Tag Archive: 2024 elections

Vice President Kamala Harris sounds the Democratic Party 2024 election theme

Written on November 17, 2023 by in Democratic Messaging

Vice President Kamala Harris pushing the 2024 Democratic theme

By now, most people have processed the results of the November 7 off-year elections, and they agree that the Democratic Party did very well. This includes, for example, the largely red state of Kentucky, where Democratic Governor Andy Beshear won reelection in a strong performance. Moreover, in Virginia, Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin lost big time when Democrats not only held onto their state Senate majority, they also flipped the state House of Delegates to Democratic control.

Not coincidentally, abortion was on the minds of Virginia voters, as Gov. Youngkin had proposed to ban most abortions after 15 weeks. Democrats ran and won on protecting abortion rights in opposition to the Governor. Likewise, the abortion rights issue was even more directly on the ballot in Ohio, where voters approved a state constitutional amendment protecting access to abortion and other forms of reproductive healthcare.

These results follow previous special elections, such as in Kansas in August 2022, where voters rejected a proposed Republican amendment that said there was no right to abortion in the state. Thus, it’s apparent that, after the Republican-majority U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June of last year, thereby taking away the constitutional right to abortion and leaving the issue to the states, the Democratic Party pro-choice position keeps prevailing in special elections, and promises to be a strong issue for the Democrats in the 2024 elections.

At the same time, as we have noted, the Democrats — from President Joe Biden to members of Congress and others — have turned the Republicans’ anti-abortion positions and rulings into a broader theme of “freedom.” And now, Vice President Kamala Harris has joined this “freedom” caucus. As this C-SPAN video shows, on Wednesday morning after the November 7 elections, VP Harris stepped out of the White House, walked up to the microphones, and had this to say:

Last night, I think the American people made clear that they are prepared to stand for freedom, and for the individual freedoms and the promise of freedom in America …. I think that if you look at from the midterms to last night, from California to Kansas, Ohio to Virginia, the voters said, “look, the government should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.”

Democrats using the “freedom” theme is music to our ears, as we have been advocating this since 2013. The added benefit is that Democrats are taking “freedom” back from the Republicans, who have tried for so long to own the idea. It’s a great theme for Democrats to run on for 2024.

Photo by The Democratic Party, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/FjJ9mL

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To tout President Biden’s accomplishments, make it bite-sized

Written on November 9, 2023 by in Democratic Messaging, Good Government, Media Watch

President Biden boosts high-speed trains and infrastructure

As we are now less than one year from the 2024 elections, there have been some lists of President Joe Biden‘s many accomplishments floating around online, including from the White House itself. The lists are quite long and impressive, comprising legislation (American Rescue Plan, Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act), executive orders (creating new national monuments, steps to curb gun violence, AI safety measures, and more. These accomplishments are important to share, because mainstream media outlets often refuse to acknowledge them. However, the comprehensive lists of what President Biden has achieved can be overwhelming, especially for anyone trying to recite these accomplishments in conversation, on video, or even in writing.

Therefore, a better method might be to pick one subject at a time, and focus on that. For example, earlier this year, the Biden team began enlisting what some call “an army” of mostly young social media influencers, and even gave them a special briefing room at the White House. These influencers use social media such at TikTok to create short pieces on topics in which they have chosen to specialize, such as financial policy, gun violence, marijuana decriminalization, electric vehicles (EVs), and more.

While these social media influencers are well-known, with large audiences and familiar platforms, there is no reason why the rest of us cannot similarly use the tools of communication at our disposal — blogs, podcasts, YouTube channels, old-fashioned letters to the editor of local or national newspapers, website comments, and even face-to-face conversations with friends and family at upcoming Thanksgiving and other holiday dinners — to share all this good Biden administration news. In doing so, sticking to one topic at a time might be most palatable to those listeners and readers with short attention spans due to holiday food comas or otherwise.

Besides being able to hold people’s attention spans, a further advantage of this bite-sized approach to sharing President Biden’s accomplishments is that it lets individual Democratic voters play up the issues that are most important to them.  For instance, one who thinks climate change is the most crucial issue we face can talk about the Inflation Reduction Act, with its tax credits for EVs and solar energy installations. Another person who is most passionate about protecting abortion rights in the wake of the Republican majority U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade can bring up President Biden’s executive orders to safeguard abortion and contraception, and so on. In this manner, all of the important issues likely would get aired, no one’s eyes would glaze over with exhaustion, and President Biden would get the full credit he deserves.

Photo by Maryland GovPics, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/GaEPVS

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Ron DeSantis joins Democrats in questioning Trump’s cognitive abilities

Written on October 25, 2023 by in Democratic Messaging, Democratic vs. Republican Presidents

Donald Trump speaking

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been running a distant second to Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential nomination contest, and even dropping in the polls, for some time. Perhaps that is because DeSantis has chosen to spend his time going after the Walt Disney Company and LGBTQ people. Or perhaps DeSantis has not gained ground on Trump because his criticisms of Trump have been rather tepid. It is almost as if DeSantis was hoping that Democratic attacks on Donald Trump would be enough. The Republican polls, however, indicate that is not the case.

For years, Democrats have observed that Trump is in physical or cognitive decline. This includes his difficulties walking down a ramp, problems drinking water, sniffing, and slurring his words. (As to the latter two, some have speculated that Trump takes too much Adderall, and that he may even have a prosthesis in his palate to cover damage from years of snorting Adderall or cocaine.) In recent speeches, Trump has also appeared confused, even stating that he ran against Barack Obama in 2016 (hint: it was Hillary Clinton), and that President Joe Biden might start “World War Two” (spoiler alert: that war ended when Biden was not even three years old).

Now, finally, Ron DeSantis may be shifting his strategy to tell voters about some of these apparent difficulties for Trump. Specifically, at a New Hampshire campaign event on Tuesday, DeSantis said of Trump:

… [H]e is wedded to the teleprompter. He can’t get off that teleprompter, any time he does, he says things like ‘Don’t vote.’

DeSantis went on to say:

And so I think that it’s just shown this is a different Donald Trump in 2015 and 16. Lost the zip on his fastball, ….

It’s a pretty mild attack compared to everything that DeSantis could say about Trump, but at least he is opening this door a crack. Perhaps DeSantis will be emboldened to go further, especially if he does not otherwise gain ground on Trump in the polls. Note that Chris Christie, another 2024 Republican presidential candidate, also attacks Trump, although more on Trump’s policy failures and inaction rather than physical or cognitive problems.

When it comes to Republican ads for the 2024 elections, we know the GOP, in order to create a false impression, won’t be shy about using video of President Biden tripping on stairs or stuttering. By the same token, Democrats should make full use of Donald Trump’s increasing number of apparent physical and cognitive issues to bolster an impression that seems increasingly true.

Photo by Evan Guest, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/uHekNJ

 

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U.S. House Republicans speed past disarray into total chaos

Written on October 20, 2023 by in Democratic Messaging

The Republican House of Representatives

Unless you are a Congressional scholar, it’s nearly impossible to follow all the twists and turns of the U.S. House Republican Speaker fracas. What we do know is that, at this time of dangerous crises around the world, the United States does not have a Speaker to run the Republican-majority U.S. House of Representatives. Beyond the resulting inability of the House to perform crucial functions (such as voting on important legislation), the Speaker of the House is second in the line of succession, after only the Vice President, to become President if the president cannot carry out his or her duties. Suffice it to say that it’s a catastrophe not to have a House Speaker.

You may recall that this whole mess started in early January when Republicans, after winning a very narrow House majority in last November’s elections, could not agree among themselves on electing a new Speaker, which is the majority’s responsibility. It took an unprecedented 15 rounds of voting before the Republicans finally elected Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. However, to win over his extreme MAGA colleagues, McCarthy had to agree to a number of concessions, including the ability of any one Representative, at any time, to call for a “Motion to Vacate” the Speaker’s position, which is essentially a vote of “no confidence” to remove the Speaker. Suffice it to say that “Squeaker” McCarthy was extremely weak, and probably doomed, from the start, as those MAGAs could call for such a vote anytime McCarthy did not kowtow to them.

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In U.S. Senate appointment, California Governor Gavin Newsom keeps his first promise

Written on October 3, 2023 by in Democratic Messaging

California Governor Gavin Newsom

Following the recent death of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, there has been intense speculation about how her replacement would be chosen, and who it would be. Now we have the answer: California Governor Gavin Newsom‘s office announced Sunday night that the Governor has chosen Emily’s List President and former Service Employees International Union (SEIU) leader Laphonza Butler to represent the state in the U.S. Senate, on an interim basis until California’s voters choose a new Senator in the 2024 elections.

In making this choice, Governor Newsom was in the spotlight as much as, or possibly even more than, anyone else. That’s because not only is California the most populous and arguably most high-profile state in the U.S., it’s also no secret that Governor Newsom has presidential ambitions, presumably for 2028. Thus, Newsom had to tread carefully in making his U.S. Senate appointment.

While Sen. Feinstein’s death was sudden, there has been talk about her age (90) and visible physical and cognitive decline for months. For example, earlier this year, Feinstein was absent from the Senate for weeks with shingles and other infirmities. During that time, her empty seat on the all-important Senate Judiciary Committee caused a deadlock between Democrats and Republicans, resulting in several of President Joe Biden‘s federal judicial nominees being blocked from advancing to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

Meanwhile, during these months of discussions about Sen. Feinstein’s condition and amid requests that she retire right away, Governor Newsom obviously thought and talked about what would happen if she leaves the Senate before her term expires (Feinstein’s office had previously announced that she would not run for another new term in the 2024 elections). Then, early last month, Newsom publicly announced three principles regarding his actions should Feinstein’s seat prematurely become vacant:

–He would appoint a replacement Senator only an interim basis, until a new Senator is elected in the 2024 elections and seated in the new Congress, presumably in January 2025. The purpose is to give California voters, rather than Newsom himself, the power to choose their U.S. Senator for a full six-year term.

–He would appoint a black woman, noting that currently no black women serve in the U.S. Senate.

–He would not appoint anyone who had already announced their candidacy for the seat in 2024, in order not to tip the scales in favor of someone who would then be running with the advantage of incumbency. Accordingly, this rendered U.S. Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, as well as numerous others, ineligible for the interim seat, since each of them had previously announced that they are running for the seat for a full term in the 2024 elections.

Governor Newsom ended up keeping all three of his promises. This should reflect very well on him not only now as Governor, but also if he runs for president in the 2028 elections. Imagine, alternatively, if he had violated one or more of these principles: voters across the country could then attack him by asking, “if Newsom couldn’t keep this promise, how can we trust him to keep any presidential campaign promise?” In this sense, Newsom has cleared his first presidential hurdle — the fundamental requirement of credibility.

Photo by Office of the Governor of California, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/r5OBci

 

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President Biden handles the debt ceiling brilliantly

Written on June 2, 2023 by in Democratic Messaging, Democratic vs. Republican Presidents

President Biden may have just saved the country

With the U.S. House of Representatives having passed a bill on Wednesday night to suspend the nation’s debt ceiling, and the U.S. Senate passing the bill late last night, it is now all but certain that a historic Republican-caused default on the U.S. debt has been averted. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill at any time, and to address the nation this evening. While there is plenty of credit to go around, President Biden deserves the most praise for the extreme competence, professionalism and political savvy with which he has handled the issue.

Here is Biden’s statement after Wednesday’sj House vote, with emphasis added:

Tonight, the House took a critical step forward to prevent a first-ever default and protect our country’s hard-earned and historic economic recovery. This budget agreement is a bipartisan compromise. Neither side got everything it wanted. That’s the responsibility of governing. I want to thank Speaker McCarthy and his team for negotiating in good faith, as well as Leader Jeffries for his leadership.
This agreement is good news for the American people and the American economy. It protects key priorities and accomplishments from the past two years, including historic investments that are creating good jobs across the country. And, it honors my commitment to safeguard Americans’ health care and protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. It protects critical programs that millions of hardworking families, students, and veterans count on.

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Attention Florida voters!

Written on May 23, 2023 by in Democratic Messaging, Republican Messaging, Republican Myths

Florida voters, renew your mail-in voting status

If you’re a Florida voter, and you vote by mail, there’s an action item you need to take: Last January, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill passed by Florida’s Republican majority legislature to make it harder to vote. Specifically, the new law cancels automatic mail-in voting status for those who voted by mail in 2020 or 2022, and requires such voters to contact their county Board of Elections and make a new request for a mail-in ballot for the 2024 elections. The new Florida law also reduces the number of ballot drop boxes and implements stricter voter identification requirements.

The intent behind these voting restrictions, sadly, is to make it harder for many voters, especially likely Democratic voters, to cast their votes. Republicans across the country know that their policies are less popular with the voters, thus they can only win by cheating, stealing elections, and/or suppressing votes. Moreover, Republicans think (maybe erroneously) that in recent elections, they typically hold the lead as to in-person votes on Election Day, but when mail-in votes are counted (often after the polls close), Democrats pull in more votes and often end up winning. This has led to conspiracy theories by Republicans that somehow such elections are “stolen,” which is silly given that, in addition to the complete lack of evidence to support the charge, in Florida and many other states the relevant statewide offices (Governor, Secretary of State, etc.), and therefore the elections themselves, are controlled by Republicans.

Accordingly, if you are a Democratic voter in Florida, please call your county Board of Elections (the contact information should be easy to find online) to make sure your voter registration is up to date and to request mail-in voting status for 2024 if desired. Likewise, remind your Democratic friends and family members in Florida to do so too. Make a plan for the 2024 elections (including presidential primaries and the general election) to make sure your vote is properly cast and received on time. If you are a Republican voter, feel free to ignore all of this as “fake news.”

Photo by Tony Webster, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/kxQ2vq

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CNN is hosting Donald Trump, and people are freaking out

Written on May 3, 2023 by in Democratic Messaging, Media Watch

CNN covering 2019 Democratic Presidential debate

This week, CNN announced that it will host Donald Trump for a “town hall” event on May 10 in New Hampshire. This is a format that CNN likes to use with presidential candidates, and is essentially a one-on-one conversation with a CNN anchor or correspondent, on stage in front of an audience (some of whom get to ask questions as well), and televised live. Sometimes CNN interviews several candidates, one after the other, at the same event, and other times they hold a shorter event with just one candidate.

A number of Democrats, however, are reacting very badly to CNN’s announcement regarding the Donald Trump town hall. For example, in perusing various websites and social media platforms, statements and comments like these can be seen:

CNN is so desperate to boost its ratings, it will provide more free publicity for Trump.

Sure, have fascist insurrectionist town hall meetings air on cable news as if he hasn’t just been indicted and have 14 other investigations taking place in to his criminal activity, is just run of the mill normal. Nothing to be alarmed about, just another day in America.

It’s preposterous that CNN would invite someone to hold a purely political event who is currently being probed for his efforts to steal an election and stage a violent coup against the government of the United States.

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President Joe Biden makes “freedom” his reelection theme

Written on April 26, 2023 by in Democratic Messaging, Democratic vs. Republican Presidents

President Joe Biden, running for reelection

President Joe Biden announced his reelection campaign for 2024 in a video yesterday, that was remarkable for its theme of freedom. As we have written about repeatedly, “freedom” is a word and an idea that Republicans have tried to claim for themselves. Since it is such a bedrock American concept, we have been saying since 2013 that it would be a great idea if Democrats took “freedom” back from the Republicans. We were very heartened last year when President Biden and a number of Democrats did exactly that, running or supporting Democratic 2022 midterm election campaigns by stating that “freedom is on the ballot,” and mentioning “freedom from gun violence,” “freedom of health care choices” (including, of course, abortion) and “freedom to vote” as three specific examples.

Likewise, President Biden’s new ad (which includes Vice President Kamala Harris) starts off with “freedom” as the very first word, and continues, largely in Biden’s own voice, to talk about “personal freedom” being “fundamental to who we are as Americans.” The ad goes on to explain that “MAGA Republicans” are threatening our freedoms, by attempting to cut our Social Security, “dictating what health care decisions women can make (again, an obvious reference to abortion), banning books, and telling people who they can love, all while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote.” The ad asks voters to support President Biden so that he can “finish the job” of protecting these fundamental freedoms.

The ad is very effective, not only in flipping the script on the Republicans over “freedom,” but also grabbing the theme of patriotism, and attacking Republican hypocrisy over their claims of being for “smaller government” as they try to invade Americans’ doctor offices, bedrooms and bathrooms, in Florida and elsewhere.

All in all, President Biden’s campaign announcement ad is a welcome opening salvo in what promises to be a major battle of ideologies between the pro-freedom Democrats and the pro-fascism Republicans for 2024.

Photo by Maryland GovPics, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/Jpa2HA

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Republican overreaching may hurt them in 2024 elections

Written on April 14, 2023 by in Democratic Messaging

Younger activists, a major Republican fear

Republicans have a predictable pattern: even with government nearly evenly divided, they get drunk with power, use their votes to overreach with extreme policies, and wind up alienating voters in the next election. In June 2022, for example, the U.S. Supreme Court, with three new right wing Republican justices courtesy of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, voted along party lines to take away the right to abortion that had been established in the Court’s Roe v. Wade decision nearly 50 years earlier. This decision set off a firestorm among voters, especially younger voters, who showed up to the voting booths in droves five months later and gave the Democrats considerably better results (retaining control and actually winning a one-seat majority in the U.S, Senate, barely losing control of the House, and gaining state governorships and state legislature majorities) in an off-year election where the party in power usually does much worse.

Republicans, however, did not learn the lesson from the 2022 elections, i.e., that their extremism scared away voters. Instead, the GOP has charged ahead with even more extremist actions that could hurt them in 2024. These include:

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