NATIONAL CUBAN SANDWICH DAY UPDATES
Pork and Ham and Cheese and Pickles and Mustard in a Pressed and Toasted Loaf - HOORAY For the Cubano!
-Chicago is recovering in one of those THAT-was-a-HELL-of-a-party! hazes one has after the end of the Democratic National Convention and Kamala Harris' rousing and soulful acceptance speech to culminate the event. Even the generally cynical political media admitted her speech slayed, and that it was the well-earned climax to perhaps one of the most wildly successful conventions of the last 50 years. Which begs the question, what made it a success beyond the week-long parties, the overall vibe of joyfulness (by design, by the way), the laundry list of stellar speeches, the cutting-edge innovations (the roll call of the states has been transformed), the A-list star power (even without the wildly-rumored Beyonce or Taylor Swift hopping on stage) or the basic task of charging up the base of the party that conventions are designed to rally for?
-For that, we look to pundits like Mark Caputo and Dan Pfeiffer (among others) who have hypothesized that the orchestration of the convention not only did all of the above, but managed to lay the groundwork to turn the narrative tables on Republican nominee Old Weird Convicted Felon Ex-President Trump (R-apist). You see, until Joe Biden dropped out of the race, Trump's clear goal was to create a narrative of strength vs. weakness, using Biden's four-year-age-gap as the cudgel for the typical Trump litany of sneering insults and blathering rambling. But once Biden dropped out and the far-younger Kamala Harris became the nominee, that entire narrative vanished - and Harris, 20 years Trump's junior without anywhere close to the narratives that Biden and Hillary Clinton had for Trump to exploit, was able in a heartbeat to make Trump the old coot (which, at 78, he is) and build from there into something even harder for Trump to counterattack: an incumbent full of old ideas and stale goals including the creation of an oligarchy to be ruled by Trump.
-This has left Trump holding a bag full of ooze and pus rather than rose petals and a pass to his 2025 Inauguration Day, and we know what Trump likes to do with one of those bags - fire, ready, aim!!!
-From the start of Harris' acceptance speech, Trump went to social media and promptly overboiled in a stunning meltdown even for Trump. There were 86 postings as Harris went through her speech, Trump increasingly deranged ("ALL TALK, NO ACTION!" "THAT IS A LIE!") throwing several whoppers out there (claiming again he knows nothing about Project 2025, that Harris wants to get rid of Medicare and Social Security, that he did not instigate the January 6 insurrection) and at one point simply asking "IS SHE TALKING ABOUT ME?" (Spoiler alert: yes, yes she was).
-When Harris finished, Trump called into Fox and started shouting and ranting so much he could not be interrupted by the hosts - and several times could be heard punching the keypad on his phone throughout the diatribe. When the hosts finally got him off the phone Trump simply dialed Newsmax and continued to rave against Harris' speech - further proving that the dynamics of the race have truly and profoundly shifted against Trump.
-Trump continues to not be helped by J.D. Vance, who was last seen awkwardly trying to order donuts in a shop while campaigning in Georgia. The clerk clearly did not want to be filmed despite being told by Vance that he was a candidate for Vice President (which did not seem to impress the clerk). At this point Vance and Trump appear yoked to each other, and Vance will reportedly "live in" Pennsylvania for the duration of the campaign in an effort by Trump to take that state red. Polling is close in the state.
-Even today's endorsement of Trump's campaign by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is not likely to move the polling needle in the short-term, as it has not even moved that much cable news coverage. Remember that Kennedy attempted to speak to the Harris campaign in an effort to get a promise of a cabinet position only to reportedly have Harris not even return the call. The Kennedy family again confirmed their support of Harris in a press release, while the Harris campaign itself responded with a proverbial shrug of the shoulders.
-There are 74 days until Election Day, and another 10 days until the traditional Labor Day election push, so the campaigns will settle into a bit of a cycle. The news media will watch for any break in momentum and potentially report any stabilization of the polling as some kind of major news. The next true election event is the (so far only) scheduled debate on September 10, though on September 5 Trump has announced a "tribute" to imprisoned January 6 insurrectionists who Trump continues to label "Freedom Fighters" and continues to promise to pardon should he return to power.
-But oddsmakers now give Kamala the edge, and the first post-Biden 538 model has Harris winning in 58 out of 100 scenarios - something many will label as hubris but I present because (stands on soap box) voters are attracted to winners, and just because you think you can and should win does not mean you are sloughing off any effort, because confidence breeds confidence and that breeds people who want to get on a bandwagon, especially if that bandwagon is joyful and fun like Chicago was this past week. WORK, and be honest, but don't be afraid to have some swagger, either! (Stands down from soap box.)
-More regular news - and a shift in when these updates come out with the new school year - on Sunday!!
-On this date in 1856, the first scientific research on what we now call global warming was made public. On this date in 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact, setting the stage for the start of World War II. On this date in 2000, Richard Hatch became the first winner of the first season of SURVIVOR. On this date in 2011, Muammar Qaddafi was ousted from power in Libya. And on this date in 2021, the FDA approved the use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
-Debuts on this date: a conference to promote women's rights (1850), televised boxing (1933), THE BIG SLEEP (1946), the Little League World Series (1947, won by a team from Williamsport PA), SCARY MONSTERS (AND SUPER CREEPS) (1980), "Hallelujah" (1994), LOVER (2019).
-Happy Birthday to Edgar Lee Masters, Gene Kelly, Marian Seldes, Vera Miles, Barbara Eden, Mark Russell, Sonny Jurgensen, Keith Moon, Willy Russell, Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, Rick Springfield, Shelly Long, Queen Noor of Jordan, Charles Busch, Julio Franco, Rik Smits, Jeremy Schapp, Jay Mohr, River Phoenix, Gretchen Whitmer, Scott Caan, Julian Casablancas, Kobe Bryant, Rex Grossman, and Jeremy Lin.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to William Wallace, Rudolph Valentino, Niccola Sacco, Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Oscar Hammerstein II, Shamu, Alfred Bloomingdale, Yusef Hawkins, Norman Wexler, Hoyt Wilhelm, Bobby Bonds, Brock Peters, Maynard Ferguson, and Steven Hill.
-Feed the Worms: Spokespedophile Jared Fogle entered Earth on this date. David Koch and Yevgeny Prigozhin bought it on this date.