I traditionally have a thread heading to the election, here we go.

Get out the popcorn for this one.

Quote

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to formally announce next week he is running for president in 2024, NBC News reported Thursday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

The governor's official entry into the Republican primary field will put him head-to-head with former President Donald Trump, the party's current frontrunner for the nomination. Trump has already spent months treating DeSantis as his primary campaign rival, thrashing him with torrents of criticism over his gubernatorial record, his political skills and his personality.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/18/desantis-plans-to-officially-announce-presidential-run-next-week.html

NRSKarenRN said:

CNN  8/24/24

The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2024

1. West Virginia
2. Montana
3. Ohio
4. Michigan
5. Arizona
6. Nevada
7. Pennsylvania
8. Wisconsin
9. Texas
10. Maryland

PA residents not buying that Dave McCormick who's lived outside our state for 15 years in Connecticut has PA voters best interest at heart -along with being former CEO of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest hedge fund leaving in 2022 for politics.

 

There's almost zero chance that Rick Scott is going to loose his Senate seat he took from a Democrat.  In the state senate back in January a special election flipped a seat democrat but otherwise the primaries we held the other day are showing incumbents winning their seats back giving them a Republican "super majority" leaving them unchallenged in their agenda.  There is zero chance of Harris winning electoral votes here in Florida giving me a feeling that wonder why I'm voting in the first place.  LOL. I guess this is why all eyes are on places like Michigan and swing states and Florida is written off as a wasted effort.

One consolation for me is that I live in a solidly blue part of the state, a very dark blue, probably due to our racial mix.  So blue we were gerrymandered out of our county and city into a county across the bay so republicans could win the county.  

Quote

More than 200 staffers for four previous Republican presidential nominees have endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris' White House bid, cautioning that the notion of a second term for GOP nominee Donald Trump is "simply untenable" and "will hurt real, everyday people.”

In an open letter, first written about on Monday by USA Today, 238 people who worked for former President George H.W. Bush, former President George W. Bush, former Arizona Sen. John McCain and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney call on their fellow "moderate Republicans and conservative independents" to join them in backing Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, over Trump and his vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

Quote

"Another four years of Donald Trump's chaotic leadership,” the signatories warn, "this time focused on advancing the dangerous goals of Project 2025, will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions.” The letter goes on to warn that "broad, democratic movements will be irreparably jeopardized as Trump and his acolyte JD Vance kowtow to dictators like Vladimir Putin while turning their backs on our allies.”

Ouch

These things are taking a toll. 

https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-republican-endorsements-1371966c9be8ac4e0e6b3e1e126edbc9

https://www.axios.com/2024/08/29/vance-firefighter-union-speech-walz

Senator Vance received a less than enthusiastic welcome from the attendees.  It was an interesting contrast to the reception that Walz received from the group the day before.  

Tweety said:

I think the mic mute is a great idea for a debate with Trump.  It's not like he's known to be quiet and not interrupt his opponents.  LOL

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/26/kamala-harris-donald-trump-debate-abc-microphones-00176294

I also think it's a great idea that like last time will benefit Trump.

Beerman said:

I also think it's a great idea that like last time will benefit Trump.

What really benefits Trump is that it's considered normal and expected for his response to a question to be an off topic word salad rant that is filled with lies and delusions.  The media doesn't ever really talk about the ridiculous content of his verbal responses.  The expectations for Trump are so low it would be funny if we weren't talking about the presidency.  

I do understand that Trump and his sychophants have been telling the country that Harris isn't smart enough to handle unscripted interactions.  Talk radio is all about that.  

Beerman said:

I also think it's a great idea that like last time will benefit Trump.

yes   muting him definitely benefits him.

Tweety said:

yes   muting him definitely benefits him.

I can't wait to see his lips and hands moving without sound:)  Muting him makes him look even crazier.  I have occasionally watched the Republicans rants without sound.  It really makes their emotions clear.  Angry.old.white.men.  plus the few tokens hired by Fox.  

Tweety said:

yes   muting him definitely benefits him.

I agree.  Limits his interruptions.

subee said:

I can't wait to see his lips and hands moving without sound:)  Muting him makes him look even crazier.  I have occasionally watched the Republicans rants without sound.  It really makes their emotions clear.  Angry.old.white.men.  plus the few tokens hired by Fox.  

Did you see that in the last debate?  You know, that was muted mics too.

Beerman said:

Did you see that in the last debate?  You know, that was muted mics too.

Trump isn't that bad in debates that I can remember.  His fans loved he interrupted Clinton with "you'd be on jail" or "that's locker room talk".  

No one asked me, but I vote for muted mics. Easier to see the body language. I don't feature being bombarded by verbal bullying, so an unmuted debate is a hard no for me personally.

OTOH, an unmuted debate might showcase the candidates' respective ability to respond to pressure. Kind of important when the POTUS can literally wipe out life on earth by starting the third /last world war. 

It's no wonder, to me that it's trump's team requesting the muted mics this time. His body language is bad enough. Add in his rambling word-salad rhetoric against a trained prosecutor making her case and it's almost a perfect storm.

My money is on no debate at all. I think trump's dog will finally eat his homework and he'll pull out of the deal altogether. 

heron said:

My money is on no debate at all. I think trump's dog will finally eat his homework and he'll pull out of the deal altogether. 

I think Trump loves to debate and be in the spotlight, while I know his advisors have been asking him to tone it down.  He just can't help himself.

His debate performances won him a Presidency and the Republican nomination to run again.  Trump is confident even when wrong and being fact checked.  Even when arrogant and making stuff up.  Plus he has much to attack her about.  Her policy pivots, the border, inflation.  Trump is not stupid.