32 Comments

yeah. a first gen cuban-american acquaintance of mine tried to invoke “we’re the silent majority” when i asked how she could support trump.

let’s hope it’s nonsense this time too.

i can tell you that it freaked me out at the time, which i am sure was her intention.

not all trump lovers are maga dipshits and horrible people. some of them are (on the surface) kind and generous people. it’s the greed for some, rather than bigotry.

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I pray and will work for your analysis to be correct.🇺🇸 Let’s keep the momentum going. We must stay engaged and hold our elected officials accountable. No more @Tricia Cothams! She should be sued by Mecklenburg County citizens.

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🤞

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Unless, apparently, you are part of Walz’ family. Glad I’m not a member of his family…they should be supporting him rather than degrading him and being the typically obnoxious Trump supporters. Sad for him.

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Sep 4·edited Sep 4

I should have posted this Monday: Two other developments to consider September 16 Justice Merchan gives his decision on Trump's request to have the 34 guilty verdicts from the Stormy Daniels hush money case invalidated because of the US Supreme Court decision on Presidential immunity. I predict Justice Merchan does not invalidate the verdicts because Trump was a candidate, not yet elected President. Then on September 18 sentencing is scheduled for these offenses. Is the sentencing postponed or conditioned upon Trump being chosen as President Elect? Going to be an interesting decision. If Trump is indeed sentenced more Trump leaning NC voters could be persuaded to stay home.

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Evan Hurst of Wonkette noticed the same thing on his recent trip through Missouri:

https://evanhurst.substack.com/p/hey-whered-all-the-trump-signs-in

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YES! Came here to say this, and also that Jess Piper, blue activist in rural N.W. MO and parts surrounding, was reporting on what I view as something as a shift in the tide around her county, even before Biden passed the torch to Harris:

https://open.substack.com/pub/jesspiper/p/hunting-dogs-rural-progressives-and?r=ufrg9&utm_medium=ios

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Trump stores are now just like the memory of a bad fish meal.

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I've noted the same in the mountains of NC. Trump signs and flags are still prominent among some mansions, but are otherwise rare. Although maybe Trump isn't distributing them because he's pocketing the money instead.

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From your lips to God’s ears

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My youngest sister lives in Jacksonville, NC. I was asking her about the nut job running for governor. She thought he was just fine. 😱

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They are not silent, or the majority.

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One other thought: How Harris does while "debating Trump" September 10 will be important (obviously) VP debate will not have a great an audience. If Harris is forceful and makes her points effectively, NC may go blue.

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Sep 2·edited Sep 2

I just looked at the NCSBE voter registration statistics for Brunswick County: Current figures Democrats 27,666; Republican 55,544 and Unaffiliated 52,900. There are 114,202 whites and 9,155 blacks plus a smattering of Asian, Indian or Native American and Pacific Islander. Elephant beating donkey by slightly more than 2:1. Brunswick has become a favorite location for well to do retirees building homes near the ocean. Doesn't appear to be fertile ground for Harris/Walz. MAGA is counting on counties like Brunswick or Chowan (mentioned by a reader below) to overcome our urban areas. Let's go New Hanover County: we need your help! Thomas I agree, that voters are tired of Trump's publicity stunts but, as the oft quote saying goes, "it's the economy, stupid".

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founding

I have noted the same on my ride to the beach on us 70.

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Unfortunately in my little town of Edenton, NC (less than (5,000 people) there are dozens of Trump signs up.

Thomas, we know that a close race can mean Trump wins the electoral college vote even if he loses the popular vote. Can you educate us on how large a gap we need to win the popular vote by to foreclose an electoral college coup or is it just a matter of winning key states? Isn't it possible for a state's electoral college to vote for Trump even if that state's popular vote is overwhelmingly for Harris? There is no hard requirement that the electors follow their state's popular vote, is there? My understanding was that each state's legislature chooses its own electors and those electors can cast their votes as they wish (though subject to sanctions, possibly even criminal). That model allows gerrymandering to give the minority party (according to number of votes, as in the North Carolina General Assembly) to have the power over the majority party by taking power in the legislature through gerrymandering, leaving the population in the cold.

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Walter, I just looked up the NCSBE voter registration statistics for Chowan county. There is hope: 3,565 registered democrats, 3,228 republicans and 3,612 unaffiliated, far better odds than Brunswick County. There are 6835 white voters and 2,837 black voters

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My wife and I visited Edenton in March and can confirm your observations. There's a Chowan County Democratic Party, but it appears they don't do much.

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Now that Labor Day is past, it is time to get the campaigning in high gear. I'm too creaky to do much canvassing, but I have been phonebanking to recruit volunteers to do canvassing here in Mecklenburg County. Democratic voter turnout here will be a key to Flipping NC blue for Kamala Harris and electing our great council of state candidates. Swing Blue Alliance (out of MA) is partnering with the Meck Dems to recruit volunteers and they have a phone bank everty Sunday. I called last night and while I didn't recruit any canvassers to phone bank this coming weekend, I did talk to several people who were anxious to help out another time. This was a great mood uplifter which more than compensates being hung up on a few times.

Here's the link to sign up for the Sunday phonebank:

https://www.mobilize.us/swingbluealliance/event/569199/

And I have also been doing a lot of postcard writing for NC candidates including Nicole Sidman (who's running against the turncoat Tricia Cotham), Mo Green, Rachel Hunt and Josh Stein as well as GOTV postcards to turnout the vote without mentioning candidate names.

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Why are you not mentioning candidates' names?

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Ruth,

The Postcards to Swing States are going to people who vote Democrat IF they vote, so the purpose is to get them to the polls to vote. That is considered a simple GOTV message. Other campaigns have a goal to persuade voters to vote for a specific candidate AND get out the vote.

In addition, some organizations are considered charitable rather than political and they would jeopardize their tax status by mentioning specific candidates. For them all messages must be non-partisan. In many cases they focus on minority voters (aka BIPOC) and younger voters who are under-represented in the electorate. Since the odds favor these groups voting for Dems over the GOP candidates, many Democratic voters favor volunteering with them. And non-partisan campaigns are great if you are civic group working on getting more people to the polls.

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