Tim Walz Loves Balloons

Posted on August 23, 2024August 23, 2024 by Christine Frapech

Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz has developed a reputation as a jolly man, one who appears to love life and family. He is also, we now know, a man who loves balloons.

The final night of the DNC was capped by a speech from Vice President Kamala Harris and a celebratory balloon drop. The former teacher and high school football coach seemed to enjoy the whimsical moment, batting balloons while smiling from ear to ear.

Pure joy is Walz amongst hundreds of falling balloons at the DNC. See for yourself:

Tim Walz enjoying the balloon drop — (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

Walz laughs as balloons fall — (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

Crowd Erupts As Harris Vows A ‘Peaceful Transfer Of Power’ And Other Highlights

Posted on August 23, 2024August 23, 2024 by Emine Yücel

Headlining speaker Vice President Kamala Harris entered the packed arena Thursday night to deafening applause and cheers of “Kamala.” The chants and cheers of jubilance were so loud that Harris was not able to start her speech for several minutes.

On the fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention, the vice president officially accepted her nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate for the 2024 election and delivered her much anticipated remarks — not just to Democratic voters in the room and at home, but to Republicans, Independents and the undecideds.

“I know there are people of various political views watching tonight. And I want you to know: I promise to be a president for all Americans,” Harris said. “You can always trust me to put country above party and self. To hold sacred America’s fundamental principles from the rule of law, to free and fair elections, to the peaceful transfer of power.”

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Thoughts on the Final Night

Posted on August 23, 2024August 23, 2024 by Josh Marshall

First, on the speech … rock solid. I doubt her advisors and press people thought it could have gone much better. At the beginning I thought it might be understated somehow. Not bad at all, but understated, a bit quieter than we expect from these speeches. But as it progressed I realized she was developing an emotional audience, in person and on television. This came through later in the speech when she ranged from intense to boisterous to categorical. It worked with a mixture of intensity and authenticity. There’s no point in my doing more interpreting of the speech. It hit every point and hit every one well. The most telling comments were those from Republican commentators who couldn’t find their way around saying that it was a strong speech before, of course, reassuring listeners that Harris is obviously terrible and they agree with her about nothing.

Some other points are less obvious.

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In a Moment

Posted on August 23, 2024August 23, 2024 by Josh Marshall

Some thoughts on the evening shortly.

Harris Paints Optimistic Vision Of The Future In High-Energy Convention Finale

As the crowded chanted her tagline, “we won’t go back,” VP Kamala Harris painted a bright picture of the future. She offered olive branches to non-Democrats and sought to reclaim patriotism, a mantle Trump’s MAGA movement has monopolized. She talked about her prosecutor-born toughness and sense of justice, her refusal to be coddled by dictators. She traced her “unlikely journey” from humble beginnings to the heights of political power, mirrored in her unusual path to the presidential nomination. She characterized Trump as both small and dangerous, a self-obsessed weirdo with the potential to do immense damage if given a second term.

And with that, the metric ton of balloons fell upon the crowd and the convention has come to a close.

The biggest surprise of the night was the lack of surprise guest, a rumor egged on by at least one senior White House staffer.

Follow our live coverage here:

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Takes Credit For Arkansas Supreme Court Abortion Ballot Question Decision

Posted on August 22, 2024August 22, 2024 by Nicole LaFond

The Arkansas Supreme Court sided with state officials in a ruling on Thursday that will keep an abortion rights question off the ballot in November over what is, essentially, a paperwork issue.

The court upheld state officials’ decision to reject certain signatures that were collected by paid petitioners. The officials had found that the organizers behind the effort to get the amendment on the ballot — which would protect abortion access in the state — submitted the signatures in a way that did not comply with state law.

Per the Associated Press:

Election officials said Arkansans for Limited Government failed to comply with state law primarily because it submitted documentation regarding paid signature gatherers separately and not in a single bundle. The group argued that it should have been given more time to provide any additional documents needed.

“We find that the Secretary correctly refused to count the signatures collected by paid canvassers because the sponsor failed to file the paid canvasser training certification” in the way the law requires, Justice Rhonda Wood wrote for the 4-3 majority.

A dissenting justice wrote that the decision strips Arkansans’ of their rights and effectively changes the state’s initiative law.

Nepo baby-turned-Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders — who is vehemently anti-abortion — celebrated the decision, and even took credit for the ruling in a tweet on Thursday.

Proud I helped build the first conservative Supreme Court majority in the history of Arkansas and today that court upheld the rule of law, and with it, the right to life.
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) August 22, 2024

Abortion is currently banned in Arkansas, with exceptions only if the pregnant person’s life is in danger.

“This effort has generated a wave of fiercely engaged Arkansas women,” Arkansas for Limited Government, the group behind the measure, said in a statement to the AP. “We are outraged. We will not back down. And we will remember this in November.”

The Best Of TPM Today

New from Khaya Himmelman: Georgia Election Board, Beloved By Trump, Keeps Cranking Out Rules That May Sow Chaos

Follow our live coverage of the last night of the convention here: DNC Builds To Finale As Harris Prepares To Take The Stage

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Let’s Discuss Honeymoonism

Posted on August 22, 2024August 22, 2024 by Josh Marshall

We’ve spoken a few times about the ongoing discussion of when Kamala Harris’s “honeymoon” is going to come to an end. We had a lot of press conversation about how it had to end a week after she got into the race. There’s been a growing media hunger for it to end. I was prompted to write this post because of a piece I saw in New York Magazine headlined, “How Long can ‘Brat Summer’ Last? The vibes are good, but at some point, Kamala Harris has to leave her bubble.”

I need to be really clear about what I mean here. On the podcast, Kate and I keep saying that there are going to be reverses in this campaign, to be prepped for them, not to lose heart at the first ugly attack that lands or the first bad poll. I’ve said similar things in various posts. So when I talk about “honeymoonism,” I don’t mean to suggest that I think we’re in a straight-line progression from now until Election Day. Just as we should never lose heart in the bleakest moments, we should always be mindful to invest positive energy in future resilience. But through these discussions of Harris’ “honeymoon” and when it has to end or when she has to come out of the “honeymoon” bubble, we can see an assumption or claim that is a bit different. It’s that somehow what’s happened during the first month of Harris’ campaign isn’t quite real, that it’s a sugar high, if you will, a burst of excitement that can’t last.

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Let’s Not Sweat the Bobby Jr. Thing

Posted on August 22, 2024August 22, 2024 by Josh Marshall

Let me expand a bit on the RFK Jr. discussion from yesterday. It’s now clear that Kennedy will drop out tomorrow and that he will endorse Trump. I mean, clear as anything with two confirmed weirdos can be. But that’s what all the big publications are reporting, so we’ll assume that’s the case. I went through the numbers again and looked closely at what those most immersed in them think. If we look strictly at the numbers, the odds are likely that Trump gains some modest benefit. But it’s very modest. Elliott Morris, new top guy at 538, has become one of my go-tos on these things. He looked at their data which says that Kennedy dropping out of the race loses Harris two-tenths of a percentage point on her current lead. That’s not nothing in a race we all know will be very close. But it’s not far from nothing.

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Listen To This: Convention Wisdom

Posted on August 22, 2024August 22, 2024 by Jackie Wilhelm

A new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast is live! This week, Kate and Josh break down the first two nights of the DNC.

You can listen to the new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast here.

Georgia Election Board, Beloved By Trump, Keeps Cranking Out Rules That May Sow Chaos

Posted on August 22, 2024August 26, 2024 by Khaya Himmelman

Election truthers in Georgia got their latest win this week when the Republican-controlled Georgia State Election Board approved another rule that gives county election officials a new way to potentially delay certification. It’s the second time this month that the Trump-friendly board has passed a rule of this type, a particularly worrying development given how close we are to the upcoming presidential election.

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