The one lesson the D's learned is that if you have an unpopular candidate who brings serious issues to the table and jeopardizes the election, ditch and replace (what they should have done with HIllary, but they were similarly convinced she was inevitably going to win). Many said that the first party to replace either Trump or Biden, both deeply unpopular candidates, had a great shot at winning in November, and I believe that is true. People want ANYBODY but these two. Harris, while deeply flawed, doesn't have the last name of Trump or Biden, so she gets points for that alone with a lot of people. Voters have a slightly more palatable option to Trump and many will take it.
That window has closed for the GOP. We are stuck with Trump and HIS serious issues and the people who elevated him to nominee will have to own whatever happens in November, good or bad. They will have to own whether THEY were ruthless enough to win or whether they were just fans in service to a cult headed up by a deeply flawed man that many of them have elevated to deity status.
Should Trump lose, I guess they will at least have the comfort of all the Trump-branded tchotchkes they bought (and further enriched Trump with) along the way. The rest of us will unfortunately have seen it coming and have to suffer through at least another 4 years of progressive Dems and their policies.
The MAGA mob is already preparing us for the stolen election BS, and/or to blame conservatives who oppose a narcissistic psycopath. It's never Trump's fault, there's always someone else to blame. A sure sign of, well, a narcissistic psycopath.
Your thought provoking post seems to have triggered some readers. As with many things in life, there are many different meanings to the word “fight” and many different styles of fighting. But all of us need to look around and see that there is a) something still worth fighting for and 2) there others who are intent on imposing their agenda “by any means necessary.” I am not an advocate of ruthless behavior on our part, nor do I think the best course of action is to adopt the tactics of the opposition. But seeing JD Vance and others master the ways to blunt the media attacks, and others who are out there doing what is right just need us to find something of our own to contribute. Snarking and complaining about Trump or anyone else is worthless - it serves no positive purpose nor inspires others to work toward the objectives of stopping the slide into socialism and ruin. Show us with actions how to restore the nation and stop the moaning about the team on the field.
plenty of people have been trying to 'show Trump with actions' how to restore the nation and act like a focused, disciplined candidate laser focused on the issues people care about, but all he wants to do is vent his spleen about 2020 and anybody (Gov Kemp, Mike Pence, et al) who have not done his bidding or attacked him. He doesn't listen to cooler heads who know how to win races so what would you have US do? He's the one on TV. He's the one at the top of the ticket.
He makes it hard for us to 'do our part' when he so frequently does or says things that undo the messaging others are trying to hammer home, or that are indefensible. It puts would-be supporters in very awkward spots.
I have news for Trump - politics is a blood sport. People will come after you for real and imagined issues. It is not for the faint of heart, and you willingly entered the arena, so suck it up and deal with it instead of incessantly whining about it. Voters want to hear about the future, not the past, and most of them don't find the childish insults and name calling amusing or presidential. MAKE YOUR CASE. Persuade people with your plan for the future. Do your homework. Stop winging it with speeches. You aren't all that articulate so read what people write who ARE more articulate and skilled at making the case. JD Vance, Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, and Nikki Haley were FAR more persuasive and articulate about making the case for the GOP's platform, and drawing sharp contrasts between the candidates, than Trump will ever be.
He could have a personality disorder that prevents him from doing what everyone but him knows he should do. If so, the next question is should this person be the candidate?
Bingo...it's called narcissism. The personality disorder arguably most resistant to seeing any issue with their behavior, and getting treatment for it. The last thing anyone should be giving narcissists is more power.
So, Donald Trump should drop the ad hominem attacks, develop some discipline and focus on economic issues. Great idea, I recall a recent sentence from him on the economy that was rather lucid, if contradictory.
He said he wants to reduce the deficit (and our debt), reduce taxes, and make no changes to Social Security and Medicare (the primary drivers of deficits and debt). Recently he suggested no taxes on tip income.
Now what's wrong with this picture mathematically? As Bugs Bunny would say, "IT JUST DON'T ADD UP." Our deficit is running close to $1T a year. Everything in that sentence above will exacerbate the deficit and our total debt.
While he's for reducing taxes, he's also for increasing taxes. Despite what Mr. Trump says tariffs are a tax on the importer not the exporter (they are also inflationary as they increase the price of the goods). Don't believe me? While slavery was the primary reason for the Civil War, a lesser but important reason was tariffs (the primary source of income for the Federal Government) on finished goods, which hit the South hard since it was primarily an agrarian economy. It had a rather small manufacturing base. It had to import much of the finished goods it consumed. I know this because I was raised and educated in Louisiana. This was taught to us back in the1960's as the primary cause of the Civil War not surprisingly.
Here's another new great economic idea from former president Trump. Let the president have input on interest rates. You think we have inflation now? Let Donald Trump (or any president) determine interest rates. I've never heard him ever discuss the need to increase rates. He always wants to lower them. In a fiat currency monetary system, this is pretty much the only tool we have to control inflation. I have my problems with the Federal Reserve but if you want economic chaos, allow the Fed to become politicized. Don't believe me, go read the recent history of monetary policy in Turkey.
I'm not sure how to close this except to say, good luck.
A Harris presidency will be a horrific disaster, after everyone gets over their positive vibe. I will work to support Trump, voting for him and encouraging others to do so. I wish he was better at messaging, but he’s who we’ve got. Btw, Vance was great on the Sunday show(s) this weekend, on message and hitting homers. So, turn those frowns upside down. Trump needs to amend, but the media wants your enthusiasm to wane for the GOP. Don’t let it.
Home from work now. Very negative vibe through most of the comments here today. People, Kamala has the media, the tech companies, the unicorn wishes of the entire democrat party. They are entirely disingenuous in making this uber-liberal into suddenly an amazing leader. It's ridiculous. Do. Not. Give. Up. They are hoping to float Kamala into the Whitehouse without any real vetting which tells you how horrific our media is. Encourage Trump and work to get him elected.
I have often been told, by frankly lazy people, that voting Republican is voting against self interest. After all Democrats will support the "working class", how's that working out for you? Oh, wait all this economic misery is Trump's fault and the obstructionist Republicans.
The really is the 70,000 people in 2 or 3 states that will decide this election will be voting against self interest of they do not vote for Trump.
If you haven't made up your mind you are frankly a shallow person with a fragile ego. Harris is Richard Dawson in Running Man, the glossy brochure is great, the reality is cold and hard.
Trump is throwing cold water on you and offering a warm towel.
But hay, easier to be a victim than say, You're a jerk but you deliver.
Trump is done, whether he wins or not. Vance may not be the top of the ticket, but he is doing a great job.
I think the missing piece of brain work here is the first step to define what the Republican Party needs to be in order to be a viable political choice for the American electorate. That is step-1. Step-2 is executing perfectly on that decision. Today the GOP has not done #1, and is also terrible at execution... possibly because it has not done #1.
Trump's personality cannot explain Republican losses in 2020, and failures in 2022… the election of Democrats at a time with a memory of their recent authoritarian COVID abuses, unprecedented inflation caused by their gross overspending and anti-oil policies, opioid deaths through the roof, attacks against free speech, attacks against the right to defend oneself, breathtaking government abuses of power for politics, the southern border open with floods of Covid-untested illegal immigrants planted all over the country WHILE Covid was raging and we were locked down, out of control crime… and woke-made social chaos that attacks the youngest of school children. All these things are opposite of Trump’s platform. All these things should have been election bombs that the GOP leveraged to win.
The laughable finger pointing from the feckless, losing GOP establishment is that IT IS TRUMP'S FAULT HE HAS NOT STAYED ON POINT!!!
No, Trump is not really to blame here. Something else is broken with the GOP… the lonely, lost, losers that are the establishment GOP. Ask yourself, why is Trump the only voice? Go back to the Jan-6. Why did Trump need to speak to that audience of protestors and urge them to march peacefully? Why isn't there a GOP infrastructure and other leaders to have Trump's back... like the Democrats do... to create plausible deniability for their political leaders while left armies are deployed by media and NGO operatives all getting the same memo?
The GOP party has the infrastructure. They could get the same talking points memo to their network. There are popular talking heads and media personalities that could also go to the podium like liberal idiot George Clooney does for the Democrats.
The Republicans don't do this stuff, or they do it very badly. The reason is that there are greedy charlatans in the party terrified of #MeToo and other left Twitter mob attacks that impact their social media likes and followers... and there also dopes that don't know how modern politics even works. Lastly there are idiot moralists that think God will just do the right thing eventually while they play golf.
The first missing piece is who do Republicans represent? What voter constituent groups does the GOP support and get support from? That answer is needed for step #1. But what do females, LGBTQ, youth, celebrities, Hollywood, educated elites, big business, small business, Wall Street, the military industrial complex, big pharma, billionaires, minorities, the poor, government employees, and unions have in common?
None of them are constituents of the establishment GOP. None of them.
What’s left?
Not the working-class. It was Trump that brought them in. They don’t like the establishment GOP and the feeling is clearly mutual.
But that is the ticket for the GOP. They are not going to win back any other of those constituent groups. The working middle class, and the poverty class that wants to be part of the working class, are the ONLY constituent group that the GOP can leverage today, and the good news is that if the GOP can capture it... prevent the Democrats from offering free crap and lying about their support of the working class... then the GOP can win.
Otherwise the GOP is going to repeat its losing ways.
Trump is only a crucible here. He is a very flawed candidate, but the only one that gets it that the old GOP is toast and only a new version that sheds their damn elite moralism and globalist social status egos to embrace and support what is the producer class of the country. Put 100% of the GOP energy into supporting and boosting Trump like the Democrats do for their vegetable candidates.
Trump is not doing well solely because of his frequently objectionable personality and that alone. Many Trump supporters don't exist outside their bubble long enough to realize that while he's popular with 2/3 of the GOP, he's popular with almost no one outside of it. Unfortunately one thing the 'old GOP' understood is that to win elections you have to broaden your coalitions, expand your base and attract new voters. Trump has done everything he can to shove them away, including by telling Nikki Haley voters IN HIS OWN PARTY that they are 'banned' from the GOP. Many of them said, in response, OK....we'll take you at face value. You have not only NOT earned our votes but you've outright said you don't want them. So good luck with that.
Sure, the Dems will always attack a GOP candidate, but Trump actually gives them so much ammunition they don't even have to manufacture it anymore. Reagan set the standard for how to dance around the liberal media, so it can be done.
The party who proved it DID learn something was the Democrats. They lost in 2016 by running an arrogrant, entitled candidate that enough people thought was the worst choice compared to Trump. He didn't win in a landslide; just in a very small margin in a handful of swing states, enough to swing a tight election. Basically, a fluke.
In 2024, seeing the same dynamic playing out in front of them again but this time with an elderly Biden, they flipped the script and are now well positioned to win in November.
They proved they learned from their mistakes. I don't think Trump is capable of learning from his.
The 'old GOP' is no longer running the show in the Republican Party. This is solely Trump's election to lose and that of his installed apparatus at the Republican National Committee. The old GOP infrastructure helped him eke out a win in 2016. All those former committeepeople at the state, local and national levels who knew how to do the blocking and tackling of winning elections up and down the ticket have largely been chased out of the party. So far Trump's ground game, especially in swing states, has been less than impressive.
Trump lost in 2020 to an elderly man on the edge of dementia. He also directly or indirectly negatively influenced senate and congressional races in the 2022 midterms such that we have to have VP Harris break ties because we didn't have the red wave expected to give us a clear majority esp in the Senate, as he endorsed candidates who largely were rejected by voters. And then to top THAT off, told Georgia voters in the runoffs to stay home, resulting in both their senate seats going to Dems. Something like 150K R voters followed his instructions.
The GOP at least put out 'autopsy reports' after a lost presidential election cycle to try to figure out what went awry and how to fix it. What is TRUMP learning from his losses? Or doesn't he think he HAS made any mistakes?
One of the things that I enjoy about your comments are that you see the problems with the GOP and/or the Orange Man and aren't a troll for the Left. If I say the things you just did, I usually just get the TDS label slapped on me.
How many more people and how many more times can this message be delivered to Trump? Stay focused. Stay disciplined. Stop with the “you’re a fatty” comments. Stay out of the past. Point to the most liberal ticket in modern times and predict what’s coming. Take advantage of the youth in your VP candidate. Talk about loan forgiveness by executive order, Cardona’s FAFSA’s failure for a second year in a row, the EV revolution that imploded and so much more! In Trump style I’m going to say it. Use that high IQ you keep bragging about to win. Your vibe isn’t doing it.
Right - the left has provided, via Biden and Harris, a target-rich environment, but here we have Trump stumbling around firing blanks about things most voters don't care about (but are of great concern to Trump and only Trump). And for God's sake, stop attacking other Republicans such as the Governor of Georgia! The enemy is over THERE, on the other side of the aisle. One would think this need not have to be explained to Trump, but here we are.
Something off topic for us to ponder on. Do you want a judicial system that creates felonies from whole cloth to silence people? People in England who posted statements about the unrest that the government didn’t like got a knock on the door. It wasn’t the Avon Lady.
Trump should realize that if he loses, they will still come after him as an example for others.
Great piece overall, but your best point was this is the same Donald Trump who lost in 2020, yet we renominated him expecting a different outcome. I'm just stunned and a little depressed that out of 337 million Americans, we couldn't find a better candidate.
There were several who would have been better, but the MAGA mob that runs today's Republican party went with the third rate insult comic and game show host (who LOST in 2020, it wasn't "stolen"). Again.
Maybe, but he's losing all on his own right now, which I see as a failure of almost inconceivable proportions. Biden OR Harris should be the biggest slam dunk in the history of slam dunks, yet Trump is finding a way to make it a contest. I will vote Trump because of his presidential track record and because I can't take a chance that Harris gets in office, but for the love of GOD Donald, shut yer yappity pie hole!
True, he was still anathema to our conservative values. January 6 confirmed the validity of our decision not to vote for him. Now, at this point you’d think the entire GOP would have seen him for who and what he is.
But no, you nominated him again. And here we are at the precipice of another lost election.
You must be a person who still has ideals. It's hard, isn't it? I wrote about pride the other day. Go vote. Leave Pres. blank. Vote R down ballot then.
I was actually still a card-carrying member of the Libertarian Party in 2020. I left after Ukraine was invaded. I've always had problems with LP foreign policy.
The irony is after some political soul-searching I came to understand that I'm pretty much a Republican but not the Trump variety. So, I finally found my political home only to find that it no longer exists.
I'll probably vote the way you suggest unless Trump does or says something really outrageous. But that's really kinda funny. How could he possibly do something more disqualifying of the office than what he did on January 6?
As I keep repeating, Trump needs a Nathan to tell him of his sins. Stop being a third rate Don Rickles. People are pissed off about prices and the prospect of a third World War. Talk about the Democrat plans to stifle freedom and control your life in every detail. Taxes will be increased and businesses will close.
uh oh, I am already beginning to see the handwriting on the wall - If Trump doesn't win it's because THEY stole it from him again. And to get back at THEM, I am going to make sure he is the nominee again in the next election - well first I will contribute money through a link in a text message that I receive about stopping the latest steal, but then I will make sure Trump heads the ticket again in 2028
I hope so, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The reality is that the vast majority of voters have more pressing matters than really drilling down on her word salads or his arrogant tirades. I've heard people say that she "seems more presidential," compared to Trump but whether that translates into recognizing that their lives were better under him remains to be seen.
In a low-turnout election, there are few voters left to be convinced and the winner tends to be determined by who can best turn out their "base." Harris entry into this race has transformed it into a high-turnout election, where winning will require persuading people who though voting, have not been paying all that much attention. And consistent with what you've been hearing, they tend to be persuaded not based on the issues, but how they feel about the candidates.
In this latter regard, in addition to being able to conduct herself in a more "presidential" manner, a lot of people are just tired of both Trump and Biden. Harris simply being a "fresh face" is a significant advantage.
And when the negative campaign ads begin, Republicans will be accusing Harris of being a flip-flopper and wanting to put tampons in boys bathrooms: light-weight stuff as compared to paying off porn stars, multiple instances of adultery, felony convictions and of course, January 6th.
The one lesson the D's learned is that if you have an unpopular candidate who brings serious issues to the table and jeopardizes the election, ditch and replace (what they should have done with HIllary, but they were similarly convinced she was inevitably going to win). Many said that the first party to replace either Trump or Biden, both deeply unpopular candidates, had a great shot at winning in November, and I believe that is true. People want ANYBODY but these two. Harris, while deeply flawed, doesn't have the last name of Trump or Biden, so she gets points for that alone with a lot of people. Voters have a slightly more palatable option to Trump and many will take it.
That window has closed for the GOP. We are stuck with Trump and HIS serious issues and the people who elevated him to nominee will have to own whatever happens in November, good or bad. They will have to own whether THEY were ruthless enough to win or whether they were just fans in service to a cult headed up by a deeply flawed man that many of them have elevated to deity status.
Should Trump lose, I guess they will at least have the comfort of all the Trump-branded tchotchkes they bought (and further enriched Trump with) along the way. The rest of us will unfortunately have seen it coming and have to suffer through at least another 4 years of progressive Dems and their policies.
The MAGA mob is already preparing us for the stolen election BS, and/or to blame conservatives who oppose a narcissistic psycopath. It's never Trump's fault, there's always someone else to blame. A sure sign of, well, a narcissistic psycopath.
Your thought provoking post seems to have triggered some readers. As with many things in life, there are many different meanings to the word “fight” and many different styles of fighting. But all of us need to look around and see that there is a) something still worth fighting for and 2) there others who are intent on imposing their agenda “by any means necessary.” I am not an advocate of ruthless behavior on our part, nor do I think the best course of action is to adopt the tactics of the opposition. But seeing JD Vance and others master the ways to blunt the media attacks, and others who are out there doing what is right just need us to find something of our own to contribute. Snarking and complaining about Trump or anyone else is worthless - it serves no positive purpose nor inspires others to work toward the objectives of stopping the slide into socialism and ruin. Show us with actions how to restore the nation and stop the moaning about the team on the field.
plenty of people have been trying to 'show Trump with actions' how to restore the nation and act like a focused, disciplined candidate laser focused on the issues people care about, but all he wants to do is vent his spleen about 2020 and anybody (Gov Kemp, Mike Pence, et al) who have not done his bidding or attacked him. He doesn't listen to cooler heads who know how to win races so what would you have US do? He's the one on TV. He's the one at the top of the ticket.
He makes it hard for us to 'do our part' when he so frequently does or says things that undo the messaging others are trying to hammer home, or that are indefensible. It puts would-be supporters in very awkward spots.
I have news for Trump - politics is a blood sport. People will come after you for real and imagined issues. It is not for the faint of heart, and you willingly entered the arena, so suck it up and deal with it instead of incessantly whining about it. Voters want to hear about the future, not the past, and most of them don't find the childish insults and name calling amusing or presidential. MAKE YOUR CASE. Persuade people with your plan for the future. Do your homework. Stop winging it with speeches. You aren't all that articulate so read what people write who ARE more articulate and skilled at making the case. JD Vance, Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, and Nikki Haley were FAR more persuasive and articulate about making the case for the GOP's platform, and drawing sharp contrasts between the candidates, than Trump will ever be.
He could have a personality disorder that prevents him from doing what everyone but him knows he should do. If so, the next question is should this person be the candidate?
Bingo...it's called narcissism. The personality disorder arguably most resistant to seeing any issue with their behavior, and getting treatment for it. The last thing anyone should be giving narcissists is more power.
So, Donald Trump should drop the ad hominem attacks, develop some discipline and focus on economic issues. Great idea, I recall a recent sentence from him on the economy that was rather lucid, if contradictory.
He said he wants to reduce the deficit (and our debt), reduce taxes, and make no changes to Social Security and Medicare (the primary drivers of deficits and debt). Recently he suggested no taxes on tip income.
Now what's wrong with this picture mathematically? As Bugs Bunny would say, "IT JUST DON'T ADD UP." Our deficit is running close to $1T a year. Everything in that sentence above will exacerbate the deficit and our total debt.
While he's for reducing taxes, he's also for increasing taxes. Despite what Mr. Trump says tariffs are a tax on the importer not the exporter (they are also inflationary as they increase the price of the goods). Don't believe me? While slavery was the primary reason for the Civil War, a lesser but important reason was tariffs (the primary source of income for the Federal Government) on finished goods, which hit the South hard since it was primarily an agrarian economy. It had a rather small manufacturing base. It had to import much of the finished goods it consumed. I know this because I was raised and educated in Louisiana. This was taught to us back in the1960's as the primary cause of the Civil War not surprisingly.
Here's another new great economic idea from former president Trump. Let the president have input on interest rates. You think we have inflation now? Let Donald Trump (or any president) determine interest rates. I've never heard him ever discuss the need to increase rates. He always wants to lower them. In a fiat currency monetary system, this is pretty much the only tool we have to control inflation. I have my problems with the Federal Reserve but if you want economic chaos, allow the Fed to become politicized. Don't believe me, go read the recent history of monetary policy in Turkey.
I'm not sure how to close this except to say, good luck.
A Harris presidency will be a horrific disaster, after everyone gets over their positive vibe. I will work to support Trump, voting for him and encouraging others to do so. I wish he was better at messaging, but he’s who we’ve got. Btw, Vance was great on the Sunday show(s) this weekend, on message and hitting homers. So, turn those frowns upside down. Trump needs to amend, but the media wants your enthusiasm to wane for the GOP. Don’t let it.
Home from work now. Very negative vibe through most of the comments here today. People, Kamala has the media, the tech companies, the unicorn wishes of the entire democrat party. They are entirely disingenuous in making this uber-liberal into suddenly an amazing leader. It's ridiculous. Do. Not. Give. Up. They are hoping to float Kamala into the Whitehouse without any real vetting which tells you how horrific our media is. Encourage Trump and work to get him elected.
I have often been told, by frankly lazy people, that voting Republican is voting against self interest. After all Democrats will support the "working class", how's that working out for you? Oh, wait all this economic misery is Trump's fault and the obstructionist Republicans.
The really is the 70,000 people in 2 or 3 states that will decide this election will be voting against self interest of they do not vote for Trump.
If you haven't made up your mind you are frankly a shallow person with a fragile ego. Harris is Richard Dawson in Running Man, the glossy brochure is great, the reality is cold and hard.
Trump is throwing cold water on you and offering a warm towel.
But hay, easier to be a victim than say, You're a jerk but you deliver.
Trump is done, whether he wins or not. Vance may not be the top of the ticket, but he is doing a great job.
They don't like
I think the missing piece of brain work here is the first step to define what the Republican Party needs to be in order to be a viable political choice for the American electorate. That is step-1. Step-2 is executing perfectly on that decision. Today the GOP has not done #1, and is also terrible at execution... possibly because it has not done #1.
Trump's personality cannot explain Republican losses in 2020, and failures in 2022… the election of Democrats at a time with a memory of their recent authoritarian COVID abuses, unprecedented inflation caused by their gross overspending and anti-oil policies, opioid deaths through the roof, attacks against free speech, attacks against the right to defend oneself, breathtaking government abuses of power for politics, the southern border open with floods of Covid-untested illegal immigrants planted all over the country WHILE Covid was raging and we were locked down, out of control crime… and woke-made social chaos that attacks the youngest of school children. All these things are opposite of Trump’s platform. All these things should have been election bombs that the GOP leveraged to win.
The laughable finger pointing from the feckless, losing GOP establishment is that IT IS TRUMP'S FAULT HE HAS NOT STAYED ON POINT!!!
No, Trump is not really to blame here. Something else is broken with the GOP… the lonely, lost, losers that are the establishment GOP. Ask yourself, why is Trump the only voice? Go back to the Jan-6. Why did Trump need to speak to that audience of protestors and urge them to march peacefully? Why isn't there a GOP infrastructure and other leaders to have Trump's back... like the Democrats do... to create plausible deniability for their political leaders while left armies are deployed by media and NGO operatives all getting the same memo?
The GOP party has the infrastructure. They could get the same talking points memo to their network. There are popular talking heads and media personalities that could also go to the podium like liberal idiot George Clooney does for the Democrats.
The Republicans don't do this stuff, or they do it very badly. The reason is that there are greedy charlatans in the party terrified of #MeToo and other left Twitter mob attacks that impact their social media likes and followers... and there also dopes that don't know how modern politics even works. Lastly there are idiot moralists that think God will just do the right thing eventually while they play golf.
The first missing piece is who do Republicans represent? What voter constituent groups does the GOP support and get support from? That answer is needed for step #1. But what do females, LGBTQ, youth, celebrities, Hollywood, educated elites, big business, small business, Wall Street, the military industrial complex, big pharma, billionaires, minorities, the poor, government employees, and unions have in common?
None of them are constituents of the establishment GOP. None of them.
What’s left?
Not the working-class. It was Trump that brought them in. They don’t like the establishment GOP and the feeling is clearly mutual.
But that is the ticket for the GOP. They are not going to win back any other of those constituent groups. The working middle class, and the poverty class that wants to be part of the working class, are the ONLY constituent group that the GOP can leverage today, and the good news is that if the GOP can capture it... prevent the Democrats from offering free crap and lying about their support of the working class... then the GOP can win.
Otherwise the GOP is going to repeat its losing ways.
Trump is only a crucible here. He is a very flawed candidate, but the only one that gets it that the old GOP is toast and only a new version that sheds their damn elite moralism and globalist social status egos to embrace and support what is the producer class of the country. Put 100% of the GOP energy into supporting and boosting Trump like the Democrats do for their vegetable candidates.
That is how we win.
Trump is not doing well solely because of his frequently objectionable personality and that alone. Many Trump supporters don't exist outside their bubble long enough to realize that while he's popular with 2/3 of the GOP, he's popular with almost no one outside of it. Unfortunately one thing the 'old GOP' understood is that to win elections you have to broaden your coalitions, expand your base and attract new voters. Trump has done everything he can to shove them away, including by telling Nikki Haley voters IN HIS OWN PARTY that they are 'banned' from the GOP. Many of them said, in response, OK....we'll take you at face value. You have not only NOT earned our votes but you've outright said you don't want them. So good luck with that.
Sure, the Dems will always attack a GOP candidate, but Trump actually gives them so much ammunition they don't even have to manufacture it anymore. Reagan set the standard for how to dance around the liberal media, so it can be done.
The party who proved it DID learn something was the Democrats. They lost in 2016 by running an arrogrant, entitled candidate that enough people thought was the worst choice compared to Trump. He didn't win in a landslide; just in a very small margin in a handful of swing states, enough to swing a tight election. Basically, a fluke.
In 2024, seeing the same dynamic playing out in front of them again but this time with an elderly Biden, they flipped the script and are now well positioned to win in November.
They proved they learned from their mistakes. I don't think Trump is capable of learning from his.
It’s the GOP electorate that has to learn from their mistakes not Trump. You learn much from a win. You learn even more from a loss. If you want to.
The 'old GOP' is no longer running the show in the Republican Party. This is solely Trump's election to lose and that of his installed apparatus at the Republican National Committee. The old GOP infrastructure helped him eke out a win in 2016. All those former committeepeople at the state, local and national levels who knew how to do the blocking and tackling of winning elections up and down the ticket have largely been chased out of the party. So far Trump's ground game, especially in swing states, has been less than impressive.
Trump lost in 2020 to an elderly man on the edge of dementia. He also directly or indirectly negatively influenced senate and congressional races in the 2022 midterms such that we have to have VP Harris break ties because we didn't have the red wave expected to give us a clear majority esp in the Senate, as he endorsed candidates who largely were rejected by voters. And then to top THAT off, told Georgia voters in the runoffs to stay home, resulting in both their senate seats going to Dems. Something like 150K R voters followed his instructions.
The GOP at least put out 'autopsy reports' after a lost presidential election cycle to try to figure out what went awry and how to fix it. What is TRUMP learning from his losses? Or doesn't he think he HAS made any mistakes?
One of the things that I enjoy about your comments are that you see the problems with the GOP and/or the Orange Man and aren't a troll for the Left. If I say the things you just did, I usually just get the TDS label slapped on me.
We’re back to his personality disorder be it borderline or narcissistic. Not the type you want in that office.
I like your comments. Spot on. Sometimes one needs to put pride aside and support what is good for the country.
Well said.
How many more people and how many more times can this message be delivered to Trump? Stay focused. Stay disciplined. Stop with the “you’re a fatty” comments. Stay out of the past. Point to the most liberal ticket in modern times and predict what’s coming. Take advantage of the youth in your VP candidate. Talk about loan forgiveness by executive order, Cardona’s FAFSA’s failure for a second year in a row, the EV revolution that imploded and so much more! In Trump style I’m going to say it. Use that high IQ you keep bragging about to win. Your vibe isn’t doing it.
Right - the left has provided, via Biden and Harris, a target-rich environment, but here we have Trump stumbling around firing blanks about things most voters don't care about (but are of great concern to Trump and only Trump). And for God's sake, stop attacking other Republicans such as the Governor of Georgia! The enemy is over THERE, on the other side of the aisle. One would think this need not have to be explained to Trump, but here we are.
Something off topic for us to ponder on. Do you want a judicial system that creates felonies from whole cloth to silence people? People in England who posted statements about the unrest that the government didn’t like got a knock on the door. It wasn’t the Avon Lady.
Trump should realize that if he loses, they will still come after him as an example for others.
They'll still come after him because he's a criminal who did exactly what he has been accused of doing.
Great piece overall, but your best point was this is the same Donald Trump who lost in 2020, yet we renominated him expecting a different outcome. I'm just stunned and a little depressed that out of 337 million Americans, we couldn't find a better candidate.
There were several who would have been better, but the MAGA mob that runs today's Republican party went with the third rate insult comic and game show host (who LOST in 2020, it wasn't "stolen"). Again.
Trump lost in 2020 because of never-Trumpers in the GOP and a feckless Republican party apparatus.
Maybe, but he's losing all on his own right now, which I see as a failure of almost inconceivable proportions. Biden OR Harris should be the biggest slam dunk in the history of slam dunks, yet Trump is finding a way to make it a contest. I will vote Trump because of his presidential track record and because I can't take a chance that Harris gets in office, but for the love of GOD Donald, shut yer yappity pie hole!
True, he was still anathema to our conservative values. January 6 confirmed the validity of our decision not to vote for him. Now, at this point you’d think the entire GOP would have seen him for who and what he is.
But no, you nominated him again. And here we are at the precipice of another lost election.
Well done.
You must be a person who still has ideals. It's hard, isn't it? I wrote about pride the other day. Go vote. Leave Pres. blank. Vote R down ballot then.
I was actually still a card-carrying member of the Libertarian Party in 2020. I left after Ukraine was invaded. I've always had problems with LP foreign policy.
The irony is after some political soul-searching I came to understand that I'm pretty much a Republican but not the Trump variety. So, I finally found my political home only to find that it no longer exists.
I'll probably vote the way you suggest unless Trump does or says something really outrageous. But that's really kinda funny. How could he possibly do something more disqualifying of the office than what he did on January 6?
Exactly what I plan on doing.
As I keep repeating, Trump needs a Nathan to tell him of his sins. Stop being a third rate Don Rickles. People are pissed off about prices and the prospect of a third World War. Talk about the Democrat plans to stifle freedom and control your life in every detail. Taxes will be increased and businesses will close.
Republicans will and are doing nothing… they haven’t learned the game yet and probably never will. Sad but true…. History repeats itself.
Erick - can you get this message to Trump's "handlers" - you need to be one of his advisors....well spoken and on point....
uh oh, I am already beginning to see the handwriting on the wall - If Trump doesn't win it's because THEY stole it from him again. And to get back at THEM, I am going to make sure he is the nominee again in the next election - well first I will contribute money through a link in a text message that I receive about stopping the latest steal, but then I will make sure Trump heads the ticket again in 2028
Normal voters will eventually hear Kamala jabber on and be repulsed at her duplicity. Did I use duplicity right?
Wecanhope
I hope so, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The reality is that the vast majority of voters have more pressing matters than really drilling down on her word salads or his arrogant tirades. I've heard people say that she "seems more presidential," compared to Trump but whether that translates into recognizing that their lives were better under him remains to be seen.
In a low-turnout election, there are few voters left to be convinced and the winner tends to be determined by who can best turn out their "base." Harris entry into this race has transformed it into a high-turnout election, where winning will require persuading people who though voting, have not been paying all that much attention. And consistent with what you've been hearing, they tend to be persuaded not based on the issues, but how they feel about the candidates.
In this latter regard, in addition to being able to conduct herself in a more "presidential" manner, a lot of people are just tired of both Trump and Biden. Harris simply being a "fresh face" is a significant advantage.
And when the negative campaign ads begin, Republicans will be accusing Harris of being a flip-flopper and wanting to put tampons in boys bathrooms: light-weight stuff as compared to paying off porn stars, multiple instances of adultery, felony convictions and of course, January 6th.
All in all, advantage Harris.
Think they’d make a monster out of any GOP candidate worth voting for.
No need to make up anything this time.
They did McCain and Romney and neither one of those wanted to win.