Hunter Walker

@hunterw.bsky.social

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Investigative Reporter @ TPM
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/author/hunter

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Reply to

Josh Sternberg

I feel like they walked into the season with one or two too many problems to fix at the deadline. I remain convinced of that. Same as it ever was.

Do you guys remember the end of the old viral "double rainbow" video where the guy broke down and started shouting "what does it mean?!?" That's me right now.

Reply to

Josh Sternberg

I tend to think the Series winner isn't a total surprise. It needs a degree of solidity to the bullpen, rotation, and offense they haven't really had since 2020.

Reply to

Josh Sternberg

I think Hal is content with the profit margins he has without a ring. I think he also tends to think the playoffs is a crapshoot where anyone can win. They're basically betting on being that once in a decade or more team that totally upsets the postseason.

Reply to

Josh Sternberg

Can he replace Hal or Cashman?

Reply to

Sara Manns

Trump eroded the cash advantage post conviction. Clinton was similarly well funded in 2016. The fundamentals are not that solid for Biden. Diehard Dems need to recognize this moment isn't really about them. They are convinced Trump is very dangerous and would vote for Biden or any replacement.

There are many indications a decisive portion of the electorate isn't sold on those things. Press coverage is certainly a factor there but it's Biden and his campaign's job to make the sale in the landscape we have.

He is touting his job performance and literally not acknowledging the numbers showing voters aren't sold. The debate exacerbated what seems to be the public's many worry about him. I don't think that's a path to victory.

These guys are both way too old. Personally, I think everything about Trump pales in comparison to the fact he and his people are openly defending political violence and promising retribution and attacks on enemies. They're also openly targeting minorities, women, and the LGBT community.

All of the historical analogues for that are very, very dark.

Reply to

I completely agree the volume has been way out of wack and it's galling coming from people who have not called out Trump and his party for violent authoritarianism. That's part of what makes this all hard to talk about.

Reply to

I wouldn't rely on any one poll. Also, internals tend to be a higher quality than anything we get to see. I am telling you folks who see better numbers than me and know a lot about them are deeply concerned.

Reply to

I agree with her point about the volume of coverage being way off. I also generally hate op ed pages. It's not a newspaper's job to print a resignation letter or any kind of demand. That being said, it's not any reporters job to ignore that he's in trouble and that many in his own party are upset.

This column is part of a strain of thinking that I also see on social that is like blaming this all on the press. It's disingenuous to claim the calls for Biden to drop are just a result of bad punditry. They are coming from inside the Dems' house too.

Reply to

Biden's polling is not good and it was not good before the debeate. Congressional Dems have their own internals and are not seeing things they like about his race or their own. Biden's comments and this type of take rely on being in denial about all that.

I agree with the point that the sheet volume of Biden coverage from some big outlets - particularly compared to their coverage of MAGA authoritarianism - is out of wack but this column also ignores a whole lot of reality. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Why is the pundit class so desparate to push Biden out of the race? | Rebecca Solnitwww.theguardian.com Yes, Biden had a bad debate – but so did Trump. The media is once again repeating the mistakes of 2016

The concerns around Biden aren't solely coming from the media. They are coming from within the Democratic Party. Mark Warner and the senators going with him are not pundits - and that's just one example. Dems I speak with are almost universally concerned.

And the reason for this concern is clear. Biden's numbers were not great before this. He's got serious issues and this is a serious moment. It's Biden and his team's job to sell him to the portion of the public that isn't with it. It's not the media's job to do that.

I see a lack of awareness from Biden and his team about how bad he's doing. That's especially clear when be does an interview where he denies the numbers and touts achievements that the public really doesn't see including shutting down Putin, Mideast peace, and the economy.

I don't think press tripling down on that with them is an answer to anything. We should, of course, be aggressively covering how alarming Trump's plans are. But part of making people aware of the stakes is showing that Trump really might win.

The calls for retribution and violence coming from Republicans are getting louder. talkingpointsmemo.com/the-weekende...

Hiding The Balltalkingpointsmemo.com Hello, it’s the weekend. This is The Weekender ☕ As Democrats grapple...

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Hunter Walker

Reply to

Asawin Suebsaeng

For most of its history, America hasn’t been a democracy, by any meaningful definition of the term! This isn’t some It Can’t Happen Here shit, in a way, it’s already happened. It just may not have directly affected you.

Reply to

L O L G O P

This covers two of my interests

Biden is denying his poll numbers, touting a "peace plan" as war rages in the Middle East, and arguing that he's not "frail." This is simply a brutal interview and a bad position to be running from.

A high level Dem strategist tells me: "Biden has put Dems in a no-win position. They don’t want to go out there and tank him, but no one can credibly tell their constituents that he should be president for another 4 1/2 years."

Reply to

David

I mean, I don't think it's fully as simple procedurally as some make it out to me but the nominee is chosen at the convention and Kamala Harris becomes president if he steps down. The devil will be in the details but it's not unserious at all. Many in the party are discussing this.

Reply to

Hunter Walker

The Dem member of Congress who spoke to me also said, "I don't know if Biden can win at this point and that frightens me."

According to the Dem member of Congress, I spoke to, before this news leaked out, Warner had real momentum. They said Warner has "a really good number of very consequential senators" willing to tell Biden to drop out. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Sen. Mark Warner works to gather Senate Democrats to ask Biden to exit racewww.washingtonpost.com Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is attempting to assemble a group of Democratic senators to go to the White House on Monday and ask that Joe Biden exit the presidential race, according to two people with dir...

The Dem member of Congress I spoke to said "African Americans are the most formidable bloc" in discussions of Biden's future. "If their delegation is more loyal to having a Black woman than they are to their state party orgs than it is Kamala's."

They went on to say if Black electeds "just want an African American" on the ticket and are less personally loyal to Kamala Harris "then, it's open."