22 Comments

Stop with the end of democracy pitch. Everybody can see he lacks the discipline to overturn the system. By all means mock him. It will get under his skin and it works (think back to FDR's use of Fala to shame Republicans). Talk to Bill Clinton, not Obama, about how to do retail Democratic politics. Take advantage of a Sister Soljah moment if one presents itself. Discover you're a rust belt centrist, not a coastal progressive, and talk like one. Smile, but don't giggle.

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From your lips to her ears. Can you please make that happen?

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I heard the following from a Bush political advisor, Ken Mehlman, on Mark Halperin’s 2way platform this morning:

Mehlman said Trump’s theory of the case (for his return to the White House) was this:

“the country wants someone who is a strong fighter”.

He continued:

“When Biden was elected in 2020, his theory of the case was that people wanted a return to normalcy”.

That theory doesn’t quite work for Kamala Harris right now.

Here’s a question for Joe and others:

What should Harris’s theory of the case be?

Something like …

“I am the anti-Trump and I will save American democracy from the gravest threat it has ever known?”

… I have no idea, just throwing things at the wall here.

But I do think one message Harris needs to continuously deliver until November 5 is this:

Trump is not strong.

Trump is weak.

He’s afraid to debate.

He’s afraid to do a joint townhall.

He’s afraid of jail.

He’s afraid of women.

He’s afraid of truth.

He was afraid of Viet Nam.

…there are many other lines one could add.

He’s a bully and a blow hard

and his projected image of strength will diminish

once she assumes a place in his mind

as a fierce and inevitable prosecutor.

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Having lived across the Bay from here, when she was the District Attorney for San Francisco, her time there was less than thrilling. Her promises of cleaning up Hunters Point, stopped dead, when it came to having to deal with important people or businesses in San Francisco. Her initial run for Attorney General of California, had her winning, against a Republican, by less than a percentage point. Tulsi Gabbard kicked her out of the Democrat Primary before Iowa.

I do realized this is seemingly the Democrats only hope to avoid Trump. Given that, much can be over looked and forgiven, at least by Democrats and their supporters. The question is, will the public at large do so as well?

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I'd argue that running to Biden's left on Gaza would be suicide. The right and center-right in this country already think he's a squish on this issue, which may be true, initial moves last October notwithstanding. How about pulling the plug on his student loan forgiveness, loudly and publicly? That'll get some attention!

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author

Disagree on Gaza--she should make sure Bibi knows he can't push her around. But your student loan idea is genius!

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Well said Joe. I’m excited!

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Now is the time for all good men -and women- to come to the aid of the party. We have the opportunity to assemble the greatest campaign team this nation has ever seen -Schmidt, Trippi, Longwell, Axelrod, Plouffe, maybe Jen Psaki- all of whom would -I think- be willing to set aside their own egos to wipe the floor with this cretin. Kamala has the opportunity to demonstrate the ability to lead by drawing from the wide array of people who recognize the threat Trump poses to American civility and well being. The coalition may be a little too wide for comfort, but the US has shown it can come together to defeat any and all external threats ; now we need to align to combat an internal one.

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Reasonable people could disagree about the details of what you say, but not their gist. So why doesn't it happen?

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#13 "It's the economy stupid" 2.0 building on Biden's pro worker record.

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WOW! Terrific advice. I doubt that she will implement any of your suggestions and I hope that she will win anyway. 🤞

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Why not put more emphasis on Trump's past blunders.....casinos, Trump "University", unpaid contractors. There seems to be so much in his background that is seedy and shameful.

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Excellent! And I would add one more. Do not settle for being declared the party's leader. Lead.

And watch your flank. You are the proper, even historic, Democratic candidate. But the current love feast can still turn ugly if some party elders find reason to panic. They all knew the Biden of today many months ago, and stayed committed, hoping he would not be exposed. Post-debate, they suicidally took to cable and print to tell their fellow party members, in effect, there is no purpose going to the polls if the president is the candidate. Even as they unite behind you, the Democratic party remains of the 22-1/4 century vile political breed, willing to demean and humiliate publicly to get its way. You are about to become the reigning party leader. Stand up to them before it can happen.

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Great, Joe

I hope she heeds your good advice

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jay

# 9 was the best idea. Trump's Achilles heel is his vanity, which as you noted was on full display in his acceptance speech.

However, the rest of your essay was for the choir only. Scum? Deplorables, anyone? Calling out 50% of the electorate, which you did almost reflexively, is not the way to go. (Ie, every non- Harris voter who hears what you said knows what you mean.

I know these scum personally. Many are my family. I tell them, Never Trump, and they haven't disowned me yet.

This scum fights your wars, pays your taxes, gives to these greedy charities that advertise more than the Geiko lizard, etc.

As a nonbinary voter, and a person with more empathy than he needs, I fully understand the euphoria ("I'm excited" is the new instant media talking point for Democrats who are really mistaking relief for excitement, like mistaking a baby's smile as happiness and not gas.) You should be relieved. I also know Foxspeak well enough to see through their nervous laughter over Kamala's nervous laughter. Harris ought to be able to narrows the gap in the Blue Wall states. What Democrats are working against is an unknown, which cannot be accounted for in either polls or informed guesses: how strong is the independent support for Trump indicated by most of the swing state polls? A Gavin Newsome might budge the new Trump independents out of their apathy. (I say apathy, because I know as an independent that, like Libras, independent voters are apathetic before and after they squeeze out their constipated loaf of an opinion. Once they laboriously decide, they stick with their opinions.) Can Harris' team do that? I say, since Democrats obviously play no more fairly than Republicans, they will do whatever it takes to make her seem more like Joan of Arc than Laura Lighthouse. It also seems obvious to me that a Spielberg-directed Kamala Harris story could be a big winner. And surely, the big donors, none of which had yet pulled out (Abigail Disney was not a big deal; she gave $5000 to Biden in 2020,) have got to prefer a Harris narrative to a Dead Man Walking screen scenario.

Summation - it ain't over til it's over. I doubt if any Republicans read this, but if they do, just remember the Red Wave of 2022.

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author

You misrepresent me. My scum remark was limited to two people--Donald Trump, whom I've known for 40 years and is one of the worst humans I've ever met, and J.D. Vance, who has behaved disgracefully in pursuit of his ambition. If you look back into the Sanity Clause archives you will find that I have spent extensive time talking to Americans across the country. I respect their views, their religion and their anger at the woke academic elites. I think the failure and conceits of the Democrats have helped create our current political situation. I too have beloved members of my family who are Trumpers, which makes me very sad--because the man is a traitor who tried to overthrow the U.S. government.

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When Kelin calls anyone 'scum', I get off the train. The underlying partisanship is just a bit too much,

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