Here are some photos of Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House on Monday. This was her first public appearance since President Biden dropped his re-election bid and threw his support and endorsement to her. It cannot be overstated that the “palace coup” to ratf–k Joe Biden did not anticipate Pres. Biden endorsing VP Harris and Harris quickly emerging as a fundraising powerhouse and consensus Democratic nominee.
VP Harris’s first public appearance since all of that was at a reception/event for the 2023-2024 NCAA Championship teams. After that event, VP Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff traveled to Delaware, to the Biden Campaign Headquarters, which Harris has now inherited. Those are her people, her campaign staffers now. She and Doug gave wonderful speeches, and President Biden called in to give her support once again. Which is how this happened:
President Biden to VP Harris: “I’m watching you, kid. I’m watching you. I love you”
pic.twitter.com/q61AUBAi7L— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) July 22, 2024
“I’m watching you, kid. I love you.” Y’all, I have cried too many times in the past week. President Biden is an American hero and everything that is happening with and around VP Kamala Harris is incredible. Speaking of, you know how President Biden held a huge delegate count, enough to ensure that he would be the Democratic presidential nominee at the convention? When he bowed out, there could have been a delegate free-for-all. There was not. VP Harris quickly worked the phones, and I imagine President Biden did too. Less than 48 hours after Pres. Biden’s withdrawal, Kamala Harris has the delegates to become the Dem nominee:
Vice President Kamala Harris moved swiftly to assert herself as the de facto Democratic nominee for president on Monday, her first full day as a candidate, as virtually every potential remaining rival bowed out and she clinched the support of enough delegates to win the nomination.
The Associated Press said late Monday that Ms. Harris had secured the backing of more than the 1,976 delegates needed to capture the nomination in the first round of voting. The pledged support is not binding until the delegates cast their votes, which party officials said would take place between Aug. 1 and Aug. 7.
“When I announced my campaign for president, I said I intended to go out and earn this nomination,” Ms. Harris said in a statement. “Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party’s nominee.” She added, “I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon.”
This is amazing and once again, this was not guaranteed. Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, those douchebag podbros, they all wanted Dems-in-disarray, they wanted a fight over delegates and a messy convention. VP Harris said nope, we’re going to finish this in 48 hours. Something else which should not be underestimated is how many Democrats are impressed by VP Harris’s immediate fundraising successes. In one day, the Harris campaign raised over $100 million. That is record-breaking. As is the sudden influx of support for VP Harris. She’s not only the presumptive nominee, she already has coattails.
This needs to be a campaign ad:
VP: I was a courtroom prosecutor. In those roles I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump's type. pic.twitter.com/eRpjxwJlOc
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 22, 2024
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- United States Vice President Kamala Harris arrives for an event celebrating the 2023-2024 NCAA Championship teams on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, July 22, 2024. The Vice President’s first task in formally securing the Democratic presidential nomination will be to corral her former congressional colleagues, newly emboldened after a successful pressure campaign to force their party’s leader, Joe Biden, off the 2024 ballot Featuring: Kamala Harris, Lynda Tealer Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 22 Jul 2024 Credit: Ting Shen/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
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- United States Vice President Kamala Harris during an event celebrating the 2023-2024 NCAA Championship teams on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, July 22, 2024. The Vice President’s first task in formally securing the Democratic presidential nomination will be to corral her former congressional colleagues, newly emboldened after a successful pressure campaign to force their party’s leader, Joe Biden, off the 2024 ballot Featuring: Kamala Harris Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 22 Jul 2024 Credit: Ting Shen/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
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- United States Vice President Kamala Harris makes remarks during an event celebrating the 2023-2024 NCAA Championship teams on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, July 22, 2024. The Vice President’s first task in formally securing the Democratic presidential nomination will be to corral her former congressional colleagues, newly emboldened after a successful pressure campaign to force their party’s leader, Joe Biden, off the 2024 ballot Featuring: Kamala Harris Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 22 Jul 2024 Credit: Ting Shen/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
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- United States Vice President Kamala Harris poses for a group photo during an event celebrating the 2023-2024 NCAA Championship teams on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, July 22, 2024. The Vice President’s first task in formally securing the Democratic presidential nomination will be to corral her former congressional colleagues, newly emboldened after a successful pressure campaign to force their party’s leader, Joe Biden, off the 2024 ballot Featuring: Kamala Harris, Lynda Tealer Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 22 Jul 2024 Credit: Ting Shen/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
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- United States Vice President Kamala Harris makes remarks during an event celebrating the 2023-2024 NCAA Championship teams on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, July 22, 2024. The Vice President’s first task in formally securing the Democratic presidential nomination will be to corral her former congressional colleagues, newly emboldened after a successful pressure campaign to force their party’s leader, Joe Biden, off the 2024 ballot Featuring: Kamala Harris Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 22 Jul 2024 Credit: Ting Shen/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
When Biden was still in the race, the feeling I got from Dems (IRL – not on this site) was a sense of resignation and frankly of fear. There seems to be palpable excitement now. It gives me chills – in a good way.
Too many folks underestimate the power of enthusiasm.
Yep. I’ve talked to at least half a dozen who weren’t going to vote at all, and all are now saying they will be voting for Kamala.
This exactly. My friends and I have been texting almost non stop with every update for the last few days. And we all agree… it feels so good to be hopeful again.
I spent the weekend with my 20 year old. They were absolutely resigned to having to vote for Biden this year and are genuinely excited to have Harris running. They think a lot of their friends feel the same way. I want to talk to my niece, who was an organizer for the Georgia Democrats during the 2020 election cycle, and see what she thinks.
Louisa, It’s because we love her. LUV HER!
I’m actually really excited. The doom and gloom I’ve been feeling is slowly lifting. I think we might just have a chance.
Same! I made my first donation to the Presidential campaign Sunday evening. Prior to that, I’ve been giving to state and local races thinking there was a better chance there. I had resigned myself to losing the WH. No more! We can win this now!
I read via actblue that she’s over 250 million now. Amazing!!! And the 40k Black women mobilization zoom call was followed up by a 100k(?) Black men mobilization call. Again, amazing. I am so relieved that things are falling into place so quickly so we can have an organized, fun, motivating, inspiring convention.
The ignorance in articles like this is just astounding. “It cannot be overstated that the “palace coup” to ratf–k Joe Biden did not anticipate Pres. Biden endorsing VP Harris and Harris quickly emerging as a fundraising powerhouse and consensus Democratic nominee.” That just isn’t true. Everyone who wanted Joe Biden to drop out, not due to lack of respect but due to the fact that every recent poll showed he was not only going to lose but take the House with him, knew that Kamala was the only reasonable option to replace him and planned for that. Even just financially, she’s the only person who could legally inherit the Biden campaign’s ~$100M from prior fundraising, so nobody was ever seriously pushing another candidate. Not everything is a conspiracy. Biden didn’t plan to drop out, then he saw the same polls as everyone else did while sitting at home with Covid, and he realized he could either be the nominee or he could give us a chance to beat Trump, not both. He made this choice because he’s a good man. Don’t take that away from him.
The idea that Joe Biden was somehow peer pressured to step down even though he thought he was the best choice to run because people were just SO MEAN to him is ludicrous. Biden does unpopular stuff that people loudly and publicly complain about all the time. And if he were the type of man who thought he was the best man to run and beat Trump but was persuaded not to bc he was afraid people wouldn’t say nice things about him on the news, what kind of leader would that be? That isn’t who Biden is. There’s no conspiracy here. Biden just saw he couldn’t win after weeks of fighting to prove he could, so he changed his mind.
Totally agree that he stepped down because of the reality of the polls. From what I’ve read/heard, his top aides had been shielding him from them and it was driving people like Pelosi and Jeffries nuts.
I think you are wrong that there was a consensus around Kamala. I think Biden orchestrated that all on his own and it was a master stroke.
There was absolutely not consensus around Harris. AOC told us that point blank last week.
I would def believe that about being shielded from the reality of the polls. I also think it was probably easier to convince himself the voters were still behind him when he was out at rallies and fundraisers filled with his own supporters, and being at home with Covid let reality set in without distractions.
I’ve worked in Democratic politics for over a decade and have spent the last month talking to people about this. It could only have been Kamala if and when Biden dropped out. People didn’t coalesce around her magically bc they were moved by the spirit (though I’m thrilled she gave that impression!), it’s bc there were plans in place by every serious person (elected official, big non profit, etc.) for what to do if Biden dropped out and we had to quickly throw our weight behind Kamala to hopefully unify the party (aka Dem voters) behind her. My org has had a “Biden’s out, we endorse Kamala” statement ready for weeks just in case Biden made that choice.
There’s no guarantee that she would (or does) get the nomination until it’s final at convention, but every single post-debate conversation I had with anyone who works with or for the Democratic party in any capacity was “well ultimately it’s up to Joe and Joe alone, if he decides to stay in we’ll have his back but the fight becomes about the House since we will lose the presidency; if he steps down we all get to rally around Kamala and hope the delegates are on board to vote for her at convention.” It’s not just conjecture, I’ve been in those rooms for those conversations and know how they went. People can tell him what they want, but there’s no method to “force him off” the ticket so ultimately this all came down to a guy making a choice. It was up to him. Some people wanted him to stay him, some didn’t; pretty much everyone knew his road to beat Trump was getting much tougher.
No credit taken away from Biden or Kamala though – I think he handled the handoff perfectly and so did Kamala. No amount of planning from the wings is a substitute for Biden & Harris handling this moment so well themselves.
Yeah all of this. There was a reason why Kamala’s name was mentioned so often at the RNC. And yes, it would have been great to have a real primary with challengers and debates but at this point, we don’t have time. And that’s to say nothing about the optics of skipping over the second-in-command, a black woman, and replacing her with what would presumably be a white man.
This isn’t gonna be easy, though. Kamala is going to have to be on her game, she has to reintroduce herself to so many Americans who feel like they don’t really know her. She’s gonna have to drop the prosecutor stuff from time-to-time, be less defensive and more of the warm, relaxed person that everyone who meets her says she is. She’ll be battling all of the misogynistic, racist tropes that are *already* being hurled at her. But I really do believe she’s up for the task.
And as you alluded to, Biden had ZERO path to victory–NONE. When you’re losing in every swing state this close to the election, it’s over.
I’m hoping the coup talk will die down and soon. No, it wasn’t a coup – it was a tough decision that needed to happen for the good of the party and the country. Biden did a great thing by serving and a great thing by stepping down – let’s move on.
McmMom, ITA. Plus, it detracts from VP Harris running.
The people who are talking most about a “coup” are the Republicans, which should tell you something. It’s disingenuous, insulting and manipulative to call it that and that’s why the GOP does it. Don’t play into that bullshit, guys–don’t be their messenger and divide the party.
Agreed! This was not a coup, but rather a testament to a functioning democracy. We are not a cult of personality like the other side; we are a party focused on winning by presenting a stronger candidate. The prosecutor versus the felon presents a compelling contrast. Let’s stop fueling the Republican propaganda machine with coup talk and unite to elect a strong, intelligent candidate who will fight for all of us!
Well why didn’t those people writing op eds or proclaiming loudly that Biden should step down also proclaim loudly that Harris should, of course, be the nominee? It seemed to me that the prevailing message was: and then we’ll have a battle to see who emerges.
And if Pelosi was (allegedly) telling him we can do this the easy way or the hard way, it certainly sounds like there was pressure on him to drop out regardless of how he personally felt.
A lot of us did. We also wrote to democrats.org, and where possible to our Democrat Congressional Representatives, Senators and/ or Governors. We donated when VP Harris was named by President Biden. And we wrote emails thanking President Biden and emails encouraging VP Harris!
Technically Kamala isn’t the nominee yet and won’t be until/unless enough delegates vote for her at the convention. Prior to Biden stepping down, a lot of folks wanted to make sure Dems weren’t saying to the voters “we are anointing Kamala now without a discussion about it” but were still planning to throw their own support behind her and hope the voters coalesced around her. Kamala also in her statement made it clear she wants to “earn and win” the nomination for the same reason. People were extremely WORRIED that Biden stepping down would lead to a chaotic situation at the convention where dozens of random Dems threw their hat into the ring and we ended up with a random nominee, but HOPEFUL that the delegates (who decide the nominee) would rally around Kamala and commit to vote for her at the convention. That would be their right to do so – based on Dem party rules, almost anyone who wants to put their hat in the ring as a candidate at the convention can. So it’s obvious to folks who know what’s going on that Kamala is the best choice (like because only she can inherit Joe’s money), but folks were preparing for the voters to not agree and to have to get through a chaotic convention.
Kamala spent all day after the news was announced reaching out to Dems and delegates to “earn” their votes, and got the pledged delegates she needs already, so we expect a not-crazy convention supporting Kamala, thank god. But there is a Democratic process still in play that says the Dem delegates ultimately get to decide the nominee, not AOC or Nancy or anyone else, so folks like AOC in particular wanted to be careful not to appear to be pushing one candidate instead of following that process. But all the voters joined Dems and came together around Kamala so fast that it all sort of became moot.
Anonymous, True. Given that the set-up to run for the presidency is complex and expensive, though, and Agent Orange is a litigious worm, Kamala Harris was always the most logical and reasonable choice. Even if some people like former Dem, Joe Manchin, didn’t want to see that, most Democrats don’t live under a rock.
There was always concern that if leadership just came out for Kamala, it would look like a coronation instead of a democratic, grass roots, organic effort. I never thought there would be chaos. The chaos and disunity was caused by the three weeks of President Biden trying to convince folks like me that he is okay. But as far as I was concerned, it was always going to be Kamala. I hope we can put this unfortunate period behind us and unite behind our presumptive nominee.
Joe Biden for three years as president (and frankly his long political career) had occasional moments of gaffes, forgetfulness, misspeaking, so where were the concerns then? Biden still made good judgement. His administration kept the US economy out of serious meltdown compared to other big economies like Germany and China. He navigated difficult Congress that thwarted bilateral deals (I.e. border and immigration bill) to score political hits, but was able to get budget reconciliation passed.
Here’s the thing, I also have made similar mistakes like Biden, especially coming off long nights of surgeries or when I’m ill. I think we all have, And when you are older with speech impediment, a bit of aphasia, those impediments worsen. It’s not an excuse, just an acknowledgment that this is within norm. I didn’t see signs of senility.
It’s unfair to repeat the narrative MAGAs and the press have been pushing about Biden. It’s wrong to continue to make false claim that President Biden is senile. His debate performance would not meet that medical criteria. If people truly want to thank him for his services and wish him well, then please stop smearing this man.
@Anonymous: So true.
Dear Anonymous. I thank you for your posts. You are on point.
Agree 100%!
@Anonymous, Thank you! To imply that Schumer, Pelosi and former president Obama had some nefarious agenda against President Biden is disingenuous at best. As a nurse, wish this writer could spend 24hr with me on a cognitive impaired unit. Wonderful people(former lawyers, doctors, engineers and Phd’s) …to the last one , would note vote to have them lead 1person, let alone 350mil. So, not everything has to be about an agenda.
I’m calling bull on this one. I read the NYT and the WaPo daily. There was a palpable double standard in how these two (formerly) reliable major dailies covered this election. Both saturated their columns with stories about Hunter Biden and his families and friends. To the point that people were joking by asking is Hunter Biden on the presidential ballot? The NYT wrote a letter for Joe Biden to withdraw from the race. Both papers inundated their reporting with repetitive claims of Joe Biden’s mental and physical deficits. YET failed to apply the same standard to Trump!
Trump who forgets people, places, dates, who rambles incoherently and goes off in nonsensical stream of consciousness, who fell asleep at his own trial and convention gets a press pass? Please. On CB, we know double standards and BS. We can spot gaslighting a continent away.
Joe Biden was under pressure and part of that was due to MSM created hysteria. Look much of the media is now owned by billionaires and corporate investors— Murdoch, Bezos, Sinclair, Musk, NYT’s biggest shareholders are BlackRock, Vanguard etc. if you do a search, you’ll find these people and companies stand to the right and far right on policies.
The thing is, it doesn’t have to be a conspiracy. It just has to be enough greed and self interest to bring a good person down. What heady power to be a kingmaker. Please you can’t tell me narcissists like Bezos, Musk, Thiel, Murdoch didn’t like that. More importantly, Trump can be bought. Read Project 2025. It’s literally a wish list from these people.
If you’ve been paying attention the last few years, you’d know ,when it comes to Trump, the rule books are thrown out the window. That’s what his followers like most about him. The rest of us, in the real world would like to see a future for our children and grandchildren. Thus, a change needed to be made.
I’m happy with the change.
But I’m not naive by the role MSM and their owners benefited by causing such chaos and pessimism among democrats. My fear is what they did to Joe, they can do it again to Kamala. They were quite effective in sowing divisions and doubts.
The silver lining is right now, Kamala has the momentum. The MAGAs didn’t expect that nor the large grassroots support that came through with money.
The “Coup” narrative is a right-wing talking point and is being pushed to undermine Kamala and support their lawsuit threats.
It kills me to see how people fall for these GOP talking points by MSM press and fail to make the connections.
Yeah I think we need to take it easy on the “coup” talk. I think it’s fine to discuss how this came to be, express our approval or displeasure at what led us to this moment and the players involved, but we can’t play into that narrative. There’s a clear path forward, let’s go.
See also: Pelosi unequivocally endorsed Kamala and most likely helped line up support behind the scenes before Biden announced he was dropping out.
Proof that “Pelosi unequivocally endorsed Kamala…before Biden announced he was dropping out.” Where, when?
@ANONYMOUS
Agreed. I’ve been watching this from develop from afar for weeks now and the takes on this were…puzzling.
I’m so very happy she is getting the delegates that she needs. Her fundraising is amazing. Small donors are letting people know what they want. I’m still sad about Joe but if we have to move on then I’m glad it’s Kamala. A wonderful woman of color who is smart and can get things done and kick the orange dictator wannabes a**.
For expats who either haven’t signed up to vote OR haven’t heard back from your board of elections, please sign up or get in contact immediately. It took two months for my kids’ American passports to arrive—if you need anything done via snail mail, be aware that the US postal system is not as trustworthy or reliable as it used to be.
Some helpful websites for expats:
FVAP.gov
votersabroad.org
Democratsabroad.org
Not just $100M but tens of thousands of new volunteers. That’s amazing!
I don’t know what people who should know better are thinking re having a free-for-all in choosing a nominee. It is absolutely nuts. Do they remember nothing about 2016?
She is the VP on the ticket, the top of the ticket stepped down, the VP stepped up. Clean. Simple. They way it ought to be. If it is good enough for the actual Presidency, I don’t get the supposed issue of it for the nomination.
I am just astonished with the change in energy.. it feels amazing we need to do everything to keep it going. I’ve cried more tears of relief in the past 24 hours, I didn’t realize how hopeless I was actually feeling, even though I had stopped watching 24 hour news. Just under two weeks for the deadline to pick a VP and I’m looking forward to seeing who it is.
Same! It’s crazy how energized I’m feeling now–the dread and doom I was feeling has been purged.
And some of the early attack ads from Kamala’s campaign are really effective IMO. The match-up of a black female former prosecutor going against an orange grifter and convicted felon is really just the gift that keeps on giving..
ETA: I should have said that I saw her old ad that went viral and that’s def the flavor her campaign will be bringing to the table.
It’s palpable and electrifying! VOTE!
@Hypocrisy I was one of the people saying Joe should stay. I didn’t buy into the GOP crap about Joe being senile (and still don’t!). What I didn’t see, and Nancy Pelosi most certainly did, is the apathy setting in with Dem voters.
Some of us are vote blue no matter who but many people aren’t. Between the Israel-Gaza issue (which Biden and Congress flubbed) and the lack of effective messaging from the Biden administration about their accomplishments and the sudden laser focus by the media on Joe’s debate performance and recent gaffes…there was a splintering of the Dem party.
Nancy Pelosi saw that and she knew something had to be done to corral the votes for November. I imagine it was a difficult decision for her to go to the sitting president and ask him to step down from the campaign but she did it and the response from Dem voters has blown me away.
The energy coming off of the previous couple of days is electrifying. So I don’t like how we got here but I can admit I was wrong about what needed to be done.
I too hoped all the “step down” stuff would stop, a little for Joe Biden personally, but mostly because I was terrified it would be wide open, there would be chaos, and chaos hands the WH back to the GOP.
Instead, I am impressed how it has played out, how smoothly everything transitioned, and how quickly support has rallied for VP Harris. There is definitely an energized feeling, and I think a lot of people who were hesitant, apathetic, or depressed before now feel a renewed sense of hope, urgency, and determination.
As Speaker of the House, Pelosi was famous** for having the vote count LockedDown ~before~ anything was brought to the floor. This was never better demonstrated than the narrow victory of passing the Affordable Care Act.
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**infamous if you were on the other side of the aisle
‘those douchebag podbros, they all wanted Dems-in-disarray, they wanted a fight over delegates and a messy convention’ – you obviously don’t listen to Pod Save America, that is not what they have said at all.
💯
Also, many people have already said this, but it bears repeating: Biden has been polling behind other democratic candidates for years now. Generic democratic candidates have had markedly better polling numbers for a long time now. Biden was trailing down ballot candidates for months now. He was supposed to be a transitional candidate ushering the new generation (Kamala!), but he didn’t. He kept her back, even when she consistently showed to be an effective speaker on the issues. His age kept showing up as a point of concern in polls. His public performances just affirmed what too many voters were already thinking. Pelosi and Biden are friends, she did what really good friends do and told him plainly he wasn’t winning.
Thank you! It was very clear that it pained them to say it. I’m also glad that the narrative went as they suggested i.e President Biden gets to leave as a selfless patriot. Let’s not push the backstabbing narrative. It wasn’t just the debate. It was also about the interviews that followed that should have helped but made things worse. They never said vice-president Harris should be bypassed, quite the opposite actually. The primary was just a suggestion to make sure nobody questioned her legitimacy but with everyone rallying behind her, it’s even better!
And who’s pushing the backstabbing narrative? That’s the question to ask. Who benefits from the fighting?
Why use the GOP talking point like “anointment” of Kamala Harris?
As for polls, I took a look at the ones the Post and NYT chose to use, and some were problematic with methodology. I hope people looked up methodology and the background as to who owns the poll. They are not equal.
YouGov is problematic because it actively seeks poll/survey takers and pay them. It keeps regulars on a roster to be used over and over again. It seeks special demographics from teens to certain income criteria for example because it sells its services for marketing purposes. So if people here can laugh at questionable (YouGov) polls conducted about the royals, the same can be done to others.
I am amazed at how the Dems have rallied together. A friend told me that Kamala’s sorority hit the ground running and so did another sorority – they went arm in arm and rallied together. THAT is exactly what the Dems need to show that they have their act together and this is a young and energetic team.
My only fear is that Hillary, a white woman, lost against him; but I have to keep saying to myself this is not 2016 and Kamala is not Hillary. And watching the last clip, her ease in speaking brought tears to my eyes – she hit everything Trump is and very eloquently. I hope they do debate.
Godspeed to them – the entire world is watching and a great deal hangs in the balance.
Kamala doesn’t have years long of political baggage of Hilary. Hilary got turned into the boogeyman by the right years before she run for the office; both Obama and Bernie’s campaign attacks made people on the left doubtful about her too. Also, it seemed like people (especially women) regretted not voting for Hilary against Trump. They won’t make the same mistake since Trump showed everyone what he is capable of.
Thankfully times change and people evolve.
VP Harris is heading for a nasty fight, but she has energized a lot of Democrats.
Hilary won the popular vote by 3milion.
Hilary was tanked by Comey. Did people forget that?
This talk about Hilary being dislikable was a GOP coup. AND it’s being used the same way to describe Kamila. That she’s a poor choice, unlikable like Hilary and unwinnable.
I wish people stop parroting GOP narratives.
@Kit, She won the popular vote, but that isn’t how it works. She lost the swing states and with that, the election. I already said she had years long propaganda (organized by the right) working against her. Obama and Bernie made some attacks too when running against her during primaries. People didn’t forget that. Comey did the last push with the investigation announcement. But, it wasn’t just Comey.
I know how it works. My point is the narrative that Hilary was unlikable and unwinnable, hence that was why she lost in 2016 is the GOP rewriting of what happened.
That people are using the GOP narrative today about Hillary tells me how well we got brainwashed. Guess what, there are people, some who are self proclaimed democrats, who are using this very same words to describe Kamala Harris. Likening her to being like Hilary (the pushy, harpy, thin skin woman trope).
This is why I wish people would be more careful about the narratives they are co-opting.
BTW, I initially voted for Bernie in my state primary. But with Hilary’s nomination, I went all in for her.
@Kit, I have a pretty good memory. During primaries with Obama & Hilary, he said he had been working in the slums of Chicago while she was a corporate lawyer sitting on the board of Walmart. During primaries with Bernie & Hilary, he said she is not qualified for the Oval Office and was hustling money from the wealthy and powerful.
Hilary Clinton was working in Washington for a long time. People were seeing her as the part of elite. The attacks against her from Dems candidates also indicated that. I didn’t get brainwashed. She has been unlikeable for a lot of people, not just because of the right wing propaganda after the election. You may not think of her like that, but a lot of people did and chose to stay at home instead of voting for her. Even her own campaign blamed Bernie’s attacks for low voter turnout from Dem voters after she lost.
Look if you want to fall for the trope that inside the beltway is a cesspool full of elites, then that’s on you. Hilary was championing healthcare access for all long before it became Obamacare. Long before she ran for president. She didn’t come from wealth either like the Trumps, or the Bushes or the Kennedys.
She didn’t sit around attending ladies tea. She advocated for women and children (Children Defense Fund) and the disabled. She did this when Bill was governor. She worked as a lawyer. People didn’t know that about her, but assumed she got into politics after Bill got the nomination.
I don’t doubt Hilary was a forceful woman, given who Bill was. But I grew up inside the beltway. My father worked for the government. He grew up poor, first in the extended family to win a full scholarship to a state university. There were a lot of people like my dad. And they were from everywhere. Some were stationed abroad working for the government. I can tell you the majority of these people were not elite nor rich.
The reality is elite meant you were rich and powerful, inside or outside the beltway. It’s just easy to demonize government and government workers because we can’t talk back. We weren’t partisan. And that elite claim burns me because back then working for the government meant many Blacks lived a middle class life, owned a house, and were able to send their kids to college. We had community. Sometime an oasis surrounded by white neighborhoods. School was where worlds overlapped for kids.
Anyway, my point is Hilary is much more than an elitist people tried to paint her as.
Hillary had baggage (earned or unearned) from the 90s that she couldn’t shake which made a lot of people stay home. I also think there was just a sense of “of course Trump won’t win, of course HRC will win” – I remember being completely shocked on election night.
someone said yesterday that voter apathy is the biggest concern for the Dems and voter excitement is the biggest concern for the Rs and I think that’s a pretty good assessment. We’re not apathetic now.
I agree people weren’t excited by Hillary Clinton and they assumed she would win. I know those statements sound contradictory but that was the vibe back then. I think people also (wrongly) assumed that Trump would get his shit together and assume the responsibility of being the leader of the free world. People know better now.
Remember when Trump won and everytime he did something without ranting about Hillary or the border or whatever they would say “this is the moment Donald Trump became president” and then he would go back to threatening world war 3 on twitter at 2 am and the pundits would be like…..oh wait, not quite yet. Maybe next week he’ll be ready.
I think people now have a better idea that he is never going to be ready to be a grown up, to be the adult in the oval office. He still has his base, of course he does, but I think a lot of those people who thought he and Hillary were the same aren’t thinking the same thing now.
Trump has a gift. He can lie, and lie forcefully that people want to believe it. Because he sells false dreams build on resentment, grudges, hate. Those negative emotions are far stronger than positive ones. That’s why there’s that saying about cutting one’s nose to spite one’s face.
I too was completely shocked on election night. But that was because I believed in polls. Now I realize what a joke polls are. They’re snapshots in time. Their bias and error is understated, despite the fact that pollsters keep twiddling with their models after they’re proven wrong again. Polls are an easy way for media to turn a political contest into months-long reporting based on the horse race, rather than governance and issues. Outlets like NYT and WaPo prepaid P. Schweizer big $$$$ for access to “Clinton Cash” so they could run excerpts (despite Schweizer getting $2.6M from Mercer Family Foundation). Then they ran prepaid anti-Clinton excerpts, and followed it up with polls 🙄
Kinda interesting (not really) to go back in time to see how all the pollsters justified big mistakes, like Clinton-tRump. Read (or listen) Stacy Abrams “Our Time is Now” for insight on ‘likely voters.’
The Divine 9 have already mobilized. I got chills reading the notice they sent out. Black folks are locked in. The rest of the country better match this energy.
I needed that reality check. Thank you. That is one worry that I can now keep at bay.
We also have to remember that in 2016, no one knew what to expect if he won (because we all thought he wouldn’t). Now? We’ve seen the utter disaster that his first administration was. We’ve seen January 6. We’ve seen almost everyone in his administration turn against him. We’ve seen his own lawyer testify against him. We’ve seen 34 felony convictions. We’ve seen others around him indicted, tried, convicted. We’ve seen Project 2025, and the people now surrounding him.
People know what’s at stake here, and that’s a message VP Harris delivers perfectly, and the rest of the party needs to hammer home too.
The felon vs the prosecutor. I feel Trump is scared. I couldn’t believe how quickly the party and the public got Kamala’s back. Bypassing Kamala would be the biggest mistake Dems could do. I think, before announcing Joe’s stepping down, the party leaders got organized for Kamala with the support of Biden. That explains the lack of chaos and the speed of everything falling into place. The articles from rich donors were doubtful about Kamala, but now they can’t remove her.
American hero? Like not start rewriting Joe Biden’s history. He was a decent President up until October 2023 but like Obama has made some political missteps over his career. In his current state he was not a good candidate against Trump, Kamala is and the fact that the donations have been pouring in says that a lot of people believe that she can win.
Well that’s good news for Kamala!
And I cannot wait for the debate, if they even have one. He’s so intimidated I bet he won’t agree.
The most interesting part in this is JD Vance. I’m reading they already want to replace him because he’s zero charisma, zero charm, terrible public speaker & was a horrible choice.
Who will be Kamala’s vp pick?
Not Pete, I don’t think him. Please god not Beto. Be nice if she chose Julian Castro.
Going to go out on a limb and guess Harris/Beshear. Lol
Julian Castro would be amazing but I don’t even think he’s up for contention. I heard Buttegieg is in the mix.
I would LOVE it if she picked Julian Castro. It would also be a great way to scoop up a heck of a lot of votes in Texas.
Vance has been tainted by association by Peter Thiel who is a die-hard misogynist. Josh Shapiro would be a good pick too.
My gut is telling me Mark Kelly.
We all know it’s going to be a man, a most likely a straight white man. Kelly was an independent for a long time, has a strong military background, was a NASA astronaut, and now a Senator. Not to mention his wife is Gabby Giffords. I feel like he could pull some John McCain type voters over to the Democrats.
Beshear sounds like a good choice as well, but there’s no way it swings Kentucky blue, right? Speaking of Kentucky, is Mitch McConnell still alive? I haven’t heard a peep out of him since he had that neurological issue live on camera.
I dont think Beshear would swing Kentucky blue, no. But I think he could pull some votes. More importantly, he or Cooper could appeal to people in states like NC, VA, PA, GA – and help with those swing states.
To add, I don’t think it will be Kelly because we dont want to risk that senate seat, but not sure how AZ’s process for that would work.
Mark Kelly (AZ) would be perfect with potentially +1 D in office. He could keep his Senate seat while running. With a Harris win, Gov Katie Hobbs (D) would appoint another D to fill his seat. AZ statute requires appointment of someone from same party as person vacating it. The replacement would serve until next general election. He won over R candidate in 2022 by 126K votes. Strong gun control record.
I think it’s going to be Beshear, Cooper, or Kelly. Beshear and Cooper are term limited in KY and NC, so they wouldn’t be giving up a safe blue seat by picking either. Kelly’s bio would be Hollywood-perfect when combined with Harris and would neutralize a lot of the macho/martyr image Trump gained from the assassination attempt, but it may be too risky to open up that senate seat in AZ right now.
Kaiser, I think your anger at the party might be better aimed at the corporate media that incessantly fanned the flames of its own manufactured crisis around Biden. The terrible and unfair truth is that perception matters more than reality at some point. The media – that won’t cover Trump’s age, infirmities, or actual insanity – was 100% committed to fomenting this. To me, the party leaders you’re angry with recognized the ugly math of this awful reality, IMO, and made the leap because we cannot afford to lose.
Pelosi is no enemy of Biden’s. She just knows how to count votes better than anyone. But you’re right the entire thing incredibly unfair to Biden. And sad. I love Joe Biden. I wish it hadn’t unfolded like this, for him.
But I’m feeling really good about the future. The excitement and hope is buzzy and genuine and the media loves the new storyline (ugh). I’m keeping my anger and disdain for what corporate media did here, but I think they’ll be giddy to cover a new, sweeping, hopeful narrative.
Either way we will put in the work. Kamala can do this. We can do this!!
@Carka “She just knows how to count votes better than anyone.” Spot on.
Exactly.
I fear people aren’t realizing the power of the 4th estate.
Yet ironically, the press, pundits, psychologists, and regular people have stated about how people changed after consuming Fox News or angry talk shows all the time.
@Kit Your postings are way off to me. I don’t have to think PBJ is senile to question whether he has the fortitude to lead America another 4 months let alone 4 years. I’m not brainwashed by the media. I can respect the man, wish things played out differently and give him credit for stepping down.
@Anonymous I am so grateful for your postings. Some of the postings on the site had me beyond confused. You have a wonderful gift of expressing thoughts on the issue.
George Clooney can suck it. Go Harris! She is going to be a great POTUS.
Yeah, he and Pitt can sit sipping their craft liquors and making their same quirky bro-dude sepia toned buddy movies and providing cover for their and other bros shitty behavior til infinity.
And they can also go pound sand as the humanity progresses without them and leaves their regressive attitudes in the dust.
RIght on!
I echo @Agnes: Right On @North of Boston! Eff all the way off Clooney (and Pitt).
I don’t think the Dem leadership wanted to be in disarray.
I think they were genuinely concerned/scared about a second orange term – with SCOTUS basically saying he’d be king. Donors were pulling out (which is frustrating but they too want to win). The polls were abysmal (and I can only imagine how bad internal polling was comparatively).
I’m not saying Biden wasn’t shafted. But he made the choice on his terms and was able to get his successor in place. The Dems have impressed me with how they’ve fallen in line (so far). And they’ve generated excitement within the party. I believe as much as it’s about “undecideds” in swing states – it’s also about energizing your base in swing states. Getting Democrats excited and off the couch and to the polls is worse case scenario for Republicans.
Harris is not perfect. I’m not letting perfect be the enemy of good. People wanted change. They got it. Let’s go do something with it. Vote Blue.
Btw, Donald Trump seems to be scared of debating VP Harris. He’s trying to weasel out of the September ABC debate. Sounds bigly courageous. S/
“So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type.” Of course, he’s scared. He should be. That whole speech yesterday evening just demonstrated why President Biden made the right decision. It was a clear, sharp message and a vision for the future delivered beautifully. This was what Biden hadn’t been able to do for months now. You can’t win if you can’t communicate. And now we can attack Trump’s communication problems which are considerable.
He’s saying it should be on Fox and if so, I think she should do it and go straight into the lion’s den. She’d still wipe the floor with him.
So what happens if he really won’t debate her? Can he do that? Genuinely asking.
Take a cardboard cut out of him.
Replay some of his idiotic comments.
Respond.
Lay out a plan for America.
He can do it, but it won’t look good. So he’s f-ed either way!
In Georgia senate race, the R candidate refused to go to the debate. The debate still happened. They gave the whole airtime to the D candidate (Jon Ossoff) and put an empty podium for the other guy. The D candidate won the race. I hope the similar thing happens if Trump refuses.
Every time I think about the possibility of a woman president and a woman of color gives me so much hope and optimism for the future. For months I stopped watching the news because I couldn’t understand how most of the journalists from almost every tv station were bending together to show the country how bad it would be for Biden to have a second term.
I cried when she was sworn in as VP. After the crushing Hillary Clinton electoral college loss, I didn’t think we’d get the chance again to have a woman president. I can’t imagine what this feels like for women of color to see too. I have an infant niece, and several friends have young daughters, I so badly want them to grow up in a world where this is just a fact, where a woman has been POTUS.
As soon as President Biden dropped out I deactivated my Twitter account and took a long walk. I already wasn’t feeling great about the election and my hope plummeted. I do think was all handled incredibly messy and have no idea how the older demo or swing demo will vote now that Kamala is (very very likely) the Dem nominee but the last 2 days have been really good. My generation (Zillennials) seems more optimistic and obviously fundraising and support has skyrocketed. I think we can do this.
We can do this because we have to. What choices do we have? We can’t let the country drown.
I didn’t think we had a choice in 2016 either but it seems a lot of folks disagreed. Hopefully having lived through that, people make the right choice this time.
Trump was an anomaly. So no one knew what he was capable of. There were people within his own party who thought they could rein him in back in 2016.
It’s no wonder this election cycle, many republicans chose to leave Congress.
We can absolutely do this!! I was expecting a mess, but it’s amazing to see how everyone has come together on this. Now it’s time to get it done!
Also, a LOT has happened since 2016. This isn’t even the same world.
“Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, those douchebag podbros, they all wanted Dems-in-disarray”
This is not true. I have my issues with Pelosi and the podbums but no way did the actual leadership want Dems-in-disarry. They wanted a successful second term for PJB but saw things that We. Did. Not. The leadership talking about open primary to me was a talking point. But I could be wrong.
Before PJB dropped out, I was panicking because the Democrats around me were demoralized and demotivated and I was hoping for change. I wrote in support of honoring PJB’s accomplishments and VPKH stepping in. In my Democratic bubble of people in the expat community and people I personally know in the US, VPKH has been excitedly welcomed. I have no doubts that the Democrats’ base is now highly motivated. I heard from my Never Trump relatives that they look upon PJB ceding the candidacy as a positive moral decision as well. I truly think that we are now better positioned to fight against Trumpism than we were before.
I’m excited and hopeful for Harris. Let’s go💙!
I saw a meme yesterday and it said: The good news continues – Maya Rudolph is back!!! With her pic as Kamala on SNL. NOW that will be good television.
I love her Beyonce & Kamala. Always happy to see her return. She is amazing.
I’m so relieved.
Don’t do the work of the Russian bots for them. Some of the comments these past few days are echoing the “sky is falling” narrative that is being pushed on reddit. Is winning the election a given now that Harris is the nominee? Not at all. There’s still work to be done and there’s no time for the hand-wringing.
Seriously, this is WORKING people!! We’re going to be okay. We just have to do the work now.
I’m glad it is working out well so far. It seems like the best outcome from a messy situation. I will be thrilled to vote for Kamala Harris.
I am still, however, disgusted with the big money donors who were so willing to play games with vulnerable peoples’ futures. Joe was always going to be fine either way. But there were very real consequences for immigrants, queer people, women and other vulnerable populations had this gamble not paid off. The $ folks had every right to make their opinions known, but to withhold donations could very well tank the election and put real people at risk.
I AM SO HERE FOR PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS! LFG!!
Also not sure if I can post vidoes here (I dont think so) but ya’ll need to check out the tik-tok video that mashes Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” With Kamala and the orange felon. It is chef’s kiss!
Hallelujah! Let’s do this!
Uh… I do no think that Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, or Chuck Schumer WANTED Dems in disarray. Is this a typo?
Anyway, this is all thrilling! Projection on Wednesday said that Harris should have the delegates lined up by Wednesday, but she had it by Monday evening. BOSS.
Oops project on Sunday, I meant.
When all this went down after the debate (which I didn’t watch because I never watch them) I was very upset. I couldn’t understand why ppl started asking Biden to step aside. I don’t follow politics to any great degree so I didn’t know about all the polling and everything else ppl have been bringing up about Biden. So I thought it was very unfair for ppl to start in my view humiliating him publicly. While I’m still sad about how everything went down I understand a lot more now. Thanks to ppl on this blog, I’ve learned a lot. I just wish they had spoken to Biden privately instead of going to the press. I still feel that was disrespectful however maybe some ppl did try to do that. I feel better now. I know it’s going to be a fight and a tough one although it shouldn’t be considering the opponent, convicted felon, inciting an insurrection, attempted coup etc. I just hope the democrats can keep their act together. I do feel hopeful. Have a nice day everyone 🙂
Wow! Great rally speech by Kamala in Milwaukee! The crowd and I are fired up and ready to go!
Please vote! Donate! And GOTV! If we vote, we win!
I feel galvanized and excited. The notion that I might be alive to see the first woman of color as president brings tears to my eyes and makes me so, so, so happy. That’s not the only reason I want to vote for her — I believe she is supremely qualified and will do great things as the Commander in Chief.
Yes guys, let’s do this
If it was possible in 2020, you can do it now.
Down with Saur🍊n!
Harris got what it takes to lead the country.
All hands on deck for her!
She should get Hillary to be her VP. The people who wanted Hillary to win in 2016 would vote for her now no question.