2961 - Assessing The Midterms 4 Days Out w/ Heather Digby Parton

Sam and Emma host Heather Digby Parton, contributing writer at Salon.com and proprietor of the blog Hullabaloo, to round up the week in news. First, Emma and Sam run through updates on Elon Musk’s assault on now-former Twitter staff, surging US employment numbers, Democratic polling in Georgia and Pennsylvania, and the San Francisco Police’s “Quiet Quitting” trend ahead of the recall of Chesa Boudin, before diving into Trump’s recent announcement of his “very very very [probable]” 2024 presidential run. Digby then joins as she dives right into the state of polling heading into the midterms, walking through the contrast between how much better polling is now than one year ago and the stagnancy that they show in comparison to expectations around the Dobbs decision, also touching on the continuing trend of US political polling becoming more and more out of touch with actual voting. Next, she, Sam, and Emma reflect on the progressively pessimistic and dubious media coverage of the Democratic party, beginning with the coining of the “liberal media” term in the Nixon era, and continuing through to the constant bashing of Democratic chances and tactics that we see today (as in the coverage of Hillary’s emails). Wrapping up, they tackle Biden's late but useful pivot towards pinning inflation on corporate greed, look at Tim Ryan’s recent statement on January 6th in front of a Fox audience, and what action to take heading into the midterms. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma discuss Elon Musk’s swift destruction of Twitter’s moderating abilities, and the potential impact of a payment-based verification service heading into an election. Mike Lee publicly announces his fight against social security, Chris from Fairfax discusses his town’s campaign for rent control, and Gabe in the Berkshires discusses ballot questions in Mass. Kowalski explores upcoming ballot measures in Nebraska, Kayla in CA discusses the drama in LA city council races, and Joe Rogan says it actually wasn’t his fault for spreading transphobic misinformation, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Digby's work on Salon: https://www.salon.com/writer/heather_digby_parton Check out Digby's blog: http://digbysblog.net/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today’s sponsors: Sunset Lake CBD: sunsetlakecbd is a majority employee owned farm in Vermont, producing 100% pesticide free CBD products. Great company, great product and fans of the show! Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off at http://www.sunsetlakecbd.com. Kamikoto Knives: Kamikoto is now running a Black Friday Sale. You can get an additional 10% off with code MAJORITY at https://kamikoto.com/MAJORITY Thanks to Kamikoto for sponsoring this episode! HoldUp Bags: HoldOn plant-based compostable kitchen/trash bags: Get 20% OFF with code MAJORITY at https://holdonbags.com/majority Shopify: Scaling your business is a journey of endless possibility. Shopify is here to help, with tools and resources that make it easy for any business to succeed from down the street to around the globe. Shopify powers over 1.7 million businesses - from first-sale to full-scale. Shopify gives entrepreneurs the resources once reserved for big business - so upstarts, start-ups, and established businesses alike can sell everywhere, synchronize online and in-person sales, and effortlessly stay informed. Go to https://shopify.com/majority for a FREE fourteen-day trial and get full access to Shopify’s entire suite of features! Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ Check out the Marin DSA here: https://marin.dsausa.org/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/