Resistance HQ Bulletin 1

November 11, 2024

… I’d like to start off by saying that I am aware that people are fleeing Twitter in big numbers right now and I don’t blame them. Many have asked me to join Bluesky now and I did today. Substack will be my primary vehicle to post content outside of Twitter, and where all my articles will be found including this daily column.

… I know that many of you who have left Twitter have come to Substack and subscribed here. Prior to the election, we kept 95% of everything we posted here open for free subscribers. That will probably move to about 70% free as we do want to provide more exclusive content for people willing to support us. We have no big billionaire donor backing us. We are entirely reader supported and we all work very hard.

… Part of what we are doing for paid subscribers is that I am going to do my very best to respond to your DM messages. I will say that there are two kinds that I can’t/won’t respond to: 1. Conspiracy theories about the election; 2. Messages that would require me to write an essay to properly respond to. I’ve gotten both categories. I know many of you have various theories on what went wrong. I’m just going to focus on the things I watched happen over past 3 years that I think got us to this place rather than theories that it was rigged. Feel free to do that with others, I’m just not interested.

… There are plenty of things that need to be fixed, but the 2024 wasn’t the landslide that Trump, MAGA and the media are claiming. If Harris had gotten a combined 250,000 more votes in just 3 key states she would be president. That isn’t a lot.

… The two voting blocs who shifted the most in Trump’s favor from 2020 to 2024 were Latinos and Men under 30. They also just happen to be the two groups who say that they get most of their news from social media sites, not from TV or traditional sources. Dems are losing the social media battle and need to fix it.

… 63% of seniors in exit polls said they get their news from TV. 10% of adults under 30 said they watch TV news. That is a massive generational divide.

… Facebook is still the place where most people say they get their social media news, with TikTok gaining fast.

… Stephen Miller will reportedly serve as WH Dep Chief of Staff for Policy. Campaign Manager Susie Wiles will be COS. The Prince of Darkness will be setting the agenda for the Trump Admin. As bad as you thought this was going to be, it will be worse.

… Former NY Rep. Lee Zeldin, who narrowly lost his big for Gov of NY, was named as Trump’s new head of the EPA. Zeldin: “We will restore American energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, make the US the global leader of AI, and slash red tape holding back American workers.” In other words, the EPA will not be out of the “environmental protection” business.

… Mike Johnson announced today that the House will not approve any additional aid for Ukraine moving forward. No surprise there. Ukraine can only look for help from Europe as the US retreats from the world. Good luck to Taiwan, South Korea, and our other allies around the world.

… The Senate is looking like 53-47 Republican. Best bets for pickups for Dems in 2026 are Maine and NC, which would still leave them one short. Lisa Murkowski has shown a willingness in the past to vote with Dems on key things though. Texas is also a possibility if John Cornyn retires.

… A major battle is brewing between the GOP establishment over who will replace Mitch McConnell as Senate Leader. Republican activists just discovered what I reported in this column weeks ago - Mitch set up a super early vote for this week to try and stop the momentum of Rick Scott and hopefully keep Trump out of the discussion.

… The vote will also be secret ballot to protect Senators who don’t want to vote for Scott from the venom of the MAGA mob. However, Steve Bannon vowed on his show today that he has a source inside the room who will leak who voted for who, and assured Republican Senators that their plan for a secret ballot won’t work.

… The establishment candidates are John Thune and John Cornyn. Rick Scott is the clear choice of MAGA, but he seems fairly unpopular with most of his fellow Senators. Josh Hawley surprised MAGA with his early endorsement of Cornyn, and has been getting trashed for it. Good thing he is a fast runner. Mike Lee has also talked about doing it but got zero public support. Like Ted Cruz, his colleagues think he’s an ass.

… On Truth Social, Trump demanded that any candidate for Senate majority leader must commit to two things: They will make early recess confirmations of Trump’s Cabinet nominees (which they did not do for Trump last time or Biden), and will block confirmation of all Biden’s pending judicial nominees between now and January when they take the majority.

… New PA Senator-elect Dave McCormick is already being attacked by MAGA activists after he refused to say who he will vote for in the Leader election in his first post-election interview. No way Establishment Dave votes for Scott.

… Tommy Tuberville’s take on this: “Some of these RINOs need to get out of the way.” Coach Tommy is Team Scott. Because of course he is.

… A closed-door debate will be held between the candidates and other Senators tomorrow with the vote on Wednesday. If no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, then there will be a second round where some will likely drop out.

… My guess is that nobody will win on the first ballot between 4-5 nominees, then it will be Thune or Cornyn dropping out to support the other against Scott with the establishment candidate winning. The Senate led by Rick Scott, House by Mike Johnson and Presidency held by Trump would be an absolute nightmare, but their extremism will send their approval ratings into the toilet before the 2026 midterms.

… Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point organization gives Scott’s voting record a 94% score, Thune at 78% and Cornyn at 74%.

… Supporters of Scott have been busy posting past clips of Thune criticizing Trump on a variety of issues. Thune also called for Trump to drop out of the race when the Access Hollywood tape broke in 2016. Trump endorsed Thune’s primary opponent in 2022. Thune then endorsed Tim Scott for president in the primary last year. Thune is trying to mend fences now with MAGA, but it’s obvious that he and Trump do not like each other.

… Scott went on Fox news today: “I’m very optimistic that I’m going to win because I’m representing Trump’s agenda.”

… My bet is that Cornyn drops out after the first ballot, endorses Thune, Thune wins on the second ballot, and MAGA goes crazy.

… Lots of rumors that Ric Grenell will be Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State. Two payouts of $250K each to Melania for “speaking fees” to the Log Cabin Republicans may pay off well for Grenell.

… Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse than that (I never promised you a rose garden), Kash Patel is reportedly the front runner for CIA Director.

… WY Senator Tom Barrasso is running for Majority Whip unopposed.

… Elon Musk joined the chorus online to lobby for Scott. RNC Co-Chair Lara Trump did too.

… Musk is upset at Dana Carvey’s mocking impression of him on SNL. He responded: “SNL has been dying slowly for years as they become increasingly out of touch with reality. In his impression, Carvey’s Musk character said, “America’s going to be like one of my rockets that’s super cool and super fun. But there’s a chance it could blow up and everybody dies.” Sounds like a pretty good impression to me.

… TX AG Ken Paxton is rumored to be running for Cornyn’s seat in 2026 whether he retires or not. Cornyn may retire at the end of his term if he doesn’t win the Majority Leader election. Far-right extremist Paxton, who was impeached by his own party in the State House because of his rampant corruption, is exactly the nominee Dems want to run against to give them a shot.

… Joe Biden is meeting with Trump tomorrow in the Oval Office. A courtesy that Obama and Biden have both extended to Trump despite the fact that Trump refused to meet with Biden, obstructed his transition team, and refused to attend his inauguration.

… The invitation was extended by both Joe and Jill Biden, and it is traditional for both the incoming president and First Lady to accept with each having a private meeting. However, Melania refuses to attend.

… MO Senator Eric Schmitt says he is withdrawing his name for consideration as Trump’s AG. He’s been in the Senate for 5 minutes, so doesn’t really make sense for him to walk right now.

… Mike Johnson has called a press conference tomorrow on the steps of the Capitol with his leadership team. No info yet on the subject matter. It could be just to reiterate that his same leadership team will be running again as a united front, with the exception of Elise Stefanik.

… Punchbowl reports that Byron Donalds will not run for Stefanik’s position as Conference Chair and will endorse fellow Floridian Kat Cammack.

… IA Sen Joni Ernst is rumored to be under consideration for Secretary of Defense, but I don’t see it. Ernst stayed neutral in the presidential primary, but she sure seemed cozy with Desantis. Trump doesn’t forget those things.

… OH Gov Mike DeWine has to appoint a replacement for JD Vance’s Senate seat, and MAGA is already upset that ‘RINO’ DeWine may not be appointing Vivek Ramaswamy like they hope. DeWine is sending out a signal that he might not be looking for someone who is far-right: “It has to be someone who could win a primary. It has to be someone who could win a general election.”

… None of the other names considered as front-runners are going to excite MAGA, as each is widely considered an establishment Republican: Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken, Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan.

… The NY Post reports they have a well-placed sources that the finalists are Timken and Ramaswamy with DeWine looking to choose Timken. Trump hasn’t weighed in yet though. I’m not so sure that Trump’s likes Vivek - he tends not to like people who try to hog the spotlight away from him, and Vivek did that when he shared the stage with Trump while endorsing him.

… I predict DeWine appoints Timken, sending MAGA into another hissy fit to follow up on the one they will have when Thune becomes Senate Majority Leader.

… There are a few Republican Senators who are vulnerable in 2026. Here in Maine, I am focused on Susan Collins. Maine is a solidly Democratic state with a Democratic governor. Collins has been able to stay in office by convincing many Dems that she is a moderate. But now she is going to have to vote for an extremist agenda or oppose her own party. If she goes along with the MAGA agenda, that isn’t going to work with Maine voters.

… Collins is also going to be 73 years old in 2026, but these days that’s middle aged for a Senator.

… NC Governor Roy Cooper is rumored to be running against Republican incumbent Thom Tillis. Dems have an excellent chance for a pickup there if the popular Cooper runs.

… Michael Flynn’s brother Charles Flynn just retired as the Commander of US Army, Pacific. Interesting timing. While everyone has been watching his crazy brother, the