Will You People Shut Up Already About Kamala Harris On The Supreme Court?
Damn!
While driving home the other day, my wife and I listened to Pod Save America with former Obama aides Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer, and Tommy Vietor. Well, we didn’t listen for long. Once they started joking about Vice President Kamala Harris “helping” President Joe Biden with his Supreme Court pick the way Dick Cheney helped find George W. Bush’s vice president, my wife switched over to Rick Steves. It’s a cheap shot at Harris that’s unrooted in reality.
Fellow podcaster Ted Cruz made a similar dumb argument on his show, Verdict. He suggested that Biden might send Harris to the Supreme Court like it’s a farm upstate.
CRUZ: I think there is a chance they name Kamala to the court, in part because they can’t stand her. And one of the virtues of naming her to the court is they get to get her out of the White House.
This is an absurd statement even for Ted Cruz. Someone whose political experience begins and ends with “West Wing" reruns knows that a president can easily marginalize and isolate the vice president. I recall my high school English teacher Mr. Russell dismissing George H.W. Bush in 1988 as a guy who’d “just gone to funerals.” It’s obvious that Biden trusts Harris because he keeps her front and center.
REMEMBER? Biden Names Kamala Harris President Of Immigration
Cruz claimed that a Harris nomination would only receive a party-line vote, which means that Harris would have to break the tie on her own confirmation. He really didn’t think this through.
CRUZ: My guess is if Kamala was nominated, it probably would be a 50-50 vote. Maybe she’d pick up a Republican vote. I would not be on the fence. I would be a hell no on Kamala if she were nominated.
Kamala Harris is the vice president of the United States. He should refer to her that way. It’s not like they’re friends, because Ted Cruz has no friends.
You’ll notice how this “Harris for the Supreme Court” narrative hits the vice president from the left and the right. She’s either a calculating opportunist or a loser the White House wants to ditch.
Politico further pursued this non-story with an article titled, "Harris-to-Supreme-Court Chatter Opens Window Into Dems’ Deepest Fears.” Democrats are worried about showing up at work naked, and it’s all Harris’s fault.
William Owen, a Democratic National Committee member from Tennessee, reportedly texted party chair Jaime Harrison with the idea, and I can imagine Harrison shaking his head and thinking, “Does this fool think there’s only one Black woman who’s qualified for shit?”
(White) folks who are into this idea claim it’s a compliment. Harris was a great prosecutor who really laid into Brett Kavanaugh and Bill Barr during Senate hearings. However, she’s already vice president. She might even want to be president someday, and that’s why these unnamed (white) people are concerned.
But most of them expressed a different consideration, reflecting the intense skepticism within some parts of the party about Harris’ ability to win a presidential race if Biden does not run for reelection — and a desire to open the field to other possible successors to a 79-year-old president.
Forgive my cynicism but it seems like the people pushing to get rid of Harris are the ones who might benefit from that “open field” if she’s on the Supreme Court. There’s not yet a proven path to the Democratic nomination without the support of Black women, and my sisters aren’t bailing on the first Black woman president.
REMEMBER? Politico Now Wondering If Kamala Harris Is *Too* Likable To Be President
Steve Maviglio, a former New Hampshire state lawmaker and California Democratic strategist, is all for Harris on the Supreme Court. He considers it a “win win."
“She checks a lot of the boxes: A woman of color, a liberal, being smart on a lot of issues, having experience,” he said. “The other part is that she’s not horribly popular as vice president, like it or not.”
Harris is smart in general — not just "on a lot of issues,” which is what you say about someone who still lives with their parents. She’s also just as popular among Democrats as Biden. A recent CBS poll had her with more than 80 percent job approval within the party. But Politico pushes the narrative that Harris is as popular as the most recent Woody Allen film.
Yet for all of her appeal, there is an undercurrent of discussion within the party that she is a political liability — an opinion founded in her low approval ratings nationally, questions about her performance as vice president and, most significantly, the implosion of her 2020 presidential campaign — a campaign that unraveled so abruptly and precipitously that it tarnished her reputation as one of the party’s brightest stars.
Biden has low approval ratings nationally. Show us a Democrat right now who doesn’t! Harris isn’t the problem. More Democrats ran for president in 2019 than there were Dalmatians in 101 Dalmatians. No one claims that Steve Bullock’s reputation is tarnished. He’s even telling Democrats how to win elections, which he hasn’t done recently. The 2020 presidential campaign didn’t end that poorly for Harris considering she still wound up on the ticket. And Biden lost the nomination twice before serving as Obama’s VP and gaining rock-solid Black voter support.
Certain Democrats are afraid all right. They’re afraid Harris will curb stomp all comers in a Democratic primary. This puts their own ambitions on hold for at least eight years, possibly 12 if Biden takes his vitamins. Sorry, but Harris isn’t going anywhere.
[Politico]
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Biden Loses 2024 Election To Imaginary Faceless Republican, Beats All The Ones With Faces
There's a lesson in here.
Politico/Morning Consult is out with one of those so-called "polls" they do, to find out what Americans so-called "think" about "things." As we all know, the Beltway media is all doom and gloom about the Democrats' prospects from here until the end of time, but this poll is here to tell us it might not be all that bad.
If the 2024 election were held today — and to be clear, it is not being held today — Joe Biden would lose, were he matched up with an imaginary, nameless, faceless, headless Republican. Indeed, he'd lose by nine points (46 to 37) to Imaginary Headless Faceless Republican! The trouble comes in for Republicans when they have names and faces and personalities and voices and heads. Then everybody hates them, or at least likes them much less.
According to the graphic below from Politico, Biden edges Donald Trump by one mere point, with more votes up for grabs, which is clearly within the margin of error. (For an election that's over two years away.) Yep, 44 percent of respondents are still stickin' with the ringleader of the 1/6 terrorists!
But put Biden up against other recognizable Republicans? Ted Cruz? Biden wins by six points. Hell, Biden could probably win Ted's vote if he'd just insult Ted's wife.
Against Mike Pence? Biden by two. Ron DeSantis? Biden by five.
Room for improvement? Certainly. But not a failed Biden presidency, like the Beltway media seems to be insisting to us on a daily basis.
Politico Playbook notes another little factoid you'll find if you dig deeper, and it is that only 49 percent of Republicans want Trump as their first choice in the 2024 primary. They might be stupid enough to cling to the Big Lie that Trump won, but that doesn't mean they want to watch that man waddle around and whine for four more years. Playbook puts it in perspective, pointing out that Trump is at the front of the pack, but there are others in the mix there, like DeSantis and Pence. Hell, if you take Trump all the way out of the mix, 24 percent of GOP voters become Diaper Don supporters.
So what does this teach us, class? That's right, it teaches us that no matter what slate of options Republicans have in front of them, they'll usually figure out a way to choose a physically repulsive bigoted white guy.
On the midterms front, the generic congressional ballot is tied at 42 percent each for Democrats and Republicans, so don't listen to hacks who demand the right to tell you Congress is lost forever. Indeed, the parties' congressional favorability and unfavorability ratings are almost identical. It's probably anybody's game at this point.
We don't know why they asked this, but the favorability rating for the Senate's Dumbest Republican Ron Johnson is just 12 percent. He's up for re-election in November. That's one equation we should be able to solve.
And finally, shockingly, Americans YOOGELY approve of the Biden administration's plans for getting them at-home COVID tests (72 percent) and N95 masks (68 percent). The lesson here is either that Americans like it when government does good things that help them, or they just like free shit and would say the same if the Biden administration was handing out certificates for a free Frosty at Wendy's, which come to think of it, couldn't hurt us in the midterms and the 2024 election.
In summary and in conclusion, vote for Joe Biden and get a free Frosty.*
You know, unless Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema fuck that up too.**
*Perhaps, and only if they take Wonkette's sage advice.
**Sorry about your Frosty :(
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SHOCK POLL: Americans Frickin' LOVE Voting Rights. Maybe Congress Should Pass Some.
The fuck you say?
Yesterday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris gave big rousing speeches in Atlanta on the need to make voting rights happen, and Biden was more explicit than ever in his calls for the filibuster to be reformed to get it done. And the New York Times reports that it probably didn't have much effect back in DC.
But yeah, to be sure, this was some fiery shit, directed at Senate Republicans and their two BFFs, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema:
“Do you want to be on the side of Dr. King or George Wallace?” he declared, prompting some gasps from supporters in the audience. “Do you want to be on the side of John Lewis or Bull Connor? Do you want to be on the side of Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis?”
Oh, the civility! To be clear, any senator who prevents meaningful voting rights legislation from passing is going to end up roommates in hell with George Wallace one day. Top bunk or bottom bunk, Joe Manchin?
What's wild is that, according to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll out today, summarized in this morning's Playbook, support for voting rights is actually really broad, including even among Republican voters.
First of all, have you been hearing all of a sudden about Electoral Count Act reform? It's this kind of arcane thing some Republicans and moderate Democrats suddenly are all glomming onto. In a vacuum, as a general concept, it's great, as it would make extra clear that the vice president isn't allowed to simply ignore the slates of electors states submit. Fifty-five percent of voters support ECA reform, and that includes 68 percent of Democrats.
But it ain't the whole enchilada. Obviously.
What the poll shows is that a lot of the parts of the Democrats' Freedom to Vote Act that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is trying to force action on also have huge support. Playbook summarizes:
— Expanding access to early voting: 65% support, 23% oppose
— Prohibiting partisan gerrymandering: 64% support, 19% oppose
— Making it illegal to prevent someone from registering to vote: 62% support, 24% oppose
— Making Election Day a federal holiday: 61% support, 26% oppose
— Expanding same-day voter registration: 56% support, 30% oppose
— Expanding access to voting by mail: 55% support, 35% oppose
— Allowing Americans with prior criminal convictions to vote: 54% support, 32% oppose
— Expanding automatic voter registration: 51% support, 33% oppose
A lot of those things have major Republican support, clearly. They shouldn't be difficult for Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema to get their obstinate heads around.
But alas, there's the ancient and unchangeable tradition of the filibuster, which was designed by God in the year one million BC, in order to prevent Democrats from ever passing any legislation that might make a coal baron's asshole itch. No law should ever be allowed to pass, even if a nuclear bomb was riding a comet to earth and you were just trying to pass a bill to stop it, unless a magical number of 60 senators support it, right? Right? That's what Americans and God and Jesus think?
Not so much, according to this poll. Turns out 40 percent of Americans think bills should be able to pass with 51 votes, 41 percent think it should take 60, and 19 percent are like "Filibuster? But I just met her!" because they didn't understand the question. In other words, if Joe Biden murdered the filibuster in the middle of Fifth Avenue today, many Americans would be happy, but a bunch would just be like "HEENGGGGGH?"
The point is, as we have explained a number of times, that if Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema really think there is some giant majority out there in the American public that really cares about preserving things like the filibuster — which, factcheck, was not actually designed by God one million years ago, but rather came into its use in its current form pretty recently — then they are Dummy McWrongstupid idiots.
Americans also don't jerk themselves off into a lather about bipartisanship the way Manchin and Sinema think they do. We searched "bipartisanship" on PornHub (journalism!) and got no results. Not even weird amateur stuff.
Americans DO like getting things done, however. In fact, we'd imagine the general malaise that comes through in the rest of this poll, and the low approval ratings for Joe Biden and so forth, are directly related to a perception that not fuckin' shit is getting done. And you know what? We are a professional political writer and we find it hard to disagree.
Get. This. Shit. Done. There is no downside. Just fucking do it.
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Despite Joe Manchin’s Best Efforts, Democrats Building Polling Numbers Back Better
Promising polling start to a critical year.
A USA Today/Suffolk University poll had some relatively good news for Democrats last week: They’re now slightly ahead of Republicans in the generic congressional ballot. Voters say they prefer unnamed Democratic candidates over Republicans who shall not be named 39 percent to 37 percent in this year’s midterm elections. Republicans had an eight-point advantage in the same poll in November, when very important pundits suggested Democrats not just panic over these numbers but “go into shock.”
However, running around like Dr. Smith from "Lost in Space" shouting “We’re doomed!” isn’t productive, and politics is obviously fluid. Although the odds are against Democrats, they haven’t lost until voters actually cast ballots, i.e. the part of the process Republicans don’t like very much. There’s a consensus among Democrats that Republicans shouldn’t win this year, but there’s some debate over the most effective messaging for a pandemic-weary electorate.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama declared, “We’ve got to vote like the future of our democracy depends on it.” The problem is that MAGAs are similarly motivated in a twisted way. Fortunately, Obama has more than just empty rhetoric. Her group, When We All Vote, plans to "recruit and train at least 100,000 volunteers" and "register more than a million new voters.”
Former first lady Michelle Obama has a message for Americans ahead of the 2022 midterm elections: "We've got to vote like the future of our democracy depends on it."https://cnn.it/3Fc2kLM— CNN (@CNN) 1641754811
We're going to need all of these new, left-leaning voters because we can’t trust once and future Republicans to come through for democracy. The non-democratic alternatives are just too tempting.
USA Today interviewed Mary Ann Chaffin, an 86-year-old retired small-business owner from Aurora, Colorado. She considers the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol "disgusting" and "very disheartening.” (We'd note that it was an insurrection, not the Mrs. Doubtfire musical.) She’s very concerned that democracy is in “peril” and she wishes “more brave Republicans,” other than the two, would stand up to Donald Trump and his Big Lie.
But she’s still not sold on Democrats and won’t commit to voting for them in the midterms. Her state sent Lauren Boebert to Congress, so she kind of owes us.
"It disturbs me what's happening to the Republican Party, and it disturbs me what's happening to the Democratic Party as we lean more and more towards socialism," Chaffin said.
This is, of course, false equivalency. The Republican Party has openly become an anti-democratic authoritarian cult of personality. Meanwhile, Democrats pass bipartisan infrastructure bills and believe we should address the climate crisis. The United States isn’t moving toward socialism. It’s becoming more of a corporate-owned plutocracy.
Chaffin "thanks God” for Senator Joe Manchin, because he's blocked Build Back Better. Maybe she is against the tyranny of the child tax credit.
That’s the conundrum for Democrats. Self-described independents like Chaffin claim they give a damn about democracy, but then they all too often won't do anything about it at the ballot box. Moderate Democrats worry that advancing an ambitious social spending agenda will alienate these “pro-democracy” voters, but Democrats can give them everything they want (e.g. the bipartisan infrastructure bill) and many of them will still cast ballots for frauds like Glenn Youngkin.
According to Matt Grossman, who heads the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University, it’s doubtful that appeals to “democracy" will move the needle much.
"There's not much evidence that making democracy itself the issue is effective for winning votes when other issues are more important to voters," said [Grossman].
Overall, (Democrats) understand that this is not a top-tier concern for most swing voters," he said, predicting "it is generally not going to be the message to run in ads."
Voters' biggest concern is the economy, and it’s why Republicans are blaming President Joe Biden for inflation, supply chain issues, and the pandemic they’ve personally helped prolong. “Elections" didn’t crack one percent. Joe Manchin's and Kyrsten Sinema’s internal sabotage has prevented Democrats from delivering big for Americans. Voters like Ms. Chaffin might think reducing child poverty, expanding Medicare, and offering universal pre-K is all just “socialism” but all too often, voters like that were never voting for Democrats anyway.
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