Author Topic: 2024  (Read 142441 times)

DougMacG

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Re: 2024, Fetterman debate compared with Biden
« Reply #1500 on: July 12, 2024, 04:55:19 AM »
I keep thinking why walking vegetable Fetterman won in PA despite terrible debates.

His sales pitch was not himself, it was that he would be the 51st Senate seat for the Dems.

In other words, it was a TRIBAL vote.

This is right, it's recent, and it's one of the must win states.

It was nationally broadcast, we watched that debate and it was awful. How could we lose that race?  I would say party but tribal describes it even better. He was one of theirs.

There are differences here but are those differences enough?

This is for commander-in-chief not a legislative branch office. We've had two more years to see and prove dismal results. And Trump apparently has more appeal than some of these Senate candidates, which is a little bit hard to believe since so many people hate Trump.

I didn't see the press conference but saw two Dem Senators questioned after.  They clung to a scripted story of what a huge threat Trump poses, he lied in the debate and coddles dictators or something. And that's why they're standing by their half a man.  For now.

Real Clear Politics on the press conference:

"Joe Biden called Donald Trump his vice president, said he was “following the advice of my commander in chief,” and vowed going forward as both a candidate and the leader of the free world to “pace myself a little more.”

Speaking at a press conference wrapping up a NATO summit in Washington, the 81-year-old president also denounced his critics, ably defended his foreign and domestic policy record, and insisted “the gravity of the situation” requires that he remain the 2024 Democratic standard-bearer.

President Biden’s first solo press conference this year was a mix of forceful defiance and head-scratching non-sequiturs, a metaphor perhaps for his presidency. After a disastrous June 27 debate performance against Trump, it was billed as a make-or-break moment. And yet, in a little less than an hour, he may have done just enough to survive
."

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/07/12/stumbling_but_defiant_biden_survives_press_conference__151251.html
« Last Edit: July 13, 2024, 06:34:24 AM by DougMacG »


ccp

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Re: 2024
« Reply #1502 on: July 12, 2024, 06:22:14 AM »
Agree 100 %

and of course that is why we here 24/7 EVERY single Democrat preface's the statement that Biden can no longer do the job but he is wonderful honest man and has done a marvelous job who will go down in history.  Yesterday some douche on CNN was telling us he will right up there with Washington Lincoln Roosevelt.  [yeah right and tell me blacks are still in danger of losing all their civil rights if Trump elected  :roll:]

As we have all posted here repeatedly
We need to keep the focus pointing his policies are disastrous as is the whole Dem platform

Trump must stop tweeting dumb shit about the golf game.

Focus on the policy.



DougMacG

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2024, Trump VP pick
« Reply #1504 on: July 13, 2024, 05:34:16 AM »
Trump's criteria: 
Help him win and loyalty.

My criteria (ours?):
Those two plus make a great successor if needed or if chosen.

JD Vance,
Concur on youth/lack of life experience.  AFAIK no executive experience either.   

Also I am wary of him on geopolitics.  If I have it right, he is of the "Not another penny for Ukraine school".   In my opinion, this is too glib.

All true, these are his negatives.  Question on the plus side, since I've barely seen him, does he bring some amazing communication skills to our side, does he bring in new voters?

Bergum, the abortion ban.was mentioned, the issue that had killed us, he is so new to the National political scene that he is vulnerable to being defined by the Left.

DeSantis has the abortion vulnerability as well.

Rubio, also no Governor, executive experience, but has Bern longer on the national scene, well known and well versed on both foreign and domestic policy.

Both DeSantis and Rubio have the Florida problem.  Legally, one can move and satisfy the requirement. But I don't like the way that dodges the spirit of the constitutional clause. It might only work if Trump changed his residence to New York, because he is a New Yorker. Where does a governor or senator of Florida change his residence to?

Who are the others mentioned or possible?

Tim Scott?  Bold pick.  Also no executive experience.  He could get that by being VP. Is he up to the job? Probably yes. Just so he is picked on his merits.  I see these great black conservatives on radio for example and notice that Their audiences are largely white.  He should not be picked just to go after the black vote, that alone will not work and Trump is doing well there.

Nikki Haley has both governor and foreign policy experience. Is she too centrist? Is that a negative? She has appeal to voters that Trump wants. Does Trump's base find her to revulsive? If she was elevated to the top job, would she be too wishy-washy on policy? Would she have loyalty and get behind Trump's policies? A lot of questions on her but if she could pass those tests she might be the best pick. Maybe she is one that could be a great Vice President but would not be in first place as the successor.

Next in line from the current race is Vivek. He is a great fighter, stands up for his views, would have the right amount of loyalty, has been somewhat vetted, but maybe brings in no new voters. Most VP picks don't bring in new voters so maybe that is not a negative. Would he lose Trump any voters? I don't know. My complaint with him was, why do they start by running for the highest office. This isn't the highest office, but it's close. He would be a great contrast to Kamala.

Who Am I missing? Who are the great Statesman of the Republican Party that are not 90 like Chuck Grassley?

Ben Carson is 72. That's not too old but it's not bringing youth to the ticket. Also he is an outsider when maybe an Insider is called for.

Ted Cruz, not likely. Rand Paul, ditto.  Mike Lee, doesn't help him.

There aren't any prominent Republicans in the mountain states, Pacific Northwest, California (or East coast). Out of Arizona I can think of former Governor Doug Ducey, age 60 now.  He was popular in Arizona and very strong on border policy. Not well known nationally.

From the Heartland there is Mike Pompeo (of Kansas).  He might be a safe pick for Trump.  Would make a fine replacement, probably couldn't get elected on his own, won't be stumped by the questions and has positive personal history with Trump.  Less abrasive than Vivek. Has been on the national scene longer, more experience, more well-known.

Military background, Harvard Law school, represented Wichita Kansas in the US Congress, CIA director and Secretary of State, the highest cabinet position under Trump. Smart, savvy and experienced. Decided not to run for president when Trump got in.

He can contrast foreign policies of the two administrations first hand. For example the disastrous exit from Afghanistan, which is exactly when the American public turned on Joe Biden.

I almost forgot about Pompeo but I think he is my first choice.

If we get 'stuck' with him as the successor, I'm okay with that!

Now we will see if Trump and his people read The Forum.
« Last Edit: July 13, 2024, 05:44:25 AM by DougMacG »

Crafty_Dog

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Re: 2024
« Reply #1505 on: July 13, 2024, 05:56:21 AM »
Good discussion.

There also is the VA governor, whose name slips my mind in this moment.  He could be a very solid choice.

DougMacG

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Re: 2024
« Reply #1506 on: July 13, 2024, 06:38:50 AM »
Good discussion.

There also is the VA governor, whose name slips my mind in this moment.  He could be a very solid choice.

Yes, Youngkin.  Purple state Governor.  https://www.governor.virginia.gov/

Good man and strategic.  If Trump wins Virginia, it's over.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Update:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/06/politics/video/the-lead-glenn-youngkin-virginia-gop-republican-trump-conviction-nikki-haley-jake-tapper

Allegedly 'moderate', he seems capable, competent, solid and likeable.  Took on the Left and won.
« Last Edit: July 13, 2024, 08:32:27 AM by DougMacG »

DougMacG

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Re: WTF?!? (Polls)
« Reply #1507 on: July 13, 2024, 06:59:21 AM »


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/kamala-harris-scores-double-poll-boost-over-donald-trump/ar-BB1pS5J0?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=e8b1b632ed68409eb8f189a12309e00b&ei=28


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-suffers-polling-blows/ar-BB1pSGHc?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=e8b1b632ed68409eb8f189a12309e00b&ei=6

Unfortunately(?) good reminder to not be overconfident. The article basically admits being about outliers and cherry picking, but who knows.  It's not new for polls to be manipulated for news value, what's new was for this race to appear easy. The string of recent positive swing state polls have seemed too good to be true.  Most Biden doubters are still Trump haters.  But Kamala leads Trump?  Looks more like poll methodology changed.

This poll might indicate what is coming:
NewsNation, 7/1, generic congressional vote, R 44, D 44.
https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/state-of-the-union/2024/generic-congressional-vote

The idea this is all going to all come together without luck, skill and effort is a bit optimistic.
« Last Edit: July 13, 2024, 07:01:21 AM by DougMacG »


DougMacG

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Re: 2024, 'tabloid' coverage of Joe and Jill
« Reply #1509 on: July 13, 2024, 07:27:59 AM »
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8635281/Jill-Biden-cheated-husband-Joe-ex-claims.html

It was a 'blind date' later but they met previously.  Joe's brother was involved in them meeting, and that makes it honest?
----------------------------------
Stevenson (Jill's ex) said he first suspected Biden and Jill were having an affair in August 1974. He was then 26, Jill was 23 and Joe was 31.

'I know exactly when it was,' he said. 'Bruce Springsteen was going to play at The Stone Balloon (Stevenson's club) and I had to go to Northern New Jersey to pay him in advance.

'I asked Jill to go with me and she said no — she had things to do, she had to look after Joe's kids, Beau and Hunter. It was kind of a big deal to go meet Springsteen. I had no idea she and Joe were that kind of friendly.

'Then one of her best friends told me she thought Joe and Jill were getting a little too close. I was surprised that she came to me.'

That October he got confirmation. 'I was at work and a guy came in and asked: 'Do you own a brown Corvette?' I said yes, it's my wife's car.

'He said back in May it had crunched his bumper and they told him to get an estimate and he never heard back from them.

'I said: 'Wait a minute. Who is they?' And he said: 'Funnily enough, Senator Biden was driving.'

That was it as far as Stevenson was concerned
. "

"Fact check" says no.  Sen Biden was driving her car, but they both say they met later after she was divorced?

I post because people I know rate Trump's morals at zero and Biden at 100% and call that their main criteria.  And Obama had no scandals.  Good grief.

Now back to failed policies...
« Last Edit: July 13, 2024, 07:39:59 AM by DougMacG »

ccp

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Re: 2024
« Reply #1510 on: July 13, 2024, 08:11:11 AM »
"'He said back in May it had crunched his bumper and they told him to get an estimate and he never heard back from them."

THAT sounds like Joe Biden.
He is a dirtball and always was.
That is why he lost 3 x s till Obama promoted him.

Doug:
"I post because people I know rate Trump's morals at zero and Biden at 100% and call that their main criteria.  And Obama had no scandals.  Good grief."

I cannot lament any more about this than you did.
It is so darn annoying and infuriating how we are constantly told what a nice honest honorable full of integrity this dirtball has.

At the same time he stands there and endlessly lies to our faces every day either directly or through his handlers.
Just sickening.

------------------------

In 1974 Springstein came to my college, Lafayette in Easton Pa.
I did not go because I did not like his music.
There are only a few songs of his I do like even now.

His drummer came into my office with cold or something.
I told him what was going in with Katherine.  He said I will tell Bruce .
I would have been shocked if I ever heard back and was not later shocked.

No doubt good musician just my taste.
Katherine claims he was singing on of her lyrics but I cannot verify that.

ccp

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Strange I don't believe them
« Reply #1511 on: July 13, 2024, 06:45:02 PM »
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/13/politics/joe-biden-reaction-trump-shooting/index.html

why do I think he clinton obama and any other dem are lying ?

I guess I am just too cynical  :roll: :roll: :roll:

the "threat to Democracy" was almost removed and I am supposed to think they are saddened by the attempt at killing him.

who do they think they are kidding.
they are just covering their assess.
 


ccp

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Re: 2024
« Reply #1513 on: July 14, 2024, 08:41:44 PM »
Josh Shapiro is already auditioning the past 2 days.


DougMacG

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Re: Poll: Whoops! We flipped some numbers
« Reply #1515 on: July 15, 2024, 07:37:56 AM »
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/nbc-polling-correction-causing-stir-among-democrats/ar-BB1q0XmN?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=db3c30021a244a0bb15f015459381606&ei=5

Malice or incompetence?  Polls are now designed to make news, especially that one. With all the importance we are putting on polls, aren't we going to need a new federal agency to regulate them? 

« Last Edit: July 15, 2024, 07:41:46 AM by DougMacG »

DougMacG

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Elon Musk endorses Trump
« Reply #1516 on: July 15, 2024, 09:19:04 AM »
https://www.axios.com/2024/07/13/donald-trump-shots-fired-rally-elon-musk

My liberal Tesla friends were already talking about switching car brands, going hybrid.

Very bold of Musk to publicly take sides.  I suppose he had to announce this before he pours in real money.  Finally we get a zillionaire on our side.

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/tsla

Body-by-Guinness

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The Shot Heard Around the Ballot Boxes
« Reply #1517 on: July 15, 2024, 09:23:45 AM »
An apt analysis:

The political impact of the Trump assassination attempt

How his response and the bureaucracy’s failure paved his path to November

Written By:

Charles Lipson

The conventional wisdom is that the race for the presidency fundamentally changed with the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump. That’s wrong. The failed attempt to kill Donald Trump didn’t change trends in this election; it reinforced them. 

The shooting reinforced public images about four distinct issues.

Trump’s strength and determination;
Biden’s weakness, politically, physically and cognitively;
Trump’s lead in the battleground states he needs to win reelection; and
The failure of basic governmental institutions, such as the Secret Service, to do their job
The enduring image of the Saturday shooting is the photo of the former president as he leaves the stage. His ear was bloodied but his fist was raised, his face beleaguered but defiant, all with the American flag waving in the background.

That image will define the rest of the 2024 campaign… and well beyond it. It is indelible. And it is impossible for the opposing party to rebut, or even counter. In a single photograph, it captures Trump’s strength and his determination to fight on. That imagine is now burned into the public consciousness. Republican advertisements and T-shirts will keep it there.

Biden’s image, by contrast, is captured by the cover of the Economist magazine, showing an empty walker for infirm adults bearing the presidential symbol. That’s devastating, not because it is novel but because it isn’t. Images like that resonate most strongly when the capture what the public already believes.

That’s true in this case. Though the image is obviously exaggerated, it captures what the public saw with its own eyes when President Obama led Biden off the stage in Los Angeles, when Jill Biden helped the president down a few steps after his horrible debate with Trump, when a gaggle of White House aides need to surround the president for a short walk to the helicopter and, most of all, when Biden bumbled through his debate with Donald Trump.

These damning images have hardened into a concealed view of President Biden as someone who is too old and infirm to lead the country much longer. Indeed, more and more voters think he is too infirm to lead it now.

When images like that congeal, they are almost impossible to reverse. Reading from a teleprompter won’t overturn them. Alternating shouts and whispers to the press won’t overturn them. Neither will ending impromptu remarks by trailing off into space and concluding with “anyway.”

The public gets it. They’ve had friends and relatives facing similar medical problems; not identical, perhaps, but troubling, irreversible, long-term declines. They know, from hard experience, that these problems only get worse. There are better days and worse ones, but the trend is clear, and the public knows it.

That recognition shows up in polling. About three-quarters of all voters, and more than half of all Democrats, now think Biden is too old for the job. They are increasingly angry with the press for covering up the president’s condition or failing in their duty to investigate it. The press itself seems angry at the White House for lying to them. That true enough, but the legacy media should look in the mirror.

The public’s mistrust of both the Biden White House and the media has political consequences. Right now, the press simply wants to force Biden out and replace him with another Democrat. If they succeed, they will line up behind the new candidate, presumably Vice President Kamala Harris, who is unpopular but hard to replace without losing the African-American vote upon which Democrats depend. The media will support her, of course. Get ready for a new cover of Vogue.

But the media’s support, whoever the new Democratic candidate is, will be less effective now for two reasons. First, they’ve already been caught lying. Second, their audience is shrinking, thanks to internet technologies that have fragmented the media landscape. Most voters now rely on sources, including social media, which reinforce existing political views. Walter Cronkite is dead and buried. 

What about the Democrats’ claim that Trump is “practically as old as Biden” and sometimes forgets words? True and true, but Trump is not suffering the same, obvious decline as Biden. Whatever weight the Democrats’ argument had evaporated when Trump raised his fist and shouted “Fight! Fight! Fight!” immediately after the assassination attempt. Voters think Joe Biden could never manage that. He would wait hours and need a teleprompter. They’ve seen his typical confusion simply leaving the stage after prepared remarks.

Speaking of prepared remarks, it took the White House’s crack communications team over 100 minutes after the assassination attempt to write an anodyne statement.  A seventh-grade English class could have done it in five minutes. A remedial class. And that was before President Biden stumbled out to reassure the nation with a weak, scripted response, which failed to acknowledge the shooting was an assassination attempt.

The cumulative effect of the searing event in Butler, Pennsylvania, will be amplified at the Republican National Convention this week. The effect will be straightforward. It will reinforce Trump’s lead in the critical battleground states and deepen the Democrats’ dilemma about what to do with a sitting president they don’t think can win but who has the convention delegates to secure the nomination and seems determined to stay in the race.

The Secret Service’s abject failure adds to the White House’s problem. Their failure to secure the perimeter of the Pennsylvania event should lead to the immediate suspension of the agent in charge of that operation, the firing of the head of the service and a congressional inquiry into rumors that the Department of Homeland Security declined President Trump’s request for more security. If the rumors are true, those responsible and their bosses should be fired. 

These failures have a political meaning, and it’s not a good one for Democrats in this election cycle. First, the failures lay at the feet of the administration, damaging any lingering reputation for competence. Second, they represent yet another failure of the administrative state to perform its core duties effectively. DHS hasn’t protected the border (though that is largely because of Biden’s decisions). The CDC didn’t protect the public during Covid and didn’t give the public accurate information. They tried to suppress any public comments that disagreed with the official view and pushed social media companies to shut off dissenting voices. The CIA’s former leaders told the public that Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the earmarks” of a Russian disinformation operation, which gave Joe Biden cover to declare, openly and falsely, that it definitely was Russian disinformation. All Joe had to do was ask his son. The list of bureaucratic failures goes on and on and on.

These failures hurt Democrats because, for better or worse, they are the party of the permanent bureaucracy. They created it from FDR to LBJ to Obama, and they take credit for its successes. Now, they are tagged with its failures. When those failures are obvious and dangerous, as they are with the Secret Service’s failure to secure the “line of sight” from a rooftop to Trump’s podium, they damage the “party of the administrative state and federal bureaucracy.”

Returning to the main point, the leading candidate for president was almost killed Saturday because the Secret Service failed catastrophically in its duty. The proximity to disaster should send a shudder through all Americans, regardless of party. 

For Democratic politicians, that shudder will continue for months. They’ve read the polls and, even before the assassination attempt, feared the loss of the presidency, the Senate and House. Saturday’s events deepened those fears. Democrats are walking into the abyss, and they know it.

Anyway…

By
Charles Lipson

Charles Lipson is the Peter B. Ritzma professor of political science emeritus at the University of Chicago, where he founded the Program on International Politics, Economics and Security, and a Spectator contributing writer.

https://thespectator.com/politics/political-impact-trump-assassination-attempt/

Crafty_Dog

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Re: 2024
« Reply #1518 on: July 15, 2024, 09:30:28 AM »
That was really good-- very lean and stripped down to the essence.

ccp

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Elon donates to victims of the assasination attempt
« Reply #1519 on: July 16, 2024, 10:00:22 AM »
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/elon-musk-donates-100-000-to-trump-rally-shooting-victims/ar-BB1q3JTD?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=a9bb56fb05394bd99b9932ca18323c2e&ei=16

FINALLY one super wealthy tech Silicon person on OUR side besides the
Adelson family.

Thank you Elon for standing up for USA!




Body-by-Guinness

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Trump Chats w/ Kennedy?
« Reply #1521 on: July 16, 2024, 04:12:15 PM »
Sounds like he did so. Could be viewed as a cagey move, particularly planting the seed Kennedy may have a role in Trumps admin might earn him some votes:

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/trump-rfk-met-discuss-potential-role-trump-administration/

Crafty_Dog

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Re: 2024
« Reply #1522 on: July 16, 2024, 08:27:52 PM »
Savvy move by Trump to call for Bobby getting SS protection.


DougMacG

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2024, Biden's survival strategy as Dem nominee: Leap to the Left
« Reply #1524 on: July 17, 2024, 05:55:03 AM »
https://www.axios.com/2024/07/17/biden-rescue-operation-lean-left

Even Axios can see it.

If national rent control is so great, why didn't they do it while they had a Dem House?  Why didn't they propose it in the Dem Senate?

Let's ask the Dem Senators in red states fighting for their political lives, do you want more government control of the housing market?

Free market or government control, which works better, which performs better in the states, around the world, throughout history?  Biden couldn't read the right answer if it was written on a teleprompter.

The guy now promoting home ownership put it out of reach with his massive government overspending program that brought 9% inflation and tripled interest rates.

Let's put his policies in the ash heap of history.

Body-by-Guinness

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The Big Tent & the Black Vote
« Reply #1525 on: July 17, 2024, 06:13:39 AM »
I too am sensing a seismic shift. Uniparty Republicans are appalled. Let ‘em be:

Big tent includes Amber Rose
Reagan: "It is not your duty or privilege to destroy others in the tent."
JUL 17, 2024

Pundit Matt Walsh tweeted, “The RNC gives a primetime speaking slot to a pro-abortion feminist and self-proclaimed slut with a face tattoo whose only claim to fame is having sex with rappers. Truly an embarrassment. Not a single voter will be mobilized by this person.”

Digital Marketing Strategist Joey Mannarino tweeted, “She’s revered in Philadelphia.

“You do realize no tax on tips is also huge for strippers right?

“We need that message out to all the strippers.

“That’s where Amber Rose started her career.

“Now she’s an entrepreneur. She MADE IT all the way to the top, but she remembers and isn’t ashamed of where she came from.

“And you better believe all those girls who are working hard on those poles still are listening loud and clear and they’ll be heading from the poles to the polls on November 5th.”


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I am not a fan of her OnlyFans work but that’s between her and the Lord. I have more than enough sins of my own to worry about.

Trump is winning the black vote — slowly but surely — simply by being a Republican. He is showing people of all races that they benefit better from Republican policies than they do Democrat pandering.

His call to stop taxing tips is as Republican as it gets because tips are a reward for good service. Republicans tip. Democrats don’t. They demand a higher minimum wage so that lazy waiters get as much money as the good ones do. The end of this tax will help people of all races and in many occupations in which you keep your clothes on.

Trump won’t get a majority of the black vote this year, but he is in it for the long haul. He is doing like Eisenhower did in 1952 when he took 5 of the 11 confederate states. No Republican had taken a confederate state since 1928.

Republicans built on Ike’s efforts. In 1972, Nixon took all 11 confederate states as part of his 49-state landslide.

Trump’s plan for the black vote by being Republican began on August 19, 2016, in Diamondale, Michigan. He literally was trying that in a small town. Diamondale is small enough to qualify for a “Sal-lute” on Hee Haw. It also is 93% white and less than 1% black.

NBC reported at the time:

Citing poverty, high unemployment and broken education systems, Donald Trump on Friday continued to court African-American voters with the simple question: “What do you have to lose?

“Look at how much African-American communities have suffered under Democratic control. To those hurting, I say: What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump?” he read from a teleprompter at a Michigan rally.

“You’re living in poverty, your schools are no good. You have no jobs, 58% of your youth is unemployed, what the hell do you have to lose?” he added in the overwhelmingly white town of Diamondale.

Donna Brazile whose claim to fame is she was the first black woman to manage a presidential campaign (Al Gore, who lost) wrote, “For over 40 years, the Democrat Party has been my home. And it has been home to the vast majority of black voters in increasing numbers since the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and going back even further to the New Deal and earlier.

“This despite the fact that the GOP was the party of Lincoln. The Republican Party would have been the natural home of black voters, but it was the GOP that turned away from us. And at the height of the civil rights struggle, President Lyndon Johnson made a conscious decision to fully commit the Democrat Party to the cause of equality for African Americans, even though he knew that would cost the Democrats the South — and many elections — for at least a generation.”

Without 27 of the 33 Republicans in the Senate, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would have failed as 22 Democrats voted against it.

But, whatever.

Trump carried his message to slightly larger but still largely white towns until he got to Des Moines, Iowa. Only then was he ready for the obligatory presidential candidate speech at a black church. He gave the same message. He didn’t drop his G’s, unlike his equally white opponent.

Oh, he didn’t carry the black vote. But he gave the same speech in Detroit that he gave in Diamondale and carried Michigan. He was the first Republican in 28 years to carry the state.

You see, in seeking the black vote without pandering, Trump also reassured voters of other races that it isn’t deplorable or racist to be openly MAGA.

Eight years later, as Trump seeks re-election, the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post reported, “Democrats worry that black voters won’t turn out for Biden in 2024.”

Earlier, USA Today tried to spin its own poll as Trump not gaining votes among black people, but Paragraph 7 said, “In 2016, Trump received the support of 8% of Black voters, according to exit polls. That support increased to 12% in 2020. The USA TODAY/Suffolk poll from January found that Trump’s support among black voters has stayed the same at 12%. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s support has slipped from 87% in 2020, according to the Roper Center, to 63%.”

Wait a second. 87 minus 63 is 24.

If 24% of black voters vote for someone else (Cornel West got 7% in the poll and RFK Jr. got 6%), FJB is a one-term president.

Those numbers are before what AP on Saturday called “loud noises.”

Rapper Fifty Cent that night paid tribute after the shooting to Trump with a remix of Many Men (Wish Death).


All I know about Fi’ty is he was my late son Michael’s favorite rapper.

I don’t know if Trump can win the black vote, but I do know that he is showing Republicans how to win black votes eventually.

A few people don’t like all these new people, both black and white, signing up. They have tattoos! I will let a newcomer speak for them.

Denise Aguilar responded, tweeting, “I’ve been told I don’t look conservative enough and I don’t look Christian enough. If people continue to shun those who are becoming aware of what the Democrat Party has become we will never win. Embracing people like me doesn’t compromise your values, they are only compromised when you’re not solid in those values.

“Like it or not we may not look like people you’re used to but we are bringing in people who feel politically homeless.

“Btw. I’m running for California Assembly with the highest turnout for a Republican since 2012. Buckle up.”

Don’t worry, honey. MAGA is for everyone. As Catturd tweeted, “Amber Rose and all her followers are 100% welcome in the MAGA movement.

“So is anyone who wants to Make America Great Again.

“And BTW — Her speech was fantastic.

“When people see the light and change — you welcome them with open arms.

“These egomaniacs who think they're the judge and jury of conservatism, and they, and they alone, from high on their moral soapbox, get to anoint who gets in the movement according to their own purity test — are a laughable joke.”

Others don’t like J.D. Vance because he was a Never Trumper 8 years ago. So?

NYT got the dirt on him: “He had a fraught relationship with his mother, who was married five times.”

“He has espoused traditional views of marriage and the role of women in the workplace.”

“As a teenager, he loved Black Sabbath, Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin.”

I’m 70. I like all 3. I quote Ozzy all the time.

These times they are a-changing as we seek to Make America Great Again.

Even Frank Luntz sees the change. He tweeted:

Last night, voters saw a Republican Party that they (and I) have never seen before.

A stage filled with hardworking taxpayers, African-Americans, working women, union members, and delegates dancing in the aisles. Speeches bashing Corporate America and the status quo.

We witnessed the realignment of American politics, Trump-style.

Reagan called for a Big Tent. He said, “And here is the challenge to you. It is the duty and responsibility of the volunteer Republican organizations, not to further divide, but to lead the way to unity. It is not your duty, responsibility of privilege to tear down, or attempt to destroy, others in the tent. As duly chartered Republican organizations, we can all advance our particular sectarianism or brand of candidates for the party to pass on openly and freely in a primary election.”

He said that 13 years before he became president.

If you don’t want to be inside the tent with Amber Rose, there’s the door.

https://donsurber.substack.com/p/how-to-get-the-black-vote?r=1qo1e&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true

Crafty_Dog

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Re: 2024
« Reply #1526 on: July 17, 2024, 06:25:00 AM »
In a similar vein from WT:

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a former presidential candidate, told Republicans at the national convention Monday that he offends liberal elites when he says, “America is not a racist country.” ASSOCIATED PRESS

Black Republicans increase in droves

With message to Biden, speakers put identity politics to rest

BY SETH MCLAUGHLIN THE WASHINGTON TIMES MILWAUKEE | President Biden once told Black voters that if they supported Donald Trump, then they “ain’t Black.”

Rep. John James turned that joke on its head this week from the stage at the Republican National Convention: “I heard a little earlier today, ‘If you don’t vote for Donald Trump, you ain’t Black,’” the lawmaker from Michigan said as he flashed a smile to the crowd.

Mr. James is one of a historic number of Black Americans making the argument at the convention that Mr. Trump has broken Democrats’ decadeslong lock on the Black vote.

From the stage Monday, the first night of the convention, Black Republican lawmakers described their histories: a great-great-grandson of a slave, a grandson of a cotton picker, and the son of a father denied entry to college in the Jim Crow South.

That was where the identity politics ended.

“I’ve been looking forward to the day that we get to where people start really thinking outside of the background, outside the color, outside of messages of who we should be based on exterior, and we saw last night is exactly where America is,” Rep. Burgess Owens of Utah told The Washington Times. “We have certain goals and dreams, and it doesn’t matter what color we are or what ZIP code we go in. We all want freedom. We want to have the ability to dream big and want to know that we put our work and effort out there to come back.”

He is one of five Black Republicans in Congress, the largest total since 1877, though the number is still far behind Democrats.

The others are Mr. James, Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida and Sen. Tim Scott, who

Addressing the Republican National Convention, Rep. John James of Michigan put a twist on an old remark from President Biden by saying, “I heard a little earlier today, ‘If you don’t vote for Donald Trump, you ain’t Black.’”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS

Rep. Burgess Owens said, “We have certain goals and dreams, and it doesn’t matter what color we are or what ZIP code we go in.”

addressed the convention, along with North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is seeking to become the state’s first Black governor.

Also speaking in a prime slot Monday was model, rapper and social media influencer Amber Rose, who titillated the crowd with her more prosaic speech. She said Americans are “pissed” when they see the price of gas under President Biden.

“The dam has broken,” said Joshua McKoon, chair of the Georgia Republican Party, who is White and sponsored an event Tuesday on behalf of Black delegates and elected leaders. “When we look backward at 2024, people are going to say, ‘This is when the Democratic Party’s monopoly on Black political support in this country was broken.’ I really believe that this is political realignment.”

Not all the delegates shared their ethnicities with convention organizers, but the latest tally had at least 55 confirmed Black delegates this year. The 2016 convention had 18 Black delegates.

Gone are the days when Republicans could muster only a few Black faces to take the stage at a convention. They all delivered a standard speech claiming Black voters were socially conservative and belonged with Republicans.

The Republicans’ message this week is more mature.

“I think the number of African Americans who are now elected give a more broad brush of what a Black Republican can look like, can talk like and feel like,” said David Dix, a Philadelphia-based consultant and convention attendee. “It’s not one size fits all.”

Mr. Scott said he was raised by a single mother in poverty who taught him to “work hard, take responsibility and reject victimhood.”

“I know this is going to offend the liberal elites every time I say it, but let me say it one more time: America is not a racist country,” Mr. Scott said, sparking loud applause from the predominantly White crowd. “If you are looking for racism today, you’d find it in cities run by Democrats,” the senator from South Carolina said. “Look on the South Side of Chicago. Poor black kids trapped in failing schools, thousands of shootings every single year.

“But there is good news: It is conservative values that restore hope,” Mr. Scott said. “It is Republican policies that lift people up.”

Mr. James shared the story of his father, who was denied entry into Mississippi State University because he was Black but paid his way through another school, served in Vietnam and started a trucking company hauling beer between Detroit and Milwaukee.

“Despite growing up in the Jim Crow South, he refused to let vulnerability become victimhood,” Mr. James said.

Democrats are scrambling to stop losing the support of Black voters.

On Tuesday, Mr. Biden traveled to the battleground state of Nevada to address the NAACP national convention.

Black voters, in particular Black women, are still considered the backbone of the Democrats’ Obama coalition.

Erosion began when Mr. Trump crashed onto the scene in pursuit of Black voters and challenged them to ask themselves, “What do you have to lose?”

In 2016, Hillary Clinton outperformed Mr. Trump by 89% to 8% among Black voters. In 2020, Mr. Biden defeated Mr. Trump 87% to 12% among Black voters.

An ABC/Washington Post poll this month showed 15% of Black voters supported Mr. Trump and 79% backed Mr. Biden.

Trump adviser Bruce Levell said the former president’s message has resonated with Black Americans who have felt “bullied” or have had an “awakening.”

“What the hell do you have to lose? Try something different,” he said. “I think a lot of folks, especially in Black culture, are starting to say like, ‘Damn, maybe he is right.’



Crafty_Dog

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Re: 2024
« Reply #1529 on: July 17, 2024, 10:51:05 AM »
The pitch about jobs seems dead on to me.

ccp

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say it ain't so, Joe.
« Reply #1530 on: July 17, 2024, 03:00:26 PM »
we all know it won't be biden in November.

what a joke the whole thing with the crazy crats.

I think Schiff would be an excellent choice don't we ?   :wink:

I mean who better to restore honesty to the oval office?

Crafty_Dog

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Trump ad
« Reply #1531 on: July 17, 2024, 03:56:36 PM »

Crafty_Dog

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Re: 2024
« Reply #1532 on: July 17, 2024, 04:15:11 PM »

Body-by-Guinness

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The Funeral that Wasn’t
« Reply #1533 on: July 18, 2024, 06:55:05 AM »
A wrap up of the RNC convention:

It almost was a funeral
JUL 18, 2024

Republicans have not been this united in decades as their delegates convene in Milwaukee. Everyone from Ron DeSantis to Nikki Haley to Vivek Ramaswamy to Babydog is behind our once and future president, Donald John Trump.

Michael Reagan tweeted, “Best Republican Convention I have ever watched. Bravo RNC.”

Wow.

Reagan is including the two RNC conventions that nominated his father. Republicans are united and determined to make Democrats pay for the persecution of January 6 protesters, for the unprecedented raid on Mar-a-Lago, for the lawfare against Trump and for Jill Biden’s Secret Service allowing a sniper to get a close shot that came within an inch of re-electing her husband.


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Yes, while we are enjoying a very good week, let us also bear in that we came too close to holding a wake and funeral for our president. They want him dead and will stop at nothing now to accomplish that. Their desire to destroy him did not die in Butler, Pennsylvania.

A funeral this week would have wrecked Republicans because there was no heir apparent. The convention would have erupted into a civil war within the party, something Democrats wished to create by not tightly protecting Trump. The orders came from the top — Jill Biden.

Make no mistake. Jill is the reason that Kimberly Cheatle, former head of security for Cheetos (and other Pepsi products), got the job as Secret Service director and kept it.

The New York Post reported, “Cheatle, 53, is the second woman to lead the presidential protection agency and secured the non-Senate-confirmed role in August 2022 after a three-year stint as senior director of global security at PepsiCo.

“Before that, she had served 27 years in the Secret Service, beginning in the Clinton administration.

“Four sources close to President Biden’s family, including people who interacted with Cheatle during the Obama-Biden administration, said she was well liked by the future first lady and her most senior aides, including top adviser Anthony Bernal.”

The attempt backfired. Rasmussen Reports tweeted the results of its poll on Wednesday:

Today: “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination.” — JD Vance

61% of all voters agree.

The assassination attempt surprised no one. We know divine intervention prevailed. Not all Democrats were shy about sharing their desire to kill President Trump.

On March 21, Fox reported:

Democrat Party strategist James Carville said on Wednesday President Biden should let others do the wet work for him when it comes campaigning against former President Trump.

Wet work is often used as a euphemism for murder or assassination. The term alludes to spilling blood.

Carville appeared on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 where he discussed Biden slamming Trump during a recent speech.

“You are a proponent of the president and all his spokespeople in the campaign doing that more and more,” Cooper said.

“Yeah, not so much him,” Carville responded. “I mean, to be candid, Anderson, President Biden is not the best attack politician I've ever seen in my life, and I'll leave it at that. But there are a lot of people to do what I call the wet work.'“

“Sounds like a mob hit,” Anderson quipped.

“Well, it's kind of, but it's paid TV and stuff like that. But yes, that's a CIA term,” Carville said. “Take a guy out.”

And of course, FJB said a week before the sniper shot, “I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that. So, we’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”

But the bull moved.

President Trump moved his head slightly at the last millisecond to avoid the bullet which then tore a chunk of his ear. The Daily Mail reported, “Plastic surgeon reveals $10,000 surgery Donald Trump would have to undergo to fix his bullet-damaged ear.”

I won’t go into how Mark Hamill used his celebrity to mock the size of the bandage on what’s left of Trump’s ear. I will note that there has to be a reason why Harrison Ford went on to bigger things after Star Wars and he did not.

Hamill is not the only one with no class. Before the convention, the New York Times reported, “Guess Who’s Not Coming to Milwaukee? Bush, Quayle, Pence, Cheney or Romney.

“There is a lot to be learned about today’s Republican Party from who is planning to skip the party’s nominating convention.”

So much for party loyalty. Trump salvaged Pence’s career which was headed for a re-election defeat as governor of Indiana in 2016.

Newt Gingrich told NYT, “This is a real watershed and shows the degree to which Trump has had a victory march in the party culminating with the platform, which is entirely Trump’s platform.”

Newt’s been very loyal to Trump and his supporters. He remembers upsetting the RINOs in 1994 by daring to take the House back, ending 40 years of Democrat rule.

Mittens would be only slightly less welcome at the convention than Liz Cheney at the Wyoming State Fair.

He had said of JD Vance, “I don't know that I can disrespect someone more than J.D. Vance.”

Mittens also said of Vance supporting Trump, “How can you go over a line so stark as that — and for what? It's not like you're going to be famous and powerful because you became a United States senator.”

Wait a second. Isn’t Romney a senator when he isn’t playing Indignant Never Trump Republican on TV?

The Old Guard doesn’t matter. MAGA does.

AP sniffed, “Donald Trump isn’t known for easily moving past a grudge. He was so frustrated that some of his fellow Republicans dared to challenge his bid for this year’s nomination that he wouldn’t participate in the party’s debates.

“But on Tuesday, Trump watched from his box inside the convention hall as as two of his most prominent primary challengers — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — urged the party to unite behind its nominee.

“Such moves aren’t entirely unusual at a political convention, where much of the purpose is to bring together the party after a bruising primary. Bernie Sanders moved to nominate Hillary Clinton after their contentious 2016 contest. After a bitter primary, John McCain delivered a gracious speech in support of George W. Bush at the Republican convention in 2000.

“But the appearances by Haley and DeSantis weren’t notable solely because of their overtures to Trump. They represented the type of unity that seems increasingly out of reach for Democrats, who are openly questioning whether President Joe Biden is the right person to lead them into what both parties view as a historically consequential election in November.”

The poor dears in the media. Their party is struggling over how to get their president to resign and go to the nursing home. Maybe he will resign and let the party have the campaign money — about $240 million — that legally belongs to him. He said he has covid so maybe he will resign and Kamala will pardon Hunter.

Resignation is their only hope short of death because the 25th Amendment would require the approval of two-thirds of the members in each house in Congress. Good luck getting that one through the House.

Divine intervention prevented a funeral at Mar-a-Lago this week. The intervention has united Republicans who know just what happened and now realize the Lord has bigger plans for Donald John Trump.

Of course, there is a funeral this week. Just the News reported, “Trump planning to attend funeral for firefighter killed by gunman at his rally in Butler.”

And there were 13 other funerals — for the 13 soldiers killed by the Taliban in Biden’s surrender of Afghanistan. Last night, at the convention, their Gold Star parents finally got to speak.

Curtis Houck of News Busters tweeted:

ABC’s Terry Moran on the Gold Star families at #RNC2024: “David, I'm not sure I've ever experienced anything like that at a convention. The connection between this crowd and those family members of the fallen. It was just absolutely extraordinary. The emotions, the call and response, that the crowd started spontaneously, 'never forget', reciting and repeating the names as they were read out. And it wasn't just a compassion and the sorrow that linked the crowd and go speakers. It was the anger. I've been out here this afternoon talking to veterans — Vietnam era veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. About the campaign in general, and without being prompted, they bring up Afghanistan and the sense of shame and anger that they felt for the country and — and in this campaign.”

This is not the Republican Party anymore. It is the American Party and we want to make our land great again.

The race is far from over. We have not even begun early voting. The deep state will do anything in its power to hang onto power.

But we are united and as long as we are, our house will stand.

https://donsurber.substack.com/p/it-almost-was-a-funeral?r=1qo1e&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true

Body-by-Guinness

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Providence & the Presidency
« Reply #1534 on: July 18, 2024, 10:06:05 AM »
This showed up in the feed of someone I follow. I think he’s on point, but as I’m unsure of if he would want this shared I have not identified him:

Amazing how things have changed the last few days.

For the last few years, as hard as I've tried to in my head, I haven't been able to see Trump taking the oath of office January 2025.
The indies were tired of him, the hardcore MAGA people felt betrayed by him, the media continued to smear him, and deeply-embedded vote-counting apparatuses in key states remained under the control of MAGA haters. What exactly was his realistic pathway to victory? No one was able to articulate that, in any convincing way.

It almost seems like, out of an infinity of possibilities, there might only have been one single pathway to a solid chance of victory. The problem was, it was so spectacularly unlikely, it was unfathomable.

Yet, as unlikely as it was, it was the one that unfolded live on TV just a few days ago: a would-be assassin hits Trump in the head; the bullet grazes off Trump's ear; Trump, bleeding, rises and defiantly encourages patriots to keep fighting for America.
But this was only part of what changed everything.

What also changed everything was how this moment revealed (to moderates) the true nature of anti-MAGA leftism 2024. The bullet revealed that the left isn't just angry; it is unapologetically homicidal, amoral, and remorseless.

And no, it wasn't just the gunman who showed this. It was the leftist lamentation all over social media that the assassin had missed. It was the transparent hollowness of high-status leftists like Biden and Obama wishing Trump and his family well, after they've spent almost a decade smearing him as "Hitler", "fascist", "Nazi", "white nationalist", and a "would-be dictator who will destroy democracy", when very clearly, none of those things was true. It was hearing those folks condemn "political violence" when they've repeatedly justified Antifa and BLM riots which KILLED people, including police officers.

But this incident has also ripped the mask off the entire Diversity, Equity, Inclusion idiocy. It wasn't just a couple of oafish female Secret Service agents (plus the lady agent who was photographed hiding behind the president she was supposed to be protecting). It wasn't just a female agent struggling to prop up the 230 pound Trump, or the other, trying (and failing) to holster her weapon.

It was the Secret Service director herself, Kimberly Cheatle, who is now publicly defending her decision to NOT secure that particular rooftop because Secret Service agents "might have slipped off it and hurt themselves" - a rationale so stupid, it should cause her to be instantly fired, even if nothing bad had happened.

And it also further unmasked the rank incompetence of the entire Biden Administration, starting with its cadaverous dementia patient leader, and going on down. For thousands, millions of moderates, this entire incident has just amounted to: "Okay - enough of this shit. Trump might be an asshole, but nothing's worse than this. I'm voting Trump".

As difficult as it was to see Trump winning in 2024 only a few days ago...it now seems just as difficult to see him losing.
Will that change again? I guess we'll see. It could. No one expected a turnaround this dramatic - certainly I didn't. So I'm taking nothing for granted, and there are still a few months before election day.

But as of right now, the entire trajectory seems to have changed, and it's tough to see what could stop this momentum.

Body-by-Guinness

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How We Got Here From There
« Reply #1535 on: July 18, 2024, 11:14:32 AM »
How’s this for a crazy notion: let the voters decide!

Can We Let the Voters Decide—Not the FBI, CIA, DOJ, Lawyers, Prosecutors, and Judges?

Why not, at last, just let the people choose their own president?

By Victor Davis Hanson

July 18, 2024

When Donald Trump seemed to have a lock on the 2016 Republican primary, the Democratic Party concluded that the people could not be counted on to do the “right thing” of electing the Democratic candidate in waiting Hillary Clinton.

What followed were eight long years of extralegal efforts to neuter candidate, then President, then ex-President, and then candidate again, Donald Trump.

The nonstop efforts were all justified as “saving democracy”—albeit by nearly destroying it.

In 2015-2016, the Hillary Clinton campaign fueled the lie that discredited ex-British spy Christopher Steele had discovered Donald Trump to be a veritable Russian agent.

Hillary did not disclose that she had paid Steele—with checks hidden through three paywalls. The FBI, under Director James Comey, also hired the fraudster.

Yet almost nothing in his “Steele dossier” was true.

The FBI doctored evidence submitted to a FISA court. Comey leaked to the press confidential documents about his private conversations with President Trump.

Comey’s successor, Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, lied on numerous occasions to federal investigators.

Both former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper repeatedly lied to the nation, saying that Trump was de facto working with the Russians.

The result? Trump lost the 2016 popular vote but still won the Electoral College.

Next, celebrities and well-funded liberals waged a media campaign to convince the electors to become “faithless.” Left-wing elites begged them to renounce their constitutional duties and instead throw the election to Hillary Clinton.

Once Trump was elected, “Russian collusion” was fired up again in hysterical fashion.

A special counsel, Robert Mueller, consumed 22 months of the Trump presidency. His investigation team constantly leaked falsehoods about the “walls closing in on” Trump.

After nearly two years, Mueller announced there was no evidence of a Trump effort to collude with Russia.

Next was the first impeachment of Trump—nearly the moment he lost the House in 2018.

Supposedly, Trump had leveraged Ukraine to investigate a corrupt Hunter Biden by delaying foreign aid.

Trump was impeached on a strictly partisan vote.

But later, no one denied that the drug-addled Hunter Biden had indeed gotten rich from Ukraine, or that Joe Biden had fired a Ukrainian prosecutor looking into his son’s misadventures while still vice president, or that Trump released all the military assistance designated by Congress, or that he included offensive weapons formerly denied Ukraine by the Obama-Biden administration.

Next, in 2020, when Hunter’s laptop turned up abandoned at a repair shop and full of incriminating evidence of more Biden family skullduggery, the left struck again.

It rounded up “51 former intelligence authorities” to mislead the American people on the eve of the vote that the laptop was likely a fake—once again cooked up by Russian disinformation experts to aid Trump.

And once more, that was another complete falsehood. But the lie proved useful to Joe Biden in the debates and campaign. And he won the election.

Next, the learn-nothing, forget-nothing left turned to the 2023-2024 campaign.

This time, their next extra-legal efforts were twofold.

One, they unsuccessfully sought to remove Trump from some 15 state ballots.

Two, local, state, and federal courts began to wage lawfare to convict and jail candidate Trump, or at least bankrupt him and keep him off the campaign trail.

Three county and state prosecutors campaigned on getting Trump on charges never filed before against a presidential candidate—and rarely against anyone else as well.

The Fani Willis Georgia lead prosecutor met secretly with the Biden White House counsel.

Alvin Bragg’s Manhattan team hired the third-ranking federal prosecutor in the Biden Justice Department.

Special counsel Jack Smith was found by a court to have been illegally appointed and much of his case was dismissed.

On July 14, a shooter nearly killed candidate Trump, nicking his ear after somehow firing a rifle from a rooftop a mere 140 yards away—while undetected by law enforcement inside the very same building below.

Prior to the shooting, Joe Biden had boasted to donors that “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”

Biden had railed nearly nonstop that a Trump victory would spell the end of democracy—a theme the left had fueled by comparing ad nauseam Trump to Adolf Hitler.

Yet here we are in mid-July 2024 and Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, is alive and leads incumbent Biden—either because of, or despite, the crude efforts to destroy him.

After nearly a decade of utter madness, can we finally order the FBI, DOJ, and CIA to butt out of our elections?

Can a bankrupt media cease whipping up hysterias about a supposed Nazi-like takeover?

Can the left stop relying on washed-up British spies, corrupt ex-spooks, and teams of clownish partisan prosecutors?

Instead, why not, at last, just let the people choose their own president?

https://amgreatness.com/2024/07/18/can-we-let-the-voters-decide-not-the-fbi-cia-doj-lawyers-prosecutors-and-judges/
« Last Edit: July 18, 2024, 11:16:36 AM by Body-by-Guinness »

Body-by-Guinness

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Why Biden Must Go
« Reply #1536 on: July 18, 2024, 12:05:07 PM »
Because a Biden win would not be plausible at this point, making any effort to steal the next election too obvious to ignore:

https://x.com/kylenabecker/status/1813980369735283051?s=61

DougMacG

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Re: Why Biden Must Go
« Reply #1537 on: July 18, 2024, 05:52:29 PM »
Such a strange story.

The first post in our thread of 'Cognitive Failure of Joe Biden' was January 21, 2021.  By roughly inauguration day we knew Joe, who never had much, didn't have it anymore.  Post after post backed that up.

But Democrats had no complaints of Joe for 3.5 years, until polls looked irreversible.  Even Challenger Dean Phillips was careful to say he was an admirer of Joe, just offering change to a "new generation".  That was just months ago.  No mention of Joe unable to do the job.

Probably because we all know that others are doing the POTUS job for Joe, all but the few public appearances.

Speaking of BIG voices there is George Clooney, He was happy to raise $35 million just one month ago(?) supporting Joe without reservation, then writes just the opposite in the WSJ.

What changed? 

The Dem strategy at that point to defeat Trump was lawfare.  The trial went on, the verdict was read and the sentencing was scheduled.  The political result was that the public was not swayed.  The polls were essentially unchanged.  Trump was still winning. 

The Court laid down the immunity decision, the sentencing was postponed and the verdicts were in question.  Now the Documents case is gone.

Meanwhile, the debate.  I watched all of it, for a change.  Sure Joe mumbled, lost his train of thought, as he always does off-script, but he made his points. At least as good as Fetterman, 2022. In my first post after the Trump Biden debate, I wrote, both sides heard what they wanted to hear and no one was likely swayed.  Wrong.

The Dems turned on him.  No one swayed and Joe exposed as a mumbling idiots has put Democrats at risk.

I saw ABC News tonight (which I never watch) and they went on and on about the top Democrats turning against Joe because he is bringing down Dem House and Senate candidates. Among those they identified as wanting Joe dumped included Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and Hakeem Jeffries in addition to Obama already presumed on the dump Joe side.  That is pretty high up.

Newsworthy because 'modern journalism means covering the biggest stories of the day, with a pillow, until they stop breathing'.  But for some reason they are all over this one.  The interests of the cause are bigger than protecting Joe.  Whatever the power structure is on the Left, Joe was never it.

Through it all, no mention of his inability to govern.

But only Joe can dump Joe (with Joe alive).  And now he has Covid...

Stay tuned.
« Last Edit: July 18, 2024, 06:03:03 PM by DougMacG »

DougMacG

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Re: 2024, polling over Harris
« Reply #1538 on: July 19, 2024, 07:49:11 AM »
This first and latest is 'only' Florida but Trump's lead is bigger over Harris than over Biden.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/07/17/florida_fox_poll_trump_leads_in_polls_against_vp_kamala_harris_she_does_worse_than_biden.html

Trump's 6-point lead against Biden grows to a 10-point lead versus Vice President Harris. Trump leads Harris 49% to 39%.

The Dem push for Biden out does not solve their problem.
------------------------------
General Election Nationally:
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2024/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_harris-7386.html
Trump +4 over Harris

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/trump-vs-harris-vs-kennedy-vs-stein-vs-west
Trump +5 over Harris
-----------------------------
Georgia
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/election/new-fox-5-atlanta-insideradvantage-poll-trump-leads-biden-georgia
Trump +10 over Harris
----------------------------
Pennsylvania
https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/pennsylvania/trump-vs-harris
Trump +1 over Harris
-------------------------
Not cherrypicking, just taking the latest available at
https://www.realclearpolling.com/latest-polls

More: https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/trump-vs-harris


Crafty_Dog

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Noonan: Dems should embrace chaos
« Reply #1539 on: July 19, 2024, 07:58:26 AM »
If Democrats Are Wise, They’ll Embrace the Chaos
The romantics see things clearly. Biden can’t go on, and anointing Harris would be a mistake.
Peggy Noonan
WSJ
July 11, 2024 6:05 pm ET

Everything is about to change. It won’t stay stuck.

We don’t know exactly how the change will come but it will come, because what we have now can’t continue. Joe Biden can’t sustain a demanding campaign and is incapable of functioning for 4½ more years as the American president. We all know this. Only three people don’t know it. They think they can tough it out. But reality doesn’t care how tough you are, reality will have its way.

Sometimes in life the romantic route is the realistic one. That is true in this case.

The realists wish to accept and anoint. The realist says Mr. Biden is a problem but you can’t remove him, so hunker down and try to survive the down-ballot drag as the old man hands Donald Trump the presidency, and likely Congress, and, uh oh, the next president may get two seats to fill on the Supreme Court so let’s cement Mr. Trump into the judiciary too. But this isn’t “realistic,” it isn’t “sophisticated,” it’s suicidal, and the suicide of dullards, too. The realist route, if Mr. Biden ultimately steps aside, is to limit debate, forestall trouble and anoint Kamala Harris as the new nominee.

The romantic route is to take personal responsibility and push the president to step aside. What follows is the Hail Mary pass: Say a prayer, throw the long ball and see who catches it. Devise a process—mini-primaries, open convention, figure it out—that lets the people of the party decide. Devise a formula whereby delegates can choose from five or six candidates. But open this thing up, anoint no one.

Elected officials, operatives and donors can’t in some grand cabal choose Ms. Harris as the directed heir. The country won’t respect it. Many in the party will resent it. They think she’ll lose. In four years she has, according to consistent polling, left most of the nation unimpressed. The Democratic establishment, such as it is, lost credibility by previously insisting on Mr. Biden when they could see he was impaired, and by blocking primary challenges. They can’t block all challengers again.

The vice president is never just “given” the presidency when he or she runs. They have always had to fight for it.

“It’s Kamala or chaos.” Then take chaos: Have the fight you fear. “We’ll have an intraparty war.” Then have it. “But Jeffrey Katzenberg says—” Whatever he says, do the opposite.

Ms. Harris deserves to be in the pool of candidates. Beyond that she can fight like everyone else.

The romantics are right and are seeing the situation clearly. They aren’t innocent: They understand the chaos that will ensue. But they know what U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq used to say: “Embrace the suck.” Open this up, take a chance. You may electrify America.

Here is a story of a party that was a mess—destroyed, riven and without hope. The Democratic Party of 1948 was a train wreck wrapped in a dumpster fire encased in the Marconi Room of the Titanic. Its left wing split and formed the Progressive Party, whose leader, Henry Wallace, became the presidential candidate. The right wing, the mighty Southern segregationists, stormed out during the party convention and decided to run their own presidential candidate, Strom Thurmond. The New Deal coalition that lasted 16 years had fallen apart.

President Harry S. Truman, 64 and at the peak of his powers, was at the bottom of the polls. Party leaders couldn’t help him make his convention a success because they were too busy trying to draft Dwight Eisenhower to take his place.

The convention opened on July 12 in Philadelphia during an oppressive heat wave. The huge crowds that were expected didn’t come. David McCullough, in his biography “Truman,” noted local cab drivers complained they had the wrong rigs: “They shoulda given us hearses.” Floor fights broke out, the Dixiecrats marched, the convention was “pathetically bogged down in its own gloom.” Speeches were long and windy, the balloting long. Truman arrived at 9:15 p.m. for his acceptance speech. He didn’t go on until almost 2:00 in the morning.

To make matters worse, before he spoke the convention had to watch a former senator’s sister unveil a special treat: a 6-foot-tall “Liberty Bell” she’d constructed, containing 48 pigeons designated as “doves of peace.” They would fly majestically through the air as the band struck up “Hail to the Chief.” But they’d been cooped up in the heat for hours, and when the bell opened some of them dropped out dead. The rest, distraught, flew wildly through the hall, smashing into television lights, rafters and drapes. Historian David Pietrusza writes: “They dive-bombed delegates. Men and women shouted, ‘Watch your clothes!’ ” Some pigeons went for the podium. Convention chairman Sam Rayburn “frantically shushed them away. One nearly landed on his glistening, bald head. Another headed straight for the blades of a thirty-six-inch electric fan, saved from filleting only by Rayburn’s quick action. ‘Get those damned pigeons out of here!’ he screamed over live radio and TV.”

Truman hadn’t prepared a formal speech, and went from bullet points. The crowd loved it. I judge it the worst of his career—snotty, militant, more than a little demagogic.

But up against it he showed plenty of fight. McCullough: “Critics on the left and the right found themselves grudgingly moved by such nerve and audacity in the face of the odds.”

Lovers of political history, the real romantics, know how the story ends. A long journey by rail, the famous whistle-stop tour. “I want to see the people,” said Truman, whose own idea McCullough says it was. He crossed the country, then through the Midwest, then up and down the cities of the East, town after town. And something started to happen. “No president in history had ever gone so far in quest of support from the people,” McCullough wrote.

People started arriving in the morning for an afternoon speech. In Detroit on Labor Day 100,000 people filled Cadillac Square. Labor muscle put them there, reporters said, and they were right. But 90,000 showed up in Des Moines, Iowa. At Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles Truman was met by Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and introduced by New Dealer Ronald Reagan. Truman was blunt: communists were “guiding and using” the Progressives.

=============

Regarding Peggy Noonan’s “If Democrats are Wise, They’ll Embrace Chaos” (Declarations, July 13): Democrats are wise. I’m talking about the diabolically smart, under-the-radar leaders who laid the train tracks that the GOP and the country have been hurtling down for the past six months.

Here’s the setup: Schedule the Democratic National Convention at least a month after the Republican National Convention. Continue to prop up the failing incumbent until the GOP is irrevocably committed to its own flawed standard-bearer. Then trigger (or simply let happen) the events that permit the Democrats to substitute a new, young, vigorous and electable candidate to take the stage for the last three months of the campaign. Persuade the millions who have supported former President Donald Trump only as the lesser of two evils to take a chance on an appealing alternative. Viola! Snatch victory from defeat.

Who could have seen this coming?

Daniel W. Billingsley
« Last Edit: July 19, 2024, 08:01:54 AM by Crafty_Dog »

Crafty_Dog

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WSJ: Trump's acceptance speech
« Reply #1540 on: July 19, 2024, 08:22:32 AM »
second

Trump Meets Half the Moment in His RNC Speech
He delivered a moving account of his near-assassination mixed with a rambling, indulgent stump speech.
By The Editorial Board
Updated July 19, 2024 1:18 am ET


Republicans in Milwaukee put on a first-rate and unified show this week, and the question for Donald Trump was whether he could cap it off with a speech that would broaden his political appeal. He met the moment for about 30 minutes before devolving into a rambling stump speech that probably had many Americans heading for bed.



The former President had the audience rapt as he recounted his near-assassination on Saturday in Butler, Pa. This was a subdued, even somber Donald Trump that Americans rarely see. He struck notes of national unity and optimism. He said his campaign is rooted in “confidence, strength and hope.”

Mr. Trump seemed genuinely grateful to the Secret Service and for the bravery of the crowd in Butler that didn’t panic even after the shots were fired. His tribute to Corey Comperatore, the firefighter who was killed by the shooter, was moving.

“Our society must be healed,” Mr. Trump said. He gave the impression that perhaps the shooting might really cause him to approach a second term differently than he did the first. This is a Donald Trump who would have won re-election in 2020.

But Mr. Trump can’t help himself, and before too long he was on a discursive tour of his greatest first-term hits and whatever seemed to pop into his head. This included a prediction that the Green Bay Packers would have a good season, and we’re willing to bet this is the first nomination acceptance speech that mentioned Hannibal Lecter.

He couldn’t resist complaining that Democrats “cheat” in elections and cost him the election in 2020, as well as indulging his grievances over the court cases against him. He said the Biden Administration should drop the cases if it wants to improve the tone of our politics. That was a perfect opportunity for Mr. Trump to pledge that if re-elected he wouldn’t prosecute President Biden or his family. But he missed that moment to put action behind his rhetorical promise of “unity.”

Mr. Trump’s great advantage over Mr. Biden is that he projects strength, and he did so with a pledge to gain the release of Americans held hostage. “I tell you this, we want our hostages back, and they better be back before I assume office or you will be paying a very big price,” he said. That’s more forceful than anything Mr. Biden has said in four years.

But Mr. Trump also rambled on about his good relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, and he boasted that “I could stop wars with just a telephone call.” How he would do that he didn’t say, as he never does. The implication is that he will do it with the force of his personality. There were also promises to lower prices and interest rates, though without any explanation of how he would do that.

We could go on, but you may have heard most of this speech before. His tone was calmer and less partisan than usual. But the speech would have been more effective had he cut it in half.

Mr. Trump leaves Milwaukee with a lead in the polls for the first time in three presidential campaigns. The competence on display in this convention contrasts with the disorder among Democrats as they seek to push President Biden from the race. But if Mr. Biden bows out, Democrats have a chance to nominate a more formidable candidate who can still make it a tight race in this closely divided country.

The GOP convention gave Mr. Trump a lift by making a strong critique of the Biden Administration’s record. But we doubt the former President closed the deal on Thursday by reminding the country at great length that he is still Donald Trump.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2024, 11:46:20 AM by Crafty_Dog »

DougMacG

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Re: 2024, Trump Full Convention Speech
« Reply #1541 on: July 19, 2024, 10:53:17 AM »
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/07/19/donald_trump_full_2024_convention_speech_we_rise_together_or_we_fall_apart.html

Very good speech. 

I could quibble on a few details but it is a very strong, positive message.  Very powerful in a mostly subdued and non-threatening tone.

The message was love.  Let's see how that measures up against hate.
-----------------------------------------------

I see that the WSJ doesn't like his stump speech, but otherwise they draw a similar conclusion.

Of course there is a stump speech in it.  He's running for President.  I thought he gave great context and meaning to when he says, make America great again.
-----------------------------------------------
I expect a convention plus botched assassination bump.  It puts the pressure on Democrats.  They need a push to the center, to common sense, to the swing voter.  They need to pivot, turn, adjust, not just change the names on the ticket.  But no, they only know how to double down on extreme.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2024, 11:10:17 AM by DougMacG »

Crafty_Dog

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DougMacG

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Re: 2024
« Reply #1543 on: July 20, 2024, 04:53:07 AM »
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/democrat-godfathers-make-biden-offer-they-hope-he-can-t-refuse/ar-BB1qhTEq

The offer/ threat is:
1. Release the Hur tape,
2, Pardon Hunter,
3, Exercise the 25th Amendment.

(Doug)
1. Bluffing, Democrats helping Trump to win? Plus the transcript is already out. People already know they're going to be pauses and misstatements, plus the long tape will be boring.
2. He already plans to pardon Hunter.
3. 25th Amendment requires Republican help to execute it. Again, bluffing.

Joe, if you continue to shoot a hole in the bottom of the democratic boat and sink us, we will shoot three more holes in the boat.

Joe, there is no way you can win. If you stay in we will make it so there is no way you can win.

Meaningless threats to Joe, I think, he has them by the short hairs. Get behind me big time or we all lose.

More likely, they are showing him tapes of himself and making him watch, proving him wrong. It wasn't just a bad night. It was a bad career.

Crafty_Dog

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ccp

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D. D. Guttenplan
« Reply #1545 on: July 20, 2024, 05:24:57 AM »
A true Jewish, Democrat to the death.
Nut pretzels up history to fit his hatred of Republicans and of course, now DJT.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._D._Guttenplan

There is NEVER any speaking to Democrats like this.  I would always be wrong,
my positions sneered at, grins on the face, ignored or what about is'ms.

Never cede anything and just be an arrogant attitude you are simply wrong dumb and I am wiser smarter better educated than thou.

DD writes,
[me =>   :roll: :roll: :roll:]

" Running for president is a grueling ordeal that makes running a marathon look like a walk in the park. Doing it in the full glare of an unforgiving and often hostile media takes an immense toll even on a candidate as young and fit as Barack Obama"

   

"Here at The Nation, while we’ve often been critical of the president’s policies—especially his unconditional support for Israel’s criminal war in Gaza and his apparent aversion to negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine—no one seriously argued that Biden shouldn’t run, or that he couldn’t win, in 2024"

" After all, Democrats’ policies on abortion rights, workers’ rights, voting rights, student debt forgiveness, and climate change were all more popular than their opponents’. Plus the economy was performing surprisingly well—even delivering the Holy Grail of a soft landing from inflation—"

d

"Kamala Harris is the candidate best placed to lead the Democrats to victory—not just at the top of the ticket but also in the House and Senate races that will be crucial in delivering the changes this country so desperately needs: Medicare for All (which Harris endorsed in 2017), restoring a woman’s right to control her fertility, securing the right to vote—and the right to join a union, adequate funding for childcare and parental leave, a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants currently living in fear, bold action to address climate change (Harris was an early backer of the Green New Deal), rebalancing the Supreme Court, and a fresh approach to the stalemate in Ukraine and the slaughter in Gaza."
« Last Edit: July 20, 2024, 06:57:39 AM by ccp »

DougMacG

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Re: 2024, The Speech
« Reply #1546 on: July 20, 2024, 06:38:12 AM »
This is a pretty good answer to the WSJ critique.

https://thefederalist.com/2024/07/19/secret-services-incompetence-is-exactly-why-we-need-trump-to-dismantle-the-deep-state/

After calling for unity and civility, even humbly admitting that he needs to do better, he needed to spell out policy differences.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2024, 06:39:47 AM by DougMacG »


Body-by-Guinness

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How the Dem Campaign Plan Derailed
« Reply #1548 on: July 20, 2024, 07:22:11 AM »
As good a description of the current political landscape as I have found. I suspect the explanation as to why Biden opted to debate is the most likely I’ve seen:

The Democrats’ communications strategy for Trump is collapsing
The Hill News / by J.T. Young / Jul 20, 2024 at 9:26 AM

Democrats’ strategy was for communications to close Biden’s policy and political deficit in 2024. It has failed miserably. Rather than closing, Democrats’ communication failures threaten to widen their gap.

Biden entered 2024 trailing Trump in the polls. According to Real Clear Politics’ Jan. 1 national averages, Biden trailed by 2.3 percentage points in a two-way race, 5 percentage points in a five-way race, and 3.7 percentage points head-to-head in top battleground states.

These deficits can be attributed to Biden’s policies during his (then) three years in office.  Although low, Biden’s overall job approval (just 40.4 percent on Jan. 24) has been above his rating on the most pressing issues: the economy, foreign policy, immigration, inflation, crime, and the Hamas-Israel war.

With less than a year before the election and a divided Congress blocking legislation, there was little Biden could do on the policy front.  However, communications offered opportunities and assets.

Biden’s deficit was hardly insurmountable. Democrats had a sizable fundraising advantage.  Biden also had an opponent seen as divisive and with “favorables” barely higher than his. Biden’s incumbency advantage also allowed him to make news at will. And he had a pliant establishment media eager to help him make it — and willing to cover his mistakes.

Democrats’ strategy was as simple as it was necessary for them: Drive Trump’s negatives higher than Biden’s. They would paint Trump as a lawbreaker (facing four felony cases) and leverage his perceived divisiveness.  As Biden did on Jan. 5, they would paint Trump as “willing to sacrifice our democracy.”

But Democrats’ communications counteroffensive has fallen flat.

Biden’s State of the Union speech, followed by a fanning out of administration surrogates, didn’t work. The Biden campaign’s massive spending also failed. The felony conviction Democrats had long longed for (and organized) brought them no more traction.

Trailing, their quiver approaching empty. and time growing short, Biden’s campaign rolled the debate dice, accepting a shared stage where all the elements favored them (CNN, favorable moderators, no audience, mic cutoffs and just 90 minutes). 

The dice came up “snake-eyes.”

As all know by now, the June 27 debate was horrendous for Biden: He looked bad, sounded worse,and stumbled his way through an hour and a half that encroached on eternity. However, what goes overlooked in that disaster is the broader destruction of Democrats’ communication counteroffensive.

A $50 million ad buy was running through June in which Trump was called a “convicted criminal;” it was aimed at swing states and minority voters. However, entering July the idea voters had was not that Trump was unfit for the presidency, but that Biden was.

That message of Biden’s unfitness was then echoed by Biden’s own party members and the establishment media. Democrat after Democrat in dribs and drabs came forward calling for Biden to withdraw as nominee; establishment media flagships did likewise.

The contrast couldn’t have been greater: Trump was running for president while Biden was running to retain his nomination. That contrast — the very reverse of what Biden’s campaign had intended — dominated the news for over two weeks. Until the evening of July 13, when Trump escaped assassination by inches.

Then, the contrast grew worse for Biden. Images of blood-streaked Trump, fist in the air, made him seem not just fitter, but fighting fit. The opponent Democrats wanted to burn into America’s mind as a convicted felon was now the victim of horrific violence — a violence that Democrats’ confrontational rhetoric had liberally used.

Trump’s shooting also undercut the Democratic elite’s effort to force Biden out now and Democrats’ anti-Trump message over the coming months.

Democrat elite’s effort to force Biden off the ticket was dependent on ongoing attention to Biden’s frailty. Following the attempted assassination of Trump, those efforts could get no airplay.

The attack on Trump has dominated airwaves since it occurred; only to be handed over to coverage of Trump’s pick of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) to be his running mate, then into the Republican convention in Milwaukee, and finally highlighted by Trump’s acceptance speech. Only now are the Democratic elite able to ramp back up their effort to oust Biden.

Democratic elites needed media focus on Biden; instead, media focus has been on Trump.

Finally, the assassination attempt has severely hamstrung Democrats’ intended vilification of Trump over the coming months. Having exhausted all options to raise Biden, their only hope was to lower Trump. Yet now attempts to do so will appear to be inciting violence like that which has just occurred against Trump.  At best, their message will look hypocritical, at worst, culpable.

Perhaps any strategy predicated on Biden and Harris’ communications abilities was doomed to fail. They are arguably the worst communications duo in modern presidential history. And pursuing a decidedly negative message strategy, one that has gotten increasingly histrionic was an innate liability (one that Republicans would have been excoriated for if they had implemented it). 

However, most important to Democrats is the fact that it is not working: on Jan. 2, Trump’s favorability advantage was 0.6 percentage points; on July 18, it is 4.3 percentage points.

In contrast, Trump has been outperforming, not only Biden but himself, in communications. Of course, he retains his ability to attract crowds and excite them. But he has also been restrained while Democrats publicly fight over their nominee and in his shooting’s aftermath.

So, as Biden reverses, Trump surges, making the separation between the two all the clearer: Trump caught a bullet and Biden caught COVID.  By overestimating Biden and underestimating Trump, the Democrats’ communication counteroffensive has collapsed.

Make no mistake: Democrats aren’t losing because they can’t communicate, but they are failing to close their deficit as planned because they can’t — despite having substantial advantages.  This is also why this race may get even more out of hand over the next three and a half months.

J.T. Young was a professional staffer in the House and Senate from 1987-2000, served in the Department of Treasury and Office of Management and Budget from 2001-2004, and was director of government relations for a Fortune 20 company from 2004-2023.

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4782516-the-democrats-communications-strategy-for-trump-is-collapsing/

Body-by-Guinness

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A Palpable Energy
« Reply #1549 on: July 20, 2024, 11:42:13 AM »
Thousands in line in blue Michigan to see Trump/Vance engagement that doesn’t start for several hours:

https://x.com/monicacrowley/status/1814668179194720705?s=61