Attribution: by Nick Anderson
Nick Anderson is an independent-minded liberal who covers politics and contemporary cultural issues in a way that connects with readers. His loose, idiosyncratic style carries with it an unconventional message with appeal.In 2005, Anderson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. The judges complimented his “unusual graphic style that produced extraordinarily thoughtful and powerful messages.”
from Politico: Pete Buttigieg: Everyone’s ‘watching the state of Michigan right now’
One of the biggest tests of whether the Democratic Party can rebuild their fractured coalition is Michigan’s marquee Senate race.
Michigan Democrats’ scramble to unify after a brutal primary continued Friday with a preplanned rally that brought together the statewide ticket.
It also brought out Pete Buttigieg, a former and potentially future presidential candidate, whose presence helped underscore the stakes not just in November, but for 2028.
Holding the Michigan Senate seat is key to Democrats’ hopes of winning back the upper chamber. It is also a major battleground state that has now voted for President Donald Trump in two of the last three presidential elections, even as it sends Democrats like Elissa Slotkin to the Senate. Michigan is now poised to become an early presidential nominating state, giving it outsized influence on the 2028 contest.
Buttigieg laid out, in explicit terms, the broader stakes of a fractured Democratic coalition heading into the general election: “The stakes are high, and people from around the country, people from around the world, are watching the state of Michigan right now to see if we have the capability to put together that coalition to win.”
“We’re going to win because we know what it means to focus on what’s at stake, to lock arms as allies after a spirited primary, to pull together in common cause,” said Buttigieg, who stayed neutral in the state’s Senate primary, at the Michigan Democratic Party’s general election kickoff rally.
Abdul El-Sayed on Tuesday defeated Rep. Haley Stevens after a bruising primary that exposed ideological and demographic divisions within the party. He now faces Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in the general election, and he has to figure out how to pull moderate and establishment Democrats back into the fold to hold the seat.
Republicans, seeing an opening with Black and Jewish voters who broke more for Stevens, are already trying to peel away parts of the Democratic coalition. They view Michigan as one of their best pickup opportunities this cycle.
Buttigieg, who represents the party’s more moderate flank, used his remarks Friday to explicitly appeal to Democrats across the spectrum — and even some Republicans.
“Wherever you sit, in this big tent of ours, and it is a big tent, but whatever corner of that tent you think of as home, there is a set of things, and I mean big, big things, where we agree with each other, we agree with most Michiganders, and Washington and Lansing Republicans disagree with us,” he said. “That’s what’s at stake right now, and it’s not all about left, right, and center, Democrat and Republican.”
Buttigieg’s remarks — and the early unification around El-Sayed in one of the nation’s most important battlegrounds — underscores the delicate balancing act party leaders have to contend with. After a string of progressive victories through the spring, establishment Democrats in particular are trying to rally behind their new nominees without necessarily embracing every part of the politics that carried them across the finish line.
That dance showed up subtly throughout the speeches on Friday night.
Buttigieg at one point framed El-Sayed’s position as wanting “to expand affordable health care and keep more money in your pocket,” whereas Rogers “voted against the Affordable Care Act.” Buttigieg notably did not use the phrase “Medicare for All” to address one of El-Sayed’s signature progressive positions.
El-Sayed, for his part, also made an explicit effort to turn the page.
“In the spirit of unity, in the spirit of the work, in the spirit of coming together, I want to thank both of my colleagues who ran, Haley Stevens and Mallory McMorrow, for an incredible race,” he said. “Their incredible public service in the state of Michigan, and I cannot wait to see what both of them will do next.”
But he signaled that the progressive policy positions that powered his campaign would remain central to his general election stump. He reiterated his support for Medicare for All and railed against “the system of super PACs” and the millions of outside money flooding into politics.
And he sharply criticized Rogers, who, along with his fellow Republicans, have dramatically increased their attacks against El-Sayed since he won the primary, offering an early glimpse of what is likely to be a combative and divisive general election.
“They don’t know who we fight for,” El-Sayed said. “We fight for the families barely able to put their groceries in the cart and check out, we fight for the mom who’s worried about the child care she needs to be able to work a job that barely pays enough, we fight for the folks who are afraid about what happens if they get sick. We fight for each other, and we don’t back down.”
Attribution: DEMOCRAT UNITY by Rick McKee 07/29/16
a little help from our friends in Canada
Canadian Dominion
Sep 15, 2025 #patrioticmusic #obama #clinton
“If You Ain’t Been Called a Dem” is a modern parody of the old American communist song “If You Ain’t Been Called a Red.” ( • “If you ain’t been called a red” – America… ) Where the original celebrated being labeled “Red” for fighting bosses and organizing workers, this version reimagines the spirit for today’s struggles — turning “Red” into “Dem.” It’s a playful but defiant anthem about proudly being called a Democrat while standing up to Trumpism, fascism, racism, and fighting for progressive values.
The phrase “if you ain’t been doing nothing” carries the same edge as the original: if you haven’t been called out, criticized, or labeled for it, then you probably weren’t speaking up, protesting, or taking a stand at all.
Abdul’s first TV ad since the primary is up in Michigan, and guess who’s doing it: Schumer’s Super PAC. Full saturation buy. Go Chuck!
Look who’s scared. Rogers campaign opens the general election with this ad…
Abdul campaign up with a response ad within hours…
Came to post the first El Sayed commercial, but Craig beat me to it. Definite echoes of Clinton “Don’t Stop Believing” campaign.
Aug 7, 2026
Abdul El-Sayed unloads on Mike Rogers with a brutal “Roger!” takedown that sends the crowd into a frenzy.
El-Sayed turns Rogers’ own last name into a punchline while attacking his record on corporations, prescription drug prices, war, and Donald Trump. Then he closes with a message aimed directly at his Michigan opponent: “Go back to Florida where you belong!”
This is exactly the kind of political exchange that gets people talking.
Proof no one is eating the cats.
jamie, not only plays on Bill’s “don’t stop thinking about tomorrow” but also on Ted Lasso’s motto
Jobs crash. Michigan chaos. Smirking Trump.
Just another peaceful day 11am ET at the Digital Diner. ☕️
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Weird. I just got an “access forbidden” message when I last tried to log in.
Jamie, that’s what i was describing above. We are in the midst of an annual security update, but I think it’s about done.
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Talarico opens 4-point lead over Paxton in Texas Senate poll
Texas state Rep. James Talarico (D) has a 4-point lead over state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) in the Lone Star State’s Senate race, according to a new survey.
The Texas Pulse/Texas A&M Bush School poll, released Friday, shows 47 percent of likely Texas voters plan to support Talarico, while 43 percent chose Paxton. In the group’s June survey, the two candidates were tied at 46 percent.
“The movement over the last two months is largely seen by looking at independent voters who now favor Talarico by 23 points,” said Recon MR senior research analyst Lindsey Hendren, who was cited in the latest survey.
Among independents, Talarico leads Paxton 53 percent to 30 percent, the poll found.
The poll offers an encouraging sign for Democrats as they look to make inroads in Texas, where Republicans have dominated statewide elections for decades.
Women favor Talarico over Paxton with 53 percent support to the attorney general’s 40 percent. On the other side, the state’s top prosecutor leads the lawmaker among men with 47 percent to 41 percent, respectively, according to the numbers.
Talarico also holds sizable support from younger voters, with 66 percent of those aged 18 to 34 backing the Democrat compared with 23 percent for the GOP candidate, who was backed by President Trump.
Support for the candidates is also widely based on geography, underscoring the state’s political divide.
“Talarico leads by wide margins in the Austin and Dallas/Ft. Worth regions, while Paxton has a large lead in the rural parts of the state, and the Houston and San Antonio regions are currently very closely divided,” Hendren said.
Talarico also outperformed Paxton on most of the issues tested in the poll. Voters favored the Democrat over the Republican on affordability, keeping Texans safe and managing the state’s water supply.
The only issue Paxton had a slight advantage was securing the southern border with Mexico. Voters also viewed the attorney general as tougher than Talarico, but also more corrupt, according to the analysis.
“The good news for Talarico is that voters think he is honest, authentic, in touch with Texas values, and that he’s not corrupt,” said veteran pollster and Texas A&M visiting professor Clifford Young. “The bad news for him is that voters by a narrow margin don’t think he’s tough.”
“For Paxton, the good news is voters think he’s tough. But the bad news is that a majority or plurality of voters say that Paxton is not honest, authentic, or in touch with Texas values,” Young continued. “And even worse, by a 55-35% margin, voters say Paxton is corrupt.”
The survey was conducted July 27-30 among 619 likely Texas voters, using a combination of landline, cellphone and text-to-web responses. The overall margin of error was 4.7 percentage points.
today’s meme…
i meant to show this in chat today…
Troy Jackson edges Susan Collins 49 to 45 percent, with 6 percent undecided in new Maine Senate poll
Today in the Diner we enjoy watching Ken Paxton’s lame response to a heckler asking why he let’s child predators go free…
Craig, this is one of the songs the White House tried to use. Taylor did the right thing!
Go Taylor. here’s one of their TikToks that got muted:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8nmDjMC/
Today in the Diner…
Abdul El-Sayed & Mike Rogers Ads
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed gets a massive ad boost from Chuck Schumer, while Texas AG Ken Paxton faces hecklers shouting USA.
The Michigan Senate race is officially on fire. Chuck Schumer and the Senate Majority PAC dropped a massive saturation ad buy for Abdul El-Sayed, proving the machine can sometimes work for the good guys. Meanwhile, Mike Rogers is out of the gate with standard attack ads, but Abdul’s straight-to-camera response is already winning the narrative.
Down in Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton tried to redirect a heckler by starting a USA chant that fell completely flat, proving he lacks the crowd control skills he so desperately wants. We also break down James Talarico slamming masked law enforcement in Texas, and look at exactly why Taylor Swift just stopped the White House from using her songs.
Plus, we detour for a restaurant review of Bob Evans in Defiance Ohio, check in on the wacky political landscape featuring Tommy Tuberville in Alabama, and revisit Hillary Clinton laughing at Barack Obama receiving his Nobel Peace Prize. It is a full menu today.
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00:00 Intro
01:50 Chuck Schumer Michigan PAC Ad
03:57 Mike Rogers Attack Ad Strategy
11:15 Ken Paxton Heckled in Texas
16:20 Don Huffines at Zorro Ranch
25:44 Bob Evans in Defiance Ohio
35:20 Operation Metro Search Minneapolis
38:27 Taylor Swift Mutes White House
46:46 Hillary Clinton on Barack Obama
55:50 Josh Hawley Washington Rumors
59:15 Tommy Tuberville Alabama Race
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Put down some pine bark mulch today, under my new Azalea “Encore Autumn Sunburst”.
What is it about spreading mulch? All your problems just disappear. Just like clearing cache.
https://www.salon.com/2026/08/07/the-world-is-finally-calling-trumps-bluff/
Tony Schwartz ghostwriter of Art of the Deal on the real Trump! Shame he didn’t speak up this clearly a decade ago!
looks good, keep it watered well in that heat
i fill a can to use the next day so the chlorine evaporates out
I have a hose at the ready, Anon. Spray it down once or twice a day
My inside gardening going well. Here is the African Violet I propagated with a single leaf from it’s MAMA in the pic. Just re-potted it in the larger vessel. Fingers crossed. AV’s hate to be messed with, can get very cranky. (I also assembled the new plant stands yesterday.)
Michigan Senate Ad War
Welcome to the General Election — just 86 Days To Go!
one good can a day will do ya, better than spraying
maybe half a can on that
too frequent watering encourages shallow
roots which you don’t want
what are the nut-type objects on your african violet soil?
if just decorative, i like it
gardening isn’t supposed to be a fight to keep your plants alive in the summer but let big business spoil the Earth and now Trumpco is going to help scale that up
so enjoy it while you can eh
all my gardening heroes are British so i’m sorry to see how severe the drought is in the UK 💔
the electorate is ready for climate change messaging
even the dumb ones get it now
Those are porous clay pellets, Anon. My grandmother was a master of the Afrucan Violet arts and swore by them for retaining and balancing moisture. She made her own with Kentucky clay and a kiln. I just get them from Amazon.
so do you make an effort to saturate them when you water?
no, just mix them in the soil and put a few on top. they’re supposed to air out the soil, balance the temperature and compensate for overwatering. I have no proof, just following grandmother’s rule.
not a lot of money in investigating folk methods, many are effective without scientific validation
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/07/texas-us-senate-james-talarico-ken-paxton-polls/
Craig – Here’s 24 Talarico polls to wonk out over.
He’s leading in most polls; even a Fox-sponsored poll has him up by 3 points. But, the only poll that counts happens in November.
I’m loving the Good Doctor!
https://time.com/article/2026/08/06/trump-border-wall-immigration/
*Wall update
*Huh
*This is how you USA-USA appropriately.
And if Paxton ever tries USA-USA himself out of getting heckled, just chant ‘you’re a crook, you’re a crook’ or a creep or a joke.
*Mike Rogers is an old, war-hawk ad. Well done!
good video titled “Jake Lang…”
GOP is gonna be terrified of El Sayed if he keeps talking like that
also he’s jacked 😮
I have a Muslim friend who asked me what I thought of El Sayed and I said “ I like him, but that name is going to be a problem”
And he said “yeah I know”
NEW THREAD by our trail friend Jack