In Chicago, Democrats Desperately Hope For A Vibes Election
Or a Barbenheimer election, or whatever else you want to call it
If you examine the fundamental issues of this 2024 presidential election with any degree of focus, you’ll see the reality as undeniable: voters are incredibly consistent. They tell pollsters over and over again that their top issues are immigration, the economy, and security — foreign (war) and domestic (crime). These issues have been unchanged going back more than a year. And yet, because those fundamental trends do not tend to benefit the current administration, Democrats are in Chicago this week living in an open pattern of denial. They want this election to be about race, abortion, and culture war. They want this election to be about vibes. Not this:
The vibes election myth has been bought into by a lot of people, including some people who ought to know better. But there’s just no indication that’s true. The electorate’s remarkable consistency, even through the advent of terrorism and war, the failed attempted assassination of one candidate and the successful political assassination of another, we’ve been stuck in this limbo because of the rules of fundamentals. That may be too boring for commentators to admit, but it’s the truth.
Donald Trump is a known quantity while Kamala Harris is a partisan mystery box. These things aren’t changing, and it is why this election remains a coin flip. The Trump-Vance campaign’s focus now should be on sticking to the fundamentals, and not rising to the bait to make this the election Democrats want. If they do that, they will win.
Notes From Chicago
Even for someone used to the idea of mass media lies, the dichotomy between the way the 2024 DNC is depicted in mass media versus the way it feels in practical terms is astonishing. On camera and according to a host of commentators, this event in Chicago is one marked by joy, a vibe shift, the turning of the page, the passing of the torch, the way of the future. In person, it feels like an elderly boomer white lady tripping over her orthotics while wearing a Charli xcx shirt because she was trying to send a selfie to her twentysomething daughter. How do you do, fellow kids, don’t you also enjoy James Taylor?
The reason for this, when you consider the facts, is rather obvious: this is still a Joe Biden convention. It just has Kamala Harris layered over it. Everything about this convention feels old, contrived and forced — even the forced perspective of putting the stage in concert format, forcing delegates to choose between looking at their phones or craning their necks. Most of them choose to just sit down.
Other than a few jumbled speaker lineups, the approach is the same: a litany of elders barking about Joe’s dedication to the Scranton mythology. And as for those changes, do they even work? Why put Jasmine Crockett, a politician in office for fewer than two years, with not a single bill even passed out of committee in primetime? Vibes, obvs, and such.
The simple way of looking at this is that Kamala has been too busy hustling for Doritos and Coach Walz too busy grabbing Nutter Butters to reorder something like a convention. But the lie is plain and obvious upon any viewing: this feels like a wake. You can’t keep up the myth of joy and happiness when the people here seem so grimly resolute in person. This isn’t about nominating Kamala because they love her. It’s about nominating her because it’s what they have to do. Beating Donald Trump requires it. So they’ve embraced the idea of her legend even knowing how false it seems, hoping the American people will buy the lie of her beautiful knowledgeable skill at all things political.
The real danger for Democrats underlying all of this is the possibility that they already got their convention bounce. Harris and Walz have effectively moved the polling needle back to a tie in multiple swing states from its weakness under Joe. But if they emerge from Chicago without moving that needle more in their direction, it will have been a monumental failure of myth-building. They will be stuck in the same position they are now: hoping against hope they can keep the lie going until the day after the election.
Tim Walz’s Lies and Leftist Policies
Axios calls Walz a “gaffe factory”.
Walz's rise from a largely under-the-radar governor to a vice presidential candidate has put the Minnesota Democrat's record and statements under new, intensified scrutiny.
This week, Walz family members said their efforts to start a family were not aided by IVF, as previous statements and coverage indicated.
Since joining the Democratic presidential ticket, Walz has been criticized for misstating his military rank at retirement and saying he carried weapons of war "in war," when he was never deployed to a combat zone.
He's also faced a fresh news cycle over the repeated false statements his 2006 congressional campaign made about his 1995 arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence.
The campaign has since updated online references to his rank at retirement and said he "misspoke" at a 2018 event in which he referenced carrying weapons of war "in war," despite never being deployed to a war zone.
WSJ on his agenda in Minnesota:
From January to May 2023, Walz signed legislation to:
mandate pricing transparency for prescription drugs
ban so-called forever chemicals
guarantee tuition-free college for students from lower-income families, including undocumented migrants
allow undocumented migrants to obtain driver’s licenses
provide free breakfast and lunch for K-12 students in public schools
protect broad access to abortions
restore voting rights for felons
strengthen background checks for gun purchases
allocate funding for new affordable housing
create a state-level child tax credit
establish paid family and medical leave
increase state capital-gains taxes on the rich
establish protections for trans patients seeking gender-affirming care and those who deliver it
approve funding to replace lead pipes across the state
provide an additional $300 million for local governments to fund police and public safety
establish a goal to move the state utilities to 100% clean energy by 2040
legalize recreational marijuana for adults
Dream big, everyone.
Theo Von Teaches Donald Trump About Coke
As Democrats met in Chicago for their party convention, Trump made his latest podcast appearance on Theo Von’s This Past Weekend. The Republican nominee showcased his intention to make the election less about vibes and more about policy, while showing a side of himself that’s not often on display at his rallies or press conferences.
One great part of the podcast focuses on Trump’s relationship with his family, which even Hillary Clinton once praised. He talked about his brother Fred, who passed away twenty-five years ago, explaining how his experiences — and advice — are the reasons for why he has never had a “drop of alcohol,” drugs or even a cigarette.
“What’s something that you miss about him?” Von asked. “He was wise in a sense,” Trump responded. “He had this problem and it was very important for him to convey to me not to have this problem. And I couldn’t be successful if I had [followed that path].”
Von went on to share similar experiences. “Sometimes our older brothers take the speed bumps for us… My brother went through a lot of stuff that I didn’t have to go through.”
“Is he OK now?” a caring Trump asked.
After Von asked him to recall some happy memories, Trump talked about his brother’s love for flying — “he was a pilot… but ultimately he had to give that up because of the alcohol.”
In a sly transition, Von moved the conversation to the national, more specifically, the opioid epidemic. Trump flexed a bit about his record, yet things rapidly took a turn.
“Is cocaine a stronger up?” Trump asked Von after he talked about using drugs. “Cocaine will turn you into a damn owl homie, ya know what I’m saying?” Von replied. “You’ll be out on your own porch. You’ll be your own street lamp. You’ll freak—” Trump interrupted, “And is that a good feeling? It’s a miserable feeling!”
“There are 18,000 Big Pharma lobbyists in Washington, DC, there’s only 535 total [members of Congress]… how do we stop that?” Von asked. “Well, you have to stop listening to lobbyists,” Trump responded. Unsatisfied, Von insisted, “But can you stop that?” hinting, in his own way, at government action. Trump answered by making the case for banning elected officials — or those who “work in government” — from being able to become lobbyists.
Recalling a previous podcast he did with Senator Bernie Sanders, Von then asked Trump about healthcare. The two conversed about Trump’s “Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare” Executive Order, which essentially sought to encourage competition by mandating that insurers tell consumers the prices of their health products and services up front.
“Who is behind the healthcare, insurance, that whole thing?” Von asked, asserting that he feels that Senator Chuck Schumer may be a “deviant mastermind” in the space. Trump didn’t disagree — and when pressed on whether the healthcare lobby cared about money to the detriment of Americans’ health, he straightforwardly said yes.
The two spent time talking about other lobbies, from teachers to lawyers (“the most powerful lobby,” according to Trump). The more it went on, the more it felt like a nightly talk with one of your college friends.
Other notable highlights included Trump rejecting the idea that he ever considered Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a VP pick and a discussion of immigration.
Ever since the former president made an appearance on the Nelk Boys’s Full Send podcast two years ago, following UFC CEO Dana White’s recommendation, Trump has carved out a niche for himself in the bro-pod world. Blasting some Elvis Presley — and some dance moves — with top streamer Adin Ross, recording TikToks with influencer Logan Paul and chatting it up with Elon Musk on an X livestream are just some of the recent places Donald Trump has spent time these last few months.