Clear and Present Danger

Secretary Buttigieg has appeared on Fox News several times, and always manages to deliver a message that actually stumps the Trump-fluffing Fox interviewer. He expresses himself so plainly and compellingly that it’s even possible that he can get through to some of Fox’s viewers. And in an interview this Sunday Buttigieg demonstrated that ability in grand form. What follows are few choice excerpts from the interview (and a thread of the videos)…

“The idea that somebody hasn’t been tested or vetted when they have been vice president of the United States for nearly four years just doesn’t make any sense. [Harris] is in obviously one of the most visible leadership roles in the country and she’s demonstrated both her effectiveness in that job and a vision for the country that Americans agree with. And that’s the real reason I think she’s going to win.”

“[Trump] actually did keep two promises: He kept his promise to destroy the right to choose in this country, and he kept his promise on tax cuts to the rich … he lies all the time.”

“Unlike Republicans who in Trump’s personality cult will take a look at Donald Trump and say he’s perfectly fine even though he seemed unable to tell the difference between Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi, even though he’s rambling about electrocuting sharks and Hannibal Lecter. Even though he is clearly older and stranger than he was when America first got to know him, they say he’s strong as an ox, leaps tall buildings in a single bound. We don’t have that kind of warped reality on our side.’

“Crime is down under Joe Biden and crime was up under Donald Trump. Now, I don’t know how often that gets reported on this network, so if you’re watching this at home, do yourself a favor and look up the data.”

Throughout most of this interview, Buttigieg had to cope with host Shannon Bream repeatedly interrupting him with attempts to push Republican  lies. And he smacked down her bullshit.

Buttigieg may not be at the top of the VP short list. He doesn’t have the ability to bring along a victory in a swing state. And being gay will probably (and unfortunately) be seen as too much of a progressive lean on the Democratic ticket. But there is no one better to face independent, and even right-leaning, voters on the campaign trail. He can continue a sort of residency at Fox News, while holding rallies in swing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, and other Midwest neighbors to his home of Indiana.

Buttigieg would also be a good candidate for another Cabinet post in the Harris administration. He has experience and credentials that would qualify him for Housing and Urban Development, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services. And although he doesn’t have a background in journalism, he might make a darn good Communications Director.

According to CNN, Vance is the least-liked VP pick since 1980. He comes into the race with a net negative approval rating even before most Americans know who he is.

Since he has hit the road as Trump’s new junior partner, things have only gotten worse. With clumsy speeches full of weird lines that fail to get a cheer even from a hometown crowd, and old statements resurfacing that are generating an angry backlash, even Republicans are starting to realize that Vance is a loser. Kind of reminds us of another controversial VP pick.

According to Trump, his reason for selecting Vance came down to “chemistry.” Which means simply that the inexperienced senator “liked me more than anybody liked me.”

Flattery will definitely get you somewhere with Trump. Flattery is all that counts.

Vance was also the favored candidate of the tech billionaires who have been bankrolling Trump’s latest assault on democracy. They see Vance, whose big break as an investment banker came in working for billionaire tech vampire Peter Thiel, as one of their own. Thiel was Vance’s biggest source of funds for his Senate campaign.

As OpenSecrets previously reported, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and groups tied to Thiel almost entirely bankrolled the pro-Vance super PAC. The billionaire tech mogul donated $10 million to Protect Ohio Values last March. A “dark money” group tied to Thiel, Per Aspera Policy, also donated $200,000 earlier this year, and Thiel donated another $5 million after Trump endorsed Vance.

That was just two years ago. Vance has only served in the Senate for 18 months, which makes him one of the least experienced candidates to run for high office—except for Donald Trump, of course. Vance has never had to balance a state budget. He hasn’t had to negotiate with legislatures or handle an emergency. Before being selected by Trump, Vance had been in exactly one political campaign, and in that campaign, he heavily underperformed against other Republican candidates in his state, despite the big cash infusion from techbros.

Axios notes that some of the other contenders for the vice president slot on the Republican ticket came with perceived benefits. Selecting former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley might have shown voters that Trump was willing to compromise, made the slate more tenable to moderates, and done something to improve that women problem. Picking Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin might have at least given Trump someone who was good at campaigning and capable of plastering over extremist policies with a kind of faux moderation. Even North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum would at least come with a record that was largely a blank slate.

But that’s not Vance. This is a guy who wrote a whole rags-to-riches storybook whose big revelation is that people who are poor or drug-addicted are that way because they are lazy and apathetic. He’s the guy who called Trump “America’s Hitler” and whose flip-flop on Trump generated what might be the best line of the campaign to date from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

“The problem with J.D. Vance is he has no convictions,” said Beshear. “But I guess his running mate has 34.”

But Vance is not the second coming of Sarah Palin. When Sen. John McCain selected the Alaska governor capable of reading all newspapers while understanding none, he did so in an effort to expand his base in the party. Palin was viewed by the growing radical right as one of them. McCain was looked on suspiciously as a moderate in a party where the term RINO was just beginning to take off.

Palin was a bad choice, but not an altogether illogical one. It wasn’t until she was actually out on the trail—and skewered so effectively on “Saturday Night Live”—that the stars began to fade from reporters’ eyes.

But Vance’s base is just Trump’s base. Worse, it’s the meanest, weirdest, most extreme part of Trump’s base. Vance’s appeal outside of that base can be measured only with negative numbers.

Vance was a selection that Trump made when he thought he was headed for a landslide victory over a president unable to rally the Democratic Party. Vance is absolutely the last partner that Trump needs in trying to win moderate voters and independents from a younger, sharper, more hopeful candidate.

Compared to Vance, Palin was a brilliant choice.

The Trump campaign posted this on their campaign website:

Given the continued political chaos surrounding Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party, general election debate details cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee. There is a strong sense by many in the Democrat Party – namely Barack Hussein Obama – that Kamala Harris is a Marxist fraud who cannot beat President Trump, and they are still holding out for someone “better.” Therefore, it would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds.

The debate is on the schedule. He could simply say, “I’ll debate whoever Democrats nominate on Aug. 1.” But this isn’t about confusion over the Democratic nominee. There’s no drama, as the party quickly coalesced around Harris.

The statement does leave Trump wiggle room to change his mind down the road, but he doesn’t want to debate Harris, and he’s reneged on the original deal for that second presidential debate.

That’s not a sign of strength or confidence.

Trump is afraid of a mere woman.

And Vice President Kamala Harris is there receiving that torch. She’s there on the LA Times, and she’s there on The New York Times. She’s there in Georgia, and North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Stories about Harris’ campaign and the enthusiasm and energy it’s generating are everywhere.

But something else is missing. There’s something different about the headlines. Something that makes all these papers less gloomy, less angry, less … stupid and demented.

Wait, here’s that missing something. It’s hiding down inside the NY Times where Maggie Haberman writes that Donald Trump “has lost his grip on the news cycle.”

It’s an unfamiliar experience for Mr. Trump, who has monopolized America’s televisions, newspapers and smartphones for more than 12 months through indictments, primary victories, 34 felony convictions, an assassination attempt and a Republican National Convention at which he was celebrated as a quasi-religious figure.

Twelve months is an understatement. This may be the first time since Trump came down that golden escalator to start a campaign based on racist fear and the promise of violence that he has not dominated national news on an almost daily basis. Even when the nation was going through a pandemic that took more than a million lives, Trump took over what was supposed to be a regular medical briefing and made it all about him.

There have been bursts of light in the darkness, and certainly, Biden’s victory in 2020 seemed like a return of the sun after a long, cold winter. But this week … this week feels different.

It feels like a cloud has been lifted. All of the ardor, all the fervor, all the passion seems to be with the Democratic Party—and especially with the 100,000 volunteers who have signed up to support Harris’ campaign for the White House.

For once, Trump is finding that no matter how many ugly insults he spews, he’s doing it just for the red-hatted hate squad gathered around him. The media has found something more interesting to write about.

As Maria Cardon said Wednesday on CNN, Trump is having something of a “mental meltdown … because he doesn’t know how to run against someone like Kamala Harris.” As an attractive, accomplished, powerful woman of color and daughter of immigrants, Harris, said Cardon, is “a caldron of all of the things Trump has nightmares about every single night.”

Trump and his advisers are baffled by how to go after Harris and frustrated by how she is capturing the media’s attention. It makes this moment nothing less than joyful.

But we shouldn’t start thinking that Trump’s extended reality show has finally been canceled. This election is close. Every moment from now until November will be a fight. And it’s only a matter of time before every screaming headline is once again accompanied by the sight of spray-on tan and a snarling face.

Trump will find something to say that is so outrageous that it demands attention. He will make claims about Harris that try to put her on the defensive. And there’s little doubt that the media that has spent the last eight years circling the black hole of Trump’s ego will be pulled into that gravity well again.

Even today, it’s possible to scan all those papers and find a handful that still feature Trump front and center. But thank goodness it’s only a handful.

Enjoy this week of good political weather while it lasts. And use this moment to prepare against the storms ahead. Because there will be a lot of rainy days between now and the election.