An NPR poll found that 71% of respondents were unsure or never heard of Tim Walz.

https://www.npr.org/2024/08/06/g-s1-15454/elections-poll-harris-running-mate

8/6/2024 10:22:24 AM

she deserves a ton of credibility points for this pick

8/6/2024 10:39:28 AM

^^Would likely be similar numbers for Shapiro or Kelly. In normal times, a shocking number of people can't even identify who is the current Vice President, much less an obscure governor.

8/6/2024 10:55:54 AM

Quote :

"Call me crazy but I'm not the biggest fan of Captain Picard...he has the most name recognition and a kewl resume but he's pretty bad at debating and speaking off the fly just looking at some clips of his on the youtubes. Shapiro would be the best person that could help the EC map but he would piss off the Hamas-supporting wing of the party so it'll never be him. My Monopoly money is on her picking Cooper."

She definitely would've picked her good buddy Ol' Roy if not for him taking his name out of contention due to self-confessed murderer Lt. Gov Mark Robinson. I like the Waltz choice, it's way safer than the other available options IMO.

8/6/2024 11:19:00 AM

The posts about him on social media from his former students and his vegetarian daughter make him seem like a great pick

His likability is off the charts. Very pro union too it seems like

Quote :

" As the football coach. Man was a football coach, social studies teacher, GSA sponsor, and went turkey hunting on the weekends. He’s the perfect model for what a rural progressive can be. Edit: as stated below he’s a veteran with 20 years in the National Guard. Love my governor,"

Lots of liberal people like this in rural areas, who know actually how to live and let live. If he can bring them out NC is in play.

[Edited on August 6, 2024 at 12:05 PM. Reason : ]

8/6/2024 12:02:17 PM

If the number one goal was "do no harm" Walz is a great pick. Not as high reward as Shapiro, but I get the reasoning

8/6/2024 12:11:53 PM

Perhaps she just had the best rapport with Walz, versus some calculation like do no harm etc

8/6/2024 12:16:43 PM

https://x.com/teddygoff/status/1820819617872327040?s=46

Quote :

"One of the many extremely appealing things about Walz is that he doesn’t appear to have had a grand plan to take over the universe. He appears to have gone into politics because he likes helping people, and risen because he’s really good at that. What a concept!"

this is the way

8/6/2024 12:40:14 PM

He seems weirdly.... normal.

8/6/2024 1:06:53 PM

first Walz intro vid from the campaign

8/6/2024 2:14:53 PM

Quote :

"^^Would likely be similar numbers for Shapiro or Kelly."

Different poll, so Grain of salt but
Bashear 68%
Kelly 53%
Cooper 74%
Shapiro 60%
https://apnorc.org/projects/democrats-are-supportive-of-harris-but-many-adults-think-trump-has-the-electoral-advantage/

[Edited on August 6, 2024 at 2:23 PM. Reason : Number is for "Don’t know enough to say" for favorable answer ]

[Edited on August 6, 2024 at 2:24 PM. Reason : Add bashear]

8/6/2024 2:21:38 PM

I'm still going to call that similar.

8/6/2024 7:54:11 PM

I actually misread your post as "would like to see", wasn't trying to correct you. A rare reverse grink.

8/6/2024 8:07:11 PM

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/tim-walz-vp-jd-vance-couch-rally-b2592322.html

lol

8/6/2024 8:15:53 PM

^^In that case, thanks for making the extra effort to address a request I didn't make. It means a lot!

^Got 'em!

8/6/2024 8:34:47 PM

Quote :

"Might be the least divisive, though. He is non-threatening to most groups and can perhaps be an effective attack dog."

What's divisive about Mark Kelly?

Quote :

"still want to know why theduke thought it would be a bad move]"

Because he's more liberal the other two. If, above all else, your defining priority is to get elected or else, because Trump is an existential threat to America, and part of your strategy is to deny Trump votes from disaffective "normie" Republicans who, and one of your biggest vulnerabilities is your previous label of "most liberal Senator", supported by plenty of left-wing campaigning in the previous election...why in the hell would you pick the ideologically pure choice over popular centrists from important swing states?

I mean, I'm still gonna vote for her, but my attitude has gone from "Fuck Kamala Harris. I'm just voting for her because I have to" to "Extra-fuck Kamala Harris. I'm voting for her because I have to, but I'm even more irked about it now."



[Edited on August 6, 2024 at 10:31 PM. Reason : 0% chance I would vote Harris if Trump wasn't the opponent ]

[Edited on August 7, 2024 at 12:14 AM. Reason : ]

8/6/2024 10:29:24 PM

Walz apparently had a DWI back in 1995. I guess it wasn't felonious enough for Trump supporters to get behind.

8/6/2024 10:44:07 PM

Quote :

"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/tim-walz-vp-jd-vance-couch-rally-b2592322.html lol"

It's weird cause while it's funny, it's also something I don't want to hear from a VP, and not necessarily cause I'm against them joking or whatever but I just find myself annoyed. Probably cause the Republicans are so stupid and far gone that I can't even really criticize both sides

8/6/2024 11:25:05 PM

https://x.com/GraduatedBen/status/1820950158063948171

If only Democrats stopped letting some stupid organizations motivate their interests on the matter for some cash on a constitutional right

8/6/2024 11:43:27 PM

https://x.com/laurajedeed/status/1821004834310324539?s=46

Quote :

" Conservatives tell us that all trans people are pedophiles and perverts, and that teachers are grooming your children for rape, and occasionally claim that Hillary raped and murdered a baby They are having a full meltdown because Walz joked about Vance fucking a couch"

8/6/2024 11:45:34 PM

^^He actually stopped clapping at the assault weapons ban mention. But you can still kill a lot of people with handguns and rifles. President Trump might no longer be with us if the would-be assassin has selected a proper rifle instead of the ever-popular AR-15.

8/7/2024 6:39:04 AM

^^ I used to think there was nothing worse than calling a MAGA supporter than a racist, but now it appears I was mistaken. The line in the sand has been drawn at #couchfucker.

8/7/2024 11:15:16 AM

^^ Yeah I was posting more so for the video than the comment/description.

8/7/2024 11:27:22 AM

Quote :

"Because he's more liberal the other two. If, above all else, your defining priority is to get elected or else, because Trump is an existential threat to America, and part of your strategy is to deny Trump votes from disaffective "normie" Republicans who, and one of your biggest vulnerabilities is your previous label of "most liberal Senator", supported by plenty of left-wing campaigning in the previous election...why in the hell would you pick the ideologically pure choice over popular centrists from important swing states?"

he's more liberal in what sense? which of his policies or actions as an elected official rub you the wrong way? I'm still getting to know him too, but he seems more of a pragmatic liberal than an ideological liberal like a bernie sanders or the squad.

It's so frustrating to me how the right has coalesced around the conflation of liberalism with leftists (wherever they may land on the spectrum from straight up communists, socialists, democratic socialists or just angry and overreactive moderate liberals) who imo are the real drag on left leaning politics.

liberalism is fucking awesome and it always surprises me when I see smart, freedom-loving conservative folks who rail against liberals when the ideals of liberalism I would expect to be the kinds of things they want to defend the most.



I do agree that 2020 Kamala was too caught up in lefty bullshit but if she has learned to moderate since then, I will accept it. It's good when people learn from their mistakes, and maybe her campaign/administration can help settle down the rest of the hyperbolic left a little bit.

hell if Trump learned how to moderate I'd give him credit for that too. but he won't. stoking anger works for him and he won't let that tactic go, cus that's all he has.

[Edited on August 7, 2024 at 12:47 PM. Reason : .]

8/7/2024 12:41:18 PM

Not anything unique to her campaign, but I really hate it when people lie about other people

8/7/2024 3:13:59 PM

Quote :

"If, above all else, your defining priority is to get elected or else, because Trump is an existential threat to America, and part of your strategy is to deny Trump votes from disaffective "normie" Republicans who, and one of your biggest vulnerabilities is your previous label of "most liberal Senator", supported by plenty of left-wing campaigning in the previous election...why in the hell would you pick the ideologically pure choice over popular centrists from important swing states?"

I want to address this but before I do, let me clarify that I'm not talking about the VP candidates here. Their strengths and weaknesses have more to do with their personal appeal than with their policies. This is more on the "You need to appeal to conservatives/moderates more!" thought process, which I, too, once fell victim to.

The Democrats can't win disaffected Republicans on policy without offering Republican policies, which turn off the actual Democratic voters who do the heavy lifting. They'll get some Never Trumpers by default as the only plausible route to defeating Trumpism. They'll get others by drawing a sharp contrast between their policies - "We want to feed your kids and Republicans want to examine their genitals." But mostly, they don't need Republicans to vote for Democrats. They just need them to stay home, or write in Zombie Reagan or Ron Paul or whoever.

The "vulnerability" part of your post falls flat with me. Harris could have picked Herman Goering as a running mate and the GOP would declare him a wild-eyed pinko. For that matter, Harris' previous record would be immaterial. Biden is a fairly moderate guy and look how they paint him. If you're going to get stuck with the label anyway, might as well try to make something of it.

8/7/2024 4:33:54 PM

Quote :

"Yeah I was posting more so for the video than the comment/description."

Your posts are sometimes so fragmented or obscure that I don't understand what you're really trying to say.

Are you suggesting Democrats are making a big error by supporting some common sense gun control (which has been implemented before) like an assault weapons ban? This is a long way from saying the government is going to knock on doors and take everyone's guns away, but that's immediately where gun nuts go at the very suggestion of ANY form of control. It's stupid and it's disingenuous. AR-15s and mass shootings as we experience them today obviously didn't exist at the time the nation was founded. Civilians are not currently allowed to own fully automatic weapons, so how do we rationalize that one?

My family owns a few guns that I will eventually inherit, but no one is so rabid about "muh gun rites". There's a LOT of room for improvement without completely disarming the populace.

8/7/2024 7:58:50 PM

Remember when Clinton took all the guns?
Remember when Obama took all the guns?
Remember when Biden took all the guns?

8/8/2024 12:13:37 PM

Quote :

"Your posts are sometimes so fragmented or obscure that I don't understand what you're really trying to say."

Fair, as for the rest I think it's a bit of a strawman. Never said "they were gonna take all the guns". In fact a lot of the messaging is for the base, not what they will or can do.

[Edited on August 10, 2024 at 5:06 AM. Reason : 1]

8/10/2024 5:05:53 AM

I hope they do take all the guns

If were honest that’s definitely where the Democratic Party is headed in the next 2 decades— what do you think gen z and gen alpha will be pushing for? Might as well embrace this now. Have all the guns you want at a shooting range and armory, but you can’t take it home with you. Have a hunting rifle but you have to register it.

8/10/2024 10:34:59 AM

A hunting rifle also has much greater accuracy than an AR-15.

Quote :

"What's divisive about Mark Kelly?"

Well, one of his ears kind of sticks out more than the other.

8/10/2024 10:43:19 AM

Quote :

"I hope they do take all the guns"

I hate gun violence as much as the next progressive, but the reality is this will never happen, nor should it.

the 2nd amendment exists, exists for a reason, and even if those reasons don't make as much sense in 2024 as it did in 1776, it's still not going away. Left of center folks justifiably want a solution to gun violence, but taking people's guns will work about as well as outlawing alcohol or drugs did.

The more freedom individual Americans have the better. But with freedom comes responsibility, and I think our country would be better off if we focused more on persuading our fellow Americans to choose to live healthy lives rather than tell them what they can and can't do (as long as you're not causing physical harm to others)

You are free to eat McDonald's every day, but I don't recommend it.
You are free to drink a six pack of bud light every evening, but I don't recommend it.
You are free to hit the bong every morning, but I don't recommend it.
You are free to be a paranoid hillbilly and keep 19 loaded guns stashed around your house, but I don't recommend it.

Forcing people to do things never works. But we can motivate people to make better choices. We can even leverage patriotism to do it. You're worried about America falling behind China? Well they do 996 and we're all sitting around letting tiktok brainwash us. You gonna let that happen? Get off the couch and hit the gym, magats. For America.

8/10/2024 12:33:40 PM

^what is your recommended alcohol consumption for others, other than not drinking at all?

[Edited on August 10, 2024 at 1:41 PM. Reason : -]

8/10/2024 1:40:43 PM

Step 1: Get an alcohol cabnit made or from somewhere else
Step 2: ???

8/10/2024 1:48:29 PM

i'm a good role model for mcdonald's consumption and gun ownership but you might want to check in with somebody more qualified when it comes to alcohol

[Edited on August 10, 2024 at 1:57 PM. Reason : I still don't recommend bud light though. real Americans drink Yuengling]

8/10/2024 1:56:22 PM

^Real MAGAts do. . .

I like the flavor, but not the politics.

https://www.goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines/2016/10/26/yuengling-brewery-wants-trump-to-win-which-is-weird-unless-you-know-aything-about-them

I was disappointed to be informed of this by friends recently. And I don't want to keep the disappointment and guilt all to myself.

8/10/2024 3:23:19 PM

Quote :

"I hope they do take all the guns If were honest that’s definitely where the Democratic Party is headed in the next 2 decades— what do you think gen z and gen alpha will be pushing for? Might as well embrace this now. Have all the guns you want at a shooting range and armory, but you can’t take it home with you. Have a hunting rifle but you have to register it."

This is part of why people like me don't really have interest in conceding an inch on guns. All this talk of "common sense measures" and "we don't really don't to infringe on anyone's rights" is, to some meaningful extent, bullshit. They do, or at least a meaningful number of them do.

Also, you can't. It would be civil war if you tried. That's precisely why gun owners oppose universal background checks--we don't want you building a [I]de facto[/I] registry of where all the guns are. We want you to be faced with the non-starter of searching house-to-house.

I'm more of the mindset of qntmfred above.

The 1994 AWB is what made AR-15s popular (instead of a niche rarity) to begin with. Concerns over further restriction is what spawned 80% lowers ("ghost guns"). The confiscation shipped sailed a long time ago. It doesn't matter how well it worked in Australia--it is utterly impossible here. Every time the left tries or even makes noises about trying to do something significant, it makes the problem worse. It's like Prohibition or the War On Drugs, with the added complication that firearms are durable goods, not consumables. You guys need to understand that the best thing you can do is to be productive partners, not restrictive antagonists.

Furthermore, Donald Trump and MAGAs ought to make it starkly clear one reason we need a 2A. You guys ought to be arming up (as some on the left now are), not tilting at gun-free windmills.

Quote :

"A hunting rifle also has much greater accuracy than an AR-15."

In general, yes. There are crappy hunting rifles and very accurate ARs, but in general I'd say that's correct.

..but the real disparity is in power. There are a tiny handful of hunting rifles comparable to a 5.56 AR, and nowadays there are some ARs in moderately more powerful chamberings, but most hunting rifles are FAR FAR more powerful than ARs. The typical AR-15 is at the very bottom of the rifle scale in terms of power, if you exclude .22 rimfires.

[Edited on August 10, 2024 at 4:02 PM. Reason : ]

8/10/2024 3:51:53 PM

Yeah, fuck giving an inch. Want to increase the age of buying long guns from 18 to 21? Fuck you, 2A bitch.

8/10/2024 4:16:02 PM

Quote :

"A hunting rifle also has much greater accuracy than an AR-15."

This was a thinly veiled reference to recent events.

Quote :

"You guys ought to be arming up (as some on the left now are), not tilting at gun-free windmills."

AKA the gun lobby (and hearing aid lobby?) wet dream. The only thing to stop a bad guy with a gun (the other side) is a good guy with a gun!

But I don't pretend we'll be taking guns away. There are plenty available for everyone. But maybe stop making it so easy for clearly insane people to get them quickly? And hold owners responsible for what other people do with their guns due to negligence.

8/10/2024 6:02:45 PM

Everytown is one for the main anti gun activist organizations and "take all guns" isn't on their policy list
https://www.everytown.org/solutions/

8/10/2024 6:27:04 PM

Quote :

"Want to increase the age of buying long guns from 18 to 21? "

I'd get behind 21 for semi-auto, centerfire long guns.

Quote :

"But maybe stop making it so easy for clearly insane people to get them quickly?"

I think everyone agrees with that. The question is how?
(and not that it is a reason not to do anything, but I think we're talking super marginal effects here)

Quote :

"And hold owners responsible for what other people do with their guns due to negligence."

Ehhhh...maybe in the most egregious cases, which is already starting to happen.


^ Right, they aren't delusional. Nobody seriously proposes rounding up all the guns. I'm just saying that I roll my eyes whenever people on the left tell gun owners things like "Relax and stop being paranoid; nobody wants to take or outlaw your guns." That is not true at all.

In any case, I would agree to a some of those, and parts of some others. Obviously many would be non-starters.

and sadly, most of them would be incremental, extremely marginal improvements.

8/10/2024 8:33:08 PM

Something is more than nothing.

8/10/2024 8:40:38 PM

Common sense gun laws work both ways, not just in the direction of doing anything that limits guns in any way possible just to act like something is being accomplished. When you have Democrats falling to defending gun laws created with racist and discriminatory intentions, you need to reflect upon that.

But the issue is so polarized and used for rallying voters that no one wants to "give an inch", cause the reality is that it wouldn't be honest, they'd just come for more on that account. For the Democrats, it's like a phobia, especially given that half the time they have no idea what they're talking about making irresponsible and misleading statements. It's especially amusing when you look at it from a progressive lens versus other issues... outright hypocritical. For the Republicans, well I don't even think most of them honestly care, it's more of what I said before... a way to gain votes.

That's why the Heritage Foundation would admit to systematic racism in the sense of guns, but not for economic issues, partisan work for forwarding an agenda.

Quote :

"I hate gun violence as much as the next progressive"

Everyone hates gun violence

Quote :

"young people want more gun control, something something (i dont wanna scroll up again) -moron"

https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/45438-gen-z-millennials-party-divide-guns-poll

overall, yeah, but it's more nuanced than you'd think.

gun laws should be: more restrictive / are sufficient / less restrictive

among gen z/millennial democrats, 69/19/13
among old democrats, 87/9/4
among gen z/millennial republicans, 39/39/22
among old republicans, 23/51/26

8/11/2024 4:56:53 AM

^
columbine obviously, but before that in the 90s what was it like

8/11/2024 5:27:12 AM

The takeaway from the last graph is that Republicans are increasingly motivated by fear (and have tiny dicks).

8/11/2024 10:53:00 AM

^^
9/11 and fear based politics

Gun control is democrat’s roe v wade. It took republicans decades of rhetoric and winning local and state elections and getting getting the right judges, then finally the Supreme Court to overturn, now they have ivf and birth control in their sights, and they’ve brought a big batch of homophobia with them.

It’s going to take years to get all the pieces in place and I’m not sure if democrats have a heritage foundation type of org to keep it organized.

8/11/2024 11:19:16 AM

Harris now adopting Trump's proposal of not taxing tips for service workers. I already hate the tipping culture in the US. Can't see this helping much. Does it mean we can reduce the socially acceptable tipping percentage since in theory in the future tips would not be reportable for taxes? Lame!

8/11/2024 11:31:17 AM

Quote :

"The takeaway from the last graph is that Republicans are increasingly motivated by fear (and have tiny dicks)."

threads.com tier post

But yeah, I guess Republicans boosted it as an issue and it worked well. But with "fear" you'd have thought it would've gone the opposite way like with surveillance/security increasing being popular.

[Edited on August 11, 2024 at 3:47 PM. Reason : 1]

8/11/2024 3:46:12 PM

Quote :

"Gun control is democrat’s roe v wade. It took republicans decades of rhetoric and winning local and state elections and getting getting the right judges, then finally the Supreme Court to overturn, now they have ivf and birth control in their sights, and they’ve brought a big batch of homophobia with them. It’s going to take years to get all the pieces in place and I’m not sure if democrats have a heritage foundation type of org to keep it organized. "

and similarly, they'd be the dog who finally caught the car and isn't quite sure what to do with it. Sounds fun until you actually have the means to do it, and then you suddenly realize it's a highly problematic thing.

8/11/2024 4:47:25 PM

set em up

8/11/2024 11:06:38 PM