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The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election

DeSantis to Walz: 'Why Did You Set Up a Snitch Hotline,' Mr. MYODB? Mr. 'Choice'?

Wednesday night’s episode of MSNBC’s The ReidOut was a particularly “joyful” one. Seriously. Host Joy Reid’s obsession with how “fun” the Harris/Walz Democratic ticket is in comparison to the “frightening” Republican ticket of Trump/Vance was reflected in how many times she mentioned the word “joy” (i.e. far too many). Reid opened with a bizarre commentary on the “enthusiasm” that had apparently returned to American politics due to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign and recent running mate pick Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D). Perhaps she was talking about the frenzied welcome he received from the regime media or, just maybe, she was alluding to the excitement coming from TikTok “influencers” who were paid $3,000 to $10,000 (and upwards) to post scripted videos in support of Democrats: And we begin tonight with joy. No, not–not me, Joy, but the feeling joy. The joy felt by Americans backing the Harris/Walz ticket. A joy that is palpable and pervasive, as illustrated by the massive crowds greeting VP Harris and Governor Walz at their rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan, today. It feels like we're experiencing another 2008 Obama moment, the energy, the excitement, the enthusiasm. It feels fun. Imagine that. American politics. Joyful again.     “It's the tale of two tickets. One radiates joy. The other is dour and, frankly, frightening,” Reid continued and listed the different ways “Republicans are freaking out about it,” including attacking what she called “an infectious, energizing belly laugh, the literal display of joy.”  It seemed as if Reid was scrambling to prove to her viewers just how relatable the Democratic ticket is, reassuring them that Harris “is a foodie…and she is amazing with kids,” just like Walz, whose “former students love him. He was a popular and successful high school football coach. He made ‘weird’ happen. And he's a Midwesterner with big dad energy, who will offer tips on how to fix your car and save money to boot.” Reid further explored “the beer question in U.S. politics, a thought experiment…which says that voters will generally elect the candidate they would rather have a beer with,” suggesting that victory would go to the more “likable” ticket: Who would you rather have a beer with? Kamala Harris, who dares to laugh, and Tim Walz, the plain-spoken fun uncle who will defend the people he loves? Or, (laughs) Donald Trump, who rambles about sharks and hatred, who makes fun of people, and who smirks, but who rarely laughs, and who doesn't seem capable of talking to a child, even his own grandkids. And his cat-lady hating sidekick J.D. Vance. This guy is really weird, ya’ll. So weird that the couch meme won't die. Reid made a ridiculous observation about the contrast between the tickets, pointing out that the Republican nominees were “loved by billionaires” while the Democratic candidates “actually feel like regular, normal middle-class folks.”  “Yes, they are living extraordinary political lives, but due to hard work, not connections or riches,” she added, which was ironic since numerous sources, like The Federalist’s Mark Hemingway, would suggest otherwise, indicating that Harris’s affair with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown was directly responsible for her political successes.  Reid ended her rant with a final warning about what she firmly believed Republicans brought to the table: “a hateful vision that all people should fear, reflected perfectly by the two men who want to execute it.” The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: MSNBC’s The ReidOut 8/7/2024 07:01:27 PM EST JOY REID: And we begin tonight with joy. No, not–not me, Joy, but the feeling joy. The joy felt by Americans backing the Harris/Walz ticket. A joy that is palpable and pervasive, as illustrated by the massive crowds greeting VP Harris and Governor Walz at their rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan, today. It feels like we're experiencing another 2008 Obama moment, the energy, the excitement, the enthusiasm. It feels fun. Imagine that. American politics. Joyful again. [Cuts to video] VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: In this fight, as Tim Walz likes to point out, we are joyful warriors. (Cheers and applause). Joyful warriors. Because we know that while fighting for a brighter future may be hard work, hard work is good work. Hard work is good work. [Cuts back to live] REID: It's the tale of two tickets. One radiates joy. The other is dour and, frankly, frightening. And this is how you know the Republicans are freaking out about it. Vice President Kamala Harris is criticized for her race, gender, and parental status but, also, for laughing. As if an infectious, energizing belly laugh, the literal display of joy, is a bad thing?  She loves to laugh with her sister, especially. She is a foodie, trust me. She and I have talked about food, and it is a passion. “Cooking With Kamala” is a thing on the internet. She will show you everything from her go-to roast chicken to a potato curry with dosa. And she is amazing with kids.  Walz, too. A joyful guy. His former students love him. He was a popular and successful high school football coach. He made “weird” happen. And he's a Midwesterner with big dad energy, who will offer tips on how to fix your car and save money to boot. [Cuts to video] GOVERNOR TIM WALZ (D-MN): This, right here, is the headlight harness on a 2014 Ford Edge. Ford, this is unacceptable. It burned out hot on the connecter. So for $7.99 at NAPA Auto Parts, here in the city, you can replace this. Just clip off the back, use some shrink wrap connectors on there, tape it back together, and put it back in. It's about a five-minute fix, and you're back on the road safe and sound. [Cuts back to live] REID: (Laughs). Okay. That was a very real throwback video, by the way, just 11 days before Walz won the 2018 election for Minnesota governor. Some of you may be familiar with the beer question in U.S. politics? A thought experiment to often utilize by the media or in polling which says that voters will generally elect the candidate they would rather have a beer with. Because victory in American politics often goes not to the candidate who better articulates their platform, but rather who is more likable.  You be the judge. Who would you rather have a beer with? Kamala Harris, who dares to laugh, and Tim Walz, the plain-spoken fun uncle who will defend the people he loves? Or, (laughs) Donald Trump, who rambles about sharks and hatred, who makes fun of people, and who smirks, but who rarely laughs, and who doesn't seem capable of talking to a child, even his own grandkids.  And his cat-lady hating sidekick J.D. Vance. This guy is really weird, ya’ll. So weird that the couch meme won't die. Now he's basically stalking the Democratic ticket, stunning reporters, today, by attempting to confront VP Harris and Governor Walz on the tarmac when their planes arrived in Wisconsin at similar times.  Here he is on the tarmac after walking the long stretch toward the vice president's plane, telling reporters, quote, “I just wanted to check out my future plane.” What? Like, walking up to the vice president and air force two is not a thing, dude. That is not a thing that normal people do. Thankfully, he did not interact with the vice president herself, and we have Secret Service to thank for that, I'm sure.  Vance's weirdness aside, this race is also a reversal of how the parties are normally framed. The Republicans love to attack Democratic elites. But Harris and Walz actually feel like regular, normal middle-class folks. Yes, they are living extraordinary political lives, but due to hard work, not connections or riches. Harris went to Howard University, an HBCU, and the University of California Hastings College of Law. And Walz attended an open admissions teacher's college in northwest Nebraska.  Quite the opposite of what we're seeing on the Republican side with Trump/Vance being the Ivy League ticket, loved by the billionaires. It’s quite the elite conundrum for the Republican Party, the so-called populist MAGA movement now bankrolling a celebrity, who inherited his wealth and sits on a golden toilet. And who is not out there campaigning, but is instead golfing at his exclusive, ritzy resort.  And the vice presidential candidate anointed by super-weird tech investor Peter Thiel. It's a ticket backed by billionaire tech bros that wants to unleash Project 2025, the brainchild of rich people, on the American people. As we often say on this show, it is a hateful vision that all people should fear, reflected perfectly by the two men who want to execute it. (...)

On Wednesday morning, CNN News Central host Sara Sidner wrongly tried to correct her Republican guest, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, when the Minnesota congressman informed viewers that crime in the state has surged since Democratic Governor Tim Walz came into office in 2019.  After Emmer complained about Governor Walz's record on several issues, Sidner recalled that the Democrat was reelected in 2022 as evidence of approval by voters and posed: "But why do you think Minnesotans seem to disagree with you about what he has done in their state? ... We just looked at the election results, though. The election results tell you something, don't they?" The Republican congressman blamed the media going soft on Democrats as he recalled some of Walz's crime policies: Tim Walz has been given a sweetheart -- much like Kamala Harris, Sara, the media -- the mainstream media gives these people a pass -- they don't call out what they actually stand for. They don't point out that under Tim Walz's leadership the Minneapolis Police Department is 40 percent down in manpower. Then, he wanted to move money away from police. This is the reason you see the violent crime at record highs in Minnesota. Both newspapers in the Twin Cities are Democrat-friendly. The local CBS station came rushing to her defense after she urged donations to bail out rioters in the aftermath of George Floyd's death.  Sidner soon wrongly claimed that crime is down to record lows in Minnesota: Congressman Emmer, when you look at the actual statistics, the numbers are actually down for violent crime in Minnesota and across the country. For the past -- it's been better than the past almost 50 years. If you look at the FBI statistics, the Department of Public Safety in Minnesota, across the country, crime's actually down quite a bit. I think it's 13 percent if you look at the new numbers in the first quarter. So why do you keep saying crime is rampant there when the numbers show differently? But the murder rate in Minnesota almost doubled during Governor Walz's first term. In 2018, the year before he took office, the number of murders for that year stood at 104, but, by 2021 had reached 201, surpassing the previous record set in 1995. By 2022, the number was still up substantially, coming in at 182. According to Minneapolis city data, the number of homicides in that city per year surged from 48 in 2019 to 97 in 2021, and was still at 72 in 2023. And the number so far in 2024 does not look much lower than last year. Sidner and Emmer went back and forth: EMMER: I don't know where you're getting your statistics from. SIDNER: From the FBI and the Department of Public Safety. EMMER: Murder, homicides are up dramatically in Minnesota. No, I'm telling you, you can play whatever games you want with the numbers. Assaults are up, car jackings are up, murder is up. And, by the way, we got a vice presidential candidate who the last time he teamed up with Kamala Harris, they allowed Minneapolis to burn down. He didn't call out the National Guard even though he had been asked to by the mayor of Minneapolis. He allowed the city to burn, and then, what did Kamala Harris do? She helped bail these criminals out of jail... Transcript follows: CNN News Central August 7, 2024 7:50 a.m. Eastern SARA SIDNER: But why do you think Minnesotans seem to disagree with you about what he has done in their state? CONGRESSMAN TOM EMMER, HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP: Well, you need to come to Minnesota. (cross talk) SIDNER: We just looked at the election results, though. The election results tell you something, don't they? EMMER: Tim Walz is finally going to be exposed. Tim Walz has been given a sweetheart -- much like Kamala Harris, Sara, the media -- the mainstream media gives these people a pass -- they don't call out what they actually stand for. They don't point out that under Tim Walz's leadership the Minneapolis Police Department is 40 percent down in manpower. Then, he wanted to move money away from police. This is the reason you see the violent crime at record highs in Minnesota. (...) SIDNER: Congressman Emmer, when you look at the actual statistics, the numbers are actually down for violent crime in Minnesota and across the country. For the past -- it's been better than the past almost 50 years. If you look at the FBI statistics, the Department of Public Safety in Minnesota, across the country, crime's actually down quite a bit. I think it's 13 percent if you look at the new numbers in the first quarter. So why do you keep saying crime is rampant there when the numbers show differently? EMMER: It is. Sara, I don't know where you're getting your statistics from. SIDNER: From the FBI and the Department of Public Safety. EMMER: Murder, homicides are up dramatically in Minnesota. No, I'm telling you, you can play whatever games you want with the numbers. Assaults are up, car jackings are up, murder is up. And, by the way, we got a vice presidential candidate who the last time he teamed up with Kamala Harris, they allowed Minneapolis to burn down. He didn't call out the National Guard even though he had been asked to by the mayor of Minneapolis. He allowed the city to burn, and then, what did Kamala Harris do? She helped bail these criminals out of jail...

There are some women who have reported having relatively easy and pain-free pregnancies, but one author, Jackie Mize, takes the idea of “pain-free birth” experience a bit too far. In Mize’s book “Supernatural Childbirth,” she encourages women to believe that with enough faith, they’ll be able to overcome all fear and pain. “Natural childbirth is good, but God has a better way of doing it than the thing that we’re used to,” Mize writes. “When I refer to supernatural childbirth, I’m talking about being able to conceive and to have babies with a pregnancy free from nausea, morning sickness, pain, moodiness, depression, and without fear of any kind.” “Then going through the entire labor without pain and through the delivery without stitches and anesthetic,” Mize added. In her book, Mize offers confessions and prayers for supernatural conception, pregnancy, and childbirth. Allie Beth Stuckey of “Relatable” takes issue with Mize’s claims. “My biggest issues with this supernatural childbirth, pain-free birth movement is actually its theological roots, the 'name it and claim it' foundation of it,” Stuckey says. “And again, just this weight that women are made to carry that if something goes wrong in your birth, if your body does not do exactly what you want it to do, if there’s a complication, it’s because of your lack of faith,” she adds. The idea that “we’re able to activate God to do what we want to do, based on what we say,” is where Stuckey also believes “the damage is done.” But the religious aspect of supernatural childbirth isn't Stuckey’s only issue with the practice. It’s also that the experience of a “pain-free birth” experience is also simply just not a common one. “It is not necessary or normal to have a pain-free birth,” Stuckey says. “I know only a few, maybe a couple people who can say that they actually enjoyed their medicine-free birth.” Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Freedom in the abstract makes for a very stupid god. In many progressive cities across the United States, heroin addicts are free to spend their days shooting up while living in the squalor of the homeless encampments that now line urban streets. But only the most deranged ideologue would see this as a blessing.Anyone who truly understands human nature knows that our impulse is to make ourselves slaves in one manner or another. Left entirely to our own devices, the isolated individual tends to suffer from a thirst for annihilation, indulging in excess or deprivation of some kind that will bring ruin. This tragic understanding of the human condition brought most premodern thinkers to the conclusion that ordered liberty was the ideal but that this state could only be achieved through the cultivation of virtue.Order is a precondition for community; community is a precondition for virtue; and liberty is the rare and delicate fruit of a society that is virtuous.Americans have been taught to repeat endless slogans about rights and freedoms but very little about the necessity of virtue, and this has created a nation hungry for the fruit of a tree that was left to wither long ago.The error from the left is profound but obvious, so we will begin there.The progressive worldview is utopian, denying man’s tragic nature and assuming that all negative outcomes are the function of a faulty system. Men are born free, after all, but find themselves chained to traditions, religions, families, and economic systems that oppress them. The individual requires a powerful state that can protect an ever-expanding list of rights that will free everyone to pursue their true and excellent nature.When individuals end up miserable without family or purpose, filling their lives with consumption and distraction, progressives fail to re-examine their beliefs. They blame capitalism, the patriarchy, Christianity, whiteness, or another abstract enemy and demand more power to guarantee additional rights or freedoms.On the right, the error is more subtle but no less serious. Conservatives and libertarians on the right often view liberty as the ultimate goal but share confusion about achieving it. They may debate the state's size and shape, but both believe smaller government bound by constitutional principles is key. However, the mistake lies in assuming virtue results from liberty rather than recognizing that liberty can only be enjoyed by a people who have first cultivated a high degree of virtue.Niccolò Machiavelli is famous for his book “The Prince,” in which he advises prospective monarchs on how to gain and retain power. This leads most readers to believe that the Florentine diplomat was a supporter of autocracy. However, in truth, Machiavelli championed the superior nature of republican government in his less infamous but more profound work “Discourses on Livy.” For Machiavelli, the key factor that made republican government possible was the virtue of the people.Under a monarchy, the people did not need to practice a high degree of self-discipline. The king acted as a father to the nation, settling disputes and making critical decisions that required foresight and discipline. The king provided order, and that order allowed the people to prosper even if they did not have the character to rule themselves. Order is more necessary for human flourishing than freedom, a lesson often forgotten by those who have always lived under the benefit of stable civilization.In a republic, the people have significant input into the state's operation, unlike a monarchy where a king makes decisions. If the citizens lack strength or seriousness, they will demand benefits from the state that they can't secure themselves. An ideal republic features a small government because its people are united by a shared moral vision that fosters virtue. The founding fathers understood this, as John Adams famously stated, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” While any nation can establish a republic, maintaining it requires dedication to both self-governance and self-discipline.Ordered liberty is not the freedom to pursue every base desire but the ability to pursue virtue within a shared understanding of the good. Machiavelli agreed with Aristotle that virtue requires community. The individual does not achieve virtue in isolation but must exercise it by pursuing the good in relation to friends, family, religion, and business. Without order, we cannot have community or understand our role within it. Order is a precondition for community; community is a precondition for virtue; and liberty is the rare and delicate fruit of a society that is virtuous.Machiavelli recognized the necessity of virtue in a republic, but his reputation as a ruthless political realist is well earned. He understood that establishing order often required a leader to commit morally questionable acts. This is why republics, such as ancient Rome, are often born out of monarchies where order has been well established and community allowed virtue to flourish. The United States itself emerged from a monarchy that established order in a new land, enabling its people, who had obtained a level of virtue, to achieve liberty through self-governance.While the American people still possess an undeniable capacity for greatness, it would be difficult to describe the nation’s current state as virtuous. Progressive activists have successfully driven Christianity from the public square, replacing it with a hedonistic and secular faith.This collapse of public and private morality complicates the restoration of a shared identity founded on a liberty that the people are no longer capable of maintaining. Decadent societies often become subject to Caesarism because they lose the ability to maintain order, reverting to the status of children who must once again be governed by a father.I find it unlikely that the United States will collectively return to republican self-governance. Many Americans have abandoned the values and shared identity that once defined the country. Additionally, our ruling elite have deliberately imported populations entirely alien to that tradition. However, if we are to move forward, it will begin with organic communities of faithful and hardworking Americans who continue to cultivate virtue. Small government limited by a constitution is not the means to liberty, but the hard-won prize of a community that has already learned to rule itself through virtue.

What were the results of the victory of government power in the 1930s?