Andy Craig

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 03:56 UTC

Amazing how reliably illuminating "strong polarization; weak parties" is to so much about contemporary politics.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 02:57 UTC

And I get why it feels unfair, because it feels like an impossible demand, that there's literally nothing he could do, it's futile. But that's life. Some things you can't un-do. No song and dance routine about see look how fine I am will erase what already happened. Sucks, but we all have regrets.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 02:39 UTC

This is what you tell your 8 year old after they lost the tee-ball game. You gave it your best and that's what counts? ayfkm?

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 02:36 UTC

This answer was literally making it about him, and that's the worst possible answer to this question.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 02:35 UTC

They definitely could and should be covering it much more aggressively, including new developments and finding new angles. But generally true that the news isn't what's important, it's what's new.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 02:32 UTC

Yup, that's more or less how it played out. I think you can pin it a bit more on Pelosi, she was more directly involved. Maybe some other CA pols. But the broader national party, other senators and donors and the rest of it, didn't much weigh in so much as they all refused to actively intervene.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 02:30 UTC

It was gross and bad. It's also been a recurring thing in the Senate since forever. The name does after all derive from "old man," and lots of others have taken that way too literally up to death's doorstep. But POTUS is in a whole different ballpark. We even amended the Constitution to address it.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 02:27 UTC

Can't speak for others, maybe some overlap, but I was definitely very against what happened with Feinstein. But that was primarily her inner circle, with more acquiescence than active encouragement from the party. And just the bottom line that a Senate seat matters a lot less than the White House.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 02:24 UTC

It is remarkable state in its ability to turn out absolute bottom of the barrel politicians so consistently. But it goes with one of my theories: NY is a substantially conservative state and NYC is the most conservative major metro in the country. They just happen to also be Democrats.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 02:18 UTC

Worst-run elections in the country by a significant margin, and it's in a safe blue state.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 02:17 UTC

Some thoughts on the immunity travesty at @theunpopulist.net, along with a round-up of other reactions.

www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-robert...

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 02:07 UTC

It does vary a lot from state to state, some don't even require registration in advance, or allow same-day registration when you show up at the polls. But yeah, a lot of states (and this doesn't track partisanship as much as you might except), it's awful and deliberately over-complicated.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 02:05 UTC

And I'm on the "he's gotten worse in ways that are being way under-covered" train, but even still, he's just not as noticeably different, especially physically. He spews deranged word salad but he doesn't seem frail. He could plausibly pass for himself several years ago, and Biden definitely can't.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:59 UTC

It wouldn't be if it was genuinely just that alone, but this has snowballed way beyond just being a NYT thing.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:57 UTC

I don't know offhand how many sitting Dem senators have run for president before, but it's got to put... well, let's see, Warren, Klobuchar, Bennet, Booker, those are just from 2020. Also, I'm reminded Warner didn't even actually run. There was a draft attempt he refused for 2008. Much weaker.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:53 UTC

It's an OK deflection, but lots of governors and senators have tried to run for president and flamed out, most in brief campaigns nobody even remembers. They're still the party's governors and senators. I don't think the Senate caucus will find that a very good retort.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:51 UTC

The open mouth thing, too, which is part of that. And man, I really don't like parsing an old man's facial expressions like that. This whole thing is morbid and gross. But visuals matter here, and his visuals have gotten markedly worse.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:48 UTC

He might be thinking that, but there is no riding it out and in another week or two it goes away. This is going to stay a big thing as long as he stays. Maybe not constantly the biggest thing going on, other news happens, but not even back to pre-debate levels when it was already no small thing.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:45 UTC

His answers about his age and condition, and what happened during the debate, were a bit too evasive and defensive, and he was too transparently over-eager to evade and pivot to his "look at what all I've done" talking points. It wasn't crash and burn, I'd give it a C- maybe. But he needed better.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:43 UTC

I think he could have done a good interview (this wasn't particularly good) but it wouldn't have much changed the big picture anyway. That's the trap he's in. Maybe it's unfair, but the basic problem is there probably is nothing he can do to un-ring the bell at this point.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:41 UTC

Q: Can you serve the next four years? A: Look at what all I've done, [launches into repeating already-said talking points about that]. Not... yes. (When asked again he does finally say "I believe so.")

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:36 UTC

He was naturalized decades ago, yes.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:31 UTC

Watching it, the interview doesn't make it dramatically worse, but it didn't much help and wasn't good, either. It's not the radical turnaround he needed, which I don't think was an achievable goal for it anyway, but even still this is not a particularly impressive attempt.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:19 UTC

And it's doing so in a shamelessly, explicitly partisan way by targeting voter registration drives of the sort Dems do for their base much more than the GOP. There's zero neutral reason, even in pretense, for this to work at the registration stage instead of voting when it's a much smaller burden.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:16 UTC

Compared to the usual voter ID at the polls and the number of people that affects, this bill would result in orders of magnitude more people not getting registered. It's not just a fake problem it's supposedly addressing, it's trying to do genuine voter suppression on a large scale under that guise.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:12 UTC

Generally, the case against voter ID at the polls is somewhat overstated. The effects are very small and it's not an unpopular or necessarily unusual policy (though it's still unnecessary). To instead attach it to the registration process is much more harmful and deliberately so.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:10 UTC

Typically, you get people to fill out the forms and then you turn them in. This would make it illegal for anybody to register to vote without presenting an acceptable ID or other document *to the election authorities*. Real purpose is to make usual registration drives much harder and less effective.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 01:03 UTC

In most states, you need only affirm you're a citizen to register. This would require a REAL-ID (many state IDs don't comply) or other proof like a passport. Point is less about which documents and more to hobble voter registration drives by making it more complicated than just filling out the form.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 00:56 UTC

To be clear, this bill is nonsense, and he is straight-up calling for the murder of every Democrat in Congress. It is already illegal, as a matter of federal law, for non-citizens to vote in federal elections. This doesn't change that. What it does is a national ID mandate for voter registration.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 00:50 UTC

In theory they could bar him from entering the country, but that's absolutely not going to happen.

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