Enough Already With The Endless Insistence On Fake Bipartisanship

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An Unprecedented Bipartisan Effort

One of the persistent conceits of the fuzzy, supposedly non-ideological DC establishment – a conceit shared by way too many political editors – is that everyone in public life should work harder at just getting along. And nothing says getting along like ostentatious flourishes of bipartisanship: the back-slapping, fake-sincere, hail-fellow-well-met bonhomie that feels about as authentic as a politician’s smile.

And so it is that in an election year when democracy is on the ballot, when fair and free elections are under threat, and when, we continue to see encomiums to bipartisan gestures and feel-good reach-across-the-aisle vibes as a political and policy end unto itself. Meanwhile, staring us right in the face, is a most unprecedented demonstration of bipartisanship, putting country over party, and linking arms despite deep political differences into order to stave off an existential political threat.

Kamala Harris was joined Monday for three sit-down public conversations with former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) in three different swing states, by any measure a remarkable turn that shows a tectonic shift in American politics. The coalition of anti-Trump allies that spans Cheney to AOC marks a commitment to democratic principles that supersedes smaller partisan differences in the face of the Trump threat.

Kamala Harris: We cannot despair. We cannot despair. The nature of a democracy is such that I think there's a duality. On the one hand, there's an incredible strength when our democracy is intact. An incredible strength in what it does to protect the freedoms and rights of its… pic.twitter.com/kpLsnbWq4v

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 21, 2024

By campaigning with Cheney, Harris wasn’t just touting her bipartisan bona fides but making an active and deliberate effort to coax other disillusioned Republicans, especially GOP women, into her camp for this election. Cheney even went so far as to laud Harris’ positions on abortion and tell anti-abortion Republicans that Trump not only isn’t a reliable ally but has overreached with his anti-abortion policies.

Even as the Republican Party veered hard to the right, became anti-democratic, and descended into cultish devotion to Trump, the centrist-moderate conceit that bipartisanship should carry the day has persisted, a form of denialism that allows people already possessing power of one kind or another to hold themselves above the fray, fancy themselves as bigger than ideology and petty partisanship, and avoid actually taking any sort of policy risk or moral accounting of themselves.

They refuse to see actual bipartisanship even when it’s staring them right in the face.

On The Ground

• WaPo: Trump flips stance on making voting easier after storm batters North Carolina
• NYT: With two weeks until Election Day, more than 17 million people have already cast their ballots.
• WSJ: Republicans Eat Into Democrats’ Early Voting Advantage

By The Numbers

• TPM’s Josh Marshall: Are Right-Wing Pollsters Flooding the Zone?
• WSJ: The Pollsters Blew It in 2020. Will They Be Wrong Again in 2024?
• NYT: Two Theories for Why the Polls Failed in 2020, and What It Means for 2024

2024 Ephemera

• WaPo: A Visual Guide To The 7 Battleground States
• The Guardian: Trump ground game faces new fraud claims as video shows door-knock hack
• Neil Makhija: You’re Being Lied To About Voter Fraud. Here’s the Truth.

Senate In The Balance

• PA-Sen: The Cook Political Report moved the race from “lean Democrat” to “toss-up” as the race between Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) and David McCormick (R) has tightened.
• NE-Sen: With union leader Dan Osborn, an independent, putting a scare into Sen. Deb Fischer (R), the Cook Political Report has shifted the race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican.”
• Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), 91, is laying plans to assume the chair of the Judiciary Committee if Republicans take the Senate majority, amidst rumblings that he’s not up to the task, Punchbowl reports.

Epic Debunker

NYT: The Many Links Between Project 2025 and Trump’s World

What Trump II Could Look Like

• David Dayen: A Second Trump Administration Would Be a Carnival of Corruption and Greed
• WaPo: Donald Trump is gunning to undermine the independence of the Federal reserve.
• CBS News: Trump’s Social Security plan would hasten insolvency, lead to bigger benefits cuts, analysis finds

Election Threats Watch

• AZ: Cochise County Supervisor Peggy Judd pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor  of failing to perform her duty as an election officer for refusing to certify the 2020 election results.
• PA: A Philadelphia man was charged with the threatening to kill an unidentified state political party official who was recruiting poll watchers for the Nov. 5 election.
• Wired: Russian Propaganda Unit Appears to Be Behind Spread of False Tim Walz Sexual Abuse Claims

Straight From The Top!

Former DeSantis administration lawyer says in a sworn affidavit that the anti-abortion-rights pressure campaign to keep Florida TV stations from running pro-Amendment 4 ads originated from the governor’s office.

No, The Civil War Couldn’t Have Been ‘Settled’

Paul Krugman: “Trump’s most disturbing remark over the past few days may have been his unprompted comment about Abraham Lincoln.”

Good Life Advice

Sykes: Lindsey Graham was on TV saying what are you NeverTrump Republicans doing.. There’s a lot of people disillusioned with the Republican Party but they’re afraid of paying the price. What do you say to them?

Cheney: Well, don’t listen to Lindsey Graham. It’s good life advice… pic.twitter.com/noaaVyBfDz

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 22, 2024

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