I draft this from an airport before the sun comes up because I am a nerd and also because why not…so HELLOOO from Muhammad Ali International Airport.
I wanted to just touch on the VP debate last night because what a debate it was(nt). —and before you grammar police the paren period its a joke guys. So cahhm dahn.
Anyway back to that debate. I watched and also joined a live chat discussion hosted on here by
which was the first time i’ve done that. It low-key felt like the OG Twitter (RIP) over there so thanks for that Liz.The pre-debate coverage and live-tweet with Liz —sounds like a show— was very enlightening. Some good, some bad.
The bad-
I often am confused with someone who likes politics. I had this conversation with
not too long ago. I abhor politics and love policy. I appreciate what policy can do for the people. As someone who knows my ability to eat as a child was directly related to polices— SNAP, TANF, etc— I devoted my life to working on policy and things to help improve lives. Politics, on the other hand, are ridiculous and make me sadder than JD Vance at Sephora finding out his favorite eyeliner was discontinued.Politics to many has become a game and is covered as such. The pre-debate coverage was all about what will it look like. There was a lot of focused placed on what will it look like for either side to score points or land a punch. Sorry but to me something of this importance shouldn’t be discussed the same way we’d talk about the Super Bowl or the latest UFC fight.
Policy has been lost in our country and been given the backseat to politics. I had a moment before the debate while working out that caused me to stop and rant on the actual Twitter (not ever making X happen) about some comments on CNN made by a fellow Louisville resident, who has been on THREE boards with me and did one SIX MONTH project with me and still acts like he doesn’t know me when it is convenient, Scott Jennings. Scott was waxing poetic about the hurricane and the optics of President Biden and Vice President Harris not doing a stunt to get attention in the devastated areas. (Btdubbs click here to find where you can donate to disaster relief)
The political theater of the right is maddening. And the left does it too, don’t get me wrong, but at least they pretend to not politic tragedies. Scott would rather peddle in nonsense than highlight the fact that the governors, mayors, city councils, etc, urged the candidates and President to not come until they got things settled down. If you have not been to an event where a high ranking official like a president is there let me tell you, it sucks. There are hundreds of personnel needed. You need to do tons of logistics with local authorities. You have to command a lot of resources. Yet people who enjoy political theater and see it all as a game don’t care about that. They care about projecting leadership instead of doing it. So the locals said don’t come— and Trump did exactly what he always does, showed he is allergic to consent and went anyway. Here is how that went:
Hopefully people there are able to get electricity and running water soon when local workers are done building walls out of lego blocks to make him look ..umm powerful?
But back to the debate— that is what pundits wanted, theater. And that leads me to the other part of this…
The Good (and bad)
The people who wanted theater were not just on the right. They were present in the Live with Liz (workshopping names still) and discussed just how JD just looked more competent and presidential. First of all, it was a VP debate so that you don’t want to do is act like you are running for THE job. The VP debate is to showcase your ability to act as a surrogate, a second, a co-conspirator of sorts but not in the Trump get arrested way. JD is an opportunist who clearly wants to be the main guy. I honestly doubt Trump likes to hear people think his number two looked like a number one last night…but back to the issue at hand.
Many people in the discussion talked about how he just looked confident and smooth…well a polished lie is still a lie and I’d venture to say its even worse. JD speaks as someone unburdened by the constraints of the truth and tethered far from reality. The guy who feigned compassion and agreement with Walz when it might be a poll bump was not the same guy who used his Twitter fingers to call out Trump and attack women. He was putting on a show and some people fell for it.
I know a lot of JDs. I went to law school with a bunch of them. They speak in a way that gives the appearance of competence and mastery of a subject matter they only heard of when you mentioned it to them just then.
At one point in the chat and as the comments over how JD seemed more comfortable and presidential ramped up— I had to point out that JD wasn’t projecting leadership…he was projecting arrogant, tall, white, and male—and that combination is what so many of you have been conditioned to THINK is leadership. Leadership is what Walz exhibited, explaining how on issues around women we should LISTEN TO WOMEN. Real leadership is knowing when you are not the authority and uplifting those who are.
People also had a lot to say about Walz being too nice and cordial. They wanted punches, blood, sport. That wasn’t Tim’s role. The vitriol and hate and petty is THEIR brand not his. While people on the coasts may have wanted to see bickering and battle, the people in the proverbial heartland want to see just what Tim is…a nice dude who can disagree without being disagreeable. The demeanor he portrayed was practiced. It was a debate strategy and coach stuck to the playbook.
Don’t believe me? Ask the polls. While the view of who ‘won’ the debate was mostly on party lines, Walz won overwhelmingly with those independents and Black and Brown voters.
More to the point— Tim Walz favorability went UP 13 percentage points last night. UP 13…for an already well liked dude. Again, Tim did what he needed to do and voters see who he is and they like him.
Tim Walz defended VP Harris and their vision for a better America. JD promoted JD and tried to rehab his image and set him up for the next thing. JD defended a Trump that does not exist. He said Trump saved Obamacare? Wut?
He then said they wanted to improve Obamacare because they have a better, dare I say, concept of a plan, and WOULD protect pre-existing conditions. But that is another smooth lie… the proposed Trump plan has a LONG list of not covered pre-existing conditions.:
Imagine getting denied insurance at 40 because of your acne at 13.
He said Trump peacefully transferred power on January 20th…well that is a smooth way to lie about Jan 6— which happens to fall before January 20th.
There are more things to get into but no one wants to read all of that. A few quick hit of other nonsense:
Apparently the solution to school murders of children is to MAKE THE WINDOWS STRONGER time to hit those gains in the gym and lay off the windex.
JD kept hitting on immigrants and blaming them for everything—housing costs, inflation, crime, opioids/fentanyl, ice cream melting?
Apparently there was a Kamala Harris Presidency we all missed.
JD Vance was big mad about the appearance of fact checking when he kept lying about Springfield.
Abortion is a human rights issue and Vance/Trump don’t think women are humans.
Every woman felt that, “Thanks for explaining the legal process, Senator” in their bones.
JD has still not acknowledged the dog he had for like a day.
I don’t know where this goes, but we saw a more civil looking debate and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The people who needed to see that we can be above the name calling and JD did nothing to move the needle in favor of his boss.
I look forward to there not being anymore of these debates but the online conversation was pretty cool so thanks to
. Hopefully we one day get away from the sport of politics and get into the business of improving lives.