There were two major events in the presidential race this week, but we are left wondering if either one of them is going to make much of a difference one way or the other. Perhaps we're getting a bit jaded by it all....

The first was the one-and-only vice-presidential debate, held on CBS this Tuesday. Republican JD Vance faced off with Democrat Tim Walz, and it was watched by 43 million people as it aired. The second was the public release of a document prosecutor Jack Smith had previously filed with the court in Donald Trump's January 6th case. It laid out Smith's basic case, in great detail (165 pages' worth).

In a normal campaign season, either one of these would have been impactful, perhaps shifting the polling in significant ways. But in our hunkered-down tribalistic politics, the needle barely quivered. Maybe we're all getting a bit jaded?

There were two other rather large events that could affect politics this week: the massive damage Hurricane Helene did -- especially in the Appalachian Mountain region -- and an East Coast dockworkers' strike. The first shouldn't really have been political, and the second was over almost before anyone was aware it was happening.

The dockworkers' strike was notable for how President Joe Biden stood firmly with the Unions (once again) and pretty much forced management to largely accede to Union demands. This could have been a gigantic political headache if it had gone on longer than it did, as the news would have been filled with stories of people panic-buying toilet paper and having holiday seasons from Hallowe'en to Christmas disrupted because of empty shelves. The two stories even threatened to overlap, as some began wondering if the supply-chain halt at the ports was going to affect hurricane recovery efforts. But thankfully, the workers secured a whopping 62 percent raise and postponed any further strike actions until next year. The crisis was averted, and the White House deserves a lot of credit for both standing with the workers and resolving the issue quickly enough that it didn't become a major problem.

The hurricane was a lot more devastating, of course. As of this writing, the death toll stands at over 200, and mountain towns in places like Georgia and North Carolina are still largely cut off from the rest of the world. Recovery efforts continue, and things seem to be going pretty smoothly -- if you listen to accurate reports in the news media, that is. If you listen to the wild-eyed conspiracy theorists that now make up the Republican Party, however, then you'd be thinking any number of crazy things right now.

Taking the prize (once again) for "craziest of the crazy" was Marjorie "Space Lasers" Taylor Greene, who tweeted out: "Yes, they can control the weather." She did not specify who "they" was, but later tweeted out a map purportedly showing how the hurricane mysteriously only hit areas with lots of Republican voters the hardest. Now, we are old enough to remember when evangelical preachers would routinely call natural disasters "the wrath of God" when they attacked areas with lots of Democrats, so this seemed rather ironic to us, we had to say.

But M.T.G. wasn't the only one, by far. So many crazy theories are being spread that FEMA had to take the time to create a web page debunking them, and a Republican House member had to beg people to stop with all the craziness.

Of course, that didn't stop Donald Trump from weighing in with his own easily-disprovable lies. Trump, of course, is an absolute master of projection -- whatever he accuses his opponents of doing, it's a pretty safe bet that he's done the same thing already (or thought about it, at any rate). Such was the case this time as well.

First Trump accused President Joe Biden of not contacting Republican governors affected by the storm. The Republican governors in question then released public statements disproving this, saying the Biden administration was giving them everything they asked for and that Joe Biden has indeed been personally talking to them.

For good measure, Trump proved (once again) that he is absolutely clueless about everything -- even something that he could very easily ask someone knowledgeable and learn something about -- saying: "Nobody thought this would be happening, especially now. It's so late in the season for the hurricanes." We are actually smack-dab in the middle of hurricane season (which the internet had fun pointing out to him afterwards). Trump also proved his cluelessness (or perhaps "complete lack of empathy") by telling people in Georgia: "You'll be okay," which completely ignored the hundreds of deaths that had happened.

Then Trump accused Biden of something he routinely did himself while in office -- making decisions for disaster aid based on the political makeup of the people affected. Biden and the government were "going out of their way not to help people in Republican areas," Trump falsely accused. Biden has reacted by stating the truth -- that Trump is "lying" about all this crazy stuff.

Trump then moved on to his favorite subject, and made another false accusation:

The Harris-Biden administration says they don't have any money [for hurricane relief].... They spent it all on illegal migrants.... They stole the FEMA money just like they stole it from a bank, so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them.

The Washington Post provided a handy fact-check, proving that once again this was some world-class projection from Trump:

It turns out that's because [Donald Trump] did this! In 2019, the Trump administration, in the middle of hurricane season, told Congress that it was taking $271 million from DHS programs, including $155 million from the disaster fund, to pay for immigration detention space and temporary hearing locations for asylum seekers who have been forced to wait in Mexico. "The U.S. is facing a security and humanitarian crisis on the Southern border," the administration said in its notice that it was redirecting the funds.

The monthly reports issued by the FEMA disaster fund show $38 million was plucked and given to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in August that year -- just before the prime storm period of September and October.

Others -- who had directly worked for Trump in his administration -- chimed in with stories of how Trump would decide whether to deploy disaster-relief funding based on (you guessed it!) the political makeup of the areas hardest-hit:

According to E&E News, Trump had to be convinced to send federal disaster aid to California in 2018, when the state was plagued with deadly wildfires that killed more than 100.

Former Trump resiliency policy director Mark Harvey told the outlet that Trump was worried about sending aid to the deep-blue state until he pulled voter data showing that Trump had more support in Orange County, California than Iowa.

"We went as far as looking up how many votes he got in those impacted areas... to show him these are people who voted for you," Harvey told E&E. "There's no empathy for the survivors. It is all about getting your photo-op, right? Disaster theater to make him look good."

In other words, Trump just naturally assumes that everyone else (Joe Biden included) is just as much of a sociopath as he is, and would therefore react in exactly the same fashion that he did.

But let's go back to those other stories for a moment. The vice-presidential debate this week was a much more normal political debate than we've seen at least since Mike Pence and Kamala Harris debated four years ago. We wrote our extensive reactions to the debate the next day, just for the record, but suffice it to say that the entire debate seemed pretty much like a draw. Tim Walz did win the "most memorable line of the evening" award, for boxing JD Vance into a corner on the whole "Did Trump lose?" question. Vance tried to skate away with "I'm focused on the future," while Walz pointed out: "That is a damning non-answer."

But as many pointed out before the debate began, few voters decide to change their minds after watching the vice-presidential candidates face off, and this year looks to be no different. Vance told lie after lie, but neither Walz nor Vance were in "full attack-dog mode" and they instead mostly kept their sights trained on the person at the top of the respective party tickets. The snap polling afterwards indicated that both veep candidates improved their likeability ratings, but we would be seriously surprised if the overall polling in the presidential race moves much (if at all) over the next week or so.

Walz did get off one interesting line, after appearing on the debate stage wearing Taylor Swift-inspired friendship bracelets. In his closing statement, Walz pointed out the breadth of the coalition supporting Harris by summing it up as being: "From Bernie Sanders to Dick Cheney to Taylor Swift and a whole bunch of folks in between there." It was little-noticed in the commentary afterwards, but we have to say, that's a pretty good line!

As for the January 6th court filing being made public, well, it certainly fleshed out some details about how Donald Trump knew he had lost but continued to (as he put it) "fight like Hell" anyway and how he reacted to the insurrection attempt at the Capitol. And it certainly put the subject of Trump refusing to conceded his loss back in the spotlight again (which enraged Trump no end). But at this point, we doubt it'll change any Trump supporters' minds. At best, it could remind some undecided voters of the worst of Trump's tenure in office and give them a reason to vote for Harris (or, at the very least, stay home and not vote at all).

The upshot of both of these stories should really be: Donald Trump and JD Vance are still lying about Trump losing the 2020 election, and look what happened. What are they going to do if they lose this time?

Trump won't be held accountable for what he did last time until at least after the election -- all his legal delaying tactics worked to that extent. But others didn't have his unlimited legal budget. Which is why we end with justice being served to one of the most egregious offenders in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Remember Tina Peters? She was the election official in a Colorado county who, after the election was over, snuck in "a former professional surfer and purported computer expert" to the offices where the elections equipment was securely being held. She allowed him to copy the voting machines' data, which eventually wound up online and was touted by the crazy pillow-hawking guy. All of which was illegal, of course. Earlier, a jury had found her guilty on seven of the ten counts she was tried on. This week was her sentencing.

As the judge handed down a sentence of nine years in prison, he lit into her:

You are no hero, you abused your position, and you're a charlatan who used and is still using your prior position in office to peddle a snake oil that's been proven to be junk time and time again. In your world, it's all about you.

That's just a taste, mind you. He had a lot more to say as well. So if you're feeling frustrated by the fact that Donald Trump won't be facing a jury for his role in attempting to overturn the last election until after the next one happens, check out the video of the judge's courtroom remarks. It'll make you feel like at least some justice has been served in a timely manner, somewhere.

 

This award is for Democrats only, of course. But we find ourselves mightily wishing we could give it to a Republican this week.

Former Representative Liz Cheney gave a rather amazing endorsement speech this week in Ripon, Wisconsin -- the birthplace of the Republican Party. As usual, she did not mince words one tiny bit. She explained why she was wholeheartedly supporting Kamala Harris for president, and why Donald Trump should never be allowed anywhere near the White House ever again.

She was greeted by the Democratic crowd with chants of: "Thank you, Liz!"

The whole speech is worth watching, if you've got a spare 20 minutes. Cheney's a good speaker, even warming up the crowd by mentioning that she was born in Wisconsin and name-dropping Bret Starr for good measure. But it was when she once again prosecuted the case against Donald Trump that she really hit her stride.

She even got in a truly excellent snarky line, after reviewing her own long history with the Republican Party: "I was a Republican even before Donald Trump started spray-tanning."

There were some other notable endorsements for Harris this week, from Jeff Flake (the former Republican senator from Arizona) to Rudy Giuliani's daughter. But none had quite the impact of Cheney's speech, which is why it is definitely worth watching in full.

But we must choose our award recipients from Democrats, and Cheney simply doesn't qualify.

We have to hand out a Honorable Mention this week to Kate Barr, who is running for a seat in the North Carolina legislature that she knows she is going to lose. But she's running as hard as she can to make a point -- that gerrymandering is undemocratic and should be fought as hard as possible. Read the story, it is rather inspiring (even though, as we said, she's definitely going to lose her election).

But the hands-down winner of the Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week is none other than former President Jimmy Carter, who celebrated his 100th birthday this week.

Carter, of course, was a one-term president. He was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980. His presidency had many problems and crises. But the truly impressive thing about Carter is what he has done since he left the White House. From his work building homes for poor people with Habitat For Humanity, to setting up and leading the Carter Center, to teaching kids in Sunday school, Carter has set a bar for ex-presidents that will likely never be bested.

Jimmy Carter has been -- above all else -- a decent, caring human being. He lives his religious beliefs about helping others. He has set the absolute gold standard for every other president who leaves office early enough in life to still go on achieving things through good works and to continue inspiring others.

He is also the first former president to reach the exalted age of 100 years old, as well as setting the record for "the ex-president who lived the longest after leaving office." But that's just a matter of having good genes and staying healthy, so we're not handing Carter this award just for longevity.

Instead, we bestow the Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week to James Earl Carter Junior, not for merely living a long life after leaving office, but for what he did with his ex-presidency. Carter now expresses his final wish -- that he lives long enough to cast his vote for Kamala Harris next month -- and we sincerely hope he makes it. Jimmy Carter will go down in history for being the most decent and caring ex-president America has ever had.

[Congratulate former President Jimmy Carter via The Carter Center's contact page, to let him know you appreciate his efforts, and to wish him a happy birthday too!]

 

We struggled with this one, we have to admit.

Let us be clear: this is not exactly our personal choice. But we do have to admit that many Democrats were rather disappointed in the debate performance by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz this week.

Walz could have easily been a lot more aggressive in confronting JD Vance to his face. He could have called Vance on the carpet for any number of lies Vance has been telling. He could have pressed the attack with vigor and with specific details.

He didn't.

Walz instead chose to be "Minnesota nice." Except at the very end of the debate, when Walz did provide the most memorable exchange with Vance, denouncing him for still refusing to admit that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. That was indeed the most impressive part of the debate and the most impressive performance from Walz all night.

But the rest of the night, Walz let Vance get away with plenty of other lies and dodges. The moderators were no help either in combating Vance's dissembling, but then again they had warned everyone beforehand that they weren't going to be doing much fact-checking.

Walz and the Harris campaign obviously made a conscious decision to present Walz as a nice guy, which largely did work -- the entire debate was a lot more pleasant to watch than any debate with Donald Trump in it, that's for sure.

But many Democrats expressed disappointment afterwards, since Vance left himself open to any number of ways to undercut the ridiculous and downright dangerous things he's been saying on the campaign trail. And for the most part, Walz refused to effectively press the attack.

So as we said, it is with a lot of reluctance, but we have to admit that in terms of sheer numbers of Democrats disappointed this week, we must in all honesty give Tim Walz the Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week for his debate performance.

[Contact Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on his official contact page, to let him know what you think of his actions.]

 

Volume 769 (10/4/24)

It's the usual mixed bag this week, with no overarching theme (other than "the upcoming election," of course). So sit back and enjoy, and feel free to use these talking points anywhere and everywhere, as always.

 

   More good numbers for Biden

Kamala Harris is making gains in the way the public sees the economy. So lean in to the good news!

"Under the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, America has added jobs each and every month they've been in office. This has been an unbroken streak that has led to a record number -- 16 million! -- of new jobs added since 2021. That is more than any other administration has ever managed. Last month alone, a quarter-million new jobs were added. And inflation is now back down to 2.2 percent, proving that the spike we all experienced was the result of all the disruptions to the American economy by the COVID pandemic, and nothing more. The economy continues to grow and do better under Democratic leadership. And more and more Americans are feeling better about the state of the economy as well. I'd call that a job well done."

 

   Women have noticed

This has got to be worrying Team Trump, so rub it in!

"Kamala Harris is opening the gender gap with Donald Trump, a recent poll shows. Harris is the choice of 15 percent more women voters than Trump, and she's even now beating him on the twin issues of the economy and inflation. A majority of women now trust Harris over Trump to handle inflation and bring down the cost of living. On the economy in general, Harris beats Trump by eight points among women. As women begin to picture what America would look like with the first woman in the Oval Office in history, more and more of them are confident that things will continue to get better under Kamala Harris -- not Donald Trump."

 

   Born to run

This, of course, would be a lot bigger news if New Jersey was going to be close, but even though that's not the case, it was still fun to see.

"The most recent high-powered endorsement for Kamala Harris this week came from a diner, where the legendary Bruce Springsteen offered his support. Springsteen rightfully pointed out that his opinion and his vote are no more important than any other citizens', but that he felt he had to make a public statement supporting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and opposing Donald Trump and JD Vance. Bruce laid out his case in detail -- why Trump was completely unfit for office due to his lack of respect for the U.S. Constitution. So if there are any Springsteen fans out there who are still yet undecided, I would urge you to see what The Boss has to say about the upcoming election -- one he calls 'one of the most consequential elections in our nation's history.' Bruce is voting for Kamala, and he wants you to hear why."

 

   Union voters, take note

Once again, Biden stands with the workers.

"When the dockworkers on the East Coast voted to walk off the job this week, Joe Biden could have forced them back to work, using a federal law to end their strike. But he didn't, because he stands with workers and with Labor. Instead, he started browbeating the companies that own and manage the ports to share some of the incredible profits they've been making the past few years with the men and women who have created that wealth by their hard work. And before the week was over, management caved. They offered the workers a 62-percent raise, and the workers agreed to go back to work and continue negotiations over their other grievances over the next few months. This will allow cargo to be unloaded that will help with hurricane recovery and guarantee full shelves for the end-of-year holiday season. Joe Biden is the most Labor-friendly president in American history -- or, at the very least, since F.D.R. was president. All Union workers should remember this in November, when they go to cast their ballots. Democrats stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Unions when it counts."

 

   The retreat begins

More and more Republicans are slowly realizing that they are just on the wrong side of history.

"I see that Republicans from Melania Trump to JD Vance to embattled House members in swing districts are all running as fast as they can away from the extremists in their own party on the subject of abortion. And some of them even mean it! But most are just searching for some way of improving their messaging -- such as attempting to call themselves pro-choice when their own words and voting records prove it to be a lie. Or trying to make the extremists sound somehow reasonable when they deny women basic human rights and put them at risk of needless pain, suffering, and death. Republicans as a whole are slowly realizing that they are woefully out of touch with even their own base voters on the subject, so they have begun to retreat. Of course, they're going to be caught in this trap until Democrat manage to pass a nationwide abortion rights law, so we'll probably see a lot more Republicans desperately trying to move away from where their own party has stood on the issue for the past half-century."

 

   So what?

This bears repeating, as often as possible.

"The most interesting thing from the filing in the January 6th case against Donald Trump was how he reacted to hearing his own vice president was in serious danger from the crowd Trump had whipped up and pointed at the United States Capitol. While watching the whole thing unfold on live television in the White House, an aide brought Trump the news that Mike Pence was being hustled out of the Capitol because it was being invaded and sacked by Trump supporters chanting 'Hang Mike Pence!' Trump's reaction was pretty much how Trump reacts to everything that doesn't personally involve himself -- he said: 'So what?' Because that's his attitude towards everything that doesn't personally benefit himself: So what?"

 

   DonOld

Hoo boy.

"Is it time to put Grandpa to bed? You decide -- Donald Trump, or as he's increasingly known as online, 'DonOld Trump' -- was ranting and raving about immigrants when he said the following: 'They have a phone app so that people can come into our country. These are smart immigrants, I guess, because most people don't have any idea what the Hell a phone app is.' Really? Trump is that out of touch? He doesn't even know what a phone app is?!? Remember just a few months ago when the media was going bonkers over the fact that Joe Biden was old? Well, here you go, folks -- we've now got one Grandpa in the race who is so out of touch with modern life he thinks people have no clue what a 'phone app' is. You know what I say? Time for bed, DonOld...."

-- Chris Weigant

 

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant

Cross-posted at: Democratic Underground