Debate Time
We lost one of the all-time greats yesterday. James Earl Jones. “Star Wars,” “The Great White Hope,” Admiral Greer from three Jack Ryan flicks, “Field of Dreams,” “this is CNN,” “The Lion King,” “The Sandlot,” “Coming to America,” heck even an episode of “The Big Bang Theory,” just to name a few. One of a kind and one of the best.
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Oh, brother. Commentary was watching “Today” this morning and one of the regulars, I won’t mention names, said Donald Trump was a very good debater. Huh? He lied about a kazillion times back in June. Folks never commented about that because President Joe Biden fell flat on his face. I guess the “Today” regulars forgot about the Proud Boys debate. I guess they also forgot about his yell fest back in 2020. That is why the microphones will be muted tonight. Lazy analysis for sure. Oh, well.
This is the night we have been waiting for since July 21 when the Vice President’s campaign got underway.
The featured photo is from the Democratic National Convention last month. She is ready. We will see how it goes tonight.
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On October 15, 1976, H-Town’s Alley Theater was host to the Vice-Presidential debate between U.S. Senators Bob Dole and Walter Mondale. That’s the only time H-Town has played a role in a Presidential general election debate. Just a reminder.
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Off the Kuff has a very thoughtful piece on replacing nominees on the ballot like the process to replace the late Cong. Sheila Jackson Lee. See this from Charles:
Is there a better way to handle the nominee replacement process?
Posted on September 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner
Last month, and for the second time in less than ten years, I and a relatively small number of Democratic precinct chairs got to pick a replacement nominee for a powerful office whose incumbent had died at an inconvenient time. To say the least, having that much responsibility is not something I relish.
I say “inconvenient” because in each case a minor shift in the timing would have completely altered the outcome. Had El Franco Lee died two months earlier, there would have been an open seat primary to replace him, as he would not have been able to file for re-election. Had Sheila Jackson Lee died two months later, she would have remained on the ballot this November and been succeeded in a special election and runoff early in 2025. This is what happened when then-Sen. Mario Gallegos died, shortly before the 2012 election.
But because they died in that short period between the filing deadline for the primary and the withdrawal deadline for the general election, state law provided the means for precinct chairs to pick someone new. It’s wild to me that it has happened twice in relatively short order, but here we are.
I’m fine with there being a precinct chair process to replace a deceased nominee (*), even as I fervently hope I never have to take part in one again. It’s not the best possible way to do this, but it’s the best one that is workable in the potentially very limited time span available to pick a nominee, as was the case with CD18. Let me address a few points here:
Here is all of Off the Kuff: Is there a better way to handle the nominee replacement process? | Off the Kuff.
Nice take, Charles.
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Today is National TV Dinner Day. Thank you, Swanson’s. Of course, we don’t call them TV dinners these days. They are now called frozen dinners. I do remember the old Salisbury steak with mash potatoes and corn or peas, the turkey slices, and the enchiladas, refried beans, and rice.
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With 19 games remaining on the regular season schedule, we have a 4 ½ game lead in the AL West. The A’s are at The Yard for a three-game series that starts this evening. I am not ready to talk about magic numbers.
