Orange Duce

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

The Chinese, were BY FAR, the biggest entity paying in to Mar-A Lardo's pockets. These people, Trump, Comer, Emmer, Jordan, etc., etc...are SUCH COLOSSAL HYPOCRITES.

Then, there's the people that vote for these morons...

Hillary Clinton characterized half of those who supported Trump during the 2016 campaign as a "basket of deplorables". I gather from your post you throw all who voted for Trump, or who intend to vote for Trump again if he makes the '24 ballot, in said basket. This kind of broad stroke characterization is what sours me on discussing politics--regardless of which party/ideology is recklessly swinging the brush and slopping paint on the canvas, wall, ceiling and floor.

I think Clinton's comment was, politically, unbearably stupid in the middle of a campaign. But I think it is important to remember what exactly she actually said. Here it is:

“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic – you name it. And unfortunately, there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He tweets and retweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks – they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America.”

First, she was generalizing; as you say, she wasn't extending the comment to everyone who then-supported Trump. I have plenty of business associates, who I like and admire, who voted for Trump in 2016 (and who, to a man and woman, voted for the other guy in 2020). But she's been proved right to the extent that a material percentage of Trump's ardent base in fact support an ethos that is at odds with what most of us would characterize the American ideal. Her comment "and he has lifted them up" is unambiguously true. His comments about Charlottesville and elsewhere have mainstreamed the type of talk and language and action that was unthinkable for most of my adult life. And, I would suggest, his administration tried with some ardor to carry into place policies that are homophobic, xenophobic and Islamophobic.

But now we know. Trump's base of support includes really vile people; his commitments of policies and actions curry favor with really vile people. He has promised any January 6 participants convicted of a crime a blanket pardon -- people who acted on his orders to impede the peaceful transfer of power in our government for the first time. He has utterly normalized speech that no one would ever have condoned in a Selectman no less the President of the United States. He has completely desensitized the country and much of the media to the prospect of political violence. His foes are "vermin." Immigrants taint and poison "our blood."

Racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and Islamophobia are deplorable. Supporting a person for the Presidency who gives aid and comfort and a place at the table in the White House to such people is deplorable. Whatever "his policies" otherwise might be, his leadership of the country advances with shock troops made up of such people, whose views now are in the mainstream. Voting for Trump means supporting these things every bit as much as supporting, well, lower taxes and disengagement from world affairs, if those are your things. Trump is not an a la carte menu; you get all the other stuff too, and it is a cancer that will only grow if we let it go any further.

I just saw this. Thanks, Sea. What you say makes a lot of sense. I've read two posts of yours today that have drastically changed my mind on Trump. I appreciate your patience and measured tone here, especially in light of some of the run-ins you and I have had in the past. Thanks again.

[Seacoaster(1)]

The Chinese, were BY FAR, the biggest entity paying in to Mar-A Lardo's pockets. These people, Trump, Comer, Emmer, Jordan, etc., etc...are SUCH COLOSSAL HYPOCRITES.

Then, there's the people that vote for these morons...

Hillary Clinton characterized half of those who supported Trump during the 2016 campaign as a "basket of deplorables". I gather from your post you throw all who voted for Trump, or who intend to vote for Trump again if he makes the '24 ballot, in said basket. This kind of broad stroke characterization is what sours me on discussing politics--regardless of which party/ideology is recklessly swinging the brush and slopping paint on the canvas, wall, ceiling and floor.

I think Clinton's comment was, politically, unbearably stupid in the middle of a campaign. But I think it is important to remember what exactly she actually said. Here it is:

“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic – you name it. And unfortunately, there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He tweets and retweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks – they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America.”

First, she was generalizing; as you say, she wasn't extending the comment to everyone who then-supported Trump. I have plenty of business associates, who I like and admire, who voted for Trump in 2016 (and who, to a man and woman, voted for the other guy in 2020). But she's been proved right to the extent that a material percentage of Trump's ardent base in fact support an ethos that is at odds with what most of us would characterize the American ideal. Her comment "and he has lifted them up" is unambiguously true. His comments about Charlottesville and elsewhere have mainstreamed the type of talk and language and action that was unthinkable for most of my adult life. And, I would suggest, his administration tried with some ardor to carry into place policies that are homophobic, xenophobic and Islamophobic.

But now we know. Trump's base of support includes really vile people; his commitments of policies and actions curry favor with really vile people. He has promised any January 6 participants convicted of a crime a blanket pardon -- people who acted on his orders to impede the peaceful transfer of power in our government for the first time. He has utterly normalized speech that no one would ever have condoned in a Selectman no less the President of the United States. He has completely desensitized the country and much of the media to the prospect of political violence. His foes are "vermin." Immigrants taint and poison "our blood."

Racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and Islamophobia are deplorable. Supporting a person for the Presidency who gives aid and comfort and a place at the table in the White House to such people is deplorable. Whatever "his policies" otherwise might be, his leadership of the country advances with shock troops made up of such people, whose views now are in the mainstream. Voting for Trump means supporting these things every bit as much as supporting, well, lower taxes and disengagement from world affairs, if those are your things. Trump is not an a la carte menu; you get all the other stuff too, and it is a cancer that will only grow if we let it go any further.

I just saw this. Thanks, Sea. What you say makes a lot of sense. I've read two posts of yours today that have drastically changed my mind on Trump. I appreciate your patience and measured tone here, especially in light of some of the run-ins you and I have had in the past. Thanks again.

Thanks for the note, ONW. In about a month, more or less, we can start arguing about stuff that matters.

[dislaxxic]

The Danger of Trump’s Bogus “Summary of Election Fraud”

The Big Lie. From The Biggest Liar. We can only hope that our court system shuts this guy up and sends him to prison. He is an absolute cancer on our country and this spectacular flame out, coming in the midst of the brainwashing of millions of Americans, will be an amazing sight to behold. His is UTTERLY committed to The Big Lie, and will likely only abandon it when, to borrow a cute phrase from the NRA, we pry it from his cold, (politically) dead fingers.

As the post below says at one point, this whole Big Lie is what this moron has hitched his wagon, his life at this point, to. From the piece: "Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, which he insistently repeats at every opportunity, have never been more compellingly rendered. It’s so slick that you don’t have to be stupid to be taken in, although it helps."

IN A RAMBLING VIDEO POSTED LATE LAST NIGHT, [1/8/24] Donald Trump said that he found “tremendous amounts of voter fraud in the 2020 election. We have volumes of information. It’s all there.”

Hardly “volumes” and hardly “information,” it turns out.

When I heard last week that Trump had ushered in the new year by releasing a 32-page report titled “Summary of Election Fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election in the Swing States,” I thought it might be something that I could make fun of. It seemed ripe with comic potential. Here are the report’s opening lines: “It has often been repeated there is ‘no evidence’ of fraud in the 2020 Election. In actuality, there is no evidence Joe Biden won.”

But as I read deeper into the report, I had a different reaction. Far from being a laughing matter, this is perhaps the most diabolical document that I have ever seen. It is breathtaking in its denialism, fervent in its commitment to the Big Lie, and masterfully alchemistic in its attempt to turn accusation into evidence. Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, which he insistently repeats at every opportunity, have never been more compellingly rendered. It’s so slick that you don’t have to be stupid to be taken in, although it helps.

Trump’s decision to release this report in the thick of his multiple legal battles reminds me in its recklessness of the apocryphal conundrum of the Manhattan Project scientists in the film Oppenheimer: They acknowledged the theoretical possibility that an atomic bomb test might set off a chain reaction that would destroy the entire planet and then did it anyway.

“Summary of Election Fraud” is, in Trump’s hands, a tactical nuclear weapon meant to destroy one true statement—that Trump lost the 2020 election. But its detonation could create a chain reaction that also destroys whatever remains of his most devoted followers’ ability to perceive reality.

..

[Brooklyn]

tRump calls for economic crash



https://www.google.com/search?q=trump+c ... e&ie=UTF-8


Your next president? Pathetic!

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Thanks for the note, ONW. In about a month, more or less, we can start arguing about stuff that matters.

You're welcome.

I don't know--you're usually pretty fair and spot on. Hard to poke holes in your opinions when it comes to lacrosse. Looking forward to your commentary, especially the brief explanations that go with your weekly poll submittals.

Best till then.

[OCanada]

Trump last night

"He bragged about 'terminating' Roe v. Wade. He said, 'If it weren't for me, that 10-year-old girl in Ohio that an illegal immigrant raped, if it weren't for me, she wouldn't have had to flee the state. If it weren't for me, women wouldn't be, like, dying outside of emergency rooms because doctors are afraid to conduct women's health care,'

[OCanada]

Politico: Trump and NATo

One of Europe's most senior politicians recounted how former U.S. President Donald Trump privately warned that America would not come to the EU's aid if it was attacked militarily.

"You need to understand that if Europe is under attack we will never come to help you and to support you," Trump told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in 2020, according to French European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who was also present at a meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"By the way, NATO is dead, and we will leave, we will quit NATO," Trump also said, according to Breton. "And he added, ‘and by the way, you owe me $400 billion, because you didn’t pay, you Germans, what you had to pay for defense,'" Breton said about the tense meeting, where the EU's then-trade chief Phil Hogan was also present.

As reported by Politico, President Biden’s campaign responded instantly to the report:

“The idea that he would abandon our allies if he doesn’t get his way underscores what we already know to be true about Donald Trump: The only person he cares about is himself,” Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa told POLITICO in a statement.

[Seacoaster(1)]

So much winning. Trump ordered to pay the NY Times and other defendants $392,000 in attorney's fees:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents ... e-decision

Bringing lawsuits like this one is a test of judgment, which Trump and his attorneys almost always fail. Doesn't this kind of suggest, you know, bad judgment? Isn't bad judgment a negative characteristic in a, you know, President?

[jhu72]

Trump last night

"He bragged about 'terminating' Roe v. Wade. He said, 'If it weren't for me, that 10-year-old girl in Ohio that an illegal immigrant raped, if it weren't for me, she wouldn't have had to flee the state. If it weren't for me, women wouldn't be, like, dying outside of emergency rooms because doctors are afraid to conduct women's health care,'

... the TV ADs write themselves. Trump gives the best arguments for why one should not vote for him.

[youthathletics]

Frank Lutz: https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1746015 ... a82I2GssRg

[Seacoaster(1)]

Frank Lutz: https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1746015 ... a82I2GssRg

All because of the cowardly toadies who buy his bullsh@t. Sound like anyone you know?

[youthathletics]

Frank Lutz: https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1746015 ... a82I2GssRg

All because of the cowardly toadies who buy his bullsh@t. Sound like anyone you know?

So brining news from one of the top pollsters, now implies my favoritism for what this gentleman states.

I’ll now add you to the list of fanlax posters that do not listen very well and struggle to play with others. As I’ve stated on many occasions I’m not a Trump guy.

[MDlaxfan76]

Frank Lutz: https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1746015 ... a82I2GssRg

All because of the cowardly toadies who buy his bullsh@t. Sound like anyone you know?

So brining news from one of the top pollsters, now implies my favoritism for what this gentleman states.

I’ll now add you to the list of fanlax posters that do not listen very well and struggle to play with others. As I’ve stated on many occasions I’m not a Trump guy.

sheesh, it's not a stretch, youth.

And yikes look at your twitter feed...you gonna tell us those folks aren't buying the BS from Trump?

As to Luntz, he's a Republican pollster and messaging specialist. I don't think he's a MAGA acolyte though, which is why he's so uncomfortable about the notion that Trump is even in the contest despite his obvious disqualifications...but huge numbers of people want Trump's BS, need his BS...they've bought and it's really, really hard to un-buy, psychologically.

But any pollster who says that he actually has a clue where we'll be when the voting happens next November, based on polling now, is selling you swampland in Florida. They don't actually know.

The contrarian point to Luntz reading the polling numbers is that Trump and Trump endorsed candidates have a miserable showing in every election cycle since 2016. No strong wins, losses piled on losses. So, when voters actually vote, they have been voting away from Trump. Trump dominates the GOP, but not the country.

Will that continue?
Trump is openly saying that he hopes the economy will tank...could it? Sure.
But it's more likely that people will realize how well the economy is actually doing, whether in absolute terms, historical terms, or relative to any other developed country since covid.

And the Infrastructure Act and CHIPs Act are kicking into gear now..., whole lot of ribbon cutting coming this year...

Abortion will be a huge issue and Trump and the right wing nut jobs keep writing the ads for the Dems.

Trump's legal woes will harden his cult base, but they will starkly remind the middle that a vote for Trump is voting against the rule of law. And a whole lot (enough) of R's and I's who could have been fine with another Republican will know it's important to vote against Trump.

when this gets truly binary, I think Trump loses soundly again...the wild card is a non-binary choice.

[MDlaxfan76]

An opinion piece by a journalist known for his very pointed opinions...but read the quotes from Trump's former officials who were up close to him as President:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/13/opinions ... index.html

It’s not just Democrats and independents who are sounding the alarm. A truly stunning number of former Cabinet-level Trump administration officials are trying to warn Republican primary voters that their old boss’s reelection would be a disaster for our country.

Take them seriously as well as literally. There is no precedent for two dozen former White House officials coming out so strongly against the fundamental fitness of the man they served with on a day-to-day basis.

Here’s Donald Trump’s own vice president, Mike Pence: “Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States. … President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution.”

Here’s one of his defense secretaries, retired Gen. James Mattis: “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people – does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us.” Mattis has also said, “He is more dangerous than anyone could ever imagine.”

Here’s one of his former chiefs of staff and homeland security secretaries, retired Gen. John Kelly, describing Trump to our CNN colleague Jake Tapper as “A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about … A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.”

Here’s his second attorney general, Bill Barr: “He is a consummate narcissist. And he constantly engages in reckless conduct. … He will always put his own interests, and gratifying his own ego, ahead of everything else, including the country’s interest.”

Here’s one of his national security advisers, retired Lt. Gen. HR McMaster: “President Trump and other officials have repeatedly compromised our principles in pursuit of partisan advantage and personal gain.”

Here’s another national security adviser, John Bolton: “I have been in those rooms with him when he met with those [world] leaders, I believe they think he’s a laughing fool. And the idea that somehow his presence in office would have deterred Putin is flatly wrong … He’s not fit to be president.”

Here’s another former defense secretary, Mark Esper: “He puts himself before country. His actions are all about him and not about the country.”

[youthathletics]

Frank Lutz: https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1746015 ... a82I2GssRg

All because of the cowardly toadies who buy his bullsh@t. Sound like anyone you know?

So brining news from one of the top pollsters, now implies my favoritism for what this gentleman states.

I’ll now add you to the list of fanlax posters that do not listen very well and struggle to play with others. As I’ve stated on many occasions I’m not a Trump guy.

sheesh, it's not a stretch, youth.

And yikes look at your twitter feed...you gonna tell us those folks aren't buying the BS from Trump?

As to Luntz, he's a Republican pollster and messaging specialist. I don't think he's a MAGA acolyte though, which is why he's so uncomfortable about the notion that Trump is even in the contest despite his obvious disqualifications...but huge numbers of people want Trump's BS, need his BS...they've bought and it's really, really hard to un-buy, psychologically.

But any pollster who says that he actually has a clue where we'll be when the voting happens next November, based on polling now, is selling you swampland in Florida. They don't actually know.

The contrarian point to Luntz reading the polling numbers is that Trump and Trump endorsed candidates have a miserable showing in every election cycle since 2016. No strong wins, losses piled on losses. So, when voters actually vote, they have been voting away from Trump. Trump dominates the GOP, but not the country.

Will that continue?
Trump is openly saying that he hopes the economy will tank...could it? Sure.
But it's more likely that people will realize how well the economy is actually doing, whether in absolute terms, historical terms, or relative to any other developed country since covid.

And the Infrastructure Act and CHIPs Act are kicking into gear now..., whole lot of ribbon cutting coming this year...

Abortion will be a huge issue and Trump and the right wing nut jobs keep writing the ads for the Dems.

Trump's legal woes will harden his cult base, but they will starkly remind the middle that a vote for Trump is voting against the rule of law. And a whole lot (enough) of R's and I's who could have been fine with another Republican will know it's important to vote against Trump.

when this gets truly binary, I think Trump loses soundly again...the wild card is a non-binary choice.

Thanks Frank! I have no clue why you fight back so hard over a clip from Luntz. You are free to pontificate, as did Frank, after gathering the pulse from his career polling.

Seems like you are willing your inner contempt to make change, which I get.

[Seacoaster(1)]

Frank Lutz: https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1746015 ... a82I2GssRg

All because of the cowardly toadies who buy his bullsh@t. Sound like anyone you know?

So brining news from one of the top pollsters, now implies my favoritism for what this gentleman states.

I’ll now add you to the list of fanlax posters that do not listen very well and struggle to play with others. As I’ve stated on many occasions I’m not a Trump guy.

I wasn't really referring to you, although your comments here often run interference for Trump, and it is true: the twitter material and sources you often cite to are in the bag for Trump and his movement. No, I was really talking about the cowards who make up your party's leadership in the Senate and House (especially; I mean, have you actually listened to GOP House members over the last year or so?). I am talking about the Governor of my state, who lampoons Trump, supports Nikita, but insists he will vote for Trump if he is the nominee, and unfortunately countless other feckless asshats that call themselves Republicans. But in the end it is your party that props this disgusting vulture up.

[MDlaxfan76]

Frank Lutz: https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1746015 ... a82I2GssRg

All because of the cowardly toadies who buy his bullsh@t. Sound like anyone you know?

So brining news from one of the top pollsters, now implies my favoritism for what this gentleman states.

I’ll now add you to the list of fanlax posters that do not listen very well and struggle to play with others. As I’ve stated on many occasions I’m not a Trump guy.

sheesh, it's not a stretch, youth.

And yikes look at your twitter feed...you gonna tell us those folks aren't buying the BS from Trump?

As to Luntz, he's a Republican pollster and messaging specialist. I don't think he's a MAGA acolyte though, which is why he's so uncomfortable about the notion that Trump is even in the contest despite his obvious disqualifications...but huge numbers of people want Trump's BS, need his BS...they've bought and it's really, really hard to un-buy, psychologically.

But any pollster who says that he actually has a clue where we'll be when the voting happens next November, based on polling now, is selling you swampland in Florida. They don't actually know.

The contrarian point to Luntz reading the polling numbers is that Trump and Trump endorsed candidates have a miserable showing in every election cycle since 2016. No strong wins, losses piled on losses. So, when voters actually vote, they have been voting away from Trump. Trump dominates the GOP, but not the country.

Will that continue?
Trump is openly saying that he hopes the economy will tank...could it? Sure.
But it's more likely that people will realize how well the economy is actually doing, whether in absolute terms, historical terms, or relative to any other developed country since covid.

And the Infrastructure Act and CHIPs Act are kicking into gear now..., whole lot of ribbon cutting coming this year...

Abortion will be a huge issue and Trump and the right wing nut jobs keep writing the ads for the Dems.

Trump's legal woes will harden his cult base, but they will starkly remind the middle that a vote for Trump is voting against the rule of law. And a whole lot (enough) of R's and I's who could have been fine with another Republican will know it's important to vote against Trump.

when this gets truly binary, I think Trump loses soundly again...the wild card is a non-binary choice.

Thanks Frank! I have no clue why you fight back so hard over a clip from Luntz. You are free to pontificate, as did Frank, after gathering the pulse from his career polling.

Seems like you are willing your inner contempt to make change, which I get.

I'm not sure what "willing my contempt to make change" means, but sure, I'm hoping enough rational R's and I's realize what the former Trump Admin officials have said, what Cheney is saying, Hogan, Romney, etc is critically important, no matter whether they'd prefer some other R to Biden. They need to vote against Trump.
(I've met a whole lot of 2016 and 2020 Trump voters who say they will abstain, vote third party or vote for Biden in 2024); Biden will need as many as possible to actually vote for him, but even the loss of 2020 R votes for Trump will help)

Again, Luntz is worried for good reason. If enough of those voters described above don't do as they did in 2020 voting for Biden, and/or a third party candidate or set of candidates pulls votes from Biden, Trump could get through again with well less than 50% of the overall vote.

I simply don't think he will ever win an actual majority of voters, above 50% of votes cast.
And that ushers in Trump Unbound, MAGA Unbound.

Again, listen to those former Trump Admin officials.
Those were the "guard rails" that Salty assured us would keep Trump from doing his worst...there will be no one like them who will serve in the next Admin. Whether because no one like them will want to do so or because the Trump loyalty test will be upfront in all selections, it doesn't matter. The Admin will be filled with only Jan 6 election deniers and full on fascists willing to do whatever is ordered and expedient.

MAGA has hardened, they're angry and feel entirely righteous in their anger. Deluded, but 'righteous'. And willing to use violence, certainly no care for the rule of law other than as a weapon of suppression and retribution.

They've abandoned any notion of actually doing what a majority of Americans want on a whole slew of issues, and they think that demographics are the problem...too many people who don't look like them, worship as they do, etc. So, raw power through whatever means is the alternative to achieving 50+% support.

Certainly the loss of democracy should be a huge issue when the campaign comes down the final weeks, but that could well be swamped by some other calamity.

Likewise, abortion access will be a huge issue, with Trump way on the wrong side of the American public, but that too could get swamped.

We just don't know what is going to play out in the world or domestically over the next 9 months and Luntz certainly doesn't know either...I take no issue in his sounding what I take to be alarm bells though.

Bottomline, read those quotes from the former Trump Admin. Take them to heart.
Share them...

[cradleandshoot]

Frank Lutz: https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1746015 ... a82I2GssRg

All because of the cowardly toadies who buy his bullsh@t. Sound like anyone you know?

So brining news from one of the top pollsters, now implies my favoritism for what this gentleman states.

I’ll now add you to the list of fanlax posters that do not listen very well and struggle to play with others. As I’ve stated on many occasions I’m not a Trump guy.

sheesh, it's not a stretch, youth.

And yikes look at your twitter feed...you gonna tell us those folks aren't buying the BS from Trump?

As to Luntz, he's a Republican pollster and messaging specialist. I don't think he's a MAGA acolyte though, which is why he's so uncomfortable about the notion that Trump is even in the contest despite his obvious disqualifications...but huge numbers of people want Trump's BS, need his BS...they've bought and it's really, really hard to un-buy, psychologically.

But any pollster who says that he actually has a clue where we'll be when the voting happens next November, based on polling now, is selling you swampland in Florida. They don't actually know.

The contrarian point to Luntz reading the polling numbers is that Trump and Trump endorsed candidates have a miserable showing in every election cycle since 2016. No strong wins, losses piled on losses. So, when voters actually vote, they have been voting away from Trump. Trump dominates the GOP, but not the country.

Will that continue?
Trump is openly saying that he hopes the economy will tank...could it? Sure.
But it's more likely that people will realize how well the economy is actually doing, whether in absolute terms, historical terms, or relative to any other developed country since covid.

And the Infrastructure Act and CHIPs Act are kicking into gear now..., whole lot of ribbon cutting coming this year...

Abortion will be a huge issue and Trump and the right wing nut jobs keep writing the ads for the Dems.

Trump's legal woes will harden his cult base, but they will starkly remind the middle that a vote for Trump is voting against the rule of law. And a whole lot (enough) of R's and I's who could have been fine with another Republican will know it's important to vote against Trump.

when this gets truly binary, I think Trump loses soundly again...the wild card is a non-binary choice.

Thanks Frank! I have no clue why you fight back so hard over a clip from Luntz. You are free to pontificate, as did Frank, after gathering the pulse from his career polling.

Seems like you are willing your inner contempt to make change, which I get.

I'm not sure what "willing my contempt to make change" means, but sure, I'm hoping enough rational R's and I's realize what the former Trump Admin officials have said, what Cheney is saying, Hogan, Romney, etc is critically important, no matter whether they'd prefer some other R to Biden. They need to vote against Trump.
(I've met a whole lot of 2016 and 2020 Trump voters who say they will abstain, vote third party or vote for Biden in 2024); Biden will need as many as possible to actually vote for him, but even the loss of 2020 R votes for Trump will help)

Again, Luntz is worried for good reason. If enough of those voters described above don't do as they did in 2020 voting for Biden, and/or a third party candidate or set of candidates pulls votes from Biden, Trump could get through again with well less than 50% of the overall vote.

I simply don't think he will ever win an actual majority of voters, above 50% of votes cast.
And that ushers in Trump Unbound, MAGA Unbound.

Again, listen to those former Trump Admin officials.
Those were the "guard rails" that Salty assured us would keep Trump from doing his worst...there will be no one like them who will serve in the next Admin. Whether because no one like them will want to do so or because the Trump loyalty test will be upfront in all selections, it doesn't matter. The Admin will be filled with only Jan 6 election deniers and full on fascists willing to do whatever is ordered and expedient.

MAGA has hardened, they're angry and feel entirely righteous in their anger. Deluded, but 'righteous'. And willing to use violence, certainly no care for the rule of law other than as a weapon of suppression and retribution.

They've abandoned any notion of actually doing what a majority of Americans want on a whole slew of issues, and they think that demographics are the problem...too many people who don't look like them, worship as they do, etc. So, raw power through whatever means is the alternative to achieving 50+% support.

Certainly the loss of democracy should be a huge issue when the campaign comes down the final weeks, but that could well be swamped by some other calamity.

Likewise, abortion access will be a huge issue, with Trump way on the wrong side of the American public, but that too could get swamped.

We just don't know what is going to play out in the world or domestically over the next 9 months and Luntz certainly doesn't know either...I take no issue in his sounding what I take to be alarm bells though.

Bottomline, read those quotes from the former Trump Admin. Take them to heart.
Share them...

Your vision for what the Republican party should be is noble but very nearsighted. Why do you think those MAGA folks are so ticked off at your party? At some point in time bipartisanship has to be kicked to the curb. Your vision for your party doesn't include the intestinal fortitude to stand toe to toe with Democrats when that is what needs to happen. My best friend, also a lifelong Republican, quit your party just for that reason. The Republican party in NYS is a complete laughing stock for their inability to accomplish anything.

The Democrats that run this state laugh at them, mock them and then kick them to the curb. My good friend, after moving to South Carolina, rejoined your party. Why, because in his opinion the Republicans in his state actually act like the Republicans in NYS use to act. There could be 74 million of those MAGA Republicans you despise so much that will vote for trump again. It's not complicated to figure out, they don't agree with your vision for your party. If you think you can change their minds then good luck with that. What you have is a play on the words of Abraham Lincoln. A party divided against itself can't stand. The idea that good Republicans like yourself can't play nice with bad Republicans like them sure as hell isn't going to win your party very many national elections.

On a side note the world is going to hell in a hand basket all around us. The mess going on in Gaza is on the verge of blowing up big-time. China is just chomping at the bit to take back Taiwan. Russia and Ukraine is still a blood stained stalemate. I hope you realize that the dysfunction going on in America today is not being overlooked by the rest of the world. Hell our navy can barely keep our ships ready to fight. When your weak and dysfunctional as a nation you become vulnerable. The Roman empire is a prime example of that.

[MDlaxfan76]

yes, the dangers of dysfunction are real.

I realize that you think that parties should fight and obstruct and prevent majority rule, but that's where the dysfunction happens. Governance happens when the parties argue but compromise where majorities can support the outcomes.

For instance, Reagan faced enormous dangers, but didn't have that dysfunction because Dems in Congress weren't obstructionists. They compromised...and on international affairs they by and large supported a strong international presence and national defense. That's where the middle of the electorate were...

And as I've pointed out numerous times, the GOP has won more Presidential elections than Dems over multiple decades by appealing to majorities in the middle, not the lowest base. That's democracy.

What MAGA assumes is that they can't win a majority because of demographics...so, they are trying to achieve power without majority support.

My "vision" isn't "near", the short term is disastrous for the GOP, unless MAGA gains control and we move to authoritarian rule. My "vision" is that defeat of that strategy will eventually result in a rational re-making of the party more in the Lincoln and TR and Reagan tradition, rejecting the most extreme elements of the now MAGA GOP. Nazis simply have no place in Lincoln's or Reagan's GOP...that this isn't obvious tells me how whacked the situation is...short term...I retain long term hope.

[youthathletics]

The deep state, is just putting it out there: https://x.com/nbcnews/status/1746555322 ... a82I2GssRg