Just now, Dave Moss said:

You don’t think giving Israel millions of dollars in aid is significant to American foreign policy?

I think Isreali's a strategic partner as the only democratic country in the region (even though Bibi's trying to make a mockery of it) with remotely western values.  And yeah, their existence is a significant part  of our foreign policy.  Is Palestine a significant part of our foreign policy though?  No, not at all.

12 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

His favorability scores are off the chart, and he massively outperformed Biden in PA. Walz barely outperformed Biden in MN. 

There's no real argument on the data to justify Walz over Shapiro. Shapiro polls much better and is from a crucial swing state. 

You don't see it because you don't want to see it. There's a reason Trump supporters are ecstatic right now.

I’m just trying to picture the average Trump supporter having an actual opinion on the democratic VP pick that isn’t being spoon fed to them by their TV screen and I just can’t do it. They’re ecstatic with whatever they’re told to be ecstatic about. I don’t see why we should care. 

3 minutes ago, Phillyterp85 said:

"excitement from the base" is not what she needs to win.  What she needs to win is to pull away enough independents, center, and center-right voters who have already made up their mind that they aren't voting for Trump, and convince them to vote for her ticket as opposed to simply sitting home or voting 3rd party on election day.  There is no doubt that picking Shapiro would have been better for accomplishing this goal. 

She needs both actually.

Just now, Shepard Wong said:

And now ask yourself how long moderate Jews can and will stay in a party that views them this way.  

Well, so far the donors, many of whom are Jewish, are disappointed but staying the course. They accept that the DNC couldn't be allowed to turn into a 4 day ish show of protests and vandalism. And while they don't like this, they are still more anti-Trump than anything. 

Just now, Phillyterp85 said:

"excitement from the base" is not what she needs to win.  What she needs to win is to pull away enough independents, center, and center-right voters who have already made up their mind that they aren't voting for Trump, and convince them to vote for her ticket as opposed to simply sitting home or voting 3rd party on election day.  There is no doubt that picking Shapiro would have been better for accomplishing this goal. 

I don't see that either! Shapiro strikes me as a Chris Christie type, as in east Coasters grossly overestimate how well he will resonate across the rest of the country. I 100% believe Waltz will resonate better with middle America centrist voters AND he doesn't piss of the hard left.  Shaprio's one and only strength to me was the theoretical 1.5 % boost in PA and I just don't believe in creating a ticket that way.  Leave the sabremetrics for the on the ground campaign running.

I haven’t paid much attention to Walz, but at face value, I like the pick. I’m  sure I’ve never had so much in common with a VP pick. 
 

He will show that not all 60 yr old white men, who own guns, hunt, fish, play sports, served in the military for 25+ years, etc, have to be Ray cist POS. 
 

Just now, vikas83 said:

Well, so far the donors, many of whom are Jewish, are disappointed but staying the course. They accept that the DNC couldn't be allowed to turn into a 4 day ish show of protests and vandalism. And while they don't like this, they are still more anti-Trump than anything. 

For now, I agree.  I don't see this issue impacting this election specifically but I don't see how the genie goes back in the lamp regarding the anti Jewish sentiment that is already large and growing within the party.  And the day will thankfully come when Trump is gone.  If the GOP moves back towards the center when he's gone, the alternative is no longer as toxic as it is now.

2 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Well, so far the donors, many of whom are Jewish, are disappointed but staying the course. They accept that the DNC couldn't be allowed to turn into a 4 day ish show of protests and vandalism. And while they don't like this, they are still more anti-Trump than anything. 

So if Kamala wins, Emhoff would become the first Jewish spouse of a president.  But people are also butt-hurt the VP isn’t Jewish?  Give me a break, dude.

1 minute ago, vikas83 said:

Well, so far the donors, many of whom are Jewish, are disappointed but staying the course. They accept that the DNC couldn't be allowed to turn into a 4 day ish show of protests and vandalism. And while they don't like this, they are still more anti-Trump than anything. 

You've polled the Jewish vote? You are speculating and it is not deductive reasoning, its abductive and likely skewed by the clear pro-Shapiro bias you have. Take a step back, look at the national map and ask (1) as gov. can Shapiro deliver PA, (2) As Sen. can Kelly deliver AZ and (3) How many midwestern states can Walz deliver? Might not be as much of fear-based move as you keep portraying. Could be electoral college strategy. At least consider it. 

Just now, Shepard Wong said:

For now, I agree.  I don't see this issue impacting this election specifically but I don't see how the genie goes back in the lamp regarding the anti Jewish sentiment that is already large and growing within the party.  And the day will thankfully come when Trump is gone.  If the GOP moves back towards the center when he's gone, the alternative is no longer as toxic as it is now.

Don't tease me.  If the GOP is a viable option again for sane people then that's a win no matter who's in charge.

3 minutes ago, Tnt4philly said:

I haven’t paid much attention to Walz, but at face value, I like the pick. I’m  sure I’ve never had so much in common with a VP pick. 
 

He will show that not all 60 yr old white men, who own guns, hunt, fish, play sports, served in the military for 25+ years, etc, have to be Ray cist POS. 
 

All of that!  Shapiro is another coastal lifelong lawyer from the same fellowship as Kamala.  Pennsylvania really loves him, I get it, I just don't see how he complemented Harris.

This is setting up a very interesting dynamic for the Democratic party. If Harris loses PA, and therefore the Presidency, the blame is going to fall squarely on the far left fringe. Bowman already lost, and Bush is in danger in her primary today. If Harris loses PA, looks for people like Tlaib to take the lion's share of the blame. Fair or not, the squad and other far left, anti-Israel Dems just bet on Harris winning PA.

3 minutes ago, Shepard Wong said:

For now, I agree.  I don't see this issue impacting this election specifically but I don't see how the genie goes back in the lamp regarding the anti Jewish sentiment that is already large and growing within the party.  And the day will thankfully come when Trump is gone.  If the GOP moves back towards the center when he's gone, the alternative is no longer as toxic as it is now.

Maybe you should just vote Trump instead of constantly whining about the Dems.

1 minute ago, Next_Up said:

You've polled the Jewish vote? You are speculating and it is not deductive reasoning, its abductive and likely skewed by the clear pro-Shapiro bias you have. Take a step back, look at the national map and ask (1) as gov. can Shapiro deliver PA, (2) As Sen. can Kelly deliver AZ and (3) How many midwestern states can Walz deliver? Might not be as much of fear-based move as you keep portraying. Could be electoral college strategy. At least consider it. 

I'm talking to the people raising money for her campaign who also happen to be Jewish. 

11 minutes ago, VanHammersly said:

She needs both actually.

I don't believe so.  No one in the democratic base is going to sit home on election day and not vote for the democratic nominee in an election in which Donald Trump is the nominee for the republican party.  That's just not happening.  

What there is out there is a group of people who have already decided that no matter what, they aren't pulling the lever for Trump.  But what they haven't decided yet is if they'll pull the lever for Kamala or if they'll just write in someone or vote 3rd party.  

Just now, Dave Moss said:

Maybe you should just vote Trump instead of constantly whining about the Drms.

Jesus.  That seems a little unnecessary.

Just now, Phillyterp85 said:

I don't think believe so.  No one in the democratic base is going to sit home on election day and not vote for the democratic nominee in an election in which Donald Trump is the nominee for the republican party.  That's just not happening. 

And yet, the second Harris took over for Biden, the Dem numbers juiced up considerably.  I think you're underestimating the left's ability to forget/want to be right instead of win.

1 minute ago, Dave Moss said:

Maybe you should just vote Trump instead of constantly whining about the Drms.

Our resident academic, everyone....👏🏻

4 minutes ago, dawkins4prez said:

I don't see that either! Shapiro strikes me as a Chris Christie type, as in east Coasters grossly overestimate how well he will resonate across the rest of the country. I 100% believe Waltz will resonate better with middle America centrist voters AND he doesn't piss of the hard left.  Shaprio's one and only strength to me was the theoretical 1.5 % boost in PA and I just don't believe in creating a ticket that way.  Leave the sabremetrics for the on the ground campaign running.

How is he a Chris Christie type?  Christie's problem was his personality and likeability.  He came across as abrasive and at times as a bully, and people didn't like that.  Shapiro is likeable.  Not seeing a comparison to Christie at all. 

Just now, VanHammersly said:

Jesus.  That seems a little unnecessary.

I don’t think there’s rising anti-Semitism in the Dem party.   Fwiw.  But whatever

Just now, Dave Moss said:

I don’t think there’s rising anti-Semitism in the Dem party.   Fwiw.  But whatever

There is.  And the Dems need to tell them to GTFO out of the party and take their ass to the party of raycism and antisemitism.  When that happens I suppose is debatable but it needs to happen.

8 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

I'm talking to the people raising money for her campaign who also happen to be Jewish. 

So, others whose candidate did not get selected are all happy? That seams like a predictable response from anyone who had a dog in the fight. One of the biggest liabilities for the Dems is that the choice for VP would cause infighting and help the GOP with in-house divisiveness. Your response was predicted by GOP strategists. 

8 minutes ago, VanHammersly said:

And yet, the second Harris took over for Biden, the Dem numbers juiced up considerably.  I think you're underestimating the left's ability to forget/want to be right instead of win.

And you think that's because of the base or because of the sentiment that people not in the base have held which is "we're not voting for Trump, but we're also not voting for 80+year old Biden, just replace him with anyone else". 

The dems finally made a good move in getting Biden off the ticket, but they still made a mistake in waiting too long which has led us to this point which is Kamala basically being the defacto nominee.  Even though had a primary actually happened, she wouldn't have come anywhere close to winning.  So they still have a problem to solve.  

3 minutes ago, VanHammersly said:

There is.  And the Dems need to tell them to GTFO out of the party and take their ass to the party of raycism and antisemitism.  When that happens I suppose is debatable but it needs to happen.

Yeah, not really.  And this is a lazy Kz-type argument

47 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

OK, if he committed to a strong running game, I could like this.

 

We're talking an old school power run guy.

 

I dug up an old game of theirs from 2002 and watched the first offensive possession.  Damn near every play was from the I formation, lots of isos, ripped off like a 20 yard gain on a counter, the one completed pass was a bubble screen. Go to OPP 20, and got stuffed on a run to the right, then incomplete on 2nd and 10 PA from the I and another roll out on a single back. (The QB couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat.)