11 Comments

You need to take the advice the smartest politician I ever worked for - Willie Brown - to heart Joe: "Forget the damn polls. Run like you're ten points down till the real polls close and then celebrte." If we had to listen to people like you in 1942, we'd have lost the Battles of Midway and Guadalcanal.

Expand full comment

Joe: I’m sure you know far more about what the real situation is with the election than I do so your very discouraging word today just pretty much ruined my day. I’m trying to be philosophical about the prospect of Trump winning. Civilizations come and civilizations go. But, I never thought I’d see it here in the good old USA in my lifetime. If Trump wins, we’re done as a country and we’ll thoroughly deserve it.

Expand full comment

No matter who wins, we won't be done as a country. It will take a lot more than a second Trump term to break America.

Expand full comment

Here’s hoping the ground game trumps the punditocracy

Expand full comment

Nothing will change the MAGA cult’s worship of their golden/orange god. It’s a religion. Harris is a politician with experience, a human, a woman. The tough guy approach wouldn’t work Why should she apologize? She isn’t perfect but she is better than the alternative. I prefer mommy parties to dad parties. If she looses blame the people who are voting , shockingly, for the destruction of democracy. And don’t forget Fox News.

Expand full comment

Joe, many thanks for sharing the work of Teixiera and Levin. It looks very interesting. I'd also like to recommend Mark Halperin's Morning Meeting if you aren't already familiar with it. It's an excellent resource for maintaining sanity during these agonizing times.

Expand full comment

I’m feeling pessimistic too, but the thought of 2022 keeps nagging at me. Not just a red wave, but a red tsunami, seemed inevitable. Many of the same pundits who are now proclaiming Trump’s inevitability were certain it would happen. And it didn’t. Maybe, just maybe, the same dynamics are in play now. Since Dobbs, Democrats have over performed their polls in every election, even special elections in deep red districts. So maybe there is hope.

Expand full comment

When all is adrift, with no direction for, if one wants to win, the best way is to make waves. Yes, they might drown one, but if taken at the right moment, they may also carry one to victory. Playing it safe will only lose the race.

Expand full comment

Kamala needs more free media - make some proposals, seize some headlines. Like the suggestion that John Della Volpe made in the NYT - national service. Or, "we're the strongest economy in the world". Or, "I am going to make sure we build a million units of housing in the next 4 years". Something big, something outrageous, something that sounds both leader-like and unexpected/norm busting.

Expand full comment

Yes, spontaneity is part of his appeal. To that I’d add another take: Trump is the Exorcist of Shame.

Here’s a short essay I wrote about this: https://tinyurl.com/4un5z7rp

Expand full comment