President Kamala Harris.

[Forestluv]

A few observations the last week:

1. For 30 yrs, I've worked as a teacher in education systems. . . from my perspective, Tim and Gwen have embodied aspects of teaching that is not easy to embody. I've watched videos of Tim and Gwen speak about teaching as well as their former students speak about the impact Tim and Gwen had on them. I can tell they are extraordinary at meeting students where they are at with patience, care and inspiration. . . It is much easier to intellectually know about this aspect of teaching aspect than to actually embody it. 

2. Kamala and Tim are an example of the value of "DEI". In a sense, Tim Walz is a "DEI hire" - in particular, he adds diversity and inclusion. It's one thing to describe new elements Walz brings (such as a different demographic backgrounds and gender), it's another thing to actually show value in how you are living. . . I think Kamala and Tim have good chemistry and she is learning from him. 

3. Walz has never used a teleprompter in his life, until recently. I can understand Harris' team wanting to stay on message and to avoid gaffes, yet Walz is very good speaking off-the-cuff in the moment. Today, he is speaking to a high school sports team and he is speaking to them as a teacher / coach. 

3. Walz allows Kamala access to certain areas. For example, when Kamala and Tim are in a school building, or with a sports team, - it's not a "photo-op". It's Tim's world. It would be like an Olympic athlete being in a locker room - it's a totally normal part of their life. . . Similarly, Tim gives access into "working class" spaces, such as Unions. . . These dynamics would be very different with a Harris / Shapiro ticket. 

4. I think criticisms that Kamala is a chameleon for personal gain has some truth to it. My impression is that her orientation is toward being the leader of a movement and is malleable to the details of what that movement is. In my view, her range is solid left to centrist and she is comfortable working within that range (albeit difficult to do). . . This allows her to interact with a variety of subgroups such as Pro-Palestinian groups as well as major corporate donors. . . Rather than having a pre-defined set of convictions, she is more-suited to be a leader / spokesperson for an underlying movement. - Within a range of Bernie Sanders solid left to solid Centrist, yet would not be effective as a far left leader or a right-wing leader since it is outside her range of malleability. . . In a sense, she is a typical politician that changed her positions for political gain. In another sense, she wants to be a leader / spokesperson for things she can believe in. There is a form of authenticity that comes with that. In contrast, the changing positions of Lyndsay Graham are very inauthentic. 

5. Kamala has extraordinary coaching and she is teachable. In particular, every speech she improves various aspects of public speaking . . . One thing I was impressed with was how she evolved her interaction with Palestine protestors. One rally, she came across as dismissive to many. Then the next day's rally she had a very different response that was much more inclusive. A space that allowed for a different voice to be heard and acknowledging value in that. . . I was impressed by how seamlessly Kamala was able adapt - which ties into my points above - she has some flexibility and adaptability. 

6. In terms of Spiral Dynamics, I would put Kamala's range to be Orange to entry Yellow. Her expressions of Orange and Green are obvious. Yellow is harder to get a feel for since Yellow spaces are disadvantageous from a strategy perspective. The vast majority of Americans range from Blue to Green. . . Yellow mindspaces is not good for effective messaging - it is waaay too nuanced. . . Yellow would be better for "behind-the-scenes" type of things. . . Yet I've seen Kamala reveal glimpses of Yellow and I could see her being "pulled up" to those conscious spaces by those around her. For example, she has spoken about her love of Venn Diagrams, which is "bread-and-butter" to a Yellow mindstate. . . Even if her mindspace doesn't default to integration / system thinkers, I can see her being open, curious and engaged with a roomful of minds centered at integration / systems. 

Edited August 18 by Forestluv

[Leo Gura]

39 minutes ago, Forestluv said:

Yellow

Don't get ahead of your skiis.

[Forestluv]

13 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Don't get ahead of your skiis.

Yea. . . I downgraded her upper range half a level to "entry Yellow".

[DocWatts]

16 hours ago, Forestluv said:

Yea. . . I downgraded her upper range half a level to "entry Yellow".

A yellow outlook is great, but that alone isn't sufficient.

Obama arguably had some Yellow tendencies, but that didn't necessarily translate into an effective political platform.

In practice, he squandered a lot of his political capital trying to compromise with Republicans who were acting in bad faith, and missed an opportunity to be a transformative president. And he didn't leave office with a sustained democratic coalition that could defeat Trump in 2016. 

Competent Green-Orange politicians of integrity who are able to articulate a vision for the country that can inspire people, and who are willing to fight for it, are what's needed right now.

 

 

Edited August 19 by DocWatts

[El Zapato]

On 8/12/2024 at 9:42 AM, Bobby_2021 said:

Yes it counts. #MongolsGoBack #ResistMongoliOccupation

Mongolians were mixed with Turks and other neolithic types.  The original bad gene comes from the Caucasus region. Post the last ice age, the gene escaped into Eurasia after being held at bay by climate.  

[El Zapato]

On 7/22/2024 at 6:43 AM, OBEler said:

Is she writing that to children?

Sorry for America but I feel better a senile man than this.

mental and psychological children.  Yes, that is the definitive vibe I get

[Buck Edwards]

The DNC went incredibly well. Lot of energy. 

[Ero]

1 hour ago, Buck Edwards said:

The DNC went incredibly well. Lot of energy. 

Watched the Obamas, it really was a thrill. Feeling more and more hopeful.

[Hatfort]

The DNC was very successful, the party is united behind Kamala. Republicans call it a soft cue, the truth is that they preferred a match against old Biden, who wouldn't. Biden left, it was quite late for a primary and those kinds of disputes. Kamala was already second in command, so what happened makes sense. Would she have won a primary if Biden had stepped down earlier? Maybe not. But the Democrat Party gains nothing contemplating those ifs. Things happened as they did, Biden's age-related issues caught up, and something had to be done, and has been done. She has some flaws, but she also has her own professional career behind her, has been VP, and nailed choosing her VP too. Will she lead well and focus on America and Americans more instead of NATO wars, like Biden? That would be good. She first has to win against Trump and then show her colors.

[Buck Edwards]

29 minutes ago, Hatfort said:

The DNC was very successful, the party is united behind Kamala. Republicans call it a soft cue, the truth is that they preferred a match against old Biden, who wouldn't. Biden left, it was quite late for a primary and those kinds of disputes. Kamala was already second in command, so what happened makes sense. Would she have won a primary if Biden had stepped down earlier? Maybe not. But the Democrat Party gains nothing contemplating those ifs. Things happened as they did, Biden's age-related issues caught up, and something had to be done, and has been done. She has some flaws, but she also has her own professional career behind her, has been VP, and nailed choosing her VP too. Will she lead well and focus on America and Americans more instead of NATO wars, like Biden? That would be good. She first has to win against Trump and then show her colors.

The only worry is the size of her campaigns. It's kinda small. I don't know whether that matters. 

[Joshe]

Betting markets have turned with the news of likely RFK Trump endorsement. 

[Consept]

A lot of Republicans turning on Trump with speeches at the DNC. Messaging is really good with the 'Country First' messaging 

 

[Bobby_2021]

17 hours ago, Joshe said:

Betting markets have turned with the news of likely RFK Trump endorsement. 

Leo predicted exactly this lmao

[Hardkill]

On 8/10/2024 at 0:43 AM, Leo Gura said:

It's possible RFK makes a deal with Trump. Trump will soon be cornered like a rat and he will stoop to any level.

Good call, Leo! 

I and a number of other commentators out there also lately had a feeling that RFK jr. was going to end his campaign this way. 

I am very relieved about this. Contrary to what many pundits and pollsters have been saying out there, with RFK jr. now having dropped out of the race, this will help Harris win the election because there are no longer any third party candidates who will pose as a serious threat to spoiling the election in any way. 

Democrats should perhaps now keep an eye on Jill Stein and Cornel West, but their polling numbers have dropped so much that they've only polling at about half of a percent to approx. 1 percent of the total votes at the most, respectively. So, there's no way that either Stein or West could cause the no third party key to turn against Harris and the Democrats as long as their poll numbers stay down that low if not drop even lower (which is probable).

Edited August 23 by Hardkill

[Leo Gura]

This is bad. RFK voters are gonna add to Trump.

RFK is dispicable.

Edited August 23 by Leo Gura

[Jodistrict]

Robert Kennedy's speech was incredible. He exposed the corruption in the democratic party. He exposed the neocons and their forever wars. He exposed the food industries systematic poisoning of the food supply to create chronic diseases in children so that the pharma industry can have a permanent income stream. Kennedy talks to people like adults and brings up the most important issues. The democratic party talks to people like children focusing on diversionary crap that doesn't matter to anyone.

He said that he is keeping his name on the ballots in the non contestant states so I should be able to still vote for him.   There is still a very small chance he could be president if neither Trump or Harris can get the required electoral votes.  

Here is the full speech which CNN didn't show.

 

 

 

Edited August 23 by Jodistrict

[Princess Arabia]

3 minutes ago, Jodistrict said:

He exposed the food industries systematic poisoning of the food supply to create chronic diseases in children so that the pharma industry can have a permanent income stream.

My kinda guy. Been calling that shit poison for eons. Not just children, though. Everyone is susceptible. People will defend these Industries and companies as if they will not knowingly approve poison to the public. Slowly killing us all. Now someone will want scientific evidence of this and call you out for conspiracy theories.....meanwhile that child suffering from adhd is chowing down on some yellow#5 in that cheerios box. Ok, enough of that.

[Raze]

Democrats have only themselves to blame. RFK was taking more votes from Trump, yet they still reacted by suing and smearing him to force him out of the race. 

If they are so concerned about spoilers they could have just implemented ranked choice voting, a popular proposal which removes any ability for spoilers in elections. 
 

This will probably give Trump a 2 to 3 point boost. 

Edited August 23 by Raze

[Hardkill]

31 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

This is bad. RFK voters are gonna add to Trump.

RFK is dispicable.

3 minutes ago, Raze said:

Democrats have only themselves to blame. RFK was taking more votes from Trump, yet they still reacted by suing and smearing him to force him out of the race. 

If they are so concerned about spoilers they could have just implemented ranked choice voting, a popular proposal which removes any ability for spoilers in elections. 
 

This will probably give Trump a 2 to 3 point boost. 

I sincerely doubt it. Again, nobody knows for certain whom he has been taking more votes from. The sample sizes in all of those polls that include dRFK jr.  were way too small to parse out for certain how many of his supporters were left-leaning and how many of his supporters were right-leaning and how many of his supporters were moderates. RFK jr. has been completely all over the place in terms of what he stood for. 

If anything, many of his voters and supporters are more than likely going to feel so betrayed by this along with the fact that they've always hated both parties that they'll decide to just stay home and not vote at all at the top of the ticket.

Even Cenk, FWIW, really doesn't think this will really help Trump:

 

Otherwise, yes RFK jr. has become a very despicable and mentally ill person.

Edited August 23 by Hardkill

[DocWatts]

@Princess Arabia

@Jodistrict

More detail than you would ever want on exactly what kind of person RFK Jr is, from the excellent Behind the Bastards podcast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 23 by DocWatts