The 2022 Midterm Elections

[pfife]

 

[pfife]

For me, I became very much not Republican because of the Iraq War.   I was not republican before but the war solidified it.  

[romad1]

Loyalty to the man...was more important than the policy choices.  The policy choices were all just red meat.

[chasfh]

Watching CNN right now feels like Christmas. Or maybe, because the good news has been coming every day, more like Hanukkah. 

[gehringer_2]

14 minutes ago, pfife said:

For me, I became very much not Republican because of the Iraq War.   I was not republican before but the war solidified it.  

Not only the war, also the deliberate adminstrative incompetence of the Bush II admin was anothrer turning point. Bush II sort of normalized the practice of putting completely incompetent ideologues in high government positions - esp at DOJ,  that left door so open for Trump to take it to the next level.

Add economic malfeasance and by the end of Bush II the GOP had made itself the party of error on all practical matters. Which of course made it a necessity to double down on being the party of cultural grievance.

Edited November 13, 2022 by gehringer_2

[chasfh]

6 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Why would a more moderate Republican stick their neck out and do something like that? They saw what happened to Liz Cheney and Peter Meijer. It is almost certain to be an automatic loss in the primary election to a MAGA, Trump-backed candidate. While Trump's power in a general election has evaporated, this election cycle still proved he has primary power. 

But isn’t that prefect? Because they can let these wackjobs advance to the general to be slaughtered all they want, as far as I’m concerned.

[Motor City Sonics]

I feel a lot better about my country this weekend than I did last weekend.  I was worried, really worried.  hardly slept last Saturday, felt sick all day Sunday.    Not just that Republicans would win, but these psychos in their party would win.    We came through.  It's still distressing that roughly 46-48% of people think these nuts are okay.   Democrats have some extremists too, but I don't get the sense they will inspire violence.    

 

Fun sport to watch is the folks like Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham now try to backtrack on Trump.    Ted Cruz especially.  I know that he absolutely hates Trump but he whored himself and his wife and father out for him..............LOL

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, Motor City Sonics said:

They only way they can drop him is when he drops for good -- The Big Sleep.     He's not going away and his echo will continue to reverberate in the primaries.......even after he's gone.   Some of his supporters will likely get crazier.  I'm surprised at the lack of violence, actually.   But it's early.    

He hasn't gone away since he started running his mouth back in the 70s, but I think he's got to lose some political relevance at some point if he keeps losing.  

I think the lack of violence might be fear of God.  

Edited November 13, 2022 by Tiger337

[oblong]

I think Trump brought people into the GOO fold that were not there but also pushed people away.  Those he brought in will not support anyone else unless he gives them permission. They are traditionally non voters. 
 

I don’t know if I changed before Trump. When the old site was up I tried to look at my old posts to see if I could find a moment but did not. I was never in on Trump. I assumed he would lose the primary.  I am pretty sure I would have supported someone like Rubio or Kasich in 2016. Not Cruz.  

[Mr.TaterSalad]

More good news for Katie Hobbs.

[Motor City Sonics]

20 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

He hasn't gone away since he started running his mouth back in the 70s, but I think he's got to lose some political relevance at some point if he keeps losing.  

I think the lack of violence might be fear of God.  

The media has to stop covering him first.  Every time he farts, man

[Mr.TaterSalad]

 

[CMRivdogs]

True

Now if only the GOP had ideas aside from tax cuts for the rich and tax cuts for the rich.....

[1984Echoes]

8 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

 

I have it as 221-214 at the moment... regarding those last 5...

Dems currently have AZ01 (equals 214...)

But need to steal the other 4 to maintain control...

3 of those are within reach of possibly doing that but the 4th (CA22) seems out of reach (never say never...).

Which says the House could end up at 218-217... for either party.

[romad1]

This ad got a fist pump from me

 

[chasfh]

54 minutes ago, CMRivdogs said:

True

Now if only the GOP had ideas aside from tax cuts for the rich and tax cuts for the rich.....

This tweet harks back to what I posted on the old site seven years ago, something along the lines of: yeah, awesome, let the Republicans field Trump in the election against Hillary. He’ll get absolutely crushed because people will be sprinting to the polls at two in the morning on election day to make sure they don’t lose the opportunity to vote against him.

I mistakenly thought everybody saw the same guy I saw. I don’t mean conservatives who might or might not vote for him, but I mean people who would never vote for him. I figured people who might not normally vote, or who are typically on the fence about whether to vote in any given election, would be super motivated to vote against Trump. I mean, come on, no politically-engaged person with any memory of what this guy had done over the previous three decades could ever vote for that guy.

Turns out I was seven years too early with that assessment, but here we are now. Finally.

[Tiger337]

9 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

The media has to stop covering him first.  Every time he farts, man

yeah, that's a problem.  They won't though because he gets them clicks.   

[mtutiger]

5 minutes ago, chasfh said:

This tweet harks back to what I posted on the old site seven years ago, something along the lines of: yeah, awesome, let the Republicans field Trump in the election against Hillary. He’ll get absolutely crushed because people will be sprinting to the polls at two in the morning on election day to make sure they don’t lose the opportunity to vote against him.

I mistakenly thought everybody saw the same guy I saw. I don’t mean conservatives who might or might not vote for him, but I mean people who would never vote for him. I figured people who might not normally vote, or who are typically on the fence about whether to vote in any given election, would be super motivated to vote against Trump. I mean, come on, no politically-engaged person with any memory of what this guy had done over the previous three decades could ever vote for that guy.

Turns out I was seven years too early with that assessment, but here we are now. Finally.

Trump was also seen much differently at the time... he was seen as being more moderate on not just fiscal policy as well as even social policy. He wasn't seen as a virulently anti-abortion candidate for instance, and his brand was significantly less intertwined with social conservatism and evangelicalism.

That changed once he became President and, more or less, did everything that the social conservatives wanted. And that partly explains the failures of 2018, 2020 and now 2022 imo

[chasfh]

Just now, Tiger337 said:

yeah, that's a problem.  They won't though because he gets them clicks.   

If I were more skeptical or even cynical, I might conclude that so-called liberal mainstream media kept wishcasting a red wave through aggressive pro-Republican reporting because of how profitable it was for them the last time liberals were scared shitless a fascist government was thisclose to knocking on their doors. 

[mtutiger]

I've been thinking a lot about the crime messaging... it was widely accepted as being pretty good politics and strategy in this election but there were anecdotal signs (both in real life interactions as well as on the sports talk station I listen to) that the more hysterical stuff in TV ads (such as "rainbow fentanyl candy") and stuff like that became a punch line after a while.

Everyone else's mmv, but thats what I saw

Edited November 13, 2022 by mtutiger

[Tiger337]

9 minutes ago, chasfh said:

This tweet harks back to what I posted on the old site seven years ago, something along the lines of: yeah, awesome, let the Republicans field Trump in the election against Hillary. He’ll get absolutely crushed because people will be sprinting to the polls at two in the morning on election day to make sure they don’t lose the opportunity to vote against him.

I mistakenly thought everybody saw the same guy I saw. I don’t mean conservatives who might or might not vote for him, but I mean people who would never vote for him. I figured people who might not normally vote, or who are typically on the fence about whether to vote in any given election, would be super motivated to vote against Trump. I mean, come on, no politically-engaged person with any memory of what this guy had done over the previous three decades could ever vote for that guy.

Turns out I was seven years too early with that assessment, but here we are now. Finally.

White dudes still like him.  It's everyone else that is voting against him.  I am with you of course. I have never ever seen any good in him at all and have never understood why so many have fallen for his act.   

[chasfh]

1 minute ago, mtutiger said:

Trump was also seen much differently at the time... he was seen as being more moderate on not just fiscal policy as well as even social policy. He wasn't seen as a virulently anti-abortion candidate for instance, and his brand was significantly less intertwined with social conservatism and evangelicalism.

That changed once he became President and, more or less, did everything that the social conservatives wanted. And that partly explains the failures of 2018, 2020 and now 2022 imo

That’s what I mean. I thought everyone could easily see the same guy I saw, but you’re right—they couldn’t. I’m talking about a lot of smart people, people ignorant of the depth of his history (e.g., mobsters) and the things he said and did (e.g., Central Park Five); people ignorant of the corrosive effect his fame had on people; and, frankly, people who wished to remain willingly ignorant, even ordinary people with mere slightly-above-average incomes, because they wanted some sweet minor tax cuts.

[chasfh]

2 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

White dudes still like him.  It's everyone else that is voting against him.  I am with you of course. I have never ever seen any good in him at all and have never understood why so many have fallen for his act.   

The white dude thing will never change. I merely thought they their votes would be crushed by everyone else.

[Tiger337]

Just now, chasfh said:

The white dude thing will never change. I merely thought they their votes would be crushed by everyone else.

I know that white dudes like strong men.  What's hard for me to believe is they can't see that Trump isn't that.   

[mtutiger]

11 minutes ago, chasfh said:

That’s what I mean. I thought everyone could easily see the same guy I saw, but you’re right—they couldn’t. I’m talking about a lot of smart people, people ignorant of the depth of his history (e.g., mobsters) and the things he said and did (e.g., Central Park Five); people ignorant of the corrosive effect his fame had on people; and, frankly, people who wished to remain willingly ignorant, even ordinary people with mere slightly-above-average incomes, because they wanted some sweet minor tax cuts.

I get what you are saying.

Sometimes people need to touch the hot stove to learn.