Rick Wilson writing about Piker several weeks ago. This struck me as spot on:
He has also said America deserved 9/11, said he’d pick Hamas over Israel every time, and produces roughly six hours of unedited content a day, which is six hours a day of raw material for a hundred 30-second spots.
Here’s the professional read: the general election voter in Grand Rapids or Waukesha has no idea who this man is and will never watch a minute of Twitch. The average voter is 65, not 25.
That older, average voter will absolutely see the clip of him defending the 9/11 attack because the line is a perfect ad clip.
The clip requires no context and brooks no argument. It is an easy ad play for the MAGA GOP right now, and every Republican media firm in the country has the reel cut already. Piker won’t have to answer for it, but every Democratic candidate will.
I think what the pairing showed was the answer to the question "could there possibly be a candidate with worse political instincts and platform presence than Liz Cheney?" To which the obvious answer was, "why, yes, yes, there could be" and was on stage with her (but only two times).
I’d say it was more to court disaffected republicans by propping Harris up as a “just not-liberal enough to hold your nose and vote for her” candidate for the Legacy repubs who arent fully unboard with the Crazy Train, rather than just that Liz Cheney is a liberal. Because at that point you could have gotten anyone to go up on that stage with Harris if you JUST wanted a liberal or even a liberal convert. I think you are underrating the whole permission structure thing
It was to appeal to moderate Republicans. It didn’t work, but I’d argue that was absolutely Harris’s fault for taking loony positions in 2020, not Cheney’s fault.
"Harris appearing with Cheney represented Cheney adopting Democratic views, not Harris adopting Republican views."
No, Jeff, it was "Harris has no views of her own, only what her focus groups tell her will get votes so she can get elected". Plus Liz Cheney being "I'll do anything" but Cheney is a problem for the Republicans to deal with.
I was highly amused by the Democratic candidate going for the endorsement of Dick "The Devil" Cheney. "It was only two appearances with Liz"? Yes, and McGregor only fucked that goat *one* time but still everyone calls him "McGregor the Goat Fucker" 🤣
Did Liz disavow Dad and his works and all his empty promises? Not that I heard of. Did the Harris campaign publicise that The Devil was endorsing their gal? Yes, they did:
So we are left with two conclusions to draw from all this, as regards the Democratic Party candidate:
(1) She was an empty suit, veering from position to position according to what her staff told her to say in order to appeal to [insert vocally online interest group of your choice]. Her core and sole policy position was "I should be in power, and I'll do whatever it takes to get there"
and
(2) All the rhetoric of yore from the Democrats about Cheney's time in office - the warmongering, the over-reach, expansion of presidential power past its proper limits, the corporate and oil industry shill urging war in order to steal national resources for profit for him and his cronies, the war criminal, all the rest of it - well shucks, we didn't mean a word of it, it's just business baby!
I know you don't speak ill of the dead, and I certainly would not expect her to dance on his grave, but this statement? About Darth Cheney?
“Vice President Cheney was a devoted public servant, from the halls of Congress to many positions of leadership in multiple presidential administrations,” she added. “His passing marks the loss of a figure who, with a strong sense of dedication, gave so much of his life to the country he loved.”
I understood what Harris & co. were going for with the Liz Cheney endorsement, but tactically speaking I would argue that it was an own goal--American voters are not generally fond of percieved "Washington insiders," and the Cheney family certainly qualifies.
"American voters are not generally fond of percieved "Washington insiders," and the Cheney family certainly qualifies."
Oh, yes. "In Cheney’s case, if even a Republican considers Trump beyond the pale, maybe some of what is being screeched about on MSNBC is true."
Can't Jeff see this was *precisely* Trump's appeal back in 2016? The establishment Republicans hated him, and you can't get much more establishment than the Cheneys. For the ordinary working class/blue collar/lower middle class voter, the fact that the champagne-swilling country club Republican insiders were losing their goddamn minds about Trump was a very, very big plus. Maybe he wouldn't actually drain the swamp, but at least he was the first guy talking openly about the swamp and promising to do something about it.
Liz Cheney is the daughter of Dick Cheney, Dick Cheney with the Halliburton connections, the Vietnam War deferments (while sending your sons to Iraq to fight for his oil interests), all the rest of it. And they are party insiders, who lost a lot of their influence and power thanks to Trump. So now they are going to the aid of the rivals of their party for no higher motive than revenge, all dressed up in language of "country before party".
The stench of hypocrisy was not a good perfume for Harris to douse herself in.
Rick Wilson writing about Piker several weeks ago. This struck me as spot on:
He has also said America deserved 9/11, said he’d pick Hamas over Israel every time, and produces roughly six hours of unedited content a day, which is six hours a day of raw material for a hundred 30-second spots.
Here’s the professional read: the general election voter in Grand Rapids or Waukesha has no idea who this man is and will never watch a minute of Twitch. The average voter is 65, not 25.
That older, average voter will absolutely see the clip of him defending the 9/11 attack because the line is a perfect ad clip.
The clip requires no context and brooks no argument. It is an easy ad play for the MAGA GOP right now, and every Republican media firm in the country has the reel cut already. Piker won’t have to answer for it, but every Democratic candidate will.
I think what the pairing showed was the answer to the question "could there possibly be a candidate with worse political instincts and platform presence than Liz Cheney?" To which the obvious answer was, "why, yes, yes, there could be" and was on stage with her (but only two times).
I’d say it was more to court disaffected republicans by propping Harris up as a “just not-liberal enough to hold your nose and vote for her” candidate for the Legacy repubs who arent fully unboard with the Crazy Train, rather than just that Liz Cheney is a liberal. Because at that point you could have gotten anyone to go up on that stage with Harris if you JUST wanted a liberal or even a liberal convert. I think you are underrating the whole permission structure thing
It was to appeal to moderate Republicans. It didn’t work, but I’d argue that was absolutely Harris’s fault for taking loony positions in 2020, not Cheney’s fault.
"Harris appearing with Cheney represented Cheney adopting Democratic views, not Harris adopting Republican views."
No, Jeff, it was "Harris has no views of her own, only what her focus groups tell her will get votes so she can get elected". Plus Liz Cheney being "I'll do anything" but Cheney is a problem for the Republicans to deal with.
I was highly amused by the Democratic candidate going for the endorsement of Dick "The Devil" Cheney. "It was only two appearances with Liz"? Yes, and McGregor only fucked that goat *one* time but still everyone calls him "McGregor the Goat Fucker" 🤣
Did Liz disavow Dad and his works and all his empty promises? Not that I heard of. Did the Harris campaign publicise that The Devil was endorsing their gal? Yes, they did:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz07zlr58vvo
So we are left with two conclusions to draw from all this, as regards the Democratic Party candidate:
(1) She was an empty suit, veering from position to position according to what her staff told her to say in order to appeal to [insert vocally online interest group of your choice]. Her core and sole policy position was "I should be in power, and I'll do whatever it takes to get there"
and
(2) All the rhetoric of yore from the Democrats about Cheney's time in office - the warmongering, the over-reach, expansion of presidential power past its proper limits, the corporate and oil industry shill urging war in order to steal national resources for profit for him and his cronies, the war criminal, all the rest of it - well shucks, we didn't mean a word of it, it's just business baby!
I know you don't speak ill of the dead, and I certainly would not expect her to dance on his grave, but this statement? About Darth Cheney?
“Vice President Cheney was a devoted public servant, from the halls of Congress to many positions of leadership in multiple presidential administrations,” she added. “His passing marks the loss of a figure who, with a strong sense of dedication, gave so much of his life to the country he loved.”
Well, that's politics, I guess!
I understood what Harris & co. were going for with the Liz Cheney endorsement, but tactically speaking I would argue that it was an own goal--American voters are not generally fond of percieved "Washington insiders," and the Cheney family certainly qualifies.
"American voters are not generally fond of percieved "Washington insiders," and the Cheney family certainly qualifies."
Oh, yes. "In Cheney’s case, if even a Republican considers Trump beyond the pale, maybe some of what is being screeched about on MSNBC is true."
Can't Jeff see this was *precisely* Trump's appeal back in 2016? The establishment Republicans hated him, and you can't get much more establishment than the Cheneys. For the ordinary working class/blue collar/lower middle class voter, the fact that the champagne-swilling country club Republican insiders were losing their goddamn minds about Trump was a very, very big plus. Maybe he wouldn't actually drain the swamp, but at least he was the first guy talking openly about the swamp and promising to do something about it.
Liz Cheney is the daughter of Dick Cheney, Dick Cheney with the Halliburton connections, the Vietnam War deferments (while sending your sons to Iraq to fight for his oil interests), all the rest of it. And they are party insiders, who lost a lot of their influence and power thanks to Trump. So now they are going to the aid of the rivals of their party for no higher motive than revenge, all dressed up in language of "country before party".
The stench of hypocrisy was not a good perfume for Harris to douse herself in.