We come to a moment of regular politics with irregular politicians. The Republican Florida gubernatorial candidate has done a control ‘f’ search and removed the name “Trump” from the website.

But. 1994. Ted Kennedy is in a somewhat close race against Mitt Romney. Bill Clinton needs to be seen campaigning somewhere, so he is campaigning for Kennedy in Massachusetts. In 2010, Barack Obama is keeping a closed circuit, needs to campaign somewhere so he has Connecticut cornered.

We have J.D. Vance in North Carolina — the no-hope Republican Senate candidate needs someone over there and Vance needs to get out for 2028. This will always be remembered for J.D. Vance trying to laughs by referring to fighting the “fart left”, then doubling back to point out his play on words. J.D. Vance is out in Kansas — the salvage operation is on, lose Kansas and lose everything.

Trump did that whole midterm convention — not much for delegates to do, but he has a couple speeches to do. I don’t know that he can much campaign hustling, what with everyone scrubbing the name from their websites and not naming him in their ads. For corollary, I am thinking the equivalent is the big Biden speech against “Ultra Maga”, stage lights blood red. Pops in, does the bit, has not much to say and when he does say anything it is rambling and everyone tried to ignore it.

Bill Clinton was always there for a snap appearance in various rural states. A “Hey, Kentucky and Arkansas — remember when you voted for me?” , even as you are not voting for the current guy. It all ran aground as Tom Cotton beat Mark Pryor in 2014. Ironic, he was not much anywhere in the midterms of his presidency. Today we see the re-emergence of George S Bush, standing to fundraise and provide a hoped for other center of Republican power for a batch of Republican candidates — excepting Paxton. We meet the the shadings of a Busy rehabilitation program — dumped since 2008 and trashed in 2016, I wonder if the party orbit floats him around back in in a post Trump presidency world. Not like Romney is getting anyone anything — he seems to be even fewer places than Kamala Harris who … Sayed in Michigan sees the need for her to pop in, and a bunch of candidates see a good use to publicly shove aside. I will have to look up if anyone is tapping Romney or Mike Pence as a substitute for Trump and Vance.

In the haze of quick passing news and political shenanigans, something flew right past which ought be recorded and highlighted for posterity. The President of the United States accused the Democratic Party of an assassination attempt. There are a whole lot of things with this administration that I don’t know fully seek in, and that is one of them.

Of course, it is likely he does not even really remember doing so. Or at least possible.

Watching the tea leaves — well, I guess the bipartisan endorsements are lining up against the Democrats. The Democrats have lost Joe Manchin. He is thrown his powerful endorsement to Susan Collins. And if one doesn’t think that is worth anything much, he did endorse Lisa Murkowski last time out, and she won! If this isn’t enough, Jared Golden has endorsed Michael Lawler — and I guess that is one Congressional district won by the Republicans now.

I guess? It all comes down to the Lobsterman Protection Act.

I wait for Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington to endorse some Republican or other — surely she finds Oregon’s gubernatorial candidate to her liking against the far left socialists. And to withstand, in a fort-night, the coming Elon Musk as dump on her wailing against her as a far left socialist.

I thought I saw a blip that John Fetterman endorsed, like, the Republican candidate in Michigan, and maybe someone or else other. But if that were the case, I would spot the headline — instead it is just him and his friendly message to the Republican Party at the convention, double Trump speech thing, and how much he loves his Pennsylvania Republican colleague.

Some of this is worthwhile in consideration because it is possible that the “Democratic Tsunami” will sweep in… well, though the Republican is widely running as though his opponent, one time Democratic candidate for Senate, is a Democrat. And there is a world where the Independent endorsed by the Democrats and the defacto Democratic candidate in Idaho will get across a “I ain’t a Democrat and I don’t know if you notice but — gawd the incumbent is old!” message within general discontent will get in. Then. They, like the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Kansas since 1932 — will need to establish and re-establish not Democrat bonafidas. Are there any Republicans remaining that they can endorse (not Democrats after all!)

Maybe the bunch can come together to push for an Epstein inquiry on one hand, and an inquiry into Trump’s Democrats on the other.

The weird election horse races as a spectator sports gambit comes into the foreground, And obscures more than illuminates a “what the hell is going on.” A smash and grab operation on many directions from the administration, a doddering old man with a techno utopian vision of ai based on being shown the dystopian view of it and loving it, a whimsical launch of a mideast forever war – – it all fades away to a bunch geographical studies and personality clashes downballot.

The Senate map. The road to a 52 Democratic voting Senate, to get past Fetterman, in a pile of cross currents (gas costs a lot but everyone hates trans-athletes) on a batch of states the Trump carried by ten thereabouts. Some priors need to be tossed aside. Or. Fun fact: Harris had a smaller margin of defeat in Kansas than she did Iowa. And did better in Alaska than Ohio. These are noteworthy in considering the Senate prospects of the Democrats running about — Iowa being a Gore-Bush-Obama-Obama-Trump-Trump-Trump state and Ohio a Bush-Bush-Obama-Obama-Obama-Trump-Trump-Trump state. Kansas gets in a Democratic governor, where Ohio spit out its Democratic Senator from the class of 2006. And an Iowa pollster famous for putting out off the wall outlier poll results that turn out to be right had to call it quits after an embarrassing one in 2024 that suggested Iowa was running back to when they may elect a Democrat.

The total effect is this weird sense that that great wheelchair bound war veteran athlete may go to defeat — the Republicans in Iowa able to scratch a non-partisan itch with a wholly non-partisan Democratic gubernatorial candidate and waiting for a follow up on “so, you are a veteran with disabilities. And–?”, where then in Kansas … A Democratic Senator is elected for the first time since 1932. Yeah, they scour his pastoral sermons for a church gone woke, but this man’s no Tallerico. So we are back to a vote winning sanctimonial “tsk tsk” message against a confused “why is this an isdue?” answer on the compound interest bearing bill collecting chase for medical non-payments, and ” what would Jesus do?” He should be the best Democratic vote getter in a Senate race in 1974 at least.

The polls are a landmine. There is an arms race for bs poll number dumps, the gambits Republicans pulled which probably gave them the House in 2022 by lending a margin of front-runner voters coming with a sense of a Republican storm. The Democrats have a poll for you in Nebraska — the “wink wink, Independant” up by four. And, no one believes it, but the good news for the Democrats is the probable Democrat victory the non bs polls suggest is large enough

I feel like I was standing closer to Gloria Steinem than I had any right to — both in terms of bigwig status and my interest level of standing in the proximity of this person in particular. It wasn’t much– it was the year 2000, she was filing about the city for events in her role of surrogate talking Al Gore up by knocking down Ralph Nader. And this had to be the least important piece of the itinerary — it is a small crowd at Pioneer Courthouse Square — and I, interested just enough but not much more, stand alone, right behind her, closer to her than it seems I should be allowed to stand.

She has a top ten list, a nod to Ralph Nader’s appearance on David Letterman. Nader’s lust, whether it was or was not, was humor — crowd applauses at turns of phrases and satiric jibes. Steinem wasn’t attempting to be funny — it was strident against Nader — there is apparently a phrase Nader once used that downplayed abortion politics which… in a very real way was what kept Steinem supporting Clinton. I half mused — what is the use of having a top ten list if it is not funny?

The nature of Steinem’s political job — this singular public appearance is pretty pointless, except in a broader sweep of appearances that are pointful… to the task. Al Gore wants her here, but he wants her at the other campaigning and political points more — you wouldn’t even blame her for phoning this particular item in. The sign of its lacking is that I was standing closer to Steinem than it seems like it’s make any sense.

The American electoral system is one where you have one silly sometimes pointless sometimes superfluous election contest after another, between some that are meaningful. Tuesday brought the fourth Republican primary contest for US Senate of South Carolina of the year, Darline Graham picking up the javlin from her brother, and not knowing a danged thing about foreign affairs and clearly signifying her proud empty suit status. A number of comical things on her, though — Trump swooped in and spent his not bother to spend Pac money to get her nominated — she managed past that threshold where other candidates fall short. And the full power of Fox News, an interview with a friendly Sean Hannity which will assure everyone that her lack of political awareness is a good thing — never mind a botched answer from a Democrat will have him never be let go.

Oklahoma had a couple great elections. They Republicans nominated the next governor. Apparently a funny closing act — who drug tested harder. And the thirteen Democrats in the state selected their nominee for Senate — and we have ourselves a new DSA winner! To be sure, this state had in recent(ish) memory sent one Jim Rogers to a statewide campaign, to fall to Tom Coburn in 2010 — and whatever one things of DSA politics, they do give more to sit on than the visage of Jim Rogers.

And an upset result in a Georgia special election Democratic Primary which sent someone to Congress until January, and which had 13 people voting. A warm body, pointless kind of —

A certain unreality with Monica Lewinsky, who the White House staff became weary of as they watched the dalliance with the president through the first term, and took pains to shuffle her duties and schefule to remove her from Clinton’s orbit. There is not a whole heck of a lot to do with Natalie Harp who… if we had a younger President would probably have about the same relationship… Maybe a little more syncoprancy on her end. And I suppose that is the most honest answer on the Republican pearl clutching to Jon Ossoff for the accusation that he laid out innuendo to that end.

Ossoff has jumped to the top of the Democratic presidential race. He probably would without the current news story — the current news story is the out growth of his effectiveness of a candidate. An effective presidential candidate will need to drive a news cycle as a matter of course.

I suppose we are on the edge of Jonn Ossoff being the face and leader of the Democratic Party. And that is probably preferable to the alternative. It is a funny little party — witness the primary election in Florida. A former Republican is the gubernatorial candidate. A DSA candidate won the Senate nomination. Notably for her, she associated with the dsa within her run for governor — a strange choice to make for a state electorate littered with Cuba and Venezuela freedom fighters. And it is a curious question if she would have beaten the “keeping the powder for the coming general election”, and resting on Trump term 1 battles as sales pitch, sand him actually really campaigning. Well, the first thing it requires is filling in where he is going, what he wants to legislate. The Big great question for Ossoff– now that he has everyone’s attention — and likely will — and, like, my pitch for Harris was always a “won’t wake one day to see a random war against Iran” which is a pitch I like but no one does.

The British, and onto world, media probably took a certain level of glee in being somewhat obliged to preface the Clacton by-election with a side by side image of Nigel Farage alongside Count Binface. There are certain low level equivalencies in the United State — oh, kind of stuck with the West Virginia 2012 Democratic Presidential Primary of West Virginia, or the Senate election for Oklahoma in 2010 — striking image for the opposition.

Not exactly sure how one is supposed to take in from an election with a foregone top line conclusion — Nigel Farage wins in his purposefully selected base, Nigel Farage Land — and where the question is a sort of moral victory showing of percentages garnered by the joke candidate and a cast of thirty. By most measurements we have Nigel Farage hemming and hawing — he was attempting to claim a mandate to forego his campaign corruption investigation which will land in the certain position where Garage will go out there again and win another stupid election in Farage Land. This next election has the various real parties rhetorically hemmed in — they say out this election because they were not participating in a Farage led political stunt, they are going to participate in this one because it is the end of a process, and one that lands on Nigel Farage winning a real election. And where unless they can think through and come up with something clever, Binface will necessarily still chew on the attention.The

Predictably Farage did not stand for the vote count. And comes the weird claim that the police advised it did to a serious threat, altered to his security advising, and mixed with the real reason of being demeaned with standing in a crowd of novelty joke candidates with wacky costumes. I actually would find as respectful of he just said that real reason and let it go on that — even if the next line on the Labour Tories Lib Dems Greens refusing to go toe-to-toe is stretching it.

I suppose one thing you can say — by any accounts Farage barely lands in Clacton. The elections force him to pay attention and relate to his actual constituency — that is worth something. Though, it probably is a hic-cup on that thing everyone is freaked out — this guy the next prime minister? Is it a hic-cup loud enough to completely permanently throw off this trajectory? You would have to think another step ahead for the election that drags Binface down below five percent again and figures to position the more regular Clacton result.

The primary elections, particularly when they get to even 50 – 50 splits, produce some high quality maps that can be studied for the geography and demographics — then you spared the meaning of the county vote tallies few votes going to the moderate – slash – establishment or the quasi or real socialist in counties that have no Democratic presence — oh, if you are a Democrat there, you are at war with the Republican norm and take up the full mantle and vote against Thanksgiving, and oh — they were bombarded with advertisements on tv and it is the old population that still watched linear tv and the balance is not offset by on the ground campaigning so you cast your lot with Israel’s Genocide behind the guise of “sticking it to the cool kids”.

Or something.

The polling is off in Michigan, but not necessarily or particularly in Wisconsin. Maybe it is not so much a “shy Haley Stevens” vote as a loud So-Sayed vote for Michigan — to vote for Stevens was to declare yourself a dork, after all — or maybe there was just no way of guaging that last outer rung of boters. Wisconsin was a case of everything moving fast — she stood at her 40 pervent, and the “establishment” was trying to consolidate but stumbled to do so until the end. Yet, even figuring the twenty percent non them vote, we still get to an even split — seven per cent went to a more socialist than dsa socialist candidate — so we still get something of an even split map for amusing study.

And while these are being cast as something of contests on the heart and soul of the Democratic Party, no one is casting the South Carolina primary run-off between Darlin Graham and Ralph Norman as a test for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. Test of small differences — or no differences — the electorate figures the parcel of their deference to President Trump. But — still — we get a pretty map that shows something of attitudes and demographics.

A few things going on in the primary elections. One is the unspectacular story where Schumer casts his lot with a candidate who won a stateside election or has a ballsy backstory. So it is in North Carolina, Iowa, Alaska and then onto Kansas and wherever. Two is the misfires in Maine and Michigan — though he almost pulled one off in Michigan — and the stubbornness of the known commodity and a vetting to cut off a left flank drowned him. And so comes the reality of a Democratic wave — the bigger the Democratic win in November, the more the dsa insurgents are simply drowned out by candidates whose political fixing is to try to stay centred and maybe “find an issue” — see “border security” as the Insta-answer from all these candidates when asked and from that I have a grim view on what is to be done about ICE.

Then there is a bi-partisan old timers dump. A bi-partisan gambit. Texas dispenses their Republican incumbent Senate. Colorado ushers in a DSA Congress-critter, and the story there is as much that the incumbent Democrat came into the seat in the 1996 election as anything ideological. And off of that I glance over to the Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary between a forty-something year old and an eighty-something old. All things being equal, I would want to go ahead and respectfully edge the old incumbent out — I am picturing a bad assessment of handling the problems of AI and apt to see a good influx of Union Construction jobs and not see the downbacks of the construction of data centers and I am picturing being stuck in the mud with Israel, and I am picturing a mid-length hospital visitation. Markey, I remember musing when I noted him taking over for Kerry (or the interim replacement of Kerry) — cool, but he is going to cut out after two terms right?

Unfortunately Seth Moulton disgraced himself in a Democratic party debate. It is a thing I have been pondering with the Epstein Files, a catch-all term that slides everyone who passed by Epstein. Concentric circles where a number of people have been disgraced (Chomsky, Summers, Trump, and Bannon) and you are trying to get a few to get disgraced but can’t get there (Clinton). It is easy enough to demagogue this. And Ed Markey is not in any concentric circles here. But. He knows a guy who knows a guy — a lobbyist is there.

We are as close to “you’re a pedophile” as we are going to get, and is wholly unbecoming of a candidate one should want to vote for. So. I guess Massachusetts voters are stuck voting for the fanned 80 year old?

Staring blankly as an apologist, or supporter, of the DSA — as opposed to candidates shuffling out of the organization walking and talking their way from the platform planks, and as opposed to candidates who have never been involved in the organization, tackle “Prison Abolition” — seems to be part and parcel to tackle what happens when Fox News gets ahold of the thing And their spokespeople for their broadcasting pleasure and go plank after plank on the phrases that get sensationalized takes —

— that flashback to the Covid and George Floyd summer when a bunch of Reed students thought they could change the world by shoving a list of radical books and podcasts into everyone’s hands — graffiti sloganeering on the problems of the police proliferate —

and a couple efforts to set up a chaz that just can’t get there and fizzle off —

The problem becomes instant. We have false advertisement. When you want advocate “Prison Abolition” I want to hear Prison Abolition. And they don’t care get there. Prisons continue to exist in the scheme of this prison abolitionist. If I am arguing anything here in any debate, I win the argument because nothing on the central point is argued. So what the hell is the point of this phrase? I mean, it is standing in the way of “Medicare for All” and any great Scandinavian flavored policy you have in mind, and just what they do in rehabilitation, decriminalization, and policing policies to pull police officers out of people’s lives as much as you can — on to some basic libertarian stances. Maybe there is an Overton Window theory — put this out there in order to get what the hell you want , but more likely this just produces a cut off as opposed to a slogan or phrase that encapsulates the policies you are seeking, and a demand for a pivot for Senate candidate Roy Cooper in North Carolina to do a “Sister Souljah” to stamp down a Law and Order message.

So we now have a Democratic candidate in Wisconsin. A perfect storm of a mixed crowded primary where everyone “real” has stepped into predictable politician scandals has made the dsa candidate the frontrunner, and has forced a candidate who had suspended a campaign back in as the last establishment hope. And in this case I say, the dsa candidate sucks for the reasons that James Carville hates the whole lot. I listen to her get interviewed and am a little bit gobsmacked — yeah, this won’t do. I see that in front of more radical audiences, she is free-flowing and comfortable, and in front of normies she is stiff in cutting off the unpalatable. She is not Mamdani who can move to conservative audiences with a list of bloated government contracts from previous administrations he wants to cut off and regulations he thinks are onerous. There is a little bit of a theory for Overton Window purposes — the media can only had the attention to pump up one person as crank, and she gets to be the bizarre Chrisine O’Donnell against the Bizarro Marco Rubio over in Michigan now. Which has the problem that you actually want to see a Democratic governor in Wisconsin And maybe the Repubicans could be indifferent on the notion of a Republican Senator in Delaware. It is notable — Bernie Sanders has not endorsed the Wisconsin dsa candidate — he appears to be kind of picky in this game and has a left edge he does not want to cross.

The good news on the mail biter of a race in Michigan as it pertains to Wisconsin is it does give succor to the establishment Democrat, here needing a pullback from a parts of the electorate sleepwalking towards this one, the last desperate lunge from the long dormant establishment has some evidence of success — maybe a silent constituency and this is the one case you hope James Carville’s mostly stupid message carries temporarily.