The pretense of the Democrats’ 2020 and 2024 campaigns
In 2020, the Democrats’ pretense was that Joe Biden was healthy and sharp, and that he was a nice-guy moderate.
In 2024, the Democrats’ pretense is that Kamala Harris hasn’t been part of the Biden administration, and that she’s a nice-gal moderate.
And the MSM plays right along. The MSM is probably the most important part of the charade.
There a certain element of symmetry between Biden in 2020 and Harris in 2024. Each one was not doing well with the populace but then somehow was selected to be the nominee anyway. In 2020, Joe was doing poorly and then in early March he was endorsed by Clyburn, and most of the others mysteriously and precipitously dropped out. This happened because the party powers-that-be (Obama and company?) were worried that Sanders would be the Democrats’ nominee and was unelectable in the general. With the narrowing of the field, all the non-Sanders votes were consolidated behind Biden and Sanders only lasted another month before he dropped out as well.
In 2024, it was Joe Biden who stood in a similar spot to Bernie Sanders, although Biden was the incumbent. Biden had become the person headed for the nomination but whom the Democrat powers-that-be feared was inelectable in the general. The reason was different with Biden than it had been with Sanders. It wasn’t because Biden was perceived as an old-fashioned leftist, although he certainly was old. It was because he was clearly losing many of his marbles, and the public had noticed. So he was pressured by a host of Democrat bigwigs to drop out of the race. We’re not sure of all the details of how it was accomplished, but the best guess is that it was through threatening to remove him with the 25th Amendment if he didn’t back out “voluntarily.” And then Kamala was chosen to replace him. They could have had an open convention, but that would have been too risky. Kamala was no more popular than Joe had been in 2020, and in some ways she was a harder sell as a “moderate,” but they’re trying. My theory is that she was chosen because she couldn’t be jettisoned without offending too many of the Democrat base, in particular black voters and female voters. So here we are.
Earlier, the same group of Democrats had made sure that RFK Jr. could not be the nominee, fearful that he was gaining on Biden. RFK Jr. was likewise perceived as being unelectable in the general, with the added drawback of not being easily controlled by the party. Both Biden and Harris, on the other hand, were seen by the party as very tractable and likely to toe the party line.
In the meantime, Democrats keep telling us that they’re defending our sacred “democracy.” However, they might just as well have gone back to the smoke-filled rooms of the past, because that’s what all of this has been. In 2020 they managed, by hook or crook, to drag Joe across the finish line. Will they manage to do the same for Kamala in 2024? I fervently hope not.
My son recently was assigned Fahrenheit 451 for school. There’s a passage in there, which is sort of an aside, but seems to describe accurately where we’ll be by 2028, if not already:
Fake Republican candidates have already been fielded in small and obscure contests, for example Fred Tuttle, in 1998, secured the Republican nomination for Senate in Vermont and immediately endorsed his opponent, one Patrick Leahy of whom we may have heard…
We’re gonna go from “cheating? How dare you accuse us of cheating?!” to “yeah, we cheated. So what? Whatta you gonna do about it? Write a strongly worded letter?”
We are supposed to deny the evidence of Harris’s radical positions from her 2019 campaign and from her tenure in the Senate. Meanwhile, her campaign is still claiming it is negotiating debate conditions with ABC, less than a week before the event is scheduled. she would probably prefer not to do a debate, since she won’t look good with unscripted questions.
Also, the DOJ is charging some Russian nationals with 2024 election interference. This news comes immediately after the revelation of yet another Chinese Communist spy close to an important Democrat (the NY Governor). The media have also failed to discuss or to investigate Walz’s thirty trips to China as to who financed them and whether he properly reported them to the National Guard as he was required to do.
This is what democracy looks like!
Trump and Vance, on the other hand, are constantly meeting average people and conducting interviews and town halls.
There are actually people who consider Kamala Harris to be a serious candidate; or at least they tout her as such for various reasons.
Words fail me.
Despair nags at me.
If Waltz was a Sergeant Major in an Artillery Battalion, then I would think he should have had at least a Secret level security clearance. Those guys sit in on Battalion Staff meetings all the time.
So yes, the China visits if true, ought to be looked in to.
The Nate Silver polls show too close to call. Kamala +2
Kate
Trump’s ‘media and reality television experience’ should give Harris pause in debating him – am still surprised she accepted any debate.
Has anyone seen video of Harris handling a prosecution in Court? That should make her a better debater than Biden, but she sure hasn’t shown the ability to talk in front of an audience since I’ve been watching her (didn’t see her convention speech tho, and I don’t trust either side on how they rated her).
University of Michigan news has an interesting article – Stakes high in what could be the only presidential debate between Harris, Trump – some snippets:
• ..dispute between the campaigns about a muted mic – ans: President Biden pushed for muted mic which ended up greatly benefiting Trump, whose media and reality television experience prepared him well for debates hosted by various networks.
The subsequent muting of microphones in future debates forced Trump to be more subdued and disciplined when not speaking. The Harris campaign would prefer that Americans are subjected to all of Trump’s comments during the exchanges.
Had thought the muted mics was settled, but apparently Harris is still pushing for unmuted mics. She’s acts desperate…looking for an excuse to bow out (?).
Has anyone else noticed what is going on when Vance (or any other Republican) is a guest on the Sunday morning shows? The moderators are actually arguing with their guest. It used to be that the moderator would perhaps say something like “do you have a source for that” or “your opponent might say otherwise,” but I actually saw Kristen Welker arguing with Vance, in much the same way Jonathon Karl swung back at Tom Cotton when he guested on his show. Could you ever imagine David Brinkley doing that on This Week? Sam Donaldson maybe, but not Brinkley.
First Harris claimed Trump was trying to weasel out of the debate which had been scheduled and agreed to with Biden. Trump, instead, agreed to the existing arrangement, after a few days. Now Harris is trying to get out of it by nit-picking about the microphones. She knows, or her staff know, that she will not appear to advantage in an unscripted debate with no prepared remarks.
The Harris campaign has finally given up and accepted the debate rules.
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2024/09/04/harris-finally-surrenders-on-the-debate-rules-and-her-crying-is-hilarious-n2178927
People are projecting all sorts of virtues on Kamala, very similar to how that was done with Obummer, and has been done with various gurus. I saw that with my own eyes as a participant in several ashrams. Mostly women are doing this but some men as well.
E.g, a picture of her joyful self with the words: decent, wise, reflective, compassionate, educated, unifying, and entirely sane.
Excuse me while I vomit.
The world has truly been turned upside down and 2+2=5.
Kate: She had no choice as to try to get out of it or even try to bend the rules at this juncture would be a very bad look.
@Karmi:Has anyone seen video of Harris handling a prosecution in Court?
If she ever personally handled a prosecution as opposed to managing a team of prosecutors, that would have been something like 3 years experience, 30 years ago.
That should make her a better debater than Biden
Court has little in common with debate.
@Niketas Choniates
Point was – that prosecuting a case in live court requires some speech stability that doesn’t include cackling and/or word-salad gibberish. Say it’s a murder case where the prosecutor is ‘Debating‘ the defense over sending their client to a death sentence.
Had just wondered if anyone had seen video of Harris handling such a case in live court. Perhaps I needed to make that clearer…
UPDATE: found where she “gained a national profile for her pointed questioning of Trump administration officials during Senate hearings, including Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh” – so will look for video of those exchanges…
Duh.
The acked this in the courts in 2017
Court Concedes DNC Had the Right to Rig Primaries Against Sanders
https://observer.com/2017/08/court-admits-dnc-and-debbie-wasserman-schulz-rigged-primaries-against-sanders/
and
and
The court then said that this wasn’t true, but… somehow managed to pretty much accept that claim as valid in terms of the actual ruling.
In summary — according to the Democratic party, they can put forth any candidate they choose, they are not held to anything the primaries tell them they must do.
The “Democratic” Party is not required, legally or ethically, in their opinion to be democratic in the least.
This is what they asserted in the court
POWER.
That is all the PostModern Left exists for. To the rest of y’all: “Suckahssssss!!”
}}} We’re gonna go from “cheating? How dare you accuse us of cheating?!” to “yeah, we cheated. So what? Whatta you gonna do about it? Write a strongly worded letter?”
Uhhhh, Sgt. Mom, pretty sure that’s what this WAS:
The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election
https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/
If it wasn’t, what was it? 🙁
Sure, it wasn’t completely overt, but it was damned sure a pretty obvious
NYEAH!! NYEAH!!
@Kate & Niketas Choniates
Ref my September 4, 2024 at 4:54 pm comment earlier…
I couldn’t find any video of Harris during her years as a ‘deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California’ (Oakland area??) from 1990 to around 1994 (?) or Feb of 1998 – so went with the videos of her harsh exchanges with Brett Kavanaugh.
Yeah, I don’t know where this cackling and word-salad gibberish comes from, but she can clearly handle herself in an argumentative situation. I can see why she wants a ‘hot mic’ debate with Trump.
I suspect she will do better than the right is expecting…if she and Trump both show up.
Tulsi Gabbard made mincemeat of ‘er.
@ Barry Meislin – yeah, and good point.
However, I sorta ignored that debate since Tulsi Gabbard has said not to ignore Kamala Harris abilities to debate. Didn’t see it, and thought it may have been one of those 4-5 candidates all debating at once, but ain’t sure about that.
Point is, no one has said that Harris was cackling and tossing her word-salad gibberish around during that debate—just that Tulsi destroyed her.
Also, Harris doesn’t need to clearly win against Trump – she only needs to hold her on, sorta like she did in the interrogations of Brett Kavanaugh. She “gained a national” profile/attention during that, even tho she didn’t appear to be in total control—in the few videos of exchanges that I watched. She held her own, but did not destroy Kavanaugh, and “gained a national profile” as I read it.
If the right is expecting the same performance from Harris as she had with Tulsi, then they will probably be disappointed once again. From what I have found, she may well hold her own against Trump…if both show up.
The mic will be off when it’s not her turn to speak, so she won’t be able to do the badgering she did in the Kavanaugh hearing.
Now that I think about it, maybe that’s what she and Biden had in common. They were both nauseatingly, and falsely, vicious in Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
For Marisa and Oldflyer. Eric Weinstein says “Kamala Harris Speaks Marxist (phrases learned from her Marxist economist dad)”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLbo5ZQggIs
I was under a similar impression. Kamala really is a Marxist from her youth. She can’t help it.
Weinstein adds that he’s surmised that Kamala’s cackles and ridiculous presentation are all calculated, hiding an above average IQ. If so, don’t underestimate her destructive potentials.
Why does any sentient carbon based life form think that the demonkrats believe in any real democratic process.
They believe in any process or strategy that will allow them to attain and keep power.
Why is this so hard to understand??
They don’t even bother with the charade of appointing “super delegates.”
It is time to start naming names, showing pictures, and quoting quotes of the people “really” running this country, those on the inside circles of both the corporate world as well as the Democratic party.
Weinstein is being a mite too kind…
– – – – – – – – – – –
Meanwhile, the Democrats throw another tantrum!
(Of course they do: they haven’t gotten their destructive, vindictive way!!)
“Judge Cannon’s ‘Parallel Legal Universe’ — and Ours;
“A liberal group wants Judge Cannon off the case even before the 11th Circuit rules on whether she was correct on the merits.”—
https://www.nysun.com/article/judge-cannons-parallel-legal-universe-and-ours
Well they are legion in the corporate sphere you would include larry fink and his archipelago the major media outlets government agencies