27 Comments

Garrett, I know it's not your Main Thing, but your take on democracy is my favorite. This was so excellent. More please.

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oh that's super nice. having niches in your writing can be great, but I also realize some times "oh, probably good to not only obsess about one topic" lol.

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“Low lifes not finishing a high life.” !!!

Enjoyed this piece.

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God damnit Lyz Lenz just doesn't miss! Thanks for doing actual journalism on the inside, Dan!

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Part of my day also involved milling around the lobby in the Hyatt! But earlier, that's where the DNC folks had their presser. Also saw Matt Gaetz signing the bros' Trump signs.

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No wonder the bros were on cloud nine all day!

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Thank you for taking one for the team and spending the day out there! I especially appreciated your observation about how soulless the non-Trump players are while the Trump folks act reasonably human. That will be our downfall, for sure. I cackled when I read the instances where people connected with you - but also started thinking, if you weren't as deeply involved as you are, would their overtures have seemed attractive to you? As in, the guy who pegged you as a Marxist - would you in another universe, struck up a conversation with him because of the shared reference? Would you have hung out with the guy who recognized the Jawbox t-shirt,and made some common ground? I'm inching toward something I can't quite articulate (because my brain is exhausted) about how those moments of being "seen" can easily suck people in . . . (which relates in some ways to the conspiracy theory conversation yesterday).

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First off, thank you, and I totally agree with the danger of the appeal of Trump vs the other (that's what was just so apparent as I walked around).

I absolutely love your question about the conversations I didn't have... while I think I made the right choice as a writer (bc I wanted the piece to be about the tableau rather than one person), I had the same realization as I looked back at my notes just as a human being-- "oh, that person was attempting to connect and I missed that opportunity for connection."

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Dare we hope that there will be a follow-up to this piece when the convention comes to town?

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I was just thinking... when the convention comes to town, I'm going to need to get there early in the AM to claim my prime Hyatt Regency seat (not wasting my time with the Hilton again... I LEARNED my lesson!

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I love this, everything about this. Poor lil Highlife. Garrett it's "Street Survivors" not "Soul Survivors" FYI

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Thanks! Both for the kind words and for catching that typo!

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This is the first time I've read a substack and thought, "If this guy pitched me a subscription I'd probably pay for more content like this." Basically, I wish to live vicariously through you as you endure #politics in the year of our Lord 2023-2024.

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Goodness that's kind (because I know how many essays are clogging up everybody's timelines/inboxes). It's always tricky balancing what pieces I put behind the paywall and what I offer for everybody, but there will definitely be more election pieces (and other pieces) in both categories.

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Thank you for finding a way to acknowledge the dehumanizing absurdism of this ridiculous process while somehow still celebrating the fleeting joy of human connection. I felt just the tiniest bit of hope after reading this. And that’s kind of extraordinary. Well done.

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Oh wow, that's a huge compliment, because as you can probably guess, it wasn't the kind of day where hope was in the air naturally!

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OMG this was just the dose of levity I needed. Absolutely genius.

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So glad it was fun to read (it was a fun one to write).

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This is a thoroughly enjoyable post. Thank you!

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Oh thanks!

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Great insights all the way through. Thanks for helping me understand my own thoughts. ❤️

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Thank you!

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Fun post thank you!

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It was more fun to write than the day was to experience!

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been there. believe you.

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Oh I bet!

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I was directed here from Wonkette and really glad I stuck around to read the piece. Thank you for that report!

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