I've been busy detailing my plan for after a potential Trump win.
Buy a place in a remote part of West Virginia where I've spent a fair bit of time. It has a backdoor entrance to a wilderness area. I will lead a simple life where I go out most days on ill-advised hikes. On one of these I will surely injure myself in some way that I can potentially* turn into an Into the Wild slow death. Or, you know maybe instead I would come to a deeper more detached understanding of the world and our place in it, and can then spend my declining years in a state of ironic detachment where I am mildly amused at the vain strivings of our scurrying little species.
Finding out which will be half the fun!
I feel I am helping.by thus channeling my despairing thoughts in a private way--this place is not really public--rather than spreading FUD on the internet.
*Area probably gets too much traffic, but could work if I could get myself into one of the well-nigh impassable rhododendron thickets.
Would you still comment here??? Don't make me cope with TWO losses.
I did put up yard signs (Casey and Harris/Walz) and then fled to Vermont for a few weeks. Curious if they are still up.
Am presumably working at yhe polls again this year, but have not heard officially.
I just want us to keep the Senate so badly. I gave some money to Sherrod Brown and Tester. And a teeny tiny donation to Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. I don't really think she has a chance, but I'm desperate to believe that there's a way to keep the Senate if Tester loses.
On Tuesday Kamala Harris announced n The View (which I watched because I knew she was going on to announce a policy initiative) that she wants to expand a Medicare to pay for home care. Right now, you need to get on Medicaid, which as an elderly person or even a disabled person needing long-term services, requires you to spend down all your assets first.
I probably will never have to deal with this again, but it was such hell that I would be overjoyed to see that. Even though many people think Medicare pays for that stuff, and most people -including a sizable portion of Republicans- either strongly support or support it. See:
But we all know that ut will NEVER happen without majorities in both Houses.
Fingers crossed that the Nebraska Independent wins, but I think we need at least 50 Democratic Senators, maybe more.
I did some low-yield canvassing in a down-n-out neighborhood in Nashua, NH. Trying to hook up with Spike as well.
Also, where is polling actually accurate. Are we all going to have to go off of on-the-ground vibes?
In my contemplative moments, I think about two roles: hospice worker for the world as it goes down in flames, and fighter to prevent the world from going down in flames.
I think human brains are poorly suites for this tension. It's the same conflict as grief vs anger: one involves trying to adjust the internal self to accept a shitty reality, the other involves fighting to change the shitty reality and refusing to accept it internally. The two processes don't co-exist very well, although you can certainly flip back and forth between them.
60 letters to Georgia (with Vote Forward) done. 40 to go. I can get the first 60 in the mail tomorrow.
I got my ballot measure writeups done just before ballots hit Californians' mailboxes - and got a 300-word letter to the editor published today telling people to vote yes on 5.
I'm doing a lot for local elections. Not much on the bigger scale.
heebie, Alex is unclear on how to reach you in the underwater thread.
I'm not underwater! He should try on land.
I gave $ to national campaign, just designed postcard for my county slate of candidates and issues, spent last night labeling and stamping said postcards to go to all registered dems in county. Was planning on canvassing at least 4 times but shambolic local and state dems (Ohio) don't have canvassing organized for my county (the organizer for our county vanished and hasn't been replaced). I just don't want to think that I didn't do enough if we lose--at least I can say I fought fairly hard.
I don't know what our state and local party is doing. I've been volunteering for Harris directly and it seems to be the same thing as volunteering for Biden. At least it's the same clipboards.
14: can you canvass for sherrod brown's campaign and then mention local candidates.
I canvassed for Warren before the Dem primary so that I could meet her. While out I mentioned by Town Democratic Commttte's preferred candidate for a contested local election.
I don't really understand the organization very well. I know I've gotten a calls asking me if I would go canvassing while I was canvassing, but I don't know if that's two different groups or one group that is confused.
I've driven up to do voter registration in Nevada several times this cycle, in part because my vote in California is absolutely meaningless. I've also given money to Harris, which feels silly, and to a few other candidates I'd like to see win (or, if I'm being honest, I'd like to see beat a particularly heinous opponent). Regardless, I don't feel at all like patting myself on the back. The political landscape is as grim as it's been at any point in my lifetime, and, though I remain naively optimistic about a brighter future, I'm having a hard time mapping how we get from here to there. One foot in front of the other, I suppose, which means hoping against hope that Harris wins and Democrats keep the Senate (looks very rough at the moment), take the House (seems marginally more likely), or, as if by magic, both.
I just learned that RFK jr's mom was alive and witness to all his bullshit. Until today.
I muted "RFK", "Nuzzi", "Lizza", and for good measure "Olbermann" on social media. It's like a beautiful dream.
We've got yard signs for Peltola and our state representative but otherwise haven't done a whole lot this cycle. There was good news in the Fairbanks mayoral election, and our own new mayor is actually doing even better than I anticipated, so locally things are looking okay.
- Want to toot your own horn on how you're volunteering?
I've done 50 postcards so far for this group, and I think Cassandane has done between 50 and 75. We've agreed to do 400 between us, so we still have some work ahead of us.
- What are you doing for distraction/compartmentalizing?
All the usual time-consuming activities plus a sense of fatalistic detachment. Whether the election goes well or not, my actions have little chance of affecting the outcome either way, so there's no point dwelling on it.
I'm tempted to say that I'm complacent because I'm a straight white guy, but given that I live in DC, am a contractor for the federal government, and am married to an actual government employee, I think I actually do have quite a bit to lose.
I spent 2 days canvassing in N Philly, 2weeks ago. Most people are registered, a whole bunch of asking turned up 5 people willing to spend 3 minutes with the form and then sign each day. 5/ day is apparently above average. At least in Philadelphia, widespread norm to be registered.
Oh I did this with field tem 6, a light touch organization.
On the streets of Philadelphia, Widespread Norm is generally admired. On the train at rush hour, not so much.
Ug going to an event tonight for Vindman in the VA7th for Congress. He has raised 7.4 million to the R's 1.4 and the district is plus 5. Somehow Vindman has the race close.
Also, no thread on mattyglesias being made to look cool by Climate activists? For some reason, they thought his speech was important enough to try to disrupt.
Very locally, I learned that I live in a neighborhood that's paying extra taxes and receiving extra city services: more support for parks maintenance, flood control, and "public safety" (presumably more police patrols?). There are ballot measures to repeal that tax (and funding) and return to standard city neighborhood levels or to renew it. It's been in place for a couple decades, probably part of a package when this area was developed from agricultural and/or industrial uses.
There are also initiatives that would repeal some of the taxes that I've found a bit hard to understand. There is no initiative to repeal the public safety provision, outside of repealing the entire tax altogether. So the choices are vote for renewal, vote for repeal, or vote for something in between. The real genius of American government is that you could vote yes on all of the provisions or no on all of the provisions. I think if we did nothing, the tax/benefit would eventually expire on its own.
Other than worrisomely specific daydreams* about post-Trump life choices, have mostly been on the money side this year. Post prompted us to do a 3rd round of donations, primarily to Senate golks and a few PA house races.
*A prominent feature of my whole life--Brautiigan's Dreaming of Babylon (recommended) hit pretty close to home.
The electoral gumption trap I am struggling with at the moment is just the manifest misogyny permeating every fucking aspect of the presidential campaign, from T and his awfuls, to the press, to the seemingly inexhaustible "she's doing it wrong" Dem "operatives."
Just hateful and draining.
Widespread Norm in the streets, Widespread Panic in the Sheetz.
My son's network includes someone who is a high up finance type on the West Coast in the Harris-Walz campaign organization. Around the time of the Democratic convention he asked her for advice on where to give money. She said that nationally the H-W campaign was so fully funded it was raining money. She thought the highest impact giving was to the abortion rights initiatives in AZ, NV and FL because (a) initiatives like these have been so good at bringing out the Dem base, younger voters and women, and (b) at least 2 months ago, they needed money. She has no hopes that FL was swingy enough for Harris but thought that with enough turnout, Scott's seat might be in jeopardy.
Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom: https://www.nv4reprofreedom.org/
Arizona for Abortion Access: https://www.arizonaforabortionaccess.org/
Floridians Protecting Freedom: https://floridiansprotectingfreedom.com/
35: I gave Harris Walz some money. I know she transferred sme to DSCC, DCCC and the governors'one. I figure they'll remember where the money came from.
"On the streets of Philadelphia, Widespread Norm is generally admired"
Boston, surely. Wasn't it?
Ok, I have a bleg. Next week I'll be writing up my endorsement/opinions of city council candidates. There's one candidate who I've known for years because we overlapped on the planning commission and he's been on since. In all the time I've known him, he's been thoughtful and levelheaded on the commission. Sometimes disagree with him, but nothing egregious.
He's running for council, which is nonpartisan. However, he is definitely a Republican and I don't know if he supports Trump, but people tell me he does.
My question: I'm thinking I'd like to reach out and giving him a chance to address this with me over email. What's the best way to phrase my question to get a useful/insightful answer?
What do you call ten Texans having dinner with a Nazi?
Was enthusiastic consent given?
38: He's probably a Texas Republican who fears and despises Trump. I mean, there's got to be one, right?
But how should I phrase the question??
I have no idea how to talk to people suspected of Republicanism.
Could you just ask him "What are your thoughts on Donald Trump?"
Is it worth it to ask how his national politics inform his local politics, or would I just get nonsense bullshit?
The thing is, lots of people hate Trump and still vote for him. In fact, that's probably a fair majority of his voters. Which is why I think Trump might be the Antichrist.
"Do you support Donald Trump, or have you got a shred of decency?"
I think a good chunk of Trump voters are just really detached from seeing society as anything jointly developed and want the chaos option with no sense it will ever affect them. Voting as trolling.
Not rallygoers or otherwise people who would talk to the media about this.
If I want to ask a second question, what should it be after the explicit yes-or-no Donald Trump one?
Like, if he's a non-Trump Republican, that's still not great for city council, but I wouldn't have been able to tell that he wasn't a centrist Democrat from his time on P&Z.
Maybe that's the right question: how do your views differ from those of a centrist Democrat?
38: I guess my question is, how are you using this information? If he does support Trump, do you need to stop working with him on anything? Will you be heartsick if you continue to live in doubt?
So, deep red state resident here. Everyone is a Republican. Even some of the Trump supporters are not MAGA, and even if they are, it's still good to know what they're thinking about local stuff. We have two parties and it's first past the post. Voting for one side doesn't actually mean all that much about the person's substantive positions, especially given different media ecosystems.
If there's an issue where Trump has taken a position that's relevant to being on the Town Council, ask about the issue. E.g. expanding the local library collection to include [more] Spanish chidren's books; local gun-related ordinances; fake health regulations intended to keep abortion providers out. Otherwise, don't ask. For most things, a Trump supporter on a town council is no more problematic than a Trump supporter driving a school bus.
59: But would you endorse a thoughtful republican against an unknown person who is positioning themselves as a progressive? (I am going to have to spell out details on the local politics blog.)
It depends. Utah voting is always strategic, and many of us cross party lines in the primary because Rs win in most districts and so the primary is the election. One challenge this year is that there's a third party challenger from the right. Our current governor supports Trump, but the far right guy would be a disaster. The Democrat in the race is impressive but has no realistic chance. So...?
I just drove by a "Trump/Pence" sign. And it looked new, not like it had been in the yard for four years.
I decided to ask him:
- Are you a Trump supporter?
- If not, can you tell me how you differ from a centrist Democrat? which kinds of issues, etc.
We'll see what he says!
64: I'm curious to hear how it goes! And maybe you said upthread but is this a phone call or an email?
62: I dipped into strategic voting here in my deep red state this past election, crossing over to vote in the R primary to help help our quite reasonable republican representative (who is part of my wife's cycling group) hold off the "stop the steal" MAGA challenger. We failed.
I emailed him and he asked if I could call him, so it ended up being a phone call.
But it was great. He said he started out a Republican, but never voted for Trump, and stopped considering himself a Republican after Jan 6th. He now considers himself a Democrat and gave some examples of issues that he's moved left on over the years, like a single-use container ban on the river and federal aid to communities.
The thing is, he's running against three other people who are true idiots in various lefty ways. He's probably better for the city but it's hard not to endorse the lefty mushpot.
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Ezra Klein's podcast with Ta-Nehisi Coates today was really interesting and I think really good. It was clear that they both really respected each other and the importance of the issues, and were wresting with how to have a productive conversation.
I thought Ezra pushed Ta-Nehisi in good ways, but it was striking how knotty the conversation was.
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I just drove by a "Trump/Pence" sign. And it looked new, not like it had been in the yard for four years.
Maybe the '/' is slang for "hang" and they just want plausible deniability.
65: Our strategy kept the governor on the ticket instead of far right goofball, but the downside is doing so make it even harder for a Democrat to win statewide office, but Dems don't have the numbers to win, most likely.
66: That seems a bit late to me, but I think we can permit it.
On the other hand: No enemies to the left!
68: The other kind of slash. Allies to Enemies to Lovers arc.
This 2016 prediction turned out to be wrong.
I was at a convenience mart in a local ruby-red little town and there was an cranky old guy sitting in a booth telling a woman about how he really didn't like JD Vance. He recounted the whole "childless cat lady" episode, of which she was apparently unaware.
I'm planning to knock doors a bunch for the Coordinated Campaign. Tester and his folks are not giving up. And it'd be great to beat Rep. Zinke this time around.
Shannon O'Brien for state superintendent of public instruction is a race where winning would be very high impact. I'll probably see her later this morning at the Homecoming Parade: I'll be with the Dem float.
I'll do voter protection on election day. I won't know where until a lot closer to the date.
Oh, I see that Sen Tester will be in the parade as well. Driving a big tractor. Maybe I'll walk with his gang.
I'm not an alum, but I have a Msla Dems shirt in UM colors, and I'm not going to wear my Bobcats hat.
74: I pitched in $20 for Tester along with $30 for Sherrod Brown.
goddamnit this 95 degree October is really bumming me out. The hidden downside, etc.
I had a nice fall morning for canvassing. I don't like to canvass in the heat because there's no "Sweaty Guys for Harris" Zoom call.
2 really bad choices, 3rd party all the way!
It's probably good for city councils to have more of a spectrum of Democrats, including a very moderate one, and not all lefties.
I'm pretty centrist for modern democrats, I generally agree with Biden more than further left or right dems, but I also just don't find left/right that helpful in local politics compared to YIMBY/NIMBY.
but I also just don't find left/right that helpful in local politics compared to YIMBY/NIMBY
My one deviation from straight ticket voting in my state was a pro growth republican for the county board. He's not good on transportation investment to support that growth, but I've found the YIMBY arguments pretty compelling for this moment.
81: My super liberal town had one guy running for school board who seemed to be in the parents' rights area about books or something. There's also whether full day kindergarten or universal pre-k should be available to everyone for free. Right now, kindergarten is half day, you have to pay for full day, and there aren't enough slots. People worried about the budget - our taxes are high- don't want to spend more.
The other big controversy is funding for the regional technical/vocational school. It's much more expensive per pupil than the regular school. Electrical and plumbing have a path to jobs with just a diploma, but the nursing programs have kids who wind up going to college anyway. Basicallly people are worried that kids who want a less competitive school with smaller classes are going to the regional tech school and then going for engineering degrees or other STEM programs. The other controversy with the technical schools is that they may be admitting more kids from affluent towns, because they do better on the MCAS exams.
Before I got here there was a big NIMBY push to stop public sewer expansion which people argued as an environmental concern, though there's also a big upfront cost, and they assess the properties wh9 are going to get the benefit of the sewer a lot upfront. The local auto repair guy next to a residential neighborhood was pretty uoset, because he was gettinga assessed as though he used a ton of water.