It’s the weekend before Election Day, and pretty much a nightmare scenario for the Trump Regime and MAGA Republicans. Donald Trump is campaigning in deep red pockets of red states, MAGA safe spaces where they should be able to rely on turnout but obviously feel they can’t. The polling and predictions remain absolutely bonkers. The Right’s closing arguments include racist hate speech, platforming an abusive estranged parent, and attempting to generate a moral panic around Obama making a joke about the Cheesecake Factory.
The last one had me cackling. It’s not even an original moral panic; MAGA was just trying to recreate their successful freakout over Cracker Barrel’s rebrand. (Successful might not even be the right word here because, other than generating massive amounts of clickbait and making work miserable for everyone at Cracker Barrel for a few weeks, I’m not sure what it accomplished.)
As a KY native, I have red-state bona fides on the red-state cultural relevance of Cracker Barrel vs. the Cheesecake Factory. Still, Amanda Marcotte says it better than I ever could, writing: “It’s not just that the Cheesecake Factory’s wonton chips and chicken shawarma appeal to a different crowd than the chicken-and-gravy offerings at Cracker Barrel. The distinction is a sign of the way that middle America is moving on in general from the rigidly white, rural and suburban conformity so valorized by the Trump administration.”
President Obama himself addressed the nontroversy at a Georgia campaign rally earlier this week. Giving a five-minute master class on how to respond to bullshit attacks from the Right that was so good I noticed on YouTube that multiple media outlets clipped it in its entirety.
I don’t like making predictions (because I’m terrible at them!), but I’m confident that we have the momentum and I see us racking up some big wins come Tuesday. Beyond the data points I listed above, last week’s elections in Brazil and Serbia bolster my hope for the midterms. I’m inclined to agree with the conventional wisdom that Democrats will do well across the board, and I’m hopeful that we can make big enough gains to both hold Trump accountable and go on offense for a change.
Our work isn’t done yet. In addition to voting en masse, we have to demand that the Trump Regime respects the results of the election. The good news is that we know the playbook, because as the Regime attempts to make Cheesecake-gate happen illustrates, the playbook never changes. Also, you don’t have to be a political professional to organize and take a stand. States at the Core has an excellent primer on how to get going in your own backyard.
Finally, I want to thank every one of you for all the work I know you’ve been doing in these last several months. Whether politics is your job, you’re volunteering for a campaign, or just turning out votes in your family and friends’ groups. CARD readers are some of the most engaged folks out there, and I always look forward to hearing from you about what you’re seeing on the ground. Reply to this email to let me know how it goes!
ICYMI
‘Icepick’ Leak Exposes Thousands of Homeland Security Personnel, Groups and More (Unicorn Riot)
ICE Is Running One of the Largest Anti-Left Surveillance Operations in US History (Wired)
Which Right-Leaning Shows Are on the Rise on YouTube? (Media Matters)
Coda
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That’s all for now. Talk next Sunday again!
I'm already looking toward Nov. 4, or, more important, Jan. 3. I don't get more optimistic than that. Carry on!
I *am* wondering whether the Republican Party will survive, and if so, in what form. If not -- well, something's bound to arise from the ashes, and we're likely to see an interesting (!?!?) political realignment in the US of A.