Donald Trump will not be on the debate stage on Wednesday night. The second-place contender Ron DeSantis will be joined on stage by Doug Burgum, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Tim Scott. Instead, Trump will be on Twitter with Tucker Carlson. Remember that so long as 50% of a video is viewable for 3 seconds on Twitter,
It's the same gig with Trump and the Press (Democrats) as it was in 2016...give him all the coverage (for free publicity) while the other Republicans needed to invest campaign funds...get Trump the nomination so he can lose to Clinton...
I guess this time the collaboration also has legal problems built in to it, so he won't "accidentally" win again ("got to be SURE this time")...
And again, the Republicans have a GREAT bench that will struggle to be noticed and nominated...but would "cake walk" into the Oval Office if matched against Biden...
It was GREAT to hear 6 of them speak last week...I hope that they all figure out that "Long Form Non-Traditional" media is the only way to get around the Trump phenomena...
God help us all. The "Vengeance will be mine" tour of 2024 will be a never ending gift that keeps on giving to Democrats. Wouldn't shock me for there to be a Kari Lake VP choice to complete the square on another potential loss to the equivalent of a house plant.
The only question then is who does the "No Labels" candidate Larry Hogan is promising if Trump is in the mix hurt more? Does it pull from Biden or Trump more?
But people better pay attention to VP because if lightning strikes and Trump wins, this time there may be the appetite to convict and not just impeach.
Trump is awful. He was certainly far from a perfect president. He was very flawed. Among the examples was his utter failure to build a wall and then lying about it. Another example was his profligate government spending budgets. So isn’t it so very, very sad that far and away and head and antlers, he is the best choice for office that the Republican Party has to offer. You Trump haters better wise up and swallow your pride and hatred, and look again at every single poll and then finally recognize and embrace your obligation to vote for him as the only hope of saving our society.
The gathering was fantastic. The best part was the conversations around the table. I would LOVE for an opportunity at the next one to have an extended break or something that encourages people to get up and talk to other tables so we can all connect on a wider plain. It was fabulous. Thanks.
I truly hope those candidates who were at the Gathering can break out this week and begin to gain momentum so we see the poll numbers closing with Trump. There are so many better candidates out there if only people can get to see them.
• Donations are an indication of an early vote in your pocket.
• Polls drive donations up and down.
• Keep watching the money.
If you want a say then now is the time to send someone a donation.
Debates:
• There will never be a final POTUS face off, unless the Dems dump Brandon and sub in Newsome…. Then Newsome will be eager to debate.
• Tomorrow’s RNC debate will have the largest global audience in history. Some watching the debate. Some watching Trump TV. But all focused on the Republican candidates and the drama unfolding.
N.E.W.S is no longer your father’s news:
• The printed press is all but gone.
• The cable press is all about sex & violence & clicks for advertisers, its no longer about news or the truth.
• But… FOX owns over 50% of that market.
Conservative viral moments are spontaneously breaking out:
• Try that in a Small town
• Rich men north of Richmond
All this leads up to a primary vote on Super Tuesday.
We are trying to decide between a Governor and Vivek. DeSantis and Christy were both impressive, and I briefly thought about sending Christy a check, until he talked about fattening up the Dept of Ed. DeSantis gets the check, but Vivek would be a breath of fresh air.
Erick’s Gathering taught me that the group to capture is White Educated Suburban Women. This is not me, but my wife Kelly. She wants a conservative Governor and is considering DeSantis vs Haley.
The race does not begin until June 1, 2024, and we still don’t know what the real issues will be. Today it looks like the economy and crime, but not abortion.
I am a 2 time Trump voter, but I'm so sick and tired of him and his shenanigans that even if he is the nominee I may not vote for him. It goes without saying that I will not vote for him in the primary!
Two systems of justice, two sets of rules, two sets of standards, all of which are selectively applied (or not) for political purposes. We the People witness it every day.
To your point, I ask this: How do progressives feel about Jinchao "Patrick" Wei, the Navy sailor who was recently arrested for selling defense secrets to the Chinese? Because if Wei should be prosecuted in the eyes of progressives, then supporting Biden is pure hypocrisy.
Tucker, your desire for the Left to use logic and fair reasoning is laudable but not realistic. None of what is happening and being revealed on Hunter and Joe is seen as problematic by any of them and they were all screaming about the same things for Trump tilting at windmills for four years. They refuse to even acknowledge the WuFlu origins were actually from the Wuhan lab, the Steel dosier was BS, and Hunter's laptop was real. How can you expect them to be rational about any serious issue? Perhaps I'm misreading you and you don't expect that but that's what I took away from your comment. I apologize in advance if I misunderstood you.
I should've been clearer. I'm attempting to pose a real question because I don't factually know where progressives stand on Wei. If what Wei did is no big deal to progressives, then I understand their support of Biden. But if they see Wei as a traitor, how can they POSSIBLY show support to the Biden syndicate?? Of course, you do a fantastic job of illustrating their willingness to live in that rare ether of belief over substance, which kind of dismantles any attempt on my behalf to give them credit for logic!
They can hold both that Wei is a spy and Biden is just fine. I promise. How you might ask? Because they are (D)ifferent. I promise that is the answer. The mental gymnastics are such that "it's all partisan and made up skewing reality" is one such way. If you want to understand it better/more look at Biden admitting on video using his power and position to get the Ukrainian prosecutor fired and compare that to Trump's phone call to Ukraine that got an impeachment for abuse of power rolling. I'm certain you had conversations around those two events. The reasons behind why Biden's actions were pure as the wind-driven snow but Trumps were abuse of power and impeachable still hold true to Wei and Biden. Promise.
Thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable weekend of stimulating conversations. The variety of issues discussed was eye opening and will carry our family forward with confidence in our decisions in this election cycle.
Having said that, your message this morning causes me to feel as though we are all being hopelessly manipulated into an untenable position by one individual and his one media ally, Fox. Is there no way out if this mess?
Trump mastered the TV medium. Then he mastered Twitter or X or whatever it’ll be called. Vivek will shine. DeSantis will continue to fade. Christie, Haley and Scott may score a jab or two, but that’s about it. If Never Trump is unwilling to galvanize around the man, maybe it’s time - we’ll past time actually - for them to galvanize around the defeat of a corrupt President and the cleaning up of an out of control government bureaucracy.
I'm for that. But, if Trump were to win the presidency, without both Houses of Congress in Republican hands, the - democrat machine will ceaselessly attempt to roll him. And if Trump winning the nomination causes a third party candidate to emerge, that could throw things for a loop. Depending on whom that candidate would be, they might actually win. But, if Trump were to strongly support one of the current Republican candidates, cannot see how Republicans could lose, eccept through shenanigans.
As much as the party clearly wants someone other than Trump, I just can’t feel it happening. His base now sees that the party is just as complicit in the problems we are encountering from running up the national debt to not addressing cultural issues for the better part of 50 years. I just think we’re in a very different place, Peaceful Dad. Immediate case of GOO weakness is McCarthy hemming and hawing over opening an impeachment inquiry. And McConnell trying to dismiss it outright. I mean bank records, SARs, email pseudonyms? What more does the GOP leadership need? If it were the Dems with this type of information, they’d be well beyond an inquiry. We’re in very different times.
Totally agree with the evidence piling up. McConnell and McCarthy may dither as much as they like, but the house Republicans are not going to back down. Think they are doing this carefully and slowly, brick by brick, because for a case to be made against a democrat, it must be completely iron-clad. So much so that even the MSM can't brush it away. I think they are carefully working on that.
It's the same gig with Trump and the Press (Democrats) as it was in 2016...give him all the coverage (for free publicity) while the other Republicans needed to invest campaign funds...get Trump the nomination so he can lose to Clinton...
I guess this time the collaboration also has legal problems built in to it, so he won't "accidentally" win again ("got to be SURE this time")...
And again, the Republicans have a GREAT bench that will struggle to be noticed and nominated...but would "cake walk" into the Oval Office if matched against Biden...
It was GREAT to hear 6 of them speak last week...I hope that they all figure out that "Long Form Non-Traditional" media is the only way to get around the Trump phenomena...
Vivek Ramaswamy leaves the other candidates in the dust. The question is are voters able to see past
there noses. They elected Joe Biden in spite of his history and Donald Trumps superior policies.
God help us all. The "Vengeance will be mine" tour of 2024 will be a never ending gift that keeps on giving to Democrats. Wouldn't shock me for there to be a Kari Lake VP choice to complete the square on another potential loss to the equivalent of a house plant.
The only question then is who does the "No Labels" candidate Larry Hogan is promising if Trump is in the mix hurt more? Does it pull from Biden or Trump more?
Don’t forget that woman from NW Georgia is opening running to be Trump’s VP. That, or sabotage the 2026 Senate race here at home to punish Kemp.
That could be the potential cat fight of the century
But people better pay attention to VP because if lightning strikes and Trump wins, this time there may be the appetite to convict and not just impeach.
Talking about Trump pays the bills for msnbc,cnn,etc...
Trump is awful. He was certainly far from a perfect president. He was very flawed. Among the examples was his utter failure to build a wall and then lying about it. Another example was his profligate government spending budgets. So isn’t it so very, very sad that far and away and head and antlers, he is the best choice for office that the Republican Party has to offer. You Trump haters better wise up and swallow your pride and hatred, and look again at every single poll and then finally recognize and embrace your obligation to vote for him as the only hope of saving our society.
and he has the advantage of a press corps that is addicted to covering him.
So the progressive base can expect more fear porn quoting the "stats".
There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
His strategy of sucking the oxygen out of the room so no one else can catch fire with voters is smart...
This is exactly why we have the Electoral College, to prevent golden throated politicians from winning based on the popular vote.
Obama managed to outsmart it, or the American people anyway.
The down side for the GOP is that is the last safety mechanism, so it means Trump may loose the general election.
The gathering was fantastic. The best part was the conversations around the table. I would LOVE for an opportunity at the next one to have an extended break or something that encourages people to get up and talk to other tables so we can all connect on a wider plain. It was fabulous. Thanks.
I truly hope those candidates who were at the Gathering can break out this week and begin to gain momentum so we see the poll numbers closing with Trump. There are so many better candidates out there if only people can get to see them.
As you said… unfortunate.
Erick, Since you've given post-debate advice for candidates, how about giving your advice for what you think they should do during the debate?
Mention Trump or ignore Trump? What issues should they stress/focus on?
Until the primary:
• Politicians thrive on cold hard cash.
• Donations are an indication of an early vote in your pocket.
• Polls drive donations up and down.
• Keep watching the money.
If you want a say then now is the time to send someone a donation.
Debates:
• There will never be a final POTUS face off, unless the Dems dump Brandon and sub in Newsome…. Then Newsome will be eager to debate.
• Tomorrow’s RNC debate will have the largest global audience in history. Some watching the debate. Some watching Trump TV. But all focused on the Republican candidates and the drama unfolding.
N.E.W.S is no longer your father’s news:
• The printed press is all but gone.
• The cable press is all about sex & violence & clicks for advertisers, its no longer about news or the truth.
• But… FOX owns over 50% of that market.
Conservative viral moments are spontaneously breaking out:
• Try that in a Small town
• Rich men north of Richmond
All this leads up to a primary vote on Super Tuesday.
We are trying to decide between a Governor and Vivek. DeSantis and Christy were both impressive, and I briefly thought about sending Christy a check, until he talked about fattening up the Dept of Ed. DeSantis gets the check, but Vivek would be a breath of fresh air.
Erick’s Gathering taught me that the group to capture is White Educated Suburban Women. This is not me, but my wife Kelly. She wants a conservative Governor and is considering DeSantis vs Haley.
The race does not begin until June 1, 2024, and we still don’t know what the real issues will be. Today it looks like the economy and crime, but not abortion.
Christy was just a road block to the democrats in NJ. The lesser of two evils.
I am a 2 time Trump voter, but I'm so sick and tired of him and his shenanigans that even if he is the nominee I may not vote for him. It goes without saying that I will not vote for him in the primary!
I wonder whether Fox is team Trump? Restrictions on debate footage certainly seem to make it easier to forget there are several better candidates!
Two systems of justice, two sets of rules, two sets of standards, all of which are selectively applied (or not) for political purposes. We the People witness it every day.
To your point, I ask this: How do progressives feel about Jinchao "Patrick" Wei, the Navy sailor who was recently arrested for selling defense secrets to the Chinese? Because if Wei should be prosecuted in the eyes of progressives, then supporting Biden is pure hypocrisy.
Tucker, your desire for the Left to use logic and fair reasoning is laudable but not realistic. None of what is happening and being revealed on Hunter and Joe is seen as problematic by any of them and they were all screaming about the same things for Trump tilting at windmills for four years. They refuse to even acknowledge the WuFlu origins were actually from the Wuhan lab, the Steel dosier was BS, and Hunter's laptop was real. How can you expect them to be rational about any serious issue? Perhaps I'm misreading you and you don't expect that but that's what I took away from your comment. I apologize in advance if I misunderstood you.
I should've been clearer. I'm attempting to pose a real question because I don't factually know where progressives stand on Wei. If what Wei did is no big deal to progressives, then I understand their support of Biden. But if they see Wei as a traitor, how can they POSSIBLY show support to the Biden syndicate?? Of course, you do a fantastic job of illustrating their willingness to live in that rare ether of belief over substance, which kind of dismantles any attempt on my behalf to give them credit for logic!
They can hold both that Wei is a spy and Biden is just fine. I promise. How you might ask? Because they are (D)ifferent. I promise that is the answer. The mental gymnastics are such that "it's all partisan and made up skewing reality" is one such way. If you want to understand it better/more look at Biden admitting on video using his power and position to get the Ukrainian prosecutor fired and compare that to Trump's phone call to Ukraine that got an impeachment for abuse of power rolling. I'm certain you had conversations around those two events. The reasons behind why Biden's actions were pure as the wind-driven snow but Trumps were abuse of power and impeachable still hold true to Wei and Biden. Promise.
Well said!
To be a successful modern left-wing progressive requires a high belief in "situational ethics".... i.e., pure hypocrisy.
Thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable weekend of stimulating conversations. The variety of issues discussed was eye opening and will carry our family forward with confidence in our decisions in this election cycle.
Having said that, your message this morning causes me to feel as though we are all being hopelessly manipulated into an untenable position by one individual and his one media ally, Fox. Is there no way out if this mess?
It's early. Have faith.
Trump mastered the TV medium. Then he mastered Twitter or X or whatever it’ll be called. Vivek will shine. DeSantis will continue to fade. Christie, Haley and Scott may score a jab or two, but that’s about it. If Never Trump is unwilling to galvanize around the man, maybe it’s time - we’ll past time actually - for them to galvanize around the defeat of a corrupt President and the cleaning up of an out of control government bureaucracy.
I'm for that. But, if Trump were to win the presidency, without both Houses of Congress in Republican hands, the - democrat machine will ceaselessly attempt to roll him. And if Trump winning the nomination causes a third party candidate to emerge, that could throw things for a loop. Depending on whom that candidate would be, they might actually win. But, if Trump were to strongly support one of the current Republican candidates, cannot see how Republicans could lose, eccept through shenanigans.
As much as the party clearly wants someone other than Trump, I just can’t feel it happening. His base now sees that the party is just as complicit in the problems we are encountering from running up the national debt to not addressing cultural issues for the better part of 50 years. I just think we’re in a very different place, Peaceful Dad. Immediate case of GOO weakness is McCarthy hemming and hawing over opening an impeachment inquiry. And McConnell trying to dismiss it outright. I mean bank records, SARs, email pseudonyms? What more does the GOP leadership need? If it were the Dems with this type of information, they’d be well beyond an inquiry. We’re in very different times.
Totally agree with the evidence piling up. McConnell and McCarthy may dither as much as they like, but the house Republicans are not going to back down. Think they are doing this carefully and slowly, brick by brick, because for a case to be made against a democrat, it must be completely iron-clad. So much so that even the MSM can't brush it away. I think they are carefully working on that.
They better or the GOP will cease to exist in 5 years.