I am really upset about the misinformation coming from republicans. There should be some severe repercussions besides at the ballot box for being so harmful
Chris, to my eye, Harris is running a very conservative campaign, the type that a frontrunner might typically run. She is assiduously avoiding opportunities for significant missteps and is also deliberately staying somewhat vague on certain positions. Hillary Clinton also ran a frontrunner campaign late, but as we know, she came up just short. I fear Harris might suffer the same fate unless she embraces more risk.
I understand that a) Harris has had an exceptionally compressed candidacy and b) given the short schedule, any misstep could potentially be fatal as there isn't time to correct it. However, it seems to me that she's trying not to lose the race rather than trying to win it. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the race Harris has been running in recent weeks.
Back when Bill Belichick was the coach up here in New England, the media would complain that he didn't answer questions or gave non-answers. The media would says 'it is not about us, it is about the fans who deserve answers". Truth is, the fans could care less if he talked to reporters as long as he won.
So in regards to Kamala, do you think the average voter really cares if she talks to "legitmate" news outlets? Or does doing appearances on things like the Colbert Show provide enough of what she needs to win and she doesn't need to answer hard hitting questions from new outlets?
I agree with your comment I think the media always hopes the extent to which a candidate will not speak directly to them because those conversations keep their leadership focused on their publication. You, Bill Belichick analogy is spot on.
You mention in your mission statement that you are now free to say whatever you choose, no longer taking a paycheck from a company. In what ways do you report on political topics now that are different than the ways you reported when you were hired by CNN? Is there a significant difference?
Hello Chris. My Cobb County, GA Congressperson is Marjorie Taylor Greene. Help! No one wants to seriously run against her.
There were early mailings for a Democrat trying to challenge her. I don't even remember his name!
No more mailings, no emails....nothing! She is basically running "unopposed".
I find it incredulous the nonsense she spouts, such as Jewish Space Lasers, the Federal government controls hurricane direction ( aiming for Red States to screw up the election). And then the times she is on House Committees offering her nonsense.
You could move to a Democratic district like mine in California, but my guy spouts nonsense about how boys belong in girls' sports and how women have absolutely no right to single-sex spaces.
Of course that just makes him a standard-issue Democrat, as all of them holding office do the exact same.
First, in SLC, go to Bar Nohm -- great Japanese bar/restaurant near downtown. Or if you can get out to the High West Distillery in Wanship, do it. OK, to the question....
I don't get it, how is it so hard for Harris to answer the "what would you have done differently" question?? She should WANT to answer this. Biden is very unpopular, so getting the opportunity to create some distance is good for her. She should know this answer in her sleep. I haven't run for office since the 7th grade, and even I can do it....."Listen, Joe Biden has been a great president, and I'm proud to have served with him. But in anything complicated, there's always things you look back on differently with hindsight. We've made great progress in the past year reducing border crossings, but we should have done it sooner. I've learned that when you identify a problem, you've gotta get in there and fix it. We did that with <tout something good you did>..."
I have been wondering the same thing. The only way I can make sense of it is that she is an average politician with an outstanding resume. The Peter Principle would suggest she peaked as an Attorney General and her pivot to politician was ill-advised. For me there has been a frustrating disconnect between her performative persona in the Senate and her evasive persona during this campaign. Working with evidence to convince a jury is a totally different job than working with policy to convince the public. I've really, really wanted to be impressed by her, I'm just not.
Hi Chris! Thanks for all you do. I keep thinking that it would be a good idea for Dems to message around the Supreme Court! The court’s favorability is really low right now so why not take advantage of that and talk about how if Trump wins he will most likely get one or two more picks to the court. And if people aren’t happy with the court now, just wait until Trump has nominated over half of the court! And they are there for decades! I would think this would resonate with voters and scare them! What do you think?
If Hillary Clinton had been elected President in 2008, would the rise of Donald Trump and realignment of a more populist/working class Republican Party had still happened?
All the more so in terms of a populist GOP I think. Hillary was not very considerate of the working class nor of the poor. Remember her running against DJT with a lower minimum wage level than DJT? That Hillary would still have fomented a populist backlash, at best it would have stayed with the Democrats but very possibly not.
I am so darned fed up with all of the misinformation being disseminated by the Republicans (Trump,Vance,Greene, et Al. Can’t they be made to answer for the horrible lies that they spread? Are there no checks for these people? Who do they think they are, and who let them get that way?
Maybe this is better for your Trump voter columns, but how does a middle of the road voter overlook January 6 (I mean, we are talking War of 1812 as the last time the Capitol was overrun like that!) and vote for him? I can actually kind of understand "fake news-ing" the Covid test kits and writing off statements as bluster, but I don't see how a true centrist doesn't find what happened that day as disqualifying.
With many areas suffering devastation from two hurricanes in two weeks what accommodations will be made for those who cannot get to the polling stations on November 5 or those did not ask for an absentee ballot? No reasonable judge would hold firm on election rules under such circumstances, so what are the alternatives and what will November 5 look like?
More journalism question vs politics - what are your thoughts about CBS and their handling of the Ta-Nehisi Coates interview? They basically threw the reporter under the bus for doing their job (okay, a leading question). Am I missing something about what a reporter is supposed to do?
It seems to feed into the narrative of why people on the right don't trust the media. If a reporter pushes back (I'd argue that's their job) on a right-wing author, they're celebrated but if the same reporter pushes a left-wing author they're told it doesn't meet "editorial standards". While I consider Fox & MSNBC parody news sites, I do expect more out of CBS and the "mainstream" press.
I just flew through SLC this week. I was in western Utah last year and loved it.
I wanted to get your thoughts on why you think your subscriber base skews overwhelmingly more to the left. You're a centrist and you criticize both parties, yet you always touch a nerve when you criticize Harris/Democrats or point out potential pitfalls.
I think it would be cool if you polled your subscriber base to see if this is actually true. I know we're all tired of polling, but it looks like it's easy to embed a poll in a Substack post (see below). I assume it can be anonymous, as it can be on GroupMe or Discord. Anyone else curious % of Harris, Trump, or undecided in this community? Are you willing to post a poll, Chris?
What do you think of CBS News (1) chastising the reporter who asked actual questions of Coates, and (2) the aggressive editing of Kamala's 60 Minutes interview? (There are before and after clips floating around the interwebs ...)
If we have a replay of 2016 and Trump wins the Electoral College but loses the popular vote to a woman by millions of votes, do you think he will take the W and be happy and try to unite the country? Lol, I know the answer. My guess is that we will still get Whiny Baby Trump who will insist that he only lost the popular vote—which doesn’t even matter—because of the millions of illegals who voted for Kamala in his mind.
And, on a related topic, it was revealed that anyone hoping to work in the next Trump administration would have to “prove” their loyalty to him. Besides sounding creepy, what does that mean exactly?
I am really upset about the misinformation coming from republicans. There should be some severe repercussions besides at the ballot box for being so harmful
Agreed!!
Chris, to my eye, Harris is running a very conservative campaign, the type that a frontrunner might typically run. She is assiduously avoiding opportunities for significant missteps and is also deliberately staying somewhat vague on certain positions. Hillary Clinton also ran a frontrunner campaign late, but as we know, she came up just short. I fear Harris might suffer the same fate unless she embraces more risk.
I understand that a) Harris has had an exceptionally compressed candidacy and b) given the short schedule, any misstep could potentially be fatal as there isn't time to correct it. However, it seems to me that she's trying not to lose the race rather than trying to win it. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the race Harris has been running in recent weeks.
this!
double this!
triple this!
Hey Chris,
Back when Bill Belichick was the coach up here in New England, the media would complain that he didn't answer questions or gave non-answers. The media would says 'it is not about us, it is about the fans who deserve answers". Truth is, the fans could care less if he talked to reporters as long as he won.
So in regards to Kamala, do you think the average voter really cares if she talks to "legitmate" news outlets? Or does doing appearances on things like the Colbert Show provide enough of what she needs to win and she doesn't need to answer hard hitting questions from new outlets?
I agree with your comment I think the media always hopes the extent to which a candidate will not speak directly to them because those conversations keep their leadership focused on their publication. You, Bill Belichick analogy is spot on.
You mention in your mission statement that you are now free to say whatever you choose, no longer taking a paycheck from a company. In what ways do you report on political topics now that are different than the ways you reported when you were hired by CNN? Is there a significant difference?
Hello Chris. My Cobb County, GA Congressperson is Marjorie Taylor Greene. Help! No one wants to seriously run against her.
There were early mailings for a Democrat trying to challenge her. I don't even remember his name!
No more mailings, no emails....nothing! She is basically running "unopposed".
I find it incredulous the nonsense she spouts, such as Jewish Space Lasers, the Federal government controls hurricane direction ( aiming for Red States to screw up the election). And then the times she is on House Committees offering her nonsense.
Got any suggestions??
thanks.
You could move to a Democratic district like mine in California, but my guy spouts nonsense about how boys belong in girls' sports and how women have absolutely no right to single-sex spaces.
Of course that just makes him a standard-issue Democrat, as all of them holding office do the exact same.
Which Democratic rep is that, Mark?
They all do it through their unanimous support of the Equality Act, which outlaws single-sex spaces, sports, etc.
I am truly sorry for you, Glenn.
First, in SLC, go to Bar Nohm -- great Japanese bar/restaurant near downtown. Or if you can get out to the High West Distillery in Wanship, do it. OK, to the question....
I don't get it, how is it so hard for Harris to answer the "what would you have done differently" question?? She should WANT to answer this. Biden is very unpopular, so getting the opportunity to create some distance is good for her. She should know this answer in her sleep. I haven't run for office since the 7th grade, and even I can do it....."Listen, Joe Biden has been a great president, and I'm proud to have served with him. But in anything complicated, there's always things you look back on differently with hindsight. We've made great progress in the past year reducing border crossings, but we should have done it sooner. I've learned that when you identify a problem, you've gotta get in there and fix it. We did that with <tout something good you did>..."
I have been wondering the same thing. The only way I can make sense of it is that she is an average politician with an outstanding resume. The Peter Principle would suggest she peaked as an Attorney General and her pivot to politician was ill-advised. For me there has been a frustrating disconnect between her performative persona in the Senate and her evasive persona during this campaign. Working with evidence to convince a jury is a totally different job than working with policy to convince the public. I've really, really wanted to be impressed by her, I'm just not.
I think she's afraid of pissing off the Queers for Palestine crowd. Or she's just actually part of that crowd at her core.
Hi Chris! Thanks for all you do. I keep thinking that it would be a good idea for Dems to message around the Supreme Court! The court’s favorability is really low right now so why not take advantage of that and talk about how if Trump wins he will most likely get one or two more picks to the court. And if people aren’t happy with the court now, just wait until Trump has nominated over half of the court! And they are there for decades! I would think this would resonate with voters and scare them! What do you think?
I think that’s a great idea!
Chris,
If Hillary Clinton had been elected President in 2008, would the rise of Donald Trump and realignment of a more populist/working class Republican Party had still happened?
All the more so in terms of a populist GOP I think. Hillary was not very considerate of the working class nor of the poor. Remember her running against DJT with a lower minimum wage level than DJT? That Hillary would still have fomented a populist backlash, at best it would have stayed with the Democrats but very possibly not.
I am so darned fed up with all of the misinformation being disseminated by the Republicans (Trump,Vance,Greene, et Al. Can’t they be made to answer for the horrible lies that they spread? Are there no checks for these people? Who do they think they are, and who let them get that way?
Maybe this is better for your Trump voter columns, but how does a middle of the road voter overlook January 6 (I mean, we are talking War of 1812 as the last time the Capitol was overrun like that!) and vote for him? I can actually kind of understand "fake news-ing" the Covid test kits and writing off statements as bluster, but I don't see how a true centrist doesn't find what happened that day as disqualifying.
With many areas suffering devastation from two hurricanes in two weeks what accommodations will be made for those who cannot get to the polling stations on November 5 or those did not ask for an absentee ballot? No reasonable judge would hold firm on election rules under such circumstances, so what are the alternatives and what will November 5 look like?
Now that we are seeing how much destruction occurred from hurricanes Helene and Milton, how do you think this could affect voters and the election?
More journalism question vs politics - what are your thoughts about CBS and their handling of the Ta-Nehisi Coates interview? They basically threw the reporter under the bus for doing their job (okay, a leading question). Am I missing something about what a reporter is supposed to do?
It seems to feed into the narrative of why people on the right don't trust the media. If a reporter pushes back (I'd argue that's their job) on a right-wing author, they're celebrated but if the same reporter pushes a left-wing author they're told it doesn't meet "editorial standards". While I consider Fox & MSNBC parody news sites, I do expect more out of CBS and the "mainstream" press.
Hi Chris,
I just flew through SLC this week. I was in western Utah last year and loved it.
I wanted to get your thoughts on why you think your subscriber base skews overwhelmingly more to the left. You're a centrist and you criticize both parties, yet you always touch a nerve when you criticize Harris/Democrats or point out potential pitfalls.
I think it would be cool if you polled your subscriber base to see if this is actually true. I know we're all tired of polling, but it looks like it's easy to embed a poll in a Substack post (see below). I assume it can be anonymous, as it can be on GroupMe or Discord. Anyone else curious % of Harris, Trump, or undecided in this community? Are you willing to post a poll, Chris?
https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/7584884241684-How-do-I-add-a-poll-to-a-Substack-post
I glad you noticed! It is very true what you say….
What do you think of CBS News (1) chastising the reporter who asked actual questions of Coates, and (2) the aggressive editing of Kamala's 60 Minutes interview? (There are before and after clips floating around the interwebs ...)
If we have a replay of 2016 and Trump wins the Electoral College but loses the popular vote to a woman by millions of votes, do you think he will take the W and be happy and try to unite the country? Lol, I know the answer. My guess is that we will still get Whiny Baby Trump who will insist that he only lost the popular vote—which doesn’t even matter—because of the millions of illegals who voted for Kamala in his mind.
And, on a related topic, it was revealed that anyone hoping to work in the next Trump administration would have to “prove” their loyalty to him. Besides sounding creepy, what does that mean exactly?