INTRO: As the ‘24 Elections approach, the situation is slowly becoming more clear. In only 7 months and 2 days, we’ll be holding the final day of voting for the Presidency, the House and Senate, and thousands of state and local offices. I am still very enthusiastic. Special elections and dozens of miscellaneous news items are providing a clearer sense of direction. It’s also clear that many millions of voters A) are not yet paying close attention to most races/candidates, and B) are very concerned about which way the votes will fall, esp. about TDFG (The Defeated Former Guy) again becoming leader of the Free World and the US President.
I’ll be taking a closer look today at how the campaigns are shaping up for the two candidates that really count: Joe Biden & Donald Trump- the BLOAT (Biggest Loser/Liar of All Time). I’ll briefly compare it to the LB Johnson vs Barry Goldwater contest in 1964, wherein Goldwater was shellacked in the results!!
Second, I’ll be trying to add some Hope; some Persistance; and some news bits to todays Good News Roundup!
***** Regular Scheduled Programming (Shamelessly copied to repeat the wise words of chloris creator)
No one here is naïve; we are aware of the many who are fighting to destroy our country. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, the chaos, and yes, even the attempts to cling to power despite the clear will of the people. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including us and our fellow gnus) who are working so hard to save our country from those very bad people. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know. Remember:
💙 There are more of us than there are of them.
💛 They are terrified when we organize. THERE IS LOTS OF EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE TERRIFIED!
💔 They want us to be demoralized. The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world.
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Quotes on Hope and Optimism >>>>>>>>>
“I am essentially optimistic. Being alive is incredible. Life is extraordinary and beautiful. It can be hard and sad and terrifying, but it’s all we’ve got.”
— James Frey
“Optimism isn’t a belief that things will automatically get better; it’s a conviction that we can make things better.”
— Melinda Gates
“Hope confronts. It does not ignore pain, agony, or injustice. It is not a saccharine optimism that refuses to see, face, or grapple with the wretchedness of reality. You can't have hope without despair, because hope is a response. Hope is the active conviction that despair will never have the last word.”
— Cory Booker
“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, it's unlikely you will step up and take responsibility for making it so. If you assume that there's no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope.”
— Noam Chomsky
“I do have reasons for hope: our clever brains, the resilience of nature, the indomitable human spirit, and above all, the commitment of young people when they're empowered to take action.”
— Jane Goodall
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Musical Interlude from Joan Baez; Though it’s for Joe Hill, I am offering it as a remembrance of
the late (but great) Alexy Navalni.
******** The BeeGees clip is for joy of life and just because!!!!
COMPARING CAMPAIGNS- A TALE OF TWO VASTLY DIFFERENT STYLES
One month ago I published my most read and most reccd GNR ever. www.dailykos.com/…
Titled “16 Reasons Trump is Toast”, it spoke to the intense fear that one of our worst citizens/people/pseudo-Christians could potentially become US President- again!!! Though I share that concern (and nightmare), I strongly and honestly do Not think it’s likely to become reality.
So here’s a closer look at the candidates, their key planks of the platforms, and some of the surrounding issues and “debates”, including fundraising and campaign themes.
A) Pre-Election Polling:
I am categorically dismissing all polling this far out from the election. Recent years polling, and more so in this cycle, polls seem to be missing huge chunks of voters. The result has been poll results that are highly inaccurate, and badly skewed toward the MAGA candidate.
B) The top candidates, Biden & Trump, are very well known quantities- and sharply different.
Biden had a highly productive term of office to date, producing several pieces of landmark legislation., incl. the CHIPS Act; the Infrastructure & Recovery Act; Tackled inflation; Tackled Student Debt, forgiving Billions in debts; and much more.
Note** Goodie (our own GoodNewsRoundup) has authored/produced an in-depth series of posts over the last few months that beautifully illustrate how productive & effective the Biden Admin. has been in delivering results for us.
Link: www.dailykos.com/… (“Boosting Biden; Day 66”). Includes ways to follow the highly informative and interesting series.
B-2) Trump, by contrast, had a painfully lackluster term with respect to results.
Yes, he did manage, with help from Mitch McConnel and others, to confirm 3 RW SCOTUS justices. And he added 226 judges overall to the federal bench — all for lifetime appointments. We’ll be living with those il-gotten gains for some time. What else?? Business Insider noted that “He was one of the most controversial Presidents in US history”. They also noted that “he is the only US pres. to be impeached twice”.
Let’s not forget that TDFG presided over the Covid 19 Pandemic, with disastrous- and occasionally hilarious (intra-colon light bulbs, anyone? anyone??) — results. We lost far more people to Covid that was necessary.
“In signing a $738 billion defense spending bill just a few days before Christmas, Trump officially established the sixth branch of the US Armed Forces — the Space Force.
The Space Force is the first new military service since the US Air Force was created in 1947”. (BTW, this is to protect US assets in space).
His other big accomplishment -”Trump's signature legislative achievement was a Republican tax bill that made sweeping changes to the tax code — the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” (Also from Business Insider, 12-25-2022). That’s about it for real substance for the TDFG term of office!
C) The competing “platforms” and key Issues of Biden V Trump
The campaign of Biden-Harris is trying to cover a very wide set of issues. Appropriate, I’d say, for an Administration representing about 342 million people, which is also conducting a fairly “normal or traditional” political campaign. For the most part, Biden et al are focusing on areas of wide interest, like the economy, national security, protecting the US and its allies, expanding Reproductive Freedoms (like abortion rights, access to birth control, and use of IVF), voting rights, protection from Climate Change, and a dozen other areas.
In contrast, Donald Trump and allies are still focused on several older issues. For example, Border Security and keeping all (or most) immigrants out of the US are still a top issue for TDFG. He’s also focused on getting NATO countries to more fully fund their own defenses- or allow Russia to decide their fate.
“In a Des Moines Register op-ed published roughly a week before winning the Iowa caucuses in January, Trump vowed to use the “Alien Enemies Act to remove known or suspected gang members, drug dealers, or cartel members from the United States.”
“We will shift massive portions of federal law enforcement to immigration enforcement — including parts of the DEA, ATF, FBI, and DHS,” he wrote.”
“Last November, Trump promised to replace the Affordable Care Act, known colloquially as Obamacare, in a series of posts on Truth Social.” Kossacks may recall that TDFG repeatedly said during his term in office that {in just another 2 weeks} he’d have a plan to replace Obamacare! Is it just me, or has anyone else seen the text of this mythical health insurance plan????
“Trump has promised to use the Department of Justice to attack critics and former allies. In several videos and speeches, the former president also laid out plans to gut the current justice system by firing “radical Marxist prosecutors that are destroying America.” There’s more, and much more disturbing details of his “novel” approach to the US justice system, that he has proposed. For example, Kos writers and a lot of us journalists may have special housing arranged for us in selected camps!!
Of course, Tax Cuts loom large in Trumps view of how to pump up the US economy.
“Trump has promised to extend the cuts from his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, notably the TCJA’s individual income tax breaks. The former president has also talked about reducing the corporate tax rate from the current 21% to 15%.” Yeah, that’s the ticket! More tax cuts for the rich!
For more detail, go the link for the whole CNN article HERE: www.cnn.com/…
“15 promises Donald Trump has made so far in his campaign for a second term” is the title on the CNN article.
D) Mental Health contrasts between Joe Biden and DJ Trump
While many voters and journalists have criticized the ages of both candidates, the contrasts there too are not just big, but monumental. Some may remember the in 1972, George McGovern choose Thomas Eagleton for his VP candidate. After news tips revealed that Eagleton had been treated (3 times!) for depression, McGovern was forced to drop him from the ticket.
Joe Biden is 81- ces’t la vie! He is still very much with it, and anyone doubting it need only watch his March 7th State of the Union message!! Link to NBC SOTU: via YouTube
In contrast, Donald Trump is exhibiting some serious signs of dementia and cognitive impairment.
www.msn.com/… “Trumps mental acuity questioned on Fox News”
www.salon.com/… Forensic psychiatrist on physical signs of Trump's mental decline: "Changes in movement and gait" A fascinating, and pretty important, article on Trump’s physical and mental health.
I’m not going to belabor the point at this time, but I think it is extremely important for both electoral reasons, i.e., his ability to be elected in Nov. ‘24, and for political reasons- what happens if he actually is re-elected??? My guess is that as more of his supporters and/or viewers of newscasts and replays of stump speeches watch him in action, it’s increasingly more noticeable that he’s having a lot of trouble 1) staying on topic for more than 2 sentences; 2) using appropriate word choices in his speech; 3) not making up words or sounds; and 4) able to stay on track rather than forgetting what he is talking about.
I’ve watched and read a lot recently about comments re: those “normal” language skills in which he’s having a lot of trouble. Whether it’s the growing number of news articles on the subject, or video of his news appearances, or clips from late-nite comics, the guy is in serious trouble cognitively. I know a lot of people- including Rep Party leaders- who absolutely do Not want this man to be President.
www.washingtonpost.com/… “The former Cabinet members of the Trump Mis-administration refusing to endorse him”.
Two-three big questions remain. One, will Trumps declining cognitive skills cause his campaign to go farther “off the rails” before the convention? or before the election? Will voters ultimately reject a candidate so far off to the right?
I wish I knew the answers to those questions, but I will cite a quick comparison to the 1964 Johnson V Goldwater election. I hope it provides a bit of perspective on how voters view the candidacy of DJ Trump as Roevember approaches.
In that election, Lyndon Johnson was the Dem President. He passed the landmark Civil Rights Bill in July of 1964. en.wikipedia.org/… Goldwater strongly opposed the Civil Rights bill, and began the “Southern Strategy” of moving conservatives into the Republican Party. That culminated in the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.
This is one of his most famous quotes : “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Moderation in the protection of liberty is no virtue; extremism in the defense of freedom is no vice.” It exemplified his far-right stance on issues like national security, winning the War in Viet Nam- or getting out of the war, and reducing the size of government. In particular, he wanted to see less spending on government aide programs.
So in many respects, Goldwater was much like Trump. And he was soundly rejected in that election- in part due to a famous ad- “the Daisy ad”. Goldwater won only six states in 1964!
The Daisy ad: Is it time for it to be revived for Trump?? Or is it over the top?
Note*** Below is a set of results on voter reaction to key Rep Party policy proposals. H/T to T Maysle!!
The Republican Study Committee::::
advocates cutting funding for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), housing assistance, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Less than 10% of voters support cutting funding for Medicaid (6%), housing assistance (9%), CHIP (2%), Medicare (3%), or Social Security (2%), and only 12% of voters support cutting funding for the ACA.
As president, Joe Biden has enacted multiple policies that promote lower health care costs
However, Republicans are proposing to roll back these policies
Seventy-nine percent of voters agree that “we should keep the $35 per month cap on insulin costs for seniors on Medicare.”
Similarly, 77% of voters support capping out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs at $2,000 per year. This includes 84% of Democrats, 78% of Republicans, and 67% of Independents.
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E) Fundraising for Biden V Trump
Joe Biden has opened a big gap between his campaign and that of his rival-TDFG.
H/T to Mokurai!!!
It’s important to keep in mind that it’s still early. But while Biden & Harris are very active on the trail, TDFG is going to be spending a lot more time in court. Even worse, a very large part of his fundraising is going to his legal expenses. As chloris creator has noted, donors to TDFGs new fund to cover the judgement ($464 million) in the NY Fraud trial are still not raising enough to pay the daily interest on that monster fine. No calculations available to me yet, but I’m guessing that Colbert, or Seth Meyers, or Jon Stewart, will soon tell us how many more $60 Trump bibles and other retail items will be need to close the FR vs. expenses gap.
*** Note: In about 3 weeks, ActBlue will release its First Quarter fundraising report for 2024. Given that it continues to raise almost double the amount raised 4 years earlier, this could be a very, very big year for small donor giving!
*** Good News clips Pot Pourri ***
*** www.msn.com/… Dept. of Energy Announces $60 million Investment into Geothermal Energy project
*** www.msn.com/… Nuclear Fusion attempt breaks a new record. Interesting news, but I am not staking my future on this technology- yet!
*** www.msn.com/… Shortage of cash for the AZ Repub. Party!! Oh noes, how can that be!!
*** www.msn.com/… “Truth Social” suffers a big fall as it’s viability is called into question. Que “Celebration Time, come on...” BTW, talk about a business violating truth in advertising.
***www.msn.com/… Newspaper Editor says he must apologize for telling the truth about DJ Trump!
*** www.msn.com/… Scientists use a supercomputer to enhance efficiency of solar technology. Nice!
*** www.msn.com/… House Republicans gave Dems the biggest possible gift!!
*** www.msn.com/… Dems see Biden tortoise beating the Rep hare in November!
*** www.msn.com/… Trumps weakness with voters goes beyond the suburbs (What a surprise, no?)
*** www.msn.com/… Trump supporters aren’t as unified as they appear.
*** www.msn.com/… British writer pens one the best ever descriptions of TDFG. Pretty funny, IMHO, and well worth the time to read it. Though it’s a revival of the work the author did four years ago, it has stood the test of time!
*** www.msn.com/… Eight reasons Biden will beat TDFG in November!
*** www.msn.com/… A superconductor found in nature has rocked the world of science!
*** www.msn.com/… Trumps GOP is already dying. Time will tell, but it’s still in the category of Good News!
*** www.cnn.com/… Blueberry grown in Australia breaks world record- And it tastes good, too!! I admit as an organic gardener that some “farming news” always catches my eye. Not that there is anything wrong with OR/WA blueberries! It’s about the size of a ping-pong ball.
*** civileats.com/… Native communities work to heal through mycellium (mushroom growth)!
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India’s cheetah reintroduction programme just celebrated the birth of five cubs in Kuno National Park. 'This takes the tally of Indian born cubs to 13. This is the fourth cheetah litter on Indian soil' since the beginning of the programme, and the first litter by a South African cheetah in India. This is a really big milestone, especially after the programme's difficult start. Times of India
For more Good news links, follow arhpdx et al this link to the DK list of GNRs: www.dailykos.com/…
Ditto for her great links to people and groups to whom we can direct our donations for the coming months, including Joe Biden, House campaigns, and Senate campaigns, and more.
Sorry, that’s all for today. I will follow comments- after getting back to sleep after posting my GNR at 4:00 EDT Wed, April 3rd.