i guess that’s fundamentally the question. personally, i really like Pete, he’s smart and comes up with zingers on the fly on Fox News. 1/

but the Israel mishmash strikes me as showing off his Achilles Heel, a weakness, including in competitive districts. he now famously “doesn’t move” more moderate Black voters. 2/

in a reach-but-still-purple district like my Pinellas County, this kind of answer is, in my view, Why Democrats Lose. 3/

my neighbors didn’t love Trump. they are cynical, try to avoid politics. but they thought Harris was fake and polished and also that democrats have overdone weird. 4/

(a neighbor told me being a live-and-let-live person but maybe litter boxes at the local high school went a bit too far. and they would, she was sure they are there. but of course they’re not, it’s right-wing urban legend congealed to fact, perhaps with the help of pranksterish kids, oh yes mom.) 5/

anyway, the reasons people chose Trump-at-least-he-says-what-he-thinks and eschewed Harris were shining through all that Israel hedging. 6/

Pete’s not always like that! It’s for the best, perhaps, that he’s encountering this pushback, maybe learning this lesson, so early. /fin

* litter boxes at the local high school FOR FURRIES. that was the claim.