Donald Trump's team is taking advantage of Biden's slipping support among African-Americans.

Someone supposedly just tried to assassinate Trump.

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/election-biden-trump-07-13-24/index.html

It looks like the shot grazed the right side of Trump's head.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6357897503112

Two dead; the shooter and a random person who just wanted to hear Trump speak.  The shooter was on the roof and inside the security perimeter.

After today Trumps rating is somewhere around Pluto.

Shooter was located on a roof some 400 feet away from the podium.  He was a white male but no further info has officially been released.  Supposedly there was no identification on the body.  Reportedly the Secret Service snipers shot him on the head with a very large caliber rifle round.

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https://pix11.com/news/local-news/bomb-making-materials-found-in-trump-rally-shooting-suspects-vehicle-sources/

Bomb making material found in shooting suspect's car.  Did he also try to build a car bomb which didn't go off?

Quote from: Oerdin on July 14, 2024, 11:38:06 AMhttps://pix11.com/news/local-news/bomb-making-materials-found-in-trump-rally-shooting-suspects-vehicle-sources/

Bomb making material found in shooting suspect's car.  Did he also try to build a car bomb which didn't go off?

The stories I've seen/heard said "explosive material".

Dafuq?
Lots of things *can* explode.
That doesn't necessarily mean they're intended to.

This is the part of the timeline of these stories I hate most... everyone's so eager to get a scoop or fill space in the 24-hour news cycle that they just say shit and make wild extrapolations and most of it turns out to be sensationalized nonsense.

The signal-to-noise ratio is appalling.

The Republican National Convention opens Monday in a very different world from the one we all expected when we left work on Friday.

Republicans are in complete and total unity. Even former governor, professional Trump critic, and perennial neocon Nikki Haley is getting in on the action, squeezing into a speaking slot at the last minute. Blaze News has learned that rapper and businessman 50 Cent started making calls this weekend to see if he can join the festivities. "We're trying to make it happen," a person involved with the talks told me on the way to Wisconsin.

On the other side of the aisle, the Democrats are in total disarray. Calls went out suspending campaign advertising shortly after the deadly attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump Saturday evening. Much to worried donors' chagrin, the entire campaign strategy had focused on demonizing Trump as a "threat to the nation," an "enemy of democracy," and "a threat to the very soul of this country." That isn't going to work any more.

Meanwhile, Republicans stand ready to rule the news, with Trump's vice presidential announcement coming any moment now. The former president even flew into Milwaukee Sunday night (far earlier than normal for a secured nominee) to ride the wave of party excitement.

I was thinking he'd pick Flynn for VP but after the shooting I'm not sure, might seem too militaristic. Think I'll change my guess to Vivek.

Quote from: Oliver the Second on July 15, 2024, 02:38:08 PMI was thinking he'd pick Flynn for VP but after the shooting I'm not sure, might seem too militaristic. Think I'll change my guess to Vivek.

And that, my friends, is why I don't bet on the horses.

Anyway lets get back on track.

The day after a lone gunman tried to assassinate Donald Trump, Axios reported that a top House Democrat privately admitted that President Joe Biden is going to lose his re-election bid, and Democrats must now change their election priorities accordingly.

"We've all resigned ourselves to a second Trump presidency," a senior House Democrat told the publication.

The context of the senior House Democrat's comment is about how the assassination attempt changed the political discourse around the election, which prior to the assassination attempt had primarily focused on the growing number of Democrats calling on Biden to step aside as their party's presidential nominee.

But, as the Axios story suggested, the political calculus has changed after Saturday's shocking incident.

Indeed, according to NBC News, the Democratic Party's campaign to persuade Biden to step aside has come to a "standstill."

Another Democratic consultant told NBC News the party should refocus its energy on House and Senate races, understanding Trump's political momentum will be hard to slow down.

"The presidential contest ended last night," the Democratic consultant said. "Now it's time to focus on keeping the Senate and trying to pick up the House. ... The only positive thing to come out of last night for Democrats is we are no longer talking about Joe Biden's age today."

Yet another Democratic insider described his party's predicament in simpler terms.

"We're so beyond f***ed," that person told NBC News.

Pollster Nate Silver, meanwhile, confirmed Monday the view relayed by the top House Democrat to Axios is a "common" view in the Democratic Party — at least privately.

Biden is expected to secure the 2024 presidential nomination through a virtual vote held before the end of July, ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August.

Quote from: DKG on July 17, 2024, 06:33:35 AMBiden is expected to secure the 2024 presidential nomination through a virtual vote held before the end of July, ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August.

I can't help wondering if all this "give it a day, give it a week, let's see how the next speech/rally/etc. goes" nonsense from the democrats has only been a delaying tactic to get them past the Zoom meeting at which point they can declare it's too late anyway because Biden is 'officially' their nominee.

As usual, the democrats are playing silly buggers and the biggest losers are their own voters. I'm trying to think of a political party that has held its own base in such disdainfully low regard but... I got nothin'.