2022 Congressional & State Elections

[LFC]

PA Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman is apparently making effective use of social media and memes in his campaign. It's not his only tool but it's certainly a tool, one that Mahmet Oz isn't able to match. You might want to shrug this off but if you're over 50 you might not understand the engagement going on with younger people.

In late June, John Fetterman posted a photo of an edited Hawaii driver’s license, in which the state was blurred out to read “Pennsylvania,” and the picture was replaced with Dr. Mehmet Oz’s face next to the name “McLovin.” He captioned the photo with only one word—“giggle”—and an emoji of a face laughing with a hand over its mouth.

The meme, a reference to the raunchy 2007 film Superbad, in which a teenager gets a fake Hawaii ID to buy drinks under the name “McLovin,” was a dig at his Republican opponent’s residency and the latest in a series of posts seemingly aimed at Fetterman’s younger, more online base.

While Senate hopefuls like Fetterman generally refine their social media to include an array of generic political touchstones in 280 characters or less, the Democratic nominee from Pennsylvania has recently flooded his accounts with memes that look straight out of a Gen Z playbook.

Oz has become the most frequent punchline.

In one post, Fetterman responded to an article about Oz spelling his Pennsylvania hometown wrong on his statement of candidacy by posting a widely used photo of a middle-aged man dressed as a skater-boy teen, with bold, white letters reading “How do you do fellow [Pennsylvania] residents,” plastered on top.

Another showed a picture of a woman shouting while pointing her finger with the caption, “Dr. Oz: I’m totally a PA resident.” Next to her was a scoffing, displeased-looking cat labeled “PA voters.”

Though Fetterman never kept the same sort of polished social media presence that other politicians do, a review of his tweets since winning the Democratic nomination on May 17 show he pivoted to the recent bout of outright memes in mid June.

And though he’s posting most of his memes without directly tagging Oz, he’s nailed a few ratios on the former television host, meaning positive interactions with Oz’s tweets were outnumbered by negative engagements from Fetterman or his fans. A tweet by Oz in June asked, “Who do YOU trust to fix Pennsylvania? #TeamOz.” There were more than 22,000 responses, most from Fetterman’s online army trashing the Republican Senate hopeful.

Fetterman later responded to Oz’s post with a fake “congratulations” certificate, like one you’d hand to a preschooler. “Presented to Dr. Oz for that sweet ratio of your tweet,” it read. “You did it!”

It's a dangerous move for an older and/or less in tune candidate but apparently Fetterman is nailing it.

Ioana Literat, an associate professor at Columbia University who studies online political expression, told The Daily Beast she believes the use of memes goes with Fetterman’s “personal style” and “paints him as an everyman that is in touch with pop culture.”

Literat cautioned that at times, using memes can be a risky move for candidates, with younger people who tend to drag older social media users for trying to seem hip or cool. But in her assessment, Fetterman, 52, is managing to avoid that.

It may very well be working. At the very least it's messing with Oz's messaging.

Oz, meanwhile, has been working the general election grind, crisscrossing across the state in an attempt to woo voters. But it’s unclear how much that’s working, as a recent poll showed Oz with a -33 points favorability rating compared to Fetterman, who had a +10 favorability rating.

As for the memes, Oz seems unfazed. His campaign spokesperson, Brittany Yanick, told The Daily Beast, “No amount of memes will distract Pennsylvanians from the paychecks, safety, and job security stolen from them by the radical Biden-Fetterman agenda.”

And on his own social media, Oz isn’t deviating from the political norm. But he does appear to be struggling with negative engagements, with Fetterman fans and Democrats commenters consistently latching on to his replies by the thousands, even when Fetterman himself isn’t chiming in.

[LFC]

Oh, yeah. And this.

[goldenvalley]

Jul 6, 2022 18:35:16 GMT LFC said:

PA Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman is apparently making effective use of social media and memes in his campaign. It's not his only tool but it's certainly a tool, one that Mahmet Oz isn't able to match. You might want to shrug this off but if you're over 50 you might not understand the engagement going on with younger people.

In late June, John Fetterman posted a photo of an edited Hawaii driver’s license, in which the state was blurred out to read “Pennsylvania,” and the picture was replaced with Dr. Mehmet Oz’s face next to the name “McLovin.” He captioned the photo with only one word—“giggle”—and an emoji of a face laughing with a hand over its mouth.

The meme, a reference to the raunchy 2007 film Superbad, in which a teenager gets a fake Hawaii ID to buy drinks under the name “McLovin,” was a dig at his Republican opponent’s residency and the latest in a series of posts seemingly aimed at Fetterman’s younger, more online base.

While Senate hopefuls like Fetterman generally refine their social media to include an array of generic political touchstones in 280 characters or less, the Democratic nominee from Pennsylvania has recently flooded his accounts with memes that look straight out of a Gen Z playbook.

Oz has become the most frequent punchline.

In one post, Fetterman responded to an article about Oz spelling his Pennsylvania hometown wrong on his statement of candidacy by posting a widely used photo of a middle-aged man dressed as a skater-boy teen, with bold, white letters reading “How do you do fellow [Pennsylvania] residents,” plastered on top.

Another showed a picture of a woman shouting while pointing her finger with the caption, “Dr. Oz: I’m totally a PA resident.” Next to her was a scoffing, displeased-looking cat labeled “PA voters.”

Though Fetterman never kept the same sort of polished social media presence that other politicians do, a review of his tweets since winning the Democratic nomination on May 17 show he pivoted to the recent bout of outright memes in mid June.

And though he’s posting most of his memes without directly tagging Oz, he’s nailed a few ratios on the former television host, meaning positive interactions with Oz’s tweets were outnumbered by negative engagements from Fetterman or his fans. A tweet by Oz in June asked, “Who do YOU trust to fix Pennsylvania? #TeamOz.” There were more than 22,000 responses, most from Fetterman’s online army trashing the Republican Senate hopeful.

Fetterman later responded to Oz’s post with a fake “congratulations” certificate, like one you’d hand to a preschooler. “Presented to Dr. Oz for that sweet ratio of your tweet,” it read. “You did it!”

It's a dangerous move for an older and/or less in tune candidate but apparently Fetterman is nailing it.

Ioana Literat, an associate professor at Columbia University who studies online political expression, told The Daily Beast she believes the use of memes goes with Fetterman’s “personal style” and “paints him as an everyman that is in touch with pop culture.”

Literat cautioned that at times, using memes can be a risky move for candidates, with younger people who tend to drag older social media users for trying to seem hip or cool. But in her assessment, Fetterman, 52, is managing to avoid that.

It may very well be working. At the very least it's messing with Oz's messaging.

Oz, meanwhile, has been working the general election grind, crisscrossing across the state in an attempt to woo voters. But it’s unclear how much that’s working, as a recent poll showed Oz with a -33 points favorability rating compared to Fetterman, who had a +10 favorability rating.

As for the memes, Oz seems unfazed. His campaign spokesperson, Brittany Yanick, told The Daily Beast, “No amount of memes will distract Pennsylvanians from the paychecks, safety, and job security stolen from them by the radical Biden-Fetterman agenda.”

And on his own social media, Oz isn’t deviating from the political norm. But he does appear to be struggling with negative engagements, with Fetterman fans and Democrats commenters consistently latching on to his replies by the thousands, even when Fetterman himself isn’t chiming in.

A twist to negative campaigning but I despair at the loss of serious discussion of issues.  Campaigns have always veered away from serious discussion, but seriously how will you motivate people to vote in all elections if you get them accustomed to the kind of campaigning you see today.  People only vote when it entertains them or when they're angry at something.  That is not healthy.

[LFC]

Jul 6, 2022 18:42:42 GMT goldenvalley said:

A twist to negative campaigning but I despair at the loss of serious discussion of issues.  Campaigns have always veered away from serious discussion, but seriously how will you motivate people to vote in all elections if you get them accustomed to the kind of campaigning you see today.  People only vote when it entertains them or when they're angry at something.  That is not healthy.

It sounds like this is just one part of Fetterman's campaign and I think it's a smart one. Frank Luntz armed the Republicans ages ago with simple messaging that skirted the facts. Fetterman is doing the same except he seems to be keeping it factual. The rest of the Democrats need to learn how to do this. Like it or not it is clear that trying to "stay out of the mud and stick to policy" has been a losing electoral strategy. Clinton tried it and I've corrected multiple people, IIRC even here on TRS, who said she should have talked about policy. She did and it didn't help her.

[Bact PhD]

Jul 6, 2022 18:35:16 GMT LFC said:

PA Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman is apparently making effective use of social media and memes in his campaign. It's not his only tool but it's certainly a tool, one that Mahmet Oz isn't able to match. You might want to shrug this off but if you're over 50 you might not understand the engagement going on with younger people.

In late June, John Fetterman posted a photo of an edited Hawaii driver’s license, in which the state was blurred out to read “Pennsylvania,” and the picture was replaced with Dr. Mehmet Oz’s face next to the name “McLovin.” He captioned the photo with only one word—“giggle”—and an emoji of a face laughing with a hand over its mouth.

The meme, a reference to the raunchy 2007 film Superbad, in which a teenager gets a fake Hawaii ID to buy drinks under the name “McLovin,” was a dig at his Republican opponent’s residency and the latest in a series of posts seemingly aimed at Fetterman’s younger, more online base.

While Senate hopefuls like Fetterman generally refine their social media to include an array of generic political touchstones in 280 characters or less, the Democratic nominee from Pennsylvania has recently flooded his accounts with memes that look straight out of a Gen Z playbook.

Oz has become the most frequent punchline.

In one post, Fetterman responded to an article about Oz spelling his Pennsylvania hometown wrong on his statement of candidacy by posting a widely used photo of a middle-aged man dressed as a skater-boy teen, with bold, white letters reading “How do you do fellow [Pennsylvania] residents,” plastered on top.

Another showed a picture of a woman shouting while pointing her finger with the caption, “Dr. Oz: I’m totally a PA resident.” Next to her was a scoffing, displeased-looking cat labeled “PA voters.”

Though Fetterman never kept the same sort of polished social media presence that other politicians do, a review of his tweets since winning the Democratic nomination on May 17 show he pivoted to the recent bout of outright memes in mid June.

And though he’s posting most of his memes without directly tagging Oz, he’s nailed a few ratios on the former television host, meaning positive interactions with Oz’s tweets were outnumbered by negative engagements from Fetterman or his fans. A tweet by Oz in June asked, “Who do YOU trust to fix Pennsylvania? #TeamOz.” There were more than 22,000 responses, most from Fetterman’s online army trashing the Republican Senate hopeful.

Fetterman later responded to Oz’s post with a fake “congratulations” certificate, like one you’d hand to a preschooler. “Presented to Dr. Oz for that sweet ratio of your tweet,” it read. “You did it!”

It's a dangerous move for an older and/or less in tune candidate but apparently Fetterman is nailing it.

Ioana Literat, an associate professor at Columbia University who studies online political expression, told The Daily Beast she believes the use of memes goes with Fetterman’s “personal style” and “paints him as an everyman that is in touch with pop culture.”

Literat cautioned that at times, using memes can be a risky move for candidates, with younger people who tend to drag older social media users for trying to seem hip or cool. But in her assessment, Fetterman, 52, is managing to avoid that.

It may very well be working. At the very least it's messing with Oz's messaging.

Oz, meanwhile, has been working the general election grind, crisscrossing across the state in an attempt to woo voters. But it’s unclear how much that’s working, as a recent poll showed Oz with a -33 points favorability rating compared to Fetterman, who had a +10 favorability rating.

As for the memes, Oz seems unfazed. His campaign spokesperson, Brittany Yanick, told The Daily Beast, “No amount of memes will distract Pennsylvanians from the paychecks, safety, and job security stolen from them by the radical Biden-Fetterman agenda.”

And on his own social media, Oz isn’t deviating from the political norm. But he does appear to be struggling with negative engagements, with Fetterman fans and Democrats commenters consistently latching on to his replies by the thousands, even when Fetterman himself isn’t chiming in.

As long as those Millennials and Gen-Z-ers doing the roasting on social media take a long enough break to actually take the time and trouble to REGISTER and VOTE for their seemingly preferred candidate. Otherwise it’s just so much noise in the ether.

[jackd]

I think it's how you talk about policy rather than whether. For example, the Wisconsin Democratic Party has got short, punchy ads going about Republicans wanting to "sunset" social security, medicare and medicaid. Directed at older people, true, but they are much more consistent voters than young ones. The party needs some competent marketing and advertising people working on presentation methods.

[LFC]

"Short and punchy" are key. Explanations last more than a sentence will lose to sloganeering.

"Now your kids with your loud music, and your Dan Fogleberg, your Zima, hula hoops and pac-man video games, don't you see? People today have attention spans that can only be measured in nanoseconds!" --Ted Denslow, "Baseketball"

[LFC]

More evidence that Herschel Walker is insane, brain damaged, or both. He seriously falls into the "don't trust this guy with a spork" category.

New reporting from The Daily Beast reveals that advisers to Trump-backed Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker have serious reservations about his fitness for the job.

A person described as a "closely connected adviser" to Walker's Senate campaign has shared internal campaign messages with the publication that show a chaotic candidate who is mistrusted by his own campaign staff, who also express concerns that he "isn’t mentally fit for the job."

This adviser, who is still remaining anonymous, tells The Daily Beast that Walker tells lies "like he's breathing" and further said that "he’s lied so much that we don’t know what’s true."

The adviser came forward with the messages after The Daily Beast reported on multiple undisclosed children that Walker has fathered over the years. According to the adviser, Walker lied to his own staff about the children, which led the campaign to put out claims about them that were later shown to be false.

“A campaign’s worst nightmare,” the Daily Beast's source said. “It’s like a sh*tshow on a train in the middle of a wreck.”

[goldenvalley]

Jul 7, 2022 18:42:33 GMT LFC said:

More evidence that Herschel Walker is insane, brain damaged, or both. He seriously falls into the "don't trust this guy with a spork" category.

New reporting from The Daily Beast reveals that advisers to Trump-backed Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker have serious reservations about his fitness for the job.

A person described as a "closely connected adviser" to Walker's Senate campaign has shared internal campaign messages with the publication that show a chaotic candidate who is mistrusted by his own campaign staff, who also express concerns that he "isn’t mentally fit for the job."

This adviser, who is still remaining anonymous, tells The Daily Beast that Walker tells lies "like he's breathing" and further said that "he’s lied so much that we don’t know what’s true."

The adviser came forward with the messages after The Daily Beast reported on multiple undisclosed children that Walker has fathered over the years. According to the adviser, Walker lied to his own staff about the children, which led the campaign to put out claims about them that were later shown to be false.

“A campaign’s worst nightmare,” the Daily Beast's source said. “It’s like a sh*tshow on a train in the middle of a wreck.”

So quit the campaign. You don't have to work for a candidate you think is unfit.  

[LFC]

Herschel is at it again, this time lying about the children he's fathered. What a perfect figure of a father for the Christianists to run out and support. No wonder he fits in so well to the Party of Trump.

When Herschel Walker’s campaign aides approached him this winter to discuss whispers that Walker had a secret child, the Georgia GOP’s Senate candidate told his campaign the rumors were false.

Walker’s aides already knew he was lying.

They had expected him to lie, and had obtained documents in advance of that conversation verifying that Walker did indeed have another child, The Daily Beast has learned. They handed the documents to him, and after some more back and forth, Walker finally admitted it was true. His aides asked if there were any other children they needed to know about. Walker insisted this was it.

When the Daily Beast learned about the existence of that 10-year-old child in June and went to the campaign for comment, campaign manager Scott Paradise prepared a statement. But first, he went to Walker with a question: Be honest—are there any other kids?

No, Walker said.

Paradise then put out a statement insisting that Walker—who at that point had only publicly acknowledged one child, his adult son, Christian—was “proud of his children.”

“To suggest that Herschel is ‘hiding’ the child because he hasn’t used him in his political campaign is offensive and absurd,” Paradise said in a statement.

The very next day, The Daily Beast reached out again, asking about yet another undisclosed child, a 13-year-old. The campaign approached Walker and asked again. This time, he acknowledged the teen was his.

The campaign verified that the 13-year-old was Walker’s son, and that he had yet another child—a daughter from his college days about 40 years ago.

This account of Walker lying to his own campaign about his children comes from a closely connected adviser and was verified by communications that the source turned over to The Daily Beast. We are not quoting from the messages out of concern that they could potentially expose the source’s identity.

The communications reveal a campaign and a candidate in chaos.

[jackd]

And yet, he's polling neck and neck with Warnock. Herschel is just a tool of the cult. They really don't care who he is as long as he does what he's told.

[LFC]

Jul 6, 2022 18:35:16 GMT LFC said:

PA Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman is apparently making effective use of social media and memes in his campaign. It's not his only tool but it's certainly a tool, one that Mahmet Oz isn't able to match. You might want to shrug this off but if you're over 50 you might not understand the engagement going on with younger people.

More brilliant trolling by Fetterman. By making Oz an obvious joke and repeatedly pointing out what a charlatan he is makes for smart campaigning, as long as it's not your entire campaign (which it's not for Fetterman). In full:

Pennsylvania Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate John Fetterman has taken to the skies to mock GOP opponent Mehmet Oz’s sometimes residency in the state he wants to represent.

Oz, a TV doctor endorsed by Donald Trump, has been a longtime resident of New Jersey, and used his in-laws’ address to vote in Pennsylvania in 2020, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Oz also voted in Jersey as recently as 2020, according to Politico.

Fetterman, currently lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, took on the state of confusion by flying a cheeky airplane banner over south New Jersey beaches during the weekend reading: “Hey Dr. Oz: Welcome home to N.J.! John.”

“Aerial Trolling!!!!” Fetterman boasted in an email statement to HuffPost.

“The banner will fly from Cape May to Brigantine on one of the biggest vacation weekends of the year. It will literally reach *thousands* of beachgoers at the shore, where so many Pennsylvania families go to vacation every year,” he added.

Fetterman also tweeted a photo of the banner:

He wondered in another tweet if Oz could at least see Pennsylvania from his “sprawling mansion” in New Jersey.

Oz also has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Turkey, and voted in the 2018 Turkish election.

The Turkish situation has raised concerns about national security — even from Trump pal and former secretary of state Mike Pompeo. Oz has claimed he would drop his Turkish citizenship if he wins a spot in the Senate (representing Pennsylvania, not New Jersey).

Oz could not be reached for comment.

[goldenvalley]

Here's how the right disrupts the public's confidence in elections. 

A conservative activist who sought a hand recount of a rural Northern California election that his candidate lost in a landslide defeat called it off Monday, one day before it was set to begin.

Randy Economy — a leader of the unsuccessful Republican-backed effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom last year — requested a recount last week in the race for Nevada County clerk-recorder and registrar of voters, part of a right-wing movement to take control of local and state election apparatuses across the nation.

Natalie Adona won the race last month with 68% of the vote. She was nearly 15,000 votes ahead of Jason Tedder, who came in second place.

Economy requested the recount in a July 4 letter to the county registrar, saying he was doing so on behalf of Tedder, a Navy veteran who was endorsed by the local Republican party.

Economy does not live in the county; he lives way down in SoCal.  And he decided to reverse his call for a recount. Why?

State election law requires a recount to begin within seven days of it being requested, and county staffers last week began physically moving ballots from a secure location into a room where they would be recounted.

Economy on Monday said he called off the recount, in part, because he thought ballots had been “compromised” because elections staffers handled them and the recount involved their office.

He said he thought law enforcement officers should have moved the ballots instead.

That is not the conventional way in most counties, nor is it required by law.


“I want to know who touched those ballots, and at what point,” Economy said. “I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I just want the facts.”

Why did he say never mind?

Economy told The Times after he pulled the plug on the effort that “it was never specifically about the outcome of the election” and that he just wanted to make a point about the process.


Requesting a recount, he said, is legitimate and legal, but “everybody who was involved in this process were laughed at, ridiculed, screamed at by this one county clerk’s office.”

Seed planted...police officers should monitor handling of ballots.

[LFC]

John Fetterman, the PA Democratic candidate for Sen. Pat Toomey's seat, is raking in the cash. Here's hoping the GOP running a TV quack doctor from a neighboring state with a funny name and dual Turkish citizenship he refuses to give up (unless he wins) isn't a good idea.

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for the key battleground state's open U.S. Senate seat, raised $11 million in the second quarter of 2022, his campaign announced Tuesday.

Fetterman's best-ever quarterly fundraising haul smashed Pennsylvania's previous record for money raised by a Senate candidate over a three-month period.

"I truly cannot thank all of our supporters enough," Fetterman said in a statement. "The outpouring of support for our campaign since we became Pennsylvania's Democratic Senate nominee has just been extraordinary."

Fetterman cruised to victory in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary in May, and recent polls show him with a six- to nine-point lead over Dr. Mehmet Oz, the far-right celebrity television doctor and Trump-backed Republican nominee vying to replace the state's retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey.

"We're well on our way to flipping this seat in November with your help," said Fetterman. "To date in our campaign, we've received donations from over 109,000 donors in Pennsylvania, which could fill both Heinz Field and PNC Park at the same time."

[LFC]

What in the actual hell?

[AnBr]

"The stupid!!! It burns!!!!"

[Bact PhD]

Jul 12, 2022 23:19:34 GMT LFC said:

What in the actual hell?

View Attachment

The LP ad wrote itself!

[LFC]

Jul 13, 2022 2:23:01 GMT Bact PhD said:

Jul 12, 2022 23:19:34 GMT LFC said:

What in the actual hell?

View Attachment

The LP ad wrote itself!

OMG, this could be straight out of a sequel to Idiocracy, both for content and delivery.

[andydp]

Jul 13, 2022 13:12:14 GMT LFC said:

Jul 13, 2022 2:23:01 GMT Bact PhD said:

The LP ad wrote itself!

OMG, this could be straight out of a sequel to Idiocracy, both for content and delivery.

This is the way you "Own the libs".

[AnBr]

Senate Dems, from Bennet to Warnock, post ‘blockbuster’ money ahead of midterms

Democratic Senate candidates are posting huge second-quarter fundraising hauls, which they see as a sign of momentum after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Michael Bennet is sitting on nearly 10 times the cash of his GOP challenger, the latest example of Democrats’ widening financial advantage as they vie to keep Senate control.

In an otherwise dismal political climate for Democrats, the Colorado senator posted $3.3 million over the past three months and has $8 million on hand as Election Day nears, the best fundraising quarter ever for the low-key second-term senator, his campaign told POLITICO. It’s a hefty advantage over his opponent, Republican Joe O’Dea, who raised $2 million, including $1 million of his own money, and has $840,000 on hand.

The race illustrates Democrats’ circumstances throughout the country: While Bennet is slugging it out with O’Dea in a state that President Joe Biden won by 13 points, the party still sees a bright spot in candidates’ fundraising as they hope to significantly outperform Biden’s sagging approval ratings in November.

[goldenvalley]

Jul 15, 2022 14:52:02 GMT AnBr said:

Senate Dems, from Bennet to Warnock, post ‘blockbuster’ money ahead of midterms

Democratic Senate candidates are posting huge second-quarter fundraising hauls, which they see as a sign of momentum after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Michael Bennet is sitting on nearly 10 times the cash of his GOP challenger, the latest example of Democrats’ widening financial advantage as they vie to keep Senate control.

In an otherwise dismal political climate for Democrats, the Colorado senator posted $3.3 million over the past three months and has $8 million on hand as Election Day nears, the best fundraising quarter ever for the low-key second-term senator, his campaign told POLITICO. It’s a hefty advantage over his opponent, Republican Joe O’Dea, who raised $2 million, including $1 million of his own money, and has $840,000 on hand.

The race illustrates Democrats’ circumstances throughout the country: While Bennet is slugging it out with O’Dea in a state that President Joe Biden won by 13 points, the party still sees a bright spot in candidates’ fundraising as they hope to significantly outperform Biden’s sagging approval ratings in November.

I'm wondering if mega money is doing anyone any good.  Is there a certain point in a campaign where the money just doesn't tip the scale?  Money is good for opposition research and exploiting whatever is found with it.  But I kinda think for Republicans it's all about getting Faux News and right wing social media on the candidate's side. That's where the action is for turning out voters on that side of the equation.  Even those that don't usually vote could be riled up enough to go vote.

[LFC]

The Democrats need to be pushing treason and abortion over and over and over again. Don't talk about anything else. Every Republican who won't stand up against treason by Trump, the administration people, and multiple Republicans in Congress as clearly as Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger need to be branded as un-American terrorists or at terrorist sympathizers. Use simple messages like the GOP but with the added bonus that they're actually true.

[Bact PhD]

The old saying about “fighting the last war” comes to mind. Way back when, that $$$$ bought lots of ads, both in print and on local TV. Well, “conventional” TV viewership is nowhere near what it was a couple of decades ago, so IMO “conventional” TV ad buys are all but useless, unless the objective is to double down on the 65+ crowd.

I concur with LFC re keeping the messaging as simple and hard-hitting as possible. Go for the GUT if you want the “undecided” or “low-information” voter. Logic and facts are unlikely to move those folks to the polls at all, let alone to the “D” column.

[LFC]

And flood the zone with reality. Simple punches that are endless. And instead of attempting to follow up with policy or nuance just add a simple caveat of "we won't do that" and/or "for more on our plan go to www...".

[LFC]

Both Pence and AZ governor Doug Ducey are trying to keep the outright fascist from winning the Republican gubernatorial primary. Trump has, of course, endorsed the fascist.

Former Vice President Mike Pence and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R), who co-chairs the Republican Governors Association (RGA), are once again facing off against ex-President Donald Trump in a crucial gubernatorial primary — this time in Ducey’s backyard.

On Monday, Pence endorsed Karrin Taylor Robson in the hotly contested Republican primary for Arizona governor in the face of Trump’s endorsement of far-right election denier Kari Lake, who has said she wouldn’t have certified Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election if she were governor.

That’s a necessary stance to hold if you want to secure Trump’s endorsement in general, but especially in a gubernatorial primary in Arizona. Trump’s been angry with the outgoing Ducey since the 2020 election, when the governor refused to overturn the results in his state.

“Kari Lake’s misleading voters with no evidence,” Ducey said, emphasizing that, “I don’t think we should think for one more moment about 2020.”

The Arizona governor also accused the Trump-backed candidate of faking her far-right embrace.

“This is all an act,” he said. “She’s been putting on a show for some time now, and we’ll see if the voters of Arizona buy it.”