What Republicans Still Can’t Do

Good morning! Trump’s team is going to drop $100 million dollars to define Kamala Harris in swing states. They did this to DeSantis and he was done before he even got in the race. So there’s not a moment to waste. Harris and the Dems have the advantage of catching Trump’s team…

— Sarah Longwell (@SarahLongwell25) July 23, 2024

Well, that and DeSantis had all the public appeal of a beardless JD Vance.

Besides, the Biden-Harris Twitter stream switched to Harris about 20 seconds after Biden’s announcement, and it’s taken 4 days for the GOP and allies to stop talking about Biden (their lamest effort being to attack Harris by screaming “”Biden can’t DO that!” 😱).

There’s already talk of dumping Vance, mostly from people who don’t remember McGovern-Eagleton (what a drag it is growing old).

DeSantis was a hapless campaigner and a big fish in a very small pond who was hopelessly out of water anywhere north (or west) of Florida.

Besides, I’m pretty sure Harris went on offense yesterday. Which is one more reason MAGA is so upset they don’t have Joe Biden to kick around anymore. (You have to be this old to get that reference.)

The Republicans are going to waste their money. And I’m here for it.

Here, let’s go with this example:

Meet Jaleel Stallings.

In June 2020, Stallings was charged with the attempted murder of two police officers during the 2020 riots.@KamalaHarris raised money to bail Stallings out of jail.

Kamala Harris is radically liberal and dangerously incompetent. pic.twitter.com/elVbiILiUk

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) July 23, 2024

Small problem:

Stallings was indeed charged with rioting, attempted murder, and deadly force against police officers four years ago, but a jury found him not guilty on all charges. He later won a $1.5 million lawsuit and one of the officers involved in his violent arrest pleaded guilty to assault last year and was sentenced to 15 days in jail. 

The U.S. Army veteran and concealed carry permit holder claimed he saw an unmarked white van pull up with its lights off and its side door open when he heard a pop and felt a projectile strike him in the chest, and fearing he had been grazed by a bullet fired by the white supremacists prowling the area, Stallings fired three shots at the van but did not hit anymore. 

The 29-year-old Stallings immediately realized he had fired at police, so he dropped his gun and lay face down and motionless — but body camera video shows officers kicking and punching him, even after he was placed in handcuffs, as he tried to explain himself.

The alert reader may remember a man in Austin who fired into a crowd of protesters, and was convicted by a jury for his crimes. Greg Abbott tried to Rittenhouse the convict and pushed for a pardon from the Board of Pardons and Paroles. Then the DA released trial evidence showing the convict was also a child predator. The Board duly issued the pardon, but Abbott quickly shoved it into a desk drawer, finally quietly signing it a few weeks ago.

Definitions are not as easy as they used to be.

Is it too early to call the Kamala Harris campaign a disappointing failure?

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) July 23, 2024