Dem
51
Ties
1
GOP
48
We are way overdue for another Political Bytes, to catch up on stories that are important enough to mention, but not quite enough to merit their own item:
Cats and Dogs: Whoever is crafting the Republicans' messaging seems to be hyperfocused on pets. In 2024, it was Haitians eating cats and dogs. Now, in Michigan, it's Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed's time overseeing Detroit's animal control operation, which he did from 2015-17 as part of his duties as the city's health director. The RNC has put out ads claiming that El-Sayed oversaw the killing of 4,000 cats and dogs. Actually, technically, the ads say he oversaw the killing of 4,000 kittens and puppies, presumably because baby cats and dogs are cuter:
Right-wing media ate it up. The truth of the matter is that while Detroit, like most major cities, does not have no-kill shelters, during El-Sayed's time on the job, the number of animals who were euthanized decreased.
Our Take: Rhetoric like this is aimed at a pretty different group of voters than "Scary Muslim bad!" From that, we infer that the GOP had decided that "Scary Muslim bad!" won't get it done, and they need more ammo.
Daddy Trump, Part I: El-Sayed, for his part, has been borrowing from the Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) playbook, and has been going hard after Donald Trump, focusing specifically on Trump assistant Natalie Harp. Sitting for an interview with MS NOW's Ken Psaki yesterday, El-Sayed said, of his Republican opponent Rep. Mike Rogers:
Every single time that he shows up to any conversation that's at all objective, he's gonna have to answer for Trump's ridiculous policies, which he can't answer to without pissing off Daddy Trump, so here he is in this absurd bind, and it's better for him to just dodge. So, he's continued to do that. Instead, he takes softball interviews from Fox News, or NewsNation, or Newsmax... whatever that is.Note that we took our shot at Newsmax (above) before we knew about this story.
Our Take: Trump tends to take the bait with these kinds of insults, particularly when they involve Natalie Harp, so it makes sense to goad him and see if he takes the bait.
Daddy Trump, Part II: In case you are wondering what all the "Daddy Trump" stuff is about, The Daily Beast just laid hands on, and published a bunch of letters that Trump assistant Natalie Harp wrote to him back in 2023. It is hard to do justice to them in paraphrase form, so here's a direct quote:
I want things to always be right between us. I also know I've been distracted all week (forgetting to eat throughout the days, and even forgetting to sleep, and only catching a couple hours at a time). I haven't been myself, dwelling on the Past, and the pain of losing my Dad, and I started letting the remarks of people who haven't bothered me before, get to me--not because I care what others think, but because I see myself being lowered in your eyes and good opinion. That is the fear you see, because I never want to bring you anything but joy. I'm sorry I lost my focus. You are all that matters to me. I don't want to ever let you down.Some people think that Harp has made Trump into a surrogate father. Others think this is sexual, with Harp in a submissive role. Either way, "Daddy Trump" kind of captures the gist of it.
Our Take: This is the kind of
cultistperson Trump surrounds himself with these days. Perhaps it is no surprise that he is often so far divorced from reality.
Sticky Fingers, Part I: An incident from the past of Texas AG and would-be U.S. Senator Ken Paxton (R) has come roaring back to life. About a decade ago, he was caught on camera taking someone else's $1,000 pen out of the bin at the metal detector in a Texas courthouse. The owner of the pen (who did get it back) did not press charges back then, but he did record an ad for state Rep. and would-be U.S. Senator James Talarico (D):
The ad has been all over social media this week.
Our Take: You never know what will hit, but it would seem this long-ago incident encapsulates the general feeling that Paxton is a shady character. Oh, and Talarico's campaign is selling pens imprinted with "Not Ken Paxton's Pen." They're only $6, though, and not $1,000.
Sticky Fingers, Part II: It would seem that Ken Paxton isn't the only Republican who has trouble remembering what belongs to him and what does not. Florida Rep. Randy Fine was doing some campaigning over the weekend, and was caught on camera rifling through the mail in a constituent's mailbox. Fine's staff confirmed it was him, though the Representative himself refused to confirm or deny if the footage was real, and implied that it could be AI-generated. Pro tip: It's not AI-generated.
Our Take: Fine's district, FL-06, is R+14, so he will probably keep his job. That said, if he does get booted, this will be the incident that did it. Oh, also, messing around with someone else's mail is a federal crime.
Amateur Hour, Part I: The election to choose a successor nominee for former senator Lindsey Graham (R) is next weekend, and a debate was held this week. During the debate, Darline Graham (R, and sister of Lindsey) was asked if she sees the South China Sea and Taiwan as top national security priorities for the United States. She replied: "I'm just going to be honest here, I'm not that informed on national security... national security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military."
Our Take: This is the problem with amateur candidates for political office; they tend to be... amateurish. You don't exactly have to be Henry Kissinger to have at least some awareness of the situation with Taiwan. And while Graham's answer was honest, it did serve to remind everyone that she's woefully underprepared for this job and that she's not the foreign policy wonk that her brother was. Not good "lessons" the week before an election.
Amateur Hour, Part II: You would think that Minnesota U.S. Senate candidate Michelle Tafoya (R) would be pretty good on camera, because that was her job for 30 years. Not so much, as it turns out, at least when the talk turns to politics. She's already had several pretty bad missteps since winning her primary; the worst was probably a somewhat rambling interview with right-wing talker Hugh Hewitt, where she talked about everyone to whom she owed a thanks for her victory. She started with several PACs and Washington insiders, which is probably not the best choice for the very top of the list. And when she was done, she meant to conclude by saying something like, "And finally, if I win, I will owe a debt of gratitude to the Minnesotans who sent me to Washington." What she actually said was, "The last people I'm going to answer to are the Minnesotans who sent me there." Oops.
Our Take: Tafoya is down around 5 points in the polls. She cannot afford to keep piling up unforced errors.
The Dark Side: Flock makes cheap Internet cameras that can be used for surveillance. They have been embraced by some entities, such as the city of San Diego, which has installed over 500 of them. Many citizens are not happy at the police-state overtones, and so the subject came up at the latest meeting of the San Diego City Council. As it turns out, the cameras have a very forceful defender. Darth Vader, in his usual regalia, was present, and he advised, "This is what the Emperor needs. This technology will help us find the rebel scum and the hidden base on Hoth."
Our Take: Eye roll. Vader's sad devotion to his ancient religion has not helped him conjure up the stolen data tapes, and it's not going to help him find the base on Hoth, Flock cameras or no.
We still have a backlog, so expect more of this next week. (Z)