They want us exhausted and giving up. I refuse to do that. I am simply unwilling to give up our 250 year old experiment to a guy who wears orange makeup and doesn’t even take stairs.
We all work together this November to show the GOP that even trying to rig the game mid game will not work.
Instead of tearing down the ballroom, convert it to offices for revitalized American Aid Programs that Bond-villain Elon Musk dismantled. Remove all the crappy gold lame' and other Trumpian touches and put that shite up for bid with proceeds going to help the less fortunate. Converting the ballroom to something mundane, but useful, will drive the Maga nuts insane.
I’ve got no doubt it’s hideous but I really don’t want to waste more money on this absurdity and knocking it down will be subject to court challenges. Change it to something better and make it a symbol of moving on from this ridiculous man and his venomous movement.
Something MAGA would hate ... hmm, how about "ballroom"?
Somehow it's OK when Trump does it, but I don't see ballroom enthusiasm surviving his lifetime. I can't picture Vance bragging about his ... you know what, I'm going to stop before I can't resist quoting AC / DC.
I saw a meme that had a sign out front referring to it as a memorial for all the people President Man killed thanks to his ignorance during Covid and other “programs.”
If you start a war that makes obscene profits for the oil barons you promised would get obscene profits if they gave you a billion dollars... and if those profits come at the expense of the little people who voted for you... why not sock those little people for another billion. I mean, swinging THAT grift is pretty monumental, eh?
We could sell pieces of rubble, parts of a marble arm rest, rebar from the bomb shelter. Toss the arch into the mix and we could pay off the national debt!
I am a democrat poll greeter and poll watcher. Last election cycle, our democrat candidate lost by a small margin. She’s running again in November. I am, all democrats, are hopeful that the dominant republican block will see-the-light and vote blue 💙
Has is occurred to anybody else that perhaps the Republican's billion dollar plus request for Trump's ballroom is a feint? Since it is being paid for by "donations" from big donors, perhaps it is a slush fund that, once established, Trump thinks he can raid to use for other things the Democrats are refusing to fund? It may be one work-around to get more money for ICE. They are devious.
Bill: "It’s too bad that decent Indiana Republicans who stood up to Trump have to suffer in the process. But that’s the choice of the Republican primary electorate, and the only solution for now is an even bigger Republican defeat in November."
How many of these "decent Indiana Republicans" voted for Trump in 2024?
Yeah, I think the problem with having decent people being in an indecent political party is that they become definitionally indecent by association. Kudos to them for standing up on their principles. But also: like, you get +1 point and then we can start the point deductions for everything else...
We've known for years that Trump views everything as a personal loyalty test. So if these supposedly decent people voted for Trump after the events of January 6 2021 and they're looking for a gold star for "doing the right thing", they're not getting one from me.
Indiana seems to have it's share of Pence Republicans. They can do one decent thing to thwart Trump and then vote for him again. Don't seem to be the brightest crayons in the box.
Colleen - what I hear is mostly identity related. Daddy & grampa voted R (John Prine wrote the line "voted for Eisenhower cuz Lincoln won the war" but TBH these days I don't know how many Hoosier Rs regard that as a good thing 🤔😬)... and those marxist radical trans police-defunding Dems would surely be worse! Doncha know they cause inflation and get us into unnecessary wars that we lose and such as that...
oops forgot the baby killer stuff. Yeah guns but there's been so little movement toward that it almost seems less salient these days... tho not if we go by the count of NRA stickers, gun logos on clothing, etc. The Prine song is 'Grandpa was a carpenter' - just a beautiful sweet tribute to his own, and to all old timey grandparents
That probably depends on what hunting season will be open on Election Day. If it’s deer-hunting season around here, Republican voter turnout goes down.
Tom - My state senator voted against the redistricting & last night lost his R primary after years in the state senate. He's 80-ish so I hope he enjoys many years out to pasture. He'd be welcome in any opposition but that one vote earns him a shining star. AND I will remember his overall record too 😡
We will get a better view of Texas GOP voters after the Paxton/Cornyn runoff, but it still doesn’t tell us what the losing side voters will do in the general against the Dems. I could see losing Paxton voters staying home and not voting for Cornyn. Will losing Cornyn voters vote in the general for Paxton. Well, what would Susan Collins do……To the extent any of these losing voters stay home, that’s a win, and it’s likely the most positive outcome. I can’t imagine any Texas GOP primary voter crossing the line to vote for a Dem in the general.
I think the best we can hope for across the country is that Rs stay home in November. Thinking that they will actually vote for a Democrat is lunacy. Especially in places like Indiana.
I agree! Yesterday's election showed how deeply connected to Trump these people are, no matter how much he is destroying our and the world's economy they still vote the way he wants them too. They are truly in a cult when they vote against their own self interests. It is very troubling.
Tim - in 2024 Indiana: 1,720,347 voted Trump; 58.43% of the ballots cast. About 38.5% of eligible voters didn't bother to vote at all. I am adrift in this wilderness, wailing & gnashing what teeth remain. But later this day I will join a plucky band of neighbors at the weekly street sign rally, projecting our small spark of light into the gloom. Generally we get more honks than curses, and we play lively music on the boombox. We're still here. We persist
Probably virtually all of them, but in the back of my mind I remember Obama won Indiana in 2008 and a Democrat was elected Senator. Seems like a lifetime ago.
Wrecking the executive mansion and then dumping the toxic waste on a public golf course that the regime wants to turn into a championship course is too far fetched even for a cartoon villain.
Why did visas get pulled for La Nación’s board? Because, as non-citizens, it was the easiest way for the administration to punish a media outlet that had displeased them. They’re doing it by whatever means they have for all disfavored media outlets. And even when they don’t take explicit action, their compliers-in-advance corporations are happy to do it for them.
If you didn’t see Tim’s interview with John Heilemann a week ago, he said something that I think could be signal-boosted a bit more. Alluding to when Tim was a co-host of Showtime’s long-running cult hit political documentary series The Circus, which Heilemann co-created, Heilemann briefly touched on his own recent experience trying to shop around for a studio/streamer to distribute a new series (whether a revival of The Circus or something new, he didn’t specify).
> Maybe something will happen over the next year and they'll change their minds. But as of today, there is that attitude which is, ‘Yeah, we don't even want to do a perfunctory meeting on this because we are *never* going to make this thing. If it touches on anything where Donald Trump or anything Trump adjacent could come up and there's some chance that something that you or one of your colleagues… on a show like that would say that would make [the White House] mad. We just are, you know, the risk is the financial risk the regulatory risk the is just too great, [so] fuck it, we're just going to keep our heads down for the next two and a half years.’
One would think that, since the audience appetite for ‘political infotainment’ is usually countercyclical (liberal outlets benefit when Republicans gain power, illiberal ones when Democrats do), a streamer like Apple or Netflix would jump at a chance to get into a prestige-y space with an experienced production team. But they won’t.
Key is ‘…we’re just going to keep our heads down for the next two and a half years.’ This isn’t the tech and media companies all going MAGA. Some of that has happened too, but that’s not what Heilemann’s describing. This is just literal risk mitigation, complying in advance.
Yeah, that's what elites and businesses always do. Same in Nazi Germany, same in Communist Russia. Heads down, boys, and pretend this won't affect us. But it always, always does.
Kate - "us" for sure. Them? They know their dollars form a fairly effective shield, and they expect their personal savvy empowers them to skate carefully when the ice looks thin around them. Sometimes one of them gets a Big Surprise. I ❤️that for them
At this point, nothing will please me more than celebrating the self inflicted death of the GOP as a viable political party. I'm curios to see if Trump's favored candidates can win more than their primary come November. I bet a lot of them don't.
The ballroom is going up rapidly? Maybe that's like the deal with Iran that is very nearly completed--despite that Marco Rubio is relating progress only on what issues will be negotiated, the ground-rules; and the narrow 2024 win that was "a landslide." Or the number of undocumented immigrants in the country, which he consistently exaggerated by 7 times; or the number of unregistered voters in Georgia in 2020--62,000.*
* After a full audit of ballots, Gabe Sterling and Brad Raffensberger testified to the 1/6 Committee, under oath, that the number was zero. Because Trump's written declaration was under penalty of perjury, that was part of the Georgia state indictment.
Last Saturday I early-voted for Cassidy in the Republican primary - not because I’m any fan of his after he voted to confirm RFK Jr. (although I do appreciate his vote to convict in the first impeachment), but because it would really piss off Trump and our MAGA Governor if he wins the nomination. (Wonder how much money the RNC and other GOP Super PACs would be willing to spend to help one of Trump’s “enemies” get reelected?) Plus, the Democratic candidate would have a better chance in the general election if the Republican electorate is divided. (That’s why I changed my party affiliation after 50 years as a Democrat, because our MAGA Governor and legislature closed our formerly open primaries, and the future of this state will be decided in the Republican primaries. Congratulations, you played yourselves, Louisiana Republicans!)
FareDaze - because it was so effective, see? It did the job on Day One, just like The Big Guy sez. He's amazing like no one's ever seen before. Iran is so anxious to surrender. And tomorrow, we'll be back at armagideon time. We've always been at war with East Asia 🤪
I feel cautiously optimistic about the midterms. But I wince at the talk of a "blue wave" or--dare I say it--"tsunami" in November. I recall the overconfidence of Republicans proclaiming their side would experience a red tsunami during the midterm election of 2018, which, as it turned out, was not the case. We are constantly being told that Trump voters are more likely to stay home if Trump is not on the ballot. I don't believe that. I think they realize the consequences of Trump losing the House or Senate and are committed to showing up for their side in November. I think they are content to be underestimated by the media and Dem establishment--all the more satisfying for them this fall if our hopes are dashed. Dems need to come up with a few really convincing policy goals that they commit to fighting for to ensure that their voters as well as masses of people who don't regularly vote at all show up in November. We can't rely on negative reaction to Trump's policies and actions to be enough of an incentive to cast a ballot.
Flavia - plus the anti-Dem fear factor machine will be turned up to eleven, with or without Trump. Many aren't voting FOR anything, they're voting AGAINST that
It should come as no surprise that six “conventional” Republicans lost their jobs. There is no more GOP. It’s the MAGA party. These people are not going back until they get even with everyone. And conservatism is on life support. Of course Felon Trump is happy. Probably as happy as when he started bombing Iran, and we can see how well that is working out.
WTF is T talking about in the Cheap Shots post? If it's supposedly going to be <$400M, why is $1B in the proposed budget for it - that OUR tax dollars will pay for?
When I read updates about the stupid, pointless WH ballroom, I remember an Atlantic article published a month ago describing Hitler's obsession with expanding the Reich chancellery that went on even as Nazi Germany starting crumbling under attack from the Allies.
The problem that the Democrats have is that people are not voting FOR the Democrats, they are voting AGAINST Trump. That includes me.
The Democratic party has done absolutely NOTHING to convince me that they will do anything substantive to rein this crap in should they win the House/Senate. They had from 2020 to 2024 to do things and didn't do much to save liberalism.
I find it difficult to take anything they say in that regard seriously, because a lot of them don't actually seem to believe it, themselves.
And, you know, they MIGHT be doing things--but it is hard to tell because their messaging and outreach and media presence kinda sucks ass.
I still get a lot of asks for money though because I donated to the Harris campaign.
My answer for that was to vote for better Dems in the primaries. We can't simply vote against. We need to be for something and we need to vote for candidates, if available, that align with that. All of my candidates were anti-Trump. I voted for what they were actually FOR. With a preference for people who haven't been in DC for 20+ years. I used to think experience mattered. Now I just want people who will go hard against MAGA with the gloves off.
Experience does matter up to a certain point. Unfortunately too many stay beyond their "Sell By Date". I still blame RBG and her treacherous ego for not retiring when we had a Democratic POTUS. She is one of the poster children for staying too long. All she did was tarnish the accomplishments of her earlier career.
I see little leadership and inspiration coming out of the Dem party apparatus and not much more from the candidates. To maximize enthusiasm and turnout, these things are mandatory. "Restoring normalcy" might have worked in 2020, but it's wholly insufficient today, especially since MAGA has pretty much eliminated any interest in normality within the R party. Being anti-MAGA isn't good enough.
As Bill points out, the Republican agenda is very unpopular. Ballroom, harsher immigration enforcement, war, all of these policies repulse the majority of voters. And yet, they don't repulse Republicans. Indiana primary voters, as Republican voters in primaries throughout the land have consistently done, rewarded unquestioning fealty to Trump while punishing courage and principle.
The GOP knows its agenda is unpopular, and the gerrymanders prove that they know it. You don't blow up the system to maintain power if you think democracy approves of your agenda. In North Carolina and Wisconsin, those states have previously elected both Democratic governors along with Republican supermajorities in the state houses; this should never happen in a healthy democracy.
"And yet, they don't repulse Republicans. Indiana primary voters, as Republican voters in primaries throughout the land have consistently done, rewarded unquestioning fealty to Trump while punishing courage and principle..."
It's because those people who continue to vote for trump and his henchmen are shit people. They had to hide it for so long but trump allowed them to wear their hate like a badge of honor. They knew what he was and lined up like the good little fascists they are and voted for him and his agenda.
They want us exhausted and giving up. I refuse to do that. I am simply unwilling to give up our 250 year old experiment to a guy who wears orange makeup and doesn’t even take stairs.
We all work together this November to show the GOP that even trying to rig the game mid game will not work.
And no ballroom. Ever.
Part of me wants the ballroom built.
Because I want the next POTUS to raze that fuckin' monstrosity to the ground.
And name it something that MAGA Tears will hate. Yes, I have become MAGA like in that way.
How about the Barak Obama rose garden in it s place?
Oooooh, I love it!
Instead of tearing down the ballroom, convert it to offices for revitalized American Aid Programs that Bond-villain Elon Musk dismantled. Remove all the crappy gold lame' and other Trumpian touches and put that shite up for bid with proceeds going to help the less fortunate. Converting the ballroom to something mundane, but useful, will drive the Maga nuts insane.
It is such a monstrosity, dwarfing the actual White House, that is either must not be allowed to be built, or it must be torn town if it is.
I’ve got no doubt it’s hideous but I really don’t want to waste more money on this absurdity and knocking it down will be subject to court challenges. Change it to something better and make it a symbol of moving on from this ridiculous man and his venomous movement.
What court challenges? Just bring in the bulldozers.
Including a Hall of Shame with portraits of Trump and his cabinet of horribles, in thr form of dart boards so that we can throw darts at their faces
Something MAGA would hate ... hmm, how about "ballroom"?
Somehow it's OK when Trump does it, but I don't see ballroom enthusiasm surviving his lifetime. I can't picture Vance bragging about his ... you know what, I'm going to stop before I can't resist quoting AC / DC.
How about ‘The Herbert Hoover Ballroom’, casually referred to as, “Hooverville”….
I saw a meme that had a sign out front referring to it as a memorial for all the people President Man killed thanks to his ignorance during Covid and other “programs.”
I prefer a consistent sabotage - daily. Never let the stupid thing be built. Same goes for any stupid arch.
Seems like it should be a rule that if you start a stupid war likely to sink the world into a recession you don't get billion dollar vanity projects.
If you start a war that makes obscene profits for the oil barons you promised would get obscene profits if they gave you a billion dollars... and if those profits come at the expense of the little people who voted for you... why not sock those little people for another billion. I mean, swinging THAT grift is pretty monumental, eh?
If the ballroom gets built a democrat would gain bigly by having a demolition and restoration platform.
Charge a modest fee for the pleasure of knocking it down to rubble. It will pay for itself and be down in no time!
We could sell pieces of rubble, parts of a marble arm rest, rebar from the bomb shelter. Toss the arch into the mix and we could pay off the national debt!
Like the chunks of the Berlin Wall that people took as souvenirs
A bunch of Munchkins dancing around singing, Hi ho, we told you so.
How about an Obama or Presidents rose garden in place of the arch at the entrance at Arlington Cemetery?
I am a democrat poll greeter and poll watcher. Last election cycle, our democrat candidate lost by a small margin. She’s running again in November. I am, all democrats, are hopeful that the dominant republican block will see-the-light and vote blue 💙
Has is occurred to anybody else that perhaps the Republican's billion dollar plus request for Trump's ballroom is a feint? Since it is being paid for by "donations" from big donors, perhaps it is a slush fund that, once established, Trump thinks he can raid to use for other things the Democrats are refusing to fund? It may be one work-around to get more money for ICE. They are devious.
Bill: "It’s too bad that decent Indiana Republicans who stood up to Trump have to suffer in the process. But that’s the choice of the Republican primary electorate, and the only solution for now is an even bigger Republican defeat in November."
How many of these "decent Indiana Republicans" voted for Trump in 2024?
And after the way Trump treated hometown boy Mike Pence.
Exactly.
That is the current Republican party: Cult
Yeah, I think the problem with having decent people being in an indecent political party is that they become definitionally indecent by association. Kudos to them for standing up on their principles. But also: like, you get +1 point and then we can start the point deductions for everything else...
We've known for years that Trump views everything as a personal loyalty test. So if these supposedly decent people voted for Trump after the events of January 6 2021 and they're looking for a gold star for "doing the right thing", they're not getting one from me.
Indiana seems to have it's share of Pence Republicans. They can do one decent thing to thwart Trump and then vote for him again. Don't seem to be the brightest crayons in the box.
Or they're really practiced at compartmentalization.
Colleen - what I hear is mostly identity related. Daddy & grampa voted R (John Prine wrote the line "voted for Eisenhower cuz Lincoln won the war" but TBH these days I don't know how many Hoosier Rs regard that as a good thing 🤔😬)... and those marxist radical trans police-defunding Dems would surely be worse! Doncha know they cause inflation and get us into unnecessary wars that we lose and such as that...
What I hear up in my neck of the woods is Dems want to take our guns and a lot of pro life nonsense. That's a great line from John Prine.
oops forgot the baby killer stuff. Yeah guns but there's been so little movement toward that it almost seems less salient these days... tho not if we go by the count of NRA stickers, gun logos on clothing, etc. The Prine song is 'Grandpa was a carpenter' - just a beautiful sweet tribute to his own, and to all old timey grandparents
Others under the bus.
I hope that those turned out lawmakers will join the resistance.
Or abstain from voting for MAGA-aligned Republicans.
That probably depends on what hunting season will be open on Election Day. If it’s deer-hunting season around here, Republican voter turnout goes down.
Don't bet the house on that proposition.
Tom - My state senator voted against the redistricting & last night lost his R primary after years in the state senate. He's 80-ish so I hope he enjoys many years out to pasture. He'd be welcome in any opposition but that one vote earns him a shining star. AND I will remember his overall record too 😡
We will get a better view of Texas GOP voters after the Paxton/Cornyn runoff, but it still doesn’t tell us what the losing side voters will do in the general against the Dems. I could see losing Paxton voters staying home and not voting for Cornyn. Will losing Cornyn voters vote in the general for Paxton. Well, what would Susan Collins do……To the extent any of these losing voters stay home, that’s a win, and it’s likely the most positive outcome. I can’t imagine any Texas GOP primary voter crossing the line to vote for a Dem in the general.
I think the best we can hope for across the country is that Rs stay home in November. Thinking that they will actually vote for a Democrat is lunacy. Especially in places like Indiana.
I agree! Yesterday's election showed how deeply connected to Trump these people are, no matter how much he is destroying our and the world's economy they still vote the way he wants them too. They are truly in a cult when they vote against their own self interests. It is very troubling.
As an Independent voting Hoosier, I think 99% voted for Mad King Darn'old Drumpf of Dementia-Felonia.
Tim - in 2024 Indiana: 1,720,347 voted Trump; 58.43% of the ballots cast. About 38.5% of eligible voters didn't bother to vote at all. I am adrift in this wilderness, wailing & gnashing what teeth remain. But later this day I will join a plucky band of neighbors at the weekly street sign rally, projecting our small spark of light into the gloom. Generally we get more honks than curses, and we play lively music on the boombox. We're still here. We persist
Probably virtually all of them, but in the back of my mind I remember Obama won Indiana in 2008 and a Democrat was elected Senator. Seems like a lifetime ago.
No more questions as to the current Republican Party being a cult.
Wrecking the executive mansion and then dumping the toxic waste on a public golf course that the regime wants to turn into a championship course is too far fetched even for a cartoon villain.
A metaphor for this administration.
At this point I'm pretty sure every member of this administration thought Lex Luthor was the hero of the story.
Great stuff. But I have to take exception to Bill's statement that "...it’s going to be a rough year for decent people left in the Republican party."
Show me one.
Why did visas get pulled for La Nación’s board? Because, as non-citizens, it was the easiest way for the administration to punish a media outlet that had displeased them. They’re doing it by whatever means they have for all disfavored media outlets. And even when they don’t take explicit action, their compliers-in-advance corporations are happy to do it for them.
If you didn’t see Tim’s interview with John Heilemann a week ago, he said something that I think could be signal-boosted a bit more. Alluding to when Tim was a co-host of Showtime’s long-running cult hit political documentary series The Circus, which Heilemann co-created, Heilemann briefly touched on his own recent experience trying to shop around for a studio/streamer to distribute a new series (whether a revival of The Circus or something new, he didn’t specify).
> Maybe something will happen over the next year and they'll change their minds. But as of today, there is that attitude which is, ‘Yeah, we don't even want to do a perfunctory meeting on this because we are *never* going to make this thing. If it touches on anything where Donald Trump or anything Trump adjacent could come up and there's some chance that something that you or one of your colleagues… on a show like that would say that would make [the White House] mad. We just are, you know, the risk is the financial risk the regulatory risk the is just too great, [so] fuck it, we're just going to keep our heads down for the next two and a half years.’
One would think that, since the audience appetite for ‘political infotainment’ is usually countercyclical (liberal outlets benefit when Republicans gain power, illiberal ones when Democrats do), a streamer like Apple or Netflix would jump at a chance to get into a prestige-y space with an experienced production team. But they won’t.
Key is ‘…we’re just going to keep our heads down for the next two and a half years.’ This isn’t the tech and media companies all going MAGA. Some of that has happened too, but that’s not what Heilemann’s describing. This is just literal risk mitigation, complying in advance.
Yeah, that's what elites and businesses always do. Same in Nazi Germany, same in Communist Russia. Heads down, boys, and pretend this won't affect us. But it always, always does.
Kate - "us" for sure. Them? They know their dollars form a fairly effective shield, and they expect their personal savvy empowers them to skate carefully when the ice looks thin around them. Sometimes one of them gets a Big Surprise. I ❤️that for them
At this point, nothing will please me more than celebrating the self inflicted death of the GOP as a viable political party. I'm curios to see if Trump's favored candidates can win more than their primary come November. I bet a lot of them don't.
Exactly what I am hoping to see!
I think it will take more than a drubbing this Nov. to get that party to change.(multiple election losses)
Depends on how many factions MAGA breaks into after the 2026 elections.
The ballroom is going up rapidly? Maybe that's like the deal with Iran that is very nearly completed--despite that Marco Rubio is relating progress only on what issues will be negotiated, the ground-rules; and the narrow 2024 win that was "a landslide." Or the number of undocumented immigrants in the country, which he consistently exaggerated by 7 times; or the number of unregistered voters in Georgia in 2020--62,000.*
* After a full audit of ballots, Gabe Sterling and Brad Raffensberger testified to the 1/6 Committee, under oath, that the number was zero. Because Trump's written declaration was under penalty of perjury, that was part of the Georgia state indictment.
"The ballroom is going up rapidly?"
Trump has a long history of announcing grand, ambitious construction projects. The list of such that were actually completed is pretty short.
Last Saturday I early-voted for Cassidy in the Republican primary - not because I’m any fan of his after he voted to confirm RFK Jr. (although I do appreciate his vote to convict in the first impeachment), but because it would really piss off Trump and our MAGA Governor if he wins the nomination. (Wonder how much money the RNC and other GOP Super PACs would be willing to spend to help one of Trump’s “enemies” get reelected?) Plus, the Democratic candidate would have a better chance in the general election if the Republican electorate is divided. (That’s why I changed my party affiliation after 50 years as a Democrat, because our MAGA Governor and legislature closed our formerly open primaries, and the future of this state will be decided in the Republican primaries. Congratulations, you played yourselves, Louisiana Republicans!)
Wait! Is Project Freedom paused for................2 weeks?
He cannot get out of his own way and quit stepping on his own rakes.
FareDaze - because it was so effective, see? It did the job on Day One, just like The Big Guy sez. He's amazing like no one's ever seen before. Iran is so anxious to surrender. And tomorrow, we'll be back at armagideon time. We've always been at war with East Asia 🤪
I feel cautiously optimistic about the midterms. But I wince at the talk of a "blue wave" or--dare I say it--"tsunami" in November. I recall the overconfidence of Republicans proclaiming their side would experience a red tsunami during the midterm election of 2018, which, as it turned out, was not the case. We are constantly being told that Trump voters are more likely to stay home if Trump is not on the ballot. I don't believe that. I think they realize the consequences of Trump losing the House or Senate and are committed to showing up for their side in November. I think they are content to be underestimated by the media and Dem establishment--all the more satisfying for them this fall if our hopes are dashed. Dems need to come up with a few really convincing policy goals that they commit to fighting for to ensure that their voters as well as masses of people who don't regularly vote at all show up in November. We can't rely on negative reaction to Trump's policies and actions to be enough of an incentive to cast a ballot.
Flavia - plus the anti-Dem fear factor machine will be turned up to eleven, with or without Trump. Many aren't voting FOR anything, they're voting AGAINST that
It should come as no surprise that six “conventional” Republicans lost their jobs. There is no more GOP. It’s the MAGA party. These people are not going back until they get even with everyone. And conservatism is on life support. Of course Felon Trump is happy. Probably as happy as when he started bombing Iran, and we can see how well that is working out.
WTF is T talking about in the Cheap Shots post? If it's supposedly going to be <$400M, why is $1B in the proposed budget for it - that OUR tax dollars will pay for?
in 2 weeks it may be $ 2 B
When it has to be The Greatest Ever, there is no limit to the expenditure.
When I read updates about the stupid, pointless WH ballroom, I remember an Atlantic article published a month ago describing Hitler's obsession with expanding the Reich chancellery that went on even as Nazi Germany starting crumbling under attack from the Allies.
The problem that the Democrats have is that people are not voting FOR the Democrats, they are voting AGAINST Trump. That includes me.
The Democratic party has done absolutely NOTHING to convince me that they will do anything substantive to rein this crap in should they win the House/Senate. They had from 2020 to 2024 to do things and didn't do much to save liberalism.
I find it difficult to take anything they say in that regard seriously, because a lot of them don't actually seem to believe it, themselves.
And, you know, they MIGHT be doing things--but it is hard to tell because their messaging and outreach and media presence kinda sucks ass.
I still get a lot of asks for money though because I donated to the Harris campaign.
My answer for that was to vote for better Dems in the primaries. We can't simply vote against. We need to be for something and we need to vote for candidates, if available, that align with that. All of my candidates were anti-Trump. I voted for what they were actually FOR. With a preference for people who haven't been in DC for 20+ years. I used to think experience mattered. Now I just want people who will go hard against MAGA with the gloves off.
Experience does matter up to a certain point. Unfortunately too many stay beyond their "Sell By Date". I still blame RBG and her treacherous ego for not retiring when we had a Democratic POTUS. She is one of the poster children for staying too long. All she did was tarnish the accomplishments of her earlier career.
I see little leadership and inspiration coming out of the Dem party apparatus and not much more from the candidates. To maximize enthusiasm and turnout, these things are mandatory. "Restoring normalcy" might have worked in 2020, but it's wholly insufficient today, especially since MAGA has pretty much eliminated any interest in normality within the R party. Being anti-MAGA isn't good enough.
As Bill points out, the Republican agenda is very unpopular. Ballroom, harsher immigration enforcement, war, all of these policies repulse the majority of voters. And yet, they don't repulse Republicans. Indiana primary voters, as Republican voters in primaries throughout the land have consistently done, rewarded unquestioning fealty to Trump while punishing courage and principle.
The GOP knows its agenda is unpopular, and the gerrymanders prove that they know it. You don't blow up the system to maintain power if you think democracy approves of your agenda. In North Carolina and Wisconsin, those states have previously elected both Democratic governors along with Republican supermajorities in the state houses; this should never happen in a healthy democracy.
"And yet, they don't repulse Republicans. Indiana primary voters, as Republican voters in primaries throughout the land have consistently done, rewarded unquestioning fealty to Trump while punishing courage and principle..."
It's because those people who continue to vote for trump and his henchmen are shit people. They had to hide it for so long but trump allowed them to wear their hate like a badge of honor. They knew what he was and lined up like the good little fascists they are and voted for him and his agenda.
"And it’s going to be a rough year for decent people left in the Republican party."
There are no longer any decent Republicans.
Exactly! If they were decent they would've left the party long ago.