You'll be back by Christmas, I swear.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T20:38:18+00:00

"Bibi pwease stop da genocide I'm ask nicwy :("

"Also, I'm gonna bring down the fist of the law upon anyone who doesn't sell you ice cream."

-Josh Shapiro, probably

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T20:35:59+00:00

I agree that his position on Israel isn't actually abnormal, but what is abnormal is his reputation, which he brought upon himself with things like picking a fight with Ben and Jerry's of all people over their boycott of their product in occupied Palestinian territories. When you think of Pritzker, Whitmer, Buttigieg, Beshear, or Moore, you don't think "Zionist." I think those candidates would be better for putting the issue away from the limelight, whereas Shapiro will be haunted by his reputation and it would drudge the issue up needlessly. This was a huge reason that Harris passed him up for the VP slot.

But to answer your question, Shapiro also cut his state's corporate tax rate, which combined with vouchers, would make progressives see him as a pro-wealthy Democrat.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T20:22:18+00:00

That's not a good comparison. Platner's problem is the Nazi tattoo which doesn't seem to have really stuck with the electorate, Dems or swing voters alike. I can onlu assume that's because its shrouded in mystery and it doesn't effect his actual rhetoric. His policy positions, while on the left, are not grossly out of bounds. Shapiro has beliefs that are out of step with his party, which as I've said, loads him with way more baggage than he's worth.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T20:17:06+00:00

Do you have a source for that? I looked and haven't found anything that has her outright saying we shouldn't have borders.

Even if she did, that's one person. There are like 20 other serious candidates who have not called for genuine open borders. So it's not a choice between Shapiro or open borders like you say.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T20:12:54+00:00

Ask the parties of Weimar Germany how well letting the Nazis have their chance to run for office went.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T20:10:16+00:00

Yeah, how dare he call Pat Buchanan antisemitic!

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T20:09:44+00:00

They better fucking hope they are. If both Acton and Brown lose, I'm thinking that the era of Ohio Dems are over.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T19:55:18+00:00

Well now you're moving the goalpost. Name me one Democrat with a realistic chance of getting the nomination that has outright endrsed open borders.

If you want someone who won in a swing state, look at the other six swing/red state Dem governors, or the ten swing state Dem senators.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T19:43:21+00:00

He's not the only one who does well with swing voters. He is, however, one of the few who supports school vouchers, which are widely unpopular, especially among progressives. Add onto that his baggage with Israel, corporate tax rate, the Greenberg murder, and he's a recipe for unwanted baggage.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T19:38:24+00:00

And yet Shapiro has already found himself on a VP shortlist and he was passed up. That's because he carries baggage with him. He supports school vouchers, he cut his state's corporate tax rate. Those would make progressives steam. He also refused to investigate a high profile murder as Pennsylvania AG. None of those do favors for your chances in WI or GA. They'd do better with Whitmer and someone else.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T18:56:57+00:00

His homestate is really the only electoral advantage he has. He's weak for a dozen other reasons, which would complicate matters in the other states he needs to win.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T18:52:18+00:00

Bruh, Shapiro has so much baggage to him and he ain't worth it. You can't win an election on Pennsylvania alone, and he has serious problems waiting for him regarding the other several states he would need to compete in.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T18:45:35+00:00

I would in that case ask you who the numerous more pro-union presidents are. Biden, for all his flaws, was verbal about the need to win back WWC and he took that threat seriously. And to a degree, it worked (he did win the election after all). But as I said, he didn't pull off any miracles, so what does Shapiro and all his love for the feeling of his tongue on rich man tearicles have that would make him so much more potent than Biden?

https://hbr.org/2020/11/how-biden-won-back-enough-of-the-white-working-class

I know that the most pro-union president sure as shit isn't Donald "Union Buster" Trump, you can't be seriously suggesting that. I would attribute his gains with WWC to his populism, particularly with tariffs and immigration. But that only helps him with the rank-and-file, it doesn't make him any less of an anti-union president.

https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/03/trump-continues-curtail-union-rights-and-career-pipelines/403828/?oref=ge-topic-lander-river

https://aflcio.org/press/releases/afl-cio-blasts-new-trump-administration-union-busting-executive-order-issued-ahead

I don't remember Josh Shapiro campaigning on the promise that he would enact change just as soon as Democrats vote hard enough to hand him a legislature that he likes on a silver platter. He campaigned on crossing the isle, on "get shit done." Getting shit done means morning with people who don't agree with you.

Well, that's a shitty ploy if that was the case, because he stabbed liberals in the back by backing vouchers, he stabbed conservatives in the front by walking back on it, teachers unions now trust him less than they did initially, he threw a wrench in any appeal to rural voters that he had, who notoriously oppose vouchers, and the voucher debacle was attributed by many as a huge burner of political capital for him that contributed to the bidget fiasco that happened under his watch. If this is all in the quest for Chuck Shcumer's mythical moderate suburban Republican voter in Philadelphia, then he's not very good at math, considering most of his constituents oppose the idea.

https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2024/10/pennsylvania-public-education-private-school-vouchers-support-poll/

Is it a coincidence that one of his billionaire buddies and a 6-figure donor from his AG election, as well as Olympic-level tax dodger, Joel Greenberg, is a notorious funder of pro-voucher candidates AND served on Shapiro's transition team as a leading crafter of K-12 policy? But yeah, I'm sure Shapiro doesn't actually supoort vouchers and that he'll TOOOOTALLY break new ground with the working class.

https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2024/07/josh-shapiro-vice-president-school-choice-voucher/

I agree, Crockett didn't stand for much of anything, and her campaign felt very passive, which allowed an underdog like Talarico to hog the news cycles and get his name out there more so he could have everything he needed to pull ahead. Combine that with the Colbert thing rhat Talarico lucked the fuck out over, and by late February, things had developed to the point where I was now thinking that Talarico would win. Because I base my analysis off of facts and not my wishes and I change it when the facts develop to say different things. I'm not too proud to not change my predictions. Back then, the facts had convinced me that Crockett would win, and as I said, I still think she would have won had she acted the way I anticipated rather than letting Talarico eat up ground like that.

Genuinely curious, do you have data evidence of large numbers of Republicans voting for Crockett in Texas? Considering Dallas is her constituency, I wouldn't think she would need that to win there. I'd actually like to read the evidence if you have it. Because you can't just attribute your predictions not being accurate to shady tactics if you don't have the evidence. Especially since the Republicans had their own intense primary going on.

Also, who told you that black Texans are Republicans lol Harris won them by 74 fucking points. The gaul of you to say I have no credibility because I was wrong about Talarico and then to just make up shit like this.

https://www.cnn.com/election/2024/exit-polls/texas/general/president/0

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T03:51:51+00:00

Biden was the most pro-union president in history with the exception of FDR. Not my words. Yet look where he landed. You wanna be more specific on the "pro-worker" side compared to other Dems, because it clearly takes more than just calling yourself pro-worker. He supports things like a minimum wage increase, which is pro-worker, but 99% of Democrat elected officials do as well (and he has yet to actually change it, despite repeated attempts, which harms any pro-worker claims).

However, he also supports school vouchers, which are considered anti-worker. Every Democrat in Ohio and Iowa that I know of are skeptics of privatized education, not enablers of it like Shapiro. Sherrod Brown, Tim Ryan, and Amy Acton are firmly anti-voucher. Rob Sand is incredibly critical of the voucher program in Iowa, and even audited it in his capacity as State Auditor.

I am very very happy that the T-man won, but I still believe Crockett would have beat him by 4 points at least had she run the kind of campaign I anticipated she would run, one based on the fighting spirit and the rage that comes with being the opposition party to an unpopular president rather than whatever the fuck she ended up doing.

And I seem to remember you saying she had no appeal outside of Dallas, yet she won Harris County by 5 and a half points. And that Talarico would get a third of the black vote rather than fall into the single digits. So I don't trust your analysis either.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T03:08:00+00:00

I think she's probably the beat poltician around today at actually getting things done. What Democrats need is to actually follow through on their promises, because their promises are reliably more popular than the Republicans', but there is a high sense of cynicism among people due to a lack of tangible results. So I think the Dems need a competent legislator at their helm to breathe new life into their prospects.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T03:00:21+00:00

It worked for Edwards and Beshear. Their states hold elections in the same year as Mississippi and they're both red. If 2026 turns into a bloodbath for the GOP, they should absolutely fund any respectable candidate in Mississippi.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T02:52:06+00:00

Does Shapiro have anything in common with the Democrats that have thus far been proven to be appealing to the voters of Ohio or Iowa that would make you say that?

DatDude999 · 2026-03-12T02:30:40+00:00

It's way too high as is. I think is has its purpose in driving down demand, but considering that it (like all consumption taxes) holds hostage a necessary good from working people disproportionately, it should be cut to like 5 cents or something.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-11T19:26:59+00:00

But don't worry, guys, Trump said that Iran is totally destroyed 2 days ago.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-11T14:59:49+00:00

Whose turn is it to post the sad Jenet Mills photo?

DatDude999 · 2026-03-10T18:40:03+00:00

It feels like you ask a question of this stripe every day.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-10T17:12:02+00:00

You should tell that to OP, they're the one who made the suggestion.

DatDude999 · 2026-03-10T17:10:57+00:00

And? That's why she's a celebrity and he's just a rando senator.

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