Kamala Harris

[Comped 526]

3 hours ago, RoverAndOut said:

Can I ask a question of our American friends that has been crossing my mind a bit over the past few days and was given some voice in a comment from one of Shapiro's supporters in the Pennsylvania Democratic party. He suggested that there was no danger of the Democrats losing Pennsylvania, even though Shapiro had been passed over and Pennsylvanians would be annoyed. Is that the reaction a state's citizens have to their governor being chosen for a Presidential ticket (especially VP?). If you love what Shapiro is doing in Pennsylvania, surely you want him to stay in charge of your state, rather than run off to Washington? Or does state pride take precedence and what they can do for the country as a whole?

The problem being that Pennsylvania is a competitive state at the moment, per polls. Minnesota isn't. She needs PA far more than she needs MN, and picking their governor could have helped with that. But yes, that's a pretty normal reaction in a way - though it does depend on the politician. Not many were exactly happy for Kerry to become Secretary of State when I was in MA, because he'd been a Senator for so long there. And as a result, brought a ton of money into the state via pork barrel projects.

[TQR 14,387]

7 minutes ago, Comped said:

 pork barrel projects.

[arrowsmith 445]

3 hours ago, RoverAndOut said:

 

Oh, yeah, I realise that the VP pick might influence people's votes, that's why black/Indian liberal Kamala Harris has picked old, white midwestern Tim Walz. And agree entirely that Palin was a huge issue for McCain and turned a lot of voters off (and probably accelerated the rise of the loony right but that's another story). What I'm more asking is less about whether it will influence their votes but is it a bigger source of pride if your governor is chosen for a presidential ticket or are you thinking "I only voted him in for a second term in November, I wish we weren't losing him". Obviously both are possible simultaneously but which is the bigger emotion? Pride or frustration?

Fair enough. An interesting question.

 

I doubt very much that anyone is so pleased with any of their state politicians that they’re sad to lose them. I certainly never have been. That being said, there are a spare few out there that if they were my representative in some way I would be frustrated to lose them - I’ve just never been lucky enough to actually have one. 
 

State pride is a peculiar thing. I would say most states either don’t have much of it at all or, if they do, it’s a tad more limited. I’m from a very populous state originally and from a rather rural area. I love my home state, but I feel little to no kinship with the people from the main population center and wouldn’t give two shits either way if someone admirable from there got a promotion or stayed in place. Perhaps that would be different if I felt like they were from part of the state I was connected to. Other states probably have a bit more corporate pride. 
 

I think it is most likely that, if someone felt like they were really being served by someone rather than just ‘liked’ them, a person would be frustrated to lose someone capable and effective because they’re lucky enough to have someone to feel that way about. 

[DoltonMoney 306]

I have pretty major Midwest pride, so the Walz pick makes me genuinely glad to vote in this election, as opposed to a half-hearted affair. 

[MrWonderful 480]

The Democrats are on quite a roll right now.  Though the moderates preferred Shapiro, there would have been some potential issues with him, and Walz was the "safe" choice.  He comes across as a jovial, grandfatherly type (even though he's only 60 and even though he's looked much older than his age since his 30's), and he has a folksy, and, yes, maybe a bit of a hokey style.  But it's no-nonsense and he goes right to the heart of the issues as he sees them, pulling no punches, and I think that will play will in large swaths of the country and certainly in the Midwest.  And he's funny, too.  Shapiro is a brilliant orator (almost Obama-like, and he's drawn those comparisons), but perhaps Walz's style will lend itself well to this campaign.  It's almost been a 10-point turnaround in the polls since Biden dropped out and now that Harris is the candidate.  Not even an assassination attempt could create a long-lasting bump for Trump.  His RNC convention speech was a horrific mess and it's gone off the rails for them since then.  Of course, there's still time for it to swing back to him if Harris looks terrible in interviews, but I don't expect her to look worse than him if they actually debate.  Frankly, I don't see how that's even possible.  

 

Some betting markets actually have Harris favored now; I see that she's getting 55 cents on the dollar on PredictIt, for example.  Some still have Trump as a very slight favorite, but considering that Trump was -310 just three weeks ago, yeah, this has been quite the turnaround for the Democrats.  They've just been galvanized since Biden dropped out.  

[RoverAndOut 4,746]

 

This is great. These things always come across so forced and awkward but this one doesn't, just two decent people shooting the breeze, finding out about each other, and relaying experiences that ordinary people can understand. Can you imagine what an equivalent conversation between Trump and Vance would sound like?

[gcreptile 10,967]

A more reasonable suggestion than Harris herself, might be her father, leftist economist Donald Harris:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_J._Harris

 

Stanford professor on his own, refusing to appear in the media now, 85 years old.

[Toast 16,135]

How to pronounce 'Kamala' - A lesson from her nieces

 

I thought it was like 'Pamela', but I'm confused now. 

They tell us it's like comma + la

So it's Kommala? 

No - they pronounce 'comma' as 'karma'. 

 

[Clorox Bleachman 2,410]

20 minutes ago, Toast said:

How to pronounce 'Kamala' - A lesson from her nieces

 

I thought it was like 'Pamela', but I'm confused now. 

They tell us it's like comma + la

So it's Kommala? 

No - they pronounce 'comma' as 'karma'. 

 

Americans with their "ahh" "eah" "auh" nonsense.

 

In my accent, we say everything with the "say aaah" sound 

 

Hence why Carol and Karl sound the same.

[JackOLantern 10]

Considering she hasn't taken any real questions from the media, she won't talk to any media outlet unless it's a fawning  Democrat doing the "questioning" she might be in danger of a heart attack should she actually get held to account, or properly questioned and critiqued by the media

[jimbean1121 238]

endorsed by Taylor Swift

[Comped 526]

1 hour ago, jimbean1121 said:

endorsed by Taylor Swift

Honestly while this will be a big thing in the headlines for a while, I wonder if she endorsed too early?

[Bibliogryphon 9,572]

3 hours ago, Comped said:

Honestly while this will be a big thing in the headlines for a while, I wonder if she endorsed too early?

 

She endorsed because there was a deep fake circulating which showed her endorsing Trump. Her hand was forced with regards to timing

[livingbygrace 328]

I really do not think it matters much in timing when anyone would endorse a candidate. For myself knowing anyone else's choice holds no relevance or significance for me at all who I decide to vote for. I can decide on my own without having the so called elite of society try to tell me who to vote for.

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,282]

28 minutes ago, livingbygrace said:

For myself knowing anyone else's choice holds no relevance or significance for me at all who I decide to vote for.

Same, but there are a lot of people who follow celebrities and aspire to be like them in some degree, particularly if that celebrity is generally considered 'cool.'

In my youth (40 years ago) the likes of Sounds and NME (UK music magazines) were full of the political views of the likes of Paul Weller and Billy Bragg, who were the cool rock stars of the day whose views were clearly going to be of interest to the readership (mostly young adults who eschewed the pop music of the day and considered themselves discerning and a bit 'alternative'), unlike those of say Cliff Richard or members of Bucks Fizz, who were commercially popular but decidedly uncool.

Taylor Swift clearly has millions of followers, although I'm not sure how cool she is and whether people who can't think for themselves who follow her would be likely to listen to her advice on who to vote for. My then 10-year old daughter was very into Swift about 10 years ago (about the time of the Red album) but then disowned her when she became a teenager. Don't know if Swift's target market is still 10 year old girls or whether she has broader appeal (the fact she has sell out world tours suggests the latter). My hunch is she is popular but not particularly 'cool' (but not embarrassingly uncool either). I suspect no one who aspires to be cool will want to be seen endorsing Donald Trump though, hence her endorsing now.

[Clorox Bleachman 2,410]

There's also the fact that she's friends with Brittany Mahomes, who got a shout-out from Trump for liking his posts. Some have accused Taylor of guilt by association.

 

Her last political endorsement was with Biden in 2020. As one of the world's biggest assassination targets, she has a clear reason for not saying anything political unless she feels she must.

[livingbygrace 328]

23 minutes ago, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

Same, but there are a lot of people who follow celebrities and aspire to be like them in some degree, particularly if that celebrity is generally considered 'cool.'

In my youth (40 years ago) the likes of Sounds and NME (UK music magazines) were full of the political views of the likes of Paul Weller and Billy Bragg, who were the cool rock stars of the day whose views were clearly going to be of interest to the readership (mostly young adults who eschewed the pop music of the day and considered themselves discerning and a bit 'alternative'), unlike those of say Cliff Richard or members of Bucks Fizz, who were commercially popular but decidedly uncool.

Taylor Swift clearly has millions of followers, although I'm not sure how cool she is and whether people who can't think for themselves who follow her would be likely to listen to her advice on who to vote for. My then 10-year old daughter was very into Swift about 10 years ago (about the time of the Red album) but then disowned her when she became a teenager. Don't know if Swift's target market is still 10 year old girls or whether she has broader appeal (the fact she has sell out world tours suggests the latter). My hunch is she is popular but not particularly 'cool' (but not embarrassingly uncool either). I suspect no one who aspires to be cool will want to be seen endorsing Donald Trump though, hence her endorsing now.

exactly  why society is where it is today.. Nobody wants to think for themselves.  Taylor Shift is cool I will Vote like she does. She can sing and entertain a crowd,  But does that mean she is the fountain of knowledge to who is the best candidate to be president?  You talk to people on the street and ask them their reasons for voting for the person they want and they can not give you one coherent logical reason. Of course media does not help either when they are not truthful and spread lies. Mind you this goes to both sides of the fence.  There can be lies about both canidates

[msc 18,439]

37 minutes ago, livingbygrace said:

exactly  why society is where it is today.. Nobody wants to think for themselves.  Taylor Shift is cool I will Vote like she does. She can sing and entertain a crowd,  But does that mean she is the fountain of knowledge to who is the best candidate to be president?  You talk to people on the street and ask them their reasons for voting for the person they want and they can not give you one coherent logical reason. Of course media does not help either when they are not truthful and spread lies. Mind you this goes to both sides of the fence.  There can be lies about both canidates

 

Political endorsement has been around for hundreds of years, nothing to do with modern society. Dickens endorsed Lord Russell in the 1840s, to the point where he was offered a seat in parliament (he turned it down). He was also famous for pushing his fans to go get vaccinated. Going back centuries earlier, writers like Shakespeare and Chaucer were so popular in their time that Shakespeare was oft accused of stirring the mob against the elite, and Chaucer himself may have been murdered because his endorsements were too powerful an enemy for a pretender to the throne. 

 

Anyhow, Michael Caine has been trying to get me to vote Tory for over two decades now, to no success, but I still enjoy a lot of his films.

[DoltonMoney 306]

4 hours ago, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

Don't know if Swift's target market is still 10 year old girls or whether she has broader appeal 

Speaking as a college freshman, she definitely has a widespread fanbase to this day. Definitely a good endorsement to have, though I feel as if most of her fans would support Kamala anyway.