Tabs of Christmas Eve
- This is a really interesting read from WaPo: In rural Georgia, an unlikely rebel against Trumpism. It dovetails with a post of mine from earlier in the year: Trumpism: A Photo Essay.
- A real shocker via the NYT: In Testimony, Hannity and Other Fox Employees Said They Doubted Trump’s Fraud Claims.
- Yes, it is early and this is one poll, but thus far Sinema’s gamble isn’t exactly working out: NEW POLL: Ruben Gallego Would be Strongest Candidate for 2024 Arizona Senate Race.
Today, Public Policy Polling released a survey of Arizonans, showing that headed into the 2024 election, Senator Sinema is broadly unpopular and trails Rep. Ruben Gallego significantly in a three-way race. The poll shows Gallego at 40% and Republican Kari Lake at 41%, with Sinema in a distant third at 13%.
- Via ProPublica: Porn, Piracy, Fraud: What Lurks Inside Google’s Black Box Ad Empire.
- Via WaPo we find that contrary to some mythologies, being rich doesn’t mean you are smart or that you know smart ways to spend your fortune. Publix heiress was willing to spend $3 million on Jan. 6 rally, documents show.
Fancelli’s fortune comes from the Publix supermarket chain, which has sought to distance itself from her support for the pro-Trump rally. Based in her hometown of Lakeland, Publix touts its reputation for customer service with a decades-old “where shopping is a pleasure” slogan. Last year, in response to inquiries from The Post, the company said it “cannot control the actions of individual stockholders” and issued an unusual rebuke of a member of the founder’s family.
“We are deeply troubled by Ms. Fancelli’s involvement in the events that led to the tragic attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6,” the company said in a statement at the time.
I believe Kirsten Sinema is toast. Her move to being an independent won’t work in AZ. She’s pissed of Dems, and she’s a former Bernie Bro, so doubt the MAGA’s will vote for her.
Who’s her constituency as an independent? Geuniely asking.
So the Sinema situation is what everybody speculated when she declared herself an Independent. She’d lose a D primary to Gallego and Gallego would likely win the general. But by forcing a three way race she still loses but the R wins. So she’s maneuvering hoping the Ds won’t primary her. The interesting thing is the linked release of the poll is from Gallego’s campaign. I guess making a case Sinema would lose the general anyway, so her supporters should get behind Gallego.
All 19 of them. By the time 2024 rolls around, I have a feeling Sinema will have few supporters left.
Again, who is her constituency in AZ as an independent. Right now, I’d wager she’d take more GOP votes disgusted with MAGA than Dem votes disgusted by Biden.
@EddieInCA:
Sinema also seems to have pissed off all her colleagues in the Senate, which means no lobbyist jobs when she loses.
Sinemas panicked and clearly not well thought out decision to become an independent is quickly coming back to bite her in the rear. I kind-of understand why she panicked, it is not just that her vote is no longer the most important one to be cast diminishing her status as a deciding voice over what bills get voted on, but that she could easily picture Arizona voters thinking to themselves that since she is no longer pivotal to ensuring that Democrats maintain some semblance of power in D.C., that they might decide in the next election to vote for someone whose name does not start with an S, and end with an A.
She would have probably been better off just staying put as a Democratic member of Congress, but she decided to go down this path and just has to work as hard she can at preventing herself from stumbling too badly.
@gVOR08: As I understand the rules in Arizona, a registered Democrat who fills out the paperwork and collects something less than 8,000 signatures makes the primary ballot. Then the primary winner makes the general election ballot. If that’s correct, someone will do it. Heck, since the petition signers don’t have to be Democrats, just registered voters, the Republicans will do it.
Given that a (D) will be on the ballot for the general, it’s very much in the party’s interest to make sure it’s the strongest (D) candidate they have.
@inhumans99: She’d have been better off to remain a Democrat, competently represent the interests of her state, see that constituent service was well handled, and showed up for town halls and many other local events. But apparently that was out of the question for her.
It seems to me that Hannity et al really have no other defense than, “It was entertainment. No reasonable person could possibly believe those jokers. We certainly didn’t.”
@Michael Cain:
I believe even if the D did not field any candidate, Sinema as an I would still lose by a big margin, a blowout. So it makes no sense for the D to do anything other than run the strongest possible candidate (Gallego, obviously). Sinema’s implicit extortion is pointless.