Kamala Harris for President - 2024

[pipistrelle]

Marc Thiessen schools us on how tfg can knock Harris out of the race in one debate. As usual I’m about to go straight to the comments.

https://wapo.st/47pk6Ly

[sugar magnolia]

Marc Thiessen schools us on how tfg can knock Harris out of the race in one debate. As usual I’m about to go straight to the comments.

https://wapo.st/47pk6Ly

Recap please? Can't even read the gift links without giving them an email.

[pipistrelle]

Marc Thiessen schools us on how tfg can knock Harris out of the race in one debate. As usual I’m about to go straight to the comments.

https://wapo.st/47pk6Ly

Recap please? Can't even read the gift links without giving them an email.

Ah, marketing ploy. He repackages his favorite talking points, beginning with:

1. Remind swing voters of what they like about him: his policies. At a recent rally, Trump mocked advisers who tell him to focus on policy, not insults: “They always say, ‘Sir, please stick to policy. Don’t get personal.’ And yet [Democrats are] getting personal all night long.” The reason they do so is because it is their only path to victory. In a fight over policy, Democrats lose. A July Harvard CAPS-Harris poll found that a majority of voters support all the key elements of the GOP platform, and 54 percent approve of the job Trump did as president — including majorities of every age and a dozen demographic groups. When he focuses on policy and contrasts his record with that of the Biden-Harris administration, he reminds swing voters of what they liked about his presidency. Focus on policy.

2. Don’t remind swing voters of what they don’t like about him. A July New York Times-Siena College poll asked: Has Donald Trump ever said anything that you found offensive? Six in 10 Americans said either “no” or “yes, but not recently.” Among younger voters ages 18 to 29, it was nearly 7 in 10. Over the past four years, many voters’ memories of the reasons they disliked Trump have faded. So, Trump’s first task is not to remind them.

[MN-Skeptic]

There are never ending articles, op-eds, etc. telling Trump what he must do in order to ... whatever. Basically, they require Trump to change who he is. This Thiessen article is no different in this respect.

[Rolodex]

His policies? Um...pretty sure I've seen over and over that voters like the D policies (when presented without describing who promotes those policies).

Maybe ask voters if they prefer policies that reduce border crossings. Because right now they're lower than Trump ever had.

[MN-Skeptic]

From Taylor Swift's Instagram account tonight -

taylorswift's profile picture
taylorswift 22m

Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most. As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.

Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.

I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.

I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story.

With love and hope,

Taylor Swift
Childless Cat Lady

[Dr. Ken]

It's over

[neonzx]

Yep. BOOM!!

[p0rtia]

donations.jpg (120.21 KiB) Viewed 1330 times

[bill_g]

Looks like we have our first female president!

[sugar magnolia]

Yep. BOOM!!

If I had been a hermit living in a cave in Mesopotamia for the last 5 years and had never heard of Tim Walz before, seeing him put his hand to his chest when Rachel read the endorsement to him would have made me a fan all by itself. No fist pumping or jazz hands or cheering for himself. A simple gesture of genuine emotion and appreciation.

[BeastofBourbon]

Wow. Wow. tears of very guarded joy.

Yikes! I didn't watch the debate, but I am so grateful for the excerpts posted here. Thank you everyone who took the time to post video, and the commentary. I guess Kamala really wiped the floor with TFG, and got him rattled and defensive. We all kind of knew it would happen in some form but...She is masterful at telling the truth about him while promoting her candidacy with real grace. It takes a deft touch. And I loved watching him contort his face as she listed his various crimes. His facial muscles couldn't settle on one neutral expression, but that happens when you're in pain (or royally pissed and working hard to not show it) I guess.

And a dream come true!!! Taylor Swift!!!! endorsing Kamala!! Yay !!!!

I am surprised that she came out with her endorsement, after she had expressed concern for how an endorsement might endanger her fans. This is powerful stuff.

Even though I read that Presidential debates haven't been shown to affect election results, I can't believe that we didn't get a one-two punch with Kamala and Taylor tonight.

[Sam the Centipede]

I loved watching him contort his face as she listed his various crimes. His facial muscles couldn't settle on one neutral expression, but that happens when you're in pain (or royally pissed and working hard to not show it) I guess.

Trump has a weird (!) straight-lipped, tightly closed mouth, head slightly tilted expression which appears to be him trying to look statesman-like.

In almost all daily situations Trump is the focus of attention and the one who speaks without any requirements for turn-taking or normal conversational and communicative niceties.

So he finds actually needing to stop talking and listen unfamiliar and uncomfortable, and it shows.

[keith]

Looks like we have our first female president!

C'mon man. Don't count your votes before the ballots are ready.

[johnpcapitalist]

Reposting something I wrote at an anti-Scientology community I have long been a member of: https://tonyortega.org/2024/09/11/libtu ... ayed-maga/

The Taylor Swift endorsement could prove at least as fatal to Trump as the poor debate performance. Swift has a large, engaged and active fan community in a demographic (under 30's, mostly women) that have typically voted at lower rates than older people. Getting 100,000+ women newly registered to vote in any of several large "purple" states that are either "toss-up" or "leans Republican" (NC, TX, PA) and having them vote for Kamala Harris could be enough for Democrats to win. 50,000 to 100,000 registrations in leaning-blue states (MI, PA) where Harris has flattened in recent polls could increase the chances of victory there. Possible, though less likely, is that 5,000 to 10,000 in smaller red states could tip the scales (MT, WY). Any of this coming true gives Harris many paths to victory and makes Trump's options far more limited.

Importantly, I think Swift's fan base is quite homogeneous culturally and could easily be persuaded to vote Democratic. They may be diverse economically or racially, but the messages in Swift's songs and the norms created by the fan community itself are about girl power, community, inclusion, friendship and cooperation. A lot of fan communities share passion for the object of their admiration but don't have that much in common otherwise (50-and-up fans of classic rock artists, for example). So I think when Swift herself blesses Harris and Democratic candidates, the chances that 1% of Swifts 200+ million Instagram followers go out and register then actually vote are reasonably high. That's enough to tip the scales. And if Harris wins during their first election, they're likely to remain Democrats for years to come.

When I talked with my partner about this following the debate last night, her kneejerk reaction was that Swift's fans are all teenagers, so it wouldn't matter. However, one must recall that Swift has been a major star for almost 20 years even if we oldsters were unaware of her. It's not the current 13-year-old Swifties that are too young to vote that matter but the 25-year old former Swifties who still have a soft spot for her and the role her music played in their formative years.

I think the timing of Swift's announcement, minutes after the debate concluded, is extremely telling. She waited until it was clear that Harris not only crushed Trump, but that she looked like someone Swifties could relate to. In other words, Swift waited to make the final decision on whether to endorse Harris until she was sure that endorsing Harris would not make Swift look bad.

I've heard that Swift is fanatically and ruthlessly protective of her image, so she would be extremely cautions about making an irreversible move like endorsing a candidate for president.

Swift can be savage in dealing with people who she believes wronged her. She went to war with Scooter Braun, her former manager, who acquired her recording masters out from under her, taking the unprecedented step of re-recording the albums he owned, calling them "Taylor's Version," and utterly destroying the value of his asset. She has continued to press the attack against Braun publicly and privately, and he's now losing a number of other big clients.

I suspect that Swift was absolutely and utterly enraged that Trump would actually push the bogus AI-generated "endorsement" created by someone internet rando. This is her revenge, she's been plotting it for a while, and she wants to utterly destroy him. But she didn't want to pull the trigger until she was sure she could have an impact on defeating Trump.

The split-screen shots of Harris smiling, rolling her eyes and appearing to have fun while watching Trump make a fool of himself were the key to why she waited until right after the debate. Had Harris been a wooden just-the-facts debater (imagine Al Gore in a skirt), I strongly suspect that Swift would have waited until some future time to reveal her stance. If it looked like Harris bombed and Trump might strengthen in the polls, Swift might even have stayed silent rather than risking reputational damage from backing a losing candidate.

Incidentally, while I have a lot of respect for Swift, I'm hardly a Swiftie. Not only am I way too old, but my kids are also too old to have been Swifties when they were teenagers. I think I could recognize as many as one or two of her songs if I heard them on the radio. However, we were curious enough about the Taylor Swift phenomenon to go to an IMAX screening last fall of the movie of her Eras Tour. It was impressive, both as a theatrical production and as a fan phenomenon. She has the gift of being able to make each of the 80,000 people in one of the mega-stadiums she played feel that she is talking and singing only to them. We came away impressed. I wouldn't discount her as a cultural force to be reckoned with for years to come.

[Foggy]

Thanks for that, JPC. I agree with you on all points.

I am not a fan of her music, but I know enough to know that she pours her heart and soul into what she does. I saw her Tiny Desk concert, and she was so interesting. She was friendly and humble and thoughtful and it was a revelation to me. I still didn't like the music, but I understood way more about how she thinks about it. I tell people, I'm the Swiftie who doesn't listen to her music, and dig it:

I think she wrote the tweet herself. I don't think she would let anyone else write it for her, much less pay anyone. And I have read it several times, and she is also a very good writer. Y'all know what I think about good writers, yesno? (I'm in favor of them.)

If she wrote it herself, I am super impressed.

[pipistrelle]

A co-worker’s mid-20s daughters are big fans and of course old enough to vote.

[Foggy]

Ask the Kansas City Chiefs what it means to have Taylor Swift on your team. They are infinitely more popular than in the past. My own wife never misses a game, if possible. Admittedly, it helps they won two Super Bowls in a row, but Swift definitely adds to the bottom line.

And for good reason. Love conquers all.

[MN-Skeptic]

A recurring theme from VP Harris, Governor Walz, and Harris' campaign committee is that people MUST get out and vote. They are not letting up. That's where Taylor Swift's endorsement is especially invaluable because it states: "I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story." Endorsing Harris is only a first step. The fact that Swift goes further is exactly what is needed. Yay for Taylor Swift!

[Ben-Prime]

Off Topic

I am not a fan of her music, but I know enough to know that she pours her heart and soul into what she does. I saw her Tiny Desk concert, and she was so interesting. She was friendly and humble and thoughtful and it was a revelation to me. I still didn't like the music, but I understood way more about how she thinks about it. I tell people, I'm the Swiftie who doesn't listen to her music, and dig it:

I have a cousin who feels that way about Billy Joel. The rest of the family are huge fans and have been since the early 70s. But the one cousin is like "I dig his vibe, I love the way he tells stories on talk shows. The once or twice I've been dragged to concerts I love the way he jokes around with his fans and treats them. I'm just 'meh' about his music but I love the man."

And this is 100% valid and okay.

[MN-Skeptic]

https://x.com/ElenaMMoore/status/1833936170301960507

Elena Moore
@ElenaMMoore

NEW: A General Services Administration spox tells NPR that as of 11 a.m. ET today there have been 306,422 visitors to http://vote.gov referred from Taylor Swifts’s URL she shared on Instagram last night

And THAT is the value of Taylor Swift's statement last night!

[neonzx]

Stevie!!

[Dave from down under]

If Swift wanted to throw more support to Harris..

Concerts in each swing and vulnerable red state with her ending each concert with…

“Thank you, be kind to each other and register to vote because you are the future.”

[neonzx]

If Swift wanted to throw more support to Harris..

Concerts in each swing and vulnerable red state with her ending each concert with…

“Thank you, be kind to each other and register to vote because you are the future.”

Not. Going. To. Happen.

Taylor's connection to her fan base is via social media. She did her job last night.

[Dave from down under]

“Just a dream”

Perhaps a “Register Now” tour as a follow up to her “Speak Now”