September 10, 2024

Tuesday, September 10. Debate Day. Annette’s News Roundup.

Before the debate.

Kamala nails what to expect.

How low will he go? How much will he lie?

Kamala Harris says Donald Trump has ‘no floor’ on how low he’ll go at debate.

Vice President Harris said in a new interview that she’s preparing for former President Trump to lie and make personal attacks in Tuesday’s debate.

“There’s no floor for him in terms of how low he will go,” Harris said in an interview with “The Rickey Smiley Morning Show” that aired Monday. “And we should be prepared for that. We should be prepared for the fact that he is not burdened by telling the truth

“Ultimately, you know, what I intend to point out is … he tends to fight for himself, not for the American people. And I think that’s going to come out during the debate,” she continued. “But I expect that he is — I think he’s going to lie. And he has a playbook that he has used in the past.”

Yes,Trump’s attacks on Kamala resemble the name-calling insults of a sexist, racist bully.

Kamala is, of course, precise when she describes Trump (see Times article below). Trump, of the other hand, tries to define his opponent - Kamala in this case - by whatever insult he thinks of at any moment, that he believes will resonate with his cult.

I don’t mind weighing in on Trump, even if Kamala doesn’t. He is a rapist, racist, fraudster, misogynist, felon, traitor, sociopath, pathological liar, evil authoritarian, whiny sore loser, danger to Democracy.

Yes, I agree with Kamala. Trump is also an unserious, self-serving person.

He thinks he should be President because he is the best at name-calling.

What Harris and Trump Say About Each Other

In an unprecedented moment in modern American history, the 2024 Republican and Democratic presidential candidates will face off in their first debate after just seven weeks of campaigning against each other.

The New York Times analyzed what the two candidates have said about each other on social media from July 21, when President Biden dropped out of the race and Vice President Kamala Harris became the frontrunner to replace him as the Democratic nominee, through Sept. 6. (For the most part, their statements on social media mirror their public comments at rallies and other events.)

While both candidates attack each other, The Times found that former president Donald Trump targets Ms. Harris much more frequently, an average of more than three times per day, and his posts (on Truth Social) almost always include a personal smear.

What Harris says about Trump in personal terms

Ms. Harris’s posts about Mr. Trump (on X) tend not to go for the jugular. A handful of times, she has drawn attention to his history of legal trouble, saying, for example, that she knows “Donald Trump’s type” because she “took on predators, fraudsters and cheaters” as a prosecutor.

She has also described him in the following ways:

Aug. 22
‘an unserious man’
Aug. 31
‘unable to comprehend anything other than service to himself’

What Trump says about Harris in personal terms

By contrast, Mr. Trump’s attacks on Ms. Harris resemble the name-calling insults of a sexist schoolyard bully. He frequently drops personal slights into political attacks, but he has also attacked Ms. Harris numerous times in personal terms without making any particular reference to her policies or political record. Some of these posts have touched instead on her racial identity or included generic insults referencing her authenticity or capability.

Here is how he has described her:

July 22
‘HORRIBLE INCOMPETENT BORDER CZAR’
July 22
‘“Dumb as a Rock” Kamala Harris’
July 22
‘totally failed and insignificant Vice President’
July 22
‘Lyin’ Kamala Harris’
July 23
‘Lyin’ Kamala’
July 23
‘Lyin’ Kamala Harris’
July 23
‘most unpopular Vice President in history’
July 23
‘Lyin’ Kamala Harris’
July 23
‘Lyin’ Kamala Harris’
July 24
‘Lyin’ Kamala Harris’
July 24
‘Lyin’ Kamala Harris’
July 24
‘LYIN’ KAMALA HARRIS’
July 24
‘GREAT EMBARRASSMENT TO AMERICA’
July 25
‘Lyin’ Kamala Harris’
July 25
‘RADICAL LEFT MARXIST, AND WORSE!’
July 25
‘Lyin’ Kamala Harris’
July 28
‘ORIGINAL Marxist District Attorney’
July 29
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
July 29
‘CRAZY KAMALA HARRIS’
July 29
‘Crazy Kamala’
July 30
‘CRAZY KAMALA HARRIS’
July 30
‘CRAZY KAMALA HARRIS’
July 30
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
July 30
‘WORST Vice President in American history’
July 31
‘Crazy Kamala’
July 31
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
July 31
‘Wack Job’
July 31
‘Crazy Kamala’
July 31
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
July 31
‘Crazy Kamala’
July 31
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
July 31
‘Crazy Kamala’
July 31
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
July 31
‘Crazy Kamala’
July 31
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
July 31
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
July 31
‘Crazy Kamala’
July 31
‘Stone cold phony’
Aug. 2
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
Aug. 2
‘Crazy Kamala’
Aug. 2
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
Aug. 2
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
Aug. 3
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
Aug. 3
‘LOW I.Q. INDIVIDUAL’
Aug. 3
‘can’t put two sentences together’
Aug. 3
‘Low IQ’
Aug. 3
‘Worst Vice President in History’
Aug. 3
‘doesn’t have the mental capacity to do a REAL Debate’
Aug. 3
‘really DUMB’
Aug. 3
‘extremely Low IQ’
Aug. 3
‘unable to put two sentences together’
Aug. 3
‘unable to speak properly without a Teleprompter’
Aug. 3
‘Crazy Kamala’
Aug. 3
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
Aug. 3
‘Crazy Kamala’
Aug. 4
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
Aug. 4
‘incompetent Vice President’
Aug. 4
‘Crazy Kamala’
Aug. 5
‘Radical Left Lunatic’
Aug. 5
‘VERY STUPID’
Aug. 5
‘INCOMPETENT’
Aug. 6
‘Kamabla is the WORST V.P.’
Aug. 6
‘Crazy Kamabla is, indeed, CRAZY’
Aug. 7
‘Crazy Kamabla’
Aug. 7
‘CRAZY KAMABLA HARRIS’
Aug. 7
‘Crazy Kamabla’
Aug. 7
‘Crazy Kamabla’
Aug. 7
‘Crazy Kamabla’
Aug. 8
‘Incompetent’
Aug. 8
‘WORST BORDER CZAR IN HISTORY’
Aug. 8
‘WORSE than Biden’
Aug. 8
‘Crazy Kamala Harris’
Aug. 10
‘low-IQ’
Aug. 10
‘grossly incompetent’
Aug. 10
‘Weak’
Aug. 10
‘Failed’
Aug. 10
‘DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE’
Aug. 10
‘has no ideas’
Aug. 10
‘has no imagination’
Aug. 10
‘Comrade Harris’
Aug. 11
‘FAKE’
Aug. 12
‘fraud’
Aug. 18
‘Comrade Kamala’
Aug. 18
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 18
‘Communist’
Aug. 18
‘LIAR’
Aug. 18
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 18
‘Crooked Radical Left Politician’
Aug. 18
‘STONE COLD LOSER’
Aug. 19
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 19
‘Radical Left Marxist’
Aug. 19
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 19
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 21
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 21
‘Worst Vice President in the History of the United States’
Aug. 21
‘Comrade Kamala’
Aug. 21
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 21
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 22
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 22
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 22
‘Radical Left Marxist’
Aug. 22
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 22
‘Worst Vice President (and Border “Czar”) in the History of the United States’
Aug. 22
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 22
‘COMRADE KAMALA’
Aug. 22
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 22
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 22
‘Comrade Harris’
Aug. 24
‘Worst Vice President’
Aug. 24
‘Weakest Presidential Candidate’
Aug. 25
‘Comrade Kamala’
Aug. 25
‘Radical Left Marxist’
Aug. 25
‘Marxist Candidate’
Aug. 26
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 26
‘Radical Left, No Fracking Marxist’
Aug. 26
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 27
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 27
‘Comrade Kamala’
Aug. 27
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 27
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 27
‘Comrade Kamala’
Aug. 28
‘Comrade Kamala’
Aug. 28
‘Comrade Kamala’
Aug. 28
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 28
‘FAKE’
Aug. 28
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 29
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 29
‘totally inept’
Aug. 29
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 29
‘totally inept’
Aug. 29
‘COMRADE KAMALA HARRIS’
Aug. 29
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 30
‘Comrade Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 30
‘fraud’
Aug. 30
‘Election WEAPONIZING MARXIST’
Aug. 30
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 30
‘COMRADE KAMALA’
Aug. 31
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Aug. 31
‘lies about everything’
Sept. 1
‘Lightweight V.P. Kamala Harris’
Sept. 1
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Sept. 1
‘weak’
Sept. 1
‘ineffective’
Sept. 1
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Sept. 2
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Sept. 3
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Sept. 3
‘Comrade Kamala’
Sept. 3
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Sept. 4
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Sept. 4
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Sept. 4
‘Communist’
Sept. 4
‘COMRADE KAMALA HARRIS’
Sept. 4
‘Crazy Kamala’
Sept. 4
‘Comrade Harris’
Sept. 5
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Sept. 5
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Sept. 5
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’
Sept. 5
‘Comrade Kamala Harris’

Mr. Trump told rallygoers in North Carolina last month that he’d had trouble coming up with a “name” for Ms. Harris, but that he was settling on “comrade.”

“I think that’s the most accurate name,” he said. (New York Times. Click on the blue link on the top of this post to read the whole article).

An additional Trump attack on Kamala specific to the debate.

What we all know. Kamala will stand tall tonight.

Touch to listen to the 2nd Gentleman.👇

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The Debate.

On X yesterday @Kamala Harris also posted the ad and said this .—

“Take it from the people who worked for him: Donald Trump is a danger to our troops, our security, and our democracy.

He should never again stand behind the seal of the President of the United States.”👇

This ad, titled “The Best People, “ will also air in West Palm Beach (Mar-a-Lago) and Philadelphia (debate) media markets today.

The ad features clips of media interviews with officials from the Trump administration — including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, national security adviser John Bolton, and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley — talking about their decision not to endorse their former boss or warning about the dangers he would pose in a second term. It will continue to play throughout the week, according to the Harris campaign. (Politico)

Issues that are sure to come up at the Debate.

Abortion and National Abortion Ban.

The man who boasted he ended Roe will lie.

Gun control

September 5th.

Caregiving

Trump, “Child care is child care” as part of the famous, incoherent comments at the Economic Club of New York.

I’m surprised he didn’t suggest we all call the Hannibal
Lector babysitting service.👇

Kamala. When Vice President Kamala Harris outlined her vision for the country’s future at a rally in Savannah, Georgia, on August 29, affordable child care and paid leave were first on the list. They are key to what she calls the “opportunity economy.”

Earlier that month, addressing rally-goers in North Carolina, Harris laid out her main child care policies: “Under my plan, more than 100 million Americans will get a tax cut and we will do this by restoring two tax cuts designed to help middle-class and working Americans: the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit. … As president, not only will I restore that tax cut but expand it. We will provide $6,000 in tax relief to families during the first year of a child’s life.”

In addition to the tax credit for parents of newborns, Harris has said she intends to bring back the pandemic-era expanded child tax credit, allowing for a credit of up to $3,600 a child per family, even for the lowest-income families. A measure to do this failed to pass the Senate last month — without enough Republicans voting in support of it. Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, did not show up for the vote.

Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, is well-known for the paid leave policy that he implemented while governor of Minnesota; though details of a paid leave plan have not been released by the Harris campaign, many believe that her choice of Walz as running mate is a nod toward future work on that issue.

The Biden-Harris administration has also pushed to secure a federal policy guaranteeing four weeks of paid family and medical leave for all American workers; advocates expect Harris to embrace that plan, as well as the proposed funding, via higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations. (Alabamarreflector.com)

Health care

“The very day President Trump was sworn in — Jan. 20, 2017 — he signed an executive order instructing administration officials "to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay" implementing parts of the Affordable Care Act, while Congress got ready to repeal and replace President Obama's signature health law.

Months later, repeal and replace didn't work, after the late Sen. John McCain's dramatic thumbs down on a crucial vote (Trump still frequently mentions this moment in his speeches and rallies, including in his recent speech on Medicare).” (NPR).

Biden-Harris secured $35/mo for insulin for seniors through the Inflation Reduction Act, and have promised to fight to extend this to all Americans.

Trump’s Project 2025 wants to repeal it, which would raise insulin costs for over a million Americans.

The withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Voter Fraud

From Mediaite.com.

In an April interview with Tucker Carlson, Heartland Institute’s Justin Haskins tried to bolster Trump’s false claims of election fraud by arguing that one in five voters admitted to fraudulent voting during the 2020 election.

On Sunday, “An interview by Tucker Carlson of an election expert indicates that 20% of the Mail-In Ballots in Pennsylvania are fraudulent,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. “Here we go again!”

Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro answered them both.

Immigration and the Border.

Business and taxes.

Trump has no plan except more promises of tax cuts for Billionaires and tariffs which he falsely says are paid by foreign nations. Tariffs are paid for by the Americans who buy the goods on which the tariffs are imposed.

Vice President Kamala Harris is calling for a higher capital gains tax rate, and financial advisors have tips for top earners who could be affected.

The presidential candidate proposed a 28% tax on long-term capital gains, or assets owned for more than one year, for households making more than $1 million annually.

The plan is lower than the 39.6% rate proposed by President Joe Biden for the same group in his fiscal year 2025 budget. (CNBC).

Kamala Harris has also targeted ending price gouging to lower the cost of living for the American consumer.

Entrepreneurs and Tax Deductions.

Trump has no plan for entrepreneurs and small business.

It takes on average about $40,000 to launch a small business for items that include market surveys, advertisements, equipment, and salaries for workers in training. However, the tax deduction for start-up expenses is currently $5,000. Vice President Harris’ plan would push for expanding this deduction to $50,000 for new small businesses to cover more of these costs and provide more flexibility on when and how they can claim it. For example, if they wait until they are bringing in profits, the deduction may be more beneficial to businesses at that time.

In addition, she has proposed a series of standard deductions for small businesses in filing taxes. An estimated one in three small business owners spend over a week filing taxes, and two in three spend at least $1,000 each year to do so. A standard deduction in the tax code akin to one available to individual filers can save the smallest businesses time and money. (Forbes)

Democracy and the Peaceful Transfer of Power.

As was true in 2020, when he orchestrated the January 6 attack on our Capitol to stop the certification of the election, Trump will once again not agree to the peaceful transfer of power.

TRUMP HAS BEEN PUBLIC about his plans, vowing to be a “dictator” — though just for a day, he claims, so he could supercharge fossil-­fuel production and seal off the border. How any of this would work is likely beyond Trump’s understanding, but he’s certainly going to pull every lever of power within his grasp. And the targets of his authoritarian ambition are not single-day, or even single-year, projects. Trump seeks autocratic power to implement his draconian immigration policies, including starting “the largest domestic deportation operation” in U.S. history and reinstating the Muslim travel ban. He’s called for ending the constitutional right of birthright citizenship with an “executive order” — a notion backed by Vance. (Rolling Stone).

Here is a link to the whole article in RollingStone. What if Trump wins.

Fitness for Office.

New York Times Top headline yesterday.👇

Trump calls her a DEI hire. Reality please.

An HBCU graduate of Howard University, a law school graduate of Hastings (No. 59 in the U.S. News and World Report's Best Law Schools, UCSF), Kamala began her law career in the office of the district attorney (DA) of Alameda County, before being recruited to the San Francisco DA's Office and later the city attorney of San Francisco's office. In 2003, she was elected DA of San Francisco. She was then elected Attorney General of the state of California in 2010 and reelected in 2014.

Winning in 2016, Harris served as the junior U.S. senator from California from 2017 to 2021. She was elected Vice President of the United States in 2020.

Since the 117th Congress's Senate was divided 50–50 between Republicans and Democrats, this meant that Harris had to be frequently called upon to exercise her power to cast tie-breaking votes as president of the Senate. She cast the most tie-breaking votes of any Vice President in American history:32. (Source, Wikipedia).

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Kamala-Walz Post Debate plans.

North Carolina. Charlotte. September 12.

North Carolina. Greensboro. September 12.

Where the 2024 Presidential election fight will happen.

The article below can help you make your plans for the final round of this Presidential election - where to donate, where to volunteer for calls, texting, door-knocking, post cards, posting on social media, spreading the word to friends, family,etc.

Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin are now your main targets.North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada are next.

Do everything you can.

Trump campaign shifts as its path to victory narrows.

Former President Trump is scaling back his campaigning in three states he was targeting just six weeks ago, a sign of how Kamala Harris' rise in the polls has shifted the dynamics of the presidential race.

Why it matters: Trump's campaign is placing less emphasis on New Hampshire, Minnesota and Virginia. Instead, it's pouring resources into the "Blue Wall" states — Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — that are crucial to both sides' chances of victory.

Trump's also refocusing on other states — North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada — where he had significant polling leads before Harris made them competitive.
It's a stark contrast from late July, when Trump came rolling out of the Republican convention in Milwaukee with what looked like a glide path to winning back the White House.

Trump held rallies in Minnesota, Virginia and even deep-blue New Jersey as his campaign wrote memos about how Minnesota and Virginia were "clearly in play" and "prime opportunities to flip."

Then President Biden dropped out of the race, and Harris' emergence as the presumed Democratic nominee put Trump on defense.

Zoom in: In New Hampshire, Trump's campaign appears to be drawing down its operations.

A top volunteer emailed fellow volunteers to say the campaign "has determined that New Hampshire is no longer a battleground state" and that staff should redirect campaign efforts in Pennsylvania.

The campaign denies the volunteer's assertion and says its New Hampshire headquarters in Manchester remains open and operational.

In Minnesota, a state Trump mentioned in his Truth Social post announcing Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate, Democrats and Republicans acknowledge the tides have shifted.

Shortly after the Republican convention, Trump and Vance rallied in St. Cloud, Minn. About the same time, Trump's campaign bullishly said it would open eight offices in the state and build out its staff.

But most of the roughly dozen offices it lists in the state opened in May or June — before the change in the Democratic ticket, which includes Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as Harris' running mate.

The campaign has announced the hiring of just two full-time staffers in Minnesota: a state director and a senior adviser, though a state party spokesperson told Axios the GOP has at least a 14 full-time staffers dedicated to Trump's election.

Minnesota Republican Party chair David Hann acknowledged that "the [state] party and Trump campaign have been working jointly with our local organizations to get those [offices] staffed up," but said the campaign remains invested in the state and is happy with "strong" metrics on voter contacts and volunteer signups.

In Virginia, Trump and Vance both held rallies in the state this summer, before Harris' emergence.

Trump was in Chesapeake, Virginia, on June 28, the day after his debate with Biden, whose shaky performance ignited calls for him to step aside.

Vance's first solo campaign appearance as Trump's vice presidential nominee was in Radford, Virginia, on July 22, just after the GOP convention.

Trump's campaign continues to talk up its chances in Virginia, where polls suggest Harris has turned Trump's lead into a small but significant advantage for her.

"I truly believe we're going to win the state," Trump's son Eric said recently.

But in the past six weeks Trump hasn't held a rally in Virginia, and his campaign appears to have stopped putting out memos that cite internal polls while claiming the state is flippable.

Between the lines: Trump's campaign is now spending big on advertising in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and in states where it previously appeared it wouldn't have use many resources to win.

In North Carolina, for example, the campaign and MAGA Inc., a supporting super PAC, have spent more than $16 million on ads — a sign they're taking Harris' prospects there seriously.
What they're saying: "Team Trump continues to build out the most robust and modern ground game ever, " Rachel Reisner, Trump's battleground states director, told Axios.

"Our team is only expanding — we have new staff, offices and volunteers weekly — with more enthusiasm, energy, and support from people and states Democrats take for granted."

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Your Daily Reminder.

Trump is a convicted felon.

On May 30th, he was found guilty on 34 felony counts by the unanimous vote of 12 ordinary citizens.

The Convicted Felon Donald J. Trump was scheduled to be sentenced on July 11th and September 18th. He will now be sentenced on November 26th.

Why did Judge Merchan delay Trump’s sentencing?

Andrew Weissman has some thoughts. Touch to hear Andrew’s brilliant analysis of what happened and why.

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