Quick Hits

Maureen Dowd notes that Democrats think the Democrats are doomed.

Biden's advisers are urging him just to sell harder and people will get it. Axelrod disagrees: "You cannot persuade people if their lived experience is telling them something different. We've been through hell in America and around the world."...

Carville [says Democrats] should work not to seem like an "urban, coastal, arrogant party"... "People don't like you."...

... Greenberg warned Democrats not to use Obama.... "Obama did not give voice to the hurt and anger that working class voters were feeling," Greenberg wrote.... Fretting about the threat of Trumpism, given that the Democrats are bleeding working-class voters, including Black and Hispanic ones, he told me, "If they don't listen this time, we're going to end up with fascism, dammit."

Ann Althouse writes:

To sum up. Axelrod says: empathize with the people. Carville says: stop being so damned dislikeable. Greenberg says: do class politics, not race politics.

ADDED: I'm reading the comments over there and it's overflowing with denial: Stop trashing Biden! I'm tired of attacks on Democrats!

ABC News' "Powerhouse Roundtable" (get over yourselves, Beltway drulls) sees Biden as Jimmy Carter without the charm.

"The state of the union is stressed, he said. To claim otherwise to highlight the progress we've made without fully acknowledging the hard road we have traveled and the distance we need to go, would seem off key and out of touch. You simply cannot jaw bone Americans into believing things are better than they feel." Karl read from [a piece by David Axelrod].

Karl then turned to panelist and pollster Frank Luntz asking him "Is that really the way to go?"

Luntz tore into Biden and the malaise that has spread throughout the country: "He's got to tell the truth. Which means you have to acknowledge where things are. You can't tell people that happy days are here again and you're in the middle of a depression. You can't tell people that things are good."

As a pollster, Luntz has a pretty good window into what Americans are feeling and expressed his concern that "there's a level of anxiety that I haven't seen since the 1970s." Adding: "Joe Biden ran as Harry Truman. He thought he was gonna govern as Franklin Roosevelt, but this, to me, looks just like Jimmy Carter in every possible way."

NeverTrumper who's part of the Let Them Stay coalition is mad that in-laws were hit by a drunk driver illegal immigrant:

Guy Benson @guypbenson

Over the weekend, my in-laws were rear-ended by a drunk driver and illegal immigrant while visiting California. Thankfully, their airbags deployed (the other car was totaled), and they are going to be okay -- though they’re sore and a bit shaken. Feeling relief and anger.

I'm sure he'll get over his anger in time to agitate for the next Comprehensive Piece of Shit.

Stalker of TikTok influencer killed by her dad when he shows up at her house wielding shotgun. Free under stand your ground law, and common sense.

Former Democrat Oklahoma Senate candidate and current candidate for Oklahoma House District 5 Abby Broyles accused of drunkenly accosting children at a sleep-over:

A Valentine's Day weekend sleepover party for tween girls that included watching the film Titanic turned bizarre and tearful after parents say Oklahoma 5th Congressional District candidate Abby Broyles allegedly became drunk and berated some of the children in attendance.

The party, held at the home of a Deer Creek Public Schools parent on Feb. 11, included eight girls between the ages of 12 and 13. Broyles was allegedly at the home the night of the party at the invitation of the homeowner, who is the mother of one of the children.

According to multiple accounts of the evening, Broyles became intoxicated and spoke derogatorily to some of the girls. She allegedly called one girl an "acne fucker," which prompted the girl to leave the room in tears. Broyles allegedly called another girl a "Hispanic fucker" and another a "judgy fucker."

At one point, Broyles allegedly vomited into a laundry basket and onto one girl's shoes.

...

NonDoc also obtained two photographs of Broyles: A picture of her drinking wine in a kitchen next to two girls, and a screenshot of her in a TikTok video posing with four girls, three of whom are wearing matching pink pajama outfits adorned with hearts.

Matthews said she is still shocked by her daughter's account of what happened.

"It's so sad, because this is someone who has stood on a soap box and talked about empowering women, and rather than do that with these girls she chose to belittle and denigrate the next generation of women," Matthews said. "And she does this at a time when their bodies are changing and their features are changing and they are vulnerable."

Reached early Thursday, Broyles flatly denied the allegations and said she was not at the house that evening. She eventually said she was out of town.

"I saw the tweets. I have been out of town on a fundraising trip, and they are awful and offensive and false," Broyles said. "I mean, I get trolled on Twitter all the time, but I don't know these women and I don't know what is behind this, but it's just not true."

...

An attorney and a former KFOR reporter who attended law school with the host of the sleepover, Broyles threatened to sue NonDoc for reporting the claims against her.

"I'm running for office. You don't think this is a political attack? You don't think this is something they cooked up?" Broyles said.

Asked if she meant that 12 and 13-year-old girls had "cooked up" a story against her for political purposes, Broyles said she meant "their moms."

"I mean, I don't know," Broyles said. "I have no idea. This is -- I'm just telling you it's not true, and if I were a journalist I would not be doing a story, because it's not a story."

Read the whole thing. Her denials are just, mwah, Chef's Kiss.

Broyles repeatedly denied this happened -- even when the parents of the abused girls produced photographs of her posing drunkenly with the girls, and a TikTok video with the girls.

Only then did she admit she was there. But she has an excuse -- she mixed someone else's sleeping pills with liquor, you see.

And she makes this sound like it was someone else's fault -- she was tricked into taking someone else's medication and mixing it with alcohol!<

Broyles then went on KFOR and pretended like she didn't tell NonDoc that she was out of town and went with the "I took someone else's prescription meds and mixed it with alcohol," defense. Broyles told KFOR, "For years I have struggled with stress and anxiety and insomnia. I took the bar exam on 2 hours of sleep... And she knows that," she said referring to the homeowner and host of the party. "And she gave me a medication I had never taken before. And I had an adverse reaction. Instead of helping me sleep, I hallucinated. And I don't remember anything until I woke up or came to, and I was throwing up in a hamper."

Tucker roasts a book by the gals at New York Magazine that compares Alexandria Donkey-Chompers to Jesus.

Donkey-Chompers thinks that criticizing a haigiography by a bunch of Thirsty Lesbian Fangirls is a hatecrime and should be punished:

Alexandria Donkey-Chompers @ADC

I genuinely want to know why Tucker Carlson is allowed/paid to engage in clear, targeted, libelous harassment that endangers people &drives so many violent threats that ppl have to fundraise for their own safety.

Why should they have to pay for his harassment? Make it make sense

It's not within the realm of political commentary, & it's not just me. He regularly targets people that do not have access to resources for protection. Once he gets to fantasizing about "booty calls" of women on national TV I cease to see the political value outside of incitement

In case you missed it:

posted by Ace at 06:04 PM

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