The New Republic recently had a column by Michael Tomasky comparing the Trump campaign to a long-running television show. His point was that the shtick has gotten old and boring. He compared Trump’s performances to several sitcoms that had been enormously popular, and noted that few of them had sustained that popularity for nine years–the length of time that Trump has inflicted his buffoonery on the country. He also pointed to data that indicates Americans are tiring of him.
It was an interesting comparison, and obviously, I hope it’s a correct one. But what caught my attention was his conclusion to the following paragraphs:
But again, for now, let’s just judge him as an act. His act is way tired. It’s now nine years of “Fake news” and “You won’t have a country anymore” and all the rest. In 2015, all those Trumpisms were stupid and disgusting; but at least they were new. I actually laughed when he described Jeb Bush as a “low-energy person.” He was! I could imagine then how, for voters who didn’t hate him, he was interesting and possibly amusing as a species that American politics rarely produces: someone who threw the script in the air and said whatever the hell popped into his mind.
That was bound to be something people wanted to watch, for a while. And it was just as bound to be something that became less compelling over time. It’s an act. And this is a key difference between politics and show business that Trump can’t see. In showbiz, and on TV, it’s all about whether the production values can sell the act. In politics, it turns out, the act needs more than slick production. It still needs to show some connection to people’s lives and concerns. Harris is better at that than Trump is. And her act is a lot fresher, too. And Walz’s act versus Vance’s? Not remotely close. Yes—Walz is so compelling, and Vance so repelling, that this is one election where the veep choices may actually make two points’ worth of difference.
Tomasky’s characterization of Walz as “compelling” and Vance as “repelling” isn”t just an accurate description of the two vice-presidential candidates. It’s an accurate description of the great majority of current Democratic and Republican candidates.
I understand that I live in an urban bubble, but everyone I know finds Trump repellant–and those who watched the Democratic Convention found most of the speakers at that event compelling. That contrast isn’t limited to national figures, either. It’s really hard to look at the Indiana Republicans’ statewide ticket without being repelled. (When MAGA Mike Braun is the least offensive candidate of the four, the GOP has really outdone itself.)
In addition to MAGA Mike, an empty suit who just wants to be important, you have smarmy Micah Beckwith hating on LGBTQ folks, advocating censorship, and telling voters that God directed the disreputable and looney mob that invaded the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. (Micah says he talks to God…)
You have equally-theocratic, anti-woman, anti-gay, wrong about pretty much everything, Jim Banks, who is evidently so personally unpleasant that even the Republicans in his current Congressional district dislike him.
And you have “no bar is so low that he can’t go lower” Todd Rokita, who has (mis)used the. office of Attorney General to wage interminable–and tiresome–culture wars as part of his incessant pandering to the most MAGA voters of the GOP base.
I certainly find these men repellant. I also find the Democratic state ticket compelling–if you haven’t had the opportunity to hear Jennifer McCormick, Terry Goodin, Valerie McCray or Destiny Wells speak, you should try to do so. But even if you don’t find them as compelling or inspiring as I do, you’ll definitely notice that they are all sane, competent and –unlike their Republican opponents–actually qualified to do the jobs they’re running for.
I really hope that Tomasky’s comparison of political and television show popularity is correct. It would be great if the American voters who have been fascinated or intrigued (or sucked in) by the first few seasons of “Entitled White Faux Christian Guys” might be getting bored with the same-old, same-old, and ready for a different show.
How about a documentary? Say, for example, one titled “This is How Government Is Supposed to Work”?
I have mailed three more Democratic candidate checks this week; Harris, Wells and McCormick, mailed others last month to them and other candidates. I am compelled by feelings of guilt if I do not do what I can to help “save the soul of America” by doing what I can to repel the disgusting and dangerous opposition. I am waiting for my application for my mail-in ballot which I applied for weeks ago; when does early voting begin here, the delay to know whose names to put on the ballot are behind us.
Trump’s role as Archie Bunker has not been one to laugh at; the “Meathead” spoke truths which apply today. The comparison of that long ago sitcom and the past 9 years of Trump should be shown on the History channel if it still aired history in its programming.
Let it be written, let it be so.
JoAnn, I feel exactly as you do. I have been doing all that I can, and donating more than ever before, because if I wake up on Nov 6 and we have lost I will at least know that I did everything I could to effect the outcome.
I hope this election turns our way. It is time now to redouble our efforts. Run the race all the way through the finish line. GOTV!
Indiana isn’t alone in the disgusting Republican sweepstakes. EVERY state that has Republicans running for office shares your misery. Take Texas, for example – please. Their big star is the slimy Ted Cruz. Florida has Scott and DeSantis. Louisiana has Johnson and Kennedy – their late presidential namesakes must be spinning in their graves. South Carolina is saddled with Tim (Uncle Tom) Scott and the chief boot licker Lindsay Graham. How about Arizona running the unbelievably stupid Kari Lake? Tennessee has Marsha Balckburn to reflect how low their voter IQs are. Do I need to go on?
Oh, speaking of mail-in ballots, I remember a conversation I had with a friend during the primaries about his effort to use a mail-in ballot. What he learned was that he had to submit a form in order to get his application for a mail-in ballot. It arrived in his mailbox the day after the election. Fortunately, he had given up on that and had voted in-person.
In Indiana the goal of the GOP is to make things as difficult as possible for Hoosiers to vote. I strongly recommend in-person voting if at all possible.
Perhaps RR convinced Republicans that Presidents did not need a mind as long as they could act. Bush II was pretty much the same as Dick Cheney did the work of the office. Maybe all that they require from politicians is good hair.
James Todd; not receiving my ballot application has been on my mind for this election, I need to learn where to vote in case I am forced to vote in person. The last time I did was at a new polling place in November 2016, overcrowded parking at a medical facility at East 16th and Arlington forced me to park in the grass behind the building, walk around the facility and 3/4th of a block north on Arlington to the end of the line. A small room housed 5 precincts and was wall-to-wall people; I filled out my ballot and started for the ballot machine when a very large woman grabbed my upper right arm, the one I use for my cane. She drug me through the crowds refusing to let go of me; got to the machine which spit my ballot back out, I immediately tried to insert it a second time with the same results. She then grabbed my arm again, yelled something at me and drug me across the room to another ballot machine. I would have looked for security but when I finally got inside the building he was pulling another woman by her arm from the registration tables through the crowds and using his phone. A couple was following them; when I finally completed my vote??? he was just then taking her back through the crowds to to the registration desk.
I have always been very proud to go to the polls every election day since 1958; 2016 changed my mind only due to my age and disabilities and the danger of falling. My previous polling place for years was a building behind a small church with a large parking area; pleasant facility and friendly election staff workers. Trump does destroy everything he touches.
A few semi-related thoughts –
It’s distressing how pathetic/unlikeable/unserious/un-American/un-human the Republicans are, but still how incredibly close this (national) election is going to be. With monsters this terrible, the Democrats are praying to slip by with a 1-2% edge. Yikes.
I was really hopeful that the pile of abject lunatics running in Indiana would give Destiny Wells, et. al. a shot. I haven’t seen a single campaign piece from any of them. Time has passed to cling to the hope that they’re just “keeping their powder dry”. They’re not really running if they’re not really campaigning. I’m sure they intend to win/want to win. However, if you don’t have the money to play the game – there isn’t much hope. Sorry my liberal amigos. We’re all getting the psycho-squad in Indiana – that’s starting to feel pretty well locked in.
We’re lucky Trump is running again. I remember how much Harris wasn’t liked when she tried last time, but Trump is a candidate she can beat – thankfully. She’s quite a conservative (read as bog-standard for the last 30+ years) Democrat. Everyone knew she was lying/pandering to try and get out of the vote basement last time when she suddenly backed actual liberal policies in the primary. The enthusiasm for her is, I think, solely that she isn’t Trump. I’ll take it, for sure. But, I would guess, if she wins, we’re just going to get the classically, just-right-of-center, neo-liberal that only looks good by comparison to the unhinged Republican. I’ll take what I can get.
Joanne, my wife and I have always used early voting. A few years ago there used to be six locations in Marion county and they opened two weeks before the polls did. It was always easy to walk in and breeze out. However, that changed a few years ago when Republicans passed a law,
that only allowed one early polling place in each county. But since I live downtown, I’d always go into the city county building for early voting so it wasn’t any real change for me. I’m sure, it’s no accident that it’s not as convenient as used to be, but I would suggest you investigate doing early voting.
I suggest tweaking the sitcom analogy to a 250-year-old sitcom that many people see neither party serving the masses. They are all actors on a stage in Washington. Some are just better than others. Others believe they are good at acting, but they suck at it (Trump). In the video I posted yesterday of Barbara Walters taking down Trump in 1990, it was basically for the same things he’s doing today, but she had the backbone and the support of the network to expose him as a fraud.
Max Blumenthal was at the DNC Convention, asking questions to politicians and Wolf Blitzer. His main question was, “Does AIPAC have too much control over our government?”
It’s an excellent question, and all the politicians looked through him with a blank stare. The other media around acted appalled at the question. When Max asked the infamous Wolf Blitzer, who was getting a celebrity welcome, the same question, he just sneered at him.
They are all actors for the benefit of the current oligarchy. These are millionaires serving billionaires and the Deep State. Serving in a federal position is the fastest way to become a millionaire.
Sadly, plenty of billionaires aren’t very bright themselves—for instance, Elon Musk. Quite frankly, I don’t know how he has kept his money. He’s given Trump $10 million. I could go on down the line of the rich oligarchs funding the government. If they, and the media they own, decided Washington should be different, it would change overnight. If they were tired of Trump, they could stop funding his mess. #GREED
A free press could clean up this country within six months, but the frontline journalists don’t have the power to do so. Most of the TV broadcasters are actors like the politicians. If you listen to the people, they are fed up with it, but what can they do? Trump says he’s an outsider and will blow it all up, and that isn’t a bad idea, but he’s not an outsider, and he has no clue what the Deep State consists of in this country or across the oceans. He’s fleecing his fellow billionaires because he’s created a very large cult of worshippers.
“A fool and his money…”
Harris is not just Harris, regardless of her past stances…she is NOT tfg! I do not mean to demean her, I like her, and what she has been saying, but I would vote for Alfred E. Newman rather than tfg.
Yes, apparently, or at least I have read, the people who still are dumb enough to attend his rallies, include some who literally leave early, having heard all the old BS so many times before, calling it boring. It’s Johnny One Note.
Not that, if they vote, they won’t still vote for him.
Rural Indiana, where I reside, is still dominated by republicans that are trumpers. The landscape is dotted with trump signs, however there are fewer of them. The majority of rural republicans will still vote a straight republican ticket because the qualified Democrat candidates aren’t able to travel to all of the rural areas and Dems don’t have 24/7 tv channels to counteract Newsmax’s and Fox’s nonstop lies.
I would like to add to Sheila’s list of horrible useless Indiana republicans, even though he isn’t running for office in this election, and that is Diego Morales. He never should have won the IN Secretary of State election in 2022. He is a despicable self-serving liar that is using his office to do nothing, but promote himself for a higher office. As IN’s leader of election integrity he previously committed voter fraud himself back in 2018 (and possibly 2020). He also claims to be a veteran, but he is not. He has a spotty military history and refuses to answer questions about it when journalists ask. He has been busy traveling to the counties for photo ops to present checks for federal grants that the County Clerks themselves applied for His only connection to the federal grant money is that the money is distributed by Secretary of State offices.
If anyone is interested please take a moment to go to IN.gov and select the Secretary of State page. You will be met with multiple photos of Morales. It is disgusting and I am angry that he has been allowed to get away with using a state website for his personal campaigning. No other IN state officeholder uses the state website (paid for by tax revenue) to plaster pics of themselves – they actually contain links to the areas you need to review.
My point is that Indiana republicans don’t care if you’ve been a convicted felon that is running for office – if you are running on the R ticket you are guaranteed to be elected and that is why we have so many horrible people holding office and that is why trump will win IN’s election again.
Nancy – a “fun” Diego Morales side story to further inflame your outrage:
Remember when he was running and he used campaign funds to buy himself a new car? It was illegal, but he claimed it was cheaper than renting one to travel and that he planned to sell it after the campaign. Shocker – he kept it. He’s still charging the state mileage on his new car bought with campaign funds.
Remember folks, Diego EASILY won SOS despite running against a well-qualified Democrat. Like I said, we’re getting the psycho squad. The Morales election confirmed all my worst fears about Indiana.
JoAnn – regarding your application for an absentee ballot, here is the link to Marion County’s County Clerk website page:
https://www.indy.gov/agency/marion-county-clerks-office
If you scroll down about halfway the contact info for the County Election Board is listed. I’ve also copied and pasted that info here:
Marion County Election Board
City-County Building, W144
Phone: 317-327-5100
Fax: 317-327-4815
Email: elections@indy.gov
I hope this info helps you find out more info about your absentee ballot request.
Dirk – I forgot about the car purchase. Ugh!
YES FOLKS – Indiana R voters don’t pay attention to who is running for office – they will consistently vote straight R and then bitch about the Dems ruining everything while taking all of their ‘hard-earned’ money with high taxes.
What is the deep state? It’s people like me, who work for you, regardless of the color, red or blue, of the White House. Yes there are some who are not very good at their, but they are a small minority.
The vast majority of those I worked with were over qualified for the positions they held. They were there to help. Many professionals don’t stay for more than ten years. What you get from them is expertise that the private sector pays millions for at a bargain basement price.
Personally, I worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs and I can tell you that it was a privilege to work for the veterans. They truly understand the concept of the common good, something tfg will never get.
JoAnn, Here is a list of early voting sites in Marion County
WHERE TO VOTE EARLY FROM OCTOBER 26 TO NOVEMBER 3:
Decatur Township Government Center
Franklin Township Government Center
International Marketplace Coalition
MSD Lawrence Education & Community Center
Perry Township Government Center
St. Luke’s United Methodist Church
Thatcher Park Community Center
Warren Township Government Center
I would be happy to offer you transportation at your convenience to any one of those that would be close to you. If I can find a way to contact you privately through Prof. Kennedy, I will provide my email address.
We all need to “Do something”!
Well done, JD!
JoAnn can vote in each one of those districts to help out the Hoosier Ds. 😉
I had to comment on Peggy’s post about the deep state. According to Trump and his cult followers, you would be part of the deep state, but federal employees are NOT part of the Deep State.
You need to think of the Military-Industrial Complex, AIPAC/Israel, the Bilderberg Project, Atlantic Council, WEF, Koch, and other billionaires who control Washington politicians.
Project 2025 does want to eliminate up to 50,000 federal employees and replace them with loyal Trump minions.
A big Thank You! to all who offered help today; I greatly appreciate each one of you. And a Thank You! to Sheila.