Presidential Primaries Are Now Irrelevant: Focus on the Important Stuff

"Representatives have marinated in conspiracy theories and far-right media nonsense so extensively that they’ve virtually severed ties with actual constituent well-being."

It all makes sense now. While network talking heads argle bargle on about presidential primaries and Joe Biden’s age, and/or Donald Trump’s latest outrage, the two most likely candidates for the top of the ticket are moving on. 

It’s general election time, meaning yesterday’s ankle biters are irrelevant. The time has come to focus on campaign strategies aimed at persuading voters for the 2024 general election

It’s Biden vs Trump, ladies and gentlemen, now appearing in the central ring. 

(I’m trying hard not to use violence or war metaphors in my writing, as they add to the bad smell about politics in general. Besides, the circus is an apt descriptor.)

Election day (Nov 5) has lost its importance as the end of campaigning, with 47 states now allowing ‘no-excuse’ early voting. A broader approach to voters is coming into play.

Although campaigns have always worked to prompt voters to express their feelings about the candidates, subjective impressions are more important than ever for the candidates at the top of the ticket. They want voters to think they're part of something as they fill out their ballots.

Trump-a-Mania

Republican candidate Donald J Trump’s whole political persona is built around the concept of him as a leader who will end the torment his tribe believes they’re experiencing. Whatever promises or policies he’s running on are subject to change at any moment, the latest example of which is weaseling out of a past hard-line stand on abortion.

He has no other choice, given that any objective means of support runs up against inconvenient facts, like his policy failures during his first term of office, his authoritarian solutions for a second term, and certain legal problems.

Supporting the ex-president means followers have to hear everything through the filter of how they feel, blocking out contrary input in order to remain part of his crowd. 

The imagery Trump’s campaign would like voters to absorb involves an America beset by enemies foreign and domestic, with only one person standing between them and the worst things imaginable.

The almost-certain governmental shutdown is being celebrated by candidate Trump as a show of strength, an example of the power that would be part of his take down of the Deep State. 

Republicans are grandstanding to pass a bill that tries to use military appropriations to push anti-abortion messaging — this despite the fact that abortion bans are extremely unpopular and get more unpopular when they are actually passed into law.

Trump and his surrogates know they’ll never get their ever-changing wish list through the Senate, which has a bipartisan spending bill ready to come off the shelf. The broader goal in this instance is what counts, namely undermining an institution so that people will be more susceptible toward authoritarian rule. 

Back in the days when America was great (sarcasm here) corruption like what’s been reported on the Supreme Court, would have Senators on both sides of the aisle participating in a high profile commission to do something. Now, Republican leaders can’t be bothered, because such actions would represent a futile expenditure of political capital. The obstructionist wing of the party’s stance is about undermining American’s faith in yet another institution of democracy.

You’ll note that the former president’s stands are never couched in terms of benefits accruing to the general public. There is only the benefit of being part of his tribe. His support of the Freedom Caucus blockade in the House, is predicated on defunding federal law enforcement and prosecutors. 

In order for this sort of campaign to be successful, Trump has to wage a campaign painting the state of the nation as ugly as anyone could imagine. Currently that messaging is being muddled by squabbles on his side of the fence. Republican legislators have struggled to get a defense appropriations bill to the floor of the House, mainly because it’s so bloated with extremist bs and extremists in the House are now demanding that all appropriations bills be passed solely with GOP vote.

As Aaron Rupar at Public Notice said:

• Representatives have marinated in conspiracy theories and far-right media nonsense so extensively that they’ve virtually severed ties with actual constituent well-being.

• That’s why some House Republicans have been trying to take credit for infrastructure projects included in a $1 trillion Biden stimulus they voted against. The GOP no longer works for its constituents, which means GOP reps often lie to their constituents about what they’re doing.

Biden-o-Rama

Democrats know that Republicans are headed for a hard place when and if the government shuts down. Both parties already know how voters feel (blame the GOP), and that’s before CNN starts running stories about orphan children starving while Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene eats cake nearby.

It’s hard not to take some pleasure while Republicans pummel themselves with blunt objects, and I’m certainly singing joyous songs in the shower. 

But laughing and pointing don’t win elections.

President Biden’s is busy checking off an impressive do-list of executive actions designed to motivate both supporters and independents.  

For starters, there’s the opportunity to work the phrase New Deal into the news. The Biden plan is green-greener-greenest, employs young people for a cause they believe in, and says it will lessen the possibility of destructive wildfires.

From the Associated Press:

• After being thwarted by Congress, President Joe Biden will use his executive authority to create a New Deal-style American Climate Corps that will serve as a major green jobs training program.

• In an announcement Wednesday, the White House said the program will employ more than 20,000 young adults who will build trails, plant trees, help install solar panels and do other work to boost conservation and help prevent catastrophic wildfires.

If Republicans won’t go along with what a super majority of Americans wants them to do, the President will. And it’s a two-fer: moms and young people want this –The Office of Gun Violence Protection is here to help.

From the Washington Post:

• Since Biden was elected, gun violence prevention groups have pressed the White House to create such an office, arguing that it would help coordinate efforts across the federal government to reduce gun violence. Activists say this type of office would also allow the White House to exert more leadership on the issue.

• “If this announcement is, in fact, the creation of a single point of leadership on gun violence in the administration, it’s a very big deal for the movement,” Shannon Watts, the founder emerita of Moms Demand Action, a group working to stop gun violence, said in a statement after The Washington Post approached her with the news.

Immigration is a toughie, but team Biden found a move Republicans weren’t expecting - nearly a half million Venezuelans already in the country will be granted Temporary Protected Status, allowing them to seek legal employment and put off worries about deportation. Via Reuters:

• President Joe Biden, a Democrat seeking reelection in 2024, has faced record illegal border crossings, fueled by a sharp rise in recent years of migrants fleeing economic and political turmoil in Venezuela.

• Fellow Democrats, most prominently New York City Mayor Eric Adams, have called on Biden to expand work access for newly arrived migrants who have strained local and state resources.

• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the expansion of protected status for Venezuelans was warranted due to "Venezuela's increased instability and lack of safety."

Most Americans have no idea just how bad things in Venezuela are, so I’ll offer up one headline from today’s news to give as an example: Venezuela sends 11,000 troops to control gang-run prison with pool and zoo

On top of those developments, there are a couple of developments worth noting.

Biden’s campaign set to counterpunch on misinformation Via Politico

• Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is overhauling its strategy to fight misinformation on social media in the 2024 race, recruiting hundreds of staffers and volunteers to monitor platforms, buying advertising to fight bogus claims, pushing its own countermessages out through grassroots allies — with a bulldog aide helping lead the effort.

U.S. Will Resume Offering Free At-Home Covid Tests Via the New York Times 

• The website for the program, covidtests.gov, will begin accepting orders on Monday, and households will receive four tests. Dawn O’Connell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services, said the money would fund the purchase of 200 million tests to replenish the nation’s stockpile as tests are sent out.

• But a byproduct of the program, Ms. O’Connell said, is that it will shore up domestic manufacturing capacity in the event of another serious coronavirus surge. And if there is a spike in demand, she said, the department has given the manufacturers permission to sell the tests directly to retailers ahead of the government.

Liberal Group Dropping $10 Million On School Board Races Via The Messenger

• The liberal group "Run for Something" announced a 50 state strategy on Wednesday that commits millions to future school board races.

• The $10 million investment will include $3 million spent on 2024 races and another $7 million will be spent between 2025 and 2028.

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Thrilling Thursday Add-on News

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Michael Bloomberg pumps $500 million into bid to close all US coal plants Via Reuters 

• Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Wednesday he will pump $500 million into the next phase of his energy transition campaign, aiming to shut down "every last" coal plant in the United States and slash gas-fired capacity in half by 2030.

• The $500 million infusion into his decade-long Beyond Carbon initiative aims to "finish the job on coal" by working with state and local organizations to force the closure of the roughly 150 coal plants that have not yet retired, slash current gas generation in half and block the construction of new gas-fired plants.

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SDPD’s Larry Turner Will Run For Mayor of San Diego Via the San Diego Sun

• Quickly summarized, Turner’s mayoral campaign will focus primarily on homelessness, restoring law and order and stabilizing rising costs of living.

More, Via Voice of San Diego’s Morning Report:

• Turner supports the controversial Sunbreak Ranch proposal that would send all homeless people with nowhere to go to a single camp on a piece of desert land in Miramar, the Sun reported. 

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Taylor Swift snags 35,000 new registered voters Via Axios

• A Taylor Swift Instagram post drove record-breaking web traffic to Vote.org this week and helped the site register more than 35,000 new voters…

• …35,252 people newly registered to vote on Tuesday — a 23% jump from last year's National Voter Registration Day, and the largest since the 2020 general election year, according to Vote.org.

• There was a 115% increase in 18-year-olds registering compared to last year.

• 157,041 eligible voters visited the site.

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Lead image via Daily Kos

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