Campaign Tactics

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Attribution: We have nothing to smear! by Dave Whamond, Canada, PoliticalCartoons.com

About 2,500 years ago, Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War. In it, he said, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

[from Strategy vs. Tactics: Differences, Examples, & How to Track Both (clearpointstrategy.com)]

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67 thoughts on “Campaign Tactics”

  1. Former president Donald Trump is struggling to define his new opponents while Vice President Harris and her running mate Governor Tim Walz pull huge crowds of newly electrified Democrats.

  2. from huffpo‘s recap:

    Stephen Colbert fired back at Donald Trump after a report that the former president has in private repeatedly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as a “bitch.”

    “Sir, it’s pronounced karma,” Colbert said. “And yeah, it’s a bitch.”

    Karma – la la la

  4. “That Camilla, she’s a beautiful woman…”  Camilla?  
    Jeezuss!  Sturge picked up on it…why was Trump lisping like that?  
    We know cable rates are the reason not only budgeting families had to cut the cord, but middle class and well-to-do people cut the cord too of protest. Some folks won’t or can’t “do” streams either.  Nightly broadcast news shows?  They are not mandatory like when I was following the Viet Nam war in the 60’s.  My point is people are not yet seemingly aware of the necessity to keep Trump in Florida and later in prison.  That 34 felony burden means nothing, the fact Trump is an adjudicated rapist, nothing?   Charged with espionage years ago , hiding Top Secrets  in bathrooms and hidden closets or behind false walls? Scarborough just called Trump backers “idol worshippers.”
    There is a huge Trump “army” out here.  This Maga party has power. They already are talking of another insurrection and even a civil war.  
    The Harris-Walz honeymoon is nearly over; by Labor Day this gets serious.  We must win and send Trump to history’s big ass dumpster.

  5. Yes, Dex, plenty to worry about ahead but for now we can say Kamala won round one, the battle for first impressions. From today’s Morning Consult tracking poll: “For the third week running since launching her presidential campaign, voters remained more likely to say they heard something positive (47%) than negative (33%)”

  7. obviously short of the purple heart award level for combat injuries, is there any acknowledgement at all for injury suffered due to military service other than just being paid for the repair of such injury?   even something maybe like a nice letter from the gov’t saying so sorry for the life-changing disability we caused you during training or while doing your duty training others? 

    excerpt from a story at Distractify:

    Walz served 21 years in the field artillery unit of the army.

    Per MPR News, in 2013, he filed a claim for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
    The veteran said blasts “would knock us down and after firing I had ringing in my ears.”
    He then suffered worsening hearing loss.
    In 2005, prior to filing his claim, Walz had a procedure called a stapedectomy which repaired damaged bones inside his ear — the surgery helped his hearing, according to the governor.

    BTW, my brother contracted an eventually fatal condition while serving in a non-combat capacity in the marines but had a hard time with the VA for some years before getting proper treatment for it let alone ever being thanked for his service (which was having to do MP duty at naval bases at times — service akin to combat in some cases). 

  10. i believe 👏 👏 
    i believe 👏 👏 
    i believe 👏 👏 
    i believe that we can win! 👩🏽👨🏻‍🦳2024 🇺🇸 

  11. Yep Bink, let’s do exuberance, rational or not.

    With KAM ahead 2.8 pts in 538’s average, she just needs a 2-point bump from next week’s convention to go outside the margin of error and match Biden’s Electoral-winning popular vote lead four years ago. My guess is they’ll get at least a 3-4 pt bump for a bit of cushion before the Evil Empire assault after Labor Day.

  12. Im exuberenced that abortion is on ballot in Ohio.  

    The noise made by the magats covers up the fact that they are actually a pitiable and pathetic minority.

  14. patd: I received 2 such thin paper diploma-like certificates thanking me for serving and later testing positive for Agent Orange exposure which I had to prove caused me harm regarding medical problems, and a Disabled Veteran classification from the VA. I get a compensation now, for the past 9 years, tax free, which segues into the candidates both promising tax-free tips .  Good deal, right? So then, last night, on MSNBC a comment was made by a guest whom I forget the name, saying this is a Trump bamboozle, that Trump’s millionaire/billionaire cadre now will use capital gains reporting as tips!  How outrageous!  And if people vote Trump in, this will happen, just a little re-structuring of their portfolios and their corporate taxing.

  15. More Florida 
     

    RonFilipkowski

     
    Rick Scott’s approval rating in FL is now down to 35%. Only 28% of independents approve of Scott.

  16. Victoria Brownsworth
    Trump is saying he never got the credit for what he did during COVID

    Pam Keith, Esq.
    He’s right
    He never got sufficient credit for facilitating the deaths of more than 600K people through his lies, incompetence, and intentional sabotage of containment and treatment efforts. He’d be facing manslaughter charges if we had a semi-functional DOJ

    V

  17. Yeah, I heard capital gains, bonuses, whatever they can think of will fall into a no-tax-on-tips loophole.   There needs to be a dollar limit, and there needs to be a way they can’t split it up into little pieces to stay below the threshold.  Supportive accounting is somewhat available via credit cards/the tip feature when you swipe.   Does anyone report cash tips?
     
    I thought Adolf had implants.  Does he have dentures and did he take them out for the interview? 

  18. I read on twitter (haha) that he allegedly has a hole in the roof of his mouth for which he allegedly uses some kind of “prosthesis” as a result of years of alleged drug use. Allegedly Adderal and coke etc.

  19. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/raising-the-retirement-age-for-social-security-would-cut-benefits-by-thousands-of-dollars-each-year/

    “Far-right plans, endorsed by Project 2025’s authors, to increase the full retirement age would cut benefits for nearly three-quarters of Americans and threaten low- and moderate-income workers with economic insecurity once they leave the workforce.”

    “The FRA is 67 under current law, but the RSC plan would push it back to 69, leading to drastic benefit cuts for a large majority of Americans. While raising the FRA is overwhelmingly unpopular among the American people, it has enjoyed the support of some of the most extreme far-right groups in Washington, D.C., including the Heritage Foundation, which is spearheading the authoritarian playbook known as Project 2025.”
     
    “…Republican Study Committee (RSC) released its fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, which includes significant cuts to Social Security. The committee’s membership comprises roughly 80 percent of all Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives as well as the entirety of House Republican leadership, indicating that the policies outlined in their budget proposal are major priorities for the House Republican caucus.”

    “This is notable since Project 2025’s 900-page Mandate for Leadership fails to propose any solutions for Social Security and says, on page 710, that its proposals for the program could not be “covered here in depth.” Notably, that line was co-authored by economist Stephen Moore, who has advocated to slash and privatize Social Security, once calling it a “Ponzi scheme” and encouraging students to burn their Social Security cards. Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, has also gone on record to say the Mandate for Leadership manifesto is just the basis of their plan and “there are parts of the plan that we will not share with the left.” 
     
     
     
    That must be some evil, unpopular stuff to have to hide it the dark. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

  21. They have to hide it because they’re on the run.     

    They can run, but they can’t hide.  
    —Dr Hunter Thompson.

  22. Valerie McCray, PhD Clinical Psychologist. Running for US Senate 2024 – Indiana
    First Black Woman on the Ballot for US Senate in Indiana.

  23. https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/13/politics/kentucky-startup-appharvest-jd-vance/index.html

    “As a venture capitalist, JD Vance repeatedly touted his guiding principles for investing in a company: A business should not only turn a profit, it should also help American communities.  That’s why, he said, he invested in AppHarvest, a startup that promised a high-tech future for farming and for the workers of Eastern Kentucky. Over a four-year span, Vance was an early investor, board member and public pitchman for the indoor-agriculture company.”
     
    “Last year, facing hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, AppHarvest declared bankruptcy.”

    “A CNN review of public documents, and interviews with a dozen former workers, shows that AppHarvest not only failed as a business after pursuing rapid growth, but also provided a grim job experience for many of the working-class Kentuckians Vance has vowed to help.”

    “AppHarvest employees said they were forced to work in grueling conditions inside the company’s greenhouse, where temperatures often soared into the triple digits. Complaints filed with the US Department of Labor and a Kentucky regulator between 2020 and 2023 show that workers alleged they were given insufficient water breaks and weren’t provided adequate safety gear.”

    “Despite promising local jobs, the company eventually began contracting migrant workers from Mexico, Guatemala and other countries, numerous former employees told CNN.”

  24. https://firstfocus.org/resource/how-project-2025-would-leave-kids-babies-hungrier-less-healthy/

    “The proposal [Project 2025] outlines aggressive new restrictions, additional work requirements and other constraints on food assistance programs that would significantly increase hunger for millions of children, spike nutrition-related diseases, and eliminate the safety regulations on baby formula.”

     
    “…would end the Community Eligibility Program (CEP), which allows schools or school districts with high rates of poverty to offer meals to all students without having to qualify each student individually. Project 2025 would take this power from schools and school administrators who understand what their communities need. Moreover, CEP is a proven success — schools that participate experience increased attendance rates, improved academic outcomes, and reduced suspension rates. Access to these healthy foods can help ease health disparities experienced by children from low-income families and decrease incidences of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. Nearly 20 million children attend schools that participate in CEP and eliminating the program would put their access to healthy, nutritious food at risk.”

     
    “The blueprint for a Republican administration would end all summer meal assistance for K-12 students.Research shows that 75% of food-insecure householdsworry about how they will put food on the table for their children during the summer.”

    “The authors aim to eliminate regulations that “unnecessarily delay the manufacture and sale” of baby formula, claiming that safety and labeling regulations were partially responsible for the formula shortage in 2021.  Improperly handled infant formula can harm or even kill babies. A Michigan-based formula manufacturer that failed to meet Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, was linked to two infant deaths and multiple hospitalizations in 2022. Recall protocols, which could be at risk under this plan, prevented many other infants from becoming sick. Deregulating the baby formula industry would be yet another assault on low-income families, who are more likely to rely on formula.”
     

    ~Very Christian.~
    No food for you. No safety regulations at work for you. No retirement for you.

  27. I am a worrywart I guess because I was so sure Hillary was going to win easily I didn’t even watch early returns until my wife began screaming NO NO NO ! at  her TV ; I then tuned in to the disaster. The HRC campaign had failed.  And now Harris has to crack that thick glass ceiling and be the first.  It’s time, I progressed through time knowing of Indira Ghandi, Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, Angela Merkel…oh hell, so many!  
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elected_and_appointed_female_heads_of_state_and_government

    Now, it’s time.  It’s a great start.  I am onboard after mourning the exit of Joe.  It seems that just had to be the pathway to defeat the rapist.  
    A woman POTUS.  It’s gonna be a hard road.  
     

  28. On the dementia question, the interview last night, along with that kooky press conference, makes me realize the rally speech is literally all Trump can do. He can’t free form new topics, must stick to his memory hole. That’s a sign of mental decline. 

  30. They say tRUMPsky never laughs, but he laughed yesterday when he was talking to Elon about firing auto workers who dared to speak up.   Elon laughed, too.   It was creepy and weird.

  32. Judge Chutkan should amend his conditions of release, order surrender of his passport. Last night Trump said he’ll flee to Venezuela if he loses the election and invites Elon to visit him. 

  35. Yeah, he laughs. He laughs at people he has caused to suffer.  That gets the belly laugh He giggles when he comes up with a cool new nickname.  

    But I guess it’s Melanoa gets to do then most laughing in that particular family unit. I wonder if she and the kid sit around laughing at all those goofy-ass people they gotta deal with.

  37. Carson asked Mel Brooks what’s the difference between comedy and tragedy and Mel says, “it’s like this…..if you’re walking along in the jungle and suddenly you walk into a pit…,,,,and there’s sharp stakes and a lion’s in there………That’s COMEDY!   But if I  get so much as a PAPER CUT.…”

    Talking about the orange loon and didn’t even know it.

  38. Twittier r than thou.   
    BREAKING: It was just announced that abortion will officially be on the ballot in Missouri this November, thanks to the efforts of organizers in getting signatures certified.

  40. Here in Missouri they got way more signatures than they needed and turned them in early. The only question was if the Sec of State, now candidate for governor was going to pull something to push it off to April. Noticed he waited until after he won the primary to let it happen. Maybe he is hoping that women won’t remember all the road blocks he created to stop the signature collection.
    It was an interesting (not in a good way) primary as each Republican candidate tried to out maga the other. There should be plenty of video for Democrats to run attack ads.
    Jack

  41. Gov. Walz speech today: “These guys are attacking me for my record of service. Let me be clear, I am damn proud of my service to our country. And I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s record of service. To anyone brave enough to put on the uniform of our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words. Thank you for your service and sacrifice”

    https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1823448892547223685?t=as7iZ-379-1rP1ozu7D0Iw&s=19

  42. Data must show it needed a response..

    Gov. Walz speech today: “These guys are attacking me for my record of service. Let me be clear, I am damn proud of my service to our country. And I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s record of service. To anyone brave enough to put on the uniform of our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words. Thank you for your service and sacrifice”

    https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1823448892547223685?t=as7iZ-379-1rP1ozu7D0Iw&s=19

  44. How is it not front-page news that a former-president and current candidate is tweeting the most racist shit possible??

  47. Honest, factual criticism of Old Man Donald has to go bold and mainstream. Lurking around the edges or pretending not to hear or see is not going to cut it.

  48. By the way that racist neighborhoods comparison I posted above is actually a Trump campaign ad that is flooding the zone on X. So Elon is getting some ka-ching out of it. 

  49. I’m waiting to find out what the real photo is.
    My maggers already believe this, it just reinforces their prejudice. They don’t bother with Xitter. It’s Fox all the way.

  51. Trump campaign ad that is flooding the zone on X. So Elon is getting some ka-ching out of it. 

    i can smell the campaign-finance violations from here

  56. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/starbucks-names-chipotles-brian-niccol-ceo-2024-08-13/
    “Starbucks taps Chipotle’s Niccol as CEO in surprise move, shares soar”
     
    ”Niccol replaces Laxman Narasimhan, whose tenure only lasted a year-and-a-half after he was originally brought in as CEO in March 2023 to engineer a “reinvention” of the world’s biggest coffee chain. Since then, the stock has continued to falter, losing nearly one-quarter of its value.”
     
    Hmmm, because some Starbucks were “allowed” to unionize?  And now that a bigger a-hole is in charge, stocks are up?  They don’t get it.  Just destroy it all, you capitalistic putzes. 
     

    Craig -Between Harris, Roe, the Walz effect, and unions, he might lose Ohio and Kentucky, and he might lose Florida if they get wind of cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Well, I guess those retirees are a wealthier lot.

  57. i had to stop eating at Chipotle because it is so consistently bad across multiple locations, like, inedible
     
    i have scheduled my chicken-counting for Nov 6

  58. Former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) suffered a “mild ischemic stroke” but is expected to recover, his office said Tuesday.
    Why it matters: The 85-year-old, who still serves in Congress as a senior member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, is a Capitol Hill giant.
    What they’re saying: “On Sunday night, August 11, Rep. Steny Hoyer experienced a mild ischemic stroke and sought medical treatment,” Hoyer’s spokesperson Margaret Mulkerrin said in a statement.
     

    Mulkerrin said Hoyer “responded well to treatment and has no lingering symptoms,” and “expects to resume his normal schedule next week”
    “Mr. Hoyer’s wife and family extend their deepest thanks to his medical team,” she added.

    https://www.axios.com/2024/08/13/house-leader-steny-hoyer-mild-stroke?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial

  62. It’s harder to cheat if he’s a big loser.    He has a pack of violent idiots who will cause mayhem at his signal.   He has accomplices on SCOTUS who are in the bag for Project 2025.  

    I’ll relax when Harris is sworn in as POTUS and Orange Adolf has flown the coop.  
    The media is falling down on the job.  They aren’t doing much reporting on Project 2025 in a way that gets filtered to those not paying attention, and they are letting tRUMPsky slide on his declining mental state.

  63. -they will legally challenge the results
     
    -they will pressure state election officials to manipulate/not certify results
     
    -they will intimidate poll-goers physically/ destabilize neighborhoods that have polling places

    -they will and probably already are employ/ing racially-targeted misinformation campaigns aimed at confusing and scaring voters 

    -they will misinform voters that photo id is required to vote where it isn’t 
     
    -they’ll vandalize drop-boxes and ballots in traditionally Democrat-leaning precincts

    -they’ll target individual poll volunteers with intimidation campaigns a lá Rudy Guiliani

    i’ll add more as i think of them, i have the same kind of lizard-brain they do, using it for the good guys 🫡

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