital. 

Henyard was sued for alleged financial wrongdoing by Dolton Trustees on Dec. 23.

"The Defendant’s actions as alleged constitute a fraud upon the residents and taxpayers of the Village," the lawsuit states. It added, the extent of the financial wrongdoing could be more extensive than is currently alleged as Henyard was allegedly concealing the information from the trustees. 

Henyard, the Village of Dolton, and police department did not respond to requests for comment.

[misfitwashere]

September 10, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Sep 11, 2024

Former president Trump has always approached debates as professional wrestling events in which the key is not to explain policies or answer questions, but rather to demonstrate dominance over your opponent. In 2016 the Democratic nominee, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, had a hard time countering this strategy effectively because of the many expectations of what was appropriate behavior for a female presidential candidate. In 2020 and then again in the June 2024 “debate,” Democratic candidate Joe Biden’s stutter made it difficult to counter Trump’s scattershot attacks.

The question for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in tonight’s presidential debate was not how to answer policy questions, but how to counter Trump’s dominance displays while also appealing to the American people.  

She and her team figured it out, and today they played the former president brilliantly. He took the bait, and tonight he self-destructed. In a live debate, on national television. 

The Harris campaign began the day trolling Trump with a new campaign ad featuring the pieces of former president Barack Obama’s speech at the August Democratic National Convention that concerned Trump. “Here’s a 78-year-old billionaire”—the ad cuts to a photo of Trump in a golf cart—“who has not stopped whining about his problems.” Then a clip of Trump shows him complaining about Harris’s crowds, before Obama notes Trump’s “weird obsession with crowd sizes,” complete with Obama’s hand motion suggesting Trump’s sizes were small. “It just goes on, and on, and on,” Obama says, before the ad shows empty seats and people yawning at Trump’s rallies.

“America’s ready for a new chapter,” Obama says to the overflow crowd cheering at Chicago’s United Center during the Democratic National Convention. “We are ready for a President Kamala Harris!” At the end, even Harris’s standard statement, “I’m Kamala Harris and I approved this message,” sounds like a challenge.

This morning, the Harris campaign began running the ad on the Fox News Channel. 

At the same time, they began running Philadelphia-themed ads across the city on billboards, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and on food trucks and taxi cabs, sidewalk art, and digital projections making fun of Trump’s fascination with crowd sizes. They showed, for example, a full-sized Philadelphia pretzel labeled “Harris” alongside a piece of one that looked like an upside down U labeled “Trump.”

The taunting might have been behind Trump’s demand for loyalty from Republican lawmakers this afternoon, telling them to shut down the government if he doesn’t get his way on the inclusion of a voter suppression measure in the bill to fund the government. The right has often relied on threats of government shutdowns to try to get their way, but such shutdowns are never popular, and even moderate Republicans are leery of launching one just before an election.

Nonetheless, Trump tried to lock them into such a shutdown, reiterating in a post this afternoon the lie that undocumented immigrants are voting in presidential elections. “If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THEY SHOULD, IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, GO FORWARD WITH A CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET. THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO ‘STUFF’ VOTER REGISTRATIONS WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN—CLOSE IT DOWN.” 

Throughout the day, the Harris campaign placed posts on social media showing Harris looking crisp and presidential and Trump looking old and unkempt. And then, for ten minutes in the hour before the debate, the Harris campaign held a drone show over the Philadelphia Museum of Art showing campaign slogans and then turning the words “MADAM VICE PRESIDENT” into “MADAM PRESIDENT.” 

Hugo Lowell of The Guardian reported today that Trump’s advisors were concerned ahead of the debate about whether they would get “happy Trump” or “angry Trump,” worrying that a frustrated Trump would engage in the vicious personal attacks that turn voters off. They expressed relief that having the microphones muted when it was not a candidate’s turn to speak would prevent Harris from irritating him with fact checks and snark of her own. Conservative lawyer George Conway noted that it was “[i]nteresting how one campaign is extremely concerned about the emotional stability of its candidate, and how the other is not.”

Harris’s attacks on Trump, including her campaign’s subtle digs at his masculinity, appeared to have accomplished what they set out to. When the two came out on stage, he went straight to his podium, while she strode across the stage, moved into his space, held out her hand, introduced herself and wished him well: “Kamala Harris. Have a good debate.” He muttered in response, “Nice to see you.” Then she took her own spot at the podium. When the debate opened, it was clear that Harris was the dominant figure and that her opponent was “angry Trump.” He would not look at her during the debate.

In her first answer, Harris tried to set out both her own story as a child of the middle class and how she intended to build an opportunity economy for others, lowering food and housing costs and opening the way for more small businesses. It was a lot, quickly, and she looked a little nervous.

Then Trump spoke and it was clear he was going off the rails. His first comment was to suggest Harris was lying, and then to insist that his proposed tariffs will solve everything, although he has the way tariffs work entirely backward: they are paid by the consumer, not by foreign countries. As he followed with a long list of his rally lies, Harris started to smile.  

From then on, he continued to produce rally stories full of wild exaggerations and attack Harris with lies in what CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale called “a staggeringly dishonest debate performance from former president Trump.” "No major presidential candidate before Donald Trump has ever lied with this kind of frequency,” Dale said. “A remarkably large chunk of what he said tonight was just not true. This wasn't little exaggerations, political spin. A lot of his false claims were untethered to reality." As Harris spoke directly to the American people, growing stronger and stronger, Trump got wilder and angrier and told more and more crazy stories. 

And then, about ten minutes into the debate, Harris baited him. She invited the American people to go to one of his rallies, where “he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter, he will talk about ‘windmills cause cancer.’ And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.” 

Trump lost it. He defended his rallies, said Harris couldn’t get anyone to attend hers and has to bus in attendees (in reality, her rallies are packed and he is the one who reportedly hires attendees), and then, in his fury, repeated the lie about immigrants eating pets. When a moderator fact-checked that story, he fought back, saying he heard it on television.

And from then on, Harris kept baiting him while explaining her own policies directly to the camera, and he took the bait every single time. He ran down every rabbit hole and appeared unable to finish a thought. Notably, he refused to say he would not sign a national abortion ban and admitted that after nine years of promising one, he had no health care plan (he has, he said, “concepts of a plan,” and if they pan out, he’ll let us know in the “not too distant future”). 

He threatened World War III and repeated that the U.S. is “a failing nation.” He told a long story about threatening “Abdul,” the leader of the Taliban; in fact, the leader of the Taliban since 2016 is Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada. In response to Harris’s statement that foreign leaders thought he was a disgrace, Trump answered that Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, who destroyed his country’s democracy and replaced it with a dictatorship, says he’s a good leader. New York Times columnist David French wrote: “It's like she's debating MAGA Twitter come to life.”

The debate moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis of ABC, asked solid questions and corrected the most egregious of Trump’s lies. But as he continued to interrupt and yell at Harris, they increasingly gave him leeway to do so. This meant he spoke more often and for more time than Harris; MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle reported that he spoke 39 times for a total of 41.9 minutes, to her 23 times for a total of 37.1 minutes. But the extra time did him no favors.

By the end of the evening, Harris had delivered a clear message about her hopes to move the country forward beyond years of using race to divide people who have far more in common than they have differences. She promised to develop an economy that will build small businesses and support a growing middle class, while protecting rights, including the right to make reproductive decisions without the intrusion of the state. And she showed the nation that Trump can be baited, that he lies freely and incoherently, and—perhaps crucially—that he is no longer the dominant politician in America.  

Immediately after the debate, the Harris campaign continued their demonstration of dominance. Harris-Walz campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon released a statement recapping Harris’s strength and Trump’s angry incoherence. She concluded: “Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?”

Then things got even worse for Trump. 

Music phenomenon Taylor Swift endorsed Harris, telling her 283 million Instagram followers that she felt she had to because of Trump’s earlier reposting of an AI image of her seeming to endorse him. That, she said, “brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth. I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election.”

After explaining why she was supporting Harris and Walz and urging her fans to do their own research, Swift signed off: “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady.”

—

[bisluthq]

Something I’ve been mulling over after the shocking election results is that Americans witnessed Trump’s economy and then Biden’s economy. Biden also made some bogus promises about student loan forgiveness (that he damn well knew would go nowhere 💀) and that got a LOT of young people in 2020 to vote for him. He failed to deliver and a lot of those single issue voters miss what life was like before Biden wrecked the economy. Life was affordable, gas prices weren’t insane, groceries weren’t insane, mortgage rates weren’t skyrocketed. And then you get Kamala Harris and her celebrity endorsements…she paid Beyonce $10 fucking million dollars for a damn endorsement speech. I personally know people that decided after that they were voting for Trump. It just rubbed a lot of undecided people the wrong way to have these bougie ass celebrities talk about things that literally do not apply to them. It’s condescending and out of touch. They’re not out here starving, struggling to afford their home going into foreclosure. They don’t know jack shit about shit. This is how idiotic the Democratic Party has been this election cycle.

I just said this lol! Yes exactly. This was an all round fuckup. It’s legit like “let them eat cake” like idk people legit cannot afford food and you have Beyonce telling them to vote? That was SUPER out of touch. Even Cardi’s speech, although Cardi is generally a tiny bit better plugged into shit than idk fucking Beyonce, was like… okay good for u Cardi I’m glad you and your millions think this makes sense but what about the people who need to decide between paying their electric and buying gas and buying meat this week? Maybe Kamala should explain how she’s gonna fix that whole situation right and saying “tax breaks for small businesses” and “tax credits for first time homeowners” is not it actually because firstly where’s that money gonna come from to do that and secondly people who are in that actual predicament aren’t self actualizing and starting businesses and they sure as shit aren’t buying houses rn. The results are disappointing because the Dems have been disappointing but none of it is shocking to me because basically Dems did FAFO and like… seriously sucks because with their majority across every fucking branch of government the Republicans are gonna pass a lot of stupid at best and evil at worst shit through but this is on the Dems for letting it get to this.

[captain-n-crunchies]

WE ARE FUCKED

Maybe I'm just looking into things a little bit too much.But what I've seen on TikTok and tumbler is a lot of white leftists apparently are the most morally correct people on this earth? It baffles me how many people shape their political views about Kamala Harris from seeing white people dislike her. I saw a video on TikTok of this white man telling black people! African Americans that they shouldn't vote for Kamala Harris cause she put it black people in jail?? Which is the most stupidest thing I've ever heard because I'm pretty sure her job as a prosecutor is to put people in trial. But what was crazy about that?Is that I went to the comments section and it was full of people agreeing , saying that the "BLM protest must have been for nothing because THEY want to put a cop in presidecy"

Like I must be crazy The Donald Trump gave the deaf penalty he signed off a group of black men who were falsely accused of RAPING SOMEONE The death penalty, I'm pretty sure he did that. It's actually a photo of him smiling with that same paper with him signing off. The death penalty for those 5 men and YES they were black, BUTTTT Kamala Harris is a terrible person because somebody with their own free will and their own money wanted to buy marijuana....they got caught and because it was a illegal they were put on trial for doing something illegal??

Like I don't support cops it all but I cannot hold Kamala responsible for your cousin going to jail for a marijuana position that they knew was a legal.I cannot hold her accountable because you did on your free will. AND yes kamala Here's maybe Zionist.Yes, because she, along with Joe Biden supported Israel.I don't support israel at all but I do know how to read a book and I do know how to read a article and I do understand history. I am understand that the United States has an alliance to Israel, no matter what America has the backup Israel Barack Obama, did Trump ,did even Reagan? And the best thing we can help in pray.For is the kamala pulls the u s out of this alliance that we have we israel because no other president has.

But back to the white people I then saw another video of this, so-called moral correct white man telling people of color people did look like me black.A woman fit if Kamala Harris doesn't check all of our boxes supporting palestiniabl GB.T and minority rights we can't vote her n, I AGREE. But where he got off track was that he was saying to vote third party because kamalo's just as bad as Trump.No, she isn't Kamala is the same thing.You'll talk, Joe Biden was the same thing.That you thought every other President was the LESSER EVIL! I mean, this man was trying to put morally correct compassive in presidency and I had to think when was the last time a President with a so-called morally correct compass became President. Oh yeah, I remember every President. Oh yeah, I remember Joe Biden was the same person you white people said was morally correct and HE FAILED!!! I'm not saying Kamala is the better option if we had Morocco Obama or michelle Obama up there?But I am saying this voting.Third party is giving your vote to Trump.Voting for 3rd party is like voting for a person you never seen before because they waltz up in a free Palestine and a pride flag pin and you rush to vote for them with no background info. THE SAME THING PEOPLE DID FOR BIDEN!? I'm telling you this NOW everybody that is a third party candidate for presidency you only see them every 4 years, you never see them any other time.

In paper bottle for every time you lit the so-called democratic primordially correct, white people tell you how to vote and you don't do no background research you only listen to what they say. Because those same people I scroll 2 videos up. I see their entire point getting debug. Kamala Yu thought here is a cop.She turned out to be a prosecutor whole made up that rumor??WHITE PEOPLE! At this point, it is not democratic or Republican. It is handmaid's tale or nothing. A blank slate everything that Kamala stands for is what democrats believe in. But Kamala stands for also probably some bad things. They republicans are sure ready to fire for. But it's only gonna take a white person to come app on a app with no background information of what they're talking about and just writing on full-fledged emotions you will believe them, and this is what's going to make America fall. This is what's going to make Project 2025 happen faster than it's already going, you don't read on your own. You listen to other people on the internet and you don't want to read, you don't want a Google search. A person in every comment section is saying so are WE... multiple people, they're saying they're basing THEIR vote off of other people...They're basing their vote off of what THEY think, other people think is morally correct.That is the same thing that's going to kill more palestinians.Think. Read.

If people do not take advantage of reading in the next few years because you do not read and you did not think about this one election, you're not gonna have a next election? If you vote for Trump, you're not going to have an option of Democrat or Republican. It is not fear-mongering and it's not a scare tactic. To get people to vote Democrat. It is real life now. The scare tactic was used for Biden. It's no more scary tactics. It's real life now. It is only one clear option. Do the same thing that you did for Biden, vote for Kamala because you just want to keep your rights.

[jyndor]

how are u going to say it doesn’t matter who you vote for and here you are actively pushing kamala

here we go, time to use our brains kids

so let me say this: I think kamala harris is an objectively better candidate than either joe biden. I think a ham sandwich would be a better candidate than joe biden lol. I think that if someone is going to vote in the us presidential election, they would be smart to vote for a kamala ticket over a trump ticket, assuming that her policy platform is mostly in step with the democratic platform and doesn't try to out-fash trump on immigration or israel.

I do not think me saying that is pushing kamala. it's just my opinion, and I'm not even committing to voting for her. I'm not telling anyone they have to vote for kamala. I'm especially never going to tell palestinian americans that they need to vote for anyone because like what kind of monster would I be??? and I also do not think voting is harm reduction, not in the way many us american liberals say it is. I think voting is a tool, one of many, that can be effective in choosing your opponents. I think kamala will be an easier opponent to fight than trump. this is what organizers are saying, this is what activists are saying, this is what I personally believe based on my understanding of trump and republicans in general.

no, that does not mean it will be easy. I think kamala will become a war criminal like any us president will be. I think her record is mixed. I know I will fight her on day one, and I will also have to fight the liberal vote blue maga types because they refuse to give a fuck about anyone other than themselves.

I don't think there's a single candidate who I would be happy to vote for. even cornell west would become a war criminal. that is what will be the case until the united states is dismantled.

now, here's where I'm sorry to tell you that my vote for president does not matter. I have explained this many times. I live in delaware, and delaware has THREE electoral votes. there is not a way in which my vote will make or break a presidential election. when I lived in chester country, pa, I lived in a swing district. I voted for hillary in 2016 because my vote mattered a LOT more then. it is what it is.

I would probably recommend people living in swing districts to vote for the dems, but I'm never going to speak down to voters, and I'm never going to do that bullshit because it doesn't work. the only good argument I have ever heard is that we should vote for the candidate we think we could most easily beat through organizing. everything else is noise and ineffective when it comes to reaching those of us who are so angry we want to stick it to the dems.

if you think any of that is pushing kamala... idk man it's not that simple. it's the dems fault we are in this position. I see any nominee that isn't joe biden as a victory against genocide joe, even if we haven't won the fight. but this is a big step in pushing the party to represent the views of most of its base better. as far as I know, kamala doesn't hallucinate about golda meir lol she's too busy being copmala

anyway voting is a tool not the end of civic responsibility. focus on mutual aid, on community and esp LABOR organizing, on helping the people around you and building networks of support because no matter what we will only need more of that in the days and years to come.