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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 11h

This is extremely funny to me

pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 13h

White, politically insulated conservative in D.C.: "You'd have to assume that people really hate this guy for some reason"

The strategist also noted that the polling right now reflects a change in the electorate as profound as those seen after Watergate and 9/11.

“It would be so historically unprecedented you’d have to presuppose we’re staring down the barrel of a generational national trauma that no one is aware of,” the strategist said.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 13h

I love this part, because they're either ignorant of all the skewed samples that are being put out, or more likely, they think that the R+40 samples represent the true American volk

Text polling has skewed the responses because it overpresents young liberal voters and progressives, especially in states that have a large white population, as many of the Great Plains states do, said a second GOP strategist working on competitive midterm races. Pollsters try to balance their samples but can only do so much to correct for that.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 13h

Oh, so these are just full-blown delusions brought on by the transient victory two years ago. If you've lost your mind to the point where you think that Black voters in Michigan are going to *vote for Mike Rogers*, you should quit your job as a pundit

Part of the challenge is no one knows what the midterm electorate will look like, making it hard to know if the polling is accurate. A White House official, who like others in this story was granted anonymity to speak candidly, said they didn’t think that Black voters would show up for Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, but it’s unclear whether that means they vote for Republican Mike Rogers — or just stay home.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Doing a pro-/anti-Palamas meme in this style

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I'm sorry, but this is straightforwardly incorrect. Adams and Jefferson were friends (even during the election of 1800), and I think blaming him for James Callender is a little bit removed from reality. The attacks on Adams being referred to here actually *embarrassed* Jefferson

First post:
"YES. Jefferson, noted human trafficker, had his friends write about how Adams was

'mentally deranged...a hideous hermaphroditical character'

Cranks have been with us all along folks"

Quoted post:
"On a related note, anyone who thinks that negative campaigns full of disinformation and dirty tricks is something new should take a moment and read up the Adams/Jefferson campaigns."

Second post (from the same person):
"But even more impressive, people actually went for it. This is a non-trivial part of how Jefferson became president of the US.

To paraphrase Obi-Wn Kenobi, Who's the bigger crank... the crank, or the crank who follows him?"

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Consult the scriptures 👇

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This is the only October surprise I'M interested in!!

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

As always, I'll post mine for comparison

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Just voted yes on all three amendments. Can't wait for these changes to be added to the Constitution of Virginia!

A ballot showing the bubbles for YES filled in on the ballot questions for the three proposed amendments to Virginia's constitution

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Turns out the electorate actually loves far-left governance. Makes you think! (Please ignore the 0.0% GDP growth rate and 8% unemployment, that's because my college students are too good)

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This is a very cool game, but I think something is busted. I won the second round by a very healthy margin (nine points!) but it's telling me I lost by a hair. There are a few other cases where the game shows "NaN" instead of some value

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Found a rather amusing footnote in the book I'm reading. (From Foolsburg: The History of a Town, by Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky)

12. Wartbeardin remembered that the prince Sviatoslav Igorevich...with the same greeting:

We know about Sviatoslav's custom of announcing a war from the Russian Primary Chronicle. Present-day rulers of Russia are not as chivalrous. They do not even call war a war, but a "special military operation." Of course, Wartbeardin, announcing a "war" on the Foolsburgers, could be certain of victory whether he warned them or not.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

If this is really the program, stick a fork in the Democrats, because they're done. You cannot say "we're raising your taxes, and no, you will not see any benefits." I mean, shit, why not just do austerity at that point? It'll be about as politically toxic, and you'll shave off a bit more debt

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I am glad, at least, that we have someone admitting on record "yeah, I don't agree with him about the 'love your neighbor' stuff, that's not the Christianity I subscribe to." Usually it's not so blatant

Moderator, Kristen Soltis Anderson
Pam, you said something about Mr. Talarico’s morals. Tell me more.

Pam, 66, Republican, white, retired
I am a Christian. I think he’s trying to bring people like me who can’t stand the crook that’s the Republican candidate over to his side by having all these commercials and things about his morals. He and I don’t have the same beliefs, whether it’s same-sex beliefs, whether it’s religious beliefs. I don’t like that he keeps talking about that more than he’s talking about, to me, the issues. But that’s my personal opinion. And that’s why I am in horrible turmoil, because I will not vote for Paxton.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Imagine being this thick. It doesn't even occur to her to actually process the words in question, because then she'd realize that same-sex bathrooms are the norm now. It's just a mishmash of buzzwords the right hates

Moderator, Kristen Soltis Anderson
Jennifer, you said “same-sex bathrooms.” Tell me more about why that comes to you.

Jennifer, 50, Republican, white, stay-at-home parent
That’s what he wants to do in schools. I’m totally against that.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This is incredible. Ironically, I would say that Paxton has been extremely effective at carrying out his party's policies on the national stage (RAGA loves him), but these people have no frame of reference for anything they can't see on Facebook

Moderator, Kristen Soltis Anderson
Lisa, you used the word “ineffective” to describe Mr. Talarico.

Lisa, 53, independent, white, technology consultant
He hasn’t proven himself in the Senate. I know Paxton hasn’t either, but I think he’s had more years in politics. I know sometimes that can be good and bad. I just don’t trust that he can go up against these politicians who play dirty and win.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Trump is apparently a choose-your-own-adventure politician to these people. He told you what he would do in his second term. He said he would do mass deportations. He said that he would slap massive tariffs on other countries. He said that he would go on a revenge spree. You just didn't believe him!

Sebastian, 50, independent, white, utility manager
I was hoping he would learn from the first time. All politicians lie and tell you what you want to hear. But I voted for him because he was something different. He spoke the truth. He spoke what was on his mind. That’s what appealed the first time. I was hoping the second time around, he learned something from his mistakes and learned something from, OK, now I know how to really fix this and it’s not going to be the same old, same old. I felt like I was just picking the lesser of two evils. I went with the one that I was in line with more as far as economics. And was thinking that he would fix those, which doesn’t seem to be the case.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

There is no better encapsulation of the thought process of the median voter here. "I wanted life to be affordable and for things to be 'great' again."

Erica, 40, Republican, Latino, customer service
I wanted life to be affordable and for things to be “great” again.

Moderator, Kristen Soltis Anderson
You put your hands up to do quotes around “great.” What would great have looked like to you?

Erica, 40, Republican, Latino, customer service
Just affordable living at the cost of what they’ve said before, the cost of our groceries going down, just higher-paying jobs, better opportunities, health insurance.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Ironically, she's blaming him for not doing something (lowering taxes) he actually did do, which is just the perfect insight into the mind of the median voter. There's a better than 50% chance that she thinks he controls state and local taxes, too

Becky, 51, Democrat, white, retail
Trump said that he’s going to do this. You know what? Every single president since I’ve been voting has said “I’m going to do this,” and none of them, literally none of them, held up their end of the bargain. For me personally, I believe that the crisis with Iran and all that craziness and the shutting down of the Strait of Hormuz, that’s blown up our fuel prices and everything else along with it. You know what I’m saying? You can’t get cargo ships through. Every president that I can remember — “Oh, I’m going to lower taxes.” Well, I’m still waiting, and you’re not even president anymore. But I don’t want to just say Trump is the only one who hasn’t lived up to his promises. Every single president that I can remember has not lived up to their promises.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

When is it going to click for these people that it doesn't matter to the right whether a given immigrant is a criminal? They want them all deported! It has to do with their race, not their criminal status!

Erica, 40, Republican, Latino, customer service
No. They really should be going after the companies that are hiring these illegal immigrants. They’re attacking these hard-working family men. I mean, they’re painting immigrants to all be these pedophiles that rape and hurt children and women, when who wants those people here? I agree. We want those people out of here, whether they’re immigrants or Americans. But these people who are so pro-ICE and so pro “get these immigrants out of here,” they’re painting a picture that all these immigrants are monsters. And that’s not the case. Like he said, I’ve seen so many videos where these men are working hard.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

How many times do we think Becky the "Democrat" voted for Trump? Was it two or three?

Becky, 51, Democrat, white, retail
I don’t think that there’s as many immigrants coming across now as when Biden was in office. I hate saying this, but I think ICE is doing somewhat of a good job. I don’t like the way that they’re going about their job and doing it. But it’s not a rotating door anymore.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Now, I *am* partly responsible for this, but I want you to know I also deplore the consequences.

Pam, 66, Republican, white, retired
I am someone who has voted for our current president twice because I didn’t feel like I had another choice based on the beliefs I have. But I do believe our current president has caused a lot of the extremes and a lot of the rhetoric and a lot of the issues where people cannot compromise and people can’t get along. I personally am just praying that we get better candidates in the future.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Finally, a lightbulb appears above Robert's head. Maybe the guys who have spent the last forty years doing tax cuts for the wealthy don't actually want to fix the economy for everyone? But that can't possibly be true, can it?

Robert D., 63, independent, white, retired
You used to think that you could count on the Republicans to be able to help out with the economy, and that they would be the ones to fix it. But now it’s more a feeling of it’s going to fix it for a certain few, that it’s going to be the top class or the certain friends that are getting the benefit of the economy, not the general folks.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

There's no particular political valence here. This person would be fine living in a fascist state, so long as it was "unifying". Mindless!

Moderator, Katherine Miller
And are there any issues right now where you would say you probably trust Democrats more?

Sebastian, 50, independent, white, utility manager
Like I said, I don’t think they can agree on the color of the sky. My only hope is it seems like every couple of generations, some young leader comes along and unifies people. I’m afraid the next unifying thing is going to be something tragic or something devastating, like a depression. I don’t have hope currently that either side can fix anything.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

These people are completely mindless.

Moderator, Katherine Miller
Are there national or state policy issues that you trust Republicans more than Democrats on?

Robert D., 63, independent, white, retired
I don’t trust anything that’s going on right now, Republican or Democrat. I mean, there’s so much wrong with our country.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I wonder if this guy is getting any federal assistance while he's unemployed. I'm sure he's in favor of that, though, because that's not a welfare entitlement, that's something he worked hard to get

Hitesh, 57, Republican, Asian, looking for work
One issue is Democrats are taking their cues from what’s happening in California, and they feel that that’s what a Democratic state, a dominant state, is doing, with welfare entitlements. And look at where they’re spending their money, and then they have to raise taxes.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

You are a sixty-six-year-old retired white Republican! You are responsible for the decline in the national discourse! And of course you think the state was kind, it was set up entirely for people like you!

Pam, 66, Republican, white, retired
I think we are following the nation. We used to all have different opinions on politics, and we could still all get along. There were compromises, but we could be with family. One might believe in one thing and one might believe another, but we could all still be together. And as it is in the country, I think Texas is getting further and further apart. It’s gotten very nasty. We’ve always been a very kind state, I’ve always thought. And I don’t feel like we’re very kind anymore.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Every median voter's opinion boils down to "can't we all get along?" No, you stupid fucker. One party wants to destroy the nation, and if we lay back and let that happen you'd hear endless complaining from this same moron. There's a bonus, here, too: brainless national deficit sentiment

Sebastian, 50, independent, white, utility manager
I think it starts with our national deficit and just government spending overall — get that under control. Because I think everything flows from that. I mean, we’re writing checks that somebody’s got to cash eventually, and we’re just spending money left and right. Our deficit is in the trillions now. That’s not sustainable for the future. And the fact that they’re not working together, just constantly — they can’t agree on the color of the sky.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Boy, I wonder who was responsible for all this negative rhetoric. The sixty-two-year-old retired white Republican just can't figure it out

Dennis, 62, Republican, white, retired
I’m going to agree with all the folks, and I’m going to add that over the last 10 years, we’ve seen a significant amount of negative rhetoric from our leaders. It’s causing people to be disrespectful of each other in Texas. They’re making rivals out of other people within our same state here.

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pleonasm @pleonasmical.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Starting off with a real doozy. The cost of living is substantially lower in Texas than in New York and Los Angeles, but besides that, people are *not* living paycheck to paycheck! I'm all for understanding economic precarity but not from someone who claims to be an auditor