Russia.\u2019 <\/a><\/p>\n\u201cKinzinger went on to say that that Harris \u2018said she wants to make the most lethal military ever and stand up to dictators. Trump gave up being the proud American party. They hate America which is obvious to all but the most loyal MAGA. Kamala showed her pride in the country AS IT IS TODAY, not pining for the 1950s. Trump gave up being the border hawk. While this will take time to recognize, I believe cracks have started. Kamala reminded everyone that Trump tanked the hawkish border bill, and committed to signing it (in front of a loudly cheering crowd).<\/p>\n
\u2018Trump ceded the ground of opportunity and vision. His constant whining and focus on the past. Kamala showed a forward looking vision. Trump gave up law and order. Not just on Jan 6, but attacking The FBI, questioning the CIA, and calling for violence. And now an awards ceremony for Jan 6 criminals. Kamala showed appreciation for police and stressed her role as a prosecutor. The Dems are now on their way to being the Patriotic, USA chanting, America loving party, and the Republicans look like the bitter old men who are angry that the country is vibrant and dynamic.;\u201d<\/p>\n
I had noticed that even with the joy and inclusiveness and cheers, a lot of what Democrats had to say reminded me of some of the speeches we would hear at RNC conventions in 2004 or 2008. It was an era where Republicans hadn\u2019t embraced meanness, cruelty, exclusiveness and bigotry as their standards.<\/p>\n
The horrific thing is that this is about all that the GOP have remaining. They\u2019ve lost all the “issues” they hoped to run on: Biden’s age, the economy, inflation, national pride, abortion, crime. Everything improved under Biden except his age. And most Republicans are coming to realize that the golden apple of tearing down Roe v. Wade in fact was a poisoned apple, turning most of the country against them.<\/p>\n
My friend Isaac Peterson of the Weasels wrote me, saying, \u201cIt doesn’t help matters that Trump is incapable of even giving the appearance of being able to accommodate anybody outside of his base. He just doesn’t give a shit about anybody else and it shows. I still believe his NABJ BS was intended to appeal to them rather than black voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can’t appeal to anybody else because he doesn’t care about anybody else and his lack of empathy means he just cannot relate to anybody else. Definitely not enough to try to communicate on their (our) terms or to even acknowledge their (our) concerns. His contempt comes through loud and clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis flocks of howler monkeys can’t recognize he doesn’t even actually care about them either.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Trump didn\u2019t have enough problems, a fair chunk of his base are furious because he isn\u2019t vicious and fascistic enough. The zealots are mad because he backed away from a pledge to make abortion illegal in all states. The National Association of Zealots and Ideologues are mad because he backed away from their treasured Project 2025. And the bigots are furious because he suggested the US should allow aliens with college degrees in and even give them green cards.<\/p>\n
Bad enough that with this lot, Trump gets up with fleas, but they all growl loudly when he tries to brush the fleas off.<\/p>\n
As a result, Trump is floundering in a no-mans\u2019-land between MAGA and the rest of America, and he\u2019s bleeding support from both sides.<\/p>\n
The DNC and Kamala Harris (her campaign has blue hats emblazoned with \u201c , la \u201c) came out of the convention with a three point lead nationally over Trump, and small leads in most of the battleground states. The convention \u201cbounce\u201d (which Trump didn\u2019t get) will show up in next week\u2019s polls, and I expect to see her leading by five to seven points, and nearly all of the battleground states. That will fade as the warm glow from the convention dies.<\/p>\n
But not fade away. We\u2019re in the final stretch now, ten weeks left, and it\u2019s going to be one furious fight.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s already speculation about \u201cOctober surprises.\u201d Which is shorthand for dirty tricks, and by no means limited to October. The allegations and rumors will get more and more lurid. I already heard one today that had Trump dumping JD Vance as his running mate and selecting Robert Kennedy Junior. That one\u2019s so crazy I suspect it may have come from the Democrats. Trump tried snarling that Tim Walz was only an ASSISTANT coach, and in a brilliant riposte, the Dems replied, \u201cMaybe that\u2019s why he\u2019s running for VICE president.\u201d<\/p>\n
I feel disquiet about the flag waving and bellows of \u201cUSA! USA!\u201d Pep rally patriotism is a dark lake a thousand miles wide and an inch deep, and can turn toxic with the slightest change in the wind. I\u2019m hoping that once clear of the convention, the flag-waving will subside to thoughtful patriotism.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, keep an eye on Joe Biden. Yes, he\u2019s a lame duck, but he IS still the president, and he still has the acumen and abilities that made him the most successful one-term president in American history. He may have an October surprise or two up his sleeve, and it won\u2019t be the sort of nasty ones like sabotaging the Vietnam Paris talks or the hostage release with Iran or the email like we\u2019ve seen in years past. Biden has a \u201cNuthin\u2019 up my sleeve, Rocky\u201d air about him. He\u2019s up to something. Whatever it is, I suspect we\u2019ll like it.<\/p>\n
So. Off to the races. And may the best woman win!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bryan Zepp Jamieson August 26th 2024 David McAfee at Raw Story noticed a seminal remark posted by Adam Kinzinger, former Republican Congressman that utterly captures the deep change in the political landscape that we\u2019ve seen over the past six weeks or so. \u201c\u2018Something happened at the DNC that will be written about for years.\u201d the … <\/p>\n
Continue reading “Home Stretch — Putting on the afterburners”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,60,385],"tags":[2025,2027,2026,1006,2030,1982,2029,1373,906,2031,2028,2002,351],"class_list":["post-1637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-psyche","category-politics","category-trump-impeachment","tag-adam-kinzinger","tag-afterglow","tag-bounce","tag-convention","tag-david-mcafee","tag-democrats","tag-isaac-peterson","tag-jd-vance","tag-kamala-harris","tag-october-surprise","tag-pep-rally-patriotism","tag-tim-walz","tag-trump"],"yoast_head":"\nHome 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