"... a dynamic that doesn’t exactly track with media coverage of the midterms. We keep wondering how much Trump will wound Republican candidates. Warnock seemed plenty worried about how much Biden would wound him. So when he was asked whether Biden should run again in 2024, Warnock conspicuously dodged the question. 'I think that part of the problem with our politics right now is that it’s become too much about the politicians,' he said. 'You’re asking me who’s going to run in ’24? The people of Georgia get to decide who’s going to be their senator in three days — Monday.'"
Writes Frank Bruni in "Why Herschel Walker May Win" (NYT).
It's funny that Bruni expects the "dynamic" to "track with media coverage of the midterms." The media don't have that kind of control anymore. But they try so hard.
Walker’s out-of-wedlock children, Mehmet Oz’s minimal ties to Pennsylvania, J.D. Vance’s ambient ickiness — they’re marvelous grist for opposition ads.
Ambient ickiness. The ambient ickiness is coming from inside the column.
They’re priceless fodder for political journalists.
"Fodder" is dried hay for livestock and in extended use it's something you consume that's widely available and low quality. But somehow it's "priceless."
And they’re surely why Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, issued his now-famous lament about “candidate quality,” sounding like a disgruntled carnivore who’d ordered a Wagyu rib-eye and was served cold Salisbury steak.
More food. Hmm.
You know, I really do think that in the future, when AI is writing the columns, there will be material like this — ambient ickiness... marvelous grist... priceless fodder... disgruntled carnivore... Wagyu rib-eye... cold Salisbury steak....
Okay! If you say so. I know you're set on grossing people out about how disgusting Republicans are. You consider them lowly, but your approach feels lowly.
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Baby on the barbie.
He made you read it. He made you comment on it. Even negative comment counts as a win for him. And he seems more interested in holding the interest of Times readers than actually influencing the election outcome.
I wonder about giving the restaurant critic a political column, though. Yes, it does fit the perception that liberal politics now are more about style and pretensions than about anything very real. But for many of us, Wagyu beef would be a great treat. Salisbury stake would also be a treat. And Frank, you can always heat it up.
Why Walker may win? Warnock must really be in trouble if the Times is already repositioning.
Althouse said...
You know, I really do think that in the future, when AI is writing the columns, there will be material like this — ambient ickiness... marvelous grist... priceless fodder... disgruntled carnivore... Wagyu rib-eye... cold Salisbury steak....
Orwell said...
"In our time it is broadly true that political writing is bad writing.... When one watches some tired hack on the platform mechanically repeating the familiar phrases — bestial, atrocities, iron heel, bloodstained tyranny, free peoples of the world, stand shoulder to shoulder — one often has a curious feeling that one is not watching a live human being but some kind of dummy: a feeling which suddenly becomes stronger at moments when the light catches the speaker's spectacles and turns them into blank discs which seem to have no eyes behind them. And this is not altogether fanciful. A speaker who uses that kind of phraseology has gone some distance toward turning himself into a machine... And this reduced state of consciousness, if not indispensable, is at any rate favourable to political conformity."
It's funny that Bruni expects the "dynamic" to "track with media coverage of the midterms."
The media think it's all about them.
This is what the fall of an illegitimate regime looks like.
Biden will be out before the Republicans get a change to start their congressional investigations.
There will be health issues that keep him from having to go under oath.
And Mitch McConell is the next piece of shit traitor to go.
We have determined he is a low quality candidate.
"Walker’s out-of-wedlock children, Mehmet Oz’s minimal ties to Pennsylvania, J.D. Vance’s ambient ickiness — they’re marvelous grist for opposition ads." Mr. Bruni, from the comfort of his office/home, telling on-the-ground campaign managers how they SHOULD be running the campaigns.
It's NOT FAIR! that the general population doesn't Realize they Need To LISTEN to their Betters
WHAT is The POINT of allowing democracy, if people Refuse to vote as they are told?
Democracy is informed, disinformed, steered, sculpted by the Fourth Estate, thus the old saw advising information processing through signal diversity.
On a farm, fodder is turned into manure.
So an accurate description was provided regarding media coverage of the election.
And as the Bible says, "Bind not the mouth of the kine that threshes the grain."
The sound of incest in an echo chamber.
I hate HATE how much of the media coverage is "horse race" style coverage. What do the pollsters (odds-makers, bookies) have as a favorite, what are the chances? Which party has a generic lead? Which PAC is out front in fund-raising? Which in ad-spending? (And never any question about why funds raised don't track with funds spent...) What scandals from decades back are suddenly headlined? Who is associated with affiliates of allies of anybody who ever expressed a stupid or racist or old-fashioned idea?
God forbid the media get to issues. Is the US Treasury enforcing the existing tax laws fairly? (Set aside for one minute the question of whether the laws themselves are fair.) Are citizens financial records, held by the government, secure against hacker/criminals/identity thieves? What are our options for dealing the DACA Dreamers? Is there a New Next Generation of Childhood Arrivals who need new cut-off dates to qualify? Should an aspiring college student demonstrate ACT/SAT readiness as part of the FAFSA student loan process? What nation, (or state) aside from the US, has abortion laws this state might most closely emulate? What nation has gun laws, ditto?
I don't know why they have to make it so personal.
All Walker, Oz, Johnson, et. al., have to say is that a vote for my opponent is a vote for Biden, Harris, Schumer, Pelosi, Soros policies- collectivism, high taxes, inflation, trannies in the classroom, criminals running wild in the streets, illegals taking your jobs and raping your children, 4th trimester abortion.
Their partisans will vote for them in any case. D voters will not pay attention. The voters in the middle who decide every election will concentrate on issues and not personalities.
Our issues will win 80% of the time.
Our personalities are 50-50 at best. Why make the election about that?
"... a dynamic that doesn’t exactly track with media coverage of the midterms."
Well, media coverage doesn't exactly track with what the populace - their ostensible *customers* - deem important. They've moved on from Trump and want to know what, and who, the future will bring.
One of those is that the EX-President has little-to-no effect on current events and policy. The current President does, and members of his party need to answer for their support of efforts that are at best ineffective, no matter that the Frank Brunis think any and all Republicans must answer constantly about what any other Republican has done.
If White men show up, the Republicans will win. Its really that simple.
This is way deeper than the fact that Trump is infinitely more popular than Joe Biden.
Trump won the 2020 elect 75 million to 60 million legitimate votes.
Democrats stole the 2020 election and now they are going to pay for that mistake.
They tried censorship and persecution and that failed.
They have been trying to force Putin to use nukes to defend himself and that so far has failed.
Now they have overnight told all US employees that build any kind of chips in China to quit their jobs. The entire chip industry right now is completely sideways.
There is only one place in the world right now that is making computer chips at scale: Taiwan.
The Biden Regime is trying to force China to invade Taiwan right now.
The Biden Regime is so desperate at this point that they are trying to start World War 3 with anyone they can.
Frank Bruni? Did he rise up from poverty, join the Marines, graduate from The Ohio State University, graduate from Harvard Law, write a bestseller that was adapted into a movie (with Glann Close!), become a VC and then run for Senate?
Tell me about icky, Franky baby.
The US Senate needs more icky people like JD Vance.
So, why don't they put Bruni in charge?
I prefer to think of the Republicans as noble and the Democrats as icky.
Does anyone recall Frank Bruno warning New Yorkers about Hillary’s minimal ties with New York State? I can’t find any.
And on that note- repeal the 17th amendment. Senators should represent the state, not the people of the state. The interests of the two may often coincide, but they’re not identical.
I sense Trump is loved and Biden hated with just about equal fervor, here in Georgia.
That Georgia election, along with the Wisconsin one, will tell the story. If sanity is seeping back to the US voter, maybe there is a chance to save the country. That Wisconsin Democrat with the fake name reminds me to the guy DeSantis beat in 2016
West TX: "I don't know why they have to make it so personal"
You answer your own question, of course--but without it, would Dems have? tell people they are going hand out more billions for student loans? allow more millions to enter illegally? add to inflation by passing another trillion-dollar boondoggle? make a deal with Iran?give another $50B to Ukraine? Besides abortion to excite the sisterhood, what exactly are they selling?
Lem: "I sense Trump is loved and Biden hated with just about equal fervor, here in Georgia."
So Dems are sending Obama. The real tell.
Democrats got everything they wanted, from shutting Keystone to spending trillions, to the war in Ukraine. it's almost like their policies are crap.
Y'all do realize Bruni is the former restaurant critic for the Times? Thus, he writes using phrases he may actually know the meaning of.
If you want to get really, really rich then buy a journalist for what he’s really worth and sell him for what he thinks he’s worth. Applies to Jim Tankersley as well as Frank Bruni, and pretty much anyone else who writes for the Times or the Post.
Is there ever going to come a point where clowns like Bruni understand that damned few real human beings hate Trump as much as they do, much less admire Joe Biden’s energy and economic policies as much as they do?
Both Vance and Walker have now handily not just beat expectations for their debate performances but can reasonable be said to have won. Blake Masters did the same in Arizona.
Per Salena Zito, Oz has been working the county fair circuit, making personal connections with Pennsylvania voters.
Murkowski could be in trouble in her re-election bid. Polling seems to indicate she's tied with Tshibaka as of a few weeks ago.
I don't think Mitch is gonna be eating any beef, either Wagyu or Salisbury Steak, after Nov 8.
Agree Doc Mike. I like Herschel as a person and as an athlete, but when he talks he makes me squirm as much as GWB.
Has the hostess given her thoughts about her home state gov and senate races? I don't mean who she is voting for, but her neutral big picture view of the races? I am interested in her analysis.
The gov race in NY has been moved to "tossup." I don't believe it, but there it is.
It’s really pretty simple as to why Walker is in the game. Warnock has voted with Biden’s agenda 96% of the time. If you don’t like seeing food and fuel costs skyrocket due to Democratic policies, or think we shouldn’t be defunding the police or think we should stop the illegal immigration, then you will vote Republican. The under current in Georgia is strong.
Yes, it is that simple and isn’t about race at all.
"The ambient ickiness is coming from inside the column" - made me LOL. I wonder what % of the population that loves this expression has seen the movie. When a Stranger Calls is like 43 years old (BTW, I am assuming that, as with Gaslighting, the expression did not come from something before). Maybe like Gaslighting it will become part of our language with people forgetting its purely cinematic origin.
Priceless fodder: priceless to them but actually fodder.
Creola Soul: "It’s really pretty simple as to why Walker is in the game. Warnock has voted with Biden’s agenda 96% of the time. If you don’t like seeing food and fuel costs skyrocket due to Democratic policies, or think we shouldn’t be defunding the police or think we should stop the illegal immigration, then you will vote Republican. The under current in Georgia is strong."
Hasn't anyone told you the True Republicans That Aren't Those Icky Deplorable Republicans are supposed to spend all their time attacking only republican candidates?
There are a number of those on this very blog.
Living in another state has never stopped Democrats from running. Oregon's senior senator, Ron Wyden, is a multi-millionaire and lives in New York City with his multi-millionaire wife, Nancy (née Bass) and owner of New York's Strand Bookstore, and kiddies. He's been in office since February 5, 1996 (special election).
I like Herschel as a person and as an athlete, but when he talks he makes me squirm as much as GWB.
Agreed, but GWB won two presidential elections despite his inability to string together two coherent sentences. So elections clearly are not just about being a glib speaker. Issues do matter, and the media can't control the outcome.
Correction. JD Vance is a Yale Law alum.
Wyden looks like death warmed over
Just watched “Hillbilly Elegy.” Remarkable. Hope JD wins.
He’ll do something about the horrors of drugs that Biden has let into this country.
From Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men”
“I think if Satan was just sittin’ around and wanted to bring mankind to its knees, he’d come up with narcotics.”
IF (all caps) the Republicans manage to win all of them (AK, IN, GA, AZ, etc), then majority leader Rick Scott is a big possibility. This is why McConnell doesn't want to win.
Melcher asked, "Is the US Treasury enforcing the existing tax laws fairly?..."
Not a bad list of questions, but not the best.
What is the right number (actual number to the nearest tenth) of immigrants citizens should allow in the U.S. and from which countries? Justify the number and the countries. How much does it cost each citizen, in each economic status, to fund the Federal Government's spending? Justify the number. Go through line by line the Defense Department's budget. Justify or disagree with each line item. Should the Federal Government move toward race neutrality or intersectionality? Justify the answer.
Frank Bruni has always aspired to rise to the level of "putz". He hasn't risen that far yet.
Walker is going to win because he's a decent human being, and he's running against a narcissist scumbag. Presstitutes like Bruni are furious about that, but their approval is not required.
-jcr
Bruin is just being his usual Jumbo Shrimp
You really don't want to open this door, but during his time as a restaurant critic, Bruni regurgitated the world's most unfortunately unforgettable column about his own bulimia.
So this one isn't half bad.
I to suffer from ambient ickiness.
AI may write future articles but we already have NI writing current NYT articles ... NI = Natural Idiot
Is your life better after the ChiCom Lab Virus/get democrats elected virus?
Is your life better after Fauci pocketed millions from big pharma?
Is your life better now that the corruptocrats are in control - with Mob-boss Crook Biden the Dementia patent at the helm?
Is your life better after the democrats and the corrupt teachers union destroyed the education of OUR children?
eh -?
Walker’s out-of-wedlock children, Mehmet Oz’s minimal ties to Pennsylvania, J.D. Vance’s ambient ickiness — they’re marvelous grist for opposition ads.
1: So people who have children out of wedlock are bad? When did the Democrats decide that?
2: After Hillary got elected to the US Senate from New York, it takes particular shamelessness for someone at the NYT to push that charge against a Republican
3: Its' funny that the BEST attack he can come up with JD Vaccine is "ambient ickiness" (for that matter, they don't have a better attack against Oz than "he's lived other places, too!"?)
News flash NYT: When that's the best you can come up with for attacks against the GOP, your'e going to lose, and should
Interesting stuff about Media twisting in the wind trying to excuse failure of their own fictional narrative. But here in Georgia it’s more basic. The Dem lords of politics are dumping cash on TV ads running hourly that horribly make up slander spots on Walker. They sneer at him as stupid and evil black man with a dark soul who moreover actually talks with a southeastern coastal Georgia sea Island accent.
That has backfired100%. Herschel is a well known favorite son and hero here in Georgia. That level slander attacks on Herschel rightfully make his attackers look like the abominable ones. And Warnock is still an unknown given the office for no reason except being a preacher. Winner will be Herschel Walker. And as to NYT elites, frankly dear no one gives a damn
Fetterman is a hoodie wearing punk-ass Trust funder who had the power to release criminals and did so and wants more of that Soros-funded destroy america from within garbage.
The ads write themselves. Bonus - Fetterman is a Douche-puppet for the radical left and will be a rubber stamp for Biden's ickyness.
And now we discover that under Warnock’s leadership as Senior Pastor the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta turned into a slum lord, allowing trash to pile up in Columbia Towers and leaving the elevators in a poor state of repair. Does the name of that church seem familiar? Back when Martin Luther King, Jr. was its co-pastor his church would not be so dismissive of the needs of the poor. Perhaps Rev. Warnock should reacquaint himself with Matthew 25:34-36.
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