98 Comments

It was interesting to hear Griffin say she felt "disenfranchised". Well, yes, she should. I'm glad she's now a never (again) Trumper, that she finally found a line that she wouldn't cross. But it's not the Dem's duty to make her feel welcome, to take all her advice, now that the GOP has left her. The transformation of the GOP into Trumpism was not sudden. It's been rascist-adjacent for decades. It's been bigoted for decades. It's been science denying (climate change!) for decades. It's been anti-democratic (small-d) for decades with gerrymandering and court picks. She apparently missed all of that. So give the Dems a little bit of slack in ignoring her advice now.

Expand full comment

J.D. Vance the son Trump never had. As to the authoritarians in waiting, do you you want but know all your souls are damned (it's in your bible you tote around.) Remember what Pinhead said, "your suffering will be legendary, even in hell! "

Expand full comment

Why are we pretending that Pence is not going to endorse Trump at some point before the election? He's no different than Bill Barr, Nikki Haley, or the rest of the current Republic party. You know it; I know it; Alyssa knows it too.

Expand full comment

Pence has already declared he will not vote for Trump.

Expand full comment

As a lifelong Democrat, I am so grateful to people like you Tim, and Alyssa, who had the guts to tell your own party when they were covering their eyes to avoid seeing something that might discomfit them. I feel like I am living that reality on my own side now. it is as if I am being told that, in a football game in which my team is behind with six or seven seconds remaining and the ball on the 50, we should not throw a Hail Mary because they rarely work. Instead we should kneel on the ball And assume the victory formation, because it's called the victory formation, right? It's insane.

And I know that, when Biden is beaten in November, and I think he will be beaten badly it will be people like us who are blamed. We were never real Democrats, or we secretly wanted Trump to win, or we were simply smug, safe white men Even though practically everybody I know lifelong Democrats all of them, men, women, white, black, gay, straight, are all of the same mind on this.

So I'm trying to draw some strength from those of you who made this journey from the other side. I am bracing myself to lose some friends, because I don't want to just sit here quietly and not say what to me seems evident and in front of our eyes, and of an enormous consequence.

Expand full comment

Last hope.... Nancy might save us. I do wonder if Mrs Pelosi is working feverishly behind the scenes to get Joe to come back to earth, see the danger and get out of the way. The next week to 10 days will tell the tale. (Yeah, could be a fantasyland of mine own...)

Expand full comment

There's an under current in MAGA, all right. It's an under current of putting women in their place. Women are successfully competing in the workplace and in politics and there is a subset of men (White, Black, Latino) who don't like it. Then, throw in religious conservatism that a woman's only responsibility is bearing children. I know this is a lame analogy, but the dystopia of "A Handmaid's Tale" is a utopia for MAGA.

Expand full comment

it’s not a lame analogy at all. project 2025 is very much in the handmaids tale vein. they want to be the commanders and the Aunt Lydia’s. And the commanders really want their ‘of’s

Expand full comment

MAGA is not Christian and they will judged by a higher power.

Expand full comment

I would like the higher power to hurry the h*ll up!

Expand full comment

If someone like Alyssa - who understands the stakes so clearly - is still not willing to say she’ll vote for Biden, I honestly don’t know how we’re supposed to persuade undecided voters.

Expand full comment

As a longtime registered democrat voter and donor who strongly STRONGLY agrees with Tim as to Biden being a problematic candidate, I’m a bit flustered with the barrage of texts and emails begging me to chip in $5 for Biden and blah blah blah every hour on the hour I’m receiving from the Biden campaign, the d triple c, etc etc. I’ve found myself just replying with “NO,” but this accomplishes nothing. Does anyone have any advice or ideas as to alerting/lobbying one’s own congressperson or democratic representative about that dissatisfaction? Are there any signature campaigns or the like going on? Move on comes to mind… 🤷🏼. Thanks!!

Expand full comment

I just called Pelosi's office. I'm a resident of North Alabama so I basically have no representative and my vote doesn't count.

I'm calling the one Democrat in the AL delegation as well as Minority Leader Jeffries too.

Expand full comment

I too am a longtime Dem voter and donor who also STRONGLY agrees with Tim as to Biden's electability. I haven't heard of any signature campaigns, but I've twice emailed both of my Dem Senators (Klobuchar and Smith) and Dem Governor (Walz) with the subject heading...."Biden: lost my support".

Expand full comment

"Summon the prosecutor ! Bring forth Kamala ! Crush the criminals of the right. Kamala for the people !

Expand full comment

The weak need to be in control. Authoritarians are inherently weak because they have to control everyone and everything around them. Strength is giving people choices and rights; dealing with reality during a pandemic, believing in science… I shudder o think that people saw last night’s RNC and thought “that’s America”

Expand full comment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eMMZksZSL8

This is called, J D Vance Ain’t It, by the comedian, Trae Crowder, the Liberal Redneck from Tennessee, It is entirely serious, though inevitably infused with humor too, and conveys a very informed warning, not only to us, who don’t live in those parts of the country, but to his own people—the rednecks and hillbillies who now form Trump’s base.

Expand full comment

Commenting on J D Vance and the Poor White/Southern Redneck culture he grew up adjacent to—though his family was not poor—and which became the subject of his book, Hillbilly Elegy.

These people historically stewed in envy towards Black people and any scrap of favor Blacks ever earned, also envy towards the “elites”, Whites with money and higher position And the Rednecks or Hillbillies have carried on with their original views, though some gained money and a superficial relationship with education. These people, who now make up Trump’s base, seem to hold a firm stance of “ignorant and proud of it”. They continue on with stereotypical gender roles and dominance for males, backed up by violence. I see it still as the culture of the lynch mob, whether for Blacks, nonconforming women or any others whom they see as categorically deviant.

But if you actually lived in these areas and knew many of these people, you would also encounter a lot of humor and a gift for storytelling. Vance did not seem to have either one of those particularly Southern talents, in his dull, labored treatise, Hillbilly Elegy. It sounded like a good and interesting read, didn’t it? For readers who lived somewhere else and never known any people like them. Became a NYTimes bestseller. But it was neither well written nor wholly truthful. Still it served to established “grievance creds” for Vance’s political aspirations, to write about the coalmining area where he had come from, where most white families were indeed poor (but not his.) It stood for the Forgotten America, the Left Behind White Man,in its discourse of Grievance, his launchpad into politics

If you want a better example of Southern humor and anecdotal verve, however, you could hear them in James Carville or the short political videos of the “Liberal Redneck”, Trae Crowder. Watch his on Lauren Boebert

However most Redneck culture upholds the tradition of “ignorant and proud of it “. And the religious from that large area of country includes many thoroughly trained at church in sexism, racism and a lot of delusional thinking. It is the acceptance of and adherence to invalid logic and deluded thought processes that might be most harmful. Crooked thinking and conmen leaders who enrich themselves ate too common in their “traditional” world, and as dangerous as we at large are now finding them.

Expand full comment

For weeks it's been "Replace Biden as the candidate" and "We have to stick with Biden."

Can we please discuss the 3rd option?

Joe Biden should resign the presidency for health reasons immediately. Elevate Harris to the Presidency and name one of our many young and talented dems as VP.

The biggest critique of Harris is her performance in the 2020 race. She was a terrible candidate in the eyes of Dem primary voters, receiving zero delegates and dropping out early. There's no reason to expect she would be better now. Better than Joe, of course, but good enough to beat Trump? Quite probably not.

People fear what they don't know. By serving as President – even for the 110 days left before the vote – she will be a known quantity as President. I'm convinced those who are currently doubtful will be able choose her over Trump once they've seen her on the job. Shapiro or Buttigieg would kick ass as VP.

Argue for this. Argue against it. But for the sake of our country, let's please argue about it!

Expand full comment

Biden controlled Harris so she wouldn't go mean on Trump...I'm for the Harris-Whitmer ticket let's have our girls go after those"guys". She gets to work with the 96million already raised and they can focus on the lying Trump and the inexperienced Vance.

Expand full comment

We got most of what we wanted, and more than we could've hoped for.

Saying "Biden controlled Harris" is insulting to both of them. Harris was a loyal VP, which is exactly what you'd want in a VP (at least until the Prez starts criming). Now she's proving she can also lead.

Expand full comment

I’m fully on board! We’d retain the incumbency advantage, elevate a talented communicator to the top of the ticket, and have the opportunity to augment it with another vigorous campaigner (Pete Buttigieg is my pick but most anyone under 70 will do).

Expand full comment

Tim I love you but at some point can you move on getting Biden off the ticket? I’m not even saying you are wrong but you have been saying the same thing over and over for the last 3 weeks. All your complaints are fair and maybe you are absolutely right but so much is happening and you can’t and won’t let go. I get it that you don’t think Biden should run. I get it he can’t change your own views. I get it that you will take anyone other than Biden even-though all data says they will lose by worse than Biden. Those could be absolutely true. Your perspective is normal and possibly right but it consistently sounds like you are trying to convince dem operatives on this pod that listen that they need to do a revolt. That’s fine the first week but so much has happened since then and you are still stuck in the same news cycle.

We get it the bulwark wants Biden to drop out. We can’t have the same thing everyday from everyone. It’s not that you aren’t right but it gets super old.

Expand full comment

For Dems not to get slaughtered Biden needs to step aside. If repetition can make that sink in, I’m all for it. Keep saying he needs to go, Tim. The Titanic has hit the iceberg. We need everyone to focus on the lifeboats.

Expand full comment

It will make no difference on the podcast. It’s just the same thing everyday on the newsletter and podcasts. There is nothing different. I’m not saying don’t say it on msnbc but if you think the bulwark podcast is going to change the kind of the president…I’m sorry that is just outlandish

Expand full comment

OK, I was a guy who said "saddle up, game time. Ride or die with Biden!" Until June 27. No, Tim, you aren't crazy. Biden said "if you have any questions about my age or ability, tune into the debate and I will allay those fears." He did the opposite. The unspoken part of that always had to be "if I fuck up, I'm out."

He undercut all his local influencers telling low-information voters and news avoiders "he'll be fine. don't worry about his age." Now those key swing voters are within their rights to say "don't talk to me again about Biden." This election can't be about 1) It's Biden's nomination and no one gets to take it from him cuz it's not FAIR! or 2)" I got mad at people for bitching about Biden and now I'll never admit I was wrong."

If there's a silver lining, Trump will, at worst, be done in by his policies and will Liz Truss the economy. So we got all the assholery and twice the unemployment. He'll go down to 30 percent approval, although that may be the nightmare scenario.

Remember, the last time the GOP had such loyalty to an idea it, was the Iraq War.

Expand full comment

Where the fuck is W? Normally, a living former president from the party is at least a presence at the convention -- normally they deliver a speech. George W Bush is the only other living Republican President and has vanished. This should be a bigger story.

Expand full comment
founding

W is in Texas, painting. Seriously, W would be booed off the stage let alone be allowed to attend. Any Republican of BT (before Trump) is totally non grata. Look at what happened to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.

Expand full comment

Yeah, but they had the courage to speak out. W is a former POTUS and has been silent. It is shameful and shows the lack of leadership we suspected was there all along.

Expand full comment
founding

Like I said, he is contented with his painting. He is living the good life in Texas. by the way, I totally agree.

Expand full comment

That Vance tweet about Biden being responsible for the shooting was written by Trump. I’d eat my hat if it wasn’t. 🎩 Vance is going to serve as the fall guy for Trump.

Expand full comment
founding

This will soon become the narrative of the campaign (Vance tweet about Biden) going forward.

Expand full comment

On another note. I am wondering how JD Vance is feeling today after the very low energy VP annoucement. Am I crazy, or has Trump begun his humiliation tactics against Vance as a potential rival already? Trump ensured Vance was robbed of his big moment. He sent him an undeniable message. 'Don't think you can outshine me, boyo!'. No fanfare. No ballons being launched. No big music crescendo. No raucous capacity crowd flag waving and applause. Trump announced it on Truth Social and it was then relayed by Mike Lee during his delegate roll-call to a half filled auditorium. Trump regretted listening to the elites in choosing Mike Pence. Now he has has listened to his moronic sons and Elon Musk, apparently. Will he regret it once more, I wonder. Either way, Vance better get the message, don't be outshining the Orange Man, or god help you. It could be a very long 270 days for Mr Vance.

Expand full comment

Crazy or naive, perhaps. JD's big day is coming. This was the announcement only. He'll have his balloons soon enough.

We dare not underestimate the strategic execution (bad word, perhaps) of the Trump campaign. They are disciplined and smartly deceitful. Trump is fully on board with it because he understands the clear and easy path to trouncing Biden, and it requires only that he stop the dictator talk for 110 days.

Trump will present himself as a "changed man" after Saturday. He's going to be all unity and fuzzy bunnies in his big speech and for the rest of the campaign. He will milk that close call for all it's worth. After he wins the EC he can resume his assholery. Then we'll see full MAGA on Jan 21st.

Expand full comment

Absolutely agree that we should not underestimate their strategic execution (a perfect description). I guess I am trying to find something hopeful. Trump's compulsion to excite chaos around him might spill over into his relationship with Vance. I have only seen a little video but it seems when Trump is with Vance there is no warmth, he barely looks at him and barely smiles. (He also didn't acknowledge MTGreene as he entered the box, I enjoyed that), and I see the WAPO is already talking about Vance being the first bearded president since 1933. Trump is not gonna love that. On the 'changed man' idea. I wonder if Trump, who we know as a deeply cowardly individual, might have been profoundly scarred by this failed assassination attempt? Will he have the same 'juice', will he lose some 'mojo' as he nurses such a trauma. The talk about the Iranians being after him with freak him out, I think. It's too early to say, of course. But it is possible he begins to look more frigthened, more like an anxious old orange man. I hope he does cause beating him with Joe Biden is a big ask.

Expand full comment