As a Democrat, formerly an independent and a Republican voter long ago, I think true, middle of the road republicans should suck it up, vote for Biden and congress and use the next four years to reconstruct their party…..if it’s possible.
I'm a lifelong Dem, but I grew up in Delaware which is a moderate state with a long history of cross-party voting. In years past, I've voted for Democrats and Republicans - when they still deserved the capital R.
There are still plenty of R republicans out there, and you're 100% correct. They need to suck it up and vote for Biden. Policy disagreements with someone you voted for are a normal part of life. Allowing a dictator-in-training to regain power all because he has an R after his name is vile. If republicans have any hope of rebuilding what's left of the GOP, they have to start making a stand NOW.
I have been registered in both parties and never let that define who I ultimately voted for. I didn't know being registered with a particular party meant you had married that party!
I think if they can quiet trump once and for all reconstruction is possible. But once he loses this election they need to put him in a corner somewhere and just shut him up. As long as they give him a voice the party will remain in chaos and I'm happy to see more coming around to see that.
While I agree with the heart of your comments, I think we saw, after J6, that Republicans simply can’t “put him in a corner and shut him up”, least of which Trump’s proven that there’s *nothing* that can shut him up, not even being found in contempt (though I’m hoping a little time in a holding cell might work…).
I think the only way we’ll see him “shut up” is if he chokes on his 11th “hamberder” of the day, strokes out, or has a massive heart attack from his lack of exercise and miserable diet. And for the sake of American Democracy, that can’t happen soon enough.
They could have, if they'd had the will. Today's mainstream Republican is sadly a coward. The voters may have swallowed to propaganda but all the Representatives, Senators, and party officials know what a POS he is and enable him anyway because they'd rather do that than admit that they enabled a grifting wannabe dictator.
I agree, it will probably take an act of God to shut him up. But you can unify enough of the GOP against him- which I truly believe may happen when he loses this election- I'm hoping they no longer give him air as their "top candidate". He won't (and can't) truly be silenced but once he's no longer relevant he will fade into the sunset. Or that's my hope- I mean I'm all for the massive heart attack route but short of that this is my next hope. Well actually my 1st wish would be jail, I think he has less of a voice if he ends up there. The media also has to stop giving him air time. Honestly it astounds me daily that he's still relevant in their world now. It's just plain sad
The media deserves blame too for taking him seriously. He's closer to Vermin Supreme than a serious candidate and always was. I'd have voted for Vermin Supreme in a race against Trump though.
Yes. Reelect Biden/Harris and live to fight another day. Which as others have pointed out will only happen if Trump is defeated, isolated, and silenced.
True. They do not even need to announce who they are voting for, although it would be helpful. The ballot is secret and they should vote for who will represent our democracy.
I'm hoping many are cowards & claim allegiance to him in public to protect their career. He could end them with a snap of his fat fingers. But secretly vote for Biden. While sadly, Kennedy Jr is a danger too.
If they Don't, they may not have a party to rebuild! The amount of damage he could do to the country is unthinkable. They can start over, hopefully with him gone, one way or another...
Hopefully this will spur other Republicans to speak up and take a stand. The country needs a healthy two party system and the Republicans aren’t holding up their end.
Geoff Duncan's decision to back Biden AND to do it publicly is the kind of courage we need to see from 'normie' republicans. If it's true that courage begets courage, then Duncan may have smoothed the way for other disaffected, anti-Trump/pro-democracy republicans to do the same. We need them, and we need their voices to be heard.
I applaud Geoff Duncan. What he did took backbone and a moral compass that has avoided the Trump distortion field. When people we've been trying to convince finally do the right thing, we need to thank them and encourage them, not criticize them with 'what took you so long?' Mr. Duncan lives in Georgia. He's a republican. He's seen what happened to people like him and GA SoS Brad Raffensperger and GA Gov Brian Kemp, as well as ordinary citizens like Shae Moss and Ruby Freeman, when they defied Trump's scheme to overturn the election results in 2020 and instead do the right thing - their jobs.
It's one thing to be willing to vote for somebody with whom you may have policy differences and do so publicly, but quite another to sit silently and watch a proto-authoritarian regain power. Too many republicans fall into that latter camp. So, I say, 'Welcome to Team Democracy, Geoff Duncan!'
And if I can be petty for a moment, while Joe Biden was receiving Lt Gov Geoff Duncan's endorsement, Trump got the coveted backing of Kevin Spacey. *meow*
Great column-more republicans need to find their decency and integrity to save this country from fascism. Get your house in order and come to your senses!! 💙✌️
In politics we can debate and change policies and programs. What we can't change is the character of our elected officials. President Biden has demonstrated himself to be a good, decent and empathetic person with high moral standards. Trump is the polar opposite. The November election isn't just about two candidates running for the highest office in the land; more importantly, it is a test of the moral character of of this country and her people.
Voting for President Biden but electing a hopelessly divided party (maggots v. conservatives) to congress means four more years of do-nothing government.
Vote for Biden and give him a Congress with which he can work to get things done.
Finally, vote :D down the ballot to rid your states of despots like Desantis and all those idiots in Alabama, etc.
Absolutely agree. It makes no sense to elect senators or representatives who remain committed to trump and his views/methods/goals. That simply keeps the cult alive and pretty much guarantees a lack of progress. It seems the majority of Republicans are, at this point, in favor of an oligarchy/autocracy, despite its negative consequences for them (and everyone else!)
I think that many Republicans in the pressure cooker of a political season might SAY what Trump wants to hear, but in the solitary quiet of the voting booth might rethink their position and vote accordingly. At least I hope so.
Thank you for writing this. I am one of those never-Trumpers who just yesterday said I am writing Bernie Sanders in on the POTUS election this year. Your newsletter here is giving me pause. Thank you.
Jodi, please consider voting for President Biden this year to PRESERVE your right to vote for Bernie in 2028. Your Constitutional rights are at risk, and that's not hyperbole.
It broke my heart to see him deliberately squashed 2 elections in a row. The idiots in charge of the big machine. I am furiously angry at them for this.
Trump was elected because the GOP stood behind the one the people wanted. Whereas the DNC dumped the one the people wanted then played stupid when Trump was elected !!!!
We need him alive and doing the good works he does but you don't really think voting for him will produce a win? What it will do is take votes away from Biden and give them to Trump. If Biden doesn't win, you can kiss democracy goodbye. This is not the time to exercise a protest or futile vote. Please reconsider.
I hope you think carefully, Jodi. I’m about as progressive as can be, but this election is so important with the main objective being preventing a disastrous second term of a toddler without any child minders.
That’s what I said in the comment everyone is replying to. “It’s given me pause.”
Also, I know no one can read my mind. And I have some issues saying what’s in my head - so here is something I didn’t say but in hind sight I see I should have because, again, no one can read my mind.
Just because I said something yesterday doesn’t mean it’s carved in stone. It’s just something I said yesterday.
I won’t make up my mind fully until I have my pen in hand and I am in the voting booth.
In addition, my vote won’t matter. I WILL STILL VOTE because of the suffragettes who suffered horrible abuse to give me that right.
I live in a red state now. It’s red red red. My vote won’t matter. AND I will still vote.
And I do believe my vote matters.
This is a passionate topic for me. Maybe I need to consider writing some newsletters about it. Hm.
Your vote matters. Every single vote matters. Best example is Florida's hanging chad disaster. Many single votes add up to whole lot. Personally I strongly believe voting is a civic duty just like paying taxes.
I hope you don't feel attacked but I think people are so terrified that Trump will win they are horrified when some people say they will not vote or vote for a third candidate which is basically voting for Trump. I get it that in your red state you feel your vote won't count but it will. You said that yourself. I'm confident that you will come to the right decision for the continuation of American democracy. Peace.
Thank you. In this red state, I hear other people talking about why Trump. It’s amazing what propaganda can do to a person. It’s been shocking to live here and hear “the other side.” I mean, the news they hear here is - also shocking. I continually say, “that’s not the whole story” or “wow, what news source was that?” Or “well, the other side of the story is this and that” or “you’re missing so much of the picture here…” it’s been interesting why people still want to vote for the orange one.
I mean, interesting in that, people should come live in a red state for a month or two and REALLY LEARN what’s going on in people’s heads so they can understand how to fight this propaganda that is thrown at the people here, and what makes them still want to vote for the person who is terrifying.
This article, here, that we are all commenting on, is showing me a different way to go about doing the right thing, and reasons for it. I really don’t have words to explain, but this article has given me HOPE for the future. And I have been despondent about it.
I shared too much in my first comment which is reminding me why I shouldn’t share. Because it’s always the same comments from people, telling me things as if I haven’t already paid attention to these same things for decades now, learned the same things they did, and chosen to make different choices and continue to educate, in my own way.
That’s the tough part - feeling like people talk to me like I am stupid. And I need to learn to keep my mouth shut.
My vote will not be final until I am in that voting booth with the pen in my hand and my ballot is marked. And even then, the ballot can be cancelled and re-done. There’s a procedure for that too.
I wish our country would sit down and come up with new ways to do elections so it wasn’t all SuperPACS and big corporate money and horrible ads saying terrible things about the candidates.
I wish for so much more for our country. We could be so much more and do so much better. This corporate money is … destroying us.
WE THE PEOPLE should have more say !!!
thank you for writing your message that wasn’t attacking me.
I’ve probably , once again, said TMI. I don’t know how to get out of this thread though & stop replying.
I know both things are simultaneously true - my vote matters. And also: my vote doesn’t matter. Both are true.
Every time I go vote (and I go to all elections & have since I was eligible in 1992!) , I cry. I think of the suffragettes and I vote.
I wish I could say that of the people I have been in relationships with.
ALSO: My kids vote now, too. I have raised kids who vote. That’s pretty powerful in my opinion.
I’m glad the people in this thread are passionate about voting. That’s actually kind of awesome. Not kind of awesome, it IS awesome.
Oh that more people would feel this way and go and vote in every election.
Normally I would hold up the 3rd party vote or write in and say do it, however a write in vote in this election is honestly one more vote for trump. And as an election official I also know that if Bernie is not a "legal" write in your vote is literally wasted. Come election day there are only certain write in votes that can count- I'm not sure all the ins and outs of what it takes to be a legal write in vote but I would assume Bernie will not be counted as "legal". I mean it does show a protest to Biden being on the ballot but that's the cards we are dealt.
I read an article after the election (that I can no longer find) that said trump lost, in part, due to R ballot voters leaving the vote for President blank. In your case a vote for Bernie would be a D ballot leaving the vote for President blank. Keeping trump out of the White House is imparitive, leave nothing to chance. This is the only reason I say don't do it and would implore you to reconsider.
My first comment here says, to me, “I am reconsidering.”
Also, I wrote another comment with more details but I don’t want to keep retyping that over and over.
My vote won’t be firm or chosen until I am in the voting booth with a pen in my hand. Just because I “said something yesterday” doesn’t mean “that’s what I am doing in November.”
Gads. I should have kept my mouth shut. I forgot I always get told what to do or not do when I speak up as a resister. How can I keep forgetting this? I wish my brain worked.
Everyone is distracted by the 'smokescreen' of the 'court room soap opera' . . . . With an immense amount of discussion about all the reasons why it is unthinkable that Trump could be reelected, I still do not hear any mention of the 'ultimate DEAL BREAKER" . . . . This is it . . . . Imagine this man 'in charge of two thousand million tons of thermo nuclear weapons again?' (That is two thousand ONE MEGATON HYDROGEN BOMBS) . . . . And General Milley won't be there to stop him this time ! . . . . . End of discussion ! . . . . . gasp
I was with him right up until he talked about voting for GOP Representatives and Senators. Nearly all of them are Trumpists at this point so no matter what you think of policy, voting for them is going to be as bad as voting for Trump, and would ensure another four years of the silliness that we've had from people like MTG, Gaetz, Boebert, Santos, et. al. It's not JUST Trump that is the problem, although he is undoubtedly the center of the problem.
I am hoping over the next few months more and more come out publically to denounce this very dangerous man. You know there are a growing number of Republicans thinking it but are not brave enough to come out pubically. There is strength in numbers, it's time to band together against trumpism. Show they aren't afraid of the bully. The party can't heal until he is silenced once and for all. I also love how he called out McConnell and Barr- they are spineless.
Duncan was essentially read out of the GA GOP, so he didn't have a whole lot to lose with his vote-for-Biden announcement. But, maybe a couple of dozen GA Republican voters get swayed by Duncan's argument, and pull the lever for Biden....too cynical about those people to hope for much else.
I appreciate this aspect of Duncan’s critique: “His reliance on incendiary phrases such as “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” fueled racial unrest.”
The standard GOP/racist response is “Well, he/I didn’t know the history of that remark, so you can’t criticize us for it.” That makes their ignorance our problem, and rejects the notion that they should ever learn anything. (Assuming they’re even telling the truth about not knowing.) Good on Duncan for not accepting that lazy premise.
As much as he wants to pretend Trump does not represent the Republican "brand", he has to face the reality that Trump now IS the Republican brand, thanks to his fellow spineless Republicans, and the GOP crazies they have allowed into power.
As a Democrat, formerly an independent and a Republican voter long ago, I think true, middle of the road republicans should suck it up, vote for Biden and congress and use the next four years to reconstruct their party…..if it’s possible.
I'm a lifelong Dem, but I grew up in Delaware which is a moderate state with a long history of cross-party voting. In years past, I've voted for Democrats and Republicans - when they still deserved the capital R.
There are still plenty of R republicans out there, and you're 100% correct. They need to suck it up and vote for Biden. Policy disagreements with someone you voted for are a normal part of life. Allowing a dictator-in-training to regain power all because he has an R after his name is vile. If republicans have any hope of rebuilding what's left of the GOP, they have to start making a stand NOW.
I have been registered in both parties and never let that define who I ultimately voted for. I didn't know being registered with a particular party meant you had married that party!
I think if they can quiet trump once and for all reconstruction is possible. But once he loses this election they need to put him in a corner somewhere and just shut him up. As long as they give him a voice the party will remain in chaos and I'm happy to see more coming around to see that.
While I agree with the heart of your comments, I think we saw, after J6, that Republicans simply can’t “put him in a corner and shut him up”, least of which Trump’s proven that there’s *nothing* that can shut him up, not even being found in contempt (though I’m hoping a little time in a holding cell might work…).
I think the only way we’ll see him “shut up” is if he chokes on his 11th “hamberder” of the day, strokes out, or has a massive heart attack from his lack of exercise and miserable diet. And for the sake of American Democracy, that can’t happen soon enough.
They could have, if they'd had the will. Today's mainstream Republican is sadly a coward. The voters may have swallowed to propaganda but all the Representatives, Senators, and party officials know what a POS he is and enable him anyway because they'd rather do that than admit that they enabled a grifting wannabe dictator.
I agree, it will probably take an act of God to shut him up. But you can unify enough of the GOP against him- which I truly believe may happen when he loses this election- I'm hoping they no longer give him air as their "top candidate". He won't (and can't) truly be silenced but once he's no longer relevant he will fade into the sunset. Or that's my hope- I mean I'm all for the massive heart attack route but short of that this is my next hope. Well actually my 1st wish would be jail, I think he has less of a voice if he ends up there. The media also has to stop giving him air time. Honestly it astounds me daily that he's still relevant in their world now. It's just plain sad
The media deserves blame too for taking him seriously. He's closer to Vermin Supreme than a serious candidate and always was. I'd have voted for Vermin Supreme in a race against Trump though.
fingers crossed
Or maybe in a straight jacket ranting incoherently?
Yes. Reelect Biden/Harris and live to fight another day. Which as others have pointed out will only happen if Trump is defeated, isolated, and silenced.
True. They do not even need to announce who they are voting for, although it would be helpful. The ballot is secret and they should vote for who will represent our democracy.
I'm wondering who among them might be announcing they'll vote for Trump but will vote for Biden in the voting booth.
I'm hoping many are cowards & claim allegiance to him in public to protect their career. He could end them with a snap of his fat fingers. But secretly vote for Biden. While sadly, Kennedy Jr is a danger too.
No serious person is voting for Kennedy because that is a vote for Trump/Drumpf!
That would be the sensible approach. But so far, not enough of them appear to have the spine. I honestly don't understand it.
If they Don't, they may not have a party to rebuild! The amount of damage he could do to the country is unthinkable. They can start over, hopefully with him gone, one way or another...
Hopefully this will spur other Republicans to speak up and take a stand. The country needs a healthy two party system and the Republicans aren’t holding up their end.
Geoff Duncan's decision to back Biden AND to do it publicly is the kind of courage we need to see from 'normie' republicans. If it's true that courage begets courage, then Duncan may have smoothed the way for other disaffected, anti-Trump/pro-democracy republicans to do the same. We need them, and we need their voices to be heard.
I applaud Geoff Duncan. What he did took backbone and a moral compass that has avoided the Trump distortion field. When people we've been trying to convince finally do the right thing, we need to thank them and encourage them, not criticize them with 'what took you so long?' Mr. Duncan lives in Georgia. He's a republican. He's seen what happened to people like him and GA SoS Brad Raffensperger and GA Gov Brian Kemp, as well as ordinary citizens like Shae Moss and Ruby Freeman, when they defied Trump's scheme to overturn the election results in 2020 and instead do the right thing - their jobs.
It's one thing to be willing to vote for somebody with whom you may have policy differences and do so publicly, but quite another to sit silently and watch a proto-authoritarian regain power. Too many republicans fall into that latter camp. So, I say, 'Welcome to Team Democracy, Geoff Duncan!'
And if I can be petty for a moment, while Joe Biden was receiving Lt Gov Geoff Duncan's endorsement, Trump got the coveted backing of Kevin Spacey. *meow*
Love Kevin Spacey, the actor. Kevin Spacey, the person? Not so much.
Same.
Well framed and well said.
Goooodd one!
Great column-more republicans need to find their decency and integrity to save this country from fascism. Get your house in order and come to your senses!! 💙✌️
In politics we can debate and change policies and programs. What we can't change is the character of our elected officials. President Biden has demonstrated himself to be a good, decent and empathetic person with high moral standards. Trump is the polar opposite. The November election isn't just about two candidates running for the highest office in the land; more importantly, it is a test of the moral character of of this country and her people.
And too many failed that test in 2016.
The D tribe and the R tribe are irrelevant today. This election is about voting for decency. And against filthy, rotten, disgusting moral pollution.
Irrelevant is a fantastic word to apply to those tribes, as you call them. (Another great word too!)
Voting for President Biden but electing a hopelessly divided party (maggots v. conservatives) to congress means four more years of do-nothing government.
Vote for Biden and give him a Congress with which he can work to get things done.
Finally, vote :D down the ballot to rid your states of despots like Desantis and all those idiots in Alabama, etc.
Absolutely agree. It makes no sense to elect senators or representatives who remain committed to trump and his views/methods/goals. That simply keeps the cult alive and pretty much guarantees a lack of progress. It seems the majority of Republicans are, at this point, in favor of an oligarchy/autocracy, despite its negative consequences for them (and everyone else!)
I think that many Republicans in the pressure cooker of a political season might SAY what Trump wants to hear, but in the solitary quiet of the voting booth might rethink their position and vote accordingly. At least I hope so.
I sure hope you are right, Ann. If ever there was a time to have an R do the opposite of what they're saying, this is it!
From your lips to God’s ears.
Thank you for writing this. I am one of those never-Trumpers who just yesterday said I am writing Bernie Sanders in on the POTUS election this year. Your newsletter here is giving me pause. Thank you.
Jodi, please consider voting for President Biden this year to PRESERVE your right to vote for Bernie in 2028. Your Constitutional rights are at risk, and that's not hyperbole.
You think Bernie can run in 2028?? This gives me big hope thank you
Bernie is invincible❣️
It broke my heart to see him deliberately squashed 2 elections in a row. The idiots in charge of the big machine. I am furiously angry at them for this.
Trump was elected because the GOP stood behind the one the people wanted. Whereas the DNC dumped the one the people wanted then played stupid when Trump was elected !!!!
Trump is a really good example of why more educated and/or less ignorant persons need to stand up to "the people" at times.
Yesterday I donated to Bernie’s Senate campaign. We need him there for the good of our country and planet.
We need him alive and doing the good works he does but you don't really think voting for him will produce a win? What it will do is take votes away from Biden and give them to Trump. If Biden doesn't win, you can kiss democracy goodbye. This is not the time to exercise a protest or futile vote. Please reconsider.
Yes he definitely is doing good where he is.
I hope you think carefully, Jodi. I’m about as progressive as can be, but this election is so important with the main objective being preventing a disastrous second term of a toddler without any child minders.
I forgot every time I post about voting 3rd party people tell me not to do it. When will I learn this consistent experience happens?
Maybe listen to it.
If everyone is telling you the same thing time and again, isn't it worth reconsidering your position?
That’s what I said in the comment everyone is replying to. “It’s given me pause.”
Also, I know no one can read my mind. And I have some issues saying what’s in my head - so here is something I didn’t say but in hind sight I see I should have because, again, no one can read my mind.
Just because I said something yesterday doesn’t mean it’s carved in stone. It’s just something I said yesterday.
I won’t make up my mind fully until I have my pen in hand and I am in the voting booth.
In addition, my vote won’t matter. I WILL STILL VOTE because of the suffragettes who suffered horrible abuse to give me that right.
I live in a red state now. It’s red red red. My vote won’t matter. AND I will still vote.
And I do believe my vote matters.
This is a passionate topic for me. Maybe I need to consider writing some newsletters about it. Hm.
Your vote matters. Every single vote matters. Best example is Florida's hanging chad disaster. Many single votes add up to whole lot. Personally I strongly believe voting is a civic duty just like paying taxes.
I agree. It matters. That’s why I do it. Voting is of vital importance to me. It’s a non-negotiable.
I also know this state will go red.
I hope you don't feel attacked but I think people are so terrified that Trump will win they are horrified when some people say they will not vote or vote for a third candidate which is basically voting for Trump. I get it that in your red state you feel your vote won't count but it will. You said that yourself. I'm confident that you will come to the right decision for the continuation of American democracy. Peace.
Thank you. In this red state, I hear other people talking about why Trump. It’s amazing what propaganda can do to a person. It’s been shocking to live here and hear “the other side.” I mean, the news they hear here is - also shocking. I continually say, “that’s not the whole story” or “wow, what news source was that?” Or “well, the other side of the story is this and that” or “you’re missing so much of the picture here…” it’s been interesting why people still want to vote for the orange one.
I mean, interesting in that, people should come live in a red state for a month or two and REALLY LEARN what’s going on in people’s heads so they can understand how to fight this propaganda that is thrown at the people here, and what makes them still want to vote for the person who is terrifying.
This article, here, that we are all commenting on, is showing me a different way to go about doing the right thing, and reasons for it. I really don’t have words to explain, but this article has given me HOPE for the future. And I have been despondent about it.
I shared too much in my first comment which is reminding me why I shouldn’t share. Because it’s always the same comments from people, telling me things as if I haven’t already paid attention to these same things for decades now, learned the same things they did, and chosen to make different choices and continue to educate, in my own way.
That’s the tough part - feeling like people talk to me like I am stupid. And I need to learn to keep my mouth shut.
My vote will not be final until I am in that voting booth with the pen in my hand and my ballot is marked. And even then, the ballot can be cancelled and re-done. There’s a procedure for that too.
I wish our country would sit down and come up with new ways to do elections so it wasn’t all SuperPACS and big corporate money and horrible ads saying terrible things about the candidates.
I wish for so much more for our country. We could be so much more and do so much better. This corporate money is … destroying us.
WE THE PEOPLE should have more say !!!
thank you for writing your message that wasn’t attacking me.
I’ve probably , once again, said TMI. I don’t know how to get out of this thread though & stop replying.
I know both things are simultaneously true - my vote matters. And also: my vote doesn’t matter. Both are true.
Every time I go vote (and I go to all elections & have since I was eligible in 1992!) , I cry. I think of the suffragettes and I vote.
I wish I could say that of the people I have been in relationships with.
ALSO: My kids vote now, too. I have raised kids who vote. That’s pretty powerful in my opinion.
I’m glad the people in this thread are passionate about voting. That’s actually kind of awesome. Not kind of awesome, it IS awesome.
Oh that more people would feel this way and go and vote in every election.
What Would Bernie Do...😏
Normally I would hold up the 3rd party vote or write in and say do it, however a write in vote in this election is honestly one more vote for trump. And as an election official I also know that if Bernie is not a "legal" write in your vote is literally wasted. Come election day there are only certain write in votes that can count- I'm not sure all the ins and outs of what it takes to be a legal write in vote but I would assume Bernie will not be counted as "legal". I mean it does show a protest to Biden being on the ballot but that's the cards we are dealt.
I read an article after the election (that I can no longer find) that said trump lost, in part, due to R ballot voters leaving the vote for President blank. In your case a vote for Bernie would be a D ballot leaving the vote for President blank. Keeping trump out of the White House is imparitive, leave nothing to chance. This is the only reason I say don't do it and would implore you to reconsider.
My first comment here says, to me, “I am reconsidering.”
Also, I wrote another comment with more details but I don’t want to keep retyping that over and over.
My vote won’t be firm or chosen until I am in the voting booth with a pen in my hand. Just because I “said something yesterday” doesn’t mean “that’s what I am doing in November.”
Gads. I should have kept my mouth shut. I forgot I always get told what to do or not do when I speak up as a resister. How can I keep forgetting this? I wish my brain worked.
Everyone is distracted by the 'smokescreen' of the 'court room soap opera' . . . . With an immense amount of discussion about all the reasons why it is unthinkable that Trump could be reelected, I still do not hear any mention of the 'ultimate DEAL BREAKER" . . . . This is it . . . . Imagine this man 'in charge of two thousand million tons of thermo nuclear weapons again?' (That is two thousand ONE MEGATON HYDROGEN BOMBS) . . . . And General Milley won't be there to stop him this time ! . . . . . End of discussion ! . . . . . gasp
Thank you for this reminder !!!
Terrific piece, Jay.
Big kudos to Duncan; no doubt he's been getting hundreds of death threats.
Duncan is actually putting America first.
I was with him right up until he talked about voting for GOP Representatives and Senators. Nearly all of them are Trumpists at this point so no matter what you think of policy, voting for them is going to be as bad as voting for Trump, and would ensure another four years of the silliness that we've had from people like MTG, Gaetz, Boebert, Santos, et. al. It's not JUST Trump that is the problem, although he is undoubtedly the center of the problem.
I am hoping over the next few months more and more come out publically to denounce this very dangerous man. You know there are a growing number of Republicans thinking it but are not brave enough to come out pubically. There is strength in numbers, it's time to band together against trumpism. Show they aren't afraid of the bully. The party can't heal until he is silenced once and for all. I also love how he called out McConnell and Barr- they are spineless.
Duncan was essentially read out of the GA GOP, so he didn't have a whole lot to lose with his vote-for-Biden announcement. But, maybe a couple of dozen GA Republican voters get swayed by Duncan's argument, and pull the lever for Biden....too cynical about those people to hope for much else.
I appreciate this aspect of Duncan’s critique: “His reliance on incendiary phrases such as “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” fueled racial unrest.”
The standard GOP/racist response is “Well, he/I didn’t know the history of that remark, so you can’t criticize us for it.” That makes their ignorance our problem, and rejects the notion that they should ever learn anything. (Assuming they’re even telling the truth about not knowing.) Good on Duncan for not accepting that lazy premise.
As much as he wants to pretend Trump does not represent the Republican "brand", he has to face the reality that Trump now IS the Republican brand, thanks to his fellow spineless Republicans, and the GOP crazies they have allowed into power.