139 Comments
Sep 10Liked by Jay Kuo

As with every minority or woman democratic candidate, if they're not perfect it's a failure. This means Harris has an almost impossible task ahead of her; being perfect. It's the one thing I cannot wrap my head around with our current political situation. It will continue to be up to us to do the job the media fails to do.

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She just needs to be herself! If her persona comes thru there will be no stopping her. And he’s a failed ex president who has lost to Biden/Harris once already. Harris is ready for this!

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Sep 10Liked by Jay Kuo

If you’re on social media, Scott Dworkin encourages using the hashtag #KamalaUnitesUS

“We just launched the hashtag #KamalaUnitesUS on multiple social media platforms. This will ensure that the debate conversation online will focus on the positives—like how Kamala’s campaign of infectious joy unites all of us. We’ll be reminding folks that Harris will work for every American, no matter who you are.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/dworkin/p/our-plan-to-beat-pro-trump-debate?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

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Yes! #KamalaUnitesUS...I also restacked and shared on FB.

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I agree that this has too much build up. In my Project 2025 discussion tonight, one of the men pointed out that a group the Democrats are losing is straight men under 30. So be it. There are certainly policies that they should care about, but it might be wise to speak to them as a group. I know this came up in my class once, when doing an assembly on veterans. Inclusion means including the included. However, I think the debate is a terrible idea, because it is Trump the Fascist's forum. Kamala has so much riding on her performance tonight and just like with Joe, where people thought he would show Trump and then he didn't, having the entire Democratic party turn after this and give up or not based on how she does is ridiculous. That is why my eyes will not be on the debate. I will be sleeping in my Central European time zone as will a lot of Americans Abroad who are in this time Zone. I will see the headlines tomorrow, of the Substacks I subscribe to and the independent media, and will then start my day.

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Same here.

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For Kamala it’s a much lower bar. Adequate would be a huge win. Don’t forget, everyone wanted to ditch her until the party bosses gave the marching orders.

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I think you’re in the wrong place. X is behind you to the right.

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Apparently, I already blocked this account.

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Open-mindedness is more of a virtue there, true…

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No .. I voted for Biden which always meant she could have been the President…. So yes I did vote for Harris. And the President treated his VP as a equal not like Donald treated Pence like a nobody then literally didn’t protect him on Jan. 6 th. His VP not voting for him or 40 of his employees( cabinet members) etc.

I’ll take Harris/Walz but everyone should do as they want . You know America( our freedom our right to vote). My father fought in WW11 and he use to say if you don’t vote you are not respecting our veterans who died for that right!!

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Are you lost? Nobody wanted to ditch her EXCEPT the party "bosses." Go peddle you're lies elsewhere.

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Please. Her approval rating was in the tank, until it wasn’t.

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Please, save your lies for the more gullible. You can't even logically argue your point.

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Please tell me this is AI generated, and not a real live person…

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Thanks for proving my point!

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You don’t need to vote for Harris if it’s too hard for you, but I’d be too ashamed to vote for the total fraud and rapist Donald Trump. Just don’t vote.

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Who let this bozo in?

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No, that’s not it. You can’t say you’re against forever wars and then close with wanting “the most lethal fighting force in the world.” C’mon.

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As to me, the outcome will have ZERO impact on me and MILLIONS of other American voters.

We will vote for Anyone But Trump (ABT), especially Vice President Kamala Harris.

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Ditto. I just don’t think this debate will matter. Voters are dug in. Either you support the adjudicated rapist and convicted felon or you don’t.

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Once more, the woman of color is expected to perform 4 times better than the mediocre white male. This is the myth of what magats sell as DEI.

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He’s way below mediocre, I can’t think of a word that’s bad enough to describe him.

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Malignant?

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Criminal thug will do.

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Revolting?

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There really aren't any left. And trying to invent them is just an exercise in futility. Perhaps 'gone' is the only one we really want to hear.

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I disagree - she just needs to be herself. She has her heart in the right place & TFG can’t compete with that. He’ll have his cult & his apologists but that’s not enough to win an election.

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Unfortunately, for those of us that are deaf, “ tuning in “ audible broadcasts is not possible. I look forward to the written commentaries from you ( plus from Joyce White Vance & Professor Heather Cox Richardson)..all of whom I subscribe to.

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I have been reading closed captions for broadcast for years. It's improvement is perfect the last 10 years or so.

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I wish you the best - glad you chose the right side of this and have some excellent sherpas to guide you!

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If you know ASL, there will be live ASL interpretation at dpan.tv.

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Would closed captions help?

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Sep 10Liked by Jay Kuo

"Trump’s goal is to confuse them so much that they don’t realize they didn’t get any."

In the very first GOP primary debate for the 2016 election, I realized Trump is a master of tapping into confirmation bias. He provides a lot of verbal scaffolding, devoid of content. To find meaning in what he says, the listener unconsciously fills in the gaps with whatever they expected or wanted him to say. That's how two different people can hear the same words from his mouth (it doesn't work as well in printed transcript, we've all seen) and come away with opposite reactions to him.

Your prescription for Harris' approach is, IMO, right on. Don't meet Donold on his level. Keep bringing the message back to progress, governance, and all the things she's been focusing on on the trail. Treat him as what he is: an aging, increasingly irrelevant has-been.

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Debate spin already in place: tRump can act as badly as he pleases, as his support is locked in; Kamala Harris needs a huge performance in order to win over "30%" of the undecided voters. Ultimately, no matter how well Harris does, it'll never be enough, by corporate media standards.

"Moving the needle" ONLY works when the Dem candidate has a poor debate showing, but NOT after a stellar performance...the unofficial law of presidential debates. Essentially, here tRump gets a mulligan, no matter what.

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In short, just another typical matchup between a mediocre vain little man and a high-performance woman.

He gets not just one but INFINITE mulligans. She has to pull it off backwards and in heels to get reluctant credit. Or, more likely, the media will figure out how to give him credit for something she and Biden did during their term.

Or how to blame Biden (and by extension Harris) for something Trump caused, such as the messy Afghan withdrawal situation that Biden inherited immediately upon taking office, where he had to hastily figure out how to skedaddle out of Kabul without losing half our military force out there. Trump's release of 1000s of Taliban fighters and signing up to a withdrawal date that was impossible was a very direct cause of that debacle. Biden pulled it off well considering--126K people evacuated successfully in just two weeks, more than double the number of people we got out of Saigon in that hasty and messy withdrawal.

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I want to repost this to other threads, with quotes and credit to Systematic Curiosity. You said it so well. Kudos.

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Yep and he’s still getting blamed for the mess dump caused!

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The media will somehow rephrase what he said so it sounds sane. They won't do the same for her. He "weaves" his answers - and everyone says he's a genius. lol

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And we all know (even many of his supporters) that weaving is BS. It’s a cover for advancing dementia!

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Oh the tangled webs we weave

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You can’t say you’re against forever wars and then close with wanting “the most lethal fighting force in the world.” C’mon. And yes, that’s Kamala Harris I’m referring to.

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You can be against war, but not be stupid enough to not be prepared in case there are any. We do not rule the world (although sometimes we feel as if we are the mother hens), and we can't predict when some asinine fascist will decide he needs more power and territory. Being prepared, with the most lethal fighting force in the world, is not only a deterrent, but necessary.

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No, the words she used indicate she’ll be a neocon like Hillary Clinton.

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I assume you aren't going to vote for her then. What has Trump done for you?

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I’m registered in California, so my vote doesn’t matter in national elections. I suppose I favor authenticity, even if substandard, over staged and controlled propaganda, even if well-done. California, which boosted Kamala, has massive problems. It’s not a sustainable model for anything except the political power of the Catholic Church.

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He gets a “good job” sticker just for showing up! 🤬

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..... which basically describes the party and gender disparity in politics and in the workplace, that's been around for decades and can't seem to go away.

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Sep 10Liked by Jay Kuo

Loved Pete’s spot on comments. Go get ‘em Kamala!!

Myself and several previous Republican voter friends will be watching you from Florida.

💙👍🏼💙

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As a former speech and debate coach, I've noticed that Trump has about a 20 minute-long "high focus" time in debates, after which he starts slipping up and drifting. And by about minute 40, he's gone off the rails. It's been pretty consistent, and it's very unlikely he's been able to improve on that at this point.

What this means: don't panic in the first 20 minutes if he sounds polished or capable. Keep watching past that point and watch his focus and verbiage, because he can't keep it up longer than that (entendre intended). Harris is most certainly trained in holding focus much longer, so if she can get through the first 20 without him scoring big points, it becomes an endurance race where she will have an advantage.

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Sep 10Liked by Jay Kuo

Have to admit to some jitters….tRump will come out slinging nonsense and Harris has to be prepared to address it while at the same time staying on message. A tightrope for her and a trampoline for him.

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She will be great! She knows what she needs to do, and will follow through perfectly. Trump, on the other hand, is a variable no one can count on. It will be something to watch, for sure. If I were her, and she doesn't need my opinion, I'd subtlety poke him. I have always found when you do that the other person does not get it right away, but to others observing - it's effective.

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I’m sorry but it is impossible to know that she will be great because of the uncertainty introduced by the moderators. If they are anything like the CNN crew it may be very difficult to shine.

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Jake and Dana really stunk. That’s a technical term. So disappointed. But not really surprised.

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I watch David Muir regularly, and he isn’t anything like the last moderators. I think he and Lindsay Davis will be much better at hard questions for both candidates.

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I fucking hate that this is being called a debate and legitimized by corporate media shills. Unless Donvict shits himself and smears it on the walls he will be declared “winner”—and honestly I think he could get away with that even!

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Isn’t that what his insurrectionist minions did at the Capitol, while screaming, “Our House!”

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Trump will be declared the winner by his base, no matter what. Harris, same.

Seems fair.

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It’s not the respective base voters that matter in this situation, and you know it.

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Read the comment I was replying to.

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"My opponent did not answer the question, and I would like to do so here." "My opponent could not answer the question, but I will be happy to do so."

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I am soooooo nervous about this event, because Harris is being held to a bigger microscope. Everything she says/does/wears will be scrutinized, whereas Trump will be sane-washed. Part of me actually hopes he doesn't show up!

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On the issue of women, Harris can bring up his history, the lawsuits, E. Jean Carroll, & Katie Johnson’s testimony against Epstein where she names TCFG as her rapist when she was around 12 years old.

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Really hope she uses Molly Ploofkins suggestion. Absolutely brilliant.

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Unfortunately, moderaters won’t ask the pos about his ‘bloody’ remarks, epstein, his felonies, his insane tariff plans, children getting sex change operations in school, or any of the crap he spews. They’ll pretend he’s an actual human, with actual ideas. I don’t think I can watch it.

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