featureless wrote: Mon Aug 12, 2024 12:16 pm A bit of substance wouldn't hurt, eh?

highdesert wrote: Mon Aug 12, 2024 12:51 pm

featureless wrote: Mon Aug 12, 2024 12:16 pm A bit of substance wouldn't hurt, eh?

Yes, Democrats should be asking a lot of questions. After all they just had a big political scare when it was revealed that Biden's keepers sheltered the declining president from the media and the American public. "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."

The FBI confirmed Monday afternoon it’s investigating allegations that Iranian cyber agents breached Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in another case of foreign intelligence services targeting U.S. elections, as the Kamala Harris campaign revealed it was the victim of a failed hack attempt. Trump said on Saturday that Iran had hacked his 2024 political operation, confirming speculation that the Republican nominee was the unnamed victim of a June intrusion that the tech giant Microsoft had exposed a day earlier. “We can confirm the FBI is investigating this matter,” the bureau said in a statement.

The Kamala Harris campaign said Monday that it too was the target of a “spear phishing” attack – this one unsuccessful – aimed at breaching its firewall, the Washington Post reported. "Our campaign vigilantly monitors and protects against cyber threats, and we are not aware of any security breaches of our systems," a Harris campaign official told USA TODAY. On Monday, the White House deferred to the FBI on the alleged Trump hack. “This administration strongly condemns any foreign government or entity who attempts to interfere in our electoral process or seeks to undermine confidence in our democratic institution,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. Trump said in a social media post that the hackers had only snagged “publicly available information.” But news of the infiltration was quickly followed by revelations that at least two news organizations had received what appeared to be a document examining Sen. J.D. Vance’s vulnerabilities ahead of his mid-July selection as Trump’s running-mate – material potentially damaging to a GOP ticket in a neck in neck campaign.

“Any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America’s enemies and doing exactly what they want,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement Saturday. In 2016, Trump opponent Hillary Clinton's campaign was beset by damaging revelations after Russian hackers breached the Democratic National Committee's email servers. Trump who had publicly asked Russia to hack Clinton, celebrated that breach and even read portions of the purloined emails aloud at a campaign rally.

During his interview with billionaire Republican donor Elon Musk, presidential candidate Donald Trump said they could "meet next time in Venezuela" if he loses November's election.

A Democratic-aligned political action committee filed a complaint with federal election regulators accusing Donald Trump, his campaign and the social media site X of violating federal election laws during Trump's interview with tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Trump's lengthy interview with Musk on Monday "violated" federal rules banning corporations from making contributions to federal candidates, and barring federal candidates from accepting such contributions, alleged the complaint filed Tuesday by the group End Citizens United.

The group said the interview "amounted to a virtual campaign event for Donald J. Trump financed by X."

"Such a brazen corporate contribution undermines the anti-corruption aims of the Act, and the [Federal Election] Commission should immediately investigate these violations and take appropriate remedial action," the complaint said.

Vice President Kamala Harris, hoping to distance herself from President Biden's unpopularity on the economy, plans a new focus on middle-class worries and woes. Beginning in North Carolina later this week with her first policy speech, and continuing next week with the Democratic convention in Chicago, Harris will tell Americans — most for the first time —who she is and how she'd govern. Harris won't say it this bluntly in public, but her advisers do so privately: She wants to break with Biden on issues on which he's unpopular. First up: rising prices. This is part of a highly choreographed effort to define herself — in some cases, redefine herself — as a different kind of Democrat. On Friday in Raleigh, she'll outline plans to lower costs of health care, housing and food for middle-class consumers, and tell how she'll "take on corporate price-gouging."

Harris doesn't want to be completely defined by the Biden-Harris record, advisers tell us. And she needs some distance: 80% of U.S. adults in Gallup polling say they're dissatisfied with the country's direction. She also wants a clean break from Biden's often-backward-looking lens on democracy and other issues. Harris, a California native who came up through Golden State politics, wants to carve out her own innovation agenda and will brand it with a generic, look-ahead spin: "Win the future." A big part of the Harris plan is to unapologetically change some of her more liberal positions, and claim her White House experience helped change her mind. Yes, when she was running for president in 2019, she was against fracking, for decriminalizing illegal border crossings, and for single-payer health care (Medicare for All). No more. She has backed off all three.

She's also fine plucking popular Trump ideas, notably "no tax on tips" for service and hospitality workers — popular in Nevada, one of the biggest swing states. The knock on Harris by some former staffers is she can overthink things to the point of exhaustion — and confusion. So it's not always clear what core, unbendable beliefs animate her. No doubt, she was a liberal in the Senate and during her failed 2019 presidential campaign. But her new persona and policy shifts suggest a repositioning to the center of the modern Democratic Party. Basically, she's a Biden Democrat — even if she hopes to downplay that in some areas.

featureless wrote: Wed Aug 14, 2024 11:59 am And still no unscripted interviews from Harris...

During Kamala Harris’ thrill ride that has upended the 2024 presidential campaign, journalists for the most part have been on the outside looking in. The vice president hasn’t given an interview and has barely engaged with reporters since becoming the Democratic choice to replace Joe Biden. That’s about to change, now that it has become a campaign issue. But for journalists, the larger lesson is that their role as presidential gatekeepers is probably diminishing forever. Harris travels with reporters on Air Force Two and frequently talks to them, but her campaign staff insists the conversations are off the record. Outside of the plane on Thursday, she approached cameras and notebooks to publicly answer some questions, and one of them was about when she would sit down for an in-depth interview. “I’ve talked to my team,” she said. “I want us to get an interview together by the end of the month.”

She spoke on the same afternoon that her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, gave a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort, in part to draw a contrast with Harris. “She’s not smart enough to do a news conference,” Trump said. His vice presidential candidate, JD Vance, posted a comment on social media to point out that Trump was doing something that Harris hadn’t. Given that modern presidential campaigns are essentially marketing operations, Harris’ stance is not surprising. For the teams behind candidates, “the goal is to control the message as much as possible,” said Kevin Madden, a Republican communications strategist who was senior adviser to Mitt Romney’s campaigns in 2008 and 2012. Interviews and news conferences take that control away. Candidates are at the mercy of questions that journalists raise — even if they try to change the subject.

News outlets decide which answers are newsworthy and will be sliced and diced into soundbites that rocket around social networks, frequently devoid of the context in which they were uttered. In such an environment, the value and perception of the sit-down interview has changed — for journalists and candidates alike. When Trump appeared last month in an interview format before the National Association of Black Journalists, his aides almost certainly didn’t want the main headline to be about their candidate suggesting Harris had misled voters about her race. Between Instagram, Tik-Tok, televised rallies, emails or texts, campaigns have so many other ways of getting their message across to potential voters today. This lessens the need to directly engage with journalists, Madden said.

“Presidential campaigns increasingly are conducted as performances before a sympathetic audience, one that is invited to watch and listen but not to question or respond,” The New York Times wrote in a recent editorial. Harris’ unusual late entry into the race means she bypassed vetting by voters, with journalists often as their surrogates, that takes on a more important role in the early stages of a nomination fight where a more intimate form of retail politics varies from state to state. That makes it all the more important that she be available to speak about her record and plans, the newspaper argued. “Americans deserve the opportunity to ask questions of those who are seeking to lead their government,” the editorial said.

featureless wrote: Wed Aug 14, 2024 1:33 pm Freedom of the press means very little when access to the president (or heir apparent) is denied.

I absolutely understand why one would vote Harris over the shit pile (and I will not fault you for it). However, I fall back to the question of progression of democracy and freedoms. Harris has, so far, proven that she isn't interested in such, similar to her performance in CA. Shielding herself from press, even from declaration of policy, is stiffling to the democratic process. Again, I am reminded of lesser of two evils. I wish I could just toss my hands and not give a fuck that we continue to slide (and many are actively cheerleading) with Harris. But that's what I'm seeing so far.

No universal health care (because it's not good for corporations). No transition away from fracing (I guess climate change doesn't matter?). No police reform (because?). But at least she ain't Trump, whatever it is she stands for beyond vibes.

Eris wrote: Wed Aug 14, 2024 12:10 pm ...even if it's frustrating to people who are undecided.

Ylatkit wrote: Wed Aug 14, 2024 1:49 pm

Eris wrote: Wed Aug 14, 2024 12:10 pm ...even if it's frustrating to people who are undecided.

There are no undecideds here.

CDFingers wrote: Wed Aug 14, 2024 3:09 pm "Your credit's no good here. Either pay up front or take a hike."

[youtu_be]https://youtu.be/CS5KLZV0oXI?si=VxbUHiT2ZeeTFr_s[/youtu_be]

One can stiff contractors or cities for only so long before the word gets out.

CDF