I know you hate Trump. That is well established so I would like to move beyond that.
A few years ago, there was a long conversation about what the republicans could do to dominate. It was all about moving to the center. Everybody had they’re own ideas of what that looked like including myself.
Many of US (Conservatives) wasn’t into adopting leftist ideas but removing elements that were an impediment to freedom. Namely the religious Right as a superpower. Not that they should not be represented, but not over powering. That happened under Trump.
I don’t know if he is a secret genius or just has an instinct. But he knows where to apply government and when to back off. That is his appeal, above and beyond Twitter.
The conversation during Obama was how to make Republicans dominant.
President Trump ushered in a new, more moderate Republican party. Applying the fine art of applying the government when it’s needed and removing it when it’s not.
He not only said it, but he did it. What nobody imagined was that the democrats would adopt policies that are the complete opposite to their own detriment…
Why adopt open borders? Why give them citizen rights foe breaking the law? Is it good policy or does it just oppose Trump? The latter is stupid and why the democrats may lose 48 states next election.
Who wants open boarders with the corona virus? AOC and no one else.
Do you honestly believe the democrats have a chance? Barring something extreme I dont see it.
Bernie raised 46 million bucks in February. Trump got 84 million and he didn’t even try.
Are you better off now or 2016? I am better now and I had a lot of road blocks that have nothing to do with politics. And still in am better off because the job market is good.
A lot of conversations about which presidents did what to which deficits/debts do not mention party control of Congress. Reagan, for example, had a Democrat House for eight years and worked with them. But Democrats love to point to the spending happened under Reagan, to make some sort of comment about his fiscal policy, while ignoring which party controlled the purse.
Similarly you will often see a chart of how the economy does by presidential party (favoring Democrat presidents) without the accompanying chart of Congressional control. Obama had a Republican House for his last 6 years and a Republican Senate for the last 2. Clinton had 6 years of a R Senate and House. The Democrats took completely control of Congress two years before the crash they blame on Bush.
I’m not arguing that Congress is solely responsible for policy, spending and the economy, but this is one topic where there is actual nuance that Democrats often like to totally ignore in favor of simplistic propaganda about the spending under Reagan, the boom under Clinton, the crash at the end of W’s term, and the recovery under Obama.
I agree that mainstream Republicans do certainly like to spend.
OTOH I would like to meet the president that is going to cut Social Security, SNAP, Medicaid, Medicare etc which make up 80% of mandatory spending.
If a Republican president tries to do it, I don’t see Democrats bragging about what a “conservative” it makes him, rather they would have his head on a platter. And a Democrat ain’t gonna do it. In fact they’re all promising multiple multi-trillion dollar programs. In comparison to multiple multi-trillion dollar programs, Trump is fiscally conservative.
The same point applies to discretionary spending. Any cuts in that which aren’t military, or which occur to Federal agencies, or yet another host of social programs and Democrats again would howl.
I’m not clear how any president it supposed to cut spending in any significant way, which doesn’t involve slashing the military or gutting agencies and social programs. This is not to mention debt service, etc.
But the chatter about how all the continued spending means Trump isn’t conservative and all his voters are rubes sure makes a sweet talking point during election season.
And we know you love him which is well established. If Trump acted like a human I wouldn’t have nearly the issues with him. It blows my mind that someone would argue he’s a secret genius. How can anyone listen to him talk, spell, and hug the flag like a weirdo and think you know behind all this insanity is probably a genius. It doesn’t take a genius to know if you flip flop to what Republicans want you can win. It doesn’t take a genius to know if you just promise the world voters aren’t smart enough to ask how. I mean they bought Mexico will pay for the wall!
And FWIW people like Sloth who are pretty damn conservative on here would be the same.
I’m essentially the exact same as I was in 2016. Just like I pretty much was in 08 and 12. Most of anything that truly effects my line of work is at the state level. I’m not saying you’re not however I have noticed that people who lean hard one way tend to always say they are better off while their preferred party is in power. But we don’t need to get into that just an observation on the whole. For the most part not much changes.
I believe you asked me if Trump should be more conservative and I was asking what that meant. The next president who happens to be a Democrat Republicans will freak out about spending again I’m sure.
I don’t think it’s whether he is conservative or not that means much it’s just the question that was asked. Trump never ran as a conservative. He ran as a big government guy who wanted to build a wall. He doesn’t truly want to build a wall but he is definitely that big government guy. He was the Republican who wouldn’t touch spending, would expand infrastructure, get everyone healthcare coverage and eliminate the debt in 8 years. He would release his tax returns, wouldn’t tweet, and would be too busy working to golf.
His supporters are rubes because they never once asked how he would achieve the impossible. But chanting lock her up and send them back has a lot of appeal I guess. He didn’t even bother presenting a plan for the vast majority of stuff he said because who cares? They were supporting a guy who said make America great again but didn’t have his clothes made here. They were supporting someone against illegal immigrants who hired them.
I should clarify that Democratic supporters are rubes on pretty much everything as well.
What @pat posted is unbelievable…and quite frankly took me so beyond being gobsmacked that I had to read it a few times.
If what he posted is true about Trump…then the man is a genius in his ability to go beyond 4-D Chess to another dimension that literally has him singlehandedly, with forethought and as part of an overall plan 1) manipulating the very power base of one of the major U.S. parties to his will 2) manipulating the very function of the U.S. government to his will, and 3) doing it all so that 50% of the electorate, U.S. congress, pundits, media…you name it…can’t see it all happening right beneath their noses.
I just don’t know what to say.
4 more years? Forget all of this election bullshit. If Trump has the power and the genius to do all of that? He needs to be President for Life.
You took my sentence out of context and doubled down on that. If that’s all you can muster from what I said, then you either did not read it, which is fine that’s your right, or you agree with the entire post’s sentiment.
Either way, you are employing tactics rather than engaging the sentiment of the post. Which was an attempt to explain Trump’s appeal over all and why, if the election were today, Trump would absolutely stomp a mud hole into the presumptive democratic nominee.
Sure, anything can happen between now and November, but with Biden at the head of your ticket I just don’t see how he can take on Trump.
And yes, I like Trump. I like him way more than I did 4 years ago. And I am glad he’s not full on conservative because I prefer center- right to full on right. That doesn’t mean I like everything about the man, but overall I think he’s done a really good job. Whatever the reason.
Your team had 24 candidates to choose from and Bernie and Biden are the best you could muster from that group? That’s terrible.
No one asked Trump how he’d pay for everything he promised, aside from Mexico paying for the wall which only a cognitively disabled person would have believed, but they sure ask Bernie.
To me it seems a large part of the Trump admin’s strategy seems to be delaying a recession until after the election. I think the tax bill in a bull market was a sign of that, I think his badgering of the federal reserve is a also a sign.
I think they may have screwed up the timing. Not because of anything in their own power, but corona is having it’s way with the market, the Saudi oil deal fell through, and oil prices are plummeting (which hurts American oil producers).
Trump took credit for a good economy (much of which he was not responsible for), let’s see if he can weasel his way out of the blame for a recession. If we go into a recession (I put a fair chance of it happening before the election), the only valid reason I could have for voting for the guy (performance of the economy) is now out the window.
I’m not employing tactics whatever that means. Trump SHOULD stomp a mud hole in the next election. The way the economy has been and nothing major like the Iraq War to run against? Trump should sweep pretty much everything except the bluest of states. The only, ONLY way this is even worth discussing is because a lot of Americans don’t want a child in office. Perhaps you should ask yourself why you do?
I don’t consider myself part of that team but ok. Your “team” had plenty of options. You picked an emotionally unstable narcissist. You picked the one person who in these same conditions might give the Presidency to the other team. If the goal was to get blue in office ASAP it would be hard to pick anyone better. What could be a marvelous period of control for Republicans at all levels has already been put in jeopardy. Even a Trump victory could have significant down ticket issues.
The best thing Republicans could have done was say he doesn’t represent us and we made a mistake and we will primary him in a unified manner. Instead they are married. And the consequences for the party may be quite sizable. They already have been with the potential for much more
I agree. Countless Democrats and “undecided” voters would undoubtedly, having been impressed by such a demonstration of principle, have become Republican voters.
And how many of those do you think are voting for Trump? Better yet how many of those people will vote solely against him even if they aren’t thrilled with the other side?
At the very least one could say the Republican Party has principles. The ones they apparently have at this moment are whatever Trump decides they should be that day. And having him off the top might save some down ticket races.
